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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/encyclopaediaoffOOmackrich 


ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


<#<: 


Sr*Pl<   by   Alex.  Gard^r 
Engraved    by    John    Sartain. 


AN 


ENCYCLOPEDIA 


OF 


FREEMASONRY 


AND 


ITS  KINDRED  SCIENCES: 

COMPRISING 

THE  WHOLE  RANGE  OF  ARTS,  SCIENCES  AND  LITERATURE 
AS  CONNECTED  WITH  THE  INSTITUTION. 

BY 

ALBERT  G.  MACKEY,  M.  D., 

AUTHOR  OF  "LEXICON  OF  FREEMASONRY,"    "A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  MASONIC 
JURISPRUDENCE,"    "SYMBOLISM  OF   FREEMASONRY,"   ETC.,  ETC. 


ijhtfj  ftetratiotts* 


'  The  smallest  truth  is  of  more  value,  than  the  reputation  of  him  who  propounds  it." 

ZlNZENDORF. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

MOSS  &  COMPANY, 

432  CHESTNUT  STREET. 

1874. 


.1$ 


rt5^ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 

MOSS  &  CO.  AND  A.  G.  MACKEY, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


■*JvS&  J.   FAGAN    *   BOS,  feiVl 

^s^ ^ZZ JXT 

PRIXTED  BY  HEKRY  B.  ASHMKAD. 


PREFACE. 


|"  ONCE  delivered  an  address  before  a  Lodge  on  the  subject  of  the  external 
-*■  changes  which  Freemasonry  had  undergone  since  the  period  of  its  revival  in 
the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  proper  treatment  of  the  topic 
required  a  reference  to  German,  to  French,  and  to  English  authorities,  with  some 
of  which  I  am  afraid  that  many  of  my  auditors  were  not  familiar.  At  the  close 
of  the  address,  a  young  and  intelligent  brother  inquired  of  me  how  he  could 
obtaiu  access  to  the  works  which  I  had  cited,  and  of  many  of  which  he  confessed, 
as  well  as  of  the  facts  that  they  detailed,  he  now  heard  for  the  first  time.  It  is 
probable  that  my  reply  was  not  altogether  satisfactory ;  for  I  told  him  that  I  knew 
of  no  course  that  he  could  adopt  to  attain  that  knowledge  except  the  one  that  had 
been  pursued  by  myself,  namely,  to  spend  his  means  in  the  purchase  of  Masonic 
books  and  his  time  in  reading  them. 

But  there  are  few  men  who  have  the  means,  the  time,  and  the  inclination  for 
the  purchase  of  numerous  books,  some  of  them  costly  and  difficult  to  be  obtained, 
and  for  the  close  and  attentive  reading  of  them  which  is  necessary  to  master  any 
given  subject. 

It  was  this  thought  that,  just  ten  years  ago,  suggested  to  me  the  task  of  collecting 
materials  for  a  work  which,  under  one  cover,  would  furnish  every  Mason  who 
might  consult  its  pages  the  means  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  all  matters  connected 
with  the  science,  the  philosophy,  and  the  history  of  his  Order. 

But  I  was  also  led  to  the  prosecution  of  this  work  by  a  higher  consideration. 
I  had  myself  learned,  from  the  experience  of  my  early  Masonic  life,  that  the 
character  of  the  Institution  was  elevated  in  every  one's  opinion  just  in  proportion 
to  the  amount  of  knowledge  that  he  had  acquired  of  its  symbolism,  philosophy, 
and  history. 

If  Freemasonry  was  not  at  one  time  patronized  by  the  learned,  it  was  because 
the  depths  of  its  symbolic  science  and  philosophy  had  not  been  sounded.  If  it  is 
now  becoming  elevated  and  popular  in  the  estimation  of  scholars,  it  owes  that 
elevation  and  that  popularity  to  the  labors  of  those  who  have  studied  its  intel- 

v 

1  1B991 


vi  PREFACE. 

lectual  system  and  given  the  result  of  their  studies  to  the  world.  The  scholar 
will  rise  from  the  perusal  of  Webb's  Monitor,  or  the  Hieroglyphic  Chart  of  Cross, 
with  no  very  exalted  appreciation  of  the  literary  character  of  the  Institution 
of  which  such  works  profess  to  be  an  exponent.  But  should  he  have  met  with 
even  Hutchinson's  Spirit  of  Masonry,  or  Town's  Speculative  Masonry,  which  are 
among  the  earlier  products  of  Masonic  literature,  he  will  be  conscious  that  the 
system  which  could  afford  material  for  such  works  must  be  worthy  of  investigation. 

Oliver  is  not  alone  in  the  belief  that  the  higher  elevation  of  the  Order  is  to  be 
attributed  "  almost  solely  to  the  judicious  publications  on  the  subject  of  Freema- 
sonry which  have  appeared  during  the  present  and  the  end  of  the  last  century." 
It  is  the  press  that  is  elevating  the  Order ;  it  is  the  labor  of  its  scholars  that  is 
placing  it  in  the  rank  of  sciences.  The  more  that  is  published  by  scholarly  pens 
on  its  principles,  the  more  will  other  scholars  be  attracted  to  its  investigation. 

At  no  time,  indeed,  has  its  intellectual  character  been  more  justly  appreciated 
than  at  the  present  day.  At  no  time  have  its  members  generally  cultivated  its 
science  with  more  assiduity.  At  no  time  have  they  been  more  zealous  in  the 
endeavor  to  obtain  a  due  enlightenment  on  all  the  topics  which  its  system 
comprehends. 

It  was  the  dasire  to  give  my  contribution  towards  the  elevation  of  the  Order,  by 
aiding  in  the  dissemination  of  some  of  that  light  and  knowledge  which  are  not 
so  easy  of  access,  that  impelled  me  ten  years  ago  to  commence  the  preparation 
of  this  work  —  a  task  which  I  have  steadily  toiled  to  accomplish,  and  at  which, 
for  the  last  three  years,  I  have  wrought  with  unintermitted  labor  that  has  per- 
mitted but  little  time  for  other  occupation,  and  none  for  recreation. 

And  now  I  present  to  my  brethren  the  result  not  only  of  those  years  of  toil,  but 
of  more  than  thirty  years  of  study  and  research  —  a  work  which  will,  I  trust,  or 
at  least  I  hope,  supply  them  with  the  materials  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  much 
that  is  required  to  make  a  Masonic  scholar.  Encyclopaedic  learning  is  not  usually 
considered  as  more  than  elementary.  But  knowing  that  but  few  Masons  can 
afford  time  to  become  learned  scholars  in  our  art  by  an  entire  devotion  to  its 
study,  I  have  in  important  articles  endeavored  to  treat  the  subject  exhaustively, 
and  in  all  to  give  that  amount  of  information  that  must  make  future  ignorance 
altogether  the  result  of  disinclination  to  learn. 

I  do  not  present  this  work  as  perfect,  for  I  well  know  that  the  culminating  point 
of  perfection  can  never  be  attained  by  human  effort.  But,  under  many  adverse 
circumstances,  I  have  sought  to  make  it  as  perfect  as  I  could.  Encyclopaedias 
are,  for  the  most  part,  the  result  of  the  conjoined  labor  of  many  writers.  In  this 
work  I  have  had  no  help.  Every  article  was  written  by  myself.  I  say  this  not  to 
excuse  my  errors  —  for  I  hold  that  no  author  should  wilfully  permit  an  error  to 


PREFACE.  vii 

pollute  his  pages  —  but  rather  to  account  for  those  that  may  exist.  I  have 
endeavored  to  commit  none.  Doubtless  there  are  some.  If  I  knew  them,  I 
would  correct  them ;  but  let  him  who  discovers  them  remember  that  they  have 
been  unwittingly  committed  in  the  course  of  an  exhaustive  and  unaided  task. 

One  of  the  inevitable  results  of  preparing  a  work  containing  so  great  a  variety 
and  so  large  a  number  of  articles  arranged  in  alphabetical  order  is  the  omission 
of  a  few  from  their  proper  places.  These,  however,  have  been  added  in  a  Sup- 
plement; and  where  any  article  is  not  found  in  the  body  of  the  work,  the 
inspector  is  requested  to  refer  to  the  Supplement,  where  it  will  probibly  be 
discovered. 

For  twelve  months,  too,  of  the  time  in  which  I  have  been  occupied  upon  this 
work,  I  suffered  from  an  affection  of  the  sight,  which  forbade  all  use  of  the  eyes  for 
purposes  of  study.  During  that  period,  now  happily  passed,  all  authorities  were 
consulted  under  my  direction  by  the  willing  eyes  of  my  daughters  —  all  writing 
was  done  under  my  dictation  by  their  hands.  I  realized  for  a  time  the  picture  so 
often  painted  of  the  blind  bard  dictating  his  sublime  verses  to  his  daughters.  It 
was  a  time  of  sorrow  for  the  student  who  could  not  labor  with  his  own  organs  in 
his  vocation ;  but  it  was  a  time  of  gladness  to  the  father  who  felt  that  he  had 
those  who,  with  willing  hearts,  could  come  to  his  assistance.  To  the  world  this  is 
of  no  import ;  but  I  could  not  conscientiously  close  this  prefatory  address  without 
referring  to  this  circumstance  so  gratifying  to  a  parent's  heart.  Were  I  to  dedicate 
this  work  at  all,  my  dedication  should  be  —  To  Filial  Affection. 

Albeet  G.  Mackey,  M.  D. 

1440  M  Street,  Washington,  D.  C, 

January  1,  1874. 


t»  *  a  «  r 

V  OF  TfU 


vnivcmit* 


AARON 

Aaron.  Hebrew  [TUX,  Aharon,  a  word 
of  doubtful  etymology,  but  generally  sup- 
posed to  signify  a  mountaineer.  He  was  the 
brother  of  Moses,  and  the  first  high  priest 
under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  whence  the 
priesthood  established  by  that  lawgiver  is 
known  as  the  "Aaronic."  He  is  alluded 
to  in  the  English  lectures  of  the  second 
degree,  in  reference  to  a  certain  sign  which 
is  said  to  have  taken  its  origin  from  the  fact 
that  Aaron  and  Hur  were  present  on  the 
hill  from  which  Moses  surveyed  the  battle 
which  Joshua  was  waging  with  the  Amale- 
kites,  when  these  two  supported  the  weary 
arms  of  Moses  in  an  upright  posture,  be- 
cause upon  his  uplifted  hands  the  fate  of  the 
battle  depended.  (See  Exodus  xvii.  10- 
12.)  Aaron  is  also  referred  to  in  the  latter 
section  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree  in  connec- 
tion with  the  memorials  that  were  deposited 
in  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  In  the  degree 
of  "  Chief  of  the  Tabernacle,"  which  is  the 
23d  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,  the 
presiding  officer  represents  Aaron,  and  is 
styled  "  Most  Excellent  High  Priest."  In 
the  24th  degree  of  the  same  Rite,  or  "  Prince 
of  the  Tabernacle,"  the  second  officer  or 
Senior  Warden  also  personates  Aaron. 

Aaron's  Rod.  The  method  by  which 
Moses  caused  a  miraculous  judgment  as  to 
which  tribe  should  be  invested  with  the 
priesthood,  is  detailed  in  the  Book  of  Num- 
bers (ch.  xvii.).  He  directed  that  twelve 
rods  should  be  laid  up  in  the  Holy  of  Holies 
of  the  Tabernacle,  one  for  each  tribe ;  that 
of  Aaron  of  course  represented  the  tribe  of 
Levi.  On  the  next  day  these  rods  were 
brought  out  and  exhibited  to  the  people, 
and  while  all  the  rest  remained  dry  and 
withered,  that  of  Aaron  alone  budded  and 
blossomed  and  yielded  fruit.     There  is  no 


ABBREVIATIONS 

mention  in  the  Pentateuch  of  this  rod  hav- 
ing been  placed  in  the  ark,  but  only  that  it 
was  put  before  it.  But  as  St.  Paul,  or  the 
author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  asserts 
that  the  rod  and  the  pot  of  manna  were 
both  within  the  ark,  Royal  Arch  Masons 
have  followed  this  later  authority.  Hence 
the  rod  of  Aaron  is  found  in  the  ark ;  but 
its  import  is  only  historical,  as  if  to  iden- 
tify the  substitute  ark  as  a  true  copy  of  the 
original,  which  had  been  lost.  No  symbol- 
ical instruction  accompanies  its  discovery. 

Ab.  3X.  1.  The  11th  month  of  the 
Hebrew  civil  year  and  corresponding  to  the 
months  July  and  August,  beginning  with 
the  new  moon  of  the  former.  2.  It  is  also  a 
Hebrew  word,  signifying/etfAer,  and  will  be 
readily  recognized  by  every  Mason  as  a  com- 
ponent part  of  the  name  Hiram  Abif,  which 
literally  means  Hiram  his  father.    See  Abif. 

Abacus.  A  term  which  has  been  lately, 
but  erroneously,  used  in  this  country  to 
designate  the  official  staff  of  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  the  Templars.  The  word  has  no  such 
meaning ;  for  an  abacus  is  either  a  table  used 
for  facilitating  arithmetical  calculations,  or 
is  in  architecture  the  crowning  plate  of  a 
column  and  its  capital.  The  Grand  Mas- 
ter's staff  was  a  baeulus,  which  see. 

Abaddon.  A  Hebrew  word  |H3X, 
signifying  destruction.  By  the  Rabbins  it  is 
interpreted  as  the  place  of  destruction,  and  is 
the  second  of  the  seven  names  given  by 
them  to  the  region  of  the  dead.  In  the 
Apocalypse  it  is  rendered  by  the  Greek 
word  'AnoXkvuv,  Apollyon,  ana  means  the 
destroyer.  In  this  sense  it  is  used  as  a  sig- 
nificant word  in  the  high  degrees. 

Abbreviations.  Abbreviations  of 
technical  terms  or  of  official  titles  are  of 
very  extensive  use  in  Masonry.  They  were, 

1 


ABBREVIATIONS 


ABBREVIATIONS 


however,  but  rarely  employed  in  the  earlier 
Masonic  publications.  For  instance,  not 
one  is  to  be  found  in  the  first  edition  of 
Anderson's  Constitutions.  Within  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  they  have  greatly 
increased,  especially  among  French  writers, 
and  a  familiarity  with  them  is  therefore 
essentially  necessary  to  the  Masonic  stu- 
dent. Frequently,  among  English  and  al- 
ways among  French  authors,  a  Masonic  ab- 
breviation is  distinguished  by  three  points, 
.'.,  in  a  triangular  form  following  the  letter, 
which  peculiar  mark  was  first  used,  accord- 
ing to  Ragon,  on  the  12th  of  August,  1774, 
by  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  in  an  ad- 
dress to  its  subordinates..  No  authoritative 
explanation  of  the  meaning  of  these  points 
has  been  given,  but  they  may  be  supposed 
to  refer  to  the  three  lights  around  the  altar, 
or  perhaps  more  generally  to  the  number 
three,  and  to  the  triangle,  both  important 
symbols  in  the  Masonic  system. 

Before  proceeding  to  give  a  list  of  the 
principal  abbreviations,  it  may  be  observed 
that  the  doubling  of  a  letter  is  intended  to 
express  the  plural  of  that  word  of  which  the 
single  letter  is  the  abbreviation.  Thus,  in 
French,  F.\  signifies  "  Frere,"  or  "  Broth- 
er," and  FF.\  "Freres,"  or  "Brothers." 
And  in  English,  L.\  is  sometimes  used  to 
denote  "  Lodge,"  and  LL.\  to  denote 
"  Lodges."  This  remark  is  made  once  for 
all,  because  I  have  not  deemed  it  necessary 
to  augment  the  size  of  the  list  of  abbrevia- 
tions by  inserting  these  plurals.  If  the  in- 
spector finds  S.\  G.\  I.",  to  signify  "Sover- 
eign Grand  Inspector,"  he  will  be  at  no  loss 
to  know  that  SS.\  GG.\  II.'.  must  denote 
"Sovereign  Grand  Inspectors." 

A.'.  Dep.\  Anno  Depositionis.  In  the 
Year  of  the  Deposite.  The  date'  used  by 
Royal  and  Select  Masters. 

A.',  and  A.*.     Ancient  and  Accepted. 

A.*.  F.\  M.\     Ancient  Freemasons. 

A.'.  F.\  and  A.\  M.\  Ancient  Free  and 
Accepted  Mason. 

A.'.  Inv.'.  Anno  Inventionis.  In  the  Year 
of  the  Discovery.  The  date  used  by  Royal 
Arch  Mason. 

A.'.  L.\  AnnoLucis.  In  the  Year  of  Light. 
The  date  used  by  Ancient  Craft  Masons. 

A.\  L.\  G.\  D.\  G.\  A.\  D.\  L'U.\  A 
la  Oloire  du  Grand  Architecte  de  V  Univers. 
To  the  Glory  of  the  Grand  Architect  of  the 
Universe.  (French.)  The  usual  caption  of 
French  Masonic  documents. 

A.'.  L'0.\  A  F  Orient.  At  the  East. 
(French.)  The  seat  of  the  Lodge. 

A.:.  M.\  Anno  Mundi.  In  the  Year  of 
the  World.  The  date  used  in  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Rite. 

A.-.  0.\  Anno  Ordinis.  In  the  Year  of 
the  Order.  The  date  used  by  Knights 
Tem,plars. 


A.*.  Y.\  M.\  Ancient  York  Mason. 
B.\  A.-.  Buisson  Ardente.    Burning  Bush. 
B.\  B.\  Burning  Bush. 
C.\  C.\  Celestial  Canopy. 

0.*,  H.\  Captain  of  the  Host. 

D.\  Deputv. 

D.\  G.\  G.\  H.\  P.-.  Deputy  General 
Grand  High  Priest. 

D.\  G.\  H.\  P.'.  Deputy  Grand  High 
Priest. 

D.\  G.\  M.\  Deputy  Grand  Master. 

D.\  D.\  G.\  M.\  District  Deputy  Grand 
Master. 

E.\  Eminent ;  Excellent. 

E.\  A.-.  Entered  Apprentice. 

Ec.\  Ecossaise.  (French.)  Scottish;  be- 
longing to  the  Scottish  Rite. 

E.\  G.\  C.\  Eminent  Grand  Commander. 

E.\  V.\  Ere  Vulgaire.  (French.)  Vul- 
gar Era  ;  Year  of  the  Lord. 

F.\  Frere.    Brother.     (French.) 

F.\  C.\  Fellow  Craft. 

F.\  M.\  Free  Mason.    Old  Style. 

G.\  Grand. 

G.\  A.'.  O.'.  T.\  U.\  Grand  Architect  of 
the  Universe. 

G.\  C.\  Grand  Chapter ;  Grand  Council. 

G.\  Com.-.  Grand  Commandery ;  Grand 
Commander. 

G.\  E.\  Grand  Encampment;  Grand 
East. 

G.\  G.\  C.\  General  Grand  Chapter. 

G.\  G.\  H.\  P.'.  General  Grand  High 
Priest. 

G.\  H.\  P.\  Grand  High  Priest. 

G.\  L.\  Grand  Lodge. 

G.\  M.\  Grand  Master. 

G.\  0.\  Grand  Orient. 

G.\  R.\  A.'.  C.\  Grand  Royal  Arch 
Chapter. 

H.\  A.'.  B.\  Hiram  Abif. 

H.\  E.\  Holy  Empire. 

111.'.  Illustrious. 

I.'.  N.\  R.\  I.'.  Iesus  Nazarenus,  Bex 
Iudmorum.  (Latin.)  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
King  of  the  Jews. 

I.-.  T.\  N.\  0.\  T.\  G.\  A.'.  O.'.  T.'.  U.\ 
In  the  Name  of  the  Grand  Architect  of  the 
Universe.  Often  forming  the  caption  of 
Masonic  documents. 

J.'.  W.\  Junior  Warden. 

K.\  King. 

K—  H.\  Kadosh,  Knight  of  Kadosh. 

K.\  M.\  Knight  of  Malta. 

K.\  T.'.  Knight  Templar. 

L.\  Lodge. 

LL.\  Lodges. 

M.'.  Mason. 

M.\  C.\  Middle  Chamber. 

M.\  E.\  Most  Eminent ;  Most  Excellent. 

M.\  E.\  G.\  H.\  P.'.  Most  Excellent 
Grand  High  Priest. 

M.\  E.\  G.\  M.\  Most  Eminent  Grand 
Master,  (of  Knights  Templars.) 


ABDA 


ABIF 


M.\  L.\  Mire  Loge.  (French.)  Mother 
Lodge. 

M.\  M.\  Master  Mason. 

M.\  M.\  Mois  Magonnique.  (French.) 
Masonic  Month.  March  is  the  first  Masonic 
month  among  French  Masons. 

M.\  W.\  Most  Worshipful. 

O.-.  Orient. 

OB.-.  Obligation. 

P.'.  M.\  Past  Master. 

P.-.  S.\  Principal  Sojourner. 

R.\  A.*.  Royal  Arch. 

R.\  0/,  or  R.\  f.\  Rose  Croix.  Appended 
to  the  signature  of  one  having  that  degree. 

R.\  E.\  Right  Eminent. 

R.'.  F.\  Respectable  Frere.  (French.) 
Worshipful  Brother. 

R.\  L.\  or  R.\  □  .*.  Respectable  Loge. 
(French.)     Worshipful  Lodge. 

R.\  W.\  Right  Worshipful. 

S.\  Scribe. 

S.\  C*.  Supreme  Council. 

S.\  G.\  I.\  G.\  Sovereign  Grand  In- 
spector General. 

S.\  P.'.  R/.  S.\  Sublime  Prince  of  the 
Royal  Secret. 

S.*.  S.\  Sanctum  Sanctorum  or  Holy  of 
Holies. 

S.\  S.\  S.\  Trois  fois  Salut.  (French.) 
Thrice  greeting.  A  common  caption  to 
French  Masonic  circulars  or  letters. 

S.\  W.\  Senior  Warden. 

TV.  C.\  F.\  Tres  Chere  Frere.  (French.) 
Very  Dear  Brother. 

T.\  G.\  A.\  0.\  T.\  U.\  The  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe. 

V.\  or  Ven.\  Venerable.  (French.)  Wor- 
shipful. 

V.".  L.\  Vraie  lumiere.  (French.)  True 
light. 

V.'.  W.\  Very  Worshipful. 

W.\  M.\  Worshipful  Master. 

1    I  .'.  Lodge. 

r-Pp  .*.  Lodges. 

iJh  Prefixed  to  the  signature  of  a  Knight 

1     Templar  or  a  member  of  the  A.  and 
A.  Scottish  Rite  below  the  33d  degree. 
JL  Prefixed  to  the  signature  of  a  Grand 

.[J    or  Past  Grand    Commander    of 

~  Knights  Templars  or  a  Mason  of 
the  33d  degree  in  the  Scottish  Rite. 

f  J1  Prefixed    to   the  signature    of  a 

J-f^    Grand  or  Past  Grand  Master  of 

"T  Knights  Templars  and  the  Grand 
Commander  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Abda.  A  word  used  in  some  of  the 
high  degrees.  He  was  the  father  of  Adoni- 
ram.  (See  1  Kings  iv.  6.)  Lenning  is 
wrong  in  saying  that  he  is  represented  by 
one  of  the  officers  in  the  degree  of  Master 
in  Israel.  He  has  confounded  Abda  with 
his  son.     (Encyc.  der  Freimaur.) 


AMamon.  The  name  of  the  orator 
in  the  14th  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection, 
or  the  Sacred  Vault  of  James  VI.  It  means 
a  servant,  from  abad,  "  to  serve,"  although 
somewhat  corrupted  in  its  transmission  into 
the  rituals.  Lenning  says  it  is  the  Hebrew 
Habdamon,  "a  servant;"  but  there  is  no 
such  word  in  Hebrew. 

Abelites.  A  secret  Order  which  ex- 
isted about  the  middle  of  the  18th  century 
in  Germany,  called  also  "  the  Order  of 
Abel."  The  organization  was  in  possession 
of  peculiar  signs,  words,  and  ceremonies  of 
initiation,  but,  according  to  G'adicke  (Frei- 
maurer  Lexicon),  it  had  no  connection  with 
Freemasonry. 

Abibalk.  In  the  Elu  of  the  French 
Rite,  the  name  of  the  chief  of  the  three 
assassins.  Derived  most  probably  from 
the  Hebrew  abi  and  balah,  '3X  and  j^a, 
which  mean  father  of  destruction.  Lenning, 
following  the  Thuileur  de  VEcossisme  of 
Delaunay,  makes  it  signify  from  the  same 
roots,  but  in  defiance  of  the  rules  of  He- 
brew construction,  "he  who  destroys  the 
father." 

Abide  by.   See  Stand  to  and  abide  by. 

Abif.  An  epithet  which  has  been  ap- 
plied in  Scripture  to  that  celebrated  builder 
who  was  sent  to  Jerusalem  by  King  Hiram, 
of  Tyre,  to  superintend  the  construction  of 
the  Temple.  The  word,  which  in  the  origi- 
nal Hebrew  is  V3N>  ar"d  which  may  be 
pronounced  Abiv  or  Abif,  is  compounded 
of  the  noun  in  the  construct-state  '3J^, 
Abi,  meaning  "father,"  and  the  pronomi- 
nal suffix  \  which,  with  the  preceding 
vowel  sound,  is  to  be  sounded  as  iv  or 
if,  and  which  means  "  his ; "  so  that  the 
word  thus  compounded  Abif  literally  and 
grammatically  signifies  "  his  father."  The 
word  is  found  in  2  Chronicles  iv.  16,  in 
the  following  sentence :  "  The  pots  also, 
and  the  shovels,  and  the  flesh  hooks,  and 
all  their  instruments  did  Huram  his  father 
make  to  King  Solomon."  The  latter  part 
of  this  verse  is  in  the  original  as  follows : 

nch&  •finh  ion  D-nn  n#y 

Shelomoh         lamelech        Abif         Huram  gnasah 

Luther  has  been  more  literal  in  his  ver- 
sion of  this  passage  than  the  English  trans- 
lators, and  appearing  to  suppose  that  the 
word  Abif  is  to  be  considered  simply  as  an 
appellative  or  surname,  he  preserves  the 
Hebrew  form,  his  translation  being  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Machte  Huram  Abif  dem  Konige 
Salomo."  The  Swedish  version  is  equally 
exact,  and,  instead  of  "  Hiram  his  father," 
gives  us  "Hyram  Abiv."  In  the  Latin  Vul- 
gate, as  in  the  English  version,  the  words 
are  rendered  "  Hiram  pater  ejus."  I  have 
little  doubt  that  Luther  and  the  Swedish 


ABIF 


ABLE 


translator  were  correct  in  treating  the  word 
Abif  as  an  appellative.  In  Hebrew,  the  word 
ab,  or  "  father,"  is  often  used,  honoris  causa, 
as  a  title  of  respect,  and  may  then  signify 
friend,  counsellor,  wise  man,  or  something 
else  of  equivalent  character.  Thus,  Dr. 
Clarke,  commenting  on  the  word  abrech,  in 
Genesis  xli.  43,  says:  "Father  seems  to 
have  been  a  name  of  office,  and  probably 
father  of  the  king  ox  father  of  Pharaoh  might 
signify  the  same  as  the  king's  minister 
among  us."  And  on  the  very  passage  in 
which  this  word  Abif  is  used,  he  says: 
"  2N>  father,  is  often  used  in  Hebrew  to 
signify  master,  inventor,  chief  operator." 
Gesenius,  the  distinguished  Hebrew  lexi- 
cographer, gives  to  this  word  similar  signi- 
fications, such  as  benefactor,  master,  teacher, 
and  says  that  in  the  Arabic  and  the  Ethi- 
opic  it  is  spoken  of  one  who  excels  in  any- 
thing. This  idiomatic  custom  was  pursued 
by  the  later  Hebrews,  for  Buxtorf  tells  us, 
iu  his  Talmudic  Lexicon,  that  "  among  the 
Talmudists  abba,  father,  was  always  a  title 
of  honor,"  and  he  quotes  the  following  re- 
marks from  a  treatise  of  the  celebrated 
Maimonides,  who,  when  speaking  of  the 
grades  or  ranks  into  which  the  Rabbinical 
doctors  were  divided,  says :  "  The  first  class 
consists  of  those  each  of  whom  bears  his 
own  name,  without  any  title  of  honor ;  the 
second  of  those  who  are  called  Rabbanim  ; 
and  the  third  of  those  who  are  called  Rabbi, 
and  the  men  of  this  class  also  receive  the 
cognomen  of  Abba,  Father." 

Again,  in  2  Chronicles  ii.  13,  Hiram,  the 
king  of  Tyre,  referring  to  the  same  Hiram, 
the  widow's  son,  who  is  spoken  of  subse- 
quently in  reference  to  King  Solomon  as 
"  his  father,"  or  Abif  in  the  passage  already 
cited,  writes  to  Solomon :  "  And  now  I 
have  sent  a  cunning  man,  endued  with 
understanding,  of  Huram  my  father's." 
The  only  difficulty  in  this  sentence  is  to  be 
found  in  the  prefixing  of  the  letter  lamed 
S,  before  Huram,  which  has  caused  our 
translators,  by  a  strange  blunder,  to  render 
the  words  V Huram  abi,  as  meaning  "  of 
Huram  my  father's,"  *  instead  of  "  Huram 
my  father."  Luther  has  again  taken  the 
correct  view  of  this  subject,  and  translates 
the  word  as  an  appellative :  "  So  sende  ich 
nun  einen  weisen  Mann,  der  Berstand  hat, 
Huram  Abif; "  that  is,  "  So  now  I  send  you 
a  wise  man  who  has  understanding,  Huram 
Abif."  The  truth  I  suspect  is,  although  it 
has  escaped  all  the  commentators,  that  the 
lamed  in  this  passage  is  a  Chaldaism  which 
is  sometimes  used  by  the  later  Hebrew 
writers,  who  incorrectly  employ  \  the  sign 


*  It  may  be  remarked  that  this  could  not  be 
the  true  meaning,  for  the  father  of  King  Hiram 
was  not  another  Hiram,  but  Abibaal. 


of  the  dative  for  the  accusative  after  transi- 
tive verbs.  Thus,  in  Jeremiah  (xl.  2),  we 
have  such  a  construction :  vayakach  rab 
tabachim  VIremyahu;  that  is,  literally,  "and 
the  captain  of  the  guards  took  for  Jere- 
miah," where  the  *?,  I,  or  for,  is  a  Chaldaism 
and  redundant,  the  true  rendering  being, 
"  and  the  captain  of  the  guards  took  Jere- 
miah." Other  similar  passages  are  to  be 
found  in  Lamentations  iv.  5,  Job  v.  2,  etc. 
In  like  manner  I  suppose  the  S  before 
Huram,  which  the  English  translators  have 
rendered  by  the  preposition  "  of,"  to  be 
redundant  and  a  Chaldaic  form,  and  then 
the  sentence  should  be  read  thus :  "  I  have 
sent  a  cunning  man,  endued  with  under- 
standing, Huram  my  father ; "  or  if  con- 
sidered as  an  appellative,  as  it  should  be, 
"  Huram  Abi." 

From  all  this  I  conclude  that  the  word 
Ab,  with  its  different  suffixes,  is  always  used 
in  the  Books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles,  in 
reference  to  Hiram  the  builder,  as  a  title 
of  respect.  When  King  Hiram  speaks  of 
him  he  calls  him  "  my  father  Hiram," 
Hiram  Abi;  and  when  the  writer  of  the 
Book  of  Chronicles  is  speaking  of  him  and 
King  Solomon  in  the  same  passage,  he  calls 
him  "Solomon's  father"  —  "his  father," 
Hiram  Abif.  The  only  difference  is  made  by 
the  different  appellation  of  the  pronouns  my 
and  his  in  Hebrew.  To  both  the  kings  of 
Tyre  and  of  Judah  he  bore  the  honorable 
relation  of  Ab,  or  "  father,"  equivalent  to 
friend,  counsellor,  or  minister.  He  was 
"  Father  Hiram."  The  Masons  are  there- 
fore perfectly  correct  in  refusing  to  adopt 
the  translation  of  the  English  version,  and 
in  preserving,  after  the  example  of  Luther, 
the  word  Abif  as  an  appellative,  surname, 
or  title  of  honor  and  distinction  bestowed 
upon  the  chief  builder  of  the  Temple. 

Abiram.  One  of  the  traitorous  crafts- 
men, whose  act  of  perfidy  forms  so  impor- 
tant a  part  of  the  third  degree,  receives  in 
some  of  the  high  degrees  the  name  of  Abi- 
ram Akirop.  These  words  certainly  have  a 
Hebrew  look ;  but  the  significant  words  of 
Masonry  have,  in  the  lapse  of  time  and  in 
their  transmission  through  ignorant  teach- 
ers, become  so  corrupted  in  form  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  trace  them  to  any  in- 
telligent root.  They  may  be  Hebrew  or 
they  may  be  anagrammatized  (see  Ana- 
gram) ;  but  it  is  only  chance  that  can  give 
us  the  true  meaning  which  they  undoubt- 
edly have. 

Able.  There  is  an  archaic  use  of  the 
word  able  to  signify  suitable.  Thus,  Chaucer 
says  of  a  monk  that  "  he  was  able  to  ben  an 
abbot,"  that  is,  suitable  to  be  an  abbot. 
In  this  sense  the  old  manuscript  Constitu- 
tions constantly  employ  the  word,  as  when 
they  say  that    the  apprentice  should  be 


ABLUTION 


ABRAHAM 


"able  of  birth  and  limbs  as  he  ought  to 
be,"  that  is,  that  he  should  be  of  birth 
suitable  for  a  member  of  the  Craft,  and  of 
limbs  suitable  to  perform  the  labors  of  a 
craftsman. 

Ablution.  A  ceremonial  purification 
by  washing,  much  used  in  the  Ancient 
Mysteries  and  under  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion. It  is  also  employed  in  some  of  the 
high  degrees  of  Masonry.  The  better 
technical  term  for  this  ceremony  is  lustra- 
tion, which  see. 

Abnet.  The  band  or  apron,  made  of 
fine  linen,  variously  wrought,  and  worn  by 
the  Jewish  priesthood.  It  seems  to  have 
been  borrowed  directly  from  the  Egyptians, 
upon  the  representations  of  all  of  whose 
gods  is  to  be  found  a  similar  girdle.  Like 
the  zennaar,  or  sacred  cord  of  the  Brah- 
mins, and  the  white  shield  of  the  Scandi- 
navians, it  is  the  analogue  of  the  Masonic 
apron. 

Aborigines.  A  secret  society  which 
existed  in  England  about  the  year  1783, 
and  of  whose  ceremony  of  initiation  the 
following  account  is  contained  in  the  Brit- 
ish Magazine  of  that  date.  The  presiding 
officer,  who  was  styled  the  Original,  thus 
addressed  the  candidate : 

Original.  Have  you  faith  enough  to  be 
made  an  Original  ? 

Candidate.  I  have. 

Original.  Will  you  be  conformable  to  all 
honest  rules  which  may  support  steadily 
the  honor,  reputation,  welfare,  and  dignity 
of  our  ancient  undertaking? 

Candidate.  I  will. 

Original.  Then,  friend,  promise  me  that 
you  will  never  stray  from  the  paths  of 
Honor,  Freedom,  Honesty,  Sincerity,  Pru- 
dence, Modesty,  Reputation,  Sobriety,  and 
True  Friendship. 

Candidate.  I  do. 

Which  done,  the  crier  of  the  court  com- 
manded silence,  and  the  new  member,  being 
uncovered,  and  dropping  on  his  right  knee, 
had  the  following  oath  administered  to  him 
by  the  servant,  the  new  member  laying  his 
right  hand  on  the  Cap  of  Honor,  and  Nim- 
rod  holding  a  staff  over  his  head : 

"  You  swear  by  the  Cap  of  Honor,  by 
the  Collar  of  Freedom,  by  the  Coat  of 
Honesty,  by  the  Jacket  of  Sincerity,  by 
the  shirt  of  Prudence,  by  the  Breeches  of 
Modesty,  by  the  Garters  of  Reputation,  by 
the  Stockings  of  Sobriety,  and  by  the  Steps 
of  True  Friendship,  never  to  depart  from 
these  laws." 

Then  rising,  with  the  staff  resting  on  his 
head,  he  received  a  copy  of  the  laws  from 
the  hands  of  the  Grand  Original,  with  these 
words,  "  Enjoy  the  benefits  hereof." 

He  then  delivered  the  copy  of  the  laws 
to  the  care  of  the  servant,  after  which  the 


word  was  given  by  the  secretary  to  the  new 
member,  viz. :  Eden,  signifying  the  garden 
where  Adam,  the  great  aboriginal,  was 
formed. 

Then  the  secretary  invested  him  with 
the  sign,  viz. :  resting  his  right  hand  on 
his  left  side,  signifying  the  first  conjunction 
of  harmony. 

It  had  no  connection  with  Freemasonry, 
but  was  simply  one  of  those  numerous  imi- 
tative societies  to  which  that  Institution  has 
given  rise. 

Abrac.  In  the  Leland  MS.  it  is  said 
that  the  Masons  conceal  "  the  wey  of  wyn- 
ninge  the  facultye  of  Abrac."  Mr.  Locke 
(if  it  was  he  who  wrote  a  commentary  on 
the  manuscript)  says,  "  Here  I  am  utterly 
in  the  dark."  It  means  simply  "  the  way 
of  acquiring  the  science  of  Abrac."  The 
science  of  Abrac  is  the  knowledge  of  the 
power  and  use  of  the  mystical  abraxas, 
which  see. 

Abracadabra.  A  term  of  incanta- 
tion which  was  formerly  worn  about  the 
neck  as  an  amulet  against  several  diseases, 
especially  the  tertian  ague.  It  was  to  be 
written  on  a  triangular  piece  of  parchment 
in  the  following  form : 


ABRACADABRA 

ABRACADABR 

ABRACADAB 

ABRACADA 

ABRACAD 

ABRACA 

ABRAC 

ABRA 

ABR 

AB 

A 


It  is  said  that  it  first  occurs  in  the  Car- 
men de  Morbis  et  Remediis  of  Q.  Serenus 
Sammonicus,  a  favorite  of  the  Emperor 
Severus  in  the  2d  and  3d  centuries,  and  is 
generally  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the 
word  abraxas.  Higgins,  [Celt.  Druids,  p. 
246,)  who  is  never  in  want  of  an  etymology, 
derives  it  from  the  Irish  abra,  "  god,"  and 
cad,  "holy,"  and  makes  abra-cad-abra, 
therefore,  signify  abra  —  the  holy  —  abra. 

Abraham.  The  founder  of  the  He- 
brew nation.  The  patriarch  Abraham  is 
personated  in  the  degree  or  Order  of  High 
Priesthood,  which  refers  in  some  of  its  cer- 
emonies to  an  interesting  incident  in  his 
life.  After  the  amicable  separation  of  Lot 
and  Abraham,  when  the  former  was  dwell- 
ing in  the  plain  in  which  Sodom  and  its 
neighboring  towns  were  situated,  and  the 
latter  in  the  valley  of  Mamre  near  Hebron, 
a  king  from  beyond  the  Euphrates,  whose 
name  was  Chedorlaomer,  invaded  lower 
Palestine,    and    brought    several    of    the 


ABRAHAM 


ABRAXAS 


smaller  states  into  a  tributary  condition. 
Among  these  were  the  five  cities  of  the 
plain,  to  which  Lot  had  retired.  As  the 
yoke  was  borne  with  impatience  by  these 
cities,  Chedorlaomer,  accompanied  by  four 
other  kings,  who  were  probably  his  tribu- 
taries, attacked  and  defeated  the  kings  of 
the  plain,  plundered  their  towns,  and  car- 
ried their  people  away  as  slaves.  Among 
those  who  suffered  on  this  occasion  was 
Lot.  As  soon  as  Abraham  heard  of  these 
events,  he  armed  three  hundred  and  eigh- 
teen of  his  slaves,  and,  with  the  assistance 
of  Aner,  Eshcol,  and  Mamre,  three  Amo- 
ritish  chiefs,  be  pursued  the  retiring  in- 
vaders, and  having  attacked  them  near  the 
Jordan,  put  them  to  flight,  and  then  re- 
turned with  all  the  men  and  goods  that 
had  been  recovered  from  the  enemy.  On 
his  way  back  he  was  met  by  Melchizedek, 
the  king  of  that  place,  and  who  was,  like 
Abraham,  a  worshipper  of  the  true  God. 
Melchizedek  refreshed  Abraham  and  his 
people  with  bread  and  wine;  and  while 
consenting  to  receive  back  the  persons  who 
had  been  liberated  from  captivity,  he  re- 
quested Abraham  to  retain  the  goods.  But 
Abraham  positively  refused  to  retain  any 
of  the  spoils,  although,  by  the  customs  of 
the  age,  he  was  entitled  to  them,  and  de- 
clared that  he  had  sworn  that  he  would  not 
take  "  from  a  thread  even  to  a  shoelatchet." 
Although  the  conduct  of  Abraham  in  this 
whole  transaction  was  of  the  most  honor- 
able and  conscientious  character,  the  inci- 
dents do  not  appear  to  have  been  introduced 
into  the  ritual  of  the  High  Priesthood  for 
any  other  reason  except  that  of  their  con- 
nection with  Melchizedek,  who  was  the 
founder  of  an  Order  of  Priesthood. 

Abraham,  Antoine  Firmin.  A 
Mason  who  made  himself  notorious  at  Paris, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  by 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  false  Masonic 
diplomas  and  by  trading  in  the  higher  de- 
grees, from  which  traffic  he  reaped  lor  some 
time  a  plentiful  harvest.  The  Supreme 
Council  of  France  declared,  in  1811,  all  his 
diplomas  and  charters  void  and  deceptive. 
He  is  the  author  of  "L'Art  du  Tuileur, 
dedie'  a  tous  les  Maqons  des  deux  hemi- 
spheres," a  small  volume  of  20  pages  8vo, 
printed  at  Paris  in  1803,  and  published 
from  1800  to  1808  a  periodical  work  en- 
titled "  Le  Miroir  de  la  v6rite,  dedi6  a  tous 
les  Mac,ons,"  3  vols.,  8vo.  This  contains 
many  interesting  details  concerning  the 
history  of  Masonry  in  France.  In  1811 
there  was  published  at  Paris  a  "  Circulaire 
du  Supreme  Conseil  du  33e  degr6,  etc.,  rela- 
tive a  la  vente,  par  le  Sieur  Abraham  de 
grades  et  cahiers  Macjonniques,"  (8vo,  15 
pp.,)  from  which  it  is  evident  that  Abraham 
was  nothing  else  but  a  Masonic  charlatan. 


Abraxas.  Basilides,  the  head  of  the 
Egyptian  sect  of  Gnostics,  taught  that 
there  were  seven  emanations,  or  aeons,  from 
the  Supreme  God ;  that  these  emanations 
engendered  the  angels  of  the  highest  order ; 
that  these  angels  formed  a  heaven  for  their 
habitation,  and  brought  forth  other  angels 
of  a  nature  inferior  to  their  own ;  that  in 
time  other  heavens  were  formed  and  other 
angels  created,  until  the  whole  number 
of  angels  and  their  respective  heavens 
amounted  to  365,  which  were  thus  equal  to 
the  number  of  days  in  a  year ;  and,  finally, 
that  over  all  these  an  omnipotent  lord  —  in- 
ferior, however,  to  the  Supreme  God  —  pre- 
sided, whose  name  was  Abraxas.  Now  this 
word  Abraxas,  in  the  numerical  force  of 
its  letters  when  written  in  Greek,  ABPAEA2, 
amounts  to  365,  the  number  of  words  in  the 
Basilidean  system,  as  well  as  the  number 
of  days  in  the  year,  thus :  A,  1..,  B,  2..,  P, 
100..,  A,  1..,  2,  60..,  A,  1..,  2  200  =  365.  The 
god  Abraxas  was  therefore  a  type  or  sym- 
bol of  the  year,  or  of  the  revolution  of  the 
earth  around  the  sun.  This  mystical  refer- 
ence of  the  name  of  a  god  to  the  annual 
period  was  familiar  to  the  ancients,  and  is 
to  be  found  in  at  least  two  other  instances. 
Thus  among  the  Persians  the  letters  of  the 
name  of  the  god  Mithras,  and  of  Belenus 
among  the  Gauls,  amounted  each  to  365. 

M  =    40  B  =  2 

E  =      5  H=  8 

1  =    10  A=  30 

9  =      9  E  =  5 

P  =  100  N  =  50 

A  =      1  0  =  70 

2  =  200  =  365         2  =  200  =  365 

The  word  Abraxas,  therefore  from  this 
mystical  value  of  the  letters  of  which  it  was 
composed,  became  talismanic,  and  was  fre- 
quently inscribed,  sometimes  with  and 
sometimes  without  other  superstitious  in- 
scriptions, on  stones  or  gems  as  amulets, 
many  of  which  have  been  preserved  or  are 
continually  being  discovered,  and  are  to  be 
found  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious. 

There  have  been  many  conjectures  among 
the  learned  as  to  the  derivation  of  the  word 
Abraxas.  Beausobre  (Hi&toire  du  Maniche- 
isme,  vol.  ii.)  derives  it  from  the  Greek, 
Aj3<f>oc  2au,  signifying  "the  magnificent 
Saviour,  he  who  heals  and  preserves."  Bel- 
lermann,  (Essay  on  the  Gems  of  the  An- 
cients) supposeu  it  to  be  compounded  of 
three  Coptic  words  signifying  "the  holy 
word  of  bliss."  Pignorius  and  Vandelin 
think  it  is  composed  of  four  Hebrew  and 
three  Greek  letters,  whose  numerical  value 
is  365,  and  which  are  the  initials  of  the 
sentence :  "  saving  men  by  wood,  i.  e.  the 
cross." 

Abraxas  Stones.    Stones  on  which 


ABSENCE 


ACACIA 


the  word  Abraxas  and  other  devices  are 
engraved,  and  which  were  used  by  the 
Egyptian  Gnostics  as  amulets. 

Absence.  Attendance  on  the  com- 
munications of  his  Lodge,  on  all  convenient 
occasions,  is  considered  as  one  of  the  duties 
of  every  Mason,  and  hence  the  old  charges 
of  1722  (ch.  iii.)  say  that  "  in  ancient  times 
no  Master  or  Fellow  could  be  absent  from  it 
[the  Lodge] ,  without  incurring  a  severe  cen- 
sure, until  it  appeared  to  the  Master  and 
Wardens  that  pure  necessity  hindered 
him."  Fines  have  by  some  Lodges  been 
inflicted  for  non-attendance,  but  a  pecuni- 
ary penalty  is  clearly  an  unmasonic  punish- 
ment, (see  Fines;)  and  even  that  usage  is 
now  discontinued,  so  that  attendance  on 
ordinary  communications  is  no  longer  en- 
forced by  any  sanction  of  law.  It  is  a  duty 
the  discharge  of  which  must  be  left  to  the 
conscientious  convictions  of  each  Mason. 
In  the  case,  however,  of  a  positive  sum- 
mons for  any  express  purpose,  such  as  to 
stand  trial,  to  show  cause,  etc.,  the  neglect 
or  refusal  to  attend  might  be  construed 
into  a  contempt,  to  be  dealt  with  according 
to  its  magnitude  or  character  in  each  par- 
ticular case. 

Acacia.  An  interesting  and  important 
symbol  in  Freemasonry.  Botanically,  it  is 
the  acacia  vera  of  Tournefort,  and  the  mi- 
mosa nilotica  of  Linnaeus.  It  grew  abun- 
dantly in  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem,  where 
it  is  still  to  be  found,  and  is  familiar  in  its 
modern  use  as  the  tree  from  which  the  gum 
arabic  of  commerce  is  derived. 

Oliver,  it  is  true,  says  that  "  there  is  not 
the  smallest  trace  of  any  tree  of  the  kind 
growingso  far  north  as  Jerusalem,"  (Landm. 
ii.  149 ;)  but  this  statement  is  refuted 
by  the  authority  of  Lieutenant  Lynch,  who 
saw  it  growing  in  great  abundance  in  Jeri- 
cho, and  still  farther  north.  {Exped.  to  Dead 
Sea,  p.  262.)  The  Rabbi  Joseph  Schwarz, 
who  is  excellent  authority,  says :  "  The 
Acacia  (Shittim)  tree,  Al  Sunt,  is  found  in 
Palestine  of  different  varieties  ;  it  looks  like 
the  Mulberry  tree,  attains  a  great  height, 
and  has  a  hard  wood.  The  gum  which  is 
obtained  from  it  is  the  gum  arabic."  [De- 
scriptive Geography  and  Historical  Sketch  of 
Palestine,  p.  308,  Leeser's  translation.  Phila., 
1850.)  Schwarz  was  for  sixteen  years  a 
resident  of  Palestine,  and  wrote  from  per- 
sonal observation.  The  testimony  of  Lynch 
and  Schwarz  should,  therefore,  forever  settle 
the  question  of  the  existence  of  the  acacia 
in  Palestine. 

The  acacia,  which,  in  Scripture,  is  always 
called  ShiJah,  and  in  the  plural  Shittim, 
was  esteemed  a  sacred  wood  among  the  He- 
brews. Of  it  Moses  was  ordered  to  make 
the  tabernacle,  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  the 
table  for  the  shewbread,  and  the  rest  of  the 


sacred  furniture.  Isaiah,  in  recounting  the 
promises  of  God's  mercy  to  the  Israelites 
on  their  return  from  the  captivity,  tells 
them  that,  among  other  things,  he  will 
plant  in  the  wilderness,  for  their  relief  and 
refreshment,  the  cedar,  the  acacia,  (or,  as  it 
is  rendered  in  our  common  version,  the 
shittah,)  the  fir,  and  other  trees. 

The  first  thing,  then,  that  we  notice  in 
this  symbol  of  the  acacia,  is  that  it  had 
been  always  consecrated  from  among  the 
other  trees  of  the  forest  by  the  sacred  pur- 
poses to  which  it  was  devoted.  By  the 
Jew,  the  tree  from  whose  wood  the  sanc- 
tuary of  the  tabernacle  and  the  holy  ark 
had  been  constructed  would  ever  be  viewed 
as  more  sacred  than  ordinary  trees.  The 
early  Masons,  therefore,  very  naturally  ap- 
propriated this  hallowed  plant  to  the 
equally  sacred  purpose  of  a  symbol,  which 
was  to  teach  an  important  divine  truth  in 
all  ages  to  come. 

Having  thus  briefly  disposed  of  the  natu- 
ral history  of  this  plant,  we  may  now  pro- 
ceed to  examine  it  in  its  symbolic  relations. 

First.  The  acacia,  in  the  mythic  system 
of  Freemasonry,  is  preeminently  the  sym- 
bol Of  the  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL  — 

that  important  doctrine  which  it  is  the 
great  design  of  the  Institution  to  teach. 
As  the  evanescent  nature  of  the  flower, 
which  "  cometh  forth  and  is  cut  down," 
reminds  us  of  the  transitory  nature  of 
human  life,  so  the  perpetual  renovation  of 
the  evergreen  plant,  which  uninterruptedly 
presents  the  appearance  of  youth  and  vigor, 
is  aptly  compared  to  that  spiritual  life  in 
which  the  soul,  freed  from  the  corruptible 
companionship  of  the  body,  shall  enjoy  an 
eternal  spring  and  an  immortal  youth. 
Hence,  in  the  impressive  funeral  service 
of  our  Order,  it  is  said  that  "  this  evergreen 
is  an  emblem  of  our  faith  in  the  immortal- 
ity of  the  soul.  By  this  we  are  reminded 
that  we  have  an  immortal  part  within  us, 
which  shall  survive  the  grave,  and  which 
shall  never,  never,  never  die."  And  again, 
in  the  closing  sentences  of  the  monitorial 
lecture  of  the  third  degree,  the  same  senti- 
ment is  repeated,  and  we  are  told  that  by 
"  the  ever-green  and  ever-living  sprig  "  the 
Mason  is  strengthened  "  with  confidence 
and  composure  to  look  forward  to  a  blessed 
immortality."  Such  an  interpretation  of 
the  symbol  is  an  easy  and  a  natural  one ; 
it  suggests  itself  at  once  to  the  least  reflec- 
tive mind ;  and  consequently,  in  some  one 
form  or  another,  is  to  be  found  existing  in 
all  ages  and  nations.  It  was  an  ancient 
custom,  —  which  is  not,  even  now,  alto- 
gether disused,  —  for  mourners  to  carry  in 
their  hands  at  funerals  a  sprig  of  some  ever- 
green, generally  the  cedar  or  the  cypress,  and 
to  deposit  it  in  the  grave  of  the  deceased. 


8 


ACACIA 


ACACIA 


According  to  Dalcho,*  the  Hebrews  always 
planted  a  sprig  of  the  acacia  at  the  head 
of  the  grave  of  a  departed  friend.  Potter 
tells  us  that  the  ancient  Greeks  "  had  a 
custom  of  bedecking  tombs  with  herbs  and 
flowers."  f  All  sorts  of  purple  and  white 
flowers  were  acceptable  to  the  dead,  but 
principally  the  amaranth  and  the  myrtle. 
The  very  name  of  the  former  of  these 
plants,  which  signifies  "  never  fading," 
would  seem  to  indicate  the  true  symbolic 
meaning  of  the  usage,  although  archaeolo- 
gists have  generally  supposed  it  to  be  sim- 
ply an  exhibition  of  love  on  the  part  of 
the  survivors.  Ragon  says,  that  the  an- 
cients substituted  the  acacia  for  all  other 
plants  because  they  believed  it  to  be  incor- 
ruptible, and  not  liable  to  injury  from  the 
attacks  of  any  kind  of  insect  or  other  ani- 
mal—  thus  symbolizing  the  incorruptible 
nature  of  the  soul. 

Hence  we  see  the  propriety  of  placing 
the  sprig  of  acacia,  as  an  emblem  of  im- 
mortality, among  the  symbols  of  that  de- 
gree, all  of  whose  ceremonies  are  intended 
to  teach  us  the  great  truth  that  "  the  life 
of  man,  regulated  by  morality,  faith,  and 
justice,  will  be  rewarded  at  its  closing 
hour  by  the  prospect  of  Eternal  Bliss."  % 
So,  therefore,  says  Dr.  Oliver,  when  the 
Master  Mason  exclaims  "  my  name  is  Aca- 
cia," it  is  equivalent  to  saying,  "  I  have 
been  in  the  grave  —  I  have  triumphed  over 
it  by  rising  from  the  dead  —  and  being  re- 
generated in  the  process,  I  have  a  claim  to 
life  everlasting." 

The  sprig  of  acacia,  then,  in  its  most 
ordinary  signification,  presents  itself  to  the 
Master  Mason  as  a  symbol  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  being  intended  to  remind 
him,  by  its  evergreen  and  unchanging  na- 


*  "  This  custom  among  the  Hebrews  arose 
from  this  circumstance.  Agreeably  to  their 
laws,  no  dead  bodies  were  allowed  to  be  interred 
within  the  walls  of  the  city ;  and  as  the  Cohens, 
or  Priests,  were  prohibited  from  crossing  a  grave, 
it  was  necessary  to  place  marks  thereon,  that 
they  might  avoid  them.  For  this  purpose  the 
acacia  was  used."  (DalchOj  Oration,  p.  27,  note.) 
I  object  to  the  reason  assigned  by  Dalcho,  but 
of  the  existence  of  the  custom  there  can  be  no 
question,  notwithstanding  the  denial  or  doubt 
of  Dr.  Oliver.  Blount  ( Travels  in  the  Levant, 
p.  197,)  says,  speaking  of  the  Jewish  burial  cus- 
toms, "  those  who  bestow  a  marble  stone  over 
any  [grave]  have  a  hole  a  yard  long  and  a  foot 
broaa,  in  which  they  plant  an  evergreen,  which 
seems  to  grow  from  the  body  and  is  carefully 
watched."  Hasselquist  (Travels,  p.  28,)  confirms 
his  testimony.  I  borrow  the  citations  from 
Brown,  (Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  vol.  ii.,  p.  356,) 
but  have  verified  the  reference  to  Hasselquist. 
The  work  of  Blount  I  have  not  been  enabled  to 
consult. 

t  Antiquities  of  Greece,  p.  569. 

X  Dr.  Crucefix,  MS.  quoted  by  Oliver.  Land- 
marks, ii.  2. 


ture,  of  that  better  and  spiritual  part  with- 
in us,  which,  as  an  emanation  from  the 
Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe,  can  never 
die.  And  as  this  is  the  most  ordinary,  the 
most  generally  accepted  signification,  so 
also  is  it  the  most  important;  for  thus,  as 
the  peculiar  symbol  of  immortality,  it  be- 
comes the  most  appropriate  to  an  Order 
all  of  whose  teachings  are  intended  to  in- 
culcate the  great  lesson  that  "life  rises  out 
of  the  grave."  But  incidental  to  this  the 
acacia  has  two  other  interpretations  which 
are  well  worthy  of  investigation. 

Secondly,  then,  the  acacia  is  a  symbol  of 
innocence.  The  symbolism  here  is  of  a 
peculiar  and  unusual  character,  depending 
not  on  any  real  analogy  in  the  form  or  use 
of  the  symbol  to  the  idea  symbolized,  but 
simply  on  a  double  or  compound  meaning 
of  the  word.  For  anaicia,  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, signifies  both  the  plant  in  question 
and  the  moral  quality  of  innocence  or 
purity  of  "life.  In  this  sense  the  symbol 
refers,  primarily,  to  him  over  whose  soli- 
tary grave  the  acacia  was  planted,  and 
whose  virtuous  conduct,  whose  integrity  of 
life  and  fidelity  to  his  trusts  have  ever  been 
presented  as  patterns  to  the  craft,  and  con- 
sequently to  all  Master  Masons,  who,  by 
this  interpretation  of  the  symbol,  are  in- 
vited to  emulate  his  example. 

Hutchinson,  indulging  in  his  favorite 
theory  of  Christianizing  Masonry,  when  he 
comes  to  this  signification  of  the  symbol, 
thus  enlarges  on  the  interpretation :  "  We 
Masons,  describing  the  deplorable  estate  of 
religion  under  the  Jewish  law,  speak  in 
figures: — 'Her  tomb  was  in  the  rubbish 
and  filth  cast  forth  of  the  temple,  and  Aca- 
cia wove  its  branches  over  her  monument ; ' 
akakia  being  the  Greek  word  for  innocence, 
or  being  free  from  sin ;  implying  that  the 
sins  and  corruptions  of  the  old  law  and 
devotees  of  the  Jewish  altar  had  hid  reli- 
gion from  those  who  sought  her,  and  she 
was  only  to  be  found  where  innocence  sur- 
vived, and  under  the  banner  of  the  divine 
Lamb ;  and  as  to  ourselves,  professing  that 
we  were  to  be  distinguished  by  our  Acacy, 
or  as  true  Acacians  in  our  religious  faith 
and  tenets."  * 

But,  lastly,  the  acacia  is  to  be  considered 
as  the  symbol  of  initiation.  This  is  by- 
far  the  most  interesting  of  its  interpreta- 
tions, and  was,  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  the  primary  and  original;  the 
others  being  but  incidental.  It  leads  us  at 
once  to  the  investigation  of  the  significant 
fact  that  in  all  the  ancient  initiations  and 
religious  mysteries  there  was  some  plant 
peculiar  to  each,  which  was  consecrated  by 
its  own  esoteric  meaning,  and  which  occu- 


*  Hutchinson's  Spirit  of  Masonry,  Lect.  IX., 


ACACIAN 


ACADEMY 


pied  an  important  position  in  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  rites,  so  that  the  plant,  what- 
ever it  might  be,  from  its  constant  and 
prominent  use  in  the  ceremonies  of  initia- 
tion, came  at  length  to  be  adopted  as  the 
symbol  of  that  initiation. 

Thus,  the  lettuce  was  the  sacred  plant 
which  assumed  the  place  of  the  acacia  in 
the  mysteries  of  Adonis.  (See  Lettuce.) 
The  lotus  was  that  of  the  Brahminical  rites 
of  India,  and  from  them  adopted  by  the 
Egyptians.  (See  Lotus.)  The  Egyptians 
also  revered  the  erica  or  heath ;  and  the 
mistletoe  was  a  mystical  plant  among  the 
Druids.  (See  Erica  and  Mistletoe.)  And, 
lastly,  the  myrtle  performed  the  same  office 
of  symbolism  in  the  mysteries  of  Greece 
that  the  lotus  did  in  Egypt  or  the  mistle- 
toe among  the  Druids.     See  Myrtle. 

In  all  of  these  ancient  mysteries,  while 
the  sacred  plant  was  a  symbol  of  initiation, 
the  initiation  itself  was  symbolic  of  the 
resurrection  to  a  future  life,  and  of  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul.  In  this  view,  Free- 
masonry is  to  us  now  in  the  place  of  the 
ancient  initiations,  and  the  acacia  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  lotus,  the  erica,  the  ivy,  the 
mistletoe,  and  the  myrtle.  The  lesson  of 
wisdom  is  the  same  —  the  medium  of  im- 
parting it  is  all  that  has  been  changed. 

Returning,  then,  to  the  acacia,  we  find 
that  it  is  capable  of  three  explanations. 
It  is  a  symbol  of  immortality,  of  innocence, 
and  of  initiation.  But  these  three  signifi- 
cations are  closely  connected,  and  that 
connection  must  be  observed,  if  we  desire 
to  obtain  a  just  interpretation  of  the  sym- 
bol. Thus,  in  this  one  symbol,  we  are 
taught  that  in  the  initiation  of  life,  of 
which  the  initiation  in  the  third  degree  is 
simply  emblematic,  innocence  must  for  a 
time  lie  in  the  grave,  at  length,  however, 
to  be  called,  by  the  word  of  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Universe,  to  a  blissful  im- 
mortality. Combine  with  this  the  recol- 
lection of  the  place  where  the  sprig  of  aca- 
cia was  planted, — Mount  Calvary,  —  the 
place  of  sepulture  of  him  who  "  brought 
life  and  immortality  to  light,"  and  who,  in 
Christian  Masonry,  is  designated,  as  he  is 
in  Scripture,  as  "the  lion  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah;"  and  remember,  too,  that  in  the 
mystery  of  his  death,  the  wood  of  the  cross 
takes  the  place  of  the  acacia,  and  in  this 
little  and  apparently  insignificant  symbol, 
but  which  is  really  and  truly  the  most  im- 
portant and  significant  one  in  Masonic 
science,  we  have  a  beautiful  suggestion  of 
all  the  mysteries  of  life  and  death,  of  time 
and  eternity,  of  the  present  and  of  the 
future. 

Acacian.  A  word  introduced  by 
Hutchinson,  in  his  "  Spirit  of  Masonry," 
to  designate  a  Freemason  in  reference  to 
B 


the  akakia,  or  innocence  with  which  he  was 
to  be  distinguished,  from  the  Greek  word 
anemia.  (See  the  preceding  article.)  The 
Acacians  constituted  an  heretical  sect  in 
the  primitive  Christian  Church,  who  de- 
rived their  name  from  Acacius,  Bishop  of 
Csesarea;  and  there  was  subsequently  an- 
other sect  of  the  same  name  Acacius, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  But  it  is 
needless  to  say  that  the  Hutchinsonian 
application  of  the  word  Acacian  to  signify 
a  Freemason  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
theological  reference  of  the  term. 

Academy.  The  4th  degree  of  the 
Rectified  Rose  Croix  of  Schroeder. 

Academy  of  Ancients  or  of  Se- 
crets. (Academie  des  Secrets.)  A  society 
instituted  at  Warsaw,  in  1767,  by  M.  Thoux 
de  Salverte,  and  founded  on  the  principles 
of  another  which  bore  the  same  name,  and 
which  had  been  established  at  Rome,  about 
the  end  of  the  16th  century,  by  John  Bap- 
tiste  Porta.  The  object  of  the  institution 
was  the  advancement  of  the  natural  sci- 
ences and  their  application  to  the  occult 
philosophy. 

Academy  of  Sages.  An  order  which 
existed  in  Sweden  in  1770,  deriving  its 
origin  from  that  founded  in  London  by 
Elias  Ashmole,  on  the  doctrines  of  the 
New  Atlantis  of  Bacon.  A  few  similar 
societies  were  subsequently  founded  in 
Russia  and  France,  one  especially  noted 
by  Thory  [Act.  Lat.)  as  having  been  estab- 
lished in  1776  by  the  mother  Lodge  of 
Avignon. 

Academy  of  Secrets.  See  Acad- 
emy of  Ancients. 

Academy  of  Sublime  Masters 
of  the  Luminous  King.  Founded 
in  France,  in  1780,  by  Baron  Blaerfindy, 
one  of  the  Grand  Officers  of  the  Philo- 
sophic Scotch  Rite.  The  Academy  of  the 
Luminous  Ring  was  dedicated  to  the  phil- 
osophy of  Pythagoras,  and  was  divided 
into  three  degrees.  The  first  and  second 
were  principally  occupied  with  the  history 
of  Freemasonry,  and  the  last  with  the 
dogmas  of  the  Pythagorean  school,  and 
their  application  to  the  highest  grades  of 
science.  The  historical  hypothesis  which 
was  sought  to  be  developed  in  this  Acad- 
emy was  that  Pythagoras  was  the  founder 
of  Freemasonry. 

Academy  of  True  Masons. 
Founded  at  Montpelier,  in  France,  by  Dom 
Pernetty,  in  1778,  and  occupied  with  in- 
structions in  hermetic  science,  which  were 
developed  in  six  degrees,  viz. :  1.  The  True 
Mason ;  2.  The  True  Mason  in  the  Right 
Way ;  3.  Knight  of  the  Golden  Key ;  4. 
Knight  of  Iris;  5.  Knight  of  the  Argo- 
nauts; 6.  Knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece. 
The  degrees  thus  conferred  constituted  the 


10 


ACADEMY 


ACCEPTED 


Philosophic  Scotch  Rite,  which  was  the 
system  adopted  by  the  Academy.  It  after- 
wards changed  its  name  to  that  of  Russo- 
Swedish  Academy,  which  circumstance 
leads  Thory  to  believe  that  it  was  con- 
nected with  the  Alchemical  Chapters  which 
at  that  time  existed  in  Russia  and  Sweden. 
The  entirely  hermetic  character  of  the 
Academy  of  True  Masons  may  readily  be 
perceived  in  a  few  paragraphs  cited  by 
Clavel  from  a  discourse  by  Goyer  de  Ju- 
milly  at  the  installation  of  an  Academy  in 
Martinico.  "To  seize,"  says  the  orator, 
"  the  Yencil  of  Hermes ;  to  engrave  the 
doctrines  of  natural  philosophy  on  your 
columns ;  to  call  Flamel,  the  Philaletes, 
the  Cosmopolite,  and  our  other  masters  to 
my  aid  for  the  purpose  of  unveiling  the 
mysterious  principles  of  the  occult  sci- 
ences,—  these,  illustrious  knights,  appear 
to  be  the  duties  imposed  on  me  by  the  cere- 
mony of  your  installation.  The  fountain 
of  Count  Trevisan,  the  pontifical  water, 
the  peacock's  tail,  are  phenomena  with 
which  you  are  familiar,"  etc.,  etc. 

Academy,  Platonic.  Founded  in 
1480  by  Marsilius  Ficinus,  at  Florence, 
under  the  patronage  of  Lorenzo  de  Medi- 
cis.  It  is  said  by  the  Masons  of  Tuscany 
to  have  been  a  secret  society,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  have  had  a  Masonic  character, 
because  in  the  hall  where  its  members  held 
their  meetings,  and  which  still  remains, 
many  Masonic  symbols  are  to  be  found. 
Clavel  supposes  it  to  have  been  a  society 
founded  by  some  of  the  honorary  members 
and  patrons  of  the  fraternity  of  Freema- 
sons who  existed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
who,  having  abandoned  the  material  design 
of  the  institution,  confined  themselves  to 
its  mystic  character.  If  his  suggestion  be 
correct,  this  is  one  of  the  earliest  instances 
of  the  separation  of  speculative  from  oper- 
ative Masonry. 

Acanthus.  A  plant,  described  by 
Dioscorides,  with  broad,  flexible,  prickly 
leaves,  which  perish  in  the  winter  and 
sprout  again  at  the  return  of  spring.  It 
is  found  in  the  Grecian  islands  on  the  bor- 
ders of  cultivated  fields  or  gardens,  and  is 
common  in  moist,  rocky  situations.  It  is 
memorable  for  the  tradition  which  assigns 
to  it  the  origin  of  the  foliage  carved  on  the 
capitals  of  Corinthian  and  composite  col- 
umns. Hence,  in  architecture,  that  part 
of  the  Corinthian  capital  is  called  the 
Acanthus  which  is  situated  below  the  aba- 
cus, and  which,  having  the  form  of  a  vase 
or  bell,  is  surrounded  by  two  rows  of 
leaves  of  the  acanthus  plant.  Callima- 
chus,  who  invented  this  ornament,  is  said 
to  have  had  the  idea  suggested  to  him  by 
the  following  incident.  A  Corinthian 
maiden,  who  was  betrothed,  fell  ill,  and 


died  just  before  the  appointed  time  of  her 
marriage.  Her  faithful  and  grieving  nurse 
placed  on  her  tomb  a  basket  containing 
many  of  her  toys  and  jewels,  and  covered 
it  with  a  flat  tile.  It  so  happened  that  the 
basket  was  placed  immediately  over  an 
acanthus  root,  which  afterwards  grew  up 
around  the  basket  and  curled  over  under 
the  superincumbent  resistance  of  the  tile, 
thus  exhibiting  a  form  of  foliage  which 
was,  on  its  being  seen  by  the  architect, 
adopted  as  a  model  for  the  capital  of 
a  new  order  ;  so  that  the  story  of  affection 
was  perpetuated  in  marble.  Dudley  (Na- 
ology,  p.  1G4,)  thinks  the  tale  puerile,  and 
supposes  that  the  acanthus  is  really  the  lotus 
of  the  Indians  and  Egyptians,  and  is  sym- 
bolic of  laborious  but  effectual  effort  ap- 
Klied  to  the  support  of  the  world.  With 
im,  the  symbolism  of  the  acanthus  and 
the  lotus  are  identical.    See  Lotus. 

Accepted.  A  term  in  Freemasonry 
which  is  synonymous  with  "initiated"  or 
"  received  into  the  society."  Thus,  we  find 
in  the  Regulations  of  1663,  such  expres- 
sions as  these;  "No  person  who  shall 
hereafter  be  accepted  a  Freemason,  shall 
be  admitted  into  a  Lodge  or  assembly  until 
he  has  brought  a  certificate  of  the  time  and 
place  of  his  acceptation  from  the  Lodge  that 
accepted  him,  unto  the  Master  of  that  limit 
or  division  where  such  Lodge  is  kept."  The 
word  seems  to  have  been  first  used  in  1663, 
and  in  the  Regulations  of  that  year  is  con- 
stantly employed  in  the  place  of  the  olden 
term  "  made,"  as  equivalent  to  "  initiated." 
This  is  especially  evident  in  the  6th  Regu- 
lation, which  says,  "  that  no  person  shall 
be  accepted  unless  he  be  twenty-one  years 
old  or  more ; "  where  accepted  clearly  means 
initiated.  As  the  word  was  introduced  in 
1663,  its  use  seems  also  to  have  soon  ceased, 
for  it  is  not  found  in  any  subsequent  docu- 
ments until  1738;  neither  in  the  Regula- 
tions of  1721,  nor  in  the  Charges  approved 
in  1722 ;  except  once  in  the  latter,  where 
"  laborers  ana  unaccepted  Masons "  are 
spoken  of  as  distinguished  from  and  in- 
ferior to  "Freemasons."  In  the  Regula- 
tions of  1721,  the  words  "made,"  "en- 
tered," or  "admitted,"  are  constantly 
employed  in  its  stead.  But  in  1738,  An- 
derson, who,  in  publishing  the  2d  edition  of 
the  Book  of  Constitutions,  made  many 
verbal  alterations  which  seem  subsequently 
to  have  been  disapproved  of  by  the  Grand 
Lodge,  (see  Book  of  Constitutions,)  again  in- 
troduced the  word  accepted.  Thus,  in  the 
5th  of  the  Regulations  of  1721,  which  in  the 
edition  of  1723  read  as  follows :  "  But  no 
man  can  be  made  or  admitted  a  member  of 
a  particular  Lodge,"  etc.,  he  changed  the 
phraseology  so  as  to  make  the  article  read : 
No  man  can  be  accepted  a  member  of  a 


ACCLAMATION 


ACHAD 


11 


particular  Lodge,"  etc.  And  so  attached 
does  he  appear  to  have  become  to  this  word, 
that  he  changed  the  very  name  of  the  Order, 
by  altering  the  title  of  the  work,  which,  in 
the  edition  of  1723,  was  "The  Constitutions 
of  the  Freemasons,"  to  that  of  "  The  Con- 
stitutions of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Society  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons." 
Although  many  of  the  innovations  of  the 
edition  of  1738  of  the  Book  of  Constitutions 
were  subsequently  repudiated  by  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  omitted  in  succeeding  editions, 
the  title  of  "  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  " 
was  retained,  and  is  now  more  generally 
used  than  the  older  and  simpler  one  of 
"Freemasons,"  to  distinguish  the  society. 
(See  Free  and  Accepted  Masons.)  The  word 
accepted,  however,  as  a  synonym  of  initiated, 
has  now  become  obsolete.  The  modern 
idea  of  an  accepted  Mason  is  that  he  is  one 
distinguished  from  a  purely  operative  or 
stone-mason,  who  has  not  been  admitted  to 
the  freedom  of  the  company ;  an  idea  evi- 
dently intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  use 
of  the  word  in  the  Charges  of  1722,  already 
quoted. 

Acclamation.  A  certain  form  of 
words  used  in  connection  with  the  battery. 
In  the  Scottish  rite  it  is  hoschea;  in  the 
French,  vivat;  and  in  the  rite  of  Misraim, 
hallelujah.  In  the  York,  it  is  so  mote  it  be. 
Accolade.  From  the  Latin  ad  and 
collum,  around  the  neck.  It  is  generally 
but  incorrectly  supposed  that  the  accolade 
means  the  blow  given  on  the  neck  of  a 
newly  created  knight  with  the  flat  of  the 
sword.  The  best  authorities  define  it  to  be 
the  embrace,  accompanied  with  the  kiss 
of  peace,  by  which  the  new  knight  was  at 
his  creation  welcomed  into  the  Order  of 
Knighthood  by  the  sovereign  or  lord  who 
created  him.    See  the  word  Knighthood. 

Accord.  We  get  this  word  from  the 
two  Latin  ones  ad  cor,  to  the  heart,  and 
hence  it  means  hearty  consent.  Thus  in 
Wiclif 's  translation  we  find  the  phrase  in 
Philippians,  which  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion is  "  with  one  accord,"  rendered  "  with 
one  will,  with  one  heart."  Such  is  its  sig- 
nification in  the  Masonic  formula,  "  free 
will  and  accord,"  that  is  "  free  will  and 
hearty  consent."  See  Free  Will  and  Accord. 
Accusation.  See  Charge. 
Accuser.  In  every  trial  in  a  Lodge  for 
an  offence  against  the  laws  and  regulations 
or  the  principles  of  Masonry  any  Master 
Mason  may  be  the  accuser  of  another,  but  a 
profane  cannot  be  permitted  to  prefer 
charges  against  a  Mason.  Yet,  if  circum- 
stances are  known  to  a  profane  upon  which 
charges  ought  to  be  predicated,  a  Master 
Mason  may  avail  himself  of  that  informa- 
tion, and  out  of  it  frame  an  accusation  to 
be  presented  to  the  Lodge.      And  such 


accusation  will  be  received  and  investigated, 
although  remotely  derived  from  one  who  is 
not  a  member  of  the  Order. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  accuser 
should  be  a  member  of  the  same  Lodge.  It 

sufficient  if  he  is  an  affiliated  Mason; 


but  it  is  generally  held  that  an  unaffiliated 
Mason  is  no  more  competent  to  prefer 
charges  than  a  profane. 

In  consequence  of  the  Junior  Warden 
being  placed  over  the  Craft  during  the  hours 
of  refreshment,  and  of  his  being  charged 
at  the  time  of  his  installation  to  see  "  that 
none  of  the  Craft  be  suffered  to  convert  the 
purposes  of  refreshment  into  those  of  in- 
temperance and  excess,"  it  has  been  very 
generally  supposed  that  it  is  his  duty,  as 
the  prosecuting  officer  of  the  Lodge,  to 
prefer  charges  against  any  member  who, 
by  his  conduct,  has  made  himself  amenable 
to  the  penal  jurisdiction  of  the  Lodge.  I 
know  of  no  ancient  regulation  which  im- 
poses this  unpleasant  duty  upon  the  Junior 
Warden;  but  it  does  seem  to  be  a  very 
natural  deduction,  from  his  peculiar  pre- 
rogative as  the  custos  morum  or  guardian 
of  the  conduct  of  the  Craft,  that  in  all 
cases  of  violation  of  the  law  he  should, 
after  due  efforts  towards  producing  a  re- 
form, be  the  proper  officer  to  bring  the 
conduct  of  the  offending  brother  to  the 
notice  of  the  Lodge. 

Aceldama,  from  the  Syro-Chaldaic, 
meaning  field  of  blood,  so  called  because  it 
was  purchased  by  Judas  Iscariot  with  the 
blooa-money  which  he  received  for  betray- 
ing his  Lord.  It  is  situated  on  the  slope 
of  the  hills  beyond  the  valley  of  Hinnom 
and  to  the  south  of  Mount  Zion.  The 
earth  there  was  believed,  by  early  writers, 
to  have  possessed  a  corrosive  quality,  by 
means  of  which  bodies  deposited  in  it  were 
quickly  consumed ;  and  hence  it  was  used 
by  the  Crusaders,  then  by  the  Knights 
Hospitallers,  and  afterwards  by  the  Arme- 
nians, as  a  place  of  sepulture,  and  the 
Empress  Helen  is  said  to  have  built  a 
charnel-house  in  its  midst.  Dr.  Kobinson 
[Biblical  Researches,  i.,  p.  524,)  says  that  the 
field  is  not  now  marked  by  any  boundary 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  rest  of  the  field, 
and  the  former  charnel-house  is  now  a 
ruin.  The  field  of  Aceldama  is  referred  to 
in  the  ritual  of  the  Knights  Templars. 

Acerellos,  R.  S.  A  nom  de  plume 
assumed  by  Carl  Koessler,  a  German  Ma- 
sonic writer.     See  Roessler. 

Achad.  One  of  the  names  of  God. 
The  word  "IflX*  Achad,  in  Hebrew  signi- 
fies one  or  unity.  It  has  been  adopted  by 
the  Masons  as  one  of  the  appellations  of 
the  Deity  from  that  passage  in  Deuter- 
onomy (vi.  4) :  "  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord 
thy  God  is  ( Achad)  one ; "  and  which  the 


12 


ACHARON 


ACQUITTAL 


Jewa  wear  on  their  phylacteries,  and  pro- 
nounce with  great  fervor  as  a  confession  of 
their  faith  in  the  unity  of  God.  Speaking 
of  God  as  Achad,  the  Rabbins  say,  "  God 
is  one  (Achad)  and  man  is  one  (Achad). 
Man,  however,  is  not  purely  one,  because 
he  is  made  up  of  elements  and  has  another 
like  himself;  but  the  oneness  of  God  is  a 
oneness  that  has  no  boundary." 

Acharon  Scliilton.  In  Hebrew 
JC375P  JtTJX,  signifying  the  new  kingdom. 
Significant  words  in  some  of  the  high 
degrees. 

Achias.  A  corruption  of  the  Hebrew 
Achijah,  the  brother  of  Jah ;  a  significant 
word  in  some  of  the  high  degrees. 

Acliishar.  Mentioned  in  1  Kings  (iv. 
6)  under  the  name  of  Ahishar,  and  there 
described  as  being  "  over  the  household " 
of  King  Solomon.  This  was  a  situation 
of  great  importance  in  the  East,  and  equiv- 
alent to  the  modern  office  of  Chamberlain. 
The  Steward  in  a  Council  of  Select  Masters 
is  said  to  represent  Achishar. 

Achtariel.  A  kabbalistic  name  of  God 
belonging  to  the  Crown  or  first  of  the  ten 
sephiroth ;  and  hence  signifying  the  Crown 
or  God. 

Acknowledged.  When  one  is  ini- 
tiated into  the  degree  of  Most  Excellent 
Master,  he  is  technically  said  to  be  "re- 
ceived and  acknowledged  "as  a  Most  Ex- 
cellent Master.  This  expression  refers  to 
the  tradition  of  the  degree  which  states 
that  when  the  Temple  had  been  completed 
and  dedicated,  King  Solomon  received  and 
acknowledged  the  most  expert  of  the  crafts- 
men as  most  excellent  Masters.  That  is, 
he  received  them  into  the  exalted  rank  of 
perfect  and  acknowledged  workmen,  and 
acknowledged  their  right  to  that  title.  The 
verb  to  acknowledge  here  means  to  own  or 
admit  to  belong  to,  as  to  acknowledge  a 
son. 

Aconsmatici.  The  primary  class  of 
the  disciples  of  Pythagoras,  who  served  a 
five  years'  probation  of  silence,  and  were 
hence  called  acousmatici  or  hearers.  Ac- 
cording to  Porphyry,  they  received  only 
the  elements  of  intellectual  and  moral  in- 
struction, and,  after  the  expiration  of  their 
term  of  probation,  they  were  advanced 
to  the  rank  of  Mathematici.  See  Pythag- 
oras. 

Acquittal.  Under  this  head  it  may 
be  proper  to  discuss  two  questions  of  Ma- 
sonic law.  1.  Can  a  Mason,  having  been 
acquitted  by  the  courts  of  the  country  of 
an  offence  with  which  he  has  been  charged, 
be  tried  by  his  Lodge  for  the  same  offence? 
And,  2.  Can  a  Mason,  having  been  acquitted 
by  his  Lodge  on  insufficient  evidence,  be 
subjected,  on  the  discovery  and  production 
of  new  and  more  complete  evidence,  to  a 


second  trial  for  the  same  offence?  To  both 
of  these  questions  the  correct  answer  would 
seem  to  be  in  the  affirmative. 

1.  An  acquittal  of  a  crime  by  a  temporal 
court  does  not  relieve  a  Mason  from  an 
inquisition  into  the  same  offence  by  his 
Lodge;  for  acquittals  may  be  the  result  of 
some  technicality  of  law,  or  other  cause, 
where,  although  the  party  is  relieved  from 
legal  punishment,  his  guilt  is  still  manifest 
in  the  eyes  of  the  community ;  and  if  the 
Order  were  to  be  controlled  by  the  action 
of  the  courts,  the  character  of  the  Institu- 
tion might  be  injuriously  affected  by  its 
permitting  a  man,  who  had  escaped  without 
honor  from  the  punishment  of  the  law,  to 
remain  a  member  of  the  Fraternity.  In 
the  language  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Texas, 
"  an  acquittal  by  a  jury,  while  it  may,  and 
should,  in  some  circumstances,  have  its  in- 
fluence in  deciding  on  the  course  to  be 
pursued,  yet  has  no  binding  force  in  Ma- 
sonry. We  decide  on  our  own  rules,  and 
our  own  view  of  the  facts."  (Proc.  G.  L. 
Tex.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  273.) 

2.  To  come  to  a  correct  apprehension  of 
the  second  question,  we  must  remember 
that  it  is  a  long-settled  principle  of  Ma- 
sonic law,  that  every  offence  which  a  Mason 
commits  is  an  injury  to  the  whole  Frater- 
nity, inasmuch  as  that  the  bad  conduct  of 
a  single  member  reflects  discredit  on  the 
whole  Institution.  This  is  a  very  old  and 
well-established  principle  of  the  Institu- 
tion; and  hence  we  find  the  old  Gothic 
Constitutions  declaring  that  "a  Mason  shall 
harbor  no  thief  or  thief's  retainer,"  and 
assigning  as  a  reason,  "  lest  the  Craft  should 
come  to  shame."  The  safety  of  the  Insti- 
tution requires  that  no  evil-disposed  mem- 
ber should  be  tolerated  with  impunity  in 
bringing  disgrace  on  the  Craft.  And,  there- 
fore, although  it  is  a  well-known  maxim 
of  the  common  law  —  nemo  debet  bis  puniri 
pro  uno  delicto  —  that  is,  "that  no  one 
should  be  twice  placed  in  peril  of  punish- 
ment for  the  same  crime ; "  yet  we  must 
also  remember  that  other  and  fundamental 
maxim  —  sains  populi  suprema  lex — which 
may,  in  its  application  to  Masonry,  be  well 
translated:  "the  well-being  of  the  Order 
is  the  first  great  law."  To  this  everything 
else  must  yield ;  and,  therefore,  if  a  mem- 
ber, having  been  accused  of  a  heinous  of- 
fence and  tried,  shall,  on  his  trial,  for  want 
of  sufficient  evidence,  be  acquitted,  or,  being 
convicted,  shall,  for  the  same  reason,  be 
punished  by  an  inadequate  penalty  —  and 
if  he  shall  thus  be  permitted  to  remain  in 
the  Institution  with  the  stigma  of  the 
crime  upon  him,  "  whereby  the  Craft  comes 
to  shame ; "  then,  if  new  and  more  suffi- 
cient evidence  shall  be  subsequently  dis- 
covered, it  is  just  and  right  that  a  new 


ACTA 


ADAM 


13 


trial  shall  be  had,  so  that  he  may,  on  this 
newer  evidence,  receive  that  punishment 
which  will  vindicate  the  reputation  of  the 
Order.  No  technicalities  of  law,  no  plea 
of  autrefois  acquit,  nor  mere  verbal  excep- 
tion, should  be  allowed  for  the  escape  of  a 
guilty  member ;  for  so  long  as  he  lives  in 
the  Order,  every  man  is  subject  to  its  disci- 
pline. A  hundred  wrongful  acquittals  of 
a  bad  member,  who  still  bears  with  him  the 
reproach  of  his  evil  life,  can  never  dis- 
charge the  Order  from  its  paramount  duty 
of  protecting  its  own  good  fame  and  re- 
moving the  delinquent  member  from  its 
fold.  To  this  great  duty  all  private  and 
individual  rights  and  privileges  must  suc- 
cumb, for  the  well-being  of  the  Order  is  the 
first  great,  law  in  Masonry. 

Acta.  Latoinorum,  ou  Chronologie 
de  l'histoire  de  la  Franche-Maconnerie 
franchise  et  etrangere,  etc.  Tnat  is: 
"The  Acts  of  the  Freemasons,  or  a  chrono- 
logical history  of  French  and  Foreign 
Freemasonry,  etc."  This  work,  written  or 
compiled  by  Claude  Antoine  Thory,  was 

fublished  at  Paris,  in  2  vols.,  8vo,  in  1815. 
t  contains  the  most  remarkable  facts  in 
the  history  of  the  Institution  from  obscure 
times  to  the  year  1814;  the  succession  of 
Grand  Masters,  a  nomenclature  of  rites, 
degrees,  and  secret  associations  in  all  the 
countries  of  the  world,  and  a  bibliography 
of  the  principal  works  on  Freemasonry 
published  since  1723,  with  a  supplement  in 
which  the  author  has  collected  a  variety  of 
rare  and  important  Masonic  documents. 
Of  this  work,  which  has  never  been  trans- 
lated into  English,  Lenning  says,  (Encycl. 
der  Freimauverei)  that  it  is,  without  dis- 
pute, the  most  scientific  work  on  Freema- 
sonry that  French  literature  has  ever  pro- 
duced. It  must,  however,  be  confessed 
that  in  the  historical  portion  Thory  has 
committed  many  errors  in  respect  to  Eng- 
lish and  American  Freemasonry,  and  there- 
fore, if  ever  translated,  the  work  will  re- 
quire much  emendation.    See  Thory. 

Acting  Grand  Master.  The  Duke 
of  Cumberland  having  in  April,  1752,  been 
elected  Grand  Master  of  England,  it  was 
resolved  by  the  Grand  Lodge,  in  compli- 
ment to  him,  that  he  should  have  the  privi- 
lege of  nominating  a  peer  of  the  realm  as 
Acting  Grand  Master,  who  should  be  em- 
powered to  superintend  the  Society  in  his 
absence;  and  that  at  any  future  period, 
when  the  fraternity  should  have  a  prince 
of  the  blood  at  their  head,  the  same  privi- 
lege should  be  granted.  The  officer  thus 
provided  to  be  appointed  is  now  called, 
in  the  Constitutions  of  England,  the  Pro 
Grand  Master. 

In  the  American  system,  the  officer  who 
performs  the  duties   of  Grand  Master  in 


case  of  the  removal,  death,  or  inability  of 
that  officer,  is  known  as  the  Acting  Grand 
Master.  For  the  regulations  which  pre- 
scribe the  proper  person  to  perform  these 
duties  see  the  words  Succession  to  Office. 

Active  Lodge.  A  Lodge  is  said  to 
be  active  when  it  is  neither  dormant  nor 
suspended,  but  regularly  meets  and  is  occu- 
pied in  the  labors  of  Masonry. 

Active  Member.  An  active  mem- 
ber of  a  Lodge  is  one  who,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  an  honorary  member,  assumes 
all  the  burdens  of  membership,  such  as 
contributions,  arrears,  and  participation  in 
its  labors,  and  is  invested  with  all  the 
rights  of  membership,  such  as  speaking, 
voting,  and  holding  office. 

Actual  Past  Masters.  Those  who 
receive  the  degree  of  Past  Master  in  sym- 
bolic Lodges,  as  a  part  of  the  installation 
service,  when  elected  to  preside,  are  called 
" Actual  Past  Masters,"  to  distinguish  them 
from  those  who  pass  through  the  ceremony 
in  a  Chapter,  as  simply  preparatory  to 
taking  the  Royal  Arch,  and  who  are  dis- 
tinguished as  "  Virtual  Past  Masters."  See 
Past  Master. 

Adad.  The  name  of  the  principal  god 
among  the  Syrians,  and  who,  as  represent- 
ing the  sun,  had,  according  to  Macrobius, 
(Saturnal.,  i.  23,)  an  image  surrounded  by 
rays.  Macrobius,  however,  is  wrong,  as 
Selden  has  shown  (De  Diis  Syris,  i.  6),  in 
confounding  Adad  with  the  Hebrew  Achad, 
or  one  —  a  name,  from  its  signification  of 
unity,  applied  to  the  Grand  Architect  of 
the  Universe.  The  error  of  Macrobius, 
however,  has  been  perpetuated  by  the  in- 
ventors of  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry, 
who  have  incorporated  Adad,  as  a  name  of 
God,  among  their  significant  words. 

Adam.  The  name  of  the  first  man. 
The  Hebrew  word  Qltf,  ADaM,  signifies 
man  in  a  generic  sense,  the  human  species 
collectively,  and  is  said  to  be  derived  from 
HOIN,  ADaMaH,  the  ground,  because 
the  first  man  was  made  out  of  the  dust  of 
the  earth,  or  from  ADaM,  to  be  red,  in 
reference  to  his  ruddy  complexion.  It  is 
most  probably  in  this  collective  sense,  as 
the  representative  of  the  whole  human 
race,  and,  therefore,  the  type  of  humanity, 
that  the  presiding  officer  in  a  Council  of 
Knights  of  the  Sun,  the  28th  degree  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite, 
is  called  Father  Adam,  and  is  occupied 
in  the  investigation  of  the  great  truths 
which  so  much  concern  the  interests  of 
the  race.  Adam,  in  that  degree,  is  man 
seeking  after  divine  truth.  The  Kabbalists 
and  Talmudists  have  invented  many  things 
concerning  the  first  Adam,  none  of  which 
are,  however,  worthy  of  preservation.  See 
Knight  of  the  Sun. 


14 


ADAMS 


ADDRESSES 


Adams,  John  Quincy,  the  sixth 
President  of  the  United  States,  who  served 
from  1825  to  1829.  Mr.  Adams,  who  has 
been  very  properly  described  as  "  a  man  of 
strong  points  and  weak  ones,  of  vast  read- 
ing and  wonderful  memory,  of  great  cre- 
dulity and  strong  prejudices,"  became  noto- 
rious in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  for  his 
virulent  opposition  to  Freemasonry.  The 
writer  already  quoted,  and  who  had  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  of  seeing  intimately 
the  workings  of  the  spirit  of  anti-Masonry, 
says  of  Mr.  Adams:  "He  hated  Freema- 
sonry, as  he  did  many  other  things,  not 
from  any  harm  that  he  had  received  from 
it  or  personally  knew  respecting  it,  but 
because  his  credulity  had  been  wrought 
upon  and  his  prejudices  excited  against  it 
by  dishonest  and  selfish  politicians,  who 
were  anxious,  at  any  sacrifice  to  him,  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  influence  of  his 
commanding  talents  and  position  in  public 
life  to  sustain  them  in  the  disreputable 
work  in  which  they  were  enlisted.  In  his 
weakness,  he  lent  himself  to  them.  He 
united  his  energies  to  theirs  in  an  imprac- 
ticable and  unworthy  cause."  (C.  W.  Moore, 
Freemason's  Mag.,  vol.  vii.,  p.  314.)  The  re- 
sult was  a  series  of  letters  abusive  of  Free- 
masonry, directed  to  leading  politicians, 
and  published  in  the  public  journals  from 
1831  to  1833.  A  year  before  his  death  they 
were  collected  and  published  under  the 
title  of  "Letters  on  the  Masonic  Institu- 
tion, by  John  Quincy  Adams."  Boston, 
1847,  8vo,  pp.  284.  Some  explanation 
of  the  cause  of  the  virulence  with  which 
Mr.  Adams  attacked  the  Masonic  Insti- 
tution in  these  letters  may  be  found  in 
the  following  paragraph  contained  in  an 
anti-Masonic  work  written  by  one  Henry 
Gassett,  and  affixed  to  his  "  Catalogue  of 
Books  on  the  Masonic  Institution."  (Bos- 
ton, 1852.)  "It  had  been  asserted  in  a 
newspaper  in  Boston,  edited  by  a  Masonic 
dignitary,  that  John  Q.  Adams  was  a  Ma- 
son. In  answer  to  an  inquiry  from  a  per- 
son in  New  York  State,  whether  he  was 
so,  Mr.  Adams  replied  that  'he  was  not, 
and  never  should  be.'  These  few  words, 
undoubtedly,  prevented  his  election  a  second 
term  as  President  of  the  United  States.  His 
competitor,  Andrew  Jackson,  a  Freemason, 
was  elected."  Whether  the  statement  con- 
tained in  the  italicized  words  be  true  or 
not,  is  not  the  question.  It  is  sufficient 
that  Mr.  Adams  was  led  to  believe  it,  and 
hence  his  ill-will  to  an  association  which 
had,  as  he  supposed,  inflicted  this  political 
evil  on  him,  and  baffled  his  ambitious  views. 

Adar.  Hebrew,  TIN ;  the  sixth  month 
of  the  civil  and  the  twelfth  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical year  of  the  Jews.  It  corresponds 
to  a  part  of  February  and  of  March. 


Adarel.  Angel  of  Fire.  Referred  to  in 
the  Hermetic  degree  of  Knight  of  the  Sun. 
Probably  from  T?X,  Adr,  splendor,  and 
Sx,  El,  God,  i.  e.  the  splendor  of  God  or 
Divine  splendor. 

Addresses,  Masonic.  Dr.  Oliver, 
speaking  of  the  Masonic  discourses  which 
began  to  be  published  soon  after  the  re- 
organization of  Masonry,  in  the  commence- 
ment of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  which 
he  thinks  were  instigated  by  the  attacks 
made  on  the  Order,  to  which  they  were  in- 
tended to  be  replies,  says :  "  Charges  and 
addresses  were  therefore  delivered  by  breth- 
ren in  authority  on  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  Order,  and  they  were  printed 
to  show  that  its  morality  was  sound,  and 
not  in  the  slightest  degree  repugnant  to  the 
precepts  of  our  most  holy  religion.  These 
were  of  sufficient  merit  to  insure  a  wide 
circulation  among  the  Fraternity,  from 
whence  they  spread  into  the  world  at  large, 
and  proved  decisive  in  fixing  the  credit  of 
the  Institution  for  solemnities  of  character 
and  a  taste  for  serious  and  profitable  inves- 
tigations." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  ad- 
dresses, periodically  delivered  and  widely 
published,  have  continued  to  exert  an  ex- 
cellent effect  in  behalf  of  the  Institution, 
by  explaining  and  defending  the  principles 
on  which  it  is  founded. 

The  first  Masonic  address  of  which  we 
have  any  notice  was  delivered  on  the  24th 
of  June,  1719,  before  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  by  the  celebrated  John  Theophi- 
lus  Desaguliers,  LL.  D.  and  F.  R.  S.  The 
Book  of  OonstUutwns,  under  that  date, 
says  "  Bro.  Desaguliers  made  an  eloquent 
oration  about  Masons  and  Masonry."  Dr. 
Oliver  states  that  this  address  was  issued 
in  a  printed  form,  but  no  copy  of  it  now 
remains  —  at  least  it  has  escaped  the  re- 
searches of  the  most  diligent  Masonic 
bibliographers. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  1725,  Martin 
Folkes,  then  Deputy  Grand  Master,  de- 
livered an  address  before  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  which  is  cited  in  the  Free- 
mason's Pocket  Companion  for  1759,  but 
no  entire  copy  of  the  address  is  now 
extant. 

The  third  Masonic  address  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge  is  one  entitled,  "A 
Speech  delivered  to  the  Worshipful  and 
Ancient  Society  of  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons, at  a  Grand  Lodge  held  at  Merchants' 
Hall,  in  the  city  of  York,  on  St.  John's 
Day,  Dec.  27,  1726,  the  Right  Worshipful 
Charles  Bathurst,  Esq.,  Grand  Master.  By 
the  Junior  Grand  Warden.  Olim  meminisse 
juvabit.  York :  Printed  by  Thomas  Gent, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Lodge."  It  was 
again  published  at  London  in  1729,  in 


ADDRESSES 


ADEPT 


15 


Benj.  Cole's  edition  of  the  Ancient  Consti- 
tutions, and  has  been  subsequently  re- 
printed in  1858  in  the  London  Freemason's 
Magazine,  from  which  it  was  copied  in  C. 
W.  Moore's  Freemason's  Magazine,  pub- 
lished at  Boston,  Mass.  This  is,  therefore, 
the  earliest  Masonic  address  to  which  we 
have  access.  It  contains  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  history  of  Masonry,  written  as  Masonic 
history  was  then  written.  It  is,  however, 
remarkable  for  advancing  the  claim  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  York  to  a  superiority  over 
that  of  London. 

The  fourth  Masonic  address  of  whose 
existence  we  have  any  knowledge  is  "A 
Speech  delivered  at  a  Lodge  held  at  the 
Carpenters'  Arms  the  31st  of  December, 
1728,  by  Edw.  Oakley,  late  Provincial 
Senior  Grand  Warden  in  Carmarthen." 
This  speech  was  reprinted  by  Cole  at  Lon- 
don in  1751. 

America  has  the  honor  of  presenting  the 
next  attempt  at  Masonic  oratory.  The 
fifth  address,  and  the  first  American,  which 
is  extant,  is  one  delivered  in  Boston,  Mass., 
on  June  24th,  1734.  It  is  entitled  "A  Dis- 
sertation upon  Masonry,  delivered  to  a 
Lodge  in  America,  June  24th,  1734.  Christ's 
Regm."  It  was  discovered  by  Bro.  C.  W. 
Moore  in  the  archives  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Massachusetts,  and  published  by  him  in 
his  magazine  in  1849.  This  address  is  well 
written,  and  of  a  symbolic  character,  as 
the  author  allegorizes  the  Lodge  as  a  type 
of  heaven. 

And,  sixthly,  we  have  "An  Address  made 
to  the  body  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons 
assembled  at  a  Quarterly  Communication, 
held  near  Temple  Bar,  December  11,  1735, 
by  Martin  Clare,  Junior  Grand  Warden." 
Martin  Clare  was  distinguished  in  his 
times  as  a  Mason.  He  had  been  authorized 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  to  revise  the  lectures, 
which  task  he  performed  with  great  satis- 
faction to  the  Craft.  This  address,  which 
Dr.  Oliver  has  inserted  in  his  Golden  Re- 
mains, has  been  considered  of  value  enough 
to  be  translated  into  the  French  and  Ger- 
man languages. 

After  this  period,  Masonic  addresses 
rapidly  multiplied,  so  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  record  their  titles  or  even  the 
names  of  their  authors. 

What  Martial  says  of  his  own  epigrams, 
that  some  were  good,  some  bad,  and  a  great 
many  middling,  may,  with  equal  propriety 
and  justice,  be  said  of  Masonic  addresses. 
Of  the  thousands  that  have  been  delivered, 
many  have  been  worth  neither  printing 
nor  preservation. 

One  thing,  however,  is  to  be  remarked : 
that  within  a  few  years  the  literary  char- 
acter of  these  productions  has  greatly  im- 
proved.    Formerly,  a  Masonic  address  on 


some  festival  occasion  of  the  Order  was 
little  more  than  a  homily  on  brotherly  love 
or  some  other  Masonic  virtue.    Often  the 
orator  was  a  clergyman,  selected  by  the 
Lodge  on  account  of  his  moral  character 
or  his  professional  ability.    These  clergy- 
men were  frequently  among  the  youngest 
members  of  the  Lodge,  and  men  who  had 
no  opportunity  to  study  the  esoteric  con- 
struction of  Masonry.     In  such  cases  we 
will  find  that  the  addresses  were  generally 
neither  more  nor  less  than  sermons  under 
another   name.      They  contain    excellent 
general  axioms  of  conduct,  and  sometimes 
encomiums  on  the  laudable  design  of  our 
Institution.     But  we  look  in  vain  in  them 
for  any  ideas  which  refer  to  the  history  or 
to  the  occult  philosophy  of  Masonry.  They 
accept  the  definition  that  "  Freemasonry  is 
a  science  of  morality,  veiled  in  allegory 
and  illustrated  by  symbols,"  only  in  part. 
They  expatiate  on  the  science  of  morality, 
but  they  say  nothing  of  the  symbols  or  the 
allegories.     But,  as  I   have  already  said, 
there   has  been  an  evident  improvement 
within  a  few  years,  in  this  country  especi- 
ally, for  the  reform  has  not  equally  ex- 
tended to  England.     Many  of  the  addresses 
now  delivered  are  of  a  higher  order  of  Ma- 
sonic literature.    The  subjects  of  Masonic 
history,  of  the  origin  of  the  Institution,  of 
its  gradual  development  from  an  operative 
art  to  a  speculative  science,  of  its  symbols, 
and  of  its  peculiar  features  which  distin- 
guish it  from  all  other  associations,  have 
been  ably  discussed  in  many  recent  Ma- 
sonic addresses,  and  thus  have  the  efforts  to 
entertain  an  audience  for  an  hour  become 
notonly  the  means  of  interesting  instruction 
to  the  hearers,  but  also  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  the  literature  of  Freemasonry. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  Masonic  addresses 
should  be  written.  All  platitudes  and  old 
truisms  should  be  avoided;  sermonizing, 
which  is  good  in  its  place,  is  out  of  place 
here.  No  one  should  undertake  to  deliver 
a  Masonic  address  unless  he  knows  some- 
thing of  the  subject  on  which  he  is  about 
to  speak,  and  unless  he  is  capable  of  say- 
ing what  will  make  every  Mason  who  hears 
him  a  wiser  as  well  as  a  better  man,  or  at 
least  what  will  afford  him  the  opportunity 
of  becoming  so. 

Adclpll.  Greek  for  a  Brother.  The 
fourth  degree  of  the  order  of  the  Palladium. 
Reghellini  says  that  there  exists  in  the 
Masonic  archives  of  Douai  the  ritual  of  a 
Masonic  Society,  called  Adelphs,  which  has 
been  communicated  to  the  Grand  Orient, 
but  which  he  thinks  is  the  same  as  the 
Primitive  Rite  of  Narbonne. 

Adept.  One  fully  skilled  or  well 
versed  in  any  art;  from  the  Latin  word 
"  Adeptus,"   having  obtained,  because  the 


16 


ADEPT 


ADJOURNMENT 


Adept  claimed  to  be  in  the  possession  of 
all  the  secrets  of  his  peculiar  mystery.  The 
Alchemists  or  Hermetic  philosophers  as- 
sumed the  title  of  Adepts.  (See  Alchemy.) 
Of  the  Hermetic  Adepts,  who  were  also 
sometimes  called  Rosicrucians,  Spencethus 
writes,  in  1740,  to  his  mother:  "Have  you 
ever  heard  of  the  people  called  Adepts? 
They  are  a  set  of  philosophers  superior  to 
whatever  appeared  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  The  three  great  points  they 
drive  at,  is  to  be  free  from  poverty,  distem- 
pers, and  death  ;  and,  if  you  believe  them, 
they  have  found  out  one  secret  that  is  ca- 
pable of  freeing  them  from  all  three.  There 
are  never  more  than  twelve  of  these  men 
in  the  whole  world  at  a  time ;  and  we  have 
the  happiness  of  having  one  of  the  twelve 
at  this  time  in  Turin.  I  am  very  well  ac- 
quainted with  him,  and  have  often  talked 
with  him  of  their  secrets,  as  far  as  he  is 
allowed  to  talk  to  a  common  mortal  of 
them."  (Spence's  Letter  to  his  Mother,  in 
Singer' 8  Anecdotes,  p.  403.)  In  a  similar 
allusion  to  the  possession  of  abstruse  knowl- 
edge, the  word  is  applied  to  some  of  the 
high  degrees  of  Masonry. 

Adept,  Prince.  One  of  the  names 
of  the  28th  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Rite.  (See  Knight  of  the  Sun.) 
It  was  the  23d  degree  of  the  System  of 
the  Chapter  of  Emperors  of  the  East  and 
West  of  Clermont. 

Adept,  the.  A  hermetic  degree  of 
the  collection  of  A.  Viany.  It  is  also  the 
4th  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Relaxed  Observ- 
ance, and  the  1st  of  the  high  degrees  of 
the  Rite  of  Elects  of  Truth.  "  It  has  much 
analogy,"  says  Thory,  "with  the  degree  of 
Knight  of  the  Sun  in  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Rite."  It  is  also  called  "  Chaos  dis- 
entangled." 

Adeptus  Adoptatus.  The  7th  de- 
gree of  the  Rite  of  Zinnendorf,  consisting  of 
a  kind  of  chemical  and  pharmaceutical  in- 
struction. 

Adeptus  Coronatus.  Called  also 
Templar  Master  of  the  Key.  The  7th  degree 
of  the  Swedish  Rite,  (which  see.) 

Adept iw  Exemptus.  The  7th  de- 
gree of  the  system  adopted  by  those  Ger- 
man Rosicrucians  who  were  known  as  the 
"Gold-und  Rosenkreutzer,"  or  the  Gold 
and  Rosy  Cross,  and  whom  Lenning  sup- 
poses to  have  been  the  first  who  engrafted 
Rosicrucianism  on  Masonry. 

Adhering  Mason.  Those  Masons 
who,  during  the  anti-Masonic  excitement 
in  this  country,  on  account  of  the  supposed 
abduction  of  Morgan,  refused  to  leave  their 
Lodges  and  renounce  Masonry,  were  so 
called.  They  embraced  among  their  num- 
ber some  of  the  wisest,  best,  and  most  in- 
fluential men  of  the  country. 


Adjournment.  C.  W.  Moore  {Free- 
masons' Mag.,  xii.,  p.  290,)  says :  "  We  sup- 
pose it  to  be  generally  conceded  that  Lodges 
cannot  properly  be  adjourned.  It  has  been 
so  decided  by  a  large  proportion  of  the 
Grand  Lodges  in  this  country,  and  tacitly, 
at  least,  concurred  in  by  all.  We  are  not 
aware  that  there  is  a  dissenting  voice  among 
them.  It  is,  therefore,  safe  to  assume  that 
the  settled  policy  is  against  adjournment." 
The  reason  which  he  assigns  for  this  rule, 
is  that  adjournment  is  a  method  used  only 
in  deliberative  bodies,  such  as  legislatures 
and  courts,  and  as  Lodges  do  not  partake 
of  the  character  of  either  of  these,  adjourn- 
ments are  not  applicable  to  them.  The 
rule  which  Bro.  Moore  lays  down  is  un- 
doubtedly correct,  but  the  reason  which  he 
assigns  for  it  is  not  sufficient.  If  a  Lodge 
were  permitted  to  adjourn  by  the  vote  of  a 
majority  of  its  members,  the  control  of  the 
labor  would  be  placed  in  their  hands.  But 
according  to  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Masonic 
system,  the  Master  alone  controls  and 
directs  the  hours  of  labor.  In  the  5th  of 
the  Old  Charges,  approved  in  1722,  it  is 
declared  that  "  All  Masons  employed  shall 
meekly  receive  their  wages  without  mur- 
muring or  mutiny,  and  not  desert  the  Master 
till  the  work  is  finished."  Now  as  the  Master 
alone  can  know  when  "  the  work  is  fin- 
ished," the  selection  of  the  time  of  closing 
must  be  vested  in  him.  He  is  the  sole 
judge  of  the  proper  period  at  which  the 
labors  of  the  Lodge  should  be  terminated, 
and  he  may  suspend  business  even  in  the 
middle  of  a  debate,  if  he  supposes  that  it 
is  expedient  to  close  the  Lodge.  Hence  no 
motion  for  adjournment  can  ever  be  ad- 
mitted in  a  Masonic  Lodge.  Such  a  motion 
would  be  an  interference  with  the  preroga- 
tive of  the  Master,  and  could  not  therefore 
be  entertained. 

This  prerogative  of  opening  and  closing 
his  Lodge  is  necessarily  vested  in  the  Mas- 
ter, because,  by  the  nature  of  our  Institu- 
tion, he  is  responsible  to  the  Grand  Lodge 
for  the  good  conduct  of  the  body  over 
which  he  presides.  He  is  charged,  in  those 
questions  to  which  he  is  required  to  give  his 
assent  at  his  installation,  to  hold  the  Land- 
marks in  veneration,  and  to  conform  to 
every  edict  of  the  Grand  Lodge ;  and  for 
any  violation  of  the  one  or  disobedience  of 
the  other  by  the  Lodge,  in  his  presence,  he 
would  be  answerable  to  the  supreme  Ma- 
sonic authority.  Hence  the  necessity  that 
an  arbitrary  power  should  be  conferred 
upon  him,  by  the  exercise  of  which  he  may 
at  any  time  be  enabled  to  prevent  the  adop- 
tion of  resolutions,  or  the  commission  of  any 
act  which  would  be  subversive  of,  or  contrary 
to,  those  ancient  laws  and  usages  which  he 
has  sworn  to  maintain  and  preserve. 


ADMIRATION 


ADONAI 


17 


Admiration,  Sign  of.  A  mode  of 
recognition  alluded  to  in  the  Most  Excel- 
lent Master's  degree,  or  the  Gth  of  the  Amer- 
ican Rite.  Its  introduction  in  that  place  is 
referred  to  a  Masonic  legend  in  connection 
with  the  visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to 
King  Solomon,  and  which  states  that, 
moved  by  the  wide-spread  reputation  of 
the  Israelitish  monarch,  she  had  repaired 
to  Jerusalem  to  inspect  the  magnificent 
works  of  which  she  had  heard  so  many 
encomiums.  Upon  arriving  there,  and  be- 
holding for  the  first  time  the  Temple,  which 
glittered  with  gold,  and  which  was  so  ac- 
curately adjusted  in  all  its  parts  as  to  seem 
to  be  composed  of  but  a  single  piece  of 
marble,  she  raised  her  hands  and  eyes  to 
heaven  in  an  attitude  of  admiration,  and 
at  the  same  time  exclaimed,  "  Rabboni  I " 
equivalent  to  saying,  "  A  most  excellent 
master  hath  done  this !  "  This  action  has 
since  been  perpetuated  in  the  ceremonies 
of  the  degree  of  Most  Excellent  Master. 
The  legend  is,  however,  no  doubt  apocry- 
phal, and  is  really  to  be  considered  only  as 
allegorical,  like  so  many  other  of  the  le- 
gends of  Masonry.    See  Sheba,  Queen  of. 

Admission.  Although  the  Old 
Charges,  approved  in  1722,  use  the  word 
admitted  as  applicable  to  those  who  are 
initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  Freema- 
sonry, yet  the  General  Regulations  of  1721 
employ  the  term  admission  in  a  sense  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  initiation.  By  the  word 
making  they  imply  the  reception  of  a  pro- 
fane into  the  Order,  but  by  admission  they 
designate  the  election  of  a  Mason  into  a 
Lodge.  Thus  we  find  such  expressions  as 
these  clearly  indicating  a  difference  in  the 
meaning  of  the  two  words.  In  Reg.  v.  — 
"  No  man  can  be  made  or  admitted  a  Ma- 
son of  a  particular  Lodge."  In  Reg.  vi.  — 
"  But  no  man  can  be  entered  a  brother  in 
any  particular  Lodge,  or  admitted  to  be  a 
member  thereof."  And  more  distinctly  in 
Reg.  viii.  —  "  No  set  or  number  of  brethren 
shall  withdraw  or  separate  themselves  from 
the  Lodge  in  which  they  were  made  breth- 
ren or  were  afterwards  admitted  members." 
This  distinction  has  not  always  been  rig- 
idly preserved  by  recent  writers ;  but  it  is 
evident  that,  correctly  speaking,  we  should 
always  say  of  a  profane  who  has  been  ini- 
tiated that  he  has  been  made  a  Mason,  and 
of  a  Mason  who  has  been  affiliated  with  a 
Lodge,  that  he  has  been  admitted  a  mem- 
ber. The  true  definition  of  admission  is, 
then,  the  reception  of  an  unaffiliated  bro- 
ther into  membership.  See  Affiliation. 

Admonition.  According  to  the  ethics 
of  Freemasonry,  it  is  made  a  duty  obliga- 
tory upon  every  member  of  the  Order  to 
conceal  the  faults  of  a  brother,  —  that  is, 
not  to  blazon  forlfe  his  errors  and  infirmi- 


ties, —  to  let  them  be  learned  by  the  world 
from  some  other  tongue  than  his,  and  to 
admonish  him  of  them  in  private.  So 
there  is  another  but  a  like  duty  of  obliga- 
tion, which  instructs  him  to  whisper  good 
counsel  in  his  brother's  ear  and  to  warn 
him  of  approaching  danger.  And  this 
refers  not  more  to  the  danger  that  is  with- 
out and  around  him  than  to  that  which  is 
within  him ; '  not  more  to  the  peril  that 
springs  from  the  concealed  foe  who  would 
waylay  him  and  covertly  injure  him,  than 
to  that  deeper  peril  of  those  faults  and  in- 
firmities which  lie  within  his  own  heart, 
and  which,  if  not  timely  crushed  by  good 
and  earnest  resolution  of  amendment,  will, 
like  the  ungrateful  serpent  in  the  fable, 
become  warm  with  life  only  to  sting  the 
bosom  that  has  nourished  them. 

Admonition  of  a  brother's  fault  is,  then, 
the  duty  of  every  mason,  and  no  true  one 
will,  for  either  fear  or  favor,  neglect  its 
performance.  But  as  the  duty  is  Masonic, 
so  is  there  a  Masonic  way  in  which  that 
duty  should  be  discharged.  We  must  ad- 
monish not  with  self-sufficient  pride  in  our 
own  reputed  goodness  —  not  in  imperious 
tones,  as  though  we  looked  down  in  scorn 
upon  the  degraded  offender — not  in  lan- 
guage that,  by  its  harshness,  will  wound 
rather  than  win,  will  irritate  more  than  it 
will  reform  ;  but  with  that  persuasive  gen- 
tleness that  gains  the  heart  —  with  the 
all-subduing  influences  of  "  mercy  unre- 
strained "  —  with  the  magic  might  of  love 
—  with  the  language  and  the  accents  of 
affection,  which  mingle  grave  displeasure 
for  the  offence  with  grief  and  pity  for  the 
offender. 

This,  and  this  alone,  is  Masonic  admo- 
nition. I  am  not  to  rebuke  my  brother  in 
anger,  for  I  too  have  my  faults,  and  I  dare 
not  draw  around  me  the  folds  of  my  gar- 
ment lest  they  should  be  polluted  by  my 
neighbor's  touch ;  but  I  am  to  admonish 
in  private,  not  before  the  world,  for  that 
would  degrade  him ;  and  I  am  to  warn  him, 
perhaps  from  my  own  example,  how  vice 
ever  should  be  followed  by  sorrow,  for  that 
goodly  sorrow  leads  to  repentance,  and  re- 
pentance to  amendment,  and  amendment 
to  joy. 

Adonai.  In  Hebrew  *  J1X,  being  the 
plural  of  excellence  for  Adon,  and  signify- 
ing the  Lord.  The  Jews,  who  reverently 
avoided  the  pronunciation  of  the  sacred 
name  Jehovah,  were  accustomed,  when- 
ever that  name  occurred,  to  substitute  for 
it  the  word  Adonai  in  reading.  As  to  the 
use  of  the  plural  form  instead  of  the  sin- 
gular, the  Rabbins  say,  "  Every  word  indic- 
ative of  dominion,  though  singular  in 
meaning,  is  made  plural  in  form."  This  is 
called  the  "pluralis  excellentiae."     The 


18 


ADONHIRAM 


ADONHIRAMITE 


Talmudists  also  say,  (Buxtroff,  Lex.  Talm.,) 
that  the  telragrammaton  is  called  Shem 
hamphorash,  the  name  that  is  explained, 
because  it  is  explained,  uttered,  and  set 
forth  by  the  word  Adonai.  (See  Jehovah 
and  Shem  Hamphorash.)  Adonai  is  used 
as  a  significant  word  in  several  of  the  high 
degrees  of  Masonry,  and  may  almost  always 
be  considered  as  allusive  to  or  symbolic 
of  the  True  Word. 

Adonhiram.  This  has  been  adopted 
by  the  disciples  of  Adonhiramite  Masonry 
as  the  spelling  of  the  name  of  the  person 
known  in  Scripture  and  in  other  Masonic 
systems  as  Adoniram,  (which  see.)  They 
correctly  derive  the  word  from  the  Hebrew 
Adon  and  hiram,  signifying  the  master  who 
is  exalted,  which  is  the  true  meaning  of 
Adoniram,  the  |"T  or  h  being  omitted  in  the 
Hebrew  by  the  coalescence  of  the  two 
words.  Hiram  Abif  has  also  sometimes 
been  called  Adonhiram,  the  Adon  having 
been  bestowed  on  him  by  Solomon,  it  is 
said,  as  a  title  of  honor. 

Adonhiramite  Masonry.  Of  the 
numerous  controversies  which  arose  from 
the  middle  to  near  the  end  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  espe- 
cially in  France,  among  the  students  of 
Masonic  philosophy,  and  which  so  fre- 
quently resulted  in  the  invention  of  new 
degrees  and  the  establishment  of  new  rites, 
not  the  least  prominent  was  that  which  re- 
lated to  the  person  and  character  of  the 
Temple  builder.  The  question,  Who  was 
the  architect  of  King  Solomon's  Temple  ? 
was  answered  differently  by  different  the- 
orists, and  each  answer  gave  rise  to  a  new 
system,  a  fact  by  no  means  surprising  in 
those  times,  so  fertile  in  the  production  of 
new  Masonic  systems.  The  general  theory 
was  then,  as  it  is  now,  that  this  architect 
was  Hiram  Abif,  the  widow's  son,  who  had 
been  sent  to  King  Solomon  by  Hiram,  King 
of  Tyre,  as  a  precious  gift,  and  "  a  curious 
and  cunning  workman."  This  theory  was 
sustained  by  the  statements  of  the  Jewish 
Scriptures,  so  far  as  they  threw  any  light 
on  the  Masonic  legend.  It  was  the  theory 
of  the  English  Masons  from  the  earliest 
times ;  was  enunciated  as  historically  cor- 
rect in  the  first  edition  of  the  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions, published  in  1723 ;  has  continued 
ever  since  to  be  the  opinion  of  all  English 
and  American  Masons ;  and  is,  at  this  day, 
the  only  theory  entertained  by  any  Mason 
in  the  two  countries  who  has  a  theory  at  all 
on  the  subject.  This,  therefore,  is  the  ortho- 
dox faith  of  Masonry. 

But  such  was  not  the  case,  in  the  last 
century,  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  At 
first,  the  controversy  arose  not  as  to  the 
man  himself,  but  as  to  his  proper  appella- 
tion.    All  parties  agreed  that  the  architect 


of  the  Temple  was  that  Hiram,  the  widow's 
son,  who  is  described  in  the  first  Book  of 
Kings,  chapter  vii.,  verses  13  and  14,  and  in 
the  second  Book  of  Chronicles,  chapter  ii., 
verses  13  and  14,  as  having  come  out  of 
Tyre  with  the  other  workmen  of  the  Temple 
who  had  been  sent  by  King  Hiram  to  Solo- 
mon. But  one  party  called  him  Hiram 
Abif,  and  the  other,  admitting  that  his  orig- 
inal name  was  Hiram,  supposed  that,  in 
consequence  of  the  skill  he  had  displayed  in 
the  construction  of  the  Temple,  he  had  re- 
ceived the  honorable  affix  of  Adon,  signify- 
ing Lord  or  Master,  whence  his  name 
became  Adonhiram. 

There  was,  however,  at  the  Temple  an- 
other Adoniram,  of  whom  it  will  be  neces- 
sary in  passing  to  say  a  few  words,  for  the 
better  understanding  of  the  present  sub- 
ject. 

The  first  notice  that  we  have  of  this 
Adoniram  in  Scripture  is  in  the  2d  Book 
of  Samuel,  chapter  xx.,  verse  24,  where,  in 
the  abbreviated  form  of  his  name,  Adoram, 
he  is  said  to  have  been  "  over  the  tribute  " 
in  the  house  of  David;  or,  as  Gesenius 
translates  it,  "  prefect  over  the  tribute  ser- 
vice," or,  as  we  might  say  in  modern  phrase, 
principal  collector  of  the  taxes. 

Seven  years  afterwards,  we  find  him  ex- 
ercising the  same  office  in  the  household 
of  Solomon ;  for  it  is  said  in  1  Kings  iv. 
6,  that  Adoniram,  "the  son  of  Abda,  was 
over  the  tribute."  And  lastly,  we  hear  of 
him  still  occupying  the  same  station  in  the 
household  of  King  Behoboam,  the  succes- 
sor of  Solomon.  Forty-seven  years  after 
he  is  first  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Samuel, 
he  is  stated  (1  Kings  xii.  18)  to  have  been 
stoned  to  death,  while  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty,  by  the  people,  who  were  justly  in- 
dignant at  the  oppressions  of  his  master. 
Although  commentators  have  been  at  a  loss 
to  decide  whether  the  tax-receiver  under 
David,  under  Solomon,  and  under  Beho- 
boam was  the  same  person,  there  seems  to 
be  no  reason  to  doubt  it ;  for,  as  Kitto  says, 
(Encyc.  Bib.,)  "it  appears  very  unlikely 
that  even  two  persons  of  the  same  name 
should  successively  bear  the  same  office,  in 
an  age  when  no  example  occurs  of  the 
father's  name  being  given  to  his  son.  We 
find  also  that  not  more  than  forty-seven 
years  elapse  between  the  first  and  last- 
mentioned  of  the  Adoniram  who  was  '  over 
the  tribute ; '  and  as  this,  although  a  long 
term  of  service,  is  not  too  long  for  one  life, 
and  as  the  person  who  held  the  office  in  the 
beginning  of  Kehoboam's  reign  had  served 
in  it  long  enough  to  make  himself  odious 
to  the  people,  it  appears  on  the  whole  most 
probable  that  one  and  the  same  person  is 
intended  throughout." 

The  legends  and  traditions  of  Masonry 


ADONHIRAMITE 


ADONHIRAMITE 


19 


which  connect  this  Adoniram  with  the 
Temple  at  Jerusalem  derive  their  support 
from  a  single  passage  in  the  first  Book  of 
Kings  (chapter  v.  14),  where  it  is  said  that 
Solomon  made  a  levy  of  thirty  thousand 
workmen  from  among  the  Israelites ;  that 
he  sent  these  in  courses  of  ten  thousand  a 
month  to  labor  on  Mount  Lebanon,  and 
that  he  placed  Adoniram  over  these  as 
their  superintendent. 

The  ritual-makers  of  France,  who  were 
not  all  Hebrew  scholars,  nor  well  versed  in 
Biblical  history,  seem,  at  times,  to  have 
confounded  two  important  personages,  and 
to  have  lost  all  distinction  between  Hiram 
the  builder,  who  had  been  sent  from  the 
court  of  the  king  of  Tyre,  and  Adoniram, 
who  had  always  been  an  officer  in  the  court 
of  King  Solomon.  And  this  error  was  ex- 
tended and  facilitated  when  they  had  pre- 
fixed the  title  Adon,  that  is  to  say,  lord  or 
master,  to  the  name  of  the  former,  making 
him  Adon  Hiram,  or  the  Lord  Hiram. 

Thus,  in  the  year  1744,  one  Louis  Tra- 
venol  published  at  Paris,  under  the  pseu- 
donym of  Leonard  Gabanon,  a  work 
entitled,  Catechisme  des  Franc-  Macons, 
'precede  dlune  abrege  de  Vhistoire  d?  Adoram, 
etc.,  et  d'une  explication  des  ceremonies  qui 
8 'observant  a  lareception  des  Maltres,  etc.  In 
this  work  the  author  says :  "  Besides  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon,  Hiram  made  a  much 
more  valuable  gift  to  Solomon,  in  the  per- 
son of  Adonhiram,  of  his  own  race,  the  son 
of  a  widow  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali.  Hia 
father,  who  was  named  Hur,  was  an  excel- 
lent architect  and  worker  in  metals.  Solo- 
mon, knowing  his  virtues,  his  merit,  and 
his  talents,  distinguished  him  by  the  most 
eminent  position,  intrusting  to  him  the 
construction  of  the  Temple  and  the  super- 
intendence of  all  the  workmen." 

From  the  language  of  this  extract,  and 
from  the  reference  in  the  title  of  the  book 
to  Adoram,  which  we  know  was  one  of  the 
names  of  Solomon's  tax-collector,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  author  of  the  catechism  has 
confounded  Hiram  Abif,  who  came  out  of 
Tyre,  with  Adoniram,  the  son  of  Abda,  who 
had  always  lived  at  Jerusalem ;  that  is  to 
say,  with  unpardonable  ignorance  of  Scrip- 
ture history  and  Masonic  tradition,  he  has 
supposed  the  two  to  be  one  and  the  same 
person.  Notwithstanding  this  literary  blun- 
der, the  catechism  became  popular  with 
many  Masons  of  that  day,  and  thus  arose 
the  first  schism  or  error  in  relation  to  the 
legend  of  the  third  degree. 

At  length,  other  ritualists,  seeing  the  in- 
consistency of  referring  the  character  of 
Hiram,  the  widow's  son,  to  Adoniram,  the 
receiver  of  taxes,  and  the  impossibility  of 
reconciling  the  discordant  facts  in  the  life 
of  both,  resolved  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot 


by  refusing  any  Masonic  position  to  the 
former,  and  making  the  latter,  alone,  the 
architect  of  the  Temple.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  Josephus  states  that  Adoniram,  or,  as 
he  calls  him,  Adoram,  was,  at  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  labor,  placed  over  the  work- 
men who  prepared  the  materials  on  Mount 
Lebanon,  and  that  he  speaks  of  Hiram,  the 
widow's  son,  simply  as  a  skilful  artisan, 
especially  in  metals,  who  had  only  made  all 
the  mechanical  works  about  the  Temple 
according  to  the  will  of  Solomon.  This 
apparent  color  of  authority  for  their  opin- 
ions was  readily  claimed  by  the  Adoniram- 
ites,  and  hence  one  of  their  most  prominent 
ritualists,  Guillemain  de  St.  Victor,  (Bee. 
Prec.,)  propounds  their  theory  thus:  "  Weall 
agree  that  the  Master's  degree  is  founded  on 
the  architect  of  the  temple.  Now,  Scripture 
says  very  positively,  in  the  4th  verse  of  the 
5th  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Kings,  that  the 
person  was  Adonhiram.  Josephus  and  all 
the  sacred  writers  say  the  same  thing,  and 
undoubtedly  distinguish  him  from  Hiram 
the  Tyrian,  the  worker  in  metals.  So  that 
it  is  Adonhiram,  then,  whom  we  are  bound 
to  honor." 

There  were,  therefore,  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  from  about  the  middle  to  near  the 
end  of  it,  three  schools  among  the  Masonic 
ritualists,  the  members  of  which  were  di- 
vided in  opinion  as  to  the  proper  identity 
of  this  Temple  builder  : 

1 .  Those  who  supposed  him  to  be  Hiram, 
the  son  of  a  widow  of  the  tribe  of  Naph- 
tali, whom  the  king  of  Tyre  had  sent  to 
King  Solomon,  and  whom  they  designated 
as  Hiram  Abif.  This  was  the  original  and 
most  popular  school,  and  which  we  now 
suppose  to  have  been  the  orthodox  one. 

2.  Those  who  believed  this  Hiram  that 
came  out  of  Tyre  to  have  been  the  archi- 
tect, but  who  supposed  that,  in  consequence 
of  his  excellence  of  character,  Solomon 
had  bestowed  upon  him  the  appellation  of 
Adon,  "Lord"  or  "Master,"  calling  him 
Adonhiram.  As  this  theory  was  wholly 
unsustained  by  Scripture  history  or  pre- 
vious Masonic  tradition,  the  school  which 
supported  it  never  became  prominent  or 
popular,  and  soon  ceased  to  exist,  although 
the  error  on  which  it  is  based  is  repeated 
at  intervals  in  the  blunder  of  some  modern 
French  ritualists. 

3.  Those  who,  treating  this  Hiram,  the 
widow's  son,  as  a  subordinate  and  unimpor- 
tant character,  entirely  ignored  him  in  their 
ritual,  and  asserted  that  Adoram,  or  Adoni- 
ram, or  Adonhiram,  as  the  name  was  spelled 
by  these  ritualists,  the  son  of  Abda,  the 
collector  of  tribute  and  the  superintendent 
of  the  levy  on  Mount  Lebanon,  was  the 
true  architect  of  the  Temple,  and  the  one 
to  whom  all  the  legendary  incidents  of  the 


20 


ADONHIRAMITE 


ADONHIRAMITE 


third  degree  of  Masonry  were  to  be  re- 
ferred. This  school,  iu  consequence  of  the 
boldness  with  which,  unlike  the  second 
school,  it  refused  all  compromise  with  the 
orthodox  party  and  assumed  a  wholly  inde- 
pendent theory,  became,  for  a  time,  a  prom- 
inent schism  in  Masonry.  Its  disciples 
bestowed  upon  the  believers  in  Hiram 
Abif  the  name  of  Hiramite  Masons,  adopted 
as  their  own  distinctive  appellation  that 
of  Adonhiramites,  and,  having  developed 
the  system  which  they  practised  into  a  pe- 
culiar rite,  called  it  Adonhiramite  Masonry. 

Who  was  the  original  founder  of  the  rite 
of  Adonhiramite  Masonry,  and  at  what 
precise  time  it  was  first  established,  are 
questions  that  cannot  now  be  answered 
with  any  certainty.  Thory  does  not  at- 
tempt to  reply  to  either  in  his  Nomencla- 
ture of  Rites,  where,  if  anything  was  known 
on  the  subject,  we  would  be  most  likely  to 
find  it.  Ragon,  it  is  true,  in  his  Ortho- 
doxie  Maeonnique,  attributes  the  rite  to  the 
Baron  de  Tschoudy.  But  as  he  also  as- 
signs the  authorship  of  the  Receuil  Pre- 
cieux  (a  work  of  which  I  shall  directly 
speak  more  fully)  to  the  same  person,  in 
which  statement  he  is  known  to  be  mis- 
taken, there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  he 
is  wrong  in  the  former  as  well  as  in  the 
latter  opinion.  The  Chevalier  de  Lussy, 
better  known  as  the  Baron  de  Tschoudy, 
was,  it  is  true,  a  distinguished  ritualist. 
He  founded  the  Order  of  the  Blazing  Star, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  the  operations 
of  the  Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East 
and  West;  but  I  have  met  with  no  evi- 
dence, outside  of  Ragon's  assertion,  that 
he  established  or  had  anything  to  do  with 
the  Adonhiramite  rite. 

I  am  disposed  to  attribute  the  develop- 
ment into  a  settled  system,  if  not  the  actual 
creation,  of  the  rite  of  Adonhiramite  Ma- 
sonry to  Louis  Guillemain  de  St.  Victor, 
who  published  at  Paris,  in  the  year  1781, 
a  work  entitled  Receuil  Precieux  de  la  Ma- 
connerie  Adonhiramite,  etc. 

As  this  volume  contained  only  the  ritual 
of  the  first  four  degrees,  it  was  followed, 
in  1785,  by  another,  which  embraced  the 
higher  degrees  of  the  rite.  No  one  who 
peruses  these  volumes  can  fail  to  perceive 
that  the  author  writes  like  one  who  has 
invented,  or,  at  least,  materially  modified 
the  rite  which  is  the  subject  of  his  labors. 
At  all  events,  this  work  furnishes  the  only 
authentic  account  that  we  possess  of  the 
organization  of  the  Adonhiramite  system  of 
Masonry. 

The  rite  of  Adonhiramite  Masonry  con- 
sisted of  twelve  degrees,  which  were  as 
follows,  the  names  being  given  in  French 
as  well  as  in  English : 

1.  Apprentice  —  Apprente. 


2.  Fellow-Craft  —  Compagnon. 

3.  Master  Mason  —  Maltre. 

4.  Perfect  Master  —  Maltre  Parfait. 

5.  Elect  of  Nine  —  Elu  des  Neuf. 

6.  Elect  of  Perignan  —  Elu  de  Perignan. 

7.  Elect  of  Fifteen  —  Elu  des  Quinze. 

8.  Minor  Architect  —  Petit  Architecte. 

9.  Grand  Architect,  or  Scottish  Fellow- 
Craft  —  Grand  Architecte,  ou  Compagnon 
Ecossais. 

10.  Scottish  Master  —  Maltre  Ecossais. 

11.  Knight  of  the  Sword,  Knight  of  the 
East,  or  of  the  Eagle  —  Chevalier  de  VE'pte, 
Chevalier  de  V  Orient,  ou  de  VAigle. 

12.  Knight  of  Rose  Croix  —  Chevalier 
Rose  Croix. 

This  is  the  entire  list  of  Adonhiramite 
degrees.  Thory  and  Ragon  have  both 
erred  in  giving  a  thirteenth  degree,  namely, 
the  Noachite,  or  Prussian  Knight.  They 
have  fallen  into  this  mistake  because  Guil- 
lemain has  inserted  this  degree  at  the  end 
of  his  second  volume,  but  simply  as  a  Ma- 
sonic curiosity,  having  been  translated,  as 
he  says,  from  the  German  by  M.  de  Beraye. 
It  has  no  connection  with  the  preceding 
series  of  degrees,  and  Guillemain  posi- 
tively declares  that  the  Rose  Croix  is  the 
ne  plus  ultra,  the  summit  and  termination, 
of  his  rite. 

Of  these  twelve  degrees,  the  first  ten  are 
occupied  with  the  transactions  of  the  first 
Temple ;  the  eleventh  with  matters  relating 
to  the  construction  of  the  second  Temple ; 
and  the  twelfth  with  that  Christian  sym- 
bolism of  Freemasonry  which  is  peculiar 
to  the  Rose  Croix  of  every  rite.  All  of 
the  degrees  have  been  borrowed  from  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,  with  slight 
modifications,  which  have  seldom  improved 
their  character.  On  the  whole,  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  Adonhiramite  Rite  can  scarcely 
be  considered  as  a  loss  to  Masonry. 

Before  concluding,  a  few  words  may  be 
said  on  the  orthography  of  the  title.  As 
the  rite  derives  its  peculiar  characteristic 
from  the  fact  that  it  founds  the  third  de- 
gree on  the  assumed  legend  that  Adoniram, 
the  son  of  Abda  and  the  receiver  of  tribute, 
was  the  true  architect  of  the  Temple,  and 
not  Hiram  the  widow's  son,  it  should  prop- 
erly have  been  styled  the  Adoniramite  Rite, 
and  not  the  Adonhiramite;  and  so  it  would 
probably  have  been  called  if  Guillemain, 
who  gave  it  form,  had  been  acquainted 
with  the  Hebrew  language,  for  he  would 
then  have  known  that  the  name  of  his  hero 
was  Adoniram  and  not  Adonhiram.  The 
term  Adonhiramite  Masons  should  really 
have  been  applied  to  the  second  school  de- 
scribed in  this  article,  whose  disciples  ad- 
mitted that  Hiram  Abif  was  the  architect 
of  the  Temple,  but  who  supposed  that  Sol- 
omon had  bestowed  the  prefix  Adon  upon 


ADONIRAM 


ADONIS 


21 


him  as  a  mark  of  honor,  calling  him  Adon- 
hiram.  But  Guillemain  having  committed 
the  blunder  in  the  name  of  his  Rite,  it  con- 
tinued to  be  repeated  by  bis  successors,  and 
it  would  perhaps  now  be  inconvenient  to 
correct  the  error.  Ragon,  however,  and  a 
few  other  recent  writers,  have  ventured  to 
take  this  step,  and  in  their  works  the  sys- 
tem is  called  Adoniramite  Masonry. 

Adoniram.  The  first  notice  that  we 
have  of  Adoniram  in  Scripture  is  in  the 
2d  Book  of  Samuel  (xx.  24),  where,  in  the 
abbreviated  form  of  his  name  Adoram,  he 
is  said  to  have  been  "  over  the  tribute,"  in 
the  house  of  David,  or,  as  Gesenius  trans- 
lates it,  "  prefect  over  the  tribute  service, 
tribute  master,"  that  is  to  say,  in  modern 
phrase,  he  was  the  chief  receiver  of  the 
taxes.  Clarke  calls  him  "Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer."  Seven  years  afterwards 
we  find  him  exercising  the  same  office  in 
the  household  of  Solomon,  for  it  is  said  (1 
Kings  iv.  6)  that  "Adoniram  the  son  of 
Abda  was  over  the  tribute."  And  lastly, 
we  hear  of  him  still  occupying  the  same 
station  in  the  household  of  King  Reho- 
boam,  the  successor  of  Solomon.  Forty- 
seven  years  after  he  is  first  mentioned  in 
the  Book  of  Samuel,  he  is  stated  (1  Kings 
xii.  18)  to  have  been  stoned  to  death,  while 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  by  the  people, 
who  were  justly  indignant  at  the  oppres- 
sions of  his  master.  Although  commenta- 
tors have  been  at  a  loss  to  determine 
whether  the  tax -receiver  under  David, 
under  Solomon,  and  under  Rehoboam  was 
the  same  person,  there  seems  to  be  no 
reason  to  doubt  it;  for,  as  Kitto  says,  "It 
appears  very  unlikely  that  even  two  per- 
sons of  the  same  name  should  successively 
bear  the  same  office,  in  an  age  when  no 
example  occurs  of  the  father's  name  being 
given  to  his  son.  We  find,  also,  that  not 
more  than  forty-seven  years  elapse  between 
the  first  and  last  mention  of  the  Adoniram 
who  was  '  over  the  tribute ; '  and  as  this, 
although  a  long  term  of  service,  is  not  too 
long  for  one  life,  and  as  the  person  who 
held  the  office  in  the  beginning  of  Reho- 
boam's  reign  had  served  in  it  long  enough 
to  make  himself  odious  to  the  people,  it 
appears,  on  the  whole,  most  probable  that 
one  and  the  same  person  is  intended 
throughout."     {Encyc.  Bib.  Lit.) 

Adoniram  plays  an  important  role  in  the 
Masonic  system,  especially  in  the  high 
degrees,  but  the  time  of  action  in  which 
he  appears  is  confined  to  the  period  occu- 
pied in  the  construction  of  the  Temple. 
The  legends  and  traditions  which  connect 
him  with  that  edifice  derive  their  support 
from  a  single  passage  in  the  1st  Book  of 
Kings  (v.  14),  where  it  is  said  that  Solo- 
mon made  a  levy  of  thirty  thousand  work- 


men from  among  the  Israelites;  that  he 
sent  these  in  courses  of  ten  thousand  a 
month  to  labor  on  Mount  Lebanon,  and 
that  he  placed  Adoniram  over  these  as 
their  superintendent.  From  this  brief 
statement  the  Adoniramite  Masons  have 
deduced  the  theory,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
preceding  article,  that  Adoniram  was  the 
architect  of  the  Temple;  while  the  Hiram- 
ites,  assigning  this  important  office  to  Hi- 
ram Abif,  still  believe  that  Adoniram  oc- 
cupied an  important  part  in  the  construction 
of  that  edifice.  He  has  been  called  "  the 
first  of  the  Fellow  Crafts ; "  is  said  in  one 
tradition  to  have  been  the  brother-in-law 
of  Hiram  Abif,  the  latter  having  demanded 
of  Solomon  the  hand  of  Adoniram's  sister 
in  marriage;  and  that  the  nuptials  were 
honored  by  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Tyre 
with  a  public  celebration ;  and  another  tra- 
dition, preserved  in  the  Royal  Master's 
degree,  informs  us  that  he  was  the  one  to 
whom  the  three  Grand  Masters  had  in- 
tended first  to  communicate  that  knowledge 
which  they  had  reserved  as  a  fitting  reward 
to  be  bestowed  upon  all  meritorious  crafts- 
men at  the  completion  of  the  Temple.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  these  and 
many  other  Adoniramic  legends,  often  fan- 
ciful, and  without  any  historical  authority, 
are  but  the  outward  clothing  of  abstruse 
symbols,  some  of  which  have  been  pre- 
served, and  others  lost  in  the  lapse  of  time 
and  the  ignorance  and  corruptions  of  mod- 
ern ritualists. 

Adoniram,  in  Hebrew,  DTHX,  com- 
pounded of  in)],  ADON,  Lord,  and  DTH, 
HiRaM,  altitude,  signifies  the  Lord  of  alti- 
tude. It  is  a  word  of  great  importance, 
and  frequently  used  among  the  sacred  words 
of  the  high  degrees  in  all  the  Rites. 

Adoniramite  Masonry.  See 
Adonhiramite  Masonry. 

Adonis,  Mysteries  of.  An  investi- 
gation of  the  mysteries  of  Adonis  peculi- 
arly claims  the  attention  of  the  Masonic 
student :  first,  because,  in  their  symbolism 
and  in  their  esoteric  doctrine,  the  religious 
object  for  which  they  were  instituted,  and 
the  mode  in  which  that  object  is  attained, 
they  bear  a  nearer  analogical  resemblance 
to  the  Institution  of  Freemasonry  than  do 
any  of  the  other  mysteries  or  systems  of 
initiation  of  the  ancient  world;  and, 
secondly,  because  their  chief  locality  brings 
them  into  a  very  close  connection  with  the 
early  history  and  reputed  origin  of  Free- 
masonry. For  they  were  principally  cele- 
brated at  Byblos,  a  city  of  Phoenicia, 
whose  scriptural  name  was  Gebal,  and 
whose  inhabitants  were  the  Giblites  or 
Giblemites,  who  are  referred  to  in  the  1st 
Book  of  Kings  (chap.  v.  18)  as  being  the 
"  stone-squarers  "  employed  by  King  Solo- 


22 


ADONIS 


ADONIS 


mon  in  building  the  Temple.  Hence  there 
must  have  evidently  been  a  very  intimate 
connection,  or  at  least  certainly  a  very  fre- 
quent intercommunication,  between  the 
workmen  of  the  first  Temple  and  the  in- 
habitants of  Byblos,  the  seat  of  the  Adoni- 
sian  mysteries,  and  the  place  whence  the 
worshippers  of  that  rite  were  disseminated 
over  other  regions  of  country. 

These  historical  circumstances  invite  us 
to  an  examination  of  the  system  of  initia- 
tion which  was  practised  at  Byblos,  because 
we  may  find  in  it  something  that  was 
probably  suggestive  of  the  symbolic  system 
of  instruction  which  was  subsequently  so 
prominent  a  feature  in  the  system  of  Free- 
masonry. 

Let  us  first  examine  the  myth  on  which 
the  Adonisiac  initiation  was  founded.  The 
mythological  legend  of  Adonis  is,  that  he 
was  the  son  of  Myrrha  and  Cinyras,  King 
of  Cyprus.  Adonis  was  possessed  of  such 
surpassing  beauty,  that  Venus  became 
enamored  with  him,  and  adopted  him  as 
her  favorite.  Subsequently  Adonis,  who 
was  a  great  hunter,  died  from  a  wound  in- 
flicted by  a  wild  boar  on  Mount  Lebanon. 
Venus  new  to  the  succor  of  her  favorite, 
but  she  came  too  late.  Adonis  was  dead. 
On  his  descent  to  the  infernal  regions,  Pro- 
serpine became,  like  Venus,  so  attracted  by 
his  beauty,  that,  notwithstanding  the  en- 
treaties of  the  goddess  of  love,  she  refused 
to  restore  him  to  earth.     At  length  the 

f>rayers  of  the  desponding  Venus  were 
istened  to  with  favor  by  Jupiter,  who 
reconciled  the  dispute  between  the  two 
goddesses,  and  by  whose  decree  Proserpine 
was  compelled  to  consent  that  Adonis 
should  spend  six  months  of  each  year 
alternately  with  herself  and  Venus. 

This  is  the  story  on  which  the  Greek 
poet  Bion  founded  his  exquisite  idyll  en- 
titled the  Epitaph  of  Adonis,  the  beginning 
of  which  has  been  thus  rather  inefficiently 
"done  into  English." 

"  I  and  the  Loves  Adonis  dead  deplore : 
The  beautiful  Adonis  is  indeed 
Departed,  parted  from  us.    Sleep  no  more 
In  purple,  Cypris !  but  in  watchet  weed, 
All  wretched  !  beat  thv  breast  and  all  aread — 
'Adonis  is  no  more.'    The  Loves  and  I 
Lament  him.     '  Oh !  her  grief  to  see  him  bleed, 
Smitten  by  white  tooth  on  whiter  thigh, 
Out-breathing  life's  faint  sigh  upon  the  moun- 
tain high.' " 

It  is  evident  that  Bion  referred  the 
contest  of  Venus  and  Proserpine  for  Adonis 
to  a  period  subsequent  to  his  death,  from 
the  concluding  lines,  in  which  he  says: 
"  The  Muses,  too,  lament  the  son  of  Ciny- 
ras, and  invoke  him  in  their  song;  but  he 
does  not  heed  them,  not  because  he  does 


not  wish,  but  because  Proserpine  will  not 
release  him."  This  was,  indeed,  the  favor- 
ite form  of  the  myth,  and  on  it  was  framed 
the  symbolism  of  the  ancient  mystery. 

But  there  are  other  Grecian  mythologues 
that  relate  the  tale  of  Adonis  differently. 
According  to  these,  he  was  the  product  of 
the  incestuous  connection  of  Cinyras  and 
Myrrha.  Cinyras  subsequently,  on  discov- 
ering the  crime  of  his  daughter,  pursued 
her  with  a  drawn  sword,  intending  to  kill 
her.  Myrrha  entreated  the  gods  to  make 
her  invisible,  and  they  changed  her  into  a 
myrrh  tree.  Ten  months  after  the  myrrh 
tree  opened,  and  the  young  Adonis  was 
born.  This  is  the  form  of  the  myth  that 
has  been  adopted  by  Ovid,  who  gives  it 
with  all  its  moral  horrors  in  the  tenth  book 
(298-524)  of  his  Metamorphoses. 

Venus,  who  was  delighted  with  the  ex- 
traordinary beauty  of  the  boy,  put  him  in 
a  coffer,  unknown  to  all  the  gods,  and  gave 
him  to  Proserpine  to  keep  and  to  nurture 
in  the  under  world.  But  Proserpine  had 
no  sooner  beheld  him  than  she  became 
enamored  with  him  and  refused,  when 
Venus  applied  for  him,  to  surrender  him 
to  her  rival.  The  subject  was  then  referred 
to  Jupiter,  who  decreed  that  Adonis  should 
have  one-third  of  the  year  to  himself, 
should  be  another  third  with  Venus,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  time  with  Proserpine. 
Adonis  gave  his  own  portion  to  Venus,  and 
lived  happily  with  her  till,  having  offended 
Diana,  he  was  killed  by  a  wild  boar. 

The  mythographer  Pharuutus  gives  a 
still  different  story,  and  says  that  Adonis 
was  the  grandson  of  Cinyras,  and  fled  with 
his  father,  Ammon,  into  Egypt,  whose 
people  he  civilized,  taught  them  agricul- 
ture, and  enacted  many  wise  laws  for  their 
government.  He  subsequently  passed  over 
into  Syria,  and  was  wounded  in  the  thigh 
by  a  wild  boar  while  hunting  on  Mount 
Lebanon.  His  wife,  Isis,  or  Astarte,  and 
the  people  of  Phoenicia  and  Egypt,  sup- 
posing that  the  wound  was  mortal,  pro- 
foundly deplored  his  death.  But  he  after- 
wards recovered,  and  their  grief  was  re- 
placed by  transports  of  joy.  All  the  myths, 
it  will  be  seen,  agree  in  his  actual  or  sup- 
posed death  by  violence,  in  the  grief  for  his 
loss,  in  his  recovery  or  restoration  to  life, 
and  in  the  consequent  joy  thereon.  And 
on  these  facts  are  founded  the  Adonisian 
mysteries  which  were  established  in  his 
honor. 

Of  these  mysteries  we  are  now  to  speak. 
The  mysteries  of  Adonis  are  said  to  have 
been  first  established  at  Babylon,  and  thence 
to  have  passed  over  into  Syria,  their  princi- 
pal seat  being  at  the  city  of  Byblos,  in  that 
country.  The  legend  on  which  the  mys- 
teries was  founded  contained  a  recital  of  his 


ADONIS 


ADONIS 


23 


tragic  death  and  his  subsequent  restoration 
to  life,  as  has  just  been  related.  The  mys- 
teries were  celebrated  in  a  vast  temple  at 
Byblos.  The  ceremonies  commenced  about 
the  season  of  the  year  when  the  river 
Adonis  began  to  be  swollen  by  the  floods  at 
its  source. 

The  Adonis,  now  called  Nahr  el  Ibrahim, 
or  Abraham's  river,  is  a  small  river  of 
Syria,  which,  rising  in  Mount  Lebanon, 
enters  the  Mediterranean  a  few  miles  south 
of  Byblos.  Maundrell,  the  great  traveller, 
records  the  fact  which  he  himself  witnessed, 
that  after  a  sudden  fall  of  rain  the  river, 
descending  in  floods,  is  tinged  with  a  deep 
red  by  the  soil  of  the  hills  in  which  it  takes 
its  rise,  and  imparts  this  color  to  the  sea, 
into  which  it  is  discharged,  for  a  consider- 
able distance.  The  worshippers  of  Adonis 
were  readily  led  to  believe  that  this  reddish 
discoloration  of  the  water  of  the  river  was  a 
symbol  of  his  blood.  To  this  Milton  alludes 
when  speaking  of  Thammuz,  which  was  the 
name  given  by  the  idolatrous  Israelites  to 
the  Syrian  god : 

"  Thammuz  came  next  behind. 
Whose  annual  wound  in  Lebanon  allured 
The  Syrian  damsels  to  lament  his  fate, 
In  am'rous  ditties,  all  a  summer's  day; 
While  smooth  Adonis,  from  his  native  rock, 
Ran  purple  to  the  sea,  suffused  with  blood 
Of  Thammuz  yearly  wounded." — Paradise  Lost. 

Whether  the  worship  of  Thammuz 
among  the  idolatrous  and  apostate  Jews 
was  or  was  not  identical  with  that  of 
Adonis  among  the  Syrians  has  been  a  topic 
of  much  discussion  among  the  learned. 
The  only  reference  to  Thammuz  in  the 
Scriptures  is  in  the  Book  of  Ezekiel,  (viii. 
14.)  The  prophet  there  represents  that  he 
was  transported  in  spirit,  or  in  a  vision,  to 
the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  that,  being 
led  "  to  the  door  of  the  gate  of  the  house 
of  Jehovah,  which  was  towards  the  north, 
he  beheld  there  women  sitting  weeping  for 
Thammuz."  The  Vulgate  has  translated 
Thammuz  by  Adonis :  "  El  ecce  ibi  mulieres 
sedebant,  plangentes  Adonidem ; "  i.  e.,  "And 
behold  women  were  sitting  there,  mourning 
for  Adonis."  St.  Jerome,  in  his  commen- 
tary on  this  passage,  says  that  since,  accord- 
ing to  the  heathen  fable,  Adonis  had  been 
slain  in  the  month  of  June,  the  Syrians 
gave  the  name  of  Thammuz  to  this  month, 
when  they  annually  celebrated  a  solemnity, 
in  which  he  is  lamented  by  the  women  as 
dead,  and  his  subsequent  restoration  to  life 
is  celebrated  with  songs  and  praises.  And 
in  a  passage  of  another  work  he  laments 
that  Bethlehem  was  overshadowed  by  a 
grave  of  Thammuz,  and  that  "  in  the  cave 
where  the  infant  Christ  once  cried  the  lover 
of  Venus  was  bewailed,"  thus  evidently 


making  Thammuz  and  Adonis  identical. 
The  story  of  Thammuz,  as  related  in  the 
ancient  work  of  Ibn  Wahshik  on  The  Agri- 
culture of  the  Nabatheans,  and  quoted  at 
length  by  Maimonides  in  his  Moreh  Nevoch- 
im,  describes  Thammuz  as  a  false  prophet, 
who  was  put  to  death  for  his  idolatrous 

Eractices,  but  nothing  in  that  fable  connects 
im  in  any  way  with  Adonis.  But  in  the 
Apology  of  St.  Melito,  of  which  the  Syriac 
translation  remains,  we  have  the  oldest 
Christian  version  of  the  myth.  Mr.  W.  A. 
Wright,  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
gives,  in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  the 
following  liberal  rendering  of  the  Syriac : 
"  The  sons  of  Phoenicia  worshipped  Balthi, 
the  queen  of  Cyprus.  For  she  loved 
Tamuzo,  the  son  of  Cuthar,  the  king  of  the 
Phoenicians,  and  forsook  her  kingdom,  and 
came  and  dwelt  in  Gebal,  a  fortress  of  the 
Phoenicians,  and  at  that  time  she  made  all 
the  villages  subject  to  Cuthar,  the  king. 
For  before  Tamuzo  she  had  loved  Ares,  and 
committed  adultery  with  him,  and  Hephaes- 
tus, her  husband,  caught  her  and  was  jeal- 
ous of  her;  and  he  (i.  e.,  Ares,)  came  and 
slew  Tamuzo  on  Lebanon,  while  he  made 
a  hunting  among  the  wild  boars.  And 
from  that  time  Balthi  remained  in  Gebal, 
and  died  in  the  city  of  Apatha,  where 
Tamuzo  was  buried."  This  is  nothing  more 
than  the  Syrian  myth  of  Adonis;  and,  as 
St.  Melito  lived  in  the  second  century,  it 
was  doubtless  on  his  authority  that  Jerome 
adopted  the  opinion  that  the  Thammuz  of 
"alienated  Judah"  was  the  same  as  the 
Adonis  of  Syria;  an  opinion  which,  al- 
though controverted  by  some,  has  been  gen- 
erally adopted  by  subsequent  commenta- 
tors. 

The  sacred  rites  of  the  Adonisian  mys- 
teries began  with  mourning,  and  the  days 
which  were  consecrated  to  the  celebration 
of  the  death  of  Adonis  were  passed  in  lugu- 
brious cries  and  wailings,  the  celebrants 
often  scourging  themselves.  On  the  last 
of  the  days  of  mourning,  funereal  rites  were 
performed  in  honor  of  the  god.  On  the 
following  day  the  restoration  of  Adonis  to 
life  was  announced,  and  was  received  with 
the  most  enthusiastic  demonstrations  of 

j°y- 

Duncan,  in  a  very  well  written  work  on 
The  Religions  of  Profane  Antiquity,  (p. 
350,)  gives  a  similar  description  of  these 
rites:  "The  objects  represented  were  the 
grief  of  Venus  and  the  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Adonis.  An  entire  week  was  con- 
sumed in  these  ceremonies ;  all  the  houses 
were  covered  with  crape  or  black  linen ; 
funeral  processions  traversed  the  streets ; 
while  the  devotees  scourged  themselves, 
uttering  frantic  cries.  The  orgies  were  then 
commenced,  in  which  the  mystery  of  the 


24 


ADONIS 


ADONIS 


death  of  Adonis  was  depicted.  During  the 
next  twenty -four  hours  all  the  people  fasted ; 
at  the  expiration  of  which  time  the  priests 
announced  the  resurrection  of  the  god.  Joy 
now  prevailed,  and  music  and  dancing  con- 
cluded the  festival." 

Movers,  who  is  of  high  authority  among 
scholars,  says,  in  his  Phonizier,  (vol.  i.,  p. 
200,)  that  "  the  celebration  of  the  Adon- 
isian  mysteries  began  with  the  disappear- 
ance of  Adonis,  after  which  follows  the 
search  for  him  by  the  women.  The  myth 
represents  this  by  the  search  of  the  goddess 
after  her  beloved,  which  is  analogous  to  the 
search  of  Persephone  in  the  Eleusinia ;  of 
Harmonia  at  Samothrace;  of  Io  in  Antioch. 
In  autumn,  when  the  rains  washed  the  red 
earth  on  its  banks,  the  river  Adonis  was 
of  a  blood-red  color,  which  was  the  signal 
for  the  inhabitants  of  Byblos  to  begin  the 
lament.  Then  they  said  that  Adonis  was 
killed  by  Mars  or  the  boar,  and  that  his 
blood,  running  in  the  river,  colored  the 
water." 

Julius  Fermicius  Maternus,  an  ecclesi- 
astical writer  of  the  fourth  century,  thus 
describes  the  funereal  ceremonies  and  the 
resurrection  of  Adonis  in  his  treatise  Be 
Errore  Profanarum  Religionum,  dedicated 
to  the  Emperors  Constantius  and  Constans : 
"  On  a  certain  night  an  image  is  laid  out 
upon  a  bed  and  bewailed  in  mournful 
strains.  At  length,  when  all  have  suffi- 
ciently expressed  their  feigned  lamentation, 
light  is  introduced,  and  the  priest,  having 
first  anointed  the  lips  of  those  who  had 
been  weeping,  whispers  with  a  gentle  mur- 
mur the  following  formula,  which  in  the 
original  is  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  distich : 
Have  courage,  ye  initiates  !  The  god  having 
been  preserved  out  of  grief,  salvation  will  arise 
to  us." 

This  annunciation  of  the  recovery  or 
resurrection  of  Adonis  was  made,  says 
Sainte-Croix,  in  his  Mysteres  du  Paganisme, 
(t.  ii.,  p.  106,)  by  the  inhabitants  of  Alexan- 
dria to  those  of  Byblos.  The  letter  which 
was  to  carry  the  news  was  placed  in  an 
earthen  vessel  and  intrusted  to  the  sea, 
which  floated  it  to  Byblos,  where  Phoeni- 
cian women  were  waiting  on  the  shore  to 
receive  it.  Lucian  says,  in  his  treatise 
on  The  Syrian  Goddess,  that  a  head  was 
every  year  transported  from  Egypt  to  By- 
blos by  some  supernatural  means.  Both 
stories  are  probably  apocryphal,  or  at  least 
the  act  was,  if  performed  at  all,  the  result 
of  the  cunning  invention  of  the  priests. 

Sainte-Croix  describes,  from  Lucian's 
treatise  on  The  Syrian  Goddess,  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  temple  at  Hierapolis;  but  he 
certainly  found  no  authority  in  that  writer 
for  stating  that  the  mysteries  of  Adonis  were 
there  celebrated.    The  Bites  practised  at 


Hierapolis  seem  rather  to  have  had  some 
connection  with  the  arkite  worship,  which 
prevailed  so  extensively  in  the  pagan  world 
of  antiquity.  The  magnificent  temple, 
which  in  after  times  the  Roman  Crassus 
plundered,  and  the  treasures  of  which  it 
took  several  days  to  weigh  and  examine, 
was  dedicated  to  Astarte,  the  goddess  who 
presided  over  the  elements  of  nature  and 
the  productive  seeds  of  things,  and  who  was 
in  fact  the  mythological  personification  of 
the  passive  powers  of  Nature. 

The  mythological  legend,  which  has  been 
detailed  in  the  beginning  of  this  article, 
was  but  the  exoteric  story,  intended  for  the 
uninitiated.  There  was  also — as  there  was 
in  all  these  mystical  initiations  of  the  an- 
cients, an  esoteric  meaning  —  a  sacred  and 
secret  symbolism,  which  constituted  the 
arcana  of  the  mysteries,  and  which  was 
communicated  only  to  the  initiated. 

Adonis,  which  is  derived  from  the  He- 
brew 21  N»  Adon  —  lord  or  master  —  was 
one  of  the  titles  given  to  the  sun ;  and 
hence  the  worship  of  Adonis  formed  one 
of  the  modifications  of  that  once  most  ex- 
tensive system  of  religion  —  sun  worship. 
Godwyn,  in  his  Moses  and  Aaron,  (1.  iv., 
c.  2,)  says :  "  Concerning  Adonis,  whom 
sometimes  ancient  authors  call  Osiris, 
there  are  two  things  remarkable :  aphanis- 
mos,  the  death  or  loss  of  Adonis ;  and 
heuresis,  the  finding  of  him  again.  By  the 
death  or  loss  of  Adonis  we  are  to  under- 
stand the  departure  of  the  sun ;  by  his 
finding  again  we  are  to  understand  his 
return." 

Macrobius,  in  his  Saturnalia,  more  fully 
explains  the  allegory  thus :  "  Philoso- 
phers have  given  the  name  of  Venus  to 
the  superior  or  northern  hemisphere,  of 
which  we  occupy  a  part,  and  that  of  Pro- 
serpine to  the  inferior  or  southern.  Hence, 
among  the  Assyrians  and  Phoenicians,  Ve- 
nus is  said  to  be  in  tears  when  the  sun,  in 
his  annual  course  through  the  twelve  signs 
of  the  zodiac,  passes  over  to  our  antipodes ; 
for  of  these  twelve  signs  six  are  said  to  be 
superior  and  six  inferior.  When  the  sun 
is  in  the  inferior  signs,  and  the  days  are 
consequently  short,  the  goddess  is  supposed 
to  weep  for  the  temporary  death  or  priva- 
tion of  the  sun,  detained  by  Proserpine, 
whom  we  regard  as  the  divinity  of  the 
southern  or  antipodal  regions.  And  Adonis 
is  said  to  be  restored  to  Venus  when  the 
sun,  having  traversed  the  six  inferior  signs, 
enters  those  of  our  hemisphere,  bringing 
with  it  an  increase  of  light  and  lengthened 
days.  The  boar,  which  is  supposed  to 
have  killed  Adonis,  is  an  emblem  of  win- 
ter; for  this  animal,  covered  with  rough 
bristles,  delights  in  cold,  wet,  and  miry  sit- 
uations, and  his  favorite  food  is  the  acorn, 


ADONIS 


ADONIS 


25 


a  fruit  which  is  peculiar  to  winter.  The 
sun  is  said,  too,  to  be  wounded  by  winter, 
since  at  that  season  we  lose  its  light  ana 
heat,  which  are  the  effects  produced  by 
death  upon  animated  beings.  Venus  is 
represented  on  Mount  Lebanon  in  an  atti- 
tude of  grief;  her  head,  bent  and  covered 
with  a  veil,  is  supported  by  her  left  hand 
near  her  breast,  and  her  countenance  is 
bathed  in  tears.  This  figure  represents  the 
earth  in  winter,  when,  being  veiled  in  clouds 
and  deprived  of  the  sun,  its  energies  have 
become  torpid.  The  fountains,  like  the 
eyes  of  Venus,  are  overflowing,  and  the 
fields,  divested  of  their  flowers,  present  a 
joyless  appearance.  But  when  the  sun  has 
emerged  from  the  southern  hemisphere  and 
passed  the  vernal  equinox,  Venus  is  once 
more  rejoiced,  the  fields  are  again  embel- 
lished with  flowers,  the  grass  springs  up  in 
the  meadows,  and  the  trees  recover  their 
foliage." 

Such  is  supposed  by  mythologists  in  gen- 
eral to  have  been  the  esoteric  doctrine  of 
the  Adonisian  initiation,  hence  said  to  be 
a  branch  of  that  worship  of  the  sun  that 
at  one  time  so  universally  prevailed  over 
the  world.  And  as  this  allegory,  when  thus 
interpreted,  must  have  been  founded  on  the 
fact  that  the  solar  orb  disappeared  for  sev- 
eral months  of  winter,  it  followed  that  the 
allegory  must  have  been  invented  by  some 
hyperborean  people,  to  whom  only  such 
an  astronomical  phenomenon  could  be 
familiar.  This  is  the  view  taken  by  the 
learned  M.  Baillie  in  his  Histoire  de 
V Astronomie  Ancienne,  who  founds  on  it 
his  favorite  theory  that  all  learning  and 
civilization  originally  came  from  the  cir- 
cumpolar  regions. 

This  tendency  to  symbolize  the  changing 
seasons  and  the  decaying  and  renewed 
strength  of  the  sun  was  common  first  to 
the  mythology  of  the  old  Aryan  race,  and 
then  to  that  of  every  nation  which  de- 
scended from  it.  In  Greece,  especially,  we 
have  the  myths  of  Linus,  whose  melan- 
choly fate  was  bewailed  at  the  season  of 
the  grape  picking,  and  whose  history,  al- 
though confused  by  various  statements, 
still  makes  him  the  analogue  of  Adonis ; 
so  that  what  is  said  of  one  might  very 
properly  be  applied  to  the  other.  On  this 
subject  the  following  remarks  of  O.  K. 
Muller,  in  his  History  of  Greek  Litera- 
ture, (p.  23,)  will  be  found  interesting: 
"  This  Linus,"  he  says,  "  evidently  belongs 
to  a  class  of  deities  or  demigods  of  which 
many  instances  occur  in  the  religions  of 
Greece  and  Asia  Minor — boys  of  extraor- 
dinary beauty  and  in  the  flower  of  youth, 
who  are  supposed  to  have  been  drowned, 
or  devoured  by  raging  dogs,  or  destroyed 
by  wild  beasts,  and  whose  death  is  lamented 
D 


in  the  harvest  or  other  periods  of  the  hot 
season.  The  real  object  of  lamentation 
was  the  tender  beauty  of  spring  destroyed 
by  the  summer  heat,  and  other  phenomena 
of  the  same  kind,  which  the  imagination 
of  these  early  times  invested  with  a  per- 
sonal form,  and  represented  as  gods  or 
beings  of  a  divine  nature."  It  would  not 
be  difficult  to  apply  all  this  to  the  myth  of 
Adonis,  who,  like  Linus,  was  supposed  to 
be  a  symbol  of  the  dying  and  of  the  resus- 
citating sun. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  as  Payne  Knight 
observes,  this  notion  of  the  mourning  for 
Adonis  being  a  testimony  of  grief  for  the 
absence  of  the  sun  during  the  winter,  is 
not  to  be  too  readily  acquiesced  in.  Thus 
Lobeck,  in  his  Aylaophamus,  very  perti- 
nently inquires  why  those  nations  whose 
winter  was  the  mildest  and  shortest  should 
so  bitterly  bewail  the  regular  changes  of 
the  seasons  as  to  suppose  that  even  a  god 
was  slain ;  and  he  observes,  with  a  great 
appearance  of  reason,  that  even  were  this 
the  case,  the  mournful  and  the  joyful  parts 
of  the  festival  should  have  been  celebrated 
at  different  periods  of  the  year:  the  former 
at  the  coming  on  of  winter,  and  the  latter 
at  the  approach  of  summer.  It  is  not, 
perhaps,  easy  to  answer  these  objections. 

Of  all  the  mythologers,  the  Abbe  Banier 
is  the  only  one  who  has  approximated  to 
what  appears  to  be  the  true  interpretation 
of  the  myth.  In  his  erudite  work  entitled 
La  Mythologie  et  lea  Fables  expliquees  par 
V Histoire,  he  discusses  the  myth  of  Adonis 
at  great  length.  He  denies  the  plausibility 
of  the  solar  theory,  which  makes  Adonis, 
in  his  death  and  resurrection,  the  symbol 
of  the  sun's  setting  and  rising,  or  of  his 
disappearance  in  winter  and  his  return  in 
summer;  he  thinks  the  alternate  mourning 
and  joy  which  characterized  the  celebration 
of  the  mysteries  may  be  explained  as  re- 
ferring to  the  severe  but  not  fatal  wound 
of  Adonis,  and  his  subsequent  recovery 
through  the  skill  of  the  physician  Cocy- 
tus ;  or,  if  this  explanation  be  rejected,  he 
then  offers  another  interpretation,  which 
is,  I  think,  much  nearer  to  the  truth : 

"  But  if  any  be  tenacious  of  the  opinion 
that  Adonis  died  of  his  wound,  I  shall  ac- 
count for  that  joy  which  succeeded  the 
mourning  on  the  last  day  of  the  festival 
by  saying  it  imported  that  he  was  pro- 
moted to  divine  honors,  and  that  room 
was  no  longer  left  for  sorrow ;  but  that, 
having  mourned  for  his  death,  they  were 
now  to  rejoice  at  his  deification.  The 
priests,  who  would  not  have  been  in  favor 
of  a  tradition  which  taught  that  the  god 
whom  they  had  served  was  subject  to  death, 
sought  to  conceal  it  from  the  people,  and 
invented  the  allegorical  explication  which 


26 


ADOPTION 


ADOPTION 


I  have  been  refuting."    (Tom.  iii.,  liv.  rtf., 
ch.  x.) 

While,  therefore,  we  may  grant  the  pos- 
sibility that  there  was  originally  some  con- 
nection between  the  Sabean  worship  of  the 
sun  and  the  celebration  of  the  Adonisian 
festival,  we  cannot  forget  that  these  myste- 
ries, in  common  with  all  the  other  sacred 
initiations  of  the  ancient  world,  had  been 
originally  established  to  promulgate  among 
the  initiates  the  once  hidden  doctrine  of 
a  future  life.  The  myth  of  Adonis  in 
Syria,  like  that  of  Osiris  in  Egypt,  of  Atys 
in  Samothrace,  or  of  Dionysus  in  Greece, 
presented,  symbolically,  the  two  great  ideas 
of  decay  and  restoration  :  sometimes  figured 
as  darkness  and  light,  sometimes  as  winter 
and  summer,  sometimes  as  death  and  life, 
but  always  maintaining,  no  matter  what 
was  the  framework  of  the  allegory,  the  in- 
separable ideas  of  something  that  was  lost 
and  afterwards  recovered,  as  its  interpreta- 
tion, and  so  teaching,  as  does  Freemasonry 
at  this  day,  by  a  similar  system  of  allegor- 
izing, that  after  the  death  of  the  body 
comes  the  eternal  life  of  the  soul.  The 
inquiring  Freemason  will  thus  readily  see 
the  analogy  in  the  symbolism  that  exists 
between  Adonis  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
Giblemites  at  Byblos  and  Hiram  the 
Builder  in  his  own  institution. 

Adoption,  Masonic.  The  adoption 
by  the  Lodge  of  the  child  of  a  Mason  is 
practised,  with  peculiar  ceremonies,  in 
some  of  the  French  and  German  Lodges, 
and  has  been  recently  introduced,  but  not 
with  the  general  approbation  of  the  Craft, 
into  one  or  two  Lodges  of  this  country. 
Clavel,  in  his  Jfistoire  Pittoresqm  de  la 
Franc- Maqonnerie,  (p.  39,)  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  the  ceremonies  of  adop- 
tion. 

"  It  is  a  custom,  in  many  Lodges,  when 
the  wife  of  a  Mason  is  near  the  period  of 
her  confinement,  for  the  Hospitaller,  if  he 
is  a  physician,  and  if  not,  for  some  other 
brother  who  is,  to  visit  her,  inquire  after 
her  health,  in  the  name  of  the  Lodge,  and 
to  offer  her  his  professional  services,  and 
even  pecuniary  aid  if  he  thinks  she  needs 
it.  Nine  days  after  the  birth  of  her  child, 
the  Master  and  Wardens  call  upon  her 
to  congratulate  her  on  the  happy  event. 
If  the  infant  is  a  boy,  a  special  communi- 
cation of  the  Lodge  is  convened  for  the 
Eurpose  of  proceeding  to  its  adoption.  The 
all  is  decorated  with  flowers  and  foliage, 
and  censers  are  prepared  for  burning  in- 
cense. Before  the  commencement  of  labor, 
the  child  and  its  nurse  are  introduced  into 
an  ante-room.  The  Lodge  is  then  opened, 
and  the  Wardens,  who  are  to  act  as  god- 
fathers, repair  to  the  infant  at  the  head  of 
a  deputation  of  five  brethren.    The  chief 


of  the  deputation,  then  addressing  the 
nurse,  exhorts  her  not  only  to  watch  over 
the  health  of  the  child  that  has  been  in- 
trusted to  her  care,  but  also  to  cultivate  his 
youthful  intellect,  and  to  instruct  him  with 
truthful  and  sensible  conversation.  The 
child  is  then  taken  from  the  nurse,  placed 
by  its  father  upon  a  cushion,  and  carried  by 
the  deputation  into  the  Lodge  room.  The 
procession  advances  beneath  an  arch  of 
foliage  to  the  pedestal  of  the  east,  where  it 
stops. 

" '  Whom  bring  you  here,  my  brethren  ? ' 
says  the  Master  to  the  godfathers. 

" '  The  son  of  one  of  our  brethren  whom 
the  Lodge  is  desirous  of  adopting,'  is  the 
reply  of  the  Senior  Warden. 

" '  What  are  his  names,  and  what  Masonic 
name  will  you  give  him  ? ' 

"  The  Warden  replies,  adding  to  the  bap- 
tismal and  surname  of  the  child  a  charac- 
teristic name,  such  as  Truth,  Devotion,  Be- 
nevolence, or  some  other  of  a  similar  nature. 

"  The  Master  then  descends  from  his  seat, 
approaches  the  louveteau  or  lewis,  (for  such 
is  the  appellation  given  to  the  son  of  a 
Mason,)  and  extending  his  hands  over  its 
head,  offers  up  a  prayer  that  the  child  may 
render  itself  worthy  of  the  love  and  care 
which  the  Lodge  intends  to  bestow  upon  it. 
He  then  casts  incense  into  the  censers,  and 
pronounces  the  Apprentice's  obligation, 
which  the  godfathers  repeat  after  him  in 
the  name  ot  the  louveteau.  Afterwards  he 
puts  a  white  apron  on  the  infant,  pro- 
claiming it  to  be  the  adopted  child  of  the 
Lodge,  and  causes  this  proclamation  to  be 
received  with  the  honors. 

"  As  soon  as  this  ceremony  has  been  per- 
formed, the  Master  returns  to  his  seat,  and 
having  caused  the  Wardens  with  the  child 
to  be  placed  in  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
Lodge,  he  recounts  to  the  former  the  duties 
which  they  have  assumed  as  godfathers. 
After  the  Wardens  have  made  a  suitable 
response,  the  deputation  which  had  brought 
the  child  into  the  Lodge  room  is  again 
formed,  and  having  carried  it  out,  it  is 
restored  to  its  nurse  in  the  anteroom. 

"  The  adoption  of  a  louveteau  binds  all 
the  members  of  the  Lodge  to  watch  over 
his  education,  and  subsequently  to  aid  him, 
if  it  be  necessary,  in  establishing  himself 
in  life.  A  circumstantial  account  of  the 
ceremony  is  drawn  up,  which  having  been 
signed  by  all  the  members  is  delivered  to 
the  father  of  the  child.  This  document 
serves  as  a  dispensation,  which  relieves  him 
from  the  necessity  of  passing  through  the 
ordinary  preliminary  examinations  when, 
at  the  proper  age,  he  is  desirous  of  partici- 
pating in  the  labors  of  Masonry.  He  is 
then  only  required  to  renew  his  obligations." 
In  the  United  States,  the  ceremony  has 


ADOPTIVE 


ADOPTIVE 


27 


been  recently  practised  by  a  few  Lodges, 
the  earliest  instance  being  that  of  Foyer 
Maqonnique  Lodge  of  New  Orleans,  in 
1859.  The  Supreme  Council  for  the  South- 
ern Jurisdiction,  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite,  has  published  the  ritual  of  Masonic 
Adoption  for  the  use  of  the  members  of 
that  rite.  The  ritual  for  which,  under  the 
title  of  "Offices  of  Masonic  Baptism, 
Reception  of  a  Louveteau  and  Adoption," 
is  a  very  beautiful  one,  and  is  the  com- 
position of  Brother  Albert  Pike.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  word 
Baptism  there  used  has  not  the  slightest 
reference  to  the  Christian  sacrament  of  the 
same  name. 

Adoptive  Masonry.  An  organiza- 
tion which  bears  a  very  imperfect  resem- 
blance to  Freemasonry  in  its  forms  and 
ceremonies,  and  which  was  established  in 
France  for  the  initiation  of  females,  has 
been  called  by  the  French  "  Magonnerie 
cC  Adoption,"  or  Adoptive  Masonry,  and  the 
societies  in  which  the  initiations  take  place 
have  received  the  name  of  "  Loges  d' Adop- 
tion," or  Adoptive  Lodges.  This  appellation 
is  derived  from  the  fact  that  every  female 
or  Adoptive  Lodge  is  obliged,  by  the  regu- 
lations of  the  association,  to  be,  as  it  were, 
adopted  by,  and  thus  placed    under  the 

fuardianship  of,  some  regular  Lodge  of 
'reemasons. 

As  to  the  exact  date  which  we  are  to  as- 
sign for  the  first  introduction  of  this  system 
of  female  Masonry,  there  have  been  several 
theories,  some  of  which,  undoubtedly,  are 
wholly  untenable,  since  they  have  been 
founded,  as  Masonic  historical  theories  too 
often  are,  on  an  unwarrantable  mixture  of 
facts  and  fictions  —  of  positive  statements 
and  problematic  conjectures.  Mons.  J.  S. 
Boubge,  a  distinguished  French  Mason,  in 
his  Etudes  Maconniques,  places  the  origin 
of  Adoptive  Masonry  in  the  17th  century, 
and  ascribes  its  authorship  to  Queen  Hen- 
rietta Maria,  the  widow  of  Charles  I.  of 
England ;  and  he  states  that  on  her  return 
to  France,  after  the  execution  of  her  hus- 
band, she  took  pleasure  in  recounting  the 
secret  efforts  made  by  the  Freemasons  of 
England  to  restore  her  family  to  their  posi- 
tion and  to  establish  her  son  on  the  throne 
of  his  ancestors.  This,  it  will  be  recollected, 
was  once  a  prevalent  theory,  now  exploded, 
of  the  origin  of  Freemasonry  —  that  it  was 
established  by  the  Cavaliers,  as  a  secret 
political  organization,  in  the  times  of  the 
English  civil  war  between  the  king  and  the 
Parliament,  and  as  an  engine  for  the  support 
of  the  former.  M.  Boubee  adds,  that  the 
queen  made  known  to  the  ladies  of  her 
court,  in  her  exile,  the  words  and  signs  em- 
ployed by  her  Masonic  friends  in  England 
as  their  modes  of  recognition,  and  by  this 


means  instructed  them  in  some  of  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Institution,  of  which,  he  says, 
she  had  been  made  the  protectress  after  the 
death  of  the  king.  This  theory  is  so  full 
of  absurdity,  and  its  statements  so  flatly 
contradicted  by  well-known  historical  facts, 
that  we  may  at  once  reject  it  as  wholly 
apocryphal. 

Others  have  claimed  Russia  as  the  birth- 
place of  Adoptive  Masonry  ;  but  in  assign- 
ing that  country  and  the  year  1712  as  the 
place  and  time  of  its  origin,  they  have  un- 
doubtedly confounded  it  with  the  chivalric 
Order  of  Saint  Catharine,  which  was  in- 
stituted by  the  Czar  Peter  the  Great  in 
honor  of  the  Czarina  Catharine,  and  which, 
although  at  first  it  consisted  of  persons  of 
both  sexes,  was  subsequently  confined  exclu- 
sively to  females.  But  the  Order  of  Saint 
Catharine  was  in  no  manner  connected  with 
that  of  Freemasonry.  It  was  simply  a 
Russian  order  of  female  knighthood. 

The  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  regular 
Lodges  of  Adoption  owed  their  existence 
to  those  secret  associations  of  men  and  wo- 
men which  sprang  up  in  France  before  the 
middle  of  trie  eighteenth  century,  and 
which  attempted  in  all  of  their  organiza- 
tion, except  the  admission  of  female  mem- 
bers, to  imitate  the  Institution  of  Freema- 
sonry. Clavel,  who,  in  his  Histoire  Pit- 
toresque  de  la  Franc- Magonnerie,  an  interest- 
ing but  not  always  a  trustworthy  work, 
adopts  this  theory,  says  that  female  Ma- 
sonry was  instituted  about  the  year  1730 ; 
that  it  made  its  first  appearance  in  France, 
and  that  it  was  evidently  a  product  of  the 
French  mind.  No  one  will  oe  disposed  to 
doubt  the  truth  of  this  last  sentiment.  The 
proverbial  gallantry  of  the  French  Masons 
was  most  ready  and  willing  to  extend  to 
women  some  of  the  blessings  of  that  Insti- 
tution, from  which  the  churlishness,  as  they 
would  call  it,  of  their  Anglo-Saxon  brethren 
had  excluded  her. 

But  the  Masonry  of  Adoption  did  not  at 
once  and  in  its  very  beginning  assume  that 
peculiarly  imitative  form  of  Freemasomy 
which  it  subsequently  presented,  nor  was  it 
recognized  as  having  any  connection  with 
our  own  Order  until  more  than  thirty  years 
after  its  first  establishment.  Its  progress 
was  slow  and  gradual.  In  the  course  of 
this  progress  it  affected  various  names  and 
rituals,  many  of  which  have  not  been 
handed  down  to  us.  It  was  evidently  con- 
vivial and  gallant  in  its  nature,  and  at  first 
seems  to  have  been  only  an  imitation  of 
Freemasonry,  inasmuch  as  that  it  was  a 
secret  society,  having  a  form  of  initiation 
and  modes  of  recognition.  A  specimen  of 
one  or  two  of  these  secret  female  associa- 
tions may  not  be  uninteresting. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  these  societies  was 


28 


ADOPTIVE 


ADOPTIVE 


that  which  was  established  in  the  year  1748, 
at  Paris,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Ordre  des 
Felicitaires,"  which  we  might  very  appro- 
priately translate  as  the  "  Order  of  Happy 
Folks."  The  vocabulary  and  all  the  em- 
blems of  the  order  were  nautical.  The 
sisters  made  symbolically  a  voyage  to  the 
island  of  Felicity,  in  ships  navigated  by 
the  brethren.  There  were  four  degrees, 
namely,  those  of  Cabin-boy,  Captain,  Com- 
modore, and  Vice-Admiral,  and  the  Grand 
Master,  or  presiding  officer,  was  called  the 
Admiral.  Out  of  this  society  there  sprang 
in  1745  another,  which  was  callea  the 
"Knights  and  Ladies  of  the  Anchor," 
which  is  said  to  have  been  somewhat  more 
refined  in  its  character,  although  for  the 
most  part  it  preserved  the  same  formulary 
of  reception. 

Two  years  afterwards,  in  1747,  the  Cheva- 
lier Beauchaine,  a  very  zealous  Masonic 
adventurer,  and  the  Master  for  life  of  a 
Parisian  Lodge,  instituted  an  androgynous 
system  under  the  name  of  the  "  Ordre  des 
Fendeurs,"  or  "  the  Order  of  Wood-Cutters," 
whose  ceremonies  were  borrowed  from 
those  of  the  well-known  political  society 
of  the  Carbonari.  All  parts  of  the  ritual 
had  a  reference  to  the  sylvan  vocation  of 
wood-cutting,  just  as  that  of  the  Carbonari 
referred  to  coal-burning.  The  place  of 
meeting  was  called  a  wood-yard,  and  was 
supposed  to  be  situated  in  a  forest ;  the  pre- 
siding officer  was  styled  Pere  Maitre,  which 
might  be  idiomatically  interpreted  as  Good- 
man Master ;  and  the  members  were  desig- 
nated as  cousins,  a  practice  evidently  bor- 
rowed from  the  Carbonari.  The  reunions 
of  the  "  Wood-Cutters  "  enjoyed  the  pres- 
tige of  the  highest  fashion  in  Paris ;  and 
the  society  became  so  popular  that  ladies 
and  gentlemen  of  the  highest  distinction  in 
France  united  with  it,  and  membership  was 
considered  an  honor  which  no  rank,  how- 
ever exalted,  need  disdain.  It  was  conse- 
quently succeeded  by  the  institution  of 
many  other  and  similar  androgynous  so- 
cieties, the  very  names  of  which  it  would 
be  tedious  to  enumerate. 

Out  of  all  these  societies — which  resem- 
bled Freemasonry  only  in  their  secrecy, 
their  benevolence,  and  a  sort  of  rude  imita- 
tion of  a  symbolic  ceremonial  —  at  last  arose 
the  true  Lodges  of  Adoption,  which  so  far 
claimed  a  connection  with  and  a  dependence 
on  Masonry  as  that  Freemasons  alone  were 
admitted  among  their  male  members  —  a 
regulation  which  did  not  prevail  in  the  ear- 
lier organizations. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  that  the  Lodges  of  Adoption  began 
to  attract  attention  in  France,  whence  they 
speedily  spread  into  other  countries  of 
Europe  —  into  Germany,  Poland,  and  even 


Russia ;  England  alone,  always  conserva- 
tive to  a  fault,  steadily  refusing  to  take  any 
cognizance  of  them.  The  Masons,  says 
Clavel,  embraced  them  with  enthusiasm  as 
a  practicable  means  of  giving  to  their  wives 
and  daughters  some  share  of  the  pleasures 
which  they  themselves  enjoyed  in  their 
mystical  assemblies.  And  this,  at  least, 
may  be  said  of  them,  that  they  practised 
with  commendable  fidelity  and  diligence 
the  greatest  of  the  Masonic  virtues,  and 
that  the  banquet  and  balls  which  always 
formed  an  important  part  of  their  cere- 
monial were  distinguished  by  numerous 
acts  of  charity. 

The  first  of  these  Lodges  of  which  we 
have  any  notice  was  that  established  in 
Paris,  in  the  year  1760,  by  the  Count  de 
Bernouville.  Another  was  instituted  at 
Nimuegen,  in  Holland,  in  1774,  over  which 
the  Prince  of  Waldeck  and  the  Princess  of 
Orange  presided.  In  1775,  the  Lodge  of 
Saint  Antoine,  at  Paris,  organized  a  de- 
pendent Lodge  of  Adoption,  of  which  the 
Duchess  of  Bourbon  was  Grand  Mistress 
and  the  Duke  of  Chartres  Grand  Master. 
In  1777,  there  was  an  Adoptive  Lodge  of 
La  Candeur,  over  which  the  Duchess  of 
Bourbon  presided,  assisted  by  such  noble 
ladies  as  the  Duchess  of  Chartres,  the 
Princess  Lamballe,  and  the  Marchioness 
de  Genlis ;  and  we  hear  of  another  gov- 
erned by  Madame  Helvetius,  the  wife  of 
the  illustrious  philosopher ;  so  that  it  will 
be  perceived  that  fashion,  wealth,  and  lit- 
erature combined  to  give  splendor  and  in- 
fluence to  this  new  order  of  female  Masonry. 

At  first  the  Grand  Orient  of  France 
appears  to  have  been  unfavorably  disposed 
to  these  pseudo-Masonic  and  androgynous 
associations,  but  at  length  they  became  so 
numerous  and  so  popular  that  a  persistence 
in  opposition  would  have  evidently  been 
impolitic,  if  it  did  not  actually  threaten  to 
be  fatal  to  the  interests  and  permanence 
of  the  Masonic  Institution.  The  Grand 
Orient,  therefore,  yielded  its  objections, 
and  resolved  to  avail  itself  of  that  which 
it  could  not  suppress.  Accordingly,  on 
the  10th  of  June,  1774,  it  issued  an  edict 
by  which  it  assumed  the  protection  and 
control  of  the  Lodges  of  Adoption.  Rules 
and  regulations  were  provided  for  their 
government,  among  which  were  two  :  first, 
that  no  males  except  regular  Freemasons 
should  be  permitted  to  attend  them ;  and, 
secondly,  that  each  Lodge  should  be  placed 
under  the  charge  and  held  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  some  regularly  constituted  Lodge 
of  Masons,  whose  Master,  or,  in  his  ab- 
sence, his  deputy,  should  be  the  presiding 
officer,  assisted  by  a  female  President  or 
Mistress ;  and  such  has  since  been  the  or- 
ganization of  all  Lodges  of  Adoption. 


ADOPTIVE 


ADOPTIVE 


29 


A  Lodge  of  Adoption,  under  the  regula- 
tions established  in  1774,  consists  of  the 
following  officers :  a  Grand  Master,  a  Grand 
Mistress,  an  Orator,  an  Inspector,  an  In- 
spectress,  a  Depositor  and  a  Depositress ; 
or,  as  these  might  more  appropriately  be 
translated,  a  Male  and  Female  Guardian, 
a  Master  and  a  Mistress  of  Ceremonies, 
and  a  Secretary.  All  of  these  officers  wear 
a  blue  watered  ribbon  in  the  form  of  a  col- 
lar, to  which  is  suspended  a  golden  trowel, 
and  all  the  brethren  and  sisters  have  white 
aprons  and  gloves. 

The  Kite  of  Adoption  consists  of  four 
degrees,  whose  names  in  French  and  Eng- 
lish are  as  follows  : 

1.  Apprentie,  or  Female  Apprentice. 

2.  Compagnonne,  or  Craftswoman. 

3.  Maitresse,  or  Mistress. 

4.  Parfaite  Maitresse,  or  Perfect  Mistress. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  degrees  of  Adop- 
tion, in  their  names  and  their  apparent 
reference  to  the  gradations  of  employment 
in  an  operative  art,  are  assimilated  to  those 
of  legitimate  Freemasonry ;  but  it  is  in  those 
respects  only  that  the  resemblance  holds 
good.  In  the  details  of  the  ritual  there  is  a 
vast  difference  between  the  two  Institutions. 

There  was  a  fifth  degree  added  in  1817 
— by  some  modern  writers  called  "Female 
elect,"  —  Sublime  Dame  Ecossaise,  or  Sover- 
eign Illustrious  Dame  Ecossaise;  but  it 
seems  to  be  a  recent  and  not  generally 
adopted  innovation.  At  all  events,  it  con- 
stituted no  part  of  the  original  Rite  of 
Adoption. 

The  first,  or  Female  Apprentice's  degree, 
is  simply  preliminary  in  its  character,  and 
is  intended  to  prepare  the  candidate  for 
the  more  important  lessons  which  she  is  to 
receive  in  the  succeeding  degrees.  She  is 
presented  with  a  white  apron  and  a  pair 
of  white  kid  gloves.  The  apron  is  given 
with  the  following  charge,  in  which,  as  in 
all  the  other  ceremonies  of  the  Order,  the 
Masonic  system  of  teaching  by  symbolism 
is  followed : 

"  Permit  me,  my  sister,  to  decorate  you 
with  this  apron,  which,  as  the  symbol  of 
virtue,  kings,  princes,  and  princesses  have 
esteemed,  and  will  ever  esteem  it  an  honor 
to  wear." 

On  receiving  the  gloves,  the  candidate  is 
thus  addressed : 

"  The  color  of  these  gloves  will  admon- 
ish you  that  candor  and  truth  are  virtues 
inseparable  from  the  character  of  a  female 
Mason.  Take  your  place  among  us,  and  be 
pleased  to  listen  to  the  instructions  which 
we  are  about  to  communicate  to  you." 

The  following  charge  is  then  addressed 
to  the  candidate  by  the  Orator : 

"  My  dear  Sister  :  —  Nothing  is  better  cal- 
culated to  assure  you  of  the  high  esteem  our 


society  entertains  for  you,  than  your  admission 
as  a  member,  thus  giving  you  a  proof  of  our 
sincere  attachment.  The  vulgar,  who  are 
always  ignorant,  have  very  naturally  enter- 
tained the  most  ridiculous  prejudices  against 
our  Order.  Without  any  just  reason  they 
have  conceived  an  enmity  which  has  induced 
them  to  circulate  the  most  scandalous  rumors 
concerning  us.  But  how  is  it  possible  that 
they,  without  the  light  of  truth,  should  be  en- 
abled to  form  a  correct  judgment  ?  They  are 
incapable  of  appreciating  the  good  that  we  do 
by  affording  relief  to  our  fellow-creatures  in 
distress. 

"Your  sex,  my  dear  sister,  having  for  a 
long  time  been  denied  admission  to  our  soci- 
ety, alone  has  had  the  right  to  think  us  unjust. 
What  satisfaction  must  you,  therefore,  now 
enjoy,  in  perceiving  that  Freemasonry  is  a 
school  of  decorum  and  virtue,  and  that  our 
laws  are  intended  to  restrain  the  violence  of 
our  passions,  and  to  make  us  more  deserving 
of  your  confidence  and  esteem.  We  have 
hitherto  frequently  found  ourselves  at  a  loss 
in  our  meetings  for  the  agreeable  conversation 
of  your  amiable  sex,  and  hence  we  have  at 
length  determined  to  invite  you  into  our  soci- 
ety by  the  endearing  name  of  sisters,  with  the 
hope  that  we  shall  hereafter  pass  our  time 
more  delightfully  in  your  pleasant  company, 
as  well  as  give  additional  respect  to  our  Insti- 
tution. 

"  We  call  our  Lodge  the  temple  of  virtue, 
because  we  endeavor,  by  the  exercise  of  char- 
ity, to  do  all  the  good  we  can  to  our  fellow- 
creatures,  and  seek  to  subdue  our  own  pas- 
sions. The  obligation  that  we  take,  not  to 
reveal  our  mysteries,  prevents  pride  and  self- 
love  from  lurking  in  our  hearts,  so  that  we 
are  enabled  without  ostentation  to  perform 
all  the  good  deeds  which  we  are  bound  to 
practise. 

"  The  name  of  sister,  that  we  bestow  upon 
you,  evinces  the  esteem  that  we  have  enter- 
tained for  your  person  in  selecting  you  to  par- 
ticipate in  our  happiness  and  to  cultivate,  with 
us,  the  principles  of  virtue  and  benevolence. 

"Having  now  made  you  acquainted  with 
the  nature  of  our  Institution,  we  are  well  as- 
sured that  the  light  of  wisdom  and  virtue  will 
henceforth  direct  your  conduct,  and  that  you 
will  never  reveal  to  the  profane  those  myste- 
ries which  should  ever  carefully  be  preserved 
by  the  maintenance  of  the  strictest  silence. 
May  the  Omnipotent  Deity  give  you  that 
strength  which  will  always  enable  you  to  sup- 
port the  character  of  a  sincere  female  Mason." 

It  will  be  seen  that  throughout  this 
charge  there  runs  a  vein  of  gallantry, 
which  gives  the  true  secret  of  the  motives 
which  led  to  the  organization  of  the  soci- 
ety, and  which,  however  appropriate  to  a 
Lodge  of  Adoption,  would  scarcely  be  in 
place  in  a  Lodge  of  the  legitimate  Order. 

In  the  second  degree,  or  that  of  Com- 
pagnonne, or  "Craftswoman,"  corresponding 
to  our  Fellow  Craft,  the  Lodge  is  made  the 


30 


ADOPTIVE 


ADOPTIVE 


symbol  of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  the 
candidate  passes  through  a  mimic  repre- 
sentation of  the  temptation  of  Eve,  the 
fatal  effects  of  which,  culminating  in  the 
deluge  and  the  destruction  of  the  human 
race,  are  impressed  upon  her  in  the  lecture 
or  catechism. 

Here  we  have  a  scenic  representation  of 
the  circumstances  connected  with  that 
event,  as  recorded  in  Genesis.  The  can- 
didate plays  the  role  of  our  common  mother. 
In  the  centre  of  the  Lodge,  which  repre- 
sents the  garden,  is  placed  the  tree  of  life, 
from  which  ruddy  apples  are  suspended. 
The  serpent,  made  with  theatrical  skill  to 
represent  a  living  reptile,  embraces  in  its 
coils  the  trunk.  An  apple  plucked  from 
the  tree  is  presented  to  the  recipient,  who 
is  persuaded  to  eat  it  by  the  promise  that 
thus  alone  can  she  prepare  herself  for  re- 
ceiving a  knowledge  of  the  sublime  mys- 
teries of  Freemasonry.  She  receives  the 
fruit  from  the  tempter,  but  no  sooner  has 
she  attempted  to  bite  it,  than  she  is  startled 
by  the  sound  of  thunder  ;  a  curtain  which 
has  separated  her  from  the  members  of  the 
Lodge  is  suddenly  withdrawn,  and  she  is 
detected  in  the  commission  of  the  act  of 
disobedience.  She  is  sharply  reprimanded 
by  the  Orator,  who  conducts  her  before  the 
Grand  Master.  This  dignitary  reproaches 
her  with  her  fault,  but  finally,  with  the 
consent  of  the  brethren  and  sisters  present, 
he  pardons  her  in  the  merciful  spirit  of  the 
Institution,  on  the  condition  that  she  will 
take  a  vow  to  extend  hereafter  the  same 
clemency  to  the  faults  of  others. 

All  of  this  is  allegorical  and  very  pretty, 
and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  on  the  sensi- 
tive imaginations  of  females  such  cere- 
monies must  produce  a  manifest  impres- 
sion. .  But  it  is  needless  to  say  that  it  is 
nothing  like  Masonry. 

There  is  less  ceremony,  but  more  sym- 
bolism, in  the  third  degree,  or  that  of 
"  Mistress."  Here  are  introduced,  as  parts 
of  the  ceremony,  the  tower  of  Babel  and 
the  theological  ladder  of  Jacob.  Its  rounds, 
however,  differ  from  those  peculiar  to  true 
Masonry,  and  are  said  to  equal  the  virtues 
in  number.  The  lecture  or  catechism  is 
very  long,  and  contains  some  very  good 
points  in  its  explanations  of  the  symbols 
of  the  degree.  Thus,  the  tower  of  Babel 
is  said  to  signify  the  pride  of  man  —  its 
base,  his  folly  —  the  stones  of  which  it  was 
composed,  his  passions  —  the  cement  which 
united  them,  the  poison  of  discord  —  and 
its  spiral  form,  the  devious  and  crooked 
ways  of  the  human  heart.  In  this  manner 
there  is  an  imitation,  not  of  the  letter  and 
substance  of  legitimate  Freemasonry,  for 
nothing  can  in  these  respects  be  more  dis- 
similar, but  of  that  mode  of  teaching  by 


symbols  and  allegories  which  is  its  peculiar 
characteristic. 

The  fourth  degree,  or  that  of  "Perfect 
Mistress,"  corresponds  to  no  degree  in  legit- 
imate Masonry.  It  is  simply  the  summit 
of  the  Rite  of  Adoption,  and  hence  is  also 
called  the  "Degree  of  Perfection."  Al- 
though the  Lodge,  in  this  degree,  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  Mosaic  tabernacle 
in  the  wilderness,  yet  the  ceremonies  do 
not  have  the  same  reference.  In  one  of 
them,  however,  the  liberation,  by  the  can- 
didate, of  a  bird  from  the  vase  in  which  it 
had  been  confined  is  said  to  symbolize  the 
liberation  of  man  from  the  dominion  of  his 
passions ;  and  thus  a  far-fetched  reference  is 
made  to  the  liberation  of  the  Jews  from 
Egyptian  bondage.  On  the  whole,  the 
ceremonies  are  very  disconnected,  but  the 
lecture  or  catechism  contains  some  excel- 
lent lessons.  Especially  does  it  furnish  us 
with  the  official  definition  of  Adoptive  Ma- 
sonry, which  is  in  these  words : 

"  It  is  a  virtuous  amusement  by  which 
we  recall  a  part  of  the  mysteries  of  our 
religion ;  and  the  better  to  make  man  know 
his  Creator,  after  we  have  inculcated  the  du- 
ties of  virtue,  we  deliver  ourselves  up  to  the 
sentiments  of  a  pure  and  delightful  friend- 
ship by  enjoying  in  our  Lodges  the  pleasures 
of  society  —  pleasures  which  among  us  are 
always  founded  on  reason,  honor,  and  inno- 
cence." 

Apt  and  appropriate  description  of  an 
association,  secret  or  otherwise,  of  agreeable 
and  virtuous,  well-bred  men  and  women, 
but  having  not  the  slightest  application  to 
the  design  or  form  of  true  Freemasonry. 

The  author  of  La  Vraie  Magonnerie 
oV Adoption,  who  has  given  the  best  ritual 
of  the  Rite,  thus  briefly  sums  up  the  objects 
of  the  Institution : 

"The  first  degree  contains  only,  as  it 
ought,  moral  ideas  of  Masonry  ;  the  second 
is  the  initiation  into  the  first  mysteries, 
commencing  with  the  sin  of  Adam,  and 
concluding  with  the  Ark  of  Noah  as  the 
first  favor  which  God  granted  to  men  ;  the 
third  and  fourth  are  merely  a  series  of  types 
and  figures  drawn  from  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
by  which  we  explain  to  the  candidate  the 
virtues  which  she  ought  to  practise." 

The  fourth  degree,  being  the  summit  of 
the  Rite  of  Adoption,  is  furnished  with  a 
"  table-lodge,"  or  the  ceremony  of  a  ban- 
quet, which  immediately  succeeds  the  clos- 
ing of  the  Lodge,  and  which,  of  course,  adds 
much  to  the  social  pleasure  and  nothing  to 
the  instructive  character  of  the  Rite.  Here, 
also,  there  is  a  continued  imitation  of  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Masonic  Institution  as 
they  are  practised  in  France,  where  the 
ceremoniously  conducted  banquet,  at  which 
Masons  only  are  present,  is  always  an  ac- 


ADOPTIVE 


ADOPTIVE 


31 


companiment  of  the  Master's  Lodge.  Thus, 
as  in  the  banquets  of  the  regular  Lodges  of 
the  French  Rite,  the  members  always  use  a 
symbolical  language  by  which  they  desig- 
nate the  various  implements  of  the  table 
and  the  different  articles  of  food  and  drink, 
calling,  for  instance,  the  knives  "  swords," 
the  forks  "  pikes,"  the  meats  "  materials," 
and  bread  a  " rough  ashlar;  "  so,  in  imita- 
tion of  this  custom,  the  Rite  of  Adoption 
has  established  in  its  banquets  a  technical 
vocabulary,  to  be  used  only  at  the  table. 
Thus  the  Lodge  room  is  called  "  Eden," 
the  doors  "  barriers,"  the  minutes  a  "  lad- 
der," a  wineglass  is  styled  a  "  lamp,"  and  its 
contents  "  oil,"  —  water  being  "  white  oil " 
and  wine  "  red  oil."  To  fill  your  glass  is 
"  to  trim  your  lamp,"  to  drink  is  "to  extin- 
guish your  lamp,"  with  many  other  eccen- 
tric expressions. 

Much  taste,  and  in  some  instances,  mag- 
nificence, are  displayed  in  the  decorations 
of  the  Lodge  rooms  of  the  Adoptive  Rite. 
The  apartment  is  separated  by  curtains  into 
different  divisions,  and  contains  ornaments 
and  decorations  which  of  course  vary  in  the 
different  degrees.  The  orthodox  Masonic 
idea  that  the  Lodge  is  a  symbol  of  the 
world  is  here  retained,  and  the  four  sides 
of  the  hall  are  said  to  represent  the  four 
continents  —  the  entrance  being  called  "  Eu- 
rope," the  right  side  "  Africa,"  the  left 
"  America,"  and  the  extremity  in  which  the 
Grand  Master  and  Grand  Mistress  are 
seated  "  Asia."  There  are  statues  repre- 
senting Wisdom,  Prudence,  Strength,  Tem- 
perance, Honor,  Charity,  Justice,  and 
Truth.  The  members  are  seated  along  the 
sides  in  two  rows,  the  ladies  occupying  the 
front  one,  and  the  whole  is  rendered  as 
beautiful  and  attractive  as  the  taste  can 
make  it. 

The  Lodges  of  Adoption  flourished  greatly 
in  France  after  their  recognition  by  the 
Grand  Orient.  The  Duchess  of  Bourbon, 
who  was  the  first  that  received  the  title  of 
Grand  Mistress,  was  installed  with  great 
pomp  and  splendor,  in  May,  1775,  in  the 
Lodge  of  St.  Antoine,  in  Paris.  She  presided 
over  the  Adoptive  Lodge  Le  Candeur  until 
1780,  when  it  was  dissolved.  Attached  to 
the  celebrated  Lodge  of  the  Nine  Sisters, 
which  had  so  many  distinguished  men  of 
letters  among  its  members,  was  a  Lodge  of 
Adoption  bearing  the  same  name,  which  in 
1778  held  a  meeting  at  the  residence  of 
Madame  Helvetius  in  honor  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  then  our  ambassador  at  the 
French  court.  During  the  reign  of  terror 
of  the  French  revolution,  Lodges  of  Adop- 
tion, like  everything  that  was  gentle  or 
humane,  almost  entirely  disappeared.  But 
with  the  accession  of  a  regular  government 
they  were  resuscitated,  and  the  Empress 


Josephine  presided  at  the  meeting  of  one 
at  Strasburg  in  the  year  1805.  They  con- 
tinued to  flourish  under  the  imperial  dy- 
nasty, and  although  less  popular,  or  I 
should  rather  say,  less  fashionable,  under 
the  restoration,  they  subsequently  recovered 
their  popularity,  and  are  still  in  existence 
in  France. 

As  interesting  appendages  to  this  article, 
it  may  not  be  improper  to  insert  two  ac- 
counts, one  of  the  installation  of  Madame 
Cesar  Moreau,  as  Grand  Mistress  of  Adop- 
tive Masonry,  in  the  Lodge  connected  with 
the  regular  Lodge  La  Jerusalem  des  Val- 
ines Egyptiennes,  on  the  8th  July,  1854,  and 
the  other  of  the  reception  of  the  celebrated 
Lady  Morgan,  in  1819,  in  the  Lodge  La 
Belle  et  Bonne,  as  described  by  her  in  her 
Diary. 

The  account  of  the  installation  of  Ma- 
dame Moreau,  which  is  abridged  from  the 
Franc-Macon,  a  Parisian  periodical,  is  as 
follows: 

The  fete  was  most  interesting  and  admi- 
ably  arranged.  After  the  introduction  in 
due  form  of  a  number  of  brethren  and 
sisters,  the  Grand  Mistress  elect  was  an- 
nounced, and  she  entered,  preceded  by  the 
five  lights  of  the  Lodge  and  escorted  by  the 
Inspectress,  Depositress,  Oratrix,  and  Mis- 
tress of  Ceremonies.  Mons.  J.  S.  Boubee, 
the  Master  of  the  Lodge  La  Jerusalem  des 
Vallees  Egyptiennes,  conducted  her  to  the 
altar,  where,  having  installed  her  into  office 
and  handed  her  a  mallet  as  the  symbol  of 
authority,  he  addressed  her  in  a  copy  of 
verses,  whose  merit  will  hardly  claim  for 
them  a  repetition.  To  this  she  made  a  suit- 
able reply,  and  the  Lodge  then  proceeded  to 
the  reception  of  a  young  lady,  a  part  of  the 
ceremony  of  which  is  thus  described : 

"  Of  the  various  trials  of  virtue  and  forti- 
tude to  which  she  was  subjected,  there  was 
one  which  made  a  deep  impression,  not 
only  on  the  fair  recipient,  but  on  the  whole 
assembled  company.  Four  boxes  were 
placed,  one  before  each  of  the  male  officers ; 
the  candidate  was  told  to  open  them,  which 
she  did,  and  from  the  first  and  second  drew 
faded  flowers,  and  soiled  ribbons  and  laces, 
which  being  placed  in  an  open  vessel  were 
instantly  consumed  by  fire,  as  an  emblem 
of  the  brief  duration  of  such  objects;  from 
the  third  she  drew  an  apron,  a  blue  silk 
scarf,  and  a  pair  of  gloves ;  and  from  the 
fourth  a  basket  containing  the  working 
tools  in  silver  gilt.  She  was  then  con- 
ducted to  the  altar,  where,  on  opening  a 
fifth  box,  several  birds  which  had  been  con- 
fined in  it  escaped,  which  was  intended  to 
teach  her  that  liberty  is  a  condition  to 
which  all  men  are  entitled,  and  of  which  no 
one  can  be  deprived  without  injustice. 
After  having  taken  the  vow,  she  was  in- 


32 


ADOPTIVE 


ADOPTIVE 


structed  in  the  modes  of  recognition,  and 
having  been  clothed  with  the  apron,  scarf, 
and  gloves,  and  presented  with  the  imple- 
ments of  the  Order,  she  received  from  the 
Grand  Mistress  an  esoteric  explanation  of 
all  these  emblems  and  ceremonies.  Ad- 
dresses were  subsequently  delivered  by  the 
Orator  and  Oratrix,  an  ode  was  sung,  the 
poor. or  alms  box  was  handed  round,  and 
the  labors  of  the  Lodge  were  then  closed." 

Madame  Moreau  lived  only  six  months 
to  enjoy  the  honors  of  presiding  officer  of 
the  Adoptive  Rite,  for  she  died  of  a  pulmo- 
nary affection  at  an  early  age,  on  the  11th 
of  the  succeeding  January. 

The  Lodge  of  Adoption  in  which  Lady 
Morgan  received  the  degrees  at  Paris,  in 
the  year  1819,  was  called  La  Belle  et  Bonne. 
This  was  the  pet  name  which  long  before 
had  been  bestowed  by  Voltaire  on  his 
favorite,  the  Marchioness  de  Villette,  under 
whose  presidency  and  at  whose  residence  in 
the  Faubourg  St.  Germaine  the  Lodge  was 
held,  and  hence  the  name  with  which  all 
France,  or  at  least  all  Paris,  was  familiarly 
acquainted  as  the  popular  designation  of 
Madame  de  Villette. 

Lady  Morgan,  in  her  description  of  the 
Masonic  fete,  says  that  when  she  arrived  at 
the  Hotel  la  Villette,  where  the  Lodge  was 
held,  she  found  a  large  concourse  of  dis- 
tinguished persons  ready  to  take  part  in  the 
ceremonies.  Among  these  were  Prince 
Paul  of  Wurtemberg,  the  Count  de  Cazes, 
elsewhere  distinguished  in  Masonry,  the 
celebrated  Denon,  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  illustrious  actor  Talma.  The  busi- 
ness of  the  evening  commenced  with  an  in- 
stallation of  the  officers  of  a  sister  Lodge, 
after  which  the  candidates  were  admitted. 
Lady  Morgan  describes  the  arrangements 
as  presenting,  when  the  doors  were  opened, 
a  spectacle  of  great  magnificence.  A  pro- 
fusion of  crimson  and  gold,  marble  busts,  a 
decorated  throne  and  altar,  an  abundance 
of  flowers,  and  incense  of  the  finest  odor 
which  filled  the  air,  gave  to  the  whole  a 
most  dramatic  and  scenic  effect.  Music  of 
the  grandest  character  mingled  its  harmony 
with  the  mysteries  of  initiation,  which 
lasted  for  two  hours,  and  when  the  Lodge 
was  closed  there  was  an  adjournment  to  the 
hall  of  refreshment,  where  the  ball  was 
opened  by  the  Grand  Mistress  with  Prince 
Paul  of  Wurtemberg.  Lady  Morgan,  upon 
whose  mind  the  ceremony  appears  to  have 
made  an  impression,  makes  one  remark 
worthy  of  consideration :  "  That  so  many 
women,"  she  says,  "  young  and  beautiful 
and  worldly,  should  never  have  revealed 
the  secret,  is  among  the  miracles  which  the 
much  distrusted  sex  are  capable  of  work- 
ing." In  fidelity  to  the  vow  of  secrecy,  the 
female  Masons  of  the  Adoptive  Rite  have 


proved  themselves  fully  equal  to  their 
brethren  of  the  legitimate  Order. 

Notwithstanding  that  Adoptive  Masonry 
has  found  an  advocate  in  no  less  distin- 
guished a  writer  than  Chemin  Dupontes, 
who,  in  the  Encyclopedie  Maconnique,  calls 
it  "  a  luxury  in  Masonry,  and  a  pleasant  re- 
laxation which  cannot  do  any  harm  to  the 
true  mysteries  which  are  practised  by  men 
alone,"  it  has  been  very  generally  con- 
demned by  the  most  celebrated  French, 
German,  English,  and  American  Masons. 

Gaedicke,  in  the  Freimaurer  Lexicon, 
speaks  slightingly  of  it  as  established  on 
insufficient  grounds,  and  expresses  his 
gratification  that  the  system  no  longer  ex- 
ists in  Germany. 

Thory,  in  his  History  of  the  Foundation 
of  the  Grand  Orient  (p.  361),  says  that  the 
introduction  of  Adoptive  Lodges  was  a  con- 
sequence of  the  relaxation  of  Masonic  dis- 
cipline ;  and  he  asserts  that  the  permitting 
of  women  to  share  in  mysteries  which 
should  exclusively  belong  to  men  is  not  in 
accordance  with  the  essential  principles  of 
the  Masonic  Order.  The  Abbe  Robin,  the 
author  of  an  able  work  entitled  Becherches 
sur  les  Initiations  Anciennes  et  Modernes, 
maintains  that  the  custom  of  admitting 
women  into  Masonic  assemblies  will  per- 
haps be,  at  some  further  period,  the  cause 
of  the  decline  of  Masonry  in  France.  The 
prediction  is  not,  however,  likely  to  come 
to  pass ;  for  while  legitimate  Masonry  has 
never  been  more  popular  or  prosperous  in 
France  than  it  is  at  this  day,  it  is  the 
Lodges  of  Adoption  that  appear  to  have 
declined. 

Other  writers  in  other  countries  have 
spoken  in  similar  terms,  so  that  it  is  beyond 
a  doubt  that  the  general  sentiment  of  the 
Fraternity  is  against  this  system  of  female 
Masonry. 

Lenning  is,  however,  more  qualified  in 
his  condemnation,  and  says,  in  his  Encyclo- 
padie  der  Freimaurerei,  that  while  leaving 
it  undecided  whether  it  is  prudent  to  hold 
assemblies  of  women  with  ceremonies 
which  are  called  Masonic,  yet  it  is  not  to 
be  denied  that  in  these  female  Lodges  a 
large  amount  of  charity  has  been  done. 

Adoptive  Masonry  has  its  literature,  al- 
though neither  extensive  nor  important,  as 
it  comprises  only  books  of  songs,  addresses, 
and  rituals.  Of  the  latter  the  most  valu- 
able are — 1.  La  Maconnerie  des  Femmes, 
published  in  1775,  and  containing  only  the 
first  three  degrees;  for  such  was  the  system 
when  recognized  by  the  Grand  Orient  of 
France  in  that  year.  2.  La  Vraie  Macon- 
nerie d' Adoption,  printed  in  1787.  This 
work,  which  is  by  Guillemain  de  St.  Victor, 
is  perhaps  the  best  that  has  been  published 
on  the  subject  of  the  Adoptive  Rite,  and  is 


ADOPTIVE 


ADOPTIVE 


the  first  that  introduces  the  fourth  degree, 
of  which  Guilleinain  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  inventor,  since  all  previous  rituals 
include  only  the  three  degrees.  3.  Magon- 
nerie  d' Adoption  pour  les  Femmes,  contained 
in  the  second  part  of  E.  J.  Chappron's 
Necessaire  Magonnique,  and  printed  at  Paris 
in  1817.  This  is  valuable  because  it  is  the 
first  ritual  that  contains  the  fifth  degree. 
4.  La  Franc- Magonnerie  des  Femmes.  This 
work,  which  is  by  Charles  Monselet,  is  of 
no  value  as  a  ritual,  being  simply  a  tale 
founded  on  circumstances  connected  with 
Adoptive  Masonry. 

In  Italy,  the  Carbonari,  or  "Charcoal- 
Burners,"  a  secret  political  society,  imitated 
the  Freemasons  of  France  in  instituting  an 
Adoptive  Rite,  attached  to  their  own  asso- 
ciation. Hence  an  Adoptive  Lodge  was 
founded  at  Naples  in  the  oeginning  of  this 
century,  over  which  presided  that  friend  of 
Masonry,  Queen  Caroline,  the  wife  of  Fer- 
dinand II.  The  members  were  styled 
Oiardiniere,  or  Female  Gardeners;  and 
they  called  each  other  Cugine,  or  Female 
Cousins,  in  imitation  of  the  Carbonari,  who 
were  recognized  as  Buoni  Cugini,  or  Good 
Cousins.  The  Lodges  of  Giardiniere  flour- 
ished as  long  as  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Car- 
bonari existed  at  Naples. 

Adopt i\e  Masonry,  American. 
The  Rite  of  Adoption  as  practised  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  especially  in 
France,  has  never  been  introduced  into 
America.  The  system  does  not  accord  with 
the  manners  or  habits  of  our  people,  and 
undoubtedly  never  would  become  popular. 
But  Rob.  Morris  attempted,  in  1855,  to  in- 
troduce an  imitation  of  it,  which  he  had  in- 
vented, under  the  name  of  the  "  American 
Adoptive  Rite."  It  consisted  of  a  ceremony 
of  initiation,  which  was  intended  as  a  pre- 
liminary trial  of  the  candidate,  and  of  five 
degrees,  named  as  follows:  1.  Jephthah's 
Daughter,  or  the  daughter's  degree.  2. 
Ruth,  or  the  widow's  degree.  3.  Esther,  or 
the  wife's  degree.  4.  Martha,  or  the  sister's 
degree.  5.  Electa,  or  the  Christian  Mar- 
tyr's degree.  The  whole  assemblage  of  the 
five  degrees  was  called  the  Eastern  Star. 

The  objects  of  this  Rite,  as  expressed  by 
the  framer,  were  "  to  associate  in  one  com- 
mon bond  the  worthy  wives,  widows, 
daughters,  and  sisters  of  Freemasons,  so  as  to 
make  their  adoptive  privileges  available  for 
all  the  purposes  contemplated  in  Masonry  ; 
to  secure  to  them  the  advantages  of  their 
claim  in  a  moral,  social,  and  charitable 
point  of  view,  and  from  them  the  perform- 
ance of  corresponding  duties."  Hence  no 
females  but  those  holding  the  above  recited 
relations  to  Freemasons  were  eligible  for 
admission.  The  male  members  were  called 
"  Protectors ; "  the  female, "  Stellae; "  the  re- 
E  3 


unions  of  these  members  were  styled  "  Con- 
stellations ;  "  and  the  Rite  was  presided  over 
and  governed  by  a  "Supreme  Constella- 
tion." There  is  some  ingenuity  and  even 
beauty  in  many  of  the  ceremonies,  although 
it  is  by  no  means  equal  in  this  respect  to 
the  French  Adoptive  system.  Much  dis- 
satisfaction was,  however,  expressed  by  the 
leading  Masons  of  the  country  at  the  time  of 
its  attempted  organization ;  and  therefore, 
notwithstanding  very  strenuous  efforts  were 
made  by  its  founder  and  his  friends  to  estab- 
lish it  in  some  of  the  Western  States,  it  was 
slow  in  winning  popularity.  It  has,  how- 
ever, within  a  few  years  past,  gained  much 
growth  under  the  name  of  "  The  Eastern 
Star."  Bro.  Albert  Pike  has  also  recently 
printed,  for  the  use  of  Scottish  Rite  Masons, 
The  Masonry  of  Adoption.  It  is  in  seven 
degrees,  and  is  a  translation  from  the  French 
system,  but  greatly  enlarged,  and  is  far  su- 
perior to  the  original. 

The  last  phase  of  this  female  Masonry 
to  which  our  attention  is  directed  is  the 
system  of  androgynous  degrees  which  are 
practised  to  some  extent  in  the  United 
States.  This  term  "androgynous"  is  de- 
rived from  two  Greek  words,  aner-andros,  a 
man,  and  gune,  a  woman,  and  it  is  equiva- 
lent to  the  English  compound  masculo-fem- 
inine.  It  is  applied  to  those  "  side  degrees  " 
which  are  conferred  on  both  males  and 
females.  The  essential  regulation  prevail- 
ing in  these  degrees,  is  that  they  can  be 
conferred  only  on  Master  Masons  (and  in 
some  instances  only  Royal  Arch  Masons) 
and  on  their  female  relatives,  the  peculiar 
relationship  differing  in  the  different  de- 
grees. 

Thus  there  is  a  degree  generally  called 
the  "  Mason's  Wife,"  which  can  be  con- 
ferred only  on  Master  Masons,  their  wives, 
unmarried  daughters  and  sisters,  and  their 
widowed  mothers.  Another  degree,  called 
the  "  Heroine  of  Jericho,"  is  conferred  only 
on  the  wives  and  daughters  of  Royal  Arch 
Masons ;  and  the  third,  the  only  one  that 
has  much  pretension  of  ceremony  or  ritual, 
is  the  "  Good  Samaritan,"  whose  privileges 
are  confined  to  Royal  Arch  Masons  and 
their  wives. 

In  some  parts  of  the  United  States  these 
degrees  are  very  popular,  while  in  other 
places  they  are  never  practised,  and  are 
strongly  condemned  as  modern  innovations. 
The  fact  is,  that  by  their  friends  as  well  as 
their  enemies  these  so-called  degrees  have 
been  greatly  misrepresented.  When  fe- 
males are  told  that  in  receiving  these  de- 
grees they  are  admitted  into  the  Masonic 
Order,  and  are  obtaining  Masonic  informa- 
tion, under  the  name  of  "  Ladies'  Ma- 
sonry," they  are  simply  deceived.  When 
a  woman    is    informed   that,   by  passing 


34 


ADOPTIVE 


ADVANCEMENT 


through  the  brief  and  unimpressive  cere- 
mony of  any  one  of  these  degrees,  she  has 
become  a  Mason,  the  deception  is  still  more 
gross  and  inexcusable.  But  it  is  true  that 
every  woman  who  is  related  by  ties  of  con- 
sanguinity to  a  Master  Mason  is  at  all 
times  and  under  all  circumstances  pecu- 
liarly entitled  to  Masonic  protection  and 
assistance.  Now,  if  the  recipient  of  an 
androgynous  degree  is  candidly  instructed 
that,  by  the  use  of  these  degrees,  the  female 
relatives  of  Masons  are  put  in  possession 
of  the  means  of  making  their  claims  known 
by  what  may  be  called  a  sort  of  oral  testi- 
mony, which,  unlike  a  written  certificate, 
can  be  neither  lost  nor  destroyed ;  but  that, 
by  her  initiation  as  a  "  Mason's  Wife  "  or  as 
a  "  Heroine  of  Jericho,"  she  is  brought  no 
nearer  to  the  inner  portal  of  Masonry  than 
she  was  before  —  if  she  is  honestly  told  all 
this,  then  there  can  hardly  be  any  harm, 
and  there  may  be  some  good  in  these  forms 
if  prudently  bestowed.  But  all  attempts  to 
make  Masonry  of  them,  and  especially  that 
anomalous  thing  called  "Female  Masonry," 
are  reprehensible,  and  are  well  calculated 
to  produce  opposition  among  the  well-in- 
formed and  cautious  members  of  the  Fra- 
ternity. 

Adoptive  Masonry,  Egyptian. 
A  system  invented  by  Cagliostro.  See 
Egyptian  Masonry. 

Adoration.  The  act  of  paying  di- 
vine worship.  The  Latin  word  adorare  is 
derived  from  ad,  "  to,"  and  os,  oris,  "  the 
mouth,"  and  we  thus  etymologically  learn 
that  the  primitive  and  most  general  method 
of  adoration  was  by  the  application  of  the 
fingers  to  the  mouth.  Hence  we  read  in 
Job,  (xxxi.  26,)  "If  I  beheld  the  sun  when 
it  shined,  or  the  moon  walking  in  bright- 
ness, and  my  heart  hath  been  secretly  en- 
ticed, or  my  mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand,  this 
also  were  an  iniquity  to  be  punished  by  the 
judges ;  for  I  should  have  denied  the  God 
that  is  above."  Here  the  mouth  kissing 
the  hand  is  an  equipollent  expression  to 
adoration,  as  if  he  had  said,  "If  I  have 
adored  the  sun  or  the  moon."  This  mode 
of  adoration  is  said  to  have  originated 
among  the  Persians,  who,  as  worshippers 
of  the  sun,  always  turned  their  faces  to  the 
east  and  kissed  their  hands  to  that  lumi- 
nary. The  gesture  was  first  used  as  a  to- 
ken of  respect  to  their  monarchs,  and  was 
easily  transferred  to  objects  of  worship. 
Other  additional  forms  of  adoration  were 
used  in  various  countries,  but  in  almost 
all  of  them  this  reference  to  kissing  was  in 
some  degree  preserved.  Among  the  ancient 
Romans  the  act  of  adoration  was  thus  per- 
formed :  The  worshipper,  having  his  head 
covered,  applied  his  right  hand  to  his  lips, 
thumb  erect,  and  the  forefinger  resting  on 


it,  and  then,  bowing  his  head,  he  turned 
round  from  right  to  left.  And  hence  Apu- 
leius  (Apolog.)  uses  the  expression  "to  ap- 
ply the  hand  to  the  lips,"  manum  lahris 
admovere,  to  express  the  act  of  adoration. 
The  Grecian  mode  of  adoration  differed 
from  the  Roman  in  having  the  head  uncov- 
ered, which  practice  was  adopted  by  the 
Christians.  The  Oriental  nations  cover  the 
head,  but  uncover  the  feet.  They  also  ex- 
press the  act  of  adoration  by  prostrating 
themselves  on  their  faces  and  applying 
their  foreheads  to  the  ground.  The  an- 
cient Jews  adored  by  kneeling,  sometimes 
by  prostration  of  the  whole  body,  and  by 
kissing  the  hand.  This  act,  therefore,  of 
kissing  the  hand,  was  an  early  and  a  very 
general  symbol  of  adoration.  But  we  must 
not  be  led  into  the  error  of  supposing  that 
a  somewhat  similar  gesture  used  in  some 
of  the  high  degrees  of  Freemasonry  has 
any  allusion  to  an  act  of  worship.  It  refers 
to  that  symbol  of  silence  and  secrecy  which 
is  figured  in  the  statues  of  Harpocrates, 
the  god  of  silence.  The  Masonic  idea  of 
adoration  has  been  well  depicted  by  the 
mediaeval  Christian  painters,  who  repre- 
sented the  act  by  angels  prostrated  before  a 
luminous  triangle. 

Advanced.  This  word  has  two  tech- 
nical meanings  in  Masonry. 

1.  We  speak  of  a  candidate  as  being 
advanced  when  he  has  passed  from  a  lower 
to  a  higher  degree ;  as  we  say  that  a  candi- 
date is  qualified  for  advancement  from  the 
Entered  Apprentice's  degree  to  that  of  a 
Fellow  Craft  when  he  has  made  that  "suit- 
able proficiency  in  the  former  which,  by 
the  regulations  of  the  Order,  entitle  him 
to  receive  the  initiation  into  and  the  in- 
structions of  the  latter.  And  when  the 
Apprentice  has  thus  been  promoted  to  the 
second  degree  he  is  said  to  have  advanced 
in  Masonry. 

2.  The  word  is  peculiarly  applied  to  the 
initiation  of  a  candidate  into  the  Mark 
degree,  which  is  the  fourth  in  the  Ameri- 
can modification  of  the  York  Rite.  The 
Master  Mason  is  thus  said  to  be  "  advanced 
to  the  honorary  degree  of  a  Mark  Master," 
to  indicate  either  that  he  has  now  been 
promoted  one  step  beyond  the  degrees  of 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry  on  his  way  to  the 
Royal  Arch,  or  to  express  the  fact  that  he 
has  been  elevated  from  the  common  class 
of  Fellow  Crafts  to  that  higher  and  more 
select  one  which,  according  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  Masonry,  constituted,  at  the  first 
Temple,  the  class  of  Mark  Masters.  See 
Mark  Master. 

Advancement  Hurried.  Noth- 
ing can  be  more  certain  than  that  the  proper 
qualifications  of  a  candidate  for  admission 
into  the  mysteries  of  Freemasonry,  and  the 


ADVANCEMENT 


ADVANCEMENT 


35 


necessary  proficiency  of  a  Mason  who  seeks 
advancement  to  a  higher  degree,  are  the 
two  great  bulwarks  which  are  to  protect 
the  purity  and  integrity  of  our  Institution. 
Indeed,  I  know  not  which  is  the  most  hurt- 
ful—  to  admit  an  applicant  who  is  un- 
worthy, or  to  promote  a  candidate  who  is 
ignorant  of  his  first  lessons.  The  one 
affects  the  external,  the  other  the  internal 
character  of  the  Institution.  The  one 
brings  discredit  upon  the  Order  among  the 
profane,  who  already  regard  us,  too  often, 
with  suspicion  and  dislike;  the  other  in- 
troduces ignorance  and  incapacity  into  our 
ranks,  and  dishonors  the  science  of  Masonry 
in  our  own  eyes.  The  one  covers  our  walls 
with  imperfect  and  worthless  stones,  which 
mar  the  outward  beauty  and  impair  the 
strength  of  our  temple ;  the  other  fills  our 
interior  apartments  with  confusion  and  dis- 
order, and  leaves  the  edifice,  though  exter- 
nally strong,  both  inefficient  and  inappro- 
priate for  its  destined  uses. 

But,  to  the  candidate  himself,  a  too 
hurried  advancement  is  often  attended  with 
the  most  disastrous  effects.  As  in  geometry, 
so  in  Masonry,  there  is  no  " royal  road"  to 
perfection.  A  knowledge  of  its  principles 
and  its  science,  and  consequently  an  ac- 
quaintance with  its  beauties,  can  only  be 
acquired  by  long  and  diligent  study.  To 
the  careless  observer  it  seldom  offers,  at  a 
hasty  glance,  much  to  attract  his  attention 
or  secure  his  interest.  The  gold  must  be 
deprived,  by  careful  manipulation,  of  the 
dark  and  worthless  ore  which  surrounds 
and  envelops  it,  before  its  metallic  lustre 
and  value  can  be  seen  and  appreciated. 

Hence,  the  candidate,  who  hurriedly 
passes  through  his  degrees  without  a  due 
examination  of  the  moral  and  intellectual 
purposes  of  each,  arrives  at  the  summit  of 
our  edifice  without  a  due  and  necessary 
appreciation  of  the  general  symmetry  and 
connection  that  pervade  the  whole  system. 
The  candidate,  thus  hurried  through  the 
elements  of  our  science,  and  unprepared,  by 
a  knowledge  of  its  fundamental  principles, 
for  the  reception  and  comprehension  of  the 
corollaries  which  are  to  be  deduced  from 
them,  is  apt  to  view  the  whole  system  as  "  a 
rude  and  indigested  mass"  of  frivolous 
ceremonies  and  puerile  conceits,  whose  in- 
trinsic value  will  not  adequately  pay  him 
for  the  time,  the  trouble,  and  expense  that 
he  has  incurred  in  his  forced  initiation. 
To  him,  Masonry  is  as  incomprehensible  as 
was  the  veiled  statue  of  Isis  to  its  blind 
worshippers,  and  he  becomes,  in  conse- 
quence, either  a  useless  drone  in  our  hive, 
or  speedily  retires  in  disgust  from  all  parti- 
cipation in  our  labors. 

But  the  candidate  who  by  slow  and  pain- 
ful steps  has  proceeded  through  each  apart- 


ment of  our  mystic  temple,  from  its  porch 
to  its  sanctuary,  pausing  in  his  progress  to 
admire  the  beauties  and  to  study  the  uses 
of  each,  learning,  as  he  advances,  "line 
upon  line,  and  precept  upon  precept,"  is 
gradually  and  almost  imperceptibly  imbued 
with  so  much  admiration  of  the  Institution, 
so  much  love  for  its  principles,  so  much 
just  appreciation  of  its  design  as  a  conserva- 
tor of  divine  truth,  and  an  agent  of  human 
civilization,  that  he  is  inclined,  on  behold- 
ing, at  last,  the  whole  beauty  of  the  finished 
building,  to  exclaim,  as  did  the  wondering 
Queen  of  Sheba :  "  A  Most  Excellent  Master 
must  have  done  all  this ! " 

The  usage  in  many  jurisdictions  of  this 
country,  when  the  question  is  asked  in  the 
ritual  whether  the  candidate  has  made  suit- 
able proficiency  in  his  preceding  degree,  is 
to  reply,  "Such  as  time  and  circumstances 
would  permit."  I  have  no  doubt  that  this 
was  an  innovation  originally  invented  to 
evade  the  law,  which  has  always  required  a 
due  proficieney.  To  such  a  question  no 
other  answer  ought  to  be  given  than  the 

Sositive  and  unequivocal  one  that  "he  has." 
[either  "  time  nor  circumstances  "  should 
be  permitted  to  interfere  with  his  attain- 
ment of  the  necessary  knowledge,  nor  ex- 
cuse its  absence.  This,  with  the  whole- 
some rule,  very  generally  existing,  which 
requires  an  interval  between  the  conferring 
of  the  degrees,  would  go  far  to  remedy  the 
evil  of  too  hurried  and  unqualified  ad- 
vancement, of  which  all  intelligent  Masons 
are  now  complaining. 

After  these  views  of  the  necessity  of  a 
careful  examination  of  the  claims  of  a  can- 
didate for  advancement  in  Masonry,  and  the 
necessity,  for  his  own  good  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Order,  that  each  one  should  fully 
prepare  himself  for  this  promotion,  it  is 
proper  that  we  should  next  inquire  into 
the  laws  of  Masonry,  by  which  the  wisdom 
and  experience  of  our  predecessors  have 
thought  proper  to  guard  as  well  the  rights 
of  those  who  claim  advancement  as  the 
interests  of  the  Lodge  which  is  called  upon 
to  grant  it.  This  subject  has  been  so  fully 
treated  in  Mackey's  Text  Book  of  Masonic 
Jurisprudence,  (b.  iii.,  ch.  i.,  p.  165,  and 
seq.,)  that  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  incorpo- 
rate the  views  in  that  work  into  the  present 
article. 

The  subject  of  the  petition  of  a  candidate 
for  advancement  involves  three  questions 
of  great  importance:  First,  how  soon,  after 
receiving  the  first  degree,  can  he  apply  for 
the  second?  Secondly,  what  number  of 
black  balls  is  necessary  to  constitute  a  re- 
jection? And  thirdly,  what  time  must 
elapse,  after  a  first  rejection,  before  the 
Apprentice  can  renew  his  application  for 
advancement?. 


36 


ADVANCEMENT 


ADVANCEMENT 


1.  How  soon,  after  receiving  a  former  de- 
gree,  can  a  candidate  apply  for  advancement 
to  the  next  t    The  necessity  of  a  full  com- 

Erehension  of  the  mysteries  of  one  degree, 
efore  any  attempt  is  made  to  acquire  those 
of  a  second,  seems  to  have  been  thoroughly 
appreciated  from  the  earliest  times;  and 
hence  all  the  Ancient  Constitutions  have 

Erescribed  that  "  the  Master  shall  instruct 
is  Apprentice  faithfully,  and  make  him  a 
f>erfect  workman."  But  if  there  be  an  ob- 
igation  on  the  part  of  the  Master  to  in- 
struct his  Apprentice,  there  must  be,  of 
course,  a  correlative  obligation  on  the  part  of 
the  latter  to  receive  and  profit  by  those  in- 
structions. Accordingly,  unless  this  obli- 
gation is  discharged,  and  the  Apprentice 
makes  himself  acquainted  with  the  mys- 
teries of  the  degree  that  he  has  already 
received,  it  is,  by  general  consent,  admitted 
that  he  has  no  right  to  be  intrusted  with 
further  and  more  important  information. 
The  modern  ritual  sustains  this  doctrine, 
by  requiring  that  the  candidate,  as  a  quali- 
fication in  passing  onward,  shall  have  made 
"  suitable  proficiency  in  the  preceding  de- 
gree." This  is  all  that  the  general  law  pre- 
scribes. Suitable  proficiency  must  have 
been  attained,  and  the  period  in  which  that 
condition  will  be  acquired  must  necessarily 
depend  on  the  mental  capacity  of  the  can- 
didate. Some  men  will  become  proficient 
in  a  shorter  time  than  others,  and  of  this 
fact  the  Master  and  the  Lodge  are  to  be  the 
judges.  An  examination  should  therefore 
take  place  in  open  Lodge,  and  a  ballot  im- 
mediately following  will  express  the  opi- 
nion of  the  Lodge  on  the  result  of  that 
examination,  and  the  qualification  of  the 
candidate. 

From  the  difficulty  with  which  the  second 
and  third  degrees  were  formerly  obtained 
—  a  difficulty  dependent  on  the  fact  that 
they  were  only  conferred  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  —  it  is  evident  that  Apprentices 
must  have  undergone  a  long  probation  be- 
fore they  had  an  opportunity  of  advance- 
ment, though  the  precise  term  of  the  pro- 
bation was  decided  by  no  legal  enactment. 
Several  modern  Grand  Lodges,  however, 
looking  with  disapprobation  on  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  degrees  are  sometimes  con- 
ferred upon  candidates  wholly  incompe- 
tent, have  adopted  special  regulations,  pre- 
scribing a  determinate  period  of  probation 
for  each  degree.  This,  however,  is  a  local 
law,  to  be  obeyed  only  in  those  jurisdictions 
in  which  it  is  of  force.  The  general  law 
of  Masonry  makes  no  such  determinate 
provision  of  time,  and  demands  only  that 
the  candidate  shall  give  evidence  of  "  suit- 
able proficiency." 

2.  What  number  of  black  balls  is  necessary 
to  constitute  a  rejection  t    Here  we  are  en- 


tirely without  the  guidance  of  any  express 
law,  as  all  the  Ancient  Constitutions  are 
completely  silent  upon  the  subject.  It 
would  seem,  however,  that  in  the  advance- 
ment of  an  Apprentice  or  Fellow  Craft,  as 
well  as  in  the  election  of  a  profane,  the 
ballot  should  be  unanimous.  This  is  strictly 
in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  Ma- 
sonry, which  require  unanimity  in  admis- 
sion, lest  improper  persons  be  intruded,  and 
harmony  impaired.  Greater  qualifications 
are  certainly  not  required  of  a  profane  ap- 
plying for  initiation  than  of  an  initiate 
seeking  advancement ;  nor  can  there  be  any 
reason  why  the  test  of  those  qualifications 
should  not  be  as  rigid  in  the  one  case  as  in 
the  other.  It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule, 
therefore,  that  in  all  cases  of  balloting  for 
advancement  in  any  of  the  degrees  of  Ma- 
sonry, a  single  black  ball  will  reject. 

3.  What  time  must  elapse,  after  a  first  re- 
jection, before  the  Apprentice  or  Fellow  Craft 
can  renew  his  application  for  advancement  to 
a  higher  degree?  Here,  too,  the  Ancient 
Constitutions  are  silent,  and  we  are  left  to 
deduce  our  opinions  from  the  general  prin- 
ciples and  analogies  of  Masonic  law.  As 
the  application  for  advancement  to  a  higher 
degree  is  founded  on  a  right  enuring  to  the 
Apprentice  or  Fellow  Craft  by  virtue  of 
his  reception  into  the  previous  degree  — 
that  is  to  say,  as  the  Apprentice,  so  soon  as 
he  has  been  initiated,  becomes  invested 
with  the  right  of,  applying  for  advancement 
to  the  second  —  it  seems  evident  that,  as 
long  as  he  remains  an  Apprentice  "  in  good 
standing,"  he  continues  to  be  invested  with 
that  right.  Now,  the  rejection  of  his  peti- 
tion for  advancement  by  the  Lodge  does 
not  impair  his  right  to  apply  again,  be- 
cause it  does  not  affect  his  rights  and  stand- 
ing as  an  Apprentice;  it  is  simply  the 
expression  of  the  opinion  that  the  Lodge 
does  not  at  present  deem  him  qualified  for 
further  progress  in  Masonry.  We  must 
never  forget  the  difference  between  the  right 
of  applying  for  advancement  and  the  right 
of  advancement.  Every  Apprentice  pos- 
sesses the  former,  but  no  one  can  claim  the 
latter  until  it  is  given  to  him  by  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  Lodge.  And  as,  there- 
fore, this  right  of  application  or  petition  is 
not  impaired  by  its  rejection  at  a  particular 
time,  and  as  the  Apprentice  remains  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  position  in  his  own  de- 
gree, after  the  rejection,  as  he  did  before, 
it  seems  to  follow,  as  an  irresistible  deduc- 
tion, that  he  may  again  apply  at  the  next 
regular  communication,  and,  if  a  second 
time  rejected,  repeat  his  applications  at  all 
future  meetings.  The  Entered  Apprentices 
of  a  Lodge  are  competent,  at  all  regular 
communications  of  their  Lodge,  to  petition 
for  advancement.    Whether  that  petition 


ADYTUM 


AFFILIATED 


37 


shall  be  granted  or  rejected  is  quite  another 
thing,  and  depends  altogether  on  the  favor 
of  the  Lodge.  And  what  is  here  said  of  an 
Apprentice,  in  relation  to  advancement  to 
the  second  degree,  may  be  equally  said  of  a 
Fellow  Craft  in  reference  to  advancement 
to  the  third. 

This  opinion  has  not,  it  is  true,  been  uni- 
versally adopted,  though  no  force  of  au- 
thority, short  of  an  opposing  landmark, 
could  make  one  doubt  its  correctness.  For 
instance,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  California 
decided,  in  1857,  that  "  the  application  of 
Apprentices  or  Fellow  Crafts  for  advance- 
ment should,  after  they  have  been  once 
rejected  by  ballot,  be  governed  by  the  same 
principles  which  regulate  the  ballot  on  peti- 
tions for  initiation,  and  which  require  a  pro- 
bation of  one  year." 

This  appears  to  be  a  singular  decision  of 
Masonic  law.  If  the  reasons  which  prevent 
the  advancement  of  an  Apprentice  or  Fel- 
low Craft  to  a  higher  degree  are  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  warrant  the  delay  of  one  year, 
it  is  far  better  to  prefer  charges  against  the 
petitioner,  and  to  give  him  the  opportunity 
of  a  fair  and  impartial  trial.  In  many 
cases,  a  candidate  for  advancement  is  re- 
tarded in  his  progress  from  an  opinion,  on 
the  part  of  the  Lodge,  that  he  is  not  yet 
sufficiently  prepared  for  promotion  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  preceding  degree  —  an 
objection  which  may  sometimes  be  removed 
before  the  recurrence  of  the  next  monthly 
meeting.  In  such  a  case,  a  decision  like 
that  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  California 
would  be  productive  of  manifest  injustice. 
It  is,  therefore,  a  more  consistent  rule,  that 
the  candidate  for  advancement  has  a  right 
to  apply  at  every  regular  meeting,  and  that 
whenever  any  moral  objections  exist  to  his 
taking  a  higher  degree,  these  objections 
should  be  made  in  the  form  of  charges,  and 
their  truth  tested  by  an  impartial  trial.  To 
this,  too,  the  candidate  is  undoubtedly  en- 
titled, on  all  the  principles  of  justice  and 
equity. 

Adytum.  The  most  retired  and  secret 
part  of  the  ancient  temples,  into  which  the 
people  were  not  permitted  to  enter,  but  which 
was  accessible  to  the  priests  only,  was  called 
the  adytum.  And  hence  the  derivation  of 
the  word  from  the  Greek  privative  preterite 
a,  and  dveiv,  to  enter  =  that  which  is  not  to 
be  entered.  In  the  adytum  was  generally 
to  be  found  a  taphos,  or  tomb,  or  some 
relics  or  sacred  images  of  the  god  to  whom 
the  temple  was  consecrated.  It  being  sup- 
posed that  temples  owed  their  origin  to  the 
superstitious  reverence  paid  by  the  ancients 
to  their  deceased  friends,  and  as  most  of 
the  gods  were  men  who  had  been  deified  on 
account  of  their  virtues,  temples  were, 
perhaps,  at  first  only  stately  monuments 


erected  in  honor  of  the  dead.  Hence  the 
interior  of  the  temple  was  originally  no- 
thing more  than  a  cavity  regarded  as  a 
place  for  the  reception  of  a  person  interred, 
and  in  it  was  to  be  found  the  soros,  or  coffin, 
the  taphos,  or  tomb,  or,  among  the  Scandi- 
navians, the  barrow  or  mound  grave.  In 
time,  the  statue  or  image  of  a  god  took  the 
place  of  the  coffin ;  but  the  reverence  for 
the  spot  as  one  of  peculiar  sanctity  re- 
mained, and  this  interior  part  of  the  tem- 
ple became,  among  the  Greeks,  the  crjKbg,  or 
chapel,  among  the  Romans  the  adytum,  or 
forbidden  place,  and  among  the  Jews  the 
kodesh  hahodashim,  the  holy  of  holies.  (See 
Sanctum  Sanctorum.)  "The  sanctity  thus 
acquired,"  says  Dudley,  [Naology,  p.  393,) 
"by  the  cell  of  interment  might  readily 
and  with  propriety  be  assigned  to  any 
fabric  capable  of  containing  the  body  of 
the  departed  friend,  or  the  relic,  or  even 
the  symbol,  of  the  presence  or  existence 
of  a  divine  personage."  And  thus  it  has 
happened  that  there  was  in  every  ancient 
temple  an  adytum  or  most  holy  place.  The 
adytum  of  the  small  temple  of  Pompeii  is 
still  in  excellent  preservation.  It  is  carried 
some  steps  above  the  level  of  the  main 
building,  and,  like  the  Jewish  sanctuary, 
is  without  light. 

iEneid.  Bishop  Warburton  (Div.  Leg.) 
has  contended,  and  his  opinion  has  been 
sustained  by  the  great  majority  of  subse- 
quent commentators,  that  Virgil,  in  the 
sixth  book  of  his  immortal  Epic,  has,  under 
the  figure  of  the  descent  of  iEneas  into  the 
infernal  regions,  described  the  ceremony  of 
initiation  into  the  Ancient  Mysteries. 

JEon.  This  word,  in  its  original  Greek, 
aiuv,  signifies  the  age  or  duration  of  any- 
thing. The  Gnostics,  however,  used  it  in 
a  peculiar  mode  to  designate  the  intelli- 
gent, intellectual,  and  material  powers  or 
natures  which  flowed  as  emanations  from 
the  Bt^of,  or  Infinite  Abyss  of  Deity,  and 
which  were  connected  with  their  divine 
fountain  as  rays  of  light  are  with  the  sun. 
See  Gnosticism. 

^Era  Architeetonica.  Lat.  Archi- 
tectonic Era.  Used  in  some  modern  Ma- 
sonic lapidary  inscriptions  to  designate  the 
date  more  commonly  known  as  annus  lucis, 
the  year  of  light. 

Affiliated  Mason.  A  Mason  who 
holds  membership  in  some  Lodge.  The 
word  affiliation  is  derived  from  the  French 
affilier,  which  Richelet  {Diet,  de  la  langue 
Prancaise)  defines,  "  to  communicate  to  any 
one  a  participation  in  the  spiritual  benefits 
of  a  religious  order,"  and  he  says  that  such 
a  communication  is  called  an  "  affiliation." 
The  word,  as  a  technical  term,  is  not  found 
in  any  of  the  old  Masonic  writers,  who 
always  use  admission  instead  of  affiliation. 


38 


AFFIKMATION 


AFRICAN 


There  is  no  precept  more  explicitly  ex- 
pressed in  the  Ancient  Constitutions  than 
that  every  Mason  should  belong  to  a  Lodge. 
The  foundation  of  the  law  which  imposes 
this  duty  is  to  be  traced  as  far  back  as  the 
Gothic  Constitutions  of  926,  which  tell  us 
that  "the  workman  shall  labor  diligently 
on  work-days,  that  he  may  deserve  his 
holydays."  The  obligation  that  every  Ma- 
son should  thus  labor  is  implied  in  all  the 
subsequent  Constitutions,  which  always 
speak  of  Masons  as  working  members  of  the 
Fraternity,  until  we  come  to  the  Charges 
approved  in  1722,  which  explicitly  state 
that  "every  Brother  ought  to  belong  to 
a  Lodge,  and  to  be  subject  to  its  By :  Laws 
and  the  General  Regulations." 

Affirmation.  The  question  has  been 
mooted  whether  a  Quaker,  or  other  person 
having  peculiar  religious  scruples  in  refer- 
ence to  taking  oaths,  can  receive  the  de- 
grees of  Masonry  by  taking  an  affirmation. 
Now,  as  the  obligations  of  Masonry  are 
symbolic  in  their  character,  and  the  forms 
in  which  they  are  administered  constitute 
the  essence  of  the  symbolism,  there  cannot 
be  a  doubt  that  the  prescribed  mode  is  the 
only  one  that  ought  to  be  used,  and  that 
affirmations  are  entirely  inadmissible.  The 
London  Freemason's  Quarterly  (1828,  p.  286,) 
says  that  "  a  Quaker's  affirmation  is  bind- 
ing." This  is  not  denied :  the  only  ques- 
tion is  whether  it  is  admissible.  Can  the 
obligations  be  assumed  in  any  but  one  way, 
unless  the  ritual  be  entirely  changed?  and 
can  any  "man  or  body  of  men"  at  this 
time  make  such  a  change  without  affecting 
the  universality  of  Masonry?  Bro.  Chase 
(Masonic  Digest,  p.  448,)  says  that  "confer- 
ring the  degrees  on  affirmation  is  no  viola- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  Freemasonry,  and 
neither  overthrows  nor  affects  a  land- 
mark." And  in  this  he  is  sustained  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Maine  (1823)  ;  but  the 
only  other  Grand  Lodges  which  have  ex- 
pressed an  opinion  on  this  subject — namely, 
those  of  Missouri,  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
Delaware,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania  — 
have  made  an  opposite  decision.  The  en- 
tire practice  of  Lodges  in  this  country 
is  also  against  the  use  of  an  affirmation. 
There  is  no  landmark  more  clear  and  cer- 
tain than  that  which  prescribes  the  mode 
of  entering  upon  the  covenant,  and  it,  by 
implication,  excludes  the  affirmation,  or 
any  other  kind  but  the  one  prescribed. 

Africa.  Freemasonry  was  first  at- 
tempted to  be  introduced  into  Africa  in 
1735,'  through  the  appointment,  in  that 
year,  of  Richard  Hull,  Esq.,  by  Lord  Wey- 
mouth, Grand  Master  of  England,  as  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Master  at  Gambay,  in  West 
Africa.  In  the  following  year  the  Earl  of 
Loudoun  appointed  Dr.  David  Creighton 


Provincial  Grand  Master  of  Cape  Coast 
Castle.  At  present  there  is  a  District  Grand 
Master  for  South  Africa,  and  the  English 
Lodges  on  that  continent  are  under  the  con- 
trol, through  him,  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England.  I  doubt,  however,  whether  any 
Lodges  were  established  at  an  early  period 
on  the  African  continent  by  these  provin- 
cial deputations.  At  all  events,  the  first 
African  Lodge  that  I  find  marked  in  Hutch- 
inson's Register  of  the  English  Lodges  is  at 
Bulam,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  under  the 
date  of  1792,  and  numbered  as  495.  At 
present  there  are  eighteen  Lodges  in  Af- 
rica under  the  English  jurisdiction,  fourteen 
of  which  are  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
one  at  Bathurst  on  the  river  Gambia,  three 
at  Cape  Coast  Castle,  and  one  at  Sierra 
Leone.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  has 
a  Lodge  under  its  jurisdiction  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  and  several  have  been  estab- 
lished by  the  Grand  Orient  of  France  in 
Mauritius,  Egypt,  and  Algeria. 

African  Architects,  Order  of. 
Sometimes  called  African  Builders;  French, 
Architectes  de  VAfrigue;  German,  African- 
ische  Bauherren. 

Of  all  the  new  sects  and  modern  degrees 
of  Freemasonry  which  sprang  up  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  during  the  eighteenth 
century,  there  was  none  which,  for  the 
time,  maintained  so  high  an  intellectual 
position  as  the  Order  of  African  Archi- 
tects, called  by  the  French  Architectes  de 
PAfrique,  and  by  the  Germans  Africanische 
Bauherren.  A  Masonic  sect  of  this  name 
had  originally  been  established  in  Ger- 
many in  the  year  1756,  but  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  attracted  much  attention, 
or,  indeed,  deserved  it;  and  hence,  amid 
the  multitude  of  Masonic  innovations  to 
which  almost  every  day  was  giving  birth 
and  ephemeral  existence,  it  soon  disap- 
peared. But  the  society  which  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  article,  although  it  as- 
sumed the  name  of  the  original  African 
Architects,  was  of  a  very  different  charac- 
ter. It  may,  however,  be  considered,  as  it 
was  established  only  eleven  years  after- 
wards, as  a  remodification  of  it. 

The  new  Order  of  African  Architects  owed 
its  existence  to  the  Masonic  zeal  and  lib- 
eral views  of  that  great  monarch,  Frederick 
II.  of  Prussia,  to  whom,  also,  the  now  flour- 
ishing Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite  traces  its 
origin.  No  monarch  in  the  royal  catalogue 
of  Europe  ever  was  so  intimately  connected 
with,  or  took  so  much  interest  in,  Masonic 
affairs  as  the  illustrious  King  of  Prussia. 
He  was  to  the  modern  Institution  what 
tradition  says  Solomon  of  Israel  was  to  the 
ancient ;  and  if  his  life  had  been  prolonged 
for  a  few  more  years,  until  the  Masonic 
orders  which  he  had  established  and  pat- 


AFRICAN 


AFRICAN 


39 


ronized  had  acquired  sufficient  vigor  for 
self-support,  and  until  the  vast  Masonic 
designs  which  his  wisdom  and  zeal  had 
initiated  had  gained  permanent  strength 
through  his  influence,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  Order  of  African  Architects 
would  now  have  been  the  ruling  power  of 
the  Masonic  world.  It  would  not,  it  is 
true,  have  opposed  the  propagation  of  other 
sects,  nor  interfered  with  the  active  and 
dogmatic  jurisdiction  of  supreme  councils 
or  of  Grand  Lodges,  for  its  favorite  motto 
was  tolerance  of  all ;  but  by  its  intellectual 

Eower,  and  by  the  direction  which  it  would 
ave  given  to  Masonic  studies,  it  would 
have  vastly  elevated  the  character  of  the 
Institution,  and  would  have  hastened  that 
millennium  for  which  all  Masonic  students 
are  even  now  so  fondly  looking,  when  every 
Lodge  shall  be  an  academy  of  science. 

The  memory  of  a  society  whose  inten- 
tions, although  unfortunately  frustrated  by 
adverse  circumstances,  wereso  praiseworthy, 
should  never  be  allowed  to  pass  into  obli- 
vion, but  rather  should  be  preserved  for 
imitation,  and  in  some  fortunate  future  for 
resuscitation.  Hence  I  flatter  myself  that 
the  present  article,  in  which  I  shall  endeavor 
to  give  some  details  of  its  object  and  history, 
will  not  be  altogether  without  gratification 
to  the  reader  who  takes  any  interest  in  the 
subject  of  Masonic  progress.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century  adventurous  Masons  sought 
to  build  many  temples  after  their  own  de- 
vices, most  of  which  have  fallen  into  decay ; 
but  the  Order  of  African  Architects  is  a 
block  from  the  ruins  which  is  well  worthy 
of  preservation. 

Frederick  II.,  King  of  Prussia,  who  had 
been  initiated  while  a  prince  and  in  the 
lifetime  of  his  father,  soon  after  he  ascended 
the  throne,  directed  the  attention  of  his 
great  and  inquiring  mind  to  the  condition 
of  Freemasonry,  for  which,  from  his  first 
acquaintance  with  it,  he  had  conceived  a 
strong  attachment.  He  soon  perceived 
that  it  was  no  longer  what  it  once  had  been, 
what  it  was  capable  of  being,  and  what  it 
was,  in  his  opinion,  intended  to  be.  The 
great  minds  in  its  bosom,  who  in  the  olden 
time  had  devoted  their  attention  to  science 
and  philosophy,  had  passed  away,  and  the 
Masonic  leaders,  such  as  Hund  and  Knigge 
and  Rosa  and  Zinnendorf,  were  occupying 
themselves  in  the  manufacture  of  unmean- 
ing degrees  and  the  organization  of  rival 
rites,  in  which  a  pompous  ceremonial  was 
substituted  for  philosophical  research. 

Frederick,  appreciating  the  capacity  of 
Freemasonry  for  a  higher  destiny,  conceived 
the  plan  of  an  interior  order  which  might 
assume  the  place  and  perform  the  functions 
of  a  Masonic  academy.  The  king  com- 
municated these  ideas  to  several  distin- 


guished Masons,  the  most  prominent  of 
whom  were  Dr.  John  Ernest  Stahl  and  the 
Counsellor  Charles  Frederick  Koppen.  To 
them  he  intrusted  the  duty  of  carrying  his 
design  of  a  Masonic  reformation  into  effect. 

Accordingly,  in  the  year  1767,  at  Berlin, 
Koppen,  as  the  first  Grand  Master,  assisted 
by  Stahl  and  several  other  men  of  letters, 
established  a  new  Masonic  sect,  order,  or 
rite —  call  it  which  you  please  —  upon  the 
old  and  almost  extinct  society  of  African 
Builders,  whose  name  they  preserved  and 
whose  system  they  extended  and  perfected, 
but  whose  character  they  entirely  changed, 
by  such  important  modifications  as  gave  to 
the  new  Institution  an  original  condition. 
They  formed  a  code  of  statutes  in  conformity 
with  the  views  of  the  king,  and  which  were 
therefore  very  different  from  those  which 
regulated  the  other  Masonic  bodies  of  the 
same  period.  They  commenced  with  the 
declaration  that  the  principles  which 
should  govern  them  were  to  fear  God,  to 
honor  the  king,  to  be  prudent  and  discreet, 
and  to  exercise  universal  tolerance  towards 
all  other  Masonic  sects,  but  to  affiliate  with 
none.  Hence,  when  the  Baron  Hund,  the 
author  and  chief  director  of  the  widely 
spread  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  whose  in- 
fluence had  extended  over  so  many  con- 
tending sects  of  German  and  French  Ma- 
sonry, sought  to  establish  a  union  with  the 
growing  Order  of  African  Architects,  they 
peremptorily  declined  all  his  solicitations. 
As  long  as  the  Order  existed,  it  remained 
independent  of  and  unconnected  with  every 
other.  In  fact,  it  carried  its  opposition  to 
any  mingling  with  rival  rites  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  the  Duke  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick, 
when  an  applicant  for  admission  into  its 
fold,  was  rejected  simply  because  he  had 
formerly  taken  an  active  part  in  the  con- 
tentions of  several  of  the  Masonic  sects. 

The  Order  of  African  Architects  made 
the  history  of  Freemasonry  its  peculiar 
study.  Its  members  were  occupied  with 
profound  researches  into  the  nature  and  de- 
sign of  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  in  which  they 
found,  as  they  supposed,  the  origin  of  our 
Institution,  and  investigated  the  character 
of  all  the  secret  societies  which  were  in  any 
way  assimilated  to  Freemasonry.  They 
also  diligently  cultivated  the  sciences,  and 
especially  mathematics.  At  their  meetings 
they  read  essays  on  these  various  subjects, 
and  the  members  communicated  to  each 
other  the  results  of  their  investigations. 
They  published  many  important  documents 
on  the  subjects  which  they  had  discussed, 
some  of  which  are  still  extant,  and  have 
afforded  literary  aid  of  great  value  to  sub- 
sequent Masonic  writers. 

Every  year,  during  the  life  of  King  Fred- 
erick, the  Order  bestowed  a  medal  of  the 


40 


AFRICAN 


AFRICAN 


value  of  fifty  ducats  on  the  writer  of  the 
best  essay  on  the  history  of  Masonry. 

The  receptions  were  always  gratuitous, 
notwithstanding  which  the  Chapters  always 
relieved  such  members  as  became  indigent 
and  in  need  of  assistance. 

The  meetings  were  always  of  a  scientific 
or  literary  character,  and  in  some  of  the 
Chapters  the  proceedings  were  conducted  in 
the  Latin  language  —  a  sufficient  evidence 
of  the  educated  attainments  of  the  members. 

In  their  receptions  of  candidates  they  were 
exceedingly  rigorous,  respecting  neither 
wealth  nor  rank  nor  political  influence  if 
moral  and  intellectual  qualifications  were 
wanting,  an  example  of  which  has  already 
been  given  in  the  rejection  of  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  alluded  to  above. 

In  their  ceremonies  they  were  very  simple, 
making  no  use  of  aprons,  collars,  or  other 
decorations.  They  looked  more  to  the 
spirit  and  intent  of  Masonry  than  to  its 
outward  form. 

Their  epithet  of  "Africans"  they  de- 
rived from  the  fact  that  in  their  studies  of 
Masonic  history  they  commenced  with 
Egypt,  in  the  mysteries  of  whose  priest- 
hood they  believed  that  they  had  found 
the  origin  of  the  modern  Institution. 
Hence  one  of  their  most  popular  works 
was  the  "  Crata  Repoa ;  or  Initiations  in 
the  Ancient  Mysteries  of  the  Egyptian 
Priests,"  written  by  their  founder  and 
Grand  Master,  the  Counsellor  Charles  Fred- 
erick Koppen ;  a  work  which,  published 
first  at  Berlin  in  the  year  1770,  passed 
through    many  editions    and   was  subse- 

auently  translated  into  French,  and  was 
eemed  of  so  much  importance  as  to  be  ed- 
ited by  Ragon  as  late  as  the  year  1821.  It 
was  a  standard  authority  among  the  African 
Architects. 

Frederick  the  Great  was  very  liberal  to 
this  society,  which,  indeed,  may  well  be 
considered  as  the  offspring  of  his  genius. 
A  year  after  its  organization  he  caused  a 
splendid  building  to  be  erected  for  its  sole 
use  in  Silesia,  under  the  special  superin- 
tendence of  his  architect,  the  Herr  Meil. 
He  endowed  it  with  sufficient  funds  for  the 
establishment  of  a  library,  a  museum  of 
natural  history,  and  a  chemical  laboratory, 
and  supplied  it  with  furniture  in  a  style  of 
elegance  that  was  worthy  of  the  king  and 
the  Order.  In  this  library  was  amassed, 
by  the  efforts  of  the  members  and  the  con- 
tributions of  friends,  among  whom  the 
most  conspicuous  was  the  Prince  de  Lich- 
tenstein,  of  Vienna,  a  large  collection  of 
manuscripts  and  rare  works  on  Masonry 
and  the  kindred  sciences,  which  no  other 
Masonic  society  could  equal  in  value. 

While  its  royal  protector  lived  the  Order 
was  prosperous  and  of  course  popular,  for 


prosperity  and  popularity  go  together  in 
Masonry,  as  in  all  other  mundane  affairs. 
But  Frederick  died  in  the  year  1786,  nine- 
teen years  after  the  first  establishment  of 
the  society,  and  in  the  following  year  the 
Order  of  African  Architects  ceased  to  exist, 
having  not  quite  completed  its  second  de- 
cade. A  Lodge,  or,  rather,  Chapter,  it  is 
true,  is  said  to  have  continued  to  meet  in 
Berlin  until  the  year  1806,  but  it  exercised 
no  Masonic  influence,  and  must,  in  all  pro- 
bability, have  greatly  deteriorated  from  the 
character  of  the  original  foundation. 

Such  is  the  history  of  an  institution 
which,  in  its  incipiency,  gave  every  promise 
of  exerting  a  most  wholesome  influence  on 
the  Masonic  Order,  and  which,  if  it  had 
lasted  to  the  present  day,  and  had  been 
always  controlled  by  intellectual  leaders 
like  those  who  directed  its  early  days,  must 
have  contributed  most  powerfully  and  suc- 
cessfully to  the  elevation  of  Freemasonry 
throughout  the  world. 

Of  the  esoteric  or  internal  organization 
of  such  a  society,  some  account,  however 
meagre,  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  to  the 
Masonic  student. 

G'adicke,  in  the  fireimaurer  -  Lexicon, 
quotes  from  a  ritual  of  the  Order  —  that, 
namely,  which  was  founded  in  1756,  and  to 
which  the  more  recent  Order  of  Frederick 
succeeded — the  following  legendary  account 
of  its  origin,  a  legend  certainly  more  curious 
than  authentic : 

"  When  the  number  of  builders  in  the 
East  was  greatly  reduced  by  the  continued 
prevalence  of  wars,  they  resolved  to  travel 
into  Europe,  and  there  to  form  new  estab- 
lishments for  themselves.  Many  of  them 
came  into  England  with  Prince  Edward, 
the  sou  of  Henry  III.,  and  were  soon  after- 
wards summoned  from  that  kingdom  into 
Scotland  by  the  Lord  Stuart.  Their  estab- 
lishment in  Prussia  occurred  about  the 
Masonic  year  2307.  They  were  endowed 
with  lands,  and  received,  besides,  the  privi- 
lege of  retaining  the  ancient  usages  of  the 
brotherhood  which  they  had  brought  with 
them,  subject  to  the  very  proper  restriction 
that  in  all  other  respects  they  should  con- 
form to  the  ordinary  laws  and  customs  of 
the  country  in  which  they  happened  to  re- 
side. Gradually  they  obtained  the  protec- 
tion of  several  monarchs :  in  Sweden,  that 
of  King  Ing,  about  the  year  1125  ;  in  Eng- 
land, of  Richard  the  lion-hearted,  about 
1190  ;  in  Ireland,  of  Henry  II.,  the  father 
of  Richard,  in  1180;  and  finally,  in  Scot- 
land, of  Alexander  III.,  who  was  contem- 
porary with  St.  Louis,  about  the  year 
1284." 

This  legend  could  not,  however,  have 
been  admitted  as  veracious  by  the  founders 
of  the  second  Order  of  African  Architects, 


AFRICAN 


AGAPJ3 


41 


whose  history  has  been  the  subject  of  the 
present  article.  They  could  have  looked 
upon  it  only  as  a  symbolical  adumbration 
of  the  historic  truth  that  Masonry  came 
originally  from  Egypt  and  the  East,  and 
was  gradually,  and  often  by  fortuitous  cir- 
cumstances,—  among  which  the  Crusades 
played  an  important  part,  —  extended  and 
ramified  into  the  various  countries  of 
Europe. 

As  the  Order  of  African  Architects  pro- 
fessed itself  to  be  a  Masonic  organization, 
all  its  instructions  were  of  course  based 
upon  the  three  fundamental  degrees  of 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  The  degrees  of 
the  Rite,  for  such  it  is  clearly  entitled  to  be 
called,  were  eleven  in  number,  divided  into 
two  classes,  designated  as  "  Temples."  The 
first  temple  consisted  simply  of  the  three 
degrees  of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  but  the 
instructions  in  these  three  degrees  were  far 
more  extensive  and  historical  than  in  any 
other  Rite,  and  were  intended  to  prepare 
the  initiate  for  the  profounder  investiga- 
tions into  Masonic  history  which  occupied 
the  higher  degrees.  It  was  not,  indeed, 
until  the  candidate  had  arrived  at  the 
seventh  degree  that  the  veil  of  mystery  as 
to  the  real  design  of  the  institution  was  re- 
moved. Until  ne  became  the  possessor  of 
that  degree,  he  did  not  reap  the  full  ad- 
vantage of  the  researches  of  the  Order. 
The  degrees  were  named  and  classified  as 
follows : 

FIRST  TEMPLE. 

1.  Apprentice. 

2.  Fellow  Craft. 

3.  Master  Mason. 

SECOND  TEMPLE. 

4.  Architect,  or  Apprentice  of  Egyptian 
secrets. 

5.  Initiate  into  Egyptian  secrets. 

6.  Cosmopolitan  Brother. 

7.  Christian  Philosopher. 

8.  Master  of  Egyptian  secrets. 

9.  Squire  of  the  Order. 

10.  Soldier  of  the  Order. 

11.  Knight  of  the  Order. 

The  last  three  were  called  superior  de- 
grees, and  were  conferred  only  as  a  second 
or  higher  class,  with  great  discrimination, 
upon  those  who  had  proved  their  worthi- 
ness of  promotion. 

The  assemblies  of  the  brethren  were 
called  Chapters.  The  central  or  superin- 
tending power  was  styled  a  Grand  Chapter, 
and  it  was  governed  by  the  following  twelve 
officers : 

1.  Grand  Master. 

2.  Deputy  Grand  Master. 

3.  Senior  Grand  Warden. 

F 


4.  Junior  Grand  Warden. 

5.  Drapier. 

6.  Almoner. 

7.  Tricoplerius,  or  Treasurer. 

8.  Graphiarius,  or  Secretary. 

9.  Seneschal. 

10.  Standard  Bearer. 

11.  Marshal. 

12.  Conductor. 

The  African  Architects  were  not  the  only 
society  which  in  the  eighteenth  century 
sought  to  rescue  Masonry  from  the  impure 
hands  of  the  charlatans  into  which  it  had 
well-nigh  fallen. 

African  Brother.  One  of  the  de- 
grees of  the  Rite  of  the  Clerks  of  Strict 
Observance. 

African  Brothers.  One  of  the 
titles  given  to  the  African  Architects,  which 
see. 

African  Builders.  See  African 
Architects. 

African  Lodges.    See  Negro  Lodges. 

Agapse.  The  agapse,  or  love-feasts, 
were  banquets  held  during  the  first  three 
centuries  in  the  Christian  Church.  They 
were  called  "  love-feasts,"  because,  after  par- 
taking of  the  Sacrament,  they  met,  both  rich 
and  poor,  at  a  common  feast  —  the  former 
furnishing  the  provisions,  and  the  latter, 
who  had  nothing,  being  relieved  and  re- 
freshed by  their  more  opulent  brethren. 
Tertullian  {Apologia,  cap.  xxxix.,)  thus 
describes  these  banquets :  "  We  do  not  sit 
down  before  we  have  first  offered  up  prayers 
to  God;  we  eat  and  drink  only  to  satisfy 
hunger  and  thirst,  remembering  still  that 
we  are  to  worship  God  by  night :  we  dis- 
course as  in  the  presence  of  God,  knowing 
that  He  hears  us :  then,  after  water  to  wash 
our  hands,  and  lights  brought  in,  every  one 
is  moved  to  sing  some  hymn  to  God,  either 
out  of  the  Scripture,  or,  as  he  is  able,  of  his 
own  composing.  Prayer  again  concludes 
our  feast,  and  we  depart,  not  to  fight  and 
quarrel,  or  to  abuse  those  we  meet,  but  to 
pursue  the  same  care  of  modesty  and  chas- 
tity, as  men  that  have  fed  at  a  supper  of 
philosophy  and  discipline,  rather  than  a 
corporeal  feast." 

Dr.  August  Kestner,  Professor  of  The- 
ology, published  in  Vienna,  in  1819,  a 
work  in  which  he  maintains  that  the  agapae, 
established  at  Rome  by  St.  Clement,  in  the 
reign  of  Domitian,  were  mysteries  which 
partook  of  a  Masonic,  symbolic,  and  reli- 
gious character. 

In  the  Rosicrucian  degrees  of  Masonry 
we  find  an  imitation  of  these  love-feasts  of 
the  primitive  Christians ;  and  the  cere- 
monies of  the  banquet  in  the  degree  of 
Rose  Croix  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite,  especially  as  practised   by  French 


42 


AGATE 


AGE 


Chapters,  are  arranged  with  reference  to 
the  ancient  agapae.  Reghellini,  indeed, 
finds  an  analogy  between  the  table-lodges 
of  modern  Masonry  and  these  love-feasts  of 
the  primitive  Christians. 

Agate.  A  stone  varying  in  color,  but 
of  great  hardness,  being  a  variety  of  the 
flint.  The  agate,  in  Hebrew  "Q^,  SHeBO, 
was  the  centre  stone  of  the  third  row  in 
the  breastplate  of  the  high-priest,  and  on  it 
was  engraved  the  name  of  the  tribe  of 
Naphtali.  Agates  often  contain  representa- 
tions of  leaves,  mosses,  etc.,  depicted  by 
the  hand  of  nature.  Some  of  the  represen- 
tations on  these  are  exceedingly  singular. 
Thus,  on  one  side  of  one  in  the  possession 
of  Velchius  was  a  half  moon,  and  on  the 
other  a  star.  Kirch er  mentions  one  which 
had  a  representation  of  an  armed  heroine ; 
another,  in  the  church  of  St.  Mark  in 
Venice,  which  had  a  representation  of  a 
king's  head,  crowned;  and  a  third  which 
contained  the  letters  I.  N.  R.  I.  In  the 
collections  of  antiquaries  are  also  to  be 
found  many  gems  of  agate  on  which  mys- 
tical inscriptions  have  been  engraved,  the 
significations  of  which  are,  for  the  most 
part,  no  longer  understood. 

Agate,  Stone  of.  Among  the  Ma- 
sonic traditions  is  one  which  asserts  that 
the  stone  of  foundation  was  formed  of  agate. 
This,  like  everything  connected  with  the 
legend  of  the  stone,  is  to  be  mystically  in- 
terpreted. In  this  view,  agate  is  a  symbol 
of  strength  and  beauty,  a  symbolism  derived 
from  the  peculiar  character  of  the  agate, 
which  is  distinguished  for  its  compact  for- 
mation and  the  ornamental  character  of  its 
surface.    See  Stone  of  Foundation. 

Age,  Iiawftll.  One  of  the  qualifica- 
tions for  candidates  is  that  they  shall  be  of 
"  lawful  age."  What  that  age  must  be  is 
not  settled  by  any  universal  law  or  land- 
mark of  the  Order.  The  Ancient  Regula- 
tions do  not  express  any  determinate  num- 
ber of  years  at  the  expiration  of  which  a 
candidate  becomes  legally  entitled  to  apply 
for  admission.  The  language  used  is,  that 
he  must  be  of  "  mature  and  discreet  age." 
But  the  usage  of  the  Craft  has  differed  in 
various  countries  as  to  the  construction  of 
the  time  when  this  period  of  maturity  and 
discretion  is  supposed  to  have  arrived.  The 
sixth  of  the  Regulations,  adopted  in  1G63, 
prescribes  that "  no  person  shall  be  accepted 
unless  he  be  twenty-one  years  old  or  more ; " 
but  the  subsequent  Regulations  are  less  ex- 
plicit. At  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  the 
age  required  is  twenty ;  in  the  Lodges  of 
Switzerland,  it  has  been  fixed  at  twenty- 
one.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Hanover  pre- 
scribes the  age  of  twenty-five,  but  permits 
the  son  of  a  Mason  to  be  admitted  at  eigh- 
teen.   The  Grand  Lodge  of  Hamburg  de- 


crees that  the  lawful  age  for  initiation  shall 
be  that  which  in  any  country  has  been 
determined  by  the  laws  of  the  land  to  be 
the  age  of  majority.  The  Grand  Orient  of 
France  requires,  the  candidate  to  be  twenty- 
one,  unless  he  be  the  son  of  a  Mason  who 
has  performed  some  important  service  to 
the  Order,  or  unless  he  be  a  young  man 
who  has  served  six  months  in  the  army, 
when  the  initiation  may  take  place  at 
the  age  of  eighteen.  In  Prussia  the  re- 
quired age  is  twenty- five.  In  England 
it  is  twenty-one,  except  in  cases  where 
a  dispensation  has  been  granted  for  an  ear- 
lier age  by  the  Grand  or  Provincial  Grand 
Master.  In  Ireland  the  age  must  be  twenty- 
one,  except  in  cases  of  dispensation  granted 
by  the  Grand  Master  or  Grand  Lodge.  In 
the  United  States,  the  usage  is  general 
that  the  candidate  shall  not  be  less  than 
twenty-one  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
initiation,  and  no  dispensation  can  issue 
for  conferring  the  degrees  at  an  earlier 
period. 

Age,  Masonic.  In  all  of  the  Masonic 
Rites  except  the  York,  a  mystical  age  is 
appropriated  to  each  degree,  and  the  ini- 
tiate who  has  received  the  degree  is  said  to 
be  of  such  or  such  an  age.  Thus,  the  age 
of  an  Entered  Apprentice  is  said  to  be  three 
years ;  that  of  a  Fellow  Craft,  five ;  and  that 
of  a  Master  Mason,  seven.  These  ages  are 
not  arbitrarily  selected,  but  have  a  refer- 
ence to  the  mystical  value  of  numbers  and 
their  relation  to  the  different  degrees. 
Thus,  three  is  the  symbol  of  peace  and  con- 
cord, and  has  been  called  in  the  Pythago- 
rean system  the  number  of  perfect  har- 
mony, and  is  appropriated  to  that  degree, 
which  is  the  initiation  into  an  Order  whose 
fundamental  principles  are  harmony  and 
brotherly  love.  Five  is  the  symbol  of  active 
life,  the  union  of  the  female  principle  two 
and  the  male  principle  three,  and  refers  in 
this  way  to  the  active  duties  of  man  as  a 
denizen  of  the  world,  which  constitutes  the 
symbolism  of  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree ; 
and  seven,  as  a  venerable  and  perfect  num- 
ber, is  symbolic  of  that  perfection  which  is 
supposed  to  be  attained  in  the  Master's  de- 
gree. In  a  way  similar  to  this,  all  the  ages 
of  the  other  degrees  are  symbolically  and 
mystically  explained.  It  has  already  been 
said  that  this  system  does  not  prevail  in 
the  York  Rite.  It  is  uncertain  whether  it 
ever  did  and  has  been  lost,  or  whether  it  is 
a  modern  innovation  on  the  symbolism  of 
Masonry  invented  for  the  later  Rites.  Some- 
thing like  it,  however,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  battery,  which  still  exists  in  the  York 
Rite,  and  which,  like  the  Masonic  age,  is 
varied  in  the  different  degrees.  See  Bat- 
tery. 

The  Masonic  ages  are  —  and  it  will  thus 


AGLA 


AGRIPPA 


43 


be  seen  that  they  are  all  mystic  numbers  — 
3,  5,  7,  9,  15,  27,  63,  81. 

Agla.  One  of  the  cabalistic  names  of 
God,  which  is  composed  of  the  initials 
of  the  words  of  the  following  sentence: 
, JlX  dS^S  "Q  J  nnx,  -A  tah  Gibor  Lolam  Adonai, 
"  thou  art  mighty  forever,  O  Lord."  This 
name  the  Kabbalists  arranged  seven  times 
in  the  centre  and  the  six  points  of  two 
interlacing  triangles,  which  figure  they 
called  the  Shield  of  David,  and  they  used  it 
as  a  talisman,  believing  that  it  would  cure 
wounds,  extinguish  fires,  and  perform  other 
wonders.     See  Shield  of  David. 

Agnosias,  Irenseus.  This  is  sup- 
posed by  Kloss,  (Bibliog.,  No.  2497,)  to  have 
been  a  nom  de  plume  of  Gotthardus  Arthu- 
sius,  a  co-rector  in  the  Gymnasium  of 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  and  a  writer  of 
some  local  celebrity  in  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  (See  Ar thus ius.)  Under 
this  assumed  name  of  Irenseus  Agnostus, 
he  published,  between  the  years  1617  and 
1620,  many  works  on  the  subject  of  the 
Rosicrucian  Fraternity,  which  John  Val- 
entine Andrea  had  about  that  time  estab- 
lished in  Germany.  Among  those  works 
were  the  Fortalicium  Sciential,  1617 ;  Cly- 
peum  Verilatis,  1618 ;  Speculum  Constantiw, 
1618 ;  Fans  Oratioe,  1616 ;  Prater  non 
Frater,  1619;  Thesaurus  Fidei,  1619; 
Portus  Tranquillitatis,  1620,  and  several 
others  of  a  similar  character  and  equally 
quaint  title. 

Agnus  Dei.  The  Agnus  Dei,  Lamb 
of  God,  also  called  the  Paschal  Lamb,  or 
the  Lamb  offered  in  the  paschal  sacrifice,  is 
one  of  the  jewels  of  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars  in  America,  and  is  worn 
by  the  Generalissimo. 

The  lamb  is  one  of  the  earliest  symbols 
of  Christ  in  the  iconography  of  the  Church, 
and  as  such  was  a  representation  of  the 
Saviour,  derived  from  that  expression  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist  (John  i.  28,)  who,  on 
beholding  Christ,  exclaimed,  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God."  "  Christ,"  says  Didron, 
(Christ.  Iconog.,i.  318,)  "shedding  his  blood 
for  our  redemption,  is  the  Lamb  slain  by 
the  children  ol  Israel,  and  with  the  blood 
of  which  the  houses  to  be  preserved  from 
the  wrath  of  God  were  marked  with  the 
celestial  tau.  The  Paschal  Lamb  eaten  by 
the  Israelites  on  the  night  preceding  their 
departure  from  Egypt  is  the  type  of  that 
other  divine  Lamb  of  whom  Christians  are 
to  partake  at  Easter,  in  order  thereby  to 
free  themselves  from  the  bondage  in  which 
they  are  held  by  vice." 

The  earliest  representation  that  is  found 
in  Didron  of  the  Agnus  Dei  is  of  the  sixth 
century,  and  consists  of  a  lamb  supporting 
in  his  right  foot  a  cross.  In  the  eleventh 
century  we  find  a  banneret  attached  to  this 


cross,  and  the  lamb  is  then  said  to  support 
"  the  banner  of  the  resurrection."  This  is 
the  modern  form  in  which  the  Agnus  Dei 
is  represented. 

Agrippa,  Henry  Cornelius. 
Henry  Cornelius  Agrippa,  who  was  distin- 
guished as  one  of  the  greatest  of  occult 
philosophers,  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Cologne,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1486. 
He  was  descended  from  a  noble  family,  and 
was  personally  remarkable  for  his  varied 
talents  and  extensive  genius.  In  early 
youth,  he  acted  as  the  secretary  of  the  Empe- 
ror Maximilian,  and  subsequently  served  in 
the  army  of  the  same  monarch  in  Italy, 
where  he  received  the  honor  of  knighthood 
for  his  gallant  conduct  in  the  field.  He  also 
devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  law  and 
physic,  and  received  from  the  university 
the  degree  of  doctorate  in  each  of  those 
faculties.  Of  his  literary  attainments,  he 
gives  an  ample  description  in  one  of  his 
epistles,  in  which  he  says : 

"I  am  tolerably  well  skilled  in  eight 
languages,  and  so  completely  a  master  of 
six,  that  I  not  only  understand  and  speak 
them,  but  can  even  make  an  elegant  oration, 
or  dictate  and  translate  in  them.  I  have 
also  a  pretty  extensive  knowledge  in  some 
abstruse  studies,  and  a  general  acquaintance 
with  the  whole  circle  of  sciences." 

There  is  some  vanity  in  this,  but  it  must 
be  confessed  that  there  was  much  learn- 
ing to  excuse  the  weakness.  The  temper 
of  Agrippa  was  variable  and  irascible, 
and  his  disposition  bold  and  independent. 
Hence  his  pen  was  continually  giving 
offence,  and  he  was  repeatedly  engaged  in 
difficulties  with  his  contemporaries,  and 
more  especially  with  the  priests,  who  per- 
secuted him  with  unrelenting  rigor.  He 
travelled  much,  and  visited  France,  Spain, 
Italy,  and  England — sometimes  engaged 
in  the  delivery  of  philosophical  lectures, 
sometimes  in  public  employments,  and 
sometimes  in  the  profession  of  arms. 

In  1509  he  delivered  lectures  on  Reuch- 
lin's  treatise,  De  Verbo  Mirifico,  which  in- 
volved him  in  a  controversy  with  the  Fran- 
ciscans ;  and  he  wrote  a  work  on  the  Excel- 
lence of  Women,  which  also  gave  offence  to 
the  ecclesiastics,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  was  obliged  to  pass  over  into  England, 
where  he  wrote  a  commentary  on  St.  Paul's 
Epistles.  He  afterwards  returned  to  Co- 
logne, where  he  delivered  lectures  on  di- 
vinity. In  1515,  we  find  him  reading  lec- 
tures on  Mercurius  Trismegistus ;  but  his  ill 
fortune  followed  him,  and  he  soon  left  that 
city,  his  departure  being,  according  to  his 
biographer,  rather  like  a  flight  than  a  re- 
treat. 

In  1518  he  was  at  Metz,  where  he  was  for 
some  time  employed  as  a  syndic  and  coun- 


u 


AGRIPPA 


AGRIPPA 


sellor ;  but,  having  refuted  a  popular  notion, 
that  St.  Anne  had  three  husbands,  and  hav- 
ing dared  to  defend  an  old  woman  who  had 
been  accused  of  witchcraft,  his  old  enemies, 
the  monks,  once  more  renewed  their  ill 
offices,  and  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the 
city  of  Metz,  bequeathing  to  it,  as  his  re- 
venge, the  character  of  being  the  step- 
mother of  all  useful  learning  and  virtue. 
Thence  he  retired  to  Cologne  in  1520,  and 
to  Geneva  in  1521,  where  poverty  seems  to 
have  pressed  hardly  upon  him. 

In  1524  he  was  at  Lyons,  in  France, 
where  Francis  I.  bestowed  a  pension  upon 
him,  and  appointed  him  physician  to  the 
king's  mother ;  an  office,  however,  which  he 
lost  in  1525,  in  consequence  of  twice  giving 
offence  to  his  royal  mistress.  First,  be- 
cause he  expressed  his  dislike  at  being  em- 
ployed by  her  in  astrological  calculations 
concerning  the  affairs  of  France,  an  em- 
ployment which  he  deemed  derogatory  to  a 
queen's  physician ;  and  next,  because,  when 
he  did  make  those  calculations,  he  inter- 
preted the  stars  unfavorably  for  the  king's 
enterprises.  Agrippa  was  not  of  a  temper 
to  brook  this  dismissal  with  equanimity, 
and  accordingly  we  find  him,  in  one  of  his 
letters  written  at  this  time,  denouncing  the 
queen  mother  for  a  most  atrocious  and  per- 
fidious sort  of  Jezebel  — pro  atrocissima  et 
perfida  quadam  Jezabela. 

In  1528  he  repaired  to  Antwerp,  and  the 
year  after  received  from  Margaret  of  Aus- 
tria, Governess  of  the  low  countries,  the 
appointment  of  historiographer  to  the  em- 
peror. The  History  of  the  Government  of 
Charles  V.  was  his  only  contribution  to  the 
duties  of  this  office.  Soon  after  Margaret 
died,  and  Agrippa  again  came  into  collision 
with  his  old  ecclesiastical  persecutors, 
whose  resentment  was  greatly  excited  by  his 
treatise  On  the  Vanity  of  the  Sciences,  which  , 
he  published  in  1530,  and  another  work 
soon  after,  written  On  the  Occult  Philosophy. 
His  pension  was  discontinued,  and  in  1531 
he  was  incarcerated  in  the  prison  at  Brus- 
sels. From  this  he  was,  however,  soon 
liberated,  and  after  a  few  more  adventures, 
he  finally  retired  to  Grenoble,  in  France, 
where  he  died  in  1535;  some  writers  say 
in  abject  poverty,  and  in  the  public  hospi- 
tal, but  this  has  been  denied  by  Gabriel 
Naude. 

The  treatise  on  occult  philosophy  is  the 
most  important  of  the  works  of  Agrippa, 
and  which  has  given  to  him  the  false  repu- 
tation of  being  a  hermetic  adept  and  a  ma- 
gician. Thus,  Paulus  Jovius  says,  that  he 
was  always  accompanied  by  a  devil,  in  the 
shape  of  a  black  dog,  wearing  a  collar  con- 
taining some  necromantic  inscription,  and 
that  when  he  was  about  to  die  he  released 
the  dog  with  an  imprecation,  after  which 


the  animal  fled  to  the  river  Soane,  into 
which  he  leaped,  and  was  never  heard  of 
more.  Martin  del  Rio  says  that  when 
Agrippa  travelled,  he  used  to  pay  his  score 
at  the  inns  in  money  which  at  the  time 
appeared  to  be  good,  but  in  a  few  days 
turned  out  to  be  pieces  of  horn  or  shell ;  a 
tale  which  reminds  us  of  one  of  the  stories 
in  the  Arabian  Nights.  The  same  author 
retails  another  apocryphal  anecdote  about 
a  student  who,  during  Agrippa's  temporary 
absence,  was  strangled  in  the  magician's 
library  by  an  irate  demon,  and  into  whose 
dead  body  Agrippa,  on  his  return,  caused 
the  devil  to  enter,  and  walk  several  times 
across  the  public  square  at  Louvain,  and 
finally  to  drop  dead,  whereby  the  death 
appeared  to  be  a  natural  one,  and  suspicion 
was  thus  averted  from  Agrippa.  The  truth 
is,  however,  that  the  treatise  on  occult 
philosophy  was  of  so  abstruse  and  mystical 
a  character,  that  the  author  found  it  neces- 
sary to  write  a  key  to  it,  which  he  reserved 
for  his  most  intimate  friends,  and  in  which 
he  explained  its  esoteric  meaning. 

Masonic  historians  have  very  generally 
attempted  to  connect  Agrippa  with  that 
Institution,  or  at  least  with  cognate  mystical 
societies.  Thus,  G'adicke  (Freimaurer- Lexi- 
con) says :  "  A  society  for  the  cultivation  of 
the  secret  sciences,  which  he  founded  at 
Paris,  and  which  extended  through  Ger- 
many, England,  France,  and  Italy,  was  the 
first  ever  established  by  a  learned  man,  and 
was  the  pattern  and  parent  of  all  subse- 
quent similar  societies." 

Lenning  (Encyc.  der  Freimaurerei)  also 
states  that  "It  is  reported  that  Agrippa 
established  in  Paris  a  secret  society  for  the 
practice  of  the  abstruse  sciences,  which  be- 
came the  basis  of  the  many  mystical  asso- 
ciations which  have  been  since  originated." 

But  a  writer  in  the  Monthly  Review  (Lon- 
don, vol.  xxv.,  anno  1798,  p.  304,)  is  still 
more  explicit  on  this  subject.  His  language 
is  as  follows:  "In  the  year  1510  Henry 
Cornelius  Agrippa  came  to  London,  and, 
as  appears  by  his  correspondence,  (Opus- 
cula,  t.  ii.,  p.  1073,  etc.,)  he  founded  a  secret 
society  for  alchemical  purposes,  similar  to 
one  which  he  had  previously  instituted  at 
Paris,  in  concert  with  Landolfo,  Brixianus, 
Xanthus,  and  other  students  at  that  uni- 
versity. The  members  of  these  societies 
did  agree  on  private  signs  of  recognition ; 
and  they  founded,  in  various  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, corresponding  associations  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  occult  sciences.  This 
practice  of  initiation,  or  secret  incorpora- 
tion, thus  and  then  first  introduced,  has 
been  handed  down  to  our  own  times ;  and 
hence  apparently  the  mysterious  Eleusinian 
confederacies  now  known  as  the  Lodges  of 
Freemasonry." 


AGRIPPA 


AHABATH 


45 


In  1856  there  was  published  in  London  a 
IAfe  of  Cornelius  Agrippa  von  Nettesheim, 
Doctor  and  Knight,  commonly  known  as  a 
Magician.  By  Henry  Morley.  This  is  a 
curious  and  trustworthy  work,  and  con- 
tains a  good  summary  of  Agrippa,  and  in- 
teresting accounts  of  the  times  in  which 
he  lived. 

As  Agrippa  has,  whether  justly  or  not, 
been  thrown  into  a  connection  with  Freema- 
sonry, a  brief  view  of  his  occult  philosophy 
may  not  be  uninteresting.  But  it  must  be 
always  borne  in  mind,  that  this  philosophy 
was  what  he  called  it,  "  occulta  philosophia, 

—  occult,  hidden ;  containing,  like  all  the 
science  of  the  alchemists,  more  in  its  inmost 
recesses  than  appears  on  its  surface,  and 
that  he  himself,  aware  of  its  esoteric  char- 
acter, had  written  a  key,  by  which  his  in- 
timate friends  might  be  able  to  interpret  its 
concealed  meaning  and  enjoy  its  fruits. 
Ragon  ( Orthod.  Mac,  ch.  xxviii.,)  gives  a 
resume  of  the  doctrines,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  condensed : 

Agrippa  said  that  there  were  three  worlds 

—  the  elementary,  the  celestial,  and  the  intel- 
lectual,—  each  subordinate  to  the  one  above 
it.  It  is  possible  to  pass  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  one  world  to  that  of  another,  and 
even  to  the  archetype  itself.  It  is  this  scale 
of  ascent  that  constitutes  what  is  called 
Magism,  a  profound  contemplation,  em- 
bracing nature,  quality,  substance,  virtues, 
similitudes,  differences,  the  art  of  uniting, 
separating,  and  compounding  —  in  short, 
the  entire  operations  of  the  universe.  It  is 
a  sacred  art,  which  must  not  be  divulged, 
and  to  whose  reality  and  certainty  the  uni- 
versal connection  of  all  things  testifies. 

There  are  abstruse  doctrines  on  the  ele- 
ments, of  which  each  performed  a  particu- 
lar function.  Fire,  isolated  from  all  matter, 
manifests  upon  it,  however,  its  presence 
and  action ;  earth  is  the  support  of  the  ele- 
ments and  the  reservoir  of  the  celestial  in- 
fluences ;  water  is  the  germ  of  all  animals ; 
and  air  is  a  vital  spirit,  which  penetrates 
all  beings,  and  gives  them  consistency  and 
life. 

There  is  a  sublime,  secret,  and  necessary 
cause  which  leads  to  truth. 

The  world,  the  heavens,  and  the  stars 
have  souls,  which  are  in  affinity  with  our 
own. 

The  world  lives,  and  has  its  organs  and 
its  senses.     This  is  the  microcosm. 

Imprecations  are  of  efficacy  in  attaching 
themselves  to  beings,  and  in  modifying 
them. 

Names  have  a  potential  quality.  Magic 
has  its  language,  which  language  is  an 
image  of  signatures,  and  hence  the  effect 
of  invocations,  evocations,  adjurations,  con- 
jurations, and  other  formulae. 


Numbers  are  the  first  cause  of  the  con- 
nection of  things.  To  each  number  is 
attached  a  peculiar  property  —  thus :  Unity 
is  the  beginning  and  end  of  all  things,  but 
has  no  beginning  nor  end  itself.  God  is 
the  monad.  The  binary  is  a  bad  number. 
The  ternary  is  the  soul  of  the  world.  The 
quaternary  is  the  basis  of  all  numbers.  The 
quinary  is  a  powerful  number ;  it  is  effica- 
cious against  poisons  and  evil  spirits.  The 
decade,  or  denary,  is  the  completion  of  all 
things.  The  intelligence  of  God  is  incor- 
ruptible, eternal,  present  everywhere,  influ- 
encing everything. 

The  human  spirit  is  corporeal,  but  its 
substance  is  very  subtile,  and  readily  unites 
with  the  universal  spirit,  the  soul  of  the 
world,  which  is  in  us. 

This  is  some  part  of  the  occult  philosophy 
of  Agrippa,  who,  however,  has  said,  in  ref- 
erence to  abstruse  theories,  almost,  if  not 
altogether,  unintelligible,  like  these,  that 
all  that  the  books  undertake  to  teach  on 
the  subjects  of  magic,  astrology,  and  alchemy 
are  false  and  deceptive,  if  they  are  under- 
stood in  the  letter ;  but  that  to  appreciate 
them,  to  draw  any  good  out  of  them,  we 
must  seek  the  mystic  sense  in  which  they 
are  enveloped ;  a  doctrine  which  applies  to 
Freemasonry,  a3  well  as  to  the  hermetic 
philosophy,  and  the  truth  of  which  is  now 
universally  admitted  by  the  learned.  The 
Freemason  who  expects  to  find  in  the  ab- 
struse writings  of  Agrippa  anything  directly 
referring  to  his  own  Institution  will  be 
greatly  disappointed;  but  if  he  looks  in 
the  pages  of  that  profound  thinker  for 
lessons  of  philosophy  and  ethics,  which 
have  a  common  origin  with  those  that  are 
taught  in  the  Masonic  system,  his  labor 
will  not  have  been  in  vain,  and  he  will  be 
disposed  to  place  the  wise  Cornelius  in  the 
same  category  with  Pythagoras,  and  many 
other  philosophers  of  the  olden  time,  whom 
the  Craft  have  delighted  to  call  their  ancient 
brethren,  because,  without  being  Free- 
masons in  outward  form  and  ceremony, 
they  have  always  taught  true  Masonic  doc- 
trine. It  is  not,  perhaps,  inappropriate  to 
give  to  such  unaffiliated  teachers  of  the 
true  Masonic  doctrine  the  title  of  "  Un- 
initiated Freemasons." 

A  lial»at  ii  Olam.  Two  Hebrew  words 
signifying  eternal  love.  The  name  of  a 
prayer  which  was  used  by  the  Jews  dispersed 
over  the  whole  Roman  Empire  during  the 
times  of  Christ.  It  was  inserted  by  Der- 
mott  in  his  Ahiman  Rezon,  and  copied  into 
several  others,  with  the  title  of  "  A  Prayer 
repeated  in  the  Royal  Arch  Lodge  at  Jeru- 
salem." The  prayer  was  most  probably 
adopted  by  Dermott,  and  the  fictitious  title 
given  to  it  of  a  "  Royal  Arch  Prayer  "  in 
consequence  of  the  allusion  in  it  to  the 


46 


AHIAH 


AHIMAN 


"  holy,  great,  mighty,  and  terrible  name  of 
God." 

Ahiah.  So  spelled  in  the  common  ver- 
sion of  the  Bible,  (1  Kings  iv.  3,)  but,  ac- 
cording to  the  Hebrew orthography,the  word 
should  be  spelled  and  pronounced  Achiah. 
He  and  Elihoreph  (or  Elichoreph)  were  the 
sopkerim,  scribes  or  secretaries  of  King 
Solomon.  In  the  ritual  of  the  7th  degree 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,  accord- 
ing to  the  modern  American  ritual,  these 
personages  are  represented  by  the  two 
Wardens. 

Aliiman  Rezon.  The  title  given  to 
their  Book  of  Constitutions  by  that  schism 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  which 
took  place  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  which  was  known  as  the  "Ancient 
Masons,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  legiti- 
mate Grand  Lodge  and  its  adherents,  who 
were  called  the  "Moderns,"  and  whose 
code  of  laws  was  contained  in  Anderson's 
work  known  as  the  Book  of  Constitutions. 
The  title  is  derived  from  three  Hebrew 
words,  D'IIKj  ahim,  "brothers;"  Jl^D* 
manah,  "to  appoint,"  or  "to  select,"  (in 
the  sense  of  being  placed  in  a  peculiar 
class,  see  Isaiah  liii.  12 ;)  and  |2T%  ratzon, 
"  the  will,  pleasure,  or  meaning ; "  and 
hence  the  combination  of  the  three  words 
in  the  title,  Ahiman  Rezon,  signifies  "  the 
will  of  selected  brethren  "  =  the  law  of  a 
class  or  society  of  men  who  are  chosen  or 
selected  from  the  rest  of  the  world  as 
brethren.  This  is  the  etymology  that  I 
proposed  many  years  ago,  and  I  have  seen 
no  good  reason  since  for  abandoning  it. 
Two  other  derivations,  however,  one  ante- 
cedent and  the  other  subsequent  to  this, 
have  been  suggested.  Dr.  Dalcho  (Ahim. 
Rez.  of  South  Carolina,  p.  159, 2d  ed.,)  derives 
it  from  ahi,  "  a  brother,"  manah,  "  to  pre- 
pare," and  rezon,"  secret;"  so  that,  as  he  says, 
"  Ahiman  Rezon  literally  means  the  secrets 
of  a  prepared  brother."  But  the  best  mean- 
ing of  manah  is  that  which  conveys  the 
idea  of  being  placed  in  or  appointed  to  a 
certain,  exclusive  class,  as  we  find  in  Isaiah, 
(liii.  12,)  "  he  was  numbered  (nimenah)  with 
the  transgressors,"  placed  in  that  class, 
being  taken  out  of  every  other  order  of 
men.  And  although  rezon  may  come  from 
ratzon,  "a  will  or  law,"  it  can  hardly  be 
elicited  by  any  rules  of  etymology  out  of 
the  Chaldee  word  raz,  "  a  secret,"  the  termi- 
nation in  on  very  deficient ;  and  besides  the 
book  called  the  Ahiman  Rezon  does  not 
contain  the  secrets,  but  only  the  public 
laws  of  Masonry.  The  derivation  of  Dalcho 
seems  therefore  inadmissible.  Not  less  so 
is  that  of  Bro.  W.  S.  Rockwell,  who  (Ahim. 
Rez.  of  Georgia,  1859,  p.  3,)  thinks  the  de- 
rivation may  be  found  in  the  Hebrew, 
pDN,  amun,   "a  builder"  or  "architect," 


and  |H,  rezon,  as  a  noun,  "prince,"  and 
as  an  adjective, "  royal,"  and  hence,  Ahiman 
Rezon,  according  to  this  etymology,  will 
signify  the  "royal  builder,"  or,  symboli- 
cally, the  "Freemason."  But  to  derive 
ahiman  from  amun,  or  rather  amon,  which 
is  the  masoretic  pronunciation,  is  to  place 
all  known  laws  of  etymology  at  defiance. 
Rockwell  himself,  however,  furnishes  the 
best  argument  against  his  strained  deriva- 
tion, when  he  admits  that  its  correctness 
will  depend  on  the  antiquity  of  the  phrase, 
which  he  acknowledges  that  he  doubts. 
In  this,  he  is  right.  The  phrase  is  alto- 
gether a  modern  one,  and  has  Dermott,  the 
author  of  the  first  work,  bearing  the  title 
for  its  invention.  Rockwell's  conjectural 
derivation  is,  therefore,  for  this  reason,  still 
more  inadmissible  than  Dalcho's. 

But  the  history  of  the  origin  of  the  book 
is  more  important  and  more  interesting 
than  the  history  of  the  derivation  of  its 
title. 

The  close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century  found  the  Masons  of  the 
south  of  England  congregated  under  the 
authority  of  a  governing  body  at  London, 
whose  title  was  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons  of  England.  But 
from  causes,  upon  which  it  is  here  unneces- 
sary to  dwell,  a  schism  soon  afterwards  took 
place,  and  a  portion  of  the  brethren,  having 
seceded  from  the  main  body  organized  an 
independent  Grand  Lodge.  This  they 
called  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient  York 
Masons,  and  stigmatized  the  members  of 
the  original  body  as  "  Moderns,"  by  way  of 
insinuating  that  they  themselves  were  of 
the  primitive  or  original  stock,  and  that 
their  opponents  were  innovators  of  a  later 
birth.  The  former  of  these  contending 
bodies,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  had, 
in  the  year  1722,  caused  Dr.  James  An- 
derson to  collect  and  compile  all  the 
statutes  and  regulations  by  which  the  Fra- 
ternity had  in  former  times  been  governed ; 
and  these,  after  having  been  submitted 
to  due  revision,  were  published  in  1723, 
by  Anderson,  with  the  title  of  The  Con- 
stitutions of  the  Freemasons.  This  work, 
of  which  several  other  editions  subsequently 
appeared,  has  always  been  called  the  Book 
of  Constitutions,"  and  contains  the  foun- 
dations of  the  written  law  by  which  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  and  the  Lodges 
deriving  from  it,  both  in  that  country  and 
in  America,  are  governed.  But  when  the 
Ancient  York  Masons  established  their 
schismatic  Grand  Lodge,  they  found  it 
necessary,  also,  to  have  a  Book  of  Constitu- 
tions ;  and  accordingly,  Laurence  Dermott, 
who  was  at  one  time  their  Grand  Secretary, 
and  afterwards  their  Deputy  Grand  Master, 
compiled  such  a  work,  the  first  edition  of 


AHIMAN 


AHIMAN 


47 


which  was  published  by  James  Bedford,  at 
London,  in  1756,  with  the  following  title : 
"  Ahiman  Rezon :  or  a  Help  to  a  Brother ; 
showing  the  Excellency  of  Secrecy,  and  the 
first  cause  or  motive  of  the  Institution  of 
Masonry;  the  Principles  of  the  Craft;  and 
the  Benefits  from  a  strict  Observance  there- 
of, etc.,  etc. ;  also  the  Old  and  New  Regula- 
tions, etc.  To  which  is  added  the  greatest 
collection  of  Masons'  Songs,  etc.  By  Bro. 
Laurerice  Dermott,  Secretary."  8vo,  209  pp. 

A  second  edition  was  published  in  1764, 
with  this  title :  "Ahiman  Rezon  :  or  a  Help 
to  all  that  are  or  would  be  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons;  containing  the  Quintes- 
sence of  all  that  has  been  published  on  the 
Subject  of  Freemasonry,  with  many  Addi- 
tions, which  renders  this  Work  more  use- 
ful than  any  other  Book  of  Constitutions 
now  extant.  By  Lau.  Dermott,  Secretary." 
London,  1764.     8vo,  224  pp. 

A  third  edition  was  published  in  1778, 
with  the  following  title:  "Ahiman  Rezon : 
or  a  Help  to  all  that  are  or  would  be  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  (with  many  Addi- 
tions. )  By  Lau.  Dermott,  D.G.M.  Printed 
for  James  Jones,  Grand  Secretary;  and 
Sold  by  Peter  Shatwell,  in  the  Strand. 
London,  1778."     8vo,  232  pp. 

Five  other  editions  were  published :  the 
4th,  whose  date  is  unknown  to  me,  but  it 
must  have  been  in  1779 ;  the  5th  in  1780  ; 
the  6th  in  1800  ;  the  7th  in  1807 ;  and  the 
8th  in  1813.  In  this  year,  the  Ancient 
Grand  Lodge  was  dissolved  by  the  union 
of  the  two  Grand  Lodges  of  England,  and 
a  new  Book  of  Constitutions  having  been 
adopted  for  the  united  body,  the  Ahiman 
Rezon  became  useless,  and  no  subsequent 
edition  was  ever  published. 

The  earlier  editions  of  this  work  are 
among  the  rarest  of  Masonic  publications. 
Hence  they  are  highly  prized  by  collectors, 
and  I  esteem  myself  fortunate  in  being  the 
possessor  of  exemplars  of  the  second,  third, 
and  seventh  editions. 

In  the  year  1855,  Mr.  Leon  Hyneman, 
of  Philadelphia,  who  was  engaged  in  a  re- 
print of  old  standard  Masonic  works,  (an 
enterprise  which  should  have  received  bet- 
ter patronage  than  it  did,)  republished  the 
second  edition,  with  a  few  explanatory 
notes. 

As  this  book  contains  those  principles  of 
Masonic  law  by  which,  for  three-fourths  of 
a  century,  a  large  and  intelligent  portion 
of  the  Craft  were  governed;  and  as  it  is 
now  becoming  rare  and,  to  the  generality 
of  readers,  inaccessible,  some  brief  review 
of  its  contents  may  not  be  uninteresting. 

The  Preface  or  Address  to  the  Reader, 
which  is  a  long  one,  contains  what  pur- 
ports to  be  a  history  of  Masonry,  whose 
origin,  under  that  name,  Dermott  places  at 


the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple.  This 
history,  which  after  all  is  not  worth  much, 
includes  some  very  caustic  remarks  on  the 
revivers  of  Freemasonry  in  1717,  whose 
Grand  Lodge  he  calls  "  a  self-created  as- 
sembly." 

There  is  next  a  "Phylacteria  for  such 
Gentlemen  as  may  be  inclined  to  become 
Freemasons."  This  article,  which  was  not 
in  the  first  edition,  but  appeared  for  the 
first  time  in  the  second,  consists  of  direc- 
tions as  to  the  method  to  be  pursued  by  one 
who  desires  to  be  made  a  Freemason.  This 
is  followed  by  an  account  of  what  Dermott 
calls  "  Modern  Masonry,"  that  is,  the  sys- 
tem pursued  by  the  original  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  and  of  the  differences  existing 
between  it  and  "  Ancient  Masonry,"  or  the 
system  of  the  seceders.  He  contends  that 
there  are  material  differences  between  the 
two  systems ;  that  of  the  Ancients  being 
universal,  and  that  of  the  Moderns  not;  a 
Modern  being  able  with  safety  to  communi- 
cate all  his  secrets  to  an  Ancient,  while  an 
Ancient  cannot  communicate  his  to  a 
Modern  ;  a  Modern  being  unable  to  enter  an 
Ancient  Lodge,  while  an  Ancient  can 
easily  enter  a  Modern  one ;  all  of  which,  in 
his  opinion,  show  that  the  Ancients  have 
secrets  which  are  not  in  the  possession  of  the 
Moderns.  This,  he  considers,  a  convincing 
proof  that  the  Modern  Masons  were  innova- 
tors upon  the  established  system,  and  had  in- 
stituted their  Lodges  and  framed  their  ritual 
without  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  arcana 
of  the  Craft.  But  the  Modern  Masons,  with 
more  semblance  of  truth,  thought  that  the 
additional  secrets  of  the  Ancients  were  only 
innovations  that  they  had  made  upon  the 
true  body  of  Masonry;  and  hence,  they 
considered  their  ignorance  of  these  newly 
invented  secrets  was  the  best  evidence  of 
their  own  superior  antiquity. 

Dermott  has  next  published  the  famous 
Leland  MS.,  together  with  the  commen- 
taries of  Locke.  A  copy  of  the  resolutions 
adopted  in  1772,  by  the  Grand  Lodges  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland,  in  which  they  recog- 
nized the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancients,  con- 
cludes the  preface  or  introduction,  which 
in  the  third  edition  consists  of  62  pages. 

The  Ahiman  Rezon  proper,  then,  begins 
with  23  pages  of  an  encomium  on  Masonry, 
and  an  explanation  of  its  principles.  Many 
a  modern  Masonic  address  is  better  written, 
and  contains  more  important  and  instruc- 
tive matter  than  this  prefatory  discourse. 

On  the  27th  page  we  find  "The  Old 
Charges  of  the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons." 
These  Charges  were  first  printed  in  Ander- 
son's Constitutions,  in  1723,  and  have  always 
been  considered  of  the  highest  value  as 
Masonic  law.  Dermott's  Charges  are  in- 
terpolated and  much  altered,  being  a  copy 


48 


AHIMAN 


AHIMAN 


of  those  in  Anderson's  1738  edition,  and 
are  therefore  deemed  of  no  authority. 

Fifty  pages  are  next  occupied  with  the 
"General  Regulations  of  the  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons."  These  are  borrowed 
from  the  second  edition  of  Anderson,  which 
edition  has  never  been  in  great  repute.  But 
even  here,  Dermott's  alterations  and  inno- 
vations are  so  considerable  as  to  render  this 
part  of  his  work  entirely  untrustworthy  as 
an  exponent  of  Masonic  law. 

The  rest  of  the  book,  comprising  more 
than  a  hundred  pages,  consists  of  "  A  Col- 
lection of  Masonic  Songs,"  of  the  poetical 
merits  of  which  the  less  said  the  better  for 
the  literary  reputation  of  the  writers. 

Imperfect,  however,  as  was  this  work,  it 
for  a  long  time  constituted  the  statute  book 
of  the  "  Ancient  Masons  ;"  and  hence  those 
Lodges  in  America  which  derived  their 
authority  from  the  Dermott  or  Ancient 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  accepted  its  con- 
tents as  a  true  exposition  of  Masonic  law ; 
and  several  of  their  Grand  Lodges  caused 
similar  works  to  be  compiled  for  their  own 
government,  adopting  the  title  of  Ahiman 
Rezon,  which  thus  became  the  peculiar 
designation  of  the  volume  which  contained 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  "Ancients," 
while  the  original  title  of  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions continued  to  be  retained  by  the 
"Moderns,"  to  designate  the  volume  used 
by  them  for  the  same  purpose. 

Of  the  Ahiman  Rezons  compiled  and 
published  in  America,  the  following  are  the 
principal. 

1. "  Ahiman  Rezon  abridged  and  digested : 
as  a  help  to  all  that  are  or  would  be  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,  etc.  Published  by  order 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania ;  by 
William  Smith,  D.D."  Philadelphia,  1783. 
A  new  Ahiman  Rezon  was  published  by 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania  in  1825. 

2.  "  Charges  and  Regulations  of  the  An- 
cient and  Honorable  Society  of  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,  extracted  from  the  Ahi- 
man Rezon,  etc.  Published  by  the  consent 
and  direction  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Nova 
Scotia."   Halifax,  1786. 

3.  "  The  New  Ahiman  Rezon,  containing 
the  Laws  and  Constitution  of  Virginia,  etc. 
By  John  K.  Reade,  present  Deputy  Grand 
Master  of  Virginia,  etc."  Richmond,  1791. 
Another  edition  was  published  in  1818,  by 
James  Henderson. 

4.  "The  Maryland  Ahiman  Rezon  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  containing  the 
History  of  Masonry  from  the  establishment 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  to  the  present  time ; 
with  their  Ancient  Charges,  Addresses, 
Prayers,  Lectures,  Prologues,  Epilogues, 
Songs,  etc.,  collected  from  the  Old  Records, 
Faithful  Traditions  and  Lodge  Books ;  by 
G.  Keating.    Compiled  by  order  of  the 


Grand  Lodge  of  Maryland."    Baltimore, 
1797. 

5.  "The  Ahiman  Rezon  and  Masonic 
Ritual,  published  by  the  order  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  North  Carolina  and  Ten- 
nessee."   Newbern,  N.  C,  1805. 

6.  "  An  Ahiman  Rezon,  for  the  use  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  South  Carolina,  An- 
cient York  Masons,  and  the  Lodges  under 
the  Register  and  Masonic  Jurisdiction 
thereof.  Compiled  and  arranged  with  con- 
siderable additions,  at  the  request  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  and  published  by  their  au- 
thority. By  Brother  Frederick  Dalcho, 
M.  D.,  etc."  Charleston,  S.  C,  1807.  A 
second  edition  was  published  by  the  same 
author,  in  1822,  and  a  third,  in  1852,  by 
Dr.  Albert  G.  Mackey.  In  this  third  edi- 
tion, the  title  was  changed  to  that  of  "  The 
Ahiman  Rezon,  or  Book  of  Constitutions, 
etc."  And  the  work  was  in  a  great  measure 
expurgated  of  the  peculiarities  of  Dermott, 
and  made  to  conform  more  closely  to  the 
Andersonian  Constitutions.  A  fourth  edi- 
tion was  published  by  the  same  editor,  in 
1871,  in  which  everything  antagonistic  to 
the  original  Book  of  Constitutions  has  been 
omitted. 

7.  "  The  Freemason's  Library  and  Gen- 
eral Ahiman  Rezon :  containing  a  delinea- 
tion of  the  true  principles  of  Freemasonry, 
etc.;  by  Samuel  Cole."  Baltimore,  1817. 
8vo,  332  +  92  pp.  There  was  a  second  edi- 
tion in  1826. 

8.  "  Ahiman  Rezon :  prepared  under  the 
direction  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Georgia ; 
by  Wm.  S.  Rockwell,  Grand  Master  of 
Masons  of  Georgia."  Savannah,  1859. 
4to  and  8vo,  404  pp.  But  neither  this 
work  nor  the  third  and  fourth  editions  of 
the  Ahiman  Rezon  of  South  Carolina  have 
any  connection  in  principle  or  theory  with 
the  Ahiman  Rezon  of  Dermott.  They  have 
borrowed  the  name  from  the  "Ancient  Ma- 
sons," but  they  derive  all  their  law  and 
their  authorities  from  the  "Moderns,"  or 
the  legal  Masons  of  the  last  century. 

9.  "The  General  Ahiman  Rezon  and 
Freemason's  Guide,  by  Daniel  Sickles." 
New  York,  1866.  8vo,  pp.  408.  This 
book,  like  Rockwell's,  has  no  other  connec- 
tion with  the  archetypal  work  of  Dermott 
but  the  name. 

Many  of  the  Grand  Lodges  of  the  United 
States  having  derived  their  existence  and 
authority  from  the  Dermott  Grand  Lodge, 
the  influence  of  his  Ahiman  Rezon  was  for 
a  long  time  exercised  over  the  Lodges  of 
this  country ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  only  within 
a  comparatively  recent  period,  that  the 
true  principles  of  Masonic  law,  as  ex- 
pounded in  the  first  editions  of  Anderson's 
Constitutions,  have  been  universally  adopted 
among  American  Masons. 


AHIMAN 


AHOLIAB 


49 


It  must,  however,  be  observed,  in  justice 
to  Dermott,  who  has  been  rather  too  grossly 
abused  by  Mitchell  and  a  few  other  writers, 
that  the  innovations  upon  the  old  laws  of 
Masonry,  which  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Ahiman  Rezon,  are  for  the  most  part  not  to 
be  charged  upon  him,  but  upon  Dr.  Ander- 
son himself,  who,  for  the  first  time,  intro- 
duced them  into  the  second  edition  of  the 
Book  of  Constitutions,  published  in  1738. 
It  is  surprising,  and  accountable  only  on 
the  ground  of  sheer  carelessness  on  the  part 
of  the  supervising  committee,  that  the 
Grand  Lodge  should,  in  1738,  have  ap- 
proved of  these  alterations  made  by  Ander- 
son, and  still  more  surprising  that  it  was 
not  until  1755  that  a  new  or  third  edition 
of  the  Constitutions  should  have  been  pub- 
lished, in  which  these  alterations  of  1738 
were  expunged,  and  the  old  regulations 
and  the  old  language  restored.  But  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  causes  of  this  over- 
sight, it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that,  at  the 
time  of  the  schism,  the  edition  of  the  Book 
of  Constitutions  of  1738  was  considered  as 
the  authorized  exponent  of  Masonic  law 
by  the  original  or  regular  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  and  was  adopted,  with  but  little 
change,  by  Dermott  as  the  basis  of  his 
Ahiman  Rezon.  How  much  this  edition  of 
1738  differed  from  that  of  1723,  which  is 
now  considered  the  only  true  authority  for 
ancient  law,  and  how  much  it  agreed  with 
Dermott's  Ahiman  Rezon,  will  be  evident 
from  the  following  specimens  of  the  first 
of  the  Old  Charges,  correctly  taken  from 
each  of  the  three  works: 

First  of  the  Old  Charges  in  the  Book  of 
Constitutions,  edit.,  1723. 

"A  Mason  is  obliged  by  his  tenure  to  obey 
the  moral  law ;  and  if  he  rightly  understands 
the  Art,  he  will  never  be  a  stupid  Atheist, 
nor  an  irreligious  libertine.  But  though  in 
ancient  times  Masons  were  charged,  in 
every  country,  to  be  of  the  religion  of  that 
country  or  nation,  whatever  it  was,  yet  it 
is  now  thought  more  expedient  only  to 
oblige  them  to  that  religion  in  which  all  men 
agreed,  leaving  their  particular  opinions  to 
themselves ;  that  is  to  be  good  men  and  true, 
or  men  of  honor  and  honesty,  by  whatever 
denominations  or  persuasions  they  may  be 
distinguished;  whereby  Masonry  becomes 
the  centre  of  union,  and  the  means  of  con- 
ciliating true  friendship  among  persons  that 
must  have  remained  at  a  perpetual  dis- 
tance." 

First  of  the  Old  Charges  in  the  Book  of 
Constitutions,  edit.,  1738. 

"A  Mason  is  obliged  by  his  tenure  to  ob- 
serve the  moral  law,  as  a  true  Noachida; 
and  if  he  rightly  understands  the  Graft,  he 
will  never  be  a  stupid  Atheist,  nor  an  irre- 
ligious libertine,  nor  act  against  conscience. 
G  4 


"  In  ancient  times,  the  Christian  Masons 
were  charged  to  comply  with  the  Christian 
usages  of  each  country  where  they  travelled  or 
worked.  But  Masonry  being  found  in  all  na- 
lions,even  of  divers  religions,  they  are  now  only 
charged  to  adhere  to  that  religion  in  which 
all  men  agree,  (leaving  each  brother  to  his 
own  particular  opinions ;)  that  is,  to  be  good 
men  and  true,  men  of  honor  and  honesty, 
by  whatever  names,  religions,  or  persuasions 
they  may  be  distinguished ;  for  they  all 
agree  in  the  three  great  articles  of  Noah 
enough  to  preserve  the  cement  of  the  Lodge. 
Thus,  Masonry  is  the  centre  of  their  union, 
and  the  happy  means  of  conciliating  per- 
sons that  otherwise  must  have  remained  at 
a  perpetual  distance." 

First  of  the  Old  Charges  in  Dermott's 
Ahiman  Rezon. 

"A  Mason  is  obliged  by  his  tenure  to  ob- 
serve the  moral  law,  as  a  true  Noachida  ; 
and  if  he  rightly  understands  the  Craft,  he 
will  never  be  a  stupid  Atheist,  nor  an  irre- 
ligious libertine,  nor  act  against  conscience. 

"  In  ancient  times,  the  Christian  Masons 
were  charged  to  comply  with  the  Christian 
usages  of  each  country  where  they  travelled 
or  worked;  being  found  in  all  nations,  even 
of  divers  religions. 

"  They  are  generally  charged  to  adhere  to 
that  religion  in  which  all  men  agree,  (leav- 
ing each  brother  to  his  own  particular  opi- 
nions;) that  is,  to  be  good  men  and  true, 
men  of  honor  and  honesty,  by  whatever 
names,  religions,  or  persuasions  they  may  be 
distinguished ;  for  they  all  agree  in  the  three 
great  articles  of  Noah  enough  to  preserve  the 
cement  of  the  Lodge. 

"  Thus,  Masonry  is  the  centre  of  their 
union,  and  the  happy  means  of  conciliating 
persons  that  otherwise  must  have  remained 
at  a  perpetual  distance." 

The  italics  in  the  second  and  third  ex- 
tracts will  show  what  innovations  Anderson 
made,  in  1738,  on  the  Charges  as  origin- 
ally published  in  1723,  and  how  closely 
Dermott  followed  him  in  adopting  these  in- 
novations. There  is,  in  fact,  much  less  dif- 
ference between  the  Ahiman  Rezon  of  Der- 
mott, and  Anderson's  edition  of  the  Book  of 
Constitutions,  printed  in  1738,  than  there 
is  between  the  latter  and  the  first  edition 
of  the  Constitutions,  printed  in  1723.  But 
the  great  points  of  difference  between  the 
"  Ancients "  and  the  "  Moderns,"  points 
which  kept  them  apart  for  so  many  years, 
are  to  be  found  in  their  work  and  ritual, 
for  an  account  of  which  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  the  article  Ancients. 

Aliisar.     See  Achishar. 

Aholiab.  A  skilful  artificer  of  the 
tribe  of  Dan,  who  was  appointed,  together 
with  Bezaleel,  to  construct  the  tabernacle 
in  the  wilderness  and  the  ark  of  the  cove- 


50 


AHRIMAN 


AID 


nant.  He  is  referred  to  in  the  Royal  Arch  de- 
gree of  the  English  and  American  systems. 

Aliriman.  The  principle  of  evil  in 
the  system  of  Zoroaster,  and  as  such  op- 
posed to  Ormuzd,  the  principle  of  good. 
He  emanated,  pure,  from  the  primitive 
light,  and  was  the  second  born — Ormuzd 
being  the  first;  but  Ahriman,  yielding  to 
pride,  ambition,  and  hatred  of  the  firstborn, 
or  principle  of  good,  was  condemned  by  the 
Eternal  to  dwell  for  12,000  years  in  that  part 
of  space  where  no  ray  of  light  reaches,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  the  contest  between 
Light  and  Darkness,  or  Good  and  Evil,  will 
terminate.    See  Zoroaster. 

Aiclimalotarch.  The  title  given  by 
the  Jews  to  the  Prince  of  the  Captivity,  or 
representative  of  the  kings  of  Israel  at 
Babylon.     See  Prince  of  the  Captivity. 

Aid  and  Assistance.  The  duty  of 
aiding  and  assisting,  not  only  all  worthy 
distressed  Master  Masons,  but  their  widows 
and  orphans  also,  "wheresoever  dispersed 
over  the  face  of  the  globe,"  is  one  of  the 
most  important  obligations  that  is  imposed 
upon  every  brother  of  the  "  mystic  tie  "  by 
the  whole  scope  and  tenor  of  the  Masonic 
Institution.  The  regulations  for  the  exer- 
cise of  this  duty  are  tew,  but  rational.  In 
the  first  place,  a  Master  Mason  who  is  in 
distress  has  a  greater  claim,  under  equal 
circumstances,  to  the  aid  and  assistance  of 
his  brother,  than  one  who,  being  in  the 
Order,  has  not  attained  that  degree,  or  who 
is  altogether  a  profane.  This  is  strictly  in 
accordance  with  the  natural  instincts  of  the 
human  heart,  which  will  always  prefer  a 
friend  to  a  stranger,  or,  as  it  is  rather  ener- 
getically expressed  in  the  language  of  Long 
Tom  Coflin,  "  a  messmate  before  a  shipmate, 
a  shipmate  before  a  stranger,  and  a  stranger 
before  a  dog ;  "  and  it  is  also  strictly  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  who  has  said:  "As  we  have 
opportunity,  therefore,  let  us  do  good  to  all 
men,  especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the 
household." 

But  this  exclusiveness  is  only  to  be  prac- 
tised under  circumstances  which  make  a 
selection  imperatively  necessary.  Where 
the  grant  of  relief  to  the  profane  would  in- 
capacitate us  from  granting  similar  relief 
to  our  brother,  then  must  the  preference  be 
given  to  him  who  is  "  of  the  household." 
But  the  earliest  symbolic  lessons  of  the 
ritual  teach  the  Mason  not  to  restrict  his 
benevolence  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
Fraternity,  but  to  acknowledge  the  claims 
of  all  men,  who  need  it,  to  assistance.  In- 
wood  has  beautifully  said:  "The  humble 
condition  both  of  property  and  dress,  of 
penury  and  »want,  in  which  you  were  re- 
ceived into  the  Lodge,  should  make  you  at 
all  times  sensible  oftthe  distresses  of  poverty, 


and  all  you  can  spare  from  the  call  of  na- 
ture and  the  due  care  of  your  families, 
should  only  remain  in  your  possession  as  a 
ready  sacrifice  to  the  necessities  of  an  un- 
fortunate, distressed  brother.  Let  the  dis- 
tressed cottage  feel  the  warmth  of  your 
Masonic  zeal,  and,  if  possible,  exceed  even 
the  unabating  ardor  of  Christian  charity. 
At  your  approach  let  the  orphan  cease  to 
weep,  and  in  the  sound  of  your  voice  let  the 
widow  forget  her  sorrow." 

Another  restriction  laid  upon  this  duty 
of  aid  and  assistance  by  the  obligations  of 
Masonry  is,  that  the  giver  shall  not  be 
lavish  beyond  his  means  in  the  disposition 
of  his  benevolence.  What  he  bestows 
must  be  such  as  he  can  give  "  without  ma- 
terial injury  to  himself  or  family."  No 
man  should  wrong  his  wife  or  children  that 
he  may  do  a  benefit  to  a  stranger,  or  even 
to  a  brother.  The  obligations  laid  on  a 
Mason  to  grant  aid  and  assistance  to  the 
needy  and  distressed  seem  to  be  in  the  fol- 
lowing gradations:  first,  to  his  family; 
next,  to  his  brethren;  and,  lastly,  to  the 
world  at  large. 

So  far  this  subject  has  been  viewed  in  a 
general  reference  to  that  spirit  of  kindness 
which  should  actuate  all  men,  and  which  it 
is  the  object  of  Masonic  teaching  to  im- 
press on  the  mind  of  every  Mason  as  a 
common  duty  of  humanity,  and  whose  dis- 
position Masonry  only  seeks  to  direct  and 
guide.  But  there  is  another  aspect  in  which 
this  subject  may  be  considered,  namely, 
in  that  peculiar  and  technical  one  of  Ma- 
sonic aid  and  assistance  due  from  one  Ma- 
son to  another.  Here  there  is  a  duty  de- 
clared, and  a  correlative  right  inferred ;  for 
if  it  is  the  duty  of  one  Mason  to  assist 
another,  it  follows  that  every  Mason  has 
the  right  to  claim  that  assistance  from  his 
brother.  It  is  this  duty  that  the  obliga- 
tions of  Masonry  are  especially  intended  to 
enforce ;  it  is  this  right  that  they  are  in- 
tended to  sustain.  The  symbolic  ritual  of 
Masonry  which  refers,  as,  for  instance,  in 
the  first  degree,  to  the  virtue  of  benevo- 
lence, refers  to  it  in  the  general  sense  of  a 
virtue  which  all  men  should  practise.  But 
when  the  Mason  reaches  the  third  degree, 
he  discovers  new  obligations  which  restrict 
and  define  the  exercise  of  this  duty  of  aid 
and  assistance.  So  far  as  his  obligations 
control  him,  the  Mason,  as  a  Mason,  is  not 
legally  bound  to  extend  his  aid  beyond  the 
just  claimants  in  his  own  Fraternity.  To 
do  good  to  all  men  is  of  course  inculcated 
and  recommended ;  to  do  good  to  the  house- 
hold is  enforced  and  made  compulsory  by 
legal  enactment  and  sanction. 

Now,  as  there  is  here,  on  one  side,  a  duty, 
and  on  the  other  side  a  right,  it  is  proper 
to  inquire  what  are  the  regulations  or  laws 


AID 


AIX-LA-CHAPELLE 


51 


by  which  this  duty  is  controlled  and  this 
right  maintained. 

The  duty  to  grant  and  the  right  to  claim' 
relief  Masonically  is  recognized  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage  of  the  Old  Charges  of 
1722: 

"  But  if  you  discover  him  to  be  a  true 
and  genuine  brother,  you  are  to  respect 
him  accordingly ;  and  if  he  is  in  want,  you 
must  relieve  him  if  you  can,  or  else  direct 
him  how  he  may  be  relieved.  You  must 
employ  him  some  days,  or  else  recommend 
him  to  be  employed.  But  you  are  not 
charged  to  do  beyond  your  ability;  only  to 
prefer  a  poor  brother,  who  is  a  good  man 
and  true,  before  any  other  people  in  the 
same  circumstances." 

This  written  law  agrees  in  its  conditions 
and  directions,  so  far  as  it  goes,  with  the 
unwritten  law  of  the  Order,  and  from  the 
two  we  may  deduce  the  following  principles : 

1.  The  applicant  must  be  a  Master  Ma- 
son. In  1722,  the  charitable  benefits  of 
Masonry  were  extended,  it  is  true,  to  En- 
tered Apprentices,  and  an  Apprentice  was 
recognized,  in  the  language  of  the  law,  as 
"a  true  and  genuine  brother."  But  this 
was  because  at  that  time  only  the  first  de- 
gree was  conferred  in  subordinate  Lodges, 
Fellow  Crafts  and  Master  Masons  being 
made  in  the  Grand  Lodge.  Hence  the 
great  mass  of  the  Fraternity  consisted  of 
Apprentices,  and  many  Masons  never  pro- 
ceeded any  further.  But  the  second  and 
third  degrees  are  now  always  conferred  in 
subordinate  Lodges,  and  very  few  initiates 
voluntarily  stop  short  of  the  Master's  de- 
gree. Hence  the  mass  of  the  Fraternity 
now  consists  of  Master  Masons,  and  the  law 
which  formerly  applied  to  Apprentices  is, 
under  our  present  organization,  made  ap- 
plicable only  to  those  who  have  become 
Master  Masons. 

2.  The  applicant  must  be  worthy.  We 
are  to  presume  that  every  Mason  is  "  a  good 
man  and  true  "  until  the  Lodge  which  has 
jurisdiction  over  him  has  pronounced  to 
the  contrary.  Every  Mason  who  is  "in 
good  standing,"  that  is,  who  is  a  regularly 
contributing  member  of  a  Lodge,  is  to  be 
considered  as  "  worthy,"  in  the  technical 
sense  of  the  term.  An  expelled,  a  sus- 
pended, or  a  non-affiliated  Mason,  does  not 
meet  the  required  condition  of  "a  regu- 
larly contributing  member."  Such  a  Ma- 
son is  therefore  not  "  worthy,"  and  is  not 
entitled  to  Masonic  assistance. 

3.  The  giver  is  not  expected  to  exceed 
his  ability  in  the  amount  of  relief.  The 
written  law  says,  "  you  are  not  charged  to 
do  beyond  your  ability ;  "  the  ritual  says, 
that  your  relief  must  be  "  without  material 
injury  to  yourself  or  family."  The  princi- 
ple is  the  same  in  both. 


4.  The  widow  and  orphans  of  a  Master 
Mason  have  the  claim  of  the  husband  and 
father  extended  to  them.  The  written  law 
says  nothing  explicitly  on  this  point,  but 
the  unwritten  or  ritualistic  law  expressly 
declares  that  it  is  our  duty  "  to  contribute 
to  the  relief  of  a  worthy,  distressed  brother, 
his  widow  and  orphans." 

5.  And  lastly,  in  granting  relief  or  assist- 
ance, the  Mason  is  to  be  preferred  to  the 
profane.  He  must  be  placed  "  before  any 
other  people  in  the  same  circumstances." 

These  are  the  laws  which  regulate  the 
doctrine  of  Masonic  aid  and  assistance. 
They  are  often  charged  by  the  enemies  of 
Masonry  with  a  spirit  of  exclusiveness. 
But  it  has  been  shown  that  they  are  in 
accordance  with  the  exhortation  of  the 
Apostle,  who  would  do  good  "  especially  to 
those  who  are  of  the  household,"  and  they 
have  the  warrant  of  the  law  of  nature ;  for 
every  one  will  be  ready  to  say,  with  that 
kindest-hearted  of  men,  Charles  Lamb,  "  I 
can  feel  for  all  indifferently,  but  I  cannot 
feel  for  all  alike.  I  can  be  a  friend  to  a 
worthy  man,  who,  upon  another  account, 
cannot  be  my  mate  or  fellow.  I  cannot 
like  all  people  alike."  And  so  as  Masons, 
while  we  should  be  charitable  to  all  persons 
in  need  or  in  distress,  there  are  only  certain 
ones  who  can  claim  the  aid  and  assistance 
of  the  Order,  or  of  its  disciples,  under  the 
positive  sanction  of  Masonic  law. 

Aitcuesoit-IIaven  Manuscript. 
A  manuscript  record  formerly  preserved 
in  the  archives  of  the  Aitcheson-Haven 
Lodge,  which  met  at  Musselburgh  in  Scot- 
land, but  which  is  now  the  property  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland.  The  MS.  is  en- 
grossed in  the  minute-book  of  the  Aitche- 
son  Lodge,  and  is  dated  29th  of  May,  A.  D. 
1666.  It  has  never  been  published.  In 
Laurie's  History  of  Freemasonry,  (ed.  1859,) 
there  has  been  inserted  "  one  narration  of 
the  founding  of  the  craft  of  Masonry,  and 
by  whom  it  hath  been  cherished,"  which 
Bro.  D.  Murray  Lyon  says  is  a  modern  and 
somewhat  imperfect  rendering  of  the  Ait- 
cheson-Haven MS.,  and  not,  therefore,  a 
safe  text  to  be  followed. 

Aix  -  la  -  Chapelle.  (In  German, 
Aachen.)  A  city  of  Germany,  remarkable 
in  Masonic  history  for  a  persecution  which 
took  place  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  of 
which  Gadicke  (Freimaur.  Lex.)  gives  the 
following  account.  In  the  year  1779,  Lud- 
wig  Grienemann,  a  Dominican  monk,  de- 
livered a  course  of  lenten  sermons,  in  which 
he  attempted  to  prove  that  the  Jews  who 
crucified  Christ  were  Freemasons,  that  Pi- 
late and  Herod  were  Wardens  in  a  Mason's 
Lodge,  that  Judas,  previous  to  his  betrayal 
of  his  Master,  was  initiated  into  the  Order, 
and  that  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  which 


52 


AKIROP 


ALARM 


he  is  said  to  have  returned,  was  only  the 
fee  which  he  paid  for  his  initiation.  Aix- 
la-Chapelle  being  a  Roman  Catholic  city, 
the  magistrates  were  induced,  by  the  influ- 
ence of  Grienemann,  to  issue  a  decree,  in 
which  they  declared  that  any  one  who 
should  permit  a  meeting  of  the  Freemasons 
in  his  house  should,  for  the  first  offence,  be 
fined  100  florins,  for  the  second  200,  and 
for  the  third  be  banished  from  the  city. 
The  mob  became  highly  incensed  against 
the  Masons,  and  insulted  all  whom  they 
suspected  to  be  members  of  the  Order.  At 
length  Peter  Schuff,  a  Capuchin,  jealous  of 
the  influence  which  the  Dominican  Grie- 
nemann was  exerting,  began  also,  with 
augmented  fervor,  to  preach  against  Free- 
masonry, and  still  more  to  excite  the  pop- 
ular commotion.  In  this  state  of  affairs, 
the  Lodge  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  applied  to 
the  princes  and  Masonic  Lodges  in  the 
neighboring  territories  for  assistance  and 
protection,  which  were  immediately  ren- 
dered. A  letter  in  French  was  received 
by  both  priests,  in  which  the  writer,  who 
stated  that  he  was  one  of  the  former  digni- 
taries of  the  Order,  strongly  reminded 
them  of  their  duties,  and,  among  other 
things,  said  that  "  many  priests,  a  pope, 
several  cardinals,  bishops,  and  even  Do- 
minican and  Capuchin  monks,  had  been, 
and  still  were,  members  of  the  Order."  Al- 
though this  remonstrance  had  some  effect, 
peace  was  not  altogether  restored  until  the 
neighboring  free  imperial  states  threatened 
that  they  would  prohibit  the  monks  from 
collecting  alms  in  their  territories  unless 
they  ceased  to  excite  the  popular  commo- 
tion against  the  Freemasons. 

Akirop.  The  name  given,  in  the  ritual 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,  to  one 
of  the  ruffians  celebrated  in  the  legend 
of  the  third  degree.  The  word  is  said  in 
the  ritual  to  signify  an  assassin.  It  might 
probably  be  derived  from  3"lp,  KaRaB,  to 
assault  or  join  battle ;  but  is  just  as  proba- 
bly a  word  so  corrupted  by  long  oral  trans- 
mission that  its  etymology  can  no  longer 
be  traced.     See  Abiram. 

Alabama.  One  of  the  Southern 
United  States  of  America.  Masonry  was 
established  in  this  State  in  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Mitchell,  {Hist. 
o/Freemas.,  i.  630,)  whose  accuracy  is,  how- 
ever, not  to  be  depended  on,  says  that  it 
was  planted,  as  he  thinks,  in  this  jurisdic- 
tion by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina.  If  he  be  so  far  right,  we 
must  also  add  the  Grand  Lodge  of  South 
Carolina,  which,  in  1819,  granted  a  war- 
rant to  Claiborne  Lodge  No.  51,  afterwards 
called  Alabama  Lodge.  In  1821,  there 
were  at  least  nine  Lodges  in  Alabama, 
holding  warrants  under  different  jurisdic- 


tions, viz. :  Halo,  21 ;  Rising  Virtue,  30 ; 
Madison,  21 ;  Alabama,  21 ;  Alabama,  51 ; 
Farrar,  41 ;  St.  Stephens,  — ;  Moulton,  34 ; 
and  Russellville,  36.  On  the  11th  of  June, 
1821,  these  nine  Lodges  met  in  convention 
in  the  town  of  Cahawba,  and  organized  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Alabama  on  the  14th  of 
the  same  month ;  Thomas  W.  Farrar  having 
been  elected  Grand  Master,  and  Thomas  A. 
Rogers  Grand  Secretary. 

The  Grand  Chapter  of  Alabama  was 
organized  on  the  2d  of  June,  1827,  at  the 
town  of  Tuscaloosa,  and  at  the  same  time 
and  place  a  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and 
Select  Masters  was  established. 

On  the  27th  of  October,  1860,  Sir  Knt. 
B.  B.  French,  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Encampment  of  the  United  States,  issued 
his  mandate  for  the  formation  of  a  Grand 
Commandery  of  Alabama. 

Alapa.  In  classical  Latinity  given  by 
the  master  to  his  manumitted  slave  as  a 
symbol  of  manumission,  and  as  a  reminder 
that  it  was  the  last  unrequited  indignity 
which  he  was  to  receive.  Hence,  in  medi- 
aeval times,  the  same  word  was  applied  to 
the  blow  inflicted  on  the  cheek  of  the 
newly-created  knight  by  the  sovereign 
who  created  him  with  the  same  symbolic 
signification.  This  was  sometimes  repre- 
sented by  the  blow  on  the  shoulder  with 
the  flat  of  a  sword,  which  has  erroneously 
been  called  the  accolade.    See  Knighthood. 

Alarm.  The  verb,  "  to  alarm,"  signi- 
fies, in  Freemasonry,  "to  give  notice  of  the 
approach  of  some  one  desiring  admission." 
Thus,  "to  alarm  the  Lodge,"  is  to  inform 
the  Lodge  that  there  is  some  one  without 
who  is  seeking  entrance."  As  a  noun,  the 
word  "alarm"  has  two  significations.  1. 
An  alarm  is  a  warning  given  by  the  Tiler,  or 
other  appropriate  officer,  by  which  he  seeks 
to  communicate  with  the  interior  of  the 
Lodge  or  Chapter.  In  this  sense  the  ex- 
pression so  often  used,  "  an  alarm  at  the 
door,"  simply  signifies  that  the  officer  out- 
side has  given  notice  of  his  desire  to  com- 
municate with  the  Lodge.  2.  An  alarm  is 
also  the  peculiar  mode  in  which  this  notice 
is  to  be  given.  In  modern  Masonic  works, 
the  number  of  knocks  given  in  an  alarm 
is  generally  expressed  by  musical  notes. 
Thus,  three  distinct  knocks  would  be  desig- 
nated thus,  J  J  J ;  two  rapid  and  two  slow 
ones  thus,  J  #  #  #  ;  and  three  knocks  three 

times  repeated  thus,  J  J  J  J  J  J  J  J  J. 
etc.  As  to  the  derivation  of  the  word,^a 
writer  in  Notes  and  Queries  (1  Ser.  ii., 
151,)  ingeniously  conjectures  that  it  come3 
from  the  old  French  d  Varme,  which  in 
modern  times  is  aux  amies,  "  to  arms  1 " 
The  legal  meaning  of  to  alarm  is  not  to 


ALBAN 


ALCHEMY 


53 


frighten,  but  to  make  one  aware  of  the 
necessity  of  defence  or  protection.  And 
this  is  precisely  the  Masonic  signification 
of  the  word. 

Alba  11,  St.    See  Saint  Alban. 

Albert  us  Magnus.  A  scholastic 
philosopher  of  the  Middle  Ages,  of  great 
erudition,  but  who  had  among  the  vulgar 
the  reputation  of  being  a  magician.  He 
was  born  at  Lauingen,  in  Swabia,  in  1205, 
of  an  illustrious  family,  his  sub-title  being 
that  of  Count  of  Bollstadt.  He  studied 
at  Padua,  and  in  1223  entered  the  Order 
of  the  Dominicans.  In  1249,  he  became 
head-master  of  the  school  at  Cologne.  In 
1260,  Pope  Alexander  VI.  conferred  upon 
him  the  bishopric  of  Ratisbon.  In  1262, 
he  resigned  the  episcopate  and  returned  to 
Cologne,  and,  devoting  himself  to  philo- 
sophic pursuits  for  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
died  there  in  1280.  His  writings  were  very 
voluminous,  the  edition  published  at  Lyons, 
in  1651,  amounting  to  twenty-one  large 
folio  volumes.  Albertus  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  Operative  Masonry  of  the 
Middle  Ages  because  he  has  been  supposed 
by  many  to  have  been  the  real  inventor  of 
the  German  Gothic  style  of  architecture. 
HeidelofF,  in  his  Bauhutle  des  Mittelalters, 
says,  that  "  he  recalled  into  life  the  sym- 
bolic language  of  the  ancients,  which  had 
so  long  lain  dormant,  and  adapted  it  to  suit 
architectural  forms."  The  Masons  accepted 
his  instructions,  and  adopted  in  consequence 
that  system  of  symbols  which  were  secretly 
communicated  only  to  the  members  of  their 
own  body,  and  served  even  as  a  medium  of 
intercommunication.  He  is  asserted  to 
have  designed  the  plan  for  the  construction 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne,  and  to  have 
altered  the  Constitution  of  the  Masons,  and 
to  have  given  to  them  a  new  set  of  laws. 

Albrecht,  Henry  Christoph.  A 
German  author,  who  published  at  Hamburg, 
in  1792,  the  first  and  only  part  of  a  work  en- 
titled Materialen  zu  einer  critischen  Geschicte 
der  Freimaurerei,  i.  e.,  Collections  towards  a 
Critical  History  of  Freemasonry.  Kloss 
says  that  this  was  one  of  the  first  attempts 
at  a  clear  and  rational  history  of  the  Order. 
Unfortunately,  the  author  never  completed 
his  task,  and  only  the  first  part  of  the  work 
ever  appeared.  Albrecht  was  the  author 
also  of  another  work  entitled,  Geheime 
Geschicte  einers  Rosenkreuzers,  or  Secret  His- 
tory of  a  Rosicrucian,  and  of  a  series  of 
papers  which  appeared  in  the  Berlin  Archiv. 
derZeit,  containing  "  Notices  of  Freemasonry 
in  the  first  half  of  the  Sixteenth  Century." 
Albrecht  adopted  the  theory  first  advanced 
by  the  Abbe'  Grandidier,  that  Freemasonry 
owes  its  origin  to  the  stone-masons  of 
Strasburg. 

Alchemy.    The  Neo-Platonicians  in- 


troduced at  an  early  period  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  an  apparently  new  science,  which 
they  called  micTtjiia  lepd,  or  the  Sacred 
Science,  which  materially  influenced  the 
subsequent  condition  of  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences. The  books  from  which  the  sacred 
science  was  taught  were  called  Chemia, 
supposed  to  be  derived  from  Cham,  the  son 
of  Noah,  to  whom  was  attributed  its  in- 
vention. In  the  fifth  century  arose,  as  the 
name  of  the  science,  alchemic,  derived  from 
the  Arabic  definite  article  al  being  added 
to  chemia;  and  Julius  Firmicius,  in  a  work 
On  the  Influence  of  the  Stars  upon  the  Fate 
of  Man,  uses  the  phrase  "scientia  alche- 
mise."  From  this  time  the  study  of  al- 
chemy was  openly  followed.  In  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  up  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  it  was  an  important  science,  studied 
by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  philoso- 

ghers,  such  as  Avicenna,  Albertus  Magnus, 
Raymond  Lulli,  Roger  Bacon,  Elias  Ash- 
mole,  and  many  others. 

Alchemy  —  called  also  the  Hermetic 
Philosophy,  because  it  is  said  to  have  been 
first  taught  in  Egypt  by  Hermes  Trisme- 
gestus  —  was  engaged  in  three  distinct  pur- 
suits: 

1.  The  discovery  of  the  philosopher's 
stone,  by  which  all  the  inferior  metals 
could  be  transmuted  into  gold. 

2.  The  discovery  of  an  alkahest,  or  uni- 
versal solvent  of  all  things. 

3.  The  discovery  of  a  panacea,  or  univer- 
sal remedy,  under  the  name  of  elixir  vitse, 
by  which  all  diseases  were  to  be  cured  and 
life  indefinitely  prolonged. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  alchemy,  putting 
forth  such  pretensions  as  these,  should,  by 
those  who  did  not  understand  its  true  nature, 
have  been  flippantly  defined  as  "  ars  sine 
arte,  cujus  principium  est  mentiri,  medium 
laborare  et  finis  mendicari,"  an  art  without 
an  art,  whose  beginning  is  falsehood,  its 
middle  labor,  and  its  end  beggary.  But 
while  there  were  undoubtedly  many  fools 
who  understood  the  language  of  alchemy 
only  in  its  literal  sense,  and  many  charla- 
tans who  used  it  for  selfish  purposes,  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  there  must  have  been 
something  in  it  better  than  mere  pretension, 
to  invite  the  attention  and  engage  the  labors 
of  so  many  learned  men. 

Hitchcock,  a  learned  American  writer, 
who  published,  in  1857,  Remar/cs  upon  Al- 
chemy and  the  Alchemists,  says  (p.  x.)  that 
"the  genuine  alchemists  were  religious 
men,  who  passed  their  time  in  legitimate 
pursuits,  earning  an  honest  subsistence, 
and,  in  religious  contemplations,  studying 
how  to  realize  in  themselves  the  union  of 
the  divine  and  human  nature  expressed  in 
man  by  an  enlightened  submission  to  God's 
will ;  and  they  thought  out  and  published, 


54 


ALDWORTH 


ALDWORTH 


after  a  manner  of  their  own,  a  method  of 
attaining  or  entering  upon  this  state,  as 
the  only  rest  of  the  soul."  And  in  another 
place  (p.  22)  he  says :  "  The  subject  of  al- 
chemy was  Man;  while  the  object  was  the 
perfection  of  Man,  which  was  supposed  to 
centre  in  a  certain  unity  with  the  Divine 
nature." 

The  alchemists  were,  in  their  philosophy, 
undoubtedly  in  advance  of  their  age,  and, 
being  unwilling  to  make  their  opinions 
openly  known  to  a  world  not  yet  prepared 
to  receive  and  to  appreciate  them,  they 
communicated  their  thoughts  to  each  other 
in  a  language  and  in  symbols  understood 
only  by  themselves.  Thus  they  spoke  of 
Man  as  a  Stone,  and  the  fire  which  puri- 
fied the  Stone  was  the  series  of  trials  and 
temptations  by  which  man's  moral  nature 
is  to  be  purified.  So,  too,  sulphur,  mer- 
cury, salt,  and  many  other  things,  were 
symbols  by  which  they  taught  lessons  of 
profound  religious  import  to  the  true  adepts, 
which,  being  misunderstood  by  others,  led 
thousands  into  the  vain  and  useless  search 
for  some  tangible  method  of  transmuting 
the  baser  metals  into  gold.  "  Who,"  says 
one  of  these  philosophers,  "  is  to  blame  ? 
the  Art,  or  those  who  seek  it  upon  false 
principles  ?  " 

Freemasonry  and  alchemy  have  sought 
thesame  results,  (the  lesson  of  Divine  Truth 
and  the  doctrine  of  immortal  life,)  and  they 
have  both  sought  it  by  the  same  method 
of  symbolism.  It  is  not,  therefore,  strange 
that  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  per- 
haps before,  we  find  an  incorporation  of 
much  of  the  science  of  alchemy  into  that 
of  Freemasonry.  Hermetic  rites  and  Her- 
metic degrees  were  common,  and  their 
relics  are  still  to  be  found  existing  in  de- 
grees which  do  not  absolutely  trace  their 
origin  to  -alchemy,  but  which  show  some 
of  its  traces  in  their  rituals.  The  28th  de- 
gree of  the  Scottish  Rite,  or  the  Knight 
of  the  Sun,  is  entirely  a  hermetic  degree, 
and  claims  its  parentage  in  the  title  of 
"  Adept  of  Masonry,"  by  which  it  is  some- 
times known. 

Aldworth,  the  Hon.  Mrs.  This 
lady  received,  about  the  year  1735,  the  first 
and  second  degrees  of  Freemasonry  in 
Lodge  No.  44,  at  Doneraile,  in  Ireland. 
The  circumstances  connected  with  this  sin- 
gular initiation  were  first  published  in  1807, 
at  Cork,  and  subsequently  republished  by 
Spencer,  the  celebrated  Masonic  bibliopole, 
in  London.  It  may  be  observed,  before 
proceeding  to  glean  from  this  work  the 
narrative  of  her  initiation,  that  the  authen- 
ticity of  all  the  circumstances  was  con- 
firmed on  their  first  publication  by  an 
eye-witness  to  the  transaction. 
The  Hon.  Elizabeth  St.  Leger  was  born 


about  the  year  1713,  and  was  the  youngest 
child  and  only  daughter  of  the  Eight  Hon. 
Arthur  St.  Leger,  first  Viscount  Doneraile, 
of  Ireland,  who  died  in  1727,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  eldest  son,  the  brother  of  our 
heroine.  Subsequently  to  her  initiation 
into  the  mysteries  of  Freemasonry  she 
married  Richard  Aldworth,  Esq.,  of  New- 
market, in  the  county  of  Cork. 

Lodge  No.  44,  in  which  she  was  initiated, 
was,  in  some  sort,  an  aristocratic  Lodge, 
consisting  principally  of  the  gentry  and 
most  respectable  and  wealthy  inhabitants 
of  the  country  around  Doneraile.  The 
communications  were  usually  held  in  the 
town,  but  during  the  Mastership  of  Lord 
Doneraile,  under  whom  his  sister  was  ini- 
tiated, the  meetings  were  often  held  at  his 
Lordship's  residence. 

It  was  during  one  of  these  meetings  at 
Doneraile  House*  that  this  female  initia- 
tion took  place,  the  story  of  which  Spen- 
cer, in  the  memoir  to  which  we  have 
referred,  relates  in  the  following  words : 

"It  happened  on  this  particular  occasion 
that  the  Lodge  was  held  in  a  room  sepa- 
rated from  another,  as  is  often  the  case,  by 
stud  and  brickwork.  The  young  lady,  being 
giddy  and  thoughtless,  and  determined 
to  gratify  her  curiosity,  made  her  arrange- 
ments accordingly,  and,  with  a  pair  of 
scissors,  (as  she  herself  related  to  the  mo- 
ther of  our  informant,)  removed  a  portion 
of  a  brick  from  the  wall,  and  placed  her- 
self so  as  to  command  a  full  view  of  every- 
thing which  occurred  in  the  next  room  ;  so 
placed,  she  witnessed  the  two  first  degrees 
in  Masonry,  which  was  the  extent  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Lodge  on  that  night. 
Becoming  aware,  from  what  she  heard, 
that  the  brethren  were  about  to  separate, 
for  the  first  time  she  felt  tremblingly  alive 
to  the  awkwardness  and  danger  of  her  sit- 
uation, and  began  to  consider  how  she 
could  retire  without  observation.  She  be- 
came nervous  and  agitated,  and  nearly 
fainted,  but  so  far  recovered  herself  as  to 
be  fully  aware  of  the  necessity  of  with- 
drawing as  quickly  as  possible  ;  in  the  act 
of  doing  so,  being  in  the  dark,  she  stum- 
bled against  and  overthrew  something,  said 
to  be  a  chair  or  some  ornamental  piece  of 
furniture.  The  crash  was  loud ;  and  the 
Tiler,  who  was  on  the  lobby  or  landing  on 
which  the  doors  both  of  the  Lodge  room 
and  that  where  the  honorable  Miss  St. 
Leger  was,  opened,  gave  the  alarm,  burst 
open  the  door  and,  with  a  light  in  one 
hand  and  a  drawn  sword  in  the  other,  ap- 


*  A  writer  in  the  London  Freemason's  Quar- 
terly Review  (1839,  p.  322, )  says  that  she  was  con- 
cealed in  a  clock-casein  the  regular  Lodge  room, 
in  Maberly's  house  of  entertainment  at  York. 
But  the  locus  in  quo  is  uot  material 


ALETHOPHILE 


ALFADER 


55 


f>eared  to  the  now  terrified  and  fainting 
ady.  He  was  soon  joined  by  the  members 
of  the  Lodge  present,  and  luckily  ;  for  it  is 
asserted  that  but  for  the  prompt  appearance 
of  her  brother,  Lord  Doneraile,  and  other 
steady  members,  her  life  would  have  fallen 
a  sacrifice  to  what  was  then  esteemed  her 
crime.  The  first  care  of  his  Lordship  was 
to  resuscitate  the  unfortunate  lady  without 
alarming  the  house,  and  endeavor  to  learn 
from  her  an  explanation  of  what  had  oc- 
curred ;  having  done  so,  many  of  the  mem- 
bers being  furious  at  the  transaction,  she 
was  placed  under  guard  of  the  Tiler  and  a 
member,  in  the  room  where  she  was  found. 
The  members  re-assembled  and  deliberated 
as  to  what,  under  the  circumstances,  was 
to  be  done,  and  over  two  long  hours  she 
could  hear  the  angry  discussion  and  her 
death  deliberately  proposed  and  seconded. 
At  length  the  good  sense  of  the  majority 
succeeded  in  calming,  in  some  measure,  the 
angry  and  irritated  feelings  of  the  rest  of 
the  members,  when,  after  much  had  been 
said  and  many  things  proposed,  it  was  re- 
solved to  give  her  the  option  of  submitting 
to  the  Masonic  ordeal  to  the  extent  she  had 
witnessed,  (Fellow  Craft,)  and  if  she  re- 
fused, the  brethren  were  again  to  consult. 
Being  waited  on  to  decide,  Miss  St.  Leger, 
exhausted  and  terrified  by  the  storrainess 
of  the  debate,  which  she  could  not  avoid 
partially  hearing,  and  yet,  notwithstanding 
all,  with  a  secret  pleasure,  gladly  and  un- 
hesitatingly accepted  the  offer.  She  was 
accordingly  initiated." 

Mrs.,  or,  as  she  was  appropriately  called, 
Sister  Aldworth,  lived  many  years  after, 
but  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  forgotten 
the  lessons  of  charity  and  fraternal  love 
which  she  received  on  her  unexpected  ini- 
tiation into  the  esoteric  doctrines  of  the 
Order.  "  Placed  as  she  was,"  says  the 
memoir  we  have  quoted,  "  by  her  marriage 
with  Mr.  Aldworth,  at  the  head  of  a  very 
large  fortune,  the  poor  in  general,  and  the 
Masonic  poor  in  particular,  had  good  rea- 
son to  record  her  numerous  and  bountiful 
acts  of  kindness;  nor  were  these  accompa- 
nied with  ostentation  —  far  from  it.  It  has 
been  remarked  of  her,  that  her  custom  was 
to  seek  out  bashful  misery  and  retiring 
poverty,  and  with  a  well-directed  liberality, 
soothe  many  a  bleeding  heart." 

Alethophile,  Lover  of  Truth.  The  5th 
degree  of  the  Order  of  African  Architects. 

Alexander  I.,  Emperor  of  Russia. 
Alexander  I.  succeeded  Paul  I.  in  the  year 
1801,  and  immedietely  after  his  accession 
renewed  the  severe  prohibitions  of  his  pre- 
decessor against  all  secret  societies,  and 
especially  Freemasonry.  In  1803,  M.  Boe- 
ber,  counsellor  of  state  and  director  of  the 
military  school  at  St.  Petersburg,  resolved 


to  remove,  if  possible,  from  the  mind  of 
the  emperor  the  prejudices  which  he  had 
conceived  against  the  Order.  Accordingly, 
in  an  audience  which  he  had  solicited  and 
obtained,  he  described  the  objects  of  the 
Institution  and  the  doctrine  of  its  mysteries 
in  such  a  way  as  to  lead  the  emperor  to 
rescind  the  obnoxious  decrees,  and  to  add 
these  words :  "  What  you  have  told  me  of 
the  Institution  not  only  induces  me  to 
grant  it  my  protection  and  patronage,  but 
even  to  ask  for  initiation  into  its  mysteries. 
Is  this  possible  to  be  obtained?"  M.  Boe- 
ber  replied,  "  Sire,  I  cannot  myself  reply 
to  the  question.  But  I  will  call  together 
the  Masons  of  your  capital,  and  make  your 
Majesty's  desire  known;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  they  will  be  eager  to  comply 
with  your  wishes."  Accordingly  Alexan- 
der was  soon  after  initiated,  and  the  Grand 
Lodge  Astrea  of  Russia  was  in  consequence 
established,  of  which  M.  Boeber  was  elected 
Grand  Master. 

Alexandria,  School  of.  When 
Alexander  built  the  city  of  Alexandria  in 
Egypt,  with  the  intention  of  making  it  the 
seat  of  his  empire,  he  invited  thither  learned 
men  from  all  nations,  who  brought  with 
them  their  peculiar  notions.  The  Alex- 
andria school  of  philosophy  which  was 
thus  established,  by  the  commingling  of 
Orientalists,  Jews,  Egyptians,  and  Greeks, 
became  eclectic  in  character,  and  exhibited 
a  heterogeneous  mixture  of  the  opinions  of 
the  Egyptian  priests,  of  the  Jewish  Rabbis, 
of  Arabic  teachers,  and  of  the  disciples  of 
Plato  and  Pythagoras.  From  this  school 
we  derive  Gnosticism  and  the  Kabbala, 
and,  above  all,  the  system  of  symbolism  and 
allegory  which  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the 
Masonic  philosophy.  To  no  ancient  sect, 
indeed,  except  perhaps  the  Pythagoreans, 
have  the  Masonic  teachers  been  so  much 
indebted  for  the  substance  of  their  doc- 
trines, as  well  as  the  esoteric  method  of 
communicating  them,  as  to  that  of  the 
School  of  Alexandria.  Both  Aristobulus 
and  Philo,  the  two  most  celebrated  chiefs 
of  this  school,  taught,  although  a  century 
intervened  between  their  births,  the  same 
theory,  that  the  sacred  writings  of  the  He- 
brews were,  by  their  system  of  allegories, 
the  true  source  of  all  religious  and  philo- 
sophic doctrine,  the  literal  meaning  of  which 
alone  was  for  the  common  people,  the  eso- 
teric or  hidden  meaning  being  kept  for  the 
initiated.  Freemasonry  still  carries  into 
practice  the  same  theory. 

Alfader.  The  chief  god  of  the  Scan- 
dinavians. The  Edda  says  that  in  Asgard, 
or  the  abode  of  the  gods,  the  supreme  god 
had  twelve  names,  the  first  of  which  was 
Alfader,  equivalent  to  the  Greek  Pantopater, 
or  the  Universal  Father. 


56 


ALGABIL 


ALLOWED 


Algabil.  SaxJ^N.  A  name  of  the  Su- 
preme God,  signifying  THE  BUILDER, 
having  an  etymological  relation  to  the 
Giblim,  or  Builders  of  Gebal,  who  acted  an 
important  part  in  the  construction  of  the 
Temple  of  Solomon.  It  is  equivalent  to 
the  Masonic  epithet  of  God,  "  the  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe."  I  insert  this 
word  on  the  authority  of  Urquhart,  who 
gives  it  in  his  Pillars  of  Hercules,  ii.  67. 

Alincourt,  Francois  d'.  A  French 
gentleman,  who,  in  the  year  1776,  was  sent 
with  Don  Oyres  de  Ornellas  Prarjao,  a  Por- 
tuguese nobleman,  to  prison,  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  island  of  Madeira,  for  being 
Freemasons.  They  were  afterwards  sent  to 
Lisbon,  and  confined  in  a  common  jail  for 
fourteen  months,  where  they  would  have 
perished  had  not  the  Masons  of  Lisbon 
supported  them,  through  whose  interces- 
sion with  Don  Martinio  de  Mello  they  were 
at  last  released.  Smith,  Use  and  Abuse  of 
Freemasonry,  p.  206. 

Allegiance.  Every  Mason  owes  alle- 
giance to  the  Lodge,  Chapter,  or  other 
body  of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  also  to 
the  Grand  Lodge,  Grand  Chapter  or  other 
supreme  authority  from  which  that  body 
has  received  its  charter.  But  this  is 
not  a  divided  allegiance.  If,  for  instance, 
the  edicts  of  a  Grand  and  a  Subordinate 
Lodge  conflict,  there  is  no  question  which 
is  to  be  obeyed.  Supreme  or  governing 
bodies  in  Masonry  claim  and  must  receive 
a  paramount  allegiance. 

Allegory.  A  discourse  or  narrative 
in  which  there  is  a  literal  and  a  figurative 
sense,  a  patent  and  a  connected  meaning; 
the  literal  or  patent  sense  being  intended, 
by  analogy  or  comparison,  to  indicate  the 
figurative  or  concealed  one.  Its  derivation 
from  the  Greek,  aXXog  and  ayopsiv,  to  say 
something  different,  that  is,  to  say  something 
where  the  language  is  one  thing  and  the 
true  meaning  another,  exactly  expresses 
the  character  of  an  allegory.  It  has  been 
said  that  there  is  no  essential  difference 
between  an  allegory  and  a  symbol.  There 
is  not  in  design,  but  there  is  in  their 
character.  An  allegory  may  be  interpreted 
without  any  previous  conventional  agree- 
ment, but  a  symbol  cannot.  Thus  the 
legend  of  the  third  degree  is  an  allegory, 
evidently  to  be  interpreted  as  teaching  a 
restoration  to  life ;  and  this  we  learn  from 
the  legend  itself,  without  any  previous  un- 
derstanding. The  sprig  of  acacia  is  a  sym- 
bol of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  But 
this  we  know  only  because  such  meaning 
had  been  conventionally  determined  when 
the  symbol  was  first  established.  It  is  evi- 
dent, then,  that  an  allegory  whose  meaning 
is  obscure  is  imperfect.  The  enigmatical 
meaning  should  be  easy  of  interpretation ; 


and  hence  Lemiere,  a  French  poet,  has 
said :  "  L'allegorie  habite  un  palais  dia- 
phane,"  —  Allegory  lives  in  a  transparent 
palace.  All  the  legends  of  Freemasonry 
are  more  or  less  allegorical,  and  whatever 
truth  there  may  be  in  some  of  them  in  a 
historical  point  of  view,  it  is  only  as  allegories 
or  legendary  symbols  that  they  are  of  import- 
ance. The  English  lectures  have  therefore 
very  properly  defined  Freemasonry  to  be 
"a  system  of  morality  veiled  in  allegory 
and  illustrated  by  symbols." 

The  allegory  was  a  favorite  figure  among 
the  ancients,  and  to  the  allegorizing  spirit 
are  we  to  trace  the  construction  of  the 
entire  Greek  and  Roman  mythology.  Not 
less  did  it  prevail  among  the  older  Aryan 
nations,  and  its  abundant  use  is  exhibited 
in  the  religions  of  Brahma  and  Zoroaster. 
The  Jewish  Rabbins  were  greatly  addicted 
to  it,  and  carried  its  employment,  as  Mai- 
monides  intimates,  (More  Nevochim,  III., 
xliii.,)  sometimes  to  an  excess.  Their  Mi- 
drash,  or  system  of  commentaries  on  the 
sacred  book,  is  almost  altogether  allegorical. 
Aben  Ezra,  a  learned  Rabbi  of  the  twelfth 
century,  says,  "The  Scriptures  are  like 
bodies,  and  allegories  are  like  the  garments 
with  which  they  are  clothed.  Some  are 
thin  like  fine  silk,  and  others  are  coarse  and 
thick  like  sackcloth."  Our  Lord,  to  whom 
this  spirit  of  the  Jewish  teachers  in  his  day 
was  familiar,  inculcated  many  truths  in 
parables,  all  of  which  were  allegories.  The 
primitive  Fathers  of  the  Christian  Church 
were  thus  infected;  and  Origen,  (Epist.  ad 
Dam.,)  who  was  especially  addicted  to  the 
habit,  tells  us  that  all  the  Pagan  philoso- 
phers should  be  read  in  this  spirit:  "hoc 
facere  solemus  quando  philosophos  legi- 
mus."  Of  modern  allegorizing  writers,  the 
most  interesting  to  Masons  are  Lee,  the 
author  of  The  Temple  of  Solomon  por- 
trayed by  Scripture  Light,  and  John  Bun- 
yan,  who  wrote  Solomon's  Temple  Spirit- 
ualized. 

Allocution.  The  address  of  the  pre- 
siding officer  of  a  Supreme  Council  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite  is  some- 
times so  called.  It  was  first  used  by  the 
Council  for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States,  and  is  derived  from  the 
usage  of  the  Roman  Church,  where  certain 
addresses  of  the  Pope  to  the  Cardinals  are 
called  allocutions,  and  this  is  to  be  traced 
to  the  customs  of  Pagan  Rome,  where  the 
harangues  of  the  Generals  to  their  soldiers 
were  called  allocutions. 

Allowed.  In  the  old  manuscript  Con- 
stitutions, this  word  is  found  in  the  now 
unusual  sense  of"  accepted."  Thus,  "  Every 
Mason  of  the  Craft  that  is  Mason  allowed, 
ye  shall  do  to  him  as  ye  would  be  done  unto 
yourself."      Mason  allowed  means  Mason 


ALL-SEEING 


ALMOND 


57 


accepted,  that  is,  approved.  Phillips,  in  his 
New  World  of  Words,  (1690,)  defines  the 
verb  allow,  "to  give  or  grant;  to  ap- 
prove of;  to  permit  or  suffer."  Latimer, 
in  one  of  his  sermons,  uses  it  in  this  sense 
of  approving  or  accepting,  thus:  "St. 
Peter,  in  forsaking  his  old  boat  and  nets, 
was  allowed  as  much  before  God  as  if  he 
had  forsaken  all  the  riches  in  the  world." 
In  a  similar  sense  is  the  word  used  in  the 
Office  of  Public  Baptism  of  Infants,  in  the 
Common  Prayer-Book  of  the  Church  of 
England. 

All-Seeing  Eye.  An  important  sym- 
bol of  the  Supreme  Being,  borrowed  by  the 
Freemasons  from  the  nations  of  antiquity. 
Both  the  Hebrews  and  the  Egyptians  ap- 
pear to  have  derived  its  use  from  that 
natural  inclination  of  figurative  minds  to 
select  an  organ  as  the  symbol  of  the  func- 
tion which  it  is  intended  peculiarly  to  dis- 
charge. Thus,  the  foot  was  often  adopted 
as  the  symbol  of  swiftness,  the  arm  of 
strength,  and  the  hand  of  fidelity.  On  the 
same  principle,  the  open  eye  was  selected  as 
the  symbol  of  watchfulness,  and  the  eye  of 
God  as  the  symbol  of  divine  watchfulness 
and  care  of  the  universe.  The  use  of  the 
symbol  in  this  sense  is  repeatedly  to  be  found 
in  the  Hebrew  writers.  Thus,  the  Psalmist 
says  (Ps.  xxxiv.  15) :  "  The  eyes  of  the 
Lord  are  upon  the  righteous,  and  his  ears 
are  open  to  their  cry,"  which  explains  a 
subsequent  passage,  (Ps.  cxxi.  4,)  in  which 
it  is  said :  "  Behold,  he  that  keepeth  Israel 
shall  neither  slumber  nor  sleep." 

In  the  Apocryphal  "  Book  of  the  Conver- 
sation of  God  with  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai," 
translated  by  the  Rev.  W.  Cureton  from  an 
Arabic  MS.  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
published  by  the  Philobiblon  Society  of 
London,  the  idea  of  the  eternal  watchful- 
ness of  God  is  thus  beautifully  allegorized : 

"  Then  Moses  said  to  the  Lord,  O  Lord, 
dost  thou  sleep  or  not?  The  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  I  never  sleep :  but  take  a  cup 
and  fill  it  with  water.  Then  Moses  took  a 
cup  and  filled  it  with  water,  as  the  Lord 
commanded  him.  Then  the  Lord  cast  into 
the  heart  of  Moses  the  breath  of  slumber ; 
so  he  slept,  and  the  cup  fell  from  his  hand, 
and  the  water  which  was  therein  was  spilled. 
Then  Moses  awoke  from  his  sleep.  Then 
said  God  to  Moses,  I  declare  by  my  power, 
and  by  my  glory,  that  if  I  were  to  with- 
draw my  providence  from  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  for  no  longer  a  space  of  time 
than  thou  hast  slept,  they  would  at  once 
fall  to  ruin  and  confusion,  like  as  the  cup 
fell  from  thy  hand." 

On  the  same  principle,  the  Egyptians 

represented  Osiris,  their  chief  deity,"  by  the 

symbol  of  an  open  eye,  and  placed  this 

hieroglyphic  of  him  in  all  their  temples. 

H 


His  symbolic  name,  on  the  monuments,  was 
represented  by  the  eye  accompanying  a 
throne,  to  which  was  sometimes  added  an 
abbreviated  figure  of  the  god,  and  some- 
times what  has  been  called  a  hatchet,  but 
which,  I  consider,  may  as  correctly  be  sup- 
posed to  be  a  representation  of  a  square. 

The  All-Seeing  Eye  may  then  be  con- 
sidered as  a  symbol  of  God  manifested  in 
his  omnipresence  —  his  guardian  and  pre- 
serving character  —  to  which  Solomon  al- 
ludes in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  (xv.  3),  when 
he  says :  "  The  eyes  of  Jehovah  are  in  every 
place,  beholding  (or,  as  it  might  be  more 
iaithfully  translated,  watching)  the  evil  and 
the  good."  It  is  a  symbol  of  the  Omni- 
present Deity. 

All-Souls9  Day.  The  2d  of  Novem- 
ber. A  festival  in  the  Romish  Church  for 
prayers  in  behalf  of  all  the  faithful  dead.  It 
is  kept  as  a  feast  day  by  Chapters  of  Rose 
Croix. 

Almanac,  Masonic.  Almanacs  for 
the  special  use  of  the  Fraternity  are  annu- 
ally published  in  many  countries  of  Europe, 
but  the  custom  has  not  extended  to  Amer- 
ica. As  early  as  1752,  we  find  an  Almanack 
des  Francs- Macons  au  Ecosse  published  at 
the  Hague.  This,  or  a  similar  work,  was 
continued  to  be  published  annually  at  the 
same  place  until  the  year  1778.  The  first 
English  work  of  the  kind  appeared  in  1775, 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Freemason's  Cal- 
endar, or  an  Almanac  for  the  year  1775. 
Containing,  besides  an  accurate  and  useful 
calendar  of  all  remarkable  occurrences  for 
the  year,  many  useful  and  curious  particu- 
lars relating  to  Masonry.  Inscribed  to 
Lord  Petre,  G.  M.,  by  a  Society  of  Breth- 
ren. London,  printed  for  the  Society  of 
Stationers."  This  work  was  without  any 
official  authority,  but  two  years  after  the 
Freemason's  Calendar  for  1777  was  pub- 
lished "  under  the  sanction  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England."  Works  of  this  useful 
kind  continue  to  be  annually  published  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  under  the  name 
of  Pocket  Books,  in  Germany  under  that  of 
Taschenbiicher,  and  in  France  under  that  of 
Calendriers. 

Almighty.  In  Hebrew  HP  Sx,  El 
Shaddai.  The  name  by  which  God  was 
known  to  the  patriarchs  before  he  an- 
nounced himself  to  Moses  by  his  tetra- 
grammatonic  name  of  Jehovah.  (See 
Exodus  vi.  3.)  It  refers  to  his  power  and 
might  as  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  hence  is  translated  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint  by  navroKpaTup,  and  in  the  Vulgate 
by  omnipotens. 

Almond-Tree.  When  it  is  said  in 
the  passage  of  Scripture  from  the  twelfth 
chapter  of  Eccles.,  read  during  the  ceremo- 
nies of  the  third  degree,  "  the  almond-tree 


58 


ALMONER 


ALPHA 


shall  flourish,"  reference  is  made  to  the 
white  flowers  of  that  tree,  and  the  allegoric 
signification  is  to  old  age,  when  the  hairs 
of  the  head  shall  become  gray. 

Almoner.  An  officer  elected  or  ap- 
pointed in  the  continental  Lodges  of  Europe 
to  take  charge  of  the  contents  of  the  alms- 
box,  to  carry  into  effect  the  charitable  reso- 
lutions of  the  Lodge,  and  to  visit  sick  and 
needy  brethren.  A  physician  is  usually 
selected  in  preference  to  any  other  member 
for  this  office.  An  almoner  is  to  be  also 
found  in  some  of  the  English  Lodges,  al- 
though the  office  is  not  recognized  by  law. 
In  the  United  States  the  officer  does  not 
exist,  his  duties  being  performed  by  a  com- 
mittee of  charity.  It  is  an  important 
office  in  all  bodies  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Alms-Box.  A  box  which,  towards 
the  close  of  the  Lodge,  is  handed  around 
by  an  appropriate  officer  for  the  reception 
of  such  donations  for  general  objects  of 
charity  as  the  brethren  may  feel  disposed 
to  bestow.  This  laudable  custom  is  very 
generally  practised  in  the  Lodges  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  univer- 
sally in  those  of  the  Continent.  The 
newly-initiated  candidate  is  expected  to 
contribute  more  liberally  than  the  other 
members.  Bro.  Hyde  Clarke  says  (Lon. 
Freem.  Mag.,  1859,  p.  1166,)  that  "some 
brethren  are  in  the  habit,  on  an  occasion 
of  thanksgiving  with  them,  to  contribute 
to  the  box  of  the  Lodge  more  than  on  other 
occasions."  This  custom  has  not  been 
adopted  in  the  Lodges  of  America,  except 
in  those  of  French  origin  and  in  those  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite. 

Almsgiving.  Although  almsgiving, 
or  the  pecuniary  relief  of  the  destitute, 
was  not  one  of  the  original  objects  for 
which  the  Institution  of  Freemasonry  was 
established,  yet,  as  in  every  society  of  men 
bound  together  by  a  common  tie,  it  becomes 
incidentally,  yet  necessarily,  a  duty  to  be 
practised  by  all  its  members  in  their  indi- 
vidual as  well  as  in  their  corporate  capacity. 
In  fact,  this  virtue  is  intimately  interwoven 
with  the  whole  superstructure  of  the  Insti- 
tution, and  its  practice  is  a  necessary  corol- 
lary from  all  its  principles.  At  an  early 
period  in  his  initiation  the  candidate  is 
instructed  in  the  beauty  of  charity  by  the 
most  impressive  ceremonies,  which  are  not 
easily  to  be  forgotten,  and  which,  with  the 
same  benevolent  design,  are  repeated  from 
time  to  time  during  his  advancement  to 
higher  degrees,  in  various  forms  and  under 
different  circumstances.  "The  true  Ma- 
son," says  Bro.  Pike,  "  must  be,  and  must 
have  a  right  to  be,  content  with  himself; 
and  he  can  be  so  only  when  he  lives  not 
for  himself  alone,  but  for  others  who  need 
his  assistance  and  have  a  claim  upon  his 


sympathy."  And  the  same  eloquent  writer 
lays  down  this  rule  for  a  Mason's  almsgiv- 
ing: "Give,  looking  for  nothing  again, 
without  consideration  of  future  advantages ; 
give  to  children,  to  old  men,  to  the  un- 
thankful, and  the  dying,  and  to  those  you 
shall  never  see  again ;  for  else  your  alms 
or  courtesy  is  not  charity,  but  traffic  and 
merchandise.  And  omit  not  to  relieve  the 
needs  of  your  enemy  and  him  who  does 
you  injury."     See  Fxchisiveness,  Masonic. 

Alnwick  Manuscript.  This  man- 
uscript, which  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Bro.  E.  F.  Turnbull  of  Alnwick,  (Eng.,)  is 
written  on  twelve  quarto  pages  as  a  preface 
to  the  minute-book  of  the  "  Company  and 
Fellowship  of  Freemasons  of  a  Lodge  held 
at  Alnwick,"  where  it  appears  under  the 
heading  of  "The  Masons'  Constitutions." 
The  date  of  the  document  is  Sept.  20th, 
1701,  "being  the  general  head-meeting 
day."  It  was  first  published  in  1871  in 
Hughan's  Masonic  Sketches  and  Reprints, 
(Amer.  ed.,)  and  again  in  1872  by  the  same 
author  in  his  Old  Charges  of  the  British 
Freemasons.  In  the  preface  to  this  latter 
work,  Bro.  Woodford  says  of  the  records  of 
this  old  Lodge  that,  "  ranging  from  1703  to 
1757  they  mostly  refer  to  indentures,  fines, 
and  initiations,  the  Lodge  from  first  to  last 
remaining  true  to  its  operative  origin.  The 
members  were  required  annually  to  'appear 
at  the  Parish  Church  of  Alnwick  with 
their  approns  on  and  common  squares 
aforesaid  on  St.  John's  Day  in  Christmas, 
when  a  sermon  was  provided  and  preached 
by  some  clergyman  at  their  appointment.' 
A.  D.  1708." 

Al-om-Jah.  In  the  Egyptian  mys- 
teries, this  is  said  to  have  been  the  name 
given  to  the  aspirant  in  the  highest  degree 
as  the  secret  name  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
In  its  component  parts  we  may  recognize 
the  Sx,  Al  or  El  of  the  Hebrews,  the  Aum 
or  triliteral  name  of  the  Indian  mysteries, 
and  the  J"p  Jah  of  the  Syrians. 

Aloyau,  Societe  de  1'.  The  word 
Aloyau  signifies,  in  French,  a  loin  of  beef 
and  hence  the  title  of  this  society  in  Eng- 
lish would  be  The  Society  of  the  Loin.  It 
was  a  Masonic  association,  which  existed  in 
France  for  about  fifteen  years,  until  its 
members  were  dispersed  by  the  revolution. 
They  are  said  to  have  been  in  possession 
of  many  valuable  documents  relating  to  the 
Knights  Templars  and  their  successors. 
See  Temple,  Order  of  the. 

Alpha  and  Omega.  The  first  and 
last  letters  of  the  Greek  language,  referred 
to  in  the  Royal  Master  and  some  of  the 
higher  degrees.  They  are  explained  by 
this' passage  in  Revelations  ch.  xxii.,  v.  13. 
"  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning 
and  the  end,  the  first  and  the  last."  Alpha 


ALPHABET 

and  Omega  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  appella- 
tions of  God,  equivalent  to  the  beginning 
and  end  of  all  things,  and  so  referred  to  in 
Isaiah  xii.  4,  "  I  am  Jehovah,  the  first  and 
the  last." 

Alphabet.  Angels'.      In   the    old 
rituals  of  the  fourth  or  Secret  Master's  de- 
gree of  the  Scottish  and  some  other  Rites, 
we  find  this  passage:   "The  seventy-two 
names,  like  the  name  of  the  Divinity,  are 
to  be  taken  to  the  Kabbalistic  Tree  and  the 
Angels'  Alphabet."    The  Kabbalistic  Tree 
is  a  name  given  by  the  Kabbalists  to  the 
arrangement  of  the  ten  Sephiroth,  (which 
see.)  The  Angels'  Alphabet  is  called  by  the 
Hebrews  0*3*7071  ZT\2,  chetab  hamalachim, 
or  the  writing  of  the  angels.     Gaffarel  says 
{Curios.  Inouis.,  ch.  xiii.  2,)  that  the  stars, 
according  to  the  opinion  of  the  Hebrew 
writers,  are  ranged  in  the  heavens  in  the 
form  of  letters,  and  that  it  is  possible  to 
read  there  whatsoever  of  importance  is  to 
happen  throughout  the  universe.    And  the 
great  English  Hermetic  philosopher,  Robert 
Flud,  says,  in  his  Apology  for  the  Brethren 
of  the  Rosy  Gross,  that  there  are  characters 
in  the  heavens  formed  from  the  disposition 
of  the  stars,  just  as  geometric  lines  and 
ordinary  letters  are  formed  from  points ;  and 
he  adds,  that  those  to  whom  God  has  granted 
the   hidden    knowledge  of   reading  these 
characters  will  also  know  not  only  what- 
ever is  to  happen,  but  all  the  secrets  of 
philosophy.    The  letters  thus  arranged  in 
the  form  of  stars  are  called  the  Angels' 
Alphabet.   They  have  the  power  and  artic- 
ulation but  not  the  form  of  the  Hebrew 
letters,  and  the  Kabbalists  say  that  in  them 
Moses  wrote  the  tables  of  the  law.    The 
astrologers,  and  after  them  the  alchemists, 
made  much  use  of  this  alphabet;  and  its  in- 
troduction into  any  of  the  high  degree 
rituals  is  an  evidence  of  the  influence  ex- 
erted on  these  degrees  by  the  Hermetic 
philosophy.     Agrippa  in  his  Occult  Phil- 
osophy, and  Kircher  in  his  (Edipus  Egyp- 
tiacus,  and  some  other  writers,  have  given 
copies  of  this  alphabet.     It  may  also  be 
found  in  Johnson's   Typographia.     But  it 
is  in  the  mystical  books  of  the  Kabbalists 
that  we  must  look  for  full  instructions  on 
this  subject. 

Alphabet,  Hebrew.  Nearly  all  of 
the  significant  words  in  the  Masonic  rituals 
are  of  Hebrew  origin,  and  in  writing  them 
in  the  rituals  the  Hebrew  letters  are  fre- 
quently used.  For  convenience  of  reference, 
that  alphabet  is  here  given.  The  Hebrews, 
like  other  ancient  nations,  had  no  figures, 
and  therefore  made  use  of  the  letters  of 
their  alphabet  instead  of  numbers,  each 
letter  having  a  particular  numerical  value. 
They  are,  therefore,  affixed  in  the  follow- 
ing table : 


ALPINA 

Aleph 
Beth 

N 

A 

1 

n 

B 

2 

Gimel 

j 

G 

3 

Daleth 

n 

D 

4 

He 

n 

H 

5 

Vau 

i 

VorO 

6 

Zain 

r 

Z 

7 

Cheth 

n 

CH 

8 

Teth 

D 

T 

9 

Yod 

> 

IorY 

10 

Caph 

3 

CorK 

20 

Lamed 

•7 

L 

30 

Mem 

to 

M 

40 

Nun 

J 

N 

50 

Samech 

D 

S 

60 

Ain 

* 

Guttural 

70 

Pe 

P 

80 

Tsaddi 

V 

Tz 

90 

Koph 

P 

QorK 

100 

Resh 

"1 

R 

200 

Shin 

w 

SH 

300 

Tau 

n 

T 

400 

Final  Caph 

1 

CorK 

500 

Final  Mem 

o 

M 

600 

Final  Nun 

1 

N 

700 

Final  Pe 

•1 

P 

800 

Final  Tsaddi 

r 

TZ 

900 

59 


Alphabet,  Masonic.    See  Cipher. 

Alphabet,  Samaritan.  It  is  be- 
lieved by  scholars  that,  previous  to  the 
captivity,  the  alphabet  now  called  the  Sa- 
maritan was  employed  by  the  Jews  in 
transcribing  the  copies  of  the  law,  and  that 
it  was  not  until  their  return  from  Babylon 
that  they  adopted,  instead  of  their  ancient 
characters,  the  Chaldee  or  square  letters, 
now  called  the  Hebrew,  in  which  the  sacred 
text,  as  restored  by  Ezra,  was  written. 
Hence,  in  the  more  recent  rituals  of  the 
Scottish  Rite,  especially  those  used  in  the 
United  States,  the  Samaritan  character  is 
beginning  to  be  partially  used.  For  conve- 
nience of  reference,  it  is  therefore  here  in- 
serted. The  letters  are  the  same  in  number 
as  the  Hebrew,  with  the  same  power  and  the 
same  names,  the  only  difference  is  in  form. 

Aleph  .A^  Lamed  £ 

Beth  3  Mem  ^J 

Gimel  *f  Nun  $ 

Daleth  *c^  Samech  v$ 

He  1?  Ayin  V 

Vau  K  Pe  p 

Zam  JV  Tsade  *fl 

Cheth  YV  Koph          p 

Teth  if  Reach  \ 

Yod  |\f  Shin  <\\ 

Kaph  £  Tau  A 

Alpina.  In  1836,  and  some  years  after- 
wards, General  Assemblies  of  the  MasonB 


60 


ALTAR 


ALTENBERG 


of  Switzerland  were  convened  at  Zurich, 
Berne,  and  Basle,  which  resulted  in  the 
union  of  the  two  Masonic  authorities  of 
that  confederation,  under  the  name  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  Alpina.  The  new  Grand 
Lodge  was  organized  at  Zurich,  by  fourteen 
Lodges,  on  the  22d  of  June,  1844. 

Altar.  The  most  important  article  of 
furniture  in  a  Lodge  room  is  undoubtedly 
the  altar.  It  is  worth  while,  then,  to  in- 
vestigate its  character  and  its  relation  to 
the  altars  of  other  religious  institutions. 
The  definition  of  an  altar  is  very  simple. 
It  is  a  structure  elevated  above  the  ground, 
and  appropriated  to  some  service  connected 
with  worship,  such  as  the  offering  of  obla- 
tions, sacrifices,  or  prayers. 

Altars,  among  the  ancients,  were  gener- 
ally made  of  turf  or  stone.  When  perma- 
nently erected  and  not  on  any  sudden 
emergency,  they  were  generally  built  in 
regular  courses  of  masonry,  and  usually  in 
a  cubical  form.  Altars  were  erected  long 
before  temples.  Thus,  Noah  is  said  to  have 
erected  one  as  soon  as  he  came  forth  from 
the  ark.  Herodotus  gives  the  Egyptians 
the  credit  of  being  the  first  among  the  hea- 
then nations  who  invented  altars. 

Among  the  ancients,  both  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, altars  were  of  two  kinds  —  for  incense 
and  for  sacrifice.  The  latter  were  always 
erected  in  the  open  air,  outside  and  in  front 
of  the  Temple.  Altars  of  incense  only  were 
permitted  within  the  Temple  walls.  Ani- 
mals were  slain,  and  offered  on  the  altars 
of  burnt-offerings.  On  the  altars  of  in- 
cense, bloodless  sacrifices  were  presented 
and  incense  was  burnt  to  the  Deity. 

The  Masonic  altar,  which,  like  every- 
thing else  in  Masonry,  is  symbolic,  appears 
to  combine  the  character  and  uses  of  both 
of  these  altars.  It  is  an  altar  of  sacrifice, 
for  on  it  the  candidate  is  directed  to  lay  his 
passions  and  vices  as  an  oblation  to  the 
Deity,  while  he  offers  up  the  thoughts  of  a 
pure  heart  as  a  fitting  incense  to  the  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe.  The  altar  is, 
therefore,  the  most  holy  place  in  a  Lodge. 

Among  the  ancients,  the  altar  was  always 
invested  with  peculiar  sanctity.  Altars 
were  places  of  refuge,  and  the  supplicants 
who  fled  to  them  were  considered  as  having 
placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
the  deity  to  whom  the  altar  was  conse- 
crated, and  to  do  violence  even  to  slaves 
and  criminals  at  the  altar,  or  to  drag  them 
from  it,  was  regarded  as  an  act  of  violence 
to  the  deity  himself,  and  was  hence  a  sacri- 
legious crime. 

The  marriage  covenant  among  the  an- 
cients was  always  solemnized  at  the  altar, 
and  men  were  accustomed  to  make  all  their 
solemn  contracts  and  treaties  by  taking 
oaths  at  altars.  An  oath  taken  or  a  vow 
made  at  the  altar  was  considered  as  more 


solemn  and  binding  than  one  assumed 
under  other  circumstances.  Hence,  Han- 
nibal's father  brought  him  to  the  Cartha- 
ginian altar  when  he  was  about  to  make 
him  swear  eternal  enmity  to  the  Roman 
power. 

In  all  the  religions  of  antiquity,  it  was 
the  usage  of  the  priests  and  the  people  to 
pass  around  the  altar  in  the  course  of  the 
sun,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  east,  by  the  way 
of  the  south,  to  the  west,  singing  paeans  or 
hymns  of  praise  as  a  part  of  their  worship. 

From  all  this  we  see  that  the  altar  in 
Masonry  is  not  merely  a  convenient  article 
of  furniture,  intended,  like  a  table,  to  hold 
a  Bible.  It  is  a  sacred  utensil  of  religion, 
intended,  like  the  altars  of  the  ancient 
temples,  for  religious  uses,  and  thus  iden- 
tifying Masonry,  by  its  necessary  existence 
in  our  Lodges,  as  a  religious  institution. 
Its  presence  should  also  lead  the  contem- 
plative Mason  to  view  the  ceremonies  in 
which  it  is  employed  with  solemn  reverence, 
as  being  part  of  a  really  religious  worship. 

The  situation  of  the  altar  in  the  French 
and  Scottish  Rites  is  in  front  of  the  Wor- 
shipful Master,  and,  therefore,  in  the  East. 
In  the  York  Rite,  the  altar  is  placed  in  the 
centre  of  the  room,  or  more  properly  a 
little  to  the  East  of  the  centre. 

The  form  of  a  Masonic  altar  should  be 
a  cube,  about  three  feet  high,  and  of  cor- 
responding proportions  as  to  length  and 
width,  having,  in  imitation  of  the  Jewish 
altar,  four  horns,  one  at  each  corner.  The 
Holy  Bible  with  the  Square  and  Compass 


should  be  spread  open  upon  it,  while  around 
it  are  to  be  placed  three  lights.  These 
lights  are  to  be  in  the  East,  West,  and 
South,  and  should  be  arranged  as  in  the 
annexed  diagram.  The  stars  show  the 
position  of  the  light  in  the  East,  West, 
and  South.  The  black  dot  represents  the 
position  North  of  the  altar  where  there  is 
no  light,  because  in  Masonry  the  North  is 
the  place  of  darkness. 

Altenberg,  Congress  of.  Alten- 
berg  is  a  small  place  in  the  Grand  Dukedom 
of  Weimar,  about  two  miles  from  the  city  of 
Jena.  In  the  month  of  June,  1764,  the 
notorious  Johnson,  or  Leucht,  who  called 


ALTENBERG 


AMENDMENT 


61 


himself  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Knights 
Templars  and  the  head  of  the  Rite  of 
Strict  Observance,  assembled  a  Masonic 
congress  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
this  Rite  and  its  system  of  Templar  Ma- 
sonry. But  he  was  denounced  and  expelled 
by  the  Baron  de  Hund,  who,  having  proved 
Johnson  to  be  an  impostor  and  charlatan, 
was  himself  proclaimed  Grand  Master  of 
the  German  Masons  by  the  congress.  See 
Johnson  and  Hund;  also  Strict  Observance, 
Rite  of. 

Alitenberg,  Lodge  at.  One  of  the 
oldest  Lodges  in  Germany  is  the  Lodge  of 
"  Archimedes  at  the  Three  Tracing  Boards," 
{Archimedes  zu  den  drei  Reissbrettern,)  in 
Altenberg.  It  was  instituted  January  31, 
1742,  by  a  deputation  from  Leipsic.  In 
1775  it  joined  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Berlin, 
but  in  1788  attached  itself  to  the  Eclectical 
Union  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  which 
body  it  left  in  1801,  and  established  a  direc- 
tory of  its  own,  and  installed  a  Lodge  at 
Gera  and  another  at  Schnesberg.  In  the 
year  1803  the  Lodge  published  a  Book  of 
Constitutions  in  a  folio  of  244  pages,  a  work 
now  rare,  and  which  Lenning  says  is  one 
of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  Ma- 
sonic literature.  In  1804  the  Lodge  struck 
a  medal  upon  the  occasion  of  erecting  a 
new  hall.  In  1842  it  celebrated  its  centen- 
nial anniversary. 

Amaranth.  A  plant  well  known  to 
the  ancients,  and  whose  Greek  name  signi- 
fies "never  withering."  It  is  the  Cehsia 
criMata  of  the  botanists.  The  dry  nature 
of  the  flowers  causes  them  to  retain  their 
freshness  for  a  very  long  time,  and  Pliny 
says,  although  incorrectly,  that  if  thrown 
into  water  they  will  bloom  anew.  Hence 
it  is  a  symbol  of  immortality,  and  was  used 
by  the  ancients  in  their  funeral  rites.  It 
is  often  placed  on  coffins  at  the  present  day 
with  a  like  symbolic  meaning,  and  is  hence 
one  of  the  decorations  of  a  Sorrow  Lodge. 

Ainar-jali.  Hebrew  JT~"lON,  God 
spake;  a  significant  word  in  the  high  de- 
grees of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite. 

Amazons,  Order  of.  Thory  gives 
this  in  his  Nomenclature  des  Grades  as  an 
androgynous  degree  practised  in  America. 
I  have  no  knowledge  of  it,  and  think  that 
Thory  is  in  error.  Ragon  says  ( Tuill.  Gen., 
89,)  that  it  was  created  in  the  United  States 
in  1740,  but  met  with  no  success. 

Amen.  The  response  to  every  Masonic 
prayer  is,  "So  mote  it  be:  Amen."  The 
word  Amen  signifies  in  Hebrew  verily,  truly, 
certainly.  "Its  proper  place,"  says  Gese- 
nius,  "  is  where  one  person  confirms  the 
words  of  another,  and  adds  his  wish  for 
success  to  the  other's  vows."  It  is  evident, 
then,  that  it  is  the  brethren  of  the  Lodge, 
and  not  the  Master  or  Chaplain,  who  should 
pronounce  the  word.     It  is  a  response  to 


the  prayer.  The  Talmudists  have  many 
superstitious  notions  in  respect  to  this 
word.  Thus,  in  one  treatise,  (  Tiber  Musar,) 
it  is  said  that  whosoever  pronounces  it  with 
fixed  attention  and  devotion,  to  him  the 
gates  of  Paradise  will  be  opened ;  and, 
again,  whosoever  enunciates  the  word  rap- 
idly, his  days  shall  pass  rapidly  away,  and 
whosoever  dwells  upon  it,  pronouncing  it 
distinctly  and  slowly,  his  life  shall  be  pro- 
longed. 

Amendment.  All  amendments  to 
the  by-laws  of  a  Lodge  must  be  submitted 
to  the  Grand  Lodge  for  its  approval. 

An  amendment  to  a  motion  pending  be- 
fore a  Lodge  takes  precedence  of  the  orig- 
inal motion,  and  the  question  must  be  put 
upon  the  amendment  first.  If  the  amend- 
ment be  lost,  then  the  question  will  be  on 
the  motion ;  if  the  amendment  be  adopted, 
then  the  question  will  be  on  the  original 
motion  as  so  amended;  and  if  then  this 
question  be  lost,  the  whole  motion  falls  to 
the  ground. 

The  principal  Parliamentary  rules  in 
relation  to  amendments  which  are  appli- 
cable to  the  business  of  a  Masonic  Lodge 
are  the  following: 

1.  An  amendment  must  be  made  in  one 
of  three  ways,  —  by  adding  or  inserting  cer- 
tain words,  by  striking  out  certain  words, 
or  by  striking  out  certain  words  and  insert- 
ing others. 

2.  Every  amendment  is  susceptible  of  an 
amendment  of  itself,  but  there  can  be  no 
amendment  of  the  amendment  of  an  amend- 
ment ;  such  a  piling  of  questions  one  upon 
another  would  tend  to  embarrass  rather 
than  to  facilitate  business.  "The  object 
which  is  proposed  to  be  effected  by  such  a 
proceeding  must  be  sought  by  rejecting  the 
amendment  to  the  amendment,  and  then 
submitting  the  proposition  in  the  form  of 
an  amendment  of  the  first  amendment  in 
the  form  desired."  Cushing  [Elem.  Law 
and  Pract.  Leg.  Ass.,  §1306)  illustrates  this 
as  follows  :  "  If  a  proposition  consists  of 
AB,  and  it  is  proposed  to  amend  by  insert- 
ing CD,  it  may  be  moved  to  amend  the 
amendment  by  inserting  EF;  but  it  cannot 
be  moved  to  amend  this  amendment,  as, 
for  example,  by  inserting  G.  The  only 
mode  by  which  this  can  be  reached  is  to 
reject  the  amendment  in  the  form  in  which 
it  is  presented,  namely,  to  insert  EF,  and 
to  move  it  in  the  form  in  which  it  is  desired 
to  be  amended,  namely,  to  insert  EFG." 

3.  An  amendment  once  rejected  cannot 
be  again  proposed. 

4.  An  amendment  to  strike  out  certain 
words  having  prevailed,  a  subsequent  mo- 
tion to  restore  them  is  out  of  order. 

5.  An  amendmentmay  be  proposed  which 
will  entirely  change  the  character  and  sub- 
stance of  the  original  motion.    The  incon- 


62 


AMERICAN 


AMERICAN 


sistency  or  incompatibility  of  a  proposed 
amendment  with  the  proposition  to  be 
amended,  though  an  argument,  perhaps,  for 
its  rejection  by  the  Lodge,  is  no  reason  for 
its  suppression  by  the  presiding  officer. 

6.  An  amendment,  before  it  has  been  pro- 
posed to  the  body  for  discussion,  may  be 
withdrawn  by  the  mover ;  but  after  it  has 
once  been  in  possession  of  the  Lodge,  it  can 
only  be  withdrawn  by  leave  of  the  Lodge. 
In  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  leave 
must  be  obtained  by  unanimous  consent ; 
but  the  usage  in  Masonic  bodies  is  to  re- 
quire only  a  majority  vote. 

7.  An  amendment  having  been  with- 
drawn by  the  mover,  may  be  again  pro- 
posed by  another  member. 

8.  Several  amendments  may  be  proposed 
to  a  motion  or  several  amendments  to  an 
amendment,  and  the  question  will  be  put 
on  them  in  the  order  of  their  presentation. 
But  as  an  amendment  takes  precedence  of 
a  motion,  so  an  amendment  to  an  amend- 
ment takes  precedence  of  the  original 
amendment. 

9.  An  amendment  does  not  require  a 
seconder,  although  an  original  motion  al- 
ways does. 

There  are  many  other  rules  relative  to 
amendments  which  prevail  in  Parliamen- 
tary bodies,  but  these  appear  to  be  the  only 
ones  which  regulate  this  subject  in  Ma- 
sonic assemblies. 

American  Mysteries.  Among  the 
many  evidences  of  a  former  state  of  civili- 
zation among  the  aborigines  of  this  country 
which  seem  to  prove  their  origin  from  the 
races  that  inhabit  the  Eastern  hemisphere, 
not  the  least  remarkable  is  the  existence  of 
Fraternities  bound  by  mystic  ties,  and  claim- 
ing, like  the  Freemasons,  to  possess  an  eso- 
teric knowledge,  which  they  carefully  con- 
ceal from  all  but  the  initiated.  De  Witt 
Clinton  relates,  on  the  authority  of  a  respec- 
table native  minister,  who  had  received  the 
signs,  the  existence  of  such  a  society  among 
the  Iroquois.  The  number  of  the  members 
was  limited  to  fifteen,  of  whom  six  were  to 
be  of  the  Seneca  tribe,  five  of  the  Oneidas, 
two  of  the  Cayugas,  and  two  of  the  St.  Regis. 
They  claim  that  their  institution  has  existed 
from  the  era  of  the  creation.  The  times  of 
their  meeting  they  keep  secret,  and  throw 
much  mystery  over  all  their  proceedings. 

Brinton  tells  us  in  his  interesting  and 
instructive  work  on  The  Myths  of  the  New 

World,  (p.  285,)  that  among  the  red  race 
of  America  "the  priests  formed  societies 
of  different  grades  of  illumination,  only  to 
be  entered  by  those  willing  to  undergo 
trying  ordeals,  whose  secrets  were  not 
to  be  revealed  under  the  severest  penalties. 
The  Algonkins  had  three  such  grades  —  the 
waubeno,  the  meda,  and  the  jossakeed,  the 

last  being  the  highest.    To  this  no  white 


man  was  ever  admitted.  All  tribes  appear 
to  have  been  controlled  by  these  secret  so- 
cieties. Alexander  von  Humboldt  mentions 
one,  called  that  of  the  Botuto,  orHoly  Trum- 
pet, among  the  Indians  of  the  Orinoko, 
whose  members  must  vow  celibacy,  and 
submit  to  severe  scourgings  and  fasts.  The 
Collahuayas  of  Peru  were  a  guild  of  itine- 
rant quacks  and  magicians,  who  never  re- 
mained permanently  in  one  spot." 

American  Rite.  It  has  been  pro- 
posed, and  I  think  with  propriety,  to  give 
this  name  to  the  series  of  degrees  conferred 
in  the  United  States.  The  York  Rite,  which 
is  the  name  by  which  they  are  usually 
designated,  is  certainly  a  misnomer,  for  the 
York  Rite  properly  consists  of  only  the  de- 
grees of  Entered  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft, 
and  Master  Mason,  including  in  the  last 
degree  the  Holy  Royal  Arch.  This  was  the 
Masonry  that  existed  in  England  at  the 
time  of  the  revival  of  the  Grand  Lodge  in 
1717.  The  abstraction  of  the  Royal  Arch 
from  the  Master's  degree,  and  its  location  as 
a  separate  degree,  produced  that  modifica- 
tion of  the  York  Rite  which  now  exists  in 
England,  and  which  should  properly  be 
called  the  Modern  York  Rite,  to  distin- 
guish it  from  the  Ancient  York  Rite,  which 
consisted  of  only  three  degrees.  But  in  the 
United  States  still  greater  additions  have 
been  made  to  the  Rite,  through  the  labors 
of  Webb  and  other  lecturers,  and  the  influ- 
ence insensibly  exerted  on  the  Order  by 
the  introduction  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Rite  into  this  country.  The  Ameri- 
can modification  of  the  York  Rite,  or  the 
American  Rite,  consists  of  ninedegrees,viz. : 

Given  in  Sym- 
bolic Lodges,  and 
under  the  control 
of  Grand  Lodges. 

Given  in  Chap- 
ters, and  under  the 
control  of  Grand 
Chapters. 

(Given  in  Coun- 
cils, and  under  the 
control  of  Grand 
Councils. 

A  tenth  degree,  called  Super-Excellent 
Master,  is  conferred  in  some  Councils  as  an 
honorary  rather  than  as  a  regular  degree ; 
but  even  as  such  it  is  repudiated  by  many 
Grand  Councils.  To  these,  perhaps,  should 
be  added  three  more  degrees,  namely, 
Knight  of  the  Red  Cross,  Knight  Temp- 
lar, and  Knight  of  Malta,  which  are  given 
in  Commanderies,  and  are  under  the  con- 
trol of  Grand  Commanderies,  or,  as  they  are 
sometimes  called,  Grand  Encampments. 
But  the  degrees  of  the  Commandery,  which 
are  also  known  as  the  degrees  of  Chivalry, 
can  hardly  be  called  a  part  of  the  American 
Rite.  The" possession  of  the  eighth  and  ninth 
degrees  is  not  considered  a  necessary  quali- 


1.  Entered  Apprentice. 

2.  Fellow  Craft. 

3.  Master  Mason. 


Mark  Master. 
Past  Master. 
Most  Excellent  Master 
Holy  Royal  Arch. 


8.  Royal  Master. 

9.  Select  Master. 


AMETH 


ANACHRONISM 


63 


fication  for  receiving  them.  The  true 
American  Rite  consists  only  of  the  nine 
degrees,  above  enumerated. 

There  is,  or  may  be,  a  Grand  Lodge, 
Grand  Chapter,  Grand  Council,  and  Grand 
Commandery  in  each  State,  whose  jurisdic- 
tion is  distinct  and  sovereign  within  its  own 
territory.  There  is  no  General  Grand 
Lodge,  or  Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States ; 
but  there  is  a  General  Grand  Chapter  and 
a  Grand  Encampment,  to  which  the  Grand 
Chapters  and  Grand  Commanderies  of 
some,  but  not  all,  of  the  States  are  subject. 

Amctll.     Properly,  Emeth,  which  see. 

Amethyst*  Hebrew  noSnx,  achkmah. 
The  ninth  stone  in  the  breastplate  of  the 
high  priest.  On  it  was  inscribed  the  tribe  of 
Gad.  The  amethyst  is  a  stone  in  hardness 
next  to  the  diamond,  and  of  a  deep  red  and 
blue  color  resembling  the  breast  of  a  dove. 

A  in  i  c  ists.  Order  of.  A  secret  asso- 
ciation of  students,  once  very  extensively 
existing  among  the  universities  of  Northern 
Germany.  Thory  says  that  this  association 
was  first  established  in  the  College  of  Cler- 
mont, at  Paris.  An  account  of  it  was  pub- 
lished at  Halle,  in  1799,  by  F.  C.  Laukhard, 
under  the  title  of  Der  Mosellaner-oder  Ami- 
cistenorden  nach  seiner  Enstehuny,  inneren 
Verfassung  und  Verbreitung.  The  Order 
was  finally  suppressed  by  the  imperial 
government. 

Amis  Reunis,  I,ojre  des.  The 
Lodge  of  United  Friends,  founded  at  Paris 
about  1 772,  was  distinguished  for  the  talents 
of  many  of  its' members,  among  whom  was 
Savalette  des  Langes,  and  played  for  many 
years  an  important  part  in  the  affairs  of 
French  Masonry.  In  its  bosom  was  origi- 
nated, in  1773,  the  Rite  of  Philalethes.  In 
1785  it  convoked  the  first  Congress  of  Paris, 
for  the  laudable  purpose  of  endeavoring  to 
disentangle  Freemasonry  from  the  almost 
inextricable  confusion  into  which  it  had 
fallen  by  the  invention  of  so  many  rites 
and  new  degrees.  The  Lodge  was  in  pos- 
session of  a  valuable  library  for  the  use  of 
its  members,  and  had  an  excellent  cabinet 
of  the  physical  and  natural  sciences.  Upon 
the  death  of  Savalette,  who  was  the  soul  of 
the  Lodge,  it  fell  into  decay,  and  its  books, 
manuscripts,  and  cabinet  were  scattered. 
All  of  its  library  that  was  valuable  was 
transferred  to  the  archives  of  the  Mother 
Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 
Barruel  gives  a  brilliant  picture  of  the  con- 
certs, balls,  and  suppers  given  by  this 
Lodge  in  its  halcyon  days,  to  which  the 
Cresuses  of  Masonry  congregated,  while  a 
few  superior  members  were  engaged,  as  he 
says,  in  hatching  political  and  revolution- 
ary schemes,  but  really  in  plans  for  the  ele- 
vation of  Masonry  as  a  philosophic  institu- 
tion. 


Amnion.     See  Amun. 

Aminonitish  War.  A  war  to  which 
allusion  is  made  in  the  Fellow  Craft's 
degree.  The  Ammonites  were  the  de- 
scendants of  the  younger  son  of  Lot,  and 
dwelt  east  of  the  river  Jordan,  but  origi- 
nally formed  no  part  of  the  land  of  Canaan, 
the  Israelites  having  been  directed  not  to 
molest  them  for  the  sake  of  their  great  pro- 
genitor, the  nephew  of  Abraham.  But  in 
the  time  of  Jephthah,  their  king  having 
charged  the  Israelites  with  taking  away  a 
part  of  his  territory,  the  Ammonites  crossed 
the  river  Jordan  and  made  war  upon  the 
Israelites.  Jephthah  defeated  them  with 
great  slaughter,  and  took  an  immense 
amount  of  spoil.  It  was  on  account  of 
this  spoil — in  which  they  had  no  share — 
that  the  Ephraimites  rebelled  against  Jeph- 
thah, and  gave  him  battle.  See  Ephraim- 
ites. 

Amphibalns.    See  Saint  Amphibalus. 

Ample  Form.  When  the  Grand 
Master  is  present  at  the  opening  or  closing 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  it  is  said  to  be  opened 
or  closed  "  in  ample  form."  Any  ceremony 
performed  by  the  Grand  Master  is  said  to 
be  done  "  in  ample  form ; "  when  per- 
formed by  the  Deputy,  it  is  said  to  be  in 
due  form ;  "  and  by  any  other  temporarily 
presiding  officer,  it  is  "  in  form."  See 
Form. 

Amulet.    See  Talisman. 

Amun.  The  supreme  god  among  the 
Egyptians.  He  was  a  concealed  god,  and 
is  styled  "the  Celestial  Lord  who  sheds 
light  on  hidden  things."  From  him  all 
things  emanated,  though  he  created  noth- 
ing. He  corresponded  with  the  Jove  of 
the  Greeks,  and,  consequently,  with  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Jews.  His  symbol  was  a 
ram,  which  animal  was  sacred  to  him.  On 
the  monuments  he  is  represented  with  a 
human  face  and  limbs  free,  having  two  tall 
straight  feathers  on  his  head,  issuing  from 
a  red  cap ;  in  front  of  the  plumes  a  disc  is 
sometimes  seen.  His  body  is  colored  a  deep 
blue.  He  is  sometimes,  however,  repre- 
sented with  the  head  of  a  ram,  and  the 
Greek  and  Roman  writers  in  general  agree 
in  describing  him  as  being  ram-headed. 
There  is  some  confusion  on  this  point. 
Kenrick  says  that  Nouf  was,  in  the  major- 
ity of  instances,  the  ram-headed  god  of  the 
Egyptians ;  but  he  admits  that  Amun  may 
have  been  sometimes  so  represented. 

Anachronism.  Ritual  makers,  espe- 
cially when  they  have  been  ignorant  and 
uneducated,  have  often  committed  ana- 
chronisms by  the  introduction  into  Ma- 
sonic ceremonies  of  matters  entirely  out 
of  time.  Thus,  the  use  of  a  bell  to  indi- 
cate the  hour  of  the  night,  practised  in  the 
third  degree ;  the  placing  of  a  celestial  and 


64 


ANAGRAM 


ANCHOR 


a  terrestrial  globe  on  the  summit  of  the 
pillars  of  the  porch,  in  the  second  degree ; 
and  quotations  from  the  New  Testament 
and  references  to  the  teachings  of  Christ, 
in  the  Mark  degree,  are  all  anachronisms. 
But,  although  it  were  to  be  wished  that 
these  disturbances  of  the  order  of  time  had 
been  avoided,  the  fault  is  not  really  of 
much  importance.  The  object  of  the  rit- 
ualist was  simply  to  convey  an  idea,  and 
this  he  has  done  in  the  way  which  he  sup- 
posed would  be  most  readily  comprehended 
by  those  for  whom  the  ritual  was  made. 
The  idea  itself  is  old,  although  the  mode 
of  conveying  it  may  be  new.  Thus,  the 
bell  is  used  to  indicate  a  specific  point  of 
time,  the  globes  to  symbolize  the  univer- 
sality of  Masonry,  and  passages  from  the 
New  Testament  to  inculcate  the  practice 
of  duties  whose  obligations  are  older  than 
Christianity. 

Anagram.  The  manufacture  of  ana- 
grams out  of  proper  names  or  other  words 
has  always  been  a  favorite  exercise,  some- 
times to  pay  a  compliment,  —  as  when  Dr. 
Burney  made  Honor  est  a  Nilo  out  of  Hora- 
tio Nelson,  —  and  sometimes  for  purposes 
of  secrecy,  as  when  Roger  Bacon  concealed 
under  an  anagram  one  of  the  ingredients 
in  his  recipe  for  gunpowder,  that  the  world 
might  not  too  easily  become  acquainted 
with  the  composition  of  so  dangerous  a 
material.  The  same  method  was  adopted 
by  the  adherents  of  the  house  of  Stuart 
when  they  manufactured  their  system  of 
high  degrees  as  a  political  engine,  and  thus, 
under  an  anagrammatic  form,  they  made 
many  words  to  designate  their  friends  or, 
principally,  their  enemies  of  the  opposite 
party.  Most  of  these  words  it  has  now 
become  impossible  to  restore  to  their  orig- 
inal form,  but  several  are  readily  decipher- 
able. Thus,  among  the  Assassins  of  the 
third  degree,  who  symbolized,  with  them, 
the  foes  of  the  monarchy,  we  recognize 
Romvel  as  Cromwell,  and  Hoben  as  Bohun, 
Earl  of  Essex.  It  is  only  thus  that  we  can 
ever  hope  to  trace  the  origin  of  such  words 
in  the  high  degrees  as  Tercy,  Stolkin,  Mor- 
phey,  etc.  To  look  for  them  in  any  Hebrew 
root  would  be  a  fruitless  task.  The  deri- 
vation of  many  of  them,  on  account  of  the 
obscurity  of  the  persons  to  whom  they 
refer,  is,  perhaps,  forever  lost ;  but  of  others 
the  research  for  their  meaning  may  be  more 
successful. 

Ananiah.  The  name  of  a  learned 
Egyptian,  who  is  said  to  have  introduced 
the  Order  of  Mizraim  from  Egypt  into 
Italy.  Dr.  Oliver  (Landm.,  ii.  75,)  states 
the  tradition,  but  doubts  its  authenticity.  It 
is  in  all  probability  apocryphal.  See  Miz- 
raim, Rite  of. 


Anchor  and  Ark.  The  anchor,  as  a 
symbol  of  hope,  does  not  appear  to  have 
belonged  to  the  ancient  and  classic  system 
of  symbolism.  The  Goddess  Spes,  or  Hope, 
was  among  the  ancients  represented  in  the 
form  of  an  erect  woman,  holding  the  skirts 
of  her  garments  in  her  left  hand,  and  in 
her  right  a  flower-shaped  cup.  As  an  em- 
blem of  hope,  the  anchor  is  peculiarly  a 
Christian,  and  thence  a  Masonic,  symbol. 
It  is  first  found  inscribed  on  the  tombs  in 
the  catacombs  of  Rome,  and  the  idea  of 
using  it  is  probably  derived  from  the  lan- 
guage of  St.  Paul,  (Heb.  vi.  19,)  "  which 
hope  we  have  as  an  anchor 
of  the  soul  both  sure  and 
steadfast."  The  primitive 
Christians  "looked  upon 
life  as  a  stormy  voyage, 
and  glad  were  the  voy- 
agers when  it  was  done, 
and  they  had  arrived  safe  in  port.  Of  this 
the  anchor  was  a  symbol,  and  when  their 
brethren  carved  it  over  the  tomb,  it  was  to 
them  an  expression  of  confidence  that  he 
who  slept  beneath  had  reached  the  haven 
of  eternal  rest."  (Kip,  Catacombs  of  Rome, 
p.  112.)  The  strict  identity  between  this 
and  the  Masonic  idea  of  the  symbol  will  be 
at  once  observed. 

"  The  anchor,"  says  Mrs.  Jameson,  (Sac. 
and  Legend,  Art.  I.,  34,)  "is  the  Christian 
symbol  of  immovable  firmness,  hope,  and 
patience;  and  we  find  it  very  frequently 
in  the  catacombs  and  on  the  ancient  Chris- 
tian gems."  It  is  the  peculiar  attribute  of 
St.  Clement,  and  is  often  inscribed  on 
churches  dedicated  to  him. 

But  there  is  a  necessary  connection  be- 
tween an  anchor  and  a  ship,  and  hence, 
the  latter  image  has  also  been  adopted  as  a 
symbol  of  the  voyage  of  life;  but,  unlike  the 
anchor,  it  was  not  confined  to  Christians, 
but  was  with  the  heathens  also  a  favorite 
emblem  of  the  close  of  life.  Kip  thinks 
the  idea  may  have  been  derived  from  them 
by  the  Christian  fathers,  who  gave  it  a  more 
elevated  meaning.  The  ship  is  in  Masonry 
substituted  by  the  ark.  Mrs.  Jameson  says, 
(ut  supra,)  that  "  the  Ark  of  Noah  floating 
safe  amid  the  deluge,  in  which  all  things 
else  were  overwhelmed,  was  an  obvious 
symbol  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  .  .  .  The 
bark  of  St.  Peter  tossed  in  the  storm,  and 
by  the  Redeemer  guided  safe  to  land,  was 
also  considered  as  symbolical." 

These  symbolical  views  have  been  intro- 
duced into  Masonry,  with,  however,  the 
more  extended  application  which  the  uni- 
versal character  of  the  Masonic  religious 
faith  required.  Hence,  in  the  third  degree, 
whose  teachings  all  relate  to  life  and  death, 
"  the  ark  and  anchor  are  emblems  of  a 


ANCHOR 


ANCIENT 


65 


well-grounded  hope  and  a  well-spent  life. 
They  are  emblematical  of  that  divine  ark 
which  safely  wafts  us  over  this  tempestuous 
sea  of  troubles,  and  that  anchor  which  shall 
safely  moor  us  in  a  peaceful  harbor  where  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary 
shall  find  rest."  Such  is  the  language  of  the 
lecture  of  the  third  degree,  and  it  gives 
all  the  information  that  is  required  on  the 
esoteric  meaning  of  these  symbols.  The 
history  I  have  added  of  their  probable  ori- 
gin will  no  doubt  be  interesting  to  the  Ma- 
sonic student. 

Anchor,  Knight  of  the.  See 
Knight  of  the  Anchor. 

Anchor,  Order  of  Knights  and 
Ladies  of  the.  A  system  of  androgy- 
nous Masonry  which  arose  in  France  in  the 
year  1745.  It  was  a  schism  which  sprang 
out  of  the  Order  of  Felicity,  from  which  it 
differed  only  in  being  somewhat  more  re- 
fined, and  in  the  adoption  of  other  words 
of  recognition.  Its  existence  was  not  more 
durable  than  that  of  its  predecessor.  See 
Felicity,  Order  of. 

Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite. 
See  Scottish  Rite. 

Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  This  is 
the  name  given  to  the  three  symbolic  de- 
grees of  Entered  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft, 
and  Master  Mason.  The  degree  of  Eoyal 
Arch  is  not  generally  included  under  this 
appellation;  although,  when  considered  (as 
it  really  is)  a  complement  of  the  third  de- 
gree, it  must  of  course  constitute  a  part  of 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  In  the  articles  of 
union  between  the  two  Grand  Lodges  of 
England,  adopted  in  1813,  it  is  declared 
that  "  pure  Ancient  Masonry  consists  of 
three  degrees  and  no  more ;  viz. :  those 
of  the  Entered  Apprentice,  the  Fellow 
Craft,  and  the  Master  Mason,  including 
the  Supreme  Order  of  the  Holy  Eoyal 
Arch." 

Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons.  The  title  most  generally  as- 
sumed by  the  English  and  American  Grand 
Lodges.    See  Titles  of  Grand  Lodges. 

Ancient  Masons.  Ancients  was  the 
name  assumed  by  the  schismatic  body  of 
Masons  who,  in  1738,  seceded  from  the 
regular  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  and  who 
at  the  same  time  insultingly  bestowed  upon 
the  adherents  of  that  body  the  title  of 
Moderns.  Thus  Dermott,  in  his  Ahiman 
Eezon,  (p.  63,)  divides  the  Masons  of  Eng- 
land into  two  classes,  as  follows : 

"  The  Ancients,  under  the  name  of  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons.  The  Moderns,  under 
the  name  of  Freemasons  of  England.  And 
though  a  similarity  of  names,  yet  they  dif- 
fer exceedingly  in  makings,  ceremonies, 
knowledge,  Masonical  language,  and  instal- 
I  5 


lations ;  so  much  so,  that  they  always  have 
been,  and  still  continue  to  be,  two  dis- 
tinct societies,  directly  independent  of  each 
other." 

To  understand,  therefore,  anything  of  the 
meaning  of  these  two  terms,  we  must  be 
acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  schism 
of  the  self-styled  Ancients  from  the  legal 
Grand  Lodge  of  England.  No  Masonic 
student  should  be  ignorant  of  this  history, 
and  I  propose,  therefore,  to  give  a  brief 
sketch  of  it  in  the  present  article. 

In  the  year  1738,  a  number  of  brethren 
in  London,  having  become  dissatisfied  with 
certain  transactions  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  separated  themselves  from  the 
regular  Lodges,  and  began  to  hold  meetings 
and  initiate  candidates  without  the  sanction 
and  authority  of  the  Grand  Lodge.  Pres- 
ton, who  has  given  a  good  account  of  the 
schism,  does  not,  however,  state  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  re- 
cusant brethren.  But  Thory  (Act.  Lot.,  i. 
36,)  attributes  it  to  the  fact  that  the  Grand 
Lodge  had  introduced  some  innovations, 
altering  the  rituals  and  suppressing  many 
of  the  ceremonies  which  had  long  been  in 
use.  This  is  also  the  charge  made  by  Dermott. 
It  is  certain  that  changes  were  made,  espe- 
cially in  some  of  the  modes  of  recognition, 
and  these  changes,  it  is  believed,  were  in- 
duced by  the  publication  of  a  spurious 
revelation  by  the  notorious  Samuel  Prich- 
ard.  Preston  himself  acknowledges  that 
innovations  took  place,  although  he  attri- 
butes them  to  a  time  subsequent  to  the  first 
secession. 

Just  about  this  time  some  dissensions 
had  occurred  between  the  Grand  Lodge  at 
London  and  that  at  York,  and  the  seceding 
brethren,  taking  advantage  of  this  condi- 
tion of  affairs,  assumed,  but  without  au- 
thority from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  York,  the 
name  of  Ancient  York  Masons.  Matters 
were,  however,  subsequently  accommo- 
dated ;  but  in  the  next  year  the  difficulties 
were  renewed,  and  the  Grand  Lodge  per- 
sisting in  its  innovations  and  ritualistic 
changes,  the  seceding  brethren  declared 
themselves  independent,  and  assumed  the 
appellation  of  Ancient  Masons,  to  indicate 
their  adhesion  to  the  ancient  forms,  while, 
for  a  similar  purpose,  they  denominated  the 
members  of  the  regular  Lodges,  Modern 
Masons,  because,  as  was  contended,  they 
had  adopted  new  forms  and  usages.  The 
seceders  established  a  new  Grand  Lodge  in 
London,  and,  under  the  claim  that  they 
were  governed  by  the  Ancient  York  Con- 
stitutions, which  had  been  adopted  at  that 
city  in  the  year  926,  they  gained  over  many 
influential  persons  in  England,  and  were 
even  recognized  by  the  Grand  Lodges  of 


66 


ANCIENT 


ANCIENT 


Scotland  and  Ireland.  The  Ancient  York 
Lodges,  as  they  were  called,  greatly  in- 
creased in  England,  and  became  so  popular 
in  America  that  a  majority  of  the  Lodges 
and  provincial  Grand  Lodges  established  in 
this  country  during  the  eighteenth  century 
derived  their  warrants  from  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Ancient  York  Masons.  In  the 
year  1756,  Laurence  Dermott,  then  Grand 
Secretary,  and  subsequently  the  Deputy 
Grand  Master  of  the  schismatic  Grand 
Lodge,  published  a  Book  of  Constitutions 
for  the  use  of  the  Ancient  Masons,  under 
the  title  of  Ahiman  Rezon,  which  work 
went  through  several  editions,  and  became 
the  code  of  Masonic  law  for  all  who  ad- 
hered, either  in  England  or  America,  to  the 
Ancient  York  Grand  Lodge,  while  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Moderns,  or  the  regular 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  and  its  ad- 
herents, were  governed  by  the  regulations 
contained  in  Anderson's  Constitutions,  the 
first  edition  of  which  had  been  published 
in  1723. 

The  dissensions  between  the  two  Grand 
Lodges  of  England  lasted  until  the  year 
1813,  when,  as  will  be  hereafter  seen,  the 
two  bodies  became  consolidated  under  the 
name  and  title  of  the  United  Grand  Lodge 
of  Ancient  Freemasons  of  England.  Four 
years  afterwards  a  similar  and  final  recon- 
ciliation took  place  in  America,  by  the 
union  of  the  two  Grand  Lodges  in  South 
Carolina.  At  this  day  all  distinction  be- 
tween the  Ancients  and  Moderns  has 
ceased,  and  it  lives  only  in  the  memory  of 
the  Masonic  student. 

What  were  the  precise  differences  in  the 
rituals  of  the  Ancients  and  the  Moderns, 
it  is  now  perhaps  impossible  to  discover,  as 
from  their  esoteric  nature  they  were  only 
orally  communicated ;  but  some  shrewd 
and  near  approximations  to  their  real  na- 
ture may  be  drawn  by  inference  from  the 
casual  expressions  which  have  fallen  from 
the  advocates  of  each  in  the  course  of  their 
long  and  generally  bitter  controversies. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  regular 
Grand  Lodge  is  stated  to  have  made  certain 
changes  in  the  modes  of  recognition,  in 
consequence  of  the  publication  of  Samuel 
Prichard's  spurious  revelation.  These 
changes  were,  as  we  traditionally  learn,  a 
simple  transposition  of  certain  words,  by 
which  that  which  had  originally  been  the 
first  became  the  second,  and  that  which  had 
been  the  second  became  the  first.  Hence  Dr. 
Dalcho,  the  compiler  of  the  original  Ahi- 
man Eezon  of  South  Carolina,  who  was 
himself  made  in  an  Ancient  Lodge,  but 
was  acquainted  with  both  systems,  says, 
(Edit.  1822,  p.  193,)  "  The  real  difference  in 
point  of  .importance  was  no  greater  than  it 
would  be  to  dispute  whether  the  glove  should 


be  placed  first  upon  the  right  or  on  the  left." 
A  similar  testimony  as  to  the  character  of 
these  changes  is  furnished  by  an  address  to 
the  Duke  of  Athol,  the  Grand  Master  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancients,  in  which  it 
is  said :  "  I  would  beg  leave  to  ask,  whether 
two  persons  standing  in  the  Guildhall  of 
London,  the  one  facing  the  statues  of  Gog 
and  Magog,  and  the  other  with  his  back 
turned  on  them,  could,  with  any  degree  of 
propriety,  quarrel  about  their  stations  ;  as 
Gog  must  be  on  the  right  of  one,  and  Ma- 
gog on  the  right  of  the  other.  Such  then, 
and  far  more  insignificant,  is  the  disputa- 
tious temper  of  the  seceding  brethren,  that 
on  no  better  grounds  than  the  above  they 
choose  to  usurp  a  power  and  to  aid  in  open 
and  direct  violation  of  the  regulations  they 
had  solemnly  engaged  to  maintain,  and  by 
every  artifice  possible  to  be  devised  endeav- 
ored to  increase  their  numbers."  It  was 
undoubtedly  to  the  relative  situation  of  the 
pillars  of  the  porch,  and  the  appropriation 
of  their  names  in  the  ritual,  that  these  in- 
nuendoes referred.  As  we  have  them  now, 
they  were  made  by  the  change  effected  by 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Moderns,  which  trans- 
posed the  original  order  in  which  they 
existed  before  the  change,  and  in  which 
order  they  are  still  preserved  by  the  conti- 
nental Lodges  of  Europe. 

It  is  then  admitted  that  the  Moderns  did 
make  innovations  in  the  ritual;  and  although 
Preston  asserts  that  the  changes  were  made 
by  the  regular  Grand  Lodge  to  distinguish 
its  members  from  those  made  by  the  An- 
cient Lodges,  it  is  evident,  from  the  lan- 
guage of  the  address  just  quoted,  that  the 
innovations  were  the  cause  and  not  the 
effect  of  the  schism,  and  the  inferential 
evidence  is  that  the  changes  were  made  in 
consequence  of,  and  as  a  safeguard  against, 
spurious  publications,  and  were  intended, 
as  I  have  already  stated,  to  distinguish  im- 
postors from  true  Masons,  and  not  schis- 
matic or  irregular  brethren  from  those  who 
were  orthodox  and  regular. 

But  outside  of  and  beyond  this  transpo- 
sition of  words,  there  was  another  difference 
existing  between  the  Ancients  and  the 
Moderns.  Dalcho,  who  was  acquainted 
with  both  systems,  says  that  the  Ancient 
Masons  were  in  possession  of  marks  of  re- 
cognition known  only  to  themselves.  His 
language  on  this  subject  is  positive.  "The 
Ancient  York  Masons,"  he  says,  "were 
certainly  in  possession  of  the  original,  uni- 
versal marks,  as  they  were  known  and 
given  in  the  Lodges  they  had  left,  and 
which  had  descended  through  the  Lodge  of 
York,  and  that  of  England,  down  to  their 
day.  Besides  these,  we  find  they  had  pecu- 
liar marks  of  their  own,  which  were  un- 
known to  the  body  from  which  they  had 


ANCIENT 


ANCIENT 


67 


separated,  and  were  unknown  to  the  rest  of 
the  Masonic  world.  We  have,  then,  the 
evidence  that  they  had  two  sets  of  marks ; 
viz. :  those  which  they  had  brought  with 
them  from  the  original  body,  and  those 
which  they  had,  we  must  suppose,  them- 
selves devised."  >  (P.  192.) 

Dermott,  in  his  Ahiman  Rezon,  confirms 
this  statement  of  Dalcho,  if,  indeed,  it  needs 
confirmation.  He  says  that  "a  Modern 
Mason  may  with  safety  communicate  all 
his  secrets  to  an  Ancient  Mason,  but  that 
an  Ancient  Mason  cannot,  with  like  safety, 
communicate  all  his  secrets  to  a  Modern 
Mason  without  further  ceremony."  And 
he  assigns  as  a  reason  for  this,  that  "  as  a 
science  comprehends  an  art  (though  an  art 
cannot  comprehend  a  science),  even  so  An- 
cient Masonry  contains  everything  valua- 
ble among  the  Moderns,  as  well  as  many 
other  things  that  cannot  be  revealed  with- 
out additional  ceremonies." 

Now,  what  were  these  "  other  things " 
known  by  the  Ancients,  and  not  known  by 
the  Moderns  ?  What  were  these  distinctive 
marks,  which  precluded  the  latter  from 
visiting  the  Lodges  of  the  former?  Written 
history  is  of  course  silent  as  to  these  eso- 
teric matters.  But  tradition,  confirmed  by, 
and  at  the  same  time  explaining,  the  hints 
and  casual  intimations  of  contemporary 
writers,  leads  us  to  the  almost  irresistible 
inference  that  they  were  to  be  found  in  the 
different  constructions  of  the  third,  or 
Master's  degree,  and  the  introduction  into 
it  of  the  Royal  Arch  element ;  for,  as  Dr. 
Oliver  {Hist.  Eng.  R.  A.,  p.  21,)  says,  "  the 
division  of  the  third  degree  and  the  fabri- 
cation of  the  English  Royal  Arch  appear, 
on  their  own  showing,  to  have  been  the 
work  of  the  Ancients."  And  hence  the 
Grand  Secretary  of  the  regular  Grand 
Lodge,  or  that  of  the  Moderns,  replying  to 
the  application  of  an  Ancient  Mason  from 
Ireland  for  relief,  says:  "Our  society  (i.  e. 
the  Moderns)  is  neither  Arch,  Royal  Arch, 
nor  Ancient,  so  that  you  have  no  right  to 
partake  of  our  charity." 

This,  then,  is  the  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culty. The  Ancients,  besides  preserving 
the  regular  order  of  the  words  in  the  first 
and  second  degrees,  which  the  Moderns  had 
transposed,  (a  transposition  which  has  been 
retained  in  the  Lodges  of  Britain  and 
America,  but  which  has  never  been  ob- 
served by  the  continental  Lodges  of  Europe, 
who  continue  the  usage  of  the  Ancients,) 
also  finished  the  otherwise  imperfect  third 
degree  with  its  natural  complement,  the 
Royal  Arch,  a  complement  with  which  the 
Moderns  were  unacquainted,  or  which  they, 
if  they  knew  it  once,  had  lost. 

For  some  years  the  Ancient  Lodges  ap- 
pear to  have  worked  on  an  independent 


system,  claiming  the  original  right  which 
every  body  of  Masons  had  to  assemble  and 
work  without  a  warrant.  Here,  however, 
they  were  evidently  in  error,  for  it  was  well 
known  that  on  the  revival  of  Masonry,  in 
the  year  1717,  this  right  had  been  relin- 
quished by  the  four  London  Lodges  that 
were  then  in  operation,  and  which  consti- 
tuted the  Grand  Lodge.  This  objection  the 
Ancients  pretended  to  meet  by  declaring 
that  the  Grand  Lodge  organized  in  1717 
was  not  legally  constituted,  only  four  Lodges 
having  been  engaged  in  the  organization, 
while,  as  they  said,  five  were  required. 
Here  again  they  were  in  error,  as  there  is 
no  evidence  of  any  such  regulation  having 
ever  existed.  And,  therefore,  to  place 
themselves  in  a  less  irregular  position,  they 
organized,  in  1757,  a  Grand  Lodge  of  their 
own,  which  was  subsequently  known  by  the 
title  of  "  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons  of  England,  according  to 
the  old  Constitutions,"  while  the  regular 
body  was  known  as  "  The  Grand  Lodge  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons  under  the  Con- 
stitution of  England." 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Grand 
Masters  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancients 
from  its  organization  to  its  dissolution  : 
1753,  Robert  Turner;  1755,  Edward 
Vaughan ;  1757,  Earl  of  Blessington ; 
1761,  Earl  of  Kelly;  1767,  Thomas  Mat- 
thew; 1771,  3d  Duke  of  Athol;  1775,  4th 
Duke  of  Athol;  1782,  Earl  of  Antrim; 
1791,  4th  Duke  of  Athol ;  1813,  Duke  of 
Kent,  under  whom  the  reconciliation  of 
the  two  Grand  Lodges  was  accomplished. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient  Masons 
was,  shortly  after  its  organization,  recog- 
nized by  the  Grand  Lodges  of  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  and,  through  the  ability  and  en- 
ergy of  its  officers,  but  especially  Laurence 
Dermott,  at  one  time  its  Grand  Secretary, 
and  afterwards  its  Deputy  Grand  Master, 
and  the  author  of  its  Ahiman  Rezon,  or 
Book  of  Constitutions,  it  extended  its  in- 
fluence and  authority  into  foreign  coun- 
tries and  into  the  British  Colonies  of 
America,  where  it  became  exceedingly 
popular,  and  where  it  organized  several 
Provincial  Grand  Lodges,  as,  for  instance, 
in  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  and  South  Carolina,  where  the 
Lodges  working  under  this  authority  were 
generally  known  as  "Ancient  York  Lodges." 

In  consequence  of  this,  dissensions  existed, 
not  only  in  the  mother  country  but  also  in 
America,  for  many  years,  between  the 
Lodges  which  derived  their  warrants  from 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancients  and  those 
which  derived  theirs  from  the  regular  or 
so-called  Grand  Lodge  of  Moderns.  But 
the  Duke  of  Kent  having  been  elected,  in 
1813,  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Ancients, 


68 


ANCIENT 


ANDERSON 


while  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  was 
Grand  Master  of  the  Moderns,  a  perma- 
nent reconciliation  was  effected  between 
the  rival  bodies,  and  by  mutual  compro- 
mises the  present  "  United  Grand  Lodge  of 
Ancient  Freemasons  of  England  "  was  es- 
tablished. 

Similar  unions  were  consummated  in 
America,  the  lastbeingthatof  the  two  Grand 
Lodges  of  South  Carolina,  in  1817,  and  the 
distinction  between  the  Ancients  and  the 
Moderns  was  forever  abolished,  or  remains 
only  as  a  melancholy  page  in  the  history 
of  Masonic  controversies. 

Ancient  Reformed  Rite.  A  Rite 
differing  very  slightly  from  the  French 
Rite,  or  Bite  Moderne,  of  which,  indeed,  it 
is  said  to  be  only  a  modification.  It  is 
practised  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Holland 
and  the  Grand  Orient  of  Belgium.  It  was 
established  in  1783  as  one  of  the  results  of 
the  Congress  of  Wilhelmsbad. 

Aneient  of  Days.  A  title  applied, 
in  the  visions  of  Daniel,  to  Jehovah,  to  sig- 
nify that  his  days  are  beyond  reckoning. 
Used  by  Webb  in  the  Most  Excellent  Mas- 
ter's song. 

"  Fulfilled  is  the  promise 

By  the  Ancient  of  Days, 

To  bring  forth  the  cape-stone 

With  shouting  and  praise." 

Ancients.     See  Ancient  Masons. 
Ancient,  The.  The  third  degree  of 
the  German  Union  of  Twenty-two. 
Ancient  York  Masons.    One  of 

the  names  assumed  by  the  Lodges  of  An- 
cient Masons,  which  see. 

Anderson,  James.  The  Rev.  James 
Anderson,  D.  D.,  is  well  known  to  all  Ma- 
sons as  the  compiler  of  the  celebrated  Book 
of  Constitutions.  He  was  born  at  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  on  the  5th  of  August, 
1684.  He  removed  to  London,  —  at  what 
time  is  not  known,  —  and  became  the  min- 
ister of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Swallow  Street,  Piccadilly.  Chambers,  in 
his  Scottish  Biography,  describes  him  as  "  a 
learned  but  imprudent  man,  who  lost  a 
considerable  part  of  his  property  in  deep 
dabbling  in  the  South  Sea  scheme."  He 
was  the  author  of  an  elaborate  but  very 
singular  work,  entitled  Boyal  Genealogies. 
But  he  is  principally  indebted  for  his  repu- 
tation to  his  labors  on  the  Ancient  Consti- 
tutions of  Freemasonry.  It  is  probable  that 
he  was  a  member  of  one  of  the  four  old 
Lodges  of  London  which,  in  1717,  organ- 
ized the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  At  all 
events,  he  is  found,  four  years  after,  taking 
an  interest  in  the  concerns  of  the  Craft, 
and  having  so  much  reputation  among  his 
brethren  as  to  have  been  selected  to  dis- 
charge the  difficult  duties  of  a  historiogra- 
pher.   On  the  29th  of  September,  1721,  he 


was  commissioned  by  the  Grand  Lodge  to 
collect  and  compile  the  history,  charges,  and 
regulations  of  the  Fraternity  from  the  then 
existing  ancient  Constitutions  of  the  Lodges. 
On  the  27th  of  December  following,  his 
work  was  finished,  and  the  Grand  Lodge 
appointed  a  committee  of  fourteen  learned 
brethren  to  examine  and  report  upon  it. 
Their  report  was  made  on  the  25th  of 
March,  1722;  and,  after  a  few  amend- 
ments, Anderson's  work  was  formally  ap- 
proved, and  ordered  to  be  printed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Lodges,  which  was  done  in 
1723.  This  is  now  the  well-known  Book 
of  Constitutions,  which  contains  the  his- 
tory of  Masonry,  (or,  more  correctly,  archi- 
tecture,) the  ancient  charges,  and  the  gen- 
eral regulations,  as  the  same  were  in  use  in 
many  old  Lodges.  In  1738  a  second  edi- 
tion was  published.  The  edition  of  1723 
has  become  exceedingly  rare,  and  copies 
of  it  bring  fancy  prices  among  the  collect- 
ors of  old  Masonic  books.  Its  intrinsic 
value  is  derived  only  from  the  fact  that  it 
contains  the  first  printed  copy  of  the  Old 
Charges  and  also  the  General  Regulations. 
The  history  of  Masonry  which  precedes 
these,  and  constitutes  the  body  of  the 
work,  is  fanciful,  unreliable,  and  preten- 
tious to  a  degree  that  often  leads  to  ab- 
surdity. The  Craft  is  greatly  indebted  to 
Anderson  for  his  labors  in  reorganizing  the 
Institution,  but  doubtless  it  would  have 
been  better  if  he  had  contented  himself 
with  giving  the  records  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
from  1717  to  1738,  which  are  contained  in 
his  second  edition,  and  with  preserving  for 
us  the  charges  and  regulations,  which, 
without  his  industry,  might  have  been 
lost.  No  Masonic  writer  would  now  ven- 
ture to  quote  Anderson  as  authority  for  the 
history  of  the  Order  anterior  to  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  It  must  also  be  added  that 
in  the  republication  of  the  Old  Charges 
in  the  edition  of  1738,  he  made  several 
important  alterations  and  interpolations, 
which  justly  gave  some  offence  to  the 
Grand  Lodge,  and  which  render  the 
second  edition  of  no  authority  in  this  re- 
spect. 

In  1730,  Dr.  Anderson,  in  reply  to  some 
libellous  attacks  on  the  Order,  and  espe- 
cially the  pretended  exposition  of  Prich- 
ard,  published  A  Defence  of  Masonry,  which 
he  subsequently  appended  to  the  second 
edition  of  the  Book  of  Constitutions.  This 
is  the  earliest  scholarly  discussion  of  the 
character  of  the  Masonic  institution,  and 
proves  that  Anderson  was  a  man  of  learn- 
ing and  extensive  reading.  He  died  in 
1746,  aged  62  years. 

Anderson  Manuscript.  In  the 
first  edition  of  the  Constitutions  of  the  Free- 
masons, published  by  Dr.  Anderson  in  1723, 


ANDRfi 


ANDROGYNOUS 


69 


there  is  on  page  32,  a  copy  of  a  manuscript, 
which  he  calls  "  a  certain  record  of  Free- 
masons, written  in  the  reign  of  King  Ed- 
ward IV."  Preston  also  cites  it  in  his  Illus- 
trations, (p.  133,)  but  states  that  it  is  said  to 
have  been  in  the  possession  of  Elias  Ash- 
mole,  but  was  unfortunately  destroyed,  with 
other  papers  on  the  subject  of  Masonry,  at 
the  Revolution.  Anderson  makes  no  refer- 
ence to  Ashmole  as  the  owner  of  the  MS., 
nor  to  the  fact  of  its  destruction.  If  the 
statement  of  Preston  was  confirmed  by  other 
evidence,  its  title  would  properly  be  the 
"  Ashmole  MS. ; "  but  as  it  was  first  pub- 
lished by  Anderson,  Bro.  Hughan  has  very 
properly  called  it  the  "  Anderson  Manu- 
script." It  contains  the  Prince  Edwin 
legend. 

Andre,  Christopher  Karl.  An 
active  Mason,  who  resided  at  Brlinn,  in 
Moravia,  where,  in  1798,  he  was  the  Direc- 
tor of  the  Evangelical  Academy.  He  was 
very  zealously  employed,  about  the  end  of 
the  last  century,  in  connection  with  other 
distinguished  Masons,  in  the  propagation 
of  the  Order  in  Germany.  He  was  the 
editor  and  author  of  a  valuable  periodical 
work,  which  was  published  in  5  numbers, 
8vo,  at  Gotha  and  Halle  under  the  title  of 
Der  Freimaurer  oder  compendiose  Bibliothek 
alles  Wissencourdigen  ilber  geheime  Gesell- 
schaften.  The  Freemason,  or  a  Compen- 
dious Library  of  everything  worthy  of 
notice  in  relation  to  Secret  Societies.  Be- 
sides valuable  extracts  from  contemporary 
Masonic  writers,  it  contains  several  essays 
and  treatises  by  the  editor. 

Andrea,  John  Valentine.  This 
distinguished  philosopher  and  amiable 
moralist,  who  has  been  claimed  by  many 
writers  as  the  founder  of  the  Rosicrucian 
Order,  was  born  on  the  17th  of  August, 
1586,  at  the  small  town  of  Herrenberg,  in 
Wilrtemberg,  where  his  father  exercised 
clerical  functions  of  a  respectable  rank. 
After  receiving  an  excellent  education  in 
his  native  province,  he  travelled  extensively 
through  the  principal  countries  of  Europe, 
and  on  his  return  home  received  the  ap- 
pointment, in  1614,  of  deacon  in  the  town 
of  Vaihingen.  Four  years  after  he  was 
promoted  to  the  office  of  superintendent  at 
Kalw.  In  1639  he  was  appointed  court 
chaplain  and  a  spiritual  privy  councillor, 
and  subsequently  Protestant  prelate  of 
Adelberg,  and  almoner  of  the  Duke  of 
Wiirtemberg.  He  died  on  the  27th  of  June, 
1654,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years. 

Andrea,  was  a  man  of  extensive  acquire- 
ments and  of  a  most  feeling  heart.  By  his 
great  abilities  he  was  enabled  to  elevate 
himself  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
prejudiced  age  in  which  he  lived,  and  his 
literary  labors  were  exerted  for  the  reforma- 


tion of  manners,  and  for  the  supply  of  the 
moral  wants  of  the  times.  His  writings, 
although  numerous,  were  not  voluminous, 
but  rather  brief  essays  full  of  feeling,  judg- 
ment, and  chaste  imagination,  in  which 
great  moral,  political,  and  religious  senti- 
ments were  clothed  in  such  a  language  of 
sweetness,  and  yet  told  with  such  boldness 
of  spirit,  that,  as  Herder  says,  he  appears, 
in  his  contentious  and  anathematizing  cen- 
tury, like  a  rose  springing  up  among  thorns. 
Thus,  in  his  Menippus,  one  of  the  earliest 
of  his  works,  he  has,  with  great  skill  and 
freedom,  attacked  the  errors  of  the  Church 
and  of  his  contemporaries.  His  Herculis 
Christiani  Luctus,  xxiv.,  is  supposed  by 
some  persons  to  have  given  indirectly,  if 
not  immediately,  hints  to  John  Bunyan 
for  his  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  his  works, 
however,  or  at  least  one  that  has  attracted 
most  attention,  is  his  Fama  Fraternitatis, 
published  in  1615.  This  and  the  Chemische 
Hochzeit  Christiani  Rosencreuz,  or  Chemical 
Nuptials,  by  Christian  Rosencreuz,  which  is 
also  attributed  to  him,  are  the  first  works  in 
which  the  Order  of  the  Rosicrucians  is  men- 
tioned. Arnold,  in  his  Ketzergeschiete,  or  His- 
tory of  Heresy,  contends,  from  these  works', 
that  Andrea  was  the  founder  of  the  Rosicru- 
cian Order ;  others  claim  a  previous  exist- 
ence for  it,  and  suppose  that  he  was  simply 
an  annalist  of  the  Order ;  while  a  third  party 
deny  that  any  such  Order  was  existing  at  the 
time,  or  afterwards,  but  that  the  whole  was 
a  mere  mythical  rhapsody,  invented  by 
Andrea  as  a  convenient  vehicle  in  which, 
to  convey  his  ideas  of  reform.  But  the 
whole  of  this  subject  is  more  fully  discussed 
under  the  head  of  Posicrucianism,  which 
see. 

Andrew,  Apprentice  and  Fel- 
low Craft  of  St.  (Fr.,  Apprenti  et  Com- 
pagnon  de  St.  Andre ;  Ger.,  Andreas  lehr- 
ling  und  Oeselle.)  The  fourth  degree  of  the 
Swedish  Rite,  which  is  almost  precisely  the 
same  as  the  Flu  Secret  of  the  French  Rite. 

Andrew,  Cross  of  St.  See  Cross, 
St.  Andrew's. 

Andrew,  FaYorite  of  St.  (Fr., 
Frerefavori  de  St.  Andre.)  Usually  called 
"  Knight  of  the  Purple  Collar."  The  ninth 
degree  of  the  Swedish  Rite. 

Andrew,  Grand  Scotch  Knight 
of  St.     See  Knight  of  St.  Andrew. 

Androgynous  Degrees.  (From 
avrjp,  a  man,  and  yvvrj,  a  woman.)  Those  de- 
grees of  Masonry  which  are  conferred  on 
both  men  and  women.  Besides  the  degrees 
of  the  Adoptive  Rite,  which  are  practised 
in  France,  there  are  several  of  these  degrees 
which  are,  as  "sides  degrees,"  conferred 
in  this  country.  Such  are  the  "Mason's 
Wife,"  conferred  on  the  wives,  daughters, 


70 


ANDROGYNOUS 


ANIMAL 


sisters,  and  mothers  of  Master  Masons,  and 
the  "  Knight  and  Heroine  of  Jericho,"  con- 
ferred on  the  wives  and  daughters  of  Royal 
Arch  Masons.  A  few  years  ago,  Rob.  Morris 
invented,  and  very  generally  promulgated 
through  the  Western  States  of  this  country, 
a  series  of  androgynous  degrees,  which  he 
called  "The  Star  of  the  East."  There  is 
another  androgynous  degree,  sometimes 
conferred  on  the  wives  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons, known  as  the  "  Good  Samaritan." 

In  some  parts  of  the  United  States  these 
degrees  are  very  popular,  while  in  other 
places  they  are  never  practised,  and  are 
strongly  condemned  as  improper  innova- 
tions. The  fact  is,  that  by  their  friends  as 
well  as  by  their  enemies,  these  so-called 
degrees  have  been  greatly  misrepresented. 
When  females  are  told  that  in  receiving 
these  degrees  they  are  admitted  into  the 
Masonic  Order,  and  are  obtaining  Masonic 
information  under  the  name  of  "Ladies' 
Masonry,"  they  are  simply  deceived.  Every 
woman  connected  by  ties  of  consanguinity 
to  a  Master  Mason  is  peculiarly  entitled  to 
Masonic  assistance  and  protection.  If  she 
is  told  this,  and  also  told  that  by  these  an- 
drogynous degrees  she  is  to  be  put  in  pos- 
session of  the  means  of  making  her  claims 
known  by  a  sort  of  what  may  be  called 
oral  testimony,  but  that  she  is  by  their  pos- 
session no  nearer  to  the  portals  of  Masonry 
than  she  was  before,  if  she  is  honestly  told 
this,  then  I  can  see  no  harm,  but  the  pos- 
sibility of  some  good,  in  these  forms  if  care- 
fully bestowed  and  prudently  preserved. 
But  all  attempts  to  make  Masonry  of  them, 
and  especially  that  anomalous  thing  called 
Ladies  Masonry,  are  wrong,  imprudent,  and 
calculated  to  produce  opposition  among  the 
well-informed  and  cautious  members  of  the 
Fraternity. 

Androgynous  Masonry.  That  so- 
called  Masonry  which  is  dedicated  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  androgynous  degrees. 
The  Adoptive  Rite  of  France  is  Androgyn- 
ous Masonry. 

Angel.  Angels  were  originally  in  the 
Jewish  theogony  considered  simply  as  mes- 
sengers of  God,  as  the  name  Malachim  im- 
ports, and  the  word  is  thus  continually  used 
jn  the  early  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. It  was  only  after  the  captivity  that 
the  Jews  brought  from  Babylon  their  mys-. 
tical  ideas  of  angels  as  instruments  of  crea- 
tive ministration,  such  as  the  angel  of  fire, 
of  water,  of  earth,  or  of  air.  These  doctrines 
they  learned  from  the  Chaldean  sages,  who 
had  probably  derived  them  from  Zoroaster 
and  the  Zendavesta.  In  time  these  doc- 
trines were  borrowed  by  the  Gnostics,  and 
through  them  they  have  been  introduced 
into  some  of  the  high  degrees;  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  the  Knight  of  the  Sun,  in  whose 


ritual  the  angels  of  the  four  elements  play 
an  important  part. 

Angelic  Brothers.  (Ger.,  Engels- 
br'uder.)  Sometimes  called,  after  their 
founder,  Gichtelites  or  Gichtelianer.  A 
mystical  sect  of  religious  fanatics  founded 
by  one  Gichtel,  about  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  in  the  United  Netherlands. 
After  the  death  of  their  founder  in  1710, 
they  gradually  became  extinct,  or  were  con- 
tinued only  in  secret  union  with  the  Rosi- 
crucians. 

Angels9  Alphabet.  See  Alphabet, 
Angel?. 

Angerona.  The  name  of  a  pagan 
deity  worshipped  among  the  Romans. 
Pliny  calls  her  the  goddess  of  silence,  and 
calmness  of  mind.  Hence  her  statue  has 
sometimes  been  introduced  among  the  or- 
naments of  Masonic  edifices.  She  is  repre- 
sented with  her  finger  pressed  upon  her 
lips.  See  Harpocrates,  for  what  is  further 
to  be  said  upon  this  symbol. 

Angle.  The  inclination  of  two  lines 
meeting  in  a  point.  Angles  are  of  three 
kinds — acute,  obtuse,  and  right  angles.  The 
right  angle,  or  the  angle  of  90  degrees,  is 
the  only  one  recognized  in  Masonry,  be- 
cause it  is  the  form  of  the  trying  square,  one 
of  the  most  important  working  tools  of  the 
profession,  and  the  symbol  of  morality. 

Angular  Triad.  A  name  given  by 
Oliver  to  the  three  presiding  officers  of  a 
Royal  Arch  Chapter. 

Animal  Worship.  The  worship  of 
animals  is  a  species  of  idolatry  that  was 
especially  practised  by  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians. Temples  were  erected  by  this  people 
in  their  honor,  in  which  they  were  fed  and 
cared  for  during  life;  to  kill  one  of  them 
was  a  crime  punishable  with  death ;  and 
after  death,  they  were  embalmed,  and  in- 
terred in  the  catacombs.  This  worship  was 
derived  first  from  the  earlier  adoration  of 
the  stars,  to  certain  constellations  of  which 
the  names  of  animals  had  been  given  ;  next, 
from  an  Egyptian  tradition  that  the  gods, 
being  pursued  by  Typhon,  had  concealed 
themselves  under  the  forms  of  animals; 
and  lastly,  from  the  doctrine  of  the  metem- 
psychosis, according  to  which  there  was  a 
continual  circulation  of  the  souls  of  men 
and  animals.  But  behind  the  open  and 
popular  exercise  of  this  degrading  worship 
the  priests  concealed  a  symbolism  full  of 
philosophical  conceptions. 

Mr.  Gliddon  says  in  his  OtiaEgyptiaca,  (p. 
94,)  that  "animal  worship  among  the  Egyp- 
tians was  the  natural  and  unavoidable  con- 
sequence of  the  misconception,  by  the  vul- 
gar, of  those  emblematical  figures  invented 
by  the  priests  to  record  their  own  philo- 
sophical conception  of  absurd  ideas.  As 
the  pictures  and  effigies  suspended  in  early 


ANNALES 


ANOINTING 


71 


Christian  churches,  to  commemorate  a  per- 
son or  an  event,  became  in  time  objects  of 
worship  to  the  vulgar,  so,  in  Egypt,  the 
esoteric  or  spiritual  meaning  of  the  em- 
blems was  lost  in  the  gross  materialism  of 
the  beholder.  This  esoteric  and  allegorical 
meaning  was,  however,  preserved  by  the 
priests,  and  communicated  in  the  mysteries 
alone  to  the  initiated,  while  the  unin- 
structed  retained  only  the  grosser  concep- 
tion." 

Annates  Chronologiques,  Lite- 
raires  et  Historiques  de  la  Maconnerie  de 
la  Pays-Bas,  a  dater  de  1  Janvier,  1814,  i.e. 
Chronological,  Literary,  and  Historical  An- 
nals of  the  Masonry  of  the  Netherlands  from 
the  year  1814.  This  work,  edited  by  Bros. 
Melton  and  De  Margny,  was  published  at 
Brussels,  in  five  volumes,  during  the  years 
1823-26.  It  consists  of  an  immense  col- 
lection of  French,  Dutch,  Italian,  and  Eng- 
lish Masonic  documents  translated  into 
French.  Kloss  extols  it  highly  as  a  work 
which  no  Masonic  library  should  be  with- 
out. Its  publication  was  unfortunately  dis- 
continued in  1826  by  the  Belgian  revolution. 

Annates  Originis  Magni  Galli- 
aruin  Orientis,  etc.  This  history  of 
the  Grand  Orient  of  France  is,  in  regard  to 
its  subject,  the  most  valuable  of  the  works 
of  C.  A.  Thory.  It  comprises  a  full  account 
of  the  rise,  progress,  changes,  and  revolu- 
tions of  French  Freemasonry,  with  nume- 
rous curious  and  inedited  documents,  no- 
tices of  a  great  number  of  rites,  a  fragment 
on  Adoptive  Masonry,  and  other  articles  of 
an  interesting  nature.  It  was  published  at 
Paris,  in  1812,  in  1  vol.  of  471  pp.,  8vo.  See 
Kloss,  No.  4,088. 

Anniversary.    See  Festivals. 

Anno  Dcpositionis.  In  the  Year  of 
the  Deposite  ;  abbreviated  A.".  Dep.\  The 
date  used  by  Royal  and  Select  Masters, 
which  is  found  by  adding  1000  to  the  vul- 
gar era;  thus,  1860  +  1000  =  2860. 

Anno  Hebraico.  In  the  Hebrew 
Year;  abbreviated  A.*.  H.\  The  same  as 
Anno  Mundi ;  which  see. 

Anno  In  ventionis.  In  the  Year  of  the 
Discovery  ;  abbreviated  A.*.  I.',  or  A.'.  Inv.\ 
The  date  used  by  Royal  Arch  Masons. 
Found  by  adding  530  to  the  vulgar  era ; 
thus,  1860  +  530  =  2390. 

Anno  Lucis.  In  the  Year  of  Light  ; 
abbreviated  A.*.  L.\  The  date  used  in  an- 
cient Craft  Masonry ;  found  by  adding  4000 
to  the  vulgar  era ;  thus,  1860+4000  =  5860. 

Anno  Mundi.  In  the  Year  of  the 
World.  The  date  used  in  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite;  found  by  adding  3760  to 
the  vulgar  era  until  September.  After  Sep- 
tember, add  one  year  more ;  this  is  because 
the  year  used  is  the  Hebrew  one,  which  be- 
gins in  September.     Thus,  July,  1860  + 


3760  =  5620,  and  October,  1860  +  3760  4- 
1  =  5621. 

Anno  Ordinis.  In  the  Year  of  the 
Order;  abbreviated  A.-.  O.-.  The  date  used 
by  Knights  Templars ;  found  by  subtract- 
ing 1118  from  the  vulgar  era ;  thus,  1860  — 
1118  =  742. 

Annuaire.  Some  French  Lodges  pub- 
lish annually  a  record  of  their  most  im- 
portant proceedings  for  the  past  year,  and 
a  list  of  their  members.  This  publication 
is  called  an  Annuaire,  or  Annual. 

Annual  Communication.  All  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  the  United  States,  except 
those  of  Massachusetts,  and  Maryland,  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  Pennsylvania, 
hold  only  one  annual  meeting ;  thus  reviv- 
ing the  ancient  custom  of  a  yearly  Grand 
Assembly.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachu- 
setts, like  that  of  England,  holds  Quarterly 
Communications.  At  these  annual  com- 
munications it  is  usual  to  pay  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  subordinate  Lodges  a  per  diem 
allowance,  which  varies  in  different  Grand 
Lodges  from  one  to  three  dollars,  and  also 
their  mileage  or  travelling  expenses. 

Annual  Proceedings.  Every 
Grand  Lodge  in  the  United  States  pub- 
lishes a  full  account  of  its  proceedings  at 
its  Annual  Communication,  to  which  is  also 
almost  always  added  a  list  of  the  subordi- 
nate Lodges  and  their  members.  Some  of 
these  Annual  Proceedings  extend  to  a 
considerable  size,  and  they  are  all  valuable 
as  giving  an  accurate  and  official  account 
of  the  condition  of  Masonry  in  each  State 
for  the  past  year.  They  also  frequently  con- 
tain valuable  reports  of  committees  on  ques- 
tions of  Masonic  law.  The  reports  of  the 
Committees  of  Foreign  Correspondence  are 
especially  valuable  in  these  pamphlets.  See 
Correspondence.  Committee  on  Foreign. 

Annuities.  In  England,  one  of  the 
modes  of  distributing  the  charities  of  a 
Lodge  is  to  grant  annuities  to  aged  mem- 
bers or  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those 
who  are  deceased.  In  1842  the  "Royal 
Masonic  Benevolent  Annuity  Fund"  was 
established,  which  grants  its  charities  in 
this  way. 

Anointing.  The  act  of  consecrating 
any  person  or  thing  by  the  pouring  on 
of  oil.  The  ceremony  of  anointing  was 
emblematical  of  a  particular  sanctifica- 
tion  to  a  holy  and  sacred  use.  As  such 
it  was  practised  by  both  the  Egyptians 
and  the  Jews,  and  many  representations 
are  to  be  seen  among  the  former  of  the  per- 
formance of  this  holy  Rite.  Wilkinson  in- 
forms us,  (Anc.  Egypt.,  iv.  280,)  that  with 
the  Egyptians  the  investiture  to  any  sacred 
office  was  confirmed  by  this  external  sign ; 
and  that  priests  and  kings  at  the  time  of 
their  consecration  were,  after  they  had  been 


72 


ANONYMOUS 


ANTI-MASONIC 


attired  in  their  full  robes,  anointed  by  the 
pouring  of  oil  upon  the  head.  The  Jewish 
Scriptures  mention  several  instances  in 
which  unction  was  administered,  as  in  the 
consecration  of  Aaron  as  high  priest,  and 
of  Saul  and  David,  of  Solomon  and  Jo- 
ash,  as  kings.  The  process  of  anointing 
Aaron  is  fully  described  in  Exodus  (xxix. 
7).  After  he  had  been  clothed  in  all  his 
robes,  with  the  mitre  and  crown  upon  his 
head,  it  is  said,  "  then  shalt  thou  take  the 
anointing  oil  and  pour  it  upon  his  head,  and 
anoint  him." 

The  ceremony  is  still  used  in  some  of  the 
high  degrees  of  Masonry,  and  is  always 
recognized  as  a  symbol  of  sanctification,  or 
the  designation  of  the  person  so  anointed 
to  a  sacred  use,  or  to  the  performance  of  a 
particular  function.  Hence,  it  forms  an 
important  part  of  the  ceremony  of  installa- 
tion of  a  high  priest  in  the  order  of  High 
Priesthood  as  practised  in  America. 

As  to  the  form  in  which  the  anointing 
oil  was  poured,  Buxtorf  (Lex.  Talm.,  p.  267,) 
quotes  the  Rabbinical  tradition  that  in  the 
anointment  of  kings  the  oil  was  poured  on 
the  head  in  the  form  of  a  crown,  that  is, 
in  a  circle  around  the  head;  while  in  the 
anointment  of  the  priests  it  was  poured  in 
the  form  of  the  Greek  letter  X,  that  is,  on 
the  top  of  the  head,  in  the  shape  of  a  St. 
Andrew's  cross. 

Anonymous  Society.  A  society 
formerly  existing  in  Germany,  which  con- 
sisted of  72  members,  namely,  24  Appren- 
tices, 24  Fellow  Crafts,  and  24  Masters.  It 
distributed  much  charity,  but  its  real  object 
was  the  cultivation  of  the  occult  sciences. 
Its  members  pretended  that  its  Grand 
Master  was  one  Tajo,  and  that  he  resided  in 
Spain. 

Ansyreeh.  A  sect  found  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Lebanon,  of  Northern  Syria.  Like 
the  Druses,  towards  whom,  however,  they 
entertain  a  violent  hostility,  and  the  Assas- 
sins, they  have  a  secret  mode  of  recognition 
and  a  secret  religion,  which  does  not  appear 
to  be  well  understood  by  them.  "  How- 
ever," says  Rev.  Mr.  Lyde,  who  visited 
them  in  1852,  "  there  is  one  in  which  they 
all  seem  agreed,  and  which  acts  as  a  kind 
of  Freemasonry  in  binding  together  the 
scattered  members  of  their  body,  namely, 
secret  prayers  which  are  taught  to  every 
male  child  of  a  certain  age,  and  are  re- 
peated at  stated  times,  in  stated  places, 
and  accompanied  with  religious  rites.  The 
Ansyreeh  arose  about  the  same  time  with 
the  Assassins,  and,  like  them,  their  religion 
appears  to  be  an  ill-digested  mixture  of 
Judaism,  Christianity,  and  Mohammedan- 
ism. To  the  Masonic  scholars  these  secret 
sects  of  Syria  present  an  interesting  study, 
because  of  their  supposed  connection  with 
the  Templars  during  the  Crusades,  the  en- 


tire results  of  which  are  yet  to  be  investi- 
gated. 

AntedilnTian  Masonry.  Among 
the  traditions  of  Masonry,  which,  taken 
literally,  become  incredible,  but  which,  con- 
sidered allegorically,  may  contain  a  pro- 
found meaning,  not  the  least  remarkable 
are  those  which  relate  to  the  existence  of  a 
Masonic  system  before  the  Flood.  Thus, 
Anderson  (Const.  1st  ed.,  p.  3,)  says: 
"  Without  regarding  uncertain  accounts,  we 
may  safely  conclude  the  old  world,  that 
lasted  1656  years,  could  not  be  ignorant  of 
Masonry."  Dr.  Oliver  has  devoted  the 
twenty-eighth  lecture  in  his  Historical  Land- 
marks to  an  inquiry  into  "the  nature  and 
design  of  Freemasonry  before  the  Flood ;  " 
but  he  admits  that  any  evidence  of  the 
existence  at  that  time  of  such  an  Institu- 
tion must  be  based  on  the  identity  of  Free- 
masonry and  morality.  "  We  may  safely 
assume,"  he  says,  "  that  whatever  had  for 
its  object  and  end  an  inducement  to  the 
practice  of  that  morality  which  is  founded 
on  the  love  of  God,  may  be  identified  with 
primitive  Freemasonry." 

The  truth  is,  that  antediluvian  Masonry 
is  alluded  to  only  in  what  is  called  the 
"ineffable  degrees  ;  "  and  that  its  only  im- 
portant tradition  is  that  of  Enoch,  who  is 
traditionally  supposed  to  be  its  founder,  or, 
at  least,  its  great  hierophant.     See  Enoch. 

Anthem.  The  anthem  was  originally 
a  piece  of  church  music  sung  by  alternate 
voices.  The  word  afterwards,  however, 
came  to  be  used  as  a  designation  of  that 
kind  of  sacred  music  which  consisted  of 
certain  passages  taken  out  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  adapted  to  particular  solemnities.  In 
the  permanent  poetry  and  music  of  Ma- 
sonry the  anthem  is  very  rarely  used.  The 
spirit  of  Masonic  poetry  is  lyrical,  and 
therefore  the  ode  is  almost  altogether  used 
(except  on  some  special  occasions)  in  the 
solemnities  and  ceremonials  of  the  Order. 
There  are  really  no  Masonic  anthems. 

Anti-Masonic  Books.  There  is  no 
country  of  the  civilized  world  where  Free- 
masonry has  existed,  in  which  opposition 
to  it  has  not,  from  time  to  time,  exhibited 
itself;  although  it  has  always  been  over- 
come by  the  purity  and  innocence  of  the 
Institution.  The  earliest  opposition  by  a 
government  of  which  we  have  any  record, 
is  that  of  1425,  in  the  third  year  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  VI.,  of  England,  when  the 
Masons  were  forbidden  to  confederate  in 
chapters  and  congregations.  This  law  was, 
however,  never  executed,  and  since  that 
period  Freemasonry  has  met  with  no  per- 
manent or  important  opposition  in  England. 
The  Roman  Catholic  religion  has  always 
been  anti-Masonic,  and  hence  edicts  have 
constantly  been  promulgated  by  popes  and 
sovereigns  in  Roman   Catholic  countries 


ANTI-MASONIC 


ANTI-MASONIC 


73 


against  the  Order.  The  most  important  of 
these  edicts  is  the  bull  of  Pope  Clement 
XII.,  which  was  issued  on  the  28th  of 
April,  1738,  the  authority  of  which  bull  is 
still  in  existence,  and  forbids  any  pious 
Catholic  from  uniting  with  a  Masonic 
Lodge  under  the  severest  penalties  of  eccle- 
siastical excommunication. 

In  the  United  States,  where  there  are 
neither  popes  to  issue  bulls  nor  kings  to 
promulgate  edicts,  the  opposition  to  Free- 
masonry had  to  take  the  form  of  a  political 
party.  Such  a  party  was  organized  in  this 
country  in  the  year  1826,  soon  after  the 
disappearance  of  one  William  Morgan. 
The  object  of  this  party  was  professedly  to 
put  down  the  Masonic  Institution  as  sub- 
versive of  good  government,  but  really  for 
the  political  aggrandizement  of  its  leaders, 
who  used  the  opposition  to  Freemasonry 
merely  as  a  stepping-stone  to  their  own 
advancement  to  office.  But  the  public  vir- 
tue of  the  masses  of  the  American  people 
repudiated  a  party  which  was  based  on  such 
corrupt  and  mercenary  views,  and  its 
ephemeral  existence  was  followed  by  a  total 
annihilation. 

A  society  which  has  been  deemed  of  so 
much  importance  as  to  be  the  victim  of  so 
many  persecutions,  must  needs  have  had  its 
enemies  in  the  press.  It  was  too  good  an 
Institution  not  to  be  abused.  Accordingly, 
Freemasonry  had  no  sooner  taken  its  com- 
manding position  as  one  of  the  teachers  of 
the  world,  than  a  host  of  adversaries  sprang 
up  to  malign  its  character  and  to  misrepre- 
sent its  objects.  Hence,  in  the  catalogue  of 
a  Masonic  library,  the  anti-Masonic  books 
will  form  no  small  part  of  the  collection. 

Anti-Masonic  works  may  very  properly 
be  divided  into  two  classes.  1.  Those 
written  simply  for  the  purposes  of  abuse, 
in  which  the  character  and  objects  of  the 
Institution  are  misrepresented.  2.  Those 
written  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  reveal- 
ing its  ritual  and  esoteric  doctrines.  The 
former  of  these  classes  is  always  instigated 
by  malignity,  the  latter  by  mean  cupidity. 
The  former  class  alone  comes  strictly 
within  the  category  of  "  anti  -  Masonic 
books,"  although  the  two  classes  are  often 
confounded;  the  attack  on  the  principles 
of  Masonry  being  sometimes  accompanied 
with  a  pretended  revelation  of  its  myste- 
ries, and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pseudo 
revelations  are  not  unfrequently  enriched  by 
the  most  liberal  abuse  of  the  Institution. 

The  earliest  authentic  work  which  con- 
tains anything  in  opposition  to  Freema- 
sonry is  The  Natural  History  of  Stafford- 
shire, by  Robert  Plot,  which  was  printed 
at  Oxford  in  the  year  1686.  It  is  only  in 
one  particular  part  of  the  work  that  Dr. 
Plot  makes  any  invidious  remarks  against 
K 


the  Institution ;  and  we  should  freely  for- 
give him  for  what  he  has  said  against  it, 
when  we  know  that  his  recognition  of  the 
existence,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  of  a 
society  which  was  already  of  so  much  im- 
portance that  he  was  compelled  to  acknowl- 
edge that  he  had  "  found  persons  of  the 
most  eminent  quality  that  did  not  disdain 
to  be  of  this  fellowship,"  gives  the  most 
ample  refutation  of  those  writers  who  as- 
sert that  no  traces  of  the  Masonic  Institu- 
tion are  to  be  found  before  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  A  triumphant  reply 
to  the  attack  of  Dr.  Plot  is  to  be  found 
in  the  third  volume  of  Oliver's  Golden 
Remains  of  the  Early  Masonic  Writers. 

A  still  more  virulent  attack  on  the  Order 
was  made  in  1730,  by  Samuel  Prichard, 
which  he  entitled  "  Masonry  dissected,  being 
an  universal  and  genuine  description  of  all 
its  branches  from  the  original  to  the  present 
time."  This  work  went  through  a  great 
many  editions,  and  was  at  last,  in  1738,  re- 
plied to  by  the  celebrated  Dr.  James  Ander- 
son, in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  A  Defence  of 
Masonry,  occasioned  by  a  pamplet  called 
Masonry  Dissected."  It  was  appended  to 
the  second  edition  of  Anderson's  Constitu- 
tions. It  is  a  learned  production,  well 
worth  perusal  for  the  information  that  it 
gives  in  reference  to  the  sacred  rites  of  the 
ancients,  independent  of  its  polemic  char- 
acter. About  this  time  the  English  press 
was  inundated  by  pretended  revelations  of 
the  Masonic  mysteries,  published  under 
the  queerest  titles,  such  as  "  Jachin  and 
Boaz;  or,  An  authentic  key  to  the  door  of 
Freemasonry,"  published  in  1762;  "  Hiram, 
or  the  Grand  Master  Key  to  both  Ancient 
and  Modern  Freemasonry,"  which  ap- 
peared in  1766 ;  "  The  Three  Distinct 
Knocks,"  published  in  1768,  and  a  host  of 
others  of  a  similar  character,  which  were, 
however,  rather  intended,  by  ministering 
to  a  morbid  and  unlawful  curiosity,  to  put 
money  into  the  purses  of  their  compilers, 
than  to  gratify  any  vindictive  feelings 
against  the  Institution. 

Some,  however,  of  these  works  were 
amiable  neither  in  their  inception  nor  in 
their  execution,  and  appear  to  have  been 
dictated  by  a  spirit  that  may  be  character- 
ized as  being  anything  else  except  Chris- 
tian. Thus,  in  the  year  1768,  a  sermon 
was  preached,  we  may  suppose,  but  cer- 
tainly published,  at  London,  with  the  fol- 
lowing ominous  title:  "  Masonry  the  Way  to 
Hell;  a  Sermon  wherein  is  clearly  proved, 
both  from  Reason  and  Scripture,  that  all 
who  profess  the  Mysteries  are  in  a  State  of 
Damnation."  This  sermon  appears  to  have 
been  a  favorite  with  the  ascetics,  for  in  less 
than  two  years  it  was  translated  into  French 
and  German.     But,  on  the  other  hand,  it 


74 


ANTI-MASONIC 


ANTI-MASONIC 


gave  offence  to  the  liberal-minded,  and  many 
replies  to  it  were  written  and  published, 
among  which  was  one  entitled  Masonry  the 
Turnpike- Road  to  Happiness  in  this  Life,  and 
Eternal  Happiness  Hereafter,  which  also 
found  its  translation  into  German. 

In  1797  appeared  the  notorious  work  of 
John  Robison,  entitled  "  Proofs  of  a  Con- 
spiracy against  all  the  Religions  and  Gov- 
ernments of  Europe,  carried  on  in  the  secret 
meetings  of  Freemasons,  Illuminati,  and 
Reading  Societies."  Robison  was  a  gen- 
tleman and  a  scholar  of  some  repute,  a 
professor  of  natural  philosophy,  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh. 
Hence,  although  his  theory  is  based  on 
false  premises  and  his  reasoning  fallacious 
and  illogical,  his  language  is  more  decorous 
and  his  sentiments  less  malignant  than 
generally  characterize  the  writers  of  anti- 
Masonic  books.  A  contemporary  critic  in 
the  Monthly  Review  (vol.  xxv.,  p.  315,)  thus 
correctly  estimates  the  value  of  his  work : 
"  On  the  present  occasion,"  says  the  re- 
viewer, "  we  acknowledge  that  we  have  felt 
something  like  regret  that  a  lecturer  in 
natural  philosophy,  of  whom  his  country 
is  so  justly  proud,  should  produce  any  work 
of  literature  by  which  his  high  character 
for  knowledge  and  for  judgment  is  liable 
to  be  at  all  depreciated."  Robison's  book 
owes  its  preservation  at  this  day  from  the 
destruction  of  time  only  to  the  perma- 
nency and  importance  of  the  Institution 
which  it  sought  to  destroy,  Masonry, 
which  it  villified,  has  alone  saved  it  from 
the  tomb  of  the  Capulets. 

This  work  closed  the  labors  of  the  anti- 
Masonic  press  in  England.  No  work  abu- 
sive of  the  Institution  of  any  importance 
has  appeared  in  that  country  since  the 
attack  of  Robison.  The  Manuals  of  Rich- 
ard Carlile  and  the  Theologico-astronomi- 
cal  sermons  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Taylor  are 
the  productions  of  men  who  do  not  profess 
to  be  the  enemies  of  the  Order,  but  who 
have  sought,  by  their  peculiar  views,  to 
give  to  Freemasonry  an  origin,  a  design, 
and  an  interpretation  different  from  that 
which  is  received  as  the  general  sense  of 
the  Fraternity.  The  works  of  these  writers, 
although  erroneous,  are  not  inimical. 

The  French  press  was  prolific  in  the  pro- 
duction of  anti-Masonic  publications.  Com- 
mencing with  La  Grande  Lumiere,  which 
was  published  at  Paris,  in  1734,  soon  after 
the  modern  introduction  of  Masonry  into 
France,  but  brief  intervals  elapsed  without 
the  appearance  of  some  work  adverse  to 
the  Masonic  Institution.  But  the  most 
important  of  these  was  certainly  the  pon- 
derous effort  of  the  Abb6  Barruel,  pub- 
lished in  four  volumes,  in  1797,  under  the 
title  of  Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire  du 


Jacobinisme.  The  French  Revolution  was 
at  the  time  an  accomplished  fact.  The 
Bourbons  had  passed  away,  and  Barruel, 
as  a  priest  and  a  royalist,  was  indignant  at 
the  change,  and,  in  the  bitterness  of  his 
rage,  he  charged  the  whole  inception  and 
success  of  the  political  movement  to  the 
machinations  of  the  Freemasons,  whose 
Lodges,  he  asserted,  were  only  Jacobinical 
clubs.  The  general  scope  of  his  argument 
was  the  same  as  that  which  was  pur- 
sued by  Professor  Robison;  but  while 
both  were  false  in  their  facts  and  fallacious 
in  their  reasoning,  the  Scotchman  was  calm 
and  dispassionate,  while  the  Frenchman 
was  vehement  and  abusive.  No  work,  per- 
haps, was  ever  printed  which  contains  so 
many  deliberate  misstatements  as  disgrace 
the  pages  of  Barruel.  Unfortunately,  the 
work  was,  soon  after  its  appearance,  trans- 
lated into  English.  It  is  still  to  be  found 
on  the  shelves  of  Masonic  students  and 
curious  work  collectors,  as  a  singular  speci- 
men of  the  extent  of  folly  and  falsehood 
to  which  one  may  be  led  by  the  influences 
of  bitter  party  prejudices. 

The  anti-Masonic  writings  of  Italy  and 
Spain  have,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
translations  from  French  and  English  au- 
thors, consisted  only  of  bulls  issued  by 
popes  and  edicts  pronounced  by  the  Inqui- 
sition. The  anti-Masons  of  those  coun- 
tries had  it  all  their  own  way,  and,  scarcely 
descending  to  argument  or  even  to  abuse, 
contented  themselves  with  practical  perse- 
cution. 

In  Germany,  the  attacks  on  Freemasonry 
were  less  frequent  than  in  England  or 
France.  Still  there  were  some,  and  among 
them  may  be  mentioned  one  whose  very 
title  would  leave  no  room  to  doubt  of  its 
anti-Masonic  character.  It  is  entitled,  Be- 
weiss  doss  die  Freimaurer-Gesellschaft  in 
alien  Staaten,  u.  8.  w.,  that  is,  "  Proofs  that 
the  Society  of  Freemasons  is  in  every  coun- 
try not  only  useless,  but,  if  not  restricted, 
dangerous,  and  ought  to  be  interdicted." 
This  work  was  published  at  Dantzic,  in 
1764,  and  was  intended  as  a  defence  of  the 
decree  of  the  Council  of  Dantzic  against 
the  Order.  The  Germans,  however,  have 
given  no  such  ponderous  works  in  behalf 
of  anti-Masonry  as  the  capacious  volumes 
of  Barruel  and  Robison.  The  attacks  on 
the  Order  in  that  country  have  principally 
been  by  pamphleteers. 

In  the  United  States,  anti-Masonic  writ- 
ings were  scarcely  known  until  they  sprung 
out  of  the  Morgan  excitement  in  1826. 
The  disappearance  and  alleged  abduction 
of  this  individual  gave  birth  to  a  rancorous 
opposition  to  Masonry,  and  the  country 
was  soon  flooded  with  anti-Masonic  works. 
Most  of  these  were,  however,  merely  pam- 


ANTI-MASONIC 


ANTI-MASONIC 


75 


phlets,  which  had  only  an  ephemeral  exist- 
ence, and  have  long  since  been  consigned 
to  the  service  of  the  trunk-makers  or  suf- 
fered a  literary  metempsychosis  in  the 
paper-mill.  Two  only  are  worthy,  from 
their  size,  (their  only  qualification,)  for  a 
place  in  a  Masonic  catalogue.  The  first  of 
these  is  entitled,  "  Letters  on  Masonry  and 
Anti-Masonry,  addressed  to  the  Hon.  John 
Quincy  Adams.  By  William  L.  Stone." 
This  work,  which  was  published  at  New 
York  in  1832,  is  a  large  octavo  of  556 
pages. 

The  work  of  Mr.  Stone,  it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, is  not  abusive.  If  his  argu- 
ments are  illogical,  they  are  at  least  con- 
ducted without  malignity.  If  his  state- 
ments are  false,  his  language  is  decorous. 
He  was  himself  a  Mason,  and  he  has  been 
compelled,  by  the  force  of  truth,  to  make 
many  admissions  which  are  favorable  to 
the  Order.  The  book  was  evidently  written 
for  a  political  purpose,  and  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  anti-  Masonic  party.  It 
presents,  therefore,  nothing  but  partisan 
views,  and  those,  too,  almost  entirely  of  a 
local  character,  having  reference  only  to 
the  conduct  of  the  Institution  as  exhibited 
in  what  is  called  "the  Morgan  affair." 
Masonry,  according  to  Mr.  Stone,  should 
be  suppressed  because  a  few  of  its  mem- 
bers are  supposed  to  have  violated  the  laws 
in  a  village  of  the  State  of  New  York.  As 
well  might  the  vices  of  the  Christiana  of 
Corinth  nave  suggested  to  a  contemporary 
of  St.  Paul  the  propriety  of  suppressing 
Christianity. 

The  next  anti -Masonic  work  of  any 
prominence  published  in  this  country  is 
also  in  the  epistolary  style,  and  is  entitled, 
"  Letters  on  the  Masonic  institution.  By 
John  Quincy  Adams."  It  is  an  octavo  of 
281  pages,  and  was  published  at  Boston  in 
1847.  Mr.  Adams,  whose  eminent  public 
services  have  made  his  life  a  part  of  the 
history  of  his  country,  has  very  properly 
been  described  as  "  a  man  of  strong  points 
and  weak  ones,  of  vast  reading  and  wonder- 
ful memory,  of  great  credulity  and  strong 
prejudice."  In  the  latter  years  of  his  life, 
he  became  notorious  for  his  virulent  oppo- 
sition to  Freemasonry.  Deceived  and  ex- 
cited by  the  misrepresentations  of  the  anti- 
Masons,  he  united  himself  with  that  party, 
and  threw  all  his  vast  energies  and  abilities 
into  the  political  contests  then  waging. 
The  result  was  this  series  of  letters,  abusive 
of  the  Masonic  Institution,  which  he  di- 
rected to  leading  politicians  of  the  country, 
and  which  were  published  in  the  public 
journals  from  1831  to  1833.  These  letters, 
which  are  utterly  unworthy  of  the  genius, 
learning,  and  eloquence  of  the  author,  dis- 
play a  most  egregious  ignorance  of  the 


whole  design  and  character  of  the  Masonic 
Institution.  The  "  oath  "  and  "  the  murder 
of  Morgan "  are  the  two  bugbears  which 
seem  continually  to  float  before  the  excited 
vision  of  the  writer,  and  on  these  alone  he 
dwells  from  the  first  to  the  last  page. 

Except  the  letters  of  Stone  and  Adams, 
I  scarcely  know  another  anti-Masonic  book 
published  in  America  that  can  go  beyond 
the  literary  dignity  of  a  respectably-sized 
pamphlet.  A  compilation  of  anti-Masonic 
documents  was  published  at  Boston,  in 
1830,  by  James  C.  Odiorne,  who  has  thus 
in  part  preserved  for  future  reference  the 
best  of  a  bad  class  of  writings.  In  1831, 
Henry  Gassett,  of  Boston,  a  most  virulent 
anti-Mason,   distributed,  at   his  own  ex- 

Eense,  a  great  number  of  anti-Masonic 
ooks,  which  had  been  published  during 
the  Morgan  excitement,  to  the  principal 
libraries  of  the  United  States,  on  whose 
shelves  they  are  probably  now  lying  cov- 
ered with  dust;  and,  that  the  memory  of  his 
good  deed  might  not  altogether  be  lost,  he 
published  a  catalogue  of  these  donations  in 
1852,  to  which  he  has  prefixed  an  attack  on 
Masonry. 

Anti-Masonic  Party.  A  party  or- 
ganized in  this  country  soon  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Morgan  excitement,  pro- 
fessedly, to  put  down  the  Masonic  Institu- 
tion as  subversive  of  good  government,  but 
really  for  the  political  aggrandizement  of 
its  leaders,  who  used  the  opposition  to 
Freemasonry  merely  as  a  stepping-stone  to 
their  own  advancement  to  office.  The 
party  held  several  conventions ;  endeavored, 
sometimes  successfully,  but  oftener  unsuc- 
cessfully, to  enlist  prominent  statesmen  in 
its  ranks,  and  finally,  in  1831,  nominated 
William  Wirt  and  Amos  Ellmaker  as  its 
candidates  for  the  Presidency  and  the  Vice- 
Presidency  of  the  United  States.  Each  of 
these  gentlemen  received  but  seven  votes, 
being  the  whole  electoral  vote  of  Vermont, 
which  was  the  only  State  that  voted  for 
them.  So  signal  a  defeat  was  the  death- 
blow of  the  party,  and  from  the  year  1833 
it  quietly  withdrew  from  public  notice,  and 
now  is  happily  no  longer  in  existence. 
William  L.  Stone,  the  historian  of  anti- 
Masonry,  has  with  commendable  imparti- 
ality expressed  his  opinion  of  the  character 
of  this  party,  when  he  says  that ''  the  fact 
is  not  to  be  disguised — contradicted  it  can- 
not be  —  that  anti-Masonry  had  become 
thoroughly  political,  and  its  spirit  was  vin- 
dictive towards  the  Freemasons  without 
distinction  as  to  guilt  or  innocence." 
(Letters,  xxxviii.,  p.  418.)  Notwithstand- 
ing the  opposition  that  from  time  to  time 
has  been  exhibited  to  Freemasonry  in 
every  country,  America  is  the  only  one 
where  it  assumed  the  form  of  a  political 


76 


ANTI-MASONRY 


ANTIQUITY 


party.  This,  however,  may  very  justly  he 
attributed  to  the  peculiar  nature  of  our 
popular  institutions.  With  us,  the  ballot- 
box  is  considered  the  most  potent  engine 
for  the  government  of  rulers  as  well  as 
people,  and  is,  therefore,  resorted  to  in 
cases  in  which,  in  more  despotic  govern- 
ments, the  powers  of  the  Church  and  State 
would  be  exercised.  Hence,  the  anti- 
Masonic  convention  holden  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  1830,  did  not  hesitate  to  make 
the  following  declaration  as  the  cardinal 
principle  of  the  party.  "The  object  of 
anti-Masonry,  in  nominating  and  electing 
candidates  for  the  Presidency  and  Vice- 
Presidency,  is  to  deprive  Masonry  of  the 
support  which  it  derives  from  the  power 
and  patronage  of  the  executive  branch  of 
the  United  States  Government.  To  effect 
this  object,  will  require  that  candidates, 
besides  possessing  the  talents  and  virtues 
requisite  for  such  exalted  stations,  be 
known  as  men  decidedly  opposed  to  secret 
societies."  This  issue  having  been  thus 
boldly  made  was  accepted  by  the  people ; 
and  as  principles  like  these  were  funda- 
mentally opposed  to  all  the  ideas  of  liberty, 
personal  and  political,  into  which  the 
citizens  of  the  country  had  been  indoc- 
trinated, the  battle  was  made,  and  the  anti- 
Masonic  party  was  not  only  defeated  for 
the  time,  but  forever  annihilated. 

Anti-Masonry.  Opposition  to  Free- 
masonry. There  is  no  country  in  which 
Masonry  has  ever  existed  in  which  this 
opposition  has  not  from  time  to  time  ex- 
hibited itself;  although,  in  general,  it  has 
been  overcome  by  the  purity  and  innocence 
of  the  Institution.  The  earliest  opposition 
by  a  government,  of  which  we  have  any 
record,  is  that  of  1425,  in  the  third  year 
of  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  of  England, 
when  the  Masons  were  forbidden  to  con- 
federate in  Chapters  and  Congregations. 
This  law  was,  however,  never  executed. 
Since  that  period,  Freemasonry  has  met 
with  no  permanent  opposition  in  England. 
The  Roman  Catholic  religion  has  always 
been  anti-Masonic,  and  hence  edicts  have 
always  existed  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
countries  against  the  Order.  But  the  anti- 
Masonry  which  has  had  a  practical  effect  in 
inducing  the  Church  or  the  State  to  inter- 
fere with  the  Institution,  and  endeavor  to 
suppress  it,  will  come  more  properly  under 
the  head  of  Persecutions,  to  which  the 
reader  is  referred. 

Ant  in.  Duke  d'.  Elected  perpetual 
Grand  Master  of  the  Masons  of  France,  on 
the  24th  of  June,  1738.  He  held  the  office 
until  1743,  when  he  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  the  Count  of  Clermond.  Clavel  {Hist. 
Pittoresq.,  p.  141,)  relates  an  instance  of  the 
fidelity  and  intrepidity  with  which,  on  one 


occasion,  he  guarded  the  avenues  of  the 
Lodge  from  the  official  intrusion  of  a 
commissary  of  police  accompanied  by  a 
band  of  soldiers. 

Antipodean*.  (Les  Antipodiens.)  The 
name  of  the  sixtieth  degree  of  the  collection 
of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Antiquity,  Lodge  of.  The  oldest 
Lodge  in  England,  and  one  of  the  four 
which  concurred  in  February,  1717,  in  the 
meeting  at  the  Apple-Tree  tavern,  London, 
in  the  formation  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England.  At  that  time,  the  Lodge  of  An- 
tiquity met  at  the  Goose  and  Gridiron,  in 
St.  Paul's  Church-yard.  This,  with  the 
other  three  Lodges,  did  not  derive  their 
warrants  from  the  Grand  Lodge,  but  "  acted 
by  immemorable  Constitution." 

Antiquity  Manuscript.  This  cele- 
brated MS.  is  now,  and  has  long  been,  in 
the  possession  of  the  Lodge  of  Antiquity, 
at  London.  It  is  stated  in  the  subscription 
to  have  been  written,  in  1686,  by  "  Robert 
Padgett,  Clearke  to  the  Worshipful  Society 
of  the  Freemasons  of  the  city  of  London." 
The  whole  manuscript  was  first  published 
by  W.  J.  Hughan  in  his  Old  Charges  of 
British  Freemasons,  (p.  64,)  but  a  part 
had  been  previously  inserted  by  Preston 
in  his  Illustrations,  (b.  ii.,  sect,  vi.)  And 
here  we  have  evidence  of  a  criminal  in- 
accuracy of  the  Masonic  writers  of  the  last 
century,  who  never  hesitated  to  alter  or  in- 
terpolate passages  in  old  documents  when- 
ever it  was  required  to  confirm  a  pre-con- 
ceived  theory.  Thus,  Preston  had  intimated 
that  there  was  before  1717  an  Installation 
ceremony  for  newly-elected  Masters  of 
Lodges,  (which  is  not  true,)  and  inserts 
what  he  calls,  "the  ancient  Charges  that 
were  used  on  this  occasion,"  taken  from 
the  MS.  of  the  Lodge  of  Antiquity.  To 
confirm  the  statement,  that  they  were  used 
for  this  purpose,  he  cites  the  conclusion  of 
the  MS.  in  the  following  words:  "These 
be  all  the  charges  and  covenants  that 
ought  to  be  read  at  the  instalment  of  Master , 
or  making  of  a  Freemason  or  Free- 
masons." The  words  in  italics  are  not  to 
be  found  in  the  original  MS.,  but  were  in- 
serted by  Preston.  Bro.  E.  Jackson  Barron 
had  an  exact  transcript  made  of  this  MS., 
which  he  carefully  collated,  from  which 
copy  it  was  published  by  Bro.  Hughan. 
Bro.  Barron  gives  the  following  description 
of  the  document: 

"  The  MS.  copy  of  the  Charges  of  Free- 
masons is  on  a  roll  of  parchment  nine 
feet  long  by  eleven  inches  wide,  the  roll 
being  formed  of  four  pieces  of  parchment 
glued  together ;  and  some  few  years  ago  it 
was  partially  mounted  (but  not  very  skil- 
fully) on  a  backing  of  parchment  for  its 
better  preservation. 


ANTIQUITY 


ANTIQUITY 


77 


"  The  Rolls  are  headed  by  an  engraving 
of  the  Royal  Arms,  after  the  fashion  usual 
in  deeds  of  the  period ;  the  date  of  the 
engraving  in  this  case  being  fixed  by  the 
initials  at  the  top,  I.  2,  R. 

"  Under  this  engraving  are  emblazoned 
in  separate  shields  the  Arms  of  the  city  of 
London,  which  are  too  well  known  to  re- 
quire description,  and  the  Arms  of  the 
Masons  of  London,  Sable  on  a  chevron  be- 
tween three  castles  argent,  a  pair  of  compasses 
of  the  first  surrounded  by  appropriate  mant- 
ling. 

"  The  writing  is  a  good  specimen  of  the 
ordinary  law  writing  of  the  times,  inter- 
spersed with  words  in  text.  There  is  a 
margin  of  about  an  inch  on  the  left  side, 
which  is  marked  by  a  continuous  double 
red  ink  line  throughout,  and  there  are  sim- 
ilar double  lines  down  both  edges  of  the 
parchment.  The  letter  W  is  used  through- 
out the  MS.  for  V,  with  but  two  or  three 
exceptions." 

Antiquity  of  Freemasonry. 
Years  ago,  in  writing  an  article  on  this 
subject  under  the  impressions  made  upon 
me  by  the  fascinating  theories  of  Dr.  Oli- 
ver, though  I  never  completely  accepted 
his  views,  I  was  led  to  place  the  organiza- 
tion of  Freemasonry,  as  it  now  exists,  at 
the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple.  Many 
years  of  subsequent  research  have  led  me 
greatly  to  modify  the  views  I  had  previ- 
ously held.  Although  I  do  not  rank  my- 
gelf  among  those  modern  iconoclasts  who 
refuse  credence  to  every  document  whose 
authenticity,  if  admitted,  would  give  to 
the  Order  a  birth  anterior  to  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century,  I  confess  that  1  cannot 
find  any  incontrovertible  evidence  that 
would  trace  Masonry,  as  now  organized, 
beyond  the  Building  Corporations  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  In  this  point  of  view  I  speak 
of  it  only  as  an  architectural  brotherhood, 
distinguished  by  signs,  by  words,  and  by 
brotherly  ties  which  have  not  been  essen- 
tially changed,  and  by  symbols  and  legends 
which  have  only  been  developed  and  ex- 
tended, while  the  association  has  undergone 
a  transformation  from  an  operative  art  to 
a  speculative  science. 

But  then  these  Building  Corporations  did 
not  spring  up  in  all  their  peculiar  organi- 
zation—  different,  as  it  was,  from  that  of 
other  guilds — like  Autochthones,  from  the 
soil.  They,  too,  must  have  had  an  origin 
and  an  archetype,  from  which  they  de- 
rived their  peculiar  character.  And  I  am 
induced,  for  that  purpose,  to  look  to  the 
Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers,  which  were 
spread  over  Europe  by  the  invading  forces 
of  the  empire.  But  these  have  been  traced 
to  Numa,  who  gave  to  them  that  mixed 
practical    and    religious    character  which 


they  are  known  to  have  possessed,  and  in 
which  they  were  imitated  by  the  mediaeval 
architects. 

We  must,  therefore,  look  at  Freemasonry 
in  two  distinct  points  of  view :  First,  as  it 
is — a  society  of  Speculative  Architects  en- 
gaged in  the  construction  of  spiritual  tem- 
ples, and  in  this  respect  a  development 
from  the  Operative  Architects  of  the  tenth 
and  succeeding  centuries,  who  were  them- 
selves offshoots  from  the  Travelling  Free- 
masons of  Como,  who  traced  their  origin 
to  the  Roman  Colleges  of  Builders.  In 
this  direction,  I  think,  the  line  of  descent 
is  plain,  without  any  demand  upon  our 
credulity  for  assent  to  its  credibility. 

But  Freemasonry  must  be  looked  at  also 
from  another  stand-point.  Not  only  does 
it  present  the  appearance  of  a  speculative 
science,  based  on  an  operative  art,  but  it 
also  very  significantly  exhibits  itself  as  the 
symbolic  expression  of  a  religious  idea.  In 
other  and  plainer  words,  we  see  in  it  the 
important  lesson  of  eternal  life,  taught  by 
a  legend  which,  whether  true  or  false,  is 
used  in  Masonry  as  a  symbol  and  an  alle- 
gory. 

But  whence  came  this  legend  ?  Was  it 
invented  in  1717  at  the  revival  of  Free- 
masonry in  England  ?  We  have  evidence 
of  the  strongest  circumstantial  character, 
derived  from  the  Sloane  Manuscript  No. 
3,329,  recently  exhumed  from  the  shelves  of 
the  British  Museum,  that  this  very  legend 
was  known  to  the  Masons  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  at  least. 

Then,  did  the  Operative  Masons  of  the 
Middle  Ages  have  a  legend  also?  The  evi- 
dence is  that  they  did.  The  Compagnons 
de  la  Tour,  who  were  the  offshoots  of  the 
old  Masters'  Guilds,  had  a  legend.  We 
know  what  the  legend  was,  and  we  know 
that  its  character  was  similar  to,  although 
not  in  all  the  details  precisely  the  same  as, 
the  Masonic  legend.  It  was,  however,  con- 
nected with  the  Temple  of  Solomon. 

Again :  Did  the  builders  of  the  Middle 
Ages  invent  their  legend,  or  did  they  ob- 
tain it  from  some  old  tradition?  The 
question  is  interesting,  but  its  solution 
either  way  would  scarcely  affect  the  an- 
tiquity of  Freemasonry.  It  is  not  the  form 
of  the  legend,  but  its  spirit  and  symbolic 
design,  with  which  we  have  to  do. 

This  legend  of  the  third  degree  as  we 
now  have  it,  and  as  we  have  had  it  for  a 
certain  period  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  is  intended,  by  a  symbolic  represen- 
tation, to  teach  the  resurrection  from  death, 
and  the  divine  dogma  of  eternal  life.  All 
Masons  know  its  character,  and  it  is  neither 
expedient  nor  necessary  to  dilate  upon  it. 

But  can  we  find  such  a  legend  elsewhere? 
Certainly  we  can.    Not  indeed  the  same 


78 


ANTIQUITY 


ANTON 


legend ;  not  the  same  personage  as  its  hero ; 
not  the  same  details ;  but  a  legend  with  the 
same  spirit  and  design ;  a  legend  funereal 
in  character,  celebrating  death  and  resur- 
rection, solemnized  in  lamentation  and 
terminating  in  joy.  Thus,  in  the  Egyptian 
Mysteries  of  Osiris,  the  image  of  a  dead 
man  was  borne  in  an  argha,  ark  or  coffin, 
by  a  procession  of  initiates;  and  this  inclo- 
sure  in  the  coffin  or  interment  of  the  body 
was  called  the  aphanism,  or  disappearance, 
and  the  lamentation  for  him  formed  the 
first  part  of  the  Mysteries.  On  the  third 
day  after  the  interment,  the  priests  and 
initiates  carried  the  coffin,  in  which  was 
also  a  golden  vessel,  down  to  the  river 
Nile.  Into  the  vessel  they  poured  water 
from  the  river ;  and  then  with  the  cry  of 
Hvpquauev  aya?2ufieda,  "  We  have  found 
him,  let  us  rejoice,"  they  declared  that 
the  dead  Osiris,  who  had  descended  into 
Hades,  had  returned  from  thence,  and  was 
restored  again  to  life ;  and  the  rejoicings 
which  ensued  constituted  the  second  part 
of  the  Mysteries.  The  analogy  between 
this  and  the  legend  of  Freemasonry  must 
be  at  once  apparent.  Now,  just  such  a 
legend,  everywhere  differing  in  particulars, 
but  everywhere  coinciding  in  general  char- 
acter, is  to  be  found  in  all  the  old  religions 
— in  sun  worship,  in  tree  worship,  in  animal 
worship.  It  was  often  perverted,  it  is  true, 
from  the  original  design.  Sometimes  it  was 
applied  to  the  death  of  winter  and  the  birth 
of  spring,  sometimes  to  the  setting  and  the 
subsequent  rising  of  the  sun,  but  always 
indicating  a  loss  and  a  recovery. 

Especially  do  we  find  this  legend,  and  in 
a  purer  form,  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries. 
At  Samothrace,  at  Eleusis,  at  By  bios  —  in 
all  places  where  these  ancient  religions  and 
mystical  rites  were  celebrated — we  find  the 
same  teachings  of  eternal  life  inculcated  by 
the  representation  of  an  imaginary  death 
and  apotheosis.  And  it  is  this  legend,  and 
this  legend  alone,  that  connects  Speculative 
Freemasonry  with  the  Ancient  Mysteries 
of  Greece,  of  Syria,  and  of  Egypt. 

The  theory,  then,  that  I  advance  on  the 
subject  of  the  antiquity  of  Freemasonry  is 
this:  I  maintain  that,  in  its  present  pecu- 
liar organization,  it  is  the  successor,  with 
certainty,  of  the  Building  Corporations  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  through  them,  with 
less  certainty  but  with  great  probability,  of 
the  Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers.  Its  con- 
nection with  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  as 
its  birthplace,  may  have  been  accidental, 
—  a  mere  arbitrary  selection  by  its  invent- 
ors, —  and  bears,  therefore,  only  an  alle- 
gorical meaning;  or  it  may  be  historical, 
and  to  be  explained  by  the  frequent  com- 
munications that  at  one  time  took  place 
between  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks  and  the 


Romans.  This  is  a  point  stillopen  for  dis- 
cussion. On  it  I  express  no  fixed  opinion. 
The  historical  materials  upon  which  to 
base  an  opinion  are  as  yet  too  scanty.  But 
I  am  inclined,  I  confess,  to  view  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  Masonic  traditions 
connected  with  it  as  a  part  of  the  great 
allegory  of  Masonry. 

But  in  the  other  aspect  in  which  Free- 
masonry presents  itself  to  our  view,  and  to 
which  I  have  already  adverted,  the  ques- 
tion of  its  antiquity  is  more  easily  settled. 
As  a  brotherhood,  composed  of  symbolic 
Masters  and  Fellows  and  Apprentices,  de- 
rived from  an  association  of  Operative 
Masters,  Fellows,  and  Apprentices,  —  those 
building  spiritual  temples  as  these  built 
material  ones,  —  its  age  may  not  exceed 
five  or  six  hundred  years ;  but  as  a  secret 
association,  containing  within  itself  the 
symbolic  expression  of  a  religious  idea, 
it  connects  itself  with  all  the  Ancient 
Mysteries,  which,  with  similar  secrecy, 
gave  the  same  symbolic  expression  to  the 
same  religious  idea.  These  Mysteries  were 
not  the  cradles  of  Freemasonry :  they  were 
only  its  analogues.  But  I  have  no  doubt 
that  all  the  Mysteries  had  one  common 
source,  perhaps,  as  it  has  been  suggested, 
some  ancient  body  of  priests ;  and  I  have 
no  more  doubt  that  Freemasonry  has  de- 
rived its  legend,  its  symbolic  mode  of  in- 
struction, and  the  lesson  for  which  that 
instruction  was  intended,  either  directly  or 
indirectly  from  the  same  source.  In  this 
view  the  Mysteries  become  interesting  to 
the  Mason  as  a  study,  and  in  this  view 
only.  And  so,  when  I  speak  of  the  anti- 
quity of  Masonry,  I  must  say,  if  I  would 
respect  the  axioms  of  historical  science, 
that  its  body  came  out  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
but  that  its  spirit  is  to  be  traced  to  a  far 
remoter  period. 

Anton,  Dr.  Carl  Gottlob  Ton.  A 
German  Masonic  writer  of  considerable  rep- 
utation, who  died  at  Gorlitz  on  the  17th  of 
November,  1818.  He  is  the  author  of  two 
historical  works  on  Templarism,  both  of 
which  are  much  esteemed.  1.  Versuchs  einer 
Geschichte  des  Tempelherren  ordens,  i.e.  His- 
torical Essays  on  the  Order  of  Knights 
Templars.  Leipzig,  1779.  And,  2.  Unter- 
wchung  iiber  das  Geheimnis  und  die  Ge- 
brauche  der  Tempelherren,  i.e.  An  Inquiry 
into  the  Mystery  and  Usages  of  the  Knights 
Templers.  Dessau,  1728.  He  also  pub- 
lished at  Gorlitz,  in  1805,  and  again  in 
1819,  A  brief  essay  on  the  Culdees,  Uebcr 
die  Culdeer. 

Anton  Hieronynras.  In  the  ex- 
amination of  a  German  "  steinmetz,"  or 
stonemason,  this  is  said  to  have  been  the 
name  of  the  first  Mason.  It  is  unquestion- 
ably a  corruption  of  Adon  Hiram. 


APE 


APOCALYPSE 


79 


Ape  and  Lion.  Knight  of  the. 

See  Knight  of  the  Ape  and  Lion. 

A  phan  isui.  In  the  Ancient  Mysteries, 
there  was  always  a  legend  of  the  death  or 
disappearance  of  some  hero  god,  and  the 
subsequent  discovery  of  the  body  and  its 
resurrection.  The  concealment  of  this  body 
by  those  who  had  slain  it,  was  called  the 
aphanism,  from  the  Greek,  afaviZu,  to  con- 
ceal. As  these  Mysteries  may  be  considered 
as  a  type  of  Masonry,  as  some  suppose,  and 
as,  according  to  others,  both  the  Mysteries 
and  Masonry  are  derived  from  one  common 
and  ancient  type,  the  aphanism,  or  conceal- 
ing of  the  body,  is  of  course  to  be  found  in 
the  third  degree.  Indeed,  the  purest  kind 
of  Masonic  aphanism  is  the  loss  or  conceal- 
ment of  the  word.  See  Mysteries,  and 
Euresis. 

Apocalypse,  Masonry  of  the. 
The  adoption  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist 
as  one  of  the  patrons  of  our  Lodges,  has 
given  rise,  among  the  writers  on  Free- 
masonry, to  a  variety  of  theories  as  to  the 
original  cause  of  his  being  thus  connected 
with  the  Institution.  Several  traditions 
have  been  handed  down  from  remote 
periods,  which  claim  him  as  a  brother, 
among  which  the  Masonic  student  will  be 
familiar  with  that  which  represents  him  as 
having  assumed  the  government  of  the 
Craft,  as  Grand  Master,  after  the  demise  of 
John  the  Baptist.  I  confess  that  I  am  not 
willing  to  place  implicit  confidence  in  the 
correctness  of  this  legend,  and  I  candidly 
subscribe  to  the  prudence  of  Dalcho's  re- 
mark, that  "  it  is  unwise  to  assert  more 
than  we  can  prove,  and  to  argue  against 
probability."  There  must  have  been,  how- 
ever, in  some  way,  a  connection  more  or 
less  direct  between  the  Evangelist  and  the 
institution  of  Freemasonry,  or  he  would 
not  from  the  earliest  times  have  been  so 
universally  claimed  as  one  of  its  patrons. 
If  it  was  simply  a  Christian  feeling  —  a  re- 
ligious veneration — which  gave  rise  to  this 
general  homage,  I  see  no  reason  why  St. 
Matthew,  St.  Mark,  or  St.  Luke  might  not 
as  readily  and  appropriately  have  been 
selected  as  one  of  the  "lines  parallel." 
But  the  fact  is  that  there  is  something,  both 
in  the  life  and  in  the  writings  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  which  closely  connects  him 
with  our  mystic  Institution.  He  may 
not  have  been  a  Freemason  in  the  sense 
in  which  we  now  use  the  term ;  but  it 
will  be  sufficient,  if  it  can  be  shown  that 
he  was  familiar  with  other  mystical  in- 
stitutions, which  are  themselves  generally 
admitted  to  have  been  more  or  less  inti- 
mately connected  with  Freemasonry  by 
deriving  their  existence  from  a  common 
origin. 

Such  a  society  was  the  Essenian  Fra- 


ternity —  a  mystical  association  of  specula- 
tive philosophers  among  the  Jews,  whose 
organization  very  closely  resembled  that  of  . 
the  Freemasons,  and  who  are  even  supposed 
by  some  to  have  derived  their  tenets  and 
their  discipline  from  the  builders  of  the 
Temple.  As  Oliver  observes,  their  institu- 
tion "  may  be  termed  Freemasonry,  retain- 
ing the  same  form  but  practised  under 
another  name."  Now  there  is  little  doubt 
that  St.  John  was  an  Essene.  Calmet  posi- 
tively asserts  it;  and  the  writings  and  life 
of  St.  John  seem  to  furnish  sufficient  in- 
ternal evidence  that  he  was  originally  of 
that  brotherhood. 

But  it  seems  to  me  that  St.  John  was 
more  particularly  selected  as  a  patron  of 
Freemasonry  in  consequence  of  the  mys- 
terious and  emblematic  nature  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse, which  evidently  assimilated  the 
mode  of  teaching  adopted  by  the  Evangel- 
ist to  that  practised  by  the  Fraternity.  If 
any  one  who  has  investigated  the  ceremonies 
performed  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  the 
Spurious  Freemasonry  as  it  has  been  called 
of  the  Pagans,  will  compare  them  with  the 
mystical  machinery  used  in  the  Book  of 
Revelations,  he  will  find  himself  irresisti- 
bly led  to  the  conclusion  that  St.  John  the 
Evangelist  was  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  whole  process  of  initiation  into  these 
mystic  associations,  and  that  he  has  selected 
its  imagery  for  the  ground-work  of  his  pro- 
phetic Book.  Mr.  Faber,  in  his  Origin  of 
Pagan  Idolatry,  (vol.  ii.,  b.  vi.,  ch.  6,)  has, 
with  great  ability  and  clearness,  shown 
that  St.  John  in  the  Apocalypse  applies 
the  ritual  of  the  ancient  initiations  to  a 
spiritual  and  prophetic  purpose. 

"The  whole  machinery  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse," says  Mr.  Faber,  "  from  beginning  to 
end,  seems  to  me  very  plainly  to  have  been 
borrowed  from  the  machinery  of  the  An- 
cient Mysteries ;  and  this,  if  we  consider 
the  nature  of  the  subject,  was  done  with 
the  very  strictest  attention  to  poetical  de- 
corum. 

"  St.  John  himself  is  made  to  personate 
an  aspirant  about  to  be  initiated ;  and,  ac- 
cordingly, the  images  presented  to  his 
mind's  eye  closely  resemble  the  pageants 
of  the  Mysteries  both  in  nature  and  in  order 
of  succession. 

"  The  prophet  first  beholds  a  door  opened 
in  the  magnificent  temple  of  heaven  ;  and 
into  this  he  is  invited  to  enter  by  the  voice 
of  one  who  plays  the  hierophant.  Here  he 
witnesses  the  unsealing  of  a  sacred  book, 
and  forthwith  he  is  appalled  by  a  troop  of 
ghastly  apparitions,  which  flit  in  horrid  suc- 
cession before  his  eyes.  Among  these  are 
preeminently  conspicuous  a  vast  serpent, 
the  well-known  symbol  of  the  great  father ; 
and    two    portentous    wild   beasts,   which 


80 


APOCALYPSE 


APORRHETA 


severally  come  up  out  of  the  sea  and  out 
of  the  earth.  Such  hideous  figures  cor- 
respond with  the  canine  phantoms  of  the 
Orgies,  which  seem  to  rise  out  of  the 
ground,  and  with  the  polymorphic  images 
of  the  hero  god  who  was  universally  deemed 
the  offspring  of  the  sea. 

"  Passing  these  terrific  monsters  in  safety, 
the  prophet,  constantly  attended  by  his 
angel  hierophant,  who  acts  the  part  of  an 
interpreter,  is  conducted  into  the  presence 
of  a  female,  who  is  described  as  closely  re- 
sembling the  great  mother  of  pagan  theol- 
ogy. Like  Isis  emerging  from  the  sea  and 
exhibiting  herself  to  the  aspirant  Apuleius, 
this  female  divinity,  upborne  upon  the 
marine  wild  beast,  appears  to  float  upon 
the  surface  of  many  waters.  She  is  said  to 
be  an  open  and  systematical  harlot,  just  as 
the  great  mother  was  the  declared  female 
principle  of  fecundity;  and  as  she  was 
always  propitiated  by  literal  fornication 
reduced  to  a  religious  system,  and  as  the 
initiated  were  made  to  drink  a  prepared 
liquor  out  of  a  sacred  goblet,  so  this  harlot 
is  represented  as  intoxicating  the  kings  of 
the  earth  with  the  golden  cup  of  her  pros- 
titution. On  her  forehead  the  very  name 
of  Mystery  is  inscribed;  and  the  label 
teaches  us  that,  in  point  of  character,  she 
is  the  great  universal  mother  of  idolatry. 

"  The  nature  of  this  mystery  the  officiating 
hierophant  undertakes  to  explain ;  and  an 
important  prophecy  is  most  curiously  and 
artfully  veiled  under  the  very  language  and 
imagery  of  the  Orgies.    To  the  sea-born 

freat  father  was  ascribed  a  threefold  state  — 
e  lived,  he  died,  and  he  revived;  and  these 
changes  of  condition  were  duly  exhibited 
in  the  Mysteries.  To  the  sea-born  wild 
beast  is  similarly  ascribed  a  threefold 
state  —  he  lives,  he  dies,  he  revives.  While 
dead,  he  lies  floating  on  the  mighty  ocean, 
just  like  Horus  or  Osiris,  or  Siva  or  Vish- 
nou.  When  he  revives  again,  like  those 
kindred  deities,  he  emerges  from  the  waves ; 
and,  whether  dead  or  alive,  he  bears  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns,  corresponding  in  num- 
ber with  the  seven  ark-preserved  Rishis  and 
the  ten  aboriginal  patriarchs.  Nor  is  this 
all :  as  the  worshippers  of  the  great  father 
bore  his  special  mark  or  stigma,  and  were 
distinguished  by  his  name,  so  the  worship- 
pers of  the  maritime  beast  equally  bear  his 
mark  and  are  equally  decorated  by  his  ap- 
pellation. 

"  At  length,  however,  the  first  or  doleful 
part  of  these  sacred  Mysteries  draws  to  a 
close,  and  the  last  or  joyful  part  is  rapidly 
approaching.  After  the  prophet  has  beheld 
the  enemies  of  God  plungea  into  a  dread- 
ful lake  or  inundation  of  liquid  fire,  which 
corresponds  with  the  infernal  lake  or  deluge 
of  the  Orgies,  he  is  introduced  into  a  splen- 


didly-illuminated region,  expressly  adorned 
with  the  characteristics  of  that  Paradise 
which  was  the  ultimate  scope  of  the  ancient 
aspirants ;  while  without  the  holy  gate  of 
admission  are  the  whole  multitude  of  the 
profane,  dogs,  and  sorcerors,  and  whoremon- 
gers, and  murderers,  and  idolators,  and  who- 
soever loveth  and  maketh  a  lie." 

Such  was  the  imagery  of  the  Apocalypse. 
In  close  resemblance  to  the  machinery  of 
the  Mysteries,  and  the  intimate  connection 
between  their  system  and  that  of  Freema- 
sonry, very  naturally  induced  our  ancient 
brethren  to  claim  the  patronage  of  an 
apostle  so  preeminently  mystical  in  his 
writings,  and  whose  last  and  crowning 
work  bore  so  much  of  the  appearance,  in 
in  an  outward  form,  of  a  ritual  of  initia- 
tion. 

Apocalypse,  Order  of  the.  An 
Order  instituted  about  the  end  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  by  one  Gabrino,  who 
called  himself  the  Prince  of  the  Septenary 
Number  and  Monarch  of  the  Holy  Trin- 
ity. He  enrolled  a  great  number  of  arti- 
zans  in  his  ranks.  According  to  Thory, 
some  of  the  provincial  Lodges  of  France 
made  a  degree  out  of  Gabrino's  system. 
The  jewel  of  the  Order  was  a  naked  sword 
and  a  blazing  star.  Reghellini  (iii.  72) 
thinks  that  this  Order  was  the  precursor 
of  the  degrees  afterwards  introduced  by  the 
Masons  who  practised  the  Templar  system. 

Apocalyptic  Degrees.  Those  de- 
grees which  are  founded  on  the  Revelation  of 
St.  John,  or  whose  symbols  and  machinery 
of  initiation  are  derived  from  that  work, 
are  called  Apocalyptic  degrees.  Of  this 
nature  are  several  of  the  high  degrees ; 
such,  for  instance,  as  the  17th,  or  Knight 
of  the  East  and  West  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Aporrlieta.  Greek,  airop'prf-a.  The  holy 
things  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries  which  were 
known  only  to  the  initiates,  and  were  not  to 
be  disclosed  to  the  profane,  were  called  the 
aporrheta.  What  are  the  aporrheta  of  Free- 
masonry? what  are  the  arcana  of  which 
there  can  be  no  disclosure?  is  a  question 
that  for  some  years  past  has  given  rise  to 
much  discussion  among  the  disciples  of  the 
Institution.  If  the  sphere  and  number  of 
these  aporrheta  be  very  considerably  ex- 
tended, it  is  evident  that  much  valuable  in- 
vestigation by  public  discussion  of  the  sci- 
ence of  Masonry  will  be  prohibited.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  the  aporrheta  are  re- 
stricted to  only  a  few  points,  much  of  the 
beauty,  the  permanency,  and  the  efficacy  of 
Freemasonry  which  are  dependent  on  its 
organization  as  a  secret  and  mystical  asso- 
ciation will  be  lost.  We  move  between 
Scylla  and  Charybdis,  and  it  is  difficult  for 
a  Masonic  writer  to  know  how  to  steer  so  as, 
in  avoiding  too  frank  an  exposition  of  the 


APPEAL 


APPRENTICE 


81 


principles  of  the  Order,  not  to  fall  by  too 
much  reticence  into  obscurity.  The  Eu- 
ropean Masons  are  far  more  liberal  in  their 
views  of  the  obligation  of  secrecy  than  the 
English  or  the  American.  There  are  few 
things,  indeed,  which  a  French  or  German 
Masonic  writer  will  refuse  to  discuss  with 
the  utmost  frankness.  It  is  now  beginning 
to  be  very  generally  admitted,  and  English 
and  American  writers  are  acting  on  the  ad- 
mission, that  the  only  real  aporrheta  of 
Freemasonry  are  the  modes  of  recognition, 
and  the  peculiar  and  distinctive  ceremonies 
of  the  Order ;  and  to  these  last  it  is  claimed 
that  reference  may  be  publicly  made  for  the 
purpose  ofscientific  investigation,  provided 
that  the  reference  be  so  made  as  to  be  ob- 
scure to  the  profane,  and  intelligible  only 
to  the  initiated. 

Appeal,  Right  of.  The  right  of 
appeal  is  an  inherent  right  belonging  to 
every  Mason,  and  the  Grand  Lodge  is  the 
appellate  body  to  whom  the  appeal  is  to  be 
made. 

Appeals  are  of  two  kinds :  1st,  from  the 
decision  of  the  Master ;  2dly,  from  the  de- 
cision of  the  Lodge.  Each  of  these  will 
require  a  distinct  consideration. 

1.  Appeals  from  the  Decision  of  the  Mas- 
ter. It  is  now  a  settled  doctrine  in  Masonic 
law  that  there  can  be  no  appeal  from  the 
decision  of  a  Master  of  a  Lodge  to  the 
Lodge  itself.  But  an  appeal  always  lies 
from  such  decision  to  the  Grand  Lodge, 
which  is  bound  to  entertain  the  appeal  and 
to  inquire  into  the  correctness  of  the  deci- 
sion. Some  writers  have  endeavored  to 
restrain  the  despotic  authority  of  the  Mas- 
ter to  decisions  in  matters  strictly  relating 
to  the  work  of  the  Lodge,  while  they  con- 
tend that  on  all  questions  of  business  an 
appeal  may  be  taken  from  his  decision  to 
the  Lodge.  But  it  would  be  unsafe,  and 
often  impracticable,  to  draw  this  distinc- 
tion, and  accordingly  the  highest  Masonic 
authorities  have  rejected  the  theory,  and 
denied  the  power  in  a  Lodge  to  entertain 
an  appeal  from  any  decision  of  the  pre- 
siding officer. 

The  wisdom  of  this  law  must  be  appa- 
rent to  any  one  who  examines  the  nature 
of  the  organization  of  the  Masonic  institu- 
tion. The  Master  is  responsible  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  for  the  good  conduct  of  his 
Lodge.  To  him  and  to  him  alone  the  su- 
preme Masonic  authority  looks  for  the  pre- 
servation of  order,  and  the  observance  of 
the  Constitutions  and  the  Landmarks  of 
the  Order  in  the  body  over  which  he  pre- 
sides. It  is  manifest,  then,  that  it  would  be 
highly  unjust  to  throw  around  a  presiding 
officer  so  heavy  a  responsibility,  if  it  were 
in  the  power  of  the  Lodge  to  overrule  his 
decisions  or  to  control  his  authority. 


2.  Appeals  from  the  Decisions  of  the 
Lodge.  Appeals  may  be  made  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  from  the  decisions  of  a  Lodge,  on 
any  subject  except  the  admission  of 
members,  or  the  election  of  candidates ;  but 
these  appeals  are  more  frequently  made  in 
reference  to  conviction  and  punishment 
after  trial. 

When  a  Mason,  in  consequence  of  charges 
preferred  against  him,  has  been  tried,  con- 
victed, and  sentenced  by  his  Lodge,  he  has 
an  inalienable  right  to  appeal  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  from  such  conviction  and  sentence. 

His  appeal  may  be  either  general  or 
specific.  That  is,  he  may  appeal  on  the 
ground,  generally,  that  the  whole  of  the 
proceedings  have  been  irregular  or  illegal, 
or  he  may  appeal  specifically  against  some 
particular  portion  of  the  trial;  or  lastly, 
admitting  the  correctness  of  the  verdict, 
and  acknowledging  the  truth  of  the  charges, 
he  may  appeal  from  the  sentence,  as  being 
too  severe  or  disproportionate  to  the  offence. 

Appendant  Orders.  In  the  Tem- 
plar system  of  the  United  States,  the  de- 
grees of  Knight  of  the  Bed  Cross,  and 
Knight  of  Malta,  are  called  Appendant  Or- 
ders because  they  are  conferred  as  append- 
ages to  that  of  Knight  Templar,  which  ia 
the  principal  degree  of  the  Commandery. 

Apple-Tree  Tavern.  The  place 
where  the  four  Lodges  of  London  met  in 
1717,  and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England.  It  was  situated  in  Charles  Street, 
Covent  Garden. 

Apprenti.    French  for  Apprentice. 

Apprentice.  See  Apprentice,  Entered. 

Apprentice  Architect.  {Apprenti 
Architecte.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of 
Fustier. 

Apprentice  Architect,  Perfect. 
{Apprenti  Architecte  Parfait.)  A  degree  in 
the  collection  of  Le  Page. 

Apprentice  Architect,  Prus- 
sian. {Apprenti  Architecte  Prussien.)  A 
degree  in  the  collection  of  Le  Page. 

Apprentice  Cohen.  {Apprenti Com.) 
A  degree  in  the  collection  of  the  Archives 
of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic 
Eite. 

Apprentice,  Egyptian.  {Apprenti, 
sEgyptien. )  The  first  degree  of  the  Egyptian 
Bite  of  Cagliostro. 

Apprentice,  Entered.  The  first 
degree  of  Freemasonry,  in  all  the  Bites,  is 
that  of  Entered  Apprentice.  In  French,  it 
is  called  apprenti;  in  Spanish,  aprendiz ; 
in  Italian,  apprendente ;  and  in  German, 
lehrling ;  in  all  of  which  the  radical  mean- 
ing of  the  word  is  a  learner.  Like  the 
lesser  Mysteries  of  the  ancient  initiations, 
it  is  in  Masonry  a  preliminary  degree,  in- 
tended to  prepare  the  candidate  for  the 
higher  and  fuller  instructions  of  the  sue- 


82 


APPRENTICE 


APPRENTICE 


ceeding  degrees.  It  is  therefore,  although 
supplying  no  valuable  historical  informa- 
tion, replete,  in  its  lecture,  with  instruc- 
tions on  the  internal  structure  of  the  Order. 
Until  late  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Ap- 
prentices do  not  seem  to  have  been  con- 
sidered as  forming  any  part  of  the  confra- 
ternity of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons ;  for 
although  they  are  incidentally  mentioned 
in  the  Old  Constitutions  of  the  fifteenth, 
sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries,  these 
records  refer  only  to  Masters  and  Fellows 
as  constituting  the  Craft,  and  this  distinc- 
tion seems  to  have  been  one  rather  of  posi- 
tion than  of  degree.  The  Sloane  Manu- 
script, No.  3,329,  which  Findel  supposes  to 
have  been  written  at  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  describes  a  just  and  perfect 
Lodge  as  consisting  of  "  two  Interprentices, 
two  Fellow  Crafts,  and  two  Masters,"  which 
shows  that  by  that  time  the  Apprentices 
had  been  elevated  to  a  recognized  rank  in 
the  Fraternity.  In  the  Manuscript  signed 
"  Mark  Kypling,"  which  Hughan  entitles 
"  Manuscript  Constitutions,  No.  4,"  the 
date  of  which  is  1693,  there  is  a  still  further 
recognition  in  what  is  there  called  "  the 
Apprentice  Charge,"  one  item  of  which  is, 
that  "  he  shall  keepe  councell  in  all  things 
spoken  in  Lodge  or  chamber  by  any  Masons, 
Fellows,  or  Freemasons."  This  indicates 
that  they  were  admitted  to  a  closer  com- 
munion with  the  members  of  the  Craft. 
But  notwithstanding  these  recognitions,  all 
the  manuscripts  up  to  1704  show  that  only 
"  Masters  and  Fellows  "  were  summoned  to 
the  assembly.  During  all  this  time,  when 
Masonry  was  in  fact  an  operative  art,  there 
was  but  one  degree  in  the  modern  sense  of 
the  word.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
if  not  earlier,  Apprentices  must  have  been 
admitted  to  the  possession  of  this  degree ; 
for  after  what  is  called  the  revival  of  1717, 
Entered  Apprentices  constituted  the  bulk 
of  the  Craft,  and  they  only  were  initiated 
in  the  Lodges,  the  degrees  of  Fellow  Craft 
and  Master  Mason  being  conferred  by  the 
Grand  Lodge.  This  is  not  left  to  conjecture. 
The  thirteenth  of  the  General  Regulations, 
approved  in  1721,  says  that  "  Apprentices 
must  be  admitted  Masters  and  Fellow 
Crafts  only  in  the  Grand  Lodge,  unless  by 
a  dispensation."  But  this  having  been 
found  very  inconvenient,  on  the  22d  No- 
vember, 1725,  the  Grand  Lodge  repealed 
the  article,  and  decreed  that  the  Master  of 
a  Lodge,  with  his  Wardens  and  a  compe- 
tent number  of  the  Lodge  assembled  in  due 
form,  can  make  Masters  and  Fellows  at 
discretion. 

The  mass  of  the  Fraternity  being  at  that 
time  composed  of  Apprentices,  they  exer- 
cised a  great  deal  of  influence  in  the  legis- 
lation of  the  Order  j  for  although  they  could 


not  represent  their  Lodge  in  the  Quarterly 
Communications  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  —  a 
duty  which  could  only  be  discharged  by  a 
Master  or  Fellow,  —  yet  they  were  always 
permitted  to  be  present  at  the  grand  feast, 
and  no  General  Regulation  could  be  altered 
or  repealed  without  their  consent ;  and,  of 
course,  in  all  the  business  of  their  particular 
Lodges,  they  took  the  most  prominent  part, 
for  there  were  but  few  Masters  or  Fellows 
in  a  Lodge,  in  consequence  of  the  difficulty 
and  inconvenience  of  obtaining  the  degree, 
which  could  only  be  done  at  a  Quarterly 
Communication  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

But  as  soon  as  the  subordinate  Lodges 
were  invested  with  the  power  of  conferring 
all  the  degrees,  the  Masters  began  rapidly 
to  increase  in  numbers  and  in  corresponding 
influence.  And  now,  the  bulk  of  the  Fra- 
ternity consisting  of  Master  Masons,  the 
legislation  of  the  Order  is  done  exclusively 
by  them,  and  the  Entered  Apprentices  and 
Fellow  Crafts  have  sunk  into  comparative 
obscurity,  their  degrees  being  considered 
only  as  preparatory  to  the  greater  initiation 
of  the  Master's  degree. 

Apprentice,  Hermetic.  {Apprenti 
Hermetique.)  The  thirteenth  degree  of  the 
collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Apprentice,  Kabbalistic.  {Ap- 
prenti Cabalistique.)  A  degree  in  the  collec- 
tion of  the  Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge 
of  the  Philosophic  Rite. 

Apprentice  Mason.  {Apprenti  Ma- 
qon.)  The  Entered  Apprentice  of  French 
Masonry. 

Apprentice  Masoness.  {Apprentie 
Maconne.)  The  first  degree  of  the  French 
Rite  of  Adoption.  The  word  Masoness  is  a 
neologism ;  but  it  is  in  accordance  with  the 
genius  of  our  language;  and  I  know  not 
how  else  to  translate  into  English  the 
French  word  Maqonne,  which  means  a 
woman  who  has  received  the  degrees  of  the 
Rite  of  Adoption,  unless  by  the  use  of  the 
awkward  phrase,  Female  Mason.  To  ex- 
press this  idea,  we  might  introduce  as  a 
technicality  the  word  Masoness. 

Apprentice  Masoness,  Egyp- 
tian. {Apprentie  Maconne  Egyptienne.) 
The  first  degree  of  Cagliosh's  Egyptian 
Rite  of  Adoption. 

Apprentice,  Mystic.  {Apprenti 
Mystique.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of  M. 
Pyron. 

Apprentice  of  Paracelsns.  (Ap- 
prenti de  Paraceke.)  A  degree  in  the  collec- 
tion of  M.  Peuvret.  There  existed  a  series 
of  these  Paracelsian  degrees  —  Apprentice, 
Fellow  Craft,  and  Master.  They  were  all 
most  probably  forms  of  Hermetic  Masonry. 

Apprentice  of  the  Egyptian  Se- 
crets. {Apprenti  des  secrets  Egyptiens.)  The 


APPRENTICE 


APRON 


83 


first  degree  of  the  Order  of  African  Archi- 
tects. 

Apprentice  Philosopher,  by 
the  Number  3.  (Apprenti  Philosophe 
par  le  Nombre  3.)  A  degree  in  the  collection 
of  M.  Peuvret. 

Apprentice  Philosopher,  Her- 
metic. (Apprenti  Philosophe  Hermetique.) 
A  degree  in  the  collection  of  M.  Peuvret. 

Apprentice  Philosopher  to  the 
Number  9.  (Apprenti  Philosophe  au 
Nombre  9.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of 
M.  Peuvret. 

Apprentice  Pillar.  See  Prentice 
Pillar. 

Apprentice,  Scottish.  (Apprenti 
Ecossais.)  This  degree,  and  that  of  Trini- 
tarian Scottish  Apprentice,  (Apprenti  Ecos- 
sais Trinitaire,)  are  contained  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Pyron. 

Apprentice  Theosophist.  (Ap- 
prenti Theosophe.)  The  first  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Swedenborg. 

Apron.  There  is  no  one  of  the  sym- 
bols of  Speculative  Masonry  more  impor- 
tant in  its  teachings,  or  more  interesting  in 
its  history,  than  the  lambskin,  or  white 
leather  apron.  Commencing  its  lessons  at 
an  early  period  in  the  Mason's  progress,  it 
is  impressed  upon  his  memory  as  the  first 
gift  which  he  receives,  the  first  symbol 
which  is  explained  to  him,  and  the  first 
tangible  evidence  which  he  possesses  of  his 
admission  into  the  Fraternity.  Whatever 
may  be  his  future  advancement  in  the 
"  royal  art,"  into  whatsoever  deeper  arcana 
his  devotion  to  the  mystic  Institution  or 
his  thirst  for  knowledge  may  subsequently 
lead  him,  with  the  lambskin  apron  —  his 
first  investiture  —  he  never  parts.  Chang- 
ing, perhaps,  its  form  and  its  decorations, 
and  conveying,  at  each  step,  some  new  but 
still  beautiful  allusion,  its  substance  is  still 
there,  and  it  continues  to  claim  the  honored 
title  by  which  it  was  first  made  known  to 
him,  on  the  night  of  his  initiation,  as  "  the 
badge  of  a  Mason." 

If  in  less  important  portions  of  our  ritual 
there  are  abundant  allusions  to  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  ancient  world,  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  the  Masonic  rite  of  in- 
vestiture—  the  ceremony  of  clothing  the 
newly-initiated  candidate  with  this  dis- 
tinctive badge  of  his  profession  —  is  with- 
out its  archetype  in  the  times  and  practices 
long  passed  away.  It  would,  indeed,  be 
strange,  while  all  else  in  Masonry  is  cov- 
ered with  the  veil  of  antiquity,  that  the 
apron  alone,  its  most  significant  symbol, 
should  be  indebted  for  its  existence  to  the 
invention  of  a  modern  mind. 

On  the  contrary,  we  shall  find  the  most 
satisfactory  evidence  that  the  use  of  the 
apron,  or  some  equivalent  mode  of  investi- 


ture, as  a  mystic  symbol,  was  common  to 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  from  the  earliest 
periods. 

Among  the  Israelites  the  girdle  formed 
a  part  of  the  investiture  of  the  priesthood. 
In  the  mysteries  of  Mithras,  in  Persia,  the 
candidate  was  invested  with  a  white  apron. 
In  the  initiations  practised  in  Hindostan, 
the  ceremony  of  investiture  was  preserved, 
but  a  sash,  called  the  sacred  zennar,  was 
substituted  for  the  apron.  The  Jewish  sect 
of  the  Essenes  clothed  their  novices  with 
a  white  robe.  The  celebrated  traveller 
Ksempfer  informs  us  that  the  Japanese, 
who  practise  certain  rites  of  initiation,  in- 
vest their  candidates  with  a  white  apron, 
bound  round  the  loins  with  a  zone  or  gir- 
dle. In  the  Scandinavian  rites,  the  mili- 
tary genius  of  the  people  caused  them  to 
substitute  a  white  shield,  but  its  presenta- 
tion was  accompanied  by  an  emblematic 
instruction  not  unlike  that  which  is  con- 
nected with  the  Mason's  apron. 

"The  apron,"  says  Dr.  Oliver,  (S.  and S., 
Lect.  X.,  p.  196,)  "appears  to  have  been  in 
ancient  times  an  honorary  badge  of  distinc- 
tion. In  the  Jewish  economy  none  but  the 
superior  orders  of  the  priesthood  were  per- 
mitted to  adorn  themselves  with  orna- 
mented girdles,  which  were  made  of  blue, 
purple,  and  crimson,  decorated  with  gold, 
upon  a  ground  of  fine  white  linen,  while 
the  inferior  priests  wore  only  plain  white. 
The  Indian,  the  Persian,  the  Jewish,  the 
Ethiopian,  and  the  Egyptian  aprons,  though 
equally  superb,  all  bore  a  character  dis- 
tinct from  each  other.  Some  were  plain 
white  ones,  others  striped  with  blue,  pur- 
ple, and  crimson ;  some  were  of  wrought 
gold,  others  adorned  and  decorated  with 
superb  tassels  and  fringes.  In  a  word, 
though  the  principal  honor  of  the  apron 
may  consist  in  innocence  of  conduct  and 
purity  of  heart,  yet  it  certainly  appears 
through  all  ages  to  have  been  a  most  ex- 
alted badge  of  distinction.  In  primitive 
times  it  was  rather  an  ecclesiastical  than  a 
civil  decoration ;  although  in  some  cases 
the  apron  was  elevated  to  great  superiority 
as  a  national  trophy.  The  royal  standard 
of  Persia  was  originally  an  apron  in  form 
and  dimensions.  At  this  day  it  is  connected 
with  ecclesiastical  honors;  for  the  chief 
dignitaries  of  the  Christian  church,  wher- 
ever a  legitimate  establishment,  with  the 
necessary  degrees  of  rank  and  subordina- 
tion is  formed,  are  invested  with  aprons  as 
a  peculiar  badge  of  distinction,  which  is  a 
collateral  proof  of  the  fact  that  Masonry 
was  originally  incorporated  with  the  various 
systems  of  divine  worship  used  by  every 
people  in  the  ancient  world.  Masonry  re- 
tains the  symbol  or  shadow  ;  it  cannot  have 
renounced  the  reality  or  substance." 


84 


APRON 


APRON 


In  the  Masonic  apron  two  things  are 
essential  to  the  due  preservation  of  its  sym- 
bolic character  —  its  color  and  its  material. 

1.  As  to  its  color.  The  color  of  a  Mason's 
apron  should  be  pure  unspotted  white. 
This  color  has,  in  all  ages  and  countries, 
been  esteemed  an  emblem  of  innocence 
and  purity.  It  was  with  this  reference  that 
a  portion  of  the  vestments  of  the  Jewish 
priesthood  was  directed  to  be  white.  In 
the  Ancient  Mysteries  the  candidate  was 
always  clothed  in  white.  "  The  priests  of 
the  Romans,"  says  Festus,  "  were  accus- 
tomed to  wear  white  garments  when  they 
sacrificed."  In  the  Scandinavian  rites  it 
has  been  seen  that  the  shield  presented  to 
the  candidate  was  white.  The  Druids 
changed  the  color  of  the  garment  pre- 
sented to  their  initiates  with  each  degree ; 
white,  however,  was  the  color  appropriated 
to  the  last,  or  degree  of  perfection.  And 
it  was,  according  to  their  ritual,  intended 
to  teach  the  aspirant  that  none  were  ad- 
mitted to  that  honor  but  such  as  were 
cleansed  from  all  impurities  both  of  body 
and  mind.  In  the  early  ages  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  a  white  garment  was  always 
placed  upon  the  catechumen  who  had  been 
newly  baptized,  to  denote  that  he  had  been 
cleansed  from  his  former  sins,  and  was 
thenceforth  to  lead  a  life  of  purity.  Hence 
it  was  presented  to  him  with  this  solemn 
charge  :  "  Receive  the  white  and  undefiled 
garment,  and  produce  it  unspotted  before 
the  tribunal  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that 
you  may  obtain  eternal  life."  From  all 
these  instances  we  learn  that  white  apparel 
was  anciently  used  as  an  emblem  of  purity, 
and  for  this  reason  the  color  has  been  pre- 
served in  the  apron  of  the  Freemason. 

2.  As  to  its  material.  A  Mason's  apron 
must  be  made  of  lambskin.  No  other  sub- 
stance, such  as  linen,  silk,  or  satin,  could  be 
substituted  without  entirely  destroying  the 
emblematic  character  of  the  apron,  for  the 
material  of  the  Mason's  apron  constitutes 
one  of  the  most  important  symbols  of  his 
profession.  The  lamb  has  always  been  con- 
sidered as  an  appropriate  emblem  of  inno- 
cence. And  hence  we  are  taught,  in  the 
ritual  of  the  first  degree,  that,  "by  the 
lambskin,  the  Mason  is  reminded  of  that 
purity  of  life  and  rectitude  of  conduct 
which  is  so  essentially  necessary  to  his  gain- 
ing admission  into  the  Celestial  Lodge 
above,  where  the  Supreme  Architect  of  the 
Universe  forever  presides." 

The  true  apron  of  a  Mason  must  then  be 
of  unspotted  lambskin,  from  14  to  16  inches 
wide,  from  12  to  14  deep,  with  a  fall  about 
3  or  4  inches  deep,  square  at  the  bottom,  and 
without  device  or  ornament  of  any  kind. 
The  usage  of  the  Craft  in  this  country  has, 
for  a  few  years  past,  allowed  a  narrow  edg- 


ing of  blue  ribbon  in  the  symbolic  de- 
grees, to  denote  the  universal  friendship 
which  constitutes  the  bond  of  the  society, 
and  of  which  virtue  blue  is  the  Masonic 
emblem.  But  this  undoubtedly  is  an  inno- 
vation, for  the  ancient  apron  was  without 
any  edging  or  ornament.  In  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  the  lambskin  is,  of  course,  con- 
tinued to  be  used,  but,  according  to  the 
same  modern  custom,  there  is  an  edging  of 
red,  to  denote  the  zeal  and  fervency  which 
should  distinguish  the  possessors  of  that 
degree.  All  extraneous  ornaments  and  de- 
vices are  in  bad  taste,  and  detract  from  the 
symbolic  character  of  the  investiture.  But 
the  silk  or  satin  aprons,  bespangled  and 
painted  and  embroidered,  which  have  been 
gradually  creeping  into  our  Lodges,  have  no 
sort  of  connection  with  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry. They  are  an  innovation  of  our 
French  brethren,  who  are  never  pleased 
with  simplicity,  and  have,  by  their  love  of 
tinsel  in  their  various  newly-invented  cere- 
monies, effaced  many  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  impressive  symbols  of  our  Institution. 
A  Mason  who  understands  and  appreciates 
the  true  symbolic  meaning  of  his  apron, 
would  no  more  tolerate  a  painted  or  em- 
broidered satin  one  than  an  artist  would  a 
gilded  statue.  By  him,  the  lambskin,  and 
the  lambskin  alone,  would  be  considered 
as  the  badge  "  more  ancient  than  the  Golden 
Fleece,  or  Roman  Eagle,  and  more  honor- 
able than  the  Star  and  Garter." 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  England  is  precise 
in  its  regulations  for  the  decorations  of  the 
apron,  which  are  thus  laid  down  in  its 
Constitution. 

"Entered  Apprentices.  —  A  plain  white 
lambskin,  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  inches 
wide,  twelve  to  fourteen  inches  deep,  square 
at  bottom,  and  without  ornament;  white 
strings. 

"  Fellow  Graft.  — A  plain  white  lambskin, 
similar  to  that  of  the  Entered  Apprentices, 
with  the  addition  only  of  two  sky-blue 
rosettes  at  the  bottom. 

"  Master  Masons.  —  The  same,  with  sky- 
blue  lining  and  edging,  one  and  a  half  inch 
deep,  and  an  additional  rosette  on  the  fall 
or  nap,  and  silver  tassels.  No  other  color 
or  ornament  shall  be  allowed,  except  to 
officers  and  past  officers  of  Lodges  who 
may  have  the  emblems  of  their  offices  in 
silver  or  white  in  the  centre  of  the  apron ; 
and  except  as  to  the  members  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales'  Lodge,  No.  324,  who  are  allowed 
to  wear  a  narrow  internal  border  of  garter- 
blue  in  their  aprons. 

"  Grand  Stewards,  present  and  past. — 
Aprons  of  the  same  dimensions  lined  with 
crimson,  edging  of  the  same  color  three 
and  a  half  inches,  and  silver  tassels.  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Stewards,  while  in  office,  the 


APRON 


ARCHEOLOGY 


85 


same,  except  that  the  edging  is  only  two 
inches  wide.  The  collars  of  the  Grand 
Steward's  Lodge  to  be  crimson  ribbon,  four 
inches  broad. 

"  Grand  Officers  of  the  United  Grand 
Lodge,  present  and  past. —  Aprons  of  the 
same  dimensions,  lined  with  garter-blue, 
edging  three  and  a  half  inches,  ornamented 
with  gold,  and  blue  strings ;  and  they  may 
have  the  emblems  of  their  offices,  in  gold 
or  blue,  in  the  centre. 

"Provincial  Grand  Officers,  present  and 
past. — Aprons  of  the  same  dimensions, 
lined  with  garter-blue,  and  ornamented 
with  gold  and  with  blue  strings :  they  must 
have  the  emblems  of  their  offices  in  gold  or 
blue  in  the  centre  within  a  double  circle,  in 
the  margin  of  which  must  be  inserted  the 
name  of  the  province.  The  garter-blue 
edging  to  the  aprons  must  not  exceed  two 
inches  in  width. 

"  The  apron  of  the  Deputy  Grand  Master 
to  have  the  emblem  of  his  office  in  gold 
embroidery  in  the  centre,  and  the  pome- 
granate and  lotus  alternately  embroidered 
in  gold  on  the  edging. 

The  apron  of  the  Grand  Master  is  orna- 
mented with  the  blazing  sun  embroidered 
in  gold  in  the  centre;  on  the  edging  the 
pomegranate  and  lotus  with  the  seven-eared 
wheat  at  each  corner,  and  also  on  the  fall ; 
all  in  gold  embroidery ;  the  fringe  of  gold 
bullion. 

"  The  apron  of  the  pro  Grand  Master  the 
same. 

"  The  Masters  and  Past  Masters  of  Lodges 
to  wear,  in  lieu  and  in  the  places  of  the 
three  rosettes  on  the  Master  Mason's  apron, 
perpendicular  lines  upon  horizontal  lines, 
thereby  forming  three  several  sets  of  two 
right  angles ;  the  length  of  the  horizontal 
lines  to  be  two  inches  and  a  half  each,  and 
of  the  perpendicular  lines  one  inch ;  these 
emblems  to  be  of  ribbon,  half  an  inch 
broad,  and  of  the  same  color  as  the  lining 
and  edging  of  the  apron.  If  Grand  Officers, 
similar  emblems  of  garter-blue  or  gold." 

In  this  country,  although  there  is  evi- 
dence in  some  old  aprons,  still  existing, 
that  rosettes  were  formerly  worn,  there  are 
now  no  distinctive  decorations  for  the 
aprons  of  the  different  symbolic  degrees. 
The  only  mark  of  distinction  is  in  the 
mode  of  wearing ;  and  this  differs  in  the 
different  jurisdictions,  some  wearing  the 
Master's  apron  turned  up  at  the  corner,  and 
others  the  Fellow  Craft's.  The  authority 
of  Cross,  in  his  plate  of  the  Royal  Master's 
degree  in  the  older  editions  of  his  Hiero- 
glyphic Chart,  conclusively  shows  that  he 
taught  the  former  method ;  although  the 
latter  is  now  the  more  common  usage. 

As  we  advance  to  the  higher  degrees,  we 
find  the  apron  varying  in  its  decorations 


and  in  the  color  of  its  border,  which  are, 
however,  always  symbolical  of  some  idea 
taught  in  the  degree. 

Araunah.    See  Oman. 

Arbitration.  In  the  Old  Charges, 
Masons  are  advised,  in  all  cases  of  dispute 
or  controversy,  to  submit  to  the  arbitration 
of  the  Masters  and  Fellows,  rather  than  to 
go  to  law. 

Arcana.  Latin.  Secret  things,  or 
mysteries  which  it  is  forbidden  to  reveal. 
See  Secrets. 

Arcani  IMsciplina.  The  mode  of 
initiation  into  the  primitive  Christian 
church.    See  Discipline  of  the  Secret. 

Arch,  Antiquity  of  the.  Writers 
on  architecture  have,  until  within  a  few 
years,  been  accustomed  to  suppose  that  the 
invention  of  the  arch  and  keystone  was 
not  anterior  to  the  era  of  Augustus.  But 
the  researches  of  modern  antiquaries  have 
traced  the  existence  of  the  arch  as  far 
back  as  460  years  before  the  building  of 
King  Solomon's  Temple,  and  thus  rescued 
Masonic  traditions  from  the  charge  of  ana- 
chronism.   See  Keystone. 

Arch,  Catenarian.  See  Catenarian 
Arch. 

Arch  of  Enoch.  The  13th  degree 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
is  sometimes  so  called.  See  Knight  of  the 
Ninth  Arch. 

Arch  of  Heaven.  Job,  xxvi.  11, 
compares  heaven  to  an  arch  supported  by 
pillars.  "The  pillars  of  heaven  tremble 
and  are  astonished  at  his  reproof."  Dr. 
Cutbush,  on  this  passage,  remarks,  "  The 
arch  in  this  instance  is  allegorical,  not  only 
of  the  arch  of  heaven,  but  of  the  higher 
degree  of  Masonry,  commonly  called  the 
Holy  Royal  Arch.  The  pillars  which  sup- 
port the  arch  are  emblematical  of  Wisdom 
and  Strength ;  the  former  denoting  the 
wisdom  of  the  Supreme  Architect,  and  the 
latter  the  stability  of  the  Universe." — Am. 
Ed.  Brewster's  Encyc. 

Arch  of  Solomon.  Royal.  The 
13th  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite  is  sometimes  so  called,  by  which  it  is 
distinguished  from  the  Royal  Arch  degree 
of  the  English  and  American  systems. 

Arch  of  Steel.  The  grand  honors 
are  conferred,  in  the  French  Rite,  by  two 
ranks  of  brethren  elevating  and  crossing 
their  drawn  swords.  They  call  it  voute 
d'acier. 

Arch  of  Zerubbabel,  Royal.  The 
7th  degree  of  the  American  Rite  is  some- 
times so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Royal  Arch  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite,  which  is  called  the  Royal 
Arch  of  Solomon. 

Arch,  Royal.    See  Royal  Arch. 

Archaeology.  The  science  which  is  en- 


86 


ARCHETYPE 


ARCHITECTURE 


gaged  in  the  study  of  those  minor  branches 
of  antiquities  which  do  not  enter  into  the 
course  of  general  history,  such  as  national 
architecture,  genealogies,  manners,  cus- 
toms, heraldic  subjects,  and  others  of  a  simi- 
lar nature.  The  archaeology  of  Freema- 
sonry has  been  made,  within  a  recent 
period,  a  very  interesting  study,  and  is 
much  indebted  for  its  successful  pursuit  to 
the  labors  of  KIoss  and  Findel  in  Ger- 
many, and  to  Thory  and  Ragon  in  France, 
and  to  Oliver,  Lyon,  Hughan,  and  many 
living  writers,  in  England.  The  scholars 
of  this  science  have  especially  directed  their 
attention  to  the  collection  of  old  records, 
and  the  inquiry  into  the  condition  and  or- 
ganization of  Masonic  and  other  secret  as- 
sociations during  the  Middle  Ages.  In 
America,  the  late  William  S.  Rockwell  was 
a  diligent  student  of  Masonic  archaeology, 
and  several  others  in  this  country  have 
labored  assiduously  in  the  same  inviting 
field. 

Archetype.  The  principal  type,  figure, 
pattern,  or  example  whereby  and  whereon 
a  thing  is  formed.  In  the  science  of  sym- 
bolism, the  archetype  is  the  thing  adopted 
as  a  symbol,  whence  the  symbolic  idea  is 
derived.  Thus  we  say  the  Temple  is  the 
archetype  of  the  Lodge,  because  the  former 
is  the  symbol  whence  all  the  Temple  sym- 
bolism of  the  latter  is  derived. 

Architect.  In  laying  the  corner- 
stones of  Masonic  edifices,  and  in  dedicating 
them  after  they  are  finished,  the  architect 
of  the  building,  although  he  may  be  a  pro- 
fane, is  required  to  take  a  part  in  the  cere- 
monies. In  the  former  case,  the  square, 
level,  and  plumb  are  delivered  to  him  with 
a  charge  by  the  Grand  Master ;  and  in  the 
latter  case  they  are  returned  by  him  to  that 
officer. 

Architect,  African.  See  African 
Architects. 

Architect  by  3, 5,  and  7,  Grand. 
( Grande  Architecte  par  3, 5,  el  7. )  A  degree 
in  the  manuscript  of  Peuvret's  collection. 

Architect,  Grand.  {Architecte 
Grande.)  1.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  Martinism.  2.  The  fourth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Elect  Cohens.  3.  The  twenty- 
third  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  4. 
The  twenty-fourth  degree  in  the  collection 
of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Architect,  Grand  Master.  See 
Grand  Master  Architect. 

Architect,  I A 1 1  le.    {Architecte  Petit. ) 

1.  The  twenty -third  degree  of  the  collection 
of   the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

2.  The  twenty-second  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  Mizraim. 

Architect  of  Solomon.  {Architecte 
de  Salomon.)  A  degree  in  the  manuscript 
collection  of  M.  Peuvret. 


Architect,  Perfect.  {Architecte 
Par/ait.)  The  twenty-eighth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Mizraim.  The  twenty-fifth,  twenty- 
sixth,  twenty-seventh  degrees  of  the  same 
Rite  are  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and 
Master  Perfect  Architect. 

Architect,  Perfect  and  Sub- 
lime Grand.  {Architecte,  Par/ait  et 
Sublime  Grande.)  A  degree  in  the  collec- 
tion of  the  Loge  des  Amis  Reunis  at 
Calais. 

Architectonicns.  Latin.  Relating  • 
to  architecture.  Thus,  Vitruvius  says, 
"rationes  architectonicse,"  the  rules  of 
architecture.  But  as  Architecton  signifies 
a  Master  Builder,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland,  in  some  Latin  inscriptions,  has 
used  the  word  architectonicus,  to  denote  Ma- 
sonic or  relating  to  Freemasonry.  In  the  in- 
scription on  the  corner-stone  of  the  Royal 
Exchange  of  Edinburgh,  we  find  "  fratres 
architectonici "  used  for  Freemasons;  and  in 
the  Grand  Lodge  diploma,  a  Lodge  is  called 
"  societas  architectonica;"  but  the  usage  of 
the  word  in  this  sense  has  not  been  gen- 
erally adopted. 

Architecture.  The  art  of  construct- 
ing dwellings,  as  a  shelter  from  the  heat 
of  summer  and  the  cold  of  winter,  must 
have  been  resorted  to  from  the  very  first 
moment  in  which  man  became  subjected  to 
the  power  of  the  elements.  Architecture 
is,  therefore,  not  only  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant, but  one  of  the  most  ancient  of 
sciences.  Rude  and  imperfect  must,  how- 
ever, have  been  the  first  efforts  of  the 
human  race,  resulting  in  the  erection  of 
huts  clumsy  in  their  appearance,  and  ages 
must  have  elapsed  ere  wisdom  of  design 
combined  strength  of  material  with  beauty 
of  execution. 

As  Geometry  is  the  science  on  which 
Masonry  is  founded,  Architecture  is  the  art 
from  which  it  borrows  the  language  of  its 
symbolic  instruction.  In  the  earlier  ages 
of  the  Order  every  Mason  was  either  an 
operative  mechanic  or  a  superintending 
architect.  And  something  more  than  a 
superficial  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
architecture  is  absolutely  essential  to  the 
Mason  who  would  either  understand  the 
former  history  of  the  Institution  or  appre- 
ciate its  present  objects. 

There  are  five  orders  of  architecture :  the 
Doric,  the  Ionic,  the  Corinthian,  the  Tus- 
can, and  the  Composite.  The  first  three 
are  the  original  orders,  and  were  invented 
in  Greece ;  the  last  two  are  of  later  forma- 
tion, and  owe  their  existence  to  Italy. 
Each  of  these  orders,  as  well  as  the  other 
terms  of  architecture,  so  far  as  they  are 
connected  with  Freemasonry,  will  be  found 
under  its  appropriate  head  throughout  this 
work. 


ARCHITECTURE 


ARK 


87 


The  Books  of  Constitutions,  commenced 
by  Anderson  and  continued  by  Entick  and 
Noorthouck,  contain,  under  the  title  of  a 
History  of  Freemasonry,  in  reality  a  history 
of  the  progress  of  architecture  from  the 
earliest  ages.  In  the  older  manuscript 
Constitutions  the  science  of  geometry,  as 
well  as  architecture,  is  made  identical  with 
Masonry ;  so  that  he  who  would  rightly 
understand  the  true  history  of  Freema- 
sonry must  ever  bear  in  mind  the  distinc- 
tion between  Geometry,  Architecture,  and 
Masonry,  which  is  constantly  lost  sight  of 
in  these  old  records. 

Architecture,  Piece  of.  {Morceau 
<V architecture.)  The  name  given  in  French 
Lodges  to  the  minutes. 

Archives.  This  word  means,  properly, 
a  place  of  deposit  for  records ;  but  it  means 
also  the  records  themselves.  Hence  the 
archives  of  a  Lodge  are  its  records  and 
other  documents.  The  legend  in  the  second 
degree,  that  the  pillars  of  the  Temple  were 
made  hollow  to  contain  the  archives  of 
Masonry,  is  simply  a  myth,  and  a  very 
modern  one. 

Archives,  Grand  Guardian  of 
the.  An  officer  in  the  Grand  Council  of 
Rites  of  Ireland  who  performs  the  duties 
of  Secretary  General. 

Archives,  Grand  Keeper  of  the. 
An  officer  in  some  of  the  bodies  of  the  high 
degrees  whose  duties  are  indicated  by  the 
name.  In  the  Grand  Orient  of  France  he 
is  called  Grand  Garde  des  timbres  et  Sceaux, 
as  he  combines  the  duties  of  a  keeper  of 
the  archives  and  a  keeper  of  the  seats. 

Archiviste.  An  officer  in  French 
Lodges  who  has  the  charge  of  the  archives. 
The  Germans  call  him  Archivar. 

Ardarel.  A  word  in  the  high  degrees, 
used  as  the  name  of  the  angel  of  fire.  It 
is  a  distorted  form  of  Adariel,  the  splendor 
of  God. 

Arelim.  A  word  used  in  some  of  the 
rituals  of  the  high  degrees.  It  is  found  in 
Isaiah,  (xxxiii.  7,)  where  it  is  translated, 
in  the  A.  V.,  "  valiant  ones,"  and  by  Lowth, 
"  mighty  men."  It  is  a  doubtful  word,  and 
is  probably  formed  from  ariel,  the  lion  of 
God.  D'Herbelot  says  that  Mohammed 
called  his  uncle  Hamseh,  on  account  of 
his  valor,  the  lion  of  God.  In  the  Kabba- 
la,  Arelim  is  the  angelic  name  of  the  third 
sephirah. 

Areopagus.  The  third  apartment  in 
a  Council  of  Kadosh  is  so  called.  It  rep- 
resents a  tribunal,  and  the  name  is  derived 
from  the  celebrated  court  of  Athens. 

Arithmetic.  That  science  which  is 
engaged  in  considering  the  properties  and 
powers  of  numbers,  and  which,  from  its 
manifest  necessity  in  all  the  operations  of 
weighing,  numbering,  and  measuring,  must 


have  had  its  origin  in  the  remotest  ages  of 
the  world. 

In  the  lecture  of  the  degree  of  Grand 
Master  Architect,  the  application  of  this 
science  to  Freemasonry  is  made  to  consist 
in  its  reminding  the  Mason  that  he  is  con- 
tinually to  add  to  his  knowledge,  never  to 
subtract  anything  from  the  character  of  his 
neighbor,  to  multiply  his  benevolence  to  his 
fellow-creatures,  and  to  divide  his  means 
with  a  suffering  brother. 

Ark.  In  the  ritual  of  the  American 
Royal  Arch  degree  three  arks  are  referred 
to:  1.  The  Ark  of  Safety,  or  of  Noah;  2. 
The  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  or  of  Moses ;  3. 
The  Substitute  Ark,  or  the  Ark  of  Zerub- 
babel.     In  what  is  technically  called  "  the 

Eassing  of  the  veils,"  each  of  these  arks 
as  its  commemorative  illustration,  and  in 
the  order  in  which  they  have  been  named. 
The  first  was  constructed  by  Shem,  Ham, 
and  Japheth,  the  sons  of  Noah ;  the  second 
by  Moses,  Aholiab,  and  Bezaleel ;  and  the 
third  was  discovered  by  Joshua,  Haggai, 
and  Zerubbabel. 

Ark  and  Anchor.  See  Anchor  and 
Ark. 

Ark  and  Dove.  An  illustrative  de- 
gree, preparatory  to  the  Royal  Arch,  and 
usually  conferred,  when  conferred  at  all, 
immediately  before  the  solemn  ceremony 
of  exaltation.  The  name  of  Noachite, 
sometimes  given  to  it,  is  incorrect,  as  this 
belongs  to  a  degree  in  the  Ancient  Scottish 
Rite.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  degree, 
which  now,  however,  has  lost  much  of 
its  significance,  was  derived  from  a  much 
older  one  called  the  Royal  Ark  Mariners,  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred.  The  legend 
and  symbolism  of  the  ark  and  dove  formed 
an  important  part  of  the  spurious  Free- 
masonry of  the  ancients. 

Ark  Mariners.  See  Royal  Ark 
Mariners. . 

Ark,  Noah's,  or  the  Ark  of  Safety, 
constructed  by  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Noah,  and  in 
it,  as  a  chosen  tabernacle  of  refuge,  the 
patriarch's  family  took  refuge.  It  has  been 
called  by  many  commentators  a  tabernacle 
of  Jehovah ;  and  Dr.  Jarvis,  speaking  of  the 
word  "1HV>  ZoHaR,  which  has  been  trans- 
lated window,  says  that,  in  all  other  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  where  this  word  occurs, 
it  signifies  the  meridian  light,  the  brightest 
effulgence  of  day,  and  therefore  it  could 
not  have  been  an  aperture,  but  a  source  of 
light  itself.  He  supposes  it  therefore  to 
have  been  the  divine  Shekinah,  or  Glory 
of  Jehovah,  which  afterwards  dwelt  be- 
tween the  cherubim  over  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant  in  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple. 
Church  of  the  Redeemed,  I.,  20. 

Ark  of  the  Covenant.    The  Ark 


88 


ARK 


ARK 


of  the  Covenant  or  of  the  Testimony  was  a 
chest  originally  constructed  by  Moses  at 
God's  command,  (Exod.  xxv.  16,)  in  which 
were  kept  the  two  tables  of  stone,  on  which 
were  engraved  the  ten  commandments.  It 
contained,  likewise,  a  golden  pot  filled  with 
manna,  Aaron's  rod,  and  the  tables  of  the 
covenant.  It  was  at  first  deposited  in  the 
most  sacred  place  of  the  tabernacle,  and 
afterwards  placed  by  Solomon  in  the  Sanc- 
tum Sanctorum  of  the  Temple,  and  was 
lost  upon  the  destruction  of  that  building 
by  the  Chaldeans.  The  later  history  of 
this  ark  is  buried  in  obscurity.  It  is  sup- 
posed that,  upon  the  destruction  of  the  first 
Temple  by  the  Chaldeans,  it  was  carried  to 
Babylon  among  the  other  sacred  utensils 
which  became  the  spoil  of  the  conquerors. 
But  of  its  subsequent  fate  all  traces  have 
been  lost.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  it 
was  not  brought  back  to  Jerusalem  by  Ze- 
rubbabel.  The  Talmudists  say  that  there 
were  five  things  which  were  the  glory  of 
the  first  Temple  that  were  wanting  in  the 
second ;  namely,  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 
the  Shekinah  or  Divine  Presence,  the 
Urim  and  Thummim,  the  holy  fire  upon 
the  altar,  and  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  The 
Rev.  Salem  Towne,  it  is  true,  has  en- 
deavored to  prove,  by  a  very  ingenious 
argument,  that  the  original  Ark  of  the 
Covenant  was  concealed  by  Josiah,  or  by 
others,  at  some  time  previous  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  and  that  it  was  after- 
wards, at  the  building  of  the  second  Temple, 
discovered  and  brought  to  light.  But  such 
a  theory  is  entirely  at  variance  with  all  the 
legends  of  the  degree  of  Select  Master  and 
of  Royal  Arch  Masonry.  To  admit  it 
would  lead  to  endless  confusion  and  con- 
tradictions in  the  traditions  of  the  Order. 
It  is,  besides,  in  conflict  with  the  opinions 
of  the  Rabbinical  writers  and  every  He- 
brew scholar.  Josephus  and  the  Rabbins 
allege  that  in  the  second  Temple  the  Holy 
of  Holies  was  empty,  or  contained  only  the 
Stone  of  Foundation  which  marked  the 
place  which  the  ark  should  have  occupied. 

The  ark  was  made  of  shittim  wood, 
overlaid,  within  and  without,  with  pure 
gold.  It  was  about  three  feet  nine  inches 
long,  two  feet  three  inches  wide,  and  of  the 
same  extent  in  depth.  It  had  on  the  side 
two  rings  of  gold,  through  which  were 
placed  staves  of  shittim  wood,  by  which, 
when  necessary,  it  was  borne  by  the  Levites. 
Its  covering  was  of  pure  gold,  over  which 
were  placed  two  figures  called  cherubim, 
with  expanded  wings.  The  covering  of  the 
ark  was  called  kaphiret,  from  kaphar,  "  to 
forgive  sin,"  and  hence  its  English  name  of 
"  mercy-seat,"  as  being  the  place  where  the 
intercession  for  sin  was  made. 

The  researches  of  archaeologists  in  the 


last  few  years  have  thrown  much  light  on 
the  Egyptian  mysteries.  Among  the  cere- 
monies of  that  ancient  people  was  one 
called  the  Procession  of  Shrines,  which  is 
mentioned  in  the  Rosetta  stone,  and  de- 
picted on  the  Temple  walls.  One  of  these 
shrines  was  an  ark,  which  was  carried  in 
procession  by  the  priests,  who  supported  it 
on  their  shoulders  by  staves  passing  through 
metal  rings.  It  was  thus  brought  into  the 
Temple  and  deposited  on  a  stand  or  altar, 
that  the  ceremonies  prescribed  in  the  ritual 
might  be  performed  before  it.  The  con- 
tents of  these  arks  were  various,  but  always 
of  a  mystical  character.  Sometimes  the  ark 
would  contain  symbols  of  Life  and  Stabili- 
ty;  sometimes  the  sacred  beetle,  the  symbol 
of  the  Sun  ;  and  there  was  always  a  repre- 
sentation of  two  figures  of  the  goddess 
Theme  or  Truth  and  Justice,  which  over- 
shadowed the  ark  with  their  wings.  These 
coincidences  of  the  Egyptian  and  Hebrew 
arks  must  have  been  more  than  accidental. 

Ark,  Substitute.  The  chest  or  coffer 
which  constitutes  a  part  of  the  furniture, 
and  is  used  in  the  ceremonies  of  a  Chapter 
of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  in  a  Council 
of  Select  Masters  according  to  the  Ameri- 
can system,  is  called  by  Masons  the  Substi- 
tute Ark,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other 
ark,  that  which  was  constructed  in  the 
wilderness  under  the  direction  of  Moses, 
and  which  is  known  as  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant.  This  the  Substitute  Ark  was 
made  to  represent  under  circumstances  that 
are  recorded  in  the  Masonic  traditions,  and 
especially  in  those  of  the  Select  Degree. 

The  ark  used  in  Royal  Arch  and  Cryptic 
Masonry  in  this  country  is  generally  of 
this  form : 


% 


ills 

fiAfrV\A\AAA/^A/sM 

'/*Vv 

*m 

1 

IU3DEU 

Yii^.'uuiH.'i'iHUiuummumiiH't.m^iiiii'  ,n  .t.iii 

M 

Prideaux,  on  the  authority  of  Lightfoot, 
contends  that,  as  an  ark  was  indispensable 
to  the  Israelitish  worship,  there  was  in  the 
second  Temple  an  ark  which  had  been  ex- 
pressly made  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
the  place  of  the  first  or  original  ark,  and 
which,  without  possessing  any  of  its  pre- 
rogatives or  honors,  was  of  precisely  the 
same  shape  and  dimensions,  and  was  de- 

{>osited  in  the  same  place.  The  Masonic 
egend,  whether  authentic  or  not,  is  simple 
and  connected.  It  teaches  that  there  was 
an  ark  in  the  second  Temple,  but  that  it 
was  neither  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 
which  had  been  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  of 
the  first  Temple,  nor  one  that  had  been  con- 


ARK 


AKMS 


structed  as  a  substitute  for  it  after  the 
building  of  the  second  Temple.  It  was 
that  ark  which  was  presented  to  us  in  the 
Select  Master's  degree,  and  which  being  an 
exact  copy  of  the  Mosaical  ark,  and  in- 
tended to  replace  it  in  case  of  its  loss,  is 
best  known  to  Freemasons  as  the  Substitute 
Ark. 

Lightfoot  gives  these  Talmudic  legends, 
in  his  Prospect  of  the  Temple,  in  the  follow- 
ing language  :  "  It  is  fancied  by  the  Jews, 
that  Solomon,  when  he  built  the  Temple, 
foreseeing  that  the  Temple  should  be  de- 
stroyed, caused  very  obscure  and  intricate 
vaults  under  ground  to  be  made,  wherein 
to  hide  the  ark  when  any  such  danger 
came ;  that  howsoever  it  went  with  the 
Temple,  yet  the  ark,  which  was  the  very 
life  of  the  Temple,  might  be  saved.  And 
they  understand  that  passage  in  2  Chron. 
xxxv.  3,  '  Josiah  said  unto  the  Levites,  Put 
the  holy  ark  into  the  house  which  Solomon, 
the  son  of  David,  did  build,'  etc.,  as  if 
Josiah,  having  heard  by  the  reading  of 
Moses'  manuscript,  and  by  Huldah's  proph- 
ecy of  the  danger  that  hung  over  Jerusa- 
lem, commanded  to  convey  the  ark  into 
this  vault,  that  it  might  be  secured;  and 
with  it,  say  they,  they  laid  up  Aaron's  rod, 
the  pot  of  manna,  and  the  anointing  oil. 
For  while  the  ark  stood  in  its  place  upon 
the  stone  mentioned  —  they  hold  that 
Aaron's  rod  and  the  pot  of  manna  stood 
before  it;  but,  now,  were  all  conveyed  into 
obscurity  —  and  the  stone  upon  which  the 
ark  stood  lay  over  the  mouth  of  the  vault. 
But  Rabbi  Solomon,  which  useth  not, 
ordinarily,  to  forsake  such  traditions,  hath 
given  a  more  serious  gloss  upon  the  place ; 
namely,  that  whereas  Manasseh  and  Amon 
had  removed  the  ark  out  of  its  habitation, 
and  set  up  images  and  abominations  there 
of  their  own  —  Joshua  speaketh  to  the 
priests  to  restore  it  to  its  place  again. 
What  became  of  the  ark,  at  the  burning  of 
the  temple  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  we  read 
not;  it  is  most  likely  it  went  to  the  fire 
also.  However  it  sped,  it  was  not  in  the 
second  Temple;  and  is  one  of  the  five  choice 
things  that  the  Jews  reckon  wanting  there. 
Yet  they  had  an  ark  there  also  of  their  own 
making,  as  they  had  a  breastplate  of  judg- 
ment; which,  though  they  both  wanted 
the  glory  of  the  former,  which  was  giving 
of  oracles,  yet  did  they  stand  current  as  to 
the  other  matters  of  their  worship,  as  the 
former  breastplate  and  ark  had  done." 

The  idea  of  the  concealment  of  an  ark 
and  its  accompanying  treasures  always  pre- 
vailed in  the  Jewish  church.  The  account 
given  by  the  Talmudists  is  undoubtedly 
mythical ;  but  there  must,  as  certainly,  have 
been  some  foundation  for  the  myth,  for 
every  myth  has  a  substratum  of  truth. 
M 


The  Masonic  tradition  differs  from  the  rab- 
binical, but  is  in  every  way  more  reconcil- 
able with  truth,  or  at  least  with  probability. 
The  ark  constructed  by  Moses,  Aholiab, 
and  Bezaleel  was  burnt  at  the  destruction 
of  the  first  Temple ;  but  there  was  an  exact 
representation  of  it  in  the  second. 

Arkite  Worship.  The  almost  uni- 
versal prevalence  among  the  nations  of 
antiquity  of  some  tradition  of  a  long  past 
deluge,  gave  rise  to  certain  mythological 
doctrines  and  religious  ceremonies,  to  which 
has  been  given  the  name  of  arkite  wor- 
ship, which  was  very  extensively  diffused. 
The  evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the 
sacred  feeling  which  was  entertained  for 
the  sacredness  of  high  mountains,  derived, 
it  is  supposed,  from  recollections  of  an 
Ararat,  and  from  the  presence  in  all  the 
Mysteries  of  a  basket,  chest,  or  coffer, 
whose  mystical  character  bore  apparently 
a  reference  to  the  ark  of  Noah.  On  the 
subject  of  this  arkite  worship,  Bryant, 
Faber,  Higgins,  Banier,  and  many  other 
writers,  have  made  learned  investigations, 
which  may  be  consulted  with  advantage  by 
the  Masonic  archaeologist. 

Armenbusclie.  The  poor-box;  the 
name  given  by  German  Masons  to  the  box 
in  which  collections  of  money  are  made  at 
a  Table-Lodge  for  the  relief  of  poor  breth- 
ren and  their  families. 

Amies.  A  corrupted  form  of  Hermes, 
found  in  the  Landsdowne  and  some  other 
old  manuscripts. 

Armiger.  1.  A  bearer  of  arms.  The 
title  given  by  heralds  to  the  esquire  who 
waited  on  a  knight.  2.  The  sixth  degree 
of  the  Order  of  African  Architects. 

Armory.  An  apartment  attached  to 
the  asylum  of  a  Commandery  of  Knights 
Templars,  in  which  the  swords  and  other 
parts  of  the  costume  of  the  knights  are  de- 
posited for  safe  keeping. 

Arms  of  Masonry.  Stow  says 
that  the  Masons  were  incorporated  as  a 
company  in  the  twelfth  year  of  Henry  IV., 
1412.  Their  arms  were  granted  to  them,  in 
1477,  by  William  Hawkesloe,  Clarenceux 
King- at- Arms,  and  are  azure  on  a  chevron 
between  three  castles  argent,-  a  pair  of  com- 
passes somewhat  extended,  of  the  first. 
Crest  a  castle  of  the  second.  They  were 
adopted,  subsequently,  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England.  The  Athol  Grand  Lodge 
objected  to  this  as  an  unlawful  assumption 
by  the  Modern  Grand  Lodge  of  Speculative 
Freemasons  of  the  arms  of  the  Operative 
Masons.  They  accordingly  adopted  another 
coat,  which  Dermott  blazons  as  follows: 
Quarterly  per  squares,  counterchanged  vert. 
In  the  first  quarter,  azure,  a  lion  rampant, 
or.  In  the  second  quarter,  or,  an  ox  passant 
fable.     In  the  third  quarter,  or,  a  man  with 


90 


ARRAS 


ASHE 


hands  erect  proper,  robed  crimson  and 
ermine.  In  the  fourth  quarter,  azure,  an 
eagle  displayed  or.  Crest,  the  holy  ark  of  the 
covenant  proper,  supported  by  cherubim. 
Motto,  Kodes  la  Adonai,  that  is,  Holiness  to 
the  Lord. 

These  arms  are  derived  from  the  "  tetrar- 
chical"  (as Sir  Thos.  Browne  calls  them),  or 
general  banners  of  the  four  principal  tribes : 
for  it  is  said  that  the  twelve  tribes,  during 
their  passage  through  the  wilderness,  were 
encamped  in  a  hollow  square,  three  on  each 
side,  as  follows :  Judah,  Zebulun,  and  Is- 
sachar,  in  the  east,  under  the  general  ban- 
ner of  Judah ;  Dan,  Asher,  and  Naphtali, 
in  the  north,  under  the  banner  of  Dan ; 
Ephraim,  Manasseh,  and  Benjamin,  in  the 
west,  under  the  banner  of  Ephraim ;  and 
Reuben,  Simeon,  and  Gad,  in  the  south, 
under  Reuben.    See  Banners. 

Arras,  Primordial  Chapter  of. 
Arras  is  a  town  in  the  north-western  part 
of  France,  where,  in  the  year  1747,  Charles 
Edward  Stuart,  the  Pretender,  established 
a  Sovereign  Primordial  and  Metropolitan 
Chapter  ofRosicrucian  Freemasons.  A  por- 
tion of  the  charter  of  this  body  is  given  by 
Ragon  in  his  Orthodoxie  Maconique.  In 
1853,  the  Count  de  Hamel,  prefect  of  the 
department,  discovered  an  authentic  copy, 
in  parchment,  of  this  document  bearing  the 
date  of  April  15,  1747,  which  he  deposited 
in  the  departmental  archives.  This  docu- 
ment is  as  follows : 

"  We,  Charles  Edward,  king  of  England, 
France,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  as  such 
Substitute  Grand  Master  of  the  Chapter  of 
H.,  known  by  the  title  of  Knight  of  the 
Eagle  and  Pelican,  and  since  our  sorrows 
and  misfortunes  by  that  of  Rose  Croix, 
wishing  to  testify  our  gratitude  to  the  Ma- 
sons of  Artois,  and  the  officers  of  the  city 
of  Arras,  for  the  numerous  marks  of  kind- 
ness which  they  in  conjunction  with  the 
officers  of  the  garrison  of  Arras  have  lav- 
ished upon  us,  and  their  attachment  to  our 
person,  shown  during  a  residence  of  six 
months  in  that  city, 

"  We  have  in  favor  of  them  created  and 
erected,  and  do  create  and  erect  by  the 
present  bull,  in  the  aforesaid  city  of  Arras, 
a  Sovereign  Primordial  Chapter  of  Rose 
Croix,  under.the  distinctive  title  of  Scottish 
Jacobite,  {Ecosse  Jacobite,)  to  be  ruled  and 

foverned  by  the  Knights  Lagneau  and 
Lobespierre ;  Avocats  Hazard,  and  his  two 
sons,  physicians ;  J.  B.  Lucet,  our  uphol- 
sterer, and  JerSmeCellier,  our  clock-maker, 
giving  to  them  and  to  their  successors  the 
power  not  only  to  make  knights,  but  even 
to  create  a  Chapter  in  whatever  town  they 
may  think  fit,  provided  that  two  Chapters 
shall  not  be  created  in  the  same  town  how- 
ever populous  it  may  be. 


"  And  that  credit  may  be  given  to  our 
present  bull,  we  have  signed  it  with  our 
hand  and  caused  to  be  affixed  thereunto  the 
secret  seal,  and  countersigned  by  the  secre- 
tary of  our  cabinet,  Thursday,  15th  of 
the  second  month  of  the  year  of  the  incar- 
nation, 1747. 

"Charles  Edward  Stuart. 

"  Countersigned,  Berkley." 

This  Chapter  created  a  few  others,  and 
in  1780  established  one  in  Paris,  under  the 
distinctive  title  of  Chapter  of  Arras,  in  the 
valley  of  Paris.  It  united  itself  to  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France  on  the  27th  De- 
cember, 1801.  It  was  declared  First  Suf- 
fragan of  the  Scottish  Jacobite  Chapter, 
with  the  right  to  constitute  others.  The 
Chapter  established  at  Arras,  by  the  Pre- 
tender, was  named  the  "Eagle  and  Peli- 
can," and  Oliver  ( Orig.  ofR.  A.,  p.  22,)  from 
this  seeks  to  find,  perhaps  justifiably,  a 
connection  between  it  and  the  R.  S.  Y.  C.  S. 
of  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland. 

Arrest  of  Charter.  To  arrest  the 
charter  of  a  Lodge  is  a  technical  phrase  by 
which  is  meant  to  suspend  the  work  of  a 
Lodge,  to  prevent  it  from  holding  its 
usual  communications,  and  to  forbid  it  to 
transact  any  business  or  to  do  any  work. 
A  Grand  Master  cannot  revoke  the  warrant 
of  a  Lodge;  but  if,  in  his  opinion,  the 
good  of  Masonry  or  any  other  sufficient 
cause  requires  it,  he  may  suspend  the  oper- 
ation of  the  warrant  until  the  next  commu- 
nication of  the  Grand  Lodge,  which  body 
is  alone  competent  to  revise  or  approve  of 
his  action. 

Arthusius,  Gotthardns.  A  learned 
Dane,  Rector  of  the  Gymnasium  at  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main;  who  wrote  many  works 
on  Rosicrucianism,  under  the  assumed 
name  of  Irenaeus  Agnostus.    See  Agnostus. 

Art  Royal.    See  Royal  Art. 

Arts.  In  the  Masonic  phrase,  "arts, 
parts,  and  points  of  the  Mysteries  of  Ma- 
sonry ;"  arts  means  the  knowledge  or  things 
made  known,  parts  the  degrees  into  which 
Masonry  is  divided,  and  points  the  rules 
and  usages.    See  Parts,  and  also  Points. 

Arts,  Liberal.  See  Liberal  Arts  and 
Sciences. 

Ascension  Day.  Also  called  Holy 
Thursday.  A  festival  of  the  Christian 
church  held  in  commemoration  of  the  as- 
cension of  our  Lord  forty  days  after  Easter. 
It  is  celebrated  as  a  feast  day  by  Chapters 
of  Rose  Croix. 

Ashe,  I>.  1>..  Rev.  Jonathan. 
A  literary  plagiarist  who  resided  in  Bristol, 
England.  In  1813  he  published  The  Masonic 
Manual ;  or,  Lectures  on  Freemasonry.  Ashe 
does  not,  it  is  true,  pretend  to  originality, 
but  abstains  from  giving  credit  to  Hutch- 
inson, from  whom  he  has  taken  at  least 


ASHER 


ASHMOLE 


91 


two-thirds  of  his  book.     In  1843  an  edi- 
tion was  published  by  Spencer,  with  valua- 
ble notes  by  Dr.  Oliver. 
Asher,  Dr.  Carl  Wilhelm.    The 

first  translator  into  German  of  the  Halli- 
well  MS.,  which  he  published  at  Hamburg, 
in  1842,  under  the  title  of  Aelteste  Urkunde 
der  Freimaurerei  in  England.  This  work 
contains  both  the  original  English  docu- 
ment and  the  German  translation. 

Ashlar.  "Freestone  as  it  comes  out 
of  the  quarry."  —  Bailey.  In  Speculative 
Masonry  we  adopt  the  ashlar  in  two  differ- 
ent states,  as  symbols  in  the  Apprentice's 
degree.  The  Rough  Ashlar,  or  stone  in  its 
rude  and  unpolished  condition,  is  emblem- 
atic of  man  in  his  natural  state — ignorant, 
uncultivated,  and  vicious.  But  when  edu- 
cation has  exerted  its  wholesome  influence 
in  expanding  his  intellect,  restraining  his 
passions,  and  purifying  his  life,  he  then  is 
represented  by  the  Perfect  Ashlar,  which, 
under  the  skilful  hands  of  the  workmen, 
has  been  smoothed,  and  squared,  and  fitted 
for  its  place  in  the  building.  In  the  older 
lectures  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Per- 
fect Ashlar  is  not  mentioned,  but  its  place 
was  supplied  by  the  Broached  Thurnel. 

Ashmole,  Ellas.  A  celebrated  anti- 
quary, and  the  author  of,  among  other 
works,  the  well-known  History  of  the  Order 
of  the  Garter,  and  founder  of  the  Ashmo- 
lean  Museum  at  Oxford.  He  was  born  at 
Litchfield,  in  England,  on  the  23d  May, 
1617,  and  died  at  London  on  the  18th  May, 
1692.  He  was  made  a  Freemason  on  the 
16th  October,  1646,  and  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  his  reception  in  his  Diary, 
p.  303. 

"  1646.  October  16.  4  Hor.,  30  minutes 
post  merid.,  I  was  made  a  Freemason  at 
Warrington,  in  Lancashire,  with  Colonel 
Henry  Mainwaring,  of  Karticham,  in 
Cheshire ;  the  names  of  them  who  were 
then  at  the  Lodge,  Mr.  Richard  Penket 
Warden,  Mr.  James  Collier,  Mr.  Richard 
Sankey,  Henry  Littler,  John  Ellam,  and 
Hugh  Brewer." 

In  another  place  he  speaks  of  his  being 
admitted  into  the  Fellowship,  {Diary,  p. 
362,)  for  thirty-six  years  afterwards  makes 
the  following  entry : 

"  1682.  March  10.  About  5  Hor.,  post 
merid.,  I  received  a  summons  to  appear  at 
a  Lodge  to  be  held  the  next  day  at  Masons' 
Hall,  in  London. 

"11.  Accordingly,  I  went,  and  about 
noon  was  admitted  into  the  Fellowship  of 
Freemasons,  by  Sir  William  Wilson,  knight, 
Capt.  Richard  Borthwick,  Mr.  William 
Wodman,  Mr.  William  Wife. 

"  I  was  the  senior  fellow  among  them, 
(it  being  thirty-five  years  since  I  was  ad- 
mitted;) there  was  present  besides  myself 


the  fellows  afternamed :  Mr.  Thomas  Wife, 
Master  of  the  Masons'  company  this  pres- 
ent   year;    Mr.   Thomas    Shorthofe,    Mr. 

Thomas  Shadbolt,  Waidsford,  Esq., 

Mr.  Nicholas  Young,  Mr.  John  Shorthofe, 
Mr.  William  Hamon,  Mr.  John  Thompson, 
and  Mr.  William  Stanton.  We  all  dined  at 
the  Half-Moon-Tavern  in  Cheapside,  at  a 
noble  dinner  prepared  at  the  charge  of  the 
new  Accepted  Masons." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  intention 
expressed  by  Ashmole  to  write  a  history  of 
Freemasonry  was  never  carried  into  effect. 
His  laborious  research  as  evinced  in  his 
exhaustive  work  on  the  Order  of  the  Garter, 
would  lead  us  to  have  expected  from  his 
antiquarian  pen  a  record  of  the  origin  and 
early  progress  of  our  Institution  more  val- 
uable than  any  that  we  now  possess.  The 
following  remarks  on  this  subject,  con- 
tained in  a  letter  from  Dr.  Knipe,  of  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  to  the  publisher  of  Ash- 
mole's  Life,  while  it  enables  us  to  form 
some  estimate  of  the  loss  that  Masonic 
literature  has  suffered,  supplies  interesting 
particulars  which  are  worthy  of  preserva- 
tion. 

"  As  to  the  ancient  society  of  Freemasons, 
concerning  whom  you  are  desirous  of  know- 
ing what  may  be  known  with  certainty,  I 
shall  only  tell  you,  that  if  our  worthy 
Brother,  E.  Ashmole,  Esq.,  had  executed 
his  intended  design,  our  Fraternity  had 
been  as  much  obliged  to  him  as  the  Breth- 
ren of  the  most  noble  Order  of  the  Garter. 
I  would  not  have  you  surprised  at  this  ex- 
pression, or  think  it  all  too  assuming.  The 
sovereigns  of  that  Order  have  not  disdained 
our  fellowship,  and  there  have  been  times 
when  emperors  were  also  Freemasons. 
What  from  Mr.  E.  Ashmole's  collection  I 
could  gather  was,  that  the  report  of  our 
society's  taking  rise  from  a  bull  granted  by 
the  Pope,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  to 
some  Italian  architects  to  travel  over  all 
Europe,  to  erect  chapels,  was  ill-founded. 
Such  a  bull  there  was,  and  those  architects 
were  Masons ;  but  this  bull,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  learned  Mr.  Ashmole,  was  confirma- 
tive only,  and  did  not  by  any  means  create 
our  Fraternity,  or  even  establish  them  in 
this  kingdom.  But  as  to  the  time  and 
manner  of  that  establishment,  something  I 
shall  relate  from  the  same  collections.  St. 
Alban  the  Proto-Martyr  of  England,  estab- 
lished Masonry  here ;  and  from  his  time  it 
flourished  more  or  less,  according  as  the 
world  went,  down  to  the  days  of  King 
Athelstan,  who,  for  the  sake  of  his  brother 
Edwin,  granted  the  Masons  a  charter  un- 
der our  Norman  princes.  They  frequently 
received  extraordinary  marks  of  royal  fa- 
vor. There  is  no  doubt  to  be  made,  that 
the  skill  of  Masons,  which  was  always 


92 


ASIA 


ASSASSINS 


transcendent,  even  in  the  most  barbarous 
times, — their  wonderful  kindness  and  at- 
tachment to  each  other,  how  different  so- 
ever in  condition,  and  their  inviolable 
fidelity  in  keeping  religiously  their  secret, — 
must  expose  them  in  ignorant,  troublesome, 
and  suspicious  times  to  a  vast  variety  of 
adventures,  according  to  the  different  fate 
of  parties  and  other  alterations  in  govern- 
ment. By  the  way,  I  shall  note  that  the 
Masons  were  always  loyal,  which  exposed 
them  to  great  severities  when  power  wore 
the  trappings  of  justice,  and  those  who 
committed  treason  punished  true  men  as 
traitors.  Thus,  in  the  third  year  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  VI.,  an  act  of  Parliament 
was  passed  to  abolish  the  society  of  Masons, 
and  to  hinder,  under  grievous  penalties,  the 
holding  Chapters,  Lodges,  or  other  regular 
assemblies.  Yet  this  act  was  afterwards 
repealed,  and  even  before  that,  King  Henry 
VI.,  and  several  of  the  principal  lords  of  his 
court,  became  fellows  of  the  Craft." 

Asia,  Initiated  Knights  and 
Brothers  of.  This  Order  was  intro- 
duced in  Berlin,  or,  as  some  say,  in  Vienna, 
in  the  year  1780,  by  a  schism  of  several 
members  of  the  German  Rose  Croix.  They 
adopted  a  mixture  of  Christian,  Jewish, 
and  Mohammedan  ceremonies,  to  indicate, 
as  Ragon  supposes,  their  entire  religious 
tolerance.  Their  object  was  the  study  of 
the  natural  sciences  and  the  search  for  the 
universal  panacea  to  prolong  life.  Thory 
charges  them  with  this;  but  may  it  not 
have  been,  as  with  the  Alchemists,  merely 
a  symbol  of  immortality?  They  forbade 
all  inquiries  into  the  art  of  transmutation 
of  metals.  The  Grand  Syn6drion,  properly 
the  Grand  Sanhedrim,  which  consisted  of 
seventy-two  members  and  was  the  head  of 
the  Order,  had  its  seat  at  Vienua.  The 
Order  was  founded  on  the  three  symbolic 
degrees,  and  attached  to  them  nine  others, 
as  follows :  4.  Seekers ;  5.  Sufferers ;  6.  Ini- 
tiated Knights  and  Brothers  of  Asia  in 
Europe;  7.  Masters  and  Sages;  8.  Royal 
Priests,  or  True  Brothers  of  Rose  Croix  ; 
9.  Melchizedek.  The  Order  no  longer 
exists.  Many  details  of  it  will  be  found 
in  Luchet's  Essai  sur  les  Illumines. 

Asia,  Perfect  Initiates  of.  A 
rite  of  very  little  importance,  consisting 
of  seven  degrees,  and  said  to  have  been 
invented  at  Lyons.  A  very  voluminous 
manuscript,  translated  from  the  German, 
was  sold  at  Paris,  in  1821,  to  M.  Bailleul, 
and  came  into  the  possession  of  Ragon, 
who  reduced  its  size,  and,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Des  Etangs,  modified  it.  I  have 
no  knowledge  that  it  was  ever  worked. 

Ask,  Seek,  Knock.  In  referring 
to  the  passage  of  Matthew  vii.  7,  "  Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you ;  seek,  and  you 


shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened 
unto  you,"  Dr.  Clarke  says :  "  These  three 
words  —  ask,  seek,  knock — include  the  ideas 
of  want,  loss,  and  earnestness."  The  appli- 
cation made  to  the  passage  theologically  is 
equally  appropriate  to  it  in  a  Masonic 
Lodge.  You  ask  for  acceptance,  you  seek  for 
light,  you  knock  for  initiation,  which  in- 
cludes the  other  two. 

Aspirant.  One  who  eagerly  seeks  to 
know  or  to  attain  something.  Thus,  War- 
burton  speaks  of  "  the  aspirant  to  the  Mys- 
teries." It  is  applied  also  to  one  about  to 
be  initiated  into  Masonry.  There  seems, 
however,  to  be  a  shade  of  difference  in 
meaning  between  the  words  candidate  and 
aspirant.  The  candidate  is  one  who  asks 
for  admission ;  and  the  term,  from  can- 
didus,  white,  refers  to  the  purity  of  charac- 
ter required.  The  aspirant  is  one  already 
elected  and  in  process  of  initiation,  and 
coming  from  aspiro,  to  seek  eagerly,  refers 
to  the  earnestness  with  which  he  prosecutes 
his  search  for  light  and  truth. 

Assassins.  The  Ishmaelians  or  Assas- 
sins constituted  a  sect  or  confraternity, 
which  was  founded  by  Hassan  Sabah,  about 
the  year  1090,  in  Persia.  The  name  is  de- 
rived, it  is  supposed,  from  their  immoderate 
use  of  the  plant  haschish,  or  henbane, 
which  produced  a  delirious  frenzy.  The 
title  given  to  the  chief  of  the  Order  was 
Sheikh-el-Jebel,  which  has  been  translated 
the  "  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains,"  but  which 
Higgins  has  shown  (Anacal.,  i.  700,)  to  mean 
literally,  "  The  Sage  of  the  Kabbala  or  Tra- 
ditions." Von  Hammer  has  written  a  His- 
tory of  the  Assassins,  but  his  opposition  to 
secret  societies  has  led  him  to  speak  with  so 
much  prejudice  that,  although  his  historical 
statements  are  interesting,  his  philosophical 
deductions  have  to  be  taken  with  many 
grains  of  allowance.  Godfrey  Higgins  has 
probably  erred  on  the  other  side,  and  by  a 
too  ready  adherence  to  a  preconceived  the- 
ory has,  in  his  Anacalypsis,  confounded 
them  with  the  Templars,  whom  he  consid- 
ers as  the  precursors  of  the  Freemasons. 
In  this,  as  in  most  things,  the  middle  course 
appears  to  be  the  most  truthful. 

The  Assassins  were  a  secret  society,  that 
is  to  say,  they  had  a  secret  esoteric  doc- 
trine, which  was  imparted  only  to  the  ini- 
tiated. Hammer  says  that  they  had  a 
graduated  series  of  initiations,  the  names 
of  which  he  gives  as  Apprentices,  Fellows, 
and  Masters;  they  had,  too,  an  oath  of 
passive  obedience,  and  resembled,  he  as- 
serts, in  many  respects,  the  secret  societies 
that  subsequently  existed  in  Europe.  They 
were  governed  by  a  Grand  Master  and 
Priors,  and  had  regulations  and  a  special 
religious  code,  in  all  of  which  Von  Ham- 
mer finds  a  close  resemblance  to  the  Tern- 


ASSASSINS 


ASSEMBLY 


93 


plars,  the  Hospitallers,  and  the  Teutonic 
Knights.  Between  the  Assassins  and  the 
Templars  history  records  that  there  were 
several  amicable  transactions  not  at  all 
consistent  with  the  religious  vows  of  the 
latter  and  the  supposed  religious  faith  of 
the  former,  and  striking  coincidences  of 
feeling,  of  which  Higgins  has  not  been 
slow  to  avail  himself  in  his  attempt  to 
prove  the  close  connection,  if  not  absolute 
identity,  of  the  two  Orders.  It  is  most 
probable,  as  Sir  John  Malcolm  contends, 
that  they  were  a  race  of  Sofis,  the  teachers 
of  the  secret  doctrine  of  Mohammed.  Von 
Hammer  admits  that  they  produced  a  great 
number  of  treatises  on  mathematics  and 

i'urisprudence ;  and,  forgetting  for  a  time 
is  bigotry  and  his  prejudice,  he  attributes 
to  Hassan,  their  founder,  a  profound  knowl- 
edge of  philosophy  and  mathematical  and 
metaphysical  sciences,  and  an  enlightened 
spirit,  under  whose  influence  the  civiliza- 
tion of  Persia  attained  a  high  degree ;  so 
that  during  his  reign  of  forty-six  years  the 
Persian  literature  attained  a  point  of  excel- 
lence beyond  that  of  Alexandria  under  the 
Ptolemies,  and  of  France  under  Francis  I. 
The  old  belief  that  they  were  a  confederacy 
of  murderers  —  whence  we  have  taken  our 
English  word  assassins  —  must  now  be  aban- 
doned as  a  figment  of  the  credulity  of  past 
centuries,  and  we  must  be  content  to  look 
upon  them  as  a  secret  society  of  philoso- 
phers, whose  political  relations,  however, 
merged  them  into  a  dynasty.  If  we  inter- 
pret Freemasonry  as  a  generic  term,  signi- 
fying a  philosophic  sect  which  teaches 
truth  by  a  mystical  initiation  and  secret 
symbols,  then  Higgins  was  not  very  far  in 
error  in  calling  them  the  Freemasons  of 
the  East. 

Assassins  of  the  Third  Degree. 
There  is  in  Freemasonry  a  legend  of  cer- 
tain unworthy  Craftsmen  who  entered  into 
a  conspiracy  to  extort  from  a  distinguished 
brother  a  secret  of  which  he  was  the  pos- 
sessor. The  legend  is  altogether  symbolic, 
and  when  its  symbolism  is  truly  compre- 
hended, becomes  surpassingly  beautiful. 
By  those  who  look  at  it  as  having  the  pre- 
tension of  an  historical  fact,  it  is  sometimes 
treated  with  indifference,  and  sometimes 
considered  an  absurdity.  But  it  is  not  thus 
that  the  legends  and  symbols  of  Masonry 
must  be  read,  if  we  would  learn  their  true 
spirit.  To  behold  the  goddess  in  all  her 
glorious  beauty,  the  veil  that  conceals  her 
statue  must  be  withdrawn.  Masonic  writers 
who  have  sought  to  interpret  the  symbolism 
of  the  legend  of  the  conspiracy  of  the  three 
assassins,  have  not  agreed  always  in  the  in- 
terpretation, although  they  have  finally  ar- 
rived at  the  same  result,  namely,  that  it  has 
a  spiritual  signification.     Those  who  trace 


Speculative  Masonry  to  the  ancient  solar 
worship,  of  whom  Ragon  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  exponent,  find  in  this  legend 
a  symbol  of  the  conspiracy  of  the  three 
winter  months  to  destroy  the  life-giving 
heat  of  the  sun.  Those  who,  like  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  trace 
Masonry  to  a  Templar  origin,  explain  the 
legend  as  referring  to  the  conspiracy  of  the 
three  renegade  knights  who  falsely  accused 
the  Order,  and  thus  aided  King  Philip  and  , 
Pope  Clement  to  abolish  Templarism,  and 
to  slay  its  Grand  Master.  Hutchinson  and 
Oliver,  who  labored  to  give  a  Christian  in- 
terpretation to  all  the  symbols  of  Masonry, 
referred  the  legend  to  the  crucifixion  of  the 
Messiah,  the  type  of  which  is,  of  course, 
the  slaying  of  Abel  by  his  brother  Cain. 
Others,  of  whom  the  Chevalier  Ramsay  was 
the  leader,  sought  to  give  it  a  political  sig- 
nificance ;  and,  making  Charles  the  First 
the  type  of  the  Builder,  symbolized  Crom- 
well and  his  adherents  as  the  conspirators. 
The  Masonic  scholars  whose  aim  has  beeu 
to  identify  the  modern  system  of  Free- 
masonry with  the  Ancient  Mysteries, 
and  especially  with  the  Egyptian,  which 
they  supposed  to  be  the  germ  of  all  the 
others,  interpret  the  conspirators  as  the 
symbol  of  the  Evil  Principle,  or  Typhon, 
slaying  the  Good  Principle,  or  Osiris;  or, 
when  they  refer  to  the  Zoroastic  Mysteries 
of  Persia,  as  Ahriman  contending  against 
Ormuzd.  And  lastly,  in  the  Philosophic 
degrees,  the  myth  is  interpreted  as  signify- 
ing the  war  of  Falsehood,  Ignorance,  and 
Superstition  against  Truth.  Of  the  sup- 
posed names  of  the  three  Assassins,  there  is 
hardly  any  end  of  variations,  for  they  ma- 
terially differ  in  all  the  principal  Rites. 
Thus,  we  have  the  three  J JJ.  in  the  York 
and  American  Rites.  In  the  Adonhiramite 
system  we  have  Romvel,  Gravelot,  and 
Abiram.  In  the  Scottish  Rite  we  find  the 
names  given  in  the  old  rituals  as  Jubelum 
Akirop,  sometimes  Abiram,  Jubelo  Romvel, 
and  Jubela  Gravelot.  Schterke  and  Oter- 
ftit  are  in  some  of  the  German  rituals, 
while  other  Scottish  rituals  have  Abiram, 
Romvel,  and  Hobhen.  In  all  these  names 
there  is  manifest  corruption,  and  the  patience 
of  many  Masonic  scholars  has  been  well- 
nigh  exhausted  in  seeking  for  some  plausi- 
ble and  satisfactory  derivation. 

Assembly.  The  meetings  of  the 
Craft  during  the  operative  period  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  were  called  "assemblies," 
which  appear  to  have  been  tantamount  to 
the  modern  Lodges,  and  they  are  constantly 
spoken  of  in  the  Old  Constitutions.  The 
word  assembly  was  also  often  used  in  these 
documents  to  indicate  a  larger  meeting  of 
the  whole  Craft,  and  which  was  equivalent 
to  the  modern  Grand  Lodge,  which  was 


94 


ASSISTANCE 


ATELIER 


held  annually.  The  York  MS.,  about  the 
year  1600,  says,  "that  King  Athelstan  gave 
the  Masons  a  charter  and  commission  to 
hold  every  year  an  assembly  wheresoever 
they  would  in  the  realm  of  England,"  and 
this  statement,  whether  true  or  false,  is  re- 
peated in  all  the  old  records.  Preston 
says,  speaking  of  that  mediaeval  period, 
that  "  a  sufficient  number  of  Masons  met 
together  within  a  certain  district,  with  the 
consent  of  the  sheriff  or  chief  magistrate 
of  the  place,  were  empowered  at  this  time 
to  make  Masons,"  etc.  To  this  assembly, 
every  Mason  was  bound,  when  summoned, 
to  appear.  Thus,  in  the  Harleian  MS., 
1650,  it  is  ordained  that  "every  Master 
and  Fellow  come  to  the  Assembly,  if  it  be 
within  five  miles  about  him,  if  he  have  any 
warning."  The  term,  "  General  Assembly," 
to  indicate  the  annual  meeting,  is  first  used 
in  the  MS.  of  1663,  as  quoted  by  Preston. 
In  the  Old  Constitutions,  printed  in  1722 
by  Roberts,  and  which  claims  to  be  taken 
from  a  MS.  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
term  used  is  "Yearly  Assembly."  An- 
derson speaks  of  an  Old  Constitution 
which  used  the  word  "  General ;  "  but  his 
quotations  are  not  always  verbally  accu- 
rate. 

Assistance.    See  Aid  and  Assistance. 

Associates  of  the  Temple.  Dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages,  many  persons  of  rank, 
who  were  desirous  of  participating  in  the 
spiritual  advantages  supposed  to  be  enjoyed 
by  the  Templars  in  consequence  of  the  good 
works  done  by  the  Fraternity,  but  who 
were  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  discipline 
of  the  brethren,  made  valuable  donations 
to  the  Order,  and  were,  in  consequence,  ad- 
mitted into  a  sort  of  spiritual  connection 
with  it.  These  persons  were  termed  "  As- 
sociates of  the  Temple."  The  custom  was 
most  probably  confined  to  England,  and 
many  "  of  these  Associates  "  had  monu- 
ments and  effigies  erected  to  them  in  the 
Temple  Church  at  London. 

Association.  Although  an  associa- 
tion is  properly  the  union  of  men  into  a 
society  for  a  common  purpose,  the  word  is 
scarcely  ever  applied  to  the  Order  of  Free- 
masonry. Yet  its  employment,  although  un- 
usual, would  not  be  incorrect,  for  Freemason- 
ry is  an  association  of  men  for  a  common  pur- 
pose. Washington  uses  the  term  when  he 
calls  Freemasonry  "  an  association  whose 
principles  lead  to  purity  of  morals,  and  are 
beneficial  of  action."  Letter  to  O.  L.  of 
So.  Ca. 

Astrsea.  The  Grand  Lodge  established 
in  Russia,  on  the  30th  August,  1815,  as- 
sumed the  title  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Astraea.  It  held  its  Grand  East  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  continued  in  existence 
until  1822. 


Astronomy.  The  science  which  in- 
structs us  in  the  laws  that  govern  the 
heavenly  bodies.  Its  origin  is  lost  in  the 
mists  of  antiquity  ;  for  the  earliest  inhabi- 
tants of  the  earth  must  have  been  attracted 
by  the  splendor  of  the  glorious  firmament 
above  them,  and  would  have  sought  in  the 
motions  of  its  luminaries  for  the  readiest 
and  most  certain  method  of  measuring  time. 
With  astronomy  the  system  of  Free- 
masonry is  intimately  connected.  From 
that  science  many  of  our  most  significant 
emblems  are  borrowed.  The  Lodge  itself 
is  a  representation  of  the  world;  it  is 
adorned  with  the  images  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  whose  regularity  and  precision  fur- 
nish a  lesson  of  wisdom  and  prudence ;  its 
pillars  of  strength  and  establishment  have 
been  compared  to  the  two  columns  which 
the  ancients  placed  at  the  equinoctial 
points  as  supporters  of  the  arch  of  heaven  ; 
the  blazing  star,  which  was  among  the 
Egyptians  a  symbol  of  Anubis,  or  the  dog- 
star,  whose  rising  foretold  the  overflowing 
of  the  Nile,  shines  in  the  east;  while 
the  clouded  canopy  is  decorated  with  the 
beautiful  Pleiades.  The  connection  be- 
tween our  Order  and  astronomy  is  still 
more  manifest  in  the  spurious  Freemasonry 
of  antiquity,  where,  the  pure  principles  of 
our  system  being  lost,  the  symbolic  instruc- 
tion of  the  heavenly  bodies  gave  place  to 
the  corrupt  Sabean  worship  of  the  sun, 
and  moon,  and  stars  —  a  worship  whose  in- 
fluences are  seen  in  all  the  mysteries  of 
Paganism. 

Asylum.  During  the  session  of  a 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  a  part 
of  the  room  is  called  the  asylum;  the  word 
has  hence  been  adopted,  by  the  figure  sy- 
necdoche, to  signify  the  place  of  meeting  of 
a  Commandery. 

Asylum  for  Aged  Freemasons. 
The  Asylum  for  Worthy,  Aged  and  Decayed 
Freemasons  is  a  magnificent  edifice  at 
Croydon  in  Surrey,  England.  The  charity 
was  established  by  Dr.  Crucefix,  after  six- 
teen years  of  herculean  toil,  such  as  few 
men  but  himself  could  have  sustained.  He 
did  not  live  to  see  it  in  full  operation,  but 
breathed  his  last  at  the  very  time  when  the 
cope-stone  was  placed  on  .  the  building. 
Since  the  death  of  Dr.  Crucefix,  it  has  been 
amalgamated  with  the  Provident  Annuity 
and  Benevolent  Association  of  the  Grand 
Lodge. 

Atelier.  The  French  thus  call  the 
place  where  the  Lodge  meets  or  the  Lodge 
room.  The  word  signifies  a  workshop  or 
place  where  several  workmen  are  assembled 
under  the  same  master.  The  word  is  ap- 
plied in  French  Masonry  not  only  to  the 
place  of  meeting  of  a  Lodge,  but  also  to 
that  of  a  Chapter,  Council,  or  any  other 


ATHEIST 


AUDITOR 


95 


Masonic  body.  Bazot  says  (Man.  Macon, 
65,)  that  atelier  is  more  particularly  applied 
to  the  table  -  Lodge,  or  Lodge  when  at 
banquet,  but  that  the  word  is  also  used  to 
designate  any  reunion  of  the  Lodge. 

Atheist.  One  who  does  not  believe 
in  the  existence  of  God.  Such  a  creed  can 
only  arise  from  the  ignorance  of  stupidity 
or  a  corruption  of  principle,  since  the 
whole  universe  is  filled  with  the  moral  and 
physical  proofs  of  a  Creator.  He  who 
does  not  look  to  a  superior  and  superin- 
tending power  as  his  maker  and  his  judge, 
is  without  that  coercive  principle  ot  salu- 
tary fear  which  should  prompt  him  to  do 
good  and  to  eschew  evil,  and  his  oath  can, 
of  necessity,  be  no  stronger  than  his  word. 
Masons,  looking  to  the  dangerous  tendency 
of  such  a  tenet,  have  wisely  discouraged  it, 
by  declaring  that  no  atheist  can  be  admitted 
to  participate  in  their  Fraternity ;  and  the 
better  to  carry  this  law  into  effect,  every 
candidate,  before  passing  through  any  of 
the  ceremonies  of  initiation,  is  required, 
publicly  and  solemnly,  to  declare  his  trust 
in  God. 

Athelstan.      The    grandson    of    the 

f;reat  Alfred  ascended  the  throne  of  Eng- 
and  in  924,  and  died  in  940.  The  Old  Con- 
stitutions describe  him  as  a  great  patron  of 
Masonry.  Thus,  one  of  them,  the  Roberts 
MS.,  printed  in  1722,  and  claiming  to  be  five 
hundred  years  old,  says:  "He  began  to 
build  many  Abbies,  Monasteries,  and  other 
religious  houses,  as  also  castles  and  divers 
Fortresses  for  defence  of  his  realm.  He 
loved  Masons  more  than  his  father;  he 
greatly  study 'd  Geometry,  and  sent  into 
many  lands  for  men  expert  in  the  science. 
He  gave  them  a  very  large  charter  to  hold 
a  yearly  assembly,  and  power  to  correct 
offenders  in  the  said  science ;  and  the  king 
himself  caused  a  General  Assembly  of  all 
Masons  in  his  realm,  at  York,  and  there 
were  made  many  Masons,  and  gave  them  a 
deep  charge  for  observation  of  all  such 
articles  as  belonged  unto  Masonry,  and  de- 
livered them  the  said  Charter  to  keep." 

Athol  Masons.  The  Duke  of  Athol 
having  been  elected  Grand  Master  by  the 
schismatic  Grand  Lodge  in  London,  which 
was  known  as  the  *'  Ancients,"  an  office 
held  iu  his  family  until  1813,  the  body  has 
been  commonly  styled  the  "  Athol  Grand 
Lodge,"  and  those  who  adhered  to  it 
"  Athol  Masons."     See  Ancient  Masons. 

Attendance.    See  Absence. 

Attouchement.  The  name  given  by 
the  French  Masons  to  what  the  English 
call  the  grip. 

Attributes.  The  collar  and  jewel 
appropriate  to  an  officer  are  called  his  at- 
tributes. The  working  tools  and  imple- 
ments of  Masonry  are  also  called  its  attri- 


butes. The  word  in  these  senses  is  much 
more  used  by  French  than  by  English  Ma- 
sons. 

At  wood,  Henry  C  At  one  time  of 
considerable  notoriety  in  the  Masonic  his- 
tory of  New  York.  He  was  born  in  Con- 
necticut about  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  and  removed  to  the  city  of  New 
York  about  1825,  in  which  year  he  organ- 
ized a  Lodge  for  the  purpose  of  introduc- 
ing the  system  taught  by  Jeremy  L.  Cross, 
of  whom  Atwood  was  a  pupil.  This  system 
met  with  great  opposition  from  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  Masons  of  the  State, 
who  favored  the  ancient  ritual,  which  had 
existed  before  the  system  of  Webb,  from 
whom  Cross  received  his  lectures,  had  been 
invented.  Atwood,  by  great  smartness  and 
untiring  energy,  succeeded  in  making  the 
system  which  he  taught  eventually  popu- 
lar. He  took  great  interest  in  Masonry, 
and  being  intellectually  clever,  although 
not  learned,  he  collected  a  great  number  of 
admirers,  while  the  tenacity  with  which 
he  maintained  his  opinions,  however  un- 
popular they  might  be,  secured  for  him  as 
many  enemies.  He  was  greatly  instru- 
mental in  establishing,  in  1837,  the  schis- 
matic body  known  as  the  St.  John's  Grand 
Lodge,  and  was  its  Grand  Master  at  the 
time  of  its  union,  in  1850,  with  the  legiti- 
mate Grand  Lodge  of  New  York.  Atwood 
edited  a  small  Masonic  periodical  called 
The  Sentinel,  which  was  remarkable  for  the 
virulent  and  unmasonic  tone  of  its  articles. 
He  was  also  the  author  of  a  Masonic  Moni- 
tor of  some  pretensions.     He  died  in  1860. 

Atys.  The  Mysteries  of  Atys  in  Phry- 
gia,  and  those  of  Cybele  his  mistress,  like 
their  worship,  much  resembled  those  of 
Adonis  and  Bacchus,  Osiris  and  Isis.  Their 
Asiatic  origin  is  universally  admitted,  and 
was  with  great  plausibility  claimed  by 
Phrygia,  which  contested  the  palm  of  anti- 
quity with  Egypt.  They,  more  than  any 
other  people,  mingled  allegory  with  their 
religious  worship,  and  were  great  inventors 
of  fables ;  and  their  sacred  traditions  as  to 
Cybele  and  Atys,  whom  all  admit  to  be 
Phrygian  gods,  were  very  various.  In  all, 
as  we  learn  from  Julius  Firmicus,  they 
represented  by  allegory  the  phenomena  of 
nature,  and  the  succession  of  physical  facts 
under  the  veil  of  a  marvellous  history. 

Their  feasts  occurred  at  the  equinoxes, 
commencing  with  lamentation,  mourning, 
groans,  and  pitiful  cries  for  the  death  of 
Atys,  and  ending  with  rejoicings  at  his 
restoration  to  life. 

Auditor.  An  officer  in  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite 
for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States.  His  duty  is,  with  the  Committee 
on  Finance,  to  examine  and  report  on  the 


96 


AUFSEHER 


AUSTRIA 


account  of  the  Inspector  and  other  officers. 
This  duty  of  auditing  the  accounts  of  the 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  is  generally  in- 
trusted, in  Masonic  bodies,  to  a  special  com- 
mittee appointed  for  the  purpose.  In  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  the  auditing 
committee  consists  of  the  Grand  Officers 
for  the  year,  and  twenty-four  Masters  of 
Lodges  in  the  London  district,  taken  by 
rotation. 

Aufseher.  The  German  name  for  the 
Warden  of  a  Lodge.  The  Senior  Warden 
is  called  Erste  Aufseher,  and  the  Junior 
Warden,  Zweite  Aufseher.  The  word  liter- 
ally means  an  overseer.  Its  Masonic  appli- 
cation is  technical. 

Augustine,  St.  See  Saint  Augus- 
tine. 

Aum.  A  mystic  syllable  among  the 
Hindus,  signifying  the  Supreme  God  of 
Gods,  which  the  Brahmans,  from  its  awful 
and  sacred  meaning,  hesitate  to  pronounce 
aloud,  and  in  doing  so  place  one  of  their 
hands  before  the  mouth  so  as  to  deaden  the 
sound.  This  tri-literal  name  of  God,  which 
is  as  sacred  among  the  Hindus  as  the  Te- 
tragrammatam  is  among  the  Jews,  is  com- 
posed of  three  Sanskrit  letters,  sounding 
AUM.  The  first  letter,  A,  stands  for  the 
Creator ;  the  second,  U,  for  the  Preserver ; 
and  the  third,  M,  for  the  Destroyer,  or 
Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva.  Benfey,  in  his 
Sanskrit  -  English  Dictionary,  defines  the 
word  as  " a  particle  of  reminiscence;"  and 
this  may  explain  the  Brahmanical  say- 
ing, that  a  Brahman  beginning  or  ending 
the  reading  of  a  part  of  the  Veda  or  Sacred 
Books,  must  always  pronounce,  to  himself, 
the  syllable  AUM ;  for  unless  that  syllable 
precede,  his  learning  will  slip  away  from 
him,  and  unless  it  follow,  nothing  will  be 
long  retained.  An  old  passage  in  the 
Parana  says,  "All  the  rites  ordained  in 
the  Vedas,  the  sacrifices  to  fire,  and  all 
sacred  purifications,  shall  pass  away,  but 
the  word  AUM  shall  never  pass  away,  for 
it  is  the  symbol  of  the  Lord  of  all  things." 
The  word  has  been  indifferently  spelled, 
O'M,  AOM,  and  AUM ;  but  the  last  is  evi- 
dently the  most  proper,  as  the  second  letter 
is  GO  =  U  in  the  Sanskrit  alphabet. 

Aumont.  Said  to  have  been  the  suc- 
cessor of  Molay  as  Grand  Master,  and 
hence  called  the  Restorer  of  the  Order  of 
the  Templars.     There  is  a  tradition,  alto- 

S ether  fabulous,  however,  which  states  that 
e,  with  seven  other  Templars,  fled,  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  Order,  into  Scotland, 
disguised  as  Operative  Masons,  and  there 
secretly  and  under  another  name  founded 
a  new  Order ;  and  to  preserve  as  much  as 
possible  the  ancient  name  of  Templars,  as 
well  as  to  retain  the  remembrance  of  the 
clothing  of  Masons,  in  which  disguise  they 


had  fled,  they  chose  the  name  of  Free- 
masons, and  thus  founded  Freemasonry. 
The  society  thus  formed,  instead  of  con- 
quering or  rebuilding  the  Temple  of  Jeru- 
salem, was  to  erect  symbolical  temples. 
This  is  one  of  the  forms  of  the  Templar 
theory  of  the  origin  of  Freemason. 

Auserwablter.  German  for  Elu  or 
Elect. 

Austin.     See  Saint  Augustine. 

Australasia.  Masonry  was  intro- 
duced into  this  remote  region  at  a  very 
early  period  after  its  settlement,  and  Lodges 
were  first  established  at  Sidney,  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  about  the  year 
1828.  There  are  now  over  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Lodges  at  work  in  different  parts 
of  Australasia,  under  warrants  from  the 
Provincial  Grand  Lodges  of  Victoria  at 
Melbourne,  New  South  Wales  at  Sidney, 
Queensland  at  Brisbane,  South  Australia 
at  Adelaide,  and  New  Zealand  at  Auckland. 
All  of  these  bodies  derive  their  original  au- 
thority from  the  Grand  Lodges  of  England 
and  Ireland,  and  the  Lodges  work  in  the 
York  Rite. 

Austria.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  Austria,  in  1742,  by  the  establishment 
at  Vienna  of  the  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Cannons.  But  it  was  broken  up  by  the 
government  in  the  following  year,  and 
thirty  of  its  members  were  imprisoned  for 
having  met  in  contempt  of  the  authorities. 
Maria  Theresa  was  an  enemy  of  the  Insti- 
tution, and  prohibited  it  in  1764.  Lodges, 
however,  continued  to  meet  secretly  in 
Vienna  and  Prague.  In  1780,  Joseph  II. 
ascended  the  throne,  and  under  his  liberal 
administration  Freemasonry,  if  not  actu- 
ally encouraged,  was  at  least  tolerated,  and 
many  new  Lodges  were  established  in  Aus- 
tria, Hungary,  Bohemia,  and  Transyl- 
vania, under  the  authority  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Germany,  in  Berlin.  Delegates 
from  these  Lodges  met  at  Vienna  in  1784, 
and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Austria, 
electing  the  Count  of  Dietrichstein,  Grand 
Master.  The  attempt  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
at  Berlin  to  make  this  a  Provincial  Grand 
Lodge  was  successful  for  only  a  short  time, 
and  in  1785  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Austria 
again  proclaimed  its  independence. 

During  the  reign  of  Joseph  II.,  Austrian 
Masonry  was  prosperous.  Notwithstanding 
the  efforts  of  its  enemies,  the  monarch 
could  never  be  persuaded  to  prohibit  it.  But 
in  1785  he  was  induced  to  issue  instruc- 
tions by  which  the  number  of  the  Lodges 
was  reduced,  so  that  not  more  than  three 
were  permitted  to  exist  in  each  city ;  and  he 
ordered  that  a  list  of  the  members  and  a 
note  of  the  times  of  meeting  of  each  Lodge 
should  be  annually  delivered  to  the  magis- 
trates. 


AUTHENTIC 


AZARIAH 


97 


On  the  death  of  Joseph,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Francis  II.,  who  yielded  to  the 
machinations  of  the  anti-Masons,  and  dis- 
solved the  Lodges.  In  1801,  he  issued  a 
decree  which  forbade  the  employment  of 
any  one  in  the  public  service  who  was  at- 
tached to  any  secret  society.  Austria  has 
since  been  closed  to  Freemasonry,  and  its 
Institution  ha3  now  no  recognized  existence 
there. 

Authentic.  Formerly,  in  the  science 
of  Diplomatics,  ancient  manuscripts  were 
termed  authentic  when  they  were  originals, 
and  in  opposition  to  copies.  But  in  mod- 
ern times  the  acceptation  of  the  word  has 
been  enlarged,  and  it  is  now  applied  to  in- 
struments which,  although  they  may  be 
copies,  bear  the  evidence  of  having  been 
executed  by  proper  authority.  So  of  the 
old  records  of  Masonry,  the  originals  of 
many  have  been  lost,  or  at  least  have  not 
yet  been  found.  Yet  the  copies,  if  they 
can  be  traced  to  unsuspected  sources  within 
the  body  of  the  Craft  and  show  the  inter- 
nal marks  of  historical  accuracy,  are  to  be 
reckoned  as  authentic.  But  if  their  origin 
is  altogether  unknown,  and  their  statements 
or  style  conflict  with  the  known  character 
of  the  Order  at  their  assumed  date,  their 
authenticity  is  to  be  doubted  or  denied. 

Authenticity  of  the  Scriptures. 
A  belief  iu  the  authenticity  of  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  as  a 
religious  qualification  of  initiation  does  not 
constitute  one  of  the  laws  of  Masonry,  for 
such  a  regulation  would  destroy  the  uni- 
versality of  the  Institution,  and  under  its 
action  none  but  Christians  could  become 
eligible  for  admission.  But  in  1856  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio  declared  "that  a 
distinct  avowal  of  a  belief  in  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  should  be 
required  of  every  one  who  is  admitted  to 
the  privileges  of  Masonry,  and  that  a  de- 
nial of  the  same  is  an  ofFence  against  the 
Institution,  calling  for  exemplary  disci- 
pline." It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
the  enunciation  of  this  principle  met  with 
the  almost  universal  condemnation  of  the 
Grand  Lodges  and  Masonic  jurists  of  this 
country.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio  subse- 
quently repealed  the  regulation.  In  1857, 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Texas  adopted  a  simi- 
lar resolution ;  but  the  general  sense  of  the 
Fraternity  has  rejected  all  religious  tests 
except  a  belief  in  God. 

Autopsy.  (Greek,  avTotyia,  a  seeing  with 
one's  own  eyes.)  The  complete  communica- 
tion of  the  secrets  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries, 
when  the  aspirant  was  admitted  into  the 
sacellum,  or  most  sacred  place,  and  was  in- 
vested by  the  hierophant  with  all  the  apor- 
rheta,  or  sacred  things,  which  constituted 
the  perfect  knowledge  of  the  initiate.  A 
N  7 


similar  ceremony  in  Freemasonry  is  called 
the  Rite  of  Intrusting.     See  Mysteries. 

Auxiliary  Degrees.  According  to 
Oliver,  (Landm.,  ii.  345,)  the  SupremeCoun- 
cil  of  France,  in  addition  to  the  thirty- 
three  regular  degrees  of  the  Rite,  confers  six 
others,  which  he  calls  "  Auxiliary  Degrees." 
They  are,  1.  Elu  de  Perignan.  2.  Petit 
Architect.  3.  Grand  Architecte,  or  Com- 
pagnon  Ecossais.  4.  Maitre  Ecossais.  5. 
Knight  of  the  East.  6.  Knight  Rose  Croix. 
I  cannot  trace  Oliver's  authority  for  this 
statement,  and  doubt  it,  at  least  as  to  the 
names  of  the  degrees. 

Avenue.  Forming  avenue  is  a  cere- 
mony sometimes  practised  in  the  lower  de- 
grees, but  more  generally  in  the  higher 
ones,  on  certain  occasions  of  paying  honors 
to  superior  officers.  The  brethren  form  in 
two  ranks  facing  each  other.  If  the  de- 
gree is  one  in  which  swords  are  used,  these 
are  drawn  and  elevated,  being  crossed  each 
with  the  opposite  sword.  The  swords  thus 
crossed  constitute  what  is  called  "  the  arch 
of  steel."  The  person  to  whom  honor  is 
to  be  paid  passes  between  the  opposite 
ranks  and  under  the  arch  of  steel. 

Avignon,  I II  u  in  in  at  i  of.  {Illu- 
mines d' Avignon.)  A  Rite  instituted  by 
Pernetti  at  Avignon,  in  France,  in  1770, 
and  transferred  in  the  year  1778  to  Mont- 
pellier,  under  the  name  of  the  Academy 
of  True  Masons.  The  Academy  of  Avignon 
consisted  of  only  four  degrees,  the  three  of 
symbolic  or  St.  John's  Masonry,  and  a 
fourth  called  the  True  Mason,  which  was 
made  up  of  instructions,  Hermetical  and 
Swedenborgian.    See  Pernetti. 

Avouchment.    See  Vouching. 

Award.  In  law,  the  judgment  pro- 
nounced by  one  or  more  arbitrators,  at  the 
request  of  two  parties  who  are  at  variance. 
"If  any  complaint  be  brought"  say  the 
Charges  published  by  Anderson,  "  the 
brother  found  guilty  shall  stand  to  the 
award  and  determination  of  the  Lodge." 

Ayes  and  Noes.  It  is  not  according 
to  Masonic  usage  to  call  for  the  ayes  and 
noes  on  any  question  pending  before  a 
Lodge. 

Ay non.  Aynon,  Agnon,  Ajuon,  and 
Dyon  are  all  used  in  the  old  manuscript  Con- 
stitutions for  one  whom  they  call  the  son  of 
the  king  of  Tyre,  but  it  is  evidently  meant 
for  Hiram  Abif.  Each  of  these  words  is 
most  probably  a  corruption  of  the  Hebrew 
Adon  or  Lord,  so  that  the  reference  would 
clearly  be  to  Adon  Hiram  or  Adoniram,  with 
whom  Hiram  was  often  confounded  ;  a  con- 
fusion to  be  found  in  later  times  in  the 
Adonhiramite  Rite. 

Azariah.  The  old  French  rituals  have 
Azarias.  A  name  in  the  high  degrees  sig- 
nifying, Helped  of  God. 


98 


BAAL 


BABYLON 


B. 


Baal.  Hebrew,  h?2.  He  was  the  chief 
divinity  among  the  Phoenicians,  the  Ca- 
naanites,  and  the  Babylonians.  The  word 
signifies  in  Hebrew  lord  or  master.  It  was 
among  the  orientalists  a  comprehensive 
term,  denoting  divinity  of  any  kind  with- 
out reference  to  class  or  to  sex.  The  Saba- 
ists  understood  Baal  as  the  sun,  and  Baalim, 
in  the  plural,  were  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
"  the  host  of  heaven."  Whenever  the  Is- 
raelites made  one  of  their  almost  periodi- 
cal deflections  to  idolatry,  Baal  seems  to 
have  been  the  favorite  idol  to  whose  wor- 
ship they  addicted  themselves.  Hence  he 
became  the  especial  object  of  denunciation 
with  the  prophets.  Thus,  in  1  Kings  (xviii.,) 
we  see  Elijah  showing,  by  practical  dem- 
onstration, the  difference  between  Baal  and 
Jehovah.  The  idolators,  at  his  instigation, 
called  on  Baal,  as  their  sun-god,  to  light  the 
sacrificial  fire,  from  morning  until  noon, 
because  at  noon  he  had  acquired  his  great- 
est intensity.  And  after  noon,  no  fire  hav- 
ing been  kindled  on  the  altar,  they  began 
to  cry  aloud,  and  to  cut  themselves  in  token 
of  mortification,  because  as  the  sun  de- 
scended there  was  no  hope  of  his  help.  But 
Elijah,  depending  on  Jehovah,  made  his 
sacrifice  towards  sunset,  to  show  the  great- 
est contrast  between  Baal  and  the  true  God. 
And  when  the  people  saw  the  fire  come 
down  and  consume  the  offering,  they  ac- 
knowledged the  weakness  of  their  idol,  and 
falling  on  their  faces  cried  out,  Jehovah  hu 
hahelohim  —  "  Jehovah,  he  is  the  God." 
And  Hosea  afterwards  promises  the  people 
that  they  shall  abandon  their  idolatry,  and 
that  he  would  take  away  from  them  the 
Shemoth  hahbaalim,  the  names  of  the  Baal- 
im, so  that  they  should  be  no  more  remem- 
bered by  their  names,  and  the  people  should 
in  that  day  "  know  Jehovah." 

Hence  we  see  that  there  was  an  evident 
antagonism  in  the  orthodox  Hebrew  mind 
between  Jehovah  and  Baal.  The  latter  was, 
however,  worshipped  by  the  Jews,  when- 
ever they  became  heterodox,  and  by  all  the 
Oriental  or  Shemitic  nations  as  a  supreme 
divinity,  representing  the  sun  in  some  of 
his  modifications  as  the  ruler  of  the  day. 
In  Tyre,  Baal  was  the  sun,  and  Ashtaroth, 
the  moon.  Baalpeor,  the  lord  of  priapism, 
-was  the  sun  represented  as  the  generative 
principle  of  nature,  and  identical  with  the 
.phallus  of  other  religions.  Baal-gad  was 
the  lord  of  the  multitude,  (of  stars,)  that  is, 
■the  sun  as  the  chief  of  the  heavenly  host. 
In  brief,  Baal  seems  to  have  been  wherever 
his  cultus  was  established,  a  development 
or  form  of  the  old  sun  worship. 

Babel.     Iu  Hebrew,  Sm;  which  the 


writer  of  Genesis  connects  with  SS3,  balal, 
"  to  confound,"  in  reference  to  the  confu- 
sion of  tongues ;  but  the  true  derivation  is 
probably  from  BAB-EL,  "  the  gate  of  El  " 
or  the  "gate  of  God,"  because  perhaps  a 
temple  was  the  first  building  raised  by  the 
primitive  nomads.  It  is  the  name  of  that 
celebrated  tower  attempted  to  be  built  on 
the  plains  of  Shinar,  A.  M.  1775,  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  years  after  the  deluge, 
and  which,  Scripture  informs  us,  was  de- 
stroyed by  a  special  interposition  of  the 
Almighty.  The  Noachite  Masons  date  the 
commencement  of  their  order  from  this  de- 
struction, and  much  traditionary  informa- 
tion on  this  subject  is  preserved  in  the 
degree  of  "Patriarch  Noachite."  At 
Babel,  Oliver  says  that  what  has  been 
called  Spurious  Freemasonry  took  its  ori- 
gin. That  is  to  say,  the  people  there  aban- 
doned the  worship  of  the  true  God,  and  by 
their  dispersion  lost  all  knowledge  of  his 
existence,  and  of  the  principles  of  truth 
upon  which  Masonry  is  founded.  Hence 
it  is  that  the  rituals  speak  of  the  lofty  tower 
of  Babel  as  the  place  where  language  was 
confounded  and  Masonry  lost.      See  Oman. 

This  is  the  theory  first  advanced  by  An- 
derson in  his  Constitutions,  and  subse- 
quently developed  more  extensively  by  Dr. 
Oliver  in  all  his  works,  but  especially  in 
his  Landmarks.  As  history,  the  doctrine  is 
of  no  value,  for  it  wants  the  element  of 
authenticity.  But  in  a  symbolic  point  of 
view  it  is  highly  suggestive.  If  the  tower 
of  Babel  represents  the  profane  world  of 
ignorance  and  darkness,  and  the  threshing- 
floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite  is  the  symbol 
of  Freemasonry,  because  the  Solomonic 
Temple,  of  which  it  was  the  site,  is  the  pro- 
totype of  the  spiritual  temple  which  Ma- 
sons are  erecting,  then  we  can  readily 
understand  how  Masonry  and  the  true  use 
of  language  is  lost  in  one  and  recovered  in 
the  other,  and  how  the  progress  of  the  can- 
didate in  his  initiation  may  properly  be 
compared  to  the  progress  of  truth  from  the 
confusion  and  ignorance  of  the  Babel 
builders  to  the  perfection  and  illumination 
of  the  temple  builders,  which  temple  buil- 
ders all  Freemasons  are.  And  so,  when 
in  the  ritual  the  neophyte,  being  asked 
"  whence  he  comes  and  whither  is  he 
travelling,"  replies,  "  from  the  lofty  tower 
of  Babel,  where  language  was  confounded 
and  Masonry  lost,  to  the  threshing-floor  of 
Oman  the  Jebusite,  where  language  was 
restored  and  Masonry  found,"  the  ques- 
tions and  answers  become  intelligible  from 
this  symbolic  point  of  view. 

Babylon.     The    ancient   capital  of 


BABYLON 


BACON 


99 


Chaldea,  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, and  once  the  most  magnificent 
city  of  the  ancient  world.  It  was  here 
that,  upon  the  destruction  of  Solomon's 
Temple  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  year  of 
the  world  3394,  the  Jews  of  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  who  were  the  inhab- 
itants of  Jerusalem,  were  conveyed  and 
detained  in  captivity  for  seventy-two  years, 
until  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  issued  a  decree 
for  restoring  them,  and  permitting  them  to 
rebuild  their  temple,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Zerubbabel,  the  Prince  of  the 
Captivity,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Joshua 
the  High  Priest  and  Haggai  the  Scribe. 

Babylon  the  Great,  as  the  prophet  Dan- 
iel calls  it,  was  situated  four  hundred  and 
seventy-five  miles  in  a  nearly  due  east  di- 
rection from  Jerusalem.  It  stood  in  the 
midst  of  a  large  and  fertile  plain  on  each 
side  of  the  river  Euphrates,  which  ran 
through  it  from  north  to  south.  It  was 
surrounded  with  walls  which  were  eighty- 
seven  feet  thick,  three  hundred  and  fifty  in 
height,  and  sixty  miles  in  compass.  These 
were  all  built  of  large  bricks  cemented 
together  with  bitumen.  Exterior  to  the 
walls  was  a  wide  and  deep  trench  lined 
with  the  same  material.  Twenty-five  gates 
on  each  side,  made  of  solid  brass,  gave 
admission  to  the  city.  From  each  of  these 
gates  proceeded  a  wide  street  fifteen  miles 
in  length,  and  the  whole  was  separated  by 
means  of  other  smaller  divisions,  and  con- 
tained six  hundred  and  seventy-six  squares, 
each  of  which  was  two  miles  and  a  quarter 
in  circumference.  Two  hundred  and  fifty 
towers  placed  upon  the  walls  afforded  the 
means  of  additional  strength  and  protec- 
tion. Within  this  immense  circuit  were  to 
be  found  palaces  and  temples  and  other 
edifices  of  the  utmost  magnificence,  which 
have  caused  the  wealth,  the  luxury,  and 
splendor  of  Babylon  to  become  the  favorite 
theme  of  the  historians  of  antiquity,  and 
which  compelled  the  prophet  Isaiah,  even 
while  denouncing  its  downfall,  to  speak  of 
it  as  "  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty 
of  the  Chaldees'  excellency." 

Babylon,  which,  at  the  time  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  con- 
stituted a  part  of  the  Chaldean  empire,  was 
subsequently  taken,  B.  C.  538,  after  a  siege 
of  two  years,  by  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia. 

Babylon,  Red  Cross  of.  Another 
name  for  the  degree  of  Babylonish  Pass, 
which  see. 

Babylonish  Captivity.  See  Cap- 
tivity. 

Babylonish  Pass.  A  degree  given 
in  Scotland  by  the  authority  of  the  Grand 
Royal  Arch  Chapter.  It  is  also  called  the 
Red  Cross  of  Babylon,  and  is  almost  iden- 
tical with  the  Knight  of  the  Red  Cross 


conferred  in  Commanderies  of  Knights 
Templars  in  America  as  a  preparatory 
degree. 

Back.  Freemasonry,  borrowing  its 
symbols  from  every  source,  has  not  neg- 
lected to  make  a  selection  of  certain  parts 
of  the  human  body.  From  the  back  an 
important  lesson  is  derived,  which  is  fit- 
tingly developed  in  the  third  degree. 
Hence,  in  reference  to  this  symbolism, 
Oliver  says :  "  It  is  a  duty  incumbent  on 
every  Mason  to  support  a  brother's  charac- 
ter in  his  absence  equally  as  though  he 
were  present ;  not  to  revile  him  behind  his 
back,  nor  suffer  it  to  be  done  by  others, 
without  using  every  necessary  attempt  to 
prevent  it."  And  Hutchinson,  referring  to 
the  same  symbolic  ceremony,  says :  "  The 
most  material  part  of  that  brotherly  love 
which  should  subsist  among  Masons  is  that 
of  speaking  well  of  each  other  to  the 
world;  more  especially  it  is  expected  of 
every  member  of  this  Fraternity  that  he 
should  not  traduce  a  brother.  Calumny 
and  slander  are  detestable  crimes  against 
society.  Nothing  can  be  viler  than  to  tra- 
duce a  man  behind  his  back;  it  is  like  the 
villany  of  an  assassin  who  has  not  virtue 
enough  to  give  his  adversary  the  means  of 
self-defence,  but,  lurking  in  darkness,  stabs 
him  whilst  he  is  unarmed  and  unsuspicious 
of  an  enemy."  See  Five  Points  of  Fellow- 
ship. 

Bacon,  Francis.  Baron  of  Veru- 
lara,  commonly  called  Lord  Bacon.  Nico- 
lai  thinks  that  a  great  impulse  was  exercised 
upon  the  early  history  of  Freemasonry  by 
the  New  Atlantis  of  Lord  Bacon.  In  this 
learned  romance  Bacon  supposes  that  a 
vessel  lands  on  an  unknown  island,  called 
Bensalem,  over  which  a  certain  King  Sol- 
omon reigned  in  days  of  yore.  This  king 
had  a  large  establishment,  which  was 
called  the  House  of  Solomon,  or  the  college 
of  the  workmen  of  six  days,  namely,  the 
days  of  the  creation.  He  afterwards  de- 
scribes the  immense  apparatus  which  was 
there  employed  in  physical  researches. 
There  were,  says  he,  deep  grottoes  and 
towers  for  the  successful  observation  of 
certain  phenomena  of  nature;  artificial 
mineral  waters ;  large  buildings,  in  which 
meteors,  the  wind,  thunder,  and  rain  were 
imitated;  extensive  botanic  gardens ;  entire 
fields,  in  which  all  kinds  of  animals  were 
collected,  for  the  study  of  their  instincts  and 
habits ;  houses  filled  with  all  the  wonders 
of  nature  and  art ;  a  great  number  of  learned 
men,  each  of  whom,  in  his  own  country, 
had  the  direction  of  these  things ;  they 
made  journeys  and  observations ;  they  wrote, 
they  collected,  they  determined  results,  and 
deliberated  together  as  to  what  was  proper 
to  be  published  and  what  concealed. 


100 


BACON 


BACULUS 


This  romance  became  at  once  very  pop- 
ular, and  everybody's  attention  was  at- 
tracted by  the  allegory  of  the  House  of 
Solomon.  But  it  also  contributed  to  spread 
Bacon's  views  on  experimental  knowledge, 
and  led  afterwards  to  the  institution  of  the 
Eoyal  Society,  to  which  Nicolai  attributes 
a  common  object  with  that  of  the  Society 
of  Freemasons,  established,  he  says,  about 
the  same  time,  the  difference  being  only 
that  one  was  esoteric  and  the  other  exoteric 
in  its  instructions.  But  the  more  immedi- 
ate effect  of  the  romance  of  Bacon  was  the 
institution  of  the  Society  of  Astrologers,  of 
which  Elias  Ashmole  was  a  leading  mem- 
ber. Of  this  society  Nicolai,  in  his  work 
on  the  Origin  and  History  of  Rosicrucianism 
and  Freemasonry,  says : 

"Its  object  was  to  build  the  House  of 
Solomon,  of  the  New  Atlantis,  in  the 
literal  sense,  but  the  establishment  was 
to  remain  as  secret  as  the  island  of  Ben- 
salem  —  that  is  to  say,  they  were  to  be  en- 
gaged in  the  study  of  nature  —  but  the 
instruction  of  its  principles  was  to  remain 
in  the  society  in  an  esoteric  form.  These 
philosophers  presented  their  idea  in  a 
strictly  allegorical  method.  First,  there 
were  the  ancient  columns  of  Hermes,  by 
which  Iamblichus  pretended  that  he  had 
enlightened  all  the  doubts  of  Porphyry. 
You  then  mounted,  by  several  steps,  to  a 
chequered  floor,  divided  into  four  regions, 
to  denote  the  four  superior  sciences ;  after 
which  came  the  types  of  the  six  days'  work, 
which  expressed  the  object  of  the  society, 
and  which  were  the  same  as  those  found  on 
an  engraved  stone  in  my  possession.  The 
sense  of  all  which  was  this :  God  created 
the  world,  and  preserves  it  by  fixed  prin- 
ciples, full  of  wisdom;  he  who  seeks  to 
know  these  principles — that  is  to  say,  the 
interior  of  nature — approximates  to  God, 
and  he  who  thus  approximates  to  God 
obtains  from  his  grace  the  power  of  com- 
manding nature." 

This  society,  he  adds,  met  at  Masons'  Hall 
in  Basinghall  Street,  because  many  of  its 
members  were  also  members  of  the  Masons' 
Company,  into  which  they  all  afterwards 
entered  and  assumed  the  name  of  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,  and  thus  he  traces  the 
origin  of  the  Order  to  the  New  Atlantis 
and  the  House  of  Solomon  of  Lord  Bacon. 
It  is  only  a  theory,  but  it  seems  to  throw 
some  light  on  that  long  process  of  incuba- 
tion which  terminated  at  last,  in  1717,  in 
the  production  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England.  The  connection  of  Ashmole 
with  the  Masons  is  a  singular  one,  and  has 
led  to  some  controversy.  The  views  of 
Nicolai,  if  not  altogether  correct,  may 
suggest  the  possibility  of  an  explanation. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  eminent  astrologers 


of  England,  as  we  learn  from  Ash  mole's 
Diary,  were  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the 
Masons  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

Bacillus.  The  staff  of  office  borne 
by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars.  In 
ecclesiology,  baculus  is  the  name  given  to 
the  pastoral  staff  carried  by  a  bishop  or  an 
abbot  as  the  ensign  of  his  dignity  and 
authority.  In  pure  Latinity,  baculus  means 
a  long  stick  or  staff,  which  was  commonly 
carried  by  travellers,  by  shepherds,  or  by 
infirm  and  aged  persons,  and  afterwards, 
from  affectation,  by  the  Greek  philosophers. 
In  early  times,  this  staff,  made  a  little 
longer,  was  carried  by  kings  and  persons  in 
authority,  as  a  mark  of  distinction,  and 
was  thus  the  origin  of  the  royal  sceptre. 
The  Christian  church,  borrowing  many  of 
its  usages  from  antiquity,  and  alluding 
also,  it  is  said,  to  the  sacerdotal  power 
which  Christ  conferred  when  he  sent  the 
apostles  to  preach,  commanding  them  to 
take  with  them  staves,  adopted  the  pasto- 
ral staff,  to  be  borne  by  a  bishop,  as  sym- 
bolical of  his  power  to  inflict  pastoral  cor- 
rection ;  and  Darandus  says,  "  By  the  pas- 
toral staff  is  likewise  understood  the  au- 
thority of  doctrine.  For  by  it  the  infirm 
are  supported,  the  wavering  are  confirmed, 
those  going  astray  are  drawn  to  repentance." 
Catalin  also  says,  "That  the  baculus,  or 
episcopal  staff,  is  an  ensign  not  only  of 
honor,  but  also  of  dignity,  power,  and  pas- 
toral jurisdiction." 

Honorius,  a  writer  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, in  his  treatise  De  Gemma  Anim.03. 
gives  to  this  pastoral  staff  the  names  both 
of  baculus  and  virga.  Thus  he  says, 
"  Bishops  bear  the  staff  (baculum),  that  by 
their  teaching  they  may  strengthen  the 
weak  in  their  faith;  and  they  carry  the 
rod  (virgam),  that  by  their  power  they  may 
correct  the  unruly."  And  this  is  strikingly 
similar  to  the  language  used  by  St.  Bernard 
in  the  Rule  which  he  drew  up  for  the 
government  of  the  Templars.  In  Art.  lxviii., 
he  says,  "the  Master  ought  to  hold  the 
staff  and  the  rod  (baculum  et  virgam)  in  his 
hand,  that  is  to  say  the  staff  (baculum),  that 
he  may  support  the  infirmities  of  the  weak, 
and  the  rod  (virgam),  that  he  may  with  the 
zeal  of  rectitude  strike  down  the  vices  of 
delinquents." 

The  transmission  of  episcopal  ensigns 
from  bishops  to  the  heads  of  ecclesiastical 
associations  was  not  difficult  in  the  Middle 
Ages ;  and  hence  it  afterwards  became  one 
of  the  insignia  of  abbots,  and  the  heads  of 
confraternities  connected  with  the  Church, 
as  a  token  of  the  possession  of  powers  of 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction. 

Now,  as  the  Papal  bull,  Omne  datum  Op- 
timum, invested  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
Templars  with  almost  episcopal  jurisdiction 


BACULUS 


BADGE 


101 


over  the  priests  of  his  Order,  he  hore  the 
baculus,  or  pastoral  staff,  as  a  mark  of  that 
jurisdiction,  and  thus  it  became  a  part  of 
the  Grand  Master's  insignia  of  office. 

The  baculus  of  the  bishop,  the  abbot,  and 
the  confraternities,  was  not  precisely  the 
same  in  form.  The  earliest  episcopal  staff 
terminated  in  a  globular  knob,  or  a  tau 
cross.  This  was,  however,  soon  replaced 
by  the  simple-curved  termination,  which 
resembles  and  is  called  a  crook,  in  allusion 
to  that  used  by  shepherds  to  draw  back  and 
recall  the  sheep  of  their  flock  which  have 
gone  astray,  thus  symbolizing  the  expres- 
sion of  Christ,  "  I  am  the  good  Shepherd, 
and  know  my  sheep,  and  am  known  of 
mine." 

The  baculus  of  the  abbot  does  not  differ 
in  form  from  that  of  a  bishop,  but  as  the 
bishop  carries  the  curved  part  of  his  staff 
pointing  forward,  to  show  the  extent  of  his 
episcopal  jurisdiction,  so  the  abbot  carries 
his  pointing  backward,  to  signify  that  his 
authority  is  limited  to  his  monastery. 

The  baculi,  or  staves  of  the  confraterni- 
ties, were  surmounted  by  small  tabernacles, 
with  images  or  emblems,  on  a  sort  of  carved 
cap,  having  reference  to  the  particular  guild 
or  confraternity  by  whom  they  were  borne. 

The  baculus  of  the  Knights  Templars, 
which  was  borne  by  the  Grand  Master  as 
the  ensign  of  his  office,  in  allusion  to  his 
quasi  episcopal  jurisdiction,  is  described 
and  delineated  in  Mlinter,  Burnes,  Addi- 
son, and  all  the  other  authorities,  as  a  staff, 
on  the  top  of  which  is  an  octagonal  figure, 
surmounted  with  a  cross  patee.  The  cross, 
of  course,  refers  to  the  Christian  character 
of  the  Order,  and  the  octagon  alludes,  it  is 
said,  to  the  eight  beatitudes  of  our  Saviour 
in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

The  pastoral  staff  is  variously  designated, 
by  ecclesiastical  writers,  as  virga,  ferulu, 
cambutta,  crocia,  and  pedum.  From  crocia, 
whose  root  is  the  Latin  crux,  and  the  Italian 
croce,  a  cross,  we  get  the  English  crozier. 

Pedum,  another  name  of  the  baculus,  sig- 
nifies, in  pure  Latinity,  a  shepherd's  crook, 
and  thus  strictly  carries  out  the  symbolic 
idea  of  a  pastoral  charge.  Hence,  looking 
to  the  pastoral  jurisdiction  of  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Templars,  his  staff  of  office 
is  described  under  the  title  of  "pedum  ma- 
gistrate seu  patriarchate, "  that  is,  a  "  ma- 
gisterial or  patriarchal  staff,"  in  the  Statuta 
CommilitonumOrdinis  Templi,"  or  the  "  Stat- 
utes of  the  Fellow-soldiers  of  the  Order 
of  the  Temple,"  as  a  part  of  the  investi- 
ture of  the  Grand  Master,  in  the  following 
words : 

"  Pedum  magistrate  seu  patriarchate,  au- 
reum,  in  cacumine  cujus  crux  Ordinis  super 
orbem  exaltatur ;  "  that  is,  "  a  magisterial 
or  patriarchal  staff  of  gold,  on  the  top  of 


which  is  a  cross  of  the  Order,  surmounting 
an  orb  or  globe."  (Stat,  xxviii.,  art.  358.) 
But  of  all  these  names,  baculus  is  the  one 
more  commonly  used  by  writers  to  desig- 
nate the  Templar  pastoral  staff. 

In  the  year  1859  this  staff  of  office  was 
first  adopted  at  Chicago  by  the  Templars 
of  the  United  States,  during  the  Grand 
Mastership  of  Sir  William  B.  Hubbard. 
But,  unfortunately,  at  that  time  it  received 
the  name  of  abacus,  a  misnomer,  which  has 
continued  to  the  present  day,  on  the  author- 
ity of  a  literary  blunder  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
so  that  it  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  American 
Masons  to  perpetuate,,  in  the  use  of  this 
word,  an  error  of  the  great  novelist,  result- 
ing from  his  too  careless  writing,  at  which 
he  would  himself  have  been  the  first  to 
smile,  had  his  attention  been  called  to  it. 

Abacus,  in  mathematics,  denotes  an  in- 
strument or  table  used  for  calculation,  and 
in  architecture  an  ornamental  part  of  a 
column;  but  it  nowhere,  in  English  or 
Latin,  or  any  known  language,  signifies 
any  kind  of  a  staff. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  who,  undoubtedly  was 
thinking  of  baculus,  in  the  hurry  of  the  mo- 
ment and  a  not  improbable  confusion  of 
words  and  thoughts,  wrote  abacus,  when,  in 
his  novel  oflvanhoe,  he  describes  the  Grand 
Master,  Lucas  Beaumanoir.as  bearing  in  his 
hand  "  that  singular  abacus,  or  staff  office," 
committed  a  very  gross,  but  not  very 
uncommon,  literary  blunder,  of  a  kind  that 
is  quite  familiar  to  those  who  are  conver- 
sant with  the  results  of  rapid  composition, 
where  the  writer  often  thinks  of  one  word 
and  writes  another. 

Baden.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
at  an  early  period  into  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Baden,  and  was  for  a  long  time  popular. 
An  electoral  decree  in  1785  abolished  all 
secret  societies,  and  the  Masons  suspended 
their  labors.  These  were  revived  in  1805, 
by  the  establishment  of  a  new  Lodge,  and 
eventually,  in  1809,  of  the  Grand  Orient  of 
Baden  at  Manheim.  In  1813,  the  meetings 
were  again  prohibited  by  Grand  Ducal  au- 
thority. In  1846  and  1847,  by  the  liberality 
of  the  sovereign,  the  Masons  were  per- 
mitted to  resume  their  labors,  and  three 
Lodges  were  formed,  namely,  at  Manheim, 
Carlsruhe,  and  Breiburg,  which  united  with 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Bayreuth. 

Badge.  A  mark,  sign,  token,  or  thing, 
says  Webster,  by  which  a  person  is  dis- 
tinguished in  a  particular  place  or  employ- 
ment, and  designating  his  relation  to  a 
person  or  to  a  particular  occupation.  It  is 
in  heraldry  the  same  thing  as  a  cognizance: 
thus,  the  followers  and  retainers  of  the  house 
of  Percy  wore  a  silver  crescent  as  a  badge 
of  their  connection  with  that  family ;  the 
white  lion  borne  on  the  left  arm  was  the 


102 


BADGE 


BALDWTN 


badge  of  the  house  of  Howard,  Earl  of 
Surrey ;  the  red  rose  that  of  the  house  of 
Lancaster;  and  the  white  rose,  of  York. 
So  the  apron,  formed  of  white  lambskin,  is 
worn  by  the  Freemason  as  a  badge  of  his 
profession  and  a  token  of  his  connection 
with  the  Fraternity.     See  Apron. 

Badge  of  a  Mason.  The  lambskin 
apron  is  so  called.    See  Apron. 

Badge,  Royal  Arch.  The  Koyal 
Arch  badge  is  the  triple  tau,  which  see. 

Bafoniet.    See  Baphomet. 

Bag.  The  insignia,  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  of  the  Grand  Secretary. 
Thus  Preston,  describing  a  form  of  Masonic 
procession,  says:  "The  Grand  Secretary, 
with  his  bag."  The  bag  is  supposed  to  con- 
tain the  seal  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  of  which 
the  Grand  Secretary  is  the  custodian ;  and 
the  usage  is  derived  from  that  of  the  Lord 
Chancellors  preserving  the  Great  Seal  of 
the  kingdom  in  a  richly  embroidered  bag. 
The  custom  also  existed  in  America  many 
years  ago,  and  Dalcho,  in  his  Ahiman 
Rezon  of  South  Carolina,  published  in 
1807,  gives  a  form  of  procession,  in  which 
he  describes  the  Grand  Secretary  with  his 
bag.  In  1729,  Lord  Kingston,  being  Grand 
Master,  provided  at  his  own  cost  "  a  fine 
velvet  bag  for  the  Secretary." 

Bagitlkal.  A  significant  word  in  the 
high  degrees.  Lenning  says  it  is  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  Hebrew  Begoal-kol,  "  all  is 
revealed."  Pike  says,  Bagulkol,  with  a 
similar  reference  to  a  revelation.  Rock- 
well gives  in  his  MS.,  Bekalkel,  without  any 
meaning.  The  old  rituals  interpret  as  sig- 
nifying "  the  faithful  guardian  of  the 
sacred  ark,"  a  derivation  clearly  fanciful. 

Bahrdt,  Karl  Friedericb.  A 
German  doctor  of  theology,  who  was  born, 
in  1741,  at  Bischofswerda,  and  died  in 
1792.  He  is  described  by  one  of  his  biog- 
raphers as  being  "  notorious  alike  for  his 
bold  infidelity  and  for  his  evil  life."  I 
know  not  why  Thory  and  Lenning  have 
given  his  name  a  place  in  their  vocabu- 
laries, as  his  literary  labors  bore  no  rela- 
tion to  Freemasonry,  except  inasmuch  as 
that  he  was  a  Mason,  and  that  in  1787,  with 
several  other  Masons,  he  founded  at  Halle 
a  secret  society  called  the  "  German  Union," 
or  the  "  Two  and  Twenty,"  in  reference  to 
the  original  number  of  its  members.  The 
object  of  this  society  was  said  to  be  the  en- 
lightenment of  mankind.  It  was  dissolved 
in  1790,  by  the  imprisonment  of  its  founder 
for  having  written  a  libel  against  the  Prus- 
sian Minister  Woellner.  It  i3  incorrect  to 
call  this  system  of  degree  a  Masonic  Rite. 
See  German  Union. 

Baldachin.  In  architecture,  a  canopy 
supported  by  pillars  over  an  insulated  altar. 
In  Masonry,  it  has  been  applied  by  some 


writers  to  the  canopy  over  the  Master's 
chair.  The  German  Masons  give  this 
name  to  the  covering  of  the  Lodge,  and 
reckon  it  thei'efore  among  the  symbols. 

Baldrick.  A  portion  of  military 
dress,  being  a  scarf  passing  from  the 
shoulder  over  the  breast  to  the  hip.  In 
the  dress  regulations  of  the  Grand  En- 
campment of  Knights  Templars  of  the 
United  States,  adopted  in  1862,  it  is  called 
a  "scarf,"  and  is  thus  described:  "Five 
inches  wide  in  the  whole,  of  white  bordered 
with  black,  one  inch  on  either  side,  a  strip 
of  navy  lace  one-fourth  of  an  inch  wide  at 
the  inner  edge  of  the  black.  On  the  front 
centre  of  the  scarf,  a  metal  star  of  nine 
points,  in  allusion  to  the  nine  founders  of 
the  Temple  Order,  inclosing  the  Passion 
Cross,  surrounded  by  the  Latin  motto,  '  In 
hoc  signo  vinces ; '  the  star  to  be  three 
and  three-quarter  inches  in  diameter.  The 
scarf  to  be  worn  from  the  right  shoulder 
to  the  left  hip,  with  the  ends  extending  six 
inches  below  the  point  of  intersection." 

Bald  wyn  II.  The  successor  of  God- 
frey of  Bouillon  as  king  of  Jerusalem.  In 
his  reign  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars 
was  instituted,  to  whom  he  granted  a  place 
of  habitation  within  the  sacred  inclosure 
of  the  Temple  on  Mount  Moriah.  He  be- 
stowed on  the  Order  other  marks  of  favor, 
and,  as  its  patron,  his  name  has  been  re- 
tained in  grateful  remembrance,  and  often 
adopted  as  a  name  of  Commanderies  of 
Masonic  Templars. 

Baldwyn  Encampment.  An 
original  Encampment  of  Knights  Templars 
at  Bristol,  in  England,  said  to  have  been 
established  from  time  immemorial,  and  re- 
fusing to  recognize  the  authority  of  the 
Grand  Conclave  of  England.  Four  other 
Encampments  of  the  same  character  are 
said  to  have  existed  in  London,  Bath,  York, 
and  Salisbury.  From  a  letter  written  by 
Davyd  W.  Nash,  Esq.,  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  Bristol  Encampment,  in  1853, 
and  from  a  circular  issued  by  the  body  in 
1857,  I  derive  the  following  information. 

The  Order  of  Knights  Templars  had  ex- 
isted in  Bristol  from  time  immemorial, 
and  the  Templars  had  large  possessions  in 
that  ancient  city.  About  the  beginning  of 
this  century,  Bro.  Henry  Smith  introduced 
from  France  three  degrees  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Rite,  which,  with  the  degree 
of  Rose  Croix,  long  previously  connected 
with  the  Encampment,  were  united  with 
the  Templar  degrees  into  an  Order  called 
the  Royal  Order  of  Knighthood,  so  that  the 
Encampment  conferred  the  following  seven 
degrees:  1.  Masonic  Knight  Templar;  2. 
Knight  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  ;  3.  Knight  » 
of  Palestine;  4.  Knight  of  Rhodes;  5. 
Knight  of  Malta ;   6.  Knight  Rose  Croix 


BALDWYN 


BALLOT 


103 


of  Heredom;  7.  Grand  Elected  Knight 
of  Kadosh.  A  candidate  for  admission 
must  be  a  Royal  Arch  Mason ;  but  the  de- 
grees are  not  necessarily  taken  in  the  order 
in  which  they  have  been  named,  the  can- 
didate being  permitted  to  commence  at  any 
point. 

Nash  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
nature  of  the  difficulties  with  the  Grand 
Conclave  of  England : 

"The  Duke  of  Sussex  having  been  in- 
stalled a  Knight  Templar  at  Paris,  I  be- 
lieve by  Sir  Sidney  Smith,  then  Grand 
Master,  was  created  Grand  Master  of  the 
Knights  Templars  in  England.  From  some 
cause  or  other,  he  never  would  countenance 
the  Christian  degrees  connected  with  Ma- 
sonry, and  would  not  permit  a  badge  of  one 
of  these  degrees  to  be  worn  in  •  a  Craft 
Lodge.  In  London,  of  course,  he  ruled 
supreme,  and  the  meetings  of  Knights 
Templars  there,  if  they  continued  at  all, 
were  degraded  to  the  mere  level  of  public- 
house  meetings.  On  the  death  of  the  Duke 
of  Sussex,  it  was  resolved  to  rescue  the 
Order  from  its  degraded  position,  and  the 
Grand  Conclave  of  England  was  formed, 
some  of  the  officers  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex's 
original  Encampment,  which  he  held  once, 
and  I  believe,  once  only,  being  then  alive. 

"In  the  meantime,  of  the  three  original 
Encampments  of  England, — the  genuine 
representatives  of  the  Knights  of  the  Tem- 
ple,—  two  had  expired,  those  of  Bath  and 
York,  leaving  Bristol  the  sole  relic  of  the 
Order,  with  the  exception  of  the  Encamp- 
ments that  had  been  created  in  various  parts 
of  the  country,  not  holding  under  any 
legitimate  authority,  but  raised  by  knights 
who  had,  I  believe,  without  exception,  been 
created  in  the  Encampment  of  Baldwyn, 
at  Bristol. 

"  Under  these  circumstances  the  Knights 
of  Baldwyn  felt  that  their  place  was  at  the 
head  of  the  Order;  and  though  willing  for 
the  common  good  to  submit  to  the  autho- 
rity of  Col.  Tynte  or  any  duly  elected 
Grand  Master,  they  could  not  yield  prece- 
dence to  the  Encampment  of  Observance, 
(the  original  Encampment  of  the  Duke  of 
Sussex,)  derived  from  a  foreign  and  spuri- 
ous source,  the  so-called  Order  of  the  Tem- 
ple in  Paris ;  nor  could  they  consent  to 
forego  the  privileges  which  they  held  from 
an  immemorial  period,  or  permit  their  an- 
cient and  well-established  ceremonies,  cos- 
tume, and  laws  to  be  revised  by  persons 
for  whose  knowledge  and  judgment  they 
entertained  a  very  reasonable  and  well- 
grounded  want  of  respect.  The  Encamp- 
ment of  Baldwyn,  therefore,  refused  to  send 
representatives  to  the  Grand  Conclave  of 
England,  or  to  acknowledge  its  authority 
in  Bristol,  until  such  time   as  its  claims 


should  be  treated  with  the  consideration  it 
is  believed  they  deserve."  * 

In  1857  the  Baldwyn  Encampments  at 
Bristol  and  Bath  sought  a  reconciliation 
with  the  Grand  Conclave  of  England,  but 
were  repulsed ;  and  consequently  in  the  same 
year  they  established  or,  to  use  their  own 
word,  "revived"  the  "Ancient  Supreme 
Grand  and  Royal  Encampment  of  Masonic 
Knights  Templars,"  with  a  constituency  of 
seven  bodies,  and  elected  Nash,  Grand 
Master.  But  this  body  did  not  have  a  long 
or  a  prosperous  existence,  and  in  1860  the 
"Camp  of  Baldwyn"  surrendered  its  in- 
dependence, and  was  recognized  as  a  con- 
stituent, but  with  immemorial  existence,  of 
the  Grand  Conclave  of  England  and  Wales. 

Itulkis.  The  name  given  by  the  ori- 
entalists to  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  who  visited 
King  Solomon,  and  of  whom  they  relate  a 
crowd  of  fables.     See  Sheba,  Queen  of. 

Ballot.  In  the  election  of  candidates, 
Lodges  have  recourse  to  a  ballot  of  white 
and  black  balls.  Unanimity  of  choice,  in 
this  case,  is  always  desired  and  demanded ; 
one  black  ball  only  being  required  to  reject 
a  candidate.  This  is  an  inherent  privilege 
not  subject  to  dispensation  or  interference 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  because  as  the  Old 
Charges  say,  "  The  members  of  a  particular 
Lodge  are  the  best  judges  of  it ;  and  be- 
cause, if  a  turbulent  member  should  be  im- 
posed upon  them,  it  might  spoil  their 
harmony  or  hinder  the  freedom  of  their 
communications,  or  even  break  and  dis- 

Eerse  the  Lodge,  which  ought  to  be  avoided 
y  all  true  and  faithful." 

In  balloting  for  a  candidate  for  initiation, 
every  member  is  expected  to  vote.  No  one 
can  be  excused  from  sharing  the  responsi- 
bility of  admission  or  rejection,  except  by 
the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Lodge. 
Where  a  member  has  himself  no  personal 
or  acquired  knowledge  of  the  qualifications 
of  the  candidate,  he  is  bound  to  give  faith 
to  the  recommendation  of  his  brethren  of 
the  reporting  committee,  who,  he  is  to  pre- 
sume, would  not  make  a  favorable  report  on 
the  petition  of  an  unworthy  applicant. 

The  most  correct  usage  in  balloting  for 
candidates  is  as  follows  : 

The  committee  of  investigation  having 
reported  favorably,  the  Master  of  the 
Lodge  directs  the  Senior  Deacon  to  prepare 
the  ballot-box.  The  mode  in  which  this  is 
accomplished  is  as  follows :  The  Senior 
Deacon  takes  the  ballot-box,  and,  opening 
it,  places  all  the  white  and  black  balls  in- 
discriminately in  one  compartment,  leaving 
the  other  entirely  empty.     He  then  pro- 


•  See  letter  of  Davyd  W.  Nash  to  the  author 
of  An  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Order  of  Knights 
Templars,  by  Theo.  S.  Gourdin.  Charleston,  S. 
C,  1853,  p.  27. 


104 


BALLOT 


BALLOT 


ceeds  with  the  box  to  the  Junior  and  Senior 
Wardens,  who  satisfy  themselves  by  an  in- 
spection that  no  ball  has  been  left  in  the 
compartment  in  which  the  votes  are  to  be 
deposited.  The  box  in  this  and  the  other 
instance  to  be  referred  to  hereafter,  is  pre- 
sented to  the  inferior  officer  first,  and  then 
to  his  superior,  that  the  examination  and 
decision  of  the  former  may  be  substantiated 
and  confirmed  by  the  higher  authority  of 
the  latter.  Let  it,  indeed,  be  remembered, 
that  in  all  such  cases  the  usage  of  Masonic 
circumambulation  is  to  be  observed,  and  that, 
therefore,  we  must  first  pass  the  Junior's 
station  before  we  can  get  to  that  of  the 
Senior  Warden. 

These  officers  having  thus  satisfied  them- 
selves that  the  box  is  in  a  proper  condition 
for  the  reception  of  the  ballots,  it  is  then 
placed  upon  the  altar  by  the  Senior  Deacon, 
who  retires  to  his  seat.  The  Master  then 
directs  the  Secretary  to  call  the  roll,  which 
is  done  by  commencing  with  the  Worship- 
ful Master,  and  proceeding  through  all  the 
officers  down  to  the  youngest  member.  As 
a  matter  of  convenience,  the  Secretary 
generally  votes  the  last  of  those  in  the 
room,  and  then,  if  the  Tiler  is  a  member 
of  the  Lodge,  he  is  called  in,  while  the 
Junior  Deacon  tiles  for  him,  and  the  name 
of  the  applicant  having  been  told  him,  he 
is  directed  to  deposit  his  ballot,  which  he 
does  and  then  retires. 

As  the  name  of  each  officer  and  member 
is  called,  he  approaches  the  altar,  and  hav- 
ing made  the  proper  Masonic  salutation  to 
the  Chair,  he  deposits  his  ballot  and  retires 
to  his  seat.  The  roll  should  be  called  slow- 
ly, so  that  at  no  time  should  there  be  more 
than  one  person  present  at  the  box,  for  the 
great  object  of  the  ballot  being  secrecy,  no 
brother  should  be  permitted  so  near  the 
member  voting  as  to  distinguish  the  color 
of  the  ball  he  deposits. 

The  box  is  placed  on  the  altar,  and  the 
ballot  is  deposited  with  the  solemnity  of  a 
Masonic  salutation,  that  the  voters  may  be 
duly  impressed  with  the  sacred  and  respon- 
sible nature  of  the  duty  they  are  called  on 
to  discharge.  The  system  of  voting  thus 
described,  is,  therefore,  far  better  on  this 
account  than  that  sometimes  adopted  in 
Lodges,  of  handing  round  the  box  for  the 
members  to  deposit  their  ballots  from  their 
seats. 

The  Master  having  inquired  of  the 
Wardens  if  all  have  voted,  then  orders  the 
Senior  Deacon  to  "  take  charge  of  the 
ballot-box."  That  officer  accordingly  re- 
pairs to  the  altar,  and  taking  possession  of 
the  box,  carries  it,  as  before,  to  the  Junior 
Warden,  who  examines  the  ballot,  and  re- 

Eorts,  if  all  the  balls  are  white,  that  "the 
ox  is  clear  in  the  South,"  or,  if  there  is 


one  or  more  black  balls,  that  "  the  box  is 
foul  in  the  South."  The  Deacon  then 
carries  it  to  the  Senior  Warden,  and  after- 
wards to  the  Master,  who,  of  course,  make 
the  same  report,  according  to  the  circum- 
stance, with  the  necessary  verbal  variations 
of  "West"  and  "East." 

If  the  box  is  clear  —  that  is,  if  all  the 
ballots  are  white  —  the  Master  then  an- 
nounces that  the  applicant  has  been  duly 
elected,  and  the  Secretary  makes  a  record 
of  the  fact.  But  if  the  box  is  foul,  the 
Master  inspects  the  number  of  black  balls ; 
if  he  finds  only  one,  he  so  states  the  fact 
to  the  Lodge,  and  orders  the  Senior  Deacon 
again  to  prepare  the  ballot-box.  Here  the 
same  ceremonies  are  passed  through  that 
have  already  been  described.  The  balls 
are  removed  into  one  compartment,  the  box 
is  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  the 
Wardens,  it  is  placed  upon  the  altar,  the 
roll  is  called,  the  members  advance  and 
deposit  their  votes,  the  box  is  scrutinized, 
and  the  result  declared  by  the  Wardens  and 
Master.  If  again  one  black  ball  be  found, 
or  if  two  or  more  appeared  on  the  first 
ballot,  the  Master  announces  that  the  pe- 
tition of  the  applicant  has  been  rejected, 
and  directs  the  usual  record  to  be  made  by 
the  Secretary  and  the  notification  to  be 
given  to  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Balloting  for  membership  or  affiliation  is 
subject  to  the  same  rules.  In  both  cases 
"  previous  notice,  one  month  before,"  must 
be  given  to  the  Lodge,  "  due  inquiry  into 
the  reputation  and  capacity  of  the  candi- 
date "  must  be  made,  and  the  unanimous 
consent  of  all  the  members  then  present" 
must  be  obtained.  Nor  can  this  unanimity 
be  dispensed  with  in  one  case  any  more 
than  it  can  in  the  other.  It  is  the  inherent 
privilege  of  every  Lodge  to  judge  of  the 
qualifications  of  its  own  members,  "  nor  is 
this  inherent  privilege  subject  to  a  dispen- 
sation." 

Ballot-Box.  The  box  in  which  the 
ballots  or  little  balls  used  in  voting  for  a 
candidate  are  deposited.  It  should  be  di- 
vided into  two  compartments,  one  of  which 
is  to  contain  both  black  and  white  balls,  from 
which  each  member  selects  one,  and  the 
other,  which  is  closed  with  an  aperture,  to 
receive  the  ball  that  is  to  be  deposited. 
Various  methods  have  been  devised  by 
which  secrecy  may  be  secured,  so  that  a 
voter  may  select  and  deposit  the  ball  he 
desires  without  the  possibility  of  its  being 
seen  whether  it  is  black  or  white.  That 
now  most  in  use  in  this  country  is  to  have 
the  aperture  so  covered  by  a  part  of  the 
box  as  to  prevent  the  hand  from  being  seen 
when  the  ball  is  deposited. 

Ballot,  Bceonsideration  of  the. 
See  Reconsideration  of  the  Ballot. 


BALLOT 


BALTIMORE 


105 


Ballot,    Secrecy    of  tlie.      The 

secrecy  of  the  ballot  is  as  essential  to  its 
perfection  as  its  unanimity  or  its  indepen- 
dence. If  the  vote  were  to  be  given  viva 
voce,  it  is  impossible  that  the  improper  influ- 
ences of  fear  or  interest  should  not  some- 
times be  exerted,  and  timid  members  be 
thus  induced  to  vote  contrary  to  the  dictates 
of  their  reason  and  conscience.  Hence,  to 
secure  this  secrecy  and  protect  the  purity 
of  choice,  it  has  been  wisely  established  as 
a  usage,  not  only  that  the  vote  shall  in 
these  cases  be  taken  by  a  ballot,  but  that 
there  shall  be  no  subsequent  discussion  of 
the  subject.  Not  only  has  no  member  a 
right  to  inquire  how  his  fellows  have  voted, 
but  it  is  wholly  out  of  order  for  him  to  ex- 
plain his  own  vote.  And  the  reason  of 
this  is  evident.  If  one  member  has  a  right 
to  rise  in  his  place  and  announce  that  he 
deposited  a  white  ball,  then  every  other 
member  has  the  same  right;  and  in  a 
Lodge  of  twenty  members,  where  an  ap- 
plication has  been  rejected  by  one  black 
ball,  if  nineteen  members  state  that  they 
did  not  deposit  it,  the  inference  is  clear 
that  the  twentieth  Brother  has  done  so,  and 
thus  the  secrecy  of  the  ballot  is  at  once  de- 
stroyed. The  rejection  having  been  an- 
nounced from  the  Chair,  the  Lodge  should  at 
once  proceed  to  other  business,  and  it  is  the 
sacred  duty  of  the  presiding  officer  peremp- 
torily and  at  once  to  check  any  rising  dis- 
cussion on  the  subject.  Nothing  must  be 
done  to  impair  the  inviolable  secrecy  of  the 
ballot. 

Ballot,  Unanimity  of  the.  Una- 
nimity in  the  choice  of  candidates  is  con- 
sidered so  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the 
Fraternity,  that  the  Old  Regulations  have 
expressly  provided  for  its  preservation  in 
the  following  words: 

"  But  no  man  can  be  entered  a  Brother 
in  any  particular  Lodge,  or  admitted  to  be 
a  member  thereof,  without  the  unanimous 
consent  of  all  the  members  of  that  Lodge 
then  present  when  the  candidate  is  pro- 
posed, and  their  consent  is  formally  asked 
by  the  Master;  and  they  are  to  signify 
their  consent  or  dissent  in  their  own  pru- 
dent way,  either  virtually  or  in  form,  but 
with  unanimity;  nor  is  this  inherent  privi- 
lege subject  to  a  dispensation  ;  because  the 
members  of  a  particular  Lodge  are  the  best 
judges  of  it ;  and  if  a  fractious  member 
should  be  imposed  on  them,  it  might  spoil 
their  harmony,  or  hinder  their  freedom;  or 
even  break  and  disperse  the  Lodge,  which 
ought  to  be  avoided  by  all  good  and  true 
brethren." 

The  rule  of  unanimity  here  referred  to 

is,  however,  applicable  only  to  this  country, 

in  all  of  whose  Grand  Lodges  it  is  strictly 

enforced.     Anderson  tells  us,  in  the  second 

0 


edition  of  the  Constitutions,  under  the 
head  of  New  Regulations,  (p.  155,)  that  "it 
was  found  inconvenient  to  insist  upon 
unanimity  in  several  cases;  and,  therefore, 
the  Grand  Masters  have  allowed  the  Lodges 
to  admit  a  member  if  not  above  three  bal- 
lots are  against  him  ;  though  some  Lodges 
desire  no  such  allowance."  And  accord- 
ingly, the  present  constitution  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  says :  "  No  person  can 
be  made  a  Mason  in  or  admitted  a  member 
of  a  Lodge,  if,  on  the  ballot,  three  black 
balls  appear  against  him.  Some  Lodges 
wish  for  no  such  indulgence,  but  require 
the  unanimous  consent  of  the  members 
present;  some  admit  one  black  ball,  some 
two:  the  by-laws  of  each  Lodge  must, 
therefore,  guide  them  in  this  respect ;  but 
if  there  be  three  black  balls,  such  person 
cannot,  on  any  pretence,  be  admitted." 
The  Grand  Lodge  of  Ireland  prescribes 
unanimity,  unless  there  is  a  by-law  of  the 
subordinate  Lodge  to  the  contrary.  The 
constitution  of  Scotland  is  indefinite  on 
this  subject,  simply  requiring  that  the 
brethren  shall  "  have  expressed  themselves 
satisfied  by  ballot  in  open  Lodge,"  but  it 
does  not  say  whether  the  ballot  shall  be 
or  not  be  unanimous.  In  the  continental 
Lodges,  the  modern  English  regulation  pre- 
vails. It  is  only  in  the  Lodges  of  the 
United  States  that  the  ancient  rule  of 
unanimity  is  strictly  enforced. 

Unanimity  in  the  ballot  is  necessary  to 
secure  the  harmony  of  the  Lodge,  which 
may  be  as  seriously  impaired  by  the  ad- 
mission of  a  candidate  contrary  to  the 
wishes  of  one  member  as  of  three  or  more  ; 
for  every  man  has  his  friends  and  his  influ- 
ence. Besides,  it  is  unjust  to  any  member, 
however  humble  he  may  be,  to  introduce 
among  his  associates  one  whose  presence 
might  be  unpleasant  to  him,  and  whose 
admission  would  probably  compel  him  to 
withdraw  from  the  meetings,  or  even  alto- 
gether from  the  Lodge.  Neither  would 
any  advantage  really  accrue  to  a  Lodge  by 
such  a  forced  admission ;  for  while  receiv- 
ing a  new  and  untried  member  into  its 
fold,  it  would  be  losing  an  old  one.  For 
these  reasons,  in  this  country,  in  every 
one  of  its  jurisdictions,  the  unanimity  of 
the  ballot  is  expressly  insisted  on ;  and  it  is 
evident,  from  what  has  been  here  said,  that 
any  less  stringent  regulation  is  a  violation 
of  the  ancient  law  and  usage. 

Balsamo,  Joseph.    See  Cagliostro. 

Baltimore  Convention.  A  Ma- 
sonic Congress  which  met  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore  on  the  8th  of  May,  1843,  in 
consequence  of  a  recommendation  made  by 
a  preceding  convention  which  had  met  in 
Washington  city  in  March,  1842.  It  con- 
sisted of  delegates  from  the  States  of  New 


106 


BALUSTER 


BANNERS 


Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  New  York, 
Maryland,  District  of  Columbia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama, Florida,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  Missouri, 
and  Louisiana.  Its  professed  objects  were 
to  produce  uniformity  of  Masonic  work  and 
to  recommend  such  measures  as  should  tend 
to  the  elevation  of  the  Order.  It  continued 
in  session  for  nine  days,  during  which  time 
it  was  principally  occupied  in  an  attempt 
to  perfect  the  ritual,  and  in  drawing  up  ar- 
ticles for  the  permanent  organization  of  a 
Triennial  Masonic  Convention  of  the  United 
States,  to  consist  of  delegates  from  all  the 
Grand  Lodges.  In  both  of  these  efforts  it 
failed,  although  several  distinguished  Ma- 
sons took  part  in  its  proceedings;  the  body 
was  too  small,  (consisting,  as  it  did,  of  only 
twenty-three  members,)  to  exercise  any  de- 
cided popular  influence  on  the  Fraternity. 
Its  plan  of  a  Triennial  Convention  met  with 
very  general  opposition,  and  its  proposed 
ritual,  familiarly  known  as  the  "  Baltimore 
work,"  has  almost  become  a  myth.  Its  only 
practical  result  was  the  preparation  and 

Sublication  of  Moore's  Trestle  Board,  a 
lonitor  which  has,  however,  been  adopted 
only  by  a  limited  number  of  American 
Lodges.  The  "Baltimore  work"  did  not 
materially  differ  from  that  originally  estab- 
lished by  Webb.  Moore's  Trestle  Board  pro- 
fesses to  be  an  exposition  of  its  monitorial 
part ;  a  statement  which,  however,  is  denied 
by  Dr.  Dove,  who  was  the  President  of  the 
Convention,  and  the  controversy  on  this 
point  at  the  time  between  these  two  emi- 
nent Masons  was  conducted  with  too  much 
bitterness. 

Baluster.  A  small  column  or  pilaster, 
corruptly  called  a  bannister;  in  French, 
balustre.  Borrowing  the  architectural  idea, 
the  Scottish  Rite  Masons  apply  the  word 
baluster  to  any  official  circular  or  other 
document  issuing  from  a  Supreme  Council. 
Balzac,  Lou  is  Charles.  A  French 
architect  of  some  celebrity,  and  member  of 
the  Institute  of  Egypt.  He  founded  the 
Lodge  of  the  Great  Sphinx  at  Paris.  He  was 
also  a  poet  of  no  inconsiderable  merit,  and 
was  the  author  of  many  Masonic  canticles 
in  the  French  language,  among  them  the 
well-known  hymn  entitled,  "Taisons  nous, 
plus  de  bruit,"  the  music  of  which  was  com- 
posed by  M.  Riguel.  He  died  March  31, 
1820,  at  which  time  he  was  inspector  of  the 
public  works  in  the  prefecture  of  the  Seine. 
Banners,  Royal  Arch.  Much 
difficulty  has  been  experienced  by  ritualists 
in  reference  to  the  true  colors  and  proper 
arrangements  of  the  banners  used  in  an 
American  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons. 
It  is  admitted  that  they  are  four  in  number, 
and  that  their  colors  are  blue,  purple,  scar- 
let and  white ;  and  it  is  known,  too,  that 


the  devices  on  these  banners  are  a  lion,  an 
ox,  a  man,  and  an  eagle;  but  the  doubt  is 
constantly  arising  as  to  the  relation  between 
these  devices  and  these  colors,  and  as  to 
which  of  the  former  is  to  be  appropriated 
to  each  of  the  latter.  The  question,  it  is 
true,  is  one  of  mere  ritualism,  but  it  is  impor- 
tant that  the  ritual  should  be  always  uniform, 
and  hence  the  object  of  the  present  article  is 
to  attempt  the  solution  of  this  question. 

The  banners  used  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chap- 
ter are  derived  from  those  which  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  borne  by  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel  during  their  encampment 
in  the  wilderness,  to  which  reference  is 
made  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  Book  of 
Numbers,  and  the  second  verse :  "  Every 
man  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  pitch 
by  his  own  standard."  But  as  to  what 
were  the  devices  on  the  banners,  or  what 
were  their  various  colors,  the  Bible  is  abso- 
lutely silent.  To  the  inventive  genius  of 
the  Talmudists  are  we  indebted  for  all  that 
we  know  or  profess  to  know  on  this  subject. 
These  mystical  philosophers  have  given  to 
us  with  wonderful  precision  the  various  de- 
vices which  they  have  borrowed  from  the 
death-bed  prophecy  of  Jacob,  and  have 
sought,  probably  in  their  own  fertile  im- 
aginations, for  the  appropriate  colors. 

The  English  Royal  Arch  Masons,  whose 
system  differs  very  much  from  that  of  their 
American  Companions,  display  in  their 
Chapters  the  twelve  banners  of  the  tribes 
in  accordance  with  the  Talmudic  devices 
and  colors.  These  have  been  very  elabo- 
rately described  by  Dr.  Oliver,  in  his  His- 
torical Landmarks,  and  beautifully  exem- 
plified by  Companion  Harris,  in  his  Boyal 
Arch  Tracing  Boards. 

But  our  American  Royal  Arch  Masons, 
as  we  have  seen,  use  only  four  banners, 
being  those  attributed  by  the  Talmudists  to 
the  four  principal  tribes  —  Judah,  Eph- 
raim,  Reuben,  and  Dan.  The  devices  on 
these  banners  are  respectively  a  lion,  an  ox, 
a  man,  and  an  eagle.  As  to  this  there  is 
no  question ;  all  authorities,  such  as  they 
are,  agreeing  on  this  point.  But,  as  has 
been  before  said,  there  is  some  diversity  of 
opinion  as  to  the  colors  of  each,  and  neces- 
sarily as  to  the  officers  by  whom  they  should 
be  borne. 

Some  of  the  Targumists,  or  Jewish  bibli- 
cal commentators,  say  that  the  color  of  the 
banner  of  each  tribe  was  analogous  to  that 
of  the  stone  which  represented  that  tribe  in 
the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest.  If  this 
were  correct,  then  the  colors  of  the  banners 
of  the  four  leading  tribes  would  be  red  and 
green,  namely,  red  for  Judah,  Ephraim, 
and  Reuben,  and  green  for  Dan;  these 
being  the  colors  of  the  precious  stones  sar- 
donyx, ligure,  carbuncle,  and  chrysolite, 


BANQUET 


BAPTISM 


107 


by  which  these  tribes  were  represented  in 
the  high  priest's  breastplate.  Such  an 
arrangement  would  not,  of  course,  at  all 
suit  the  symbolism  of  the  American  Royal 
Arch  banners. 

Equally  unsatisfactory  is  the  disposition 
of  the  colors  derived  from  the  arms  of  spec- 
ulative Masonry,  as  first  displayed  by  Der- 
mott  in  his  Ahiman  Rezon,  which  is  fa- 
miliar to  all  American  Masons,  from  the 
copy  published  by  Cross,  in  his  Hieroglyphic 
Chart.  In  this  piece  of  blazonry,  the  two 
fields  occupied  by  Judah  and  Dan  are  azure, 
or  blue,  and  those  of  Ephraim  and  Reuben 
are  or,  or  golden  yellow ;  an  appropriation 
of  colors  altogether  uncongenial  with  Royal 
Arch  symbolism. 

We  must,  then,  depend  on  the  Talmudic 
writers  solely  for  the  disposition  and  ar- 
rangement of  the  colors  and  devices  of  these 
banners.  From  their  works  we  learn  that 
the  color  of  the  banner  of  Judah  was  white ; 
that  of  Ephraim  scarlet;  that  of  Reuben 
purple ;  and  that  of  Dan  blue  ;  and  that  the 
devices  of  the  same  tribes  were  respectively 
the  lion,  the  ox,  the  man,  and  the  eagle. 

Hence,  under  this  arrangement  —  and  it 
is  the  only  one  upon  which  we  can  depend 
—  the  four  banners  in  a  Chapter  of  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  working  in  the  American 
Rite,  must  be  distributed  as  follows  among 
the  banner-bearing  officers  : 

1st.  An  eagle,  on  a  blue  banner.  This 
represents  the  tribe  of  Dan,  and  is  borne 
by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  first  veil. 

2d.  A  man,  on  a  purple  banner.  This 
represents  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  and  is  borne 
by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  second  veil. 

3d.  An  ox,  on  a  scarlet  banner.  This 
represents  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  is  borne 
by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  third  veil. 

4th.  A  lion,  on  a  white  banner.  This 
represents  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  is  borne 
by  the  Royal  Arch  Captain. 

Banquet.    See  Table-Lodge. 

Baphomct.  The  imaginary  idol,  or, 
rather,  symbol,  which  the  Knights  Tem- 
plars were  accused  of  employing  in  their 
mystic  rights.  The  forty-second  of  the 
charges  preferred  against  them  by  Pope 
Clement  is  in  these  words :  "  Item  quod 
ipsi  per  singulas  provincias  habeant  idola : 
videlicet  capita  quorum  aliqua  habebant 
tres  facies,  et  alia  unura :  et  aliqua  cranium 
humanum  habebant."  Also,  that  in  all  of 
the  provinces  they  have  idols,  namely, 
heads,  of  which  some  had  three  faces,  some 
one,  and  some  had  a  human  skull.  Von 
Hammer,  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  Templars, 
in  his  book  entitled,  The  Mystery  of  Baph- 
omet  Revealed,  (see  Hammer,)  revived  this 
old  accusation,  and  attached  to  the  Baph- 
omet  an  impious  signification.  He  de- 
rived the  name  from  the  Greek  words  /3a^, 


baptism,  and  fi^ng,  wisdom,  and  thence  sup- 
posed that  it  represented  the  admission  of 
the  initiated  into  the  secret  mysteries  of 
the  Order.  From  this  gratuitous  assump- 
tion he  deduces  his  theory,  set  forth  even 
in  the  very  title  of  his  work,  that  the  Tem- 
plars were  convicted,  by  their  own  monu- 
ments, of  being  guilty  as  Gnostics  and 
Ophites,  of  apostasy,  idolatry,  and  impu- 
rity. Of  this  statement  he  offers  no  other 
historical  testimony  than  the  Articles  of 
Accusation,  themselves  devoid  of  proof, 
but  through  which  the  Templars  were 
made  the  victims  of  the  jealousy  of  the 
pope  and  the  avarice  of  the  king  of  France. 

Others  again  have  thought  that  they 
could  find  in  Baphomet  a  corruption  of 
Mahomet,  and  hence  they  have  asserted 
that  the  Templars  had  been  perverted  from 
their  religious  faith  by  the  Saracens,  with 
whom  they  had  so  much  intercourse,  some- 
times as  foes  and  sometimes  as  friends. 
Nicolai,  who  wrote  an  Essay  on  the  Accusa- 
tions brought  against  the  Templars,  published 
at  Berlin,  in  1782,  supposes,  but  doubtingly, 
that  the  figure  of  the  Baphomet,  "figura 
Baffometi,"  which  was  depicted  on  a  bust 
representing  the  Creator,  was  nothing  else 
but  the  Pythagorean  pentagon,  the  symbol 
of  health  and  prosperity,  borrowed  by  the 
Templars  from  the  Gnostics,  who  in  turn 
had  obtained  it  from  the  School  of  Pythag- 
oras. 

King,  in  his  learned  work  on  the  Gnos- 
tics, thinks  that  the  Baphomet  may  have 
been  a  symbol  of  the  Manicheans,  with 
whose  wide-spreading  heresy  in  the  Middle 
Ages  he  does  not  doubt  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  inquiring  spirits  of  the  Temple  had 
been  intoxicated. 

Amid  these  conflicting  views,  all  merely 
speculative,  it  will  not  be  uncharitable  or 
unreasonable  to  suggest  that  the  Baphomet, 
or  skull  of  the  ancient  Templars,  was,  like 
the  relic  of  their  modern  Masonic  represent- 
atives, simply  an  impressive  symbol  teach- 
ing the  lesson  of  mortality,  and  that  the  lat- 
ter has  really  been  derived  from  the  former. 

Baptism,  Masonic.  The  term  "  Ma- 
sonic Baptism  "  has  been  recently  applied 
in  this  country  by  some  authorities  to  that 
ceremony  which  is  used  in  certain  of  the 
high  degrees,  and  which,  more  properly, 
should  be  called  "Lustration."  It  has 
been  objected  that  the  use  of  the  term  is 
calculated  to  give  needless  offence  to  scru- 
pulous persons  who  might  suppose  it  to  be 
an  imitation  of  a  Christian  sacrament. 
But.  in  fact,  the  Masonic  baptism  has  no 
allusion  whatsoever,  either  in  form  or  de- 
sign, to  the  sacrament  of  the  Church.  It 
is  simply  a  lustration  or  purification  by 
water,  a  ceremony  which  was  common  to 
all  the  ancient  initiations.     See  Lustration. 


108 


BARD 


BARRUEL 


Bard.  A  title  of  great  dignity  and 
importance  among  the  ancient  Britons, 
"which  was  conferred  only  upon  men  of 
distinguished  rank  in  society,  and  who 
filled  a  sacred  office.  It  was  the  third  or 
lowest  of  the  three  degrees  into  which 
Druidism  was  divided.    See  Druidism. 

Bastard.  The  question  of  the  ineli- 
gibility of  bastards  to  be  made  Freemasons 
was  first  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Craft  by  Brother  Chalmers  T.  Patton, 
who,  in  several  articles  in  The  London  Free- 
mason, in  1869,  contended  that  they  were 
excluded  from  initiation  by  the  Ancient 
Regulations.  Subsequently,  in  his  compi- 
lation entitled  Freemasonry  and  its  Jurispru- 
dence, published  in  1872,  he  cites  several  of 
the  Old  Constitutions  as  explicitly  declaring 
that  the  men  made  Masons  shall  be  "  no 
bastards."  This  is  a  most  unwarrantable 
interpolation  not  to  be  justified  in  any 
writer  on  jurisprudence ;  for  on  a  careful 
examination  of  all  the  old  manuscript 
copies  which  have  been  published,  no 
such  words  are  to  be  found  in  any  one  of 
them.  As  an  instance  of  this  literary  dis- 
ingenuousness,  (to  use  no  harsher  term,)  I 
quote  the  following  from  his  work,  (p.  GO :) 
.  The  charge  in  this  second  edition  [of  An- 
derson's Constitutions]  is  in  the  following 
unmistakable  words :  '  The  men  made  Ma- 
sons must  be  freeborn,  no  bastard,  (or  no 
bondmen,)  of  mature  age  and  of  good  re- 
port, hale  and  sound,  not  deformed  or  dis- 
membered at  the  time  of  their  making.'" 

Now,  with  a  copy  of  this  second  edition 
lying  open  before  me,  I  find  the  passage  thus 
printed:  "The  men  made  Masons  must  be 
freeborn,  (or  no  bondmen,)  of  mature  age 
and  of  good  report,  hale  and  sound,  not 
deformed  or  dismembered  at  the  time  of 
their  making."  The  words  "no  bastard" 
are  Patton's  interpolation. 

Again,  Patton  quotes  from  Preston  the 
Ancient  Charges  at  makings,in  these  words : 
"  That  he  that  be  made  be  able  in  all  de- 
grees ;  that  is,  freeborn,  of  a  good  kindred, 
true,  and  no  bondsman  or  bastard,  and  that 
he  have  his  right  limbs  as  a  man  ought  to 
have." 

But  on  referring  to  Preston,  (edition  of 
1775,  and  all  subsequent  editions,)  we  find 
the  passage  to  be  correctly  thus :  "  That  he 
that  be  made  be  able  in  all  degrees ;  that  is, 
freeborn,  of  a  good  kindred,  true,  and  no 
bondsman,  and  that  he  have  his  limbs  as  a 
man  ought  to  have." 

Positive  law  authorities  should  not  be 
thus  cited,  not  merely  carelessly,  but  with 
designed  inaccuracy  to  support  a  theory. 

But  although  there  is  no  regulation  in 
the  Old  Constitutions  which  explicitly  pro- 
hibits the  initiation  of  bastards,  it  may  be 
implied  from  their  language  that  such  pro- 


hibition did  exist.  Thus,  in  all  the  old 
manuscripts,  we  find  such  expressions  as 
these:  he  that  shall  be  made  a  Mason 
"  must  be  freeborn  and  of  good  kindred^ 
(Sloane  MS.,)  or  "come  of  good  kindred," 
(Edinburgh  Kilwinning  MS.,)  or,  as  the 
Roberts  MS.  more  definitely  has  it,  "  of 
honest  parentage." 

It  is  not,  I  therefore  think,  to  be  doubted 
that  formerly  bastards  were  considered  as 
ineligible  for  initiation,  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple that  they  were,  as  a  degraded  class, 
excluded  from  the  priesthood  in  the  Jew- 
ish and  the  primitive  Christian  church. 
But  the  more  liberal  spirit  of  modern  times 
has  long  since  made  the  law  obsolete,  be- 
cause it  is  contrary  to  the  principles  of  jus- 
tice to  punish  a  misfortune  as  if  it  was  a 
crime. 

Barefeet.     See  Discalceaiion. 

Barruel,  Abbe.  Augustin  Barruel, 
generally  known  as  the  Abbe  Barruel,  who 
was  born,  October  2, 1741,  at  Villeneuve  de 
Berg,  in  France,  and  who  died  October  5, 
1820,  was  an  implacable  enemy  of  Free- 
masonry. He  was  a  prolific  writer,  but 
owes  his  reputation  principally  to  the 
work  entitled  Memoires  pour  servir  aU  His- 
toire  du  Jacobinisme,  4  vols.,  8vo,  published 
in  London  in  1797.  In  this  work  he  charges 
the  Freemasons  with  revolutionary  prin- 
ciples in  politics  and  with  infidelity  in  re- 
ligion. He  seeks  to  trace  the  origin  of  the 
Institution  first  to  those  ancient  heretics 
the  Manicheans,  and  through  them  to  the 
Templars,  against  whom  he  revives  the  old 
accusations  of  Philip  the  Fair  and  Clement 
the  Fifth.  His  theory  of  the  Templar  ori- 
gin of  Masonry  is  thus  expressed  (ii.  377). 
"  Your  whole  school  and  all  your  Lodges  are 
derived  from  the  Templars.  After  the  ex- 
tinction of  their  Order,  a  certain  number 
of  guilty  knights,  having  escaped  the  pro- 
scription, united  for  the  preservation  of 
their  horrid  mysteries.  To  their  impious 
code  they  added  the  vow  of  vengeance 
against  the  kings  and  priests  who  destroyed 
their  Order,  and  against  all  religion  which 
anathematized  their  dogmas.  They  made 
adepts,  who  should  transmit  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  the  same  mysteries  of 
iniquity,  the  same  oaths,  and  the  same 
hatred  of  the  God  of  the  Christians,  and 
of  kings,  and  of  priests.  These  mysteries 
have  descended  to  you,  and  you  continue 
to  perpetuate  their  impiety,  their  vows,  and 
their  oaths.  Such  is  your  origin.  The  lapse 
of  time  and  the  change  of  manners  have 
varied  a  part  of  your  symbols  and  your 
frightful  systems ;  but  the  essence  of  them 
remains,  the  vows,  the  oaths,  the  hatred, 
and  the  conspiracies  are  the  same."  It  is 
not  astonishing  that  Lawrie  (Hist.,  p.  50,) 
should  have  said  of  the  writer  of  such 


BASKET 


BAY 


109 


statements,  that  "  that  charity  and  forbear- 
ance which  distinguish  the  Christian 
character  are  never  exemplified  in  the 
work  of  Barruel ;  and  the  hypocrisy  of  his 
pretensions  are  often  betrayed  by  the  fury 
of  his  zeal.  The  tattered  veil  behind  which 
he  attempts  to  cloak  his  inclinations  often 
discloses  to  the  reader  the  motives  of  the 
man  and  the  wishes  of  his  party."  Al- 
though the  attractions  of  his  style  and  the 
boldness  of  his  declamation  gave  Barruel  at 
one  time  a  prominent  place  among  anti- Ma- 
sonic writers,  his  work  is  now  seldom  read 
and  never  cited  in  Masonic  controversies, 
for  the  progress  of  truth  has  assigned  their 
just  value  to  its  extravagant  assertions. 

Basket.  The  basket  or  fan  was  among 
the  Egyptians  a  symbol  of  the  purification 
of  souls.  The  idea  seems  to  have  been 
adopted  by  other  nations,  and  hence,  "  in- 
itiations in  the  Ancient  Mysteries,"  says 
Mr.  Rolle  {Culte  de  Bacch.,  i.  30),  "being 
the  commencement  of  a  better  life  and  the 
perfection  of  it,  could  not  take  place  till 
the  soul  was  purified.  The  fan  had  been 
accepted  as  the  symbol  of  that  purification 
because  the  mysteries  purged  the  soul  of 
sin,  as  the  fan  cleanses  the  grain."  John 
the  Baptist  conveys  the  same  idea  of  puri- 
fication when  he  says  of  the  Messiah,  "  His 
fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly 
purge  his  floor."  The  sacred  basket  in  the 
Ancient  Mysteries  was  called  the  liknon,  and 
the  one  who  carried  it  was  termed  the  lik- 
nophoros,  or  basket-bearer.  Indeed,  the 
sacred  basket,  containing  the  first  fruits  and 
offerings,  was  as  essential  in  all  solemn 
processions  of  the  mysteries  of  Bacchus  and 
other  divinities  as  the  Bible  is  in  the 
Masonic  procession.  As  lustration  was  the 
symbol  of  purification  by  water,  so  the 
mystical  fan  or  winnowing-basket  was,  ac- 
cording to  Sainte  Croix,  {Myst.  du  Pag.,  t. 
ii.,  p.  81,)  the  symbol  in  the  Bacchic  rites 
of  a  purification  by  air. 

Basle,  Congress  of.  A  Masonic 
Congress  was  held  Sept.  24,  1848,  at  Basle, 
in  Switzerland,  consisting  of  one  hundred 
and  six  members,  representing  eleven 
Lodges,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Swiss 
Grand  Lodge  Alpina.  The  Congress  was 
principally  engaged  upon  the  discussion 
of  the  question,  "  What  can  and  what  ought 
Freemasonry  to  contribute  towards  the  wel- 
fare of  mankind  locally,  nationally,  and 
internationally?"  The  conclusion  to  which 
the  Congress  appeared  to  arrive  upon  this 
question  was  briefly  this :  "  Locally,  Free- 
masonry ought  to  strive  to  make  every  bro- 
ther a  good  citizen,  a  good  father,  and  a 
good  neighbor,  whilst  it  ought  to  teach  him 
to  perform  every  duty  of  life  faithfully ; 
nationally,  a  Freemason  ought  to  strive  to 
promote  and  to  maintain  the  welfare  and 


the  honor  of  his  native  land,  to  love  and 
to  honor  it  himself,  and,  if  necessary,  to 
place  his  life  and  fortune  at  its  disposal ; 
internationally,  a  Freemason  is  bound  to 
go  still  further  :  he  must  consider  himself 
as  a  member  of  that  one  great  family,  —  the 
whole  human  race,  — who  are  all  children 
of  one  and  the  same  Father,  and  that  it  is 
in  this  sense,  and  with  this  spirit,  that  the 
Freemason  ought  to  work  if  he  would  ap- 
pear worthily  before  the  throne  of  Eternal 
Truth  and  Justice."  The  Congress  appears 
to  have  accomplished  no  practical  result. 

Baton.  The  truncheon  or  staff  of  a 
Grand  Marshal,  and  always  carried  by  him 
in  processions  as  the  ensign  of  his  office. 
It  is  a  wooden  rod  about  eighteen  inches 
long.  In  the  military  usage  of  England, 
the  baton  of  the  Earl  Marshal  was  orig- 
inally of  wood,  but  in  the  reign  of  Richard 
II.  it  was  made  of  gold,  and  delivered  to 
him  at  his  creation,  a  custom  which  is  still 
continued.  In  the  patent  or  commission 
granted  by  that  monarch  to  the  Duke  of 
Surrey  the  baton  is  minutely  described  as 
"  baculum  aureum  circa  utramque  finem 
de  nigro  annulatum,"  a  golden  wand,  having 
black  rings  around  each  end,  —  a  description 
that  will  very  well  suit  for  a  Masonic  baton. 

Bat  Parliament.  The  Parliament 
which  assembled  in  England  in  the  year 
1425,  during  the  minority  of  Henry  VI., 
to  settle  the  disputes  between  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  the  Regent,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  the  guardian  of  the  young 
king's  person,  and  which  was  so  called  be- 
cause of  the  bats  or  clubs  with  which  the 
servants  of  the  contending  factions,  who 
were  stationed  at  the  entrances  of  the  Par- 
liament House,  were  armed.  This  Parlia- 
ment passed  the  celebrated  Act  restraining 
the  meeting  of  Masons  in  Chapters.  See 
Laborers,  Statutes  of. 

Bavaria.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  Bavaria,  from  France,  in  1737. 
The  meetings  of  the  Lodges  were  sus- 
pended in  1784  by  the  reigning  duke, 
Charles  Theodore,  and  the  Act  of  suspen- 
sion was  renewed  in  1799  and  1804  by 
Maximilian  Joseph,  the  king  of  Bavaria. 
The  Order  was  subsequently  revived  in 
1812  and  in  1817.  The  Grand  Lodge  of 
Bayreuth  was  constituted  under  the  appel- 
lation of  the  "  Grand  Lodge  zu  Sonne." 
In  1868  a  Masonic  conference  took  place 
of  the  Lodges  under  its  jurisdiction,  and  a 
constitution  was  adopted,  which  guarantees 
to  every  confederated  Lodge  perfect  free- 
dom of  ritual  and  government,  provided 
the  Grand  Lodge  finds  these  to  be  Masonic. 

Bay-Tree.  An  evergreen  plant,  and 
a  symbol  in  Freemasonry  of  the  immortal 
nature  of  Truth.  By  the  bay-tree  thus  re- 
ferred to  in  the  ritual  of  the  Knight  of  the 


110 


BAZOT 


BEAUSEANT 


Red  Cross,  is  meant  the  laurel,  which,  as  an 
evergreen,  was  among  the  ancients  a  symbol 
of  immortality.  It  is,  therefore,  properly 
compared  with  truth,  which  Josephus 
makes  Zerubbabel  say  is  "immortal  and 
eternal." 

Bazot,  Etieme  Francois.  A 
French  Masonic  writer,  born  at  .Nievre, 
March  31, 1782.  He  published  at  Paris,  in 
1810,  a  Vocabulaire  des  Francs  -  Magons, 
which  was  translated  into  Italian,  and  in 
1811  a  Manuel  du  Franc-Macon,  which  is 
one  of  the  most  judicious  works  of  the  kind 
published  in  France.  He  was  also  the 
author  of  Morale  de  la  Franc-Maconnerie, 
and  the  Tuileur  Expert  des  33  degres,  which 
is  a  complement  to  his  Manuel.  Bazot  was 
distinguished  for  other  literary  writings  on 
subjects  of  general  literature,  such  as  two 
volumes  of  Tales  and  Poems,  A  Eulogy  on 
the  Abbe  de  I'Epee,  and  as  the  editor  of  the 
Biographic  Nouvelle  des  Contempor aires,  in 
20  volumes. 

B.  D.  S.  P.  H.  G.  F.  In  the  French 
rituals  of  the  Knights  of  the  East  and 
West,  these  letters  are  the  initials  of  Beaute, 
Divinite,  Sagesse,  Puissame,  Honneur, 
Gloire,  Force,  which  correspond  to,  the 
letters  of  the  English  rituals,  B.  D.  W.  P. 
H.  G.  S.,  which  are  the  initials  of  equiva- 
lent words. 

Beadle.  An  officer  in  a  Council  of 
Knights  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  correspond- 
ing to  the  Junior  Deacon  of  a  symbolic 
Lodge.  The  beadle,  bedellus,  (DuCange,) 
is  one,  says  Junius,  who  proclaims  and  exe- 
cutes the  will  of  superior  powers. 

Beaton,  Mrs.  One  of  those  fortu- 
nate females  who  is  said  to  have  obtained 
{)ossession  of  the  Masons'  secrets.  The  fol- 
owing  account  of  her  is  given  in  A  General 
History  of  the  County  of  Norfolk,  published 
in  1829,  (vol.  2,  p.  1304.)  Mrs.  Beaton,  who 
was  a  resident  of  Norfolk,  England,  was 
commonly  called  the  Freemason,  from  the 
circumstance  of  her  having  contrived  to 
conceal  herself,  one  evening,  in  the  wain- 
scoting of  a  Lodge- room,  where  she  learned 
the  secret — at  the  knowledge  of  which 
thousands  of  her  sex  have  in  vain  at- 
tempted to  arrive.  She  was,  in  many  re- 
spects, a  very  singular  character,  of  which 
one  proof  adduced  is  that  the  secret  of  the 
Freemasons  died  with  her.  She  died  at 
St.  John  Maddermarket,  Norwich,  July, 
1802,  aged  eighty-five. 

Beaucenifer.  From  Beauseant,  and 
fero,  to  carry.  The  officer  among  the  old 
Knights  Templars  whose  duty  it  was  to 
carry  the  Beauseant  in  battle.  The  office 
is  still  retained  in  some  of  the  high  degrees 
which  are  founded  on  Templarism. 

Beauehaine.  The  Chevalier  Beau- 
chaine  was  one  of  the  most  fanatical  of  the 


irremovable  Masters  of  the  Ancient  Grand 
Lodge  of  France.  He  had  established  his 
Lodge  at  the  "  Golden  Sun,"  an  inn  in  the 
Rue  St.  Victor,  Paris,  where  he  slept,  and 
for  six  francs  conferred  all  the  degrees  of 
Freemasonry.  On  August  17,  1747,  he  or- 
ganized the  Order  of  Fendeurs,  or  Wood- 
cutters, at  Paris. 

Beauseant.  The  vexillum  belli,  or 
war  banner  of  the  ancient  Templars,  which 
is  also  used  by  the 
modern  Masonic  Or- 
der. The  upper  half 
of  the  banner  was 
black,  and  the  lower 
half  white;  black  to 
typify  terror  to  foes, 
and  white  fairness  to 
friends.  It  bore  the 
pious  inscription,  Non 
nobis,  Domine  non  no- 
bis, sed  nomini  tuo  da 
gloriam.  It  is  frequently,  says  Barrington, 
{Intro,  to  Her.,  p.  121,)  introduced  among 
the  decorations  in  the  Temple  Church, 
and  on  one  of  the  paintings  on  the  wall, 
Henry  I.  is  represented  with  this  ban- 
ner in  his  hand.  As  to  the  derivation  of 
the  word,  there  is  some  doubt  among 
writers.  Bauseant  or  Bausant  was,  in  old 
French,  a  pie-bald  or  party-colored  horse ; 
and  the  word  Bawseant  is  used  in  the  Scot- 
tish dialect  with  a  similar  reference  to  two 
colors.     Thus,  Burns  says : 

"  His  honest,  sonsie,  baws'nt  face," 

where  Dr.  Currie,  in  his  Glossary  of  Burns, 
explains  bawsent  as  meaning,  "  having  a 
white  stripe  down  the  face."  It  is  also 
supposed  by  some  that  the  word  bauseant 
may  be  only  a  form,  in  the  older  lan- 
guage, of  the  modern  French  word  bienseant, 
which  signifies  something  decorous  or  hand- 
some ;  but  I  much  prefer  the  former  deriva- 
tion, where  beauseant  would  signify  simply 
a  parti  -  colored  banner.  With  regard  to 
the  double  signification  of  the  white  and 
black  banner,  the  orientalists  have  a 
legend  of  Alexander  the  Great,  which  may 
be  appropriately  quoted  on  the  present  oc- 
casion, as  given  by  Weil  in  his  Biblical 
Legends,  p.  70. 

Alexander  was  the  lord  of  light  and 
darkness :  when  he  went  out  with  his  army 
the  light  was  before  him,  and  behind  him 
was  the  darkness,  so  that  he  was  secure 
against  all  ambuscades ;  and  by  means  of  a 
miraculous  white  and  black  standard  he 
had  also  the  power  to  transform  the  clearest 
day  into  midnight  and  darkness,  or  black 
night  into  noon-day,  just  as  he  unfurled 
the  one  or  the  other.  Thus  he  was  uncon- 
querable, since  he  rendered  his  troops  in- 


BEAUTY 


BEHAVIOR 


111 


visible  at  his  pleasure,  and  came  down  sud- 
denly upon  nis  foes.  Might  there  not 
have  been  some  connection  between  the 
mythical  white  and  black  standard  of 
Alexander  and  the  Beauseant  of  the  Tem- 
plars? We  know  that  the  latter  were 
familiar  with  oriental  symbolism. 

Beauseant  was  also  the  war-cry  of  the 
Ancient  Templars. 

Beauty.  Said  to  be  symbolically  one 
of  the  three  supports  of  a  Lodge.  It  is 
represented  by  the  Corinthian  column,  be- 
cause the  Corinthian  is  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  ancient  orders  of  Architecture;  and 
by  the  Junior  Warden,  because  he  symbol- 
izes the  meridian  sun  —  the  most  beautiful 
object  in  the  heavens.  Hiram  Abif  is  also 
said  to  be  represented  by  the  column  of 
Beauty,  because  the  Temple  was  indebted 
to  his  skill  for  its  splendid  decorations. 
The  idea  of  Beauty  as  one  of  the  supports 
of  the  Lodge  is  found  in  the  earliest  rituals 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  as  well  as  the 
symbolism  which  refers  it  to  the  Corinthian 
column  and  the  Junior  Warden.  Preston 
first  introduced  the  reference  to  the  Corin- 
thian column  and  to  Hiram  Abif.  Beauty, 
jT~)fr$£)rV  tiphiret,  was  the  sixth  of  the 
Kabbalistic  Sephiroth,  and,  with  Justice  and 
Mercy,  formed  the  second  Sephirotic  triad ; 
and  from  the  Kabbalists  the  Masons  most 
probably  derived  the  symbol.  See  Supports 
of  the  Lodge. 

Beauty  and  Bands.  The  names 
of  the  two  rods  spoken  of  by  the  prophet 
Zechariah  as  symbolic  of  his  pastoral  office. 
This  expression  was  in  use  in  portions  of 
the  old  Masonic  ritual  in  England ;  but  in 
the  system  of  Dr.  Hemming,  which  was 
adopted  at  the  union  of  the  two  Grand 
Lodges  in  1813,  this  symbol,  with  all  refer- 
ence to  it,  was  expunged,  and,  as  Dr.  Oliver 
says,  (Sym.  Die.,)  "it  is  nearly  forgotten, 
except  by  a  few  old  Masons,  who  may  per- 
haps recollect  the  illustration  as  an  inci- 
dental subject  of  remark  among  the  Fra- 
ternity of  that  period." 

Becker.     See  Johnson. 

Becker,  Rudolph  Zacharias. 
A  very  zealous  Mason  of  Gotha,  who  pub- 
lished, in  1786,  an  historical  essay  on  the 
Bavarian  Illuminati,  under  the  title  of 
Grundsatze  Verfassung  und  Schicksale  des 
llluminatens  Ordeu  in  Baiern.  He  was  a 
very  popular  writer  on  educational  sub- 
jects; his  Instructive  Tales  of  Joy  and  Sor- 
row were  so  highly  esteemed,  that  a 
half  million  copies  of  it  were  printed  in 
German  and  other  languages.  He  died  in 
1802. 

Bedarride,  The  Brothers.  The 
Brothers  Marc,  Michel,  and  Joseph  Bedar- 
ride  were  Masonic  charlatans,  notorious 
for  their  propagation  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim, 


having  established  in  1813,  at  Paris,  under 
the  partly  real  and  partly  pretended  au- 
thority of  Lechangeur,  the  inventor  of 
the  Rite,  a  Supreme  Puissance  for  France, 
and  organized  a  large  number  of  Lodges. 
Of  these  three  brothers,  who  were  Israelites, 
Michel,  who  assumed  the  most  prominent 
position  in  the  numerous  controversies 
which  arose  in  French  Masonry  on  ac- 
count of  their  Rite,  died  February  16, 1856. 
Marc  died  ten  years  before,  in  April,  1846. 
Of  Joseph,  who  was  never  very  prominent, 
we  have  no  record  as  to  the  time  of  his 
death.    See  Mizraim,  Rite  of. 

Beehive.  The  bee  was  among  the 
Egyptians  the  symbol  of  an  obedient  peo- 
ple, because,  says  Horapollo,of  all  animals, 
the  bee  alone  had  a  king.  Hence,  looking 
at  the  regulated  labor  of  these  insects  when 
congregated  in  their  hive,  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  a  beehive  should  have  been  deemed 
an  appropriate  emblem  of  systemized  in- 
dustry. Freemasonry  has  therefore  adopted 
the  beehive  as  a  symbol  of  industry,  a  vir- 
tue taught  in  the  ritual,  which  says  that  a 
Master  Mason  ''  works  that  he  may  receive 
wages,  the  better  to  support  himself  and 
family,  and  contribute  to  the  relief  of  a 
worthy,  distressed  brother,  his  widow  and  or- 
phans ; "  and  in  the  Old  Charges,  which  tell 
us  that  "all  Masons  shall  work  honestly  on 
working  days,  that  they  may  live  credit- 
ably on  holidays."  There  seems,  however, 
to  be  a  more  recondite  meaning  connected 
with  this  symbol.  The  ark  has  already 
been  shown  to  have  been  an  emblem  com- 
mon to  Freemasonry  and  the  Ancient  Mys- 
teries, as  a  symbol  of  regeneration  —  of  the 
second  birth  from  death  to  life.  Now,  in  the 
Mysteries,  a  hive  was  the  type  of  the  ark. 
"Hence,"  says  Faber,  (  Orig.  of  Pag.  Idol., 
vol.  ii.,  133,)  "  both  thediluvian  priestesses 
and  the  regenerated  souls  were  called  bees; 
hence,  bees  were  feigned  to  be  produced  from 
the  carcase  of  a  cow,  which  also  symbol- 
ized the  ark ;  and  hence,  as  the  great  father 
was  esteemed  an  infernal  god,  honey  was 
much  used  both  in  funeral  rites  and  in  the 
Mysteries." 

Behavior.  The  subject  of  a  Ma- 
son's behavior  is  one  that  occupies  much 
attention  in  both  the  ritualistic  and  the 
monitorial  instructions  of  the  Order.  In 
"  the  Charges  of  a  Freemason,"  extracted 
from  the  ancient  records,  and  first  pub- 
lished in  the  Constitutions  of  1723,  the 
sixth  article  is  exclusively  appropriated  to 
the  subject  of  "  Behavior."  It  is  divided 
into  six  sections,  as  follows:  1.  Behavior 
in  the  Lodge  while  constituted.  2.  Be- 
havior after  the  Lodge  is  over  and  the 
Brethren  not  gone.  3.  Behavior  when 
Brethren  meet  without  strangers,  but  not 
in  a  Lodge  formed.    4.  Behavior  in  pres- 


112 


BEHOLD 


BENDEKAR 


ence  of  strangers  not  Masons.  5.  Behavior 
at  home  and  in  your  neighborhood.  6.  Be- 
havior towards  a  strange  brother.  The 
whole  article  constitutes  a  code  of  moral 
ethics  remarkable  for  the  purity  of  the 
principles  it  inculcates,  and  is  well  worthy 
of  the  close  attention  of  every  Mason.  It 
is  a  complete  refutation  of  the  slanders  of 
anti-Masonic  revilers.  As  these  charges  are 
to  be  found  in  all  the  editions  of  the  Book 
of  Constitutions,  and  in  many  recent  Ma- 
sonic works,  they  are  readily  accessible  to 
every  one  who  desires  to  read  them. 

Behold  Your  Master.  When,  in 
the  installation  services,  the  formula  is 
used,  "  Brethren,  behold  your  master,"  the 
expression  is  not  simply  exclamatory,  but 
is  intended,  as  the  original  use  of  the  word 
behold  implies,  to  invite  the  members  of 
the  Lodge  to  fix  their  attention  upon  the 
new  relations  which  have  sprung  up  be- 
tween them  and  him  who  has  just  been 
elevated  to  the  Oriental  Chair,  and  to  im- 
press upon  their  minds  the  duties  which 
they  owe  to  him  and  which  he  owes  to 
them.  In  like  manner,  when  the  formula 
is  continued,  "  Master,  behold  your  breth- 
ren," the  Master's  attention  is  impressively 
directed  to  the  same  change  of  relations 
and  duties.  These  are  not  mere  idle  words, 
but  convey  an  important  lesson,  and  should 
never  be  omitted  in  the  ceremony  of  instal- 
lation. 

Bel.  72,  Bel,  is  the  contracted  form  of 
SjJ3,  Baal,  and  was  worshipped  by  the  Baby- 
lonians as  their  chief  deity.  The  Greeks 
and  Romans  so  considered  and  translated 
the  word  by  Zeus  and  Jupiter.  It  has, 
with  Jah  and  On,  been  introduced  into  the 
Royal  Arch  system  as  a  representative  of 
the  Tetragrammeton,  which  it  and  the 
accompanying  words  have  sometimes  igno- 
rantly  been  made  to  displace.  At  the  ses- 
sion of  the  General  Grand  Chapter  of  the 
United  States,  in  1871,  this  error  was  cor- 
rected; and  while  the  Tetragrammeton  was 
declared  to,  be  the  true  omnific  word,  the 
other  three  were  permitted  to  be  retained 
as  merely  explanatory. 

Belenus.  Belenus,  the  Baal  of  the 
Scripture,  was  identified  with  Mithras  and 
with  Apollo,  the  god  of  the  sun.  A  forest 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Lausanne  is  still 
known  as  Sauvebelin,  or  the  forest  of  Be- 
lenus, and  traces  of  this  name  are  to  be 
found  in  many  parts  of  England.  The 
custom  of  kindling  fires  about  midnight  on 
the  eve  of  the  festival  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, at  the  moment  of  the  summer  solstice, 
which  was  considered  by  the  ancients  a 
season  of  rejoicing  and  of  divination,  is  a 
vestige  of  Druidism  in  honor  of  this  deity. 
It  is  a  significant  coincidence  that  the  nu- 
merical value  of  the  letters  of  the  word 


Belenus,  like  those  of  Abraxas  and  Mith- 
ras, all  representatives  of  the  sun,  amounts 
to  365,  the  exact  number  of  the  days  in  a 
solar  year.     See  Abraxas. 

Belgium.  Soon  after  the  separation 
of  Belgium  from  the  Netherlands,  an  inde- 
pendent Masonic  jurisdiction  was  de- 
manded by  the  former.  Accordingly,  in 
May,  1833,  the  Grand  Orient  of  Belgium 
was  established,  which  has  under  its  juris- 
diction about  sixty  Lodges.  There  is  also 
a  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite,  which,  Findel  says,  was 
constituted  in  the  year  1817. 

Belief,  Beligious.  The  fundamen- 
tal law  of  Masonry  contained  in  the  first 
of  the  Old  Charges  collected  in  1723,  and 
inserted  in  the  Book  of  Constitutions  pub- 
lished in  that  year,  sets  forth  the  true  doc- 
trine as  to  what  the  Institution  demands 
of  a  Mason  in  reference  to  his  religious 
belief  in  the  following  words :  "  A  Mason 
is  obliged,  by  his  tenure,  to  obey  the  moral 
law ;  and  if  he  rightly  understands  the  art, 
he  will  never  be  a  stupid  atheist  nor  an 
irreligious  libertine.  But  though  in  an- 
cient times  Masons  were  charged  in  every 
country  to  be  of  the  religion  of  that  coun- 
try or  nation,  whatever  it  was,  yet  it  is  now 
thought  more  expedient  only  to  oblige 
them  to  that  religion  in  which  all  men 
agree,  leaving  their  particular  opinions  to 
themselves."  Anderson,  in  his  second  edi- 
tion, altered  this  article,  calling  a  Mason  a 
true  Noachida,  and  saying  that  Masons 
"all  agree  in  the  three  great  articles  of 
Noah,"  which  is  incorrect,  since  the  Pre- 
cepts of  Noah  were  seven.  See  Religion 
of  Masonry. 

Bells.  The  use  of  a  bell  in  the  cere- 
monies of  the  third  degree,  to  denote  the 
hour,  is,  manifestly,  an  anachronism,  for 
bells  were  not  invented  until  the  fifth  cen- 
tury. But  Freemasons  are  not  the  only 
people  who  have  imagined  the  existence  of 
bells  at  the  building  of  the  Temple.  Henry 
Stephen  tells  us  (Apologie  pour  Herodote, 
ch.  39,)  of  a  monk  who  boasted  that  when 
he  was  at  Jerusalem  he  obtained  a  vial 
which  contained  some  of  the  sounds  of 
King  Solomon's  bells.  The  blunders  of  a 
ritualist  and  the  pious  fraud  of  a  relic- 
monger  have  equal  claims  to  authenticity. 
The  Masonic  anachronism  is,  however,  not 
worth  consideration,  because  it  is  simply 
intended  for  a  notation  of  time — a  method 
of  expressing  intelligibly  the  hour  at  which 
a  supposed  event  occurred. 

Benac.  A  significant  word  in  Sym- 
bolic Masonry,  obsolete  in  many  of  the 
modern  systems,  and  whose  derivation  is 
uncertain.    See  Maebenac. 

Bendekar.  A  significant  word  in 
the  high  degrees.    One  of  the  Princes  or 


BENEDICT 


BENGAL 


113 


Intendants  of  Solomon,  in  whose  quarry 
some  of  the  traitors  spoken  of  in  the  third 
degree  were  found.  He  is  mentioned  in 
the  catalogue  of  Solomon's  princes,  given 
in  1  Kings  iv.  9.  The  Hebrew  word  is 
*1pl-j3,  the  son  of  him  who  divides  or  pierces. 
In  some  old  rituals  we  find  Bendaca  a  cor- 
ruption. 

Benedict  XIV.  A  Roman  pontiff 
whose  family  name  was  Prosper  Lamber- 
tini.  He  was  born  at  Bologna  in  1675, 
succeeded  Clement  XII.  as  Pope  in  1740, 
and  died  in  1758.  He  was  distinguished  for 
his  learning  and  was  a  great  encourager  of 
the  Arts  and  Sciences.  He  was,  however,  an 
implacable  enemy  of  secret  societies,  and 
issued  on  the  18th  of  May,  1751,  his  cele- 
brated bull,  renewing  and  perpetuating 
that  of  his  predecessor  which  excommuni- 
cated the  Freemasons.  For  an  account  of 
it,  see  Bull. 

Benediction.  The  solemn  invoca- 
tion of  a  blessing  in  the  ceremony  of  clos- 
ing a  Lodge  is  called  the  benediction.  The 
usual  formula  is  as  follows : 

"  May  the  blessing  of  Heaven  rest  upon 
us,  and  all  regular  Masons ;  may  brotherly 
love  prevail,  and  every  moral  and  social 
virtue  cement  us."  The  response  is,  "  So 
mote  it  be.  Amen ;  "  which  should  always 
be  audibly  pronounced  by  all  the  brethren. 

Beneficiary.  One  who  receives  the 
support  or  charitable  donations  of  a  Lodge. 
Those  who  are  entitled  to  these  benefits  are 
affiliated  Masons,  their  wives  or  widows, 
their  widowed  mothers,  and  their  minor 
sons  and  unmarried  daughters.  Unaffili- 
ated Masons  cannot  become  the  benefici- 
aries of  a  Lodge,  but  affiliated  Masons 
cannot  be  deprived  of  its  benefits  on 
account  of  non-payment  of  dues.  Indeed, 
as  this  non-payment  often  arises  from 
poverty,  it  thus  furnishes  a  stronger  claim 
for  fraternal  charity. 

Benefit  Fund.  In  1798,  a  society 
was  established  in  London,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Earl 
of  Moira,  and  all  the  other  acting  officers 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  whose  object  was  "  the 
relief  of  sick,  aged,  and  imprisoned  breth- 
ren, and  the  protection  of  their  widows, 
children,  and  orphans."  The  payment  of 
one  guinea  per  annum  entitled  every 
member,  when  sick  or  destitute,  or  his 
widow  and  orphans  in  case  of  his  death, 
to  a  fixed  contribution. 

Benefit  funds  of  this  kind  have  been  gen- 
erally unknown  to  the  Masons  of  America, 
although  some  Lodges  have  established 
a  fund  for  the  purpose.  The  Lodge  of 
Strict  Observance  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  others  in  Troy,  Ballston,  Schenectady, 
etc.,  some  years  ago,  adopted  benefit  funds. 
In  1844,  several  members  of  the  Lodges  in 
P  8 


Louisville,  Kentucky,  organized  a  society 
under  the  title  of  the  "  Friendly  Sons  of 
St.  John."  It  was  constructed  after  the 
model  of  the  English  society  already  men- 
tioned. No  member  was  received  after 
forty-five  years  of  age,  or  who  was  not  a 
contributing  member  of  a  Lodge  ;  the  per 
diem  allowance  to  sick  members  was 
seventy-five  cents ;  fifty  dollars  were  appro- 
priated to  pay  the  funeral  expenses  of  a 
deceased  member,  and  twenty-five  for  those 
of  a  member's  wife ;  on  the  death  of  a 
member  a  gratuity  was  given  to  his  family ; 
ten  per  cent,  of  all  fees  and  dues  was  ap- 
propriated to  an  orphan  fund ;  and  it  was 
contemplated,  if  the  funds  would  justify,  to 
pension  the  widows  of  deceased  members, 
if  their  circumstances  required  it. 

I  am  convinced  that  the  establishment 
in  Lodges  of  such  benefit  funds  is  in  op- 
position to  the  pure  system  of  Masonic 
charity.     They  have,  therefore,  been  very 

Eroperly  discouraged    by  several    Grand 
odges. 

Benevolence.  Cogan,  in  his  work 
On  the  Passions,  thus  defines  Benevo- 
lence :  "  When  our  love  or  desire  of  good 
goes  forth  to  others,  it  is  termed  good-will 
or  benevolence.  Benevolence  embraces  all 
beings  capable  of  enjoying  any  portion  of 
good ;  and  thus  it  becomes  universal  benevo- 
lence, which  manifests  itself  by  being 
pleased  with  the  share  of  good  every  crea- 
ture enjoys,  in  a  disposition  to  increase  it, 
in  feeling  an  uneasiness  at  their  sufferings, 
and  in  the  abhorrence  of  cruelty  under 
every  disguise  or  pretext."  This  spirit 
should  pervade  the  hearts  of  all  Masons, 
who  are  taught  to  look  upon  mankind  as 
formed  by  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  uni- 
verse for  the  mutual  assistance,  instruction, 
and  support  of  each  other. 

Benevolence,  Fund  of.  A  fund 
established  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England, 
which  is  intrusted  to  a  committee  or  Lodge 
of  Benevolence,  consisting  of  all  the  present 
and  past  Grand  Officers,  all  actual  Masters 
of  Lodges,  and  twelve  Past  Masters.  The 
object  of  this  fund  is  to  relieve  such  indi- 
gent Masons  as  may  be  recommended  by 
their  respective  Lodges.  The  opportunity 
for  imposition,  afforded  by  application  to 
separate  Lodges,  is  thus  avoided.  Several 
similar  associations,  under  the  name  of 
Boards  of  Belief,  have  been  organized  in 
several  of  the  cities  of  this  country.  See 
Board  of  Relief. 

Bengabee.  Found  in  some  old  rituals 
of  the  high  degrees  for  Bendekar,  as  the 
name  of  an  Intendant  of  Solomon.  It  is 
Bengaber  in  the  catalogue  of  Solomon's 
officers,  1  Kings  iv.  13,  the  son  of  Geber,  or 
the  son  of  the  strong  man. 

Bengal.     Masonry    was    introduced 


114 


BENJAMIN 


BIBLE 


into  Bengal  in  the  year  1729,  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Lodge  under  a  dispensation 
granted  by  Lord  Kingston,  the  Grand 
Master  of  England.  In  the  succeeding 
year,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  granted  a  dis- 
pensation for  a  Provincial  Grand  Master 
of  East  India,  at  Bengal.  There  are  now 
in  the  province  of  Bengal  a  District  Grand 
Lodge,  situated  at  Calcutta,  with  twenty- 
one  subordinate  Lodges ;  a  District  Grand 
Chapter,  with  nine  subordinate  Chapters;  a 
Provincial  Grand  Conclave  of  Knights 
Templars,  with  three  subordinate  Encamp- 
ments ;  and  a  provincial  Grand  Lodge  of 
Mark  Master  Masons,  with  two  subordinate 
working  Lodges. 

Benjamin.  A  significant  word  in 
several  of  the  degrees  which  refer  to  the 
second  Temple,  because  it  was  only  the 
tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  that  re- 
turned from  the  captivity  to  rebuild  it. 
Hence,  in  the  Masonry  of  the  second  Tem- 
ple, Judah  and  Benjamin  have  superseded 
the  columns  of  Jachin  and  Boaz;  a  change 
the  more  easily  made  because  of  the  iden- 
tity of  the  initials. 

Benkhurim.  Corruptly  spelled  ben- 
chorim  in  most  of  the  old  rituals.  A  sig- 
nificant word  in  the  high  degrees,  probably 
signifying  one  that  isfreeborn,  from  W\  L3» 
son  of  the  freeborn. 

Benyah,  or  Beniah.  Lenning  gives 
this  form,  Benayah.  The  son  of  Jah,  a  sig- 
nificant word  in  the  high  degrees. 

Berith.  Heb.,  JT"0>  a  covenant.  A 
significant  word  in  several  of  the  high 
degrees. 

Berlin.  The  capital  of  the  kingdom  of 
Prussia,  and  the  seat  of  three  Grand  Lodges, 
namely :  the  Grand  National  Mother  Lodge, 
founded  in  1744;  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Germany,  founded  in  1770 ;  and  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Royal  York  of  Friendship, 
founded  in  1798.    See  Germany. 

Bernard,  David.  An  expelled  Ma- 
«on,  under  whose  name  was  published,  in 
the  year  1829,  a  pretended  exposition  en- 
titled, Light  on  Masonry.  It  was  one  of 
the  fruits  of  the  anti-Masonic  excitement 
of  the  day.  It  is  a  worthless  production, 
intended  as  a  libel  on  the  Institution. 

Bernard,  Saint.  St.  Bernard,  born 
in  France,  in  1091,  was  the  founder  of  the 
Order  of  Cistercian  Monks.  He  took  great 
interest  in  the  success  of  the  Knights  Tem- 

Elars,  whose  Order  he  cherished  throughout 
is  whole  life.  His  works  contain  numer- 
ous letters  recommending  them  to  the 
favor  and  protection  of  the  great.  In 
1128,  he  himself  drew  up  the  Rule  of  the 
Order,  and  among  his  writings  is  to  be  found 
a  Sermo  exhortatorius  ad  Milites  Templi,  or 
an  Exhortation  to  the  Soldiers  of  the  Tem- 
ple, a  production  full  of  sound  advice.    To 


the  influence  of  Bernard  and  his  untiring 
offices  of  kindness,  the  Templars  were 
greatly  indebted  for  their  rapid  increase  in 
wealth  and  consequence.  He  died  in  the 
year  1153. 

Beryl.  Heb.,  J^'t^fl-  A.  precious 
stone,  the  first  in  the  fourth  row  of  the  high- 
priest's  breastplate.  Its  color  is  bluish-green. 
It- was  ascribed  to  the  tribe  of  Benjamin. 

Beyerle,  Francois  Louis  de.  A 
French  Masonic  writer  of  some  promi- 
nence towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  He  was  a  leading  member  of  the 
Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  in  which  his 
adopted  name  was  Egnes  a  Flore.  He 
wrote  a  criticism  on  the  Masonic  Congress 
of  Wilhelmsbad,  which  was  published 
under  the  title  of  Oratio  de  Conventu  gen- 
erali  Latomorum  apud  aquas  Wilhelminas, 
prope  Hanauviam.  He  also  wrote  an  Essai 
sur  la  Franc- Maconnerie,  on  du  but  essentielet 
fondamentale  de  la  Franc-  Maconnerie  ;  trans- 
lated the  second  volume  of  Frederic  Nico- 
lai's  essay  on  the  crimes  imputed  to  the  Tem- 
plars, and  was  the  author  of  several  other 
Masonic  works  of  less  importance.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  French  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1752.  He  wrote  also  some 
political  essays  on  finances,  and  was  a  con- 
tributor on  the  same  subject  to  the  Ency- 
clopedic Methodique. 

Bezaleel.  One  of  the  builders  of  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant.    See  Aholiab. 

Bible.  The  Bible  is  properly  called  a 
greater  light  of  Masonry,  for  from  the  cen- 
tre of  the  Lodge  it  pours  forth  upon  the 
East,  the  West,  and  the  South  its  refulgent 
rays  of  Divine  truth.  The  Bible  is  used 
among  Masons  as  the  symbol  of  the  will 
of  God,  however  it  may  be  expressed.  And, 
therefore,  whatever  to  any  people  expresses 
that  will  may  be  used  as  a  substitute  for 
the  Bible  in  a  Masonic  Lodge.  Thus,  in  a 
Lodge  consisting  entirely  of  Jews,  the  Old 
Testament  alone  may  be  placed  upon  the 
altar,  and  Turkish  Masons  make  use  of 
the  Koran.  Whether  it  be  the  Gospels  to 
the  Christian,  the  Pentateuch  to  the  Israel- 
ite, the  Koran  to  the  Mussulman,  or  the 
Vedaa  to  the  Brahman,  it  everywhere  Ma- 
sonically  conveys  the  same  idea  —  that  of 
the  symbolism  of  the  Divine  Will  revealed 
to  man. 

The  history  of  the  Masonic  symbolism 
of  the  Bible  is  interesting.  It  is  referred 
to  in  the  manuscripts  before  the  revival  as 
the  book  upon  which  the  covenant  was 
taken,  but  it  was  never  referred  to  as  a 
great  light.  In  the  oldest  ritual  that  we 
have,  which  is  that  of  1724,  —  a  copy  of 
which  from  the  Royal  Library  of  Berlin  is 
given  by  Krause,  {Drei  alt.  Kunslurk,  i.  32,) 
—  there  is  no  mention  of  the  Bible  as  one 
of  the  lights.    Preston  made  it  a  part  of 


BIBLE 


BLACK 


115 


the  furniture  of  the  Lodge ;  but  in  rituals 
of  about  1760  it  is  described  as  one  of  the 
three  great  lights.  In  the  American  sys- 
tem, the  Bible  is  both  a  piece  of  furniture 
and  a  great  light. 

Bible-Bearer.  In  Masonic  proces- 
sions the  oldest  Master  Mason  present  is 
generally  selected  to  carry  the  open  Bible, 
Square,  and  Compasses  on  a  cushion  before 
the  Chaplain.  This  brother  is  called  the 
Bible-Bearer. 

Bibliography.  Of  the  bibliography 
of  Freemasonry  very  little,  in  comparison 
with  the  importance  of  the  subject,  has 
been  published.  In  this  country  we  have 
only  William  Gowan's  Catalogue  of  Books 
on  Freemasonry  and  Kindred  Subjects,  New 
York,  1858,  which  contains  the  titles  of 
very  few  rare  works  and  no  foreign  ones. 
The  catalogue  of  books  in  the  library  of 
Pythagoras  Lodge,  published  some  years 
ago,  is  really  valuable  but  not  extensive. 
Garrett's  Catalogue  of  Books  on  the  Masonic 
Institution,  Boston,  1852,  is  full  of  scurrility 
and  falsehood,  by  no  means  atoned  for  by 
the  account  of  anti  -  Masonic  literature 
which  it  contains.  To  the  Masonic  stu- 
dent it  is  utterly  worthless.  In  French, 
we  have  a  Bibliographie  des  Ouvrages,  Opus- 
cules Encycliques  ou  Merits  les  plus  rernar- 
quables,  publies  sur  Vhistoire  de  la  Franc- 
Magonnerie  depuis,  1723,  jusques  en  1814. 
It  is  by  Thory,  and  is  contained  in  the  first 
volume  of  his  Acta  Latomorum.  Though 
not  full,  it  is  useful,  especially  in  respect 
to  French  works,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  it  stops  at  a  period  anterior  to  the 
Augustan  age  of  Masonic  literature.  But 
the  most  valuable  contribution  to  Masonic 
bibliography  is  the  German  work  of  Dr. 
Georg  Kloss,  entitled  Bibliographie  der 
Freimaurerei,  published  at  Frankfort  in 
1844.  Up  to  the  date  of  its  publication,  it 
is  an  almost  exhaustive  work,  and  contains 
the  titles  of  about  six  thousand  volumes. 
Nothing  has  since  appeared  of  any  value 
on  the  subject. 

Bielfeld,  Jaeob  Frederick. 
Baron  Bielfeld  was  born  March  31,  1717, 
and  died  April  5,  1770.  He  was  envoy 
from  the  court  of  Prussia  to  the  Hague, 
and  a  familiar  associate  of  Frederick  the 
Great  in  the  youthful  days  of  that  prince 
before  he  ascended  the  throne.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Lodge  of  the 
Three  Globes  in  Berlin,  which  afterwards 
became  a  Grand  Lodge.  Through  his  in- 
fluence Frederick  was  induced  to  become 
a  Mason.  In  Bielfeld's  Freundschaftlicher 
Briefe,  or  Familiar  Letters,  are  to  be  found 
an  account  of  the  initiation  of  the  prince, 
and  other  curious  details  concerning  Free- 
masonry. 

Birkhead,  Matthew.     A    Mason 


who  owes  his  reputation  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  the  author  of  the  universally-known 
Entered  Apprentice's  song,  beginning : 

"  Come  let  us  prepare, 

We  Brothers  that  are 
Assembled  on  merry  occasions ; 

Let's  drink,  laugh,  and  sing; 

Our  wine  has  a  spring. 
Here's  a  health  to  an  Accepted  Mason." 

This  song  was  first  published  in  the  Book 
of  Constitutions,  in  1723,  but  must  have 
been  composed  at  an  earlier  date,  as  Birk- 
head is  there  spoken  of  as  being  deceased. 
He  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  player,  but 
nothing  more  is  known  of  his  life. 

Black.  Black,  in  the  Masonic  ritual, 
is  constantly  the  symbol  of  grief.  This  is 
perfectly  consistent  with  its  use  in  the 
world,  where  black  has  from  remote  anti- 
quity been  adopted  as  the  garment  of 
mourning. 

In  Masonry  this  color  is  confined  to 
but  a  few  degrees,  but  everywhere  has 
the  single  meaning  of  sorrow.  Thus  in 
the  French  Rite,  during  the  ceremony 
of  raising  a  candidate  to  the  Master's 
degree,  the  Lodge  is  clothed  in  black 
strewed  with  tears,  as  a  token  of  grief  for 
the  loss  of  a  distinguished  member  of  the 
Fraternity,  whose  tragic  history  is  com- 
memorated in  that  degree.  This  usage  is 
not,  however,  observed  in  the  York  Rite. 
The  black  of  the  Elected  Knights  of  Nine, 
the  Illustrious  Elect  of  Fifteen,  and  the 
Sublime  Knights  Elected,  in  the  Scottish 
Rite,  has  a  similar  import. 

In  the  degree  of  Noachite,  black  appears 
to  have  been  adopted  as  a  symbol  of  grief, 
tempered  with  humility,  which  is  the  virtue 
principally  dilated  on  in  the  degree. 

The  garments  of  the  Knights  Templars 
were  originally  white,  but  after  the  death 
of  their  martyred  Grand  Master,  James  de 
Molay,  the  modern  Knights  assumed  a 
black  dress  as  a  token  of  grief  for  his  loss. 
The  same  reason  led  to  the  adoption  of 
black  as  the  appropriate  color  in  the  Scottish 
Rite  of  the  Knights  of  Kadosh  and  the  Sub- 
lime Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret.  The 
modern  American  modification  of  the  Tem- 
plar costume  destroys  all  reference  to  this 
historical  fact. 

One  exception  to  this  symbolism  of  black 
is  to  be  found  in  the  degree  of  Select  Mas- 
ter, where  the  vestments  are  of  black  bor- 
dered with  red ;  the  combination  of  the  two 
colors  showing  that  the  degree  is  properly 
placed  between  the  Royal  Arch  and  Tem- 
plar degrees,  while  the  black  is  a  symbol 
of  silence  and  secrecy,  the  distinguishing 
virtues  of  a  Select  Master. 

Black  Ball.  The  ball  used  in  a  Ma- 
sonic ballot  by  those  who  do  not  wish  the 


116 


BLACK-BOARD 


BLAZING 


candidate  to  be  admitted.  Hence,  when  an 
applicant  is  rejected,  he  is  said  to  be 
"  black  balled."  The  use  of  black  balls 
may  be  traced  as  far  back  as  to  the  ancient 
Eomans.  Thus,  Ovid  says  (Met.  xv.  41), 
that  in  trials  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
ancients  to  condemn  the  prisoner  by  black 
pebbles  or  to  acquit  him  by  white  ones. 

"  Mos  erat  antiquis  niveis  atrisque  lapillis, 
His  damnare  reos,  illis  absolvere  culpa." 

Black-board.  In  German  Lodges  the 
Schwartze  Tafel,  or  Black  Board,  is  that  on 
which  the  names  of  applicants  for  admis- 
sion are  inscribed,  so  that  every  visitor  may 
make  the  necessary  inquiries  whether  they 
are  or  are  not  worthy  of  acceptance. 

Black  Brothers,  Order  of  the. 
Lenning  says  that  the  Schwartzen  Briider  was 
one  of  the  College  Societies  of  the  German 
Universities.  The  members  of  the  Order, 
however,  denied  this,  and  claimed  an  origin 
as  early  as  1675.  Thory  [Act.  Lat.,  i.  313,) 
says  that  it  was  largely  spread  through  Ger- 
many, having  its  seat  for  a  long  time  at 
Giessen  and  at  Marburg,  which  in  1783 
was  removed  to  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  The 
same  writer  asserts  that  at  first  the  mem- 
bers observed  the  dogmas  and  ritual  of  the 
Kadosh,  but  that  afterwards  the  Order,  be- 
coming a  political  society,  gave  rise  to  the 
Free  Corps,  which  in  1813  was  commanded 
by  Major  Lutzow. 

Blazing  Star.  The  Blazing  Star, 
which  is  not,  however,  to  be  confounded 
with  the  Five-Pointed  Star,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  symbols  of  Freemasonry, 
and  makes  its  appearance  in  several  of  the 
degrees.  "  It  is,"  says  Hutchinson,  "  the 
first  and  most  exalted  object  that  demands 
our  attention  in  the  Lodge."  It  undoubt- 
edly derives  this  importance,  first,  from  the 
repeated  use  that  is  made  of  it  as  a  Ma- 
sonic emblem ;  and  secondly,  from  its  great 
antiquity  as  a  symbol  derived  from  other 
and  older  systems. 

Extensive  as  has  been  the  application  of 
this  symbol  in  the  Masonic  ritual,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  there  has  been  a  great  dif- 
ference of  opinion  in  relation  to  its  true 
signification.  But  this  difference  of  opinion 
has  been  almost  entirely  confined  to  its  use 
in  the  first  degree.  In  the  higher  degrees, 
where  there  has  been  less  opportunity  of 
innovation,  the  uniformity  of  meaning  at- 
tached to  the  star  has  been  carefully  pre- 
served. 

In  the  twenty-eighth  degree  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Rite,  the  explanation 
fiven  of  the  Blazing  Star,  is,  that  it  is  sym- 
olic  of  a  true  Mason,  who,  by  perfecting 
himself  in  the  way  of  truth,  that  is  to  say, 
by  advancing  in  knowledge,  becomes  like  a 
blazing  star,  shining  with  brilliancy  in  the 


midst  of  darkness.  The  star  is,  therefore, 
in  this  degree,  a  symbol  of  truth. 

In  the  fourth  degree  of  the  same  Rite,  the 
star  is  again  said  to  be  a  symbol  of  the  light 
of  Divine  Providence  pointing  out  the  way 
of  truth. 

In  the  ninth  degree,  this  symbol  is  called 
"  the  star  of  direction ; "  and  while  it  primi- 
tively alludes  to  an  especial  guidance  given 
for  a  particular  purpose  expressed  in  the 
degree,  it  still  retains,  in  a  remoter  sense, 
its  usual  signification  as  an  emblem  of  Di- 
vine Providence  guiding  and  directing  the 
pilgrim  in  his  journey  through  life. 

When,  however,  we  descend  to  Ancient 
Craft  Masonry,  we  shall  find  a  considerable 
diversity  in  Ihe  application  of  this  symbol. 

In  the  earliest  rituals,  immediately  after 
the  revival  of  1717,  the  Blazing  Star  is  not 
mentioned,  but  it  was  not  long  before  it 
was  introduced.  In  the  ritual  of  1735  it 
is  detailed  as  a  part  of  the  furniture  of  a 
Lodge,  with  the  explanation  that  the  "  Mo- 
saic Pavement  is  the  Ground  Floor  of  the 
Lodge,  the  Blazing  Star  the  Centre,  and  the 
Indented  Tarsel  the  Border  round  about 
it  1 "  In  a  primitive  Tracing  Board  of  the 
Entered  Apprentice,  copied  by  Oliver,  in 
his  Historical  Landmarks,  (i.  133,)  without 
other  date  than  that  it  was  "  published 
early  in  the  last  century,"  the  Blazing  Star 
occupies  a  prominent  position  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  Tracing  Board.  Oliver  says  that 
it  represented  Beauty,  and  was  called 
"  the  glory  in  the  centre." 

In  the  lectures  subsequently  prepared  by 
Dunckerley,  and  adopted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge,  the  Blazing  Star  was  said  to  repre- 
sent "  the  star  which  led  the  wise  men  to 
Bethlehem,  proclaiming  to  mankind  the 
nativity  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  here  con- 
ducting our  spiritual  progress  to  the  Author 
of  our  redemption." 

In  the  Prestonian  lecture,  the  Blazing 
Star,  with  the  Mosaic  Pavement  and  the 
Tasselated  Border,  are  called  the  Orna- 
ments of  the  Lodge,  and  the  Blazing  Star 
is  thus  explained  : 

"  The  Blazing  Star,  or  glory  in  the  centre, 
reminds  us  of  that  awful  period  when  the 
Almighty  delivered  the  two  tables  of  stone, 
containing  the  ten  commandments,  to  his 
faithful  servant  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai, 
when  the  rays  of  his  divine  glory  shone  so 
bright  that  none  could  behold  it  without 
fear  and  trembling.  It  also  reminds  us  of 
the  omnipresence  of  the  Almighty,  over- 
shadowing us  with  his  divine  love,  and  dis- 
pensing his  blessings  amongst  us ;  and  by 
its  being  placed  in  the  centre,  it  further  re- 
minds us,  that  wherever  we  may  be  as- 
sembled together,  God  is  in  the  midst  of  us, 
seeing  our  actions,  and  observing  the  secret 
intents  and  movements  of  our  hearts." 


BLAZING 


BLAZING 


117 


In  the  lectures  taught  by  Webb,  and 
very  generally  adopted  in  this  country,  the 
Blazing  Star  is  said  to  be  "  commemorative 
of  the  star  which  appeared  to  guide  the 
wise  men  of  the  East  to  the  place  of  our 
Saviour's  nativity,"  and  it  is  subsequently 
explained  as  hieroglyphically  representing 
divine  Providence.  But  the  commemora- 
tive allusion  to  the  Star  of  Bethlehem 
seeming  to  some  to  be  objectionable,  from 
its  peculiar  application  to  the  Christian 
religion,  at  the  revision  of  the  lectures 
made  in  1843  by  the  Baltimore  Convention, 
this  explanation  was  omitted,  and  the  allu- 
sion to  divine  Providence  alone  retained. 

In  Hutchinson's  system,  the  Blazing  Star 
is  considered  a  symbol  of  Prudence.  "  It 
is  placed,"  says  he,  "  in  the  centre,  ever  to 
be  present  to  the  eye  of  the  Mason,  that 
his  heart  may  be  attentive  to  the  dictates 
and  steadfast  in  the  laws  of  Prudence ;  — 
for  Prudence  is  the  rule  of  all  virtues; 
Prudence  is  the  path  which  leads  to  every 
degree  of  propriety ;  Prudence  is  the  chan- 
nel whence  self-approbation  flows  forever  ; 
she  leads  us  forth  to  worthy  actions,  and,  as 
a  Blazing  Star,  enlighteneth  us  through  the 
dreary  and  darksome  paths  of  this  life." 
(Sp.  of  Mas.,  Lect.  V.,  p.  68.)  Hutchinson 
also  adopted  Dunckerley's  allusion  to  the 
Star  of  Bethlehem,  but  only  as  a  secondary 
symbolism. 

In  another  series  of  lectures  formerly  in 
use  in  America,. but  which  I  believe  is  now 
abandoned,  the  Blazing  Star  is  said  to  be 
"  emblematical  of  that  Prudence  which 
ought  to  appear  conspicuous  in  the  conduct 
of  every  Mason;  and  is  more  especially 
commemorative  of  the  star  which  appeared 
in  the  east  to  guide  the  wise  men  to  Beth- 
lehem, and  proclaim  the  birth  and  the 
presence  of  the  Son  of  God." 

The  Masons  on  the  Continent  of  Europe, 
speaking  of  the  symbol,  say :  "  It  is  no 
matter  whether  the  figure  of  which  the 
Blazing  Star  forms  the  centre  be  a  square, 
triangle,  or  circle,  it  still  represents  the 
sacred  name  of  God,  as  an  universal  spirit 
who  enlivens  our  hearts,  who  purifies  our 
reason,  who  increases  our  knowledge,  and 
who  makes  us  wiser  and  better  men." 

And  lastly,  in  the  lectures  revised  by 
Dr.  Hemming  and  adopted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  at  the  union  in  1813, 
and  now  constituting  the  authorized  lectures 
of  that  jurisdiction,  we  find  the  following 
definition : 

"  The  Blazing  Star,  or  glory  in  the  centre, 
refers  us  to  the  sun,  which  enlightens  the 
earth  with  its  refulgent  rays,  dispensing  its 
blessings  to  mankind  at  large,  and  giving 
light  and  life  to  all  things  here  below." 

Hence  we  find  that  at  different  times  the 
Blazing  Star  has  been  declared  to  be  a  sym- 


bol of  divine  Providence,  of  the  Star  of 
Bethlehem,  of  Prudence,  of  Beauty,  and 
of  the  Sun.  Before  we  can  attempt  to  de- 
cide upon  these  various  opinions,  and  adopt 
the  true  signification,  it  is  necessary  to  ex- 
tend our  investigations  into  the  antiquity 
of  the  emblem,  and  inquire  what  was  the 
meaning  given  to  it  by  the  nations  who 
first  established  it  as  a  symbol. 

Sabaism,  or  the  worship  of  the  stars,  was 
one  of  the  earliest  deviations  from  the  true 
system  of  religion.  One  of  its  causes  was 
the  universally  established  doctrine  among 
the  idolatrous  nations  of  antiquity,  that 
each  star  was  animated  by  the  soul  of  a 
hero  god,  who  had  once  dwelt  incarnate 
upon  earth.  Hence,  in  the  hieroglyphical 
system,  the  star  denoted  a  god.  To  this 
signification,  allusion  is  made  by  the  pro- 
phet Amos,  when  he  says  to  the  Israelites, 
while  reproaching  them  for  their  idolatrous 
habits :  "  But  ye  nave  borne  the  tabernacle 
of  your  Moloch  and  Chiun  your  images, 
the  star  of  your  god,  which  ye  made  to 
yourselves."     Amos  v.  26. 

This  idolatry  was  early  learned  by  the 
Israelites  from  their  Egyptian  taskmasters ; 
and  so  unwilling  were  they  to  abandon  it, 
that  Moses  found  it  necessary  strictly  to 
forbid  the  worship  of  anything  "  that  is  in 
heaven  above ; "  notwithstanding  which  we 
find  the  Jews  repeatedly  committing  the 
sin  which  had  been  so  expressly  forbidden. 
Saturn  was  the  star  to  whose  worship  they 
were  more  particularly  addicted  under  the 
names  of  Moloch  and  Chiun,  already  men- 
tioned in  the  passage  quoted  from  Amos. 
The  planet  Saturn  was  worshipped  under 
the  names  of  Moloch,  Malcom  or  Milcom  by 
the  Ammonites,  the  Canaanites,  the  Phoeni- 
cians, and  the  Carthaginians,  and  under  that 
of  Chiun  by  the  Israelites  in  the  desert.  Sa- 
turn was  worshipped  among  the  Egyptians 
under  the  name  of  Raiphan,  or,  as  it  is 
called  in  the  Septuagint,  Remphan.  St. 
Paul,  quoting  the  passage  of  Amos,  says, 
"  ye  took  up  the  tabernacle  of  Moloch  ana 
the  star  of  your  god  Remphan." 

Hale,  in  his  Analysis  of  Chronology,  says, 
in  alluding  to  this  passage  of  St.  Paul, 
"  There  is  no  direct  evidence  that  the  Israel- 
ites worshipped  the  dog-star  in  the  wilder- 
ness, except  this  passage ;  but  the  indirect 
is  very  strong,  drawn  from  the  general  pro- 
hibition of  the  worship  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  to  which  they  must  have  been 
prone.  And  this  was  peculiarly  an  Egyp- 
tian idolatry,  where  the  dog-star  was  wor- 
shipped, as  notifying  by  his  heliacal  rising, 
or  emersion  from  the  sun's  rays,  the  regu- 
lar commencement  of  the  periodical  inun- 
dation of  the  Nile.  And  the  Israelite 
sculptures  at  the  cemetery  of  Kibroth-Hat- 
taavah,  or  graves  of  lust,  in  the  neighbor- 


118 


BLAZING 


BLOW 


hood  of  Sinai,  remarkably  abound  in  hie- 
roglyphics of  the  dog-star,  represented  as  a 
human  figure  with  a  dog's  head.  That 
they  afterwards  sacrificed  to  the  dog-star, 
there  is  express  evidence  in  Josiah's  de- 
scription of  idolatry,  where  the  Syriac 
Mazaloth  (improperly  termed  planets)  de- 
notes the  dog-star ;  in  Arabic,  Mazaroth." 

Fellows,  in  his  Exposition  of  the  Mys- 
teries, says  that  this  dog-star,  the  Anubis 
of  the  Egyptians,  is  the  Blazing  Star  of 
Masonry,  and  supposing  that  the  latter  is 
a  symbol  of  Prudence,  which  indeed  it  was 
in  some  of  the  ancient  lectures,  he  goes  on 
to  remark:  "What  connection  can  possibly 
exist  between  a  star  and  prudence,  except 
allegorically  in  reference  to  the  caution 
that  was  indicated  to  the  Egyptians  by  the 
first  appearance  of  this  star,  which  warned 
them  of  approaching  danger."  But  it  will 
hereafter  be  seen  that  he  has  totally  misap- 
prehended the  true  signification  of  the  Ma- 
sonic symbol.  The  work  of  Fellows,  it 
may  be  remarked,  is  an  unsystematic  com- 
pilation of  undigested  learning;  but  the 
student  who  is  searching  for  truth  must 
carefully  eschew  all  his  deductions  as  to 
the  genius  and  spirit  of  Freemasonry. 

Notwithstanding  a  few  discrepancies  may 
have  occurred  in  the  Masonic  lectures,  as 
arranged  at  various  periods  and  by  different 
authorities,  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the 
ancient  religions,  and  the  hieroglyphic  lan- 
guage, prove  that  the  star  was  a  symbol  of 
God.  It  was  so  used  by  the  prophets  of 
old  in  their  metaphorical  style,  and  it  has 
so  been  generally  adopted  by  Masonic  in- 
structors. The  application  of  the  Blazing 
Star  as  an  emblem  of  the  Saviour,  has 
been  made  by  those  writers  who  give  a 
Christian  explanation  of  our  emblems,  and 
to  the  Christian  Mason  such  an  applica- 
tion will  not  be  objectionable.  But  those 
who  desire  to  refrain  from  anything  that 
may  tend  to  impair  the  tolerance  of  our 
system,  will  be  disposed  to  embrace  a  more 
universal  explanation,  which  may  be  re- 
ceived alike  by  all  the  disciples  of  the 
Order,  whatever  may  be  their  peculiar  reli- 
gious views.  Such  persons  will  rather  ac- 
cept the  expression  of  Dr.  Oliver,  who, 
though  much  disposed  to  give  a  Christian 
character  to  our  Institution,  says,  "the 
great  Architect  of  the  Universe  is  there- 
fore symbolized  in  Freemasonry  by  the 
Blazing  Star,  as  the  herald  of  our  salva- 
tion."    (Symb.  Glory,  p.  292.) 

Before  concluding,  a  few  words  may  be 
said  as  to  the  form  of  the  Masonic  symbol. 
It  is  not  an  heraldic  star  or  estoille,  for  that 
always  consists  of  six  points,  while  the  Ma- 
sonic star  is  made  with  five  points.  This, 
perhaps,  was  with  some  involuntary  allu- 
sion to  the  five  Points  of  Fellowship.    But 


the  error  has  been  committed  in  all  our 
modern  Tracing  Boards  of  making  the  star 
with  straight  points,  which  form,  of  course, 
does  not  represent  a  blazing  star.  Guillim 
{Disp.  of  Herald)  says :  "  All  stars  should 
be  made  with  waved  points,  because  our 
eyes  tremble  at  beholding  them." 

In  the  early  Tracing  Board  already  re- 
ferred to,  the  star  with  five  straight  points 
is  superimposed  upon  another  of  five  wav- 
ing points.  But  the  latter  are  now  aban- 
doned, and  we  have  in  the  representations 
of  the  present  day  the  incongruous  symbol 
of  a  blazing  star  with  five  straight  points. 
In  the  centre  of  the  star  there  was  always 
placed  the  letter  O,  which,  like  the  He- 
brew yod,  was  a  recognized  symbol  of 
God,  and  thus  the  symbolic  reference  of 
the  Blazing  Star  to  divine  Providence  is 
greatly  strengthened. 

Blazing  Star,  Order  of  the.  The 
Baron  Tschoudy  was  the  author  of  a  work 
entitled  The  Blazing  Star.  (See  Tschoudy.) 
On  the  principles  inculcated  in  this  work, 
he  established,  says  Thory,  at  Paris,  in  1766, 
an  order  called  "  The  Order  of  the  Blazing 
Star,"  which  consisted  of  degrees  of  chiv- 
alry ascending  to  the  Crusades,  after  the 
Templar  system  of  Ramsay.  It  never, 
however,  assumed  the  prominent  position 
of  an  active  Rite. 

Blessing.    See  Benediction. 

Blind.  A  blind  man  cannot  be  initi- 
ated into  Masonry  under  the  operation  of 
the  old  regulation,  which  requires  physical 
perfection  in  a  candidate. 

Blindness.  Physical  blindness  in 
Masonry,  as  in  the  language  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  symbolic  of  the  deprivation  of 
moral  and  intellectual  light.  It  is  equiva- 
lent to  the  darkness  of  the  Ancient  Myste- 
ries in  which  the  neophytes  were  enshrouded 
for  periods  varying  from  a  few  hours  to  many 
days.  The  Masonic  candidate,  therefore, 
represents  one  immersed  in  intellectual 
darkness,  groping  in  the  search  for  that 
Divine  light  and  truth  which  are  the  ob- 
jects of  a  Mason's  labor.    See  Darkness. 

Blow.  The  three  blows  given  to  the 
Builder,  according  to  the  legend  of  the 
third  degree,  have  been  differently  inter- 
preted as  symbols  in  the  different  systems 
of  Masonry,  but  always  with  some  reference 
to  adverse  or  malignant  influences  exercised 
on  humanity,  of  whom  Hiram  is  considered 
as  the  type.'  Thus,  in  the  symbolic  degrees 
of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  the  three  blows 
are  said  to  be  typical  of  the  trials  and  temp- 
tations to  which  man  is  subjected  in  youth 
and  manhood,  and  to  death,  whose  victim 
he  becomes  in  old  age.  Hence  the  three 
Assassins  are  the  three  stages  of  human  life. 
In  the  high  degrees,  such  as  the  Kadoshes, 
which  are  founded  on  the  Templar  system 


BLUE 


BLUE 


119 


of  Ramsay,  the  reference  is  naturally  made 
to  the  destruction  of  the  Order,  which  was 
effected  by  the  combined  influences  of 
Tyranny,  Superstition,  and  Ignorance, 
which  are  therefore  symbolized  by  the  three 
blows ;  while  the  three  Assassins  are  also 
said  sometimes  to  be  represented  by  Squire 
de  Floreau,  Naffodei,  and  the  Prior  of 
Montfaucon,  the  three  perjurers  who  swore 
away  the  lives  of  De  Molay  and  his 
Knights.  In  the  astronomical  theory  of 
Freemasonry,  which  makes  it  a  modern 
modification  of  the  ancient  sun-worship,  a 
theory  advanced  by  Ragon,  the  three  blows 
are  symbolic  of  the  destructive  influences 
of  the  three  winter  months,  by  which  Hiram, 
or  the  Sun,  is  shorn  of  his  vivifying  power. 
Des  Etangs  has  generalized  the  Templar 
theory,  and,  supposing  Hiram  to  be  the  sym- 
bol of  eternal  reason,  interprets  the  blows 
as  the  attacks  of  those  vices  which  deprave 
and  finally  destroy  humanity.  However 
interpreted  for  a  special  theory,  Hiram  the 
Builder  always  represents,  in  the  science  of 
Masonic  symbolism,  the  principle  of  good; 
and  then  the  three  blows  are  the  contend- 
ing principles  of  evil. 

Blue.  This  is  emphatically  the  color 
of  Masonry.  It  is  the  appropriate  tincture 
of  the  Ancient  Craft  degrees.  It  is  to  the 
Mason  a  symbol  of  universal  friendship  and 
benevolence,  because,  as  it  is  the  color  of 
the  vault  of  heaven,  which  embraces  and 
covers  the  whole  globe,  we  are  thus  re- 
minded that  in  the  breast  of  every  brother 
these  virtues  should  be  equally  as  extensive. 
It  is  therefore  the  only  color,  except  white, 
which  should  be  used  in  a  Master's  Lodge. 
Decorations  of  any  other  color  would  be 
highly  inappropriate. 

Among  the  religious  institutions  of  the 
Jews,  blue  was  an  important  color.  The 
robe  of  the  high  priest's  ephod,  the  ribbon 
for  his  breastplate,  and  for  the  plate  of  the 
mitre,  were  to  be  blue.  The  people  were 
directed  to  wear  a  ribbon  of  this  color  above 
the  fringe  of  their  garments ;  and  it  was  the 
color  of  one  of  the  veils  of  the  tabernacle, 
where,  Josephus  says,  it  represented  the 
element  of  air.  The  Hebrew  word  used  on 
these  occasions  to  designate  the  color  blue 
is  nSjfi,  tekelet;  and  this  word  seems  to  have 
a  singular  reference  to  the  symbolic  char- 
acter of  the  color,  for  it  is  derived  from  a 
root  signifying  perfection ;  now  it  is  well- 
known  that,  among  the  ancients,  initiation 
into  the  mysteries  and  perfection  were  sy- 
nonymous terms ;  and  hence  the  appropriate 
color  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  systems  of 
initiation  may  well  be  designated  by  a  word 
which  also  signifies  perfection. 

This  color  also  held  a  prominent  position 
in  the  symbolism  of  the  Gentile  nations  of 
antiquity.     Among  the   Druids,  blue  was 


the  symbol  of  truth,  and  the  candidate,  in 
the  initiation  into  the  sacred  rites  of  Druid- 
ism,  was  invested  with  a  robe  composed  of 
the  three  colors  white,  blue,  and  green. 

The  Egyptians  esteemed  blue  as  a  sacred 
color,  and  the  body  of  Amun,  the  princi- 

Eal  god  of  their  theogony,  was  painted  light 
lue,  to  imitate,  as  Wilkinson  remarks, 
"his  peculiarly  exalted  and  heavenly 
nature." 

The  ancient  Babylonians  clothed  their 
idols  in  blue,  as  we  learn  from  the  prophet 
Jeremiah.  The  Chinese,  in  their  mystical 
philosophy,  represented  blue  as  the  symbol 
of  the  deity,  because,  being,  as  they  say, 
compounded  of  black  and  red,  this  color  is 
a  fit  representation  of  the  obscure  and 
brilliant,  the  male  and  female,  or  active 
and  passive  principles. 

The  Hindoos  assert  that  their  god, Vishnu, 
was  represented  of  a  celestial  blue,  thus  in- 
dicating that  wisdom  emanating  from  God 
was  to  be  symbolized  by  this  color. 

Among  the  mediaeval  Christians  blue 
was  sometimes  considered  as  an  emblem  of 
immortality,  as  red  was  of  the  divine  love. 
Portal  says  that  blue  was  the  symbol  of 
perfection,  hope,  and  constancy.  "  The 
color  of  the  celebrated  dome,  azure,"  says 
Weale,  in  his  treatise  on  Symbolic  Colors, 
"  was  in  divine  language  the  symbol  of 
eternal  truth  ;  in  consecrated  language,  of 
immortality ;  and  in  profane  language,  of 
fidelity." 

Besides  the  three  degrees  of  Ancient 
Craft  Masonry,  of  which  blue  is  the  appro- 
priate color,  this  tincture  is  also  to  be  found 
in  several  other  degrees,  especially  of  the 
Scottish  Rite,  where  it  bears  various  sym- 
bolic significations ;  all,  however,  more  or 
less  related  to  its  original  character,  as  rep- 
resenting universal  friendship  and  benevo- 
lence. 

In  the  degree  of  Grand  Pontiff,  the  nine- 
teenth of  the  Scottish  Rite,  it  is  the  pre- 
dominating color,  and  is  there  said  to  be 
symbolic  of  the  mildness,  fidelity,  and  gen- 
tleness which  ought  to  be  the  character- 
istics of  every  true  and  faithful  brother. 

In  the  degree  of  Grand  Master  of  all 
Symbolic  Lodges,  the  blue  and  yellow, 
which  are  its  appropriate  colors,  are  said 
to  refer  to  the  appearance  of  Jehovah  to 
Moses  on  Mount  Sinai  in  clouds  of  azure 
and  gold,  and  hence  in  this  degree  the 
color  is  rather  an  historical  than  a  moral 
symbol. 

The  blue  color  of  the  tunic  and  apron, 
which  constitutes  a  part  of  the  investiture 
of  a  Prince  of  the  Tabernacle,  or  twenty- 
fourth  degree  in  the  Scottish  Rite,  alludes  to 
the  whole  symbolic  character  of  the  degree, 
whose  teachings  refer  to  our  removal  from 
this  tabernacle  of  clay  to  "  that  house  not 


120 


BLUE 


BODE 


made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 
The  blue  in  this  degree  is,  therefore,  a 
symbol  of  heaven,  the  seat  of  our  celestial 
tabernacle. 

Blue  Blanket.  The  Lodge  of  Jour- 
neymen, in  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  is  in 
possession  of  a  blue  blanket,  which  is  used 
as  a  banner  in  Masonic  processions.  The 
history  of  it  is  thus  given  in  the  London 
Magazine : 

A  number  of  Scotch  mechanics  followed 
Allan,  Lord  Steward  of  Scotland,  to  the 
holy  wars  in  Palestine,  and  took  with  them 
a  banner,  on  which  were  inscribed  the  fol- 
lowing words  from  the  51st  Psalm,  viz. : 
"  In  bona  voluntate  tua  edificentur  muri 
Hierosolymae."  Fighting  under  the  ban- 
ner, these  valiant  Scotchmen  were  present 
at  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  and  other 
towns  in  the  Holy  Land ;  and,  on  their  re- 
turn to  their  own  country,  they  deposited 
the  banner,  which  they  styled  "  The  Ban- 
ner of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  at  the  altar  of  St. 
Eloi,  the  patron  saint  of  the  Edinburgh 
Tradesmen,  in  the  church  of  St.  Giles.  It 
was  occasionally  unfurled,  or  worn  as  a 
mantle  by  the  representatives  of  the  trades 
in  the  courtly  and  religious  pageants  that 
in  former  times  were  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  the  Scottish  capital.  In  1482,  James 
III.,  in  consequence  of  the  assistance  which 
he  had  received  from  the  Craftsmen  of 
Edinburgh,  in  delivering  him  from  the 
castle  in  which  he  was  kept  a  prisoner,  and 

Eaying  a  debt  of  6,000  marks  which  he 
ad  contracted  in  making  preparations  for 
the  marriage  of  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Roth- 
say,  to  Cecil,  daughter  of  Edward  IV.,  of 
England,  conferred  on  the  good  town 
several  valuable  privileges,  and  renewed 
to  the  Craftsmen  their  favorite  banner  of 
"  The  Blue  Blanket."  James's  queen,  Mar- 
garet of  Denmark,  to  show  her  gratitude 
and  respect  to  the  Crafts,  painted  on  the 
banner,  with  her  own  hands,  a  St.  Andrew's 
cross,  a  crown,  a  thistle,  and  a  hammer, 
with  the  following  inscription  :  "  Fear  God 
and  honor  the  king;  grant  him  a  long  life 
and  a  prosperous  reign,  and  we  shall  ever 
'pray  to  be  faithful  for  the  defence  of  his 
sacred  majesty's  royal  person  till  death." 
The  king  decreed  that  in  all  time  coming, 
this  flag  should  be  the  standard  of  the 
Crafts  within  burgh,  and  that  it  should  be 
unfurled  in  defence  of  their  own  rights, 
and  in  protection  of  their  sovereign.  The 
privilege  of  displaying  it  at  the  Masonic 
procession  was  granted  to  the  journeymen, 
in  consequence  of  their  original  connec- 
tion with  the  Masons  of  Mary's  Chapel, 
one  of  the  fourteen  incorporated  trades  of 
the  city. 

"The  Blue  Blanket"  was  long  in  a  very 
tattered  condition ;  but  some  years  ago  it 


was  repaired  by  lining  it  with  blue  silk,  so 
that  it  can  be  exposed  without  subjecting  it 
to  much  injury. 

Blue  Degrees.  The  first  three  de- 
grees of  Freemasonry  are  so  called  from 
the  blue  color  which  is  peculiar  to  them. 

Blue  Lodge.  A  symbolic  Lodge,  in 
which  the  first  three  degrees  of  Masonry 
are  conferred,  is  so  called  from  the  color  of 
its  decorations. 

Blue  Masonry.  The  degrees  of  En- 
tered Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and  Master 
Mason  are  called  Blue  Masonry. 

Blue  Master.  In  some  of  the  high 
degrees,  these  words  are  used  to  designate 
a  Master  Mason. 

Board  of  General  Purposes. 
An  organization  attached  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  consisting  of  a  Presi- 
dent and  twenty-four  other  members,  with 
the  Grand  Master,  Pro  Grand  Master, 
Deputy  Grand  Master,  and  the  Grand 
Wardens.  The  President  and  ten  of  the 
twenty-four  members  are  annually  nomi- 
nated by  the  Grand  Master,  and  the  re- 
maining fourteen  are  elected  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  from  the  Masters  and  Past  Masters 
of  the  Lodges.  This  board  has  authority 
to  hear  and  determine  all  subjects  of  Ma- 
sonic complaints,  or  irregularity  respecting 
Lodges  or  individual  Masons,  when  regu- 
larly brought  before  it,  and  generally  to 
take  cognizance  of  all  matters  relating  to 
the  Craft. 

Board  of  Belief.  See  Relief,  Board 
of- 

Boaz.  The  name  of  the  left  hand  pil- 
lar that  stood  at  the  porch  of  King  Solo- 
mon's Temple.  It  is  derived  from  the  He- 
brew 3»  b,  in,"  and  ty,  oaz,  "  strength," 
and  signifies  "  in  strength."  See  Pillars  of 
the  Porch. 

Bode,  Johann  Joachim  Chris- 
toph.  Born  in  Brunswick,  16th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1730.  One  of  the  most  distinguished 
Masons  of  his  time.  In  his  youth  he  was 
a  professional  musician,  but  in  1757  he 
established  himself  at  Hamburg  as  a  book- 
seller, and  was  initiated  into  the  Masonic 
Order.  He  obtained  much  reputation  by  the 
translation  of  Sterne's  Sentimental  Journey, 
and  Tristram  Shandy  ;  of  Goldsmith's  Vicar 
of  Wakefield  ;  Smollett's  Humphrey  Clinker; 
and  of  Fielding's  Tom  Jones,  from  the  Eng- 
lish ;  and  of  Montaigne's  works  from  the 
French.  To  Masonic  literature  he  made 
many  valuable  contributions ;  among  oth- 
ers, he  translated  from  the  French  Bonne- 
ville's celebrated  work  entitled  Les  Jesuites 
chassis  de  la  Maconnerie  et  leur  poignard  brise 
par  les  Macons,  which  contains  a  compari- 
son of  Scottish  Masonry  with  the  Templar- 
ism  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Bode  was 
at  one  time  a  zealous  promoter  of  the  Bite 


BOEBER 


BONAIM 


121 


of  Strict  Observance,  but  afterwards  became 
one  of  its  most  active  opponents.  In  1790 
he  joined  the  Order  of  the  Illuminati,  ob- 
taining the  highest  degree  in  its  second 
class,  and  at  the  Congress  of  Wilhelmsbad 
he  advocated  the  opinions  of  Weishaupt. 
No  man  of  his  day  was  better  versed 
than  he  in  the  history  of  Freemasonry,  or 
possessed  a  more  valuable  and  extensive 
library;  no  one  was  more  diligent  in  in- 
creasing his  stock  of  Masonic  knowledge,  or 
more  anxious  to  avail  himself  of  the  rarest 
sources  of  learning.  Hence,  he  has  always 
held  an  exalted  position  among  the  Masonic 
scholars  of  Germany.  The  theory  which  he 
had  conceived  on  the  origin  of  Freemason- 
ry, —  a  theory,  however,  which  the  investi- 
gations of  subsequent  historians  have  proved 
to  be  untenable,  —  was,  that  the  Order 
was  invented  by  the  Jesuits,  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  as  an  instrument  for  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  Roman  Church  in  Eng- 
land, covering  it  for  their  own  purposes  un- 
der the  mantle  of  Templarism.  Bode  died 
at  Weimar  on  the  13th  of  December,  1793. 

Boeber,  Johami.  A  Royal  Coun- 
cillor of  State  and  Director  of  the  School  of 
Cadets  at  St.  Petersburg  during  the  reign 
of  Alexander  I.  In  1805  he  induced  the 
emperor  to  revoke  the  edicts  made  by  Paul 
I.  and  himself  against  the  Freemasons. 
His  representations  of  the  true  character 
of  the  Institution  induced  the  emperor  to 
seek  and  obtain  initiation.  Boeber  may 
be  considered  as  the  reviver  of  Masonry  in 
the  Russian  dominions,  and  was  Grand 
Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  from  1811 
to  1814. 

Boehmen,  Jacob.  The  most  cele- 
brated of  the  Mystics  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  born  near  Gorlitz, 
in  1575,  and  died  in  1624.  His  system 
attracted,  and  continued  to  attract  long 
after  his  death,  many  disciples  in  Germany. 
Among  these,  in  time,  were  several  Free- 
masons, who  sought  to  incorporate  the 
mystical  dogmas  of  their  founder  with  the 
teachings  of  Freemasonry,  so  as  to  make 
the  Lodges  merely  schools  of  theosophy. 
Indeed,  the  Theosophic  Rites  of  Freema- 
sonry, which  prevailed  to  a  great  extent 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  in 
Germany  and  France,  were  indebted  for. 
most  of  their  ideas  to  the  mysticism  of 
Jacob  Boehmen. 

Bohemann.  Karl  Adolf.  Bom  in 
1770,  in  Denmark,  where  he  was  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  large  estate.  The  character  of 
having  "  performed  many  charitable  deeds," 
which  is  bestowed  upon  him  by  Findel,  is 
probably  based  on  the  statement  of  Len- 
ning,  that  he  gave  300,000  thalers  to  the 
Orphan  Asylum  at  Stockholm.  Lenning, 
however,  says  that  it  was  given  in  1767 ; 
Q 


and  as  that  was  three  years  before  Bohe- 
mann was  born,  the  error  is  obvious.  Thory 
attributes  the  gift  to  a  M.  Bohman,  and 
the  similarity  of  names  may  have  given 
rise  to  the  mistake.  Bohemann  was  a  very 
zealous  member  of  the  Order  of  Asiatic 
Brethren,  and  was  an  active  promulgator 
of  the  high  degrees.  Invited  into  Sweden, 
in  1802,  by  the  Duke  of  Sudermania,  who 
was  an  ardent  inquirer  into  Masonic  sci- 
ence, he  was  appointed  Court  Secretary. 
He  attempted  to  introduce  his  system  of 
high  degrees  into  the  kingdom,  but  having 
been  detected  in  the  effort  to  intermingle 
revolutionary  schemes  with  his  high  de- 
grees, he  was  first  imprisoned  and  then 
banished  from  the  country,  his  society  being 
interdicted.  He  returned  to  Germany,  but 
is  not  heard  of  after  1815,  when  he  pub- 
lished at  Pyrmont  a  justification  of  him- 
self. Findel  (Hist.,  p.  500,)  calls  him  an 
imposter,  but  I  know  not  why.  He  was 
rather  a  Masonic  fanatic,  who  was  ignorant 
of  or  had  forgotten  the  wide  difference  that 
there  is  between  Freemasonry  and  political 
intrigue. 

Bohemia.  Freemasonry  was  insti- 
tuted in  Bohemia,  in  1749,  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland.  In  1776  it  was  highly 
prosperous,  and  continued  so  until  the 
commencement  of  the  French  Revolution, 
when  it  was  suppressed  by  the  Austrian 
government. 

Bombay.  Under  a  deputation  from 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  the  District 
Grand  Lodge  of  Bombay  was  established 
in  1861.  Masonry  is  in  an  excellent  con- 
dition in  the  District. 

Bonaim.  The  Hebrew  word  for  build- 
ers, and  used  in  1  Kings  v.  18,  to  desig- 
nate a  portion  of  the  workmen  on  the 
Temple :  "  And  Solomon's  builders  and 
Hiram's  builders  did  hew  them."  Oliver, 
in  his  Dictionary  and  in  his  Landmarks, 
gives  a  mythical  account  of  them  as  Fel- 
low Crafts,  divided  into  Lodges  by  King 
Solomon,  but,  by  a  grammatical  blunder, 
he  calls  them  Benai,  substituting  the  He- 
brew constructive  for  the  nominative  case, 
and  changing  the  participial  o  into  e.  The 
Bonaim  seem  to  be  distinguished,  by  the 
author  of  the  Book  of  Kings,  from  the 
Gibalim,  and  the  translators  of  the  author- 
ized version  have  called  the  former  builders 
and  the  latter  stone-squarers.  It  is  probable 
that  the  Bonaim  were  an  order  of  work- 
men inferior  to  the  Gibalim.  Anderson,  in 
both  of  his  editions  of  the  Book  of  Consti- 
tutions, blunders  grammatically,  like  Oli- 
ver, and  calls  them  Bonai,  saying  that  they 
were  "  setters,  layers,  or  builders,  or  light 
Fellow  Crafts,  in  number  80,000."  This 
idea  seems  to  have  been  perpetuated  in  the 
modern  rituals. 


122 


BONDMAN 


BOOK 


Bondman.  In  the  fourth  article  of 
the  Halliwell  MS.,  which  is  supposed  to  con- 
tain the  old  Gothic  or  York  Constitutions, 
it  is  said  that  the  Master  shall  take  good 
care  that  he  make  no  bondman  an  ap- 
prentice, or,  as  it  is  in  the  original  lan- 
guage: 

"  The  fourthe  artycul  thys  moste  be, 
That  the  Mayster  hymn  wel-be-se, 
That  he  no  bondman  prentys  make." 

The  regulation  is  repeated  in  all  the 
subsequent  regulations,  and  is  still  in  force. 
See  Freeborn. 

Bone.  This  word,  which  is  now  cor- 
ruptly pronounced  in  one  syllable,  is  the 
Hebrew  wordioneA,  1"01D>  "  builder,"  from 
the  verb  banah,  HjD>  to  build."  It  was 
peculiarly  applied,  as  an  epithet,  to  Hiram 
Abif,  who  superintended  the  construction 
of  the  Temple  as  its  chief  builder.  Master 
Masons  will  recognize  it  as  the  terminal 
portion  of  a  significant  word.  Its  true  pro- 
nunciation would  be,  in  English  letters, 
bonay;  but  the  corruption  into  one  syllable 
as  bone  has  become  too  universal  ever  to  be 
corrected. 

Bone  Box.  In  the  early  lectures  of 
the  last  century,  now  obsolete,  we  find  the 
following  catechism : 

"  Q.  Have  you  any  key  to  the  secrets  of  a 
Mason  ? 

"A.  Yes. 

"  Q.  Where  do  you  keep  it? 

"  A.  In  a  bone  box,  that  neither  opens 
nor  shuts  but  with  ivory  keys." 

The  bone  box  is  the  mouth,  the  ivory 
keys  the  teeth.  And  the  key  to  the  secrets 
is  afterwards  said  to  be  the  tongue.  These 
questions  were  simply  used  as  tests,  and 
were  subsequently  varied.  In  a  later  lec- 
ture it  is  called  the  "  bone-bone  box." 

Bonneville,  Chevalier  de.  On 
the  24th  of  November,  1754,  he  founded 
the  Chapter  of  the  high  degrees  known 
as  the  Chapter  of  Clermont.  All  the 
authorities  assert  this  except  Rebold  {Hist, 
de  trow  G.  L.,  p.  46),  who  says  that  he  was 
not  its  founder  but  only  the  propagator  of 
its  degrees.  Lenning  (Encycl.)  has  con- 
founded him  with  Nicolas  de  Bonneville, 
who  was  born  six  years  after  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Chapter. 

Bonneville,  Nicolas  de.  An 
historian  and  literateur,  born  at  Evreux, 
in  France,  March  13,  1760.  He  was 
the  author  of  a  work,  published  in  1788, 
entitled,  Les  Jesuites  chasses  de  la  Macon- 
nerie  et  leur  poignard  brise  par  les  Macons, 
divided  into  two  parts,  of  the  first  of  which 
the  sub-title  was,  La  Magonnerie  icossoise 
comparee  avec  les  trois  professions  et  le  Secret 
des  Templiers  de  14«  Siecle  ;  and  of  the  sec- 
ond, Memete  des  quatre  voeux  de  la  Corn- 


pagnie  de  S.  Ignale,  et  des  quatre  grades  de  la 
Magonnerie  de  S.  Jean.  He  also  translated 
into  French,  Thomas  Paine's  Essay  on  the 
Origin  of  Freemasonry;  a  work,  by  the  way, 
which  was  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of 
translation.  De  Bonneville  had  an  exalted 
idea  of  the  difficulties  attendant  upon  writ- 
ing a  history  of  Freemasonry,  for  he  says 
that,  to  compose  such  a  work,  supported  by 
dates  and  authentic  facts,  it  would  require  a 
period  equal  to  ten  times  the  age  of  man ; 
a  statement  which,  although  exaggerated, 
undoubtedly  contains  an  element  of  truth. 
His  Masonic  theory  was  that  the  Jesuits 
had  introduced  into  the  symbolic  degrees 
the  history  of  the  life  and  death  of  the 
Templars,  and  the  doctrine  of  vengeance  for 
the  political  and  religious  crime  of  their 
destruction;  and  that  they  had  imposed 
upon  four  of  the  higher  degrees  the  four 
vows  of  their  congregation.  De  Bonneville 
was  imprisoned  as  a  Girondist  in  1793.  He 
was  the  author  of  a  History  of  Modern  Eu- 
rope, in  3  vols.,  published  in  1792,  and  died 
in  1828. 

Book  of  Charges.  There  seems,  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  references  in  the 
old  records  of  Masonry,  to  have  formerly 
existed  a  book  under  this  title,  containing 
the  Charges  of  the  Craft ;  equivalent,  proba- 
bly, to  the  Book  of  Constitutions.  Thus, 
the  Matthew  Cooke  MS.  of  the  latter  part 
of  the  fifteenth  century  (An.  533)  speaks 
of  "  other  charges  mo  that  ben  wryten  in 
the  Boke  of  Chargys." 

Book  of  Constitutions.  The  Book 
of  Constitutions  is  that  work  in  which  is 
contained  the  rules  and  regulations  adopted 
for  the  government  of  the  fraternity  of 
Freemasons.  Undoubtedly,  a  society  so 
orderly  and  systematic  must  always  nave 
been  governed  by  a  prescribed  code  of  laws ; 
but,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  the  precise  regula- 
tions which  were  adopted  for  the  direction 
of  the  Craft  in  ancient  times  have  been  lost. 
The  earliest  record  that  we  have  of  any 
such  Constitutions  is  in  a  manuscript,  first 
published,  in  1723,  by  Anderson,  and  which 
he  said  was  written  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
IV.  Preston  quotes  the  same  record,  and 
adds,  that  "  it  is  said  to  have  been  in  the 
possession  of  the  famous  Elias  Ashmole, 
and  unfortunately  destroyed,"  a  statement 
which  had  not  been  previously  made  by 
Anderson.  To  Anderson,  therefore,  we 
must  look  in  our  estimation  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  this  document ;  and  that  we  cannot 
too  much  rely  upon  his  accuracy  as  a  trans- 
criber is  apparent,  not  only  from  the  internal 
evidence  of  style,  but  also  from  the  fact 
that  he  made  important  alterations  in  his 
copy  of  it  in  his  edition  of  1738.  Such  as 
it  is,  however,  it  contains  the  following  par- 
ticulars. 


BOOK 


BOOK 


123 


"Though  the  ancient  records  of  the 
brotherhood  in  England  were,  many  of 
them,  destroyed  or  lost  in  the  wars  of  the 
Saxons  and  Danes,  yet  King  Athelstane 
(the  grandson  of  King  Alfred  the  Great,  a 
mighty  architect),  the  first  anointed  king 
of  England,  and  who  translated  the  Holy 
Bible  into  the  Saxon  tongue  (a.  d.  930), 
when  he  had  brought  the  land  into  rest  and 
peace,  built  many  great  works,  and  encour- 
aged many  Masons  from  France,  who  were 
appointed  overseers  thereof,  and  brought 
with  them  the  charges  and  regulations  of 
the  Lodges,  preserved  since  the  Roman 
times ;  who  also  prevailed  with  the  king  to 
improve  the  Constitution  of  the  English 
Lodges,  according  to  the  foreign  model,  and 
to  increase  the  wages  of  working  Masons. 

"  The  said  king's  brother,  Prince  Edwin, 
being  taught  Masonry,  and  taking  upon 
him  the  charges  of  a  Master  Mason,  for  the 
love  he  had  to  the  said  Craft  and  the  hon- 
orable principles  whereon  it  is  grounded, 
purchased  a  free  charter  of  King  Athelstane 
for  the  Masons  having  a  correction  among 
themselves  (as  it  was  anciently  expressed), 
or  a  freedom  and  power  to  regulate  them- 
selves, to  amend  what  might  happen  amiss, 
and  to  hold  a  yearly  communication  and 
general  assembly. 

"  Accordingly,  Prince  Edwin  summoned 
all  the  Masons  in  the  realm  to  meet  him  in 
a  congregation  at  York  (a.  d.  926),  who 
came  and  composed  a  general  Lodge,  of 
which  he  was  Grand  Master ;  and  having 
brought  with  them  all  the  writings  and 
records  extant,  some  in  Greek,  some  in 
Latin,  some  in  French,  and  other  lan- 
guages, from  the  contents  thereof,  that  as- 
sembly did  frame  the  Constitutions  and 
Charges  of  an  English  Lodge,  and  made  a 
law  to  preserve  and  observe  the  same  in  all 
time  coming." 

Other  records  have  from  time  to  time 
been  discovered,  most  of  them  recently, 
which  prove  beyond  all  doubt  that  the  Fra- 
ternity of  Freemasons  were,  at  least  in  the 
14th,  15th,  16th,  and  17th  centuries,  in  pos- 
session of  manuscript  Constitutions  con- 
taining the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
Craft. 

In  the  year  1717,  Freemasonry,  which 
had  somewhat  fallen  into  decay  in  the 
south  of  England,  was  revived  by  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Grand  Lodge  at  London ; 
and,  in  the  next  year,  the  Grand  Master 
having  desired,  says  Anderson,  "  any  breth- 
ren to  bring  to  the  Grand  Lodge  any  old 
writings  and  records  concerning  Masons 
and  Masonry,  in  order  to  show  the  usages 
of  ancient  times,  several  old  copies  of  the 
Gothic  Constitutions  were  produced  and 
collated." 

But   these  Constitutions    having    been 


found  to  be  very  erroneous  and  defective  — 
probably  from  carelessness  or  ignorance  in 
their  frequent  transcription  —  in  Septem- 
ber, 1721,  the  Duke  of  Montagu,  who  was 
then  Grand  Master,  ordered  Brother  James 
Anderson  to  digest  them  "in  a  new  and 
better  method." 

Anderson  having  accordingly  accom- 
plished the  important  task  that  had  been 
assigned  him,  in  December  of  the  same 
year  a  committee,  consisting  of  fourteen 
learned  brethren,  was  appointed  to  examine 
the  book  ;  and  they,  in  the  March  commu- 
nication of  the  subsequent  year,  having  re- 
ported their  approbation  of  it,  it  was,  after 
some  amendments,  adopted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  published,  in  1723,  under  the 
title  of  "The  Constitutions  of  the  Free- 
masons, containing  the  History,  Charges, 
Regulations,  etc.,  of  that  Most  Ancient  and 
Right  Worshipful  Fraternity.  For  the  use 
of  the  Lodges." 

A  second  edition  was  published  in  1738, 
under  the  superintendence  of  a  committee 
of  Grand  Oflicers.  But  this  edition  con- 
tained so  many  alterations,  interpolations, 
and  omissions  of  the  Charges  and  Regula- 
tions as  they  appeared  in  the  first,  as  to 
show  the  most  reprehensible  inaccuracy  in 
its  composition,  and  to  render  it  utterly 
worthlesa  except  as  a  literary  curiosity.  It 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  very  popular, 
for  the  printers,  to  complete  their  sales,  were 
compelled  to  commit  a  fraud,  and  to  pre- 
sent what  they  pretended  to  be  a  new  edi- 
tion in  1746,  but  which  was  really  only  the 
edition  of  1738,  with  a  new  title-page 
neatly  pasted  in,  the  old  one  being  can- 
celled. Of  this  literary  fraud,  I  have  a 
copy  in  my  library,  and  have  recently  seen 
another  one  in  the  possession  of  a  Mason 
of  Washington  city. 

In  1754,  Bro.  Jonathan  Scott  presented 
a  memorial  to  the  Grand  Lodge,  showing 
the  necessity  of  a  new  edition  of  the  Book 
of  Constitutions."  It  was  then  ordered  that 
the  book  "should  be  revised,  and  neces- 
sary alterations  and  additions  made  consist- 
ent with  the  laws  and  rules  of  Masonry ; " 
all  of  which  would  seem  to  show  the  dissatis- 
faction of  the  Fraternity  with  the  errors  of 
the  second  edition.  Accordingly,  a  third 
edition  was  published  in  1756,  under  the 
editorship  of  John  Entick.  He  also  pub- 
lished the  fourth  edition  in  1767. 

In  1784,  John  Noorthouck  published  by 
authority  the  fifth  edition.  This  was  well 
printed  in  quarto,  with  numerous  notes,  and 
is  considered  as  the  most  valuable  edition. 

The  sixth  and  seventh  editions  were 
edited  by  William  Williams,  and  published 
in  1815  and  in  1827.  The  eighth  edition 
was  published,  in  1841,  by  William  Henry 
White,  who  was  the  Grand  Secretary.    In 


124 


BOOK 


BOOK 


each  of  these  last  three  editions  the  his- 
torical part  was  omitted,  and  nothing  was 
given  but  the  Charges,  Regulations,  and 
Laws. 

The  Book  of  Constitutions  was  repub- 
lished in  America  and  in  Ireland  ;  but  these 
eight  editions,  enumerated  above,  are  the 
only  original  editions  of  the  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions which  were  officially  authorized 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England. 

The  Book  is  carried  in  all  processions 
before  the  Grand  Master,  on  a  velvet  cush- 
ion, and  the  right  of  so  carrying  it  is  vested 
in  the  Master  of  the  oldest  Lodge  —  a  priv- 
ilege which  arose  from  the  following  cir- 
cumstances. During  the  reign  of  Queen 
Anne,  Freemasonry  was  in  a  languishing 
condition,  in  consequence  of  the  age  and 
infirmities  of  the  Grand  Master,  Sir  Chris- 
topher Wren.  On  his  death,  and  the  ac- 
cession of  George  the  First  to  the  throne, 
the  four  old  Lodges  then  existing  in  London 
determined  to  revive  the  Grand  Lodge, 
which  had  for  some  years  been  dormant, 
and  to  renew  the  quarterly  communications 
and  the  annual  feast.  This  measure  they 
accomplished,  and  resolved,  among  other 
things,  that  no  Lodge  thereafter  should  be 
permitted  to  act,  (the  four  old  Lodges  ex- 
cepted^ unless  by  authority  of  a  charter 
granted  by  the  Grand  Master,  with  the  ap- 
probation and  consent  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 
In  consequence  of  this,  the  old  Masons  in 
the  metropolis  vested  all  their  inherent 
privileges  as  individuals  in  the  four  old 
Lodges,  in  trust,  that  they  would  never 
suffer  the  ancient  landmarks  to  be  infringed ; 
while  on  their  part  these  bodies  consented 
to  extend  their  patronage  to  every  Lodge 
which  should  thereafter  be  regularly  con- 
stituted, and  to  admit  their  Masters  and 
Wardens  to  share  with  them  all  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Grand  Lodge,  that  of  prece- 
dence only  excepted.  The  extension  of  the 
Order,  however,  beginning  to  give  to  the 
new  Lodges  a  numerical  superiority  in  the 
Grand  Lodge,  it  was  feared  they  would  at 
length  be  able,  by  a  majority,  to  subvert 
the  privileges  of  the  original  Masons  of 
England,  which  had  been  centred  in  the 
four  old  Lodges.  On  this  account,  a  code 
of  articles  was  drawn  up,  with  the  consent 
of  all  the  brethren,  for  the  future  govern- 
ment of  the  society.  To  this  was  annexed 
a  regulation  binding  the  Grand  Master  and 
his  successors,  and  the  Master  of  every 
newly  constituted  Lodge,  to  preserve  these 
regulations  inviolable ;  and  declaring  that 
no  new  regulation  could  be  proposed,  ex- 
cept at  the  third  quarterly  communication, 
and  requiring  it  to  be  publicly  read  at  the 
annual  feast  to  every  brother,  even  to  the 
youngest  Apprentice,  when  the  approbation 
of  at  least    two-thirds  of  those    present 


should  be  requisite  to  render  it  obligatory. 
To  commemorate  this  circumstance,  it  has 
been  customary  for  the  Master  of  the  oldest 
Lodge  to  attend  every  grand  installation, 
and,  taking  precedence  of  all  present,  the 
Grand  Master  excepted,  to  deliver  the 
Book  of  Constitutions  to  the  newly  installed 
Grand  Master,  on  his  promising  obedience 
to  the  ancient  charges  and  general  regula- 
tions. 

Book  of  ConstitntionsGnarded 
by  the  Tiler's  Sword.  An  emblem 
painted  on  the  Master's  carpet,  and  in- 
tended to  admonish  the  Mason  that  he 
should  be  guarded  in  all  his  words  and 
actions,  preserving  unsullied  the  Masonic 
virtues  of  silence  and  circumspection. 
Such  is  Webb's  definition  of  the  emblem, 
which  is  a  very  modern  one,  and  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  was  introduced  by  that 
lecturer.  The  interpretation  of  Webb  is  a 
very  unsatisfactory  one.  The  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions is  rather  the  symbol  of  constituted 
law  than  of  silence  and  circumspection,  and 
when  guarded  by  the  Tiler's  sword  it 
would  seem  properly  to  symbolize  regard 
for  and  obedience  to  law,  a  prominent 
Masonic  duty. 

Book  of  Gold.  In  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  the  book  in  which 
the  transactions,  statutes,  decrees,  balus- 
ters, and  protocols  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil or  a  Grand  Consistory  are  contained. 

Book  of  the  Lav.  The  Holy  Bible, 
which  is  always  open  in  a  Lodge  as  a  sym- 
bol that  its  light  should  be  diffused  among 
the  brethren.  The  passages  on  which  it  is 
opened  differ  in  the  different  degrees.  See 
Scriptures,  Reading  of  the. 

Masonically,  the  Book  of  the  Law  is  that 
sacred  book  which  is  believed  by  the  Mason 
of  any  particular  religion  to  contain  the 
revealed  will  of  God;  although,  technically, 
among  the  Jews  the  Torah,  or  Book  of  the 
Law,  means  only  the  Pentateuch  or  five 
books  of  Moses.  Thus,  to  the  Christian 
Mason  the  Book  of  the  Law  is  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments;  to  the  Jew,  the  Old 
Testament ;  to  the  Mussulman,  the  Koran ; 
to  the  Brahman,  the  Vedas;  and  to  the 
Parsee,  the  Zendavesta. 

The  Book  of  the  Law  is  an  important 
symbol  in  the  Royal  Arch  degree,  concern- 
ing which  there  was  a  tradition  among  the 
Jews  that  the  Book  of  the  Law  was  lost 
during  the  captivity,  and  that  it  was  among 
the  treasures  discovered  during  the  build- 
ing of  the  second  Temple.  The  same  opin- 
ion was  entertained  by  the  early  Christian 
fathers,  such,  for  instance,  as  Irenaeus, 
Tertullian,  and  Clemens  Alexandriuus ; 
"for,"  says  Prideaux,  "  they  (the  Christian 
fathers)  hold  that  all  the  Scriptures  were 
lost  and  destroyed  in  the  Babylonish  cap- 


BOOKS 


BRAZIL 


125 


tivity,  and  that  Ezra  restored  them  all 
again  by  Divine  revelation."  The  truth  of 
the  tradition  is  very  generally  denied  by 
biblical  scholars,  who  attribute  its  origin 
to  the  fact  that  Ezra  collected  together  the 
copies  of  the  law,  expurgated  them  of  the 
errors  which  had  crept  into  them  during 
the  captivity,  and  arranged  a  new  and  cor- 
rect edition.  But  the  truth  or  falsity  of 
the  legend  does  not  affect  the  Masonic  sym- 
bolism. The  Book  of  the  Law  is  the  will 
of  God,  which,  lost  to  us  in  our  darkness, 
must  be  recovered  as  precedent  to  our 
learning  what  is  TRUTH.  As  captives  to 
error,  truth  is  lost  to  us ;  when  freedom  is 
restored,  the  first  reward  will  be  its  dis- 
covery. 

Books,  Anti-Masonic.  See  Anti- 
Masonic  Books. 

Border,  Tesselated.  See  Tessel- 
ated Border. 

Bourn.  A  limit  or  boundary ;  a  word 
familiar  to  the  Mason  in  the  Monitorial 
Instructions  of  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree, 
where  he  is  directed  to  remember  that  we 
are  travelling  upon  the  level  of  time  to  that 
undiscovered  country  from  whose  bourn  no 
traveller  returns;  and  to  the  reader  of 
Shakespeare,  from  whom  the  expression  is 
borrowed,  in  the  beautiful  soliloquy  of 
Hamlet : 

"  Who  would  fardels  bear, 
To  grunt  and  sweat  under  a  weary  life  ; 
But  that  the  dread  of  something  after  death  — 
The  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourn 
No  traveller  returns  —  puzzles  the  will." 

Act  III.,  Scene  1. 

Box-Master.  In  the  Lodges  of  Scot- 
land the  Treasurer  was  formerly  sometimes 
so  called.  Thus,  in  the  minutes  of  the 
Lodge  of  Journeymen  of  Edinburgh,  it  was 
resolved,  in  1726,  that  the  Warden  be  in- 
structed "  to  uplift  and  receive  for  the  use 
of  the  society  all  such  sums  of  money 
which  are  due  and  indebted  to  them  or 
their  former  Box-masters  or  predecessors 
in  office." 

Boys'  School.  The  Royal  Masonic 
Institution  for  Boys  is  a  charity  of  the 
Masons  of  England.  It  was  founded  in 
the  year  1798,  for  clothing  and  educating 
the  sons  of  indigent  and  deceased  brethren, 
according  to  the  situation  in  life  they  are 
most  probably  destined  to  occupy,  and  in- 
culcating such  religious  instruction  as  may 
be  conformable  to  the  tenets  of  their  pa- 
rents, and  ultimately  apprenticing  them  to 
suitable  trades.  It  is  still  existing  in  a 
flourishing  condition.  Similar  schools 
have  been  established  by  the  Masons  of 
France  and  Germany. 

Brahmanism.  The  religious  system 
practised  by  the  Hindus.  It  presents  a  pro- 
found and  spiritual  philosophy,  strangely 


blended  with  the  basest  superstitions.  The 
Vedas  are  the  Brahmanical  Book  of  the 
Law,  although  the  older  hymns  springing 
out  of  the  primitive  Aryan  religion  have 
a  date  far  anterior  to  that  of  comparatively 
modern  Brahmanism.  The  "Laws  of 
Menu"  are  really  the  text- book  of  Brah- 
manism ;  yet  in  the  Vedic  hymns  we  find 
the  expression  of  that  religious  thought 
that  has  been  adopted  by  the  Brahmans 
and  the  rest  of  the  modern  Hindus.  The 
learned  Brahmans  have  an  esoteric  faith, 
in  which  they  recognize  and  adore  one 
God,  without  form  or  quality,  eternal,  un- 
changeable, and  occupying  all  space;  but 
confining  this  hidden  doctrine  to  their  in- 
terior schools,  they  teach,  for  the  multitude, 
an  open  or  esoteric  worship,  in  which  the 
incomprehensible  attributes  of  the  supreme 
and  purely  spiritual  God  are  invested  with 
sensible  and  even  human  forms.  In  the 
Vedic  hymns  all  the  powers  of  nature  are 
personified,  and  become  the  objects  of  wor- 
ship, thus  leading  to  an  apparent  polythe- 
ism. But,  as  Mr.  J.  F.  Clarke  ( Ten  Great 
Religions,  p.  90,)  remarks,  "behind  this 
incipient  polytheism  lurks  the  original 
monotheism ;  for  each  of  these  gods,  in 
turn,  becomes  the  Supreme  Being."  And 
Max  Muller  says,  {Chips,  i.  2,)  that  "it 
would  be  easy  to  find  in  the  numerous 
hymns  of  the  Veda  passages  in  which 
almost  every  important  deity  is  repre- 
sented as  supreme  and  absolute."  This 
most  ancient  religion  —  believed  in  by  one- 
seventh  of  the  world's  population,  that 
fountain  from  which  has  flowed  so  much 
of  the  stream  of  modern  religious  thought, 
abounding  in  mystical  ceremonies  and 
ritual  prescriptions,  worshipping,  as  the 
Lord  of  all,  "  the  source  of  golden  light," 
having  its  ineffable  name,  its  solemn 
methods  of  initiation,  and  its  symbolic  rites 
—  is  well  worth  the  serious  study  of  the 
Masonic  scholar,  because  in  it  he  will  find 
much  that  will  be  suggestive  to  him  in  the 
investigations  of  the  dogmas  of  his  Order. 

Brazen  Serpent.  See  Serpent  and 
Cross. 

Brazen  Serpent,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Brazen  Serpent. 

Brazil.  The  first  organized  Masonic 
authority  at  Brazil,  the  Grande  Oriente  do 
Brazil,  was  established  in  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
in  the  year  1821,  by  the  division  of  one 
Lodge  into  three. 

The  Emperor,  Dom  Pedro  I.,  was  soon 
after  initiated  in  one  of  these  Lodges,  and 
immediately  proclaimed  Grand  Master;  but 
finding  that  the  Lodges  of  that  period  were 
nothing  else  but  political  clubs,  he  ordered 
them  to  be  closed  in  the  following  year, 
1822.  After  his  abdication  in  1831,  Ma- 
sonic meetings  again  took  place,  and  a  new 


126 


BREAD 


BREASTPLATE 


authority,  under  the  title  of  "  Grande  Ori- 
ente  Brazileiro,"  was  established. 

Some  of  the  old  members  of  the  "Grande 
Oriente  do  Brazil "  met  in  November  of  the 
same  year  and  reorganized  that  body;  so 
that  two  supreme  authorities  of  the  French 
Kite  existed  in  Brazil. 

In  1832,  the  Visconde  de  Jequitinhonha, 
having  received  the  necessary  powers  from 
the  Supreme  Council  of  Belgium,  estab- 
lished a  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Rite;  making  thus  a  third 
contending  body,  to  which-was  soon  added 
a  fourth  and  fifth,  by  the  illegal  organiza- 
tions of  the  Supreme  Councils  of  their  own, 
by  the  contending  Grand  Orientes.  In 
1835,  disturbances  broke  out  in  the  legiti- 
mate Supreme  Council,  some  of  its  Lodges 
having  proclaimed  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
Grand  Orient  of  Brazil  their  Grand  Com- 
mander, and  thus  formed  another  Supreme 
Council.  In  1842,  new  seeds  of  dissension 
were  planted  by  the  combination  of  this 
revolutionary  faction  with  the  Grande  Ori- 
ente Brazileiro,  which  body  then  abandoned 
the  French  Rite,  and  the  two  formed  a  new 
Council,  which  proclaimed  itself  the  only 
legitimate  authority  of  the  Scotch  Rite  in 
Brazil.  But  it  would  be  useless  as  well  as 
painful,  to  continue  the  record  of  these  dis- 
sensions, which  like  a  black  cloud  darkened 
for  years  the  Masonic  sky  of  Brazil. 

Things  are  now  in  a  better  condition,  and 
Freemasonry  in  Brazil  is  united  under  the 
one  head  of  the  Grand  Orient  and  Su- 
preme Council. 

Bread,  Consecrated.  Consecrated 
bread  and  wine,  that  is  to  say,  bread  and 
wine  used  not  simply  for  food,  but  made 
sacred  by  the  purpose  of  symbolizing  a 
bond  of  brotherhood,  and  the  eating  and 
drinking  of  which  are  sometimes  called 
the  "  Communion  of  the  Brethren,"  is 
found  in  some  of  the  higher  degrees,  such 
as  the  Order  of  High  Priesthood  in  the 
American  Rite,  and  the  Rose  Croix  of  the 
French  and  Scottish  Rites. 

It  was  in  ancient  times  a  custom  reli- 
giously observed,  that  those  who  sacrificed 
to  the  gods  should  unite  in  partaking  of  a 
part  of  the  food  that  had  been  offered. 
And  in  the  Jewish  church  it  was  strictly 
commanded  that  the  sacrificers  should  "eat 
before  the  Lord,"  and  unite  in  a  feast  of 
joy  on  the  occasion  of  their  offerings.  By 
this  common  partaking  of  that  which  had 
been  consecrated  to  a  sacred  purpose,  those 
who  partook  of  the  feast  seemed  to  give  an 
evidence  and  attestation  of  the  sincerity  with 
which  they  made  the  offering;  while  the 
feast  itself  was,  as  it  were,  the  renewal  of  the 
covenant  of  friendship  between  the  parties. 

Breadth  of  the  Lodge.  See  Form 
of  the  Lodge. 


Breast.  In  one  of  the  Old  Lectures, 
quoted  by  Dr.  Oliver,  it  is  said,  "  A  Ma- 
son's breast  should  be  a  safe  and  sacred  re- 
pository for  all  your  just  and  lawful  secrets. 
A  brother's  secrets,  delivered  to  me  as  such, 
I  would  keep  as  my  own ;  as  to  betray  that 
trust  might  be  doing  him  the  greatest  in- 
jury he  could  sustain  in  this  mortal  life ; 
nay,  it  would  be  like  the  villany  of  an  as- 
sassin who  lurks  in  darkness  to  stab  his  ad- 
versary when  unarmed  and  least  prepared 
to  meet  an  enemy." 

It  is  true,  that  the  secrets  of  a  Mason, 
confided  as  such,  should  be  as  inviolate  in 
the  breast  of  him  who  has  received  them 
as  they  were  in  his  own  before  they  were 
confided.  But  it  would  be  wrong  to  con- 
clude that  in  this  a  Mason  is  placed  in  a 
position  different  from  that  which  is  occu- 

Eied  by  every  honorable  man.  No  man  of 
onor  is  permitted  to  reveal  a  secret  which 
he  has  received  under  the  pledge  of  secrecy. 
But  it  is  as  false  as  it  is  absurd,  to  charge 
that  either  the  man  of  honor  or  the  Mason 
is  bound  by  any  such  obligation  to  protect 
the  criminal  from  the  vindication  of  the 
law.  It  must  be  left  to  every  man  to  de- 
termine by  his  own  conscience  whether  he 
is  at  liberty  to  betray  a  knowledge  of  facts 
with  which  he  could  not  have  become  ac- 
quainted except  under  some  such  pledge. 
N  o  court  of  law  would  attempt  to  extort  a 
communication  of  facts  made  known  by  a 
penitent  to  his  confessor  or  a  client  to  his 
lawyer;  for  such  a  communication  would 
make  the  person  communicating  it  infa- 
mous. In  this  case,  Masonry  supplies  no 
other  rule  than  that  which  is  found  in  the 
acknowledged  codes  of  Moral  Ethics. 

Breastplate.  Called  in  Hebrew 
jKTI,  chosen,  or  HStPD  JKTI,  chosen  mish- 
pet,  the  breastplate  of  judgment,  because 
through  it  the  high  priest  received  divine 
responses,  and  uttered  his  decisions  on  all 
matters  relating  to  the  good  of  the  com- 
monwealth. It  was  a  piece  of  embroidered 
cloth  of  gold,  purple,  scarlet,  and  fine 
white,  twined  linen.  It  was  a  span,  or 
about  nine  inches  square,  when  doubled, 
and  made  thus  strong  to  hold  the  precious 
stones  that  were  set  in  it.  It  had  a  gold 
ring  at  each  corner,  to  the  uppermost  of 
which  were  attached  golden  chains,  by 
which  it  was  fastened  to  the  shoulder-pieces 
of  the  ephod ;  while  from  the  two  lowermost 
went  two  ribbons  of  blue,  by  which  it  was 
attached  to  the  girdle  of  the  ephod,  and 
thus  held  secure  in  its  place.  In  the  breast- 
plate were  set  twelve  precious  jewels,  on  each 
of  which  was  engraved  the  name  of  one  of 
the  twelve  tribes.  The  stones  were  arranged 
in  four  rows,  three  stones  in  each  row.  As  to 
the  order  of  arrangement  and  the  names  of 
the  stones,  there  has  been  some  difference 


BREASTPLATE 


BREASTPLATE 


127 


among  the  authorities.  The  authorized 
version  of  the  Bible  gives  them  in  this 
order  :  Sardius,  topaz,  carbuncle,  emerald, 
sapphire,  diamond,  ligure,  agate,  ame- 
thyst, beryl,  onyx,  jasper.  This  is  the  pat- 
tern generally  followed  in  the  construction 
of  Masonic  breastplates,  but  modern  re- 
searches into  the  true  meaning  ofthe  Hebrew 
names  of  the  stones  have  shown  its  inac- 
curacy. Especially  must  the  diamond  be 
rejected,  as  no  engraver  could  have  cut  a 
name  on  this  impenetrable  gem,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  pecuniary  value  of  a  diamond 
of  a  size  to  match  the  rest  of  the  stones. 
Josephus  (Ant.  III.,  vii.,)  gives  the  stones 
in  the  following  order :  Sardonyx,  topaz, 
emerald ;  carbuncle,  jasper,  sapphire ; 
ligure,  amethyst,  agate;  chrysolite,  onyx, 
beryl.  Kalisch,  in  his  Commentary  on  Ex- 
odus, gives  a  still  different  order:  Corne- 
lian, (or  sardius,)  topaz,  smaragdus;  car- 
buncle, sapphire,  emerald;  ligure,  agate, 
amethyst;  chrysolite,  onyx,  jasper.  But 
perhaps  the  Vulgate  translation  is  to  be 
preferred  as  an  authority,  because  it  was 
made  in  the  fifth  century,  at  a  time  when 
the  old  Hebrew  names  of  the  precious 
stones  were  better  understood  than  now. 
The  order  given  in  that  version  is  shown 
in  the  following  diagram : 


Emerald. 

Topaz. 

Sardius. 

Jasper. 

Sapphire. 

Carbuncle. 

Ametutst. 

Agate. 

Ligure. 

Beryl. 

Onyx. 

Chrysolite. 

A  description  of  each  of  these  stones, 
■with  its  symbolic  signification,  will  be 
found  under  the  appropriate  head. 

On  the  stones  were  engraved  the  names 
of  the  twelve  tribes,  one  on  each  stone. 
The  order  in  which  they  were  placed,  ac- 
cording to  the  Jewish  Targums,  was  as 
follows,  having  a  reference  to  the  respective 
ages  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob : 


Levi. 

Simeon. 

Reuben. 

Zebulun. 

Issachae. 

Judah. 

Gad. 

Naphtali. 

Dan. 

Benjamin. 

Joseph. 

Asher. 

The  differences  made  by  different  writers 
in  the  order  of  the  names  of  the  stones 
arises  only  from  their  respective  transla- 
tions of  the  Hebrew  words.  These  original 
names  are  detailed  in  Exodus,  (xxviii.,) 
and  admit  of  no  doubt,  whatever  doubt 
there  may  be  as  to  the  gems  which  they 
were  intended  to  represent.  These  Hebrew 
names  are  as  follows : 


np-n 

• 

Bareket. 

mas 

PlTDAH. 

DIN 

* 
Odem. 

* 
Yahalom. 

T5D 
* 

Saphir. 

"1« 

NOPECH. 

HDSnK 
* 

AcnLAMAH. 

Shebo. 

* 

Leshem. 

HUB* 

* 

Yashpah. 

.  # 

Shoham. 

* 
Tarshish. 

The  breastplate  which  was  used  in  the 
first  Temple  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
returned  after  the  Captivity,  for  it  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  list  of  articles  sent  back 
by  Cyrus.  The  stones,  on  account  of  their 
great  beauty  and  value,  were  most  proba- 
bly removed  from  their  original  arrange- 
ment and  reset  in  various  ornaments  by 
their  captors.  A  new  one  was  made  for 
the  services  of  the  second  Temple,  which, 
according  to  Josephus,  when  worn  by  the 
high  priest,  shot  forth  brilliant  rays  of 
fire  that  manifested  the  immediate  presence 
of  Jehovah.  But  he  adds  that  two  hun- 
dred years  before  his  time  this  miraculous 
power  had  become  extinct  in  consequence 
of  the  impiety  of  the  nation.  It  was  sub- 
sequently carried  to  Rome  together  with 
the,  other  spoils  of  the  Temple.  Of  the 
subsequent  fate  of  these  treasures,  and 
among  them  the  breastplate,  there  are  two 
accounts :  one,  that  they  were  conveyed  to 
Carthage  by  Genseric  after  his  sack  of 
Rome,  and  that  the  ship  containing  them 
was  lost  on  the  voyage ;  the  other,  and,  as 
King  thinks,  (Ant.  Gems,  137,)  the  more 
probable  one,  that  they  had  been  trans- 
ferred long  before  that  time  to  Byzantium, 
and  deposited  by  Justinian  in  the  treasury 
of  St.  Sophia. 

The  breastplate  is  worn  in  American 
Chapters  of  the  Royal  Arch  by  the  High 
Priest  as  an  essential  part  of  his  official 


128 


BREAST 


BRIDGE 


vestments.  The  symbolic  reference  of  it, 
as  given  by  Webb,  is  that  it  is  to  teach  him 
always  to  bear  in  mind  his  responsibility 
to  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  Institu- 
tion, and  that  the  honor  and  interests  of 
his  Chapter  should  be  always  near  his 
heart.  This  does  not  materially  differ  from 
the  ancient  symbolism,  for  one  of  the  names 
given  to  the  Jewish  breastplate  was  the 
"  memorial,"  because  it  was  designed  to 
remind  the  high  priest  how  dear  the  tribes 
whose  names  it  bore  should  be  to  his  heart. 

The  breastplate  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  original  with  or  peculiar  to  the  Jew- 
ish ritual.  The  idea  was,  most  probably, 
derived  from  the  Egyptians.  Diodorus 
Siculus  says,  (1.  i.,  c.  75,)  that  among  them 
the  chief  judge  bore  about  his  neck  a  chain 
of  gold,  from  which  hung  a  figure  or  image, 
(fadiov,)  composed  of  precious  stones,  which 
was  called  Truth,  and  the  legal  proceed- 
ings only  commenced  when  the  chief  judge 
had  assumed  this  image.  JElian  (lib.  34) 
confirms  this  account  by  saying  that  the 
image  was  engraved  on  sapphire,  and  hung 
about  the  neck  of  the  chief  judge  with  a 
golden  chain.  Peter  du  Val  says  that  he 
saw  a  mummy  at  Cairo,  round  the  neck  of 
which  was  a  chain,  to  which  a  golden  plate 
was  suspended,  on  which  the  image  of  a  bird 
was  engraved.     See  Urim  and  Thummim. 

Breast,  The  Faithful.  One  of  the 
three  precious  jewels  of  a  Fellow  Craft.  It 
symbolically  teaches  the  initiate  that  the 
lessons  which  he  has  received  from  the  in- 
structive tongue  of  the  Master  are  not  to 
be  listened  to  and  lost,  but  carefully  treas- 
ured in  his  heart,  and  that  the  precepts  of 
the  Order  constitute  a  covenant  which  he 
is  faithfully  to  observe. 

Breast  to  Breast.  See  Five  Points 
of  Fellowship. 

Brethren.  This  word,  being  the 
plural  of  Brother  in  the  solemn  style,  is 
more  generally  used  in  Masonic  language, 
instead  of  the  common  plural,  Brothers. 
Thus,  Masons  always  speak  of  "  The  Breth- 
ren of  the  Lodge,"  and  not  of  "  The  Broth- 
ers of  the  Lodge." 

Brethren  of  the  Bridge.  See 
Bridge  Builders  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Brethren  of  the  Mystic  Tie. 
The  term  by  which  Masons  distinguish 
themselves  as  the  members  of  a  confra- 
ternity or  brotherhood  united  by  a  mysti- 
cal bond.    See  Mystic  Tie. 

Bridge  Builders  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  Before  speaking  of  the  Pontifices, 
or  the  "  Fraternity  of  Bridge  Builders," 
whose  history  is  closely  connected  with 
that  of  the  Freemasons  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  it  will  be  as  well  to  say  something 
of  the  word  which  they  assumed  as  the 
title  of  their  brotherhood. 


The  Latin  word  pont  if  ex,  with  its  equiva- 
lent English  pontiff,  literally  signifies,  "the 
builder  of  a  bridge,"  frompons,  "abridge," 
and  facere,  "to  make."  But  this  sense, 
which  it  must  have  originally  possessed,  it 
seems  very  speedily  to  have  lost,  and  we, 
as  well  as  the  Romans,  only  recognize  pon- 
tifex  or  pontiff  as  significant  of  a  sacerdotal 
character. 

Of  all  the  colleges  of  priests  in  ancient 
Rome,  the  most  illustrious  was  that  of  the 
Pontiffs.  The  College  of  Pontiffs  was 
established  by  Numa,  and  originally  con- 
sisted of  five,  but  was  afterwards  increased 
to  sixteen.  The  whole  religious  system  of  the 
Romans,  the  management  of  all  the  sacred 
rites,  and  the  government  of  the  priest- 
hood, was  under  the  control  and  direction 
of  the  College  of  Pontiffs,  of  which  the  Ponti- 
fex  Maximus,  or  High  Priest,  was  the  pre- 
siding officer  and  the  organ  through  which 
its  decrees  were  communicated  to  the  peo- 
ple. Hence,  when  the  Papal  Church  estab- 
lished its  seat  at  the  city  of  Rome,  its 
Bishop  assumed  the  designation  of  Pontifex 
Maximus  as  one  of  his  titles,  and  Pontiff 
and  Pope  are  now  considered  equivalent 
terms. 

The  question  naturally  arises  as  to  what 
connection  there  was  between  religious 
rites  and  the  building  of  bridges,  and  why 
a  Roman  priest  bore  the  name  which  liter- 
ally denoted  a  bridge  builder.  Etymolo- 
gists have  in  vain  sought  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem, and,  after  all  their  speculation,  fail 
to  satisfy  us.  One  of  the  most  tenable 
theories  is  that  of  Schmitz,  who  thinks  the 
Pontifices  were  so  called  because  they  super- 
intended the  sacrifices  on  a  bridge,  allud- 
ing to  the  Argean  sacrifices  on  the  Sublician 
bridge.  But  Varro  gives  a  more  probable 
explanation  when  he  tells  us  that  the  Sub- 
lician bridge  was  built  by  the  Pontifices ; 
and  that  it  was  deemed,  from  its  historic 
association,  of  so  sacred  a  character,  that  no 
repairs  could  be  made  on  it  without  a  pre- 
vious sacrifice,  which  was  to  be  conducted 
by  the  Chief  Pontiff  in  person.  The  true 
etymology  is,  however,  undoubtedly  lost; 
yet  it  may  be  interesting,  as  well  as  sugges- 
tive, to  know  that  in  old  Rome  there  was, 
even  in  a  mere  title,  supposing  that  it  was 
nothing  more,  some  sort  of  connection 
between  the  art  or  practice  of  bridge 
building  and  the  mysterious  sacerdotal  rites 
established  by  Numa,  a  connection  which 
was  subsequently  again  developed  in  the 
Masonic  association  which  is  the  subject  of 
the  present  article.  Whatever  may  have 
been  this  connection  in  pagan  Rome,  we 
find,  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity 
and  in  the  Middle  Ages,  a  secret  Fraternity 
organized,  as  a  branch  of  the  Travelling 
Freemasons  of  that  period,  whose  members 


BRIDGE 


BRIDGE 


129 


were  exclusively  devoted  to  the  building  of 
bridges,  and  who  were  known  as  Pontifices, 
or  "  Bridge  Builders,"  and  styled  by  the 
French  les  Freres  Pontifes,  or  Pontifical 
Brethren,  and  by  the  Germans  Briicken- 
brtider,  or  "  Brethren  of  the  Bridge."  It  is 
of  this  Fraternity  that,  because  of  their  as- 
sociation in  history  with  the  early  corpora- 
tions of  Freemasons,  it  is  proposed  to  give  a 
brief  sketch. 

In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries, 
the  methods  of  intercommunication  be- 
tween different  countries  were  neither  safe 
nor  convenient.  Travellers  could  not  avail 
themselves  of  the  comforts  of  either  mac- 
adamized roads  or  railways.  Stage-coaches 
were  unknown.  He  who  was  compelled 
by  the  calls  of  business  to  leave  his  home, 
trudged  as  a  pedestrian  wearily  on  foot,  or  as 
an  equestrian,  if  his  means  permitted  that 
mode  of  journeying ;  made  his  solitary  ride 
through  badly-constructed  roads,  where  he 
frequently  became  the  victim  of  robbers, 
who  took  his  life  as  well  as  his  purse,  or 
submitted  to  the  scarcely  less  heavy  exac- 
tions of  some  lawless  Baron,  who  claimed 
it  as  his  high  prerogative  to  levy  a  tax  on 
every  wayfarer  who  passed  through  his  do- 
mains. Inns  were  infrequent,  incommodi- 
ous, and  expensive,  and  the  weary  traveller 
could  hardly  have  appreciated  Shenstone's 
declaration,  that 

"  Whoe'er  has  travelled  life's  dull  round, 
Where'er  his  stages  may  have  been, 
May  sigh  to  think  he  still  has  found 
His  warmest  welcome  at  an  inn." 

But  one  of  the  greatest  embarrassments 
to  which  the  traveller  in  this  olden  time 
was  exposed  occurred  when  there  was  a 
necessity  to  cross  a  stream  of  water.  The 
noble  bridges  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans  had  been  destroyed  by  time  or 
war,  and  the  intellectual  debasement  of  the 
dark  ages  had  prevented  their  renewal. 
Hence,  when  refinement  and  learning  began 
to  awaken  from  that  long  sleep  which  fol- 
lowed the  invasion  of  the  Goths  and  Van- 
dals and  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  the  bridgeless  rivers  could  only  be 
crossed  by  swimming  through  the  rapid 
current,  or  by  fording  the  shallow  places. 

The  earliest  improvement  towards  a  re- 
moval of  these  difficulties  consisted  in  the 
adoption  of  rafts  or  boats,  and  gilds  or 
corporations  of  raftsmen  and  boatmen, 
under  the  names  of  Linuncularii,  Lintrarii, 
and  Utricularii,  were  formed  to  transport 
travellers  and  merchandise  across  rivers. 
But  the  times  were  lawless,  and  these  water- 
men oftener  plundered  than  assisted  their 
patrons.  Benevolent  persons,  therefore, 
saw  the  necessity  of  erecting  hostelries  on 
the  banks  of  the  rivers  at  frequented  places, 
R  9 


and  of  constructing  bridges  for  the  trans- 
portation of  travellers  and  their  goods. 

All  the  architectural  labors  of  the  period 
were,  as  is  well  known,  intrusted  to  the 
gilds  or  corporations  of  builders  who,  un- 
der the  designation  of"  Travelling  Freema- 
sons,"  passed  from  country  to  country,  and, 
patronized  by  the  Church,  erected  those  mag- 
nificent cathedrals,  monasteries,  and  other 
public  edifices,  many  of  which  have  long 
since  crumbled  to  dust,  but  a  few  of  which 
still  remain  to  attest  the  wondrous  ability 
of  these  operative  brethren.  Alone  skilled 
in  the  science  of  architecture,  from  them 
alone  could  be  derived  workmen  capable 
of  constructing  safe  and  enduring  bridges. 

Accordingly,  a  portion  of  these  "  Freema- 
sons," withdrawing  from  the  general  body, 
united,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Church, 
into  a  distinct  corporation  of  Freres  Pontifes, 
or  Bridge  Builders.  The  name  which  they 
received  in  Germany  was  that  of  Brucken- 
brUdcr,  or  Brethren  of  the  Bridge. 

A  legend  of  the  Church  attributes  their 
foundation  to  Saint  Benezet,  who  accord- 
ingly became  the  patron  of  the  Order,  as 
Saint  John  was  of  the  Freemasons  proper. 
Saint  Benezet  was  a  shepherd  of  Avilar,  in 
France,  who  was  born  in  the  year  11G5. 
"He  kept  his  mother's  sheep  in  the 
country,"  says  Butler,  the  historian  of  the 
saints,  "being  devoted  to  the  practices  of 
piety  beyond  his  age ;  when  moved  by 
charity  to  save  the  lives  of  many  poor  per- 
sons, who  were  frequently  drowned  in 
crossing  the  Rhone,  and,  being  inspired  by 
God,  he  undertook  to  build  a  bridge  over 
that  rapid  river  at  Avignon.  He  obtained 
the  approbation  of  the  Bishop,  proved  his 
mission  by  miracles,  and  began  the  work 
in  1177,  which  he  directed  during  seven 
years.  He  died  when  the  difficulty  of  the 
undertaking  was  over,  in  1184.  His  body 
was  buried  upon  the  bridge  itself,  which 
was  not  completely  finished  till  four  years 
after  his  decease,  the  structure  whereof  was 
attended  with  miracles  from  the  first  laying 
of  the  foundations  till  it  was  completed,  in 
1188." 

Divesting  this  account,  which  Butler  has 
drawn  from  the  Acta  Sanctorum  of  the  Bol- 
landists,  of  the  miraculous,  the  improba- 
ble, and  the  legendary,  the  naked  fact  re- 
mains that  Benezet  was  engaged,  as  the 
principal  conductor  of  the  work,  in  the 
construction  of  the  magnificent  bridge  at 
Avignon,  with  its  eighteen  arches.  As 
this  is  the  most  ancient  of  the  bridges  of 
Europe  built  after  the  commencement  of 
the  restoration  of  learning,  it  is  most  prob- 
able that  he  was,  as  he  is  claimed  to  have 
been,  the  founder  of  that  Masonic  corpora- 
tion of  builders  who,  under  the  name  of 
Brethren  of  the  Bridge,  assisted  him  in  the 


130 


BRIDGE 


BROACHED 


undertaking,  and  who,  on  the  completion 
of  their  task,  were  engaged  in  other  parts 
of  France,  of  Italy,  and  of  Germany,  in 
similar  labors. 

After  the  death  of  Saint  Benezet,  he 
was  succeeded  by  Johannes  Benedictus,  to 
whom,  as  "  Prior  of  the  Bridge,"  and  to  his 
brethren,  a  charter  was  granted  in  1187,  by 
which  they  obtained  a  chapel  and  cemetery, 
with  a  chaplain. 

In  1185,  one  year  after  the  death  of  Saint 
Benezet,  the  Brethren  of  the  Bridge  com- 
menced the  construction  of  the  Bridge  of 
Saint  Esprit,  over  the  Rhone  at  Lyons. 
The  completion  of  this  work  greatly  ex- 
tended the  reputation  of  the  Bridge  Build- 
ers, and  in  1189  they  received  a  charter 
from  Pope  Clement  III.  The  city  of  Avig- 
non continued  to  be  their  headquarters,  but 
they  gradually  entered  into  Italy,  Spain, 
Germany,  Sweden,  and  Denmark.  The 
Swedish  chronicles  mention  one  Benedict, 
between  the  years  1178  and  1191,  who  was 
a  Bishop  and  bridge  builder  at  Skara,  in 
that  kingdom.  Could  he  have  been  the 
successor,  already  mentioned,  of  Benezet, 
who  had  removed  from  Avignon  to  Sweden  ? 
As  late  as  1590  we  find  the  Order  existing 
at  Lucca,  in  Italy,  where,  in  1562,  John  de 
Medicis  exercised  the  functions  of  its  chief 
under  the  title  of  Magister,  or  Master.  How 
the  Order  became  finally  extinct  is  not 
known ;  but  after  its  dissolution  much  of 
the  property  which  it  had  accumulated 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Knights  Hos- 
pitallers or  Knights  of  Malta. 

The  gild  or  corporation  of  Bridge  Build- 
ers, like  the  corporation  of  Travelling  Free- 
masons, from  which  it  was  an  offshoot,  was 
a  religious  institution,  but  admitted  laymen 
into  the  society.  In  other  words,  the  work- 
men, or  the  great  body  of  the  gild,  were 
of  course  secular,  but  the  patrons  were  dig- 
nitaries of  the  Church.  When%by  the  mul- 
tiplication of  bridges  the  necessity  of  their 
employment  became  less  urgent,  and  when 
the  numbers  of  the  workmen  were  greatly 
increased,  the  patronage  of  the  Church  was 
withdrawn,  and  the  association  was  dis- 
solved, or  soon  after  fell  into  decay;  its 
members,  probably,  for  the  most  part,  re- 
uniting with  the  corporations  of  Masons 
from  whom  they  had  originally  been  de- 
rived. Nothing  has  remained  in  modern 
Masonry  to  preserve  the  memory  of  the 
former  connection  of  the  Order  with  the 
bridge  builders  of  the  Middle  Ages,  except 
the  ceremony  of  opening  a  bridge,  which 
is  to  be  found  in  the  rituals  of  the  last  cen- 
tury ;  but  even  this  has  now  almost  become 
obsolete. 

Lenning,  who  has  appropriated  a  brief 
article  in  his  Encyclopadie  aer  Freimaurerei 
to  the  Bruckenbriider,  or  Brethren  of  the 


Bridge,  incorrectly  calls  them  an  Order  of 
Knights.  They  took,  he  says,  vows  of  celi- 
bacy and  poverty,  and  also  to  protect  trav- 
ellers, to  attend  upon  the  sick,  and  to  build 
bridges,  roads,  and  hospitals.  Several  of 
the  inventors  of  high  degrees  have,  he 
thinks,  sought  to  revive  the  Order  in  some 
of  the  degrees  which  they  have  established, 
and  especially  in  the  Knights  of  the  Sword, 
which  appears  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite  as  the  fifteenth  degree,  or  Knights  of 
the  East;  but  I  can  find  no  resemblance 
except  that  in  the  Knights  of  the  Sword 
there  is  in  the  ritual  a  reference  to  a  river 
and  a  bridge.  I  am  more  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  the  nineteenth  degree  of  the 
same  Rite,  or  Grand  Pontiff,  was  once  con- 
nected with  the  Order  we  have  been  con- 
sidering; and  that,  while  the  primitive 
ritual  has  been  lost  or  changed  so  as  to 
leave  no  vestige  of  a  relationship  between 
the  two,  the  name  which  is  still  retained 
may  have  been  derived  from  the  Freres 
Pontifes  of  the  twelfth  century. 

This,  however,  is  mere  conjecture,  with- 
out any  means  of  proof.  All  that  we  do 
positively  know  is,  that  the  bridge  builders 
of  the  Middle  Ages  were  a  Masonic  associa- 
tion, and  as  such  are  entitled  to  a  place  in 
all  Masonic  histories. 

Brief.  The  diploma  or  certificate  in 
some  of  the  high  degrees  is  so  called. 

Bright.  A  Mason  is  said  to  be  "  bright " 
who  is  well  acquainted  with  the  ritual,  the 
forms  of  opening  and  closing,  and  the  cer- 
emonies of  initiation.  This  expression 
does  not,  however,  in  its  technical  sense, 
appear  to  include  the  superior  knowledge 
of  the  history  and  science  of  the  Institu- 
tion, and  many  bright  Masons  are,  there- 
fore, not  necessarily  learned  Masons ;  and, 
on  the  contrary,  some  learned  Masons  are 
not  well  versed  in  the  exact  phraseology 
of  the  ritual.  The  one  knowledge  depends 
on  a  retentive  memory,  the  other  is  de- 
rived from  deep  research.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  which  of  the  two  kinds  of 
knowledge  is  the  more  valuable.  The  Ma- 
son whose  acquaintance  with  the  Institu- 
tion is  confined  to  what  he  learns  from  its 
esoteric  ritual  will  have  but  a  limited  idea 
of  its  science  and  philosophy.  And  yet 
a  knowledge  of  the  ritual  as  the  founda- 
tion of  higner  knowledge  is  essential. 

Broached  Thurnel.  In  the  An- 
dersonian  lectures  of  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  Immovable  Jewels 
of  the  Lodge  are  said  to  be  "the  Tarsel 
Board,  Rough  Ashlar,  and  Broached  Thur- 
nel;" and  in  describing  their  uses  it  is 
taught  that  "  the  Rough  Ashlar  is  for  the 
Fellow  Crafts  to  try  their  jewels  on,  and  the 
Broached  Thurnel  for  the  Entered  Appren- 
tices to  learn  to  work  upon."  Much  difficulty 


BROKEN 


BROTHERLY 


131 


has  been  met  with  in  discovering  what  the 
Broached  Thurnel  really  was.  Dr.  Oliver, 
most  probably  deceived  by  the  use  to  which 
it  was  assigned,  says  [Did.  Symb.  Mas.) 
that  it  was  subsequently  called  the  Rough 
Ashlar.  This  is  evidently  incorrect,  be- 
cause a  distinction  is  made  in  the  original 
lecture  between  it  and  the  Rough  Ashlar, 
the  former  being  for  the  Apprentices  and 
the  latter  for  the  Fellow  Crafts.  Krause 
(Kunsturkunden,  i.  73,)  has,  by  what  au- 
thority I  know  not,  translated  it  by  Dreh- 
bank,  which  means  a  turning-lathe,  an 
implement  not  used  by  Operative  Masons. 
Now  what  is  the  real  meaning  of  the  word? 
If  we  inspect  an  old  trac- 
ing board  of  the  Appren- 
tice's degree  of  the  date 
when  the  Broached  Thur- 
nel was  in  use,  we  shall 
find  depicted  on  it  three 
symbols,  two  of  which 
will  at  once  be  recognized 
as  the  Tarsel,  or  Trestle 
Board,  and  the  Rough 
Ashlar,  just  as  we  have 
them  at  the  present  day ;  while  the  third 
symbol  will  be  that  depicted  in  the  margin, 
namely,  a  cubical  stone  with  a  pyramidal 
apex.  This  is  the  Broached  Thurnel.  It 
is  the  symbol  which  is  still  to  be  found, 
with  precisely  the  same  form,  in  all  French 
tracing  boards,  under  the  name  of  the 
pierre  cubique,  or  cubical  stone,  and  which 
has  been  replaced  in  English  and  Ameri- 
can tracing  boards  and  rituals  by  the  Per- 
fect Ashlar.  For  the  derivation  of  the 
words,  we  must  go  to  old  and  now  almost 
obsolete  terms  of  architecture.  On  inspec- 
tion, it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the  Broached 
Thurnel  has  the  form  of  a  little  square 
turret  with  a  spire  springing  from  it.  Now, 
broach,  or  broche,  says  Parker,  (Gloss,  of 
Terms  in  Architect.,  p.  97,)  is  "an  old  Eng- 
lish term  for  a  spire,  still  in  use  in  some 
parts  of  the  country,  as  in  Leicestershire, 
where  it  is  said  to  denote  a  spire  springing 
from  the  tower  without  any  intervening 
parapet.  Thurnel  is  from  the  old  French 
tournelle,  a  turret  or  little  tower.  The 
Broached  Thurnel,  then,  was  the  Spired 
Turret.  It  was  a  model  on  which  appren- 
tices might  learn  the  principles  of  their 
art,  because  it  presented  to  them,  in  its 
various  outlines,  the  forms  of  the  square  and 
the  triangle,  the  cube  and  the  pyramid." 

Broken  Column.  Among  the  He- 
brews, columns,  or  pillars,  were  used  meta- 
phorically to  signify  princes  or  nobles,  as 
if  they  were  the  pillars  of  a  state.  Thus, 
in  Psalm  xi.  3,  the  passage,  reading  in  our 
translation,  "If  the  foundations  be  de- 
stroyed, what  can  the  righteous  do  ?  "  is,  in 
the  original,  "  when  the  columns  are  over- 


thrown," i.  e.  when  the  firm  supporters  of 
what  is  right  and  good  have  perished.  So 
the  passage  in  Isaiah  xix.  10  should  read: 
"  her  (Egypt's)  columns  are  broken  down," 
that  is,  the  nobles  of  her  state.  In  Free- 
masonry, the  broken  column  is,  as  Master 
Masons  well  know,  the  emblem  of  the  fall 
of  one  of  the  chief  supporters  of  the  Craft. 
The  use  of  the  column  or  pillar  as  a  mon- 
ument erected  over  a  tomb  was  a  very  an- 
cient custom,  and  was  a  very  significant 
symbol  of  the  character  and  spirit  of  the 
person  interred.    See  Monument. 

Brother.  The  term  which  Freema- 
sons apply  to  each  other.  Freemasons  are 
brethren,  not  only  by  common  participa- 
tion of  the  human  nature,  but  as  professing 
the  same  faith;  as  being  jointly  engaged  in 
the  same  labors,  and  as  being  united  by  a 
mutual  covenant  or  tie,  whence  they  are 
also  emphatically  called  "  Brethren  of  the 
Mystic  Tie."    See  Companion. 

Brotherhood.  When  our  Saviour 
designated  his  disciples  as  his  brethren,  he 
implied  that  there  was  a  close  bond  of  union 
existing  between  them,  which  idea  was 
subsequently  carried  out  by  St.  Peter  in 
his  direction  to  "  love  the  brotherhood." 
Hence  the  early  Christians  designated 
themselves  as  a  brotherhood,  a  relation- 
ship unknown  to  the  Gentile  religions; 
and  the  ecclesiastical  and  other  confrater- 
nities of  the  Middle  Ages  assumed  the 
same  title  to  designate  any  association  of 
men  engaged  in  the  same  common  object, 
governed  by  the  same  rules,  and  united  by 
an  identical  interest.  The  association  or 
fraternity  of  Freemasons  is,  in  this  sense, 
called  a  brotherhood. 

Brotherly  Kiss.  See  Kiss,  Fraternal. 

Brotherly  JLove.  At  a  very  early 
period  in  the  course  of  his  initiation, 
a  candidate  for  the  mysteries  of  Free- 
masonry is  informed  that  the  great  tenets 
of  the  Order  are  Brotherly  Love,  Re- 
lief, and  Truth.  These  virtues  are  illus- 
trated, and  their  practice  recommended  to 
the  aspirant,  at  every  step  of  his  progress ; 
and  the  instruction,  though  continually  va- 
ried in  its  mode,  is  so  constantly  repeated, 
as  infallibly  to  impress  upon  his  mind 
their  absolute  necessity  in  the  constitution 
of  a  good  Mason. 

Brotherly  Love  might  very  well  be 
supposed  to  be  an  ingredient  in  the  organ- 
ization of  a  society  so  peculiarly  consti- 
tuted as  that  of  Freemasonry.  But  the 
brotherly  love  which  we  inculcate  is  not  a 
mere  abstraction,  nor  is  its  character  left 
to  any  general  and  careless  understanding 
of  the  candidate,  who  might  be  disposed  to 
give  much  or  little  of  it  to  his  brethren, 
according  to  the  peculiar  constitution  of 
his  own  mind,  or  the  extent  of  his  own 


132 


BROTHERS 


BRUCE 


generous  or  selfish  feelings.  It  is,  on  the 
contrary,  closely  defined ;  its  object  plain- 
ly denoted ;  and  the  very  mode  and  manner 
of  its  practice  detailed  in  words,  and  il- 
lustrated by  symbols,  so  as  to  give  neither 
cause  for  error  nor  apology  for  indiffer- 
ence. 

Every  Mason  is  acquainted  with  the  Five 
Points  of  Fellowship  —  he  knows  their 
symbolic  meaning  —  he  can  never  forget 
the  interesting  incidents  that  accompanied 
their  explanation ;  and  while  he  has  this 
knowledge,  and  retains  this  remembrance, 
he  can  be  at  no  loss  to  understand  what  are 
his  duties,  and  what  must  be  his  conduct, 
in  relation  to  the  principle  of  Brotherly 
Love.  See  Five  Points  of  Fellowship  and 
Tenets  of  Freemasons. 

Brothers  of  the  Rosy  Cross.  See 
Rosicrucians. 

Browne,  John.  In  1798  John 
Browne  published,  in  London,  a  work  en- 
titled "The  Master  Key  through  all  the 
Degrees  of  a  Freemason's  Lodge,  to  which 
is  added,  Eulogiums  and  Illustrations  upon 
Freemasonry."  In  1802,  he  published  a 
second  edition  under  the  title  of  "  Browne's 
Masonic  Master  Key  through  the  three 
degrees,  by  way  of  polyglot.  Under  the 
sanction  of  the  Craft  in  general,  contain- 
ing the  exact  mode  of  working,  initiation, 
passing  and  raising  to  the  sublime  degree 
of  a  Master.  Also,  the  several  duties  of 
the  Master,  officers,  and  brethren  while  in 
the  Lodge,  with  every  requisite  to  render 
the  accomplished  Mason  an  explanation  of 
all  the  hieroglyphics.  The  whole  inter- 
spersed with  illustrations  on  Theology, 
Astronomy,  Architecture,  Arts,  Sciences, 
&c,  many  of  which  are  by  the  editor." 
Browne  had  been,  he  says,  the  Past  Master 
of  six  Lodges,  and  wrote  his  work  not  as 
an  offensive  exposition,  but  as  a  means  of 

fiving  Masons  a  knowledge  of  the  ritual, 
t  is  considered  to  be  a  very  complete  rep- 
resentation of  the  Prestonian  lectures,  and 
as  such  was  incorporated  by  Krause  in  his 
"  drei  altesten  Kunsturkunden."  The  work 
is  printed  in  a  very  complicated  cipher,  the 
key  to  which,  and  without  which  the  book 
is  wholly  unintelligible,  was,  by  way  of 
caution,  delivered  only  personally,  and  to 
none  but  those  who  had  reached  the  third 
degree.  The  explanation  of  this  "  mystical 
key,"  as  Browne  calls  it,  is  as  follows.  The 
word  Browne    supplies   the  vowels,  thus, 

b  r  o  w  n  e         .   ..  .  ,     . 

i — ■ -,  and  these  six  vowels  in  turn 

a  e  l  o  u  y  ' 

.    ,  A,       a  e  i  o  u  y 

represent  six  letters,  thus,-; i . 

r  'kcolnu 


Ini- 


tial capitals  are  of  no  value,  and  supernume- 
rary letters  are  often  inserted.  The  words  are 
kept  separate,  but  the  letters  of  one  word 
are  often  divided  between  two  or  three. 


Much  therefore  is  left  to  the  shrewdness  of 
the  decipherer.  The  initial  sentence  of 
the  work  may  be  adduced  as  a  specimen. 
Ubs  Rplrbsrt  wbss  ostm  ronwprn  Pongth 
Mrlwdgr,  which  is  thus  deciphered  :  Please 
to  assist  me  in  opening  the  Lodge.  The  work 
is  now  exceedingly  rare. 

Brn.     See  Vielle  Bru,  Rite  of 

Bruce,  Robert.  The  introduction 
of  Freemasonry  into  Scotland  has  been  at- 
tributed by  some  writers  to  Robert.King 
of  Scotland,  commonly  called  Eobert  Bruce, 
who  is  said  to  have  established  in  1314  the 
Order  of  Herodem,  for  the  reception  of 
those  Knights  Templars  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  his  dominions  from  the  persecu- 
tions of  the  pope  and  the  king  of  France. 
Thory  [Act.  Lat.,'\.  6,)  copies  the  following 
from  a  manuscript  in  the  library  of  the 
Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophical  Rite : 

"  Robert  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland,  under 
the  name  of  Robert  Bruce,  created,  on  the 
24th  June,  1314,  after  the  battle  of  Ban- 
nockburn,  the  Order  of  St.  Andrew  of  the 
Thistle,  to  which  has  been  since  united 
that  of  Herodem,  for  the  sake  of  the  Scotch 
Masons,  who  composed  a  part  of  the  thirty 
thousand  men  with  whom  he  had  conquered 
an  army  of  a  hundred  thousand  English- 
men. He  reserved,  in  perpetuity,  to  him- 
self and  his  successors,  the  title  of  Grand 
Master.  He  founded  the  Royal  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  Order  of  Herodem  at  Kil- 
winning, and  died,  crowned  with  glory  and 
honor,  the  9th  of  July,  1329." 

Dr.  Oliver,  (Landm.,  ii.  13,)  referring 
to  the  abolition  of  the  Templar  Order  in 
England,  when  the  Knights  were  compelled 
to  enter  the  Preceptories  of  the  Knights 
of  St.  John,  as  dependants,  says  : 

"  In  Scotland,  Edward,  who  had  overrun 
the  country  at  the  time,  endeavored  to  pur- 
sue the  same  course ;  but,  on  summoning 
the  Knights  to  appear,  only  two,  Walter 
de  Clifton,  the  Grand  Preceptor,  and  an- 
other, came  forward.  On  their  examina- 
tion, they  confessed  that  all  the  rest  had 
fled ;  and.  as  Bruce  was  advancing  with  his 
army  to  meet  Edward,  nothing  further  was 
done.  The  Templars,  being  debarred  from 
taking  refuge  either  in  England  or  Ireland, 
had  no  alternative  but  to  join  Bruce,  and 
give  their  active  support  to  his  cause. 
Thus,  after  the  battle  of  Bannockburn, 
in  1314,  Bruce  granted  a  charter  of  lands 
to  Walter  de  Clifton,  as  Grand  Master  of 
the  Templars,  for  the  assistance  which  they 
rendered  on  that  occasion.  Hence  the 
Royal  Order  of  H.  R.  D.  M.  was  frequenly 
practised  under  the  name  of  Templary." 

Lawrie,  or  the  author  of  Lawrie's  Book, 
who  is  excellent  authority  for  Scottish  Ma- 
sonry, does  not  appear,  however,  to  give 
any  credit  to  .  the   narrative.    Whatever 


BRUN 


BULL 


133 


Bruce  may  have  done  for  the  higher  de- 
grees, there  is  no  doubt  that  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry  was  introduced  into  Scotland  at 
an  earlier  period.  But  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  Bruce  was  one  of  the  patrons  and  en- 
couragers  of  Scottish  Freemasonry. 

Briin,  Abraham  Tan.  A  wealthy 
Mason  of  Hamburg,  who  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age  in  1768.  For  many  years  he 
had  been  the  soul  of  the  Society  of  True 
and  Ancient  Rosicrucians,  which  soon  after 
his  death  was  dissolved. 

Brunswick,  Congress  of.  It  was 
convoked,  in  1775,  by  Ferdinand,  Duke  of 
Brunswick.  Its  object  was  to  effect  a  fusion 
of  the  various  Rites ;  but  it  terminated  its 
labors,  after  a  session  of  six  weeks,  without 
success. 

Buenos  Ayres.  There  is  much  un- 
certainty of  detail  in  the  early  history  of 
Freemasonry  in  the  Argentine  Republic. 
To  Brother  A.  G.  Goodall,  of  New  York, 
who  visited  the  South  American  States 
some  years  ago,  are  we  indebted  for  the 
most  authentic  accounts  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  Masonry  into  those  countries.  He 
says  that  Lodges  were  in  existence  in 
Buenos  Ayres  about  the  year  1846,  but  in 
consequence  of  the  unsettled  state  of  society 
their  labors  were  suspended,  and  it  was  not 
until  1853  that  the  Order  commenced  a 
permanent  career  in  the  Rio  de  Plata. 
January  19,  1854,  Excelsior  Lodge  was 
established  at  Buenos  Ayres  by  a  War- 
rant of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  It 
worked  in  the  York  Rite  and  in  the  Eng- 
lish language.  Two  other  Lodges  were 
subsequently  established  by  the  same  au- 
thority, one  working  in  English  and  one  in 
German.  In  1856  there  was  an  irregular 
body  working  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite,  which  claimed  the  prerogatives  of  a 
Grand  Lodge,  but  it  was  never  recognized, 
and  soon  ceased  to  exist.  In  September 
13,  1858,  a  Supreme  Council  ana  Grand 
Orient  was  established  by  the  Supreme 
Council  of  Paraguay.  This  body  is  still  in 
active  operation  under  the  title  of  The  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Argentine  Republic, 
Orient  of  Buenos  Ayres.  In  1801  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  issued  a  Warrant  for  the 
establishment  of  a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge, 
which  is  in  fraternal  alliance  with  the  Su- 
preme Council,  and  by  the  consent  of  the 
latter  is  authorized  to  establish  symbolic 
Lodges. 

Bull.  A  monstrous  corruption,  in  the 
American  Royal  Arch,  of  the  word  Bel. 
Up  to  a  recent  period,  it  was  combined 
with  another  corruption,  Lun,  in  the  muti- 
lated form  of  Buh-Lun,  under  which  dis- 
guise the  words  Bel  and  On  were  presented 
to  the  neophyte. 

Buhle,  Johann   Gottlieb.    Pro- 


fessor of  Philosophy  in  the  University  of 
Gbttingen,  who,  not  being  himself  a  Mason, 
published,  in  1804,  a  work  entitled,  Ueber 
den  Ursprung  und  die  vornehmsten  Schicksale 
des  Ordens  der  Rosenkreuzer  und  Freimau- 
rer,  that  is,  "  On  the  Origin  and  the  Princi- 
pal Events  of  the  Orders  of  Rosicrucianism 
and  Freemasonry."  This  work,  illogical 
in  its  arguments,  false  in  many  of  its  state- 
ments, and  confused  in  its  arrangement, 
was  attacked  by  Frederick  Nicolai  in  a 
critical  review  of  it  in  1806,  and  is  spoken 
of  very  slightingly  even  by  De  Quincey, 
himself  no  very  warm  admirer  of  the  Masonic 
Institution,  who  published,  in  1824,  in  the 
London  Magazine,  (vol.  ix.,)  a  loose  transla- 
tion of  it,  "abstracted,  re-arranged,  and 
improved,"  under  the  title  of  Historico- 
critical  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  the  Ro- 
sicrucians and  the  Freemasons.  Buhle's 
theory  was  that  Freemasonry  was  invented 
in  the  year  1629,  by  John  Valentine  An- 
drea. Buhle  was  born  at  Brunswick  in 
1753,  became  Professor  of  Philosophy  at 
Gottingen  in  1787,  and,  having  afterwards 
taught  in  his  native  city,  died  there  in  1821. 

Builder.  The  chief  architect  of  the 
Temple  of  Solomon  is  often  called  "the 
Builder."  But  the  word  is  also  applied 
generally  to  the  Craft ;  for  every  specula- 
tive Mason  is  as  much  a  builder  as  was 
his  operative  predecessor.  An  American 
writer  (F.  S.  Wood)  thus  alludes  to  this 
symbolic  idea.  "  Masons  are  called  moral 
builders.  In  their  rituals,  they  declare 
that  a  more  noble  and  glorious  purpose 
than  squaring  stones  and  hewing  timbers 
is  theirs, — fitting  immortal  nature  for  that 
spiritual  building  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens."  And  he  adds, 
"The  builder  builds  for  a  century;  Masons 
for  eternity."  In  this  sense,  "  the  builder" 
is  the  noblest  title  that  can  be  bestowed 
upon  a  Mason. 

Builder,  Smitten.  See  Smitten 
Builder. 

Builders,  Corporations  of.  See 
Stone- Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Bui.  Oliver  says  that  this  is  one  of 
the  names  of  God  among  the  ancients.  I 
can  find  no  such  word  in  any  oriental  lan- 
guage. It  is  really  a  Masonic  mutilation 
of  the  word  Bel.    See  Buh. 

Bull,  Papal.  An  edict  or  proclama- 
tion issued  from  the  Apostolic  Chancery, 
with  the  seal  and  signature  of  the  pope, 
written  in  Gothic  letters  and  upon  coarse 
parchment.  It  derives  its  name  from  the 
leaden  seal  which  is  attached  to  it  by  a 
cord  of  hemp  or  silk,  and  which  in  mediae- 
val Latin  is  called  bulla.  Several  of  these 
bulls  have  from  time  to  time  been  fulmi- 
nated against  Freemasonry  aud  other  secret 
societies,  subjecting  them  to  the  heaviest 


134 


BULLETIN 


BURNING 


ecclesiastical  punishments,  even  to  the 
greater  excommunication.  According  to 
these  bulls,  a  Freemason  is  ipso  facto  ex- 
communicated by  continuing  his  member- 
ship in  the  society,  and  is  thus  deprived 
of  all  spiritual  privileges  while  living, 
and  the  rites  of  burial  when  dead. 

Of  these  bulls,  the  first  was  promulgated 
by  Clement  XII.,  on  the  27th  of  April, 
1738;  this  was  repeated  and  made  perpetual 
by  Benedict  XIV.,  on  the  18th  of  May, 
1775.  On  the  13th  of  August,  1814,  an 
edict  continuing  these  bulls  was  issued  by 
the  Cardinal  Gonsalvi,  Secretary  of  State  of 
Pius  VII. ;  and  lastly,  similar  denunciatory 
edicts  have  within  recent  years  been  uttered 
by  Pius  IX.  Notwithstanding  these  reiter- 
ated denunciations  and  attempts  at  Papal 
suppression,  the  Mason  may  say  of  his 
Order  as  Galileo  said  of  the  earth,  e  pur  si 
muove. 

Bulletin.  The  name  given  by  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France  to  the  monthly 
publication  which  contains  the  official 
record  of  its  proceedings.  A  similar  work 
is  issued  by  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite  for  the  South- 
ern Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  by  several  other  Supreme 
Councils  and  Grand  Orients. 

Bunyan,  Jobn.  "  The  well-known 
author  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress."  He  lived 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was  the 
most  celebrated  allegorical  writer  of  Eng- 
land. His  work  entitled  Solomon's  Temple 
Spiritualized  will  supply  the  student  of 
Masonic  symbolism  with  many  valuable 
suggestions. 

Burdens,  Bearers  of.  A  class  of 
workmen  at  the  Temple  mentioned  in  2 
Chron.  ii.  18,  and  referred  to  by  Masonic 
writers  as  the  Ish  Sabal,  which  see. 

Burial.  The  right  to  be  buried  with 
the  ceremonies  of  the  Order  is  one  that, 
under  certain  restrictions,  belongs  to  every 
Master  Mason. 

None  of  the  ancient'  Constitutions  con- 
tain any  law  upon  this  subject,  nor  can 
the  exact  time  be  now  determined  when 
funeral  processions  and  a  burial  service 
were  first  admitted  as  regulations  of  the 
Order. 

The  celebrated  caricature  of  a  mock  pro- 
cession of  the  "  Scald  Miserable  Masons," 
as  it  was  called,  was  published  in  1742,  and 
represented  a  funeral  procession.  This 
would  seem  to  imply  that  Masonic  funeral 
processions  must  have  been  familiar  at  that 
time  to  the  people ;  for  a  caricature,  how- 
ever distorted,  must  have  an  original  for 
its  foundation. 

The  first  official  notice,  however,  that  we 
have  of  funeral  processions  is  in  Novem- 
ber, 1754.     A  regulation  was  then  adopted 


which  prohibited  any  Mason  from  attend- 
ing a  funeral  or  other  procession  clothed  in 
any  of  the  jewels  or  badges  of  the  Craft, 
except  by  dispensation  of  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter or  his  deputy. 

There  are  no  further  regulations  on  this 
subject  in  any  of  the  editions  of  the  Book 
of  Constitutions  previous  to  the  modern 
code  which  is  now  in  force  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England.  But  Preston  gives  us 
the  rules  on  this  subject,  which  have  now 
been  adopted  by  general  consent  as  the  law 
of  the  Order,  in  the  following  words: 

"No  Mason  can  be  interred  with  the 
formalities  of  the  Order  unless  it  be  at  his 
own  special  request  communicated  to  the 
Master  of  the  Lodge  of  which  he  died  a 
member  —  foreigners  and  sojourners  ex- 
cepted; nor  unless  he  has  been  advanced 
to  the  third  degree  of  Masonry,  from  which 
restriction  there  can  be  no  exception. 
Fellow  Crafts  or  Apprentices  are  not  en- 
titled to  the  funeral  obsequies." 

The  only  restrictions  prescribed  by  Pres- 
ton are,  it  will  be  perceived,  that  the  de- 
ceased must  have  been  a  Master  Mason, 
that  he  had  himself  made  the  request,  and 
that  he  was  affiliated,  which  is  implied  by 
the  expression  that  he  must  have  made  the 
request  for  burial  of  the  Master  of  the 
Lodge  of  which  he  was  a  member.  Fellow 
Crafts  and  Entered  Apprentices  are  not 
permitted  to  join  in  a  funeral  procession  ; 
and,  accordingly,  we  find  that  in  the  form 
of  procession  laid  down  by  Preston  no 
place  is  assigned  to  them,  in  which  he  has 
been  followed  by  all  subsequent  monitorial 
writers. 

The  regulation  of  1754,  which  requires  a 
dispensation  from  the  Grand  Master  for  a 
funeral  procession,  is  not  considered  of 
force  in  this  country,  and  accordingly,  in 
America,  Masons  have  generally  been  per- 
mitted to  bury  their  dead  without  the 
necessity  of  such  dispensation. 

Burning  Bush.  In  the  third  chap- 
ter of  Exodus  it  is  recorded  that,  while 
Moses  was  keeping  the  flock  of  Jethro  on 
Mount  Horeb,  "the  angel  of  the  Lord 
appeared  unto  him  in  a  flame  of  fire  out 
of  the  midst  of  a  bush,"  and  there  com- 
municated to  him  for  the  first  time  his 
Ineffable  Name.  This  occurrence  is  com- 
memorated in  the  "  Burning  Bush  "  of  the 
Royal  Arch  degree.  In  all  the  systems  of 
antiquity,  fire  is  adopted  as  a  symbol  of 
Deity;  and  the  "Burning  Bush,"  or  the 
bush  filled  with  fire  which  did  not  consume, 
whence  came  forth  the  Tetragrammaton, 
the  symbol  of  Divine  Light  and  Truth,  is 
considered,  in  the  higher  degrees  of  Ma- 
sonry, like  the  "Orient"  in  the  lower,  as 
the  great  source  of  true  Masonic  light  ; 
wherefore  Supreme  Councils  of  the  33d 


BURNES 


BY-LAWS 


135 


degree  date  their  balustres,  or  official  doc- 
uments, "near  the  B.\  B.\,"  or  "Burning 
Bush,"  to  intimate  that  they  are,  in  their 
own  Rite,  the  exclusive  Bource  of  all  Ma- 
sonic instruction. 

Burnes,  James.  A  distinguished 
Mason,  and  formerly  Provincial  Grand 
Master  of  Western  India.  He  is  the  author 
of  an  interesting  work  entitled  a  "Sketch  of 
the  History  of  the  Knights  Templars.  By 
James  Burnes,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  Knight  of  the 
Royal  Hanoverian  Guelphic  Order;"  pub- 
lished at  London,  in  1840,  in  74  +  GO  pages 
in  small  quarto. 

Burns,  Robert.  The  celebrated 
Scottish  poet,  of  whose  poetry  William 
Pitt  has  said  "  that  he  could  think  of  none 
since  Shakespeare's  that  had  so  much  the 
appearance  of  sweetly  coming  from  na- 
ture;" was  born  at  Kirk  Alloway,  near  the 
town  of  Ayr,  on  the  25th  of  January,  1759, 
and  died  on  the  22d  of  July,  1796.  He 
was  initiated  into  Freemasonry  in  the  town 
of  Irvine,  in  1781,  and  was  at  one  time  the 
Master  of  a  Lodge  at  Mauchline,  where  he 
presided  with  great  credit  to  himself,  as 
appears  from  the  following  remarks  of  the 
philosophic  Dugald  Stewart.  "In  the 
course  of  the  same  season,  I  was  led  by 
curiosity  to  attend  for  an  hour  or  two  a 
Masonic  Lodge  in  Mauchline,  where  Burns 
presided.  He  had  occasion  to  make  some 
short,  unpremeditated  compliments  to  dif- 
ferent individuals  from  whom  he  had  no 
reason  to  expect  a  visit,  and  everything  he 
said  was  happily  conceived  and  forcibly  as 
well  as  fluently  expressed."  The  slander- 
ous charge  that  he  acquired  the  habits  of 
dissipation,  to  which  he  was  unfortunately 
addicted,  at  the  festive  meetings  of  the  Ma- 
sonic Lodges,  has  been  triumphantly  re- 
futed by  a  writer  in  the  London  Free- 
mason's Magazine,  (vol.  v.,  p.  291,)  and  by 
the  positive  declarations  of  his  brother 
Gilbert,  who  asserts  that  these  habits  were 
the  result  of  his  introduction,  several  years 
after  his  attendance  on  the  Lodges,  to  the 
hospitable  literary  society  of  the  Scottish 
metropolis. 

Burns  consecrated  some  portion  of  his 
wonderful  poetic  talent  to  the  service  of 
the  Masonic  Order,  to  which  he  appears 
always  to  have  been  greatly  attached. 
Among  his  Masonic  poetic  effusions  every 


Mason  is  familiar  with  that  noble  farewell 
to  his  brethren  of  Tarbolton  Lodge  com- 
mencing, 

Adieu !  a  heart-warm,  fond  adieu ! 
Dear  brothers  of  the  mystic  tie ! 

On  the  25th  of  January,  1820,  a  monument 
was  erected  to  his  memory,  by  public  sub- 
scription, at  his  birthplace;  the  corner- 
stone of  which  was  laid  with  appropriate 
Masonic  honors  by  the  Deputy  Grand 
Master  of  the  Ancient  Mother  Lodge  Kil- 
winning, assisted  by  all  the  Masonic  Lodges 
in  Ayrshire. 

Business.  Everything  that  is  done 
in  a  Masonic  Lodge,  relating  to  the  initia- 
tion of  candidates  into  the  several  degrees, 
is  called  its  work  or  labor ;  all  other  trans- 
actions such  as  are  common  to  other  asso- 
ciations come  under  the  head  of  business, 
and  they  are  governed  with  some  peculiar 
differences  by  rules  of  order,  as  in  other 
societies.     See  Order,  Rules  of. 

Byblos.  An  ancient  city  of  Phoenicia, 
celebrated  for  the  mystical  worship  of 
Adonis,  who  was  slain  by  a  wild  boar.  It 
was  situated  on  a  river  of  the  same  name, 
whose  waters,  becoming  red  at  a  certain 
season  of  the  year  by  the  admixture  of  the 
clay  which  is  at  its  source,  were  said  by  the 
celebrants  of  the  mysteries  of  Adonis  to 
be  tinged  with  the  blood  of  that  god.  This 
city,  so  distinguished  for  the  celebration  of 
these  mysteries,  was  the  Gebal  of  the  He- 
brews, the  birthplace  of  the  Giblemites,  or 
stone-squarers,  who  wrought  at  the  building 
of  King  Solomon's  Temple ;  and  thus  those 
who  have  advanced  the  theory  that  Free- 
masonry is  the  successor  of  the  Ancient 
Mysteries,  think  that  they  find  in  this 
identity  of  Byblos  and  Gebal  another  point 
of  connection  between  these  Institutions. 

By-Laws.  Every  subordinate  Lodge 
is  permitted  to  make  its  own  by-laws,  pro- 
vided they  do  not  conflict  with  the  regula- 
tions of  the  Grand  Lodge,  nor  with  the 
ancient  usages  of  the  Fraternity.  But  of 
this,  the  Grand  Lodge  is  the  only  judge, 
and  therefore  the  original  by-laws  of  every 
Lodge,  as  well  as  all  subsequent  alterations 
of  them,  must  be  submitted  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  for  approval  and  confirmation  before 
they  can  become  valid. 


136 


CABALA 


CABUL 


C. 


Cabala.  Now  more  correctly  and 
generally  written  Kabbala,  which  see.  Its 
derivatives  also,  such  as  Cabalist,  Cabalistic 
Mason,  etc.,  will  be  found  under  the  titles 
Kabbalist,  Kabbalistic  Mason,  etc. 

Cabiric  Mysteries.  The  Cabiri 
were  gods  whose  worship  was  first  estab- 
lished in  the  island  of  Samothrace,  where 
the  Cabiric  Mysteries  were  practised.  The 
gods  called  the  Cabiri  were  originally  two, 
and  afterwards  four,  in  number,  and  are 
supposed  by  Bryant  (Anal.  Ant  Myth.,  in. 
342,)  to  have  referred  to  Noah  and  his  three 
sons,  the  Cabiric  Mysteries  being  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  arkite  worship.  In  these 
mysteries  there  was  a  ceremony  called  the 
"  Cabiric  Death,"  in  which  was  represented, 
amid  the  groans  and  tears  and  subsequent 
rejoicings  of  the  initiates,  the  death  and 
restoration  to  life  of  Cadmillus,  the  youngest 
of  the  Cabiri.  The  legend  recorded  that  he 
was  slain  by  his  three  brethren,  who  after- 
wards fled  with  his  virile  parts  in  a  mystic 
basket.  His  body  was  crowned  with  flow- 
ers, and  was  buried  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Olympus.  Clement  of  Alexandria  speaks 
of  the  legend  as  the  sacred  mystery  of  a  bro- 
ther slain  by  his  brethren,  "  frater  trucid- 
atus  a  fratribus." 

There  is  much  perplexity  connected  with 
the  subject  of  these  mysteries,  but  it  is  gen- 
erally supposed  that  they  were  instituted  in 
honor  of  Atys,  the  son  of  Cybele  or  Deme- 
ter,  of  whom  Cadmillus  was  but  another 
name.  According  to  Macrobius,  Atys  was 
one  of  the  appellations  of  the  sun,  and  we 
know  that  the  mysteries  were  celebrated  at 
the  vernal  equinox.  They  lasted  three 
days,  during  which  they  represented  in  the 
person  of  Atys,  or  Cadmillus,  the  enigmati- 
cal death  of  the  sun  in  winter,  and  his  re- 
generation in  the  spring.  In  all  probabil- 
ity, in  the  initiation,  the  candidate  passed 
through  a  drama,  the  subject  of  which  was 
the  violent  death  of  Atys.  The  "  Cabiric 
Death  "  was,  in  fact,  a  type  of  the  Hiramic, 
and  the  legend,  so  far  as  it  can  be  under- 
stood from  the  faint  allusions  of  ancient 
authors,  was  very  analogous  in  spirit  and 
design  to  that  of  the  third  degree  of  Free- 
masonry. 

Many  persons  annually  resorted  to  Samo- 
thrace to  be  initiated  into  the  celebrated 
mysteries,  among  whom  are  mentioned  Cad- 
mus, Orpheus,  Hercules,  and  Ulysses. 
Jamblichus  says,  in  his  life  of  Pythagoras, 
that  from  those  of  Lemnos  that  sage  de- 
rived much  of  his  wisdom.  The  mysteries 
of  the  Cabiri  were  much  respected  among 
the  common  people,  and  great  care  was 
taken  in  their  concealment.    The  priests 


made  use  of  a  language  peculiar  to   the 
rites. 

The  mysteries  were  in  existence  at  Samo- 
thrace as  late  as  the  eighteenth  year  of  the 
Christian  era,  at  which  time  the  Emperor 
Germanicus  embarked  for  that  island,  to  be 
initiated,  but  was  prevented  from  accom- 
plishing his  purpose  by  adverse  winds. 

Cable  Tow.  The  word  "  tow  "  signi- 
fies, properly,  a  line  wherewith  to  draw. 
Richardson  (Diet.)  defines  it  as  "  that  which 
tuggeth,  or  with  which  we  tug  or  draw." 
A  cable  tow  is  a  rope  or  line  for  drawing 
or  leading.  The  word  is  purely  Masonic, 
and  in  some  of  the  writers  of  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century  we  find  the  expression 
"  cable  rope."  Prichard  so  uses  it  in  1730. 
The  German  word  for  a  cable  or  rope  is 
cabeltau,  and  thence  our  cable  tow  is  proba- 
bly derived. 

In  its  first  inception,  the  cable  tow  seems 
to  have  been  used  only  as  a  physical  means 
of  controlling  the  candidate,  and  such  an 
interpretation  is  still  given  in  the  Entered 
Apprentice's  degree.  But  in  the  second  and 
third  degrees  a  more  modern  symbolism 
has  been  introduced,  and  the  cable  tow  is 
in  these  grades  supposed  to  symbolize  the 
covenant  by  which  all  Masons  are  tied,  thus 
reminding  us  of  the  passage  in  Hosea  (xi. 
4),  "I  drew  them  with  cords  of  a  man, 
with  bands  of  love." 

Cable  Tow's  Length.  Gadicke 
says  that,  "  according  to  the  ancient  laws 
of  Freemasonry,  every  brother  must  attend 
his  Lodge  if  he  is  within  the  length  of  his 
cable  tow."  The  old  writers  define  the 
length  of  a  cable  tow,  which  they  sometimes 
called  "  a  cable's  length,"  to  be  three  miles 
for  an  Entered  Apprentice.  But  the  ex- 
pression is  really  symbolic,  and,  as  it  was 
defined  by  the  Baltimore  Convention  in 
1842,  means  the  scope  of  a  man's  reasonable 
ability. 

Cabul.  A  district  containing  twenty 
cities  which  Solomon  gave  to  Hiram,  king 
of  Tyre,  for  his  assistance  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Temple.  Clark  (Comm.)  thinks 
it  likely  that  they  were  not  given  to  Hiram 
so  that  they  should  be  annexed  to  his  Ty- 
rian  dominions,  but  rather  to  be  held  as 
security  for  the  money  which  he  had  ad- 
vanced. This,  however,  is  merely  conject- 
ural. The  district  containing  them  is 
placed  by  Josephus  in  the  north-west  part 
of  Galilee,  adjacent  to  Tyre.  Hiram  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  satisfied  with  the 
gift ;  why,  is  uncertain.  Kitto  thinks  be- 
cause they  were  not  situated  on  the  coast. 
A  Masonic  legend  says  because  they  were 
ruined  and  dilapidated   villages,   and  in 


CADET 


C^MENTARIUS 


137 


token  of  his  dissatisfaction,  Hiram  called 
the  district  Cabul.  The  meaning  of  this 
word  is  not  known.  Josephus,  probably 
by  conjecture  from  the  context,  says  it 
means  " unpleasiug."  Hiller  (Onomast.) 
and,  after  bim,  Bates  {Diet.)  suppose  that 
Sl33  is  derived  from  the  particle  jj),  as,  and 
73,  nothing.  The  Talmudic  derivation  from 
CBL,  tied  with  fetters,  is  Talmudically  child- 
ish. The  dissatisfaction  of  Hiram  and  its 
results  constitute  the  subject  of  the  legend 
of  the  degree  of  Intimate  Secretary  in  the 
Scottish  Rite. 

Cadet  -  Gassieourt,  Charles 
LiOiiis.  The  author  of  the  celebrated 
work  entitled  Le  Tombeau  de  Jacques  Mo- 
lay,  which  was  published  at  Paris,  in  179G, 
and  in  which  he  attempted,  like  Barruel 
and  Robison,  to  show  that  Freemasonry 
was  the  source  and  instigator  of  all  the 
political  revolutions  which  at  that  time 
were  convulsing  Europe.  Cadet-Gassicourt 
was  himself  the  victim  of  political  perse- 
cution, and,  erroneously  attributing  his 
sufferings  to  the  influences  of  the  Masonic 
Lodges  in  France,  became  incensed  against 
the  Order,  and  this  gave  birth  to  his  libel- 
lous book.  But  subsequent  reflection  led 
him  to  change  his  views,  and  he  became  an 
ardent  admirer  of  the  Institution  which  he 
had  formerly  maligned.  He  sought  initi- 
ation into  Freemasonry,  and  in  1805  was 
elected  as  Master  of  the  Lodge  l'Abeille  in 
Paris.  He  was  born  at  Paris,  Jan.  23, 1769, 
and  died  in  the  same  city  Nov.  21,  1821. 

Cadmillus.  The  youngest  of  the 
Cabiri,  and  as  he  is  slain  in  the  Cabiric 
Mysteries,  he  becomes  the  analogue  of  the 
Builder  in  the  legend  of  Freemasonry. 

Caduceus.  The  Caduceus  was  the 
magic  wand  of  the  god  Hermes.  It  was 
an  olive  staff"  twined  with  fillets,  which 
were  gradually  converted  to  wings  and  ser- 
pents. Hermes,  or  Mercury,  was  the  mes- 
senger of  Jove.  Among  his  numerous  attri- 
butes, one  of  the  most  important  was  that  of 
conducting  disembodied  spirits  to  the  other 
world,  and,  on  necessary  occasions,  of  bring- 
ing them  back.  He  was  the  guide  of  souls, 
and  the  restorer  of  the  dead  to  life.  Thus, 
Horace,  in  addressing  him,  says : 

"  Unspotted  spirits  you  consign 
To  blissful  seats  and  joys  divine, 
And  powerful  with  your  golden  wand 
The  fight  unburied  crowd  command." 

Virgil  also  alludes  to  this  attribute  of 
the  magic  wand  when  he  is  describing  the 
flight  of  Mercury  on  his  way  to  bear  Jove's 
warning  message  to  iEneas : 

"  His  wand  he  takes;  with  this  pale  ghost  he  calls 
From   Pluto's  realms,   or  sends  to    Tartarus 
shore." 

S 


And  Statius,  imitating  this  passage,  makes 

the  same  allusion  in  his  Thebaid,  (I.  814,) 

thus  translated  by  Lewis. 

"  He  grasps  the  wand  which  draws  from  hollow 

graves, 

Or  drives  the  trembling  shades   to  Stygian 

waves ; 
"With  magic  power  seals  the  watchful  eye 
Iu  slumbers  soft  or  causes  sleep  to  fly." 

The  history  of  this  Caduceus,  or  magic 
wand,  will  lead  us  to  its  symbolism.  Mer- 
cury, who  had  invented  the  lyre,  making  it 
out  of  the  shell  of  the  tortoise,  exchanged 
it  with  Apollo  for  the  latter's  magical  wand. 
This  wand  was  simply  an  olive .  branch 
around  which  were  placed  two  fillets  of 
ribbon.  Afterwards,  when  Mercury  was  in 
Arcadia,  he  encountered  two  serpents  en- 
gaged in  deadly  combat.  These  he  sepa- 
rated with  his  wand  ;  hence  the  olive  wand 
became  the  symbol  of  peace,  and  the  two 
fillets  were  replaced  by  the  two  serpents, 
thus  giving  to  the  Caduceus  its  well-known 
form  of  a  staff,  around  which  two  serpents 
are  entwined. 

Such  is  the  legend  ;  but  we  may  readily 
see  that  in  the  olive,  as  the  symbol  of  im- 
mortality, borne  as  the  attribute  of  Mer- 
cury, the  giver  of  life  to  the  dead,  we 
have  a  more  ancient  and  profounder  sym- 
bolism. The  serpents,  symbols  also  of  im- 
mortality, are  appropriately  united  with 
the  olive  wand.  The  legend  also  accounts 
for  a  later  and  secondary  symbolism  —  that 
of  peace. 

The  Caduceus  then  —  the  original  mean- 
ing of  which  word  is  a  herald's  staff —  as 
the  attribute  of  a  life-restoring  God,  is  in 
its  primary  meaning  the  symbol  of  immor- 
tality ;  so  in  Freemasonry  the  rod  of  the 
Senior  Deacon,  or  the  Master  of  Ceremo- 
nies, is  but  an  analogue  of  the  Hermean 
Caduceus.  This  officer,  as  leading  the  as- 
pirant through  the  forms  of  initiation  into 
his  new  birth  or  Masonic  regeneration,  and 
teaching  him  in  the  solemn  ceremonies  of 
the  third  degree  the  lesson  of  eternal  life, 
may  well  use  the  magic  wand  as  a  represen- 
tation of  it,  which  was  the  attribute  of  that 
ancient  deity, who  brought  the  dead  into  life. 

Cffiineiitarius.  Latin.  A  builder  of 
walls,  a  mason  from  cozmenta,  rough  un- 
hewn stones  as  they  come  from  the  quarry. 
In  mediaeval  Latin,  the  word  is  used  to  des- 
ignate an  operative  mason.  Du  Cange 
cites  MagisterCozmentariorumos  used  to  des- 
ignate him  who  presided  over  the  building 
of  edifices,  that  is,  the  Master  of  the  works. 
It  has  been  adopted  by  some  modern  writers 
as  a  translation  of  the  word  Freemason.  Its 
employment  for  that  purpose  is  perhaps 
more  correct  than  that  of  the  more  usual 
word  latomus,  which  owes  its  use  to  the  au- 
thority of  Thory. 


138 


CAGLIOSTRO 


CAGLIOSTRO 


Cagliostro.  Of  all  the  Masonic  char- 
latans who  flourished  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury the  Count  Cagliostro  was  most  promi- 
nent, whether  we  consider  the  ingenuity  of 
his  schemes  of  deception,  the  extensive 
field  of  his  operations  through  almost  every 
country  of  Europe,  or  the  distinguished 
character  and  station  of  many  of  those  whose 
credulity  made  them  his  victims.  The  his- 
tory of  Masonry  in  that  century  would  not 
be  complete  without  a  reference  to  this 
prince  of  Masonic  impostors.  To  write  the 
history  of  Masonry  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  to  leave  out  Cagliostro,  would  be 
like  enacting  the  play  of  Hamlet  and  leav- 
ing out  the  part  of  the  Prince  of  Denmark. 
And  yet  Carlyle  has  had  occasion  to 
complain  of  the  paucity  of  materials  for 
such  a  work.  Indeed,  of  one  so  notorious 
as  Cagliostro  comparatively  but  little  is  to 
be  found  in  print.  The  only  works  upon 
which  he  who  would  write  his  life  must  de- 
depend  are  a  Life  of  him  published  in  Lon- 
don, 1787 ;  Memoirs,  in  Paris,  1786 ;  and 
Memoirs  Authentiques,  Strasburg,  1786;  a 
Life,  in  Germany,  published  at  Berlin,  1787; 
another  in  Italian,  published  at  Rome  in 
1791 ;  and  a  few  fugitive  pieces,  consisting 
chiefly  of  manifestoes  of  himself  and  his 
disciples. 

Joseph  Balsamo,  subsequently  known  as 
Count  Cagliostro,  was  the  son  of  Peter  Bal- 
samo and  Felicia  Braconieri,  both  of  mean 
extraction,  who  was  born  on  the  8th  of  June, 
1743,  in  the  city  of  Palermo.  Upon  the  death 
of  his  father,  he  was  taken  under  the  pro- 
tection of  his  maternal  uncles,  who  caused 
him  to  be  instructed  in  the  elements  of  re- 
ligion and  learning,  by  both  of  which  he 
profited  so  little,  that  he  eloped  several 
times  from  the  Seminary  of  St.  Roch,  near 
Palermo,  where  he  had  been  placed  for  his 
instruction.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was 
carried  to  the  Convent  of  the  Good  Brother- 
hood at  Castiglione.  There,  having  as- 
sumed the  habit  of  a  novice,  he  was  placed 
under  the  tuition  of  the  apothecary,  from 
whom  he  learned  the  principles  of  chemis- 
try and  medicine.  His  brief  residence  at 
the  convent  was  marked  by  violations  of 
many  of  its  rules ;  and  finally,  abandoning 
it  altogether,  he  returned  to  Palermo. 
There  he  continued  his  vicious  courses,  and 
was  frequently  seized  and  imprisoned  for 
infractions  of  the  law.  At  length,  having 
cheated  a  goldsmith,  named  Marano,  of  a 
large  amount  of  gold,  he  was  compelled  to 
flee  from  his  native  country. 

He  then  repaired  to  Messina,  where  he 
became  acquainted  with  one  Altotas,  who 
pretended  to  be  a  great  chemist.  Together 
they  proceeded  to  Alexandria  in  Egypt, 
where,  by  means  of  certain  chemical,  or 
perhaps  rather   by   financial,   operations, 


they  succeeded  in  collecting  a  considerable 
amount  of  money.  Their  next  appearance 
is  in  the  island  of  Malta,  where  they 
worked  for  some  time  in  the  laboratory  of 
the  Grand  Master  Pinto.  There  Altotas 
died,  and  Balsamo,  or  —  as  I  shall  hence- 
forth call  him  by  the  name  which  he  sub- 
sequently assumed  —  Cagliostro,  proceeded 
to  visit  Naples,  under  the  protection  of  a 
Knight  of  Malta,  to  whom  he  had  been  re- 
commended by  the  Grand  Master.  He  sub- 
sequently united  his  fortunes  to  a  Sicilian 
prince,  who  was  addicted  to  the  study  of 
chemistry,  and  who  carried  him  to  visit  his 
estates  in  Sicily.  He  took  this  opportunity 
of  revisiting  Messina,  where  he  deserted 
his  princely  patron,  and  became  the  asso- 
ciate of  a  dissolute  priest,  with  whom  he 
went  to  Naples  and  Rome.  In  the  latter 
place,  which  he  visited  for  the  first  time,  he 
assumed  several  characters,  appearing 
sometimes  in  an  ecclesiastical,  and  some- 
times in  a  secular  habit.  His  principal 
occupation  at  this  period  was  that  of  fill- 
ing up  outlines  of  copperplate  engravings 
with  India  ink,  which  he  sold  for  pen-and- 
ink  drawings.  Cagliostro  could  do  nothing 
without  a  mingling  of  imposture. 

About  this  time  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  a  young  woman,  Lorenza  Feliciani, 
wliom  he  married,  and  to  whom  her  parents 
gave  a  trifling  dower,  but  one  which  was 
proportioned  to  her  condition.  This  wo- 
man subsequently  made  a  principal  figure 
in  his  history,  partaking  of  his  manifold 
adventures,  aiding  him  in  his  impostures, 
and  finally  betraying  his  confidence,  by  be- 
coming the  chief  witness  against  him  on 
his  trial  at  Rome. 

I  shall  say  nothing  here  or  hereafter  of 
the  domestic  life  of  this  well-assorted  cou- 
ple, except  that,  by  the  woman's  own  con- 
fession, it  was  guided  by  the  most  immoral 
principles,  and  marked  by  the  most  licen- 
tious practices. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  a  notorious  adventurer  —  his 
countryman  —  called  the  Marquis  Agliata, 
whose  character  strongly  resembled  his 
own,  and  with  one  Ottavio  Nicastro,  an  ac- 
complished villain,  who  subsequently  fin- 
ished his  career  on  the  gihbet. 

This  triumvirate  of  rogues  occupied 
themselves  in  the  manufacture  of  forged 
notes  and  bonds,  with  which  they  amassed 
considerable  sums  of  money.  But  the 
course  of  roguery,  like  that  of  true  love, 
"never  does  run  smooth;"  and,  having 
quarrelled  about  a  division  of  the  spoils, 
Nicastro,  finding  himself  cheated  by  his 
comrades,  betrayed  them  to  the  police,  who 
sought  to  arrest  them.  But  Cagliostro  and 
his  wife,  accompanied  by  the  Marquis  Ag- 
liata, learning  the  design,  made  their  es- 


CAGLIOSTRO 


CAGLIOSTRO 


139 


cape,  and  travelled  towards  Venice.  They 
stopped  a  short  time  at  Bergamo,  for  the 
purpose  of  replenishing  their  exhausted 
purses  by  a  resumption  of  their  forgeries : 
the  municipal  authorities  however,  discov- 
ering their  project,  banished  them  from  the 
city.  The  marquis  fled  alone,  carrying 
with  him  the  funds,  and  leaving  Cagliostro 
and  his  wife  in  so  destitute  a  condition, 
that  they  were  compelled  to  beg  their  way 
as  pilgrims  through  Sardinia  and  Genoa. 
At  length  they  arrived  at  Antibes,  in  Spain. 
Here,  by  the  practice  of  a  little  of  his  usual 
chicanery,  the  count  was  enabled  to  recruit 
his  impoverished  fortunes.  Thence  they 
travelled  to  Barcelona,  where  they  re- 
mained six  months,  living  upon  those 
whom  they  could  delude,  and  finally  re- 
tired to  Lisbon,  whence  they  subsequently 
went  to  England. 

In  the  year  1772  we  find  Cagliostro  in 
London,  where  he  remained  about  twelve 
months.  During  this  period  he  attempted 
to  practise  his  chemical  secrets,  but  not,  it 
appears,  with  much  success;  as  he  was 
compelled  to  sell  some  of  his  jewels  to  ob- 
tain the  means  of  subsistence,  and  was  at 
length  thrown  into  the  King's  Bench  prison 
by  his  creditors.  Being  released  from  con- 
finement, he  passed  over  into  France,  and 
was  engaged  for  some  years  in  visiting  the 
different  capitals  of  Europe,  where  he  pro- 
fessed to  be  in  possession  of  the  Hermetic 
secrets  for  restoring  youth,  prolonging  life, 
and  transmuting  the  baser  metals  into  gold. 
Dupes  were  not  wanting,  and  Cagliostro 
seems  to  have  been  successful  in  his  schemes 
for  enriching  himself  by  "  obtaining  money 
under  false  pretences."  In  1776  Cagliostro 
again  repaired  to  London.  Here  he  ap- 
peared with  renovated  fortunes,  and,  taking 
a  house  in  a  fashionable  neighborhood,  at- 
tracted attention  by  the  splendor  of  his 
domestic  establishment. 

In  London,  during  this  visit,  Cagliostro 
became  connected  with  the  Order  of  Free- 
masonry. In  the  month  of  April  he  re- 
ceived the  degrees  in  Esperance  Lodge,  No. 
289,  which  then  met  at  the  King's  Head 
Tavern.  Cagliostro  did  not  join  the  Order 
with  disinterested  motives,  or  at  least  he 
determined  in  a  very  short  period  after  his 
initiation  to  use  the  Institution  as  an  in- 
strument for  the  advancement  of  his  per- 
sonal interests.  Here  he  is  said  to  have  in- 
vented, in  1777,  that  grand  scheme  of  im- 
posture under  the  name  of  "  Egyptian 
Masonry,"  by  the  propagation  of  which  he 
subsequently  became  so  famous  as  the  great 
Masonic  charlatan  of  his  age. 

London  did  not  fail  to  furnish  him  with 
a  fertile  field  for  his  impositions,  and  the 
English  Masons  seemed  noways  reluctant 
to  become  his  dupes ;  but,  being  ambitious 


for  the  extension  of  his  Rite,  and  anxious 
for  the  greater  income  which  it  promised, 
he  again  passed  over  to  the  Continent, 
where  he  justly  anticipated  abundant  suc- 
cess in  its  propagation. 

As  this  Egyptian  Masonry  constituted 
the  great  pursuit  of  the  rest  of  his  life, 
and  was  the  instrument  which  he  used  for 
many  years  to  make  dupes  of  thousands  of 
credulous  persons,  among  whom  not  a  few 
princes,  nobles,  and  philosophers  are  to  be 
counted,  it  is  proper  that,  in  any  biography 
of  this  great  charlatan,  some  account  should 
be  given  of  the  so-called  Masonic  scheme 
of  which  he  was  the  founder.  This  ac- 
count is  to  be  derived,  as  all  accounts 
hitherto  published  on  the  same  subject 
have  been,  from  the  book  which  came  into 
the  possession  of  the  Inquisition  at  the 
trial  of  Cagliostro,  and  which  purports  to 
contain  the  rituals  of  his  degrees.  Of  this 
work,  which  Carlyle  calls  in  his  rough 
style  a  "  certain  expository  Masonic  order- 
book  of  Cagliostro's,"  the  author  of  the 
Italian  biography,*  who  writes,  however,  in 
the  interest  of  the  Church,  and  with  the 
sanction  of  the  Apostolic  Chamber,  says, 
that  the  style  is  so  elegant,  that  it  could 
not  have  been  composed  by  himself;  but  he 
admits  that  the  materials  were  furnished 
by  Cagliostro,  and  put  into  form  by  some 
other  person  of  greater  scholarship.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  this  book  furnishes  us  with 
the  only  authentic  account  of  the  Masonry 
of  Cagliostro,  and  to  its  contents  we  must 
resort,  as  very  fully  extracted  in  the  Com- 
pendia delta  Vita. 

Cagliostro  states  that  in  England  he  pur- 
chased some  manuscripts  from  one  George 
Coston,  which  treated  of  Egyptian  Ma- 
sonry, but  with  a  system  somewhat  magical 
and  superstitious.  Upon  this  plan,  how- 
ever, he  resolved  to  build  up  a  new  ritual 
of  Masonry.  Assuming  the  title  of  Grand 
Cophta,  —  a  title  derived  from  that  of  the 
high  priests  of  Egypt,  —  Cagliostro  prom- 
ised his  followers  to  conduct  them  to  per- 
fection by  means  of  moral  and  physical 
regeneration:  By  the  first,  to  make  them 
find  the  primal  matter,  or  philosopher's 
stone,  and  the  acacia,  which  consolidates 
in  man  the  powers  of  the  most  vigorous 
youth  and  renders  him  immortal ;  by  the 
second,  to  teach  him  how  to  procure  the 
pentagon,  which  restores  man  to  his  prim- 
itive state  of  innocence,  forfeited  by  the 
original  sin.  He  supposes  Egyptian  Ma- 
sonry was  instituted  by  Enoch  and  Elias, 
who  propagated  it  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  but  that  with  time  it  lost  much  of 
its  purity  and  splendor.     All  Masonry  but 

*  Compendio  delta  Vita  e  delle  Gesta  di  Guis- 
seppe  Balsamo  denominato  it  Conte  Cagliostro, 
Roma,  1791,  p.  87. 


140 


CAGLIOSTRO 


CAGLIOSTRO 


his  own  he  called  mere  buffoonery,  and 
Adoptive  Masonry  he  declares  to  have 
been  almost  destroyed.  The  object,  there- 
fore, of  Egyptian  Masonry  was  to  restore 
to  its  original  lustre  the  Masonry  of  either 
sex.  The  ceremonies  were  conducted  with 
great  splendor.  The  Grand  Cophta  was 
supposed  to  be  invested  with  the  faculty  of 
commanding  angels;  he  was  invoked  on 
all  occasions,  and  everything  was  supposed 
to  be  accomplished  through  the  force  of 
his  power,  imparted  to  him  by  the  Deity. 
Egyptian  Masonry  was  very  tolerant ;  men 
of  all  religions  were  admitted,  provided 
they  acknowledged  the  existence  of  God 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  had 
been  previously  initiated  into  the  ordinary 
Masonry.  There  were  three  degrees,  as  in 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  and  men  elevated 
to  the  rank  of  Masters  took  the  names  of 
the  ancient  prophets,  while  women  as- 
sumed those  of  the  Sybils.  The  oath  ex- 
acted from  the  former  was  in  the  following 
words :  "  I  promise,  I  engage,  and  I  swear 
never  to  reveal  the  secrets  which  shall  be 
imparted  to  me  in  this  temple,  and  blindly 
to  obey  my  superiors."  The  oath  of  the 
women  differed  slightly  from  this:  "I 
swear,  before  the  eternal  God  of  the  Grand 
Mistress,  and  of  all  who  hear  me,  never  to 
write,  or  cause  to  be  written,  anything  that 
shall  pass  under  my  eyes,  condemning  my- 
self, in  the  event  of  imprudence,  to  be 
punished  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Grand 
Founder  and  of  all  my  superiors.  I  like- 
wise promise  the  exact  observance  of  the 
other  six  commandments  imposed  on  me, 
that  is  to  say,  love  of  God,  respect  for  my 
sovereign,  veneration  for  religion  and  the 
laws,  love  of  my  fellow-creatures,  an  at- 
tachment without  bounds  for  our  Order,  and 
the  blindest  submission  to  the  rules  and  code 
of  our  ritual,  such  as  they  may  be  commu- 
nicated to  me  by  the  Grand  Mistress." 

In  the  ceremonial  of  admitting  a  woman 
to  the  degree  of  Apprentice,  the  Grand 
Mistress  breathed  upon  the  face  of  the  re- 
cipiendary  from  the  forehead  to  the  chin, 
saying,  "  I  thus  breathe  upon  you  to  cause 
the  truths  possessed  by  us  to  germinate  and 
penetrate  within  your  heart;  I  breathe 
upon  you  to  fortify  your  spiritual  part ;  I 
breathe  upon  you  to  confirm  you  in  the 
faith  of  your  brothers  and  sisters,  according 
to  the  engagements  that  you  have  con- 
tracted. We  create  you  a  legitimate  daugh- 
ter of  the  true  Egyptian  adoption  and  of 
the  Lodge  N. ;  we  will  that  you  be  recog- 
nized as  such  by  all  the  brothers  and  sis- 
ters of  the  Egyptian  ritual,  and  that  you 
enjoy  the  same  prerogatives  with  them. 
Lastly,  we  impart  to  you  the  supreme 
pleasure  of  being,  henceforth  and  forever, 
a  Freemasou." 


In  the  admission  of  a  man  to  the  degree 
of  Companion  or  Fellow-Craft,  the  Grand 
Master  addressed  the  candidate  in  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "  By  the  power  that  I  hold 
from  the  Grand  Cophta,  the  founder  of  our 
Order,  and  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  confer 
upon  you  the  degree  of  Companion,  and 
constitute  you  a  guardian  of  the  new 
science,  in  which  we  are  preparing  to  make 
you  a  participator,  by  the  sacred  names 
of  Helios,  Mene,  Tetragrammaton." 

In  the  admission  of  a  disciple  into  the 
degree  of  Master,  Cagliostro  was  careful  to 
adopt  a  ceremonial  which  might  make  an 
impression  of  his  own  powers  and  those  of 
his  Rite  upon  the  recipiendary.  The  in- 
quisitorial biographer  is  lavish  of  the 
charges  of  immorality,  sacrilege,  and  blas- 
phemy, in  his  account  of  these  ceremonies. 
Such  charges  were  to  be  expected  when  the 
Church  was  dealing  with  Masonry,  either  in 
its  pure,  or  its  spurious  form ;  for  Masons 
had  long  before  been  excommunicated 
in  a  mass  by  repeated  papal  bulls.  It  is 
not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  ritual  gives  no  color  to  these 
charges.  We  find  there,  indeed,  extrava- 
gant pretensions  to  powers  not  possessed, 
gaudy  trappings,  and  solemn  pageantry, 
which  might  impress  the  imaginations  of 
the  weak,  and  unfulfilled  promises,  which 
could  only  deceive  the  too  confiding ;  but 
everything  was  done  under  the  cloak  of 
morality  and  religion :  for  Cagliostro  was 
careful  to  declare  in  his  patents,  that  he 
labored  only,  and  wished  his  disciples  to 
labor,  "for  the  glory  of  the  Eternal  and 
for  the  benefit  of  humanity."  This  might 
have  been,  nay,  undoubtedly  was,  hypoc- 
risy ;  but  it  was  certainly  neither  sacrilege 
nor  blasphemy. 

We  proceed  now  to  give  a  specimen  from 
this  "Inquisition  biographer,"  to  use  a 
Carlylism,  of  the  ritual  of  admission  into 
the  degree  of  Master. 

A  young  girl  (sometimes  it  was  a  boy) 
was  taken  in  a  state  of  innocence,  who  was 
called  pupil  or  dove.  Then  the  Master  of 
the  Lodge  imparted  to  this  child  the  power 
that  he  had  received  before  the  first  fall,  a 
power  which  more  particularly  consisted  in 
commanding  the  pure  spirits.  These  spirits 
were  seven  in  number :  they  were  said  to 
surround  the  throne  of  the  Deity,  and  to 
govern  the  seven  planets ;  their  names,  ac- 
cording to  Cagliostro's  book,  being  Asael, 
Michael,  Raphael,  Gabriel,  Uriel,  Zobia- 
chel,  and  Anachiel.  The  dove  was  brougnt 
before  the  Master.  The  members  addressed 
a  prayer  to  Heaven,  that  it  would  vouch- 
safe the  exercise  of  that  power  which  it  had 
granted  to  the  Grand  Cophta.  The  pupil, 
or  dove,  also  prayed  to  obtain  the  grace  of 
working  according  to  the  behests  of  the 


CAGLIOSTRO 


CAGLIOSTRO 


141 


Grand  Master,  and  of  serving  as  a  mediator 
between  him  and  the  spirits,  who  on  that 
account  are  called  intermediates.  Clothed 
in  a  long  white  robe,  ornamented  with  blue 
ribbon  and  a  red  scarf,  and,  having  received 
the  sufflation,  she  was  inclosed  in  the  taber- 
nacle, a  place  hung  with  white.  It  had  an 
entrance  door,  a  window  through  which  the 
dove  made  herself  heard,  and  within  was  a 
bench  and  a  little  table,  whereon  burned 
three  tapers.  The  Master  repeated  his 
prayer,  and  began  to  exercise  the  power 
that  he  pretended  to  have  received  from 
the  Grand  Cophta,  in  virtue  of  which  he 
summoned  the  seven  angels  to  appear  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  the  pupil.  When  she  an- 
nounced that  they  were  present,  he  charged 
her,  by  the  power  granted  by  God  to  the 
Grand  Cophta,  and  by  the  Grand  Cophta 
imparted  to  himself,  that  she  ask  the  angel 
N.  whether  the  candidate  had  the  qualities 
and  the  merits  requisite  for  the  degree  of 
Master.  After  having  received  an  affirma- 
tive answer,  he  proceeded  to  the  other  cere- 
monies for  completing  the  reception  of  the 
candidate. 

There  is  but  little  in  the  ceremony  of 
admitting  women  to  the  degree  of  Mistress. 
The  dove  being  placed  as  we  have  just  de- 
scribed, she  was  ordered  to  make  one  of  the 
seven  angels  appear  in  the  tabernacle,  and 
to  ask  him  whether  it  was  permitted  to  lift 
the  black  veil  with  which  the  initiate  was 
covered.  Other  superstitious  ceremonies 
followed,  and  the  Venerable  ordered  the 
dove  to  command  the  presence  of  the  six 
other  angels,  and  to  address  to  them  the  fol- 
lowing commandment :  "  By  the  power 
which  the  Grand  Cophta  has  given  to  my 
Mistress,  and  by  that  which  I  hold  from 
her,  and  by  my  innocence,  I  command  you, 
primitive  angels,  to  consecrate  the  orna- 
ments, by  passing  them  through  your 
hands."  These  ornaments  were  the  gar- 
ments, the  symbols  of  the  Order,  and  a 
crown  of  artificial  roses.  When  the  dove 
had  attested  that  the  angel  had  performed 
the  consecration,  she  was  desired  to  cause 
Moses  to  appear,  in  order  that  he  also 
might  bless  the  ornaments,  and  might  hold 
the  crown  of  roses  in  his  hand  during  the 
rest  of  the  ceremonies ;  she  afterwards 
passed  through  the  window  of  the  taberna- 
cle the  garments,  the  symbols,  and  the 
gloves,  whereon  was  written,  "  I  am  man," 
and  all  were  presented  to  the  initiate. 
Other  questions  were  now  put  to  the  dove ; 
but  above  all  to  know  whether  Moses  had 
held  the  crown  in  his  hand  the  whole  time, 
and  when  she  answered  "yes,"  it  was 
placed  upon  the  head  of  the  initiate.  Then, 
after  other  rites  equally  imposing,  the  dove 
was  questioned  anew,  to  learn  if  Moses  and 
the  seven  angels  had  approved  of  this  re- 


ception ;  finally,  the  presence  of  the  Grand 
Cophta  was  invoked,  that  he  might  bless 
and  confirm  it;  after  which  the  Lodge  was 
closed. 

Cagliostro  professed  that  the  object  of  his 
Masonry  was  the  perfecting  of  his  disciples 
by  moral  and  physical  regeneration,  and 
the  ceremonies  used  to  produce  these  results 
were  of  a  character  partly  mesmeric  and 
partly  necromantic.  They  are  too  long  for 
detail.  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  they 
showed  the  ingenuity  of  their  inventor, 
and  proved  his  aptitude  for  the  profession 
of  a  charlatan. 

He  borrowed,  however,  a  great  deal  from 
ordinary  Masonry.  Lodges  were  conse- 
crated with  great  solemnity,  and  were  dedi- 
cated to  Saint  John  the  Evangelist,  because, 
as  he  said,  of  the  great  affinity  that  exists 
between  the  Apocalypse  and  the  working 
of  his  ritual. 

The  principal  emblems  used  in  the  Kite 
were  the  septangle,  the  triangle,  the  trowel, 
the  compass,  the  square,  the  gavel,  the 
death's  head,  the  cubical  stone,  the  rough 
stone,  the  triangular  stone,  the  wooden 
bridge,  Jacob's  ladder,  the  phoenix,  the 
globe,  Time,  and  others,  similar  to  those 
which  have  always  been  used  in  Ancient 
Craft  Masonry. 

Having  instituted  this  new  Rite,  out  of 
which  he  expected,  as  a  never-failing  mine, 
to  extract  a  fortune,  he  passed  over  from 
London  to  the  Hague,  and  thence  to  Italy, 
assuming  at  Venice  the  title  of  Marquis  de 
Pellegrini,  and  afterwards  into  Germany, 
everywhere  establishing  Lodges  and  gain- 
ing disciples,  many  of  whom  are  found  in 
the  highest  ranks  of  the  nobility :  and  thus 
he  may  be  traced  through  Saxony,  Ger- 
many, and  Poland,  arriving  in  the  spring 
of  1780  at  St.  Petersburg,  in  Russia; 
whence,  however,  he  was  soon  driven  out 
by  the  police,  and  subsequently  visited 
Vienna,  Frankford,  and  Strasburg.  In 
all  these  journeys,  he  affected  a  magnifi- 
cence of  display  which  was  not  without  its 
effect  upon  the  weak  minds  of  his  deluded 
followers.  His  Italian  biographer  thus 
describes  the  style  of  his  travelling  and 
living : 

"  The  train  he  commonly  took  with  him 
corresponded  to  the  rest ;  he  always  trav- 
elled post,  with  a  considerable  suit:  cou- 
riers, lackeys,  body-servants,  domestics  of 
all  sorts,  sumptuously  dressed,  gave  an  air 
of  reality  to  the  high  birth  vaunted.  The 
very  liveries  which  were  made  in  Paris  cost 
twenty  louis  each.  Apartments  furnished 
in  the  height  of  the  fashion,  a  magnificent 
table  opened  to  numerous  guests,  rich 
dresses  for  himself  and  wife,  corresponded 
to  his  luxurious  way  of  life.  His  feigned 
generosity  likewise  made  a  great  noise: 


142 


CAGLIOSTRO 


CAGLIOSTRO 


often  he  gratuitously  doctored  the  poor, 
and  even  gave  them  alms." 

In  1783,  Cagliostro  was  at  Strasburg, 
making  converts,  relieving  the  poor,  and 
giving  his  panacea,  the  "  Extract  of  Sat- 
urn," to  the  hospitals.  Here  he  found  the 
Cardinal  Prince  de  Rohan,  who  expressed 
a  wish  to  see  him.  Cagliostro's  insolent 
reply  is  an  instance  of  that  boastful  assur- 
ance which  he  always  assumed,  with  the 
intention  of  forcing  men  into  a  belief  of 
his  lofty  pretension  :  "  If  Monseigneur  the 
cardinal  is  sick,  let  him  come  to  me,  and  I 
will  cure  him ;  if  he  is  well,  he  has  no  need 
of  me,  I  none  of  him."  This  reply  had 
the  desired  effect,  and  the  imbecile  cardi- 
nal sought  the  acquaintance  which  the 
charlatan  had  seemed  so  indifferent  to  cul- 
tivate. 

Shortly  after,  Cagliostro  visited  Paris, 
where  he  became  involved  with  the  Cardi- 
nal de  Rohan  and  the  Countess  de  la 
Motte-Valois,  in  the  celebrated  swindling 
transaction  of  the  diamond  necklace,  which 
attracted  at  the  time  the  attention  of  all 
Europe,  and  still  excites  great  interest 
among  the  learned. 

The  history,  or,  rather,  the  romance  of 
this  diamond  necklace,  is  worth  telling  in 
brief  words.  Boehmer,  the  king's  jeweller 
at  Paris,  had  exhausted  all  his  skill  and 
resources  in  the  construction  of  a  diamond 
necklace,  which  he  hoped  to  dispose  of  to 
the  Duchess  du  Barry,  one  of  the  royal 
mistresses.     But  the  necklace,  when  com- 

fdeted,  was  of  such  exorbitant  value  —  not 
ess  than  seventy  thousand  pounds,  or 
almost  half  a  million  of  dollars  —  as  to  be 
beyond  the  purchasing  power  of  even  a 
king's  favorite.  The  necklace,  therefore, 
remained  on  the  jeweller's  hands  for  three 
years,  as  so  much  dead  and  locked-up  cap- 
ital. In  vain  did  he  attempt  to  excite  the 
cupidity  of  the  queen,  Marie  Antoinette : 
she  felt  that  it  was  a  luxury  in  which  she 
dared  not  indulge  in  the  crippled  condition 
of  the  French  finances.  But  there  were 
others  who  had  seen  and  longed  for  the 
possession  of  the  costly  gaud.  The  Count- 
ess de  Valois,  an  adventuress  about  the 
court,  resolved  upon  a  stupendous  course 
of  fraud,  through  which  she  might  obtain 
the  coveted  prize  and  convert  its  gems  into 
ready  money.  She  invited  to  her  assist- 
ance Cagliostro,  who  was  then  in  Paris 
working  at  his  Egyptian  Masonry,  and, 
through  his  influence  over  the  Cardinal 
Rohan,  secured  the  complicity,  innocent 
or  guilty  as  it  may  be,  of  the  credulous 
prince.  A  woman  named  d'Oliva  —  some 
say  it  was  Valois  herself,  of  whose  name 
Oliva  was  most  probably  the  anagram — 
was  engaged  to  personate  the  queen,  and 
through  a  contract,  to  which  the  forged 


signature  of  Marie  Antoinette  was  affixed, 
and  through  the  guarantee  afforded  by  the 
cardinal,  —  who,  however,  claimed  that  he 
was  himself  deceived,  —  Boehmer  was  in- 
duced to  surrender  the  necklace  to  the 
countess  for  the  queen,  as  he  supposed,  on 
terms  of  payment  in  instalments.  But 
the  first  instalment,  and  then  the  second, 
remaining  unpaid,  the  jeweller,  becoming 
impatient  for  his  money,  made  a  personal 
application  to  the  queen,  when  for  the  first 
time  the  fraud  was  discovered.  In  the 
meantime  the  necklace  had  disappeared. 
But  it  was  known  that  the  countess,  from 
a  state  of  indigence,  had  suddenly  risen  to 
the  possession  of  wealth;  that  her  hus- 
band, de  la  Motte,  had  been  in  England 
selling  diamonds,  —  for  the  necklace,  too 
costly  to  be  sold  as  a  whole,  could  be  more 
readily  disposed  of  when  taken  to  pieces,  — 
and  that  Cagliostro,  too,  was  in  possession 
of  funds,  for  which  hardly  the  income  of 
his  Egyptian  Masonry  would  account.  The 
Cardinal  de  Rohan  alone  appears  to  have 
derived  no  pecuniary  advantage  from  the 
transaction.  He  was,  however,  arrested 
and  placed  in  the  Bastile,  whither  he  was 
speedily  followed  by  his  two  accomplices, 
the  countess  and  Cagliostro.  The  cardinal, 
either  because  no  evidence  could  be  found 
of  his  guilt,  —  for  he  stoutly  asserted  his 
innocence,  —  or  because  of  his  ecclesiastical 
character,  was  soon  liberated.  But  as  a 
suspicion  still  hovered  over  him,  he  was 
banished  from  the  court.  The  countess 
and  Cagliostro  endured  a  longer  imprison- 
ment, but  were  subsequently  released  from 
confinement  and  ordered  to  leave  the  king- 
dom. The  countess  proceeded  to  England, 
where  she  printed  her  vindication,  and 
attempted  to  expose  the  queen.  Count 
Cagliostro  also  repaired  to  England,  to 
resume  his  adventures.  There  he  pub- 
lished the  memoirs  of  his  life,  in  which  he 
also  seeks  to  vindicate  himself  in  the  affair 
of  the  diamond  necklace.  And  hence,  ac- 
cording to  the  account  of  the  actors,  no- 
body was  guilty ;  for  the  queen  asseverated 
her  innocence  as  strongly  as  any,  and  per- 
haps with  greater  truth.  Nothing  is  certain 
in  the  whole  story  except  that  Boehmer 
lost  his  necklace  and  his  money,  and  the 
obscurity  in  which  the  transaction  has  been 
left  has  afforded  an  ample  field  of  specula- 
tion for  subsequent  inquirers. 

During  Cagliostro's  residence  in  Eng- 
land, on  this  last  visit,  he  was  attacked  by 
the  editor  Morand,  in  the  Courier  de 
F Europe,  in  a  series  of  abusive  articles,  to 
which  Cagliostro  replied  in  a  letter  to  the 
English  people.  But,  although  he  had  a 
few  Egyptian  Lodges  in  London  under  his 
government,  he  appears,  perhaps  from  Mo- 
rand's  revelations  of  his  character  and  life, 


1    CAHIER 


CALENDAR 


143 


to  have  lost  his  popularity,  and  he  left 
England  permanently  in  May,  1787. 

He  went  to  Savoy,  Sardinia,  and  other 
places  in  the  south  of  Europe,  and  at  last,  in 
May,  1789,  by  an  act  of  rash  temerity,  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome,  where  he  organized  an  Egyp- 
tian Lodge  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  Vat- 
ican. But  this  was  more  than  the  Church, 
which  had  been  excommunicating  Free- 
masonry for  fifty  years,  was  willing  to  en- 
dure. On  the  27th  of  December  of  that 
year,  on  the  festival  of  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist, to  whom  he  had  dedicated  his 
Lodges,  the  Holy  Inquisition  arrested  him, 
and  locked  him  up  in  the  Castle  of  San  An- 
gelo.  There,  after  such  a  trial  as  the  In- 
quisition is  wont  to  give  to  the  accused  — 
in  which  his  wife  is  said  to  have  been  the 
principal  witness  against  him — he  was 
convicted  of  having  formed  "societies  and 
conventicles  of  Freemasonry."  His  manu- 
script, entitled  Maconnerie  Egyptienne,  was 
ordered  to  be  burned  by  the  public  execu- 
tioner, and  he  himself  was  condemned  to 
death ;  a  sentence  which  the  pope  subse- 
quently commuted  for  that  of  perpetual 
imprisonment.  Cagliostro  appealed  to  the 
French  Constituent  Assembly,  but  of  course 
in  vain.  Thenceforth  no  more  is  seen  of 
him.  For  four  years  this  adventurer,  who 
had  filled  during  his  life  so  large  a  space 
in  the  world's  history,  —  the  associate  of 
princes,  prelates,  and  philosophers  ;  the  in- 
ventor of  a  spurious  Rite,  which  had,  how- 
ever, its  thousands  of  disciples, — languished 
within  the  gloomy  walls  of  the  prison  of 
St.  Leo,  in  the  Duchy  of  Urbino,  and  at 
length,  in  the  year  1795,  in  a  fit  of  apo- 
plexy, bade  the  world  adieu. 

Caliier.  French.  A  number  of  sheets 
of  parchment  or  paper  fastened  together  by 
one  end.  The  word  is  used  by  French  Ma- 
sons to  designate  a  small  book  printed,  or 
in  manuscript,  containing  the  ritual  of  a 
degree.  The  word  has  been  borrowed  from 
French  history,  where  it  denotes  the  re- 

Eorts   and  proceedings  of  certain  assem- 
lies,  such  as  the  clergy,  the  States-Gen- 
eral, etc. 

Cairns.  Celtic,  cams.  Heaps  of  stones 
of  a  conical  form  erected  by  the  Druids. 
Some  suppose  them  to  have  been  sepul- 
chral monuments,  others  altars.  They 
were  undoubtedly  of  a  religious  character, 
since  sacrificial  fires  were  lighted  upon 
them,  and  processions  were  made  around 
them.  These  processions  were  analogous 
to  the  circumambulations  in  Masonry,  and 
were  conducted,  like  them,  with  reference  to 
the  apparent  course  of  the  sun.  Thus,  To- 
land,  in  his  Letters  on  the  Celtic  Religion, 
(Let.  II.,  xvii.,)  says  of  these  mystical  pro- 
cessions, that  the  people  of  the  Scottish 
islands  "  never  come  to  the  ancient  sacri-  | 


ficing  and  fire-hallowing  Cams  but  they 
walk  three  times  round  them  from  east  to 
west,  according  to  the  course  of  the  sun. 
This  sanctified  tour,  or  round  by  the  south, 
is  called  Deaseal,  as  the  unhallowed  contrary 
one  by  the  north,  Tuapholl;"  and  he  says 
that  Deaseal  is  derived  from  "  Deas,  the  right 
(understanding  hand),  and  soil,  one  of  the 
ancient  names  of  the  sun,  the  right  hand  in 
this  round  being  ever  next  the  heap."  In 
all  this  the  Mason  will  be  reminded  of  the 
Masonic  ceremony  of  circumambulation 
around  the  altar  and  the  rules  which  gov- 
ern it. 

Calcott,  Welling.  A  distinguished 
Masonic  writer  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  the  author  of  a  work  published  in  1769, 
under  the  title  of  "  A  Candid  Disquisition 
of  the  Principles  and  Practices  of  the 
Most  Ancient  and  Honorable  Society  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  together  with 
some  Strictures  on  the  Origin,  Nature,  and 
Design  of  that  Institution,"  in  which  he 
has  traced  Masonry  from  its  origin,  ex- 
plained its  symbols  and  hieroglyphics,  its 
social  virtues  and  advantages,  suggested 
the  propriety  of  building  halls  for  the  pe- 
culiar and  exclusive  practice  of  Masonry, 
and  reprehended  its  slanderers  with  great 
but  judicious  severity.  This  was  the  first 
extended  effort  to  illustrate  philosophically 
the  science  of  Masonry,  and  was  followed, 
a  few  years  after,  by  Hutchinson's  admira- 
ble work ;  so  that  Oliver  justly  says  that 
"  Calcott  opened  the  mine  of  Masonry, 
and  Hutchinson  worked  it." 

Calendar.  Freemasons,  in  affixing 
dates  to  their  official  documents,  never 
make  use  of  the  common  epoch  or  vulgar 
era,  but  have  one  peculiar  to  themselves, 
which,  however,  varies  in  the  different 
rites.  Era  and  epoch  are,  in  this  sense, 
synonymous. 

Masons  of  the  York,  American,  and 
French  Rites,  that  is  to  say,  the  Masons 
of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  France, 
Germany,  and  America  date  from  the  cre- 
ation of  the  world,  calling  it  "  Anno  Lu- 
cis,"  which  they  abbreviate  A/.  L.\,  signi- 
fying in  the  Year  of  Light.  Thus  with  them 
the  year  1872  is  A.-.  L.\  5872.  This  they 
do,  not  because  they  believe  Freemasonry 
to  be  coeval  with  the  creation,  but  with 
a  symbolic  reference  to  the  light  of  Ma- 
sonry. 

In  the  Scotch  Rite,  the  epoch  also  begins 
from  the  date  of  the  creation,  but  Masons 
of  that  Rite,  using  the  Jewish  chronology, 
would  call  the  year  1872  A.*.  M.\  or  Anno 
Mundi  (in  the  Year  of  the  World)  5632.  They 
sometimes  use  the  initials  A.*.  H.\,  signi- 
fying Anno  Hebraico,  or,  in  the  Hebrew  year. 
They  have  also  adopted  the  Hebrew  months, 
and  the  year,  therefore,  begins  with  them 


144 


CALENDAR 


CALLING 


in  the  middle  of  September.  See  Months, 
Hebrew. 

Masons  of  the  York  and  American  Rites 
begin  the  year  on  the  first  of  January,  but 
in  the  French  Rite  it  commences  on  the 
first  of  March,  and  instead  of  the  months 
receiving  their  usual  names,  they  are  des- 
ignated numerically,  as  first,  second,  third, 
etc.  Thus,  the  1st  of  January,  1872,  would 
be  styled,  in  a  French  Masonic  document, 
the  "  1st  day  of  the  11th  Masonic  month, 
Anno  Lucis,  5872."  The  French  some- 
times, instead  of  the  initials  A.'.  L.\,  use 
Van  de  la  V.'.  L.'.,  or  Vraie  Lumiere,  that 
is,  Year  of  True  Light. 

Royal  Arch  Masons  commence  their 
epoch  with  the  year  in  which  Zerubbabel 
began  to  build  the  second  Temple,  which 
was  530  years  before  Christ.  Their  style 
for  the  year  1872  is,  therefore,  A.'.  Inv.\, 
that  is,  Anno  Inventionis,  or,  in  the  Year  of 
the  Discovery,  2402. 

Royal  and  Select  Masters  very  often 
make  use  of  the  common  Masonic  date, 
Anno  Lucis,  but  properly  they  should  date 
from  the  year  in  which  Solomon's  Temple 
was  completed ;  and  their  style  would  then 
be,  Anno  Depositionis,  or,  in  the  Year  of  the 
Deposite,  and  they  would  date  the  year 
1872  as  2872. 

Knights  Templars  use  the  epoch  of  the 
organization  of  their  Order  in  1118.  Their 
style  for  the  year  1872  is  A.'.  0.\,  Anno 
Ordinis,  or,  in  the  Year  of  the  Order,  754. 

I  subjoin,  for  the  convenience  of  refer- 
ence, the  rules  for  discovering  these  differ- 
ent dates. 

1.  To  find  the  Ancient  Craft  date.  Add 
4000  to  the  vulgar  era.  Thus  1872  and 
4000  are  5872. 

2.  To  find  the  date  of  the  Scotch  Rite.  Add 
3760  to  the  vulgar  era.  Thus  1872  and 
3760  are  5632.  After  September  add  one 
year  more. 

3.  To  find  the  date  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry. Add  530  to  the  vulgar  era.  Thus 
530  and  1872  are  2402. 

4.  To  find  the  Royal  and  Select  Masters' 
date.  Add  1000  to  the  vulgar  era.  Thus 
1000  and  1872  are  2872. 

5.  To  find  the  Knights  Templars'  date. 
Subtract  1118  from  the  vulgar  era.  Thus 
1118  from  1872  is  754. 

The  following  will  show,  in  one  view,  the 
date  of  the  year  1872  in  all  the  branches 
of  the  Order : 

Year  of  the  Lord,  A.D.  1872— Vulgar 
era. 

Year  of  Light,  A.*.  L.\  5872  — Ancient 
Craft  Masonry. 

Year  of  the  World,  A.-.  M.\  5632  — 
Scotch  Rite. 

Year  of  the  Discovery,  A.*.  I.\  2402  — 
Royal  Arch  Masonry. 


Year  of  the  Deposite,  A.:  Dep.\  2872  — 
Royal  and  Select  Masters. 

Year  of  the  Order,  A.*.  0.\  754— Knights 
Templars. 

California.  The  Grand  Lodge  of 
California  was  organized  on  the  19th  of 
April,  1850,  in  the  city  of  Sacramento,  by 
the  delegates  of  three  legally  constituted 
Lodges  working,  at  the  time,  under  char- 
ters from  the  Grand  Lodges  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  Connecticut,  and  Missouri. 
Its  present  seat  is  at  San  Francisco,  and 
there  are  215  Lodges  under  its  jurisdiction. 
The  Grand  Chapter  and  Grand  Command- 
ery  were  organized  in  1854. 

Calling  Off.  A  technical  term  in 
Masonry,  which  signifies  the  temporary 
suspension  of  labor  in  a  Lodge  without 
passing  through  the  formal  ceremony  of 
closing.  The  full  form  of  the  expression 
is  to  call  from  labor  to  refreshment,  and  it 
took  its  rise  from  the  former  custom  of  di- 
viding the  time  spent  in  the  Lodge  between 
the  work  of  Masonry  and  the  moderate  en- 
joyment of  the  banquet.  The  banquet 
formed  in  the  last  century  an  indispensable 
part  of  the  arrangements  of  a  Lodge  meet- 
ing. "  At  a  certain  hour  of  the  evening," 
says  Brother  Oliver,  "  with  certain  cere- 
monies, the  Lodge  was  called  from  labor  to 
refreshment,  when  the  brethren  enjoyed 
themselves  with  decent  merriment."  That 
custom  no  longer  exists;  and  although  in 
England  almost  always,  and  in  this  coun- 
try occasionally,  the  labors  of  the  Lodge 
are  concluded  with  a  banquet;  yet  the 
Lodge  is  formally  closed  before  the  breth- 
ren proceed  to  the  table  of  refreshment. 
Calling  off  in  American  Lodges  is  now  only 
used,  except  in  a  certain  ceremony  of  the 
third  degree,  when  it  is  desired  to  have  an- 
other meeting  at  a  short  interval,  and  the 
Master  desires  to  avoid  the  tediousness  of 
closing  and  opening  the  Lodge.  Thus,  if 
the  business  of  the  Lodge  at  its  regular 
meeting  has  so  accumulated  that  it  cannot 
be  transacted  in  one  evening,  it  has  be- 
come the  custom  to  call  off  until  a  subse- 
quent evening,  when  the  Lodge,  instead  of 
being  opened  with  the  usual  ceremony,  is 
simply  "  called  on,"  and  the  latter  meeting 
is  considered  as  only  a  continuation  of  the 
former.  This  custom  is  very  generally 
adopted  in  Grand  Lodges  at  their  Annual 
Communications,  which  are  opened  at  the 
beginning  of  the  session,  called  off  from 
day  to  day,  and  finally  closed  at  its  end.  I 
do  not  know  that  any  objection  has  ever 
been  advanced  against  this  usage  in  Grand 
Lodges,  because  it  seems  necessary  as  a 
substitute  for  the  adjournment,  which  is 
resorted  to  in  other  legislative  bodies,  but 
which  is  not  admitted  in  Masonry.  But 
much  discussion  has  taken  place  in  refer- 


CALLING 


CALVARY 


145 


ence  to  the  practice  of  calling  off  in  Lodges, 
some  authorities  sustaining  and  others  con- 
demning it.  Thus,  twenty  years  ago,  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Mississippi  proposed  this  ques- 
tion :  "  In  case  of  excess  of  business,  can- 
not the  unfinished  be  laid  over  until  the 
next  or  another  day,  and  must  the  Lodge 
be  closed  in  form,  and  opened  the  next,  or 
the  day  designated  for  the  transaction  of 
that  business?"  To  this  question  some 
authorities,  and  among  others  Brother  C. 
W.  Moore,  {Mag.,  Vol.  XII.,  No.  10,)  reply 
in  the  negative,  while  other  equally  good 
jurists  differ  from  them  in  opinion. 

The  difficulty  seems  to  be  in  this,  that  if 
the  regular  meeting  of  the  Lodge  is  closed 
in  form,  the  subsequent  meeting  becomes  a 
special  one,  and  many  things  which  could 
be  done  at  a  regular  communication  cease 
to  be  admissible.  The  recommendation, 
therefore,  of  Brother  Moore,  that  the  Lodge 
should  be  closed,  and,  if  the  business  be  un- 
finished, that  the  Master  shall  call  a  spe- 
cial meeting  to  complete  it,  does  not  meet 
the  difficulty,  because  it  is  a  well-settled 
principle  of  Masonic  law  that  a  special 
meeting  cannot  interfere  with  the  business 
of  a  preceding  regular  one. 

As,  then,  the  mode  of  briefly  closing  by 
adjournment  is  contrary  to  Masonic  law  and 
usage,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  resorted  to, 
as  there  is  no  other  way  except  by  calling  off 
to  continue  the  character  of  a  regular  meet- 
ing, and  as,  during  the  period  that  the  Lodge 
is  called  off,  it  is  under  the  government  of 
the  Junior  Warden,  and  Masonic  discipline 
is  thus  continued,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion 
that  calling  off  from  day  to  day  for  the 
purpose  of  continuing  work  or  business  is, 
as  a  matter  of  convenience,  admissible. 
The  practice  may  indeed  be  abused!  But 
there  is  a  well-known  legal  maxim  which 
says,  Ex  abusu  non  ar guitar  in  usum.  "  No 
argument,  can  be  drawn  from  the  abuse  of 
a  thing  against  its  use."  Thus,  a  Lodge 
cannot  be  called  off  except  for  continuance 
of  work  and  business,  nor  to  an  indefinite 
day,  for  there  must  be  a  good  reason  for 
the  exercise  of  the  practice,  and  the  breth- 
ren present  must  be  notified  before  dispers- 
ing of  the  time  of  re-assembling  ;  nor  can 
a  Lodge  at  one  regular  meeting  be  called 
off  until  the  next,  for  no  regular  meeting 
of  a  Lodge  is  permitted  to  run  into  another, 
but  each  must  be  closed  before  its  successor 
can  be  opened. 

Calling  On.  When  a  Lodge  that  is 
called  off  at  a  subsequent  time  resumes 
work  or  business,  it  is  said  to  be  "  called 
on."  The  full  expression  is  "called  on 
from  refreshment  to  labor." 

Calumny.    See  Back. 

Calvary.  Mount  Calvary  is  a  small 
T  10 


hill  or  eminence,  situated  due  west  from 
Mount  Moriah,  on  which  the  Temple  of 
Solomon  was  built.  It  was  originally  a 
hillock  of  notable  eminence,  but  has,  in 
more  modern  times,  been  greatly  reduced 
by  the  excavations  made  in  it  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre. There  are  several  coincidences  which 
identify  Mount  Calvary  with  the  small  hill 
where  the  "  newly -made  grave,"  referred  to 
in  the  third  degree,  was  discovered  by  the 
weary  brother.  Thus,  Mount  Calvary  was 
a  small  hill ;  it  was  situated  in  a  westward 
direction  from  the  Temple,  and  near  Mount 
Moriah;  and  it  was  on  the  direct  road  from 
Jerusalem  to  Joppa,  and  is  the  very  spot 
where  a  weary  brother,  travelling  on  that 
road,  would  find  it  convenient  to  sit  down 
to  rest  and  refresh  himself ;  it  was  outside  the 
gate  of  the  Temple ;  it  has  at  least  one  cleft 
in  the  rock,  or  cave,  which  was  the  place 
which  subsequently  became  the  sepulchre 
of  our  Lord.  Hence  Mount  Calvary  has 
always  retained  an  important  place  in  the 
legendary  history  of  Freemasonry,  and 
there  are  many  traditions  connected  with  it 
that  are  highly  interesting  in  their  import. 

One  of  these  traditions  is,  that  it  was  the 
burial-place  of  Adam,  in  order,  says  the  old 
legend,  that  where  he  lay,  who  effected  the 
ruin  of  mankind,  there  also  might  the  Sa- 
viour of  the  world  suffer,  die,  and  be  buried. 
Sir  R.  Torkington,  who  published  a  pil- 
grimage to  Jerusalem  in  1517,  says  that 
"  under  the  Mount  of  Calvary  is  another 
chapel  of  our  Blessed  Lady  and  St.  John 
the  Evangelists,  that  was  called  Golgotha ; 
and  there,  right  under  the  mortise  of  the 
cross,  was  found  the  head  of  our  forefather, 
Adam."  Golgotha,  it  will  be  remembered, 
means,  in  Hebrew,  "  the  place  of  a  skull ; " 
and  there  may  be  some  connection  between 
this  tradition  and  the  name  of  Golgotha,  by 
which,  the  Evangelists  inform  us,  in  the 
time  of  Christ  Mount  Calvary  was  known. 
Calvary,  or  Calvaria,  has  the  same  significa- 
tion in  Latin. 

Another  tradition  states  that  it  was  in 
the  bowels  of  Mount  Calvary  that  Enoch 
erected  his  nine-arched  vault,  and  deposited 
on  the  foundation-stone  of  Masonry  that 
Ineffable  Name,  whose  investigation,  as  a 
symbol  of  divine  truth,  is  the  great  object 
of  Speculative  Masonry. 

A  third  tradition  details  the  subsequent 
discovery  of  Enoch's  deposit,  by  King  Solo- 
mon, whilst  making  excavations  in  Mount 
Calvary  during  the  building  of  the  Temple. 

On  this  hallowed  spot  was  Christ  the 
Redeemer  slain  and  buried.  It  was  there 
that,  rising  on  the  third  day  from  his  sep- 
ulchre, he  gave,  by  that  act,  the  demonstra- 
tive evidence  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 


146 


CAMP 


CANDLESTICK 


And  it  is  this  spot  that  has  been  selected, 
in  the  legendary  history  of  Freemasonry,  to 
teach  the  same  sublime  truth,  the  develop- 
ment of  which  by  a  symbol  evidently  forms 
the  design  of  the  third  or  Master's  degree. 

Camp.  A  portion  of  the  parapherna- 
lia decorated  with  tents,  flags,  and  pennons 
of  a  Consistory  of  Sublime  Princes  of  the 
Royal  Secret,  or  thirty-second  degree  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
It  constitutes  the  tracing  board,  and  is  worn 
on  the  apron  of  the  degree.  It  is  highly 
symbolic,  and  represents  an  imaginary  Ma- 
sonic camp.  Its  symbolism  is  altogether 
esoteric. 

Campe,  Joachim  Heinricb.  A 
Doctor  of  Theology,  and  Director  of  Schools 
in  Dessau  and  Hamburg,  who  was  born  in 
1746,  and  died  Oct.  22,  1818.  He  was  the 
author  of  many  works  on  philosophy  and 
education,  and  was  a  learned  and  zealous 
Mason,  as  is  shown  in  his  correspondence 
with  Lessing. 

Canada.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Canada 
was  formed  out  of  the  Provincial  Grand 
Lodge  by  a  Convention  of  Lodges  in  the 
year  1855.  It  is  formed  upon  the  model 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  having 
a  Board  of  General  Purposes,  and  similar 
regulations  as  to  representation. 

Candidate.  An  applicant  for  admis- 
sion into  Masonry  is  called  a  candidate. 
The  Latin  candidatus  means  clothed  in 
white,  candidis  vestibus  indutus.  In  ancient 
Rome,  he  who  sought  office  from  the  peo- 
ple wore  a  white  shining  robe  of  a  peculiar 
construction,  flowing  open  in  front,  so  as  to 
exhibit  the  wounds  he  had  received  in  his 
breast.  From  the  color  of  his  robe  or  toga 
Candida,  he  was  called  candidatus,  whence 
the  word  candidate.  The  derivation  will 
serve  to  remind  the  Mason  of  the  purity  of 
conduct  and  character  which  should  dis- 
tinguish all  those  who  are  candidates  for 
admission  into  the  order.  The  qualifica- 
tions of  a  candidate  in  Masonry  are  some- 
what peculiar.  He  must  be  freeborn, 
under  no  bondage,  of  at  least  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  in  the  possession  of  sound 
senses,  free  from  any  physical  defect  or  dis- 
memberment, and  of  irreproachable  man- 
ners, or,  as  it  is  technically  termed,  "  under 
the  tongue  of  good  report."  No  atheist, 
eunuch,  or  woman  can  be  admitted.  The 
requisites  as  to  age,  sex,  and  soundness  of 
body  have  reference  to  the  operative  char- 
acter of  the  Institution.  We  can  only  ex- 
pect able  workmen  in  able-bodied  men. 
The  mental  and  religious  qualifications 
a-efer  to  the  duties  and  obligations  which  a 
Freemason  contracts.  An  idiot  could  not 
understand  them,  and  an  atheist  would  not 
respect  them.  Even  those  who  possess  all 
these  necessary  qualifications  can  be  ad- 


mitted only  under  certain  regulations.  Not 
more  than  five  candidates  can  be  received 
at  one  time,  except  in  urgent  cases,  when  a 
dispensation  may  be  granted  by  the  Grand 
Master,  and  no  applicant  can  receive  more 
than  two  degrees  on  the  same  day.  To  the 
last  rule  there  can  be  no  exception. 

Candidates,  Advancement  of. 
See  Advancement,  Hurried. 

Candlestick,  Golden .  Th e  gol d en 
candlestick  of  seven  branches,  which  is  a 
part  of  the  furniture  of  a  Royal  Arch 
Chapter,  is  derived  from  "  the  holy  candle- 
stick "  which  Moses  was  instructed  to  con- 
struct of  beaten  gold  for  the  use  of  the 
tabernacle.  Smith  [Diet,  of  the  Bible)  thus 
abbreviates  Lightfoot's  explanation  of  the 
description  given  in  Exodus.  "The  foot 
of  it  was  gold,  from  which  went  up  a  shaft 
straight,  which  was  the  middle  light.  Near 
the  foot  was  a  golden  dish  wrought  almond- 
wise;  and  a  little  above  that  a  golden  knop, 
and  above  that  a  golden  flower.  Then  two 
branches  one  on  each  side  bowed,  and 
coming  up  as  high  as  the  middle  shaft.  On 
each  of  them  were  three  golden  cups  placed 
almondwise,  in  sharp,  scallop-shell  fashion ; 
above  which  was  a  golden  knop,  a  golden 
flower,  and  the  socket.  Above  the  branches 
on  the  middle  shaft  was  a  golden  boss, 
above  which  rose  two  shafts  more;  above 
the  coming  out  of  these  was  another  boss 
and  two  more  shafts,  and  then  on  the  shaft 
upwards  were  three  golden  scallop-cups,  a 
knop,  and  a  flower;  so  that  the  heads  of 
the  branches  stood  an  equal  height."  In 
the  tabernacle,  the  candlestick  was  placed 
opposite  the  table  of  shew-bread,  which  it 
was  intended  to  illumine,  in  an  oblique 
position,  so  that  the  lamps  looked  to  the 
east  and  south.  What  became  of  the 
candlestick  between  the  time  of  Moses  and 
that  of  Solomon  is  unknown ;  but  it  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  present  in  the  first 
Temple,  which  was  lighted  by  ten  golden 
candlesticks  similarly  embossed,  and  which 
were  connected  by  golden  chains  and 
formed  a  sort  of  railing  before  the  veil. 

These  ten  candlesticks  became  the  spoil 
of  the  Chaldean  conqueror  at  the  time  of 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  and  could 
not  have  been  among  the  articles  after- 
wards restored  by  Cyrus ;  for  in  the  second 
Temple,  built  by  Ze'rubbabel,  we  find  only 
a  single  candlestick  of  seven  branches,  like 
that  of  the  tabernacle.  Its  form  has  been 
perpetuated  on  the  Arch  of  Titus,  on  which 
it  was  sculptured  with  other  articles  taken 
by  that  monarch,  and  carried  to  Rome  as 
spolia  opima,  after  he  had  destroyed  the 
Herodian  Temple.  This  is  the  candlestick 
which  is  represented  as  a  decoration  in  a 
Royal  Arch  Chapter. 

In  Jewish  symbolism,  the  seven  branches 


CANOPY 


CAPITULAR 


147 


were  supposed  by  some  to  refer  to  the 
seven  planets,  and  by  others  to  the  seventh 
day  or  Sabbath.  The  primitive  Christians 
made  it  allusive  to  Christ  as  the  "light  of 
the  world,"  and  in  this  sense  it  is  a  favorite 
symbol  in  early  Christian  art.  In  Masonry 
it  seems  to  have  no  symbolic  meaning, 
unless  it  be  the  general  one  of  light ;  but 
is  used  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  simply  to 
indicate  that  the  room  is  a  representation 
of  the  tabernacle  erected  near  the  ruins 
of  the  first  Temple,  for  the  purpose  of  tem- 
porary worship  during  the  building  of  the 
second,  and  in  which  tabernacle  this  can- 
dlestick is  supposed  to  have  been  present. 

Canopy.  Oliver  says  that  in  the  Ma- 
sonic processions  of  the  Continent  the 
Grand  Master  walks  under  a  gorgeous 
canopy  of  blue,  purple,  and  crimson  silk, 
with  gold  fringes  and  tassels,  borne  upon 
staves,  painted  purple  and  ornamented  with 
gold,  by  eight  of  the  oldest  Master  Masons 
present ;  and  the  Masters  of  private  Lodges 
walk  under  canopies  of  light  blue  silk  with 
silver  tassels  and  fringes,  borne  by  four 
members  of  their  own  respective  companies. 
The  canopies  are  in  the  form  of  an  oblong 
square,  and  are  in  length  six  feet,  in  breadth 
and  height  three  feet,  having  a  semicircular 
covering.  The  framework  should  be  of 
cedar,  and  the  silken  covering  ought  to 
hang  down  two  feet  on  each  side.  This  is, 
properly  speaking,  a  Baldachin.  See  that 
word. 

Canopy,  Clouded.  The  clouded 
canopy,  or  starry-decked  heaven,  is  a  symbol 
of  the  first  degree,  and  is  of  such  important 
significance  that  Lenning  calls  it  a  "  funda- 
mental symbol  of  Freemasonry."  In  the  lec- 
tures of  the  York  Rite,  the  clouded  canopy  is 
described  as  the  covering  of  the  Lodge,  teach- 
ing us,  as  Krause  says,  "that  the  primitive 
Lodge  is  confined  within  no  shut  up  building, 
but  that  it  is  universal ,  and  reaches  to  heaven, 
and  especially  teaching  that  in  every  clime 
under  heaven  Freemasonry  has  its  seat." 
And  Gadicke  says,  "  Every  Freemason 
knows  that  by  the  clouded  canopy  we  mean 
the  heavens,  and  that  it  teaches  how  widely 
extended  is  our  sphere  of  usefulness.  There 
is  no  portion  of  the  inhabited  world  in 
which  our  labor  cannot  be  carried  for- 
ward, as  there  is  no  portion  of  the  globe 
without  its  clouded  canopy."  Hence,  then, 
the  German  interpretation  of  the  symbol  is 
that  it  denotes  the  universality  of  Free- 
masonry, an  interpretation  that  does  not 
precisely  accord  with  the  English  and 
American  systems,  in  which  the  doctrine 
of  universality  is  symbolized  by  the  form 
and  extent  of  the  Lodge.  The  clouded 
canopy  as  the  covering  of  the  Lodge  seems 
rather  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  aspiration 
for  a  higher  sphere ;  it  is  thus  denned  in 


this  work  under  the  head  of  Covering  of  the 
Lodge,  which  see. 
Canzler,    Carl    Christian.      A 

librarian  of  Dresden,  born  Sept.  30,  1733, 
died  Oct.  16, 1786.  He  was  an  earnest,  learn- 
ed Freemason,  who  published  in  a  literary 
journal,  conducted  by  himself  and  A.  G. 
Meissner  at  Leipsic,  in  1783-85,  under  the 
title  of  Fur  altere  Litteratur  und  neuere  Lec- 
ture, many  interesting  articles  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Freemasonry. 

Cape-Stone,  or,  as  it  would  more  cor- 
rectly be  called,  the  cope-stone,  (but  the 
former  word  has  been  consecrated  to  us  by 
universal  Masonic  usage,)  is  the  topmost 
stone  of  a  building.  To  bring  it  forth, 
therefore,  and  to  place  it  in  its  destined 
position,  is  significative  that  the  building  is 
completed,  which  event  is  celebrated,  even 
by  the  operative  Masons  of  the  present  day, 
with  great  signs  of  rejoicing.  Flags  are 
hoisted  on  the  top  of  every  edifice  by  the 
builders  engaged  in  its  construction,  as  soon 
as  they  have  reached  the  topmost  post,  and 
thus  finished  their  labors.  This  is  the 
"  celebration  of  the  cape-stone,"  — the  cele- 
bration of  the  completion  of  the  building, — 
when  tools  are  laid  aside,  and  rest  and  re- 
freshment succeed  for  a  time  to  labor.  This 
is  the  event  in  the  history  of  the  Temple 
which  is  commemorated  in  the  degree  of 
Most  Excellent  Master,  the  sixth  in  the 
American  Rite.  The  day  set  apart  for  the 
celebration  of  the  cape-stone  of  the  Temple  is 
the  day  devoted  to  rejoicing  and  thanks- 
giving for  the  completion  of  that  glorious 
structure.     Hence  there  seems  to  be  an  im- 

Kropriety  in  the  ordinary  use  of  the  Mark 
[aster's  keystone  in  the  ritual  of  the  Most 
Excellent  Master.  That  keystone  was  de- 
posited in  silence  and  secrecy ;  while  the 
cape-stone,  as  the  legend  and  ceremonies 
tell  us,  was  placed  in  its  position  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  Craft. 

Capitular  Degrees.  The  degrees 
conferred  under  the  charter  of  an  American 
Royal  Arch  Chapter,  which  are  Mark 
Master,  Past  Master,  Most  Excellent  Master, 
and  Royal  Arch  Mason.  The  capitular 
degrees  are  almost  altogether  founded  on 
and  composed  of  a  series  of  events  in  Ma- 
sonic history.  Each  of  them  has  attached 
to  it  some  tradition  or  legend  which  it  is 
the  design  of  the  degree  to  illustrate,  and 
the  memory  of  which  is  preserved  in  its 
ceremonies  and  instructions.  Most  of  these 
legends  are  of  symbolic  signification.  But 
this  is  their  interior  sense.  In  their  out- 
ward and  ostensible  meaning,  they  appear 
before  us  simply  as  legends.  To  retain 
these  legends  in  the  memory  of  Masons  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  primary  design  in 
the  establishment  of  the  higher  degrees ; 
and  as  the  information  intended  to  be  com- 


148 


CAPITULAR 


CAPTIVITY 


municated  in  these  degrees  is  of  an  histor- 
ical character,  there  can  of  course  be  but 
little  room  for  symbols  or  for  symbolic  in- 
struction ;  the  profuse  use  of  which  would 
rather  tend  to  an  injury  than  to  a  benefit, 
by  complicating  the  purposes  of  the  ritual 
and  confusing  the  mind  of  the  aspirant. 
These  remarks  refer  exclusively  to  the  Mark 
and  Most  Excelleut  Master's  degree  of  the 
American  Rite,  but  are  not  so  applicable  to 
the  Royal  Arch,  which  is  eminently  sym- 
bolic. The  legends  of  the  second  Temple, 
and  the  lost  word,  the  peculiar  legends  of 
that  degree,  are  among  the  most  prominent 
symbols  of  the  Masonic  system. 

Capitular  Masonry.  The  Masonry 
conferred  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the 
York  and  American  Rites.  There  are 
Chapters  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted, 
Scottish,  and  in  the  French  and  other 
Rites ;  but  the  Masonry  therein  conferred  is 
not  called  capitular. 

Captain  General.  The  third  offi- 
cer in  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars. He  presides  over  the  Commandery 
in  the  absence  of  his  superiors,  and  is  one 
of  its  representatives  in  the  Grand  Com- 
mandery. His  duties  are  to  see  that  the 
council  chamber  and  asylum  are  duly  pre- 
pared for  the  business  of  the  meetings,  and 
to  communicate  all  orders  issued  by  the 
Grand  Council.  His  station  is  on  the  left 
of  the  Grand  Commander,  and  his  jewel  is 
a  level  surmounted  by  a  cock.     See  Cock. 

Captain  of  the  Guard.  The  sixth 
officer  in  a  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters.  In  the  latter  degree  he  is  said  to 
represent  Azariah,  the  son  of  Nathan,  who 
had  command  of  the  twelve  officers  of  the 
king's  household,  (1  Kings  iv.  7.)  His 
duties  correspond  in  some  measure  with 
those  of  a  Senior  Deacon  in  the  primary 
degrees.  His  post  is,  therefore,  on  the 
right  of  the  throne,  and  his  jewel  is  a 
trowel  and  battle-axe  within  a  triangle. 

Captain  of  the  Host.  The  fourth 
officer  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter.  He  rep- 
resents the  general  or  leader  of  the  Jewish 
troops  who  returned  from  Babylon,  and 
who  was  called  "  Sar  el  hatzaba,"  and  was 
equivalent  to  a  modern  general.  The  word 
Host  in  the  title  means  army.  He  sits  on 
the  right  of  the  Council  in  front,  and  wears 
a  white  robe  and  cap  or  helmet,  with  a  red 
sash,  and  is  armed  with  a  sword.  His 
jewel  is  a  triangular  plate,  on  which  an 
armed  soldier  is  engraved. 

CaptiYity.  The  Jews  reckoned  their 
national  captivities  as  four, — the  Babylo- 
nian, Medean,  Grecian,  and  Roman.  The 
present  article  will  refer  only  to  the  first, 
when  there  was  a  forcible  deportation  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebu- 
zaradan,  the  general  of  King  Nebuchad- 


nezzar, and  their  detention  at  Babylon 
until  the  reign  of  Cyrus,  which  alone  is 
connected  with  the  history  of  Masonry, 
and  is  commemorated  in  the  Royal  Arch 
degree. 

Between  that  portion  of  the  ritual  of  the 
Royal  Arch  which  refers  to  the  destruction 
of  the  first  Temple,  and  that  subsequent 
part  which  symbolizes  the  building  of  the 
second,  there  is  an  interregnum  (if  we  may 
be  allowed  the  term)  in  the  ceremonial  of  the 
degree,  which  must  be  considered  as  a  long 
interval  in  history,  the  filling  up  of  which, 
like  the  interval  between  the  acts  of  a  play, 
must  be  left  to  the  imagination  of  the  specta- 
tor. This  interval  represents  the  time  passed 
in  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  at  Babylon. 
That  captivity  lasted  for  seventy  years,  — 
from  the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar  until  that 
of  Cyrus,  —  although  but  fifty-two  of  these 
years  are  commemorated  in  the  Royal  Arch 
degree.  This  event  took  place  in  the  year 
588  B.  c.  It  was  not,  however,  the  begin- 
ning of  the  "seventy  years'  captivity," 
which  had  been  foretold  by  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  which  commenced  eighteen  years 
before.  The  captives  were  conducted  to 
Babylon.  What  was  the  exact  number 
removed  we  have  no  means  of  ascertain- 
ing. We  are  led  to  believe,  from'  certain 
passages  of  Scripture,  that  the  deportation 
was  not  complete.  Calmet  says  that  Nebu- 
chadnezzar carried  away  only  the  principal 
inhabitants,  the  warriors  and  artisans  of 
every  kind,  and  that  he  left  the  husband- 
men, the  laborers,  and,  in  general,  the 
poorer  classes,  that  constituted  the  great 
body  of  the  people.  Among  the  prisoners 
of  distinction,  Josephus  mentions  the  high 
priest,  Seraiah,  and  Zephaniah,  the  priest 
that  was  next  to  him,  with  the  three  rulers 
that  guarded  the  Temple,  the  eunuch  who 
was  over  the  armed  men,  seven  friends  of 
Zedekiah,  his  scribe,  and  sixty  other  rulers. 
Zedekiah,  the  king,  had  attempted  to  escape 
previous  to  the  termination  of  the  siege, 
but  being  pursued,  was  captured  and  car- 
ried to  Riblah,  the  headquarters  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, where,  having  first  been  com- 
pelled to  behold  the  slaughter  of  his 
children,  his  eyes  were  then  put  out,  and 
he  was  conducted  in  chains  to  Babylon. 

A  Masonic  tradition  informs  us  that  the 
captive  Jews  were  bound  by  their  conquer- 
ors with  triangular  chains,  and  that  this 
was  done  by  the  Chaldeans  as  an  additional 
insult,  because  the  Jewish  Masons  were 
known  to  esteem  the  triangle  as  an  emblem 
of  the  sacred  name  of  God,  and  must  have 
considered  its  appropriation  to  the  form  of 
their  fetters  as  a  desecration  of  the  Tetra- 
grammaton. 

Notwithstanding  the  ignominious  mode 
of  their  conveyance  from  Jerusalem,  and 


CAPTIVITY 


CARBONARISM 


149 


the  vindictiveness  displayed  by  their  con- 
queror in  the  destruction  of  their  city  and 
Temple,  they  do  not  appear,  on  their  arrival 
at  Babylon,  to  have  been  subjected  to  any 
of  the  extreme  rigors  of  slavery.  They 
were  distributed  into  various  parts  of  the 
empire,  some  remaining  in  the  city,  while 
others  were  sent  into  the  provinces.  The 
latter  probably  devoted  themselves  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  while  the  former  were 
engaged  in  commerce  or  in  the  labors  of 
architecture.  Smith  says  that  the  captives 
were  treated  not  as  slaves  but  as  colonists. 
They  were  permitted  to  retain  their  per- 
sonal property,  and  even  to  purchase  lands 
and  erect  houses.  Their  civil  and  religious 
government  was  not  utterly  destroyed,  for 
they  kept  up  a  regular  succession  of  kings 
and  high  priests,  one  of  each  of  whom 
returned  with  them,  as  will  be  seen  here- 
after, on  their  restoration.  Some  of  the 
principal  captives  were  advanced  to  offices 
of  dignity  and  power  in  the  royal  palace, 
and  were  permitted  to  share  in  the  councils 
of  state.  Their  prophets,  Daniel  and  Eze- 
kiel,  with  their  associates,  preserved  among 
their  countrymen  the  pure  doctrines  of 
their  religion.  Although  they  had  neither 
place  nor  time  of  national  gathering,  nor 
temple,  and  therefore  offered  no  sacrifices, 
yet  they  observed  the  Mosaic  laws  with 
respect  to  the  rite  of  circumcision.  They 
preserved  their  tables  of  genealogy  and  the 
true  succession  to  the  throne  of  David.  The 
rightful  heir  being  called  the  Head  of  the 
Captivity,*  Jehoiachin,  who  was  the  first 
king  of  Judea  carried  captive  to  Babylon, 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Shealtiel,  and  he 
by  his  son  Zerubbabel,  who  was  the  Head 
of  the  Captivity,  or  nominal  prince  of 
Judea  at  the  close  of  the  captivity.  The 
due  succession  of  the  high  priesthood  was 
also  preserved,  for  Jehosadek,  who  was  the 
high  priest  carried  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
to  Babylon,  where  he  died  during  the  cap- 
tivity, was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son, 
Joshua.  The  Jewish  captivity  terminated 
in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Cyrus,  B.  c. 
536.  Cyrus,  from  his  conversations  with 
Daniel  and  the  other  Jewish  captives  of 
learning  and  piety,  as  well  as  from  his 
perusal  of  their  sacred  books,  more  espe- 
cially the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  had  become 
imbued  with  a  knowledge  of  true  religion, 
and  hence  had  even  publicly  announced  to 
his  subjects  his  belief  in  the  God  "which 
the  nation  of  the  Israelites  worshipped." 
He  was  consequently  impressed  with  an 
earnest  desire  to  fulfil  the  prophetic  decla- 
rations of  which  he  was  the  subject,  and 


*  So  says  the  Talmud,  but  Smith  {Diet,  of  the 
Bible)  affirms  that  the  assertion  is  unsupported 
by  proof.  The  Masonic  legends  conform  to  the 
Talmudic  statement. 


to  rebuild  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  Cy- 
rus therefore  issued  a  decree  by  which  the 
Jews  were  permitted  to  return  to  their 
country.  According  to  Milman,  42,360  be- 
sides servants  availed  themselves  of  this 
permission,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem 
under  Zerubbabel  their  prince  and  Joshua 
their  high  priest,  and  thus  ended  the  first 
or  Babylonian  captivity,  the  only  one 
which  has  any  connection  with  the  legends 
of  Freemasonry  as  commemorated  in  the 
lloyal  Arch  degree. 

Carausius.  A  Roman  emperor,  who 
assumed  the  purple  A.  D.  287.  Of  him 
Preston  gives  the  following  account,  which 
may  or  may  not  be  deemed  apocryphal,  ac- 
cording to  the  taste  and  inclination  of  the 
reader.  "  By  assuming  the  character  of  a 
Mason,  he  acquired  the  love  and  esteem  of 
the  most  enlightened  part  of  his  subjects. 
He  possessed  real  merit,  encouraged  learn- 
ing and  learned  men,  and  improved  the 
country  in  the  civil  arts.  In  order  to  es- 
tablish an  empire  in  Britain,  he  brought 
into  his  dominions  the  best  workmen  and 
artificers  from  all  parts ;  all  of  whom,  un- 
der his  auspices,  enjoyed  peace  and  tran- 
quillity. Among  the  first  class  of  his  favor- 
ites he  enrolled  the  Masons:  for  their 
tenets  he  professed  the  highest  veneration, 
and  appointed  Albanus,  his  steward,  the 
principal  superintendent  of  their  assem- 
blies. Under  his  patronage,  Lodges  and 
conventions  of  the  Fraternity  were  formed, 
and  the  rites  of  Masonry  regularly  prac- 
tised. To  enable  the  Masons  to  hold  a 
general  council,  to  establish  their  own  gov- 
ernment and  correct  errors  among  them- 
selves, he  granted  to  them  a  charter,  and 
commanded  Albanus  to  preside  over  them 
in  person  as  Grand  Master."  Anderson 
also  gives  the  legend  of  Carausius  in  the 
second  edition  of  his  Constitutions,  and  adds 
that  "  this  is  asserted  by  all  the  old  copies 
of  the  Constitutions,  and  the  old  English 
Masons  firmly  believed  it."  But  the  fact  is 
that  Anderson  himself  does  not  mention 
the  tradition  in  his  first  edition,  published 
in  1723,  nor  is  any  reference  to  Carausius 
to  be  found  in  any  of  the  old  manuscripts 
now  extant.  The  legend  is,  it  is  true,  in- 
serted in  Krause's  Manuscript;  but  this 
document  is  of  very  little  authority,  hav- 
ing been,  most  probably,  a  production  of  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
of  a  cotemporary  of  Anderson,  written  per- 
haps between  1723  and  1738,  which  would 
account  for  the  omission  of  it  in  the  first 
edition  of  the  Book  of  Constitutions,  and 
its  insertion  in  the  second.  The  reader 
may  hence  determine  for  himself  what  au- 
thenticity is  to  be  given  to  the  Carausian 
legend. 

Carbonarisin.   A  secret  political  so- 


150 


CARBUNCLE 


CASSIA 


ciety  which  sprang  up  in  Italy  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is 
entitled  to  no  place  in  a  Masonic  Encyclo- 
paedia, except  that  the  word  affords  an  op- 
portunity of  repudiating  the  theory  that  it 
was  in  any  way  connected  with  Freema- 
sonry, although  the  Carbonari  appear  to 
have  borrowed  many  of  their  forms  from 
the  Freemasons.  The  members  called  each 
other  "  cousins." 

Carbuncle.  In  Hebrew,  n0"O,  bara- 
keth,  the  third  stone  in  the  first  row  of  the 
high  priest's  breastplate,  according  to  the 
authorized  version,  but  the  first  stone  in 
the  second  row,  according  to  the  Septua- 
gint.  Braun,  a  writer  on  the  sacerdotal 
vestments  of  the  Hebrews,  (Amsterdam, 
1680,)  supposes  that  the  baraketh  was  a 
smaragdus  or  emerald,  which  view  is  sus- 
tained by  Kalisch,  and  is  in  accordance 
with  the  Septuagint  translation.  The  Tal- 
mudists  derive  baraketh  from  a  word  signi- 
fying "to  shine  with  the  brightness  of 
fire,"  which  would  seem  to  indicate  some 
stone  of  a  coruscant  color,  and  would  ap- 
ply to  the  bright  green  of  the  emerald  as 
well  as  to  the  bright  red  of  the  carbuncle. 
The  stone,  whatever  it  was,  was  referred  to 
the  tribe  of  Judah.  The  carbuncle  in 
Christian  iconography  signifies  blood  and 
suffering,  and  is  symbolical  of  the  Lord's 
passion.  Five  carbuncles  placed  on  a  cross 
symbolize  the  five  wounds  of  Christ. 

Cardinal  Points.  The  north,  west, 
east,  and  south  are  so  called  from  the 
Latin  cardo,  a  hinge,  because  they  are  the 
principal  points  of  the  compass  on  which 
all  the  others  hinge  or  hang.  Each  of 
them  has  a  symbolic  signification  in  Ma- 
sonry, which  will  be  found  under  their  re- 
spective heads.  Dr.  Brinton,  in  an  inter- 
esting Treatise  on  the  Symbolism  and  My- 
thology of  the  Red  Race  of  America,  has  a 
chapter  on  the  sacred  number  four ;  the  only 
one,  he  says,  that  has  any  prominence  in 
the  religions  of  the  red  race,  and  which 
he  traces  to  the  four  cardinal  points.  The 
reason,  he  declares,  is  to  be  "  found  in  the 
adoration  of  the  cardinal  points;"  and  he 
attributes  to  this  cause  the  prevalence  of 
the  cross  as  a  symbol  among  the  aborigines 
of  America,  the  existence  of  which  so  sur- 
prised the  Catholic  missionaries  that  they 
"  were  in  doubt  whether  to  ascribe  the  fact 
to  the  pious  labors  of  St.  Thomas  or  the 
sacrilegious  subtlety  of  Satan."  The  arms 
of  the  cross  referred  to  the  cardinal  points, 
and  represented  the  four  winds,  the  bringers 
of  rain.  The  theory  is  an  interesting  one, 
and  the  author  supports  it  with  many  in- 
genious illustrations.  In  the  symbolism 
of  Freemasonry  each  of  the  cardinal  points 
has  a  mystical  meaning.  The  East  repre- 
sents Wisdom ;   the   West,  Strength ;   the 


South,   Beauty;    and    the    North,    Dark- 
ness. 

Cardinal  Virtues.  The  pre-eminent 
or  principal  virtues  on  which  all  the  others 
hinge  or  depend.  They  are  temperance, 
fortitude,  prudence,  and  justice.  They  are 
referred  to  in  the  ritual  of  the  first  degree, 
and  will  be  found  in  this  work  under  their 
respective  heads.  Oliver  says  [Revelation  of 
a  Square,  ch.  i.,)  that  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury the  Masons  delineated  the  symbols  of 
the  four  cardinal  virtues  by  an  acute  angle 
variously  disposed.  Thus,  suppose  you 
face  the  east,  the  angle  symbolizing  tem- 
perance will  point  to  the  south,  >.  It  was 
called  a  Guttural.  Fortitude  was  denoted 
by  a  saltire,  or  St.  Andrew's  Cross,  X .  This 
was  the  Pectoral.  The  symbol  of  prudence 
was  an  acute  angle  pointing  towards  the 
south-east,  ~J,  and  was  denominated  a 
Manual ;  and  justice  had  its  angle  towards 
the  north,  <,  and  was  called  a  Pedestal  or 
Pedal. 

Carlile.  Richard.  A  printer  and 
bookseller  of  London,  who  in  1819  was 
fined  and  imprisoned  for  the  publication 
of  Paine's  Age  of  Reason,  and  Palmer's 
Light  of  Mature.  He  also  wrote  and  pub- 
lished several  pretended  expositions  of 
Masonry,  which,  after  his  death,  were  col- 
lected, in  1845,  in  one  volume,  under  the 
title  of  a  Manual  of  Freemasonry,  in  three 
parts.  Carlile  was  a  professed  Atheist, 
and,  although  a  fanatical  reformer  of  what 
he  supposed  to  be  the  errors  of  the  age,  was 
a  man  of  some  ability.  His  Masonic  works 
are  interspersed  with  considerable  learning, 
and  are  not  as  abusive  of  the  Order  as  ex- 
positions generally  are.  He  was  born  in 
1790,  and  died  in  1843,  in  London.  For 
ten  years  before  his  death  his  religious 
opinions  had  been  greatly  modified. 

Carpet.  The  chart  or  tracing  board 
on  which  the  emblems  of  a  degree  are  de- 
picted for  the  instruction  of  a  candidate. 
"  Carpets  "  were  originally  drawn  on  the 
floor  with  chalk  or  charcoal,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  Lodge  obliterated.  To  avoid  this 
trouble,  they  were  subsequently  painted  on 
cloth,  which  was  laid  on  the  floor;  hence 
they  were  called  carpets.  Carpets,  or 
charts,  as  they  are  at  the  present  time  com- 
monly designated,  are  now  generally  sus- 
pended from  the  wall,  or  from  a  framework 
in  the  Lodge. 

Casmaran.  The  angel  of  air.  Re- 
ferred to  in  the  degree  of  Scottish  Knight 
of  St.  Andrew.  The  etymology  is  uncer- 
tain. 

Cassia.  A  corruption  of  acacia,  which 
undoubtedly  arose  from  the  common  habit, 
among  illiterate  people,  of  sinking  the 
sound  of  the  letter  A  in  the  pronunciation 
of  anv  word  of  which  it  constitutes  the  ini- 


CASTELLAN 


CATHARINE 


151 


tial  syllable,  aspothecary  for  apothecary,  and 
prentice  for  apprentice.  The  word  prentice, 
by  the  way,  is  almost  altogether  used  in  the 
old  records  of  Masonry,  which  were,  for 
the  most  part,  the  productions  of  unedu- 
cated men.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  cor- 
ruption of  acacia  into  cassia  has  not  always 
been  confined  to  the  illiterate;  but  the  long 
employment  of  the  corrupted  form  has  at 
length  introduced  it,  in  some  instances, 
among  a  few  of  our  writers.  Even  Dr. 
Oliver  has  sometimes  used  the  objectiona- 
ble corruption,  notwithstanding  he  has 
written  so  much  upon  the  symbolism  of  the 
acacia. 

There  is  a  plant  which  was  called  by  the 
ancients  cassia,  but  it  is  entirely  different 
from  the  acacia.  The  acacia  was  a  sacred 
plant;  the  cassia  an  ignoble  plant,  having 
no  sacred  character.  The  former  is  in  Ma- 
sonry profoundly  symbolic;  the  latter  has 
no  symbolism  whatever.  The  cassia  is  only 
three  times  mentioned  in  Scripture,  but 
always  as  an  aromatic  plant  forming  a  por- 
tion of  some  perfume.  There  is,  indeed, 
strong  reason  for  believing  that  the  cassia 
was  only  a  coarse  kind  of  cinnamon,  and 
that  it  did  not  grow  in  Palestine,  but  was 
imported  from  the  East.  Cassia,  therefore, 
has  no  rightful  place  in  Masonic  language, 
and  its  use  should  be  avoided  as  a  vulgar 
corruption. 

Castellan.  In  Germany,  the  Super- 
intendent or  Steward  of  a  Lodge  building, 
in  which  he  resides.  He  is  either  a  serving 
brother  or  an  actual  member  of  the  Lodge, 
and  has  the  care  of  the  building  and  its 
contents. 

Casting  Voice  or  Vote.  The 
twelfth  of  the  thirty-nine  General  Regula- 
tions prescribes  that  "  all  matters  are  to  be 
determined  in  the  Grand  Lodge  by  a  ma- 
jority of  votes.  Each  member  having  one 
vote  and  the  Grand  Master  having  two 
votes."  From  this  law  has  arisen  the  uni- 
versal usage  of  giving  to  the  Master  of  the 
Lodge  a  casting  vote  in  addition  to  his  own 
when  there  is  a  tie.  The  custom  is  so  uni- 
versal, and  has  been  so  long  practised,  that, 
although  I  can  find  no  specific  law  on  the 
subject,  the  right  may  be  considered  as 
established  by  prescription.  It  may  be  re- 
marked that  the  Masonic  usage  is  probably 
derived  from  the  custom  of  the  London 
Livery  Companies  or  Gilds,  where  the  cast- 
ing vote  has  always  been  given  by  the  presid- 
ing officers  in  all  cases  of  equality,  a  rule 
that  has  been  recognized  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment. 

Catafalque.  A  temporary  structure 
of  wood,  appropriately  decorated  with 
funereal  symbols  and  representing  a  tomb 
or  cenotaph.  It  forms  a  part  of  the  deco- 
rations of  a  Sorrow   Lodge,   and  is  also 


used  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  third  degree 
in  Lodges  of  the  French  Rite. 

Catch  Questions.  Questions  not  in- 
cluded in  the  Catechism,  but  adopted  from 
an  early  period  to  try  the  pretensions  of  a 
stranger,  such  as  this  used  by  American 
Masons:  ''  Where  does  the  Master  hang  his 
hat?  "  and  by  the  French,  "  Comment  §tes- 
vous  entre  dans  le  Temple  de  Salomon?" 
Such  as  these  are  of  course  unsanctioned  by 
authority.  But  Dr.  Oliver,  in  an  essay  on 
this  subject  preliminary  to  the  fourth  vol- 
ume of  his  Golden  Remains,  gives  a  long 
list  of  these  "additional  tests,"  which  had 
been  reduced  to  a  kind  of  system,  and  were 
practised  by  the  English  Masons  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Among  them  were 
such  as  these.  What  is  the  punishment  of 
a  cowan  ?  What  does  this  stone  smell  of? 
If  a  brother  were  lost,  where  would  you  look 
for  him?  How  blows  a  Mason's  wind?  and 
many  others  of  the  same  kind.  Of  these 
tests  or  catch  questions,  Dr.  Oliver  says, 
"  that  they  were  something  like  the  conun- 
drums of  the  present  day— difficult  of  com- 
prehension ;  admitting  only  of  one  answer, 
which  appeared  to  have  no  direct  corres- 
pondence with  the  question,  and  applicable 
only  in  consonance  with  the  mysterious 
terms  and  symbols  of  the  Institution." 
Catch  questions  in  this  country,  at  least, 
seem  to  be  getting  out  of  use,  and  some  of 
the  most  learned  Masons  at  the  present  day 
would  find  it  difficult  to  answer  them. 

Catechism.  From  the  earliest  times 
the  oral  instructions  of  Masonry  have  been 
communicated  in  a  catechetical  form.  Each 
degree  has  its  peculiar  catechism,  the  knowl- 
edge of  which  constitutes  what  is  called  a 
"  bright  Mason."  The  catechism,  indeed, 
should  be  known  to  every  Mason,  for  every 
aspirant  should  be  thoroughly  instructed 
in  that  of  the  degree  to  which  he  has  at- 
tained before  he  is  permitted  to  make  fur- 
ther progress.  The  rule,  however,  is  not 
rigidly  observed ;  and  many  Masons,  unfortu- 
nately, are  very  ignorant  of  all  but  the  rudi- 
mentary parts  of  their  catechism,  which 
they  derive  only  from  hearing  portions  of 
it  communicated  at  the  opening  and  clos- 
ing of  the  Lodge. 

Catenarian  Arch.  If  a  rope  be 
suspended  loosely  by  its  two  ends,  the 
curve  into  which  it  falls  is  called  a  catena- 
rian curve,  and  this  inverted  forms  the 
catenarian  arch,  which  is  said  to  be  the 
strongest  of  all  arches.  As  the  form  of  a 
symbolic  Lodge  is  an  oblong  square,  that 
of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  according  to  the 
English  ritual,  is  a  catenarian  arch. 

Catharine  II.  Catharine  the  Great, 
Empress  of  Russia,  in  1762,  prohibited  by 
an  edict  all  Masonic  meetings  in  her  do- 
minions.    But  subsequently  better  senti- 


152 


CAUTION 


CEDARS 


merits  prevailed,  and  having  learned  the 
true  character  of  the  Institution,  she  not 
only  revoked  her  order  of  prohibition,  but 
invited  the  Masons  to  re-establish  their 
Lodges  and  to  constitute  new  ones,  and 
went  so  far  as  to  proclaim  herself  the  Pro- 
tectress of  the  Lodge  of  Clio,  at  Moscow. 
During  the  remainder  of  her  reign  Free- 
masonry was  in  a  flourishing  condition  in 
Russia,  and  many  of  the  nobles  organized 
Lodges  in  their  palaces.  She  died  Novem- 
ber 6,  1796,  and  the  persecutions  against 
the  Order  were  renewed  by  her  successor. 

Caution.  Jt  was  formerly  the  custom 
to  bestow  upon  an  Entered  Apprentice,  on 
his  initiation,  a  new  name,  which  was 
"  caution."  The  custom  is  now  very  gen- 
erally discontinued,  although  the  principle 
which  it  inculcated  should  never  be  for- 
gotten. 

The  Old  Charges  of  1723  impress  upon  a 
Mason  the  necessity,  when  in  the  presence 
of  strangers  not  Masons,  to  be  "  cautious  in 
his  words  and  carriage,  that  the  most  pene- 
trating stranger  shall  not  be  able  to  dis- 
cover or  find  out  what  is  not  proper  to  be 
intimated ; "  as  these  Charges  were  particu- 
larly directed  to  Apprentices,  who  then  con- 
stituted the  great  body  of  the  Fraternity,  it 
is  evident  that  the  "  new  name  "  gave  rise 
to  the  Charge,  or,  more  likely,  that  the 
Charge  gave  rise  to  the  "  new  name." 

Cavern.  In  the  Pagan  mysteries  of 
antiquity  the  initiations  were  often  per- 
formed in  caverns,  of  which  a  few,  like  the 
cave  of  Elephanta  in  India,  still  remain  to 
indicate  by  their  form  and  extent  the 
character  of  the  rites  that  were  then  per- 
formed. The  cavern  of  Elephanta,  which 
was  the  most  gorgeous  temple  in  the  world, 
is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  square,  and 
eighteen  feet  high.  It  is  supported  by  four 
massive  pillars,  and  its  walls  are  covered 
with  statues  and  carved  symbolic  decora- 
tions. The  sacellum,  or  sacred  place,  which 
contained  the  phallic  symbol,  was  in  the 
western  extremity,  and  accessible  only  to 
the  initiated.  The  caverns  of  Salsette, 
greatly  exceeded  in  magnitude  that  of  Ele- 
phanta, being  three  hundred  in  number, 
all  adorned  with  symbolic  figures,  among 
which  the  phallic  emblems  were  predomi- 
nant, which  were  placed  in  the  most  secret 
caverns,  accessible  only  by  private  en- 
trances. In  every  cavern  was  a  basin  to 
contain  the  consecrated  water  of  ablution, 
on  the  surface  of  which  floated  the  sacred 
lotus  flower.  All  these  caverns  were  places 
of  initiation  into  the  Hindu  mysteries, 
and  every  arrangement  was  made  for  the 
performance  of  the  most  impressive  cere- 
monies. 

Faber  {Mys.  Cab.,  ii.  257,)  says  that 
"wherever    the    Cabiric   Mysteries    were 


practised,  they  were  always  in  some  man- 
ner or  other  connected  with  caverns;"  and 
he  mentions,  among  other  instances,  the 
cave  Zirinthus,  within  whose  dark  recesses 
the  most  mysterious  Rites  of  the  Samothra- 
cian  Cabiri  were  performed. 

Maurice,  (Ind.  Ant,  iii.  536,)  speaking 
of  the  subterranean  passages  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  Isis,  in  the  island  of  Phile  in  the 
river  Nile,  says,  "  it  was  in  these  gloomy 
caverns  that  the  grand  and  mystic  arcana 
of  the  goddess  were  unfolded  to  the  adoring 
aspirant,  while  the  solemn  hymns  oi  initia- 
tion resounded  through  the  long  extent  of 
these  stony  recesses." 

Many  of  the  ancient  oracles,  as,  for  in- 
stance, that  of  Trophonius  in  Boeotia,  were 
delivered  in  caves.  Hence,  the  cave — sub- 
terranean, dark,  and  silent — was  mingled  in 
the  ancient  mind  with  the  idea  of  mystery. 

In  the  ceremonies  of  Masonry,  we  find 
the  cavern  or  vault  in  what  is  called  the 
Cryptic  Masonry  of  the  American  Rite, 
and  also  in  the  high  degrees  of  the  French 
and  Scottish  Rites,  in  which  it  is  a  symbol 
of  the  darkness  of  ignorance  and  crime 
impenetrable  to  the  light  of  truth. 

In  reference  to  the  practical  purposes  of 
the  cavern,  as  recorded  in  the  legend  of 
these  degrees,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
caverns,  which  abounded  in  Palestine  in 
consequence  of  the  geological  structure  of 
the  country,  are  spoken  of  by  Josephus  as 
places  of  refuge  for  banditti ;  and  Mr. 
Phillott  says,  in  Smith's  Dictionary,  that  it 
was  the  caves  which  lie  beneath  and  around 
so  many  of  the  Jewish  cities  that  formed 
the  last  hiding-places  of  the  Jewish  leaders 
in  the  war  with  the  Romans. 

Cedars  of  Lebanon.  In  scriptural 
symbology,  the  cedar-tree,  says  Wemyss, 
(Symb.  Lang.  Scrip.,)  was  the  symbol  of 
eternity,  because  its  substance  never  decays 
nor  rots.  Hence,  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant 
was  made  of  cedar ;  and  those  are  said  to 
utter  things  worthy  of  cedar  who  write 
that  which  no  time  ought  to  obliterate. 

The  Cedars  of  Lebanon  are  frequently 
referred  to  in  the  legends  of  Masonry,  es- 
pecially in  the  higher  degrees;  not,  however, 
on  account  of  any  symbolical  signification, 
but  rather  because  of  the  use  made  of  them 
by  Solomon  and  Zerubbabel  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  respective  Temples.  Mr. 
Phillott  {Smith's  Diet.  Bible)  thus  describes 
the  grove  so  celebrated  in  scriptural  and 
Masonic  history 

The  grove  of  trees  known  as  the  Cedars 
of  Lebanon  consists  of  about  four  hundred 
trees,  standing  quite  alone  in  a  depression 
of  the  mountain  with  no  trees  near,  about 
six  thousand  four  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  three  thousand  below  the  summit. 
About  eleven  or  twelve  are  very  large  and 


CELEBRATION 


CENTAINE 


153 


old,  twenty-five  large,  fifty  of  middle  size, 
and  more  than  three  hundred  younger  and 
smaller  ones.  The  older  trees  have  each 
several  trunks  and  spread  themselves  wide- 
ly round,,  but  most  of  the  others  are  of 
cone-like  form,  and  do  not  send  out  wide, 
lateral  branches.  In  1550,  there  were 
twenty-eight  old  trees;  in  1739,  Pococke 
counted  fifteen,  but  the  number  of  trunks 
makes  the  operation  of  counting  uncertain. 
They  are  regarded  with  much  reverence  by 
the  native  inhabitants  as  living  records  of 
Solomon's  power,  and  the  Maronite  patri- 
arch was  formerly  accustomed  to  celebrate 
there  the  festival  of  the  Transfiguration  at 
an  altar  of  rough  stones. 

Celebration.  The  third  degree  of 
Fessler's  Rite.     See  Fessler's  Bile. 

Celestial  Alphabet.  See  Alphabet 
of  Angels. 
Celtic  Mysteries.  See  Druidism. 
Celts.  The  early  inhabitants  of  Italy, 
Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain.  They  are  sup- 
posed to  have  left  Asia  during  one  of  the 
Aryan  emigrations,  and,  having  travelled  in 
a  westerly  direction,  to  have  spread  over 
these  countries  of  Europe.  The  Celtic 
Mysteries  or  the  Sacred  Rites  which  they 
instituted  are  known  as  Druidism,  which 
see. 

Cement.  The  cement  which  in  Oper- 
ative Masonry  is  used  to  unite  the  various 
parts  of  a  building  into  one  strong  and 
durable  mass,  is  borrowed  by  Speculative 
Masonry  as  a  symbol  to  denote  that 
brotherly  love  which  binds  the  Masons  of 
all  countries  in  one  common  brotherhood. 
As  this  brotherhood  is  recognized  as  being 
perfected  among  Master  Masons  only,  the 
symbol  is  very  appropriately  referred  to  the 
third  degree. 

Cemeteries,  Masonic.  The  desire 
to  select  some  suitable  spot  wherein  to  de- 
posit the  remains  of  our  departed  kindred 
and  friends  seems  almost  innate  in  the 
human  breast.  The  stranger's  field  was 
bought  with  the  accursed  bribe  of  betrayal 
and  treason,  and  there  is  an  abhorrence  to 
depositing  our  loved  ones  in  places  whose 
archetype  was  so  desecrated  by  its  purchase- 
money.  The  churchyard,  to  the  man  of 
sentiment,  is  as  sacred  as  the  church  itself. 
The  cemetery  bears  a  hallowed  character, 
and  we  adorn  its  graves  with  vernal  flowers 
or  with  evergreens,  to  show  that  the  dead, 
though  away  from  our  presence  visibly, 
still  live  and  bloom  in  our  memories.  The 
oldest  of  all  the  histories  that  time  has 
saved  to  us  contains  an  affecting  story  of 
this  reverence  of  the  living  for  the  dead, 
when  it  tells  us  how  Abraham,  when  Sarah, 
his  beloved  wife,  had  died  in  a  strange 
land,  reluctant  to  bury  her  among  stran- 
gers, purchased  from  the  sons  of  Heth  the 
U 


cave  of  Machpelah  for  a  burial-place  for 
his  people. 

It  is  not,  then,  surprising  that  Masons, 
actuated  by  this  spirit,  should  have  been 
desirous  to  consecrate  certain  spots  as  rest- 
ing-places for  themselves  and  for  the  strange 
brethren  who  should  die  among  them.  A 
writer  in  the  London  Freemason's  Magazine 
for  1858  complained  that  there  was  not  in 
England  a  Masonic  cemetery,  nor  portion 
of  an  established  cemetery  especially  dedi- 
cated to  the  interment  of  the  brethren  of 
the  Craft.  This  neglect  cannot  be  charged 
against  the  Masons  of  America,  for  there 
is  scarcely  a  city  or  town  of  considerable 
size  in  which  the  Masons  have  not  pur- 
chased and  appropriated  a  suitable  spot  as 
a  cemetery  to  be  exclusively  devoted  to  the 
use  of  the  Fraternity.  These  cemeteries 
are  often,  and  should  always  be,  dedicated 
with  impressive  ceremonies ;  and  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  our  rituals  have  provided  no 
sanctioned  form  of  service  for  these  occa- 
sions. 

Censer.  A  small  vessel  of  metal  fitted 
to  receive  burning  coals  from  the  altar,  and 
on  which  the  incense  for  burning  was  sprin- 
kled by  the  priest  in  the  Temple.  Among 
the  furniture  of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  is  to 
be  found  the  censer,  which  is  placed  upon 
the  altar  of  incense  within  the  sanctuary, 
as  a  symbol  of  the  pure  thoughts  and 
grateful  feelings  which,  in  so  holy  a  place, 
should  be  offered  up  as  a  fitting  sacrifice  to 
the  great  I  AM.  In  a  similar  symbolic 
sense,  the  censer,  under  the  name  of  the 
"pot  of  incense,"  is  found  among  the  em- 
blems of  the  third  degree.  See  Pot  of 
Incense.  The  censer  also  constitutes  a 
part  of  the  Lodge  furniture  in  many  of  the 
high  degrees. 

Censor.  Gadicke  says  this  is  not  an 
officer,  but  is  now  and  then  introduced  into 
some  of  the  Lodges  of  Germany.  He  is 
commonly  found  where  the  Lodge  has  its 
own  private  house,  in  which,  on  certain 
days,  mixed  assemblies  are  held  of  Free- 
masons and  their  families  and  friends. 
Of  those  assemblies  the  Censor  has  the 
superintendence. 

Censure.  In  Masonic  law,  the  mild- 
est form  of  punishment  that  can  be  in- 
flicted, and  may  be  defined  to  be  a  formal 
expression  of  disapprobation,  without  other 
result  than  the  effect  produced  upon  the 
feelings  of  him  who  is  censured.  It  is 
adopted  by  a  resolution  of  the  Lodge  on  a 
motion  made  at  a  regular  communication ; 
it  requires  only  a  bare  majority  of  votes  for 
its  passage,  does  not  affect  the  Masonic 
standing  of  the  person  censured,  and  may 
be  revoked  at  any  subsequent  regular  com- 
munication. 

Centaine,  Order  of.    A  mystical 


154 


CENTENNIAL 


CERTIFICATE 


society  of  the  last  century  which  admitted 
females.  It  was  organized  at  Bordeaux,  in 
1735.  Lenning  says  that  at  a  later  period 
some  of  its  adherents  attempted  to  engraft 
it  upon  Freemasonry,  but  without  effect. 

Centennial.  That  which  happens 
every  hundred  years.  Masonic  bodies  that 
have  lasted  for  that  period  very  generally 
celebrate  the  occasion  by  a  commemorative 
festival.  On  the  4th  of  November,  1852, 
almost  all  of  the  Lodges  of  the  United 
States  celebrated  the  centennial  anniversary 
of  the  initiation  of  George  Washington  as 
a  Freemason. 

Centralists.  A  society  which  existed 
in  Europe  from  1770  to  1780.  It  made  use 
of  Masonic  forms  at  its  meeting  simply  to 
conceal  its  secrets.  Lenning  calls  it  an  al- 
chemical association,  but  says  that  it  had 
religious  and  political  tendencies.  G'adicke 
thinks  that  its  object  was  to  propagate 
Jesuitism. 

Central  Point.  See  Point  within  a 
Circle. 

Centre,  Opening  on  the.  In  the 
English  ritual,  a  Master  Mason's  Lodge  is 
said  to  be  opened  on  the  centre,  because  the 
brethren  present,  being  all  Master  Masons, 
are  equally  near  and  equally  distant  from 
that  imaginary  central  point  which  among 
Masons  constitutes  perfection.  Neither  of 
the  preliminary  degrees  can  assert  the  same 
conditions,  because  the  Lodge  of  an  Entered 
Apprentice  may  contain  all  the  three  classes, 
and  that  of  a  Fellow  Craft  may  include 
some  Master  Masons;  and  therefore  the 
doctrine  of  perfect  equality  is  not  carried 
out  in  either.  An  attempt  was  made,  but 
without  success,  in  the  Trestle  Board, 
published  under  the  sanction  of  the  Balti- 
more Masonic  Convention,  to  introduce  the 
custom  into  the  American  Lodges. 

Cephas.  A  word  which  in  the  Syriac 
signifies  a  rock  or  stone,  and  is  the  name 
which  was  bestowed  by  Christ  upon  Simon, 
when  he  said  to  him,  "  Thou  art  a  rock," 
which  the  Greeks  rendered  by  Jli-pog,  and 
the  Latins  by  Petrus,  both  words  meaning 
"a  rock."  It  is  used  in  the  degree  of 
Royal  Master,  and  there  alludes  to  the 
Stone  of  Foundation. 

Ceremonies.  The  outer  garments 
which  cover  and  adorn  Freemasonry  as 
clothing  does  the  human  body.  Although 
ceremonies  give  neither  life  nor  truth  to 
doctrines  or  principles,  yet  they  have  an 
admirable  influence,  since  by  their  use 
certain  things  are  made  to  acquire  a  sacred 
character  which  they  would  not  otherwise 
have  had ;  and  hence,  Lord  Coke  has  most 
wisely  said,  that  "  prudent  antiquity  did, 
for  more  solemnity  and  better  memory  and 
observation  of  that  which  is  to  be  done, 
express  substances  under  ceremonies." 


Ceremonies,  Master  of.  See  Master 
of  Ceremonies. 

Ceres.  Among  the  Romans,  the  god- 
dess of  agriculture ;  but  among  the  more 
poetic  Greeks  she  was  worshipped  under 
the  name  of  Demeter,  as  the  symbol  of  the 
prolific  earth.  To  her  is  attributed  the 
institution  of  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries  in 
Greece,  the  most  popular  of  all  the  ancient 
initiations. 

Cerneaii,  Joseph.  A  French  jew- 
eller, born  at  Villeblerin,  in  1763,  and  who 
in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
removed  to  the  city  of  New  York,  where 
in  1812  he  established  a  spurious  body 
under  the  title  of  "  Sovereign  Grand  Con- 
sistory of  the  United  States  of  America,  its 
Territories  and  Dependencies."  This  Ma- 
sonic charlatan,  who  claimed  the  right  to 
organize  bodies  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite,  was  expelled  and  his 
pretensions  denounced,  in  1813,  by  the 
legal  Supreme  Council  sitting  at  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina.  Cerneau  and  his  adhe- 
rents gave  much  trouble  in  the  Scottish 
Rite  for  many  years,  and  the  bodies  which 
he  had  formed  were  not  entirely  dissolved 
until  long  after  the  establishment  of  a 
legal  Supreme  Council  for  the  Northern 
Jurisdiction. 

Certificate.  A  diploma  issued  by  a 
Grand  Lodge,  or  by  a  subordinate  Lodge 
under  its  authority,  testifying  that  the 
holder  thereof  is  a  true  and  trusty  brother, 
and  recommending  him  to  the  hospitality 
of  the  Fraternity  abroad.  The  character 
of  this  instrument  has  sometimes  been 
much  misunderstood.  It  is  by  no  means 
intended  to  act  as  a  voucher  Hot  the  bearer, 
nor  can  it  be  allowed  to  supersede  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  strict  examination.  A  stranger, 
however,  having  been  tried  and  proved  by 
a  more  unerring  standard,  his  certificate 
then  properly  comes  in  as  an  auxiliary  tes- 
timonial, and  will  be  permitted  to  afford 
good  evidence  of  his  correct  standing  in  his 
Lodge  at  home ;  for  no  body  of  Masons, 
true  to  the  principles  of  their  Order,  would 
grant  such  an  instrument  to  an  unworthy 
brother,  or  to  one  who,  they  feared,  might 
make  an  improper  use  of  it.  But  though 
the  presence  of  a  Grand  Lodge  certificate 
be  in  general  required  as  collateral  evidence 
of  worthiness  to  visit,  or  receive  aid,  its  ac- 
cidental absence,  which  may  arise  in  vari- 
ous ways,  as  from  fire,  captivity,  or  ship- 
wreck, should  not  debar  a  strange  brother 
from  the  rights  guaranteed  to  him  by  our 
Institution,  provided  he  can  offer  other  evi- 
dence of  his  good  character.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  New  York  has,  upon  this  subject, 
taken  the  proper  stand  in  the  following 
regulation  :  "  That  no  Mason  be  admitted 
to  any  subordinate  Lodge  under  the  juris- 


CHAILLOU 


CHALDEA 


155 


diction  of  this  Grand  Lodge,  or  receive  the 
charities  of  any  Lodge,  unless  he  shall,  on 
such  application,  exhibit  a  Grand  Lodge 
certificate,  duly  attested  by  the  proper  au- 
thorities, except  he  is  known  to  the  Lodge  to 
be  a  worfhi/  brother." 

The  certificate  system  has  been  warmly 
discussed  by  the  Grand  Lodges  of  the 
United  States,  and  considerable  opposition 
to  it  has  been  made  by  some  of  them  on 
the  ground  that  it  is  an  innovation.  If  it 
is  an  innovation,  it  certainly  is  not  one  of 
the  present  day,  as  we  may  learn  from  the 
Regulations  made  in  General  Assembly  of 
the  Masons  of  England,  on  St.  John  the 
Evangelist's  day,  1663,  during  the  Grand 
Mastership  of  the  Earl  of  St.  Albans,  one 
of  which  reads  as  follows : 

"  That  no  person  hereafter  who  shall  be 
accepted  a  Freemason  shall  be  admitted 
into  any  Lodge  or  Assembly,  until  he  has 
brought  a  certificate  of  the  time  and  place 
of  his  acceptation  from  the  Lodge  that  ac- 
cepted him,  unto  the  Master  of  that  limit 
or  division  where  such  Lodge  is  kept." 

Chaillou  de  Joinville.  He  played 
an  important  part  in  the  Freemasonry  of 
France  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, especially  during  the  schisms  which 
at  that  time  existed  in  the  Grand  Lodge. 
In  1761,  he  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West, 
or  Rite  of  Perfection,  which  had  been  estab- 
lished in  1758.  Under  the  title  of  "  Sub- 
stitute General  of  the  Order,  Ven.  Master 
of  the  First  Lodge  in  France,  called  St. 
Anthony's,  Chief  of  the  Eminent  Degrees, 
Commander,  and  Sublime  Prince  of  the 
Royal  Secret,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,"  he  signed  the 
Patent  of  Stephen  Morin,  authorizing  him 
to  extend  the  Royal  Order  in  America, 
which  was  the  first  step  that  subsequently 
led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite  in  the  United  States.  In 
1762,  the  Prince  of  Clermont,  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  France,  removed 
the  dancing-master  Lacorne,  whom  he  had 
previously  appointed  his  Substitute  Gene- 
ral, and  who  had  become  distasteful  to  the 
respectable  members  of  the  Grand  Lodge, 
and  put  Chaillou  de  Joinville  in  his  place. 
This  action  created  a  schism  in  the  Grand 
Lodge,  during  which  De  Joinville  appears 
to  have  acted  with  considerable  energy, 
but  eventually  he  became  almost  as  noto- 
rious as  his  predecessor,  by  issuing  irregular 
charters  and  deputations.  On  the  death  of 
the  Prince  of  Clermont,  in  1771,  the  La- 
cornists  regained  much  of  their  influence, 
and  De  Joinville  appears  quietly  to  have 
passed  away  from  the  field  of  French  Ma- 
sonry and  Masonic  intrigues. 

Chain,  Mystic.  To  form  the  mystic 
chain  is  for  the  brethren  to  make  a  circle, 


holding  each  other  by  the  hands,  as  in  sur- 
rounding a  grave,  etc.  Each  brother  crosses 
his  arms  in  front  of  his  body,  so  as  to  give 
his  right  hand  to  his  left  hand  neighbor,  and 
his  left  hand  to  his  right  hand  neighbor. 
The  French  call  it  chaine  d'union.  It  is  a 
symbol  of  the  close  connection  of  all  Ma- 
sons in  one  common  brotherhood. 

Chain  of  Flowers.  In  French  Ma- 
sonry, when  a  Lodge  celebrates  the  day  of 
its  foundation,  or  the  semi-centennial  mem- 
bership of  one  of  the  brethren,  or  at  the 
initiation  of  a  louveteau,  the  room  is  deco- 
rated with  wreaths  of  flowers  called  "  chaine 
de  fleurs." 

Chain  of  Union.   See  Chain,  Mystic. 

Chain,  Triangular.  One  of  the 
legends  of  Freemasonry  tells  us  that  when 
the  Jewish  Masons  were  carried  as  cap- 
tives from  Jerusalem  to  Babylon  by  Neb- 
uchadnezzar, they  were  bound  by  triangu- 
lar chains,  which  was  intended  as  an  addi- 
tional insult,  because  to  them  the  triangle, 
or  delta,  was  a  symbol  of  the  Deity,  to  be 
used  only  on  sacred  occasions.  The  legend 
is  of  course  apocryphal,  and  is  worth  noth- 
ing except  as  a  legendary  symbol. 

Chair.  A  technical  term  signifying  the 
office  of  Master  of  a  Lodge.  Thus,  "  he  is 
eligible  to  the  chair"  is  equivalent  to  "he 
is  eligible  to  the  office  of  Master."  The 
word  is  applied  in  the  same  sense  to  the 
presiding  office  in  other  Masonic  bodies. 

Chairman.  The  presiding  officer  of 
a  meeting  or  committee.  In  all  committees 
of  a  Lodge,  the  Worshipful  Master,  if  he 
chooses  to  attend,  is  ex-officio  chairman ;  as 
is  the  Grand  Master  of  any  meeting  of  the 
Craft  when  he  is  present. 

Chair,  Master  in  the.  The  Ger- 
man Masons  call  the  Worshipful  Master, 
"  der  Meister  im  Stuhl,"  or  the  Master  in 
the  Chair. 

Chair,  Oriental.  The  seat  or  office 
of  the  Master  of  a  Lodge  is  thus  called  — 
sometimes,  more  fully,  the  "  Oriental  Chair 
of  King  Solomon." 

Chair,  Passing  the.  The  ceremony 
of  inducting  the  Master  elect  of  a  Lodge 
into  his  office  is  called  "  passing  the  chair." 
He  who  has  once  presided  over  a  Lodge  as 
its  Master,  is  said  to  have  "passed  the 
chair,"  hence  the  title  "Past  Master." 

Chaldea.  A  large  tract  of  country, 
lying  in  a  nearly  north-west  and  south- 
east direction  for  a  distance  of  four  hun- 
dred miles  along  the  course  of  the  rivers 
Euphrates  and  Tigris,  with  an  average 
width  of  one  hundred  miles.  The  kingdom 
of  Chaldea,  of  which  Babylon  was  the 
chief  city,  is  celebrated  in  Masonic  history 
as  the  place  where  the  Jewish  captives  were 
conducted  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem.    At  that  time  Nebuchadnezzar  was 


156 


CHALDEANS 


CHAPEAU 


the  king.  His  successors,  during  the  cap- 
tivity, were  Evilmerodach,  Neriglissar, 
Labosordacus,  and  Belshazzar.  Jn  the 
seventeenth  year  of  his  reign,  the  city  of 
Babylon  was  taken,  and  the  Chaldean 
kingdom  subverted  by  Cyrus,  king  of  Per- 
sia, who  terminated  the  captivity  of  the 
Jews,  and  restored  them  to  their  native 
country. 

Chaldeans  or  Chaldees.  The 
ancient — Diodorus  Siculus  says  the  "  most 
ancient  " — inhabitants  of  Babylonia.  There 
was  among  them,  as  among  the  Egyptians, 
a  true  priestly  caste,  which  was  both  exclu- 
sive and  hereditary  ;  for  although  not  every 
Chaldean  was  a  priest,  yet  no  man  could 
be  a  priest  among  them  unless  he  were  a 
Chaldean."  "At  Babylon,"  says  Dr.  Smith, 
(Anc.  Hist,  of  the  East,  p.  398,)  "  they  were  in 
all  respects  the  ruling  order  in  the  body  pol- 
itic, uniting  in  themselves  the  characters  of 
the  English  sacerdotal  and  military  classes. 
They  filled  all  the  highest  offices  of  state 
under  the  king,  who  himself  belonged  to 
the  order."  The  Chaldean  priests  were 
famous  for  their  astronomical  science,  the 
study  of  which  was  particularly  favored  by 
the  clear  atmosphere  and  the  cloudless 
skies  of  their  country,  and  to  which  they 
were  probably  urged  by  their  national 
worship  of  the  sun  and  the  heavenly  hosts. 
Diodorus  Siculus  says  that  they  passed 
their  whole  lives  in  meditating  questions  of 
philosophy,  and  acquired  a  great  reputation 
for  their  astrology.  They  were  addicted 
especially  to  the  art  of  divination,  and 
framed  predictions  of  the  future.  They 
sought  to  avert  evil  and  to  insure  good  by 
purifications,  sacrifices,  and  enchantments. 
They  were  versed  in  the  arts  of  prophesy- 
ing and  explaining  dreams  and  prodigies. 
All  this  learning  among  the  Chaldeans  was 
a  family  tradition ;  the  son  inheriting  the 

Erofession  and  the  knowledge  of  the  priest- 
ood  from  his  father,  and  transmitting  it 
to  his  descendants.  The  Chaldeans  were 
settled  throughout  the  whole  country,  but 
there  were  some  special  cities,  such  as 
Borsippa,  Ur,  Sippera,  and  Babylon,  where 
they  had  regular  colleges.  The  reputation 
of  the  Chaldeans  for  prophetic  and  magical 
knowledge  was  so  great,  that  astrologers, 
and  conjurers  in  general,  were  styled  Baby- 
lonians and  Chaldeans,  just  as  the  wander- 
ing fortune-tellers  of  modern  times  are 
called  Egyptians  or  gypsies,  and  Ars  Chal- 
dceorum  was  the  name  given  to  all  occult 
sciences. 

Chalice.  A  cup  used  in  religious  rites. 
It  forms  a  part  of  the  furniture  of  a  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars,  and  of 
some  of  the  higher  degrees  of  the  French 
and  Scottish  Rites.  It  should  be  made 
either  of  silver  or  of  gilt  metal.     The  stem 


of  the  chalice  should  be  about  four  inches 
high,  and  the  diameter  from  three  to  six. 
Chalk,  Charcoal,  and  Clay.  By 

these  three  substances  are  beautifully  sym- 
bolized the  three  qualifications  for  the  ser- 
vitude of  an  Entered  Apprentice — freedom, 
fervency,  and  zeal.  Chalk  is  the  freest  of 
all  substances,  because  the  slightest  touch 
leaves  a  trace  behind.  Charcoal,  the  most 
fervent,  because  to  it,  when  ignited,  the 
most  obdurate  metals  yield ;  and  clay,  the 
most  zealous,  because  it  is  constantly  em- 
ployed in  man's  service,  and  is  as  constant- 
ly reminding  us  that  from  it  we  all  came, 
and  to  it  we  must  all  return.  In  the  earlier 
lectures  of  the  last  century,  the  symbols, 
with  the  same  interpretation,  were  given 
as  "  Chalk,  Charcoal,  and  Earthen  Pau." 

Chamber,  Middle.  See  Middle 
Chamber. 

Chamber  of  Reflection.  In  the 
French  and  Scottish  Rites,  a  small  room 
adjoining  the  Lodge,  in  which,  preparatory 
to  initiation,  the  candidate  is  enclosed  for 
the  purpose  of  indulging  in  those  serious 
meditations  which  its  sombre  appearance, 
and  the  gloomy  emblems  with  which  it  is 
furnished,  are  calculated  to  produce.  It  is 
also  used  in  some  of  the  high  degrees  for  a 
similar  purpose.  Its  employment  is  very 
appropriate,  for,  as  Gadicke  well  observes, 
"  it  is  only  in  solitude  that  we  can  deeply 
reflect  upon  our  present  or  future  under- 
takings, and  blackness,  darkness,  or  solitari- 
ness, is  ever  a  symbol  of  death.  A  man  who 
has  undertaken  a  thing  after  mature  re- 
flection seldom  turns  back." 

Chancellor.  An  officer  in  a  Council 
of  Knights  of  the  Red  Cross,  correspond- 
ing in  some  respects  to  the  Senior  Warden 
of  a  Symbolic  Lodge. 

Chancellor,  Grand.  An  officer  in 
the  Supreme  Councils  and  Grand  Consisto- 
ries of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  whose  duties  are  somewhat  similar  to 
those  of  a  Corresponding  Secretary. 

Chaos.  A  confused  and  shapeless 
mass,  such  as  is  supposed  to  have  existed 
before  God  reduced  creation  into  order.  It 
is  a  Masonic  symbol  of  the  ignorance  and 
intellectual  darkness  from  which  man  is 
rescued  by  the  light  and  truth  of  Masonry. 
Hence,  ordo  ab  chao,  or,  "order  out  of 
chaos,"  is  one  of  the  mottoes  of  the  Insti- 
tution. 

Chaos  Disentangled.  One  of  the 
names  formerly  given  to  the  twenty-eighth 
degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  or  Knight  of  the  Sun.  It  is  like- 
wise found  in  the  collection  of  M.  Pyron. 
Discrete  and  Wise  Chaos  are  the  forty-ninth 
and  fiftieth  degrees  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Chapean.  The  cocked  hat  worn  in 
this  country  by  Knights  Templars.    The 


CHAPEL 


CHARGES 


157 


regulations  of  the  Grand  Encampment  of 
the  United  States,  in  1862,  prescribes  that  it 
shall  be  "the  military  chapeau,  trimmed 
with  black  binding,  one  white  and  two 
black  plumes,  and  appropriate  cross  on  the 
left  side." 

Chapel.  The  closets  and  anterooms 
so  necessary  and  convenient  to  a  Lodge  lor 
various  purposes,  are  dignified  by  German 
Masons  with  the  title  of  "  Capelan,  or 
chapels." 

Chapel,  St.  Mary's.  The  oldest 
Lodge  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  whose  min- 
utes, according  to  Lawrie,  extend  as  far 
back  as  the  year  1598.  They  show  that 
Thomas  Boswell,  Esq.,  of  Auchinleck,  was 
made  a  Warden  of  the  Lodge  in  the  year 
1600,  and  that  the  Hon.  Robert  Moray, 
Quartermaster-General  of  the  Army  in 
Scotland,  was  created  a  Master  Mason  in 
1641.  These  facts  show  that  at  that  early 
period  persons  who  were  not  operative 
Masons  by  profession  were  admitted  into 
the  Order. 

Chapiter.  The  uppermost  part  of  a 
column,  pillar,  or  pilaster,  serving  as 
the  head  or  crowning,  and  placed  imme- 
diately over  the  shaft  and  under  the  en- 
tablature. The  pillars  which  stood  in  front 
of  the  porch  of  King  Solomon's  Temple 
were  adorned  with  chapiters  of  a  peculiar 
construction,  which  are  largely  referred  to, 
and  their  symbolism  explained,  in  the  Fel- 
low Craft's  degree.  See  Pillars  of  the 
Porch. 

Chaplain.  The  office  of  Chaplain  of 
a  Lodge  is  one  which  is  not  recognized  in 
the  ritual  of  this  country,  although  often 
conferred  by  courtesy.  The  Master  of  a 
Lodge  in  general  performs  the  duties  of  a 
Chaplain. 

Chaplain,  Grand.  An  office  in  a 
Grand  Lodge  of  very  modern  date.  It  was 
first  instituted  on  the  1st  of  May,  1775,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  the  Freemasons'  Hall  in  London. 
This  office  is  now  universally  recognized  by 
the  Grand  Lodges  of  this  country.  His 
duties  are  confined  to  offering  up  prayer  at 
the  communications  of  the  Grand  Lodge, 
and  conducting  its  devotional  exercises  on 
public  occasions. 

Chapter.  In  early  times  the  meetings 
of  Masons  were  called  not  only  Lodges,  but 
Chapters  and  Congregations.  Thus,  the 
statute  enacted  in  the  third  year  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  VI.,  of  England,  A.  D. 
1425,  declares  that  "  Masons  shall  not  con- 
federate in  Chapters  and  Congregations." 
The  word  is  now  exclusively  appropriated 
to  designate  the  bodies  in  which  degrees 
higher  than  the  symbolic  are  conferred. 
Thus,  there  are  Chapters  of  Royal  Arch 
Masons  in  the  York  and  American  Rites 


and  Chapters  of  Rose  Croix  Masons  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted. 
Chapter,  General  Grand.     See 

General  Grand  Chapter. 

Chapter,  Grand.  See  Grand  Chap- 
ter. 

Chapter  Mason.  A  colloquialism 
denoting  a  Royal  Arch  Mason. 

Chapter  Masonry.  A  colloquial- 
ism intended  to  denote  the  degrees  con- 
ferred in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter. 

Chapter,  Rose  Croix.  See  Rose 
Croix,  Prince  of. 

Chapter,  Royal  Areh.  A  convo- 
cation of  Royal  Arch  Masons  is  called  a 
Chapter.  In  Great  Britain,  Royal  Arch 
Masonry  is  connected  with  and  under  the 
government  of  the  Grand  Lodge ;  but  in 
America,  the  jurisdictions  are  separate. 
Here,  a  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  is 
empowered  to  give  the  preparatory  degrees 
of  Mark,  Past,  and  Most  Excellent  Master ; 
although,  of  course,  the  Chapter,  when 
meeting  in  either  of  these  degrees,  is  called 
a  Lodge.  In  some  Chapters,  the  degrees 
of  Royal  and  Select  Master  are  also  given 
as  preparatory  degrees ;  but  in  most  of  the 
States,  the  control  of  these  is  conferred 
upon  separate  bodies,  called  "  Councils  of 
Royal  and  Select  Masters." 

The  presiding  officers  of  a  Chapter  are 
the  High  Priest,  King,  and  Scribe,  who 
are,  respectively,  representatives  of  Joshua, 
Zerubbabel,  and  Haggai.  In  the  English 
Chapters,  these  officers  are  generally  styled 
either  by  the  founders'  names,  as  above,  or 
as  First,  Second,  and  Third  Principals.  In 
the  Chapters  of  Ireland  the  order  of  the 
officers  is  King,  High  Priest,  and  Scribe. 
Chapters  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  in  this 
country  are  primarily  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  State  Grand  Chapters,  as  Lodges 
are  under  Grand  Lodges;  and  secondly, 
under  the  General  Grand  Chapter  of  the 
United  States,  whose  meetings  are  held  tri- 
ennially,  and  which  exercises  a  general 
supervision  over  this  branch  of  the  Order 
throughout  the  Union.    See  Royal  Arch. 

Chapters,  Irish.    See  Irish  Chapters. 

Characteristic  Name.  See  Order 
Name. 

Charcoal.  See  Chalk,  Charcoal,  and 
Clay. 

Charge.  So  called  from  the  "Old 
Charges,"  because,  like  them,  it  contains 
an  epitome  of  duty.  It  is  the  admonition 
which  is  given  by  the  presiding  officer,  at 
the  close  of  the  ceremony  of  initiation,  to 
the  candidate,  and  which  the  latter  receives 
standing,  as  a  token  of  respect.  There  is 
a  charge  for  each  degree,  which  is  to  be 
found  in  all  the  monitors  and  manuals  from 
Preston  onwards. 

Charges.    The    "Masons'    Constitu- 


158 


CHARGES 


CHARITY 


tions  "  are  old  records,  containing  a  history, 
very  often  somewhat  apocryphal,  of  the 
origin  and  progress  of  Masonry,  and  regu- 
lations for  the  government  of  the  Craft. 
These  regulations  are  called  "  Charges," 
and  are  generally  the  same  in  substance, 
although  they  differ  in  number,  in  the  dif- 
ferent documents.  These  charges  are  di- 
vided into  "Articles"  and  "Points ^'al- 
though it  would  be  difficult  to  say  in  what 
the  one  section  differs  in  character  from  the 
other,  as  each  details  the  rules  which  should 
govern  a  Mason  in  his  conduct  towards  his 
"lord,"  or  employer,  and  to  his  brother 
workmen.  The  oldest  of  these  charges  is 
to  be  found  in  the  York  Constitutions,  (if 
they  are  authentic,)  and  consists  of  Fifteen 
Articles  and  Fifteen  Points.  It  was  re- 
quired by  the  Constitutions  of  the  time  of 
Edward  III.,  "that,  for  the  future,  at  the 
making  or  admission  of  a  brother,  the  con- 
stitutions and  charges  should  be  read." 
This  regulation  is  still  preserved  in  form, 
in  modern  Lodges,  by  the  reading  of  "  the 
charge"  by  the  Master  to  a  candidate  at 
the  close  of  the  ceremony  of  his  reception 
into  a  degree. 

Charges  of  1722.  The  Fraternity 
had  long  been  in  possession  of  many 
records,  containing  the  ancient  regulations 
of  the  Order;  when,  in  1722,  the  Duke  of 
Montague  being  Grand  Master  of  England, 
the  Grand  Lodge  finding  fault  with  their 
antiquated  arrangement,  it  was  directed 
that  they  should  be  collected,  and  after  be- 
ing properly  digested,  be  annexed  to  the 
Book  of  Constitutions,  then  in  course  of 
publication  under  the  superintendence  of 
Dr.  James  Anderson.  This  was  accord- 
ingly done,  and  the  document  now  well- 
known  under  the  title  of  The  Old  Charges 
of  the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  constitutes, 
by  universal  consent,  a  part  of  the  funda- 
mental law  of  our  Order.  The  charges  are 
divided  into  six  general  heads  of  duty,  as 
follows:  1.  Concerning  God  and  religion. 
2.  Of  the  civil  magistrate,  supreme  and 
subordinate.  3.  Of  Lodges.  4.  Of  Mas- 
ters, Wardens,  Fellows,  and  Apprentices. 
5.  Of  the  management  of  the  Craft  in  work- 
ing. 6.  Of  behavior  under  different  cir- 
cumstances, and  in  various  conditions. 
These  charges  contain  succinct  directions 
for  the  proper  discharge  of  a  Mason's  du- 
ties, in  whatever  position  he  may  be  placed, 
and  are,  as  modern  researches  have  shown, 
a  collation  of  the  charges  contained  in  the 
Old  Records,  and  from  them  have  been 
abridged,  or  by  them  suggested,  all  those 
well-known  directions  found  in  our  moni- 
tors, which  Masters  are  accustomed  to  read 
to  candidates  on  their  reception.  See 
Records,  Old. 

Charity.    "  Though  I  speak  with  the 


tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  and  have  not 
charity,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass,  or 
a  tinkling  cymbal.  And  though  I  have  the 
gift  of  prophecy,  and  understand  all  mys- 
teries and  knowledge,  and  have  all  faith,  so 
that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and  have 
not  charity,  I  am  nothing."  (1  Corinth, 
xiii.  1,  2.)  Such  was  the  language  of  an 
eminent  apostle  of  the  Christian  church, 
and  such  is  the  sentiment  that  constitutes 
the  cementing  bond  of  Freemasonry.  The 
apostle,  in  comparing  it  with  faith  and 
hope,  calls  it  the  greatest  of  the  three,  and 
hence  in  Masonry  it  is  made  the  topmost 
round  of  its  mystic  ladder.  We  must  not 
fall  into  the  too  common  error  that  charity 
is  only  that  sentiment  of  commiseration 
which  leads  us  to  assist  the  poor  with  pecu- 
niary donations.  Its  Masonic,  as  well  as 
its  Christian  application  is  more  noble  and 
more  extensive.  The  word  used  by  the 
apostle  is,  in  the  original,  'ayanrj,  or  love,  a 
word  denoting  that  kindly  state  of  mind 
which  renders  a  person  full  of  good-will 
and  affectionate  regard  towards  others. 
John  Wesley  expressed  his  regret  that  the 
Greek  had  not  been  correctly  translated  as 
love  instead  of  charity,  so  that  the  apostolic 
triad  of  virtues  would  have  been,  not  "  faith, 
hope,  and  charity,"  but  "  faith,  hope,  and 
love."  Then  would  we  have  understood 
the  comparison  made  by  St.  Paul,  when  he 
said,  "  Though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to 
feed  the  poor,  and  though  I  give  my  body 
to  be  burned,  and  have  not  love,  it  profiteth 
me  nothing."  Guided  by  this  sentiment, 
the  true  Mason  will  "  suffer  long  and  be 
kind."  He  will  be  slow  to  anger  and  easy 
to  forgive.  He  will  stay  his  falling  brother 
by  gentle  admonition,  and  warn  him  with 
kindness  of  approaching  danger.  He  will  not 
open  his  ear  to  his  slanderers,  and  will  close 
his  lips  against  all  reproach.  His  faults 
and  his  follies  will  be  locked  in  his  breast, 
and  the  prayer  for  mercy  will  ascend  to 
Jehovah  for  his  brother's  sins.  Nor  will 
these  sentiments  of  benevolence  be  confined 
to  those  who  are  bound  to  him  by  ties  of 
kindred  or  worldly  friendship  alone;  but, 
extending  them  throughout  the  globe,  he 
will  love  and  cherish  all  who  sit  beneath 
the  broad  canopy  of  our  universal  Lodge. 
For  it  is  the  boast  of  our  Institution,  that 
a  Mason,  destitute  and  worthy,  may  find  in 
every  clime  a  brother,  and  in  every  land  a 
home. 

Charity,  Committee  on.  See  Com- 
mittee on  Charity. 

Charity  Fund.  Many  Lodges  and 
Grand  Lodges  have  a  fund  especially  ap- 
propriated to  charitable  purposes,  and 
which  is  not  used  for  the  disbursement  of 
the  current  expenses,  but  which  is  appro- 
priated to  the  relief  of  indigent  brethren, 


CHARLATAN 


CHARTER 


159 


their  widows  and  orphans.  The  charity 
fund  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania, 
which  was  bequeathed  to  it  by  Stephen 
Girard,  and  which  is  the  largest  in  this 
country,  considerably  exceeds  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars. 

Charlatan.  A  charlatan  is  a  babbling 
mountebank,  who  imposes  on  the  populace 
by  large  pretensions  and  high  sounding 
words.  A  charlatan  in  Masonry  is  one  who 
seeks  by  a  display  of  pompous  ceremonial, 
and  often  by  claims  to  supernatural  powers, 
to  pervert  the  institution  of  Masonry  to 
the  acquisition  of  gain,  or  the  gratification 
of  a  paltry  ambition.  Every  man,  says  a 
distinguished  writer,  is  a  charlatan  who  ex- 
torts money  by  charging  for  sixpenny  trash 
the  amount  that  should  only  be  paid  for 
works  of  science,  and  that,  too,  under  the 
plea  of  conveying  knowledge  that  cannot 
otherwise  be  obtained  [Lond.  Freem.  Mag., 
1844,  p.  505).  The  eighteenth  century  pre- 
sented many  examples  of  these  Masonic 
charlatans,  of  whom  by  far  the  greatest 
was  Cagliostro;  nor  has  the  nineteenth 
century  been  entirely  without  them. 

Charlemagne.  The  great  Charles, 
King  of  France,  who  ascended  the  throne 
in  the  year  768,  is  claimed  by  some  Masonic 
writers  as  a  patron  of  Masonry.  This  is 
perhaps  because  architecture  flourished  in 
France  during  his  reign,  and  because  he 
encouraged  the  arts  by  inviting  the  archi- 
tects and  travelling  Freemasons,  who  were 
then  principally  confined  to  Italy,  to  visit 
France  and  engage  in  the  construction  of 
important  edifices. 

Charles  Martel.  He  was  the  founder 
of  the  Carlovingian  dynasty,  and  governed 
France  with  supreme  power  from  716  to  741, 
under  the  title  of  Duke  of  the  Franks.  He 
is  claimed  by  the  authors  of  the  Old  Records 
as  one  of  the  patrons  of  Masonry.  Thus, 
the  Landsdowne  manuscript  says :  "  There 
was  one  of  the  Royall  Line  of  France  called 
Charles  Marshall,  and  he  was  a  man  that 
loved  well  the  said  Craft  and  took  upon 
him  the  Rules  and  Manners,  and  after  that 
By  the  Grace  of  God  he  was  elect  to  be 
the  King  of  France,  and  when  he  was  in 
his  Estate  he  helped  to  make  those  Masons 
that  were  now,  and  sett  them  on  Work  and 
gave  them  Charges  and  Manners  and  good 
pay  as  he  had  learned  of  other  Masons,  and 
confirmed  them  a  Charter  from  yeare  to 
yeare  to  hold  their  Assembly  when  they 
would,  and  cherished  them  right  well,  and 
thus  came  this  Noble  Craft  into  France." 

Rebold  {Hist.  Gen.)  has  accepted  this 
legend  as  authentic,  and  says:  "In  740, 
Charles  Martel,  who  reigned  in  France 
under  the  title  of  Mayor  of  the  Palace,  at 
the  request  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings,  sent 
many  workmen  and  Masters  into  England." 


Charles  I.,  and  II.  For  their  sup- 
posed connection  with  the  origin  of  Free- 
masonry, see  Stuart  Masonry. 

Charles  XIII.  The  Duke  of  Siider- 
manland  was  distinguished  for  his  attach- 
ment to  Masonry.  In  1809  he  ascended  the 
throne  of  Sweden  under  the  title  of  Charles 
XIII.  Having  established  the  Masonic 
order  of  knighthood  of  that  name,  he  ab- 
dicated in  favor  of  Charles  John  Berna- 
dotte,  but  always  remained  an  active  and 
zealous  member  of  the  Order.  There  is  no 
king  on  record  so  distinguished  for  his  at- 
tachment to  Freemasonry  as  Charles  XIII., 
of  Sweden,  and  to  him  the  Swedish  Masons 
are  in  a  great  measure  indebted  for  the 
high  position  that  the  Order  has  maintained 
during  the  present  century  in  that  country. 

Charles  XIII.,  Order  of.  An  order 
of  knighthood  instituted  in  1811  by  Charles 
XIII.,  King  of  Sweden,  and  which  was  to 
be  conferred  only  on  the  principal  digni- 
taries of  the  Masonic  institution  in  his  do- 
minions. In  the  manifesto  establishing 
the  Order,  the  king  says :  "  To  give  to 
this  society  (the  Masonic)  a  proof  of  our 
gracious  sentiments  towards  it,  we  will  and 
ordain  that  its  first  dignitaries  to  the 
number  which  we  may  determine,  shall  in 
future  be  decorated  with  the  most  intimate 
proof  of  our  confidence,  and  which  shall  be 
for  them  a  distinctive  mark  of  the  highest 
dignity."  The  number  of  Knights  are 
twenty-seven,  all  Masons,  and  the  King  of 
Sweden  is  the  perpetual  Grand  Master. 
The  color  of  the  ribbon  is  red,  and  the 
jewel  a  maltese  cross  pendent  from  an  im- 
perial crown. 

Charleston.  A  city  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  the  metropolis  of 
the  State  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  there 
that  the  first  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  was 
established  in  1801,  whence  all  other  Su- 
preme Councils  have  emanated,  directly  or 
indirectly.  Hence,  it  has  assumed  the 
title  of  "Mother  Council  of  the  world." 
Its  seat  was  removed  in  1870  to  the  city  of 
Washington.     See  Scottish  Rite. 

Charms,  Magical.    See  Talisman. 

Chart.  1.  A  map  on  which  is  delineated 
the  emblems  of  a  degree,  to  be  used  for  the 
instruction  of  candidates,  formerly  called  a 
carpet,  which  see.  2.  The  title  given  by 
Jeremy  L.  Cross  to  his  Hieroglyphic 
Monitor,  which  acquired  on  its  first  ap- 
pearance in  the  Lodges  of  America  a  pop- 
ularity that  it  has  not  yet  entirely  lost. 
Hence  the  word  chart  is  still  sometimes 
used  colloquially  and  improperly  to  desig- 
nate any  other  Masonic  manual  of  moni- 
torial instruction. 

Charter.  Often  used  for  Warrant  of 
Constitution,  which  see. 


160 


CHARTERED 


CHEREAU 


Chartered  Lodge.  A  Lodge  work- 
ing under  the  authority  of  a  Charter  or 
Warrant  of  Constitution  issued  by  a  Grand 
Lodge  as  distinguished  from  a  Lodge  work- 
ing under  a  dispensation  issued  by  a  Grand 
Master.  Chartered  Lodges  only  are  entitled 
to  representation  in  the  Grand  Lodge. 
They  alone  can  make  by-laws,  elect  mem- 
bers, or  have  their  officers  installed.  They 
are  the  constituent  bodies  of  a  jurisdiction, 
and  by  their  representatives  compose  the 
Grand  Lodge. 

Charter  Member.  A  Mason  whose 
name  is  attached  to  the  petition  upon  which 
a  Charter  or  Warrant  of  Constitution  has 
been  granted  to  a  Lodge,  Chapter,  or  other 
subordinate  body. 

Charter  of  Cologne.  See  Cologne, 
Charter  of. 

Charter  of  Transmission.  See 
Transmission,  Charter  of. 

Chasidim.  In  Hebrew,  D*"PDIT 
meaning  saints.  The  name  of  a  sect  which 
existed  in  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  and 
which  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  op- 
posing innovations  upon  the  Jewish  faith. 
Their  essential  principles  were  to  observe 
all  the  ritual  laws  of  purification,  to  meet 
frequently  for  devotion,  to  submit  to  acts 
of  self-denial  and  mortification,  to  have  all 
things  in  common,  and  sometimes  to  with- 
draw from  society  and  to  devote  themselves 
to  contemplation.  Lawrie,  who  seeks  to 
connect  them  with  the  Masonic  institution 
as  a  continuation  of  the  Masons  of  the  Solo- 
monic era,  describes  them  as  "  a  religious 
Fraternity,  or  an  order  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  who  bound 
themselves  to  adorn  the  porches  of  that 
magnificent  structure,  and  to  preserve  it 
from  injury  and  decay.  This  association 
was  composed  of  the  greatest  men  of  Israel, 
who  were  distinguished  for  their  charitable 
and  peaceful  dispositions,  and  always  sig- 
nalized themselves  by  their  ardent  zeal  for 
the  purity  and  preservation  of  the  Temple." 

Chastanier,  Benedict.  A  French 
Mason,  who  in  the  year  1767  introduced 
into  England  a  modification  of  the  Rite 
of  Pernetty,  in  nine  degrees,  and  estab- 
tished  a  Lodge  in  London  under  the  name 
of  the  "Illuminated  Theosophists;"  which, 
however,  according  to  Lenning,  soon  aban- 
doned the  Masonic  forms,  and  was  con- 
verted into  a  mere  theosophic  sect,  intended 
to  propagate  the  religious  system  of  Sweden- 
borg.  Mr.  White,  in  his  IAfe  of  Emanuel 
Swedenborg,  (Lond.,  1868,  p.  683,)  gives  an 
account  of  "  The  Theosophical  Society,  in- 
stituted for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the 
Heavenly  Doctrines  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
by  translating,  printing,  and  publishing 
the  theological  writings  of  Emanuel  Swe- 
denborg."      This  society  was    formed    in 


1784,  and  met  on  Sundays  and  Thursdays 
at  chambers  in  New  Court,  Middle  Temple, 
for  the  discussion  of  Swedenborg's  writings. 
Among  the  twenty-five  persons  mentioned 
by  White  as  having  either  joined  the  so- 
ciety or  sympathized  with  its  object,  we 
find  the  name  of  "  Benedict  Chastanier, 
French  Surgeon,  62  Tottenham  Court." 
The  nine  degrees  of  Chastanier's  Rite  of 
Illuminated  Theosophists  are  as  follows: 
1,  2,  and  3,  Symbolic  degrees ;  4,  5,  6,  The- 
osophic Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and 
Master ;  7,  Sublime  Scottish  Mason,  or  Ce- 
lestial Jerusalem ;  8,  Blue  Brother ;  and  9, 
Red  Brother. 

Chastity.  In  the  Halliwell  MS.  of 
the  Constitutions  of  Masonry,  written  not 
later  than  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  purporting  to  be  a  copy  of  the 
Regulations  adopted  at  York  in  926,  the 
seventh  point  is  in  these  words  : 

"  Thou  schal  not  by  thy  maystres  wyf  ly, 
Ny  by  thy  felows  yn  no  manner  wyse, 
Lest  the  Craft  wolde  the  despyse ; 
Ny  by  thy  felows  concubyne, 
No  more  thou  woldest  be  dede  by  thyne." 

Again,  in  the  Constitutions  known  as  the 
Matthew  Cooke  MS.,  the  date  of  which  is 
about  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
the  same  regulation  is  enforced  in  these 
words:  "The  7th  Point.  That  he  covet 
not  the  wyfe  ne  the  daughter  of  his 
masters,  neither  of  his  fellows  but  if  [un- 
less] it  be  in  marriage."  So  all  through 
the  Old  Constitutions  and  Charges,  we  find 
this  admonition  to  respect  the  chastity  of 
our  brethren's  wives  and  daughters;  an  ad- 
monition which,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
say,  is  continued  to  this  day. 

Chasuhle.  The  outer  dress  worn  by 
the  priest  at  the  altar  service,  and  is  an 
imitation  of  the  old  Roman  toga.  It  is  a 
circular  cloth,  which  falls  down  over  the 
body  so  as  completely  to  cover  it,  with  an 
aperture  in  the  centre  for  the  head  to  pass 
through.  It  is  used  in  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Rose  Croix  degree. 

Checkered  Floor.  See  Mosaic  Pave- 
ment. 

Chef-d'cenvre.  It  was  a  custom 
among  many  of  the  gilds,  and  especially 
among  the  Compagnons  du  Devoir,  who 
sprung  up  in  the  sixteenth  century  in 
France,  on  the  decay  of  Freemasonry  in 
that  kingdom,  and  as  one  of  its  results,  to 
require  every  Apprentice,  before  he  could 
be  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  the  gild, 
to  present  a  piece  of  finished  work  as  a 

Eroof  of  his  skill  in  the  art  in  which  he  had 
een  instructed.    The  piece  of  work  was 
called  his  chef-d'oeuvre,  or  masterpiece. 

Chereau,  Antoine  Guillianme. 
A  painter  in  Paris,  who  published,  in  1806, 


CHERUBIM 


CHINA 


161 


two  hermetico-philosophical  brochures  en- 
titled, Explication  de  la  Pierre  Cubique,  and 
Explication  de  la  Oroix  Philosophique ;  or 
Explanations  of  the  Cubical  Stone  and  of 
the  Philosophical  Cross.  These  works  are 
brief,  but  give  much  interesting  informa- 
tion on  the  ritualism  and  symbolism  of  the 
high  degrees.  They  have  been  republished 
by  Tessier  in  his  Manuel  General,  without, 
however,  any  acknowledgment  to  the  orig- 
inal author. 

Cherubim.  The  second  order  of  the 
angelic  hierarchy,  the  first  being  the  sera- 
phim. The  two  cherubim  that  overtopped 
the  mercy-seat  or  covering  of  the  ark,  in 
the  holy  of  holies,  were  placed  there  by 
Moses,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  God : 
"  And  thou  shalt  make  two  cherubim  of 
gold,  of  beaten  work  shalt  thou  make  them, 
in  the  two  ends  of  the  mercy-seat.  And 
the  cherubim  shall  stretch  forth  their 
wings  on  high,  covering  the  mercy -seat 
with  their  wings,  and  their  faces  shall  look 
one  to  another;  towards  the  mercy -seat 
shall  the  faces  of  the  cherubim  be."  (Exod. 
xxv.  17,  19.)  It  was  between  these  cheru- 
bim that  the  Shekinah  or  divine  presence 
rested,  and  from  which  issued  the  Bathkol 
or  voice  of  God.  Of  the  form  of  these 
cherubim,  we  are  ignorant.  Josephus  says, 
that  they  resembled  no  known  creature, 
but  that  Moses  made  them  in  the  form  in 
which  he  saw  them  about  the  throne  of 
God ;  others,  deriving  their  ideas  from  what 
is  said  of  them  by  Ezekiel,  Isaiah,  and  St. 
John,  describe  them  as  having  the  face  and 
breast  of  a  man,  the  wings  of  an  eagle,  the 
belly  of  a  lion,  and  the  legs  and  feet  of  an 
ox,  which  three  animals,  with  man,  are  the 
symbols  of  strength  and  wisdom.  But  all 
agree  in  this,  that  they  had  wings,  and  that 
these  wings  were  extended.  The  cherubim 
were  purely  symbolic.  But  although  there 
is  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  their  ex- 
act signification,  yet  there  is  a  very  general 
agreement  that  they  allude  to  and  sym- 
bolize the  protecting  and  overshadowing 
power  of  the  Deity.  Reference  is  made  to 
the  extended  wings  of  the  cherubim  in  the 
degree  of  Royal  Master. 

Chesed.  A  word  which  is  most  gen- 
erally corrupted  into  Hesed.  It  is  the  He- 
brew "ID!"!*  an(i  signifies  mercy.  Hence, 
it  very  appropriately  refers  to  that  act  of 
kindness  and  compassion  which  is  com- 
memorated in  the  degree  of  Select  Master 
of  the  American  system.  It  is  the  fourth 
of  the  Kabbalistic  Sephiroth,  and  is  com- 
bined in  a  triad  with  Beauty  and  Justice. 

Chevalier.  Employed  by  the  French 
Masons  as  the  equivalent  of  Knight  in  the 
name  of  any  degree  in  which  the  latter 
word  is  used  by  English  Masons,  as  Cheva- 
lier du  Soleil,  for  the  Knight  of  the  Sun,  or 
V  11 


Chevalier  de  F  Orient  for  Knight  of  the 
East.    The  German  word  is  Bitter. 

Chibbelum.  A  significant  word  used 
in  the  rituals  of  the  last  century,  which  de- 
fine it  to  mean  "a  worthy  Mason."  It  is  a 
corruption  of  Giblim. 

Chicago,  Congress  of.  A  conven- 
tion of  distinguished  Masons  of  the  United 
States,  held  at  the  city  of  Chicago  in  Sep- 
tember, 1859,  during  the  session  of  the 
Grand  Encampment  and  General  Grand 
Chapter,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a 
General  Grand  Lodge,  or  a  Permanent  Ma- 
sonic Congress.  Its  results  were  not  of  a 
successful  character ;  and  the  death  of  its 
moving  spirit,  Cyril  Pearl,  which  occurred 
soon  after,  put  an  end  to  all  future  at- 
tempts to  carry  into  effect  any  of  its  pre- 
liminary proceedings. 

Chief  of  the  Tabernacle.  The 
twenty-third  degree  in  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  It  commemorates 
the  institution  of  the  order  of  the  priest- 
hood in  Aaron  and  his  sons  Eleazar  and 
Ithamar.  Its  principal  officers  are  three, 
a  Sovereign  Sacrificer  and  two  High  Priests, 
now  called  by  the  Supreme  Councils  of 
America  the  Most  Excellent  High  Priest 
and  Excellent  Priests,  and  the  members  of 
the  "  Hierarchy"  or  "  Court,"  as  the  Lodge 
is  now  styled,  are  called  Levites.  The 
apron  is  white,  lined  with  deep  scarlet  and 
bordered  with  red,  blue,  and  purple  ribbon. 
A  golden  chandelier  of  seven  branches  is 
painted  or  embroidered  on  the  centre 
of  the  apron.  The  jewel,  which  is  a 
thurible,  is  worn  from  a  broad  yellow, 
purple,  blue,  and  scarlet  sash  from  the  left 
shoulder  to  the  right  hip. 

Chief  of  the  Twelve  Tribes. 
(Chef  des  douze  Tribus.)  The  eleventh  de- 
gree of  the  Chapter  of  Emperors  of  the 
East  and  West.  It  is  also  called  Illustrious 
Elect. 

Chiefs  of  Masonry.  A  title  for- 
merly given  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite  to  Princes  of  Jerusalem.  It 
seems  now  to  be  more  appropriate  to  In- 
spectors General  of  the  thirty-third  degree. 

Chili.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  Chili,  in  1841,  by  the  Grand  Orient  of 
France.  Lodges  were  subsequently  organ- 
ized in  1850  and  1851  by  the  Grand  Lodges 
of  Massachusetts  and  California.  On  the 
20th  of  April  a  Grand  Lodge  was  formed, 
and  a  Grand  Chapter  soon  after. 

China.  Masonry  was  introduced  many 
years  ago  into  China  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England.  A  Provincial  Grand  Lodge 
exists  at  Hong-Kong,  and  several  Lodges. 
These  are  mainly  supported  by  the  foreign 
population.  There  are  also  Chapters  and  an 
Encampment  of  Knights  Templars,  under 
the  English  authority. 


162 


CHINESE 


CHRISTIANIZATION 


Chinese   Secret   Societies.      In 

China,  as  in  all  other  countries,  secret  so- 
cieties have  existed,  such  as  the  Tien-tee- 
whee,  or  Association  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 
and  the  Tien-lee,  or  Society  of  Celestial 
Reason.  But  the  attempt  to  trace  any 
analogy  between  them  and  Freemasonry 
is  a  mistaken  one.  These  societies  have  in 
general  been  of  a  political  character,  with 
revolutionary  tendencies,  and  as  such  have 
been  prohibited  by  the  government,  some- 
times under  the  penalty  of  the  death  or 
banishment  of  their  members.  Their  simi- 
larity to  Masonry  consists  only  in  these 
points :  that  they  have  forms  of  initiation, 
an  esoteric  instruction,  and  secret  modes  of 
recognition.  Beyond  these  all  further  re- 
semblance fails. 

Chisel.  In  the  American  Rite  the 
chisel  is  one  of  the  working  tools  of  a 
Mark  Master,  and  symbolizes  the  effects  of 
education  on  the  human  mind.  For  as  the 
artist,  by  the  aid  of  this  instrument,  gives 
form  and  regularity  to  the  shapeless  mass 
of  stone,  so  education,  by  cultivating  the 
ideas  and  by  polishing  the  rude  thoughts, 
transforms  the  ignorant  savage  into  the 
civilized  being. 

In  the  English  ritual,  the  chisel  is  one 
of  the  working  tools  of  the  Entered  Ap- 
prentice, with  the  same  reference  to  the 
advantages  of  education.  Preston  (B.  II., 
Sect,  vi.,)  thus  elaborates  its  symbolism  as 
one  of  the  implements  of  Masonry  :  "The 
chisel  demonstrates  the  advantages  of  dis- 
cipline and  education.  The  mind,  like  the 
diamond  in  its  original  state,  is  unpolished; 
but  as  the  effects  of  the  chisel  on  the  ex- 
ternal coat  soon  presents  to  view  the  latent 
beauties  of  the  diamond,  so  education  dis- 
covers the  latent  virtues  and  draws  them 
forth  to  range  the  large  field  of  matter  and 
space,  in  order  to  display  the  summit  of 
human  knowledge,  —  our  duty  to  God  and 
to  man."  But  the  idea  is  not  original 
with  Preston.  It  is  found  in  Hutchin- 
son, who,  however,  does  not  claim  it  as 
his  own.  It  formed,  most  probably,  a  por- 
tion of  the  lectures  of  the  period.  In  the 
French  system,  the  chisel  is  placed  on  the 
tracing  board  of  the  Fellow  Craft  as  an 
implement  with  which  to  work  upon  and 
polish  the  Rough  Ashlar.  It  has,  there- 
fore, there  the  same  symbolic  signification. 

Chivalry.  The  origin  of  chivalry  is 
involved  in  very  great  obscurity.  Almost 
every  author  who  has  written  on  this  sub- 
ject has  adopted  an  hypothesis  of  his  own. 
Some  derive  the  institution  from  the  eques- 
trian order  of  ancient  Rome,  while  others 
trace  it  to  the  tribes  who,  under  the  name 
of  Northmen,  about  the  ninth  century, 
invaded  the  southern  parts  of  Europe. 
Warburton  ascribes  the  origin  of  chivalry 


to  the  Arabians;  Pinkerton,  Mallet,  and 
Percy,  to  the  Scandinavians.  Clavel  de- 
rives it  from  the  secret  societies  of  the 
Persians,  which  were  the  remains  of  the 
mysteries  of  Mithras.  In  Christendom,  it 
gave  rise  to  the  orders  of  knighthood,  some 
of  which  have  been  incorporated  into  the 
Masonic  system.     See  Knighthood. 

Christ,  Order  of.  After  the  over- 
throw of  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars 
throughout  Europe,  Dennis  I.,  King  of 
Portugal,  in  1317  solicited  of  Pope  John 
XXII.  permission  to  re-establish  the  Order 
of  the  Temple  in  his  dominions  under  the 
name  of  the  Order  of  Christ,  and  to  restore 
to  it  the  possessions  which  had  been  wrested 
from  the  Templars.  The  pope  consented, 
approved  the  statutes  which  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  him,  and,  in  1319,  confirmed  the 
institution,  reserving  to  himself  and  to  his 
successors  the  right  of  creating  knights, 
which  has  given  rise  to  the  pontifical 
branch  of  the  Order  which  exists  at  Rome. 
The  knights  follow  the  rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict, and  conform  in  all  points  to  the  stat- 
utes of  the  Order  of  the  Temple.  The 
Grand  Mastership  is  vested  in  the  king  of 
Portugal,  and  the  Order  having  been  secu- 
larized in  1789,  the  members  were  divided 
into  the  three  classes  of  six  Grand  Crosses, 
four  hundred  and  fifty  Commanders,  and 
an  unlimited  number  of  knights.  It  was 
designated  the  Most  Noble  Order,  and  none 
but  those  nobly  descended,  of  unsullied  char- 
acter, could  be  admitted.  That  the  grand- 
father had  been  a  mechanic  was  an  impedi- 
ment to  the  exaltation  even  of  knights  of 
the  third  class.  The  Grand  Crosses  and  Com- 
manders had  generally  valuable  grants  and 
great  privileges;  the  latter  were  also  enjoyed 
by  the  knights,  with  pensions  with  rever- 
sion to  their  wives. 

Christianization  of  Freema- 
sonry. The  interpretation  of  the  sym- 
bols of  Freemasonry  from  a  Christian 
point  of  view  is  a  theory  adopted  by  some 
of  the  most  distinguished  Masonic  writers 
of  England  and  this  country,  but  one 
which  I  think  does  not  belong  to  the  an- 
cient system.  Hutchinson,  and  after  him 
Oliver,  —  profoundly  philosophical  as  are 
the  Masonic  speculations  of  both,  —  have, 
I  am  constrained  to  believe,  fallen  into  a 
great  error  in  calling  the  Master  Mason's 
degree  a  Christian  institution.  It  is  true 
that  it  embraces  within  its  scheme  the  great 
truths  of  Christianity  upon  the  subject  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body;  but  this  was  to  be 
presumed,  because  Freemasonry  is  truth, 
and  all  truth  must  be  identical.  But  the 
origin  of  each  is  different ;  their  histories 
are  dissimilar.  The  principles  of  Free- 
masonry preceded   the   advent  of   Chris- 


CHUKCH 


CIPHER 


163 


tianity.  Its  symbols  and  its  legends  are 
derived  from  the  Solomonic  Temple  and 
from  the  people  even  anterior  to  that.  Its 
religion  comes  from  the  ancient  priesthood ; 
its  faith  was  that  primitive  one  of  Noah 
and  his  immediate  descendants.  If  Ma- 
sonry were  simply  a  Christian  institution, 
the  Jew  and  the  Moslem,  the  Brahman  and 
the  Buddhist,  could  not  conscientiously 
partake  of  its  illumination.  But  its  uni- 
versality is  its  boast.  In  its  language  citi- 
zens of  every  nation  may  converse ;  at  its 
altar  men  of  all  religions  may  kneel ;  to 
its  creed  disciples  of  every  faith  may  sub- 
scribe. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  since  the 
advent  of  Christianity  a  Christian  element 
has  been  almost  imperceptibly  infused  into 
the  Masonic  system,  at  least  among  Chris- 
tian Masons.  This  has  been  a  necessity ; 
for  it  is  the  tendency  of  every  predomi- 
nant religion  to  pervade  with  its  influence 
all  that  surrounds  it  or  is  about  it,  whether 
religious,  political,  or  social.  This  arises 
from  a  need  of  the  human  heart.  To  the 
man  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  his 
religion,  there  is  an  almost  unconscious 
desire  to  accommodate  and  adapt  all  the 
business  and  the  amusements  of  life,  —  the 
labors  and  the  employments  of  his  every- 
day existence,  —  to  the  in-dwelling  faith  of 
his  soul. 

The  Christian  Mason,  therefore,  while 
acknowledging  and  appreciating  the  great 
doctrines  taught  in  Masonry,  and  also  while 
grateful  that  these  doctrines  were  preserved 
in  the  bosom  of  his  ancient  Order  at  a  time 
when  they  were  unknown  to  the  multitudes 
of  the  surrounding  nations,  is  still  anxious 
to  give  to  them  a  Christian  character;  to 
invest  them,  in  some  measure,  with  the  pe- 
culiarities of  his  own  creed,  and  to  bring 
the  interpretation  of  their  symbolism  more 
nearly  home  to  his  own  religious  senti- 
ments. 

The  feeling  is  an  instinctive  one,  belong- 
ing to  the  noblest  aspirations  of  our  human 
nature ;  and  hence  we  find  Christian  Ma- 
sonic writers  indulging  in  it  to  an  almost 
unwarrantable  excess,  and,  by  the  extent 
of  their  sectarian  interpretations,  materially 
affecting  the  cosmopolitan  character  of  the 
Institution. 

This  tendency  to  Christianization  has,  in 
some  instances,  been  so  universal,  and  has 
prevailed  for  so  long  a  period,  that  certain 
symbols  and  myths  have  been,  in  this  way, 
so  deeply  and  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
Christian  element  as  to  leave  those  who 
have  not  penetrated  into  the  cause  of  this 
peculiarity,  in  doubt  whether  they  should 
attribute  to  the  symbol  an  ancient  or  a 
modern  and  Christian  origin. 
Church,    Freemasons   of  the. 


An  Architectural  College  was  organized  in 
London,  in  the  year  1842,  under  the  name 
of  "  Freemasons  of  the  Church  for  the  Re- 
covery, Maintenance,  and  Furtherance  of 
the  True  Principles  and  Practice  of  Archi- 
tecture." The  founders  announced  their  ob- 
jects to  be  "  the  rediscovery  of  the  ancient 
principles  of  architecture ;  the  sanction  of 
good  principles  of  building,  and  the  con- 
demnation of  bad  ones ;  the  exercise  of 
scientific  and  experienced  judgment  in  the 
choice  and  use  of  the  most  proper  mate- 
rials ;  the  infusion,  maintenance,  and  ad- 
vancement of  science  throughout  architec- 
ture; and  eventually,  by  developing  the 
powers  of  the  College  upon  a  just  and 
beneficial  footing,  to  reform  the  whole  prac- 
tice of  architecture,  to  raise  it  from  its  pres- 
ent vituperated  condition,  and  to  bring 
around  it  the  same  unquestioned  honor 
which  is  at  present  enjoyed  by  almost  every 
other  profession."  The  Builder,  vol.  i., 
p.  23. 

One  of  their  own  members  has  said  that 
"  the  title  was  not  intended  to  express  any 
conformity  with  the  general  body  of  Free- 
masons, but  rather  as  indicative  of  the  pro- 
fessed views  of  the  College,  namely,  the  re- 
covery, maintenance,  and  furtherance  of 
the  free  principles  and  practice  of  architec- 
ture." And  that,  in  addition,  they  made 
it  an  object  of  their  exertions  to  preserve 
or  effect  the  restoration  of  architectural  re- 
mains of  antiquity  threatened  unneces- 
sarily with  demolition  or  endangered  by 
decay.  But  it  is  evident,  from  the  close 
connection  of  modern  Freemasonry  with 
the  building  gilds  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that 
any  investigations  into  the  condition  of 
mediaeval  architecture  must  throw  light  on 
Masonic  history. 

Cipher  Writing.  Cryptography,  or 
the  art  of  writing  in  cipher,  so  as  to  con- 
ceal the  meaning  of  what  is  written  from 
all  except  those  who  possess  the  key,  may 
be  traced  to  remote  antiquity.  De  la 
Guilletiere  (Lacedccmon)  attributes  its  ori- 
gin to  the  Spartans,  and  Polybius  says  that 
more  than  two  thousand  years  ago  ^Eneas 
Tacitus  had  collected  more  than  twenty 
different  kinds  of  cipher  which  were  then 
in  use.  Kings  and  generals  communicated 
their  messages  to  officers  in  distant  prov- 
inces, by  means  of  a  preconcerted  cipher ; 
and  the  system  has  always  been  employed 
wherever  there  was  a  desire  or  a  necessity 
to  conceal  from  all  but  those  who  were  en- 
titled to  the  knowledge  the  meaning  of  a 
written  document. 

The  Druids,  who  were  not  permitted  by 
the  rules  of  their  Order  to  commit  any  part 
of  their  ritual  to  ordinary  writing,  pre- 
served the  memory  of  it  by  the  use  of  the 
letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet.    The  Kab- 


164 


CIPHER 


CIPHER 


balists  concealed  many  words  by  writing 
them  backwards :  a  method  which  is  still 
pursued  by  the  French  Masons.  The  old 
alchemists  also  made  use  of  cipher  writing, 
in  order  to  conceal  those  processes  the 
knowledge  of  which  was  intended  only  for 
the  adepts.  Thus  Roger  Bacon,  who  dis- 
covered the  composition  of  gunpowder,  is 
said  to  have  concealed  the  names  of  the  in- 
gredients under  a  cipher  made  by  a  trans- 
position of  the  letters. 

Cornelius  Agrippa  tells  us,  in  his  Occult 
Philosophy,  that  the  ancients  accounted  it 
unlawful  to  write  the  mysteries  of  God 
with  those  characters  with  which  profane 
and  vulgar  things  were  written ;  and  he 
cites  Porphyry  as  saying  that  the  ancients 
desired  to  conceal  God,  and  divine  virtues, 
by  sensible  figures  which  were  visible,  yet 
signified  invisible  things,  and  therefore  de- 
livered their  great  mysteries  in  sacred 
letters,  and  explained  them  by  symbolical 
representations.  Porphyry  here,  undoubt- 
edly, referred  to  the  invention  and  use  of 
hieroglyphics  by  the  Egyptian  priests;  but 
these  hieroglyphic  characters  were  in  fact 
nothing  else  but  a  form  of  cipher  intended 
to  conceal  their  instructions  from  the  un- 
initiated profane. 

Peter  Aponas,  an  astrological  writer  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  gives  us  some  of  the 
old  ciphers  which  were  used  by  the  Kabba- 
lists,  and  among  others  one  alphabet  called 
"  the  passing  of  the  river,"  which  is  re- 
ferred to  in  some  of  the  high  degrees  of 
Masonry. 

But  we  obtain  from  Agrippa  one  alpha- 
bet in  cipher  which  is  of  interest  to  Masons, 
and  which  he  says  was  once  in  great  esteem 
among  the  Kabbalists,  but  which  has  now, 
he  adds,  become  so  common  as  to  be  placed 
among  profane  things.  He  describes  this 
cipher  as  follows,  (Phllos.  Occult.,  lib.  iii., 
cap.  3.)  The  twenty-seven  characters  (in- 
cluding the  finals)  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet 
were  divided  into  three  classes  of  nine  in 
«ach,  and  these  were  distributed  into  nine 
squares,  made  by  the  intersection  of  two 
horizontal  and  two  vertical  lines,  forming, 
the  following  figure : 


3  2  1 
6  5  4 
9         8         7 


In  each  of  these  compartments  three 
letters  were  placed;  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
first  compartment,  the  first,  tenth,  and 
nineteenth  letters  of  the  alphabet;  in  the 


second  compartment,  the  second,  eleventh, 
and  nineteenth,  and  so  on.  The  three 
letters  in  each  compartment  were  distin- 
guished from  each  other  by  dots  or  accents. 
Thus,  the  first  compartment,  or  [_,  repre- 
sented the  first  letter,  or  {<  ;  the  same  com- 
partment with  a  dot,  thus,  Ll,  represented 
the  tenth  letter,  or  ") ;  or  with  two  dots, 
thus,  t:, it  representedthe  nineteenth  letter, 
or  p;  and  so  with  the  other  compartments ; 
the  ninth  or  last  representing  the  ninth, 
eighteenth,  and  twenty-seventh  letters,  J^> 
¥,  or  ty,  accordingly  as  it  was  figured 
H,  "H  or  ^|,  without  a  dot  in  the  centre  or 
with  one  or  two. 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the 
French  Masons  adopted  a  cipher  similar  to 
this  in  principle,  but  varied  in  the  details, 
among  which  was  the  addition  of  four 
compartments,  made  by  the  oblique  inter- 
section of  two  lines  in  the  form  of  a  St. 
Andrew's  Cross.  This  cipher  was  never 
officially  adopted  by  the  Masons  of  any 
other  country,  but  was  at  one  time  assumed 
by  the  American  Royal  Arch ;  although  it 
is  now  becoming  obsolete  there.  It  is,  how- 
ever, still  recognized  in  all  the  "Tuilleurs" 
of  the  French  Rite.  It  has  become  so 
common  as  to  be  placed,  as  Agrippa  said 
of  the  original  scheme,  "among  profane 
things."  Its  use  would  certainly  no  longer 
subserve  any  purpose  of  concealment. 
Rockwell  openly  printed  it  in  his  Ahiman 
Rezon  of  Georgia ;  and  it  is  often  used  by 
those  who  are  not  initiated,  as  a  means  of 
amusement. 

There  is,  therefore,  really  no  recognized 
cipher  in  use  in  Ancient  Craft  Masonry. 
Brown  and  Finch,  who  printed  rituals  in- 
tended only  for  the  use  of  Masons,  and  not 
as  expositions,  invented  ciphers  for  their 
own  use,  and  supplied  their  initiated  read- 
ers with  the  key.  Without  a  key,  their 
works  are  unintelligible,  except  by  the  art 
of  the  decipherer. 

Although  not  used  in  symbolic  Masonry, 
the  cipher  is  common  in  the  high  degrees, 
of  which  there  is  scarcely  one  which  has  not 
its  peculiar  cipher.  But  for  the  purposes 
of  concealment,  the  cipher  is  no  longer  of 
any  practical  use.  The  art  of  deciphering 
has  been  brought  to  so  great  a  state  of  per- 
fection that  there  is  no  cipher  so  compli- 
cated as  to  bid  defiance  for  many  hours  to 
the  penetrating  skill  of  the  experienced  de- 
cipherer. Hence,  the  cipher  has  gone  out 
of  use  in  Masonry  as  it  has  among  diplo- 
matists, who  are  compelled  to  communi- 
cate with  their  respective  countries  by 
methods  more  secret  than  any  that  can  be 
supplied  by  a  despatch  written  in  cipher. 
Edgar  A.  Poe  has  justly  said,  in  his  story 
of  The  Gold  Bug,  that  "  it  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  human  ingenuity  can  con- 


CIRCLE 


CIRCUMAMBULATION     165 


struct  an  enigma  of  the  kind,  which  hu- 
man ingenuity  may  not,  by  proper  appli- 
cation, resolve." 

Circle.  The  circle  being  a  figure  which 
returns  into  itself,  and  having  therefore 
neither  beginning  nor  end,  it  has  been 
adopted  in  the  symbology  of  all  countries 
and  times  as  a  symbol  sometimes  of  the 
universe  and  sometimes  of  eternity.  With 
this  idea  in  the  Zoroasteric  mysteries  of 
Persia,  and  frequently  in  the  Celtic  myste- 
ries of  Druidism,  the  temple  of  initiation 
was  circular.  In  the  obsolete  lectures  of 
the  old  English  system,  it  was  said  that 
"  the  circle  has  ever  been  considered  sym- 
bolical of  the  Deity ;  for  as  a  circle  appears 
to  have  neither  beginning  nor  end,  it  may 
be  justly  considered  a  type  of  God,  without 
either  beginning  of  days  or  ending  of  years. 
It  also  reminds  us  of  a  future  state,  where 
we  hope  to  enjoy  everlasting  happiness  and 
joy."  But  whatever  refers  especially  to 
the  Masonic  symbolism  of  the  circle  will  be 
more  appropriately  contained  in  the  article 
on  the  Point  within  a  Circle. 

Circular  Temples.  These  were  used 
in  the  initiations  of  the  religion  of  Zoroas- 
ter. Like  the  square  temples  of  Masonry, 
and  the  other  mysteries,  they  were  sym- 
bolic of  the  world ;  and  the  symbol  was 
completed  by  making  the  circumference  of 
the  circle  a  representation  of  the  zodiac. 
In  the  mysteries  of  Druidism  also,  the 
temples  were  sometimes  circular. 

Circumambulation,  Rite  of.  Cir- 
cumambulation  is  the  name  given  by  sacred 
archaeologists  to  that  religious  rite  in  the 
ancient  initiations  which  consisted  in  a 
formal  procession  around  the  altar,  or 
other  holy  and  consecrated  object.  The 
same  Rite  exists  in  Freemasonry. 

In  ancient  Greece,  when  the  priests  were 
engaged  in  the  rite  of  sacrifice,  they  and 
the  people  always  walked  three  times  round 
the  altar  while  singing  a  sacred  hymn.  In 
making  this  procession,  great  care  was 
taken  to  move  in  imitation  of  the  course 
of  the  sun.  For  this  purpose,  they  com- 
menced at  the  east,  and  passing  on  by  the 
way  of  the  south  to  the  west  and  thence  by 
the  north,  they  arrived  at  the  east  again.* 
By  this  means,  as  it  will  be  observed,  the 
right  hand  was  always  placed  to  the  altar,  f 

This  ceremony  the  Greeks  called  moving 
en  SeSjia  ev  Set;  la,  from  the  right  to  the  right, 


*  The  strophe  of  the  ancient  hymn  was  sung  in 
going  from  the  east  to  the  west ;  the  antistrophe 
in  returning  to  the  east,  and  the  epode  while 
standing  still. 

f  "  After  this,"  says  Potter,  "  they  stood  about 
the  altar,  and  the  priest,  turning  towards  the 
right  hand,  went  round  it  and  sprinkled  it  with 
meal  and  holy  water." — Antiquities  of  Greece, 
B.  II.,  ch.  iv.,  p.  206. 


which  was  the  direction  of  the  motion,  and 
the  Romans  applied  to  it  the  term  dextro- 
vorsum,  or  dextrorsum,  which  signifies  the 
same  thing.  Thus,  Plautus  ( Curcul.  I.,  i.  70, ) 
makes  Palinurus,  a  character  in  his  comedy 
of  Curculio,  say  :  "  If  you  would  do  rever- 
ence to  the  gods,  you  must  turn  to  the 
right  hand."  Si  deos  salutas  dextroversum 
censeo.  Gronovius,  in  commenting  on  this 
passage  of  Plautus,  says :  "  In  worshipping 
and  praying  to  the  gods,  they  were  ac- 
customed to  turn  to  the  right  hand." 

A  hymn  of  Callimachus  has  been  pre- 
served, which  is  said  to  have  been  chanted 
by  the  priests  of  Apollo  at  Delos,  while 

{>erforming  this  ceremony  of  circumambu- 
ation,  the  substance  of  which  is  "we 
imitate  the  example  of  the  sun,  and  follow 
his  benevolent  course." 

Among  the  Romans,  the  ceremony  of 
circumambulation  was  always  used  in  the 
rites  of  sacrifice,  of  expiation  or  purifica- 
tion. Thus  Virgil  {JEn.,  vi.  229,)  describes 
Chorinseus  as  purifying  his  companions  at 
the  funeral  of  Misenus,  by  passing  three 
times  around  them  while  aspersing  them 
with  the  lustral  waters ;  and  to  do  so  conve- 
niently, it  was  necessary  that  he  should 
have  moved  with  his  right  hand  towards 
them. 

"  Idem  ter  socios  pura  circumtulit  unda, 
Spargens  rore  levi  et  ramo  felicis  olivse." 

That  is: 

Thrice  with  pure  water  compass'd  he  the  crew, 
Sprinkliug,  with  olive  branch,  the  gentle  dew. 

In  fact,  so  common  was  it  to  unite  the 
ceremony  of  circumambulation  with  that 
of  expiation  or  purification,  or,  in  other 
words,  to  make  a  circuitous  procession  in 
performing  the  latter  rite,  that  the  term 
lustrare,  whose  primitive  meaning  is  "to 
purify,"  came  at  last  to  be  synonymous 
with  circuire,  to  walk  round  anything,  and 
hence  a  purification  and  a  circumambula- 
tion were  often  expressed  by  the  same 
word. 

Among  the  Hindus,  the  same  rite  of  cir- 
cumambulation has  always  been  practised. 
As  an  instance,  we  may  cite  the  ceremonies 
which  are  to  be  performed  by  a  Brahman, 
upon  first  rising  from  bed  in  the  morning, 
an  accurate  account  of  which  has  been 
given  by  Mr.  Colebrooke  in  the  sixth  vol- 
ume of  the  Asiatic  Researches.  The  priest 
having  first  adored  the  sun,  while  directing 
his  face  to  the  east,  then  walks  towards  the 
west  by  the  way  of  the  south,  saying,  at 
the  same  time,  "  I  follow  the  course  of  the 
sun,"  which  he  thus  explains:  "As  the 
sun  in  his  course  moves  round  the  world 
by  way  of  the  south,  so  do  I  follow  that 


1G6 


CIRCUMSPECTION 


CIVILIZATION 


luminary,  to  obtain  the  benefit  arising  from 
a  journey  round  the  earth  by  the  way  of 
the  south." 

Lastly,  we  may  refer  to  the  preservation 
of  this  Rite  among  the  Druids,  whose 
"  mystical  dance "  around  the  cairn,  or 
sacred  stones,  was  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  the  Rite  of  circumambulation.  On 
these  occasions,  the  priest  always  made 
three  circuits  from  east  to  west,  by  the 
right  hand,  around  the  altar  or  cairn,  ac- 
companied by  all  the  worshippers.  And  so 
sacred  was  the  rite  once  considered,  that  we 
learn  from  Toland  (Celt.  Bel.  and  Learn., 
II.,  xvii.,)  that  in  the  Scottish  Isles,  once  a 
principal  seat  of  the  Druidical  religion,  the 
people  "  never  come  to  the  ancient  sacrific- 
ing and  fire-hallowing  cairns,  but  they  walk 
three  times  around  them,  from  east  to  west, 
according  to  the  course  of  the  sun."  This 
sanctified  tour,  or  round  by  the  south,  he 
observes,  is  called  Deaseal,  as  the  contrary, 
or  unhallowed  one  by  the  north,  is  called 
Tuapholl.  And,  he  further  remarks,  that 
this  word  Deaseal  was  derived  "  from  Deas, 
the  right  (understanding  hand)  and  soil, 
one  of  the  ancient  names  of  the  sun ;  the 
right  hand  in  this  round  being  ever  next 
the  heap." 

This  Rite  of  circumambulation  undoubt- 
edly refers  to  the  doctrine  of  sun-worship, 
because  the  circumambulation  was  always 
made  around  the  sacred  place,  just  as  the 
sun  was  supposed  to  move  around  the 
earth;  and  although  the  dogma  of  sun- 
worship  does  not  of  course  exist  in  Free- 
masonry, we  find  an  allusion  to  it  in  the 
Rite  of  circumambulation,  which  it  pre- 
serves, as  well  as  in  the  position  of  the 
officers  of  a  Lodge  and  in  the  symbol  of  a 
point  within  a  circle. 

Circumspect  ion.  A  necessary  watch- 
fulness is  recommended  to  every  man,  but 
in  a  Mason  it  becomes  a  positive  duty,  and 
the  neglect  of  it  constitutes  a  heinous 
crime.  On  this  subject,  the  Old  Charges 
of  1722  (vi.  4,)  are  explicit.  "  You  shall 
be  cautious  in  your  words  and  carriage, 
that  the  most  penetrating  stranger  shall 
not  be  able  to  discover  or  find  out  what  is 
not  proper  to  be  imitated;  and  sometimes 
you  shall  divert  a  discourse  and  manage  it 
prudently  for  the  honor  of  the  Worshipful 
Fraternity." 

City  of  I>avi<l.  A  section  in  the 
southern  part  of  Jerusalem,  embracing 
Mount  Zion,  where  a  fortress  of  the  Jebu- 
sites  stood,  which  David  reduced,  and  where 
he  built  a  new  palace  and  city,  to  which  he 
gave  his  own  name. 

City  of  the  Great  King.  Jerusa- 
lem, so  called  in  Psalm  xlviii.  2,  and  by 
the  Saviour  in  Matt.  v.  35. 

Civilization  and  Freemasonry. 


Those  who  investigate  in  the  proper  spirit 
the  history  of  Speculative  Masonry,  will 
be  strongly  impressed  with  the  peculiar 
relations  that  exist  between  the  history  of 
Masonry  and  that  of  civilization.  They 
will  find  these  facts  to  be  patent:  that 
Freemasonry  has  ever  been  the  result  of 
civilization ;  that  in  the  most  ancient  times 
the  spirit  of  Masonry  and  the  spirit  of 
civilization  have  always  gone  together; 
that  the  progress  of  both  has  been  with 
equal  strides;  that  where  there  has  been 
no  appearance  of  civilization  there  has 
been  no  trace  of  Masonry;  and,  finally, 
that  wherever  Masonry  has  existed  in  any 
of  its  forms,  there  it  has  been  surrounded 
and  sustained  by  civilization,  which  social 
condition  it  in  turn  elevated  and  purified. 

Speculative  Masonry,  therefore,  seems 
to  have  been  a  necessary  result  of  civiliza- 
tion. It  is,  even  in  its  primitive  and  most 
simple  forms,  to  be  found  among  no  bar- 
barous or  savage  people.  Such  a  state  of 
society  has  never  been  capable  of  intro- 
ducing or  maintaining  its  abstract  princi- 
ples of  Divine  truth. 

But  while  Speculative  Masonry  is  the 
result  of  civilization,  existing  only  in  its 
bosom  and  never  found  among  barbarous 
or  savage  races,  it  has,  by  a  reactionary 
law  of  sociology,  proved  the  means  of  ex- 
tending and  elevating  the  civilization  to 
which  it  originally  owed  its  birth.  Civil- 
ization has  always  been  progressive.  That 
of  Pelasgic  Greece  was  far  behind  that 
which  distinguished  the  Hellenic  period 
of  the  same  country.  The  civilization  of 
the  ancient  world  was  inferior  to  that  of 
the  modern,  and  every  century  shows  an 
advancement  in  the  moral,  intellectual,  and 
social  condition  of  mankind.  But  in  this 
progress  from  imperfection  to  perfection 
the  influence  of  those  speculative  systems 
that  are  identical  with  Freemasonry  has 
always  been  seen  and  felt.  Let  us,  for  an 
example,  look  at  the  ancient  heathen  world 
and  its  impure  religions.  While  the  people 
of  Paganism  bowed,  in  their  ignorance,  to 
a  many-headed  god,  or,  rather,  worshipped 
at  the  shrines  of  many  gods,  whose  mytho- 
logical history  and  character  must  have 
exercised  a  pernicious  effect  on  the  moral 
purity  of  their  worshippers,  Speculative 
Philosophy,  in  the  form  of  the  "Ancient 
Mysteries,"  was  exercising  its  influence 
upon  a  large  class  of  neophytes  and  disci- 
ples, by  giving  this  true  symbolic  interpre- 
tation of  the  old  religious  myths.  In  the 
adyta  of  their  temples  in  Greece  and  Rome 
and  Egypt,  in  the  sacred  caves  of  India, 
and  in  the  consecrated  groves  of  Scandina- 
via and  Gaul  and  Britain,  these  ancient 
sages  were  secretly  divesting  the  pagan  faith 
of  its  polytheism  and  of  its  anthropomor- 


CLANDESTINE 


CLAY 


167 


phic  deities,  and  were  establishing  a  pure 
monotheism  in  its  place,  and  illustrating, 
by  a  peculiar  symbolism,  the  great  dogmas 
—  since  taught  in  Freemasonry  —  of  the 
unity  of  God  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  And  in  modern  times,  when  the  reli- 
gious thought  of  mankind,  under  a  better 
dispensation,  has  not  required  this  purifi- 
cation, Masonry  still,  in  other  ways,  exerts 
its  influence  in  elevating  the  tone  of  civil- 
ization ;  for  through  its  working  the  social 
feelings  have  been  strengthened,  the  amen- 
ities and  charities  of  life  been  refined  and 
extended,  and,  as  we  have  had  recent  rea- 
son to  know  and  see,  the  very  bitterness  of 
strife  and  the  blood-guiltiness  of  war  have 
been  softened  and  oftentimes  obliterated. 

We  then  arrive  at  these  conclusions, 
namely,  that  Speculative  Masonry  is  a 
result  of  civilization,  for  it  exists  in  no 
savage  or  barbarous  state  of  society,  but 
has  always  appeared  with  the  advent  in 
any  country  of  a  condition  of  civilization, 
"grown  with  its  growth  and  strengthened 
with  its  strength ; "  and,  in  return,  has 
proved,  by  a  reactionary  influence,  a  potent 
instrument  in  extending,  elevating,  and 
refining  the  civilization  which  gave  it 
birth,  by  advancing  its  moral,  intellectual, 
and  religious  character. 

Clandestine.  The  ordinary  meaning 
of  this  word  is  secret,  hidden.  The  French 
word  clandestin,  from  which  it  is  derived,  is 
defined  by  Boiste  to  be  something  "  fait  en 
cachette  et  contre  les  lois,"  done  in  a  hiding- 
place  and  against  the  laws,  which  better 
suits  the  Masonic  signification,  which  is 
illegal,  not  authorized. 

Clandestine  Lodge.  A  body  of 
Masons  uniting  in  a  Lodge  without  the 
consent  of  a  Grand  Lodge,  or,  although 
originally  legally  constituted,  continuing 
to  work  after  its  charter  has  been  revoked, 
is  styled  a  "  Clandestine  Lodge."  Neither 
Anderson  nor  Entick  employ  the  word.  It 
was  first  used  in  the  Book  of  Constitutions 
in  a  note  by  Noorthouck,  on  page  239  of 
his  edition. 

Clandestine  Mason.  One  made 
in  or  affiliated  with  a  clandestine  Lodge. 
With  clandestine  Lodges  or  Masons,  regu- 
lar Masons  are  forbidden  to  associate  or 
converse  on  Masonic  subjects. 

Clare,  Martin.  A  celebrated  Mason 
of  England  in  the  last  century.  He  was  a 
man  of  some  distinction  in  literary  circles, 
for  he  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society. 
In  1732  he  was  appointed  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  to  revise  the  system  of  lectures, 
which  at  this  time  was  the  one  that  had 
been  prepared  by  Anderson  and  Desagu- 
liers.  In  1735  he  was  appointed  Junior 
Grand  Warden,  and  in  1741,  Deputy  Grand 
Master.    He  was  distinguished  lor  zeal  and 


intelligence  in  Masonry,  and  made  several 
improvements  in  the  ritual.  He  translated 
into  English  a  work  which  had  been  pub- 
lished the  preceding  year,  in  Dublin,  under 
the  title  of  Relation  Apologique  et  Historique 
de  la  Societe  des  Franc-Macons.  In  1735,  he 
delivered  an  address  before  the  Grand 
Lodge,  which  was  translated  into  French 
and  German.  Clare's  lectures  were  a  great 
improvement  on  those  which  preceded 
them,  and  continued  to  be  a  standard  of 
English  ritualism  until  superseded  in  or 
about  1770  by  the  still  better  system  of 
Dunckerley. 

Classification  of  Masons.  Oliver 
says,  in  his  Landmarks  and  in  his  Dic- 
tionary, that  ancient  Masonic  tradition  in- 
forms us  that  the  speculative  and  operative 
Masons  who  were  assembled  at  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple  were  arranged  in  nine 
classes,  under  their  respective  Grand  Mas- 
ters ;  viz.,  30,000  Entered  Apprentices,  un- 
der their  Grand  Master  Adoniram ;  80,000 
Fellow  Crafts,  under  Hiram  Abif;  2000 
Mark  Men,  under  Stolkyn ;  1000  Master 
Masons,  under  Mohabin;  600  Mark  Mas- 
ters, under  Ghiblim ;  24  Architects,  under 
Joabert ;  1 2  Grand  Architects,  under  Adoni- 
ram ;  45  Excellent  Masons,  under  Hiram 
Abif;  9  Super-Excellent  Masons,  under 
Tito  Zadok ;  besides  the  Ish  Sabbal,  or  la- 
borers. The  tradition  is,  however,  rather 
apocryphal. 

Clay  Ground.  In  the  clay  ground 
between  Succoth  and  Zeredatha,  Hiram 
Abif  cast  all  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  Tem- 
ple, as  well  as  the  pillars  of  the  porch. 
This  spot  was  about  thirty-five  miles  in  a 
north-east  direction  from  Jerusalem ;  and  it 
is  supposed  that  Hiram  selected  it  for  his 
foundry,  because  the  clay  which  abounded 
there  was,  by  its  great  tenacity,  peculiarly 
fitted  for  making  moulds.  The  Masonic 
tradition  on  this  subject  is  sustained  by  the 
authority  of  Scripture.  See  1  Kings  vii.  46, 
and  2  Chron.  iv.  17.  Morris,  in  his  Freema- 
sonry in  the  Holy  Land,  gives  the  following 
interesting  facts  in  reference  to  this  locality. 
"  A  singular  fact  came  to  light  under  the 
investigations  of  my  assistant  at  Jerusa- 
lem. He  discovered  that  the  jewellers  of 
that  city,  at  the  present  day,  use  a  par- 
ticular species  of  brown,  arenaceous  clay  in 
making  moulds  for  casting  small  pieces  in 
brass,  etc.  Inquiring  whence  this  clay 
comes,  they  reply,  '  From  Seikoot,  about 
two  days' journey  north-east  of  Jerusalem.' 
Here,  then,  is  a  satisfactory  reply  to  the 
question,  Where  was  the  'clay  ground' 
of  Hiram's  foundries  ?  It  is  the  best  ma- 
trix-clay existing  within  reach  of  Hiram 
Abif,  and  it  is  found  only  in  '  the  clay 
ground  between  Succoth  and  Zeredatha;' 
and  considerable  as  was  the  distance,  and 


168 


CLEAN 


CLERKS 


extremely  inconvenient  as  was  the  locality, 
so  important  did  that  master-workman 
deem  it,  to  secure  a  sharp  and  perfect 
mould  for  his  castings,  that,  as  the  Biblical 
record  informs  us,  he  established  his  fur- 
naces there." 

Clean  Hands.  Clean  hands  are  a 
symbol  of  purity.  The  psalmist  says,  "  that 
he  only  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the 
Lord,  or  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place,  who 
hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart." 
Hence,  the  washing  of  the  hands  is  an  out- 
ward sign  of  an  internal  purification ;  and 
the  psalmist  says  in  another  place,  "  I  will 
wash  my  hands  in  innocence.  And  I  will 
encompass  thine  altar,  Jehovah."  In  the 
Ancient  Mysteries  the  washing  of  the 
hands  was  always  an  introductory  ceremony 
to  the  initiation ;  and,  of  course,  it  was  used 
symbolically  to  indicate  the  necessity  of 
purity  from  crime  as  a  qualification  of  those 
who  sought  admission  into  the  sacred  rites ; 
and  hence,  on  a  temple  in  the  Island  of 
Crete,  this  inscription  was  placed:  "  Cleanse 
your  feet,  wash  your  hands,  and  then  en- 
ter." Indeed,  the  washing  of  hands,  as 
symbolic  of  purity,  was  among  the  ancients 
a  peculiarly  religious  rite.  No  one  dared 
to  pray  to  the  gods  until  he  had  cleansed 
his  hands.  Thus,  Homer  makes  Hector 
say: 

"  Xepai  i'  avinrounv  Ail  Xciffetv  aiBma  otvov 
A^nai."  Iliad,  vi.  266. 

"  I  dread  with  unwashed  hands  to  bring 
My  incensed  wine  to  Jove  an  offering." 

In  a  similar  spirit  of  religion,  iEneas, 
when  leaving  burning  Troy,  refuses  to  en- 
ter the  Temple  of  Ceres  until  his  hands, 
polluted  by  recent  strife,  had  been  washed 
in  the  living  stream. 

"  Me  bello  e  tanto  digressum  et  ccede  recenti, 
Attractare  nefas,  donee  me  fluuiine  vivo 
Abluero."    ( JEn,.,  ii.  718.) 

"  In  me,  now  fresh  from  war  and  recent  strife, 
'T  is  impious  the  sacred  things  to  touch, 
Till  in  the  living  stream  myself  I  bathe." 

The  same  practice  prevailed  among  the 
Jews,  and  a  striking  instance  of  the  sym- 
bolism is  exhibited  in  that  well-known  ac- 
tion of.. Pilate,  who,  when  the  Jews  clam- 
ored for  Jesus  that  they  might  crucify  him, 
appeared  before  the  people,  and,  having 
taken  water,  washed  his  hands,  saying  at 
the  same  time,  "I  am  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  this  just-man,  see  ye  to  it." 

The  white  gloves  worn  by  Masons  as  a 
part  of  their  clothing,  alluded  to  this  sym- 
bolizing of  clean  hands ;  and  what  in  some 
of  the  high  degrees  has  been  called  "Ma- 


sonic Baptism"  is  nothing  else  but  the 
symbolizing,  by  a  ceremony,  this  doctrine 
of  clean  hands  as  the  sign  of  a  pure  heart. 

Cleave.  The  word  to  cleave  is  twice 
used  in  Masonry,  and  each  time  in  an  oppo- 
site sense.  First,  in  the  sense  of  adhering, 
where  the  sentence  in  which  it  is  employed 
is  in  the  Past  Master's  degree,  and  is  taken 
from  the  37th  Psalm:  "  Let  my  tongue  cleave 
to  the  roof  of  my  mouth;"  second,  in  the 
Master's  degree,  where,  in  the  expres- 
sion, "The  flesh  cleaves  from  the  bone," 
it  has  the  intransitive  meaning  of  to  sepa- 
rate, and  is  equivalent  to  "  the  flesh  parts, 
or  separates,  itself  from  the  bone."  In  this 
latter  use  the  word  is  obsolete,  and  used 
only  technically  as  a  Masonic  term. 

Clefts  of  the  Rocks.  The  whole 
of  Palestine  is  very  mountainous,  and  these 
mountains  abound  in  deep  clefts  or  caves, 
which  were  anciently  places  of  refuge  to 
the  inhabitants  in  time  of  war,  and  were 
often  used  as  lurking  places  for  robbers.  It 
is,  therefore,  strictly  in  accordance  with 
geographical  truth  that  the  statement,  in 
relation  to  the  concealment  of  certain  per- 
sons in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks,  is  made  in 
the  third  degree.  See  the  latter  part  of  the 
article  Caverns. 

Clement  XII.  A  pope  who  assumed 
the  pontificate  on  the  12th  of  August,  1730, 
and  died  on  the  6th  of  February,  1740. 
On  the  28th  of  April,  1738,  he  published 
his  celebrated  bull  of  excommunication, 
entitled  in  Eminenti  Aposlolatus  Specula,  in 
which  we  find  these  words,  "  For  which 
reason  the  temporal  and  spiritual  commu- 
nities are  enjoined,  in  the  name  of  holy 
obedience,  neither  to  enter  the  society  of 
Freemasons,  to  disseminate  its  principles, 
to  defend  it,  nor  to  admit  nor  conceal  it 
within  their  houses  or  palaces,  or  else- 
where, under  pain  of  excommunication 
ipso  facto,  for  all  acting  in  contradiction  to 
this,  and  from  which  the  pope  only  can 
absolve  the  dying."  Clement  was  a  bitter 
persecutor  of  the  Masonic  Order,  and  hence 
he  caused  his  Secretary  of  State,  the  Car- 
dinal Firrao,  to  issue  on  the  14th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1739,  a  still  more  stringent  edict  for 
the  Papal  States,  in  which  death  and  con- 
fiscation of  property,  without  hope  of 
mercy,  was  the  penalty,  or,  as  the  original 
has  it,  "  sotto  Pena  della  raorte,  e  connsca- 
zione  de  beni  da  incorressi,  irremissibil- 
mente  senz  a  speranza  di  grazia." 

Clerks  of  Strict  Observance. 
Known  also  as  the  Spiritual  Branch  of 
the  Templars,  or  Clerici  Ordinis  Templarii. 
This  was  a  schism  from  the  Order  or  Rite 
of  Strict  Observance,  and  was  founded 
by  Starck  in  1767.  The  members  of  this 
Rite  established  it  as  a  rival  of  the  latter 
system.    They  claimed  a  pre-eminence  not 


CLERMONT 


CLOSING 


169 


only  over  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  but 
also  over  all  the  Lodges  of  ordinary  Ma- 
sonry, and  asserted  that  they  alone  pos- 
sessed the  true  secrets  of  the  Order,  and 
knew  the  place  where  the  treasures  of  the 
Templars  were  deposited.  For  a  further 
history  of  this  Rite,  see  the  word  Starch. 
The  Rite  consisted  of  seven  degrees,  viz., 
1 ,  2,  and  3.  Symbolic  Masonry.  4.  Junior 
Scottish  Mason,  or  Jungschotte.  5.  Scot- 
tish  Master,   or   Knight  of  St.  Andrew. 

6.  Provincial  Capitular  of  the  Red  Cross. 

7.  Magus,  or  Knight  of  Purity  and  Light. 
This  last  was  subdivided  into  five  sections, 
as  follows :  I.  Knight  Novice  of  the  third 
year.     II.  Knight  Novice  of  the  fifth  year. 

III.  Knight  Novice  of  the  seventh  year. 

IV.  Levite,  and  V.  Priest.  Ragon  errs 
in  calling  this  the  Rite  of  Lax  Observance. 

Clermont,  Chapter  of.  On  the 
24th  of  November,  1754,  the  Chevalier  de 
Bonneville  established  in  Paris  a  Chapter 
of  the  high  degrees  under  this  name,  which 
was  derived  from  the  Jesuitical  Chapter  of 
Clermont.  This  society  was  composed  of 
many  distinguished  persons  of  the  court 
and  city,  who,  disgusted  with  the  dissen- 
sions of  the  Parisian  Lodges,  determined 
to  separate  from  them.  They  adopted  the 
Templar  system,  which  had  been  created  at 
Lyons,  in  1743,  after  the  reform  of  Ramsay, 
and  their  Rite  consisted  at  first  of  but  six 
degrees,  viz.,  1,  2,  3.  St.  John's  Masonry. 
4.  Knight  of  the  Eagle.  5.  Illustrious 
Knight  or  Templar.  6.  Sublime  Illustrious 
Knight.  But  soon  after  the  number  of 
these  degrees  was  greatly  extended.  The 
Baron  de  Hund  received  the  high  degrees 
in  this  Chapter,  and  derived  from  them  the 
idea  of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  which 
he  subsequently  established  in  Germany. 

Clermont,  College  of.  A  college 
of  Jesuits  in  Paris,  where  James  II.,  after 
his  flight  from  England,  in  1688,  resided 
until  his  removal  to  St.  Germains.  During 
his  residence  there,  he  is  said  to  have 
sought  the  establishment  of  a  system  of 
Freemasonry,  the  object  of  which  should 
be  the  restoration  of  the  House  of  Stuart  to 
the  throne  of  England.  Relics  of  this  at- 
tempted system  are  still  to  be  found  in 
many  of  the  high  degrees,  and  the  Chapter 
of  Clermont,  subsequently  organized  in 
Paris,  appears  to  have  had  some  reference 
to  it. 

Clermont,  Count  of.  Louis  of 
Bourbon,  prince  of  the  blood  and  Count 
of  Clermont,  was  elected  by  sixteen  of  the 
Paris  Lodges  perpetual  Grand  Master,  for 
the  purpose  of  correcting  the  numerous 
abuses  which  had  crept  into  French  Ma- 
sonry. He  did  not,  however,  fulfil  the  ex- 
pectations of  the  French  Masons ;  for  the 
next  year  he  abandoned  the  supervision  of 
W 


the  Lodges,  and  new  disorders  arose.  He 
still,  however,  retained  the  Grand  Master- 
ship, and  died  in  1771,  being  succeeded  by 
his  nephew,  the  Duke  of  Chartres. 

Clinton,  De  Witt.  A  distinguished 
statesman,  who  was  born  at  Little  Britain, 
New  York,  March  2,  1769,  and  died  on 
the  11th  February,  1828.  He  entered  the 
Masonic  Order  in  1793,  and  the  next  year 
was  elected  Master  of  his  Lodge.  In  1806, 
he  was  elevated  to  the  position  of  Grand 
Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  New  York,  and 
in  1814,  to  that  of  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Encampment.  In  1816,  he  was  elected 
General  Grand  High  Priest  of  the  General 
Grand  Chapter  of  the  United  States.  In 
1813,  he  became  unwittingly  complicated 
with  the  Spurious  Consistory,  established 
by  Joseph  Cerneau  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  but  he  took  no  active  part  in  its  pro- 
ceedings, and  soon  withdrew  from  all  con- 
nection with  it.  When  the  anti-Masonic 
excitement  arose  in  this  country  in  1826,  in 
consequence  oftheaffair  of  William  Morgan, 
whom  the  Masons  were  accused  of  having 
put  to  death,  Mr.  Clinton  was  Governor  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  took  all  the  ne- 
cessary measures  for  the  arrest  of  the  sup- 
posed criminals.  But,  although  he  offered  a 
liberal  reward  for  their  detection,  he  was 
charged  by  the  anti-Masons  with  official 
neglect  and  indifference,  charges  which 
were  undoubtedly  false  and  malicious. 
Spenser,  the  special  attorney  of  the  State, 
employed  for  the  prosecution  of  the 
offenders,  went  so  far  as  to  resign  his  office, 
and  to  assign,  as  a  reason  for  his  resignation, 
the  want  of  sympathy  and  support  on  the 
part  of  the  Executive.  But  all  of  the  ac- 
cusations and  insinuations  are  properly  to 
be  attributed  to  political  excitement,  anti- 
Masonry  having  been  adopted  soon  after 
its  origin  by  the  politicians  as  an  engine 
for  their  advancement  to  office.  Clinton 
was  an  honorable  man  and  a  true  patriot. 
He  was  also  an  ardent  and  devoted  Mason. 

Closing.  The  duty  of  closing  the 
Lodge  is  as  imperative,  and  the  ceremony 
as  solemn,  as  that  of  opening  ;  nor  should  it 
ever  be  omitted  through  negligence,  nor 
hurried  over  with  haste,  but  everything 
should  be  performed  with  order  and  pre- 
cision, so  that  no  brother  shall  go  away 
dissatisfied.  From  the  very  nature  of  our 
constitution,  a  Lodge  cannot  properly  be 
adjourned.  It  must  be  closed  either  in  due 
form,  or  the  brethren  called  off  to  refresh- 
ment. But  an  adjournment  on  motion,  as 
in  other  societies,  is  unknown  to  the  Order. 
The  Master  can  alone  dismiss  the  brethren, 
and  that  dismission  must  take  place  after 
a  settled  usage.  In  Grand  Lodges  which 
meet  for  several  days  successively,  the  ses- 
sion is  generally  continued  from  day  to 


170 


CLOTHED 


COCK 


day,  by  calling  to  refreshment  at  the  termi- 
nation of  each  day's  sitting. 

Clothed.  A  Mason  is  said  to  be 
properly  clothed  when  he  wears  white 
leather  gloves,  a  white  apron,  and  the  jewel 
of  his  Masonic  rank.  The  gloves  are  now 
often,  but  improperly,  dispensed  with,  ex- 
cept on  public  occasions.  "  No  Mason  is 
permitted  to  enter  a  Lodge  or  join  in  its 
labors  unless  he  is  properly  clothed." 
Lenning,  speaking  of  Continental  Masonry, 
under  the  article  Kleidung  in  his  Lexicon, 
says,  that  the  clothing  of  a  Freemason  con- 
sists of  apron,  gloves,  sword,  and  hat.  In 
the  York  and  American  Rites,  the  sword 
and  hat  are  used  only  in  the  degrees  of 
chivalry.  In  the  earliest  code  of  lectures 
arranged  by  Anderson  and  Desaguliers,  at 
the  revival  in  1717,  the  symbolical  clothing 
of  a  Master  Mason  was  said  to  be  "skull- 
cap and  jacket  yellow,  and  nether  garments 
blue,"  in  allusion  to  the  brass  top  and  steel 
legs  of  a  pair  of  compasses.  After  the 
middle  of  the  century,  he  was  said  to  be 
"  clothed  in  the  old  colors,  viz.,  purple, 
crimson,  and  blue ; "  and  the  reason  assigned 
for  it  was,  "  because  they  are  royal,  and 
such  as  the  ancient  kings  and  princes  used 
to  wear."  The  actual  dress  of  a  Master 
Mason  was,  however,  a  full  suit  of  black, 
with  white  neckcloth,  apron,  gloves,  and 
stockings ;  the  buckles  being  of  silver,  and 
the  jewels  being  suspended  from  a  white 
ribbon  by  way  of  collar.  For  the  clothing 
and  decorations  of  the  different  degrees, 
see  Regalia. 

Clothing  the  Lodge.  In  the  "  Gen- 
eral Regulations,"  approved  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  in  1721,  it  is  provided 
in  article  seven  that  "  Every  new  Brother 
at  his  making  is  decently  to  cloath  the 
Lodge,  that  is,  all  the  Brethren  present; 
and  to  deposit  something  for  the  relief  of 
indigent  and  decayed  Brethren."  By  "cloth- 
ing the  Lodge"  was  meant  furnishing  the 
Brethren  with  gloves  and  aprons.  The 
regulation  no  longer  exists.  It  is  strange 
that  Oliver  should  have  quoted  as  the  au- 
thority for  this  usage  a  subsequent  regula- 
tion of  1767. 

Clouded  Canopy.  See  Canopy, 
Clouded. 

Cloud,  Pillar  of.  See  Pillar  of  Fire 
and  Cloud. 

Cloudy.  A  word  sometimes  improper- 
ly used  by  the  Wardens  of  a  Lodge  when 
reporting  an  unfavorable  result  of  the  ballot. 
The  proper  word  is  foul. 

Clubs.  The  eighteenth  century  was 
distinguished  in  England  by  the  existence 
of  numerous  local  and  ephemeral  associa- 
tions under  the  name  of  clubs,  where  men 
of  different  classes  of  society  met  for  amuse- 
ment and  recreation.    Each  profession  and 


trade  had  its  club,  and  "  whatever  might  be 
a  man's  character  or  disposition,"  says 
Oliver,  "  he  would  find  in  London  a  club 
that  would  square  with  his  ideas."  Addi- 
son, in  his  paper  on  the  origin  of  clubs 
(Spectator  No.  9),  remarks:  "Man  is  said 
to  be  a  social  animal,  and  as  an  instance  of 
it  we  may  observe  that  we  take  all  occa- 
sions and  pretences  of  forming  ourselves 
into  those  little  nocturnal  assemblies  which 
are  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  clubs. 
When  a  set  of  men  find  themselves  agree 
in  any  particular,  though  never  so  trivial, 
they  establish  themselves  into  a  kind  of 
fraternity  and  meet  once  or  twice  a  week, 
upon  the  account  of  such  a  fantastic  resem- 
blauce."  Hard  drinking  was  characteristic 
of  those  times,  and  excesses  too  often 
marked  the  meetings  of  these  societies.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  the  institution  of 
Freemasonry  underwent  its  revival  com- 
monly known  as  the  revival  of  1717,  and 
it  is  not  strange  that  its  social  character 
was  somewhat  affected  by  the  customs  of 
the  day.  The  Lodges  therefore  assumed 
at  that  time  too  much  of  a  convivial  char- 
acter, derived  from  the  customs  of  the  ex- 
isting clubs  and  coteries;  but  the  moral  and 
religious  principles  upon  which  the  Insti- 
tution was  founded  prevented  any  undue 
indulgence;  and  although  the  members 
were  permitted  the  enjoyment  of  decent  re- 
freshment, there  was  a  standing  law  which 
provided  against  all  excess. 

Coat  of  the  Tiler.  In  olden  times 
it  was  deemed  proper  that  the  Tiler  of  a 
Lodge,  like  the  beadle  of  a  parish,  —  whose 
functions  were  in  some  respects  similar,  — 
should  be  distinguished  by  a  tawdry  dress. 
In  a  schedule  of  the  regalia,  records,  etc., 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  all  England,  taken 
at  York  in  1779,  to  be  found  in  Hughan's 
Masonic  Sketches  and  Reprints,  (p.  33,)  we 
find  the  following  item:  "a  blue  cloth 
coat  with  a  red  collar  for  the  Tyler." 

Cochleus.  A  very  corrupt  word  in 
the  fourth  degree  of  the  Scottish  Rite;  there 
said  to  signify  in  the  form  of  a  screw,  and  to 
be  the  name  of  the  winding  staircase  which 
led  to  the  middle  chamber.  The  true  Latia 
word  is  cochlea.  But  the  matter  is  so  his- 
torically absurd  that  the  word  ought  to  be 
and  is  rejected  in  the  modern  rituals. 

Cock.  The  ancients  made  the  cock  a 
symbol  of  courage,  and  consecrated  him  to 
Mars,  Pallas,  and  Bellona,  deities  of  war. 
Some  have  supposed  that  it  is  in  reference 
to  this  quality  that  the  cock  is  used  in  the 
jewel  of  the  Captain-General  of  an  En- 
campment of  Knights  Templars. 

Reghellini,  however,  gives  a  different 
explanation  of  this  symbol.  He  says  that 
the  cock  was  the  emblem  of  the  sun  and 
of  life,  and  that  as  the  ancient  Christians 


COCKADE 


COLLAR 


171 


allegorically  deplored  the  death  of  the  solar 
orb  in  Christ,  the  cock  recalled  its  life  and 
resurrection.  The  cock,  we  know,  was  a 
symbol  among  the  early  Christians,  and  is 
repeatedly  to  be  found  on  the  tombs  in  the 
catacombs  of  Rome.  Hence  I  am  induced 
to  believe  that  we  should  give  a  Christian 
interpretation  to  the  jewel  of  a  Knight 
Templar  as  symbolic  of  the  resurrection. 

Cockade.  Some  few  of  the  German 
Lodges  have  a  custom  of  permitting  their 
members  to  wear  a  blue  cockade  in  the  hat 
as  a  symbol  of  equality  and  freedom  —  a 
symbolism  which,  as  Lenning  says,  it  is 
difficult  to  understand,  and  the  decoration 
is  inappropriate  as  a  part  of  the  clothing 
of  a  Mason.  Yet  it  is  probable  that  it  was 
a  conception  of  this  kind  that  induced  Cag- 
liostro  to  prescribe  the  cockade  as  a  part  of 
the  investiture  of  a  female  candidate  in  the 
initiation  of  his  Lodges.  Clavel  says  the 
Venerable  or  Master  of  a  French  Lodge 
wears  a  black  cockade. 

Cockle  Sliell.  The  cockle  shell  was 
worn  by  pilgrims  in  their  hats  as  a  token 
of  their  profession ;  now  used  in  the  cere- 
monies of  Templarism.    See  Scollop  Shell. 

Cost  us.  Latin.  An  assembly.  It  is 
incorrectly  used  in  some  old  Latin  Masonic 
diplomas  for  a  Lodge.  It  is  used  by  Lau- 
rence Dermott  in  a  diploma  dated  Sept. 
10,  1764,  where  he  signs  himself  "Sec. 
M.  Coetus,"  or  Secretary  of  the  Grand 
Lodge. 

Coffin.  In  the  Ancient  Mysteries  the 
aspirant  could  not  claim  a  participation 
in  the  highest  secrets  until  he  had  been 
placed  in  the  Pastos,  bed  or  coffin.  The 
placing  him  in  the  coffin  was  called  the 
symbolical  death  of  the  mysteries,  and  his 
deliverance  was  termed  a  raising  from  the 
dead.  Hence  arose  a  peculiarity  in  the 
Greek  verb  teleutao,  which,  in  the  active 
voice,  signified  "  I  die,"  and  in  the  middle 
voice,  "I  am  initiated."  "The  mind," 
says  an  ancient  writer,  quoted  by  Stobseus, 
"  is  affected  in  death  just  as  it  is  in  the 
initiation  into  the  mysteries.  And  word 
answers  to  word,  as  well  as  thing  to  thing  ; 
for  relevrav  is  to  die,  and  releiodai,  to  be  ini- 
tiated." The  coffin  in  Masonry  is  found  on 
tracing  boards  of  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century,  and  has  always  constituted  a  part 
of  the  symbolism  of  the  third  degree,  where 
the  reference  is  precisely  the  same  as  that 
of  the  Pastos  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries. 

Cohen.  (TO-  A  Hebrew  word  signify- 
ing a  priest.  The  French  Masonic  writers, 
indulging  in  a  Gallic  custom  of  misspelling 
all  name3  derived  from  other  languages, 
universally  spell  it  com. 

Cohens,  Elected.  See  Pascalis,  Alar- 
tin. 

Cole,  Benjamin.    He  published  at 


London,  in  1728,  and  again  in  1731,  the 
Old  Constitutions,  engraved  on  thirty  cop- 
per plates,  under  the  title  of  A  Boot  of  the 
Ancient  Constitutions  of  the  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons.  In  1751,  Cole  printed  a 
third  edition,  with  the  title  of  "The  An- 
cient Constitutions  and  Charges  of  Free- 
masons, with  a  true  representation  of  their 
noble  Art  in  several  Lectures  or  Speeches." 
Subsequent  editions  were  published  up  to 
1794.  Brother  Richard  Spencer,  the  well- 
known  Masonic  bibliographer,  says  that 
Cole  engraved  his  plates  from  a  MS.  which 
he  calls  the  "Constitutions  of  1726,"  or 
from  a  similar  MS.  by  the  same  scribe. 
Brother  Hughan  published  in  1869,  in  a 
limited  edition  of  seventy  copies,  a  litho- 
graph fac-simile  of  the  1729  edition  of 
Cole. 

Cole,  Samuel.  He  was  at  one  time 
the  Grand  Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Maryland,  and  the  author  of  a  work  en- 
titled The  Freemason's  Librai-y,  or  General 
Ahiman  Rezon,  the  first  edition  of  which 
appeared  in  1817,  and  the  second  in  1826. 
It  is  something  more  than  a  mere  monitor 
or  manual  of  the  degrees,  and  greatly  ex- 
cels in  literary  pretensions  the  contempo- 
rary works  of  Webb  and  Cross. 

Cole's  Manuscript.  The  MS.  from 
which  Cole  is  supposed  to  have  made  his 
engraved  Constitutions.  It  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  Bro.  Richard  Spencer,  who  pub- 
lished it  1871,  under  the  title  of  A  Book 
of  the  Ancient  Constitutions  of  the  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons.  Anno  Dom.,  1726. 
The  sub-title  is  "  The  Beginning  and  First 
Foundation  of  the  Most  Worthy  Craft  of 
Masonry,  with  the  charges  thereunto  be- 
longing." In  1739,  a  tract  was  published 
by  Mrs.  Dodd  with  this  latter  title,  to 
which  is  added,  "  By  a  deceased  Brother, 
for  the  benefit  of  his  widow."  Spencer, 
who  has  a  copy  of  it,  thinks  that  it  is  the 
same  as  the  MS.  of  1726,  from  which  Cole 
took  his  engraved  work. 

Collar.  An  ornament  worn  around 
the  neck  by  the  officers  of  Lodges,  to  which 
is  suspended  a  jewel  indicative  of  the 
wearer's  rank.  The  color  of  the  collar 
varies  in  the  different  grades  of  Masonry. 
That  of  a  symbolic  Lodge  is  blue;  of  a 
Past  Master,  purple;  of  a  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
son, scarlet ;  of  a  Secret  Master,  white  bor- 
dered with  black;  of  a  Perfect  Master, 
green,  etc.  These  colors  are  not  arbitrary, 
but  are  each  accompanied  with  a  symbolic 
signification. 

In  the  United  States,  the  collar  worn  by 
Grand  officers  in  the  Grand  Lodge  is,  pro- 
perly, purple  edged  with  gold.  In  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  the  Grand  officers  wear 
chains  of  gold  or  metal  gilt  instead  of  col- 
lars, but  on  other  occasions,  collars  of  rib- 


172 


COLLEGES 


COLOGNE 


bon,  garter  blue,  four  inches  broad,  em- 
broidered or  plain. 

The  use  of  the  collar  in  Masonry,  as  an 
official  decoration,  is  of  very  old  date.  It 
is  a  regulation  that  its  form  should  be  tri- 
angular; that  is,  that  it  should  terminate 
on  the  breast  in  a  point.  The  symbolical 
reference  is  evident.  The  Masonic  collar 
is  derived  from  the  practices  of  heraldry ; 
collars  are  worn  not  only  by  municipal 
officers  and  officers  of  State,  but  also  by 
knights  of  the  different  orders  as  a  part  of 
their  investiture. 

Colleges,  Masonic.  There  was  at 
one  time  a  great  disposition  exhibited  by 
the  Fraternity  of  the  United  States  to 
establish  colleges,  to  be  placed  under  the 
supervision  of  Grand  Lodges.  The  first 
one  ever  endowed  in  this  country  was  that 
at  Lexington,  in  Missouri,  established  by 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  that  State,  in  October, 
1841,  which  for  some  time  pursued  a  pros- 
perous career.  Other  Grand  Lodges,  such 
as  those  of  Kentucky,  Mississippi,  Ar- 
kansas, North  Carolina,  Florida,  and  a  few 
others,  subsequently  either  actually  organ- 
ized or  took  the  preliminary  steps  for  or- 
ganizing Masonic  colleges  in  their  respec- 
tive jurisdictions.  But  experience  has 
shown  that  there  is  an  incongruity  between 
the  official  labors  of  a  Grand  Lodge  as  the 
Masonic  head  of  the  Order,  and  the  su- 
perintendence and  support  of  a  college. 
Hence,  these  institutions  have  been  very 
generally  discontinued,  and  the  care  of  pro- 
viding for  the  education  of  indigent  chil- 
dren of  the  Craft  has  been  wisely  com- 
mitted to  the  subordinate  Lodges. 

The  late  Thomas  Brown,  the  distinguished 
Grand  Master  of  Florida,  thus  expressed 
the  following  correct  views  on  this  subject. 

"  We  question  if  the  endowment  of 
colleges  and  large  seminaries  of  learning, 
under  the  auspices  and  patronage  of  Ma- 
sonic bodies,  be  the  wisest  plan  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  great  design,  or  is  in 
accordance  with  the  character  and  princi- 
ples of  the  Fraternity.  Such  institutions 
savor  more  of  pageantry  than  utility;  and 
as  large  funds,  amassed  for  such  purposes, 
must  of  necessity  be  placed  under  the  con- 
trol and  management  of  comparatively  few, 
it  will  have  a  corrupting  influence,  promote 
discord,  and  bring  reproach  upon  the  Craft. 
The  principles  of  Masonry  do  not  sympathize 
with  speculations  in  stock  and  exchange 
brokerage.  Such,  we  fear,  will  be  the  evils 
attendant  on  such  institutions,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  questionable  right  and  policy  of 
drawing  funds  from  the  subordinate  Lodges, 
which  could  be  appropriated  by  their  pro- 
per officers  more  judiciously,  economically, 
and  faithfully  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  same  great  and  desirable  object  in  the 


true  Masonic  spirit  of  charity,  which  is  the 
bond  of  peace." 

Collegia  Artifieum.  Colleges  of 
Artificers.    See  Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers, 

Collegium.  In  Roman  j  urispruden  ce, 
a  collegium,  or  college,  expressed  the  idea 
of  several  persons  united  together  in  any 
office  or  for  any  common  purpose.  It  re- 
quired not  less  than  three  to  constitute  a 
college,  according  to  the  law  maxim,  "Tres 
faciunt  collegium,"  and  hence,  perhaps,  the 
Masonic  rule  that  not  fewer  than  three 
Master  Masons  can  form  a  Lodge. 

Cologne,  Cathedral  of.  The  city 
of  Cologne,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  is 
memorable  in  the  history  of  Freemasonry 
for  the  connection  of  its  celebrated  Cathe- 
dral with  the  labors  of  the  Steinmetzen  of 
Germany  in  the  Middle  Ages,  whence  it  be- 
came the  seat  of  one  of  the  most  important 
Lodges  of  that  period.  It  has  been  asserted 
that  Albertus  Magnus  designed  the  plan, 
and  that  he  there  also  altered  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Fraternity,  and  gave  it  a  new 
code  of  laws.  It  is  at  least  clear  that  in 
this  Cathedral  the  symbolic  principles  of 
Gothic  architecture,  the  distinguishing  style 
of  the  Travelling  Freemasons,  were  carried 
out  in  deeper  significance  than  in  any  other 
building  of  the  time.  Whether  the  docu- 
ment known  as  the  Charter  of  Cologne  be 
authentic  or  not,  the  fact  that  it  is  claimed 
to  have  emanated  from  the  Lodge  of  that 
place,  gives  to  the  Cathedral  an  importance 
in  the  views  of  the  Masonic  student. 

The  Cathedral  of  Cologne  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  religious  edifices  in  the 
world,  and  the  vastest  construction  of 
Gothic  architecture.  The  primitive  Cathe- 
dral, which  was  consecrated  in  873,  was 
burned  in  1248.  The  present  one  was  com- 
menced in  1249,  and  the  work  upon  it  con- 
tinued until  1509.  But  during  that  long 
period  the  labors  were  often  interrupted  by 
the  sanguinary  contests  which  raged  be- 
tween the  city  and  its  archbishops,  so  that 
only  the  choir  and  the  chapels  which  sur- 
rounded it  were  finished.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  it  suffered  much  from  the  ignorance 
of  its  own  canons,  who  subjected  it  to  un- 
worthy mutilations,  and  during  the  French 
revolution  it  was  used  as  a  military  depot. 
In  1 820,  this  edifice,  ravaged  by  men  and  mu- 
tilated by  time,  began  to  excite  serious  anxi- 
eties for  the  solidity  of  its  finished  portions. 
The  debris  of  the  venerable  pile  were  even 
about  to  be  overthrown,  when  archseologic 
zeal  and  religious  devotion  came  to  the 
rescue.  Societies  were  formed  for  its  resto- 
ration by  the  aid  of  permanent  subscrip- 
tions, which  were  liberally  supplied;  and  it 
was  resolved  to  finish  the  gigantic  struc- 
ture according  to  the  original  plans  which 
had  been  conceived  by  Gerhard  de  Saint 


COLOGNE 


COLOGNE 


173 


Trond,  the  ancient  master  of  the  works. 
The  works  were  renewed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  M.  Zwiner.  The  building  is  not 
yet  completed ;  but  even  in  its  unfinished 
condition  is,  says  Mr.  Seddon  (Ramb.  on 
the  Rhine,  p.  16),  "without  question,  one 
of  the  most  stupendous  structures  ever  con- 
ceived." 

Cologne,  Charter  of.  This  is  an 
interesting  Masonic  document,  originally 
written  in  Latin,  and  purporting  to  have 
been  issued  in  1535.  Its  history,  as  given 
by  those  who  first  offered  it  to  the  public, 
and  who  claim  that  it  is  authentic,  is  as 
follows.  From  the  year  1519  to  1601,  there 
existed  in  the  city  of  Amsterdam,  in  Hol- 
land, a  Lodge  whose  name  was  Het  Vreden- 
dall,  or  The  Valley  of  Peace.  In  the  latter 
year,  circumstances  caused  the  Lodge  to  be 
closed,  but  in  1637  it  was  revived,  by  four 
of  its  surviving  members,  under  the  name 
of  Frederick's  Vredendall,  or  Frederick's 
Valley  of  Peace.  In  this  Lodge,  at  the  time 
of  its  restoration,  there  was  found  a  chest, 
bound  with  brass  and  secured  by  three 
locks  and  three  seals,  which,  according  to 
a  protocol  published  on  the  29th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1637,  contained  the  following  docu- 
ments : 

1.  The  original  warrant  of  constitution 
of  the  Lodge  Het  Vredendall,  written  in 
the  English  language.  2.  A  roll  of  all  the 
members  of  the  Lodge  from  1519  to  1601. 
3.  The  original  charter  given  to  the  brother- 
hood at  the  city  of  Cologne,  and  which  is 
now  known  among  Masonic  historians  as 
the  Charter  of  Cologne. 

It  is  not  known  how  long  these  docu- 
ments remained  in  possession  of  the  Lodge 
at  Amsterdam.  But  they  were  subsequently 
remitted  to  the  charge  of  Bro.  James  Van 
Vasner,  Lord  of  Opdem,  whose  signature 
is  appended  to  the  last  attestation  of  the 
Hague  register,  under  the  date  of  the  2d 
of  February,  1638.  After  his  death,  they 
remained  among  the  papers  of  his  family 
until  1790,  when  M.  Walpenaer,  one  of  his 
descendants,  presented  them  to  Brother 
Van  Boetzelaer,  who  was  then  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Lodges  of  Holland.  Subse- 
quently they  fell  into  the  hands  of  some 
person  whose  name  is  unknown,  but  who,  in 
1816,  delivered  them  to  Prince  Frederick. 

There  is  a  story  that  the  prince  received 
these  documents  accompanied  by  a  letter, 
written  in  a  female  hand,  and  signed  "  C, 
child  of  V.  J."  In  this  letter  the  writer 
states  that  she  had  found  the  documents 
among  the  papers  of  her  father,  who  had 
received  them  from  Mr.  Van  Boetzelaer. 
It  is  suspected  that  the  authoress  of  the 
letter  was  the  daughter  of  Brother  Van 
Jeylinger,  who  was  the  successor  of  Van 
Boetzelaer  as  Grand  Master  of  Holland. 


There  fs  another  version  of  the  history 
which  states  that  these  documents  had  long 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  family  of  Was- 
senaer  Van  Opdem,  by  a  member  of  which 
they  were  presented  to  Van  Boetzelaer, 
who  subsequently  gave  them  to  Van  Jey- 
linger, with  strict  injunctions  to  preserve 
them  until  the  restitution  of  the  Orange 
regency.  The  originals  are  now,  or  were 
very  lately,  deposited  in  the  archives  of  a 
Lodge  at  Namur,  on  the  Meuse ;  but  copies  » 
of  the  charter  were  given  to  the  Fraternity 
under  the  following  circumstances : 

In  the  year  1819,  Prince  Frederick  of 
Nassau,  who  was  then  the  Grand  Master  of 
the  National  Grand  Lodge  of  Holland,  con- 
templating a  reformation  in  Masonry,  ad- 
dressed a  circular  on  this  subject  to  all  the 
Lodges  under  his  jurisdiction,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enlisting  them  in  behalf  of  his  pro- 
ject, and  accompanied  this  circular  with 
copies  of  the  charter,  which  he  had  caused 
to  be  taken  in  facsimile,  and  also  of  the 
register  of  the  Amsterdam  Lodge,  Valley 
of  Peace,  to  which  I  have  already  referred 
as  contained  in  the  brass-mounted  chest. 
A  transcript  of  the  charter  in  the  original 
Latin,  with  all  its  errors,  was  published, 
in  18]  8,  in  the  Annates  Maconniques.  The 
document  was  also  presented  to  the  public 
in  a  German  version,  in  1819,  by  Dr.  Fred. 
Heldmann;  but  his  translation  has  been 
proved,  by  Lenning  and  others,  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly incorrect.  In  1821,  Dr.  Krause 
published  it  in  his  celebrated  work  entitled, 
The  Three  Oldest  Masonic  Documents.  It 
has  been  frequently  published  since  in  a 
German  translation,  in  whole  or  in  part,  but 
is  accessible  to  the  English  reader  only  in 
Burnes'  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Knights 
Templars:  London,  1840,  in  D.  Murray 
Lyons'  translation  of  Findel's  History  of 
Freemasonry,  and  in  the  American  Quarterly 
Review  of  Freemasonry,  where  it  was  pub- 
lished with  copious  notes  by  the  author 
of  the  present  work.  P.  J.  Schouten,  a 
Dutch  writer  on  the  history  of  Freema- 
sonry, who  had  undoubtedly  seen  the  orig- 
inal document,  describes  it  as  being  written 
on  parchment  in  Masonic  cipher,  in  the 
Latin  language,  the  characters  uninjured 
by  time,  and  the  subscription  of  the  names 
not  in  cipher,  but  in  the  ordinary  cursive 
character.  The  Latin  is  that  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  is  distinguished  by  many  incor- 
rectly spelled  words,  and  frequent  gram- 
matical solecisms.  Thus,  we  find  "bagistri  " 
for  "magistri,"  "trigesimo"  for  "tricesi- 
mo,"  "ad  nostris  ordinem"  for  "ad  nos- 
trum ordinem,"  etc. 

Of  the  authenticity  of  this  document,  it 
is  but  fair  to  say  that  there  are  well-founded 
doubts  among  many  Masonic  writers.  The 
learned  antiquaries  of  the  University  of 


174 


COLOGNE 


COLUMBIA 


Leyden  have  testified  that  the  paper  on 
which  the  register  of  the  Lodge  at  the 
Hague  is  written,  is  of  the  same  kind  that 
was  used  in  Holland  at  the  commencement 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  purports 
to  he  its  date,  and  that  the  characters  in 
which  it  is  composed  are  of  the  same  period. 
This  register,  it  will  be  remembered,  refers 
to  the  charter  of  Cologne  as  existing  at 
that  time;  so  that  if  the  learned  men  of 
Leyden  have  not  been  deceived,  the 
fraud  —  supposing  that  there  is  one  in  the 
charter — must  be  more  than  two  centuries 
old. 

Dr.  Burnes  professes  to  have  no  faith  in 
the  document,  and  the  editors  of  the  Hermes 
at  once  declare  it  to  be  surreptitious.  But 
the  condemnation  of  Burnes  is  too  sweep- 
ing in  its  character,  as  it  includes  with  the 
charter  all  other  German  documents  on 
Freemasonry ;  and  the  opinion  of  the  edit- 
ors of  the  Hermes  must  be  taken  with  some 
grains  of  allowance,  as  they  were  at  the 
time  engaged  in  a  controversy  with  the 
Grand  Master  of  Holland,  and  in  the  de- 
fence of  the  high  degrees,  whose  claims  to 
antiquity  this  charter  would  materially  im- 
pair. Dr.  Oliver,  on  the  other  hand,  quotes 
it  unreservedly,  in  his  Landmarks,  as  an 
historical  document  worthy  of  credit ; 
and  Reghellini  treats  it  as  authentic.  In 
Germany,  the  Masonic  authorities  of  the 
highest  reputation,  such  as  Heldermanu, 
Morsdorf,  Kloss,  and  many  others,  have  re- 
pudiated it  as  a  spurious  production,  most 
probably  of  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century.  Kloss  objects  to  the  document, 
that  customs  are  referred  to  in  it  that  were 
not  known  in  the  rituals  of  initiation  until 
1731 ;  that  the  higher  degrees  were  nowhere 
known  until  1725 ;  that  none  of  the  eighteen 
copied  documents  have  been  found;  that 
the  declaimer  against  Templar  Masonry 
was  unnecessary  in  1535,  as  no  Templar 
degrees  existed  until  1741 ;  that  some  of  the 
Latin  expressions  are  not  such  as  were 
likely  to  have  been  used ;  and  a  few  other 
objections  of  a  similar  character.  Bobrik, 
who  published,  in  1840,  the  Text,  Transla- 
tion, and  Examination  of  the  Cologne  Docu- 
ment, also  advances  some  strong  critical 
arguments  against  its  authenticity.  On  the 
whole,  the  arguments  to  disprove  the  gen- 
uineness of  the  charter  appear  to  be  very 
convincing,  and  are  strong  enough  to  throw 
at  least  great  doubt  upon  it  as  being  any- 
thing else  but  a  modern  forgery. 

Cologne,  Congress  of.  A  Congress 
which  is  said  to  have  been  convened  in 
1525,  by  the  most  distinguished  Masons  of 
the  time,  in  the  city  of  Cologne,  as  the 
representatives  of  nineteen  Grand  Lodges, 
and  who  issued  the  celebrated  manifesto,  in 
defence  of  the  character  and  aims  of  the 


Institution,  known  as  the  Charter  of  Co- 
logne. Whether  this  Congress  was  ever 
held  is  a  mooted  point  among  Masonic 
writers,  most  of  them  contending  that  it 
never  was,  and  that  it  is  simply  an  inven- 
tion of  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury.    See  Cologne,  Charter  of. 

Colonial  Lodges.  Lodges  in  the 
colonies  of  Great  Britain  are  under  the 
immediate  supervision  and  jurisdiction  of 
Provincial  Grand  Lodges,  to  which  title 
the  reader  is  referred. 

Colorado.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  the  territory  of  Colorado  in 
1860,  in  which  year  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Kansas  chartered  Golden  City  Lodge  at 
Golden  City.  In  1861  two  other  Lodges, 
Rocky  Mountain  at  Gold  Hill  and  Summit 
Lodge  at  Parkville,  were  chartered  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Nebraska.  On  August 
2,  1861,  representatives  from  these  three 
Lodges  met  in  convention  at  Golden  City, 
and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Colo- 
rado, the  Grand  East  of  which  was  placed 
at  Denver.  J.  M.  Chivington  was  elected 
first  Grand  Master.  Chapters  of  Royal 
Arch  Masons  and  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars  were  subsequently  in- 
troduced. 

Colors,  Symbolism  of.  Wemyss, 
in  his  Clavis  Symbolica,  says :  "  Color,  which 
is  outwardly  seen  on  the  habit  of  the  body, 
is  symbolically  used  to  denote  the  true 
state  of  the  person  or  subject  to  which  it 
is  applied,  according  to  its  nature."  This 
definition  may  appropriately  be  borrowed 
on  the  present  occasion,  and  applied  to  the 
system  of  Masonic  colors.  The  color  of  a 
vestment  or  of  a  decoration  is  never  arbi- 
trarily adopted  in  Freemasonry.  Every 
color  is  selected  with  a  view  to  its  power 
in  the  symbolic  alphabet,  and  it  teaches  the 
initiate  some  instructive  moral  lesson,  or 
refers  to  some  important  historical  fact  in 
the  system. 

Frederic  Portal,  a  French  archaeologist, 
has  written  a  valuable  treatise  on  the  sym- 
bolism of  colors,  under  the  title  of  Des 
Couleurs  Symboliques  dans  Fantiquite,  le 
moyen  age  et  les  temps  modcrnes,  which  is 
well  worth  the  attention  of  Masonic  stu- 
dents. The  Masonic  colors  are  seven  in 
number,  namely:  1.  blue;  2,  purple;  3, 
red;  4,  white ;  5,  black;  6,  green;  7,  yel- 
low ;  8,  violet.    See  those  respective  titles. 

Columbia,  British.  Freemasonry 
was  introduced  into  British  Columbia  by 
the  Grand  Lodges  of  England  and  Scot- 
land. On  October  21st,  1871,  a  convention 
was  held,  with  the  consent  of  the  Provin- 
cial Grand  Master,  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
liminary action.  On  the  26th  of  December 
following,  a  Lodge  of  Master  Masons  was 
opened,  and  an  independent  Grand  Lodge 


COLUMBIA 


COMMANDERY 


175 


organized,  with  the  title  of  "The  Grand 
Lodge  of  Ancient,  Free,  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons for  the  Province  of  British  Columbia." 

Columbia,  District  of.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  District  of  Columbia  was  or- 
ganized Dec.  11th,  1810,  by  Lodges  having 
warrants  from  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and 
Valentine  Reintzel  was  elected  Grand  Mas- 
ter. The  Grand  Chapter  formed,  originally, 
a  component  part  of  the  Grand  Chapter  of 
Maryland  and  the  District  of  Columbia; 
but  the  connection  was  dissevered  in  1867, 
and  an  independent  Grand  Chapter  formed, 
which  has  now  five  Chapters  under  its 
jurisdiction.  There  is  neither  a  Grand 
Commandery  nor  Grand  Council  in  the 
Territory,  but  several  Commanderies  sub- 
ordinate to  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  Council  of  Royal  and 
Select  Masters  chartered  by  the  Grand 
Council  of  Massachusetts.  The  Scottish 
Rite,  has  also  been  successfully  cultivated, 
and  there  are  in  operation  a  Lodge  of  Per- 
fection and  a  Chapter  of  Rose  Croix. 

Column.  A  round  pillar  made  to 
support  as  well  as  to  adorn  a  building, 
whose  construction  varies  in  the  different 
orders  of  architecture.  In  Masonry,  col- 
umns have  a  symbolic  signification  as  the 
supports  of  a  Lodge,  and  are  known  as  the 
Columns  of  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty. 
The  broken  column  is  also  a  symbol  in 
Masonry.  See  the  titles  Supports  of  a  Lodge, 
and  Broken  Column. 

Combination  of  Masons.  The 
combination  of  the  Freemasons  in  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  to  de- 
mand a  higher  rate  of  wages,  which  even- 
tually gave  rise  to  the  enactment  of  the 
Statutes  of  Laborers,  is  thus  described  by  a 
writer  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  (Jan. 
1740,  p.  17:)  "King  Edward  III.  took  so 
great  an  affection  to  Windsor,  the  place  of 
his  birth,  that  he  instituted  the  Order  of 
the  Garter  there,  and  rebuilt  and  enlarged 
the  castle,  with  the  church  and  chapel  of 
St.  George.  This  was  a  great  work  and 
required  a  great  many  hands ;  and  for  the 
carrying  of  it  on  writs  were  directed  to  the 
sheriffs  of  several  counties  to  send  thither, 
under  the  penalty  of  £100  each,  such  a 
number  of  masons  by  a  day  appointed. 
London  sent  forty,  so  did  Devon,  Somerset, 
and  several  other  counties ;  but  several 
dying  of  the  plague,  and  others  deserting 
the  service,  new  writs  were  issued  to  send 
up  supplies.  Yorkshire  sent  sixty,  and 
other  counties  proportionably,  and  orders 
were  given  that  no  one  should  entertain 
any  of  these  runaway  masons,  under  pain 
of  forfeiture  of  all  their  goods.  Hereupon, 
the  masons  entered  into  a  combination  not 
to  work,  unless  at  higher  wages.  They 
agreed  upon  tokens,  etc.,  to  know  one  an- 


other by,  and  to  assist  one  another  against 
being  impressed,  and  not  to  work  unless 
free  and  on  their  own  terms.  Hence  they 
called  themselves  Freemasons ;  and  this 
combination  continued  during  the  carrying 
on  of  these  buildings  for  several  years.  The 
wars  between  the  two  Houses  coming  on  in 
the  next  reign,  the  discontented  herded 
together  in  the  same  manner,  and  the  gen- 
try also  underhand  supporting  the  malcon- 
tents, occasioned  several  Acts  of  Parliament 
against  the  combination  of  masons  and 
other  persons  under  that  denomination,  the 
titles  of  which  Acts  are  still  to  be  seen  in 
the  printed  statutes  of  those  reigns."  Ash- 
mole,  in  his  History  of  the  Order  of  the 
Garter,  (p.  80,)  confirms  the  fact  of  the  im- 
pressment of  workmen  by  King  Edward  ; 
and  the  combination  that  followed  seems 
but  a  natural  consequence  of  this  oppres- 
sive act ;  but  the  assertion  that  the  origin 
of  Freemasonry  as  an  organized  institution 
of  builders  is  to  be  traced  to  such  a  combi- 
nation, is  not  supported  by  the  facts  of 
history,  and,  indeed,  the  writer  himself 
admits  that  the  Masons  denied  its  truth. 

Commander.  1.  The  presiding  of- 
ficer in  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars. His  style  is  "  Eminent,"  and  the 
jewel  of  his  office  is  a  cross,  from  which 
issue  rays  of  light.  2.  The  Superinten- 
dent of  a  Commandery,  as  a  house  or  resi- 
dence of  the  Ancient  Knights  of  Malta,  was 
so  called. 

Commander,  Grand.  See  Grand 
Commander. 

Commander-in-Chief.  The  pre- 
siding officer  in  a  Consistory  of  Sublime 
Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret  in  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  His  style  is 
"  Illustrious."  In  a  Grand  Consistory  the 
presiding  officer  is  a  Grand  Commander-in- 
Chief,  and  he  is  styled  "  Very  Illustrious." 

Commandery.  1.  In  the  United 
States  all  regular  assemblies  of  Knights 
Templars  are  called  Commanderies,  and 
must  consist  of  the  following  officers:  Emi- 
nent Commander,  Generalissimo,  Captain 
General,  Prelate,  Senior  Warden,  Junior 
Warden,  Treasurer,  Recorder,  Warder, 
Standard  Bearer,  Sword  Bearer,  and  Sen- 
tinel. These  Commanderies  derive  their 
warrants  of  Constitution  from  a  Grand 
Commandery,  or,  if  there  is  no  such  body 
in  the  State  in  which  they  are  organized, 
from  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the  United 
States.  They  confer  the  degrees  of  Knight 
of  the  Red  Cross,  Knight  Templar,  and 
Knight  of  Malta. 

In  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Templars, 
the  throne  is  situated  in  the  East.  Above 
it  are  suspended  three  banners :  the  centre 
one  bearing  a  cross,  surmounted  by  a  glory ; 
the  left  one  having  inscribed  on  it  the  em- 


176 


COMMANDERY 


COMMITTEE 


blems  of  the  Order,  and  the  right  one,  a 
paschal  lamb.  The  Eminent  Commander 
is  seated  on  the  throne ;  the  Generalissimo, 
Prelate,  and  Past  Commanders  on  his  right; 
the  Captain  General  on  his  left ;  the  Treas- 
urer and  Recorder,  as  in  a  Symbolic  Lodge ; 
the  Senior  Warden  at  the  south-west  angle 
of  the  triangle,  and  upon  the  right  of  the 
first  division;  the  Junior  Warden  at  the 
north-west  angle  of  the  triangle,  and  on 
the  left  of  the  third  division ;  the  Standard 
Bearer  in  the  West,  between  the  Sword 
Bearer  on  his  right,  and  the  Warder  on  his 
left;  and  in  front  of  him  is  a  stall  for  the 
initiate.  The  Knights  are  arranged  in 
equal  numbers  on  each  side,  and  in  front 
of  the  throne. 

2.  The  houses  or  residences  of  the  Knights 
of  Malta  were  called  Commanderies,  and 
the  aggregation  of  them  in  a  nation  was 
called  a  Priory  or  Grand  Priory. 

Commaudery,  Grand.  When  three 
or  more  Commanderies  are  instituted  in  a 
State,  they  may  unite  and  form  a  Grand 
Commandery,  under  the  regulations  pre- 
scribed by  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the 
United  States.  They  have  the  superinten- 
dence of  all  Commanderies  of  Knights 
Templars  that  are  holden  in  their  respec- 
tive jurisdictions. 

A  Grand  Commandery  meets,  at  least, 
annually,  and  its  officers  consist  of  a  Grand 
Commander,  Deputy  Grand  Commander, 
Grand  Generalissimo,  Grand  Captain  Gen- 
eral, Grand  Prelate,  Grand  Senior  and 
Junior  Warden,  Grand  Treasurer,  Grand 
Recorder,  Grand  Warder,  Grand  Standard 
Bearer,  and  Grand  Sword  Bearer. 

Committee.  To  facilitate  the  trans- 
action of  business,  a  Lodge  or  Grand  Lodge 
often  refers  a  subject  to  a  particular  com- 
mittee for  investigation,  and  report.  By 
the  usages  of  Masonry,  committees  of  this 
character  are  always  appointed  by  the  pre- 
siding officer;  and  the  Master  of  a  Lodge, 
when  present  at  the  meeting  of  a  committee, 
may  act,  if  he  thinks  proper,  as  its  chair- 
man ;  for  the  Master  presides  over  any  as- 
semblage of  the  Craft  in  his  jurisdiction. 

Committee,  General.  By  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England, 
all  matters  of  business  to  be  brought  under 
the  consideration  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
must  previously  be  presented  to  a  General 
Committee,  consisting  of  the  Present  and 
Past  Grand  Officers,  and  the  Master  of 
every  regular  Lodge,  who  meet  on  the 
Wednesday  immediately  preceding  each 
quarterly  communication.  No  such  regu- 
lation exists  in  any  of  the  Grand  Lodges 
of  this  country. 

Committee  of  Charity.  In  most 
Lodges  there  is  a  standing  Committee  of 
Charity,  appointed  at  the  beginning  of  the 


year,  to  which,  in  general,  applications  for 
relief  are  referred  by  the  Lodge.  In  cases 
where  the  Lodge  does  not  itself  take  imme- 
diate action,  the  committee  is  also  invested 
with  the  power  to  grant  relief  to  a  limited 
amount  during  the  recess  of  the  Lodge. 

Committee  of  Finance.  In  many 
Lodges  the  Master,  Wardens,  Treasurer, 
and  Secretary  constitute  a  Committee  of 
Finance,  to  which  is  referred  the  general 
supervision  of  the  finances  of  the  Lodge. 

Committee  on  Foreign  Cor- 
respondence. In  none  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  this  country,  forty  years  ago, 
was  such  a  committee  as  that  on  foreign 
correspondence  ever  appointed.  A  few  of 
them  had  corresponding  secretaries,  to 
whom  were  intrusted  the  duty  of  attending 
to  the  correspondence  of  the  body  :  a  duty 
which  was  very  generally  neglected.  A  re- 
port on  the  proceedings  of  other  bodies 
was  altogether  unknown.  Grand  Lodges 
met  and  transacted  the  local  business  of 
their  own  jurisdictions  without  any  refer- 
ence to  what  was  passing  abroad." 

But  within  the  last  twenty  or  thirty 
years,  improvements  in  this  respect  began 
to  show  themselves.  Intelligent  Masons 
saw  that  it  would  no  longer  do  to  isolate 
themselves  from  the  Fraternity  in  other 
countries,  and  that,  if  any  moral  or  intel- 
lectual advancement  was  to  be  expected,  it 
must  be  derived  from  the  intercommunica- 
tion and  collision  of  ideas ;  and  the  first 
step  towards  this  advancement  was  the  ap- 
pointment in  every  Grand  Lodge  of  a  com- 
mittee, whose  duty  it  should  be  to  collate 
the  proceedings  of  other  jurisdictions,  and 
to  eliminate  from  them  the  most  important 
items.  These  committees  were,  however, 
very  slow  in  assuming  the  functions  which 
devolved  upon  them,  and  in  coming  up  to 
the  full  measure  of  their  duties.  At  first 
their  reports  were  little  more  than  "  reports 
of  progress."  No  light  was  derived  from 
their  collation,  and  the  bodies  which  had 
appointed  them  were  no  wiser  after  their 
reports  had  been  read  than  they  were 
before. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  first  condition  and 
subsequent  improvement  of  these  com- 
mittees on  foreign  correspondence,  let  us 
take  at  random  the  transactions  of  any 
Grand  Lodge  old  enough  to  have  a  history 
and  intelligent  enough  to  have  made  any 
progress;  and,  for  this  purpose,  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio,  two 
volumes  of  which  lie  conveniently  at  hand, 
will  do  as  well  as  any  other. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio  was  organized 
in  January,  1808.  From  that  time  to  1829, 
its  proceedings  contain  no  reference  to  a 
committee  on  correspondence ;  and  except, 
I  think,  a  single  allusion  to  the  Wash- 


COMMITTEE 


COMMITTEE 


177 


ington  Convention,  made  in  the  report  of 
a  special  committee,  the  Masons  of  Ohio 
seem  to  have  had  no  cognizance,  or  at 
least  to  have  shown  no  recognition,  of  any 
Masonry  which  might  be  outside  of  their 
own  jurisdiction. 

But  in  the  year  1830,  for  the  first  time,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  report  on  the 
foreign  correspondence  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 
This  committee  bore  the  title  of  the  "  Com- 
mittee on  Communications  from  Foreign 
Grand  Lodges,"  etc.,  and  made  during  the 
session  a  report  of  eight  lines  in  length, 
which  contained  just  the  amount  of  infor- 
mation that  could  be  condensed  in  that 
brief  space,  and  no  more.     In  1831,  the  re- 

J)ort  was  fifteen  lines  long ;  in  1832,  ten 
ines;  in  1833,  twelve  lines ;  and  so  on  for 
several  years,  the  reports  being  sometimes 
a  little  longer  and  sometimes  a  little  shorter; 
but  the  length  being  always  measured  by 
lines,  and  not  by  pages,  until,  in  1837, 
there  was  a  marked  falling  off,  the  report 
consisting  only  of  one  line  and  a  half.  Of 
this  report,  which  certainly  cannot  be  ac- 
cused of  verbosity,  the  following  is  an  ex- 
act copy :  "  Nothing  has  been  presented  for 
the  consideration  of  your  committee  re- 
quiring the  action  of  the  Grand  Lodge." 

In  1842,  the  labors  of  the  committee 
began  to  increase,  and  their  report  fills  a 
page  of  the  proceedings.  Things  now  rap- 
idly improved.  In  1843,  the  report  was 
three  pages  long;  in  1845,  four  pages;  in 
1840,  seven;  in  1848,  nearly  thirteen;  in 
1853,  fourteen;  in  1850,  thirty;  and  in 
1857 ,  for ty-six.  Thenceforward  there  is  no 
more  fault  to  be  found.  The  reports  of  the 
future  committees  were  of  full  growth, 
and  we  do  not  again  hear  such  an  unmean- 
ing phrase  as  "  nothing  requiring  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Grand  Lodge." 

The  history  of  these  reports  in  other 
Grand  Lodges  is  the  same  as  that  in  Ohio. 
Beginning  with  a  few  lines,  which  an- 
nounced the  absence  of  all  matters  worthy 
of  consideration,  they  have  grown  up  to 
the  full  stature  of  elaborate  essays,  extend- 
ing to  one  hundred  and  sometimes  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pages,  in  which  the  most 
important  and  interesting  subjects  of  Ma- 
sonic history,  philosophy,  and  jurispru- 
dence are  discussed,  generally  with  much 
ability. 

At  this  day  the  reports  of  the  commit- 
tees on  foreign  correspondence  in  all  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  this  country  constitute  an 
important  portion  of  the  literature  of  the 
Institution.  The  chairmen  of  these  com- 
mittees—  for  the  other  members  fill,  for 
the  most  part,  only  the  post  of  "  sleeping 
partners"  —  are  generally  men  of  educa- 
tion and  talent,  who,  by  the  very  occupa- 
tion in  which  they  are  employed,  of  read- 
X  12 


ing  the  published  proceedings  of  all  the 
Grand  Lodges  in  correspondence  with  their 
own,  have  become  thoroughly  conversant 
with  the  contemporary  history  of  the  Order, 
while  a  great  many  of  them  have  extended 
their  studies  in  its  previous  history. 

The  "  reportorial  corps,"  as  these  hard- 
laboring  brethren  are  beginning  to  call 
themselves,  exercise,  of  course,  a  not  trifl- 
ing influence  in  the  Order.  These  com- 
mittees annually  submit  to  their  respective 
Grand  Lodges  a  mass  of  interesting  infor- 
mation, which  is  read  with  great  avidity  by 
their  brethren.  Gradually  —  for  at  first  it 
was  not  their  custom  —  they  have  added  to 
the  bare  narration  of  facts  their  comments 
on  Masonic  law  and  their  criticisms  on  the 
decisions  made  in  other  jurisdictions.  These 
comments  and  criticisms  have  very  naturally 
their  weight,  sometimes  beyond  their  actual 
worth ;  and  it  will  not  therefore  be  impro- 
per to  take  a  glance  at  what  ought  to  be 
the  character  of  a  report  on  foreign  corres- 
pondence. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  a  reporter  of  for- 
eign correspondence  should  be,  in  the  most 
literal  sense  of  Shakespeare's  words,  "a 
brief  chronicler  of  the  times."  His  report 
should  contain  a  succinct  account  of  every- 
thing of  importance  that  is  passing  in  the 
Masonic  world,  so  far  as  his  materials  sup- 
ply him  with  the  information.  But,  re- 
membering that  he  is  writing  for  the  in- 
struction of  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands, 
many  of  whom  cannot  spare  much  time, 
and  many  others  who  have  no  inclination 
to  spare  it,  he  should  eschew  the  sin  of  te- 
diousness,  never  forgetting  that  "  brevity  is 
the  soul  of  wit."  He  should  omit  all  de- 
tails that  have  no  special  interest ;  should 
husband  his  space  for  important  items,  and 
be  exceedingly  parsimonious  in  the  use  of 
unnecessary  expletives,  whose  only  use  is 
to  add  to  the  length  of  a  line.  In  a  word, 
he  should  remember  that  he  is  not  an 
orator,  but  an  historian.  A  rigid  adherence 
to  these  principles  would  save  the  expense 
of  many  printed  pages  to  his  Grand  Lodge, 
and  the  waste  of  much  time  to  his  readers. 
These  reports  will  form  the  germ  of  future 
Masonic  history.  The  collected  mass  will 
be  an  immense  one,  and  it  should  not  be 
unnecessarily  enlarged  by  the  admission  of 
trivial  items. 

In  the  next  place,  although  I  admit 
that  these  "brethren  of  the  reportorial 
corps"  have  peculiar  advantages  in  read- 
ing the  opinions  of  their  contemporaries 
on  subjects  of  Masonic  jurisprudence,  they 
would  be  mistaken  in  supposing  that  these 
advantages  must  necessarily  make  them 
Masonic  lawyers.  Ex  quovis  ligno  non  fit 
Mercurius.  It  is  not  every  man  that  will 
make  a  lawyer.     A  peculiar  turn  of  mind 


178 


COMMITTEE 


COMMUNICATION 


and  a  habit  of  close  reasoning,  as  well  as 
a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  law  it- 
self, are  required  to  fit  one  for  the  investi- 
gation of  questions  of  jurisprudence.  Re- 
porters, therefore,  should  assume  the  task 
of  adjudicating  points  of  law  with  much 
diffidence.  They  should  not  pretend  to 
make  a  decision  ex  cathedra,  but  only  to  ex- 
press an  opinion ;  and  that  opinion  they 
should  attempt  to  sustain  by  arguments 
that  may  convince  their  readers.  Dogma- 
tism is  entirely  out  of  place  in  a  Masonic 
report  on  foreign  correspondence. 

But  if  tediousness  and  dogmatism  are 
displeasing,  how  much  more  offensive  must 
be  rudeness  and  personality.  Courtesy  is 
a  Masonic  as  well  as  a  knightly  virtue,  and 
the  reporter  who  takes  advantage  of  his 
official  position  to  speak  rudely  of  his 
brethren,  or  makes  his  report  the  vehicle 
of  scurrility  and  abuse,  most  strangely  for- 
gets the  duty  and  respect  which  he  owes  to 
the  Grand  Lodge  which  he  represents  and 
the  Fraternity  to  which  he  addresses  him- 
self. 

And,  lastly,  a  few  words  as  to  style. 
These  reports,  I  have  already  said,  consti- 
tute an  important  feature  of  Masonic  liter- 
ature. It  should  be,  then,  the  object  and 
aim  of  every  one  to  give  to  them  a  tone  and 
character  which  shall  reflect  honor  on  the 
society  whence  they  emanate,  and  enhance 
the  reputation  of  their  authors.  The  style 
cannot  always  be  scholarly,  but  it  should  al- 
ways be  chaste;  it  may  sometimes  want 
eloquence,  but  it  should  never  be  marked 
by  vulgarity.  Coarseness  of  language  and 
slang  phrases  are  manifestly  out  of  place  in 
a  paper  which  treats  of  subjects  such  as 
naturally  belong  to  a  Masonic  document. 
Wit  and  humor  we  would  not,  of  course, 
exclude.  The  Horatian  maxim  bids  us 
sometimes  to  unbend,  and  old  Menander 
thought  it  would  not  do  always  to  appear 
wise.  Even  the  solemn  Johnson  could 
sometimes  perpetrate  a  joke,  and  Sidney 
Smith  has  enlivened  his  lectures  on  moral 
philosophy  with  numerous  witticisms. 
There  are  those  who  delight  in  the  stateli- 
ness  of  Coleridge ;  but  for  ourselves  we  do 
not  object  to  the  levity  of  Lamb,  though. 
we  would  not  care  to  descend  to  the  vul- 
garity of  Rabelais. 

To  sum  up  the  whole  matter  in  a  few 
words,  these  reports  on  foreign  correspon- 
dence should  be  succinct,  and,  if  you  please, 
elaborate  chronicles  of  all  passing  events 
in  the  Masonic  world ;  they  should  express 
the  opinions  of  their  authors  on  points  of 
Masonic  law,  not  as  judicial  dicta,  but  sim- 
ply as  opinions,  not  to  be  dogmatically  en- 
forced, but  to  be  sustained  and  supported 
by  the  best  arguments  that  the  writers  can 
produce ;  they  should  not  be  made  the  ve- 


hicles of  personal  abuse  or  vituperation ; 
and,  lastly,  they  should  be  clothed  in  lan- 
guage worthy  of  the  literature  of  the  Order. 

Committee.  Private.  The  well- 
known  regulation  which  forbids  private 
committees  in  the  Lodge,  that  is,  select 
conversations  between  two  or  more  mem- 
bers, in  which  the  other  members  are  not 
permitted  to  join,  is  derived  from  the  Old 
Charges :  "  You  are  not  permitted  to  hold 
private  committees  or  separate  conversa- 
tion, without  leave  from  the  Master,  nor  to 
talk  of  anything  impertinent  or  unseemly, 
nor  to  interrupt  the  Master  or  Wardens,  or 
any  brother  speaking  to  the  Master." 

Committee,  Report  of.  See  Re- 
port of  a  Committee. 

Common  Gavel.    See  Gavel. 

Communication.  The  meeting  of 
a  Lodge  is  so  called.  There  is  a  peculiar 
significance  in  this  term.  "  To  communi- 
cate," which,  in  the  Old  English  form,  was 
"  to  common,"  originally  meant  to  share  in 
common  with  others.  The  great  sacrament 
of  the  Christian  church,  which  denotes  a 
participation  in  the  mysteries  of  the  religion 
and  a  fellowship  in  the  church,  is  called  a 
"  communion,"  which  is  fundamentally  the 
same  as  a  "communication,"  for  he  who 
partakes  of  the  communion  is  said  "  to 
communicate."  Hence,  the  meetings  of 
Masonic  Lodges  are  called  communications, 
to  signify  that  it  is  not  simply  the  ordinary 
meeting  of  a  society  for  the  transaction  of 
business,  but  that  such  meeting  is  the  fel- 
lowship of  men  engaged  in  a  common  pur- 
suit, and  governed  by  a  common  principle, 
and  that  there  is  therein  a  communication 
or  participation  of  those  feelings  and  sen- 
timents that  constitute  a  true  brotherhood. 

The  communications  of  Lodges  are  regu- 
lar or  stated  and  special  or  emergent. 
Regular  communications  are  held  under 
the  provision  of  the  by-laws,  but  special 
communications  are  called  by  order  of  the 
Master.  It  is  a  regulation  that  no  special 
communication  can  alter,  amend,  or  rescind 
the  proceedings  of  a  regular  communica- 
tion. 

Communication,  Grand.  The 
meeting  of  a  Grand  Lodge. 

Commnnieation  of  Degrees. 
When  the  peculiar  mysteries  of  a  degree 
are  bestowed  upon  a  candidate  by  mere 
verbal  description  of  the  bestower,  without 
his  being  made  to  pass  through  the  consti- 
tuted ceremonies,  the  degree  is  technically 
said  to  be  communicated.  This  mode  is, 
however,  entirely  confined  in  this  country 
to  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
The  degrees  may  in  that  Rite  be  thus  con- 
ferred in  any  place  where  secrecy  is  se- 
cured; but  the  prerogative  of  communi- 
cating is  restricted  to  the  presiding  officers 


COMMUNICATION 


COMPAGNONAGE 


179 


of  bodies  of  the  Rite,  who  may  communicate 
certain  of  the  degrees  upon  candidates  who 
have  been  previously  duly  elected,  and  to 
Inspectors  and  Deputy  Inspectors  General 
of  the  thirty-third  degree,  who  may  com- 
municate all  the  degrees  of  the  Rite,  except 
the  last,  to  any  persons  whom  they  may 
deem  qualified  to  receive  them. 

Communication,  Quarter  ly. 
Anciently,  Grand  Lodges,  which  were  then 
called  General  Assemblies  of  the  Craft, 
were  held  annually.  But  it  is  said  that  the 
Grand  Master  Iuigo  Jones  instituted  quar- 
terly communications  at  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  which  were  con- 
tinued by  his  successors,  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke and  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  until  the 
infirmities  of  the  latter  compelled  him  to 
neglect  them.  On  the  revival  in  1717,  pro- 
vision was  made  for  their  resumption ;  and 
in  the  twelfth  of  the  thirty-nine  Regula- 
tions of  1721  it  was  declared  that  the  Grand 
Lodge  must  have  a  quarterly  communica- 
tion about  Michaelmas,  Christmas,  and 
Lady-Day.  These  quarterly  communica- 
tions are  still  retained  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  and  in  this  country  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  but  all 
other  American  Grand  Lodges  have  adopted 
the  old  system  of  annual  communications. 

Communion  of  the  Brethren. 
See  Bread,  Consecrated. 

Como.  A  city  of  Lombardy,  which 
was  the  principal  seat  of  that  body  of 
architects  who,  under  the  name  of  Travel- 
ling Freemasons,  wandered  over  Europe 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  constructed 
cathedrals,  monasteries,  and  other  religious 
edifices.  A  school  of  architecture  was  es- 
tablished at  Como  which  obtained  so  much 
renown  that,  according  to  Muratori,  the 
masons  and  bricklayers  of  that  place,  in 
consequence  of  their  superiority  in  their 
art,  received  the  appellation  of  Magistri 
Comacini,  or  Masters  of  Como,  a  title  which 
became  generic  to  all  those  of  the  profes- 
sion. To  the  school  of  Como,  architects  of 
all  nations  flocked  for  instruction.  Rebold 
intimates  that  it  was  the  successor  of  the 
Roman  Colleges  of  Builders,  and  that,  like 
them,  it  had  its  secret  teachings  and  mys- 
teries. 

Compagnon.  In  French  Masonry,  a 
Fellow  Craft  is  so  called,  and  the  grade  du 
Compagnon  is  the  degree  of  Fellow  Craft. 

Compagnonage.  This  is  the  name 
which  is  given  in  France  to  certain  mysti- 
cal associations  formed  between  workmen 
of  the  same  or  an  analogous  handicraft, 
whose  object  is  to  afford  mutual  assistance 
to  the  members.  It  was  at  one  time  con- 
sidered among  handicraftsmen  as  the  second 
degree  of  the  novitiate,  before  arriving  at 
the  mditrise,  or  mastership,  the  first  being, 


of  course,  that  of  apprentice;  and  work- 
men were  admitted  into  it  only  after  five 
years  of  apprenticeship,  and  on  the  produc- 
tion of  a  skilfully  constructed  piece  of  work,, 
which  was  called  their  chef-d'oeuvre. 

Tradition  gives  to  Compagnonage  a  He- 
braic origin,  which  to  some  extent  assimi- 
lates it  to  the  traditional  history  of  Free- 
masonry as  springing  out  of  the  Solomonic 
Temple.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  it 
arose,  in  the  twelfth  century,  out  of  a  part 
of  the  corporation  of  workmen.  These, 
who  prosecuted  the  labors  of  their  craft 
from  province  to  province,  could  not  shut 
their  eyes  to  the  narrow  policy  of  the  gilds 
or  corporations,  which  the  masters  were 
constantly  seeking  to  make  more  exclusive. 
Thence  they  perceived  the  necessity  of 
forming  for  themselves  associations  or  con- 
fraternities, whose  protection  should  ac- 
company them  in  all  their  laborious  wan- 
derings, and  secure  to  them  employment 
and  fraternal  intercourse  when  arriving  in 
strange  towns. 

The  Compagnons  de  la  Tour,  which  is  the 
title  assumed  by  those  who  are  the  mem- 
bers of  the  brotherhoods  of  Compagnonage, 
have  legends,  which  have  been  traditionally 
transmitted  from  age  to  age,  by  which,  like 
the  Freemasons,  they  trace  the  origin  of 
their  association  to  the  Temple  of  King 
Solomon.  These  legends  are  three  in  num- 
ber, for  the  different  societies  of  Compag- 
nonage recognize  three  different  founders, 
and  hence  made  three  different  associations, 
which  are : 

1.  The  Children  of  Solomon. 

2.  The  Children  of  Maitre  Jacques. 

3.  The  Children  of  Pere  Soubise. 
These  three  societies  or  classes  of  the 

Compagnons  are  irreconcileable  enemies, 
and  reproach  each  other  with  the  imagin- 
ary contests  of  their  supposed  founders. 

The  Children  of  Solomon  pretend  that 
King  Solomon  gave  them  their  devoir,  or 
gild,  as  a  reward  for  their  labors  at  the 
Temple,  and  that  he  had  there  united  them 
into  a  brotherhood. 

The  Children  of  Maitre  Jacques  say  that 
their  founder,  who  was  the  son  of  a  cele- 
brated architect  named  Jacquain,  or 
Jacques,  was  one  of  the  chief  Masters  of 
Solomon,  and  a  colleague  of  Hiram.  He 
was  born  in  a  small  city  of  Gaul  named 
Carte,  and  now  St.  Romille,  but  which  we 
should  in  vain  look  for  on  the  maps. 

From  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  employed 
in  stone-cutting.  He  travelled  in  Greece, 
where  he  learned  sculpture  and  architec- 
ture ;  afterwards  went  to  Egypt,  and  thence 
to  Jerusalem,  where  he  constructed  two  pil- 
lars with  so  much  skill  that  he  was  imme- 
diately received  as  a  Master  of  the  Craft. 
Maitre  Jacques  and  his  colleague  Pere  Sou- 


180 


COMPAGNONAGE 


COMPAGNONAGE 


bise,  after  the  labors  of  the  Temple  were 
completed,  resolved  to  go  together  to  Gaul, 
swearing  that  they  would  never  separate ; 
but  the  union  did  not  last  very  long  in 
consequence  of  the  jealousy  excited  in 
Pere  Soubise  by  the  ascendency  of  Maitre 
Jacques  over  their  disciples.  They  parted, 
and  the  former  landed  at  Bordeaux,  and 
the  latter  at  Marseilles. 

One  day,  Maitre  Jacques,  being  far  away 
from  his  disciples,  was  attacked  by  ten  of 
those  of  Pere  Soubise.  To  save  himself,  he 
fled  into  a  marsh,  where  he  sustained  him- 
self from  sinking  by  holding  on  to  the  reeds, 
and  was  eventually  rescued  by  his  disci- 
ples. He  then  retired  to  Saint  Baume,  but 
being  soon  after  betrayed  by  a  disciple, 
named,  according  to  some,  Jeron,  and  ac- 
cording to  others,  Jamais,  he  was  assassi- 
nated by  five  blows  of  a  dagger,  in  the 
forty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  four  years  and 
nine  days  after  his  departure  from  Jerusa- 
lem. On  his  robe  was  subsequently  found 
a  reed  which  he  wore  in  memory  of  his 
having  been  saved  in  the  marsh,  and  thence- 
forth his  disciples  adopted  the  reed  as  the 
emblem  of  their  Order. 

Pere  Soubise  is  not  generally  accused  of 
having  taken  any  part  in  the  assassination. 
The  tears  which  he  shed  over  the  tomb  of 
his  colleague  removed  in  part  the  suspi- 
cions which  had  at  first  rested  on  him. 
The  traitor  who  committed  the  crime  sub- 
sequently, in  a  moment  of  deep  contrition, 
cast  himself  into  a  well,  which  the  disci- 
ples of  Maitre  Jacques  filled  up  with  stones. 
The  relics  of  the  martyr  were  long  pre- 
served in  a  sacred  chest,  and,  when  his  dis- 
ciples afterwards  separated  into  different 
crafts,  his  hat  was  given  to  the  hatters,  his 
tunic  to  the  stone-cutters,  his  sandals  to  the 
locksmiths,  his  mantle  to  the  joiners,  his 
girdle  to  the  carpenters,  and  his  staff  to  the 
cartwrights. 

According  to  another  tradition,  Maitre 
Jacques  was  no  other  than  Jacques  de  Mo- 
lay,  the  last  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars, 
who  had  collected  under  his  banner  some 
of  the  Children  of  Solomon  that  had  sepa- 
rated from  the  parent  society,  and  who, 
about  1268,  conferred  upon  them  a  new 
devoir  or  gild.  Pere  Soubise  is  said,  in  the 
same  legend,  to  have  been  a  Benedictine 
monk,  who  gave  to  the  carpenters  some 
special  statutes.  This  second  legend  is 
generally  recognized  as  more  truthful  than 
the  first.  From  this  it  follows  that  the 
division  of  the  society  of  Compagnonage 
into  three  classes  dates  from  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  that  the  Children  of  Maitre 
Jacques  and  of  Pere  Soubise  are  more 
modern  than  the  Children  of  Solomon,  from 
whom  they  were  a  dismemberment. 

The  organization  of  these  associations  of 


Compagnonage  reminds  one  very  strongly 
of  the  somewhat  similar  organization  of 
the  stone-masons  of  Germany  and  of  other 
countries  in  the  Middle  Ages.  To  one  of 
three  classes  every  handicraftsman  in 
France  was  expected  to  attach  himself. 
There  was  an  initiation,  and  a  system  of 
degrees  which  were  four  in  number:  the 
Accepted  Companion,  the  Finished  Com- 
panion, the  Initiated  Companion,  and, 
lastly,  the  Affiliated  Companion.  There 
were  also  signs  and  words  as  modes  of  re- 
cognition, and  decorations,  which  varied  in 
the  different  devoirs ;  but  to  all,  the  square 
and  compasses  was  a  common  symbol. 

As  soon  as  a  Craftsman  had  passed 
through  his  apprenticeship,  he  joined  one 
of  these  gilds,  and  commenced  his  journey 
over  France,  which  was  called  the  tour  de 
France,  in  the  course  of  which  he  visited 
the  principal  cities,  towns,  and  villages, 
stopping  for  a  time  wherever  he  could  se- 
cure employment.  In  almost  every  town 
there  was  a  house  of  call,  presided  over 
always  by  a  woman,  who  was  affectionately 
called  "  la  Mere,"  or  the  Mother,  and  the 
same  name  was  given  to  the  house  itself. 
There  the  Compagnons  held  their  meetings 
and  annually  elected  their  officers,  and  trav- 
elling workmen  repaired  there  to  obtain 
food  and  lodging,  and  the  necessary  infor- 
mation which  might  lead  to  employment. 

When  two  Companions  met  on  the  road, 
one  of  them  addressed  the  other  with  the 
topage,  or  challenge,  being  a  formula  of 
words,  the  conventional  reply  to  which 
would  indicate  that  the  other  was  a  member 
of  the  same  devoir.  If  such  was  the  case, 
friendly  greetings  ensued.  But  if  the  reply 
was  not  satisfactory,  and  it  appeared  that 
they  belonged  to  different  associations,  a  war 
of  words,  and  even  of  blows,  was  the  result. 
Such  was  formerly  the  custom,  but  through 
the  evangelic  labors  of  Agricol  Perdiquier, 
a  journeyman  joiner  of  Avignon,  who  trav- 
elled through  France  inculcating  lessons  of 
brotherly  love,  a  better  spirit  now  exists. 

In  each  locality  the  association  has  a 
chief,  who  is  annually  elected  by  ballot  at 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Craft.  He  is 
called  the  First  Compagnon  of  Dignity. 
He  presides  over  the  meetings,  which  ordi- 
narily take  place  on  the  first  Sunday  of 
every  month,  and  represents  the  society  in 
its  intercourse  with  other  bodies,  with  the 
Masters,  or  with  the  municipal  authorities. 

Compagnonage  has  been  exposed,  at  va- 
rious periods,  to  the  persecutions  of  the 
Church  and  the  State,  as  well  as  to  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  Corporations  of  Masters,  to 
which,  of  course,  its  designs  were  antagonis- 
tic, because  it  opposed  their  monopoly.  Un- 
like them,  and  particularly  the  Corporation 
of  Freemasons,  it  was  not  under  the  protec- 


COMPAGNONS 


CONCORDISTS 


181 


tion  of  the  Church.  The  practice  of  its  mysti- 
cal receptions  was  condemned  by  the  Faculty 
of  Theology  at  Paris,  in  1655,  as  impious. 
But  a  hundred  years  before,  in  1541,  a  de- 
cree of  Francis  I.  had  interdicted  the  Coin- 
pagnons  de  la  Tour  from  binding  themselves 
by  an  oath,  from  wearing  swords  or  canes, 
from  assembling  in  a  greater  number  than 
five  outside  of  their  Masters'  houses,  or 
from  having  banquets  on  any  occasion. 
During  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  the  parliaments  were 
continually  interposing  their  power  against 
the  associations  of  Compagnonage,  as  well 
as  against  other  fraternities.  The  effects 
of  these  persecutions,  although  embarrass- 
ing, were  not  absolutely  disastrous.  In 
spite  of  them,  Compagnonage  was  never 
entirely  dissolved,  although  a  few  of  the 
trades  abandoned  their  devoirs;  some  of 
which,  however,  —  such  as  that  of  the  shoe- 
makers, —  were  subsequently  renewed.  And 
at  this  day,  the  gilds  of  the  workmen  still 
exist  in  France,  having  lost,  it  is  true,  much 
of  their  original  code  of  religious  dogmas 
and  symbols,  and,  although  not  recognized 
by  the  law,  always  tolerated  by  the  muni- 
cipal authorities  and  undisturbed  by  the 
police.  To  the  Masonic  scholar,  the  history 
of  these  devoirs  or  gilds  is  peculiarly  inter- 
esting. In  nearly  all  of  them  the  Temple 
of  Solomon  prevails  as  a  predominant  sym- 
bol, while  the  square  and  compass,  their 
favorite  and  constant  device,  would  seem, 
in  some  way,  to  identify  them  with  Free- 
masonry so  far  as  respects  the  probability 
of  a  common  origin. 

Compagnons  de  la  Tour.  The 
title  assumed  by  the  workmen  in  France 
who  belong  to  the  different  gilds  of  Com- 
pagnonage, which  see. 

Companion.  A  title  bestowed  by 
Royal  Arch  Masons  upon  each  other,  and 
equivalent  to  the  word  brother  in  symbolic 
Lodges.  It  refers,  most  probably,  to  the 
companionship  in  exile  and  captivity  of  the 
ancient  Jews,  from  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  its  restora- 
tion by  Zerubbabel,  under  the  auspices  of 
Cyrus.  In  using  this  title  in  a  higher  de- 
gree, the  Masons  who  adopted  it  seem  to 
have  intimated  that  there  was  a  shade  of 
difference  between  its  meaning  and  that  of 
brother.  The  latter  refers  to  the  universal 
fatherhood  of  God  and  the  universal  bro- 
therhood of  man ;  but  the  former  represents 
a  companionship  or  common  pursuit  of  one 
object — the  common  endurance  of  suffering 
or  the  common  enjoyment  of  happiness. 
Companion  represents  a  closer  tie  than 
brother.  The  one  is  a  natural  relation  shared 
by  all  men ;  the  other  a  connection,  the  result 
of  choice  and  confined  to  a  few.  All  men 
are  our  brethren,  not  all  our  companions. 


Compasses*.  As  in  Operative  Ma- 
sonry, the  compasses  are  used  for  the  ad- 
measurement of  the  architect's  plans,  and 
to  enable  him  to  give  those  just  proportions 
which  will  insure  beauty  as  well  as  stability 
to  his  work;  so,  in  Speculative  Masonry,  is 
this  important  implement  symbolic  of  that 
even  tenor  of  deportment,  that  true  stand- 
ard of  rectitude  which  alone  can  bestow 
happiness  here  and  felicity  hereafter.  Hence 
are  the  compasses  the  most  prominent  em- 
blem of  virtue,  the  true  and  only  measure 
of  a  Mason's  life  and  conduct.  As  the 
Bible  gives  us  light  on  our  duties  to  God, 
and  the  square  illustrates  our  duties  to  our 
neighborhood  and  brother,  so  the  compasses 
give  that  additional  light  which  is  to  in- 
struct us  in  the  duty  we  owe  to  ourselves 
—  the  great,  imperative  duty  of  circum- 
scribing our  passions,  and  keeping  our  de- 
sires within  due  bounds.  "  It  is  ordained," 
says  the  philosophic  Burke,  "in  the  eternal 
constitution  of  things,  that  men  of  intem- 
perate passions  cannot  be  free ;  their  pas- 
sions forge  their  fetters."  Those  brethren 
who  delight  to  trace  our  emblems  to  an  as- 
tronomical origin,  find  in  the  compasses  a 
symbol  of  the  sun,  the  circular  pivot  rep- 
resenting the  body  of  the  luminary,  and 
the  diverging  legs  his  rays. 

In  the  earliest  rituals  of  the  last  century, 
the  compasses  are  described  as  a  part  of  the 
furniture  of  the  Lodge,  and  are  said  to  be- 
long to  the  Master.  Some  change  will  be 
found  in  this  respect  in  the  ritual  of  the 
present  day.     See  Square  and  Compasses. 

Composite.  One  of  the  five  orders 
of  architecture  introduced  by  the  Romans, 
and  compounded  of  the  other  four,  whence 
it  derives  its  name.  Although  it  combines 
strength  with  beauty,  yet,  as  it  is  a  com- 
paratively modern  invention,  it  is  held  in 
little  esteem  among  Freemasons. 

Concealment  of  the  Body.  See 
Aphanism. 

Conclave.  Commanderies  of  Knights 
Templars  in  England  and  Canada  are 
called  Conclaves,  and  the  Grand  Encamp- 
ment the  Grand  Conclave.  The  word  is 
also  applied  to  the  meetings  in  some  other 
of  the  high  degrees.  The  word  is  derived 
from  the  Latin  eon,  "with,"  and  clavis,  "a 
key,"  to  denote  the  idea  of  being  locked 
up  in  seclusion,  and  in  this  sense  was  first 
applied  to  the  apartment  in  which  the  car- 
dinals are  literally  locked  up  when  met  to 
elect  a  pope. 

Coneordists.  A  secret  order  estab- 
lished in  Prussia,  by  M.  Lang,  on  the  wreck 
of  the  Tugendverein,  which  latter  body 
was  instituted  in  1790  as  a  successor  of  the 
Illuminati,  and  suppressed  in  1812  by  the 
Prussian  government,  on  account  of  its  sup- 
posed political  tendencies. 


182 


CONFEDERACIES 


CONSERVATORS 


Confederacies.  A  title  given  to  the 
yearly  meetings  of  the  Masons  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VI.,  of  England,  and  used  in  the 
celebrated  statute  passed  in  the  third  year 
of  his  reign,  and  which  begins  thus: 
"  Whereas,  by  yearly  congregations  and 
confederacies  made  by  the  Masons  in  their 
General  Assemblies,  etc."  See  Laborers, 
Statutes  of. 

Conference  Lodges.  Assemblies 
of  the  members  of  a  Lodge  sometimes  held 
in  Germany.  Their  object  is  the  discussion 
of  the  financial  and  other  private  matters 
of  the  Lodge.  Lodges  of  this  kind  held 
in  France  are  said  to  be  "  en  famille." 
There  is  no  such  arrangement  in  English 
or  American  Masonry. 

Conferring  Degrees.  When  a  can- 
didate is  initiated  into  any  degree  of  Ma- 
sonry in  due  form,  the  degree  is  said  to 
have  been  conferred,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  looser  mode  of  imparting  its  secrets  by 
communication. 

Confusion  of  Tongues.  The 
Tower  of  Babel  is  referred  to  in  the  ritual 
of  the  third  degree  as  the  place  where 
language  was  confounded  and  Masonry  lost. 
Hence,  in  Masonic  symbolism,  as  Masonry 
professes  to  possess  a  universal  language, 
the  confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel  is  a  sym- 
bol of  that  intellectual  darkness  from  which 
the  aspirant  is  seeking  to  emerge  on  his 
passage  to  that  intellectual  light  which  is 
imparted  by  the  Order.  See  Threshing- 
Floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite. 

Congregations.  In  the  Old  Eecords 
and  Constitutions  of  Masonry,  the  yearly 
meetings  of  the  Craft  are  so  called.  Thus, 
in  the  Halliwell  MS.  it  is  said,  "Every 
Master  that  is  a  Mason  must  be  at  the 
General  Congregation."  What  are  now 
called"  Communications  of  a  Grand  Lodge" 
were  then  called  "  Congregations  of  the 
Craft."    See  Assembly,  General. 

Congresses,  Masonic.  At  various 
times  in  the  history  of  Freemasonry  con- 
ferences have  been  held,  in  which,  as  in 
the  General  Councils  of  the  Church,  the 
interests  of  the  Institution  have  been  made 
the  subject  of  consideration.  These  con- 
ferences have  received  the  name  of  Ma- 
sonic Congresses.  Whenever  a  respectable 
number  of  Masons,  invested  with  delibera- 
tive powers,  assemble  as  the  representa- 
tives of  different  countries  and  jurisdic- 
tions, to  take  into  consideration  matters 
relating  to  the  Order,  such  a  meeting  will 
be  properly  called  a  Congress.  Of  these 
Congresses  some  have  been  productive  of 
little  or  no  effect,  while  others  have  un- 
doubtedly left  their  mark;  nor  can  it  be 
doubted,  that  if  a  General  or  Ecumenical 
Congress,  consisting  of  representatives  of 
all  the  Masonic  powers  of  the  world,  were 


to  meet,  with  an  eye  single  to  the  great  ob- 
ject of  Masonic  reform,  and  were  to  be 
guided  by  a  liberal  and  conciliatory  spirit 
of  compromise,  such  a  Congress  might  at 
the  present  day  be  of  incalculable  advan- 
tage. 

The  most  important  Congresses  that 
have  met  since  the  year  926  are  those  of 
York,  Strasburg,  Ratisbon,  Spire,  Cologne, 
Basle,  Jena,  Altenberg,  Brunswick,  Ly- 
ons, Wolfenbuttel,  Wilhelmsbad,  Paris, 
Washington,  Baltimore,  Lexington,  and 
Chicago.  See  them  under  their  respective 
titles. 

Consecration.  The  appropriating  or 
dedicating,  with  certain  ceremonies,  any- 
thing to  sacred  purposes  or  offices  by  sepa- 
rating it  from  common  use.  Hobbes,  in  his 
Leviathan,  (p.  iv.,  c.  44,)  gives  the  best  de- 
finition of  this  ceremony.  "  To  consecrate 
is,  in  Scripture,  to  offer,  give,  or  dedicate, 
in  pious  and  decent  language  and  gesture, 
a  man,  or  any  other  thing,  to  God,  by  sepa- 
rating it  from  common  use."  Masonic 
Lodges,  like  ancient  temples  and  modern 
churches,  have  always  been  consecrated. 
The  rite  of  consecration  is  performed  by 
the  Grand  Master,  when  the  Lodge  is  said 
to  be  consecrated  in  ample  form;  by  the 
Deputy  Grand  Master,  when  it  is  said  to  be 
consecrated  in  due  form;  or  by  the  proxy 
of  the  Grand  Master,  when  it  is  said  to  be 
consecrated  in  form.  The  Grand  Master, 
accompanied  by  his  officers,  proceeds  to  the 
hall  of  the  new  Lodge,  where,  after  the 
performance  of  those  ceremonies  which  are 
described  in  all  manuals  and  monitors,  he 
solemnly  consecrates  the  Lodge  with  the 
elements  of  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  after  which 
the  Lodge  is  dedicated  and  constituted, 
and  the  officers  installed. 

Consecration,  Elements  of. 
Those  things,  the  use  of  which  in  the  cere- 
mony as  constituent  and  elementary  parts 
of  it,  are  necessary  to  the  perfecting  and 
legalizing  of  the  act  of  consecration.  In 
Freemasonry,  these  elements  are  corn,  wine, 
and  oil,  which  see. 

Conservators  of  Masonry.  About 
the  year  1859,  a  Mason  of  some  distinction 
in  this  country  professed  to  have  discov- 
ered, by  his  researches,  what  he  called 
"the  true  Preston-Webb  Work,"  and  at- 
tempted to  introduce  it  into  various  juris- 
dictions, sometimes  in  opposition  to  the 
wishes  of  the  Graud  Lodge  and  leading 
Masons  of  the  State.  To  aid  in  the  prop- 
agation of  this  ritual,  he  communicated  it 
to  several  persons,  who  were  bound  to  use 
all  efforts  —  to  some,  indeed,  of  question- 
able propriety  —  to  secure  its  adoption  by 
their  respective  Grand  Lodges.  These 
Masons  were  called  by  him  "  Conserva- 
tors," and  the  order  or  society  which  they 


CONSERVATORS 


CONSTITUTIONS 


183 


constituted  was  called  the  "Conservators' 
Association."  This  association,  and  the 
efforts  of  its  chief  to  extend  his  ritual,  met 
with  the  very  general  disapproval  of  the 
Masons  of  the  United  States,  and  in  some 
jurisdictions  led  to  considerable  disturb- 
ance and  bad  feeling. 

Conservators,  Grand.  See  Grand 
Conservators. 

Consistory.  The  meetings  of  mem- 
bers of  the  thirty-second  degree,  or  Sub- 
lime Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  are 
called  Consistories.  The  elective  officers 
are,  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Southern 
Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  a  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, Seneschal,  Preceptor, 
Chancellor,  Minister  of  State,  Almoner, 
Registrar,  and  Treasurer.  In  the  Northern 
Jurisdiction  it  is  slightly  different,  the 
second  and  third  officers  being  called  Lieu- 
tenant-Commanders. A  Consistory  confers 
the  thirty-first  and  thirty-second  degrees 
of  the  Rite. 

Consistory,  Grand.  See  Grand 
Consistory. 

Constable,  Grand.  The  fourth  offi- 
cer in  a  Grand  Consistory.  It  is  the  title 
which  was  formerly  given  to  the  leader  of 
the  land  forces  of  the  Knights  Templars. 

Constant  inc.  See  Bed  Cross  of  Rome 
and  Constantine. 

Constituted,  legally.  The  phrase, 
a  legally-constituted  Lodge,  is  often  used 
Masonically  to  designate  any  Lodge  work- 
ing under  proper  authority,  which  neces- 
sarily includes  Lodges  working  under  dis- 
pensation ;  although,  strictly,  a  Lodge 
cannot  be  legally  constituted  until  it  has 
received  its  warrant  or  charter  from  the 
Grand  Lodge.  But  so  far  as  respects  the 
regularity  of  their  work,  Lodges  under  dis- 
pensation and  warranted  Lodges  have  the 
same  standing. 

Constitution  of  a  Lodge.  Any 
number  of  Master  Masons,  not  less  than 
seven,  being  desirous  of  forming  a  new 
Lodge,  having  previously  obtained  a  dis- 
pensation from  the  Grand  Master,  must 
apply  by  petition  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
the  State  in  which  they  reside,  praying  for 
a  Charter,  or  Warrant  of  Constitution,  to 
enable  them  to  assemble  as  a  regular  Lodge. 
Their  petition  being  favorably  received,  a 
warrant  is  immediately  granted,  and  the 
Grand  Master  appoints  a  day  for  its  conse- 
cration and  for  the  installation  of  its  offi- 
cers. The  Lodge  having  been  consecrated, 
the  Grand  Master,  or  person  acting  as  such, 
declares  the  brethren  "  to  be  constituted  and 
formed  into  a  regular  Lodge  of  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,"  after  which  the  officers 
of  the  Lodge  are  installed.  In  this  decla- 
ration of  the  Master,  accompanied  with  the 


appropriate  ceremonies,  consists  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Lodge.  Until  a  Lodge  is 
thus  legally  constituted,  it  forms  no  compo- 
nent of  the  constituency  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  can  neither  elect  officers  nor  mem- 
bers, and  exists  only  as  a  Lodge  under  dis- 
pensation at  the  will  of  the  Grand  Master. 
See  Dispensation,  Lodges  under. 

Constitutions  of  1763.  This  is  the 
name  of  one  of  that  series  of  Constitutions, 
or  Regulations,  which  have  always  been 
deemed  of  importance  in  the  history  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite;  al- 
though the  Constitutions  of  1762  have 
really  nothing  to  do  with  that  Rite,  having 
been  adopted  long  before  its  establishment. 
In  the  year  1758,  there  was  founded  at 
Paris  a  Masonic  body  which  assumed  the 
title  of  the  Chapter,  or  Council,  of  Empe- 
rors of  the  East  and  West,  and  which  body 
organized  a  Rite  known  as  the  Rite  of  Per- 
fection, consisting  of  twenty-five  degrees, 
and  in  the  same  year  the  Rite  was  carried 
to  Berlin  by  the  Marquis  de  Bernez.  In 
the  following  year,  a  Council  of  Princes 
of  the  Royal  Secret,  the  highest  degree  con- 
ferred in  the  Rite,  was  established  at  Bor- 
deaux. On  Sept.  21,  1762,  nine  Commis- 
sioners met  and  drew  up  Constitutions  for 
the  government  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection, 
which  have  been  since  known  as  the  "  Con- 
stitutions of  1762."  Of  the  place  where 
the  Commissioners  met,  there  is  some 
doubt.  Of  the  two  copies,  hereafter  to  be 
noticed,  which  are  in  the  archives  of  the 
Southern  Supreme  Council,  that  of  Dela- 
hogue  refers  to  the  Orients  of  Paris  and 
Berlin,  while  that  of  Aveilhe'  says  that  they 
were  made  at  the  Grand  Orient  of  Bor- 
deaux. Thory  also  ( Act.  Lat.,  i.  79,)  names 
Bordeaux  as  the  place  of  their  enactment, 
and  so  does  Ragon,  ( Orthod.  Mag.,  133;)  al- 
though he  doubts  their  authenticity,  and 
says  that  there  is  no  trace  of  any  such 
document  at  Bordeaux,  nor  any  recollec- 
tion there  of  the  Consistory  which  is  said 
to  have  drawn  up  the  Constitutions.  To 
this  it  may  be  answered,  that  in  the 
Archives  of  the  Mother  Supreme  Council 
at  Charleston  there  are  two  manuscript 
copies  of  these  Constitutions — one  written 
by  Jean  Baptiste  Marie  Delahogue  in 
1798,  and  which  is  authenticated  by  Count 
de  Grasse,  under  the  seal  of  the  Grand 
Council  of  the  Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret, 
then  sitting  at  Charleston;  and  another, 
written  by  Jean  Baptiste  Aveilhe  in  1797. 
This  copy  is  authenticated  by  Long,  Dela- 
hogue, De  Grasse,  and  others.  Both  docu- 
ments are  written  in  French,  and  are  al- 
most substantially  the  same.  The  trans- 
lated title  of  Delahogue's  copy  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Constitutions  and  Regulations  drawn 


18-4 


CONSTITUTIONS 


CONSTITUTIONS 


up  by  nine  Commissioners  appointed  by 
the  Grand  Council  of  the  Sovereign  Princes 
of  the  Royal  Secret  at  the  Grand  Orients 
of  Paris  and  Berlin,  by  virtue  of  the  de- 
liberation of  the  fifth  day  of  the  third  week 
of  the  seventh  month  of  the  Hebrew  Era, 
5662,  and  of  the  Christian  Era,  1762.  To  be 
ratified  and  observed  by  the  Grand  Councils 
of  the  Sublime  Knights  and  Princes  of  Ma- 
sonry as  well  as  by  the  particular  Councils 
and  Grand  Inspectors  regularly  constituted 
in  the  two  Hemispheres."  The  title  of 
Aveilhe's  manuscript  differs  in  this,  that  it 
says  the  Constitutions  were  enacted  "  at  the 
Grand  Orient  of  Bordeaux,"  and  that  they 
were  "  transmitted  to  our  Brother  Stephen 
Morin,  Grand  Inspector  of  all  the  Lodges  in 
the  New  World."  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  this  is  a  correct  record,  and  that  the 
Constitutions  were  prepared  at  Bordeaux. 

The  Constitutions  of  1762  consist  of 
thirty-five  articles,  and  are  principally  oc- 
cupied in  providing  for  the  government  of 
the  Rite  established  by  the  Council  of  Em- 
perors of  the  East  and  West  and  of  the 
bodies  under  it. 

The  Constitutions  of  1762  were  pub- 
lished at  Paris,  in  1832,  in  the  Kecueil  des 
Actes  du  Supreme  Conseil  de  France.  They 
were  also  published,  in  1859,  in  this 
country ;  but  the  best  printed  exemplar 
of  them  is  that  published  in  French  and 
English  in  the  Book  of  Grand  Constitu- 
tions, edited  by  Bro.  Albert  Pike,  which  is 
illustrated  with  copious  and  valuable  anno- 
tations by  the  editor,  who  is  the  Sovereign 
Grand  Commander  of  the  Southern  Su- 
preme Council. 

Constitutions  of  1786.  These  are 
regarded  by  the  members  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  as  the  funda- 
mental law  of  their  Rite.  They  are  said 
to  have  been  established  by  Frederick  II., 
of  Prussia,  in  the  last  year  of  his  life;  a 
statement,  however,  that  has  been  denied 
by  some  writers,  and  the  controversies  as  to 
their  authenticity  have  made  them  a  subject 
of  interest  to  all  Masonic  scholars.  Bro. 
Albert  Pike,  the  Grand  Commander  of  the 
Supreme  Council  for  the  Southern  Juris- 
diction of  the  United  States,  published 
them,  in  1872,  in  Latin,  French,  and  Eng- 
lish ;  and  I  avail  myself  of  his  exhaustive 
annotations,  because  he  has  devoted  to  the 
investigation  of  their  origin  and  their  au- 
thenticity more  elaborate  care  than  any 
other  writer. 

Of  these  Constitutions,  there  are  two  ex- 
amplars,  one  in  French  and  one  in  Latin, 
between  which  there  are,  however,  some 
material  differences.  For  a  long  time  the 
French  examplar  only  was  known  in  this 
country.  It  is  supposed  by  Bro.  Pike  that 
it  was  brought  to  Charleston  by  Count  de 


Grasse,  and  that  under  its  provisions  he 
organized  the  Supreme  Council  in  that 
place.  They  were  accepted  by  the  Southern 
Supreme  Council,  and  are  still  regarded 
by  the  Northern  Council  as  the  only  au- 
thentic Constitutions.  But  there  is  abun- 
dant internal  evidence  of  the  incomplete- 
ness and  incorrectness  of  the  French  Con- 
stitutions, of  whose  authenticity  there  is  no 
proof,  nor  is  it  likely  that  they  were  made 
at  Berlin  and  approved  by  Frederick,  as  they 
profess. 

The  Latin  Constitutions  were  probably 
not  known  in  France  until  after  the  Revo- 
lution. In  1834,  they  were  accepted  as  au- 
thentic by  the  Supreme  Council  of  France, 
and  published  there  in  the  same  year.  A 
copy  of  this  was  published  in  America,  in 
1859,  by  Bro.  Pike.  These  Latin  Constitu- 
tions of  1786  have  been  recently  accepted 
by  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Southern 
Jurisdiction  in  preference  to  the  French  ver- 
sion. Most  of  the  other  Supreme  Councils 
—  those,  namely,  of  England  and  Wales, 
of  Italy,  and  of  South  America,  —  have 
adopted  them  as  the  law  of  the  Rite,  re- 
pudiating the  French  version  as  of  no  au- 
thority. 

The  definite  and  well  authorized  conclu- 
sions to  which  Bro.  Pike  has  arrived  on 
the  subject  of  these  Constitutions  have 
been  expressed  by  that  eminent  Mason  in 
the  following  language: 

"  We  think  we  may  safely  say,  that  the 
charge  that  the  Grand  Constitutions  were 
forged  at  Charleston  is  completely  dis- 
proved, and  that  it  will  be  contemptible 
hereafter  to  repeat  it.  No  set  of  speculat- 
ing Jews  constituted  the  Supreme  Council 
established  there ;  and  those  who  care  for 
the  reputations  of  Colonel  Mitchell,  and 
Doctors  Dalcho,  Auld,  and  Moultrie,  may 
well  afford  to  despise  the  scurrilous  libels 
of  the  Ragons,  Clavels,  and  Folgers. 

"And,  secondly,  that  it  is  not  by  any 
means  proven  or  certain  that  the  Constitu- 
tions were  not  really  made  at  Berlin,  as 
they  purport  to  have  been,  and  approved 
by  Frederick.  We  think  that  the  prepon- 
derance of  the  evidence,  internal  and  ex- 
ternal, is  on  the  side  of  their  authenticity, 
apart  from  the  positive  evidence  of  the  cer- 
tificate of  1832. 

"  And,  thirdly,  that  the  Supreme  Council 
at  Charleston  had  a  perfect  right  to  adopt 
them  as  the  law  of  the  new  Order;  no 
matter  where,  when,  or  by  whom  they 
were  made,  as  Anderson's  Constitutions 
were  adopted  in  Symbolic  Masonry ;  that 
they  are  and  always  have  been  the  law  of 
the  Rite,  because  they  were  so  adopted; 
and  because  no  man  has  ever  lawfully  re- 
ceived the  degrees  of  the  Rite  without 
swearing  to  maintain  them  as  its  supreme 


CONSTITUTIONS 


COOKE'S 


185 


law  ;  for  as  to  the  articles  themselves,  there 
is  no  substantial  difference  between  the 
French  and  Latin  copies. 

"And,  fourthly,  that  there  is  not  one 
particle  of  proof  of  any  sort,  circumstan- 
tial or  historical,  or  by  argument  from  im- 
probability, that  they  are  not  genuine  and 
authentic.  In  law,  documents  of  great 
age,  found  in  the  possession  of  those  in- 
terested under  them,  to  whom  they  right- 
fully belong,  and  with  whom  they  might 
naturally  be  expected  to  be  found,  are  ad- 
mitted in  evidence  without  proof,  to  estab- 
lish title  or  facts.  They  prove  themselves, 
and  to  be  avoided  must  be  disproved  by 
evidence.  There  is  no  evidence  against  the 
genuineness  of  these  Grand  Constitutions." 

Constitutions,  Old.  See  Records, 
Old. 

Constitutions,  Secret.  See  Secret 
Constitutions. 

Consummatuni  est.  Latin.  It  is 
finished.  A  phrase  used  in  some  of  the 
higher  degrees  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite.  It  is  borrowed  from  the  ex- 
pression used  by  our  Lord  when  he  said, 
on  the  cross,  "  It  is  finished,"  meaning  that 
the  work  which  had  been  given  him  to  do 
had  been  executed.  It  is,  therefore,  appro- 
priately used  in  the  closing  ceremonies  to 
indicate  that  the  sublime  work  of  the  de- 
grees is  finished,  so  that  all  may  retire  in 
peace. 

Contemplative.  To  contemplate  is, 
literally,  to  watch  and  inspect  the  Temple. 
The  augur  among  the  Romans,  having 
taken  his  stand  on  the  Capitoline  Hill, 
marked  out  with  his  wand  the  space  in  the 
heavens  he  intended  to  consult.  This  space 
he  called  the  templum.  Having  divided 
his  templum  into  two  parts  from  top  to 
bottom,  he  watched  to  see  what  would 
occur.  The  watching  of  the  templum  was 
called  contemplating ;  and  hence  those  who 
devoted  themselves  to  meditation  upon  sa- 
cred subjects  assumed  this  title.  Thus, 
among  the  Jews,  the  Essenes  and  the 
Therapeutists,  and,  among  the  Greeks,  the 
school  of  Pythagoras,  were  contemplative 
sects.  Among  the  Freemasons,  the  word 
speculative  is  used  as  equivalent  to  contem- 
plative.   See  Speculative  Masonry. 

Continental  Lodges.  This  expres- 
sion is  used  throughout  this  work,  as  it 
constantly  is  by  English  writers,  to  desig- 
nate the  Lodges  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
which  retain  many  usages  which  have  either 
been  abandoned  by,  or  never  were  observed 
in,  the  Lodges  of  England,  Ireland,  and 
Scotland,  as  well  as  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  words  Continental  Masonry 
are  employed  in  the  same  sense. 

Contumacy.   In  civil  law,  it  is  the  re- 
fusal or  neglect  of  a  party  accused  to  appear 
Y 


and  answer  to  a  charge  preferred  against 
him  in  a  court  of  justice.  In  Masonic 
jurisprudence,  it  is  disobedience  of  or  re- 
bellion against  superior  authority,  as  when 
a  Mason  refuses  to  obey  the  edict  of  his 
Lodge,  or  a  Lodge  refuses  to  obey  that  of 
the  Grand  Master  or  the  Grand  Lodge. 
The  punishment,  in  the  former  case,  is  gen- 
erally suspension  or  expulsion  ;  in  the  lat- 
ter, arrest  of  charter  or  forfeiture  of  warrant. 

Convention.  In  a  State  or  Territory 
where  there  is  no  Grand  Lodge,  but  three 
or  more  Lodges  holding  their  Warrants  of 
Constitution  from  Grand  Lodges  outside 
of  the  Territory,  these  Lodges  may  meet 
together  by  their  representatives,  —  who 
should  properly  be  the  first  three  officers 
of  each  Lodge,  —  and  take  the  necessary 
steps  for  the  organization  of  a  Grand  Lodge 
in  that  State  or  Territory.  This  preparatory 
meeting  is  called  a  Convention.  A  Presi- 
dent and  Secretary  are  chosen,  and  a  Grand 
Lodge  is  formed  by  the  election  of  a  Grand 
Master  and  other  proper  officers,  when  the 
old  warrants  are  returned  to  the  Grand 
Lodges,  and  new  ones  taken  out  from  the 
newly-formed  Grand  Lodge.  Not  less  than 
three  Lodges  are  required  to  constitute  a 
Convention.  The  first  Convention  of  this 
kind  ever  held  was  that  of  the  four  old 
Lodges  of  London,  which  met  at  the  Apple- 
Tree  Tavern,  in  February,  1717,  and  formed 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England. 

Convention  Night.  A  title  some- 
times given  in  the  minutes  of  English 
Lodges  to  a  Lodge  of  emergency.  Thus, 
in  the  minutes  of  Constitution  Lodge,  No. 
390,  (London,)  we  read:  "This  being  a 
Convention  Night  to  consider  the  state  of 
the  Lodge,"  etc. 

Conversation.  Conversation  among 
the  brethren  during  Lodge  hours  is  for- 
bidden by  the  Charges  of  1722  in  these 
words :  "  You  are  not  to  hold  private  com- 
mittees or  separate  conversation  without 
leave  from  the  Master." 

Convocation.  The  meetings  of  Chap- 
ters of  Royal  Arch  Masons  are  so  called 
from  the  Latin  convocatio,  a  calling  to- 
gether. It  seems  very  properly  to  refer  to 
the  convoking  of  the  dispersed  Masons  at 
Jerusalem  to  rebuild  the  second  Temple, 
of  which  every  Chapter  is  a  representation. 

Convocation,  Grand.  The  meet- 
ing of  a  Grand  Chapter  is  so  styled. 

Cooke's  Manuscript.  The  old 
document  commonly  known  among  Ma- 
sonic scholars  as  "  Matthew  Cooke's  Manu- 
script," because  it  was  first  given  to  the 
public  by  that  distinguished  Drother,  was 
published  by  him,  in  1861,  from  the  original 
in  the  British  Museum,  which  institution 
purchased  it,  on  the  14th  of  October,  1859, 
from  Mrs.  Caroline  Baker.     Its  principal 


186 


COPE 


CORNER 


value  is  derived  from  the  fact,  as  Brother 
Cooke  remarks,  that  until  its  appearance 
"there  was  no  prose  work  of  such  un- 
doubted antiquity  known  to  be  in  exist- 
ence on  the  subject." 

Brother  Cooke  gives  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  MS.  in  his  preface  to  its  re- 
publication : 

"  By  permission  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
British  Museum,  the  following  little  work 
has  been  allowed  to  be  copied  and  pub- 
lished in  its  entire  form.  The  original  is 
to  be  found  among  the  additional  manu- 
scripts in  that  national  collection,  and  is 
numbered  23,198. 

"Judging  from  the  character  of  the 
handwriting  and  the  form  of  contractions 
employed  by  the  scribe,  it  was  most  proba- 
bly written  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  [about  1490,  says  Hughan,] 
and  may  be  considered  a  very  clear  speci- 
men of  the  penmanship  of  that  period. 

"  By  whom  or  for  whom  it  was  originally 
penned  there  is  no  means  of  ascertaining ; 
but,  from  the  style,  it  may  be  conjectured 
to  have  belonged  to  some  Master  of  the 
Craft,  and  to  have  been  used  in  assemblies 
of  Masons  as  a  text- book  of  the  traditional 
history  and  laws  of  the  Fraternity." 

Cope-Stone.     See  Cape-Stone. 

Cord,  Hindu  Sacred.  See  Zen- 
naar. 

Cord,  Silver.     See  Silver  Cord. 

Cord,  Threefold.  See  Threefold 
Cord. 

Cordon.  The  Masonic  decoration, 
which  in  English  is  called  the  collar,  is 
styled  by  the  French  Masons  the  cordon. 

Corinthian  Order.  This  is  the 
lightest  and  most  ornamental  of  the  pure 
orders,  and  possesses  the  highest  degree  of 
richness  and  detail  that  architecture  at- 
tained under  the  Greeks.  Its  capital  is  its 
great  distinction,  and  is  richly  adorned 
with  leaves  of  acanthus,  olive,  etc.,  and 
other  ornaments.  The  column  of  Beauty 
which  supports  the  Lodge  is  of  the  Corin- 
thian order,  and  its  appropriate  situation 
and  symbolic  officer  are  in  the  South. 

Corner,  North-East.  See  North- 
East  Corner. 

Corner-Stone,  Symbolism  of 
the.  The  corner-stone  is  the  stone  which 
lies  at  the  corner  of  two  walls,  and  forms 
the  corner  of  the  foundation  of  an  edifice. 
In  Masonic  buildings  it  is  now  always 
placed  in  the  north-east ;  but  this  rule  was 
not  always  formerly  observed.  As  the 
foundation  on  which  the  entire  structure  is 
supposed  to  rest,  it  is  considered  by  Opera- 
tive Masons  as  the  most  important  stone  in 
the  edifice.  It  is  laid  with  impressive  cere- 
monies ;  the  assistance  of  Speculative  Ma- 
sons is  often,  and  ought  always  to  be,  in- 


vited to  give  dignity  to  the  occasion ;  and 
for  this  purpose  Freemasonry  has  provided 
an  especial  ritual  which  is  to  govern  the 
proper  performance  of  that  duty. 

Among  the  ancients  the  corner-stone  of 
important  edifices  was  laid  with  impressive 
ceremonies.  These  are  well  described  by 
Tacitus  in  the  history  of  the  rebuilding 
of  the  Capitol.  After  detailing  the  pre- 
liminary ceremonies,  which  consisted  in  a 
procession  of  vestals,  who  with  chaplets  of 
flowers  encompassed  the  ground  and  conse- 
crated it  by  libations  of  living  water,  he 
adds  that,  after  solemn  prayer,  Helvidius, 
to  whom  the  care  of  rebuilding  the  Capitol 
had  been  committed,  "  laid  his  hand  upon 
the  fillets  that  adorned  the  foundation 
stone,  and  also  the  cords  by  which  it  was  to 
be  drawn  to  its  place.  In  that  instant  the 
magistrates,  the  priests,  the  senators,  the 
Roman  knights,  and  a  number  of  citizens, 
all  acting  with  one  effort  and  general  de- 
monstrations of  joy,  laid  hold  of  the  ropes 
and  dragged  the  ponderous  load  to  its  des- 
tined spot.  They  then  threw  in  ingots  of 
gold  and  silver,  and  other  metals  which  had 
never  been  melted  in  the  furnace,  but  still 
retained,  untouched  by  human  art,  their 
first  formation  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth." 

The  symbolism  of  the  corner-stone  when 
duly  laid  with  Masonic  rites  is  full  of  sig- 
nificance, which  refers  to  its  form,  to  its 
situation,  to  its  permanence,  and  to  its  con- 
secration. 

As  to  its  form,  it  must  be  perfectly  square 
on  its  surfaces,  and  in  its  solid  contents 
a  cube.  Now  the  square  is  a  symbol  of 
morality,  and  the  cube  of  truth.  In  its 
situation  it  lies  between  the  north,  the 
place  of  darkness,  and  the  east,  the  place 
of  light;  and  hence  this  position  symbo- 
lizes the  Masonic  progress  from  darkness 
to  light,  and  from  ignorance  to  knowledge. 
The  permanence  and  durability  of  the 
corner-stone,  which  lasts  long  after  the 
building  in  whose  foundation  it  was  placed 
has  fallen  into  decay,  is  intended  to  remind 
the  Mason  that,  when  this  earthly  house 
of  his  tabernacle  shall  have  passed  away, 
he  has  within  him  a  sure  foundation  of 
eternal  life  —a  corner-stone  of  immortality 
—  an  emanation  from  that  Divine  Spirit 
which  pervades  all  nature,  and  which, 
therefore,  must  survive  the  tomb,  and  rise, 
triumphant  and  eternal,  above  the  decay- 
ing dust  of  death  and  the  grave. 

The  stone,  when  deposited  in  its  appro- 
priate place,  is  carefully  examined  with  the 
necessary  implements  of  Operative  Ma- 
sonry,—  the  square,  the  level,  and  the 
plumb,  themselves  all  symbolic  in  mean- 
ing,—  and  is  then  declared  to  be  "well 
formed,  true,  and  trusty."  Thus  the  Ma- 
son is  taught  that  his  virtues  are  to  be 


CORN 


CORYBANTE3 


187 


tested  by  temptation  and  trial,  by  suffering 
and  adversity,  before  they  can  be  pro- 
nounced by  the  Master  Builder  of  souls  to 
be  materials  worthy  of  the  spiritual  build- 
ing of  eternal  life,  fitted,  "  as  living  stones, 
for  that  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens." 

And  lastly,  in  the  ceremony  of  depositing 
the  corner-stone,  the  elements  of  Masonic 
consecration  are  produced,  and  the  stone  is 
solemnly  set  apart  by  pouring  corn,  wine, 
and  oil  upon  its  surface,  emblematic  of  the 
Nourishment,  Refreshment,  and  Joy  which 
are  to  be  the  rewards  of  a  faithful  perform- 
ance of  duty. 

The  corner-stone  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  adopted  by  any  of  the  heathen  na- 
tions, but  to  have  been  as  the  ebenpinah,  pe- 
culiar to  the  Jews,  from  whom  it  descended 
to  the  Christians.  In  the  Old  Testament,  it 
seems  always  to  have  denoted  a  prince  or 
high  personage,  and  hence  the  Evangelists 
constantly  use  it  in  reference  to  Christ,  who 
is  called  the  "  chief  corner-stone."  In  Ma- 
sonic symbolism,  it  signifies  a  true  Mason, 
and  therefore  it  is  the  first  character  which 
the  Apprentice  is  made  to  represent  after 
his  initiation  has  been  completed. 

Corn  of  Nourishment.  One  of 
the  three  elements  of  Masonic  consecration. 
See  Corn,  Wine,  and  Oil. 

Corn,  Wine,  and  Oil.  Corn,  wine, 
and  oil  are  the  Masonic  elements  of  con- 
secration. The  adoption  of  these  symbols 
is  supported  by  the  highest  antiquity. 
Corn,  wine,  and  oil  were  the  most  im- 
portant productions  of  Eastern  countries; 
they  constituted  the  wealth  of  the  people, 
and  were  esteemed  as  the  supports  of  life 
and  the  means  of  refreshment.  David 
enumerates  them  among  the  greatest  bless- 
ings that  we  enjoy,  and  speaks  of  them  as 
"wine  that  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man, 
and  oil  to  make  his  face  shine,  and  bread 
which  strengthened  man's  heart."  Ps. 
civ.  14.  In  devoting  anything  to  religious 
purposes,  the  anointing  with  oil  was  con- 
sidered as  a  necessary  part  of  the  ceremony, 
a  rite  which  has  descended  to  Christian  na- 
tions. The  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness, 
and  all  its  holy  vessels,  were,  by  God's  ex- 
press command,  anointed  with  oil;  Aaron 
and  his  two  sons  were  set  apart  for  the 
priesthood  with  the  same  ceremony ;  and 
the  prophets  and  kings  of  Israel  were  con- 
secrated to  their  offices  by  the  same  rite. 
Hence,  Freemasons'  Lodges,  which  are  but 
temples  to  the  Most  High,  are  consecrated 
to  the  sacred  purposes  for  which  they  were 
built  by  strewing  corn,  wine,  and  oil  upon 
the  "  Lodge,"  the  emblem  of  the  Holy  Ark. 
Thus  does  this  mystic  ceremony  instruct 
us  to  be  nourished  with  the  hidden  manna 
of  righteousness,  to  be  refreshed  with  the 


Word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  rejoice  with  joy 
unspeakable  in  the  riches  of  divine  grace. 
"Wherefore,  my  brethren,"  says  the  vener- 
able Harris,  (Disc.  iv.  81,)  "wherefore  do 
you  carry  corn,  wine,  and  oil  in  your  pro- 
cessions, but  to  remind  you  that  in  the 
pilgrimage  of  human  life  you  are  to  im- 
part a  portion  of  your  bread  to  feed  the 
hungry,  to  send  a  cup  of  your  wine  to  cheer 
the  sorrowful,  and  to  pour  the  healing  oil 
of  your  consolation  into  the  wounds  which 
sickness  hath  made  in  the  bodies,  or  afflic- 
tion rent  in  the  hearts,  of  your  fellow-trav- 
ellers ?  " 

In  processions,  the  corn  alone  is  carried 
in  a  golden  pitcher,  the  wine  and  oil  are 
placed  in  silver  vessels,  and  this  is  to  re- 
mind us  that  the  first,  as  a  necessity  and 
the  "staff  of  life,"  is  of  more  importance 
and  more  worthy  of  honor  than  the  others, 
which  are  but  comforts. 

Cornucopia.  The  horn  of  plenty. 
The  old  pagan  myth  tells  us  that  Zeus  was 
nourished  during  his  infancy  in  Crete  by 
the  daughters  of  Melissus,  with  the  milk  of 
the  goat  Amalthea.  Zeus,  when  he  came 
to  the  empire  of  the  world,  in  gratitude 
placed  Amalthea  in  the  heavens  as  a  con- 
stellation, and  gave  one  of  her  horns  to  his 
nurses,  with  the  assurance  that  it  should 
furnish  them  with  a  never  failing  supply 
of  whatever  they  might  desire.  Hence  it 
is  a  symbol  of  abundance,  and  as  such  has 
been  adopted  as  the  jewel  of  the  Stewards 
of  a  Lodge,  to  remind  them  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  see  that  the  tables  are  properly  fur- 
nished at  refreshment,  and  that  every  bro- 
ther is  suitably  provided  for.  Among  the 
deities  whose  images  are  to  be  found  in 
the  ancient  Temples  at  Elora,  in  Hindu- 
stan, is  the  goddess  Ana  Puma,  whose  name 
is  compounded  of  Ana,  signifying  corn, 
and  Purna,  meaning  plenty.  She  holds  a 
corn  measure  in  her  hand,  and  the  whole 
therefore  very  clearly  has  the  same  allusion 
as  the  Masonic  Horn  of  plenty. 

Correspondence.  See  Committee  on 
Foreign  Correspondence. 

Corresponding  Grand  Secre- 
tary. An  officer  of  a  Grand  Lodge  to 
whom  was  formerly  intrusted,  in  some 
Grand  Lodges,  the  Foreign  Correspon- 
dence of  the  body.  The  office  is  now  dis- 
used, being  retained  only  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Massachusetts. 

Coryfoantes,  Mysteries  of.  Rites 
instituted  in  Phrygia  in  honor  of  Atys,  the 
lover  of  Cybele.  The  goddess  was  sup- 
posed first  to  bewail  the  death  of  her  lover, 
and  afterwards  to  rejoice  for  his  restoration 
to  life.  The  ceremonies  were  a  scenical 
representation  of  this  alternate  lamentation 
and  rejoicing,  and  of  the  sufferings  of  Atys, 
who  was  placed  in  an  ark  or  coffin  during 


188 


COSMOPOLITE 


COUSTOS 


the  mournful  part  of  the  orgies.  If  the  de- 
scription of  these  rites,  given  by  Sainte- 
Croix  from  various  ancient  authorities,  be 
correct,  they  were  but  a  modification  of  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries. 

Cosmopolite.  The  third  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  African  Architects. 

Council.  In  several  of  the  high  de- 
grees of  Masonry  the  meetings  are  styled 
Councils ;  as  a  Council  of  Royal  and  Se- 
lect Masters,  or  Princes  of  Jerusalem,  or 
Knights  of  the  Red  Cross. 

Council  Chamber.  A  part  of  the 
room  in  which  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Red  Cross  are  performed. 
Council,  Grand.  See  Grand  Council. 
Council  of  Knights  of  the  Red 
Cross.  A  body  in  which  the  first  degree 
of  the  Templar  system  in  this  country  is 
conferred.  It  is  held  under  the  Charter  of 
aCommandery  of  Knights  Templars,  which, 
when  meeting  as  a  council,  is  composed 
of  the  following  officers:  A  Sovereign 
Master,  Chancellor,  Master  of  the  Palace, 
Prelate,  Master  of  Despatches,  Master  of 
Cavalry,  Master  of  Infantry,  Standard 
Bearer,  Sword  Bearer,  Warder,  and  Sentinel. 
Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters.  The  united  body  in  which  the 
Royal  and  Select  degrees  are  conferred. 
In  some  jurisdictions  this  Council  confers 
also  the  degree  of  Super-Excellent  Master. 
Council  of  Royal  Masters.  The 
body  in  which  the  degree  of  Royal  Master, 
the  eighth  in  the  American  Rite,  is  con- 
ferred. It  receives  its  Charter  from  a 
Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select  Mas- 
ters, and  has  the  following  officers :  Thrice 
Illustrious  Grand  Master,  Illustrious 
Hiram  of  Tyre,  Principal  Conductor  of 
the  Works,  Master  of  the  Exchequer,  Mas- 
ter of  Finances,  Captain  of  the  Guards, 
Conductor  of  the  Council,  and  Steward. 

Council  of  Select  Masters.  The 
body  in  which  the  degree  of  Select  Mas- 
ters, the  ninth  in  the  American  Rite,  is 
conferred.  It  receives  its  Charter  from  a 
Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select  Mas- 
ters. Its  officers  are:  Thrice  Illustrious 
Grand  Master,  Illustrious  Hiram  of  Tyre, 
Principal  Conductor  of  the  Works,  Treas- 
urer, Recorder,  Captain  of  the  Guards, 
Conductor  of  the  Council,  and  Steward. 

Council  of  the  Trinity.  An  inde- 
pendent Masonic  jurisdiction,  in  which  are 
conferred  the  degrees  of  Knight  of  the 
Christian  Mark,  and  Guard  of  the  Con- 
clave, Knight  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and 
the  Holy  and  Thrice  Illustrious  Order  of 
the  Cross.  They  are  conferred  after  the 
Encampment  degrees.  They  are  Christian 
degrees,  and  refer  to  the  crucifixion. 

Council,  Supreme.  See  Supreme 
Council. 


Courtesy.  Politeness  of  manners,  as 
the  result  of  kindness  of  disposition,  was 
one  of  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the 
knights  of  old.  "  No  other  human  laws 
enforced,"  says  M.  de  St.  Palaye,  "  as  chiv- 
alry did,  sweetness  and  modesty  of  temper, 
and  that  politeness  which  the  word  courtesy 
was  meant  perfectly  to  express."  We  find, 
therefore,  in  the  ritual  of  Templarism,  the 
phrase  "a  true  and  courteous  knight;"  and 
Knights  Templars  are  in  the  habit  of  clos- 
ing their  letters  to  each  other  with  the  ex- 
pression, Yours  in  all  knightly  courtesy. 
Courtesy  is  also  a  Masonic  virtue,  because 
it  is  the  product  of  a  feeling  of  kindness;  but 
it  is  not  so  specifically  spoken  of  in  the  sym- 
bolic degrees,  where  brotherly  love  assumes 
its  place,  as  it  is  in  the  orders  of  knighthood. 

Coustos,  John.  The  sufferings  in- 
flicted, in  1743,  by  the  Inquisition  at  Lisbon, 
en  John  Coustos,  a  Freemason,  and  the 
Master  of  a  Lodge  in  that  city;  and  the 
fortitude  with  which  he  endured  the  severest 
tortures,  rather  than  betray  his  trusts  and 
reveal  the  secrets  that  had  been  confided  to 
him,  constitute  an  interesting  episode  in 
the  history  of  Freemasonry.  Coustos,  after 
returning  to  England,  published,  in  1746, 
a  book,  detailing  his  sufferings,  from  which 
the  reader  is  presented  with  the  following 
abridged  narrative. 

John  Coustos  was  born  at  Berne,  in 
Switzerland,  but  emigrated,  in  1716,  with 
his  father  to  England,  where  he  became  a 
naturalized  subject.  In  1743  he  removed 
to  Lisbon,  in  Portugal,  and  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  which  was  that  of  a 
lapidary,  or  dealer  in  precious  stones. 

In  consequence  of  the  bull  or  edict  of 
Pope  Clement  XII.  denouncingthe  Masonic 
institution,  the  Lodges  at  Lisbon  were  not 
held  at  public  houses,  as  was  the  custom  in 
England  and  other  Protestant  countries, 
but  privately,  at  the  residences  of  the 
members.  Of  one  of  these  Lodges,  Cous- 
tos, who  was  a  zealous  Mason,  was  elected 
the  Master.  A  female,  who  was  cognizant 
of  the  existence  of  the  Lodge  over  which 
Coustos  presided,  revealed  the  circumstance 
to  her  confessor,  declaring  that,  in  her 
opinion,  the  members  were  "  monsters  in 
nature,  who  perpetrated  the  most  shocking 
crimes. "  In  consequence  of  this  informa- 
tion, it  was  resolved,  by  the  Inquisition, 
that  Coustos  should  be  arrested  and  sub- 
jected to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  "  Holy 
Office."  He  was  accordingly  seized,  a  few 
nights  afterwards,  in  a  coffee-house  —  the 
public  pretence  of  the  arrest  being  that  he 
was  privy  to  the  stealing  of  a  diamond,  of 
which  they  had  falsely  accused  another 
jeweller,  the  friend  and  Warden  of  Coustos, 
whom  also  they  had  a  short  time  previously 
arrested. 


COUSTOS 


COUSTOS 


189 


Coustos  was  then  carried  to  the  prison  of 
the  Inquisition,  and  after  having  been 
searched  and  deprived  of  all  his  money, 

Eapers,  and  other  things  that  he  had  about 
im,  he  was  led  to  a  lonely  dungeon,  in 
which  he  was  immured,  being  expressly 
forbidden  to  speak  aloud  or  knock  against 
the  walls,  but  if  he  required  anything,  to 
beat  with  a  padlock  that  hung  on  the  out- 
ward door,  and  which  he  could  reach  by 
thrusting  his  arm  through  the  iron  grate. 
"  It  was  there,"  says  he,  "  that,  struck  with 
the  horrors  of  a  place  of  which  I  had 
heard  and  read  such  baleful  descriptions,  I 
plunged  at  once  into  the  blackest  melan- 
choly ;  especially  when  I  reflected  on  the 
dire  consequences  with  which  my  confine- 
ment might  very  possibly  be  attended." 

On  the  next  day  he  was  led,  bare-headed, 
before  the  President  and  four  Inquisitors, 
who,  after  having  made  him  reply  on  oath 
to  several  questions  respecting  his  name, 
his  parentage,  his  place  of  birth,  his  reli- 
gion, and  the  time  he  had  resided  in  Lisbon, 
exhorted  him  to  make  a  full  confession  of 
all  the  crimes  he  had  ever  committed  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  life  ;  but,  as  he  re- 
fused to  make  any  such  confession,  declar- 
ing that,  from  his  infancy,  he  had  been 
taught  to  confess  not  to  man  but  to  God, 
he  was  again  remanded  to  his  dungeon. 

Three  days  after,  he  was  again  brought 
before  the  Inquisitors,  and  the  examination 
was  renewed.  This  was  the  first  occasion 
on  which  the  subject  of  Freemasonry  was 
introduced,  and  there  Coustos  for  the  first 
time  learned  that  he  had  been  arrested  and 
imprisoned  solely  on  account  of  his  con- 
nection with  the  forbidden  Institution. 

The  result  of  this  conference  was,  that 
Coustos  was  conveyed  to  a  deeper  dungeon, 
and  kept  there  in  close  confinement  for 
several  weeks,  during  which  period  he  was 
taken  three  times  before  the  Inquisitors. 
In  the  first  of  these  examinations  they 
again  introduced  the  subject  of  Free- 
masonry, and  declared  that  if  the  Institu- 
tion was  as  virtuous  as  their  prisoner  con- 
tended that  it  was,  there  was  no  occasion  for 
concealing  so  industriously  the  secrets  of  it. 
Coustos  did  not  reply  to  this  objection  to  the 
Inquisitorial  satisfaction,  and  he  was  re- 
manded back  to  his  dungeon,  where  a  few 
days  after  he  fell  sick. 

After  his  recovery,  he  was  again  taken 
before  the  Inquisitors,  who  asked  him  sev- 
eral new  questions  with  regard  to  the  tenets 
of  Freemasonry  —  among  others,  whether 
he,  since  his  abode  in  Lisbon,  had  received 
any  Portuguese  into  the  society  ?  He  re- 
plied that  he  had  not. 

When  he  was  next  brought  before  them, 
"  they  insisted,"  he  says,  "  upon  my  letting 
them    into  the  secrets  of   Freemasonry; 


threatening  me,  in  case  I  did  not  comply." 
But  Coustos  firmly  and  fearlessly  refused  to 
violate  his  obligations. 

After  several  other  interviews,  in  which 
the  effort  was  unavailingly  made  to  extort 
from  him  a  renunciation  of  Masonry,  he 
was  subjected  to  the  torture  of  which  he 
gives  the  following  account: 

"  I  was  instantly  conveyed  to  the  torture- 
room,  built  in  form  of  a  square  tower, 
where  no  light  appeared  but  what  two  can- 
dles gave  ;  and  to  prevent  the  dreadful  cries 
and  shocking  groans  of  the  unhappy  victims 
from  reaching  the  ears  of  the  other  prisoners, 
the  doors  are  lined  with  a  sort  of  quilt. 

"  The  reader  will  naturally  suppose  that 
I  must  be  seized  with  horror,  when,  at  my 
entering  this  infernal  place,  I  saw  myself, 
on  a  sudden,  surrounded  by  six  wretches, 
who,  after  preparing  the  tortures,  stripped 
me  naked,  (all  to  linen  drawers,)  when, 
laying  me  on  my  back,  they  began  to  lay 
hold  of  every  part  of  my  body.  First,  they 
put  round  my  neck  an  iron  collar,  which 
was  fastened  to  the  scaffold ;  they  then  fixed 
a  ring  to  each  foot;  and  this  being  done, 
they  stretched  my  limbs  with  all  their 
might.  They  next  wound  two  ropes  round 
each  arm,  and  two  round  each  thigh,  which 
ropes  passed  under  the  scaffold,  through 
holes  made  for  that  purpose,  and  were  all 
drawn  tight  at  the  same  time,  by  four  men, 
upon  a  signal  made  for  this  purpose. 

"The  reader  will  believe  that  my  pains 
must  be  intolerable,  when  I  solemnly  de- 
clare that  these  ropes,  which  were  of  the  size 
of  one's  little  finger,  pierced  through  my 
flesh  quite  to  the  bone,  making  the  blood 
gush  out  at  eight  different  places  that  were 
thus  bound.  As  I  persisted  in  refusing  to 
discover  any  more  than  what  has  been  seen 
in  the  interrogatories  above,  the  ropes  were 
thus  drawn  together  four  different  times. 
At  my  side  stood  a  physician  and  a  sur- 
geon, who  often  felt  my  temples,  to  judge 
of  the  danger  I  might  be  in  —  by  which 
means  my  tortures  were  suspended,  at  in- 
tervals, that  I  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  recovering  myself  a  little. 

"  Whilst  I  was  thus  suffering,  they  were 
so  barbarously  unjust  as  to  declare,  that, 
were  I  to  die  under  the  torture,  I  should  be 
guilty,  by  my  obstinacy,  of  self-murder.  In 
fine,  the  last  time  the  ropes  were  drawn 
tight,  I  grew  so  exceedingly  weak,  occa- 
sioned by  the  blood's  circulation  being 
stopped,  and  the  pains  I  endured,  that  I 
fainted  quite  away ;  insomuch  that  I  was 
carried  back  to  my  dungeon,  without  per- 
ceiving it. 

"  These  barbarians,  finding  that  the  tor- 
tures above  described  could  not  extort  any 
further  discovery  from  me;  but  that,  the 
more  they  made  me  suffer,  the  more  fer- 


190 


COUSTOS 


COVENANT 


vently  I  addressed  my  supplications,  for  pa- 
tience, to  heaven ;  they  were  so  inhuman, 
six  weeks  after,  as  to  expose  me  to  another 
kind  of  torture,  more  grievous,  if  possible, 
than  the  former.  They  made  me  stretch 
my  arms  in  such  a  manner  that  the  palms 
of  my  hands  were  turned  outward ;  when, 
by  the  help  of  a  rope  that  fastened  them 
together  at  the  wrist,  and  which  they  turned 
by  an  engine,  they  drew  them  gently  nearer 
to  one  another  behind,  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  back  of  each  hand  touched,  and 
stood  exactly  parallel  one  to  another; 
whereby  both  my  shoulders  were  dislo- 
cated, and  a  considerable  quantity  of  blood 
issued  from  my  mouth.  This  torture  was 
repeated  thrice;  after  which  I  was  again 
taken  to  my  dungeon,  and  put  into  the 
hands  of  physicians  and  surgeons,  who,  in 
setting  my  bones,  put  me  to  exquisite  pain. 

"Two  months  after,  being  a  little  re- 
covered, I  was  again  conveyed  to  the  torture- 
room,  and  there  made  to  undergo  another 
kind  of  punishment  twice.  The  reader 
may  judge  of  its  horror,  from  the  following 
description  thereof. 

"  The  torturers  turned  twice  around  my 
body  a  thick  iron  chain,  which,  crossing 
upon  my  stomach,  terminated  afterwards  at 
my  wrists.  They  next  set  my  back  against 
a  thick  board,  at  each  extremity  whereof 
was  a  pulley,  through  which  there  ran  a 
rope,  that  catched  the  ends  of  the  chains  at 
my  wrists.  The  tormentors  then  stretched 
these  ropes,  by  means  of  a  roller,  pressed 
or  bruised  my  stomach,  in  proportion  as  the 
means  were  drawn  tighter.  They  tortured 
me  on  this  occasion  to  such  a  degree,  that 
my  wrists  and  shoulders  were  put  out  of  joint. 

"  The  surgeons,  however,  set  them  pres- 
ently after;  but  the  barbarians  not  yet 
having  satiated  their  cruelty,  made  me 
undergo  this  torture  a  second  time,  which 
I  did  with  fresh  pains,  though  with  equal 
constancy  and  resolution.  I  was  then  re- 
manded back  to  my  dungeon,  attended  by 
the  surgeons,  who  dressed  my  bruises;  and 
here  I  continued  until  their  auto-da-fe,  or 
gaol  delivery." 

On  that  occasion,  he  was  sentenced  to 
work  at  the  galleys  for  four  years.  Soon, 
however,  after  he  had  commenced  the 
degrading  occupation  of  a  galley  slave, 
the  injuries  which  he  had  received  during 
his  inquisitorial  tortures  having  so  much 
impaired  his  health,  that  he  was  unable  to 
undergo  the  toils  to  which  he  had  been 
condemned,  he  was  sent  to  the  infirmary, 
where  he  remained  until  October,  1744, 
when  he  was  released  upon  the  demand  of 
the  British  minister,  as  a  subject  to  the 
king  of  England.  He  was,  however, 
ordered  to  leave  the  country.  This,  it  may 
be  supposed,  he  gladly  did,  and  repaired  to 


London,  where  he  published  the  account 
of  his  sufferings  in  a  book  entitled  "  The 
Sufferings  of  John  Coustos  for  Freemasonry, 
and  his  refusing  to  turn  Catholic,  in  the 
Inquisition  at  Lisbon,  &c,  &c."  London, 
1746  ;  8vo,  400  pages.  Such  a  narrative 
is  well  worthy  of  being  read.  John  Coustos 
has  not,  by  his  literary  researches,  added 
anything  to  the  learning  or  science  of  our 
Order ;  yet,  by  his  fortitude  and  fidelity 
under  the  severest  sufferings,  inflicted  to 
extort  from  him  a  knowledge  he  was  bound 
to  conceal,  he  has  shown  that  Freemasonry 
makes  no  idle  boast  in  declaring  that  its 
secrets  "  are  locked  up  in  the  depository  of 
faithful  breasts." 

CoUYreur.  The  title  of  an  officer  in  a 
French  Lodge,  equivalent  to  the  English 
Tiler. 

CooTrir  le  Temple.  A  French  ex- 
pression for  the  English  one  to  close  the 
Lodge.  But  it  has  also  another  significa- 
tion. "To  cover  the  Temple  to  a  bro- 
ther," means,  in  French  Masonic  language, 
to  exclude  him  from  the  Lodge. 

Covenant  of  Masonry.  As  a  cov- 
enant is  defined  to  be  a  contract  or  agree- 
ment between  two  or  more  parties  on  certain 
terms,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  when  a 
man  is  made  a  Mason  he  enters  into  a  cov- 
enant with  the  Institution.  On  his  part 
he  promises  to  fulfil  certain  promises  and 
to  discharge  certain  duties,  for  which,  on 
the  other  part,  the  Fraternity  bind  them- 
selves by  an  equivalent  covenant  of  friend- 
ship, protection,  and  support.  This  cove- 
nant must  of  course  be  repeated  and  modi- 
fied with  every  extension  of  the  terms  of 
agreement  on  both  sides.  The  covenant  of 
an  Entered  Apprentice  is  different  from 
that  of  a  Fellow  Craft,  and  the  covenant 
of  the  latter  from  that  of  a  Master  Mason. 
As  we  advance  in  Masonry  our  obligations 
increase,  but  the  covenant  of  each  degree 
is  not  the  less  permanent  or  binding  be- 
cause that  of  a  succeeding  one  has  been  su- 
peradded. The  second  covenant  does  not 
impair  the  sanctity  of  the  first. 

This  covenant  of  Masonry  is  symbolized 
and  sanctioned  by  the  most  important  and 
essential  of  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  Insti- 
tution. It  is  the  very  foundation  stone 
which  supports  the  whole  edifice,  and,  un- 
less it  be  properly  laid,  no  superstructure 
can  with  any  safety  be  erected.  It  is  in- 
deed the  covenant  that  makes  the  Mason. 

A  matter  so  important  as  this,  in  estab- 
lishing the  relationship  of  a  Mason  with 
the  Craft,  —  this  baptism,  so  to  speak,  by 
which  a  member  is  inaugurated  into  the 
Institution,  —  must  of  course  be  attended 
with  the  most  solemn  and  binding  ceremo- 
nies. Such  has  been  the  case  in  all  coun- 
tries.   Covenants  have  always  been  solem- 


COVENANT 


COWAN 


191 


nized  with  certain  solemn  forms  and  reli- 
gious observances  which  gave  them  a  sacred 
sanction  in  the  minds  of  the  contracting 
parties.  The  Hebrews,  especially,  invested 
their  covenants  with  the  most  imposing 
ceremonies. 

The  first  mention  of  a  covenant  in  form 
that  is  met  with  in  Scripture  is  that  re- 
corded in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Genesis, 
where,  to  confirm  it,  Abraham,  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  Divine  command,  took  a  heifer, 
a  she-goat,  and  a  ram,  "and  divided  them  in 
the  midst,  and  laid  each  piece  one  against 
another."  This  dividing  a  victim  into  two 
parts,  that  the  covenanting  parties  might 
pass  between  them,  was  a  custom  not  con- 
fined to  the  Hebrews,  but  borrowed  from 
them  by  all  the  heathen  nations. 

In  the  book  of  Jerem  iah  it  is  again  alluded 
to,  and  the  penalty  for  the  violation  of  the 
covenant  is  also  expressed. 

"  And  I  will  give  the  men  that  have 
transgressed  my  covenant,  which  have  not 
performed  the  words  of  my  covenant  which 
they  have  made  before  me,  when  they' cut 
the  calf  in  twain,  and  passed  between  the 
parts  thereof, 

"  The  princes  of  Judah,  and  the  princes  of 
Jerusalem,  the  eunuchs,  and  the  priests,  and 
all  the  people  of  the  land,  which  passed 
between  the  parts  of  the  calf; 

"  I  will  even  give  them  into  the  hand  of 
their  enemies,  and  into  the  hand  of  them 
that  seek  their  life  :  and  their  dead  bodies 
shall  be  for  meat  unto  the  fowls  of  the  heaven, 
and  to  the  beasts  of  tlie  earth"  Jeremiah 
xxxiv.  18,  19,  20. 

These  ceremonies,  thus  briefly  alluded  to 
in  the  passages  which  have  been  quoted,  were 
performed  in  full,  as  follows.  The  attentive 
Masonic  student  will  not  fail  to  observe  tbe 
analogies  to  those  of  his  own  Order. 

The  parties  entering  into  a  covenant  first 
selected  a  proper  animal,  such  as  a  calf  or 
a  kid  among  the  Jews,  a  sheep  among  the 
Greeks,  or  a  pig  among  the  Romans.  The 
throat  was  then  cut  across,  with  a  single 
blow,  so  as  to  completely  divide  the  wind- 
pipe and  arteries,  without  touching  the 
bone.  This  was  the  first  ceremony  of  the 
covenant.  The  second  was  to  tear  open 
the  breast,  to  take  from  thence  the  heart 
and  vitals,  and  if  on  inspection  the  least  im- 
perfection was  discovered,  the  body  was 
considered  unclean,  and  thrown  aside  for 
another.  The  third  ceremony  was  to  di- 
vide the  body  in  twain,  and  to  place  the 
two  parts  to  the  north  and  south,  so  that 
the  parties  to  the  covenant  might  pass 
between  them,  coming  from  the  east  and 
going  to  the  west.  The  carcass  was  then 
left  as  a  prey  to  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
field  and  the  vultures  of  the  air,  and  thus 
the  covenant  was  ratified. 


Covering  of  tne  Lodge.    As  the 

lectures  tell  us  that  our  ancient  brethren 
met  on  the  highest  hills  and  lowest  vales, 
from  this  it  is  inferred  that,  as  the  meetings 
were  thus  in  the  open  air,  the  only  covering 
must  have  been  the  over-arching  vault  of 
heaven.  Hence,  in  the  symbolism  of  Ma- 
sonry, the  covering  of  the  Lodge  is  said  to 
be  "a  clouded  canopy  or  starry -decked 
heaven."  The  terrestrial  Lodge  of  labor 
is  thus  intimately  connected  with  the  ce- 
lestial Lodge  of  eternal  refreshment.  The 
symbolism  is  still  farther  extended  to  re- 
mind us  that  the  whole  world  is  a  Mason's 
Lodge,  and  heaven  its  sheltering  cover. 

Cowan.  This  is  a  purely  Masonic 
term,  and  signifies  in  its  technical  meaning 
an  intruder,  whence  it  is  always  coupled 
with  the  word  eavesdropper.  It  is  not  found 
in  any  of  the  old  manuscripts  of  the  Eng- 
lish Masons  anterior  to  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, unless  we  suppose  that  lowen,  met 
with  in  many  of  them,  is  a  clerical  error  of 
the  copyists.  It  occurs  in  the  Schaw  manu- 
script, a  Scotch  record  which  bears  the 
date  of  1598,  in  the  following  passage  : 
"  That  no  Master  nor  Fellow  of  Craft  re- 
ceive any  cowans  to  work  in  his  society  or 
company,  nor  send  none  of  his  servants  to 
work  with  cowans."  In  the  second  edition 
of  Anderson's  Constitutions,  published  in 
1738,  we  find  the  word  in  use  among  the 
English  Masons,  thus :  "  But  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons  shall  not  allow  cowans  to 
work  with  them,  nor  shall  they  be  em- 
ployed by  cowans  without  an  urgent  neces- 
sity ;  and  even  in  that  case  they  shall  not 
teach  cowans,  but  must  have  a  separate 
communication."  There  can,  I  think,  be 
but  little  doubt  that  the  word,  as  a  Masonic 
term,  comes  to  us  from  Scotland,  and  it  is 
therefore  in  the  Scotch  language  that  we 
must  look  for  its  signification. 

Now,  Jamieson,  in  his  Scottish  Diction- 
ary, gives  us  the  following  meanings  of  the 
word : 

"Cowan,  s.  1.  A  term  of  contempt; 
applied  to  one  who  does  the  work  of  a  Ma- 
son, but  has  not  been  regularly  bred. 

"  2.  Also  used  to  denote  one  who  builds  dry 
walls,  otherwise  denominated  a  dry-diker. 

"  3.  One  unacquainted  with  the  secrets 
of  Freemasonry." 

And  he  gives  the  following  examples  as 
his  authorities : 

" '  A  boat-carpenter,  joiner,  cowan  (or 
builder  of  stone  without  mortar),  get  Is.  at 
the  minimum  and  good  maintenance.'  P. 
Morven,  Argyles.  Statistic.  Acct.,  X.,  267.  N. 

"  '  Cowans.  Masons  who  build  dry-stone 
dikes  or  walls.'  P.  Halkirk,  Carthn.  Sta- 
tistic. Acct.,  XIX.,  24.  N." 

In  the  Hob  Hoy  of  Scott,  the  word  is  used 
by  Allan  Inverach,  who  says : 


192 


CRAFT 


CREED 


"She  does  not  value  a  Cawmil  mair  as  a 
cowan" 

The  word  has  therefore,  I  think,  come  to 
the  English  Fraternity  directly  from  the 
Operative  Masons  of  Scotland,  among  whom 
it  was  used  to  denote  a  pretender,  in  the 
exact  sense  of  the  first  meaning  of  Jamieson. 

There  is  no  word  that  has  given  Masonic 
scholars  more  trouble  than  this  in  tracing 
its  derivation.  Many  years  ago,  I  sought 
to  find  its  root  in  the  Greek  kvuv,  kuon,  a 
dog;  and  referred  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  Church,  when  the  myste- 
ries of  the  new  religion  were  communicated 
only  to  initiates  under  the  veil  of  secrecy, 
infidels  were  called  "dogs,"  a  term  probably 
suggested  by  such  passages  as  Matthew 
vii.  6,  "Give  not  that  which  is  holy  to 
dogs ;  "  or,  Philip,  iii.  2,  "  Beware  of  dogs, 
beware  of  evil  workers,  beware  of  the  con- 
cision." This  derivation  has  been  adopted 
by  Oliver,  and  many  other  writers;  and 
although  I  am  not  now  inclined  to  insist 
upon  it,  I  still  think  it  a  very  probable  one, 
which  may  serve  until  a  better  shall  be  pro- 
posed. Jamieson's  derivations  are  from  the 
old  Swedish  kujon,  kuzhjohn,  a  silly  fellow, 
and  the  French  colon,  coyon,  a  coward,  a 
base  fellow.  No  matter  how  we  get  the 
word,  it  seems  always  to  convey  an  idea  of 
contempt.  The  attempt  to  derive  it  from  the 
chouans  of  the  French  revolution  is  mani- 
festly absurd,  for  it  has  been  shown  that 
the  word  was  in  use  long  before  the  French 
revolution  was  even  meditated. 

Craft.  It  is  from  the  Saxon  crceft, 
which  indirectly  signifies  skill  or  dexterity 
in  any  art.  In  reference  to  this  skill,  there- 
fore, the  ordinary  acceptation  is  a  trade  or 
mechanical  art,  and  collectively,  the  per- 
sons practising  it.  Hence,  "  the  Craft,"  in 
Speculative  Masonry,  signifies  the  whole 
body  of  Freemasons,  wherever  dispersed. 

Craft  Masonry,  Ancient.  See 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry. 

Crafted.  A  word  sometimes  collo- 
quially used,  instead  of  the  Lodge  term 
"  passed,"  to  designate  the  advancement  of 
a  candidate  to  the  second  degree.  It  is  not 
only  a  colloquialism,  but  I  think  also  an 
Americanism. 

Craftsman.  A  Mason.  The  word 
originally  meant  any  one  skilful  in  his 
art,  and  is  so  used  by  our  early  writers. 
Thus  Chaucer,  in  his  Knights'  Tale,  v. 
1889,  says : 

"  For  in  the  land  there  was  no  craftesman, 
That  geometry  or  arsmetrike  can, 
Nor  pourtrayor,  nor  carver  of  images, 
That  Theseus  ne  gave  him  meat  and  wages. 
The  theatre  to  make  and  to  devise." 

Create.  In  chivalry,  when  any  one  re- 
ceived the  order  of  knighthood,  he  was  said 


to  be  created  a  knight.  The  word  "  dub " 
had  also  the  same  meaning.  The  word 
created  is  used  in  Commanderies  of  Knight3 
Templars  to  denote  the  elevation  of  a  can- 
didate  to  that  degree.    See  Dub. 

Creation.  Preston  (Illust,,  B.  I.,  Sect.  3,) 
says,  "  From  the  commencement  of  the 
world,  we  may  trace  the.  foundation  of 
Masonry.  Ever  since  symmetry  began, 
and  harmony  displayed  her  charms,  our 
Order  has  had  a  being."  Language  like 
this  has  been  deemed  extravagant,  and  just- 
ly, too,  if  the  words  are  to  be  taken  in  their 
literal  sense.  The  idea  that  the  Order  of 
Masonry  is  coeval  with  the  creation,  is  so 
absurd,  that  the  pretension  cannot  need 
refutation.  But  the  fact  is,  that  Ander- 
son, Preston,  and  other  writers  who  have 
indulged  in  such  statements,  did  not  mean 
by  the  word  Masonry  anything  like  an  or- 
ganized Order  or  Institution  bearing  any 
resemblance  to  the  Freemasonry  of  the 
present  day.  They  simply  meant  to  indi- 
cate that  the  great  moral  principles  on 
which  Freemasonry  is  founded,  and  by 
which  it  professes  to  be  guided,  have  al- 
ways formed  a  part  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment, and  been  presented  to  man  from  his 
first  creation  for  his  acceptance.  The  words 
quoted  from  Preston  are  unwise,  because 
they  are  liable  to  misconstruction.  But  the 
symbolic  idea  which  they  intended  to  con- 
vey, namely,  that  Masonry  is  truth,  and 
that  truth  is  co-existent  with  man's  crea- 
tion, is  correct,  and  cannot  be  disputed. 

Creed,  A  Mason's.  Although  Free- 
masonry is  not  a  dogmatic  theology,  and  is 
tolerant  in  the  admission  of  men  of  every 
religious  faith,  it  would  be  wrong  to  sup- 
pose that  it  is  without  a  creed.  On  the 
contrary,  it  has  a  creed,  the  assent  to  which 
it  rigidly  enforces,  and  the  denial  of  which 
is  absolutely  incompatible  with  member- 
ship in  the  Order.  This  creed  consists  of 
two  articles:  First,  a  belief  in  God,  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  who  is  therefore  re- 
cognized as  the  Grand  Architect  of  the 
Universe ;  and  secondly,  a  belief  in  the 
eternal  life,  to  which  this  present  life  is 
but  a  preparatory  and  probationary  state. 
To  the  first  of  these  articles  assent  is  ex- 
plicitly required  as  soon  as  the  threshold 
of  the  Lodge  is  crossed.  The  second  is  ex- 
pressively taught  by  legends  and  symbols, 
and  must  be  implicitly  assented  to  by  every 
Mason,  especially  by  those  who  have  re- 
ceived the  third  degree,  which  is  altogether 
founded  on  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
to  a  second  life. 

At  the  revival  of  Masonry  in  1717,  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  set  forth  the  law, 
as  to  the  religious  creed  to  be  required  of  a 
Mason,  in  the  following  words,  to  be  found 
in  the  charges  approved  by  that  body. 


CREUZER 


CROMWELL 


193 


"In  ancient  times,  Masons  were  charged 
in  every  country  to  be  of  the  religion  of 
that  country  or  nation,  whatever  it  was ; 
yet  it  is  now  thought  more  expedient  only 
to  oblige  them  to  that  religion  in  which  all 
men  agree,  leaving  their  particular  opinions 
to  themselves." 

This  is  now  considered  universally  as  the 
recognized  law  on  the  subject. 

Creuzer,  Georg  Friederich. 
George  Frederick  Creuzer,  who  was  born 
in  Germany  in  1771,  and  was  a  professor  at 
the  University  of  Heidelberg,  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  the  ancient  religions, 
and,  with  profound  learning,  established  a 
peculiar  system  on  the  subject.  His  theory 
was,  that  the  religion  and  mythology  of  the 
ancient  Greeks  were  borrowed  from  a  far 
more  ancient  people,  —  a  body  of  priests 
coming  from  the  East, — who  received  them 
as  a  revelation.  The  myths  and  traditions 
of  this  ancient  people  were  adopted  by 
Hesiod,  Homer,  and  the  later  poets,  al- 
though not  without  some  misunderstanding 
of  them;  and  they  were  finally  preserved 
in  the  Mysteries,  and  became  subjects  of 
investigation  for  the  philosophers.  Thi8 
theory  Creuzer  has  developed  in  his  most 
important  work,  entitled  Symbolik  und 
Mythologie  der  alten  Volker,  besonders  der 
Oreichen,  which  was  published  at  Leipsic 
in  1819.  There  is  no  translation  of  this 
work  into  English;  but  Guigniaut  pub- 
lished at  Paris,  in  1824,  a  paraphrastic 
translation  of  it,  under  the  title  of  Reli- 
gions de  VAntiquite  considerdes  principale- 
Ttient  dans  leur  Formes  Symboliques  et  Mytho- 
logiques.  Creuzer's  views  throw  much  light 
on  the  symbolic  history  of  Freemasonry. 
He  died  in  1858. 

Crimes,  Masonic.  In  Masonry, 
every  offence  is  a  crime,  because,  in  every 
violation  of  a  Masonic  law,  there  is  not 
only  sometimes  an  infringement  of  the 
rights  of  an  individual,  but  always,  super- 
induced upon  this,  a  breach  and  violation 
of  public  rights  and  duties,  which  affect 
the  whole  community  of  the  Order  con- 
sidered as  a  community. 

The  first  class  of  crimes  which  are  laid 
down  in  the  Constitutions,  as  rendering 
their  perpetrators  liable  to  Masonic  juris- 
diction, are  offences  against  the  moral  law. 
"  Every  Mason,"  say  the  old  Charges  of 
1722,  "  is  obliged  by  his  tenure  to  obey  the 
moral  law."  The  same  charge  continues 
the  precept  by  asserting,  that  if  he  rightly 
understands  the  art,  he  will  never  be  a 
stupid  atheist,  nor  an  irreligious  libertine. 
Atheism,  therefore,  which  is  a  rejection  of 
a  supreme,  superintending  Creator,  and  ir- 
religious libertinism,  which,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  that  day,  signified  a  denial  of  all 
moral  responsibility,  are  offences  against 
Z  13 


the  moral  law,  because  they  deny  its  valid- 
ity and  contemn  its  sanctions ;  and  hence 
they  are  to  be  classed  as  Masonic  crimes. 

Again  :  the  moral  law  inculcates  love  of 
God,  love  of  our  neighbor,  and  duty  to  our- 
selves. Each  of  these  embraces  other  in- 
cidental duties  which  are  obligatory  on 
every  Mason,  and  the  violation  of  any  one 
of  which  constitutes  a  Masonic  crime. 

The  love  of  God  implies  that  we  should 
abstain  from  all  profanity  and  irreverent 
use  of  his  name.  Universal  benevolence  is 
the  necessary  result  of  love  of  our  neighbor. 
Cruelty  to  one's  inferiors  and  dependents, 
uncharitableness  to  the  poor  and  needy,  and 
a  general  misanthropical  neglect  of  our 
duty  as  men  to  our  fellow-beings,  exhibit- 
ing itself  in  extreme  selfishness  and  indiffer- 
ence to  the  comfort  or  happiness  of  all 
others,  are  offences  against  the  moral  law, 
and  therefore  Masonic  crimes.  Next  to 
violations  of  the  moral  law,  in  the  category 
of  Masonic  crimes,  are  to  be  considered  the 
transgressions  of  the  municipal  law,  or  the 
law  of  the  land.  Obedience  to  constituted 
authority  is  one  of  the  first  duties  which  is 
impressed  upon  the  mind  of  the  candidate ; 
and  hence  he  who  transgresses  the  laws  of 
the  government  under  which  he  lives  vio- 
lates .  the  teachings  of  the  Order,  and  is 
guilty  of  a  Masonic  crime.  But  the  Order 
will  take  no  cognizance  of  ecclesiastical  or 
political  offences.  And  this  arises  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  society,  which  eschews 
all  controversies  about  national  religion  or 
state  policy.  Hence  apostasy,  heresy,  and 
schisms,  although  considered  in  some  gov- 
ernments as  heinous  offences,  and  subject 
to  severe  punishment,  are  not  viewed  as 
Masonic  crimes.  Lastly,  violations  of  the 
Landmarks  and  Regulations  of  the  Order 
are  Masonic  crimes.  Thus,  disclosure  of 
any  of  the  secrets  which  a  Mason  has  pro- 
mised to  conceal ;  disobedience  and  want 
of  respect  to  Masonic  superiors ;  the  bring- 
ing of"  private  piques  or  quarrels  "  into  the 
Lodge;  want  of  courtesy  and  kindness  to 
the  brethren  ;  speaking  calumniously  of  a 
Mason  behind  his  back,  or  in  any  other  way 
attempting  to  injure  him,  as  by  striking 
him  except  in  self-defence,  or  violating  his 
domestic  honor,  is  each  a  crime  in  Masonry. 
Indeed,  whatever  is  a  violation  of  fidelity 
to  solemn  engagements,  a  neglect  of  pre- 
scribed duties,  or  a  transgression  of  the  car- 
dinal principles  of  friendship,  morality,  and 
brotherly  love,  is  a  Masonic  crime. 

Cromlech.  A  large  stone  resting  on 
two  or  more  stones,  like  a  table.  Crom- 
lechs are  found  in  Brittany,  Denmark, 
Germany,  and  some  other  parts  of  Europe, 
and  are  supposed  to  have  Seen  used  in  the 
Celtic  mysteries. 

Cromwell.    The  Abbd  Larudan  pub- 


194 


CROMWELL 


CROSS 


lished  at  Amsterdam,  in  1746,  a  book  enti- 
tled Les  Francs- Macons  Ecrases,  of  which 
Kloss  says  {Bibliog.  der  Freimaurerei,  No. 
1874,)  that  it  is  the  armory  from  which  all 
the  abuse  of  Freemasonry  by  its  enemies 
has  been  derived.  Larudan  was  the  first 
to  advance  in  this  book  the  theory  that 
Oliver  Cromwell  was  the  founder  of  Free- 
masonry. He  says  that  Cromwell  estab- 
lished the  Order  for  the  furtherance  of  his 
political  designs;  adopting  with  this  view, 
as  its  governing  principles,  the  doctrines  of 
liberty  and  equality,  and  bestowed  upon  its 
members  the  title  of  Freemasons,  because 
his  object  was  to  engage  them  in  the  build- 
ing of  a  new  edifice,  that  is  to  say,  to  re- 
form the  human  race  by  the  extermination 
of  kings  and  all  regal  powers.  He  selected 
for  this  purpose  the  design  of  rebuilding 
the  Temple  of  Solomon.  This  Temple, 
erected  by  divine  command,  had  been  the 
sanctuary  of  religion.  After  years  of  glory 
and  magnificence,  it  had  been  destroyed  by 
a  formidable  army.  The  people  who  there 
worshipped  had  been  conveyed  to  Babylon, 
whence,  after  enduring  a  rigorous  captivity, 
they  had  been  permitted  to  return  to  Jeru- 
salem and  rebuild  the  Temple.  This  his- 
tory of  the  Solomonic  Temple  Cromwell 
adopted,  says  Larudan,  as  an  allegory  on 
which  to  found  his  new  Order.  The  Tem- 
ple in  its  original  magnificence  was  man  in 
his  primeval  state  of  purity ;  its  destruc- 
tion and  the  captivity  of  its  worshippers 
typified  pride  and  ambition,  which  have 
abolished  equality  and  introduced  depend- 
ence among  men ;  and  the  Chaldean  de- 
stroyers of  the  glorious  edifice  are  the 
kings  who  have  trodden  on  an  oppressed 
people. 

It  was,  continues  the  Abb6,  in  the  year 
1648  that  Cromwell,  at  an  entertainment 
given  by  him  to  some  of  his  friends,  pro- 

{>osed  to  them,  in  guarded  terms,  the  estab- 
ishment  of  a  new  society,  which  should 
secure  a  true  worship  of  God,  and  the  de- 
liverance of  man  from  oppression  and  tyr- 
anny. The  proposition  was  received  with 
unanimous  favor ;  and  a  few  days  after,  at  a 
house  in  King  Street,  and  at  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  (for  the  Abbe  is  particular  as 
to  time  and  place,)  the  Order  of  Freema- 
sonry was  organized,  its  degrees  established, 
its  ceremonies  and  ritual  prescribed,  and 
several  of  the  adherents  of  the  future  Pro- 
tector initiated.  The  Institution  was  used 
by  Cromwell  for  the  advancement  of  his 
projects,  for  the  union  of  the  contending 
parties  in  England,  for  the  extirpation 
of  the  monarchy,  and  his  own  subsequent 
elevation  to  supreme  power.  It  extended 
from  England  into  other  countries,  but 
was  always  careful  to  preserve  the  same 
doctrines  of  equality  and   liberty  among 


men,  and  opposition  to  all  monarchical 
government.  Such  is  the  theory  of  the 
Abb6  Larudan,  who,  although  a  bitter 
enemy  of  Masonry,  writes  with  seeming 
fairness  and  mildness.  But  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  this  theory  of  the 
origin  of  Freemasonry  finds  no  support 
either  in  the  legends  of  the  Institution,  or 
in  the  authentic  history  that  is  connected 
with  its  rise  and  progress. 

Cross.  We  can  find  no  symbolism  of 
the  cross  in  the  primitive  degrees  of  An- 
cient Craft  Masonry.  It  does  not  appear 
among  the  symbols  of  the  Apprentice,  the 
Fellow  Craft,  the  Master,  or  the  Royal 
Arch.  This  is  undoubtedly  to  be  attri- 
buted to  the  fact  that  the  cross  was  con- 
sidered, by  those  who  invented  those  de- 
grees, only  in  reference  to  its  character  as 
a  Christian  sign.  The  subsequent  archaeo- 
logical investigations  that  have  given  to  the 
cross  a  more  universal  place  in  iconogra- 
phy were  unknown  to  the  rituals.  It  is 
true,  that  it  is  referred  to,  under  the  name 
of  the  rode  or  rood,  in  the  manuscript  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  published  by  Halliwell; 
this  Avas,  however,  one  of  the  Constitutions 
of  the  Operative  Freemasons,  who  were 
fond  of  the  symbol,  and  were  indebted  for 
it  to  their  ecclesiastical  origin,  and  to  their 
connection  with  the  Gnostics,  among  whom 
the  cross  was  a  much  used  symbol.  But  on 
the  revival  in  1717,  when  the  ritual  was 
remodified,  and  differed  very  greatly  from 
that  meagre  one  in  practice  among  the 
mediaeval  Masons,  all  allusion  to  the  cross 
was  left  out,  because  the  revivalists  laid 
down  the  principle  that  the  religion  of 
Speculative  Masonry  was  not  sectarian  but 
universal.  And  although  this  principle 
was  in  some  points,  as  in  the  "lines  par- 
allel," neglected,  the  reticence  as  to  the 
Christian  sign  of  salvation  has  continued 
to  the  present  day ;  so  that  the  cross  cannot 
be  considered  as  a  symbol  in  the  primary 
and  original  degrees  of  Masonry. 

But  in  the  high  degrees,  the  cross  has  been 
introducedas  an  important  symbol.  In  some 
of  them, —  those  which  are  to  be  traced  to 
the  Temple  system  of  Ramsay, —  it  is  to  be 
viewed  with  reference  to  its  Christian 
origin  and  meaning.  Thus,  in  the  original 
Rose  Croix  and  Kadosh, — no  matter  what 
may  be  the  modern  interpretation  given  to 
it,  —  it  was  simply  a  representation  of  the 
cross  of  Christ  In  others  of  a  philosophi- 
cal character,  such  as  the  Ineffable  degrees, 
the  symbolism  of  the  cross  was  in  all  prob- 
ability borrowed  from  the  usages  of  an- 
tiquity, for  from  the  earliest  times  and  in 
almost  all  countries  the  cross  has  been  a 
sacred  symbol.  It  is  depicted  on  the 
oldest  monuments  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  Per- 
sia, and  Hindustan.     It  was,  says  Faber, 


CROSS 


CROSS 


195 


(Cabir.,  ii.  390,)  a  symbol  throughout  the 
pagan  world  long  previous  to  its  becoming 
an  object  of  veneration  to  Christians.  In 
ancient  symbology  it  was  a  symbol  of  eter- 
nal life.  M.  de  Mortillet,  who  in  1866 
published  a  work  entitled  Le  Signe  de  la 
Croix  avant  le  Christianisme,  found  in  the 
very  earliest  epochs  three  principal  symbols 
of  universal  occurrence :  viz.,  the  circle, 
the  pyramid,  and  the  cross.  Leslie,  (Man's 
Origin  and  Destiny,  p.  312,)  quoting  from 
him  in  reference  to  the  ancient  worship  of 
the  cross,  says,  "  It  seems  to  have  been  a 
worship  of  such  a  peculiar  nature  as  to  ex- 
clude the  worship  of  idols."  This  sacred- 
ness  of  the  crucial  symbol  may  be  one 
reason  why  its  form  was  often  adopted, 
especially  by  the  Celts,  in  the  construction 
of  their  temples. 

Of  the  Druidical  veneration  of  the  cross, 
Higgins  quotes  from  the  treatise  of  Sche- 
dius,  De  Moribus  Oermanorum,  (xxiv.,)  the 
following  remarkable  paragraph. 

"  The  Druids  seek  studiously  for  an  oak- 
tree,  large  and  handsome,  growing  up  with 
two  principal  arms  in  the  form  of  a  cross, 
beside  the  main,  upright  stem.  If  the  two 
horizontal  arms  are  not  sufficiently  adapted 
to  the  figure,  they  fasten  a  cross  beam  to  it. 
This  tree  they  consecrate  in  this  manner. 
Upon  the  right  branch  they  cut  in  the  bark, 
in  fair  characters,  the  word  HESUS ;  upon 
the  middle  or  upright  stem,  the  word 
TAR  AM  IS;  upon  the  left  branch,  BELE- 
NUS  ;  over  this,  above  the  going  off  of  the 
arms,  they  cut  the  name  of  God,  THAU. 
Under  all  the  same  repeated,  THAU.  This 
tree,  so  inscribed,  they  make  their  kebla  in 
the  grove,  cathedral,  or  summer  church, 
towards  which  they  direct  their  faces  in  the 
offices  of  religion." 

Mr.  Brinton,  in  his  interesting  work  en- 
titled Symbolism;  The  Myths  of  the  New 
World,  has  the  following  remarks : 

"  The  symbol  that  beyond  all  others  has 
fascinated  the  human  mind,  the  cross,  finds 
here  its  source  and  meaning.  Scholars  have 
pointed  out  its  sacredness  in  many  natural 
religions,  and  have  reverently  accepted  it 
as  a  mystery,  or  offered  scores  of  conflict- 
ing, and  often  debasing,  interpretations. 
It  is  but  another  symbol  of  the  four  cardinal 
points,  the  four  winds  of  heaven.  This  will 
luminously  appear  by  a  study  of  its  use 
and  meaning  in  America."  (P.  95.)  And 
Mr.  Brinton  gives  many  instances  of  the 
religious  use  of  the  cross  by  several  of  the 
aboriginal  tribes  of  this  continent,  where 
the  allusion,  it  must  be  confessed,  seems 
evidently  to  be  to  the  four  cardinal  points, 
or  the  four  winds,  or  four  spirits  of  the 
earth.  If  this  be  so,  and  if  it  is  probable 
that  a  similar  reference  was  adopted  by  the 
Celtic  and  other  ancient  peoples,  then  we 


would  have  in  the  cruciform  temple  as 
much  a  symbolism  of  the  world,  of  which 
the  four  cardinal  points  constitute  the 
boundaries,  as  we  have  in  the  square,  the 
cubical,  and  the  circular. 

Cross,   Double.     See    Cross,  Patri- 
archal. 

Cross,  Jerusalem.  A  Greek  cross 
between  four  crosslets.  It  was  adopted  by 
Baldwyn  as  the  arms 
of  the  kingdom  of  Je- 
rusalem, and  has  since 
been  deemed  a  symbol 
of  the  Holy  Land.  It 
is  also  the  jewel  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  Symboli- 
cally, the  four  small 
crosses  typify  the  four 
wounds  of  the  Saviour 
in  the  hands  and  feet,  and  the  large  central 
cross  shows  forth  his  death  for  that  world 
to  which  the  four  extremities  point. 

Cross,  Maltese.  A  cross  of  eight 
points,  worn  by  the 
Knights  of  Malta.  It 
is  heraldically  de- 
scribed as  "a  cross 
pattee,  but  the  ex- 
tremity of  each  pat- 
tee  notched  at  a  deep 
angle."  The  eight 
points  are  said  to 
refer  symbolically  to 
the  eight  beatitudes. 

Cross  of   Constantine. 
barum. 

Cross  of  Salem.  Called  also  the 
Pontifical  Cross,  because  it  is  borne  before 
the  pope.  It  is  a  cross,  the 
upright  piece  being  crossed 
by  three  lines,  the  upper  and 
lower  shorter  than  the  mid- 
dle one.  It  is  the  insignia 
of  the  Grand  Master  and 
Past  Grand  Masters  of  the 
Grand  Encampment  of 
Knights  Templars  of  the 
United  States,  and  also  of 
the  Sovereign  Grand  Com 
mander  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Cross,  Passion.  The  cross  on  which 
Jesus  suffered  crucifixion.  It  is  the  most 
common  form  of  the  cross. 
When  rayonnant,  or  having  rays 
issuing  from  the  point  of  inter- 
section of  the  limbs,  it  is  the  in- 
signia of  the  Commander  of  a 
Commandery  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars, according  to  the  American 
system. 

Cross,  Patriarchal.    A  cross,  the 
upright  piece  being  twice  crossed,  the  up- 


See  La- 


196 


CROSS 


CROSS 


per  arms  shorter  than  the  lower.  It  is 
so  called  because  it  is  borne  before  a  Patri- 
arch in  the  Roman 
Church.  It  is  the  in- 
signia of  the  officers  of 
the  Grand  Encamp- 
ment of  Knights  Tem- 
plars of  the  United 
States,  and  of  all  pos- 
sessors of  the  thirty- 
third  degree  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite. 
Cross,  St.  Andrew's.  A  saltier  or 
cross  whose  decussation  is  in  the  form  of 
the  letter  X.  Said  to  be 
the  form  of  cross  on  which 
St.  Andrew  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom. As  he  is  the  pa- 
tron saint  of  Scotland,  the 
St.  Andrew's  cross  forms  a 
part  of  the  jewel  of  the 
Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland,  which 
is  "  a  brilliant  star,  having 
in  the  centre  a  field,  azure,  charged  with  a 
St.  Andrew  on  the  cross,  gold ;  pendant 
therefrom  the  Compasses  extended,  with 
the  Square  and  Segment  of  a  Circle  of  90°  ; 
the  points  of  the  Compasses  resting  on  the 
Segment.  In  the  centre,  between  the 
Square  and  Compasses,  the  Sun  in  full 
glory."  The  St.  Andrew's  cross  is  also  the 
jewel  of  the  twenty-ninth  degree  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  or 
Grand  Scottish  Knight  of  St.  Andrew. 

Cross,  Tail.    The  cross  on  which  St. 
Anthony  is  said  to  have  suffered  martyr- 
dom.    It  is  in  the  form  of 
the  letter  T.    See  Tau. 

Cross,  Templar. 
Andre  Favin,  a  French  her- 
aldic writer,  says  that  the 
original  badge  of  the 
Knights  Templars  was  a 
Patriarchal  Cross,  and 
Clarke,  in  his  History  of 
Knighthood,  states  the  same 
fact;  but  this  is  an  error.  At  first,  the 
Templars  wore  a  white  mantle  without  any 
cross.  But  in  1146  Pope  Eugenius  III. 
prescribed  for  them  a  red  cross  on  the 
breast,  as  a  symbol 
of  the  martyrdom  to 
which  they  were  con- 
stantly exposed.  The 
cross  of  the  Hospital- 
ers was  white  on  a 
black  mantle,  and 
that  of  the  Templars 
was  different  in  color 
but  of  the  same  form, 
namely,  a  cross  pattSe.  In  this  it  differed 
from  the  true  Maltese  cross,  worn  by  the 
Knights  of  Malta,  which  was  a  cross  pattee, 


the  limbs  deeply  notched  so  as  to  make  a 
cross  of  eight  points.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  with 
his  not  unusual  heraldic  inaccuracy,  and 
Higgins,  who  is  not  often  inaccurate,  but 
only  fanciful  at  times,  both  describe  the 
Templar  cross  as  having  eight  points,  thus 
confounding  it  with  the  cross  of  Malta. 
In  the  statutes  of  the  Order  of  the  Temple, 
the  cross  prescribed  is  that  depicted  in  the 
Charter  of  Transmission,  and  is  a  cross 
pattee. 

Cross,  Teutonic.  The  cross  for- 
merly worn  by  the  Teutonic  Knights.  It 
is  described  in  heraldry  as  "a  cross  po- 
tent, sable,  (black,)  charged  with  another 
cross  double  potent  or, 
(gold,)  and  surcharged 
with  an  escutcheon  ar- 
gent (silver,)  bearing 
a  double-headed  eagle 
(sable).  It  has  been 
adopted  as  the  jewel 
of  the  Kadosh  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite  in  the 
United  States,  but  the  original  jewel  of  the 
degree  was  a  Latin  or  Passion  Cross. 

Cross,  Thrice  Illustrious  Order 
of  the.  A  degree  formerly  conferred  in 
this  country  on  Knights  Templars,  but  now 
extinct.  Its  meetings  were  called  Councils, 
and  under  the  authority  of  a  body  which 
styled  itself  the  Ancient  Council  of  the 
Trinity.  The  degree  is  no  longer  con- 
ferred. 
Cross,  Triple.  See  Cross  of  Salem. 
Cross-Bearing  Men.  ( Viri  Cruci- 
geri.)  A  name  sometimes  assumed  by  the 
Rosicrucians.  Thus,  in  the  Miracula  Na- 
turae, (Anno  1619,)  there  is  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  Fraternity  of  the  Rosy  Cross,  which 
begins :  "  Philosophi  Fratres,  Viri  Cruci- 
geri," — Brother  Philosophers,  Cross-Bearing 
Men, 

Crossing  the  RiTer.  The  Kabba- 
lists  have  an  alphabet  so  called,  in  allusion 
to  the  crossing  of  the  river  Euphrates  by 
the  Jews  on  their  return  from  Babylon  to 
Jerusalem  to  rebuild  the  Temple.  It  has 
been  adopted  in  some  of  the  high  degrees 
which  refer  to  that  incident.  Cornelius 
Agrippa  gives  a  copy  of  the  alphabet  in 
his  Occult  Philosophy, 

Cross,  Jeremy  Ii.  A  teacher  of  the 
Masonic  ritual,  who,  during  his  lifetime, 
was  extensively  known,  and  for  some  time 
very  popular.  He  was  born  June  27, 1783, 
at  Haverhill,  New  Hampshire,  and  died 
at  the  same  place,  in  1861.  Cross  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Masonic  Order  in  1808,  and 
soon  afterwards  became  a  pupil  of  Thomas 
Smith  Webb,  whose  modifications  of  the 
Preston  lectures  and  of  the  higher  degrees 
were  generally  accepted  by  the  Masons  of 
the  United  States.    Cross,  having  acquired 


CROSS-LEGGED 


CRUCEFIX 


197 


a  competent  knowledge  of  Webb's  system, 
began  to  travel  and  disseminate  it  through- 
out the  country.  In  1819  he  published 
The  True  Masonic  Chart  or  Hieroglyphic 
Monitor,  in  which  he  borrowed  liberally 
from  the  previous  work  of  Webb.  In  fact, 
the  Chart  of  Cross  is,  in  nearly  all  its  parts, 
a  mere  transcript  of  the  Monitor  of  Webb, 
the  first  edition  of  which  was  published  in 
1797.  Webb,  it  is  true,  took  the  same 
liberty  with  Preston,  from  whose  Illustra- 
tions of  Masonry  he  borrowed  largely.  The 
engraving  of  the  emblems  constituted,  how- 
ever, an  entirely  new  and  original  feature 
in  the  Hieroglyphic  Chart,  and,  as  furnish- 
ing aids  to  the  memory,  rendered  the  book 
of  Cross  at  once  very  popular ;  so  much  so, 
indeed,  that  for  a  long  time  it  almost  alto- 
gether superseded  that  of  Webb.  In  1820 
Cross  published  The  Templars'  Chart,  which, 
as  a  monitor  of  the  degrees  of  chivalry, 
met  with  equal  success.  Both  of  these 
works  have  passed  through  numerous  edi- 
tions. 

Cross  received  the  appointment  of  Grand 
Lecturer  from  many  Grand  Lodges,  and 
travelled  for  many  years  very  extensively 
through  the  United  States,  teaching  his 
system  of  lectures  to  Lodges,  Chapters, 
Councils,  and  Encampments. 

He  possessed  little  or  no  scholarly  at- 
tainments, and  his  contributions  to  the  lit- 
erature of  Masonry  are  confined  to  the  two 
compilations  already  cited.  In  his  latter 
years  he  became  involved  in  a  schismatic 
effort  to  establish  a  spurious  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  But 
he  soon  withdrew  his  name,  and  retired  to 
the  place  of  his  nativity,  where  he  died  at 
the  advanced  age  of  seventy-eight. 

Although  Cross  was  not  a  man  of  any 
very  original  genius,  yet  a  recent  writer  has 
announced  the  fact  that  the  symbol  of  the 
monument  in  the  third  degree,  unknown  to 
the  system  of  either  Preston  or  Webb,  was 
invented  by  him.    See  Monument. 

Cross-legged  Knights.  In  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  it  was  the  custom  to  bury  the  body 
of  a  Knight  Templar  with  one  leg  crossed 
over  the  other ;  and  on  many  monuments  in 
the  churches  of  Europe,  the  effigies  of  these 
knights  are  to  be  found,  often  in  England, 
of  a  diminutive  size,  with  the  legs  placed 
in  this  position.  The  cross-legged  posture 
was  not  confined  to  the  Templars,  but  was 
appropriated  to  all  persons  who  had  as- 
sumed the  cross  and  taken  a  vow  to  fight  in 
defence  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  pos- 
ture, of  course,  alluded  to  the  position  of 
the  Lord  while  on  the  cross. 

Cross-legged  Masons.  A  name 
given  to  the  Knights  Templars  who  in  the 
sixteenth  century  united  themselves  with 
the  Masonic  Lodge  at  Sterling,  in  Scot- 


land. The  allusion  is  evidently  to  the  fu- 
neral posture  of  the  Templars,  so  that  a 
"  cross-legged  Mason "  must  have  been  at 
the  time  synonymous  with  a  Masonic 
Knight  Templar. 

Crotona.  One  of  the  most  prominent 
cities  of  the  Greek  colonists  in  Southern 
Italy,  where,  in  the  sixth  century,  Pythag- 
oras established  his  celebrated  school.  As 
the  early  Masonic  writers  were  fond  of 
citing  Pythagoras  as  a  brother  of  theirCraft, 
Crotona  became  connected  with  the  history 
of  Masonry,  and  was  often  spoken  of  as 
one  of  the  most  renowned  seats  of  the  In- 
stitution. Thus,  in  the  Leland  MS.,  whose 
authenticity  is  now,  however,  doubted,  it  is 
said  that  Pythagoras  "framed  a  grate  Lodge 
at  Groton,  and  maked  many  Maconnes," 
in  which  sentence  Groton,  it  must  be  re- 
marked, is  an  evident  corruption  of  Cro- 
tona. 

Crow.  An  iron  implement  used  to 
raise  heavy  stones.  It  is  one  of  the  work- 
ing-tools of  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  sym- 
bolically teaches  him  to  raise  his  thoughts 
above  the  corrupting  influence  of  worldly- 
mindedness. 

Crown.  A  portion  of  Masonic  regalia 
worn  by  officers  who  represent  a  king,  more 
especially  King  Solomon.  In  Ancient 
Craft  Masonry,  nowever,  the  crown  is  dis- 
pensed with,  the  hat  having  taken  its  place. 

Crown,  Knight  of  the.  See  Knight 
of  the  Crown. 

Crown,  Princesses  of  the. 
(Princesses  de  la  Couronne.)  A  species  of 
androgynous  Masonry  established  at  Sax- 
ony in  1770.  It  existed  for  only  a  brief 
period. 

Crowned  Martyrs.  See  Four 
Crowned  Martyrs. 

Crowning  of  Masonry.  Le  cou- 
ronnement  de  la  Maconnerie.  The  sixty- 
first  degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Metro- 
politan Chapter  of  France. 

Crneeflx,  Robert  T.  An  English 
Mason,  distinguished  for  his  services  to  the 
Craft.  Robert  Thomas  Crucefix,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  was  born  in  Holborn,  Eng.,  in  the 
year  1797,  and  received  his  education  at  Mer- 
chant Tailors'  School.  After  leaving  school, 
he  became  the  pupil  of  Mr.  Chamberlayne, 
a  general  and  celebrated  practitioner  of  his 
day,  at  Clerkenwell;  he  afterwards  became 
a  student  at  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital, 
and  was  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Aberne- 
thy.  On  receiving  his  diploma  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  in 
1810  he  went  out  to  India,  where  he  re- 
mained but  a  short  time ;  upon  his  return 
he  settled  in  London,  and  he  continued  to 
reside  there  till  the  year  1845,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Milton-on-Thames,  where  he 
spent  the  rest  of  his  life  till  within  a  few 


198 


CRUCIFIX 


CRUX 


weeks  before  his  decease,  when  he  removed, 
for  the  benefit  of  his  declining  health,  to 
Bath,  where  he  expired  February  25,  1850. 
Dr.  Crucefix  was  initiated  into  Masonry  in 
1829,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
discharged  the  duties  of  important  offices 
in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  of  which  he 
was  a  Grand  Deacon,  and  in  several  subordi- 
nate Lodges,  Chapters,  and  Encampments. 
He  was  an  earnest  promoter  of  all  the  Ma- 
sonic charities  of  England,  of  one  of  which, 
the  "  Asylum  for  Aged  and  Decayed  Free- 
masons," he  was  the  founder.  In  1834,  he  es- 
tablished the  Freemason's  Quarterly  Review, 
and  continued  to  edit  it  for  six  years,  during 
which  period  he  contributed  many  valuable 
articles  to  its  pages. 

In  1840,  through  the  machinations  of  his 
enemies,  (for  he  was  too  great  a  man  not  to 
have  had  some,)  he  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  the  ruling  powers;  and  on  charges  which, 
undoubtedly,  were  not  sustained  by  suffi- 
cient evidence,  he  was  suspended  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  for  six  months,  and  retired 
from  active  Masonic  life.  But  he  never 
lost  the  respect  of  the  Craft,  nor  the  affec- 
tion of  the  leading  Masons  who  were  his 
contemporaries.  On  his  restoration,  he 
again  began  to  labor  in  behalf  of  the  In- 
stitution, and  spent  his  last  days  in  ad- 
vancing its  interests.  To  his  character,  his 
long-tried  friend,  the  venerable  Oliver,  pays 
this  tribute.  "  Dr.  Crucefix  did  not  pretend 
to  infallibility,  and,  like  all  other  public 
men,  he  might  be  sometimes  wrong ;  but 
his  errors  were  not  from  the  heart,  and  al- 
ways leaned  to  the  side  of  virtue  and  be- 
neficence. He  toiled  incessantly  for  the 
benefit  of  his  brethren,  and  was  anxious 
that  all  inestimable  blessings  should  be 
conveyed  by  Masonry  on  mankind.  In 
sickness  or  in  health  he  was  ever  found  at 
his  post,  and  his  sympathy  was  the  most 
active  in  behalf  of  the  destitute  brother, 
the  widow,  and  the  orphan.  His  persever- 
ance never  flagged  for  a  moment ;  and  he 
acted  as  though  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
live  and  die  in  obedience  to  the  calls  of  duty." 

Crucifix.  A  cross  with  the  image  of 
the  Saviour  suspended  on  it.  A  part  of  the 
furniture  of  a  Commandery  of  Knights 
Templars  and  of  a  Chapter  of  Princes  of 
Rose  Croix. 

Crusades.  There  was  between  Free- 
masonry and  the  Crusades  a  much  more 
intimate  relation  than  has  generally  been 
supposed.  In  the  first  place,  the  commu- 
nications frequently  established  by  the 
Crusaders,  and  especially  the  Knights 
Templars,  with  the  Saracens,  led  to  the 
acquisition,  by  the  former,  of  many  of  the 
dogmas  of  the  secret  societies  of  the  East, 
such  as  the  Essenes,  the  Assassins,  and 
the  Druses.    These  were  brought  by  the 


knights  to  Europe,  and  subsequently,  on 
the  establishment  by  Ramsay  and  his  con- 
temporaries and  immediate  successors  of 
Templar  Masonry,  were  incorporated  into 
the  nigh  degrees,  and  still  exhibit  their 
influence.  Indeed,  it  is  scarcely  to  be 
doubted  that  many  of  these  degrees  were 
invented  with  a  special  reference  to  the 
events  which  occurred  in  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine. Thus,  for  instance,  the  Scottish  de- 
gree of  Knights  of  the  East  and  West 
must  have  originally  alluded,  as  its  name 
imports,  to  the  legend  which  teaches  a 
division  of  the  Masons  after  the  Temple 
was  finished,  when  the  Craft  dispersed, — a 
part  remaining  in  Palestine,  as  the  Assi- 
deans,  whom  Lawrie,  citing  Scaliger,  calls 
the  "  Knights  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem," 
and  another  part  passing  over  into  Europe, 
whence  they  returned  on  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Crusades.  This,  of  course,  is  but  a 
legend,  yet  the  influence  is  felt  in  the  inven- 
tion of  the  higher  rituals. 

But  the  influence  of  the  Crusades  on  the 
Freemasons  and  the,  architecture  of  the 
Middle  Ages  is  of  a  more  historical  charac- 
ter. In  1836,  Mr.  Westmacott,  in  a  course 
of  lectures  on  art  before  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy, remarked  that  the  two  principal  causes 
which  materially  tended  to  assist  the  resto- 
ration of  literature  and  the  arts  in  Europe 
were  Freemasonry  and  the  Crusades.  The 
adventurers,  he  said,  who  returned  from 
the  Holy  Land  brought  back  some  ideas 
of  various  improvements,  particularly  in 
architecture,  and,  along  with  these,  a  strong 
desire  to  erect  castellated,  ecclesiastical, 
and  palatial  edifices,  to  display  the  taste 
they  had  acquired  ;  and  in  less  than  a  cen- 
tury from  the  first  Crusade  above  six  hun- 
dred buildings  of  the  above  description 
had  been  erected  in  southern  and  western 
Europe.  This  taste  was  spread  into  almost 
all  countries  by  the  establishment  of  the 
Fraternity  of  Freemasons,  who,  it  appears, 
had,  under  some  peculiar  form  of  brother- 
hood, existed  for  an  immemorial  period  in 
Syria  and  other  parts  of  the  East,  from 
whence  some  bands  of  them  migrated  to 
Europe,  and  after  a  time  a  great  efflux  of 
these  ingenious  men  —  Italian,  German, 
French,  Spanish,  etc. — had  spread  them- 
selves in  communities  through  all  civilized 
Europe;  and  in  all  countries  where  they 
settled  we  find  the  same  style  of  architec- 
ture from  that  period,  but  differing  in  some 
points  of  treatment,  as  suited  the  climate. 

Crux  A  usata.  This  signifies,  in  Latin, 
the  cross  with  a  handle.  It  is  formed  by  a  tau 
cross  surmounted  by  a  circle  or,  more  prop- 
erly, an  oval.  It  was  one  of  the  most  sig- 
nificant of  the  symbols  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  and  is  depicted  repeatedly  on 
their  monuments  borne  in  the  hands  of 


CRYPT 


CUNNING 


199 


their  deities,  and  especially  Phtha.   Among 

them    it    was    the    symbol    of 

life,  and  with  that  meaning  it 

has  been  introduced  into  some 

of  the  higher  degrees  of  Masonry. 

The  crux  ansata,  surrounded  by  a 

serpent  in  a  circle,  is  the  symbol 

of  immortality,  because  the  cross 

was  the  symbol  of  life,  and  the 

serpent  of  eternity. 

Crypt.  From  the  Greek, 
KpinrTT/.  A  concealed  place,  or  subterranean 
vault.  The  caves,  or  cells  under  ground,  in 
which  the  primitive  Christians  celebrated 
their  secret  worship,were  called  cryptse ;  and 
the  vaults  beneath  our  modern  churches  re- 
ceive the  name  of  crypts.  The  existence  of 
crypts  or  vaults  under  the  Temple  of  Solo- 
mon is  testified  to  by  the  earliest  as  well 
as  by  the  most  recent  topographers  of  Je- 
rusalem. Their  connection  with  the  legend- 
ary history  of  Masonry  is  more  fully  noticed 
under  the  head  of  Secret  Vault. 

Cryptic  Degrees.  The  degrees  of 
Royal  and  Select  Master.  Some  modern 
ritualists  have  added  to  the  list  the  degree 
of  Super-Excellent  Master;  but  this,  al- 
though now  often  conferred  in  a  Cryptic 
Council,  is  not  really  a  Cryptic  degree, 
since  its  legend  has  no  connection  with  the 
crypt  or  secret  vault. 

Cryptic  Masonry.  That  division 
of  the  Masonic  system  which  is  directed  to 
the  investigation  and  cultivation  of  the 
Cryptic  degrees.  It  is,  literally,  the  Ma- 
sonry of  the  secret  vault. 

Cteis.  Greek,  kteis.  The  female  per- 
sonification of  the  productive  principle. 
It  generally  accompanied  the  phallus,  as 
the  Indian  yoni  did  the  lingam ;  and  as  a 
symbol  of  the  prolific  powers  of  nature, 
was  extensively  venerated  by  the  nations 
of  antiquity.     See  Phallus. 

Cubical  Stone.  This  symbol  is  called 
by  the  French  Masons,  pierre  cubique,  and 
by  the  German,  cubik  stein.  It  is  the  Per- 
fect Ashlar  of.  the  English  and  American 
systems.    See  Ashlar,  Perfect. 

Cubit.  A  measure  of  length,  origi- 
nally denoting  the  distance  from  the  elbow 
to  the  extremity  of  the  middle  finger,  or 
the  fourth  part  of  a  well-proportioned  man's 
stature.  The  Hebrew  cubit,  according  to 
Bishop  Cumberland,  was  twenty-one  inches ; 
but  only  eighteen  according  to  other  au- 
thorities. There  were  two  kinds  of  cubits, 
the  sacred  and  profane,  —  the  former  equal 
to  thirty-six,  and  the  latter  to  eighteen 
inches.  It  is  by  the  common  cubit  that 
the  dimensions  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
Temple  are  to  be  computed. 

Culdees.  When  St.  Augustine  came 
over,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, to  Britain,  for  the  purpose  of  convert- 


ing the  natives  to  Christianity,  he  found 
the  country  already  occupied  by  a  body  of 
priests  and  their  disciples,  who  were  dis- 
tinguished for  the  pure  and  simple  apos- 
tolic religion  which  they  professed.  These 
were  the  Culdees,  a  name  said  by  some  to 
be  derived  from  Cultores  Dei,  or  worship- 
pers of  God ;  but  by  others,  with,  perhaps, 
more  plausibility,  from  the  Gaelic,  Cuildich, 
which  means  a  secluded  corner,  and  evi- 
dently alludes  to  their  recluse  mode  of  life. 
The  Culdees  are  said  to  have  come  over 
into  Britain  with  the  Roman  legions ;  and 
thus  it  has  been  conjectured  that  these 
primitive  Christians  were  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  the  Roman  Colleges  of  Archi- 
tects, branches  of  which  body,  it  is  well 
known,  everywhere  accompanied  the  le- 
gionary armies  of  the  empire.  The  chief 
seat  of  the  Culdees  was  in  the  island  of 
Iona,  where  St.  Columba,  coming  out  of 
Ireland,  with  twelve  brethren,  in  the  year 
563,  established  their  principal  monastery. 
At  Avernethy,  the  capital  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  Picts,  they  founded  another  in  the 
year  600,  and  subsequently  other  principal 
seats  at  Dunkeld,  St.  Andrew's,  Brechin, 
Dunblane,  Dumferline,  Kirkaldy,  Melrose, 
and  many  other  places  in  Scotland.  A 
writer  in  the  London  Freemasons'  Quar- 
terly Review  (1842,  p.  36,)  says  they  were 
little  solicitous  to  raise  architectural  struc- 
tures, but  sought  chiefly  to  civilize  and  so- 
cialize mankind  by  imparting  to  them  the 
knowledge  of  those  pure  principles  which 
they  taught  in  their  Lodges.  Lenning  and 
Gadicke,  however,  both  state  that  the  Cul- 
dees had  organized  within  themselves,  and 
as  a  part  of  their  social  system,  Corpora- 
tions of  Builders ;  and  that  they  exercised 
the  architectural  art  in  the  construction 
of  many  sacred  edifices  in  Scotland,  Ire- 
land, and  Wales,  and  even  in  other  coun- 
tries of  Northern  Europe.  Gadicke  also 
claims  that  the  York  Constitutions  of  the 
tenth  century  were  derived  from  them. 
But  neither  of  these  German  lexicographers 
has  furnished  us  with  authorities  upon 
which  these  statements  are  founded.  It  is, 
however,  undeniable,  that  Masonic  writers 
have  always  claimed  that  there  was  a  con- 
nection—  it  might  be  only  a  mythical  one 
—  between  these  apostolic  Christians  and 
the  early  Masonry  of  Ireland  and  Scotland. 
The  Culdees  were  opposed  and  persecuted 
by  the  adherents  of  St.  Augustine,  and  were 
eventually  extinguished  in  Scotland.  But 
their  complete  suppression  did  not  take 
place  until  about  the  fourteenth  century. 

Cunning.  Used  by  old  English  writ- 
ers in  the  sense  of  skilful.  Thus,  in  1  Kings 
viii.  14,  it  is  said  of  the  architect  who  was 
sent  by  the  king  of  Tyre  to  assist  King 
Solomon  in  the  construction  of  his  Temple, 


200 


CUP 


DA  COSTA 


that  he  was  "  cunning  to  work  in  all  works 
in  brass." 

Cup  of  Bitterness.  ( Calice  cFAmer- 
tume. )  A  ceremony  in  the  first  degree  of 
the  French  Rite.  It  is  a  symbol  of  the 
misfortunes  and  sorrows  that  assail  us  in 
the  voyage  of  life,  and  which  we  are  taught 
to  support  with  calmness  and  resignation. 

Curetes.  Priests  of  ancient  Crete, 
whose  mysteries  were  celebrated  in  honor 
of  the  Mother  of  the  Gods,  and  bore,  there- 
fore, some  resemblance  to  the  Eleusinian 
rites.  The  neophyte  was  initiated  in  a 
cave,  where  he  remained  closely  confined 
for  thrice  nine  days.  Porphyry  tells  us 
that  Pythagoras  repaired  to  Crete  to  re- 
ceive initiation  into  their  rites. 

Curiosity.  It  is  a  very  general  opin- 
ion among  Masons  that  a  candidate  should 
not  be  actuated  by  curiosity  in  seeking 
admission  into  the  Order.  But,  in  fact, 
there  is  no  regulation  nor  landmark  on  the 
subject.  An  idle  curiosity  is,  it  is  true,  the 
characteristic  of  a  weak  mind.  But  to  be 
influenced  by  a  laudable  curiosity  to  pene- 
trate the  mysteries  of  an  Institution  vener- 
able for  its  antiquity  and  its  universality, 
is  to  be  controlled  by  a  motive  which  is 
not  reprehensible.  There  are,  indeed,  in 
legends  of  the  high  degrees,  some  instances 
where  curiosity  is  condemned ;  but  the  cu- 
riosity, in  these  instances,  led  to  an  intru- 
sion into  forbidden  places,  and  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  curiosity  or  desire  for 
knowledge  which  leads  a  profane  to  seek 
fairly  and  openly  an  acquaintance  with 
mysteries  which  he  has  already  learned  to 
respect. 

Curious.    Latin,  curiosus,  from  cura, 


care.  An  archaic  expression  for  careful. 
Thus  in  Masonic  language,  which  abounds 
in  archaisms,  an  evidence,  indeed,  of  its 
antiquity,  Hiram  Abif  is  described  as  a 
"  curious  and  cunning  workman,"  that  is  to 
say,  "  careful  and  skilful." 

Customs,  Ancient.    See  Usages. 

Cynocephalus.  The  figure  of  a  man 
with  the  head  of  a  dog.  A  very  general 
and  important  hieroglyphic  among  the  an- 
cient Egyptians.  It  was  with  them  a  sym- 
bol of  the  sun  and  moon  ;  and  in  their  mys- 
teries they  taught  that  it  had  indicated  to 
Isis  the  place  where  the  body  of  Osiris  lay 
concealed.  The  possessor  of  the  high  de- 
grees of  Masonry  will  be  familiar  with  the 
symbol  of  a  dog,  which  is  used  in  those  de- 
grees because  that  animal  is  said  to  have 
pointed  out  on  a  certain  occasion  an  im- 
portant secret.  Hence  the  figure  of  a  dog 
is  sometimes  found  engraved  among  the 
symbols  on  old  Masonic  diplomas. 

Cyrus.  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  was  a 
great  conqueror,  and  after  having  reduced 
nearly  all  Asia,  he  crossed  the  Euphrates, 
and  laid  siege  to  Babylon,  which  he  took 
by  diverting  the  course  of  the  river 
which  ran  through  it.  The  Jews,  who 
had  been  carried  away  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar on  the  destruction  of  the  Temple, 
were  then  remaining  as  captives  in  Baby- 
lon. These  Cyrus  released  A.  M.  3466,  or 
B.  c.  538,  and  sent  them  back  to  Jerusa- 
lem to  rebuild  the  house  of  God,  under  the 
care  of  Joshua,  Zerubbabel,  and  Haggai. 
Hence,  from  this  connection  of  Cyrus  with 
the  history  of  Masonry,  he  plays  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  rituals  of  many  of  the 
high  degrees. 


D. 


Da  Costa  Hyppolito,  Jose.    A 

Portuguese  who  was  initiated  into  Masonry 
in  the  beginning  of  this  century,  and  was 
subsequently  persecuted  by  the  Inquisition, 
and  was  rescued  only  in  time  to  save  his 
life  by  the  aid  of  English  brethren  who  got 
him  under  the  protection  of  the  English 
flag.  He  then  passed  over  into  England, 
where  he  lived  for  several  years,  becoming 
a  zealous  Mason  and  devoting  himself  to 
Masonic  literature.  In  1811,  he  published 
in  London  a  Narrative  of  his  persecution 
in  Lisbon,  by  the  Inquisition,  for  the  pre- 
tended crime  of  Freemasonry,  in  2  vols., 
8vo.     He  wrote  also  a  History  of  the  Dio- 


nysian  Artificers,  in  which  he  attempts  to 
connect  Freemasonry  with  the  Dionysian 
and  other  mysteries  of  the  ancients.  He 
begins  with  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  as- 
suming that  Dionysus,  Bacchus,  Adonis, 
Thammuz,  and  Apollo  were  all  various 
names  for  the  sun,  whose  apparent  move- 
ments are  represented  by  the  death  and 
resurrection  referred  to  in  the  ceremonies. 
But  as  the  sun  is  typified  as  being  dead  or 
hidden  for  three  months  under  the  horizon, 
he  thinks  that  these  mysteries  must  have 
originated  in  a  cold  climate  as  far  north  as 
latitude  66°,  or  among  a  people  living  near 
the  polar  circle.     He  therefore  attributes 


DADUCHOS 


DALCHO 


201 


the  invention  of  these  mysteries  to  the 
ancient  Scythians  or  Massagetae,  of  whom 
he  confesses  that  we  know  nothing.  He 
afterwards  gives  the  history  of  the  Diony- 
siac  or  Orphic  mysteries  of  Eleusis,  and 
draws  a  successful  parallel  between  the  ini- 
tiation into  these  and  the  Masonic  initia- 
tion. His  disquisitions  are  marked  by 
much  learning,  although  his  reasoning  may 
not  always  carry  conviction. 

Dadnchos.  A  torch  -  bearer.  The 
title  given  to  an  officer  in  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries,  who  bore  a  torch  in  commemo- 
ration of  the  torch  lit  by  Ceres  at  the  fire 
of  Mt.  Etna,  and  carried  by  her  through 
the  world  in  her  search  for  her  daughter. 

Dagger.  In  the  high  degrees  a  symbol 
of  Masonic  vengeance,  or  the  punishment 
of  crime.    See  Vengeance. 

Dais.  From  the  French  dais,  a  canopy. 
The  raised  floor  at  the  head  of  a  banquet- 
ing-room,  designed  for  guests  of  distinction ; 
so  called  because  it  used  to  be  decorated 
with  a  canopy.  In  Masonic  language,  the 
dais  is  the  elevated  portion  of  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Lodge  room,  which  is  occupied 
by  Past  Masters  and  the  dignitaries  of  the  0  r- 
der.  This  should  be  elevated  three  steps  above 
the  floor.  The  station  of  the  Junior  Warden 
is  raised  one,  and  that  of  the  Senior  two. 

Dalcho,  Frederick,  M.  D.  One 
of  the  founders  of  the  Supreme  Council  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  London 
in  the  year  1770,  of  Prussian  parents.  His 
father  had  been  a  distinguished  officer 
under  Frederick  the  Great,  and,  having 
been  severely  wounded,  was  permitted  to 
retire  to  England  for  his  health.  He  was 
a  very  earnest  Mason,  and  transmitted  his 
sentiments  to  his  son.  At  his  death,  this 
son  was  sent  for  by  an  uncle,  who  had  a 
few  years  before  emigrated  to  Baltimore. 
Here  he  obtained  a  good  classical  education, 
after  which  he  devoted  himself  successfully 
to  the  study  of  medicine,  including  a  more 
extensive  course  of  botany  than  is  common 
in  medical  schools. 

Having  received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  he  took  a  commission  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  American  army. 
With  his  division  of  the  army  he  came  to 
South  Carolina,  and  was  stationed  at  Fort 
Johnson,  in  Charleston  harbor.  Here  some 
difficulty  arose  between  Dr.  Dalcho  and  his 
brother  officers,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  resigned  his  place  in  the  army  in  1799. 
He  then  removed  to  Charleston,  where  he 
formed  a  partnership  in  the  practice  of 
physic  with  Isaac  Auld,  and  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Medical  Society,  and  a 
trustee  of  the  Botanic  Garden,  established 
through  its  influence. 
2A 


On  the  12th  June,  1818,  Dr.  Dalcho  was 
admitted  to  the  priesthood  of  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church.  On  the  23d  of 
February,  he  was  elected  assistant  minister 
of  St.  Michael's  Church,  in  Charleston. 
He  died  on  the  24th  of  November,  1836,  in 
the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  and  the 
seventeenth  of  his  ministry  in  St.  Michael's 
Church. 

The  principal  published  work  of  Dr. 
Dalcho  is,  An  Historical  Account  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  South  Caro- 
lina. He  also  published  a  work  entitled 
The  Evidence  from  Prophecy  for  the  Truth 
of  Christianity  and  the  Divinity  of  Christ; 
besides  several  sermons  and  essays,  some 
of  which  were  the  result  of  considerable 
labor  and  research.  He  was  also  the  pro- 
jector, and  for  a  long  time  the  principal 
conductor,  of  the  Gospel  Messenger,  then 
the  leading  organ  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  South  Carolina. 

The  Masonic  career  of  Dr.  Dalcho  closely 
connects  him  with  the  history  of  York  Ma- 
sonry in  South  Carolina,  and  with  that  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
throughout  the  United  States. 

He  was  initiated  in  a  York  or  Athol 
Lodge  at  the  time  when  the  jurisdiction  of 
South  Carolina  was  divided  by  the  exist- 
ence and  the  dissensions  of  two  Grand 
Lodges,  the  one  deriving  its  authority  from 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  of  England,  and  the  other  from  the 
spurious  or  Athol  Grand  Lodge  of  York 
Masons. 

His  constant  desire  appears,  however,  to 
have  been  to  unite  these  discordant  ele- 
ments, and  to  uproot  the  evil  spirit  of  Ma- 
sonic rivalry  and  contention  which  at  that 
time  prevailed  —  a  wish  which  was  hap- 
pily gratified,  at  length,  by  the  union  of 
the  two  Grand  Lodges  of  South  Carolina  in 
1817,  a  consummation  to  which  he  himself 
greatly  contributed. 

In  1801  Dr.  Dalcho  received  the  thirty- 
third  and  ultimate  degree,  or  Sovereign 
Grand  Inspector  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite  ;  and  May  31, 1801,  he 
became  instrumental  in  the  establishment 
at  Charleston  of  the  Supreme  Council  for 
the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  of  which  body  he  was  appointed 
Grand  Secretary,  and  afterwards  Grand 
Commander ;  which  latter  position  he  oc- 
cupied until  1823,  when  he  resigned. 

September  23,  1801,  he  delivered  an  ora- 
tion before  the  Sublime  Grand  Lodge  in 
Charleston.  This  and  another  delivered 
March  21,  1803,  before  the  same  body,  ac- 
companied by  a  learned  historical  appen- 
dix, were  published  in  the  latter  year  un- 
der the  general  name  of  Dalcho's  Orations. 
The  work  was  soon  after  republished  in 


202 


DAMASCUS 


DANGER 


Dublin  by  the  Grand  Council  of  Heredom, 
or  Prince  Masons  of  that  city  ;  and  McCosh 
says  that  there  were  other  editions  issued 
in  Europe,  which,  however,  I  have  never 
seen.  The  oration  of  1803  and  the  appen- 
dix furnish  the  best  information  that  up  to 
that  day,  and  for  many  years  afterwards.was 
accessible  to  the  Craft  in  relation  to  the  his- 
tory of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Bite  in  this  country. 

In  1807,  at  the  request  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  York  Masons  of  South  Carolina, 
he  published  an  "  Ahiman  Rezon,"  which 
was  adopted  as  the  code  for  the  government 
of  the  Lodges  under  the  jurisdiction  of  that 
body.  This  work,  as  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  character  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
which  it  represented,  was  based  on  the  pre- 
vious book  of  Laurence  Dermott. 

In  1808  he  was  elected  Corresponding 
Grand  Secretary  of  the.  Grand  Lodge  of 
Ancient  York  Masons,  and  from  that  time 
directed  the  influences  of  his  high  position  to 
the  reconciliation  of  the  Masonic  difficul- 
ties in  South  Carolina. 

In  1817  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons  and  that  of  Ancient  York 
Masons  of  South  Carolina  became  united 
under  the  name  of  "  The  Grand  Lodge  of 
Ancient  Freemasons  of  South  Carolina." 
Dr.  Dalcho  took  a  very  active  part  in  this 
reunion,  and  at  the  first  annual  communi- 
cation he  was  elected  Grand  Chaplain. 
The  duties  of  this  office  he  faithfully  per- 
formed, and  for  many  years  delivered  a 
public  address  or  sermon  on  the  Festival 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 

In  1822  he  prepared  a  second  edition  of 
the  "Ahiman  Rezon,"  which  was  published 
the  following  year,  enriched  with  many 
notes.  Some  of  these  notes  he  would  have 
hardly  written,  with  the  enlarged  experience 
of  the  present  day  ;  but  on  the  whole  the 
second  edition  was  an  improvement  on  the 
first.  Although  retaining  the  peculiar  title 
which  had  been  introduced  by  Dermott,  it 
ceased  in  a  great  measure  to  follow  the 
principles  of  the  "  Ancient  Masons." 

In  1823  Dalcho  became  involved  in  an 
unpleasant  controversy  with  some  of  his 
Masonic  associates,  in  consequence  of  diffi- 
culties and  dissensions  which  at  that  time 
existed  in  the  Scottish  Rite ;  and  his  feel- 
ings were  so  wounded  by  the  unmasonic 
spirit  which  seemed  to  actuate  his  antago- 
nists and  former  friends,  that  he  resigned 
the  office  of  Grand  Chaplain,  and  retired 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life  from  all  par- 
ticipation in  the  active  duties  of  Masonry. 

Damascus.  An  ancient  and  impor- 
tant city  of  Syria,  situated  on  the  road 
between  Babylon  and  Jerusalem,  and  said 
in  Masonic  tradition  to  have  been  one  of 
the    resting  -  places  of   the   Masons  who, 


under  the  proclamation  of  Cyrus,  returned 
from  the  former  to  the  latter  city  to  rebuild 
the  Temple.  An  attempt  was  made  in 
1868  to  introduce  Freemasonry  into  Da- 
mascus, and  a  petition,  signed  by  fifteen 
applicants,  for  a  charter  for  a  Lodge  was 
sent  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England ;  but 
the  petition  was  rejected  on  the  ground 
that  all  the  petitioners  were  members  of 
Grand  Lodges  under  other  Grand  Lodge 
jurisdictions. 

Dame.  In  one  of  the  York  and  some 
of  the  other  old  manuscripts,  we  find  the 
direction  to  the  Apprentice  that  he  shall 
not  so  act  as  to  bring  harm  or  shame,  during 
his  apprenticeship,  "  either  to  his  Master 
or  Dame."  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that 
this  gives  any  color  to  the  theory  that  in 
the  ancient  Masonic  gilds  women  were  ad- 
mitted. The  word  was  used  in  the  same 
sense  as  it  still  is  in  the  public  schools  of 
England,  where  the  old  lady  who  keeps  the 
house  at  which  the  pupils  board  and  lodge, 
is  called  "  the  dame."  The  Compagnons 
de  la  Tour  in  France  called  her  "  la  mere," 
or  the  mother.  It  must,  however,  be  ac- 
knowledged, that  women,  under  the  title  of 
sisters,  were  admitted  as  members,  and  given 
the  freedom  of  the  company,  in  the  old 
Livery  Companies  of  London, — a  custom 
which  Herbert  (Hist.  Liv.  Comp.,  i.  83,) 
thinks  was  borrowed,  on  the  reconstitution 
of  the  companies  by  Edward  III.,  from 
the  religious  gilds.  See  this  subject  dis- 
cussed under  the  title  Sisters. 

Dames  of  Mt.  Tabor.  An  an- 
drogynous Masonic  society,  established 
about  the  year  1818,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France.  Its  design 
was  to  give  charitable  relief  to  destitute 
females. 

Dames  of  the  Order  of  St.  John. 
Religious  ladies  who,  from  its  first  institu- 
tion, had  been  admitted  into  the  Fraternity 
of  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Je- 
rusalem. The  rules  for  their  reception 
were  similar  to  those  for  the  Knights,  and 
the  proofs  of  noble  descent  which  were 
required  of  them  were  sometimes  more 
rigid.  They  had  many  conventual  estab- 
lishments in  France,  Italy,  and  Spain. 

Damoisel.  A  name  given  in  the 
times  of  chivalry  to  a  page  or  candidate 
for  knighthood. 

Dan.  One  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel, 
whose  blue  banner,  charged  with  an  eagle, 
is  borne  by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  First 
Veil  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter. 

Danger.  In  all  the  old  Constitutions 
and  Charges,  Masons  are  taught  to  exercise 
brotherly  love,  and  to  deal  honestly  and 
truly  with  each  other,  whence  results  the 
duty  incumbent  upon  every  Mason  to  warn 
his  brother  of  approaching  danger.     That 


DANNEBROG 


D'ASSIGNY 


203 


this  duty  may  never  be  neglected,  it  is  im- 
pressed upon  every  Master  Mason  by  a 
significant  ceremony. 

Danncbrog.  The  banner  of  Den- 
mark containing  a  red  cross.  It  is  founded 
upon  the  tradition,  which  reminds  us  of 
that  of  Constantine,  that  Waldemar  II., 
of  Denmark,  in  1219  saw  in  the  heavens 
a  fiery  cross,  which  betokened  his  victory 
over  the  Esthonians. 

Dantzic.  In  the  year  1768,  on  the 
3d  of  October,  the  burgomaster  and  magis- 
trates of  the  city  of  Dantzic  commenced 
a  persecution  against  Freemasonry,  which 
Institution  they  charged  with  seeking  to 
undermine  the  foundations  of  Christianity, 
and  to  establish  in  its  place  the  religion  of 
nature.  Hence,  they  issued  a  decree  for- 
bidding every  citizen,  inhabitant,  and  even 
stranger  sojourning  in  the  city,  from  any 
attempt  to  re-establish  the  society  of  Free- 
masons, which  was  thenceforth  to  be  re- 
garded u  as  forever  abolished,"  under  penal- 
ties of  fine  and  imprisonment. 

Darius.  The  successor  of  Cyrus  on 
the  throne  of  Persia,  Babylon,  and  Medea. 
He  pursued  the  friendly  policy  of  his  pre- 
decessor in  reference  to  the  Jews,  and  con- 
firmed the  decrees  of  that  monarch  by  a 
new  edict.  In  the  second  year  of  his  reign, 
Haggai  and  Zechariah,  encouraged  by  this 
edict,  induced  their  countrymen  to  resume 
the  work  of  restoring  the  Temple,  which 
was  finished  four  years  afterwards.  Darius 
is  referred  to  in  the  degrees  of  Princes  of 
Jerusalem,  the  sixteenth  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  and  of  Knight 
of  the  Red  Cross  in  the  American  Rite. 

Darkness.  Darkness  has,  in  all  the 
systems  of  initiation,  been  deemed  a  sym- 
bol of  ignorance,  and  so  opposed  to  light, 
which  is  the  symbol  of  knowledge.  Hence 
the  rule,  that  the  eye  should  not  see  until 
the  heart  has  conceived  the  true  nature  of 
those  beauties  which  constitute  the  myste- 
ries of  the  Order.  In  the  Ancient'  Myste- 
ries, the  aspirant  was  always  shrouded  in 
darkness,  as  a  preparatory  step  to  the  recep- 
tion of  the  full  light  of  knowledge.  The 
time  of  this  confinement  in  darkness  and 
solitude  varied  in  the  different  mysteries. 
Among  the  Druids  of  Britain  the  period 
was  nine  days  and  nights ;  in  the  Grecian 
Mysteries  it  was  three  times  nine  days; 
while  among  the  Persians,  according  to 
Porphyry,  it  was  extended  to  the  almost 
incredible  period  of  fifty  days  of  darkness, 
solitude,  and  fasting. 

Because,  according  to  all  the  cosmogo- 
nies, darkness  existed  before  light  was  cre- 
ated, darkness  was  originally  worshipped 
as  the  first-born,  as  the  progenitor  of  day 
and  the  state  of  existence  before  creation. 
The  apostrophe  of  Young  to  Night  embod- 


ies the  feelings  which  gave  origin  to  this 
debasing  worship  of  darkness : 

"  O  majestic  night ! 
Nature's  great  ancestor !  day's  elder  born ! 
And  fated  to  survive  the  transient  sun ! 
By  mortals  and  immortals  seen  with  awe  !  " 

Freemasonry  has  restored  darkness  to  its 
proper  place  as  a  state  of  preparation ;  the 
symbol  of  that  antemundane  chaos  from 
whence  light  issued  at  the  divine  command ; 
of  the  state  of  nonentity  before  birth,  and 
of  ignorance  before  the  reception  of  knowl- 
edge. Hence,  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries, 
the  release  of  the  aspirant  from  solitude 
and  darkness  was  called  the  act  of  regen- 
eration, and  he  was  said  to  be  born  again, 
or  to  be  raised  from  the  dead.  And  in 
Masonry,  the  darkness  which  envelops  the 
mind  of  the  uninitiated  being  removed  by 
the  bright  effulgence  of  Masonic  light, 
Masons  are  appropriately  called  "  the  sons 
of  light." 

In  Dr.  Oliver's  Signs  and  Symbols  there 
is  a  lecture  "  On  the  Mysterious  Darkness 
of  the  Third  Degree."  This  refers  to  the 
ceremony  of  enveloping  the  room  in  dark- 
ness when  that  degree  is  conferred  —  a  cere- 
mony once  always  observed,  but  now,  in 
this  country  at  least,  frequently  but  impro- 
perly omitted.  The  darkness  here  is  a 
symbol  of  death,  the  lesson  taught  in  the 
degree,  while  the  subsequent  renewal  of 
light  refers  to  that  other  and  subsequent 
lesson  of  eternal  life. 

Darmstadt,  Grand  Lodge  of. 
The  Grand  Lodge  of  Darmstadt,  in  Ger- 
many, under  the  distinctive  appellation  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  zur  Eintracht,  was  estab- 
lished on  the  23d  of  March,  1846,  by  three 
Lodges,  in  consequence  of  a  dissension  be- 
tween them  and  the  Eclectic  Union.  The 
latter  body  had  declared  that  the  religion 
of  Freemasonry  was  universal,  and  that 
Jews  could  be  admitted  into  the  Order. 
Against  this  liberal  declaration  a  Lodge  at 
Frankfort  had  protested,  and  had  been 
erased  from  the  roll  for  contumacy.  Two 
other  Lodges,  at  Mainz  and  at  Darmstadt, 
espoused  its  cause,  and  united  with  it  in 
forming  a  new  Grand  Lodge  for  southern 
Germany,  founded  on  the  dogma  "  that 
Christian  principles  formed  the  basis  on 
which  they  worked."  It  was,  in  fact,  a 
dispute  between  tolerance  and  intolerance. 
Nevertheless,  the  body  was  taken  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse, 
and  was  recognized  by  most  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  Germany. 

D'Assigny,  Doctor  Fifield.  A 
Mason  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  who  published, 
in  1744,  at  Dublin,  A  Serious  and  Impartial 
Enquiry  into  the  Cause  of  the  present  Decay  of 
Freemasonry  in  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland.     It 


204 


DATES 


DEAF 


contained  an  abstract  of  the  history  of 
Freemasonry,  and  several  allusions  to  the 
Royal  Arch  degree,  on  account  of  which 
it  has  been  cited  by  Dermott  in  his  Ahiman 
Rezon.  Bro.  Hugh  an,  who  is  the  possessor 
of  a  copy  of  this  exceedingly  scarce  book, 
also  quotes  a  passage  from  it  of  some  im- 
portance. "  I  am  informed,"  says  D'As- 
signy,  "  that  in  that  city  (York)  is  held  an 
assembly  of  Master  Masons,  under  the  title 
of  Royal  Arch  Masons."  If  true,  this 
would  settle  an  important  point  in  relation 
to  the  history  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree. 
Hughan  doubts  its  accuracy ;  and,  indeed, 
D'Assigny  —  if  we  may  judge  from  other 
remarks  in  his  Enquiry  —  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  acquainted  with  the  true  char- 
acter of  the  Royal  Arch. 
Dates,  Masonic.  See  Calendar. 
Dathan.  A  Reubenite  who,  with  Korah 
and  Abiram,  revolted  against  Moses  and 
unlawfully  sought  the  priesthood.  In  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Numbers,  where 
the  whole  account  is  given,  it  is  said  that 
as  a  punishment  the  earth  opened  and 
swallowed  them  up.  The  incident  is  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Order  of  High  Priesthood, 
an  honorary  degree  of  the  American  Rite, 
which  is  conferred  upon  the  installed  High 
Priests  of  Royal  Arch  Chapters. 

Daughter,  Mason's.  See  Mason's 
Wife  ana  Daughter. 

Daughter  of  a  Mason.  The  daugh- 
ter of  a  Mason  is  entitled  to  certain  pecu- 
liar privileges  and  claims  upon  the  Fra- 
ternity arising  from  her  relationship  to  a 
member  of  the  Craft.  There  has  been  some 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  time  and 
manner  in  which  the  privileges  cease. 
Masonic  jurists,  however,  very  generally  in- 
cline to  the  opinion  that  they  are  termi- 
nated by  marriage.  If  a  Mason's  daughter 
marries  a  profane,  she  absolves  her  con- 
nection with  the  Fraternity.  If  she  marries 
a  Mason,  she  exchanges  her  relation  of  a 
Mason's  daughter  for  that  of  a  Mason's 
wife. 

David.  David  has  no  place  in  Masonic 
history,  except  that  which  arises  from  the 
fact  that  he  was  the  father  of  King  Solomon, 
and  his  predecessor  on  the  throne  of  Israel. 
To  him,  however,  were  the  Jews  indebted 
for  the  design  of  a  Temple  in  Jerusalem, 
the  building  of  which  was  a  favorite  object 
with  him.  For  this  purpose  he  purchased 
Mount  Moriah,  which  had  been  the  thresh- 
ing-floor of  Oman  the  Jebusite ;  but  David 
had  been  engaged  in  so  many  wars,  that  it 
did  not  seem  good  to  the  Lord  that  he 
Bhould  be  permitted  to  construct  so  sacred 
an  edifice.  This  duty,  therefore,  he  left  to 
his  son,  whom,  before  dying,  he  furnished 
with  plans  and  with  means  to  accomplish 
the  task.    Though  David  is  a  favorite  sub- 


ject among  the  Kabbalists  and  the  Mussul- 
mans, who  relate  many  curious  traditions 
concerning  him,  he  is  not  alluded  to  in  the 
legends  or  symbolism  of  Masonry,  except 
incidentally  as  the  father  of  Solomon. 

David,  Shield  of.  See  Shield  of 
David. 

Hazard.  Michel  Francois.  Born 
at  Chateaudun,  in  France,  May  2, 1781.  He 
was  a  devoted  student  of  Masonry,  and 
much  occupied  in  the  investigation  of  the 
high  degrees  of  all  the  Rites.  He  was  an 
opponent  of  the  Supreme  Council,  against 
which  body  he  wrote,  in  1812,  a  brochure 
of  forty-eight  pages  entitled  Extraii  des 
colonnes  gravees  du  Pere  de  Famille,  vallee  d' 
Angers.  Kloss  calls  it  an  important  and 
exhaustive  polemic  document.  It  attempts 
to  expose,  supported  by  documents,  what 
the  author  and  his  party  called  the  illegal 
pretensions  of  the  Supreme  Council,  and 
the  arrogance  of  its  claim  to  exclusive  juris- 
diction in  France.  Dazard  was  the  author 
of  several  other  interesting  discourses  on 
Masonic  subjects. 

Deacon.  In  every  Symbolic  Lodge, 
there  are  two  officers  who  are  called  the 
Senior  and  Junior  Deacons.  The  former 
is  appointed  by  the  Master,  and  the  latter 
by  the  Senior  Warden.  It  is  to  the  Deacons 
that  the  introduction  of  visitors  should  be 

Eroperly  intrusted.  Their  duties  compre- 
end,  also,  a  general  surveillance  over  the 
security  of  the  Lodge,  and  they  are  the 
proxies  of  the  officers  by  whom  they  are 
appointed.  Hence  their  jewel,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  necessity  of  circumspection 
and  justice,  is  a  square  and  compasses. 
In  the  centre,  the  Senior  Deacon  wears 
a  sun,  and  the  Junior  Deacon  a  moon, 
which  serve  to  distinguish  their  respec- 
tive ranks.  In  the  English  system,  the 
jewel  of  the  Deacons  is  a  dove,  in  allusion 
to  the  dove  sent  forth  by  Noah.  In  the 
Rite  of  Mizraim,  the  Deacons  are  called 
acolytes; 

The  office  of  Deacons  in  Masonry  ap- 
pears to  have  been  derived  from  the  usages 
of  the  primitive  church.  In  the  Greek 
church,  the  Deacons  were  always  the  irv?.upoi, 
pylori  or  doorkeepers,  and  in  the  Apostoli- 
cal Constitutions  the  Deacon  was  ordered  to 
stand  at  the  men's  door,  and  the  sub-Deacon 
at  the  women's,  to  see  that  none  came  in  or 
went  out  during  the  oblation. 

In  the  earliest  rituals  of  the  last  century, 
there  is  no  mention  of  Deacons,  and  the 
duties  of  those  officers  were  discharged 
partly  by  the  Junior  Warden  and  partly  by 
the  Senior  and  Junior  Entered  Apprentices. 

Deacon's  Rod.    See  Rod,  Deacons. 

Deaf  and  Dumb.  Deaf  mutes,  as  im- 
perfect men,  come  under  the  provisions  ofthe 
Old  Constitutions,  and  are  disqualified  for 


DEATH 


DECALOGUE 


205 


initiation.  Some  years  ago,  however,  a  Lodge 
in  Paris,  captivated  by  the  eclat  of  the  pro- 
ceeding, and  unmindful  of  the  ancient  land- 
mark, initiated  a  deaf  mute,who  was  an  intel- 
ligent professor  in  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asy- 
lum. All  the  instructions  were  given 
through  the  medium  of  the  language  of  the 
deaf  mutes.  It  scarcely  need  be  said  that 
this  cannot  be  recognized  as  a  precedent. 

Heath.  The  Scandinavians,  in  their 
Edda,  describing  the  residence  of  Death  in 
Hell,  where  she  was  cast  by  her  father, 
Loke,  say  that  she  there  possesses  large 
apartments,  strongly  built,  and  fenced  with 

fates  of  iron.  Her  hall  is  Grief;  her  table, 
'amine;  Hunger,  her  knife;  Delay,  her 
servant ;  Faintness,  her  porch ;  Sickness 
and  Pain,  her  bed;  and  her  tent,  Curs- 
ing and  Howling.  But  the  Masonic  idea 
of  death,  like  the  Christians,  is  accom- 
panied with  no  gloom,  because  it  is  repre- 
sented only  as  a  sleep,  from  whence  we 
awaken  into  another  life.  Among  the  an- 
cients, sleep  and  death  were  fabled  as  twins. 
Old  Gorgias,  when  dying,  said,  "  Sleep  is 
about  to  deliver  me  up  to  his  brother ; " 
but  the  death-sleep  of  the  heathen  was  a 
sleep  from  which  there  was  no  awaking. 
The  popular  belief  was  annihilation,  and 
the  poets  and  philosophers  fostered  the 
people's  ignorance,  by  describing  death  as 
the  total  and  irremediable  extinction  of  life. 
Thus  Seneca  says  —  and  he  was  too  philo- 
sophic not  to  have  known  better — "  that  after 
death  there  comes  nothing ; "  while  Virgil, 
who  doubtless  had  been  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  Eleusis,  nevertheless  calls  death 
"  an  iron  sleep,  an  eternal  night :  "  yet  the 
Ancient  Mysteries  were  based  upon  the 
dogma  of  eternal  life,  and  their  initiations 
were  intended  to  represent  a  resurrection. 
Masonry,  deriving  its  system  of  symbolic 
teachings  from  these  ancient  religious  asso- 
ciations, presents  death  to  its  neophytes  as 
the  gate  or  entrance  to  eternal  existence. 
To  teach  the  doctrine  of  immortality  is  the 
great  object  of  the  third  degree.  In  its 
ceremonies  we  learn  that  life  here  is  the 
time  of  labor,  and  that,  working  at  the 
construction  of  a  spiritual  temple,  we  are 
worshipping  the  Grand  Architect,  for  whom 
we  build  that  temple.  But  we  learn  also 
that,  when  that  life  is  ended,  it  closes  only 
to  open  upon  a  newer  and  higher  one, 
where,  in  a  second  temple  and  a  purer  Lodge, 
the  Mason  will  find  eternal  truth.  Death, 
therefore,  in  Masonic  philosophy,  is  the 
symbol  of  initiation  completed,  perfected, 
and  consummated. 

Death  of  the  Mysteries.  Each 
of  the  ancient  religious  Mysteries,  those 
quasi  Masonic  associations  of  the  heathen 
world,  was  accompanied  by  a  legend,  — 
which  was  always  of  a  funereal  character, — 


representing  the  death,  by  violence,  of  the 
deity  to  whom  it  was  dedicated,  and  his  sub- 
sequent resurrection  or  restoration  to  life. 
Hence,  the  first  part  of  the  ceremonies  of 
initiation  was  solemn  and  lugubrious  in 
character,  while  the  latter  part  was  cheerful 
and  joyous.  These  ceremonies  and  this 
legend  were  altogether  symbolical,  and  the 
great  truths  of  the  unity  of  God  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  were  by  them  in- 
tended to  be  dramatically  explained. 

This  representation  of  death,  which  finds 
its  analogue  in  the  third  degree  of  Masonry, 
has  been  technically  called  the  Death  of 
the  Mysteries.  It  is  sometimes  more  pre- 
cisely defined,  in  reference  to  any  special 
one  of  the  Mysteries,  as  "  the  Cabiric  death  " 
or  "the  Bacchic  death,"  as  indicating  the 
death  represented  in  the  Mysteries  of  the 
Cabiri  or  of  Dionysus. 

I>ehate.  Debates  in  a  Masonic  Lodge 
must  be  conducted  according  to  the  frater- 
nal principles  of  the  Institution.  In  the 
language  of  Dr.  Oliver,  "  the  strictest  cour- 
tesy should  be  observed  during  a  debate,  in 
a  Mason's  Lodge,  on  questions  which  elicit 
a  difference  of  opinion ;  and  any  gross  vio- 
lation of  decorum  and  good  order  is  sure  to 
be  met  by  an  admonition  from  the  chair." 
It  must  be  always  remembered  that  the 
object  of  a  Masonic  discussion  is  to  elicit 
truth,  and  not  simply  to  secure  victory. 

When,  in  a  debate,  a  brother  desires  to 
speak,  he  rises  and  addresses  the  chair. 
The  presiding  officer  calls  him  by  his  name, 
and  thus  recognizes  his  right  to  the  floor. 
While  he  is  speaking,  he  is  not  to  be  inter- 
rupted by  any  other  member,  except  on  a 
point  of  order.  If  called  to  order  by  any 
member,  the  speaker  is  immediately  to  take 
his  seat  until  the  point  is  stated,  when  the 
Master  will  make  his  decision  without  de- 
bate. The  speaker  will  then  rise  and  re- 
sume his  discourse,  if  not  ruled  out  by  the 
Master.  During  the  time  that  he  is  speak- 
ing, no  motion  is  permissible.  Every 
member  is  permitted  to  speak  once  on  the 
subject  under  discussion ;  nor  can  he  speak 
a  second  time,  except  by  permission  of  the 
Master,  unless  there  is  a  more  liberal  pro- 
vision in  the  by-laws  of  the  Lodge.  There 
are  to  this  rule  two  exceptions,  namely, 
when  a  member  rises  to  explain,  and  when 
the  mover  of  the  resolution  closes  the  de- 
bate by  a  second  speech  to  which  he  is  en- 
titled by  parliamentary  law. 

I>eealogue.  The  ten  commandments 
of  the  Masonic  law,  as  delivered  from 
Mount  Sinai  and  recorded  in  the  twentieth 
chapter  of  Exodus,  are  so  called.  They 
are  not  obligatory  upon  a  Mason  as  a  Ma- 
son, because  the  Institution  is  tolerant  and 
cosmopolite,  and  cannot  require  its  mem- 
bers to  give  their  adhesion  to  any  religious 


206 


DECIUS 


DEDICATION 


dogmas  or  precepts,  excepting  those  which 
express  a  belief  in  the  existence  of  God, 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  No  par- 
tial law  prescribed  for  a  particular  religion 
ean  be  properly  selected  for  the  government 
of  an  Institution  whose  great  characteristic 
is  its  universality,  i  See  Moral  Law. 

DecillS.  The  nom  de  plume  of  C.  L. 
Reinhold,  a  distinguished  Masonic  writer. 
See  Reinhold. 

Declaration  of  Candidates. 
Every  candidate  for  initiation  is  required 
to  make,  "  upon  honor,"  the  following  dec- 
laration before  an  appropriate  officer  or 
committee.  That,  unbiassed  by  the  impro- 
per solicitation  of  friends  and  uninfluenced 
by  mercenary  motives,  he  freely  and  volun- 
tarily offers  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the 
mysteries  of  Masonry ;  that  he  is  prompted 
to  solicit  the  privileges  of  Masonry  by  a 
favorable  opinion  conceived  of  the  Institu- 
tion and  a  desire  of  knowledge ;  and  that  he 
will  cheerfully  conform  to  all  the  ancient 
usages  and  established  customs  of  the  Fra- 
ternity. This  form  is  very  old.  It  is  to  be 
found  in  precisely  the  same  words  in  the 
earliest  edition  of  Preston.  It  is  required 
by  the  English  Constitution,  that  the  can- 
didate should  subscribe  his  name  to  the 
declaration  which  is  made  before  the  Stew- 
ards. But  in  this  country  the  declaration 
is  made  orally,  and  usually  before  the 
Senior  Deacon. 

Declaration  of  the  Master.  Every 
Master  of  a  Lodge,  after  his  election  and 
before  his  installation,  is  required  to  give, 
in  the  presence  of  the  brethren,  his  assent 
to  the  following  fifteen  charges  and  regula- 
tions. 

1.  Do  you  promise  to  be  a  good  man  and 
true,  and  strictly  to  obey  the  moral  law  ? 
2.  Do  you  promise  to  be  a  peaceable  citizen, 
and  cheerfully  to  conform  to  the  laws  of 
the  country  in  which  you  reside  ?  3.  Do 
you  promise  not  to  be  concerned  in  plots 
and  conspiracies  against  the  government  of 
the  country  in  which  you  live,  but  patiently 
to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  law  and 
the  constituted  authorities?  4.  Do  you 
promise  to  pay  proper  respect  to  the  civil 
magistrates,  to  work  diligently,  live  credit- 
ably, and  act  honorably  by  all  men?  5.  Do 
you  promise  to  hold  in  veneration  the  orig- 
inal rulers  and  patrons  of  the  Order  of 
Freemasonry,  and  their  regular  successors, 
supreme  and  subordinate,  according  to  their 
stations ;  and  to  submit  to  the  awards  and 
resolutions  of  your  brethren  in  Lodge  con- 
vened, in  every  case  consistent  with  the 
constitutions  of  the  Order?  6.  Do  you 
promise,  as  much  as  in  you  lies,  to  avoid 
private  piques  and  quarrels,  and  to  guard 
against  intemperance  and  excess?  7.  Do 
you  promise  to  be  cautious  in  your  behavior, 


courteous  to  your  brethren,  and  faithful  to 
your  Lodge  ?  8.  Do  you  promise  to  respect 
genuine  and  true  brethren,  and  to  discoun- 
tenance impostors  and  all  dissenters  from 
the  Ancient  Landmarks  and  Constitutions 
of  Masonry?  9  Do  you  promise,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  of  your  abilities,  to  promote 
the  general  good  of  society,  to  cultivate  the 
social  virtues,  and  to  propagate  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  mystic  art,  according  to  our 
statutes  ?  10.  Do  you  promise  to  pay  hom- 
age to  the  Grand  Master  for  the  time  being, 
and  to  his  officers  when  duly  installed ;  and 
strictly  to  conform  to  every  edict  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  or  General  Assembly  of 
Masons  that  is  not  subversive  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  groundwork  of  Masonry?  11. 
Do  you  admit  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
any  man,  or  body  of  men,  to  make  innova- 
tions in  the  body  of  Masonry?  12.  Do  you 
promise  a  regular  attendance  on  the  com- 
mittees and  communications  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  on  receiving  proper  notice,  and  to 
pay  attention  to  all  the  duties  of  Masonry, 
on  convenient  occasions  ?  13.  Do  you  ad- 
mit that  no  new  Lodge  can  be  formed  with- 
out permission  of  the  Grand  Lodge;  and 
that  no  countenance  ought  to  be  given  to 
any  irregular  Lodge,  or  to  any  person  clan- 
destinely initiated  therein,  as  being  con- 
trary to  the  ancient  charges  of  the  Order? 
14.  Do  you  admit  that  no  person  can  be 
regularly  made  a  Freemason  in,  or  admitted 
a  member  of,  any  regular  Lodge,  without 
previous  notice,  and  due  inquiry  into  his 
character?  15.  Do  you  agree  that  no  vis- 
itors shall  be  received  into  your  Lodge  with- 
out due  examination,  and  producing  proper 
vouchers  of  their  having  been  initiated 
in  a  regular  Lodge  ? 

Decorations.  A  Lodge  room  ought, 
besides  its  necessary  furniture,  to  be  orna- 
mented with  decorations  which,  while  they 
adorn  and  beautify  it,  will  not  be  unsuit- 
able to  its  sacred  character.  On  this  sub- 
ject, Dr.  Oliver,  in  his  Book  of  the  Lodge, 
(ch.  v.,  p.  70,)  makes  the  following  judi- 
cious remarks.  "  The  expert  Mason  will  be 
convinced  that  the  walls  of  a  Lodge  room 
ought  neither  to  be  absolutely  naked  nor 
too  much  decorated.  A  chaste  disposal  of 
symbolical  ornaments  in  the  right  places, 
and  according  to  propriety,  relieves  the 
dulness  and  vacuity  of  a  blank  space,  and, 
though  but  sparingly  used,  will  produce  a 
striking  impression,  and  contribute  to  the 
general  beauty  and  solemnity  of  the  scene." 

Dedication  of  a  Lodge.  Among 
the  ancients  every  temple,  altar,  statue,  or 
sacred  place  was  dedicated  to  some  divinity. 
The  Romans,  during  the  Republic,  confided 
this  duty  to  their  consuls,  pnetors,  censors, 
or  other  chief  magistrates,  and  afterwards 
to  the  emperors.    According  to  the  Papirian 


DEDICATION 


DEDICATION 


207 


law,  the  dedication  must  have  been  author- 
ized by  a  decree  of  the  senate  and  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  consent  of  the  college  of  augurs. 
The  ceremony  consisted  in  surrounding  the 
temple  or  object  of  dedication  with  gar- 
lands of  flowers,  whilst  the  vestal  virgins 
floured  on  the  exterior  of  the  temple  the 
ustral  water.  The  dedication  was  com- 
pleted by  a  formula  of  words  uttered  by  the 
pontiff,  and  the  immolation  of  a  victim, 
whose  entrails  were  placed  upon  an  altar 
of  turf.  The  dedication  of  a  temple  was 
always  a  festival  for  the  people,  and  was 
annually  commemorated.  While  the  Pa- 
gans dedicated  their  temples  to  different 
deities,  —  sometimes  to  the  joint  worship 
of  several,  —  the  monotheistic  Jews  dedi- 
cated their  religious  edifices  to  the  one 
supreme  Jehovah.  Thus,  David  dedicated 
with  solemn  ceremonies  the  altar  which  he 
erected  on  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman 
the  Jebusite,  after  the  cessation  of  the 
plague  which  had  afflicted  his  people ;  and 
Calmet  conjectures  that  he  composed  the 
thirtieth  Psalm  on  this  occasion.  The  Jews 
extended  this  ceremony  of  dedication  even 
to  their  private  houses,  and  Clarke  tells  us, 
in  reference  to  a  passage  on  this  subject  in 
the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  that  "  it  was  a, 
custom  in  Israel  to  dedicate  a  new  house  to 
God  with  prayer,  praise,  and  thanksgiving; 
and  this  was  done  in  order  to  secure  the 
divine  presence  and  blessing,  for  no  pious 
or  sensible  man  could  imagine  he  could 
dwell  safely  in  a  house  that  was  not  under 
the  immediate  protection  of  God." 

According  to  the  learned  Selden,  there 
was  a  distinction  among  the  Jews  between 
consecration  and  dedication,  for  sacred 
things  were  both  consecrated  and  dedicated, 
while  profane  things,  such  as  private  dwell- 
ing-houses, were  only  dedicated.  Dedica- 
tion was,  therefore,  a  less  sacred  ceremony 
than  consecration.  This  distinction  has 
also  been  preserved  among  Christians, 
many  of  whom,  and,  in  the  early  ages,  all, 
consecrated  their  churches  to  the  worship 
of  God,  but  dedicated  them  to,  or  placed 
them  under,  the  especial  patronage  of  some 
particular  saint.  A  similar  practice  pre- 
vails in  the  Masonic  institution ;  and  there- 
fore, while  we  consecrate  our  Lodges  "  to 
the  honor  of  God's  glory,"  we  dedicate 
them  to  the  patrons  of  our  Order. 

Tradition  informs  us  that  Masonic  Lodges 
were  originally  dedicated  to  King  Solomon, 
because  he  was  our  first  Most  Excellent 
Grand  Master.  In  the  sixteenth  century 
St.  John  the  Baptist  seems  to  have  been 
considered  as  the  peculiar  patron  of  Free- 
masonry ;  but  subsequently  this  honor  was 
divided  between  the  two  Saints  John,  the 
Baptist  and  the  Evangelist;  and  modern 
Lodges,  in  this  country  at  least,  are  uni- 


versally erected  or  consecrated  to  God,  and 
dedicated  to  the  Holy  Saints  John.  In  the 
Hemming  lectures,  adopted  in  1813,  at  the 
time  of  the  union  of  the  two  Grand  Lodges 
of  England,  the  dedication  was  changed 
from  the  Saints  John  to  King  Solomon, 
and  this  usage  now  prevails  very  generally 
in  England ;  but  the  ancient  dedication  to 
the  Saints  John  has  never  been  abandoned 
by  the  American  Lodges. 

The  formula  in  Webb  which  dedicates 
the  Lodge  "to  the  memory  of  the  Holy 
Saint  John,"  was,  undoubtedly,  an  inad- 
vertence on  the  part  of  that  lecturer,  since 
in  all  his  oral  teachings  he  adhered  to  the 
more  general  system,  and  described  a  Lodge 
in  his  esoteric  work  as  being  "  dedicated  to 
the  Holy  Saints  John."  This  is  now  the 
universal  practice,  and  the  language  used 
by  Webb  becomes  contradictory  and  absurd 
when  compared  with  the  fact  that  the  fes- 
tivals of  both  saints  are  equally  celebrated 
by  the  Order,  and  that  the  27th  of  Decem- 
ber is  not  less  a  day  of  observance  in  the 
Order  than  the  24th  of  June. 

In  one  of  the  old  lectures  of  the  last 
century,  this  dedication  to  the  two  Saints 
John  is  thus  explained: 

"  Q.  Our  Lodges  being  finished,  fur- 
nished, and  decorated  with  ornaments, 
furniture,  and  jewels,  to  whom  were  they 
consecrated? 

"A.  To  God. 

"  Q.  Thank  you,  brother;  and  can  you 
tell  me  to  whom  they  were  first  dedicated? 

"A.  To  Noah,  who  was  saved  in  the 
ark. 

"  Q.  And  by  what  name  were  the  Masons 
then  known? 

"  A.  They  were  called  Noachidae,  Sages, 
or  Wise  Men. 

"  Q.  To  whom  were  the  Lodges  dedicated 
during  the  Mosaic  dispensation  ? 

"  A.  To  Moses,  the  chosen  of  God,  and 
Solomon,  the  son  of  David,  king  of  Israel, 
who  was  an  eminent  patron  of  the  Craft. 

"  Q.  And  under  what  name  were  the 
Masons  known  during  that  period  ? 

"A.  Under  the  name  of  Dionysiacs, 
Geometricians,  or  Masters  in  Israel. 

"  Q.  But  as  Solomon  was  a  Jew,  and 
died  long  before  the  promulgation  of  Chris- 
tianity, to  whom  were  they  dedicated  under 
the  Christian  dispensation  ? 

"A.  From  Solomon  the  patronage  of 
Masonry  passed  to  St.  John  the  Baptist. 

"  Q.  And  under  what  name  were  they 
known  after  the  promulgation  of  Christi- 
anity ? 

"  A.  Under  the  name  of  Essenes,  Archi- 
tects, or  Freemasons. 

"  Q.  Why  were  the  Lodges  dedicated  to 
St.  John  the  Baptist? 

"  A.  Because  he  was  the  forerunner  of 


208 


DEDICATION 


DEDICATION 


our  Saviour,  and,  by  preaching  repentance 
and  humiliation,  drew  the  first  parallel  of 
the  Gospel. 

"  Q.  Had  St.  John  the  Baptist  any- 
equal? 

"  A.  He  had ;  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 

"  Q.  Why  is  he  said  to  be  equal  to  the 
Baptist? 

"A.  Because  he  finished  by  his  learning 
what  the  other  began  by  his  zeal,  and  thus 
drew  a  second  line  parallel  to  the  former ; 
ever  since  which  time  Freemasons'  Lodges, 
in  all  Christian  countries,  have  been  dedi- 
cated to  the  one  or  the  other,  or  both,  of 
these  worthy  and  worshipful  men." 

There  is  another  old  lecture,  adopted  into 
the  Prestonian  system,  which  still  further 
developed  these  reasons  for  the  Johannite 
dedication,  but  with  slight  variations  in 
some  of  the  details. 

"  From  the  building  of  the  first  Temple 
at  Jerusalem  to  the  Babylonish  captivity, 
Freemasons'  Lodges  were  dedicated  to  King 
Solomon  ;  from  thence  to  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah,  they  were  dedicated  to  Zerub- 
babel,  the  builder  of  the  second  Temple ; 
and  from  that  time  to  the  final  destruction 
of  the  Temple  by  Titus,  in  the  reign  of 
Vespasian,  they  were  dedicated  to  St.  John 
the  Baptist ;  but  owing  to  the  many  massa- 
cres and  disorders  which  attended  that  mem- 
orable event,  Freemasonry  sunk  very  much 
into  decay ;  many  Lodges  were  entirely 
broken  up,  and  but  few  could  meet  in  suf- 
ficient numbers  to  constitute  their  legality  ; 
and  at  a  general  meeting  of  the  Craft,  held 
in  the  city  of  Benjamin,  it  was  observed 
that  the  principal  reason  for  the  decline  of 
Masonry  was  the  want  of  a  Grand  Master 
to  patronize  it.  They  therefore  deputed 
seven  of  their  most  eminent  members  to 
wait  upon  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  who 
was  at  that  time  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  re- 
questing him  to  take  the  office  of  Grand 
Master.  He  returned  for  answer,  that 
though  well  stricken  in  years  (being  up- 
wards of  ninety),  yet  having  been  initiated 
into  Masonry  in  the  early  part  of  his  life, 
he  would  take  upon  himself  that  office. 
He  thereby  completed  by  his  learning  what 
the  other  St.  John  effected  by  his  zeal,  and 
thus  drew  what  Freemasons  term  a  '  line 
parallel ; '  ever  since  which  time  Freema- 
sons' Lodges,  in  all  Christian  countries, 
have  been  dedicated  both  to  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist." 

So  runs  the  tradition,  but,  as  it  wants 
every  claim  to  authenticity,  a  more  philo- 
sophical reason  may  be  assigned  for  this 
dedication  to  the  two  Saints  John. 

One  of  the  earliest  deviations  from  the 
pure  religion  of  the  Noachidae  was  distin- 
guished by  the  introduction  of  sun  wor- 
ship.    The  sun,  in  the  Egyptian  mysteries, 


was  symbolized  by  Osiris,  the  principal  ob- 
ject of  their  rites,  and  whose  name,  accord- 
ing to  Plutarch  and  Macrobius,  signified 
the  prince  and  leader,  the  soul  of  the  uni- 
verse and  the  governor  of  the  stars.  Ma- 
crobius [Saturn.,  1.  i.,  c.  18,)  says  that  the 
Egyptians  worshipped  the  sun  as  the  only 
divinity;  and  they  represented  him  under 
different  forms,  according  to  the  different 
phases,  of  his  infancy  at  the  winter  solstice 
in  December,  his  adolescence  at  the  vernal 
equinox  in  March,  his  manhood  at  the 
summer  solstice  in  June,  and  his  old  age 
at  the  autumnal  equinox  in  September. 

Among  the  Phoenicians,  the  sun  was 
adored  under  the  name  of  Adonis,  and  in 
Persia,  under  that  of  Mithras.  In  the  Gre- 
cian mysteries,  the  orb  of  day  was  repre- 
sented by  one  of  the  officers  who  superin- 
tended the  ceremony  of  initiation ;  and  in 
the  Druidical  rites  his  worship  was  intro- 
duced as  the  visible  representative  of  the 
invisible,  creative,  and  preservative  princi- 
ple of  nature.  In  short,  wherever  the  spu- 
rious Freemasonry  existed,  the  adoration 
of,  or,  at  least,  a  high  respect  for,  the  solar 
orb  constituted  a  part  of  its  system. 

In  Freemasonry,  the  sun  is  still  retained 
as  an  important  symbol.  This  fact  must 
be  familiar  to  every  Freemason  of  any  in- 
telligence. It  occupies,  indeed,  its  appro- 
priate position,  simply  as  a  symbol,  but, 
nevertheless,  it  constitutes  an  essential  part 
of  the  system.  "  As  an  emblem  of  God's 
power,"  says  Hutchinson,  (Sp.  of  Mas.,  led. 
iv.,  p.  53,)  "his  goodness,  omnipresence, 
and  eternity,  the  Lodge  is  adorned  with  the 
image  of  the  sun,  which  he  ordained  to 
rise  from  the  east  and  open  the  day ;  there- 
by calling  forth  the  people  of  the  earth  to 
their  worship  and  exercise  in  the  walks  of 
virtue." 

"  The  government  of  a  Mason's  Lodge," 
says  Oliver,  (Signs  and  Sym.,  1.  xi.,)  "ia 
vested  in  three  superior  officers,  who  are 
seated  in  the  East,  West,  and  South,  to 
represent  the  rising,  setting,  and  meridian 
sun." 

The  sun,  obedient  to  the  all-seeing  eye, 
is  an  emblem  in  the  ritual  of  the  third  de- 
gree, and  the  sun  displayed  within  an  ex- 
tended compass  constitutes  the  jewel  of  the 
Past  Master  in  the  American  system,  and 
that  of  the  Grand  Master  in  the  English. 

But  it  is  a  needless  task  to  cite  authori- 
ties or  multiply  instances  to  prove  how 
intimately  the  sun,  as  a  symbol,  is  con- 
nected with  the  whole  system  of  Freema- 
sonry. 
.  It  is  then  evident  that  the  sun,  either  as 
an  object  of  worship,  or  of  symbolization, 
has  always  formed  an  important  part  of 
what  has  been  called  the  two  systems  of 
Freemasonry,  the  Spurious  and  the  Pure. 


DEDICATION 


To  the  ancient  sun  worshippers,  the 
movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies  must 
have  been  something  more  than  mere  as- 
tronomical phenomena;  they  were  the 
actions  of  the  deities  whom  they  adored, 
and  hence  were  invested  with  the  solem- 
nity of  a  religious  character.  But,  above 
all,  the  particular  periods  when  the  sun 
reached  his  greatest  Northern  and  Southern 
declination,  at  the  winter  and  summer  sol- 
stices, by  entering  the  zodaical  signs  of  Can- 
cer and  Capricorn,  marked  as  they  would 
be  by  the  most  evident  effects  on  the  sea- 
sons, and  on  the  length  of  the  days  and 
nights,  could  not  have  passed  unobserved, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  must  have  occupied 
an  important  place  in  their  ritual.  Now 
these  important  days  fall  respectively  on 
the  21st  of  June  and  the  21st  of  December. 
Hence,  these  solstitial  periods  were  among 
the  principal  festivals  observed  by  the  Pa- 
gan nations.  Du  Pauw  (Diss,  on  Egyp. 
and  Chinese,  ii.  159,)  remarks  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, that  "  they  had  a  fixed  festival  at 
each  new  moon ;  one  at  the  summer,  and 
one  at  the  winter  solstice,  as  well  as  the 
vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes." 

The  Druids  always  observed  the  festivals 
of  midsummer  and  midwinter  in  June 
and  December.  The  former  for  a  long 
time  was  celebrated  by  the  Christian  de- 
scendants of  the  Druids.  "  The  eve  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist,"  says  Chambers,  [Inf. 
for  the  People,  No.  89,)  "variously  called 
midsummer  eve,  was  formerly  a  time  of 
high  observance  amongst  the  English,  as  it 
still  is  in  Catholic  countries.  Bonfires 
were  everywhere  lighted,  round  which  the 
people  danced  with  joyful  demonstrations, 
occasionally  leaping  through  the  flame." 
Higgins  (Gelt.  Druids,  p.  165,)  thus  alludes 
to  the  celebration  of  the  festival  of  mid- 
winter in  the  ancient  world. 

"  The  festival  of  the  25th  of  December 
was  celebrated,  by  the  Druids  in  Britain 
and  Ireland,  with  great  fires  lighted  on  the 

tops  of  the  hills On  the  25th 

of  December,  at  the  first  moment  of  the 
day,  throughout  all  the  ancient  world,  the 
birthday  of  the  god  Sol  was  celebrated. 
This  was  the  moment  when,  after  the  sup- 
posed winter  solstice  and  the  lowest  point 
of  his  degradation  below  our  hemisphere, 
he  began  to  increase  and  gradually  to  as- 
cend. At  this  moment,  in  all  the  ancient 
religions,  his  birthday  was  kept;  from  India 
to  the  Ultima  Thule,  these  ceremonies  par- 
took of  the  same  character:  everywhere 
the  god  was  feigned  to  be  born,  and  his 
festival  was  celebrated  with  great  rejoic- 
ings." 

Our  ancestors  finding  that  the  Church, 
according  to  its  usage  of  purifying  Pagan 
festivals  by  Christian  application,  had  ap- 
2B  14 


DEDICATION 


209 


propriated  two  days  near  those  solstitial 
periods  to  the  memory  of  two  eminent 
saints,  incorporated  these  festivals  by  the 
lapse  of  a  few  days  into  the  Masonic  cal- 
endar, and  adopted  these  worthies  as  pat- 
rons of  our  Order.  To  this  change,  the 
earlier  Christian  Masons  were  the  more 
persuaded  by  the  peculiar  character  of 
these  saints.  St.  John  the  Baptist,  by  an- 
nouncing the  approach  of  Christ,  and  by 
the  mystic  ablution  to  which  he  subjected 
his  proselytes,  and  which  was  afterwards 
adopted  in  the  ceremony  of  initiation  into 
Christianity,  might  well  be  considered  as 
the  Grand  Hierophant  of  the  Church ;  while 
the  mysterious  and  emblematic  nature  of 
the  Apocalypse  assimilated  the  mode  of 
instruction  adopted  by  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist to  that  practised  by  the  Fraternity. 

We  are  thus  led  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  connection  of  the  Saints  John  with  the 
Masonic  institution  is  rather  of  a  symbolic 
than  of  an  historical  character.  In  dedi- 
cating our  Lodges  to  them,  we  do  not  so 
much  declare  our  belief  that  they  were  emi- 
nent members  of  the  Order,  as  demonstrate 
our  reverence  for  the  great  Architect  of  the 
Universe  in  the  symbol  of  his  most  splen- 
did creation,  the  great  light  of  day. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  observed  that 
the  ceremony  of  dedication  is  merely  the 
enunciation  of  a  form  of  words,  and  this 
having  been  done,  the  Lodge  is  thus,  by 
the  consecration  and  dedication,  set  apart 
as  something  sacred  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  principles  of  Masonry,  under  that  pe- 
culiar system  which  acknowledges  the  two 
Saints  John  as  its  patrons. 

Royal  Arch  Chapters  are  dedicated  to 
Zerubbabel,  Prince  or  Governor  of  Judah, 
and  Commanderies  of  Knights  Templars  to 
St.  John  the  Almoner.  Mark  Lodges 
should  be  dedicated  to  Hiram  the  Builder  ; 
Past  Masters'  to  the  Sts.  John,  and  Most 
Excellent  Masters'  to  King  Solomon. 

Dedication  of  the  Temple. 
There  are  five  dedications  of  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem  which  are  recorded  in  Jew- 
ish history.  1.  The  dedication  of  the  Solo- 
monic Temple,  B.  c.  1003.  2.  The  dedica- 
tion in  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  when  it  was 
purified  from  the  abominations  of  Ahaz, 
b.  o.  726.  3.  The  dedication  of  Zerub- 
babel's  Temple,  b.  o.  517.  4.  The  dedica- 
tion of  the  Temple  when  it  was  purified 
after  Judas  Maccabseus  had  driven  out  the 
Syrians,  b.  c.  164.  5.  The  dedication  of 
Herod's  Temple,  B.  c.  22.  The  fourth  of 
these  is  still  celebrated  by  the  Jews  in  their 
"  Feast  of  the  Dedication."  The  first  only 
is  connected  with  the  Masonic  ritual,  and 
is  commemorated  in  the  Most  Excellent 
Master's  degree  of  the  American  Rite  as 
the    "Celebration    of    the    Cape -Stone." 


210 


DEFAMATION 


DEGREES 


This  dedication  was  made  by  King  Solo- 
mon in  the  year  of  the  world  3001,  and 
lasted  eight  days,  commencing  in  the  month 
of  Tisri,  corresponding  to  Friday  the  30th 
of  October.  The  dedication  of  the  Temple 
is  called,  in  the  English  system  of  Lectures, 
"  the  third  grand  offering  which  consecrates 
the  floor  of  a  Mason's  Lodge."  The  same 
Lectures  contain  a  tradition  that  on  that 
occasion  King  Solomon  assembled  the 
nine  Deputy  Grand  Masters  in  the  holy 
place,  from  which  all  natural  light  had  been 
carefully  excluded,  and  which  only  received 
the  artificial  light  which  emanated  from  the 
east,  west,  and  south,  and  there  made  the 
necessary  arrangements.  The  legend  must 
be  considered  as  a  myth ;  but  the  inimitable 
prayer  and  invocation  which  were  offered 
up  by  King  Solomon  on  the  occasion  are 
recorded  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the  first 
Book  of  Kings,  which  contains  the  scrip- 
tural account  of  the  dedication. 

Defamation.    See  Back. 

Definition  of  Freemasonry. 
"  The  definitions  of  Freemasonry,"  says  Oli- 
ver, in  his  Historical  Landmarks  of  Free- 
masonry, "  have  been  numerous ;  but  they 
all  unite  in  declaring  it  to  be  a  system  of 
morality,  by  the  practice  of  which  its  mem- 
bers may  advance  their  spiritual  interest, 
and  mount  by  the  theological  ladder  from 
the  Lodge  on  earth  to  the  Lodge  in  heaven. 
It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that 
Freemasonry  is  a  system  of  religion.  It  is 
but  the  handmaiden  to  religion,  although 
it  largely  and  effectually  illustrates  one 
great  branch  of  it,  which  is  practice." 
The  definition  in  the  English  Lectures  is 
most  often  quoted,  which  says  that  "  Free- 
masonry is  a  beautiful  system  of  morality 
veiled  in  allegory  and  illustrated  by  sym- 
bols." 

But  a  more  comprehensive  and  exact  def- 
inition is,  that  it  is  a  science  which  is  en- 
gaged in  the  search  after  Divine  Truth,  and 
which  employs  symbolism  as  its  method  of 
instruction. 

Deformity.  The  old  Constitutions 
declare  that  the  candidate  for  Masonry 
must  be  a  "  perfect  youth,  having  no  maim 
or  defect  in  his  body."  The  Masonic  law 
of  physical  qualifications  is  derived  from 
the  Mosaic,  which  excluded  from  the  priest- 
bood  a  man  having  any  blemishes  or  de- 
formities. The  regulation  in  Masonry  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  landmarks,  and  is  illus- 
trative of  the  symbolism  of  the  Institution. 
The  earliest  of  the  old  Constitutions,  that 
of  the  Halliwell  MS.,  has  this  language  on 
the  subject : 

"  To  the  Craft  it  were  great  shame 
To  make  a  halt  man  and  a  lame, 
For  an  imperfect  man  of  such  blood 
Should  do  the  Craft  but  little  good." 


This  question  has  been  fully  discussed  in 
the  author's  Text  Book  of  Masonic  Juris- 
prudence, pp.  96-113. 

Degrees.  The  word  degree,  in  its  prim- 
itive meaning,  signifies  a  step.  The  de- 
grees of  Freemasonry  are  then  the  steps  by 
which  the  candidate  ascends  from  a  lower 
to  a  higher  condition  of  knowledge.  It  is 
now  the  opinion  of  the  best  scholars,  that 
the  division  of  the  Masonic  system  into  de- 
grees was  the  work  of  the  revivalists  of  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  that 
before  that  period  there  was  but  one  de- 
gree, or  rather  one  common  platform  of 
ritualism  ;  and  that  the  division  into  Mas- 
ters, Fellows,  and  Apprentices  was  simply 
a  division  of  ranks,  there  being  but  one  ini- 
tiation for  all.  In  1717  the  whole  body  of 
the  Fraternity  consisted  only  of  Entered 
Apprentices,  who  were  recognized  by  the 
thirty-nine  Kegulations,  compiled  in  1720, 
as  among  the  law-givers  of  the  Craft,  no 
change  in  those  Regulations  being  allowed 
unless  first  submitted  "  even  to  the  young- 
est Apprentice."  In  the  old  Charges,  col- 
lected by  Anderson  and  approved  in  1722, 
the  degree  of  Fellow  Craft  is  introduced  as 
being  a  necessary  qualification  for  Grand 
Master,  although  the  word  degree  is  not 
used.  No  brother  can  be  a  ...  .  Grand 
Master  unless  he  has  been  a  Fellow  Craft 
before  his  election."  And  in  the  "  Man- 
ner of  constituting  a  New  Lodge"  of  the 
same  date,  the  Master  and  Wardens  are 
taken  from  "  among  the  Fellow  Crafts," 
which  Dermott  explains  by  saying  that 
"they  were  called  Fellow  Crafts  because 
the  Masons  of  old  times  never  gave  any 
man  the  title  of  Master  Mason  until  he 
had  first  passed  the  chair."  In  the  thir- 
teenth of  the  Regulations  of  1720,  approved 
in  1721,  the  orders  or  degrees  of  Master  and 
Fellow  Craft  are  recognized  in  the  follow- 
ing words :  "  Apprentices  must  be  admitted 
Masters  and  Fellow  Crafts  only  in  the 
Grand  Lodge."  Between  that  period  and 
1738,  the  system  of  degrees  had  been  per- 
fected ;  for  Anderson,  who,  in  that  year, 
published  the  second  edition  of  the  Book 
of  Constitutions,  changed  the  phraseology 
of  the  old  Charge  to  suit  the  altered  con- 
dition of  things,  and  said,  "a  Prentice, 
when  of  age  and  expert,  may  become  an 
Enter'd  Prentice  or  a  Free-Mason  of  the 
lowest  degree,  and  upon  his  due  improve- 
ment a  Fellow-Craft  and  a  Master-Ma- 
son." No  such  words  are  found  in  the 
Charges  as  printed  in  1723  ;  and  if  at  that 
time  the  distinction  of  the  three  degrees 
had  been  as  well  defined  as  in  1738,  Ander- 
son would  not  have  failed  to  insert  the 
same  language  in  his  first  edition.  That 
he  did  not,  leads  to  the  fair  presumption 
that  the  ranks  of  Fellow  Craft  and  Master 


DEGREES 


DEISM 


211 


were  not  then  absolutely  recognized  as  dis- 
tinctive degrees.  The  earliest  ritual  ex- 
tant, which  is  contained  in  the  Grand 
Mystery,  published  in  1725,  makes  no 
reference  to  any  degrees,  but  gives  only 
what  I  suppose  was  the  common  initiation 
in  use  about  that  time.  The  division  of 
the  Masonic  system  into  three  degrees  must 
have  grown  up  between  1717  and  1730, 
but  in  so  gradual  and  imperceptible  a  man- 
ner that  we  are  unable  to  fix  the  precise 
date  of  the  introduction  of  each  degree. 
In  1717  there  was  evidently  but  one  degree, 
or  rather  one  form  of  initiation,  and  one 
catechism.  Perhaps  about  1721  the  three 
degrees  were  introduced,  but  the  second 
and  third  were  not  perfected  for  many 
years.  Even  as  late  as  1735  the  Entered 
Apprentice's  degree  contained  the  most 
prominent  form  of  initiation,  and  he  who 
was  an  Apprentice  was,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  a  Freemason.  It  was  not  until 
repeated  improvements,  by  the  adoption  of 
new  ceremonies  and  new  regulations,  that 
the  degree  of  Master  Mason  took  the  place 
which  it  now  occupies ;  having  been  con- 
fined at  first  to  those  who  had  passed  the 
chair. 

Degrees,  Ancient  Craft.  See  An- 
cient Craft  Masonry. 

Degrees,  Androgynous.  Degrees 
that  are  conferred  on  females  as  well  as 
males.     See  Androgynous  Masonry. 

Degrees,  Apocalyptic.  See  Apoc- 
alyptic Degrees. 

Degrees,  High.    See  Hautes  Grades. 

Degrees,  Honorary.  See  Hono- 
rary Degrees. 

Degrees,  Ineffable.  See  Ineffable 
Degrees. 

Degrees  of  CniTalry.  The  reli- 
gious and  military  orders  of  knighthood 
which  existed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  such  as  the 
Knights  Templars  and  Knights  of  Malta, 
which  were  incorporated  into  the  Masonic 
system  and  conferred  as  Masonic  degrees, 
have  been  called  Degrees  of  Chivalry. 
They  are  Christian  in  character,  and  seek  to 
perpetuate  in  a  symbolic  form  the  idea  on 
which  the  original  Orders  were  founded. 
The  Knight  of  the  Red  Cross,  although  con- 
ferred, in  this  country,  in  a  Commandery 
of  Knights  Templars,  and  as  preliminary 
to  that  degree,  is  not  properly  a  degree  of 
chivalry. 

Degrees  of  Knowledge.  Fessler 
was  desirous  of  abolishing  all  the  high  de- 
grees, but  being  unable  to  obtain  the  con- 
sent of  the  Royal  York  Grand  Lodge,  he 
composed  out  of  them  a  new  system  of  five 
degrees  which  he  called  Degrees  of  Knowl- 
edge, Erkenntnissstufen,  to  each  of  which 
was  annexed  a  form  of  initiation.  "The 
Degrees  of  Knowledge,"  says  Findel,  {Hist., 


497,)  "  consisted  of  a  regular  detailed  course 
of  instruction  in  each  system  of  the  Lodges, 
whether  extinct  or  in  full  activity,  and 
were  to  end  with  a  complete  critical  re- 
modelling of  the  history  of  Freemasonry, 
and  of  the  Fraternity  of  Freemasons  from 
the  most  ancient  period  to  our  own  day." 
See  Fessler's  Mite. 

Degrees,  Philosophical.  See 
Philosophical  Degrees. 

Degrees,  Symbolic.  See  Symbolic 
Degrees. 

Deism.  In  an  abstract  sense,  Deism, 
or  Theism,  is  the  belief  in  God,  but  the 
word  is  generally  used  to  designate  those 
who,  believing  in  God,  reject  a  belief  in 
the  Scriptures  as  a  revelation.  The  sect 
of  Deists  —  which,  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  enrolled  among  its 
followers  many  great  intellects,  such  as 
Toland,  Collins,  Lord  Herbert  of  Cher- 
bury,  Hume,  Gibbon,  and  Voltaire — is  said 
by  Findel  {Hist.,  p.  126,)  to  have  "neces- 
sarily exercised  an  important  influence  on 
the  Fraternity  of  Masons;"  and,  he  adds, 
that  "  we  cannot  doubt  that  it  contributed 
essentially  to  its  final  transformation  from 
an  operative  to  a  universal  speculative  so- 
ciety." The  refutation  of  this  remarkable 
assertion  is  best  found  in  the  first  of  the 
Charges  adopted  at  the  revival  in  1717, 
and  which  was  published  in  the  Constitu- 
tions of  1723:  "A  Mason  is  obliged,  by 
his  tenure,  to  obey  the  moral  law ;  and  if 
he  rightly  understands  the  art,  he  will 
never  be  a  stupid  atheist  nor  an  irreligious 
libertine,"  where  the  words  irreligious  lib- 
ertine refer  to  the  freethinkers  or  deists  of 
that  period.  It  is  evident,  then,  that  the 
Deists  could  have  had  no  influence  at  that 
time  in  moulding  the  Masonic  organization. 
There  is  still  better  evidence  to  be  found  in 
the  old  records  of  Freemasonry  during 
several  preceding  centuries,  when  tne  Oper- 
ative was  its  dominant  character,  and  when 
the  dogmas  of  Christianity  were  fully  re- 
cognized, which  must  necessarily  have  been 
the  case,  since  Freemasonry  during  that 
period  was  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Church.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  evidence  to 
sustain  Findel's  theory,  that  in  the  transi- 
tion stage  from  the  operative  to  the  specu- 
lative, when  such  men  as  the  deeply-reli- 
gious Ashmole  were  among  its  members, 
the  Deists  could  have  infused  any  of  their 
principles  into  its  organization  or  exercised 
any  influence  in  changing  its  character. 

Freemasonry,  at  that  time  sectarian,  de- 
manded almost  a  Christian  belief —  at  all 
events,  a  Christian  allegiance  —  from  its 
disciples.  It  is  now  more  tolerant,  and 
Deism  presents  no  disqualification  for  ini- 
tiation. An  atheist  would  be  rejected,  but 
none  would  now  be  refused  admission  on 


212 


DEITY 


DENMARK 


religious  grounds  who  subscribed  to  the 
dogmas  of  a  belief  in  God  and  a  resurrec- 
tion to  eternal  life. 

Deity.  See  Grand  Architect  of  the  Uni- 
verse. 

Delalande,  Charles  Florent 
Jacques.  A  French  litterateur  of  this 
century,  who  was  the  author  of  many  di- 
dactic and  poetic  articles  on  Masonry 
inserted  in  the  Miroir  de  la  Verite,  the 
Annates  Maconniques,  and  other  collections. 
He  was  also  the  author  of  the  Defense  et 
Apologie  de  la  Franche- Maconnerie,  ou  Re- 
futation des  Accusations  dirigees  contre  elle 
a  differentes  Epoques  et  par  divers  Autems, 
a  prize  essay  before  a  Lodge  in  Leghorn, 
published  in  1814.  He  founded  the  ar- 
chives of  the  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic 
Rite  at  Douay,  France. 

Delalande,  Joseph  Jerome 
Francois.  One  of  the  most  distin- 
guished French  astronomers  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  He  was  born  in  1732  and 
died  in  1807.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  and  pub- 
lished, in  1774,  an  able  memoir  upon  the 
History  of  Freemasonry,  which  was  sub- 
sequently incorporated  in  the  twentieth 
volume  of  the  Encyclopedic  Methodique. 

Delaunay,  Francois  U.  Stanis- 
laus. A  French  litterateur  and  historian, 
and  author  of  many  works  on  Masonry,  the 
principal  of  which  is  the  Tuileur  des  trente 
trois  degres  de  UEcossisme  du  .Rite  Ancien  et 
Acceple.  This  is  a  work  of  great  erudition, 
and  of  curious  research  in  reference  to  the 
etymology  of  the  words  of  the  Rite.  These 
etymologies,  however,  are  not  always  cor- 
rect ;  and,  indeed,  some  of  them  are  quite 
absurd,  betraying  a  want  of  the  proper  ap- 
preciation of  the  construction  of  Hebrew, 
from  which  language  all  of  the  words  are 
derived. 

Delaware.  The  Grand  Lodge  of 
Delaware  was  organized  on  the  6th  of 
June,  1806.  Its  seat  is  at  Wilmington.  The 
Grand  Chapter  was  instituted  in  1818,  but 
having  suspended  labor  for  many  years,  a 
new  organization  was  established  by  the 
General  Grand  High  Priest  of  the  United 
States  in  1869. 

Delegates.  Past  Masters,  or  others 
sent  by  a  Lodge  to  represent  it  in  the  Grand 
Lodge,  in  place  of  the  Master  and  Wardens, 
if  these  are  absent,  are  in  some  of  the 
American  jurisdictions  called  delegates. 
The  word  is  a  modern  one,  and  without  good 
authority.  Those  who  represent  a  Lodge 
in  the  Grand  Lodge,  whether  the  Master 
and  Wardens  or  their  proxies,  are  properly 
representatives. 

Delta.  A  triangle.  The  name  of  a 
piece  of  furniture  in  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars,  which,  being  of  a  trian- 


gular form,  derives  its  name  from  the  Greek 
letter  A,  delta.  It  is  also  the  title  given,  in 
the  French  and  Scottish  Rites,  to  the  lumi- 
nous triangle  which  encloses  the  Ineffable 
name.     See  Triangle. 

Demeter.  The  Greek  name  of  Ceres, 
which  see. 

Demit.  A  Mason  is  said  to  demit  from 
his  Lodge  when  he  withdraws  his  member- 
ship ;  and  a  demit  is  a  document  granted  by 
the  Lodge  which  certifies  that  that  demis- 
sion has  been  accepted  by  the  Lodge,  and 
that  the  demitting  brother  is  clear  of  the 
books  and  in  good  standing  as  a  Mason. 
To  demit,  which  is  the  act  of  the  member,  is 
then  to  resign  ;  and  to  grant  a  demit,  which 
is  the  act  of  the  Lodge,  is  to  grant  a  certifi- 
cate that  the  resignation  has  been  accepted. 
It  is  derived  from  the  French  reflective  verb  se 
demettre,  which,  according  to  the  dictionary 
of  the  Academy,  means  "  to  withdraw  from 
an  office,  to  resign  an  employment."  Thus  it 
gives  as  an  example,  "  11  s'est  demis  de  sa 
charge  en  faveur  d'un  tel,"  he  resigned  (de- 
mitted)  his  office  in  favor  of  such  a  one. 

The  application  for  a  demit  is  a  matter 
of  form,  and  there  is  no  power  in  the  Lodge 
to  refuse  it,  if  the  applicant  has  paid  all  his 
dues  and  is  free  of  all  charges.  It  is 
true  that  a  regulation  of  1722  says  that  no 
number  of  brethren  shall  withdraw  or  sepa- 
rate themselves  from  the  Lodge  in  which 
they  were  made,  without  a  dispensation; 
yet  I  do  not  see  how  the  law  can  be  en- 
forced, for  Masonry  being  a  voluntary  as- 
sociation, there  is  no  power  in  any  Lodge 
to  insist  on  any  brother  continuing  a  con- 
nection with  it  which  he  desires  to  sever. 
See,  on  this  subject,  the  author's  Text  Book 
of  Masonic  Jurisprudence,  book  iii.,  chap, 
iii.,  sect.  vi. 

The  usual  object  in  applying  for  a  demit 
is  to  enable  the  brother  to  join  some  other 
Lodge,  into  which  he  cannot  be  admitted 
without  some  evidence  that  he  was  in  good 
standing  in  his  former  Lodge.  This  is  in 
accordance  with  an  old  law  found  in  the 
Regulations  of  1663  in  the  following  words : 
"  No  person  hereafter  who  shall  be  accepted 
a  Freemason,  shall  be  admitted  into  any 
Lodge  or  Assembly  until  he  has  brought  a 
certificate  of  the  time  and  place  of  his  ac- 
ceptation from  the  Lodge  that  accepted  him, 
unto  the  Master  of  that  limit  or  division 
where  such  Lodge  is  kept."  See  the  cor- 
rupt word  Dimit, 

Denmark.  The  first  Masonic  Lodge 
in  Denmark  was  opened  in  Copenhagen,  by 
Baron  G.  O.  Munich,  on  the  11th  of  No- 
vember, 1743,  under  a  charter,  as  he  claimed, 
from  the  Lodge  of  the  Three  Globes  in 
Berlin.  In  the  next  year  a  new  Lodge 
named  Zorobabel  was  formed  by  members 
who  separated  from  the  former  Lodge.  Both 


DEPOSITE 


DEPUTY 


213 


of  these  bodies,  however,  appear  to  have 
been  imperfect  in  their  constitution.  This 
imperfection  was  subsequently  rectified. 
The  first  Lodge,  having  changed  its  name 
to  St.  Martin,  received  in  1749  a  warrant 
from  Lord  Byron,  who  was  then  Grand 
Master  of  England.  Lord  Cranstoun  had 
previously,  in  October,  1715,  granted  a 
warrant  to  the  second  Lodge.  Preston  says 
that  Lord  Byron  issued  a  Provincial  Patent 
for  Denmark,  in  other  words,  established  a 
Provincial  Grand  Lodge.  Calcott  says  he 
appointed  Count  Denneskiold  Laurwig 
Provincial  Grand  Master  for  Denmark  and 
Norway.  The  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of 
Denmark  must  then  have  been  established 
in  1749  ;  but  a  writer  in  the  London  Free- 
mason's Quarterly  Magazine  for  September, 
1853,  places  its  date  at  1745,  and  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Denmark  is  said  in  the  recent 
calendars  to  have  been  organized  in  1747. 
These  dates  are  irreconcilable.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  Denmark  was  actually  founded 
in  1792.  A  Lodge  had  been  established  at 
Copenhagen,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scot- 
land, under  the  name  of  "Le  petit  Nombre ;" 
and  in  1753  its  Master  was  elevated  by  that 
body  to  the  rank  of  a  Provincial  Grand 
Master.  The  vicinity  of  Denmark  to  Ger- 
many caused  the  introduction  of  many  of 
the  Rites  which  agitated  the  latter  country. 
But  the  primitive  Lodges  worked  in  the 
York  Rite.  On  January  6th,  1855,  King 
Christian  VIIL,  who,  when  crowned  Prince, 
had  assumed  the  Protectorship  of  the 
Danish  Lodges,  and  who  was  distinguished 
for  his  Masonic  zeal,  introduced  the  Rite 
of  Zinnendorf  according  to  the  Swedish 
system,  which  was  adopted  as  the  national 
Rite  of  Denmark. 

Deposite.  The  deposite  of  the  sub- 
stitute ark  is  celebrated  in  the  degree  of 
Select  Master,  and  is  supposed  to  have  taken 

glace  in  the  last  year  of  the  building  of 
olomon's  Temple,  or  1000  B.  c.  This  is 
therefore  adopted  as  the  date  in  Cryptic 
Masonry. 

In  the  legendary  history  of  Freemasonry 
as  preserved  in  the  Cryptic  degrees,  two 
deposites  are  spoken  of;  the  deposite  of  the 
substitute  Ark,  and  the  deposite  of  the 
Word,  both  being  referred  to  the  same  year 
and  being  different  parts  of  one  transac- 
tion. They  have,  therefore,  sometimes 
been  confounded.  The  deposite  of  the  Ark 
was  made  by  the  three  Grand  Masters ;  that 
of  the  Word  by  Hiram  Abif  alone. 

Deposite,  Year  of.  See  Anno  De- 
positions. 

Depth  of  the  Lodge.  This  is  said 
to  be  from  the  surface  to  the  centre,  and  is 
the  expression  of  an  idea  connected  with  the 
symbolism  of  the  form  of  the  Lodge  as  in- 
dicating the  universality  of  Masonry.    The 


oldest  definition  was  that  the  depth  ex- 
tended "  to  the  centre  of  the  earth,"  which, 
says  Dr.  Oliver,  is  the  greatest  extent  that 
can  be  imagined.     See  Form  of  the  Lodge. 

Deputation.  The  authority  granted 
by  the  Grand  Master  to  a  brother  to  act 
as  Provincial  Grand  Master  was  formerly 
called  a  deputation.  Thus,  in  Anderson's 
Constitutions,  (2d  edition,  1738,  p.  191,)  it  is 
said,  "  Lovel,  Grand  Master,  granted  a  depu- 
tation to  Sir  Edward  Matthews  to  be  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Master  of  Shropshire."  It 
was  also  used  in  the  sense  in  which  dispensa- 
tion is  now  employed  to  denote  the  Grand 
Master's  authority  for  opening  a  Lodge. 
In  German  Masonry,  a  deputation  is  a  com- 
mittee of  one  Lodge  appointed  to  visit  and 
confer  with  some  other  Lodge. 

Depute  Grand  Master.  Depute 
is  a  Scotticism  used  in  the  "  Laws  and  Regu- 
lations of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  "  to 
designate  the  officer  known  in  England  and 
America  as  Deputy  Grand  Master. 

Deputy.  In  French  Masonry,  the 
officers  who  represent  a  Lodge  in  the 
Grand  Orient  are  called  its  deputies.  The 
word  is  also  used  in  another  sense.  When 
two  Lodges  are  affiliated,  that  is,  have 
adopted  a  compact  of  union,  each  appoints 
a  deputy  to  represent  it  at  the  meetings 
of  the  other.  He  is  also  called  garant 
d'amitie,  and  is  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the 
East. 

Deputy  Grand  Chapter.  In  the 
Constitution  adopted  in  January,  1798,  by 
the  "Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the 
Northern  States  of  America,"  which  after- 
wards became  the  "  General  Grand  Chap- 
ter," it  was  provided  that  Grand  Bodies  of 
the  system  should  be  established  in  the  dif- 
ferent States,  which  should  be  known  as 
"  Deputy  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapters." 
But  in  the  succeeding  year,  on  the  adop- 
tion of  a  new  Constitution,  the  title  was 
changed  to  "State  Grand  Chapters."  Mas- 
sachusetts, Rhode  Island,  and  New  York 
are  the  only  States  in  which  Deputy  Grand 
Chapters  were  organized. 

Deputy  Grand  Master.  The  as- 
sistant and,  in  his  absence,  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Grand  Master.  The  office 
originated  in  the  year  1721,  when  the  Duke 
of  Montagu  was  authorized  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  to  appoint  a  Deputy.  The  object 
evidently  was  to  relieve  a  nobleman,  who 
was  Grand  Master,  from  troublesome  de- 
tails of  office.  The  Constitutions  give  a 
Deputy  Grand  Master  no  other  preroga- 
tives than  those  which  he  claims  in  the 
Grand  Master's  right.  He  presides  over 
the  Craft  in  the  absence  of  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter, and,  on  the  death  of  that  officer,  suc- 
ceeds to  his  position  until  a  new  election. 
In  England,  and  in  a  few  States  of  Ameri- 


214 


DEPUTY 


DESAGULIERS 


ca,  he  is  appointed  by  the  Grand  Master ; 
but  the  general  usage  in  this  country  is  to 
elect  him. 

Deputy  Lodge.  In  Germany,  a 
Deputations- Loge,  or  Deputy  Lodge,  was 
formed  by  certain  members  of  a  Lodge  who 
lived  at  a  remote  distance  from  it,  and  who 
met  under  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  mother  Lodge,  through  whom  alone 
it  was  known  to  the  Grand  Lodge,  or  the 
other  Lodges.  Such  bodies  are  not  known 
in  England  or  America,  and  are  not  now 
so  common  in  Germany  as  formerly. 

Deputy  Master.  In  England,  when 
the  Grand  Master  is  also  Master  of  a  pri- 
vate Lodge,  his  functions  are  performed  by 
an  officer  appointed  by  him,  and  called  a 
Deputy  Master,  who  exercises  all  the  pre- 
rogatives and  enjoys  all  the  privileges  of  a 
regular  Master.  In  Germany,  the  Master 
of  every  Lodge  is  assisted  by  a  Deputy  Mas- 
ter, who  is  either  appointed  by  the  Master, 
or  elected  by  the  members,  and  who  exer- 
cises the  powers  of  the  Master  in  the  ab- 
sence of  that  officer. 

Dermott,  Laurence.  He  was  at 
first  the  Grand  Secretary,  and  afterwards 
the  Deputy  Grand  Master,  of  that  body  of 
Masons  who,  in  1739,  seceded  from  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  and  called  them- 
selves "  Ancient  York  Masons,"  stigmatiz- 
ing the  regular  Masons  as  "  moderns." 
In  1764,  Dermott  published  the  Book  of 
Constitutions  of  his  Grand  Lodge,  under 
the  title  of  "  Ahiman  Rezon ;  or  a  help  to 
all  that  are  or  would  be  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  containing  the  quintessence  of  all 
that  has  been  published  on  the  subject  of 
Freemasonry."  This  work  passed  through 
several  editions,  the  last  of  which  was 
edited,  in  1813.  by  Thomas  Harper,  the 
Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the  Ancient  Ma- 
sons, under  the  title  of  "  The  Constitutions 
of  Freemasonry,  or  Ahiman  Rezon." 

Dermott  was  undoubtedly  the  moving 
and  sustaining  spirit  of  the  great  schism 
which,  from  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
divided  the  Masons  of  England;  and  his 
character  has  not  been  spared  by  the  ad- 
herents of  the  constitutional  Grand  Lodge. 
Lawrie  (Hist,  p.  117,)  says  of  him:  "The 
unfairness  with  which  he  has  stated  the 
proceedings  of  the  moderns,  the  bitterness 
with  which  he  treats  them,  and  the  quackery 
and  vainglory  with  which  he  displays  his 
own  pretensions  to  superior  knowledge,  de- 
serve to  be  reprobated  by  every  class  of 
Masons  who  are  anxious  for  the  purity  of 
their  Order  and  the  preservation  of  that 
charity  and  mildness  which  ought  to  char- 
acterize all  their  proceedings."  I  am  afraid 
that  there  is  much  truth  in  this  estimate  of 
Dermott's  character.     As  a  polemic,  he  was 


sarcastic,  bitter,  uncompromising,  and  not 
altogether  sincere  or  veracious.  But  in  intel- 
lectual attainments  he  was  inferior  to  none 
of  his  adversaries,  and  in  a  philosophical 
appreciation  of  the  character  of  the  Ma- 
sonic institution  he  was  in  advance  of  the 
spirit  of  his  age.  Doubtless  he  dismem- 
bered the  third  degree,  and  to  him  we  owe 
the  establishment  of  English  Royal  Arch 
Masonry.  He  had  the  assistance  of  Ram- 
say, but  he  did  not  adopt  Ramsay's  Scottish 
degree.  Royal  Arch  Masonry,  as  we  now 
have  it,  came  from  the  fertile  brain  and  in- 
trepid heart  of  Dermott.  It  was  finally 
adopted  by  his  opponents  in  1813,  and  it  is 
hardly  now  a  question  that  the  change  ef- 
fected by  him  in  the  organization  of  the 
York  Rite  in  1740  has  been  of  evident  ad- 
vantage to  the  service  of  Masonic  sym- 
bolism. 

Derwentwater.  Charles  Radcliffe, 
titular  Earl  of  Derwentwater,  which  title 
he  assumed  on  the  death  of  the  unmarried 
son  of  his  brother,  James  Radcliffe,  Earl 
of  Derwentwater,  who  was  executed  for 
rebellion  in  1716,  in  London,  was  the  first 
Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
France,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  on 
the  organization  of  the  Grand  Lodge  in 
1725.  Charles  Radcliffe  was  arrested  with 
his  brother,  Lord  Derwentwater,  in  1715, 
for  having  taken  part  in  the  rebellion  of 
that  year  to  restore  the  house  of  Stuart  to 
the  throne.  Both  were  convicted  of  trea- 
son, and  the  Earl  suffered  death,  but  his 
brother  Charles  made  his  escape  to  France, 
and  thence  to  Rome,  where  he  received  a 
trifling  pension  from  the  Pretender.  After 
a  residence  of  some  years,  he  went  to  Paris, 
where,  with  the  Chevalier  Maskelyne,  Mr. 
Heguetty,  and  some  other  Englishmen,  he 
established  a  Lodge  in  the  Rue  des  Bou- 
cheries,  which  was  followed  by  the  organi- 
zation of  several  others,  and  Radcliffe,  who 
had  taken  the  title  of  Earl  of  Derwent- 
water on  the  death  of  his  youthful  nephew, 
the  son  of  the  last  Earl,  was  elected  Grand 
Master.  Leaving  France  for  a  time,  in 
1733  he  was  succeeded  in  the  Grand  Mas- 
tership by  Lord  Harnouester.  Radcliffe 
made  many  visits  to  England  after  that 
time  in  unsuccessful  pursuit  of  a  pardon. 
Finally,  on  the  attempt  of  the  young  Pre- 
tender to  excite  a  rebellion  in  1745,  he 
sailed  from  France  to  join  him,  and  the 
vessel  in  which  he  had  embarked  having 
been  captured  by  an  English  cruiser,  he  was 
carried  to  London  and  decapitated  De- 
cember 8,  1746. 

Desaguliers,  John  Theophilus. 
Of  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  revival 
of  Freemasonry  in  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  none  performed  a  more 
important  part  than  he  to  whom  may  be 


DESAGULIERS 


DESAGULIERS 


215 


well  applied  the  epithet  of  the  Father  of 
Modern  Speculative  Masonry,  and  to  whom, 
perhaps,  more  than  any  other  person,  is  the 
present  Grand  Lodge  of  England  indebted 
for  its  existence.  A  sketch  of  his  life, 
drawn  from  the  scanty  materials  to  be  found 
in  Masonic  records,  and  in  the  brief  notices 
of  a  few  of  his  contemporaries,  cannot  fail 
to  be  interesting  to  the  student  of  Masonic 
history. 

The  Rev.  John  Theophilus  Desaguliers, 
LL.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  was  born  on  the  12th  of 
March,  1683,  at  Rochelle,  in  France.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  French  Protestant  cler- 
gyman ;  and,  his  father  having  removed  to 
England  as  a  refugee  on  the  revocation  of 
the  edict  of  Nantes,  he  was  educated  at 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,where  he  took  lessons 
of  the  celebrated  Keill  in  experimental  phi- 
losophy. In  1713  he  received  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts,  and  in  the  same  year 
succeeded  Dr.  Keill  as  a  lecturer  on  ex- 
perimental philosophy  at  Hart  Hall.  In 
the  year  1714  he  removed  to  Westminster, 
where  he  continued  his  course  of  lectures, 
being  the  first  one,  it  is  said,  who  ever  lec- 
tured upon  physical  science  in  the  metrop- 
olis. At  this  time  he  attracted  the  notice 
and  secured  the  friendship  of  Sir  Isaac 
Newton.  His  reputation  as  a  philosopher 
obtained  for  him  a  fellowship  in  the  Royal 
Society.  He  was  also  about  this  time  ad- 
mitted to  clerical  orders,  and  appointed  by 
the  Duke  of  Chandos  his  chaplain,  who 
also  presented  him  to  the  living  of  Whit- 
church. In  1718  he  received  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws,  and  was  presented  by  the  Earl  of 
Sunderland  to  a  living  in  Norfolk,  which 
he  afterwards  exchanged  for  one  in  Essex. 
He  maintained,  however,  his  residence  in 
London,  where  he  continued  to  deliver  his 
lectures  until  his  death. 

His  contributions  to  science  consist  of  a 
Treatise  on  the  Construction  of  Chimneys, 
translated  from  the  French,  and  published 
in  1716 ;  A  Course  of  Experimental  Philoso- 
phy, in  two  volumes,  4to,  published  in 
1734 ;  and  in  1735  he  edited  an  edition  of 
Gregory's  Elements  of  Catoptrics  and  Diop- 
trics. He  also  translated  from  the  Latin 
Gravesandes'  Mathematical  Elements  of 
Natural  Philosophy. 

In  the  clerical  profession  he  seems  not  to 
have  been  an  ardent  worker,  and  his  theo- 
logical labors  were  confined  to  the  publica- 
tion of  a  single  sermon  on  repentance.  He 
was  in  fact  more  distinguished  as  a  scientist 
than  as  a  clergyman,  and  Priestly  calls  him 
"an  indefatigable  experimental  philoso- 
pher." 

It  is,  however,  as  a  Mason  that  Dr.  De- 
saguliers will  most  attract  our  attention. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  in  London  he  was 


made  a  Mason  in  the  Lodge  meeting  at 
Goose  and  Gridiron,  in  St.  Paul's  church- 
yard, which  subsequently  took  the  name  of 
the  "  Lodge  of  Antiquity."  "  The  peculiar 
principles  of  the  Craft,"  says  Dr.  Oliver, 
"struck  him  as  being  eminently  calculated 
to  contribute  to  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity at  large,  if  they  could  be  redirected 
into  the  channel  from  which  they  had  been 
diverted  by  the  retirement  of  Sir  Chris- 
topher Wren."  It  is  said  that  he  visited 
that  veteran  architect,  and  from  his  con- 
versations with  him  was  induced  to  inau- 
gurate those  measures  which  led  in  1717  to 
the  revival  of  Freemasonry  in  the  south 
of  England.  The  reputation  of  Desagu- 
liers as  a  man  of  science  enabled  him  to  se- 
cure the  necessary  assistance  of  older  Ma- 
sons to  carry  the  design  of  revival  into 
effect,  and,  supported  by  the  activity  and 
zeal  of  many  brethren,  he  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining a  meetingof  the  four  London  Lodges 
in  1717  at  the  Apple-Tree  Tavern,  where 
the  Grand  Lodge  was  constituted  in  due 
form,  and  at  a  subsequent  meeting,  on  St. 
John  the  Baptist's  day,  Antony  Sayer  was 
elected  Grand  Master.  In  1719  Desaguliers 
was  elevated  to  the  throne  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  succeeding  George  Payne,  and  being 
thus  the  third  Grand  Master  after  the 
revival.  He  paid  much  attention  to  the 
interests  of  the  Fraternity,  and  so  elevated 
the  character  of  the  Order,  that  the  records 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  show  that  during  his 
administration  several  of  the  older  brethren 
who  had  hitherto  neglected  the  Craft  re- 
sumed their  visits  to  the  Lodges,  and  many 
noblemen  were  initiated  into  the  Institu- 
tion. 

Dr.  Desaguliers  was  peculiarly  zealous  in 
the  investigation  and  collection  of  the  old 
records  of  the  society,  and  to  him  we  are 
principally  indebted  for  the  preservation 
of  the  "  Charges  of  a  Freemason  "  and  the 
preparation  of  the  "  General  Regulations," 
which  are  found  in  the  first  edition  of  the 
Constitutions;  which,  although  attributed 
to  Dr.  Anderson,  were  undoubtedly  com- 
piled under  the  supervision  of  Desaguliers. 
Anderson,  we  suppose,  did  the  work,  while 
Desaguliers  furnished  much  of  the  ma- 
terial and  the  thought.  One  of  the  first  con- 
troversial works  in  favor  of  Freemasonry, 
namely,  A  Detection  of  Dr.  Plots'  Account 
of  the  Freemasons,  was  also  attributed  to  his 
pen ;  but  he  is  said  to  have  repudiated  the 
credit  of  its  authorship,  of  which  indeed 
the  paper  furnishes  no  internal  evidence. 
In  1721  he  delivered  before  the  Grand 
Lodge  what  the  records  call  "  an  eloquent 
oration  about  Masons  and  Masonry."  It 
does  not  appear  that  it  was  ever  published, 
at  least  no  copy  of  it  is  extant,  although 
Kloss  puts  the  title  at  the  head  of  his  Cata- 


216 


DESAGULIERS 


DES 


logue  of  Masonic  Orations.  It  is,  indeed, 
the  first  Masonic  address  of  which  we  have 
any  notice,  and  would  be  highly  interesting, 
because  it  would  give  us,  in  all  probability, 
as  Kloss  remarks,  the  views  of  the  Masons 
of  that  day  in  reference  to  the  design  of  the 
Institution. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  office  of 
Grand  Master,  in  1720,  Desaguliers  was 
three  times  appointed  Deputy  Grand  Mas- 
ter :  in  1723,  by  the  Duke  of  Warton ;  in 
1724,  by  the  Earl  of  Dalkeith ;  in  1725,  by 
Lord  Paisly;  and  during  this  period  of 
service  he  did  many  things  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Craft;  among  others,  initiating  that 
scheme  of  charity  which  was  subsequently 
developed  in  what  is  now  known  in  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  as  the  Fund  of 
Benevolence. 

After  this,  Dr.  Desaguliers  passed  over 
to  the  Continent,  and  resided  for  a  few 
years  in  Holland.  In  1731  he  was  at  the 
Hague,  and  presided  as  Worshipful  Master 
of  a  Lodge  organized  under  a  special  dep- 
utation for  the  purpose  of  initiating  and 
passing  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  who  was 
subsequently  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  and 
then  Emperor  of  Germany.  The  duke 
was,  during  the  same  year,  made  a  Master 
Mason  in  England. 

On  his  return  to  England,  Desaguliers 
was  considered,  from  his  position  in  Ma- 
sonry, as  the  most  fitting  person  to  confer 
the  degrees  on  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who 
was  accordingly  entered,  passed,  and  raised 
in  an  occasional  Lodge,  held  on  two  occa- 
sions at  Kew,  over  which  Dr.  Desaguliers 
presided  as  Master. 

Dr.  Desaguliers  was  very  attentive  to  his 
Masonic  duties,  and  punctual  in  his  attend- 
ance on  the  communications  of  the  Grand 
Lodge.  His  last  recorded  appearance  by 
name  is  on  the  19th  of  March,  1741,  but  a 
few  years  before  his  death. 

Of  Desagulier's  Masonic  and  personal 
character,  Dr.  Oliver  gives,  from  tradition, 
the  following  description : 

"There  were  many  traits  in  his  charac- 
ter that  redound  to  his  immortal  praise. 
He  was  a  grave  man  in  private  life,  almost 
approaching  to  austerity;  but  he  could 
relax  in  the  private  recesses  of  a  tiled 
Lodge,  and  in  company  with  brothers  and 
fellows,  where  the  ties  of  social  intercourse 
are  not  particularly  stringent.  He  consid- 
ered the  proceedings  of  the  Lodge  as  strictly 
confidential ;  and  being  persuaded  that  his 
brothers  by  initiation  actually  occupied  the 
same  position  as  brothers  by  blood,  he  was 
undisguisedly  free  and  familiar  in  the  mu- 
tual interchange  of  unrestrained  courtesy. 
In  the  Lodge  he  was  jocose  and  free- 
hearted, sang  his  song,  and  had  no  objec- 
tion to  his  share  of  the  bottle,  although 


one  of  the  most  learned  and  distinguished 
men  of  his  day." 

In  1713,  Desaguliers  had  married  a 
daughter  of  William  Pudsey,  Esq.,  by 
whom  he  had  two  sons,  —  Alexander,  who 
was  a  clergyman,  and  Thomas,  who  went 
into  the  army,  and  became  a  colonel  of 
artillery  and  an  equerry  to  George  III. 

The  latter  days  of  Dr.  Desaguliers  are 
said  to  have  been  clouded  with  sorrow  and 
poverty.  De  Feller,  in  the  Biographie 
Universette,  says  that  he  became  insane, 
dressing  sometimes  as  a  harlequin,  and 
sometimes  as  a  clown,  and  that  in  one  of 
these  fits  of  insanity  he  died.  And  Caw- 
thorn,  in  a  poem  entitled  The  Vanity  of 
Human  Enjoyments,  intimates,  in  the  fol- 
lowing lines,  that  Desaguliers  was  in  very 
necessitous  circumstances  at  the  time  of 
his  death : 

"  JTow  poor,  neglected  Desaguliers  fell  I 
How  he  who  taught  two  gracious  kings  to  view 
All  Boyle  ennobled  and  all  Bacon  knew, 
Died  in  a  cell,  without  a  friend  to  save, 
Without  a  guinea,  and  without  a  grave." 

But  the  accounts  of  the  French  biogra- 
pher and  the  English  poet  are  most  prob- 
ably both  apocryphal,  or,  at  least,  much 
exaggerated ;  for  Nichols,  who  knew  him 
personally,  and  has  given  a  fine  portrait 
of  him  in  the  ninth  volume  of  his  Literary 
Anecdotes,  says  that  he  died  on  the  29th 
of  February,  1744,  at  the  Bedford  Coffee 
House,  and  was  buried  in  the  Savoy. 

To  few  Masons  of  the  present  day,  except 
to  those  who  have  made  Freemasonry  a 
subject  of  especial  study,  is  the  name  of 
Desaguliers  very  familiar.  But  it  is  well 
they  should  know  that  to  him,  perhaps, 
more  than  to  any  other  man,  are  we  in- 
debted for  the  present  existence  of  Free- 
masonry as  a  living  institution  ;  for  when, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
Masonry  had  fallen  into  a  state  of  deca- 
dence which  threatened  its  extinction,  it 
was  Desaguliers  who,  by  his  energy  and 
enthusiasm,  infused  a  spirit  of  zeal  into 
his  contemporaries,  which  culminated  in 
the  revival  of  the  year  1717 ;  and  it  was 
his  learning  and  social  position  that  gave 
a  standing  to  the  Institution,  which  brought 
to  its  support  noblemen  and  men  of  influ- 
ence, so  that  the  insignificant  assemblage 
of  four  London  Lodges  at  the  Apple-Tree 
Tavern  has  expanded  into  an  association 
which  now  overshadows  the  entire  civilized 
world.  And  the  moving  spirit  of  all  this 
was  John  Theophilus  Desaguliers. 

Des  Etangs,  Nicholas  Charles. 
A  Masonic  reformer,  who  was  born  at  Alli- 
champs,  in  France,  on  the  7th  of  September, 
1766,  and  died  at  Paris  on  the  6th  of  May, 
1847.     He  was  initiated,  in  1797,  into  Ma- 


DESIGN 


DEUCHAR 


217 


sonry  in  the  Lodge  L'Heureuse  Eencontre. 
He  subsequently  removed  to  Paris,  where, 
in  1822,  he  became  the  Master  of  the  Lodge 
of  Trinosophs,  which  position  he  held  for 
nine  years.  Thinking  that  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Masonic  system  in  France  did  not 
respond  to  the  dignity  of  the  Institution, 
but  were  gradually  being  diverted  from  its 
original  design,  he  determined  to  com- 
mence a  reform  in  the  recognized  dogmas, 
legends,  and  symbols,  which  he  proposed  .to 
present  in  new  forms  more  in  accord  with 
the  manners  of  the  present  age.  There 
was,  therefore,  very  little  of  conservation 
in  the  system  of  Des  Etangs.  It  was,  how- 
ever, adopted  for  a  time  by  many  of  the 
Parisian  Lodges,  and  Des  Etangs  was 
loaded  with  honors.  His  Rite  embraced 
five  degrees,  viz.,  1,  2.  3,  the  Symbolic  de- 

grees;  4,  the  Rose  Croix  rectified;  5,  the 
rrand  Elect  Knight  Kadosh.  He  gave  to 
his  system  the  title  of  "  Masonry  Restored 
to  its  True  Principles,"  and  fully  developed 
it  in  his  work  entitled  Veritable  Lien  des 
Peuples,  which  was  first  published  in  1823. 
Des  Etangs  also  published  in  1825  a  very 
able  reply  to  the  calumnies  of  the  Abb6 
Barruel,  under  the  title  of  La  Franc-Ma- 
connerie  justifee  de  toute  les  calomnies  repan- 
dues  contre  elles.  In  the  system  of  Des 
Etangs,  the  Builder  of  the  Temple  is  sup- 
posed to  symbolize  the  Good  Genius  of  Hu- 
manity destroyed  by  Ignorance,  Falsehood, 
and  Ambition ;  and  hence  the  third  degree 
is  supposed  to  typify  the  battle  between  lib- 
erty and  despotism.  In  the  same  spirit,  the 
justness  of  destroying  impious  kings  is  con- 
sidered the  true  dogma  of  the  Rose  Croix. 
In  fact,  the  tumults  of  the  French  revolution, 
in  which  Des  Etangs  took  no  inconsider- 
able share,  had  infected  his  spirit  with  a 
political  temperament,  which  unfortunately 
appears  too  prominently  in  many  portions 
of  his  Masonic  system.  Notwithstanding 
that  he  incorporated  two  of  the  high  de- 
grees into  his  Rite,  Des  Etangs  considered 
the  three  Symbolic  degrees  as  the  only  legi- 
timate Masonry,  and  says  that  all  other 
degrees  have  been  instituted  by  various 
associations  and  among  different  peoples 
on  occasions  when  it  was  desired  to  re- 
venge a  death,  to  re-establish  a  prince,  or 
to  give  success  to  a  sect. 

Design  of  Freemasonry.  It  is 
neither  charity  nor  almsgiving,  nor  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  social  sentiment ;  for  both 
of  these  are  merely  incidental  to  its  organ- 
ization ;  but  it  is  the  search  after  truth, 
and  that  truth  is  the  unity  of  God  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  The  various  de- 
grees or  grades  of  initiation  represent  the 
various  stages  through  which  the  human 
mind  passes,  and  the  many  difficulties 
which  men,  individually  or  collectively, 
2C 


must  encounter  in  their  progress  from  igno- 
rance to  the  acquisition  of  this  truth. 
Destruction  of  the  Teniple.    The 

Temple  of  King  Solomon  was  destroyed 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  King  of  the  Chaldees, 
during  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  A.  M.  3416, 
B.  c.  588,  and  just  four  hundred  and  sixteen 
years  alter  its  dedication.  Although  the 
city  was  destroyed  and  the  Temple  burnt, 
the  Masonic  legends  state  that  the  deep 
foundations  of  the  latter  were  not  affected. 
Nebuchadnezzar  caused  the  city  of  Jerusa- 
lem to  be  levelled  to  the  ground,  the  royal 
palace  to  be  burned,  the  Temple  to  be  pil- 
laged as  well  as  destroyed,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants to  be  carried  captive  to  Babylon. 
These  events  are  symbolically  detailed  in 
the  Royal  Arch,  and,  in  allusion  to  them, 
the  passage  of  the  Book  of  Chronicles  which 
records  them  is  appropriately  read  during 
the  ceremonies  of  this  part  of  the  degree. 

Detached  Degrees.  Side  or  hono- 
rary degrees  outside  of  the  regular  succes- 
sion of  degrees  of  a  Rite,  and  which,  being 
conferred  without  the  authority  of  a  su- 
preme controlling  body,  are  said  to  be  to 
the  side  of  or  detached  from  the  regular 
regime.  The  word  detached  is  peculiar  to 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
Thus,  in  the  circular  of  the  Southern  Su- 
preme Council,  October  10, 1802,  is  the  fol- 
lowing: "Besides  those  degrees  which  are 
in  regular  succession,  most  of  the  Inspec- 
tors are  in  possession  of  a  number  of  de- 
tached degrees,  given  in  different  parts  of 
the  world,  and  which  they  generally  com- 
municate, free  of  expense,  to  those  breth- 
ren who  are  high  enough  to  understand 
them." 

Denchar  Charters.  Warrants  some 
of  which  are  still  in  existence  in  Scotland, 
and  which  are  used  to  authorize  the  work- 
ing of  the  Knights  Templars  degree  by 
certain  Encampments  in  that  country. 
They  were  designated  "Deuchar  Charters," 
on  account  of  Alexander  Deuchar,  an  en- 
graver and  heraldic  writer,  having  been 
the  chief  promoter  of  the  Grand  Conclave 
and  its  first  Grand  Master.  To  his  exer- 
tions, also,  the  Supreme  Grand  Royal  Arch 
Chapter  of  Scotland  may  be  said  to  have 
owed  its  origin.  He  appears  to  have  be- 
come acquainted  with  Knight  Templarism 
early  in  the  present  century  through  breth- 
ren who  had  been  dubbed  under  a  warrant 
emanating  from  Dublin,  and  which  was 
held  by  Fratres  serving  in  the  Shropshire 
Militia.  This  corps  was  quartered  in  Edin- 
burgh in  1798;  and  in  all  probability  it 
was  through  the  instrumentality  of  its 
members  that  the  first  Grand  Assembly 
of  Knights  Templars  was  first  set  up  in 
Edinburgh.  Subsequently,  this  gave  place 
to  the  Grand  Assembly  of  High  Knights 


218 


DEUS 


DEVICE 


Templars  in  Edinburgh,  working  under  a 
charter,  No.  31,  of  the  Early  Grand  En- 
campment of  Ireland,  of  which  in  1807 
Deuchar  was  Grand  Master.  The  Deuchar 
Charters  authorized  Encampments  to  install 
"Knights  Templars  and  Knights  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,"  —  one  condition  on 
which  these  warrants  were  held  being 
"  that  no  communion  or  intercourse  shall 
be  maintained  with  any  Chapter  or  En- 
campment, or  body  assuming  that  name, 
holding  meetings  of  Knights  Templars 
under  a  Master  Mason's  Charter."  In 
1837  the  most  of  these  warrants  were  for- 
feited, and  the  Encampments  erased  from 
the  roll  of  the  Grand  Conclave,  on  account 
of  not  making  the  required  returns. 

Dens  Meumque  Jus.  God  and 
my  right.  The  motto  of  the  thirty-third 
degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  and  hence  adopted  as  that  also 
of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Rite.  It  is 
a  Latin  translation  of  the  motto  of  the 
royal  arms  of  England,  which  is  "  Dieu 
et  mon  droit,"  and  concerning  which  we 
have  the  following  tradition.  Richard  Coeur 
de  Leon,  besieging  Gisors,  in  Normandy,  in 
1198,  gave,  as  a  parole,  "  Dieu  et  mon  droit," 
because  Philip  Augustus,  king  of  France, 
had,  without  right,  taken  that  city,  which 
then  belonged  to  England.  Richard,  hav- 
ing been  victorious  with  that  righteous 
parole,  hence  adopted  it  as  his  motto;  and 
it  was  afterwards  marshalled  in  the  arms 
of  England. 

Development.  The  ancients  often 
wrote  their  books  on  parchment,  which 
were  made  up  into  a  roll,  hence  called  a  vol- 
ume, from  volvere,  "  to  roll  up."  Thus,  he 
who  read  the  book  commenced  by  unrolling 
it,  a  custom  still  practised  by  the  Jews  in 
reading  their  Sacred  Law,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  whole  volume  was  unrolled  and  read 
that  he  became  the  master  of  its  contents. 
Now,  in  the  Latin  language,  to  unfold  or  to 
unroll  was  devolvere,  whence  we  get  our 
English  word  to  develop.  The  figurative 
signification  thus  elicited  from  etymology 
may  be  well  applied  to  the  idea  of  the  de- 
velopment Of  Masonry.  The  system  of 
Speculative  Masonry  is  a  volume  closely 
folded  from  unlawful  eyes,  and  he  who 
would  understand  its  true  intent  and  mean- 
ing must  follow  the  old  proverb,  and  "  com- 
mence at  the  beginning."  There  is  no 
royal  road  of  arriving  at  this  knowledge. 
It  can  be  attained  only  by  laborious  re- 
search. The  student  must  begin  as  an  Ap- 
prentice, by  studying  the  rudiments  that 
are  unfolded  on  its  first  page.  Then  as  a 
Fellow  Craft  still  more  of  the  precious 
writing  is  unrolled,  and  he  acquires  new 
ideas.  As  a  Master  he  continues  the  oper- 
ation, and  possesses  himself  of  additional 


material  for  thought.  But  it  is  not  until 
the  entire  volume  lies  unrolled  before  him, 
in  the  highest  degree,  and  the  whole  specu- 
lative system  of  its  philosophy  is  lying  out- 
spread before  him,  that  he  can  pretend  to 
claim  a  thorough  comprehension  of  its 
plan.  It  is  then  only  that  he  has  solved 
the  problem,  and  can  exclaim,  "the  end 
has  crowned  the  work."  The  Mason  who 
looks  only  on  the  ornamental  covering  of 
the  roll  knows  nothing  of  its  contents. 
Masonry  is  a  scheme  of  development ;  and 
he  who  has  learned  nothing  of"  its  design, 
and  who  is  daily  adding  nothing  to  his 
stock  of  Masonic  ideas,  is  simply  one  who 
is  not  unrolling  the  parchment.  It  is  a 
custom  of  the  Jews  on  their  Sabbath,  in  the 
synagogue,  that  a  member  should  pay  for  the 
privilege  of  unrolling  the  Sacred  Law.  So, 
too,  the  Mason,  who  would  uphold  the  law 
of  his  Institution,  must  pay  for  the  privi- 
lege, not  in  base  coin,  but  in  labor  and  re- 
search, studying  its  principles,  searching 
out  its  design,  and  imbibing  all  of  its  sym- 
bolism ;  and  the  payment  thus  made  will 
purchase  a  rich  jewel. 

Deviee.  A  term  in  heraldry  signify- 
ing any  emblem  used  to  represent  a  family, 
person,  nation,  or  society,  and  to  distin- 
guish such  from  any  other.  The  device  is 
usually  accompanied  with  a  suitable  motto 
applied  in  a  figurative  sense,  and  its  essence 
consists  in  a  metaphorical  similitude  be- 
tween the  thing  representing  and  that  rep- 
resented. Thus,  the  device  of  a  lion  repre- 
sents the  courage  of  the  person  bearing  it. 
The  oak  is  the  device  of  strength;  the 
palm,  of  victory;  the  sword,  of  honor;  and 
the  eagle,  of  sovereign  power.  The  several 
sections  of  the  Masonic  sodality  are  dis- 
tinguished by  appropriate  devices. 

1.  Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  Besides  the 
arms  of  Speculative  Masonry,  which  are  de- 
scribed in  this  work  under  the  appropriate 
head,  the  most  common  device  is  a  square 
and  compass. 

2.  Royal  Arch  Masonry.  The  device  is 
a  triple  tau  within  a  triangle. 

3.  Knight  Templarism.  The  ancient 
device,  which  was  borne  on  the  seals  and 
banners  of  the  primitive  Order,  was  two 
knights  riding  on  one  horse,  in  allusion  to 
the  vow  of  poverty  taken  by  the  founders. 
The  modern  device  of  Masonic  Templarism 
is  a  cross  pattee. 

4.  Scottish  Mite  Masonry.  The  device  is 
a  double-headed  eagle  crowned,  holding  in  his 
claios  a  sword. 

5.  Royal  and  Select  Masters.  The  device 
is  a  trowel  suspended  within  a  triangle,  in 
which  the  allusion  is  to  the  tetragrammaton 
symbolized  by  the  triangle  or  delta,  and 
the  workmen  at  the  first  Temple  symbolized 
by  the  trowel. 


DEVOIR 


DIMIT 


219 


6.  Hose  Croix  Masonry.  The  device  is  a 
cross  charged  with  a  rose  ;  at  its  foot  an  eagle 
and  a  pelican. 

7.  Knight  of  the  Sun.  This  old  degree  of 
philosophical  Masonry  has  for  its  device 
rays  of  light  issuing  from  a  triangle  inscribed 
within  a  circle  ofdarkness,yvh.ic\x  "teaches  us," 
says  Oliver,  "  that  when  man  was  enlight- 
ened by  the  Deity  with  reason,  he  became 
enabled  to  penetrate  the  darkness  and  ob- 
scurity which  ignorance  and  superstition 
have  spread  abroad  to  allure  men  to  their 
destruction." 

Each  of  these  devices  is  accompanied  by 
a  motto  which  properly  forms  a  part  of  it. 
These  mottoes  will  be  found  under  the 
head  of  Motto. 

The  Italian  heralds  have  paid  peculiar 
attention  to  the  subject  of  devices,  and  have 
established  certain  laws  for  their  construc- 
tion, which  are  generally  recognized  in 
other  countries.  These  laws  are,  1.  That 
there  be  nothing  extravagant  or  monstrous 
in  the  figures.  2.  That  figures  be  never 
joined  together  which  have  no  relation  or 
affinity  with  one  another.  3.  That  the 
human  body  should  never  be  used.  4.  That 
the  figures  should  be  few  in  number,  and  5, 
That  the  motto  should  refer  to  the  device, 
and  express  with  it  a  common  idea.  Ac- 
cording to  P.  Bouhours,  the  figure  or  em- 
blem was  called  the  body,  and  the  motto 
the  soul  of  the  device. 

Devoir.  The  gilds  or  separate  com- 
munities in  the  system  of  French  compag- 
nonage  are  called  devoirs.  See  Compag- 
nonage. 

Devoir  of  a  Knight.  The  original 
meaning  of  devoir  is  duty ;  and  hence,  in 
the  language  of  chivalry,  a  knight's  devoir 
comprehended  the  performance  of  all  those 
duties  to  which  he  was  obligated  by  the 
laws  of  knighthood  and  the  vows  taken  at 
his  creation.  These  were  the  defence  of 
widows  and  orphans,  the  maintenance  of 
justice,  and  the  protection  of  the  poor  and 
weak  against  the  oppressions  of  the  strong 
and  great.  Thus,  in  one  of  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  plays,  the  knight  says  to  the 
lady: 

"  Madame,  if  any  service  or  devoir 
Of  a  poor  errant  knight  may  right  your  wrongs, 
Command  it ;  I  am  prest  to  give  you  succor, 
For  to  that  holy  end  I  bear  my  armor." 
KniglU  of  the  Burning  Pestle.  Act  II.,  Scene  1. 

The  devoir  of  a  Knight  Templar  was 
originally  to  protect  pilgrims  on  their  visit 
to  the  Holy  Land,  and  to  defend  the  holy 
places.  The  devoir  of  a  modern  Knight 
Templar  is  to  defend  innocent  virgins,  des- 
titute widows,  helpless  orphans,  and  the 
Christian  religion. 

Devotions.    The  prayers  in  a  Com- 


mandery  of  Knights  Templars  are  techni- 
cally called  the  devotions  of  the  knights. 

Dialectics.  That  branch  of  logic 
which  teaches  the  rules  and  modes  of  rea- 
soning. Dialecticke  and  dialeclicus  are  used 
as  corruptions  of  the  Latin  dialectica  in 
some  of  the  old  manuscript  Constitutions, 
instead  of  logic,  in  the  enumeration  of  the 
seven  liberal  arts  and  sciences. 

Diamond.  A  precious  stone;  in  He- 
brew, DSni.  It  was  the  third  stone  in  the 
second  row  of  the  high  priest's  breastplate, 
according  to  the  enumeration  of  Aben  Ezra, 
and  corresponded  to  the  tribe  of  Zebulun. 
But  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  diamond 
was  known  in  the  time  of  Moses ;  and  if  it 
was,  its  great  value  and  its  insusceptibility 
to  the  impression  of  a  graving-tool  would 
have  rendered  it  totally  unfit  as  a  stone  in 
the  breastplate.  The  Vulgate  more  prop- 
erly gives  the  jasper. 

Dieseal.  A  term  used  by  the  Druids 
to  designate  the  circumambulation  around 
the  sacred  cairns,  and  is  derived  from  two 
words  signifying  "on  the  right  of  the  sun," 
because  the  circumambulation  was  always 
in  imitation  of  the  course  of  the  sun,  with 
the  right  hand  next  to  the  cairn  or  altar. 
See  Circumambulation. 

Dieu  et  moil  Droit.  See  Beits  Me- 
unique  Jus. 

Dieu  le  Tent.  God  wills  it.  The 
war-cry  of  the  old  Crusaders,  and  hence 
adopted  as  a  motto  in  the  degrees  of  Tem- 
plarisra. 

Dignitaries.  The  Master,  the  War- 
dens, the  Orator,  and  the  Secretary  in  a 
French  Lodge  are  called  dignitaries.  The 
corresponding  officers  in  the  Grand  Orient 
are  called  Grand  Dignitaries.  In  English 
and  American  Masonic  language  the  term 
is  usually  restricted  to  high  officers  of  the 
Grand  Lodge. 

Dimit.  A  modern,  American,  and 
wholly  indefensible  corruption  of  the  tech- 
nical word  Demit.  As  the  use  of  this  cor- 
rupt form  is  beginning  to  be  very  prevalent 
among  American  Masonic  writers,  it  is 
proper  that  we  should  inquire  which  is  the 
correct  word,  Demit  or  Dimit. 

For  almost  a  century  and  a  half  the 
Masonic  world  has  been  content,  in  its 
technical  language,  to  use  the  word  demit. 
But  within  a  few  years,  a  few  admirers  of 
neologisms  —  men  who  are  always  ready  to 
believe  that  what  is  old  cannot  be  good, 
and  that  new  fashions  are  always  the  best 
—  have  sought  to  make  a  change  in  the 
well-established  word,  and,  by  altering  the 
e  in  the  first  syllable  into  an  i,  they  make 
another  word  dimit,  which  they  assert  is 
the  right  one.  It  is  simply  a  question  of 
orthography,  and  must  be  settled  first  by 
reference  to  usage,  and  then  to  etymology, 


220 


DIMIT 


DIMIT 


to  discover  which  of  the  words  sustains,  by 
its  derivation,  the  true  meaning  which  is 
intended  to  be  conveyed. 

It  is  proper,  however,  to  premise  that 
although  in  the  seventeenth  century  Sir 
Thomas  Browne  used  the  word  demit  as  a 
verb,  meaning  "  to  depress,"  and  Bishop 
Hall  used  dimit  as  signifying  to  send  away, 
yet  both  words  are  omitted  by  all  the  early 
lexicographers.  Neither  of  them  is  to  be 
found  in  Phillips,  in  1706,  nor  in  Blunt,  in 
1707,  nor  in  Bailey,  in  1732.  Johnson  and 
Sheridan,  of  a  still  later  date,  have  in- 
serted in  their  dictionaries  demit,  but  not 
dimit;  but  Walker,  Richardson,  and  Web- 
ster give  both  words,  but  only  as  verbs. 
The  verb  to  demit  or  to  dimit  may  be  found, 
but  never  the  noun  a  demit  or  a  dimit.  As 
a  noun  substantive,  this  word,  however  it 
may  be  spelled,  is  unknown  to  the  general 
language,  and  is  strictly  a  technical  expres- 
sion peculiar  to  Freemasonry. 

As  a  Masonic  technicality  we  must  then 
discuss  it.     And,  first,  as  to  its  meaning. 

Dr.  Oliver,  who  omits  dimit  in  his  Dic- 
tionary of  Symbolical  Masonry,  defines  demit 
thus :  "  A  Mason  is  said  to  demit  from  the 
Order  when  he  withdraws  from  all  connec- 
tion with  it."  It  will  be  seen  that  he 
speaks  of  it  here  only  as  a  verb,  and  makes 
no  reference  to  its  use  as  a  noun. 

Macoy,  in  his  Cyclopaedia,  omits  demit, 
but  defines  dimit  thus :  "  From  the  Latin 
dimitto,  to  permit  to  go.  The  act  of  with- 
drawing from  membership."  To  say  noth- 
ing of  the  incorrectness  of  this  definition,  to 
which  reference  will  hereafter  be  made, 
there  is  in  it  a  violation  of  the  principles 
of  language  which  is  worthy  of  note.  No 
rule  is  better  settled  than  that  which  makes 
the  verb  and  the  noun  derived  from  it  have 
the  same  relative  signification.  Thus,  "  to 
discharge"  means  "to  dismiss;"  "a  dis- 
charge "  means  " a  dismission  ;  "  "to  ap- 
prove "  means  "  to  express  liking  ;  "  "  an 
approval"  means  "  an  expression  of  liking;" 
" to  remit "  means  "  to  relax  ; "  "a  remis- 
sion" means  "  a  relaxation,"  and  so  with  a 
thousand  other  instances.  Now,  according 
to  this  rule,  if  "to  demit"  means  "to  per- 
mit to  go,"  then  "a  dimit "  should  mean 
"  a  permission  to  go."  The  withdrawal  is 
something  subsequent  and  consequent,  but 
it  may  never  take  place.  According  to 
Macoy's  definition  of  the  verb,  the  grant- 
ing of  "a  dimit"  does  not  necessarily  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  Mason  who  re- 
ceived it  has  left  the  Lodge.  He  has  only 
been  permitted  to  do  so.  This  is  contrary 
to  the  universally  accepted  definition  of 
the  word.  Accordingly,  when  he  comes  to 
define  the  word  as  a  noun,  he  gives  it  the 
true  meaning,  which,  however,  does  not 
agree  with  his  previous  definition  as  a  verb. 


In  instituting  the  inquiry  which  of  these 
two  words  is  the  true  one,  we  must  first 
look  to  the  general  usage  of  Masonic  writ- 
ers ;  for,  after  all,  the  rule  of  Horace  holds 
good,  that  in  the  use  of  words  we  must  be 
governed  by  custom  or  usage, 

"  whose  arbitrary  sway 

Words  and  the  forms  of  language  must  obey." 

If  we  shall  find  that  the  universal  usage 
of  Masonic  writers  until  a  very  recent  date 
has  been  to  employ  the  form  demit,  then 
we  are  bound  to  believe  that  it  is  the  cor- 
rect form,  notwithstanding  a  few  writers 
have  very  recently  sought  to  intrude  the 
form  dimit  upon  us. 

Now,  how  stands  the  case?  The  first 
time  that  we  find  the  word  demit  used  is 
in  the  second  edition  of  Anderson's  Consti- 
tutions, Anno  1732,  p.  153.  There  it  is  said 
that  on  the  25th  of  November,  1723,  "  it 
was  agreed  that  if  a  Master  of  a  particular 
Lodge  is  deposed,  or  demits,  the  Senior 
Warden  shall  forthwith  fill  the  Master's 
Chair." 

The  word  continued  in  use  as  a  technical 
word  in  the  Masonry  of  England  for  many 
years.  In  the  editions  of  the  Constitutions 
published  in  1756,  p.  310,  the  passage  just 
quoted  is  again  recited,  and  the  word  demit 
is  again  employed  in  the  fourth  edition  of 
the  Constitutions  published  in  1769,  p.  358. 

In  the  second  edition  of  Dermott's 
"Ahiman  Rezon,"  published  in  1764,  (I 
have  not  the  first,)  p.  52,  and  in  the  third 
edition,  published  in  1778,  p.  58,  the  word 
demit  is  employed.  Oliver,  it  will  be  seen, 
uses  it  in  his  Dictionary,  published  in  1853. 
But  the  word  seems  to  have  become  obso- 
lete in  England,  and  to  resign  is  now  con- 
stantly used  by  English  Masonic  writers  in 
the  place  of  to  demit. 

In  America,  however,  the  word  has  been 
and  continues  to  be  in  universal  use,  and 
has  always  beeu  spelled,  until  very  recently, 
demit. 

Thus  we  find  it  used  by  Taunehill,  Man- 
ual, 1845,  p.  59 ;  Morris,  Code  of  Masonic 
Law,  1856,  p.  289 ;  by  Hubbard,  in  1851 ; 
by  Chase,  Digest,  1859,  p.  104;  by  Mitch- 
ell, Masonic  History,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  556,  592, 
and  by  all  the  Grand  Lodges  whose  pro- 
ceedings I  have  examined  up  to  the  year 
1860,  and  probably  beyond  that  date. 

On  the  contrary,  the  word  dimit  is  of 
very  recent  origin,  and  has  been  used  only 
within  a  few  years.  Usage,  therefore,  both 
English  and  American,  is  clearly  in  favor 
of  demit,  and  dimit  must  be  considered  as 
an  interloper,  and  ought  to  be  consigned 
to  the  tomb  of  the  Capulets. 

And  now  we  are  to  inquire  whether  this 
usage  is  sustained  by  the  principles  of  ety- 


DIMIT 


DIMIT 


221 


mology.  First,  let  us  obtain  a  correct  defi- 
nition of  the  word. 

To  demit,  in  Masonic  language,  means 
simply  to  resign.  The  Mason  who  demits 
from  his  Lodge  resigns  from  it.  The  word 
is  used  in  the  exact  sense,  for  instance,  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Wisconsin,  where  it  is  said :  "  No  brother 
shall  be  allowed  to  demit  from  any  Lodge 
unless  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  with  some 
other."  That  is  to  say  :  "  No  brother  shall 
be  allowed  to  resign  from  any  Lodge." 

Now  what  are  the  respective  meanings 
of  demit  and  dimit  in  ordinary  language? 

There  the  words  are  found  to  be  entirely 
different  in  signification. 

To  demit  is  derived  first  from  the  Latin 
demittere  through  the  French  demetlre.  In 
Latin  the  prefixed  particle  de  has  the 
weight  of  down;  added  to  the  verb  mittere, 
to  send,  it  signifies  to  let  down  from  an 
elevated  position  to  a  lower.  Thus,  Caesar 
used  it  in  this  very  sense,  when,  in  describ- 
ing the  storming  of  Avaricum,  (Bel.  Gal., 
vii.  28,)  he  says  that  the  Roman  soldiers 
did  not  let  themselves  down,  that  is,  de- 
scend from  the  top  of  the  wall  to  the  level 
ground.  The  French,  looking  to  this  ref- 
erence to  a  descent  from  a  higher  to  a 
lower  position,  made  their  verb  se  demettre, 
used  in  a  reflective  sense,  signify  to  give  up 
a  post,  office,  or  occupation,  that  is  to  say, 
to  resign  it.  And  thence  the  English  use 
of  the  word  is  reducible,  which  makes  to 
demit  signify  to  resign.  We  have  another 
word  in  our  language  also  derived  from  de- 
mettre, and  in  which  the  same  idea  of  resig- 
nation is  apparent.  It  is  the  word  demise, 
which  was  originally  confined  to  express 
a  royal  death.  The  old  maxim  was  that 
"  the  king  never  dies."  So,  instead  of  say- 
ing "the  death  of  the  king,"  they  said 
"  the  demise  of  the  king,"  thereby  meaning 
his  resignation  of  the  crown  to  his  succes- 
sor. The  word  is  now  applied  more  gene- 
rally, and  we  speak  of  the  demise  of  Mr. 
Pitt,  or  any  other  person. 

To  dimit  is  derived  from  the  Latin  dimit- 
tere.  The  prefixed -particle  di  or  die  has 
the  effect  of  off  from,  and  hence  dimittere 
means  to  send  away.  Thus,  Terence  uses  it 
to  express  the  meaning  of  dismissing  or 
sending  away  an  army. 

Both  words  are  now  obsolete  in  the  Eng- 
lish language.  They  were  formerly  used, 
but  in  the  different  senses  already  indicated. 

Thus,  Hollinshed  employs  demit  to  signi- 
fy a  surrender,  yielding  up  or  resignation 
of  a  franchise. 

Bishop  Hall  uses  dimit  to  signify  a  send- 
ing away  of  a  servant  by  his  master. 

Demit,  as  a  noun,  is  not  known  in  good 
English  ;  the  correlative  nouns  of  the  verbs 
to  demit  and  to  dimit  are  demission  and  di- 


mission.  "  A  demit "  is  altogether  a  Ma- 
sonic technicality,  and  is,  moreover,  an 
Americanism  of  very  recent  usage. 

It  is  then  evident  that  to  demit  is  the 
proper  word,  and  that  to  use  to  dimit  is  to 
speak  and  write  incorrectly.  When  a  Ma- 
son "demits  from  a  Lodge,"  we  mean  that 
he  "  resigns  from  a  Lodge,"  because  to  demit 
means  to  resign.  But  what  does  any  one 
mean  when  he  says  that  a  Mason  "dimits 
from  a  Lodge "  ?  To  dimit  means,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  send  away,  therefore  "  he  di- 
mits from  the  Lodge"  is  equivalent  to  say- 
ing "  he  sends  away  from  the  Lodge,"  which 
of  course  is  not  only  bad  English,  but  sheer 
nonsense.  If  dimit  is  to  be  used  at  all,  as 
it  is  an  active,  transitive  verb,  it  must  be 
used  only  in  that  form,  and  we  must  either 
say  that  "  a  Lodge  dimits  a  Mason,"  or  that 
"a  Mason  is  dimitted  by  his  Lodge." 

I  think  that  I  have  discovered  the  way 
in  which  this  blunder  first  arose.  Robert 
Morris,  in  his  Code  of  Masonic  Law,  p.  289, 
has  the  following  passage : 

"A  'demit,'  technically  considered,  is 
the  act  of  withdrawing,  and  applies  to  the 
Lodge  and  not  to  the  individual.  A  Mason 
cannot  demit,  in  the  strict  sense,  but  the 
Lodge  may  demit  (dismiss)  him." 

It  is  astonishing  how  the  author  of  this 
passage  could  have  crowded  into  so  brief  a 
space  so  many  violations  of  grammar,  law, 
and  common  sense.  First,  to  demit  means 
to  withdraw,  and  then  this  withdrawal  is 
made  the  act  of  the  Lodge  and  not  of  the 
individual,  as  if  the  Lodge  withdrew  the 
member  instead  of  the  member  withdraw- 
ing himself.  And  immediately  afterwards, 
seeing  the  absurdity  of  this  doctrine,  and  to 
make  the  demission  the  act  of  the  Lodge, 
he  changes  the;  signification  of  the  word, 
and  makes  to  demit  mean  to  dismiss.  Cer- 
tainly it  is  impossible  to  discuss  the  law  of 
Masonic  demission  when  such  contrary 
meanings  are  given  to  the  word  in  one  and 
the  same  paragraph. 

But  certain  wiseacres,  belonging  prob- 
ably to  that  class  who  believe  that  there  is 
always  improvement  in  change,  seizing 
upon  this  latter  definition  of  Morris,  that  to 
demit  meant  to  dismiss,  and  seeing  that  this 
was  a  meaning  which  the  word  never  had, 
and,  from  its  derivation  from  demittere, 
never  could  have,  changed  the  word  from 
demit  to  dimit,  which  really  does  have  the 
meaning  of  sending  away  or  dismissing. 
But  as  the  Masonic  act  of  demission  does 
not  mean  a  dismissal  from  the  Lodge,  be- 
cause that  would  be  an  expulsion,  but 
simply  a  resignation,  the  word  dimit  cannot 
properly  be  applied  to  the  act. 

A  Mason  demits  from  the  Lodge ;  he  re- 
signs. He  takes  out  his  demit,  (a  strictly 
technical  expression  and  altogether  con- 


222 


DIOCESAN 


DIONYSIAN 


fined  to  this  country;)  he  asks  for  and  re- 
ceives an  acceptance  of  his  resignation. 

Diocesan.  The  fifth  degree  of  Bahrdt's 
German  Union. 

Dionysian  Architects.  The  priests 
of  Bacchus,  or,  as  the  Greeks  called  him, 
Dionysus,  having  devoted  themselves  to 
architectural  pursuits,  established  about 
1000  years  before  the  Christian  era  a  so- 
ciety or  fraternity  of  builders  in  Asia 
Minor,  which  is  styled  by  the  ancient 
writers  the  Fraternity  of  Dionysian  Archi- 
tects, and  to  this  society  was  exclusively 
confined  the  privilege  of  erecting  temples 
and  other  public  buildings. 

The  members  of  the  Fraternity  of  Diony- 
sian Architects  were  linked  together  by  the 
secret  ties  of  the  Dionysian  mysteries,  into 
which  they  had  all  been  initiated.  Thus 
constituted,  the  Fraternity  was  distinguished 
by  many  peculiarities  that  strikingly  as- 
similate it  to  our  Order.  In  the  exercise 
of  charity,  the  "more  opulent  were  sa- 
credly bound  to  provide  for  the  exigencies 
of  the  poorer  brethren."  For  the  facilities 
of  labor  and  government,  they  were  divided 
into  communities  called  awoudat,  each  of 
which  was  governed  by  a  Master  and  War- 
dens. They  held  a  general  assembly  or 
grand  festival  once  a  year,  which  was  sol- 
emnized with  great  pomp  and  splendor. 
They  employed  in  their  ceremonial  observ- 
ances many  of  the  implements  which  are 
still  to  be  found  among  Freemasons,  and 
used,  like  them,  a  universal  language,  by 
which  one  brother  could  distinguish  another 
in  the  dark  as  well  as  in  the  light,  and 
which  served  to  unite  the  members  scat- 
tered over  India,  Persia,  and  Syria,  into 
one  common  brotherhood.  The  existence 
of  this  order  in  Tyre,  at  the  time  of  the 
building  of  the  Temple,  is  universally  ad- 
mitted; and  Hiram,  the  widow's  son,  to 
whom  Solomon  intrusted  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  workmen,  as  an  inhabitant  of 
Tyre,  and  as  a  skilful  architect  and  cunning 
and  curious  workman,  was,  very  probably, 
one  of  its  members.  Hence,  we  may  legi- 
timately suppose  that  the  Dionysians  were 
sent  by  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  to  assist 
King  Solomon  in  the  construction  of  the 
house  he  was  about  to  dedicate  to  Jehovah, 
and  that  they  communicated  to  their  Jew- 
ish fellow-laborers  a  knowledge  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  their  Fraternity,  and  invited 
them  to  a  participation  in  its  mysteries  and 
privileges.  In  this  union,  however,  the 
apocryphal  legend  of  the  Dionysians  would 
naturally  give  way  to  the  true  legend  of 
the  Masons,  which  was  unhappily  fur- 
nished by  a  melancholy  incident  that  oc- 
curred at  the  time.  The  latter  part  of  this 
statement  is,  it  is  admitted,  a  mere  specula- 
tion, but  one  that  has  met  the  approval  of 


Lawrie,  Oliver,  and  our  best  writers;  and 
although  this  connection  between  the 
Dionysian  Architects  and  the  builders  of 
King  Solomon  may  not  be  supported  by 
documentary  evidence,  the  traditionary 
theory  is  at  least  plausible,  and  offers  noth- 
ing which  is  either  absurd  or  impossible. 
If  accepted,  it  supplies  the  necessary  link 
which  connects  the  Pagan  with  the  Jewish 
mysteries. 

The  history  of  this  association  subse- 
quently to  the  Solomonic  era  has  been  de- 
tailed by  Masonic  writers,  who  have  derived 
their  information  sometimes  from  conjec- 
tural and  sometimes  from  historical  au- 
thority. About  300  years  B.  c,  they  were 
incorporated  by  the  kings  of  Pergamos  at 
Teos,  which  was  assigned  to  them  as  a  settle- 
ment, and  where  they  continued  for  centu- 
ries as  an  exclusive  society  engaged  in  the 
erection  of  works  of  art  and  the  celebra- 
tion of  their  mysteries.  Notwithstanding 
the  edict  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius  which 
abolished  all  mystical  associations,  they 
are  said  to  have  continued  their  existence 
down  to  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  and 
during  the  constant  communication  which 
was  kept  up  between  the  two  continents 
passed  over  from  Asia  to  Europe,  where 
they  became  known  as  the  "Travelling 
Freemasons "  of  the  Middle  Ages,  into 
whose  future  history  they  thus  became 
merged. 

Dionysian  Mysteries.  These  mys- 
teries were  celebrated  throughout  Greece 
and  Asia  Minor,  but  principally  at  Athens, 
where  the  years  were  numbered  by  them. 
They  were  instituted  in  honor  of  Bacchus, 
or,  as  the  Greeks  called  him,  Dionysus,  and 
were  introduced  into  Greece  from  Egypt. 
In  these  mysteries,  the  murder  of  Dionysus 
by  the  Titans  was  commemorated,  in  which 
legend  he  is  evidently  identified  with  the 
Egyptian  Osiris,  who  was  slain  by  his  bro- 
ther Typhon.  The  aspirant,  in  the  cere- 
monies through  which  he  passed,  repre- 
sented the  murder  of  the  god  and  his 
restoration  to  life,  which,  says  the  Baron  de 
Sacy,  {Notes  on  Sainte-Croix,  ii.  86,)  were 
the  subject  of  allegorical  explanations  alto- 
gether analogous  to  those  which  were  given 
to  the  rape  of  Proserpine  and  the  murder 
of  Osiris. 

The  commencement  of  the  mysteries  was 
signalized  by  the  consecration  of  an  egg,  in 
allusion  to  the  mundane  egg  from  which 
all  things  were  supposed  to  have  sprung. 
The  candidate  having  been  first  purified  by 
water,  and  crowned  with  a  myrtle  branch, 
was  introduced  into  the  vestibule,  and 
there  clothed  in  the  sacred  habiliments. 
He  was  then  delivered  to  the  conductor, 
who,  after  the  mystic  warning,  enag,  emg, 
cote  pe^ri?Mi,  "Depart  hence,  all  ye  pro- 


DIONYSIAN 


DISCALCEATION 


223 


fane !  "  exhorted  the  candidate  to  exert  all 
his  fortitude  and  courage  in  the  dangers 
and  trials  through  which  he  was  about  to 
pass.  He  was  then  led  through  a  series  of 
dark  caverns,  a  part  of  the  ceremonies 
which  Stobams  calls  "  a  rude  and  fearful 
march  through  night  and  darkness."  Dur- 
ing this  passage  he  was  terrified  by  the 
howling  of  wild  beasts,  and  other  fearful 
noises;  artificial  thunder  reverberated 
through  the  subterranean  apartments,  and 
transient  flashes  of  lightning  revealed  mon- 
strous apparitions  to  his  sight.  In  this 
state  of  darkness  and  terror  he  was  kept 
for  three  days  and  nights,  after  which  he 
commenced  the  aphanism  or  mystical  death 
of  Bacchus.  He  was  now  placed  on  the 
pastos  or  couch,  that  is,  he  was  confined  in 
a  solitary  cell,  where  he  could  reflect  seri- 
ously on  the  nature  of  the  undertaking  in 
which  he  was  engaged.  During  this  time, 
he  was  alarmed  with  the  sudden  crash  of 
waters,  which  was  intended  to  represent 
the  deluge.  Typhon,  searching  for  Osiris, 
or  Dionysus,  for  they  are  here  identical,  dis- 
covered the  ark  in  which  he  had  been  se- 
creted, and,  tearing  it  violently  asunder, 
scattered  the  limbs  of  his  victim  upon  the 
waters.  The  aspirant  now  heard  the  la- 
mentations which  were  instituted  for  the 
death  of  the  god.  Then  commenced  the 
search  of  Rhea  for  the  remains  of  Diony- 
sus. The  apartments  were  filled  with 
shrieks  and  groans;  the  initiated  mingled 
with  their  howlings  of  despair  the  frantic 
dances  of  the  Corybantes ;  everything  was 
a  scene  of  distraction,  until,  at  a  signal 
from  the  hierophant,  the  whole  drama 
changed ; — the  mourning  was  turned  to  joy ; 
the  mangled  body  was  found ;  and  the  as- 
pirant was  released  from  his  confinement, 
amid  the  shouts  of  'EvpTjKaiiev,  EvyxcuP0fiev, 
"  We  have  found  it;  let  us  rejoice  together." 
The  candidate  was  now  made  to  descend 
into  the  infernal  regions,  where  he  beheld 
the  torments  of  the  wicked  and  the  re- 
wards of  the  virtuous.  It  was  now  that  he 
received  the  lecture  explanatory  of  the 
Rites,  and  was  invested  with  the  tokens 
which  served  the  initiated  as  a  means  of 
recognition.  He  then  underwent  a  lustra- 
tion, after  which  he  was  introduced  into 
the  holy  place,  where  he  received  the  name 
of  epopt,  and  was  fully  instructed  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  mysteries,  which  consisted 
in  a  belief  in  the  existence  of  one  God  and 
a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments. 
These  doctrines  were  inculcated  by  a  va- 
riety of  significant  symbols.  After  the 
performance  of  these  ceremonies,  the  aspi- 
rant was  dismissed,  and  the  Rites  concluded 
with  the  pronunciation  of  the  mystic  words, 
Knox  Ompax.  Sainte-Croix  (Myst.  du  Pag., 
ii.  90,)  says  that  the  murder  of  Dionysus 


by  the  Titans  was  only  an  allegory  of  the 
physical  revolutions  of  the  world;  but  these 
were  in  part,  in  the  ancient  initiations,  sig- 
nificant of  the  changes  of  life  and  death 
and  resurrection. 

Dionysus.  The  Greek  name  of  Bac- 
chus.    See  Dionysian  Mysteries. 

Diploma.  Literally  means  something 
folded.  From  the  Greek,  &nvlo#.  The  word 
is  applied  in  Masonry  to  the  certificates 
granted  by  Lodges,  Chapters,  and  Com- 
manderies  to  their  members,  which  should 
always  be  written  on  parchment.  The  more 
usual  word,  however,  is  Certificate,  which  see. 
In  the  Scottish  Rite  they  are  called  Patents. 

Director  of  Ceremonies, 
Grand.  An  officer  in  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  who  has  the  care  of  the  rega- 
lia, clothing,  insignia,  and  jewels  belong- 
ing to  the  Grand  Lodge.  His  jewel  is  two 
batons  crossed  in  saltire. 

Directory.  In  German  Lodges,  the 
Master  and  other  officers  constitute  a  coun- 
cil of  management,  under  the  name  of  Di- 
rectorium  or  Directory. 

Directory,  Roman  Helvetic. 
The  name  assumed  in  1739  by  the  Su- 
preme Masonic  authority  at  Lausanne,  in 
Switzerland.  See  Switzerland. 

Discalceation,  Rite  of.  The  cere- 
mony of  taking  off  the  shoes,  as  a  token  of 
respect,  whenever  we  are  on  or  about  to 
approach  holy  ground.  It  is  referred  to  in 
Exodus  iii.  5,  where  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  at  the  burning  bush,  exclaims  to 
Moses:  "Draw  not  nigh  hither;  put  off 
thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place 
whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  It 
is  again  mentioned  in  Joshua  v.  15,  in  the 
following  words :  "  And  the  captain  of  the 
Lord's  host  said  unto  Joshua,  Loose  thy 
shoe  from  off  thy  foot ;  for  the  place  whereon 
thou  standest  is  holy."  And  lastly,  it  is  al- 
luded to  in  the  injunction  given  in  Ecclesi- 
astes  v.  1 :  "  Keep  thy  foot  when  thou  goest 
to  the  house  of  God." 

The  Rite,  in  fact,  always  was,  and  still  is, 
used  among  the  Jews  and  other  Oriental 
nations  when  entering  their  temples  and 
other  sacred  edifices.  It  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  derived  from  the  command  given 
to  Moses ;  but  rather  to  have  existed  as  a 
religious  custom  from  time  immemorial, 
and  to  have  been  borrowed,  as  Mede  sup- 
poses, by  the  Gentiles,  through  tradition, 
from  the  patriarchs. 

The  direction  of  Pythagoras  to  his  dis- 
ciples was  in  these  words:  A.vvtt66t)to^  0ve 
nal  izpboKWEi  —  that  is,  "Offer  sacrifice  and 
worship  with  thy  shoes  off." 

Justin  Martyr  says  that  those  who  came 
to  worship  in  the  sanctuaries  and  temples 
of  the  Gentiles  were  commanded  by  their 
priests  to  put  off  their  shoes. 


224 


DISCIPLINA 


DISCIPLINE 


Drusius,  in  his  Notes  on  the  Book  of 
Joshua,  says  that  among  most  of  the  East- 
ern nations  it  was  a  pious  duty  to  tread  the 
pavement  of  the  temple  with  unshod  feet. 

Maimonides,  the  great  expounder  of  the 
Jewish  law,  asserts  {Beth  Habbechirah,  c. 
vii.,)  that  "it  was  not  lawful  for  a  man  to 
come  into  the  mountain  of  God's  house 
with  his  shoes  on  his  feet,  or  with  his  staff, 
or  in  his  working  garments,  or  with  dust  on 
his  feet." 

Eabhi  Solomon,  commenting  on  the  com- 
mand in  Leviticus  xix.  30,  "  Ye  shall  rev- 
erence my  sanctuary,"  makes  the  same  re- 
mark in  relation  to  this  custom.  On  this 
subject,  Oliver  [Hist.  Landm.,  ii.  481,)  ob- 
serves :  "  Now  the  act  of  going  with  naked 
feet  was  always  considered  a  token  of  hu- 
mility and  reverence ;  and  the  priests,  in 
temple  worship,  always  officiated  with  feet 
uncovered,  although  it  was  frequently  in- 
jurious to  their  health." 

Mede  quotes  Zago  Zaba,  an  Ethiopian 
bishop,  who  was  ambassador  from  David, 
king  of  Abyssinia,  to  John  III.,  of  Portu- 
gal, as  saying:  "We  are  not  permitted  to 
enter  the  church  except  barefooted." 

The  Mohammedans,  when  about  to  per- 
form their  devotions,  always  leave  their 
slippers  at  the  door  of  the  mosque.  The 
Druids  practised  the  same  custom  when- 
ever they  celebrated  their  sacred  rites ;  and 
the  ancient  Peruvians  are  said  always  to 
have  left  their  shoes  at  the  porch  when 
they  entered  the  magnificent  temple  con- 
secrated to  the  worship  of  the  sun. 

Adam  Clarke  (Comm.  on  Exod.)  thinks 
that  the  custom  of  worshipping  the  Deity 
barefooted,  was  so  general  among  all  na- 
tions of  antiquity,  that  he  assigns  it  as  one 
of  his  thirteen  proofs  that  the  whole  hu- 
man race  have  been  derived  from  one 
family. 

Finally,  Bishop  Patrick,  speaking  of  the 
origin  of  this  Rite,  says,  in  his  Commenta- 
ries :  "  Moses  -did  not  give  the  first  begin- 
ning to  this  Rite,  but  it  was  derived  from 
the  patriarchs  before  him,  and  transmitted 
to  future  times  from  that  ancient,  general 
tradition ;  for  we  find  no  command  in  the 
law  of  Moses  for  the  priests  performing  the 
service  of  the  temple  without  shoes,  but  it 
is  certain  they  did  so  from  immemorial  cus- 
tom ;  and  so  do  the  Mohammedans  and 
other  nations  at  this  day." 

Disciplina  Arcani.  See  Discipline 
of  the  Secret. 

Discipline.  This  word  is  used  by 
Masons,  in  its  ecclesiastical  sense,  to  sig- 
nify the  execution  of  the  laws  by  which  a 
Lodge  is  governed,  and  the  infliction  of  the 
penalties  enjoined  against  offenders  who 
are  its  members,  or,  not  being  members,  live 
within  its  jurisdiction.     To  discipline  a  Ma- 


son is  to  subject  him  to  punishment.  See 
Jurisdiction  and  Punishment. 

Discipline  of  the  Secret.  There 
existed  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Christian 
church,  a  mystic  and  secret  worship,  from 
which  a  portion  of  the  congregation  was 
peremptorily  excluded,  and  whose  privacy 
was  guarded,  with  the  utmost  care,  from 
the  obtrusive  eyes  of  all  who  had  not  been 
duly  initiated  into  the  sacred  rites  that 
qualified  them  to  be  present. 

This  custom  of  communicating  only  to  a 
portion  of  the  Christian  community,  the 
more  abstruse  doctrines  and  more  sacred 
ceremonies  of  the  church,  is  known  among 
ecclesiastical  writers  by  the  name  of  "  Dis- 
ciplina  Arcani,"  or  "  The  Discipline  of 
the  Secret." 

Converts  were  permitted  to  attain  a 
knowledge  of  all  the  doctrines,  and  par- 
ticipate in  the  sacraments  of  the  church, 
only  after  a  long  and  experimental  proba- 
tion. The  young  Christian,  like  the  dis- 
ciple of  Pythagoras,  was  made  to  pass 
through  a  searching  ordeal  of  time  and 
patience,  by  which  his  capacity,  his  fidelity, 
and  his  other  qualifications  were  strictly 
tested.  For  this  purpose,  different  ranks 
were  instituted  in  the  congregation.  The 
lowest  of  these  were  the  Catechumens. 
These  were  occupied  in  a  study  of  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Their  connection  with  the  church  was  not 
consummated  by  baptism,  to  which  rite 
they  were  not  admitted,  even  as  spectators, 
it  being  the  symbol  of  a  higher  degree  ;  but 
their  initiation  was  accompanied  with 
solemn  ceremonies,  consisting  of  prayer, 
signing  with  the  cross,  and  the  imposition 
of  hands  by  the  priest.  The  next  degree 
was  that  of  the  Competentes,  or  seekers. 

When  a  Catechumen  had  exhibited  sat- 
isfactory evidences  of  his  proficiency  in  re- 
ligious knowledge,  he  petitioned  the  Bishop 
for  the  Sacrament  of  baptism.  His  name 
was  then  registered  in  the  books  of  the 
church.  After  this  registration,  the  can- 
didate underwent  the  various  ceremonies 
appropriate  to  the  degree  upon  which  he 
was  about  to  enter.  He  was  examined  by 
the  bishop  as  to  his  attainments  in  Christi- 
anity, and,  if  approved,  was  exorcised  for 
twenty  days,  during  which  time  he  was 
subjected  to  rigorous  fasts,  and,  having 
made  confession,  the  necessary  penance  was 
prescribed.  He  was  then,  for  the  first  time, 
instructed  in  the  words  of  the  Apostles' 
creed,  a  symbol  of  which  the  Catechumens 
were  entirely  ignorant. 

Another  ceremony  peculiar  to  the  Com- 
petentes, was  that  of  going  about  with 
their  faces  veiled.  St.  Augustine  explains 
the  ceremony  by  saying  that  the  Compe- 
tentes went  veiled  in  public  as  an  image  of 


DISCIPLINE 


DISCIPLINE 


225 


the  slavery  of  Adam  after  his  expulsion 
from  Paradise,  and  that,  after  baptism,  the 
veils  were  taken  away  as  an  emblem  of  the 
liberty  of  the  spiritual  lite  which  was  ob- 
tained by  the  sacrament  of  regeneration. 
Some  other  significant  ceremonies,  but  of 
a  less  important  character,  were  used,  and 
the  Competent,  having  passed  through  them 
all,  was  at  length  admitted  to  the  highest 
degree. 

The  Fideles,  or  Faithful,  constituted  the 
third  degree  or  order.  Baptism  was  the 
ceremony  by  which  the  Competeutes,  after 
an  examination  into  their  proficiency,  were 
admitted  into  this  degree.  "They  were 
thereby,"  says  Bingham,  "made  complete 
and  perfect  Christians,  and  were,  upon  that 
account,  dignified  with  several  titles  of 
honor  and  marks  of  distinction  above  the 
Catechumens."  They  were  called  Illumi- 
nati,  or  Illuminated,  because  they  had  been 
enlightened  as  to  those  secrets  which  were 
concealed  from  the  inferior  orders.  They 
were  also  called  Initiati,  or  Initiated,  be- 
cause they  were  admitted  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  sacred  mysteries;  and  so  commonly 
was  this  name  in  use,  that,  when  Chrysos- 
tom  and  the  other  ancient  writers  spoke  of 
their  concealed  doctrines,  they  did  so  in 
ambiguous  terms,  so  as  not  to  be  under- 
stood by  the  Catechumens,  excusing  them- 
selves for  their  brief  allusions,  by  saying. 
"  the  Initiated  know  what  we  mean."  And 
so  complete  was  the  understanding  of  the 
ancient  Fathers  of  a  hidden  mystery,  and 
an  initiation  into  them,  that  St.  Am- 
brose has  written  a  book,  the  title  of  which 
is,  Concerning  those  who  are  Initiated  into 
the  Mysteries.  They  were  also  called 
the  Perfect,  to  intimate  that  they  had  at- 
tained to  a  perfect  knowledge  of  all  the 
doctrines  and  sacraments  of  the  church. 

There  were  certain  prayers,  which  none 
but  the  Faithful  were  permitted  to  hear. 
Among  these  was  the  Lord's  prayer,  which, 
for  this  reason,  was  commonly  called  Ora- 
tio  Fidelium,  or,  "  The  Prayer  of  the  Faith- 
ful." They  were  also  admitted  to  hear  dis- 
courses upon  the  most  profound  mysteries 
of  the  church,  to  which  the  Catechumens 
were  strictly  forbidden  to  listen.  St.  Am- 
brose, in  the  book  written  by  him  to  the 
Inititated,  says  that  sermons  on  the  subject 
of  morality  were  daily  preached  to  the 
Catechumens;  but  to  the  Initiated  they 
gave  an  explanation  of  the  Sacraments, 
which,  to  have  spoken  of  to  the  unbaptized, 
would  have  rather  been  like  a  betrayal  of 
mysteries  than  instruction.  And  St.  Au- 
gustine, in  one  of  his  sermons  to  the  Faith- 
ful, says :  "  Having  now  dismissed  the 
Catechumens,  you  alone  have  we  retained 
to  hear  us,  because,  in  addition  to  those 
things  which  belong  to  all  Christians  in 
■2D  15 


common,  we  are  now  about  to  speak  in  an 
especial  manner  of  the  Heavenly  Mysteries, 
which  none  can  hear  except  those  who, 
by  the  gift  of  the  Lord,  are  able  to  com- 
prehend them." 

The  mysteries  of  the  church  were  di- 
vided, like  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  into  the 
lesser  and  the  greater.  The  former  was 
called  "  Missa  Catechumenorum,"  or  the 
Mass  of  the  Catechumens,  and  the  latter, 
"  Missa  Fidelium,"  or  the  Mass  of  the 
Faithful.  The  public  service  of  the  church 
consisted  of  the  reading  of  the  Scripture, 
and  the  delivery  of  a  sermon,  which  was 
entirely  of  a  moral  character.  These  being 
concluded,  the  lesser  mysteries,  or  mass  of 
the  Catechumens,  commenced.  The  deacon 
proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Ne  quis  audi- 
entium,  ne  quis  infidelium"  that  is,  "Let 
none  who  are  simply  hearers,  and  let  no 
infidels  be  present."  All  then  who  had  not 
acknowledged  their  faith  in  Christ  by  plac- 
ing themselves  among  the  Catechumens, 
and  all  Jews  and  Pagans,  were  caused  to 
retire,  that  the  Mass  of  the  Catechumens 
might  begin.  And  now,  for  better  security, 
a  deacon  was  placed  at  the  men's  door  and 
a  sub-deacon  at  the  women's,  for  the  dea- 
cons were  the  door-keepers,  and,  in  fact, 
received  that  name  in  the  Greek  church. 
The  Mass  of  the  Catechumens — which  con- 
sisted almost  entirely  of  prayers,  with  the 
Episcopal  benediction  —  was  then  per- 
formed. 

This  part  of  the  service  having  been 
concluded,  the  Catechumens  were  dismissed 
by  the  deacons,  with  the  expression,  "  Cat- 
echumens, depart  in  peace.  The  Compe- 
tentes,  however,  or  those  who  had  the 
second  or  intermediate  degree,  remained 
until  the  prayers  for  those  who  were  pos- 
sessed of  evil  spirits,  and  the  supplications 
for  themselves,  were  pronounced.  After 
this,  they  too  were  dismissed,  and  none 
now  remaining  in  the  church  but  the 
Faithful,  the  Missa  Fidelium,  or  greater 
mysteries,  commenced. 

The  formula  of  dismission  used  by  the 
deacon  on  this  occasion  was:  "Holy 
things  for  the  holy,  let  the  dogs  depart," 
Sancta  Sanctis,  /oris  canes. 

The  Faithful  then  all  repeated  the  creed, 
which  served  as  an  evidence  that  no  in- 
truder or  uninitiated  person  was  present; 
because  the  creed  was  not  revealed  to  the 
Catechumens,  but  served  as  a  password  to 
prove  that  its  possessor  was  an  initiate. 
After  prayers  had  been  offered  up, — which, 
however,  differed  from  the  supplications  in 
the  former  part  of  the  service,  by  the  in- 
troduction of  open  allusions  to  the  most 
abstruse  doctrines  of  the  church,  which 
were  never  named  in  the  presence  of  the 
Catechumens,  —  the  oblations  were  made, 


226 


DISCOVERY 


DISPENSATIONS 


and  the  Eucharistical  Sacrifice,  or  Lord's 
Supper,  was  celebrated.  Prayers  and  invo- 
cations followed,  and  at  length  the  service 
was  concluded,  and  the  assembly  was  dis- 
missed by  the  benediction,  "  Depart  in 
peace." 

Bingham  records  the  following  rites  as 
having  been  concealed  from  the  Catechu- 
mens, and  intrusted,  as  the  sacred  myste- 
ries, only  to  the  Faithful :  the  manner  of 
receiving  baptism ;  the  ceremony  of  confir- 
mation ;  the  ordination  of  priests ;  the 
mode  of  celebrating  the  Eucharist;  the 
liturgy,  or  divine  service ;  and  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  the  creed,  and  the 
Lord's  prayer,  which  last,  however,  were 
begun  to  be  explained  to  the  Competentes. 

Such  was  the  celebrated  Discipline  of  the 
Secret  in  the  early  Christian  church.  That 
its  origin,  so  far  as  the  outward  form  was 
concerned,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Mysteries 
of  Paganism,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  has 
been  thus  expressed  by  the  learned  Mos- 
heim :  "  Religion  having  thus,  in  both  its 
branches,  the  speculative  as  well  as  the 
practical,  assumed  a  twofold  character, — 
the  one  public  or  common,  the  other  pri- 
vate or  mysterious, — it  was  not  long  before 
a  distinction  of  a  similar  kind  took  place 
also  in  the  Christian  discipline  and  form 
of  divine  worship;  for,  observing  that  in 
Egypt,  as  well  as  in  other  countries,  the 
heathen  worshippers,  in  addition  to  their 
public  religious  ceremonies,  —  to  which 
every  one  was  admitted  without  distinc- 
tion,—  had  certain  secret  and  most  sacred 
rites,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of 
1  mysteries,'  and  at  the  celebration  of 
which  none  but  persons  of  the  most  ap- 
proved faith  and  discretion  were  permitted 
to  be  present,  the  Alexandrian  Christians 
first,  and  after  them  others,  were  beguiled 
into  a  notion  that  they  could  not  do  better 
than  make  the  Christian  discipline  accom- 
modate itself  to  this  model ." 

Discovery  of  the  Body.  See  Eu- 
resis. 

Discovery,  Year  of  the.  "  Anno 
Inventionis,"  or  "  in  the  Year  of  the  Dis- 
covery," is  the  style  assumed  by  the  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  in  commemoration  of  an 
event  which  took  place  soon  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple 
by  Zerubbabel. 

Dispensation.  A  permission  to  do 
.that  which,  without  such  permission,  is 
forbidden  by  the  Constitutions  and  usages 
•of  the  Order. 

Du  Cange  [Olossarium)  defines  a  dispen- 
sation to  be  a  prudent  relaxation  of  a  gene- 
ral law.  Provida  juris  communis  relaxatio. 
While  showing  how  much  the  ancient  ec- 
clesiastical authorities  were  opposed  to  the 
granting  of  dispensations,  since  they  pre- 


ferred to  pardon  the  offence  after  the  law 
had  been  violated,  rather  than  to  give  a 
previous  license  for  its  violation,  he  adds, 
"  but  however  much  the  Roman  Pontiffs 
and  pious  Bishops  felt  of  reverence  for  the 
ancient  Regulations,  they  were  often  com- 
pelled to  depart  in  some  measure  from 
them,  for  the  utility  of  the  church  ;  and 
this  milder  measure  of  acting  the  jurists 
called  a  dispensation." 

This  power  to  dispense  with  the  provisions 
of  law  in  particular  cases  appears  to  be  in- 
herent in  the  Grand  Master;  because,  al- 
though frequently  referred  to  in  the  old 
Regulations,  it  always  is  as  if  it  were  a 
power  already  in  existence,  and  never  by 
way  of  a  new  grant.  There  is  no  record 
of  any  Masonic  statute  or  constitutional 
provision  conferring  this  prerogative  in  dis- 
tinct words.  The  instances,  however,  in 
which  this  prerogative  may  be  exercised 
are  clearly  enumerated  in  various  places 
of  the  Old  Constitutions,  so  that  there  can 
be  no  difficulty  in  understanding  to  what 
extent  the  prerogative  extends. 

The  power  of  granting  dispensations  is 
confided  to  the  Grand  Master,  or  his  repre- 
sentative, but  should  not  be  exercised  ex- 
cept on  extraordinary  occasions,  or  for  ex- 
cellent reasons.  The  dispensing  power  is 
confined  to  only  four  circumstances:  1.  A 
Lodge  cannot  be  opened  and  held  unless  a 
Warrant  of  Constitution  be  first  granted  by 
the  Grand  Lodge ;  but  the  Grand  Master 
may  issue  his  dispensation,  empowering  a 
constitutional  number  of  brethren  to  open 
and  hold  a  Lodge  until  the  next  communi- 
cation of  the  Grand  Lodge.  At  this  com- 
munication, the  dispensation  of  the  Grand 
Master  is  either  revoked  or  confirmed. 
A  Lodge  under  dispensation  is  not  per- 
mitted to  be  represented,  nor  to  vote  in  the 
Grand  Lodge.  2.  Not  more  than  five  can- 
didates can  be  made  at  the  same  communi- 
cation of  a  Lodge;  but  the  Grand  Master, 
on  the  showing  of  sufficient  cause,  may  ex- 
tend to  a  Lodge  the  privilege  of  making  as 
many  more  as  he  may  think  proper.  3. 
No  brother  can,  at  the  same  time,  belong 
to  two  Lodges  within  three  miles  of  each 
other.  But  the  Grand  Master  may  dis- 
pense with  this  regulation  also.  4.  Every 
Lodge  must  elect  and  install  its  officers  on 
the  constitutional  night,  which,  in  most 
Masonic  jurisdictions,  precedes  the  anni- 
versary of1  St.  John  the  Evangelist.  Should 
it,  however,  neglect  this  duty,  or  should 
any  officer  die,  or  be  expelled,  or  remove 
permanently,  no  subsequent  election  or  in- 
stallation can  take  place,  except  under  dis- 
pensation of  the  Grand  Master. 

Dispensation;,  Lodges  under. 
See  Lodges  under  Dispensation. 

Dispensations  of  Religion.    An 


DISPENSATIONS 


DISPERSION 


227 


attempt  has  been  made  to  symbolize  the 
Pagan,  the  Jewish,  and  the  Christian  dis- 
pensations by  a  certain  ceremony  of  the 
Master's  degree  which  dramatically  teaches 
the  resurrection  of  the  body  and  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul.  The  reference  made 
in  this  ceremony  to  portions  of  the  first, 
second,  and  third  degrees  is  used  to  demon- 
strate the  difference  of  the  three  dispensa- 
tions in  the  reception  of  these  two  dogmas. 
It  is  said  that  the  unsuccessful  effort  in  the 
Entered  Apprentice's  degree  refers  to  the 
heathen  dispensation,  where  neither  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  nor  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  was  recognized ;  that  the 
second  unsuccessful  effort  in  the  Fellow 
Craft's  degree  refers  to  the  Jewish  dispensa- 
tion, where,  though  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  was  unknown,  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  was  dimly  hinted ;  and  that  the  final 
and  successful  effort  in  the  Master's  degree 
symbolizes  the  Christian  dispensation,  in 
which,  through  the  teachings  of  the  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  both  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
were  clearly  brought  to  light.  This  sym- 
bolism, which  was  the  invention  of  a  peri- 
patetic lecturer  in  the  South  about  fifty 
years  ago,  is  so  forced  and  fanciful  in  its 
character,  that  it  did  not  long  survive  the 
local  and  temporary  teachings  of  its  in- 
ventor, and  is  only  preserved  here  as  an 
instance  of  how  symbols,  like  metaphors, 
may  sometimes  run  mad. 

But  there  is  another  symbolism  of  the 
three  degrees,  as  illustrating  three  dispen- 
sations, which  is  much  older,  having  ori- 
ginated among  the  lecture-makers  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  which  for  a  long  time 
formed  a  portion  of  the  authorized  ritual, 
and  is  still  repeated  with  approbation  by 
some  distinguished  writers.  In  this  the 
three  degrees  are  said  to  be  symbols,  in  the 
progressive  knowledge  which  they  impart 
of  the  Patriarchal,  the  Mosaic,  and  the 
Christian  dispensations. 

The  first,  or  Entered  Apprentice's  de- 
gree, in  which  but  little  Masonic  light  is 
communicated,  and  which,  indeed,  is  only 
preparatory  and  introductory  to  the  two 
succeeding  degrees,  is  said  to  symbolize  the 
first,  or  Patriarchal  dispensation,  the  ear- 
liest revelation,  where  the  knowledge  of 
God  was  necessarily  imperfect,  his  wor- 
ship only  a  few  simple  rites  of  devotion, 
and  the  religious  dogmas  merely  a  general 
system  of  morality.  The  second,  or  Fellow 
Craft's  degree,  is  symbolic  of  the  second  or 
Mosaic  dispensation,  in  which,  while  there 
were  still  many  imperfections,  there  was 
also  a  great  increase  of  religious  knowl- 
edge, and  a  nearer  approximation  to  divine 
truth,  with  a  promise  in  the  future  of  a 
better  theodicy.     But  the  third,  or  Master 


Mason's  degree,  which,  in  its  original  con- 
ception, before  it  was  dismembered  by  the 
innovations  of  the  Royal  Arch,  was  per- 
fect and  complete  in  its  consummation  of 
all  Masonic  light,  symbolizes  the  last,  or 
Christian  dispensation,  where  the  great  and 
consoling  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  to 
eternal  life  is  the  crowning  lesson  taught 
by  its  Divine  founder.  This  subject  is  very 
fully  treated  by  the  Rev.  James  Watson, 
in  an  address  delivered  at  Lancaster, 
Eng.,  in  1795,  and  contained  in  Jones's 
Masonic  Miscellanies,  p.  245 ;  better,  I  think, 
by  him  than  even  by  Hutchinson. 

Beautiful  as  this  symbolism  may  be,  and 
appropriately  fitting  in  all  its  parts  to  the 
laws  of  symbolic  science,  it  is  evident  that 
its  origin  cannot  be  traced  farther  back 
than  to  the  period  when  Masonry  was  first 
divided  into  three  distinctive  degrees  ;  nor 
could  it  have  been  invented  later  than  the 
time  when  Masonry  was  deemed,  if  not  an 
exclusively  Christian  organization,  at  least 
to  be  founded  on  and  fitly  illustrated  by 
Christian  dogmas.  At  present,  this  sym- 
bolism, though  preserved  in  the  specula- 
tions of  such  Christian  writers  as  Hutchin- 
son and  Oliver,  and  those  who  are  attached 
to  their  peculiar  school,  finds  no  place  in 
the  modern  cosmopolitan  rituals.  It  may 
belong,  as  an  explanation,  to  the  history 
of  Masonry,  but  can  scarcely  make  a  part 
of  its  symbolism. 

Dispersion  of  Mankind.  The 
dispersion  of  mankind  at  the  tower  of  Ba- 
bel and  on  the  plain  of  Shinar,  which  is 
recorded  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  has  given 
rise  to  a  Masonic  tradition  of  the  following 
purport.  The  knowledge  of  the  great  truths 
of  God  and  immortality  were  known  to 
Noah,  and  by  him  communicated  to  his 
immediate  descendants,  the  Noachidse  or 
Noachites,  by  whom  the  true  worship  con- 
tinued to  be  cultivated  for  some  time  after 
the  subsidence  of  the  deluge ;  but  when  the 
human  race  were  dispersed,  a  portion  lost 
sight  of  the  divine  truths  which  had  been 
communicated  to  them  from  their  common 
ancestor,  and  fell  into  the  most  grievous  the- 
ological errors,  corrupting  the  purity  of  the 
worship  and  the  orthodoxy  of  the  religious 
faith  which  they  had  primarily  received. 

These  truths  were  preserved  in  their  in- 
tegrity by  but  a  very  lew  in  the  patriarchal 
line,  while  still  fewer  were  enabled  to  re- 
tain only  dim  and  glimmering  portions  of 
the  true  light. 

The  first  class  was  confined  to  the  direct 
descendants  of  Noah,  and  the  second  was 
to  be  found  among  the  priests  and  philoso- 
phers, and,  perhaps,"  still  later,  among 
the  poets  of  the  heathen  nations,  and 
among  those  whom  they  initiated  into  the 
secrets  of  these  truths. 


228 


DISPUTES 


DORIC 


The  system  of  doctrine  of  the  former 
class  has  been  called  by  Masonic  writers 
the  "Pure  or  Primitive  Freemasonry"  of 
antiquity,  and  that  of  the  latter  class  the 
"Spurious  Freemasonry"  of  the  same  pe- 
riod. These  terms  were  first  used  by  Dr. 
Oliver,  and  are  intended  to  refer — the  word 
pure  to  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  de- 
scendants of  Noah  in  the  Jewish  line,  and 
the  word  spurious  to  those  taught  by  his 
descendants  in  the  heathen  or  Gentile  line. 

Disputes.  The  spirit  of  all  the  An- 
cient Charges  and  Constitutions  is,  that 
disputes  among  Masons  should  be  settled 
by  an  appeal  to  the  brethren,  to  whose 
award  the  disputants  were  required  to  sub- 
rait.  Thus,  in  an  Old  Record  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  it  is  provided,  among  other 
charges,  that  "  yf  any  discorde  schall  be  bi- 
twene  hym  and  his  felows,  he  schall  abey 
hym  mekely  and  be  stylle  at  the  byddyng 
of  his  Master  or  of  the  Wardeyne  of  his 
Master,  in  his  Master's  absens,  to  the  holy 
day  folowyng,  and  that  he  accorde  then  at 
the  dispocition  of  his  felows."  A  similar 
regulation  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  other 
old  Charges  and  Constitutions,  and  is  con- 
tinued in  operation  at  this  day  by  the 
Charges  approved  in  1722,  which  express 
the  same  idea  in  more  modern  language. 

Distinctive  Title.  In  the  rituals, 
all  Lodges  are  called  Lodges  of  St.  John, 
but  every  Lodge  has  also  another  name  by 
which  it  is  distinguished.  This  is  called 
its  distinctive  title.  This  usage  is  preserved 
in  the  diplomas  of  the  continental  Masons, 
especially  the  French,  where  the  specific 
name  of  the  Lodge  is  always  given  as  well 
as  the  general  title  of  St.  John,  which  it 
has  in  common  with  all  other  Lodges. 
Thus,  a  diploma  issued  by  a  French  Lodge 
whose  name  on  the  Register  of  the  Grand 
Orient  would  perhaps  be  La  Verite",  will 
purport  to  have  been  issued  by  the  Lodge 
of  St.  John,  under  the  distinctive  title  of 
La  V6rite,  "  Par  la  Loge  de  St.  Jean  sub  la 
title  distinctive  de  la  Verite."  The  expres- 
sion is  never  used  in  English  or  American 
diplomas. 

Distress,  Sign  of.  See  Sign  of  Dis- 
tress. 

District  Deputy  Grand  Master. 
An  officer  appointed  to  inspect  old  Lodges, 
consecrate  new  ones,  install  their  officers, 
and  exercise  a  general  supervision  over  the 
Fraternity  in  the  districts  where,  from  the 
extent  of  the  jurisdiction,  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter or  his  Deputy  cannot  conveniently  at- 
tend in  person.  He  is  considered  as  a  Grand 
officer,  and  as  the  representative  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  in  the  district  in  which  he 
resides.  In  England,  officers  of  this  de- 
scription are  called  Provincial  Grand  Mas- 
ters. 


District  Grand  Lodges.    In  the 

Constitution  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land, "  Provincial  Grand  Lodges  abroad," 
that  is,  Grand  Lodges  in  colonies  or  foreign 
countries,  are  called  District  Grand  Lodges. 
But  the  title  of  Provincial  Grand  Lodges 
is  most  commonly  used  in  actual  practice. 

Documents,  Three  Oldest.  See 
Krause. 

Dog.  A  symbol  in  the  higher  degrees. 
See  Oynocephalus. 

Dolmen.  A  name  given  in  France  to 
the  Celtic  stone  tables  termed  in  England 
"  cromlechs." 

Dominican  Republic.  Masonry, 
in  the  Dominican  Republic,  has  for  its 
centre  the  National  Grand  Orient,  which 
possesses  the  supreme  authority  and  which 
practises  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite.  The  Grand  Orient  is  divided 
into  a  National  Grand  Lodge,  under  which 
are  all  the  Symbolic  Lodges;  a  sovereign 
Grand  Chapter  General,  under  which  are 
all  Chapters;  and  a  Supreme  Council,  which 
controls  the  higher  degrees  of  the  Rite. 

Donats.  A  class  of  men  who  were  at- 
tached to  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jeru- 
salem, or  Knights  of  Malta.  They  did  not 
take  the  vows  of  the  Order,  but  were  em- 
ployed in  the  different  offices  of  the  con- 
vent and  hospital.  In  token  of  their  con- 
nection with  the  Order,  they  wore  what 
was  called  the  demi-cross.  See  Knight  of 
Malta. 

Door.  Every  well  constructed  Lodge 
room  should  be  provided  with  two  doors, 
— one  on  the  left  hand  of  the  Senior  War- 
den, communicating  with  the  preparation 
room,  the  other  on  his  right  hand,  commu- 
nicating with  the  Tiler's  apartment.  The 
former  of  these  is  called  the  inner  door,  and 
is  under  the  charge  of  the  Senior  Deacon  ; 
the  latter  is  called  the  outer  door,  and  is 
under  the  charge  of  the  Junior  Deacon. 
In  a  well  furnished  Lodge,  each  of  these 
doors  is  provided  with  two  knockers,  one 
on  the  inside  and  the  other  on  the  outside; 
and  the  outside  door  has  sometimes  a  small 
aperture  in  the  centre  to  facilitate  commu- 
nications between  the  Junior  Deacon  and 
the  Tiler.  This,  however,  is  a  modern  inno- 
vation, and  I  very  much  doubt  its  propriety 
and  expediency.  No  communication  ought 
legally  to  be  held  between  the  inside  and 
the  outside  of  the  Lodge  except  through 
the  door,  which  should  be  opened  only  after 
regular  alarm  duly  reported,  and  on  the 
order  of  the  Worshipful  Master. 

Doric  Order.  The  oldest  and  most 
original  of  the  three  Grecian  orders.  It  is 
remarkable  for  robust  solidity  in  the  col- 
umn, for  massive  grandeur  in  the  entabla- 
ture, and  for  harmonious  simplicity  in  its 
construction.     The  distinguishing  charac- 


DORMANT 


DRAMATIC 


229 


teristic  of  this  order  is  the  want  of  a  hase. 
The  flutings  are  few,  large,  and  very  little 
concave.  The  capital  has  no  astragal,  but 
only  one  or  more  fillets,  which  separate  the 
flutings  from  the  torus.  The  column  of 
strength  which  supports  the  Lodge  is  of 
the  Doric  order,  and  its  appropriate  situa- 
tion and  symbolic  officer  are  in  the  West. 
See  Orders  of  Architecture. 

Dormant  Lodge.  A  Lodge  whose 
Charter  has  not  been  revoked,  but  which 
has  ceased  to  meet  and  work  for  a  long 
time,  is  said  to  be  dormant.  It  can  be  re- 
stored to  activity  only  by  the  authority  of 
the  Grand  Master  or  the  Grand  Lodge  on 
the  petition  of  some  of  its  members,  one 
of  whom,  at  least,  ought  to  be  a  Past  Master. 

Dormer.  In  the  Lectures,  according 
to  the  present  English  system,  the  orna- 
ments of  a  Master  Mason's  Lodge  are  said 
to  be  the  porch,  dormer,  and  stone  pave- 
ment. The  dormer  is  the  window  which 
is  supposed  to  give  light  to  the  Holy  of 
Holies.  In  the  Glossary  of  Architecture, 
a  dormer  is  defined  to  be  a  window 
pierced  through  a  sloping  roof,  and  placed 
in  a  small  gable  which  rises  on  the  side 
of  the  roof.  This  symbol  is  not  preserved 
in  the  American  system. 

Dotage.  The  regulations  of  Masonry 
forbid  the  initiation  of  an  old  man  in  his 
dotage;  and  very  properly,  because  the  im- 
becility of  his  mind  would  prevent  his 
comprehension  of  the  truths  presented  to 
him. 

Double  Cube.  A  cubical  figure, 
whose  length  is  equal  to  twice  its  breadth 
and  height.  Solomon's  Temple  is  said  to 
have  been  of  this  figure,  and  hence  it  has 
sometimes  been  adopted  as  the  symbol  of 
a  Masonic  Lodge.  Dr.  Oliver  (Diet  Symb. 
Mas.)  thus  describes  the  symbolism  of  the 
double  cube :  "  The  heathen  deities  were 
many  of  them  represented  by  a  cubical 
stone.  Pausanius  informs  us  that  a  cube 
was  the  symbol  of  Mercury,  because,  like 
the  cube,  he  represented  Truth.  In  Arabia, 
a  black  stone  in  the  form  of  a  double  cube 
was  reputed  to  be  possessed  of  many  occult 
virtues.  Apollo  was  some  time  worshipped 
under  the  symbol  of  a  square  stone ;  and  it 
is  recorded  that  when  a  fatal  pestilence 
raged  at  Delphi,  the  oracle  was  consulted 
as  to  the  means  proper  to  be  adopted  for 
the  purpose  of  arresting  its  progress,  and 
it  commanded  that  the  cube  should  be  dou- 
bled. This  was  understood  by  the  priests 
to  refer  to  the  altar,  which  was  of  a  cubical 
form.  They  obeyed  the  injunction,  increas- 
ing the  altitude  of  the  altar  to  its  prescribed 
dimensions,  like  the  pedestal  in  a  Mason's 
Lodge,  and  the  pestilence  ceased." 

Double-Headed  Eagle.  See  Ea- 
gle, Double- Headed. 


Dove.  In  ancient  symbolism,  the  dove 
represented  purity  and  innocence;  in  eccle- 
siology,  it  is  a  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
In  Masonry,  the  dove  is  only  viewed  in  ref- 
erence to  its  use  by  Noah  as  a  messenger. 
Hence,  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England, 
doves  are  the  jewels  of  the  Deacons,  because 
these  officers  are  the  messengers  of  the 
Masters  and  Wardens.  They  are  not  so 
used  in  this  country.  In  an  honorary  or 
side  degree  formerly  conferred  in  America, 
and  called  the  "  Ark  and  Dove,"  that  bird 
is  a  prominent  symbol. 

Draeseke,  Joban  Heinrieb 
Dernhardt.  A  celebrated  pulpit  ora- 
tor of  great  eloquence,  who  presided  over 
the  Lodge  "Oelzweig,"  in  Bremen,  for  three 
years,  and  whose  contributions  to  Masonic 
literature  were  collected  and  published  in 
1865,  by  A.  W.  Muller,  under  the  title  of 
Bishop  Drdseke  as  a  Mason.  Of  this  work 
Findel  says  that  it  "contains  a  string  of 
costly  pearls  full  of  Masonic  eloquence." 

Drake,  Francis,  M.  D.  Francis 
Drake,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  a  celebrated  anti- 
quary and  historian,  was  initiated  in  the 
city  of  York  in  1725,  and,  as  Hughan  says, 
"soon  made  his  name  felt  in  Masonry." 
His  promotion  was  rapid;  for  in  the  same 
year  he  was  chosen  Junior  Grand  Warden 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  York,  and  in  1726 
delivered  an  address,  which  was  published 
with  the  following  title:  "A  Speech  deliv- 
ered to  the  Worshipful  and  Ancient  Society 
of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  at  a  Grand 
Lodge  held  at  Merchants'  Hall,  in  the  city 
of  York,  on  St.  John's  Day,  December  the 
27th,  1726.  The  Right  Worshipful  Charles 
Bathurst,  Esq.,  Grand  Master.  By  the  Ju- 
nior Grand  Warden.  Olim  meminisse  Juva- 
bit.  York."  This  address  was  so  much 
esteemed  by  the  Grand  Lodge  at  London, 
that  it  caused  its  republication  in  1729.  In 
this  work  Drake  makes  the  important  state- 
ment that  the  first  Grand  Lodge  in  Eng- 
land was  held  at  York  ;  and  that  while  it 
recognizes  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  in  London  as  Grand  Master  of  Eng- 
land, it  claims  that  its  own  Grand  Master 
is  Grand  Master  of  all  England. 

Dramatic  Literature  of  Ma- 
sonry. Freemasonry  has  frequently  sup- 
plied play-writers  with  a  topic  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  genius.  Kloss  (Bibliog.,  p. 
300,)  gives  the  titles  of  no  less  than  forty- 
one  plays  of  which  Freemasonry  has  been 
the  subject.  The  earliest  Masonic  play  is 
noticed  by  Thory  (Fond.  G.  0.,  p.  360,)  as 
having  been  performed  at  Paris,  in  1739, 
under  the  title  of  Les  Frimacons.  Editions 
of  it  were  subsequently  published  at  Lon- 
don, Brunswick,  and  Strasburg.  In  1741, 
we  have  Das  Geheimniss  der  Frimaurer  at 
Frankfort  and  Leipsic.     France  and  Ger- 


230 


DRESDEN 


DRUIDICAL 


many  made  many  other  contributions  to 
the  Masonic  drama.  Even  Denmark  sup- 
plied one  in  1745,  and  Italy  in  1785.  The 
English  dramatists  give  us  only  a  panto- 
mime, Harlequin  Freemason,  which  was 
brought  out  at  Covent  Garden  in  1781, 
and  Solomon's  Temple,  an  oratorio.  Tem- 
plarism  has  not  been  neglected  by  the 
dramatists.  Kalchberg,  in  1788,  wrote  Die 
Templeherren,  a  dramatic  poem  in  five  acts. 
Odon  de  Saint-Amand,  Grand  Maitre  des 
Templiers,  a  melo-drama  in  three  acts,  was 
performed  at  Paris  in  1806.  Jacques  Molai, 
a  melo-drama,  was  published  at  Paris  in 
1807,  and  La  Mort  de  Jacques  Molai,  a 
tragedy,  in  1812.  Some  of  the  plays  on 
Freemasonry  were  intended  to  do  honor  to 
the  Order,  and  many  to  throw  ridicule  upon 
it.  From  the  specimens  I  have  seen,  I  am 
not  inclined  to  regret  that  the  catalogue  of 
the  Masonic  drama  is  not  more  copious. 

Dresden,  Congress  of.  A  General 
Congress  of  the  Lodges  of  Saxony  was 
held  in  Dresden,  where  the  representatives 
of  twelve  Lodges  were  present.  In  this 
Congreas  it  was  determined  to  recognize 
only  the  Masonry  of  St.  John,  and  to  con- 
struct a  National  Grand  Lodge.  Accord- 
ingly, on  September  27,  1811,  the  National 
Grand  Lodge  of  Saxony  was  established  in 
the  city  of  Dresden,  which  was  soon  joined 
by  all  the  Saxon  Lodges,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  in  Leipsic.  Although  it  recog- 
nizes only  the  Symbolic  degrees,  it  permits 
great  freedom  in  the  selection  of  a  ritual; 
and,  accordingly,  some  of  its  Lodges  work 
in  the  Rite  of  Fessler,  and  others  in  the 
Rite  of  Berlin. 

Dress  of  a  Mason.    See  Clothed. 

Drop  Cloth.  A  part  of  the  furniture 
used  in  the  ceremony  of  initiation  into  the 
third  degree.  It  should  be  made  of  very 
strong  material,  with  a  looped  rope  at  each 
corner  and  one  in  the  middle  of  each  side, 
by  which  it  may  be  securely  held. 

Druidical  Mysteries.  The  Druids 
were  a  sacred  order  of  priests  who  existed 
in  Britain  and  Gaul,  but  whose  mystical 
rites  were  practised  in  most  perfection  in 
the  former  country,  where  the  isle  of  An- 
glesea  was  considered  as  their  principal 
seat.  Higgins  thinks  that  they  were  also 
found  in  Germany,  but  against  this  opinion 
we  have  the  positive  statement  of  Caesar. 

The  meanings  given  to  the  word  have 
been  very  numerous,  and  most  of  them 
wholly  untenable.  The  Romans,  seeing 
that  they  worshipped  in  groves  of  oak, 
because  that  tree  was  peculiarly  sacred 
among  them,  derived  their  name  from  the 
Greek  word,  Apvg,  drus ;  thus  absurdly 
seeking  the  etymology  of  a  word  of  an 
older  language  in  one  comparatively  mod- 
ern.    Their  derivation  would  have  been 


more  reasonable  had  they  known  that  in 
Sanscrit  druma  is  an  oak,  from  dru,  wood. 
It  has  also  been  traced  to  the  Hebrew  with 
equal  incorrectness,  for  the  Druids  were 
not  of  the  Semitic  race.  Its  derivation  is 
rather  to  be  sought  in  the  Celtic  language. 
The  Gaelic  word  Druiah  signifies  a  holy  or 
wise  man ;  in  a  bad  sense,  a  magician ;  and 
this  we  may  readily  trace  to  the  Aryan 
druh,  applied  to  the  spirit  of  night  or  dark- 
ness, whence  we  have  the  Zend  dru,  a  ma- 
gician. Druidism  was  a  mystical  profes- 
sion, and  in  the  olden  time  mystery  and 
magic  were  always  confounded.  Vallencey 
[Coll.  Eeb.  Hib.,  iii.  503,)  says:  "Welsh, 
Drud,  a  Druid,  i.  e.  the  absolver  or  remitter 
of  sins ;  so  the  Irish  Drui,  a  Druid,  most 
certainly  is  from  the  Persic  duru,  a  good 
and  holy  man  ;  "  and  Ousely  ( Coll.  Orient, 
iv.  302,)  adds  to  this  the  Arabic  dari,  which 
means  a  wise  man.  Bosworth  (A.  S.  Diet.) 
gives  dry,  pronounced  dru,  as  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  for  "  a  magician,  sorcerer,  druid." 
I  think  that  with  the  old  Celts  the  Druids 
occupied  the  same  place  as  the  Magi  did 
with  the  old  Persians. 

Druidism  was  divided  into  three  orders 
or  degrees,  which  were,  beginning  with  the 
lowest,  the  Bards,  the  Prophets,  and  the 
Druids.  Higgins  thinks  that  the  prophets 
were  the  lowest  order,  but  he  admits  that 
it  is  not  generally  allowed.  The  constitu- 
tion of  the  Order  was  in  many  respects  like 
that  of  the  Freemasons.  In  every  country 
there  was  an  Arch-Druid  in  whom  all  au- 
thority was  placed.  In  Britain  it  is  said  that 
there  were  under  him  three  arch-flamens  or 
priests,  and  twenty-five  flamens.  There 
was  an  annual  assembly  for  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  and  the  making  of  laws,  and, 
besides,  four  quarterly  meetings,  which  took 
place  on  the  days  when  the  sun  reached 
his  equinoctial  and  solstitial  points.  The 
latter  two  would  very  nearly  correspond  at 
this  time  with  the  festivals  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist.  It 
was  not  lawful  to  commit  their  ceremonies 
or  doctrines  to  writing,  and  Caesar  says 
{Bell.  Gall.,  vi.  13,)  that  they  used  the 
Greek  letters,  which  was,  of  course,  as  a 
cipher ;  but  Higgins  (p.  90)  says  that  one 
of  the  Irish  Ogum  alphabets,  which  Toland 
calls  secret  vrriting,  "  was  the  original,  sa- 
cred, and  secret  character  of  the  Druids." 

The  places  of  worship,  which  were  also 
places  of  initiation,  were  of  various  forms : 
circular,  because  a  circle  was  an  emblem 
of  the  universe ;  or  oval,  in  allusion  to  the 
mundane  egg,  from  which,  according  to  the 
Egyptians,  our  first  parents  issued ;  or  ser- 
pentine, because  a  serpent  was  a  symbol  of 
Hu,  the  druidical  !Noah;  or  winged,  to 
represent  the  motion  of  the  Divine  Spirit ; 
or  cruciform,  because  a  cross  was  the  em- 


DRUSES 


DUALISM 


231 


blem  of  regeneration.  Their  only  covering 
was  the  clouded  canopy,  because  they  deemed 
it  absurd  to  confine  the  Omnipotent  be- 
neath a  roof;  and  they  were  constructed 
of  embankments  of  earth,  and  of  unhewn 
stones,  unpolluted  with  a  metal  tool.  Nor 
was  any  one  permitted  to  enter  their  sacred 
retreats,  unless  he  bore  a  chain. 

The  ceremony  of  initiation  into  the 
Druidical  Mysteries  required  much  pre- 
liminary mental  preparation  and  physical 
purification.  The  aspirant  was  clothed 
with  the  three  sacred  colors,  white,  blue, 
and  green ;  white  as  the  symbol  of  Light, 
blue  of  Truth,  and  green  of  Hope.  When 
the  rites  of  initiation  were  passed,  the  tri- 
colored  robe  was  changed  for  one  of  green  ; 
in  the  second  degree,  the  candidate  was 
clothed  in  blue;  and  having  surmounted 
all  the  dangers  of  the  third,  and  arrived  at 
the  summit  of  perfection,  he  received  the 
red  tiara  and  flowing  mantle  of  purest  white. 
The  ceremonies  were  numerous,  the  physi- 
cal proofs  painful,  and  the  mental  trials 
appalling.  They  commenced  in  the  first 
degree,  with  placing  the  aspirant  in  the 
pastos,  bed  or  coflin,  where  his  symbolical 
death  was  represented,  and  they  terminated 
in  the  third,  by  his  regeneration  or  restora- 
tion to  life  from  the  womb  of  the  giantess 
Geridwin,  and  the  committal  of  the  body 
of  the  newly  born  to  the  waves  in  a  small 
boat,  symbolical  of  the  ark.  The  result 
was,  generally,  that  he  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing the  safe  landing-place,  but  if  his  arm 
was  weak,  or  his  heart  failed,  death  was  the 
almost  inevitable  consequence.  If  he  re- 
fused the  trial  through  timidity,  he  was 
contemptuously  rejected,  and  declared  for- 
ever ineligible  to  participate  in  the  sacred 
rites.  But  if  he  undertook  it  and  suc- 
ceeded, he  was  joyously  invested  with  all 
the  privileges  of  Druidism. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Druids  were  the 
same  as  those  entertained  by  Pythagoras. 
They  taught  the  existence  of  one  Supreme 
Being ;  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments; the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
a  metempsychosis  ;  and  the  object  of  their 
mystic  rites  was  to  communicate  these  doc- 
trines in  symbolic  language,  an  object  and 
a  method  common  alike  to  Druidism,  to  the 
Ancient  Mysteries  and  to  Modern  Free- 
masonry. 

Druses.  A  sect  of  mystic  religionists 
who  inhabit  Mounts  Lebanon  and  Anti- 
Lebanon,  in  Syria.  They  settled  there 
about  the  tenth  century,  and  are  said  to 
be  a  mixture  of  Cuthites  or  Kurds,  Mardi 
Arabs,  and  possibly  of  Crusaders;  all  of 
whom  were  added,  by  subsequent  immigra- 
tions, to  the  original  stock  to  constitute  the 
present  or  modern  race  of  Druses.  Their 
religion  is  a  heretical  compound  of  Juda- 


ism, Christianity,  and  Mohammedism ;  the 
last  of  which,  greatly  modified,  predomi- 
nates in  their  faith.  They  have  a  regular 
order  of  priesthood,  the  office  being  filled 
by  persons  consecrated  for  the  purpose, 
comprising  principally  the  emirs  and 
sheiks,  who  form  a  secret  organization  di- 
vided into  several  degrees,  keep  the  sacred 
books,  and  hold  secret  religious  assemblies. 
Their  sacred  books  are  written  in  anti- 
quated Arabic.  The  Druses  are  divided 
into  three  classes  or  degrees,  according  to 
religious  distinctions.  To  enable  one  Druse 
to  recognize  another,  a  system  of  passwords 
is  adopted,  without  an  interchange  of  which 
no  communication  is  made  that  may  give 
an  idea  of  their  religious  tenets.  (Tien's 
Druse  Religion  Unveiled.) 

Dr.  Clarke  tells  us  in  his  Travels  that  "one 
class  of  the  Druses  are  to  the  rest  what  the 
initiated  are  to  the  profane,  and  are  called 
Okkals,  which  means  spiritualists;  and 
they  consider  themselves  superior  to  their 
countrymen.  They  have  various  degrees 
of  initiation." 

Col.  Churchill,  in  his  Ten  Years'  Resi- 
dence on  Mount  Lebanon,  tells  us  that 
among  this  singular  people  there  is  an 
order  having  many  similar  customs  to  the 
Freemasons.  It  requires  a  twelvemonth's 
probation  previous  to  the  admission  of  a 
member.  Both  sexes  are  admissible.  In 
the  second  year  the  novice  assumes  the  dis- 
tinguishing mark  of  the  white  turban,  and 
afterwards,  by  degrees,  is  allowed  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  whole  of  the  mysteries. 
Simplicity  of  attire,  self-denial,  temperance, 
and  irreproachable  moral  conduct  are  es- 
sential to  admission  to  the  order. 

All  of  these  facts  have  led  to  the  theory, 
—  based,  however,  1  think,  on  insufficient 
grounds,  —  that  the  Druses  are  an  offshoot 
from  the  early  Freemasons,  and  that  their 
connection  with  the  latter  is  derived  from 
the  Crusaders,  who,  according  to  the  same 
theory,  are  supposed  to  have  acquired  their 
Freemasonry  during  their  residence  in  Pal- 
estine. Some  writers  go  so  far  as  to  say 
that  the  degree  of  Prince  of  Lebanon,  the 
twenty-second  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite,  refers  to  the  ancestors  of  these 
mystical  mountaineers  in  Syria. 

Dnad.  The  number  two  in  the  Pytha- 
gorean system  of  numbers.    See  Two. 

Dualism.  In  the  old  mythologies, 
there  was  a  doctrine  which  supposed  the 
world  to  have  been  always  governed  by  two 
antagonistic  principles,  distinguished  as 
the  good  and  the  evil  principle.  This  doc- 
trine pervaded  all  the  Oriental  religions. 

Thus  in  the  system  of  Zoroaster  we  have 
Ahriman  and  Ormuzd,  and  in  the  Hebrew 
cosmogony  we  find  the  Creator  and  the  Ser- 
pent.   There  has  been  a  remarkable  devel- 


232 


DUB 


DUNCKERLEY 


opment  of  this  system  in  the  three  degrees 
of  Symbolic  Masonry,  which  everywhere 
exhibit  in  their  organization,  their  symbol- 
ism, and  their  design,  the  pervading  influ- 
ences of  this  principle  of  dualism.  Thus, 
in  the  first  degree,  there  is  Darkness  over- 
come by  Light;  in  the  second,  Ignorance 
dispersed  by  Knowledge,  and  in  the  third, 
Death  conquered  by  Eternal  Life. 

I)iil>.  In  the  ancient  ceremonies  of 
chivalry,  a  knight  was  made  by  giving  him 
three  strokes  on  the  neck  with  the  flat  end 
of  the  sword,  and  he  was  then  said  to  be 
"dubbed  a  kniglit."  Dubbing  is  from  the 
Saxon,  dubban,  to  strike  with  a  blow.  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  {Eng.  Commonwealth),  who 
wrote  in  the  sixteenth  century,  says : 
"  And  when  any  man  is  made  a  knight,  he, 
kneeling  down,  is  strooken  of  the  prince, 
with  his  sword  naked,  upon  the  back  or 
shoulder,  the  prince  saying,  Sus  or  sois  chev- 
alier au  nom  de  Dieu,  and  (in  times  past) 
they  added  St.  George,  and  at  his  arising 
the  prince  sayeth,  Avancey.  This  is  the 
manner  of  dubbing  of  knights  at  this  pres- 
ent ;  and  that  terme  dubbing  was  the  old 
terme  in  this  point,  and  not  creation." 

Due  East  and  West.  A  Lodge  is 
said  to  be  situated  due  East  and  West  for 
reasons  which  have  varied  at  different 
periods  in  the  ritual  and  lectures.  See 
Orientation. 

Due  Examination.  That  sort  of 
examination  which  is  correct  and  pre- 
scribed by  law.  It  is  one  of  the  three 
modes  of  proving  a  strange  brother ;  the 
other  two  being  strict  trial  and  lawful  in- 
formation.    See  Vouching. 

Due  Form.  When  the  Grand  Lodge 
is  opened,  or  any  other  Masonic  ceremony 
performed,  by  the  Deputy  Grand  Master  in 
the  absence  of  the  Grand  Master,  it  is  said 
to  be  done  in  due  form.  Subordinate 
Lodges  are  always  said  to  be  opened  and 
closed  in  due  form.  It  is  derived  from  the 
French  word  du,  and  that  from  devoir,  "  to 
owe,"  —  that  which  is  owing  or  ought  to  be 
done.  Due  form  is  the  form  in  which  an 
act  ought  to  be  done  to  be  done  rightly. 
French  :  En  due  forme. 

Due  Guard.  A  mode  of  recognition 
which  derives  its  name  from  its  object, 
which  is  to  duly  guard  the  person  using 
it  in  reference  to  his  obligations,  and  «the 
penalty  for  their  violation.  The  Due 
Guard  is  an  Americanism,  and  of  compara- 
tively recent  origin,  being  unknown  to  the 
English  and  continental  systems.  In  some 
of  the  old  rituals  of  the  date  of  1757,  the 
expression  is  used,  but  only  as  referring  to 
what  is  now  called  the  Sign. 

Duelling.  Duelling  has  always  been 
considered  a  Masonic  crime,  and  most  of 
the  Grand  Lodges  have  enacted  statutes  by 


which  Masons  who  engage  in  duels  with 
each  other  are  subject  to  expulsion.  The 
Monde  Maconnique  (May,  1858,)  gives  the 
following  correct  view  on  this  subject:  "A 
Freemason  who  allows  himself  to  be  in- 
volved in  a  duel,  and  who  possesses  not 
sufficient  discretion  to  be  able  to  make 
reparation  without  cowardice,  and  without 
having  recourse  to  this  barbarous  extrem- 
ity, destroys  by  that  impious  act  the  con- 
tract which  binds  him  to  his  brethren.  His 
sword  or  his  pistol,  though  it  may  seem  to 
spare  his  adversary,  still  commits  a  mur- 
der, for  it  destroys  his  brothers  —  from  that 
time  fraternity  no  longer  exists  for  him." 

Dues.  The  payment  of  annual  dues 
by  a  member  to  his  Lodge  is  a  compara- 
tively modern  custom,  and  one  that  cer- 
tainly did  not  exist  before  the  revival  of 
1717.  As  previous  to  that  period,  accord- 
ing to  Preston,  Lodges  received  no  war- 
rants, but  a  sufficient  number  of  brethren 
meeting  together  were  competent  to  prac- 
tise the  rites  of  Masonry,  and  as  soon  as 
the  special  business  which  called  them 
together  had  been  accomplished,  they  sepa- 
rated, there  could  have  been  no  permanent 
organization  of  Speculative  Masons,  and  no 
necessity  for  contributions  to  constitute  a 
Lodge  fund.  Dues  must  therefore  have 
been  unknown  except  in  the  Lodges  of 
Operative  Masons,  which,  as  we  find,  espe- 
cially in  Scotland,  had  a  permanent  exist- 
ence. There  is,  accordingly,  no  regulation 
in  any  of  the  old  Constitutions  for  the  pay- 
ment of  dues.  It  is  not  a  general  Masonic 
duty,  in  which  the  Mason  is  affected  to  the 
whole  of  the  Craft,  but  an  arrangement 
between  himself  and  his  Lodge,  with  which 
the  Grand  Lodge  ought  not  to  interfere. 
As  the  payment  of  dues  is  not  a  duty  owing 
to  the  Craft  in  general,  so  the  non-payment 
of  them  is  not  an  offence  against  the  Craft, 
but  simply  against  his  Lodge,  the  only  pun- 
ishment for  which  should  be  striking  from 
the  roll  or  discharge  from  membership. 
It  is  now  the  almost  universal  opinion  of 
Masonic  jurists  that  suspension  or  expul- 
sion from  the  Order  is  a  punishment  that 
should  never  be  inflicted  for  non-payment 
of  dues. 

Dumbness.  Although  the  faculty  of 
speech  is  not  one  of  the  five  human  senses, 
it  is  important  as  the  medium  of  communi- 
cating instruction,  admonition,  or  reproof, 
and  the  person  who  does  not  possess  it  is 
unfitted  to  perform  the  most  important  du- 
ties of  life.  Hence  dumbness  disqualifies  a 
candidate  for  Masonic  initiation. 

Dummy.  A  word  used  in  the  Grand 
Chapter  of"  Minnesota  to  signify  what  is 
more  usually  called  a  substitute  in  the  Royal 
Arch  degree. 

Dunekerley,  Thomas.    No  one, 


DUNCKERLEY 


DUNCKERLEY 


233 


among  the  Masons  of  England,  occupied  a 
more  distinguished  position  or  played  a 
more  important  part  in  the  labors  of  the 
Craft  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  than  Thomas  Dunckerley,  whose 
private  life  was  as  romantic  as  his  Masonic 
was  honorable. 

Thomas  Dunckerley  was  born  in  the 
city  of  London  on   the   23d   of  October, 

1724.     He  was  the  reputed  son  of  Mr. 

and  Mrs.  Mary  Dunckerley,  but  really 
owed  his  birth  to  a  personage  of  a  much 
higher  rank  in  life,  being  the  natural  son 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards  George 
II.,  to  whom  he  bore,  as  his  portrait 
shows,  a  striking  resemblance.  It  was 
not  until  after  his  mother's  death  that  he 
became  acquainted  with  the  true  history 
of  his  birth  ;  so  that  for  more  than  half  of 
his  life  this  son  of  a  king  occupied  a  very 
humble  position  on  the  stage  of  the  world, 
and  was  sometimes  even  embarrassed  with 
the  pressure  of  poverty  and  distress. 

At  the  age  of  ten  he  entered  the  navy, 
and  continued  in  the  service  for  twenty-six 
years,  acquiring,  by  his  intelligence  and 
uniformly  good  conduct,  the  esteem  and 
commendation  of  all  his  commanders.  But 
having  no  personal  or  family  interest,  he 
never  attained  to  any  higher  rank  than 
that  of  a  gunner.  During  all  this  time, 
except  at  brief  intervals,  he  was  absent 
from  England  on  foreign  service. 

He  returned  to  his  native  country  in 
January,  1760,  to  find  that  his  mother  had 
died  a  few  days  before,  and  that  on  her 
death-bed  she  had  made  a  solemn  declara- 
tion, accompanied  by  such  details  as  left 
no  possible  doubt  of  its  truth,  that  Thomas 
was  the  illegitimate  son  of  King  George 
II.,  born  while  he  was  Prince  of  Wales. 
The  fact  of  the  birth  had,  however,  never 
been  communicated  by  the  mother  to  the 
prince,  and  George  II.  died  without  know- 
ing that  he  had  such  a  son  living. 

Dunckerley,  in  the  account  of  the  affair 
which  he  left  among  his  posthumous  pa- 
pers, says:  "This  information,  gave  me 
great  surprise  and  much  uneasiness;  and 
as  I  was  obliged  to  return  immediately  to 
my  duty  on  board  of  the  Vanguard,  I  made 
it  known  to  no  person  at  that  time  but 
Captain  Swanton.  He  said  that  those  who 
did  not  know  me  could  look  on  it  to  be 
nothing  more  than  a  gossip's  story.  We 
were  then  bound  a  second  time  to  Quebec, 
and  Captain  Swanton  did  promise  me  that 
on  our  return  to  England  he  would  en- 
deavor to  get  me  introduced  to  the  king, 
and  that  he  would  give  me  a  character; 
but  when  we  came  back  to  England  the 
king  was  dead." 

Dunckerley  had  hoped  that  his  case 
would  have  been  laid  before  his  royal 
2E 


father,  and  that  the  result  would  have 
been  an  appointment  equal  to  his  birth. 
But  the  frustration  of  these  hopes  by  the 
death  of  the  king  seems  to  have  discour- 
aged him,  and  no  efforts  appear  for  some 
time  to  have  been  made  by  him  or  his 
friends  to  communicate  the  facts  to  George 
III.,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  throne. 

In  1761  he  again  left  England  as  a  gun- 
ner in  Lord  Anson's  fleet,  and  did  not  re- 
turn until  1764,  at  which  time,  finding 
himself  embarrassed  with  a  heavy  debt, 
incurred  in  the  expenses  of  his  family,  (for 
he  had  married  in  early  life,  in  the  year 
1744,)  knowing  no  person  who  could  au- 
thenticate the  story  of  his  birth,  and  seeing 
no  probability  of  gaining  access  to  the  ear 
of  the  king,  he  sailed  in  a  merchant  vessel 
for  the  Mediterranean.  He  had  previously 
been  granted  superannuation  in  the  navy 
in  consequence  of  his  long  services,  and 
received  a  small  pension,  the  principal  part 
of  which  he  left  for  the  support  of  his  family 
during  his  absence. 

But  the  romantic  story  of  his  birth  began 
to  be  publicly  known  and  talked  about,  and 
in  1766  attracted  the  attention  of  several 
persons  of  distinction,  who  endeavored,  but 
without  success,  to  excite  the  interest  of 
the  Princess  Dowager  of  Wales  in  his  be- 
half. 

In  1767,  however,  the  declaration  of  his 
mother  was  laid  before  the  king,  who  was 
George  III.,  the  grandson  of  his  father. 
It  made  an  impression  on  him,  and  inquiry 
into  his  previous  character  and  conduct 
having  proved  satisfactory,  on  May  7, 1767, 
the  king  ordered  Dunckerley  to  receive  a 
pension  of  £100,  which  was  subsequently 
increased  to  £800,  together  with  a  suite  of 
apartments  in  Hampton  Court  Palace.  He 
also  assumed,  and  was  permitted  to  bear, 
the  royal  arms,  with  the  distinguishing 
badge  of  the  bend  sinister,  and  adopted  as 
his  motto  the  appropriate  words  "  Fato  non 
merito."  In  his  familiar  correspondence, 
and  in  his  book-plates,  he  used  the  name 
of  "  Fitz-George." 

In  1770  he  became  a  student  of  law,  and 
in  1774  was  called  to  the  bar;  but  his  fond- 
ness for  an  active  life  prevented  him  from 
ever  making  much  progress  in  the  legal 
profession. 

Dunckerley  died  at  Portsmouth  in  the 
year  1795,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-one ; 
but  his  last  years  were  embittered  by  the 
misconduct  of  his  son,  whose  extravagance 
and  dissolute  conduct  necessarily  afflicted 
the  mind  while  it  straitened  the  means  of 
the  unhappy  parent.  Every  effort  to  re- 
claim him  proved  utterly  ineffectual ;  and 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  no  provision 
being  left  for  his  support,  he  became  a 
vagrant,  living  for  the  most  part  on  Ma- 


234 


DUNCKERLEY 


DUNCKERLEY 


sonic  charity.  At  last  he  became  a  brick- 
layer's laborer,  and  was  often  seen  ascend- 
ing a  ladder  with  a  hod  on  his  shoulders. 
His  misfortunes  and  his  misconduct  at 
length  found  an  end,  and  the  grandson  of 
a  king  of  England  died  a  pauper  in  a  cellar 
of  St.  Giles. 

The  Masonic  career  of  Dunckerley,  if 
less  remarkable  than  his  domestic  life,  is 
more  interesting  to  the  Freemason.  There 
is  no  record  of  the  exact  time  of  his  recep- 
tion into  the  Order ;  but  it  must  have  been 
not  long  before  1757,  as  he  in  that  year  de- 
livered an  address,  as  we  should  now  call 
it,  before  the  Lodges  of  Plymouth,  which 
was  published  at  the  time  under  the  title 
of  "  The  Light  and  Truth  of  Masonry  Ex- 
plained, being  the  Substance  of  a  Charge 
Delivered  at  Plymouth  in  1757."  In  the 
title  of  this  production  he  styles  himself 
simply  a  "Master  Mason,"  showing  that 
he  had  not  been  long  enough  in  the  Order 
to  have  obtained  official  position,  and  in 
the  body  of  the  charge  he  apologizes  for 
the  apparent  presumption  of  one  "  who  had 
been  so  few  years  a  Mason."  It  is  probable 
that  he  was  initiated  about  the  year  1755, 
and,  as  he  was  at  that  time  in  the  navy,  in 
one  of  the  Lodges  of  Plymouth,  which  was 
then,  as  now,  frequented  by  vessels  of  war. 
In  this  charge,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  a 
prayer,  written  by  Dunckerley,  appears  for 
the  first  time,  which,  slightly  abridged,  has 
ever  since  been  used  in  all  English  and 
American  Lodges  at  the  initiation  of  a  can- 
didate. 

Oliver  says  that  shortly  after  his  return 
to  England  he  was  elected  the  Master  of  a 
Lodge.  This  must  have  been  in  the  year 
1766  or  1767  ;  for  in  the  latter  year  he  re- 
ceived from  Lord  Blaney,  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter, the  deputation  for  Provincial  Grand 
Master  of  Hampshire,  which,  I  suppose, 
would  scarcely  have  been  given  him  if  he 
had  not "  passed  the  chair."  Preston  speaks 
of  his  "  indefatigable  assiduity  "  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  the  office,  and  of  the 
considerable  progress  of  Masonry  in  the 
province  through  his  instrumentality.  He 
was  soon  after  appointed  to  the  superin- 
tendency  of  the  Lodges  in  Dorsetshire, 
Essex,  Gloucestershire,  Somersetshire,  and 
Herefordshire.  And  some  years  afterwards, 
the  Grand  Lodge,  in  grateful  testimony  of 
his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Masonry,  resolved 
that  he  should  rank  as  a  Past  Senior  Grand 
Warden,  and  in  all  processions  take  place 
next  the  present  Senior  Grand  Warden  for 
the  time  being.  During  the  rest  of  his  life 
Dunckerley  received  many  evidences  of  the 
high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
Masonic  authorities  of  the  day,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death  was  occupying  the  follow- 
ing prominent  positions,  in  addition  to  that 


of  Provincial  Grand  Master,  which  ap- 
pointment he  held  from  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  viz.,  Grand  Superintendent  and 
Past  Grand  Master  of  Royal  Arch  Masons 
of  Bristol  and  several  counties,  appointed 
by  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  and  Supreme 
Grand  Master  of  the  Knights  of  Rosa  Cru- 
cis,  Templars,  and  Kadosh,  under  Prince 
Edward,  afterwards  Duke  of  Kent.  His 
royal  kinsmen  did  not  neglect  his  claims  to 
patronage. 

But  far  higher  than  any  of  these  titles 
and  offices,  and  of  far  more  lasting  impor- 
tance to  the  Craft,  was  the  position  occupied 
by  Dunckerley  as  an  instructor  of  the 
Lodges,  and  a  reformer,  or  at  least  a  re- 
modeller,  of  the  system  of  lectures.  To 
these  duties  he  was  called  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  which  authorized  him 
to  construct  a  new  code  of  lectures,  a  care- 
ful revision  of  the  existing  ritual,  and  a 
collation  of  all  ancient  formulas. 

For  this  task  he  was  pre-eminently  quali- 
fied. Possessed  of  a  fair  share  of  learning, 
and  imbued  with  a  philosophical  spirit,  he 
was  prepared  to  amplify  the  existing  sys- 
tem of  Martin  Clare  by  the  addition  of 
much  new  symbolism,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  that  which  had  already  been  in- 
troduced by  his  predecessor.  He  was  also 
liberal  in  his  views,  and  not  partaking  of 
the  prejudices  then  so  active  against  what 
were  called  the  innovations  of  Dermott, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  avail  himself  of  his 
labors,  as  that  schismatic  had  previously 
not  hesitated  to  profit  by  the  suggestions 
of  the  Chevalier  Ramsay.  Oliver  says, 
that  he  often  visited  the  Lodges  of  the 
"  Ancients,"  for  the  purpose  of  ascertain- 
ing what  were  the  essential  differences 
between  the  two  systems,  and  of  that  which 
was  good  he  culled  the  best,  and  trans- 
planted it  into  the  workings  of  the  legiti- 
mate Grand  Lodge. 

The  results  were  not  evanescent,  but  are 
felt  even  in  the  ritual  of  the  present  day. 
The  most  important  was  that  which  af- 
fected the  third  degree.  Dunckerley  re- 
constructed the  Royal  Arch  of  Dermott, 
and  introduced  it  into  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England;  not,  however,  without  opposition, 
which  was  only  overcome,  Oliver  says,  by 
the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
and  his  own  personal  influence.  By  this 
innovation,  the  true  Word,  which  had 
hitherto  been  a  part  of  the  Master's  degree, 
was  transferred  to  the  Royal  Arch,  and  the 
third  degree  was  made  incomplete,  and  re- 
quired to  be  supplemented  by  a  higher  one, 
which  should  supply  its  deficiency.  The 
Master's  degree,  as  now  given  in  England 
and  America,  differs  very  considerably  from 
that  which  was  left  by  Martin  Clare,  and 
is  indebted  for  its  present  organization  to 


DUNCKERLEY 


EAGLE 


235 


the  labors  of  Dunckerley.  It  might,  indeed, 
be  properly  called  Dunckerley's  degree. 
Dunckerley  also  introduced  into  his  system 
of  lectures  some  new  symbols.  Thus  to 
him  is  ascribed  the  adoption  of  the  "  lines 
parallel,"  as  a  symbol  of  the  two  Saints 
John,  and  the  "  theological  ladder." 

Dunckerley  wrote  nothing  of  great  im- 
portance. His  contributions  to  Masonic 
literature  seem  to  have  been  confined  to  a 
couple  of  charges  or  addresses,  delivered  in 
1757  and  in  1769,  and  to  a  brief  chrono- 
logical sketch  of  the  Order  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars, which  was  published  in  the  3d  vol- 
ume of  the  Freemason's  Magazine.  He  was 
also  the  author  of  some  Masonic  poetry, 
and  two  of  his  odes  are  inserted  in  Noor- 
thouck's  edition  of  the  Book  of  Constitu- 
tions. But  his  most  effective  labors  were 
almost  altogether  esoteric  and  his  instruc- 
tions oral,  and  his  industry  in  this  way 
seems  to  have  been  indefatigable,  and  his 
influence  extensive.  The  results  are  felt, 
as  has  already  been  said,  to  the  present 
day.  His  popularity  as  a  lecturer  is  to  be 
attributed  to  the  active  character  of  his 
mind,  and  his  thorough  mastership  of  the 
subjects  which  he  taught,  and  the  fluency 
of  his  delivery. 

His  conduct  was  irreproachable,  and 
hence  he  was  fortunate  in  securing  the  es- 
teem and  regard  of  the  Craft,  and  the 
friendship  of  the  most  distinguished  Ma- 
sons who  were  his  contemporaries.  Preston 
styles  him  "  that  truly  Masonic  luminary ; " 
and  Oliver  says  that  "  he  was  the  oracle  of 
the  Grand  Lodge,  and  the  accredited  inter- 
preter of  its  Constitutions.     His  decision, 


like  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  was 
final  on  all  points,  both  of  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline, and  against  it  there  was  no  appeal." 

Were  I  to  attempt  a  comparative  esti- 
mate of  his  character  as  a  Masonic  scholar, 
in  reference  to  his  predecessors,  his  con- 
temporaries, and  his  successors  in  English 
Masonry,  I  should  say  that  he  was  the 
superior  of  both  Anderson  and  Desaguiiers, 
but  inferior  to  Preston,  to  Hutchinson,  and 
to  Oliver.  Among  his  contemporaries  he 
certainly  had  a  well-deserved  reputation, 
and  is  clearly  entitled  to  the  appellation 
that  was  bestowed  upon  him,  of  being  a 
learned  and  philosophical  Mason. 

Dnpaty,  Louis  Emanuel 
Charles  Mercier.  The  author  of 
many  Masonic  songs  and  other  fugitive 
pieces  inserted  in  the  Annates  Maconniques. 
He  wrote  in  1810,  with  Reveroui  de  Saint- 
Cyr,  a  comic  opera  entitled  "  Cagliostro 
ou  les  Illumines."  In  1818,  he  published 
a  Masonic  tale  entitled  "  l'Harmonie." 
He  was  a  poet  and  dramatic  writer  of  some 
reputation,  born  in  the  Gironde  in  1775, 
elected  to  the  French  Academy  in  1835, 
and  died  in  1851. 

Duty.  The  duty  of  a  Mason  as  an 
honest  man  is  plain  and  easy.  It  requires 
of  him  honesty  in  contracts,  sincerity  in 
affirming,  simplicity  in  bargaining,  and 
faithfulness  in  performing.  To  sleep  little, 
and  to  study  much;  to  say  little,  and  to 
hear  and  think  much;  to  learn,  that  he  may 
be  able  to  do;  and  then  to  do  earnestly 
and  vigorously  whatever  the  good  of  his 
fellows,  his  country  and  mankind  requires, 
are  the  duties  of  every  Mason. 


E. 


Eagle.     The  eagle,  as  a  symbol,  is  of 

freat  antiquity.  In  Egypt,  Greece,  and 
'ersia,  this  bird  was  sacred  to  the  sun. 
Among  the  Pagans  it  was  an  emblem  of 
Jupiter,  and  with  the  Druids  it  was  a  sym- 
bol of  their  supreme  god.  In  the  Scrip- 
tures, a  distinguished  reference  is  in  many 
instances  made  to  the  eagle ;  especially  do 
we  find  Moses  (Exod.  xix.  4,)  representing 
Jehovah  as  saying,  in  allusion  to  the  belief 
that  this  bird  assists  its  feeble  young  in 
their  flight  by  bearing  them  upon  its  own 
pinions,  "  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the 
Egyptians,  and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagles' 
wings,  and  brought  you  unto  myself."  Not 
less  elevated  was  the  symbolism  of  the 


eagle  among  the  Pagans.  Thus,  Cicero, 
speaking  of  the  myth  of  Ganymede  carried 
up  to  Jove  on  an  eagle's  back,  says  that  it 
teaches  us  that  the  truly  wise,  irradiated  by 
the  shining  light  of  virtue,  become  more 
and  more  like  God,  until  by  wisdom  they 
are  borne  aloft  and  soar  to  him.  The  her- 
alds explain  the  eagle  as  signifying  the 
same  thing  among  birds  as  the  lion  does 
among  quadrupeds.  It  is,  they  say,  the 
most  swift,  strong,  laborious,  generous,  and 
bold  of  all  birds,  and  for  this  reason  it  has 
been  made,  both  by  ancients  and  moderns, 
the  symbol  of  majesty.  In  the  jewel  of  the 
Rose  Croix  degree  is  found  an  eagle  dis- 
played at  the  foot  of  the  cross ;  and  it  is 


236 


EAGLE 


EAGLE 


there  very  appropriately  selected  as  a  sym- 
bol of  Christ,  in  his  divine  character,  bear- 
ing the  children  of  his  adoption  on  his 
wings,  teaching  them  with  unequalled  love 
and  tenderness  to  poise  their  unfledged 
wings  and  soar  from  the  dull  corruptions 
of  earth  to  a  higher  and  holier  sphere. 
And  for  this  reason  the  eagle  in  the  jewel 
of  that  degree  is  very  significantly  repre- 
sented as  having  the  wings  displayed  as  if 
in  the  very  act  of  flight. 

Eagle  and  Pelican,  Knight  of 
the.    See  Knight  of  the  Eagle  and  Pelican. 

Eagle.  Double  -  Headed.  The 
eagle  displayed,  that  is,  with  extended 
wings,  as  if  in  the  act  of  flying,  has  always, 
from  the  majestic  character  of  the  bird, 
been  deemed  an  emblem  of  imperial  power. 
Marius,  the  consul,  first  consecrated  the 
eagle,  about  eight  years  B.  c,  to  be  the  sole 
Roman  standard  at  the  head  of  every  legion, 
and  hence  it  became  the  standard  of  the 
Roman  empire  ever  afterwards.  As  the 
single-headed  eagle  was  thus  adopted  as 
the  symbol  of  imperial  power,  the  double- 
headed  eagle  naturally  became  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  double  empire ;  and  on  the 
division  of  the  Roman  dominions  into  the 
eastern  and  western  empire,  which  were 
afterwards  consolidated  by  the  Carlovin- 
gian  race  into  what  was  ever  after  called 
the  Holy  Roman  empire,  the  double-headed 
eagle  was  assumed  as  the  emblem  of  this 
double  em  pire ;  one  head  looking,  as  it  were, 
to  the  West,  or  Rome,  and  the  other  to  the 
East,  or  Byzantium.  Hence  the  escutcheons 
of  many  persons  now  living,  the  descend- 
ants of  the  princes  and  counts  of  the  Holy 
Roman  empire,  are  placed  upon  the  breast 
of  a  double-headed  eagle.  Upon  the  disso- 
lution of  that  empire,  the  emperors  of  Ger- 
many, who  claimed  their  empire  to  be  the 
representative  of  ancient  Rome,  assumed 
the  double-headed  eagle  as  their  symbol, 
and  placed  it  in  their  arms,  which  were 
blazoned  thus :  Or,  an  eagle  displayed  sable, 
having  two  heads,  each  inclosed  within  an 
amulet,  or  beaked  and  armed  gules,  holding 
in  his  right  claw  a  sword  and  sceptre  or, 
and  in  his  left  the  imperial  mound.  Russia 
also  bears  the  double-headed  eagle,  having 
added,  says  Brewer,  that  of  Poland  to  her 
own,  and  thus  denoting  a  double  empire. 
It  is,  however,  probable  that  the  double- 
headed  eagle  of  Russia  is  to  be  traced  to 
some  assumed  representation  of  the  Holy 
Roman  empire  based  upon  the  claim  of 
Russia  to  Byzantium ;  for  Constantine,  the 
Byzantine  emperor,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  who  assumed  this  device  to  intimate 
the  division  of  the  empire  into  East  and 
West. 

The  statement  of  Millington  {Heraldry 
in  History,  Poetry,  and  Romance,  p.  290,)  is 


doubtful,  that  "  the  double-headed  eagle  of 
the  Austrian  and  Russian  empires  was  first 
assumed  during  the  second  Crusade,  and 
typified  the  great  alliance  formed  by  the 
Christian  sovereigns  of  Greece  and  Ger- 
many against  the  enemy  of  their  common 
faith,  and  it  is  retained  by  Russia  and 
Austria  as  representations  of  those  em- 
pires." The  theory  is  more  probable  as 
well  as  more  generally  accepted  which  con- 
nects the  symbol  with  the  eastern  and  west- 
ern empires  of  Rome.  It  is,  however,  agreed 
by  all  that  while  the  single-headed  eagle 
denotes  imperial  dignity,  the  extension  and 
multiplication  of  that  dignity  is  symbolized 
by  the  two  heads. 

The  double-headed  eagle  was  probably 
first  introduced  as  a  symbol  into  Masonry 
in  the  year  1758.  In  that  year  the  body 
calling  itself  the  Council  of  Emperors  of 
the  East  and  West  was  established  in  Paris. 
The  double-headed  eagle  was  likely  to  have 
been  assumed  by  this  Council  in  reference 
to  the  double  jurisdiction  which  it  claimed, 
and  which  is  represented  so  distinctly  in  its 
title.  Its  ritual,  which  consisted  of  twenty- 
five  degrees,  all  of  which  are  now  contained 
in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite, 
was  subsequently  established  in  the  city  of 
Berlin,  and  adopted  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  the  Three  Globes.  Frederick  I L,  king 
of  Prussia,  who  was  the  head  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  is  said  to  have 
merged  this  body  into  his  own  Rite,  adding 
to  its  twenty-five  degrees  eight  more,  so  as  to 
make  the  thirty-three  degrees  of  which  that 
Rite  is  now  composed.  The  double-headed 
eagle  was  then  adopted  as  the  symbol  of 
the  thirty-third  and  ultimate  degree.  The 
whole  Rite  being  considered  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Holy  Empire,  as  is  indi- 
cated by  the  titles  of  two  of  its  officers, 


who  are  still  called  the  Secretary  and  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Holy  Empire,  the  double- 
headed  eagle,  which  was  the  ensign,  as  it 
has  been  seen,  of  that  empire,  was  appropri- 
ately adopted  as  the  symbol  of  the  govern- 
ing degree  of  the  Rite. 
The  jewel  of  the  thirty-third  degree,  or 


EAGLE 


EAST 


237 


Sovereign  Grand  Inspector  General  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  is  a 
double-headed  eagle  (which  was  originally 
black,  but  is  now  generally  of  silver),  a 
golden  crown  resting  on  both  heads,  wings 
displayed,  beak  and  claws  of  gold,  his 
talons  grasping  a  wavy  sword,  the  emblem 
of  cherubic  tire,  the  hilt  held  by  one  talon, 
the  blade  by  the  other.  The  banner  of  the 
Order  is  also  a  double  -  headed  eagle 
crowned. 

Eagle,  Knight  of  the.  See  Knight 
of  the  Eagle. 

Eagle,  Knight  of  the  American. 
See  Knight  of  the  American  Eagle. 

Eagle,  Knight  of  the  Black. 
See  Knight  of  the  Black  Eagle. 

Eagle,  Knight  of  the  Gold.  See 
Knight  of  the  Oold  Eagle. 

Eagle,  Knight  of  the  Prussian. 
See  Knight  of  the  Prussian  Eagle. 

Eagle,  Knight  of  the  Bed.  See 
Knight  of  the  Bed  Eagle. 

Eagle,  Knight  of  the  White  and 
Black.  See  Knight  of  the  White  and 
Black  Eagle. 

Eagles,  Knight  of  the  Two 
Crowned.  See  Knight  of  the  Two 
Crowned  Eagles. 

Ear  of  Corn.  This  was,  among  all 
the  ancients,  an  emblem  of  plenty.  Ceres, 
who  was  universally  worshipped  as  the 
goddess  of  abundance,  and  even  called  by 
the  Greeks  Demeter,  a  manifest  corruption 
of  Gemeter,  or  mother  earth,  was  symboli- 
cally represented  with  a  garland  on  her 
head  composed  of  ears  of  corn,  a  lighted 
torch  in  one  hand,  and  a  cluster  of  poppies 
and  ears  of  corn  in  the  other.  And  in  the 
Hebrew,  the  most  significant  of  all  lan- 
guages, the  two  words,  which  signify  an  ear 
of  corn,  are  both  derived  from  roots  which 
give  the  idea  of  abundance.  For  shibboleth, 
which  is  applicable  both  to  an  ear  of  corn 
and  a  flood  of  water,  has  its  root  in  shabal, 
to  increase  or  to  flow  abundantly ;  and  the 
other  name  of  corn,  dagan,  is  derived  from 
the  verb  dagah,  signifying  to  multiply,  or 
to  be  increased. 

Ear  of  corn,  which  is  a  technical  expres- 
tion  in  the  second  degree,  has  been  some- 
times ignorantly  displaced  by  a  sheaf  of 
wheat.  This  is  done  in  America,  under  the 
mistaken  supposition  that  corn  refers  only 
to  Indian  maize,  which  was  unknown  to  the 
ancients.  But  corn  is  a  generic  word,  and 
includes  wheat  and  every  other  kind  of 
grain.  This  is  its  legitimate  English  mean- 
ing, and  hence  an  ear  of  corn,  which  is  an 
old  expression,  and  the  right  one,  would 
denote  a  stalk,  but  not  a  sheaf  of  wheat.  See 
Shibboleth. 

Ear,  The  Listening.  The  listening 
ear  is  one  of  the  three  precious  jewels  of  a 


Fellow  Craft  Mason.  In  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage, the  verb  j^Ot^>  shemong,  signifies 
not  only  to  hear,  but  also  to  understand  and 
to  obey.  Hence,  when  Jesus  said,  after  a 
parable,  "  he  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him 
hear,"  he  meant  to  denote  that  he  who 
hears  the  recital  of  allegories  should  en- 
deavor to  discover  their  hidden  meaning, 
and  be  obedient  to  their  teaching.  This  is 
the  true  meaning  of  the  symbol  of  the  lis- 
tening ear,  which  admonishes  the  Fellow 
Craft  not  only  that  he  should  receive  les- 
sons of  instruction  from  his  teacher,  but 
that  he  should  treasure  them  in  his  breast, 
so  as  to  ponder  over  their  meaning  and 
carry  out  their  design. 

Earthen  Pan.  In  the  lectures  of  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  used  as 
a  symbol  of  zeal,  together  with  chalk  and 
charcoal,  which  represented  freedom  and 
fervency.  In  the  modern  lectures  it  has 
been  substituted  by  clay.  Pan  once  signi- 
fied hard  earth,  a  meaning  which  is  now 
obsolete,  though  from  it  we  derive  the  name 
of  a  cooking  utensil. 

East.  The  East  has  always  been  con- 
sidered peculiarly  sacred.  This  was,  with- 
out exception,  the  case  in  all  the  Ancient 
Mysteries.  In  the  Egyptian  rites,  espe- 
cially, and  those  of  Adonis,  which  were 
among  the  earliest,  and  from  which  the 
others  derived  their  existence,  the  sun  waa 
the  object  of  adoration,  and  his  revolutions 
through  the  various  seasons  were  fictitiously 
represented.  The  spot,  therefore,  where 
this  luminary  made  his  appearance  at  the 
commencement  of  day,  and  where  his  wor- 
shippers were  wont  anxiously  to  look  for 
the  first  darting  of  his  prolific  rays,  was  es- 
teemed as  the  figurative  birthplace  of  their 
god,  and  honored  with  an  appropriate  degree 
of  reverence.  And  even  among  those  nations 
where  sun  -  worship  gave  place  to  more 
enlightened  doctrines,  the  respect  for  the 
place  of  sun-rising  continued  to  exist. 
The  camp  of  Judah  was  placed  by  Moses 
in  the  East  as  a  mark  of  distinction  ;  the 
tabernacle  in  the  wilderness  was  placed  due 
East  and  West;  and  the  practice  was  con- 
tinued in  the  erection  of  Christian 
churches.  Hence,  too,  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians always  turned  towards  the  East  in 
their  public  prayers,  which  custom  St.  Au- 
gustine (Serm.  Dom.  in  Monte,  c.  5,)  ac- 
counts for  "  because  the  East  is  the  most 
honorable  part  of  the  world,  being  the  re- 
gion of  light  whence  the  glorious  sun 
arises."  And  hence  all  Masonic  Lodges, 
like  their  great  prototype  the  Temple  of 
Jerusalem,  are  built,  or  supposed  to  be 
built,  due  East  and  West ;  and  as  the  North 
is  esteemed  a  place  of  darkness,  the  East,  on 
the  contrary,  is  considered  a  place  of  light. 

In  the  primitive  Christian  church,  ac- 


238 


EAST 


ECLECTIC 


cording  to  St.  Ambrose,  in  the  ceremonies 
accompanying  the  baptism  of  a  catechu- 
men, "  he  turned  towards  the  West,  the 
image  of  darkness,  to  abjure  the  world,  and 
towards  the  East,  the  emblem  of  light,  to 
denote  his  alliance  with  Jesus  Christ." 
And  so,  too,  in  the  oldest  lectures  of  the 
last  century,  the  Mason  is  said  to  travel 
from  the  West  to  the  East,  that  is,  from 
darkness  to  light.  In  the  Prestonian  sys- 
tem, the  question  is  asked,  "  What  induces 
you  to  leave  the  West  to  travel  to  the 
East  ?  "  And  the  answer  is :  "  In  search 
of  a  Master,  and  from  him  to  gain  instruc- 
tion." The  same  idea,  if  not  precisely  the 
same  language,  is  preserved  in  the  modern 
and  existing  rituals. 

The  East,  being  the  place  where  the  Mas- 
ter sits,  is  considered  the  most  honorable 
part  of  the  Lodge,  and  is  distinguished  from 
the  rest  of  the  room  by  a  dais,  or  raised 
platform,  which  is  occupied  only  by  those 
who  have  passed  the  Chair. 

Bazot  (Manuel,  p.  154,)  says:  "The  ven- 
eration which  Masons  have  for  the  East, 
confirms  the  theory  that  it  is  from  the 
East  that  the  Masonic  cult  proceeded,  and 
that  this  bears  a  relation  to  the  primitive 
religion  whose  first  degeneration  was  sun- 
worship. 

East  and  West,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  East  and  West. 

East,  Grand.  The  place  where  a 
Grand  Lodge  holds  its  communications, 
and  whence  are  issued  its  edicts,  is  often 
called  its  Grand  East.  Thus,  the  Grand 
East  of  Boston  would,  according  to  this 
usage,  be  placed  at  the  head  of  documents 
emanating  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Grand  Orient  has  sometimes  been 
used  instead  of  Grand  East,  but  improperly. 
Orient  might  be  admissible  as  signifying 
East,  but  Grand  Orient  having  been  adopted 
as  the  name  of  certain  Grand  Bodies,  such 
as  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  which  is 
tantamount  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  France, 
the  use  of  the  term  might  lead  to  confu- 
sion. Thus,  the  Orient  of  Paris  is  the  seat 
of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France.  The  ex- 
pression Grand  East,  however,  is  almost 
exclusively  confined  to  this  country;  and 
even  here  is  not  in  universal  use. 

East  Indies.    See  India. 

East,  Knight  of  the.  See  Knight 
of  the  East. 

Easter.  Easter  Sunday,  being  the  day 
celebrated  by  the  Christian  church  in  com- 
memoration of  the  resurrection  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  is  appropriately  kept  as  a  feast- 
day  by  Rose  Croix  Masons. 

Easter  Monday.  On  this  day,  in 
every  third  year,  Councils  of  Kadosh  in 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
hold  their  elections. 


Eastern  Star,  Order  of  the.    An 

American  Adoptive  Rite,  called  the  "  Order 
of  the  Eastern  Star,"  invented  by  Bro. 
Robert  Morris,  and  somewhat  popular  in 
this  country.  It  consists  of  five  degrees, 
viz.,  1,  Jephtha's  daughter,  or  the  daughter's 
degree ;  2,  Ruth,  or  the  widow's  degree ;  3, 
Esther,  or  the  wife's  degree ;  4,  Martha,  or 
the  sister's  degree;  5,  Electa,  or  the  Benevo- 
lent. It  is  entirely  different  from  Euro- 
pean or  French  Adoptive  Masonry.  Re- 
cently, this  Order  has  undergone  a  thorough 
organization,  and  been  extended  into  other 
countries,  especially  into  South  America. 

East  Port.  An  error  of  ignorance  in 
the  Landsdowne  Manuscript,  where  the  ex- 
pression, "  the  city  of  East  Port,"  occurs  as 
a  corruption  of  "  the  cities  of  the  East." 

Eavesdropper.  A  listener.  The 
punishment  which  was  directed  in  the  old 
lectures,  at  the  revival  of  Masonry  in  1717, 
to  be  inflicted  on  a  detected  cowan  was : 
"  To  be  placed  under  the  eaves  of  the  house 
in  rainy  weather,  till  the  water  runs  in  at 
his  shoulders  and  out  at  his  heels."  The 
French  inflict  a  similar  punishment.  "  On 
le  met  sous  une  gouttiere,  une  pompe,  ou  une 
fontaine,  jusqu'ace  qu'il  soit  mouille  depuis 
la  t§te  jusqu'aux  pieds."  Hence  a  listener  is 
called  an  eavesdropper.  The  word  is  not,  as 
has  by  some  been  supposed,  a  peculiar  Ma- 
sonic term,  but  is  common  to  the  language. 
Skinner  gives  it  in  his  Etymologicon,  and  calls 
it "  vox  sane  elegantissima ;"  and  Blackstone 
(Comm.,  iv.  18,)  thus  defines  it:  "Eaves- 
droppers, or  such  as  listen  under  walls,  or 
windows,  or  the  eaves  of  a  house,  to  hearken 
after  discourse,  and  thereupon  to  frame 
slanderous  and  mischievous  talcs,  are  a 
common  nuisance  and  presentable  at  the 
court  leet;  or  are  indictable  at  the  sessions, 
and  punishable  by  fine  and  finding  sureties 
for  their  good  behavior." 

Ebony  Box.  A  symbol  in  the  high 
degrees  of  the  human  heart,  and  is  intended 
to  teach  reserve  and  taciturnity,  which 
should  be  inviolably  maintained  in  regard 
to  the  incommunicable  secrets  of  the  Order. 
When  it  is  said  that  the  ebony  box  con- 
tained the  plans  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
the  symbolic  teaching  is,  that  in  the  human 
heart  are  deposited  the  secret  designs  and 
motives  of  our  conduct  by  which  we  pro- 
pose to  erect  the  spiritual  temple  of  our 
lives. 

Eeleetic  Masonry.  From  the  Greek, 
EKXeKTiKbq,eklektikos,  which  means  selecting. 
Those  philosophers  who,  in  ancient  times, 
selected  from  the  various  systems  of  phil- 
osophy such  doctrines  as  appeared  most 
conformable  to  truth  were  called  "  eclectic 
philosophers."  So  the  confederation  of 
Masons  in  Germany,  which  consisted  of 
Lodges  that  selected   the   degrees  which 


ECLECTIC 


ECOSSAIS 


239 


they  thought  most  conformable  to  ancient 
Freemasonry,  was  called  the  eclectic  union, 
and  the  Masonry  which  it  adopted  received 
the  name  of  Eclectic  Masonry.  See  Eclec- 
tic Union. 

Eclectic  Rite.  The  Rite  practised 
by  the  Eclectic  Union,  which  see. 

Eclectic  Union.  The  fundamental 
idea  of  a  union  of  the  German  Lodges  for 
the  purpose  of  purifying  the  Masonic  sys- 
tem of  the  corruptions  which  had  been  in- 
troduced by  the  numerous  degrees  founded 
on  alchemy,  theosophy,  and  other  occult 
sciences  which  at  that  time  flooded  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  originated,  in  1779,  with 
the  Baron  Von  Ditfurth,  who  had  been 
a  prominent  member  of  the  Rite  of  Strict 
Observance;  although  Lenning  attributes 
the  earlier  thought  of  a  circular  letter  to 
Von  Knigge.  But  the  first  practical  step 
towards  this  purification  was  taken  in  1783 
by  the  Provincial  Grand  Lodges  of  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main  and  of  Wetzlar.  These 
two  bodies  addressed  an  encyclical  letter  to 
the  Lodges  of  Germany,  in  which  they  in- 
vited them  to  enter  into  an  alliance  for  the 
purpose  of  "  re-establishing  the  Royal  Art 
of  Freemasonry."  The  principal  points  on 
which  this  union  or  alliance  was  to  be 
founded  were,  1.  That  the  three  symbolic 
degrees  only  were  to  be  acknowledged  by 
the  united  Lodges.  2.  That  each  Lodge 
was  permitted  to  practise  for  itself  such 
high  degrees  as  it  might  select  for  itself, 
but  that  the  recognition  of  these  was  not 
to  be  made  compulsory  on  the  other  Lodges. 
3.  That  all  the  united  Lodges  were  to  be 
equal,  none  being  dependent  on  any  other. 
These  propositions  were  accepted  by  seve- 
ral Lodges,  and  thence  resulted  the  Eclec- 
tisches  Bund,  or  Eclectic  Union  of  Germany, 
at  the  head  of  which  is  the  "Mother  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  Eclectic  Union  "  at  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main.  The  system  of  Mason- 
ry practised  by  this  union  is  called  the 
Eclectic  system,  and  the  Rite  recognized 
by  it  is  the  Eclectic  Rite,  which  consists 
of  only  the  three  degrees  of  Apprentice, 
Fellow  Craft,  and  Master  Mason. 

Ecossais.  This  is  a  French  word, 
which  is  most  generally  to  be  translated  as 
Scottish  Master.  The  term  was  introduced 
by  the  Chevalier  Ramsay,  who  first  invented 
the  degree,  which  he  called  Ecossais  be- 
cause he  claimed  that  his  system  of  Ma- 
sonry came  from  Scotland.  From  this 
original  degree  of  Ramsay  numerous  others 
have  sprung  up  under  the  same  or  similar 
name ;  all  of  them,  however,  concurring  in 
one  particular,  namely,  that  of  detailing 
the  method  adopted  for  the  preservation 
of  the  true  Word.  The  American  Mason 
will  understand  the  character  of  the  system 
of  Ecossaism,  as  it  may  be  called,  when  he 
is  told  that  the  Select  Master  of  his  own 


Rite  is  really  an  Ecossias  degree.  It  is 
found,  too,  in  many  other  Rites.  Thus,  in 
the  French  Rite,  it  is  the  fifth  degree.  In 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  the 
thirteenth  degree  or  Knights  of  the  Ninth 
Arch  is  properly  an  Ecossais  degree.  The 
Ancient  York  Rite  is  without  an  Ecossais 
degree,  but  its  principles  are  set  forth  in  the 
instructions  of  the  Royal  Arch. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  these 
degrees  have  been  multiplied  may  be  formed 
from  the  fact  that  Oliver  has  a  list  of 
eighty  of  them ;  Ragon  enumerates  eighty- 
three;  and  the  Baron  Tschoudy,  rejecting 
twenty-seven  which  he  does  not  consider 
legitimate,  retains  a  far  greater  number  to 
whose  purity  he  does  not  object. 

In  the  Ecossais  system  there  is  a  legend, 
a  part  of  which  has  been  adopted  in  all 
the  Ecossais  degrees,  and  which  has  in  fact 
been  incorporated  into  the  mythical  his- 
tory of  Masonry.  It  is  to  the  effect  that 
the  builder  of  the  Temple  engraved  the 
word  upon  a  triangle  of  pure  metal,  and, 
fearing  that  it  might  be  lost,  he  always 
bore  it  about  his  person,  suspended  from 
his  neck,  with  the  engraved  side  next  to 
his  breast.  In  a  time  of  great  peril  to  him- 
self, he  cast  it  into  an  old  dry  well,  which 
was  in  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Temple, 
where  it  was  afterwards  found  by  three 
Masters.  They  were  passing  near  the  well 
at  the  hour  of  meridian,  and  were  attracted 
by  its  brilliant  appearance  ;  whereupon  one 
of  them,  descending  by  the  assistance  of  his 
comrades,  obtained  it,  and  carried  it  to  King 
Solomon.  But  the  more  modern  form  of 
the  legend  dispenses  with  the  circumstance 
of  the  dry  well,  and  says  that  the  builder 
deposited  it  in  the  place  which  had  been 
purposely  prepared  for  it,  and  where  cen- 
turies afterwards  it  was  found.  And  this 
amended  form  of  the  legend  is  more  in  ac- 
cord with  the  recognized  symbolism  of  the 
loss  and  the  recovery  of  the  Word. 

Ecossais.  1.  The  fourth  degree  of 
Ramsay's  Rite,  and  the  original  whence  all 
the  degrees  of  Ecossaism  have  sprung.  2. 
The  fifth  degree  of  the  French  Rite.  3. 
The  Ecossais  degrees  constitute  the  fourth 
class  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim,  —  from  the 
fourteenth  to  the  twenty-first  degree.  In 
the  subsequent  articles  only  the  principal 
Ecossais  degrees  will  be  mentioned. 

Ecossais  Architect,  Perfect. 
[Ecossais  Architecte  Par/ait)  A  degree  in 
the  collection  of  M.  Pyrou. 

Ecossais, English.  (Ecoss.  Anglais.) 
A  degree  in  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Phil- 
osophic Rite. 

Ecossais,  Faithful.  {Ecossais  Fi- 
dele.)     See  Vielle  Bru. 

Ecossais,  French.  The  thirty-fifth 
degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan 
Chapter  of  France. 


240 


ECOSSAIS 


EDICT 


Ecossais,  Grand.  The  fourteenth 
degree  of"  the  Scottish  Rite  is  so  called  in 
some  of  the  French  rituals. 

Ecossais,      Grand     Architect. 

{Grand Architect  Ecossais.)  The  forty-fifth 
degree  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Ecossais,  Grand  Master.  Form- 
erly the  sixth  degree  of  the  Capitular  sys- 
tem, practised  in  Holland. 

Ecossais,  Knight.  A  synonym  of 
the  ninth  degree  of  Illuminism.  It  is  more 
commonly  called  Illuminatus  Dirigens. 

Ecossais,  master.  The  fifth  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  Zinnendorf.  It  was  also  for- 
merly among  the  high  degrees  of  the  Ger- 
man Chapter  and  those  of  the  Rite  of  the 
Clerks  of  Strict  Observance.  It  is  said  to 
have,  been  composed  by  Baron  Hund. 

Ecossais  BfOTice.  A  synonym  of 
the  eighth  degree  of  Illuminism.  It  is 
more  commonly  called  Illuminatus  Major. 

Ecossais  of  Clermont.  The  thir- 
tieth degree  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France. 

Ecossais  of  England.  A  degree 
in  the  collection  of  M.  Le  Rouge. 

Ecossais  of  Franville.  The  thir- 
ty-first degree  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France. 

Ecossais  of  Hiram.  A  degree 
in  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic 
Scotch  Rite. 

Ecossais  of  Messina.  A  degree  in 
the  nomenclature  of  M.  Fustier. 

Ecossais  of  Montpellier.  The 
thirty-sixth  degree  of  the  Metropolitan 
Chapter  of  France. 

Ecossais  of  Maples.  The  forty- 
second  degree  of  the  collection  of  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Ecossais  of  Perfection.  The 
thirty- ninth  degree  of  the  collection  of  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Ecossais  of  Prussia.  A  degree  in 
the  archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Ecossais  of  St.  Andrew.  A  not 
unusual  form  of  Ecossaism,  and  found  in 
several  Rites.  1.  The  second  degree  of  the 
Clerks  of  Strict  Observance;  2.  The  twen- 
ty-first degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim  ;  3. 
The  twenty-ninth  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  is  also  an  Ecos- 
sais of  St.  Andrew ;  4.  The  sixty-third 
degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan 
Chapter  of  France  is  an  Ecossais  of  St. 
Andrew  of  Scotland ;  5.  The  seventy-fifth 
degree  of  the  same  collection  is  called  Ecos- 
sais of  St.  Andrew  of  the  Thistle. 

Ecossais  of  St.  George.  A  degree 
in  the  collection  of  Le  Page. 

Ecossais  of  the  Forty.  {Ecossais  des 
Quarante.)    The  thirty-fourth  degree  of  the 


collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Ecossais  of  the  Lodge  of  Prince 
Edward.  A  degree  in  the  collection  of 
Pyron.  This  was  probably  a  Stuart  degree, 
and  referred  to  Prince  Charles  Edward,  the 
young  Pretender. 

Ecossais  of  the  Sacred  Tanlt  of 
James  VI.  1.  The  thirty-third  degree 
of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chap- 
ter of  France,  said  to  have  been  composed 
by  the  Baron  Tschoudy.  2.  The  twentieth 
degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  3.  In  the 
French  rituals,  this  name  has  been  given  to 
the  fourteenth  degree  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 
Chemin  Dupontes  says  that  the  degree  was 
a  homage  paid  to  the  kings  of  Scotland. 
Nothing,  however,  of  this  can  be  found  in 
its  present  ritual ;  but  it  is  very  probable 
that  the  degree,  in  its  first  conception,  and 
in  some  ritual  that  no  longer  exists,  was  an 
offspring  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  of  which 
James  VI.  was  the  first  English  king. 

Ecossais  of  the  Three  J.  J.  J. 

1.  The  thirty-second  degree  of  the  collec- 
tion of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

2.  The  nineteenth  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim.  The  three  J.  J.  J.  are  the  ini- 
tials of  Jourdain,  Jaho,  Jachin. 

Ecossais  of  Toulouse.  A  degree 
in  the  archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Ecossais  of  the  Triple  Trian- 
gle. The  thirty-seventh  degree  of  the  col- 
lection of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Ecossais,  Parisian.  So  Thory  has 
it;  but  Ragon,  and  all  the  other  nomencla- 
tors,  give  it  as  Ecossais  Panissiere.  The 
seventeenth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Ecossais,  Perfect.  A  degree  in  the 
archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philo- 
sophic Scottish  Rite. 

Ecossism.  A  name  given  by  French 
Masonic  writers  to  the  thirty-three  degrees 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
This,  in  English,  would  be  equivalent  to 
Scottish  Masonry,  which  see. 

Ecuador.  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  the  Republic  of  Ecuador,  in  the  year 
1857,  by  the  Grand  Orient  of  Peru,  which 
organized  a  Symbolic  Lodge  and  Chapter 
of  the  eighth  degree  in  Guayaquil ;  but  in 
consequence  of  the  opposition  of  the  priests, 
these  bodies  did  not  flourish,  and  at  the 
end  of  two  years  their  members  surrendered 
their  warrants  and  ceased  to  pursue  their 
Masonic  labors. 

Edict  of  Cyrus.  Five  hundred  and 
thirty-six  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
Cyrus  issued  his  edict  permitting  the  Jews 
to  return  from  the  captivity  at  Babylon  to 
Jerusalem,  and  to  rebuild  the  House  of  the 
Lord.    At  the  same  time  he  restored  to 


EDICTS 


EGG 


241 


them  all  the  sacred  vessels  and  precious 
ornaments  of  the  first  Temple,  which  had 
been  carried  away  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
which  were  still  in  existence.  This  is  com- 
memorated in  the  Royal  Arch  degree  of 
the  York  and  American  Rites.  It  is  also 
referred  to  in  the  fifteenth  degree,  or  Knight 
of  the  East  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Edicts.  The  decrees  of  a  Grand  Mas- 
ter or  of  a  Grand  Lodge  are  called  Edicts, 
and  obedience  to  them  is  obligatory  on  all 
the  Craft. 

Edinburgh.  The  capital  of  Scotland. 
The  Official  Register  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Scotland,  published  at  the  end  of  its 
"Laws  and  Constitutions,"  (Edit.  1852,  p. 
60,)  states  that  the  "  Lodge  of  Edinburgh, 
No.  1,"  was  instituted  in  1518;  and  the 
Charter  of  Cologne  speaks  of  the  existence 
of  a  Lodge  in  that  city  in  1535,  but  the  au- 
thenticity of  this  document  is  now  gener- 
ally disputed.  Lawrie,  however,  [Hist. 
Freem.,  p.  102,)  says  that  the  Minutes  of  St. 
Mary's  Lodge,  which  is  the  oldest  Lodge 
in  Edinburgh,  extend  as  far  back  as  the 
year  1598.    See  Scotland. 

Edinburgh,  Congress  of.  It  was 
convoked,  in  1736,  by  William  St.  Clair  of 
Roslin,  Patron  of  the  Masons  of  Scotland, 
(whose  mother  Lodge  was  at  Kilwinning,) 
with  the  view  of  abdicating  his  dignity  as 
hereditary  Grand  Patron,  with  all  the  privi- 
leges granted  in  1430,  by  King  James  II., 
to  the  family  of  Roslin,  and  afterwards  to 
organize  Masonry  upon  a  new  basis.  The 
members  of  thirty-two  Lodges  uniting  for 
this  purpose,  constituted  the  new  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland,  and  elected  St.  Clair 
Grand  Master.    See  St.  Clair. 

Edwin.  The  son  of  Edward,  Saxon 
king  of  England,  who  died  in  924,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Athelstau. 
The  Masonic  tradition  is  that  Athelstan 
appointed  his  brother  Edwin  the  Patron 
of  Masonry  in  England,  and  gave  him  what 
the  Old  Records  call  a  free  Charter  to  hold 
an  Annual  Communication  or  General  As- 
sembly, under  the  authority  of  which  he 
summoned  the  Masons  of  England  to  meet 
him  in  a  Congregation  at  York,  where  they 
met  in  926  and  formed  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England.  The  Old  Records  say  that 
these  Masons  brought  with  them  many  old 
writings  and  records  of  the  Craft,  some  in 
Greek,  some  in  Latin,  some  in  French,  and 
other  languages,  and  from  these  framed 
the  document  now  known  as  the  York  Con- 
stitutions, whose  authenticity  has  been  in 
recent  years  so  much  a  subject  of  contro- 
versy among  Masonic  writers.  Prince  Ed- 
win died  two  years  before  his  brother,  and 
a  report  was  spread  of  his  being  put  wrong- 
fully to  death  by  him ;  "  but  this,"  says 
Preston,  "  is  so  improbable  in  itself,  so  in- 
2P  16 


consistent  with  the  character  of  Athelstan, 
and,  indeed,  so  slenderly  attested,  as  to  be 
undeserving  a  place  in  history."  William 
of  Malmesbury,  the  old  chronicler,  relates 
the  story,  but  confesses  that  it  had  no  bet- 
ter foundation  than  some  old  ballads.  But 
now  come  the  later  Masonic  antiquaries, 
who  assert  that  Edwin  himself  is  only  a 
myth,  and  that,  in  spite  of  the  authority  of 
a  few  historical  writers,  Athelstan  had  no 
son  or  brother  of  the  name  of  Edwin. 
Woodford  ( Old  Charges  of  the  Brit.  Free- 
masons, p.  xiv.,)  thinks  that  the  Masonic 
tradition  points  to  Edwin,  king  of  Northum- 
bria,  whose  rendezvous  was  once  at  Auldby, 
near  York,  and  who  in  627  aided  in  the 
building  of  a  stone  church  at  York,  after 
his  baptism  there,  with  Roman  workmen. 
"  Tradition,"  he  says,  "  sometimes  gets  con- 
fused after  the  lapse  of  time;  but  I  believe 
the  tradition  is  in  itself  true  which  links 
Masonry  to  the  church  building  at  York 
by  the  Operative  Brotherhood,  under  Ed- 
win, in  627,  and  to  a  gild  Charter  under 
Athelstan,  in  927." 

The  legend  of  Prince  Edwin,  of  course, 
requires  some  modification,  but  we  should 
not  be  too  hasty  in  rejecting  altogether  a 
tradition  which  has  been  so  long  and  so 
universally  accepted  by  the  Fraternity,  and 
to  which  Anderson,  Preston,  Krause,  Oli- 
ver, and  a  host  of  other  writers,  have  sub- 
scribed their  assent.  The  subject  will  be 
fully  discussed  under  the  head  of  York  Con- 
stitutions, which  see. 

Egg,  Mundane.  It  was  a  belief  of 
almost  all  the  ancient  nations,  that  the 
world  was  hatched  from  an  egg  made  by 
the  Creator,  over  which  the  Spirit  of  God 
was  represented  as  hovering  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  bird  broods  or  flutters  over  her 
eggs.  Faber,  {Pag.  Idol.,  i.  4,)  who  traced 
everything  to  the  Arkite  worship,  says  that 
this  egg,  which  was  a  symbol  of  the  resur- 
rection, was  no  other  than  the  ark ;  and  as 
Dionysus  was  fabled  in  the  Orphic  hymns 
to  be  born  from  an  egg,  he  and  Noah  were 
the  same  person ;  wherefore  the  birth  of 
Dionysus  or  Brahma,  or  any  other  hero 
god  from  an  egg,  was  nothing  more  than 
the  egress  of  Noah  from  the  ark.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  the  egg  has  been  always  deemed 
a  symbol  of  the  resurrection,  and  hence  the 
Christian  use  of  Easter  eggs  on  the  great 
feast  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord.  As 
this  is  the  most  universally  diffused  of  all 
symbols,  it  is  strange  that  it  has  found  no 
place  in  the  symbolism  of  Freemasonry, 
which  deals  so  much  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection,  of  which  the  egg  was 
everywhere  the  recognized  symbol.  It  was, 
however,  used  by  the  ancient  architects, 
and  from  them  was  adopted  by  the  Ope- 
rative Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages,  one  of 


242 


EGLINTON 


EGYPTIAN 


whose  favorite  ornaments  was  the  ovolo,  or 
egg-moulding. 
Eglinton    Manuscript.    An   Old 

Record  supposed  to  be  of  the  date  of  1599. 
It  is  so  named  from  its  having  been  dis- 
covered some  years  ago  in  the  charter  chest 
at  Eglinton  Castle.  It  is  a  Scottish  manu- 
script, and  is  valuable  for  its  details  of 
early  Masonry  in  Scotland.  In  it,  Edin- 
burgh is  termed  "the  first  and  principal 
Lodge,"  and  Kilwinning  is  called  "  the 
heid  and  secund  Ludge  of  Scotland  in  all 
tyme  cuming."  An  exact  copy  of  it  was 
taken  by  Bro.  D.  Murray  Lyon,  and  first 
published  by  Bro.  W.  J.  Hughan  in  his 
Unpublished  Records  of  the  Craft. 

Egyptian  Masonry.   See  Cagliostro. 

Egyptian  Mysteries.  Egypt  has 
always  been  considered  as  the  birthplace 
of  the  mysteries.  It  was  there  that  the 
ceremonies  of  initiation  were  first  estab- 
lished. It  was  there  that  truth  was  first 
veiled  in  allegory,  and  the  dogmas  of  reli- 
gion were  first  imparted  under  symbolic 
forms.  From  Egypt  — "  the  land  of  the 
winged  globe  "  —  the  land  of  science  and 
philosophy,  "peerless  for  stately  tombs 
and  magnificent  temples  —  the  land  whose 
civilization  was  old  and  mature  before  other 
nations,  since  called  to  empire,  had  a 
name"  —  this  system  of  symbols  was  dis- 
seminated through  Greece  and  Rome  and 
other  countries  of  Europe  and  Asia,  giving 
origin,  through  many  intermediate  steps,  to 
that  mysterious  association  which  is  now  rep- 
resented by  the  Institution  of  Freemasonry. 

To  Egypt,  therefore,  Masons  have  always 
looked  with  peculiar  interest,  as  the  cradle 
of  that  mysterious  science  of  symbolism 
whose  peculiar  modes  of  teaching  they 
alone,  of  all  modern  institutions,  have  pre- 
served to  the  present  day. 

The  initiation  into  the  Egyptian  myste- 
ries was,  of  all  the  systems  practised  by 
the  ancients,  the  most  severe  and  impres- 
sive. The  Greeks  at  Eleusis  imitated  it  to 
some  extent,  but  they  never  reached  the 
magnitude  of  its  forms  nor  the  austerity  of 
its  discipline.  The  system  had  been  organ- 
ized for  ages,  and  the  priests,  who  alone 
were  the  hierophants, —  the  explainers  of 
the  mysteries,  or,  as  we  should  call  them 
in  Masonic  language,  the  Masters  of  the 
Lodges,  —  were  educated  almost  from  child- 
hood for  the  business  in  which  they  were 
engaged.  That  "  learning  of  the  Egyp- 
tians," in  which  Moses  is  said  to  have  been 
so  skilled,  was  all  imparted  in  these  myste- 
ries. It  was  confined  to  the  priests  and  to 
the  initiates;  and  the  trials  of  initiation 
through  which  the  latter  had  to  pass  were 
so  difficult  to  be  endured,  that  none  but  those 
who  were  stimulated  by  the  most  ardent 
thirst  for  knowledge  dared  to  undertake 
them  or  succeeded  in  submitting  to  them. 


The  priesthood  of  Egypt  constituted  a 
sacred  caste,  in  whom  the  sacerdotal  func- 
tions were  hereditary.  They  exercised  also 
an  important  part  in  the  government  of  the 
state,  and  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  but  the 
first  subjects  of  its  priests.  They  had 
originally  organized,  and  continued  to  con- 
trol, the  ceremonies  of  initiation.  Their 
doctrines  were  of  two  kinds  —  exoteric  or 
public,  which  were  communicated  to  the 
multitude,  and  esoteric  or  secret,  which 
were  revealed  only  to  a  chosen  few ;  and  to 
obtain  them  it  was  necessary  to  pass  through 
an  initiation  which  was  characterized  by 
the  severest  trials  of  courage  and  fortitude. 

The  principal  seat  of  the  mysteries  was 
at  Memphis,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
great  Pyramid.  They  were  of  two  kinds, 
the  greater  and  the  less ;  the  former  being 
the  mysteries  of  Osiris  and  Serapis,  the 
latter  those  of  Isis.  The  mysteries  of  Osi- 
ris were  celebrated  at  the  autumnal  equinox, 
those  of  Serapis  at  the  summer  solstice,  and 
those  of  Isis  at  the  vernal  equinox. 

The  candidate  was  required  to  exhibit 
proofs  of  a  blameless  life.  For  some  days 
previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  cere- 
monies of  initiation,  he  abstained  from  all 
unchaste  acts,  confined  himself  to  an  ex- 
ceedingly light  diet,  from  which  animal 
food  was  rigorously  excluded,  and  purified 
himself  by  repeated  ablutions. 

Apuleius,  (Met.,  lib.  xi.,)  who  had  been 
initiated  in  all  of  them,  thus  alludes,  with 
cautious  reticence,  to  those  of  Isis :  "  The 
priest,  all  the  profane  being  removed  to  a 
distance,  taking  hold  of  me  by  the  hand, 
brought  me  into  the  inner  recesses  of  the 
sanctuary  itself,  clothed  in  a  new  linen 
garment.  Perhaps,  curious  reader,  you 
may  be  eager  to  know  what  was  then  said 
and  dona  I  would  tell  you  were  it  lawful 
for  me  to  tell  you ;  you  should  know  it  if 
it  were  lawful  for  you  to  hear.  But  both 
the  ears  that  heard  those  things  and  the 
tongue  that  told  them  would  reap  the  evil 
results  of  their  rashness.  Still,  however, 
kept  in  suspense,  as  you  probably  are,  with 
religious  longing,  I  will  not  torment  you 
with  long-protracted  anxiety.  Hear,  there- 
fore, but  believe  what  is  the  truth.  /  ap- 
proached the  confines  of  death,  and,  having 
trod  on  the  threshold  of  Proserpine,  I  re- 
turned therefrom,  being  borne  through  all 
the  elements.  At  midnight  I  saw  the  sun 
shining  with  its  brilliant  light;  and  I  ap- 
proached the  presence  of  the  gods  beneath 
and  the  gods  above,  and  stood  near  and 
worshipped  them.  Behold,  I  have  related 
to  you  things  of  which,  though  heard  by 
you,  you  must  necessarily  remain  ignorant." 

The  first  degree,  as  we  may  term  it,  of 
Egyptian  initiation  was  that  into  the  mys- 
teries of  Isis.  What  was  its  peculiar  import, 
we  are  unable  to  say.     Isis,  says  Knight, 


EGYPTIAN 


EGYPTIAN 


243 


was,  among  the  later  Egyptians,  the  per- 
sonification of  universal  nature.  To  Apu- 
leius  she  says:  "I  am  nature  —  the  parent 
of  all  things,  the  sovereign  of  the  elements, 
the  primary  progeny  of  time."  Plutarch 
tells  us  that  on  the  front  of  the  temple  of 
Isis  was  placed  this  inscription:  "I,  Isis, 
am  all  that  has  been,  that  is,  or  shall  be, 
and  no  mortal  hath  ever  unveiled  me." 
Thus  we  may  conjecture  that  the  Isiac 
mysteries  were  descriptive  of  the  alternate 
decaying  and  renovating  powers  of  nature. 
Higgins,  (AnacaL,  ii.  102,)  it  is  true,  says 
that  during  the  mysteries  of  Isis  were  cele- 
brated the  misfortunes  and  tragical  death 
of  Osiris  in  a  sort  of  drama ;  and  Apuleius 
asserts  that  the  initiation  into  her  myste- 
ries is  celebrated  as  bearing  a  close  resem- 
blance to  a  voluntary  death,  with  a  preca- 
rious chance  of  recovery.  But  Higgins 
gives  no  authority  for  his  statement,  and 
that  of  Apuleius  cannot  be  constrained  into 
any  reference  to  the  enforced  death  of 
Osiris.  It  is,  therefore,  probable  that  the 
ceremonies  of  this  initiation  were  simply 
preparatory  to  that  of  the  Osirian,  and 
taught,  by  instructions  in  the  physical  laws 
of  nature,  the  necessity  of  moral  purifica- 
tion, a  theory  which  is  not  incompatible 
with  all  the  mystical  allusions  of  Apuleius 
when  he  describes  his  own  initiation. 

The  mysteries  of  Serapis  constituted  the 
second  degree  of  the  Egyptian  initiation. 
Of  these  rites  we  have  but  a  scanty  knowl- 
edge. Herodotus  is  entirely  silent  concern- 
ing them,  and  Apuleuis,  calling  them  "  the 
nocturnal  orgies  of  Serapis,  a  god  of  the  first 
rank,"  only  intimates  that  they  followed 
those  of  Isis,  and  were  preparatory  to  the 
last  and  greatest  initiation.  Serapis  is  said 
to  have  been  only  Osiris  while  in  Hades; 
and  hence  the  Serapian  initiation  might 
have  represented  the  death  of  Osiris,  but 
leaving  the  lesson  of  resurrection  for  a  sub- 
sequent initiation.  But  this  is  merely  a  con- 
jecture. 

In  the  mysteries  of  Osiris,  which  were  the 
consummation  of  the  Egyptian  system,  the 
lesson  of  death  and  resurrection  was  sym- 
bolically taught;  and  the  legend  of  the 
murder  of  Osiris,  the  search  for  the  body, 
its  discovery  and  restoration  to  life  is  scen- 
ically  represented.  This  legend  of  initia- 
tion was  as  follows.  Osiris,  a  wise  king  of 
Egypt,  left  the  care  of  his  kingdom  to  his 
wife  Isis,  and  travelled  for  three  years  to 
communicate  to  other  nations  the  arts  of 
civilization.  During  his  absence,  his  broth- 
er Typhon  formed  a  secret  conspiracy  to 
destroy  him  and  to  usurp  his  throne.  On 
his  return,  Osiris  was  invited  by  Typhon 
to  an  entertainment  in  the  month  of  No- 
vember, at  which  all  the  conspirators  were 
present.  Typhon  produced  a  chest  inlaid 
with  gold,  and  promised  to  give  it  to  any 


person  present  whose  body  would  most  ex- 
actly fit  it.  Osiris  was  tempted  to  try  the 
experiment;  but  he  had  no  sooner  laid 
down  in  the  chest,  than  the  lid  was  closed 
and  nailed  down,  and  the  chest  thrown  into 
the  river  Nile.  The  chest  containing  the 
body  of  Osiris  was,  after  being  for  a  long 
time  tossed  about  by  the  waves,  finally 
cast  up  at  Byblos  in  Phoenicia,  and  left  at 
the  foot  of  a  tamarisk  tree.  Isis,  over- 
whelmed with  grief  for  the  loss  of  her  hus- 
band, set  out  on  a  journey,  and  traversed 
the  earth  in  search  of  the  body.  After 
many  adventures,  she  at  length  discovered 
the  spot  whence  it  had  been  thrown  up  by 
the  waves,  and  returned  with  it  in  triumph 
to  Egypt.  It  was  then  proclaimed,  with 
the  most  extravagant  demonstrations  of 
joy,  that  Osiris  was  risen  from  the  dead 
and  had  become  a  god.  Such,  with  slight 
variations  of  details  by  different  writers, 
are  the  general  outlines  of  the  Osiric  le- 
gend which  was  represented  in  the  drama 
of  initiation.  Its  resemblance  to  the  Hi- 
ramic  legend  of  the  Masonic  system  will 
be  readily  seen,  and  its  symbolism  will  be 
easily  understood.  Osiris  and  Typhon  are 
the  representatives  of  the  two  antagonistic 
principles  —  good  and  evil,  light  and  dark- 
ness, life  and  death. 

There  is  also  an  astronomical  interpreta- 
tion of  the  legend  which  makes  Osiris  the 
sun  and  Typhon  the  season  of  winter, 
which  suspends  the  fecundating  and  fertil- 
izing powers  of  the  sun  or  destroys  its  life, 
to  be  restored  only  by  the  return  of  invig- 
orating spring. 

The  sufferings  and  death  of  Osiris  were 
the  great  mystery  of  the  Egyptian  religion. 
His  being  the  abstract  idea  of  the  divine 
goodness,  his  manifestation  upon  earth,  his 
death,  his  resurrection,  and  his  subsequent 
office  as  judge  of  the  dead  in  a  future  state, 
look,  says  Wilkinson,  like  the  early  revela- 
tion of  a  future  manifestation  of  the  deity 
converted  into  a  mythological  fable. 

Into  these  mysteries  Herodotus,  Plu- 
tarch, and  Pythagoras  were  initiated,  and 
the  former  two  have  given  brief  accounts 
of  them.  But  their  own  knowledge  must 
have  been  extremely  limited,  for,  as  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria  [Strom.,  v.  7,)  tells  us, 
the  more  important  secrets  were  not  re- 
vealed even  to  all  the  priests,  but  to  a 
select  number  of  them  only. 

Egyptian  Priests,  Initiations  of 
the.  In  the  year  1770,  there  was  pub- 
lished at  Berlin  a  work  entitled  Grata  Be- 
poa;  oder  Einweihungen  der  Egyptischen 
Priester,  i.  e.  Crata  Repoa;  or,  Initiations 
of  the  Egyptian  Priests.  This  book  was 
subsequently  republished  in  1778,  and 
translated  into  French  under  the  revision 
of  Ragon,  and  published  at  Paris  in  1821, 
by  Bailleul.    It  professed  to  give  the  whole 


244 


EHEYEH 


EHEYEH 


formula  of  the  initiation  into  the  mysteries 
practised  by  the  ancient  Egyptian  priests. 
Lenning  cites  the  work,  and  gives  an  out- 
line of  the  system  as  if  he  thought  it  an 
authentic  relation  ;  but  Giidicke  more  pru- 
dently says  of  it  that  he  doubts  that  there 
are  more  mysteries  described  in  the  book 
than  were  ever  practised  by  the  ancient 
Egyptian  priests.  The  French  writers 
have  generally  accepted  it  as  genuine. 
Forty  years  before,  the  Abbe  Terrasson  had 
written  a  somewhat  similar  work,  in  which 
he  pretended  to  describe  the  initiation  of 
a  Prince  of  Egypt.  Kloss,  in  his  Bibli- 
ography, has  placed  this  latter  work  under 
the  head  of  "Romances  of  theOrder ; "  and  a 
similar  place  should  doubtless  be  assigned  to 
the  Crata  Repoa.  The  curious  may,  however, 
be  gratified  by  a  brief  detail  of  the  system. 

According  to  the  Crata  Repoa,  the  priests 
of  Egypt  conferred  their  initiation  at 
Thebes.  The  mysteries  were  divided  into 
the  following  seven  degrees.  1.  Pastoph- 
oros.  2.  Neocoros.  3.  Melanophoros.  4. 
Kistophoros.  5.  Balahate.  6.  Astrono- 
mos.  7.  Propheta.  The  first  degree  was 
devoted  to  instructions  in  the  physical 
sciences ;  the  second,  to  geometry  and  archi- 
tecture. In  the  third  degree,  the  candidate 
was  instructed  in  the  symbolical  death  of 
Osiris,  and  was  made  acquainted  with  the 
hieroglyphical  language.  In  the  fourth,  he 
was  presented  with  the  book  of  the  laws  of 
Egypt,  and  became  a  judge.  The  instruc- 
tions of  the  fifth  degree  were  dedicated  to 
chemistry,  and  of  the  sixth  to  astronomy 
and  the  mathematical  sciences.  In  the 
seventh  and  last  degree  the  candidate  re- 
ceived a  detailed  explanation  of  all  the 
mysteries,  his  head  was  shaved,  and  he  was 
presented  with  a  cross,  which  he  was  con- 
stantly to  carry,  a  white  mantle,  and  a 
square  head  dress.  To  each  degree  was  at- 
tached a  word  and  sign.  Any  one  who 
should  carefully  read  the  Crata  Repoa, 
would  be  convinced  that,  so  far  from 
being  founded  on  any  ancient  system  of 
initiation,  it  was  simply  a  modern  in- 
vention made  up  out  of  the  high  degrees 
of  continental  Masonry.  It  is  indeed  sur- 
prising that  Lenning  and  Ragon  should 
have  treated  it  as  if  it  had  the  least  claims 
to  antiquity. 

Eheyeh  st slier  Eheyeh.  The  pro- 
nunciation of  rvn^  "ie\v  St  n&  which 

means,  /  am  that  I  am,  and  is  one  of  the 
pentateuchal  names  of  God.  It  is  related 
in  the  third  chapter  of  Exodus,  that  when 
God  appeared  to  Moses  in  the  burning 
bush,  and  directed  him  to  go  to  Pharaoh 
and  to  the  children  of  Israel  in  Egypt, 
Moses  required  that,  as  preliminary  to  his 
mission,  he  should  be  instructed  in  the 
name  of  God,  so  that,  when  he  was  asked 
by  the  Israelites,  he  might  be  able  to  prove 


his  mission  by  announcing  what  that  name 
was;  and  God  said  tohim,|"Vntf>(Eheyeh,) 
lam  that  lam/  and  he  directed  him  to  say, 
"  /  am  hath  sent  you."  Eheyeh  asher  eheyeh 
is,  therefore,  the  name  of  God,  in  which 
Moses  was  instructed  at  the  burning  bush. 

Maimonides  thinks  that  when  the  Lord 
ordered  Moses  to  tell  the  people  that  (THX 
(Eheyeh)  sent  him,  he  did  not  mean  that 
he  should  only  mention  his  name ;  for  if 
they  were  already  acquainted  with  it.  he 
told  them  nothing  new,  and  if  they  were 
not,  it  was  not  likely  that  they  would  be 
satisfied  by  saying  such  a  name  sent  me,  for 
the  proof  would  still  be  wanting  that  this 
was  really  the  name  of  God ;  therefore,  he 
not  only  told  them  the  name,  but  also  taught 
them  its  signification.  In  those  times,  Sa- 
baism  being  the  predominant  religion,  al- 
most all  men  were  idolaters,  and  occupied 
themselves  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
heavens  and  the  sun  and  the  stars,  with- 
out any  idea  of  a  personal  God  in  the 
world.  Now,  the  Lord,  to  deliver  his  people 
from  such  an  error,  said  to  Moses,  "  Go  and 
tell  them  I  AM  THAT  I  AM  hath  sent  me 
unto  you," which  name  JTnN>  (Eheyeh,) 
signifying  Being,  is  derived  from  rrn, 
(heyeh,)  the  verb  of  existence,  and  which, 
being  repeated  so  that  the  second  is  the 
predicate  of  the  first,  contains  the  mys- 
tery. This  is  as  if  he  had  said,  "  Ex- 
plain to  them  that  lam  what  I  am:  that  is, 
that  my  Being  is  within  myself,  indepen- 
dent of  every  other,  different  from  all  other 
beings,  who  are  so  alone  by  virtue  of  my 
distributing  it  to  them,  and  might  not  have 
been,  nor  could  actually  be,  such  without 
it."  So  that  rTn^  denotes  the  Divine 
Being  Himself,  by  which  he  taught  Moses 
not.  only  the  name,  but  the  infallible  de- 
monstration of  the  Fountain  of  Existence, 
as  the  name  itself  denotes.  The  Kabba- 
lists  say  that  Eheyeh  is  the  crown  or  high- 
est of  the  Sephiroth,  and  that  it  is  the 
name  that  was  hidden  in  the  most  secret 
place  of  the  tabernacle. 

The  Talmudists  had  many  fanciful  exer- 
citations  on  this  word  JT("7tf>  an(^>  among 
others,  said  that  it  is  equivalent  to  j"?liT> 
and  the  four  letters  of  which  it  is  formed 
possess  peculiar  properties.  fc$  is  in  He- 
brew numerically  equivalent  to  1,  and  *  to 
10,  which  is  equal  to  11;  a  result  also  ob- 
tained by  taking  the  second  and  third 
letters  of  the  holy  name,  or  n  and  \  which 
are  5  and  6,  amounting  to  11.  But  the  5 
and  6  invariably  produce  the  same  number 
in  their  multiplication,  for  5  times  5  are 
25,  and  6  times  6  are  36,  and  this  invari- 
able product  of  ,"f  aQd  1  was  said  to  denote 
the  unchangeableness  of  the  First  Cause. 
Again,  lam,  (THX*  commences  with  }<  or 
1,  the  beginning  of  numbers,  and  Jehovah, 
H^IT*  with  *  or  10,  the  end  of  numbers, 


EIGHT 


ELECT 


245 


which  signified  that  God  was  the  begin- 
ning and  end  of  all  things.  The  phrase, 
Eheyeh  as/ier  eheyeh,  is  of  importance  in  the 
study  of  the  legend  of  the  .Royal  Arch  sys- 
tem. Some  years  ago,  that  learned  Mason, 
William  S.  Rorkwell,  while  preparing  his 
Ahiman  Rezon  for  the  State  of  Georgia, 
undertook,  but  beyond  that  jurisdiction 
unsuccessfully,  to  introduce  it  as  a  password 
to  the  veils. 

Eight.  Among  the  Pythagoreans  the 
number  eight  was  esteemed  as  the  first  cube, 
being  formed  by  the  continued  multiplica- 
tion of  2  X  2  X  2,  and  signified  friendship, 
prudence,  counsel,  and  justice;  and,  as  the 
cube  or  reduplication  of  the  first  even  num- 
ber, it  was  made  to  refer  to  the  primitive 
law  of  nature,  which  supposes  all  men  to 
be  equal.  Christian  numerical  symbolo- 
gists  nave  called  it  the  symbol  of  the  resur- 
rection, because  Jesus  rose  on  the. 8th  day, 
i.  e.  the  day  after  the  7th,  and  because  the 
name  of  Jesus  in  Greek  numerals,  corres- 
ponding to  its  Greek  letters,  is  10,  8,  200, 
70,  400,  200,  which,  being  added  up,  is  888. 
Hence,  too,  they  call  it  the  Dominical  Num- 
ber. As  8  persons  were  saved  in  the  ark, 
those  who,  like  Faber,  have  adopted  the 
theory  that  the  Arkite  Rites  pervaded 
all  the  religions  of  antiquity,  find  an  im- 

Sortant  symbolism  in  this  number,  and  as 
Toah  was  the  type  of  the  resurrection,  they 
again  find  in  it  a  reference  to  that  doctrine. 
It  can,  however,  be  scarcely  reckoned 
among  the  numerical  symbols  of  Masonry. 
Eighty-One.  A  sacred  number  in 
the  high  degrees,  because  it  is  the  square 
of  nine,  which  is  again  the  square  of  three. 
The  Pythagoreans,  however,  who  considered 
the  nine  as  a  fatal  number,  especially 
dreaded  eighty-one,  because  it  was  pro- 
duced by  the  multiplication  of  nine  by  itself. 
El,  Sx.  One  of  the  Hebrew  names  of 
God,  signifying  the  Mighty  One.  It  is  the 
root  of  many  of  the  other  names  of  Deity, 
and  also,  therefore,  of  many  of  the  sacred 
words  in  the  high  degrees.  Bryant  (Anc. 
Myth.,  i.  16,)  says  it  was  the  true  name  of 
God,  but  transferred  by  the  Sabians  to  the 
sun,  whence  the  Greeks  borrowed  their 
helios. 

Elchanan,  jJtwX.  God  has  graciously 
given.  In  the  authorized  version,  it  is  im- 
properly translated  Elhanan.  Jerome  says 
that  it  meant  David,  because  in  2  Sam. 
xxi.  19,  it  is  said  that  Elchanan  slew  Go- 
liath. A  significant  word  in  the  high  de- 
grees, which  has  undergone  much  corrup- 
tion and  various  changes  of  form.  In  the 
old  rituals  it  is  Eleham.  Lenning  gives  El- 
chanam,  and  incorrectly  translates,  mercy 
of  Ood ;  Delaunay  calls  it  Eliham,  and 
translates  it,  God  of  the  people,  in  which 
Pike  concurs. 


Elders.  This  word  is  used  in  some  of 
the  old  Constitutions  to  designate  those 
Masons  who,  from  their  rank  and  age,  were 
deputed  to  obligate  Apprentices  when  ad- 
mitted into  the  Craft.  Thus  in  the  Con- 
stitutions of  Masonrie,  preserved  in  the  ar- 
chives of  the  Lodge  at  York,  with  the  date 
of  1704,  and  which  were  firstpublished  by 
Bro.  Wm.  J.  Hughan,  [Hist.  Frem.  in  York, 
p.  98,)  we  find  this  expression,  Tunc,  unusex 
Senioribus  Teneat  librum,  etc.,  which  in 
another  manuscript,  dated  1693,  preserved 
in  the  same  archives,  and  for  the  publica- 
tion of  which  we  are  also  indebted  to  Bro. 
Hughan,  the  same  passage  is  thus  trans- 
lated, "  Then  one  of  the  elders  takeing  the 
Booke,  and  that  hee  or  shee  that  is  to  bee 
made  Mason  shall  lay  their  hands  thereon, 
and  the  charge  shall  be  given." 

Elect.    See  Elu. 

Elect  Brother.  The  seventh  de- 
gree of  the  Rite  of  Zinnendorf  and  of  the 
National  Grand  Lodge  of  Berlin. 

Elect  Cohens,  Order  of.  See 
Paschalis,  Martin. 

Elect  Commander.  {Elu  Com- 
mandeur.)  A  degree  mentioned  in  Fus- 
tier's  nomenclature  of  degrees. 

Elect.  Grand.  {Grand  Elu.)  The 
fourteenth  degree  of  the  Chapter  of  the 
Emperors  of  the  East  and  West.  The 
same  as  the  Grand  Elect,  Perfect  and  Sub- 
lime Mason  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Elect  Lady,  Sublime.  {Dame,  Elu 
Sublime.)  An  androgynous  degree  con- 
tained in  the  collection  of  Pyron. 

Elect,  Little  English.  {Petit  Elu 
Anglais.)  The  Little  English  Elect  was  a 
degree  of  the  Ancient  Chapter  of  Cler- 
mont.   The  degree  is  now  extinct. 

Elect  Master.  {Mditre  Elu.)  1. 
The  thirteenth  degree  of  the  collection  of 
the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France.  2. 
The  fifth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Zinnendorf. 

Electof  Fifteen.  {Elu  des  Quinze.) 
The  tenth  degree  in  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite.  The  place  of  meet- 
ing is  called  a  chapter;  the  emblematic 
color  is  black,  strewed  with  tears  ;  and  the 
principal  officers  are  a  Thrice  Illustrious 
Master  and  two  Inspectors.  The  history  of 
this  degree  develops  the  continuation  and 
conclusion  of  the  punishment  inflicted  on 
three  traitors  who,  j  ust  before  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  Temple,  had  committed  a  crime 
of  the  most  atrocious  character.  The  de- 
gree is  now  more  commonly  called  Illustrious 
Elu  of  the  Fifteen.  The  same  degree  is 
found  in  the  Chapter  of  Emperors  of  the 
East  and  West,  and  in  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. 

Elect  of  London.  {Elus  des  Lon- 
dres.)  The  seventieth  degree  of  the  collec- 
tion of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 


246 


ELECT 


ELEMENTS 


Elect  of  X  i  n  e.  ( Elu  des  Neuf. )  The 
ninth  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite.  In  the  old  rituals  there  were  two 
officers  who  represented  Solomon  and 
Stolkin.  But  in  the  revised  ritual  of  the 
Southern  Jurisdiction,  the  principal  officers 
are  a  Master  and  two  Inspectors.  The 
meetings  are  called  Chapters.  The  degree 
details  the  mode  in  which  certain  traitors, 
who,  just  before  the  completion  of  the  Tem- 
ple, had  been  engaged  in  an  execrable 
deed  of  villany,  received  their  punishment. 
The  symbolic  colors  are  red,  white,  and 
black  ;  the  white  emblematic  of  the  purity 
of  the  knights ;  the  red,  of  the  crime  which 
was  committed;  and  the  black,  of  grief. 
This  is  the  first  of  the  elu  degrees,  and  the 
one  on  which  the  whole  elu  system  has 
been  founded. 

Elect  of  Nine  and  Fifteen.  (Au- 
serwahlte  der  Neun  und  der  Funfzehn.)  The 
first  and  second  points  of  the  fourth  degree 
of  the  old  system  of  the  Royal  York  Lodge 
of  Berlin. 

Elect  of  Perignan.  {Elu  de  Pe- 
rignan.)  A  degree  illustrative  of  the  pun- 
ishment inflicted  upon  certain  criminals 
whose  exploits  constitute  a  portion  of  the 
legend  of  Symbolic  Masonry.  The  sub- 
stance of  this  degree  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Elect  of  Nine,  and  Elect  of  Fifteen  in  the 
Scottish  Rite,  with  both  of  which  it  is 
closely  connected.  It  is  the  sixth  degree 
of  the  Adonhiramite  Rite.    See  Perignan. 

Elect  of  the  Xew  Jerusalem. 
Formerly  the  eighth  and  last  of  the  high 
degrees  of  the  Grand  Chapter  of  Berlin. 

Elect  of  the  Twelve  Tribes.  {Elu 
des  douze  Tribus.)  The  seventeenth  degree 
of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France. 

Elect  of  Truth ,  Rite  of.  ( Rite  des 
Elus  de  la  Verite.)  This  Rite  was  instituted 
in  1776,  by  the  Lodge  of  Perfect  Union,  at 
Rennes,  in  France.  A  few  Lodges  in  the 
interior  of  France  adopted  this  regime;  but, 
notwithstanding  its  philosophical  character, 
it  never  became  popular,  and  finally,  about 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  fell  into 
disuse.  It  consisted  of  twelve  degrees  di- 
vided into  two  classes,  as  follows : 

1st  Class.  Knights  Adepts.  1.  Appren- 
tice; 2.  Fellow  Craft;  3.  Master;  4.  Per- 
ff*ot  \T  lister 

2d  Class.'  Elects  of  Truth.  5.  Elect  of 
Nine;  6.  Elect  of  Fifteen;  7.  Master  Elect; 
8.  Architect;  9.  Second  Architect;  10. 
Grand  Architect;  11.  Knight  of  the  East; 
12.  Prince  of  Rose  Croix. 

Elect  of  Twelve.  See  Knight  Elect 
of  Twelve. 

Elect,  Perfect.  (Parfait  Elu.)  The 
twelfth  degree  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France,  and  also  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 


Elect,  Perfect  and  Sublime 
Mason.     See  Perfection,  Degree  of. 

Elect  Philosopher.  A  degree 
under  this  name  is  found  in  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite,  and 
in  the  collection  of  Viany. 

Elect  Secret,  Severe  Inspector. 
{Elu  Secret,  Severe  Inspecteur.)  The  four- 
teenth degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Me- 
tropolitan Chapter  of  France. 

Elect,  Sovereign.  {Elu  Souverain.) 
The  fifty-ninth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. 

Elect, Sublime.  {Elu Sublime.)  The 
fifteenth  degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Me- 
tropolitan Chapter  of  France. 

Elect,  Supreme.  {Elu  Supreme.) 
The  seventy-fourth  degree  of  the  collection 
of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 
It  is  also  a  degree  in  the  collection  of 
M.  Pyron,  and,  under  the  name  of  Tab- 
ernacle of  Perfect  Elect,  is  contained  in 
the  archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Philosophic  Rite. 

Election  of  Officers.  The  election 
of  the  officers  of  a  Lodge  is  generally  held 
on  the  meeting  which  precedes  the  festival 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and  sometimes 
on  that  festival  itself.  Should  a  Lodge 
fail  to  make  the  election  at  that  time,  no 
election  can  be  subsequently  held  except 
by  dispensation ;  and  it  is  now  very  gener- 
ally admitted,  that  should  any  one  of  the 
officers  die  or  remove  from  the  jurisdiction 
during  the  period  for  which  he  was  elected, 
no  election  can  take  place  to  supply  the 
vacancy,  but  the  office  must  be  filled  tem- 
porarily until  the  next  election.  If  it  be 
the  Master,  the  Senior  Warden  succeeds  to 
the  office.  For  the  full  exposition  of  the 
law  on  this  subject,  see  Vacancy. 

Elective  Officers.  In  this  country, 
all  the  officers  of  a  Symbolic  Lodge  except 
the  Deacons,  Stewards,  and  sometimes  the 
Tiler,  are  elected  by  the  members  of  the 
Lodge.  In  England,  the  rule  is  different. 
There  the  Master,  Treasurer,  and  Tiler  only 
are  elected ;  the  other  officers  are  appointed 
by  the  Master. 

Eleham.    See  Elchanan. 

Elements.  It  was  the  doctrine  of  the 
old  philosophies,  sustained  by  the  author- 
ity of  Aristotle,  that  there  were  four  prin- 
ciples of  matter — fire,  air,  earth,  and  water, 
—  which  they  called  elements.  Modern 
science  has  shown  the  fallacy  of  the  theory. 
But  it  was  also  taught  by  the  Kabbalists, 
and  afterwards  by  the  Rosicrucians,  who, 
according  to  the  Abbe  de  Villars,  {Le  Comte 
de  Gabalis,)  peopled  them  with  supernatural 
beings  called,  in  the  fire,  Salamanders ;  in 
the  air,  Sylphs ;  in  the  earth,  Gnomes ;  and 
in  the  water,  Undines.  From  the  Rosicru- 
cians and    the    Kabbalists,  the    doctrine 


ELEPHANTA 


ELEUSINIAN 


247 


passed  over  into  some  of  the  high  degrees  of 
Masonry,  and  is  especially  referred  to  in  the 
Ecossais  or  Scottish  Knight  of  St.  Andrew, 
originally  invented  by  the  Chevalier  Ram- 
say. In  this  degree  we  find  the  four  angels 
of  the  four  elements  described  as  Andarel, 
the  angel  of  fire ;  Casmaran,  of  air ;  Tal- 
liad,  of  water ;  and  Furlac,  of  earth ;  and 
the  signs  refer  to  the  same  elements. 

Elephanta.  The  cavern  of  Elephanta, 
situated  on  the  island  of  Gharipour,  in  the 
Gulf  of  Bombay,  is  the  most  ancient  tem- 
ple in  the  world,  and  was  the  principal 
place  for  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries 
of  India.  It  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
feet  square  and  eighteen  feet  high,  sup- 
ported by  four  massive  pillars,  and  its  walls 
covered  on  all  sides  with  statues  and  carved 
decorations.  Its  adytum  at  the  western  ex- 
tremity, which  was  accessible  only  to  the 
initiated,  was  dedicated  to  the  Phallic  wor- 
ship. On  each  side  were  cells  and  passages 
for  the  purpose  of  initiation,  and  a  sacred 
orifice  for  the  mystical  representation  of 
the  doctrine  of  regeneration.  See  Maurice's 
Indian  Antiquities,  for  a  full  description  of 
this  ancient  scene  of  initiation. 

Eleiisi  it  i;i  n  Mysteries.  Of  all  the 
mysteries  of  the  ancient  religions,  those 
celebrated  at  the  village  of  Eleusis,  near 
the  city  of  Athens,  were  the  most  splendid 
and  the  most  popular.  To  them  men  came, 
says  Cicero,  from  the  remotest  regions  to 
be  initiated.  They  were  also  the  most  an- 
cient, if  we  may  believe  St.  Epiphanius, 
who  traces  them  to  the  reign  of  Inachus, 
more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  before 
the  Christian  era.  They  were  dedicated 
to  the  goddess  Demeter,  the  Ceres  of  the 
Romans,  who  was  worshipped  by  the 
Greeks  as  the  symbol  of  the  prolific  earth ; 
and  in  them  were  scenically  represented 
the  loss  and  the  recovery  of  Persephone,  and 
the  doctrines  of  the  unity  of  God  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  were  esoterically 
taught.  The  learned  Faber  believed  that 
there  was  an  intimate  connection  between 
the  Arkite  worship  and  the  mysteries  of 
Eleusis;  but  Faber's  theory  was  that  the 
Arkite  rites,  which  he  traced  to  almost  all 
the  nations  of  antiquity,  symbolized,  in  the 
escape  of  Noah  and  the  renovation  of  the 
earth,  the  doctrines  of  the  resurrection  and 
the  immortal  life.  Plutarch  (Be  Is.  et  Os.) 
says  that  the  travels  of  Isis  in  search  of 
Osiris  were  not  different  from  those  of 
Demeter  in  search  of  Persephone ;  and 
this  view  has  been  adopted  by  St.  Croix 
[Myst.  du  Pag.)  and  by  Creuzer,(&/wi6.;)  and 
hence  we  may  well  suppose  that  the  recov- 
ery of  the  former  at  Byblos,  and  of  the  lat- 
ter in  Hades,  were  both  intended  to  sym- 
bolize the  restoration  of  the  soul  after 
death  to  eternal  life.    The  learned  have 


generally  admitted  that  when  Virgil,  in  the 
sixth  book  of  his  jEneid,  depicted  the  de- 
scent of  iEneas  into  hell,  he  intended  to 
give  a  representation  of  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries. 

The  mysteries  were  divided  into  two 
classes,  the  lesser  and  the  greater.  The 
lesser  mysteries  were  celebrated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ilissus,  whose  waters  supplied 
the  means  of  purification  of  the  aspirants. 
The  greater  mysteries  were  celebrated  in 
the  temple  at  Eleusis.  An  interval  of  six 
months  occurred  between  them,  the  former 
taking  place  in  March  and  the  latter  in 
September;  which  has  led  some  writers  to 
suppose  that  there  was  some  mystical  refer- 
ence to  the  vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes. 
But,  considering  the  character  of  Demeter 
as  the  goddess  of  Agriculture,  it  might  be 
imagined,  although  this  is  a  mere  conjec- 
ture, that  the  reference  was  to  seed-time  and 
harvest.  A  year,  however,  was  required  to 
elapse  before  the  initiate  into  the  lesser 
mysteries  was  granted  admission  into  the 
greater. 

In  conducting  the  mysteries,  there  were 
four  officers,  namely:  1.  The  Hierophant, 
or  explainer  of  the  sacred  things.  As  the 
pontifex  maximus  in  Rome,  so  he  was  the 
chief  priest  of  Attica ;  he  presided  over  the 
ceremonies  and  explained  the  nature  of  the 
mysteries  to  the  initiated.  2.  The  Da- 
douchus,  or  torch-bearer,  who  appears  to 
have  acted  as  the  immediate  assistant  of 
the  Hierophant.  3.  The  Hieroceryx,  or 
sacred  herald,  who  had  the  general  care  of 
the  temple,  guarded  it  from  the  profana- 
tion of  the  uninitiated,  and  took  charge  of 
the  aspirant  during  the  trials  of  initiation. 
4.  The  Epibomus,  or  altar-server,  who  con- 
ducted the  sacrifices. 

The  ceremonies  of  initiation  into  the  lesser 
mysteries  were  altogether  purificatory,  and 
intended  to  prepare  the  neophyte  for  his 
reception  into  the  more  sublime  rites  of 
the  greater  mysteries.  This,  an  ancient 
poet,  quoted  by  Plutarch,  illustrates  by 
saying  that  sleep  is  the  lesser  mysteries  of 
the  death.  The  candidate  who  desired  to 
pass  through  this  initiation  entered  the 
modest  temple,  erected  for  that  purpose  on 
the  borders  of  the  Ilissus,  and  there  sub- 
mitted to  the  required  ablutions,  typical  of 
moral  purification.  The  Dadouchus  then 
placed  his  feet  upon  the  skins  of  the  vic- 
tims which  had  been  immolated  to  Jupiter. 
Hesychius  says  that  only  the  left  foot  was 
placed  on.  the  skins.  In  this  position  he 
was  asked  if  he  had  eaten  bread,  and  if  he 
was  pure;  and  his  replies  being  satisfactory, 
he  passed  through  other  symbolic  cere- 
monies, the  mystical  signification  of  which 
was  given  to  him,  an  oath  of  secresy  having 
been  previously  administered.  The  initiate 


248 


ELEUSINIAN 


ELEUSINIAN 


into  the  lesser  mysteries  was  called  a  mys-  I 
tes,  a  title  which,  being  derived  from  a 
Greek  word  meaning  to  shut  the  eyes,  sig- 
nified that  he  was  yet  blind  as  to  the  greater 
truths  thereafter  to  be  revealed. 

The  greater  mysteries  lasted  for  nine 
days,  and  were  celebrated  partly  on  the 
Thriasian  plain,  which  surrounded  the  tem- 
ple, and  partly  in  the  temple  of  Eleusis 
itself.  Of  this  temple,  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  and  the  largest  in  Greece,  not 
a  vestige  is  now  left.  Its  antiquity  was 
very  great,  having  been  in  existence,  ac- 
cording to  Aristides  the  rhetorician,  when 
the  Dorians  marched  against  Athens.  It 
was  burned  by  the  retreating  Persians 
under  Xerxes,  but  immediately  rebuilt, 
and  finally  destroyed  with  the  city  by 
Alaric,  "  the  Scourge  of  God,"  and  all  that 
is  now  left  of  Eleusis  and  its  spacious  tem- 
ple is  the  mere  site  occupied  by  the  insig- 
nificant Greek  village  of  Lepsina,  an  evi- 
dent corruption  of  the  ancient  name. 

The  public  processions  on  the  plain  and 
on  the  sacred  way  from  Athens  to  Eleusis 
were  made  in  honor  of  Demeter  and  Perse- 
phone, and  made  mystical  allusions  to 
events  in  the  life  of  both,  and  of  the  infant 
Iacchus.  These  processions  were  made  in 
the  daytime,  but  the  initiation  was  noc- 
turnal, and  was  reserved  for  the  nights  of 
the  sixth  and  seventh  days. 

The  herald  opened  the  ceremonies  of 
initiation  into  the  greater  mysteries  by  the 
proclamation,  e/caf,  EKag,  eare  (3e(lij?.oi,  "  Re- 
tire, O  ye  profane."  Thus  were  the  sacred 
precincts  tiled.  The  aspirant  was  clothed 
with  the  skin  of  a  calf.  An  oath  of  secrecy 
was  administered,  and  he  was  then  asked, 
"Have  you  eaten  bread?"  The  reply  to 
which  was,  "  I  have  fasted ;  I  have  drunk 
the  sacred  mixture;  I  have  taken  it  out  of 
the  chest ;  I  have  spun ;  I  have  placed  it  in 
the  basket,  and  from  the  basket  laid  it  in 
the  chest."  By  this  reply,  the  aspirant 
showed  that  he  had  been  duly  prepared  by 
initiation  into  the  lesser  mysteries;  for 
Clement  of  Alexandria  says  that  this 
formula  was  a  shibboleth,  or  password,  by 
which  the  mystae,  or  initiates,  into  the 
lesser  mysteries  were  known  as  such,  and 
admitted  to  the  epopteia  or  greater  initia- 
tion. The  gesture  of  spinning  wool,  in  imi- 
tation of  what  Demeter  did  in  the  time  of 
her  affliction,  seemed  also  to  be  used  as  a 
sign  of  recognition. 

The  aspirant  was  now  clothed  in  the  sa- 
cred tunic,  and  awaited  in  the  vestibule  the 
opening  of  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary. 

What  subsequently  took  place  must  be 
left  in  great  part  to  conjecture,  although 
modern  writers  have  availed  themselves 
of  all  the  allusions  that  are  to  be  found  in 
the  ancients.    The    temple    consisted    of 


three  parts :  the  megaron,  or  sanctuary,  cor- 
responding to  the  holy  place  of  the  Temple 
of  Solomon ;  the  anactoron,  or  holy  of  ho- 
lies, and  a  subterranean  apartment  beneath 
the  temple.  Each  of  these  was  probably 
occupied  at  a  different  portion  of  the  initia- 
tion. The  representation  of  the  infernal 
regions,  and  the  punishment  of  the  unini- 
tiated impious  was  appropriated  to  the  sub- 
terranean apartment,  and  was,  as  Sylvestre 
de  Sacy  says,  (Notes  to  St.  Croix,  i.  860,)  an 
episode  of  the  drama  which  represented  the 
adventures  of  Isis,  Osiris,  and  Typhon,  or 
of  Demeter,  Persephone,  and  Pluto.  This 
drama,  the  same  author  thinks,  represented 
the  carrying  away  of  Persephone,  the 
travels  of  Demeter  in  search  of  her  lost 
daughter,  her  descent  into  hell  ;  the  union 
of  Pluto  with  Persephone,  and  was  termi- 
nated by  the  return  of  Demeter  into  the 
upper  world  and  the  light  of  day.  The 
representation  of  this  drama  commenced 
immediately  after  the  profane  had  been 
sent  from  the  temple.  And  it  is  easy  to 
understand  how  the  groans  and  wait- 
ings with  which  the  temple  at  one  time 
resounded  might  symbolize  the  sufferings 
and  the  death  of   man,  and    the    subse- 

auent  rejoicings  at  the  return  of  the  god- 
ess  might  be  typical  of  the  joy  for  the 
restoration  of  the  soul  to  eternal  life. 
Others  have  conjectured  that  the  drama  of 
the  mysteries  represented,  in  the  deporta- 
tion of  Persephone  to  Hades  by  Pluto,  the 
departure,  as  it  were,  of  the  sun,  or  the 
deprivation  of  its  vivific  power  during  the 
winter  months,  and  her  reappearance  on 
earth,  the  restoration  of  the  prolific  sun  in 
summer.  Others  again  tell  us  that  the 
last  act  of  the  mysteries  represented  the 
restoration  to  life  of  the  murdered  Zagreus, 
or  Dionysus,  by  Demeter.  Diodorus  says 
that  the  members  of  the  body  of  Zagreus 
lacerated  by  the  Titans  was  represented  in 
the  ceremonies  of  mysteries,  as  well  as  in 
the  Orphic  hymns  ;  but  he  prudently  adds 
that  he  was  not  allowed  to  reveal  the  de- 
tails to  the  uninitiated.  Whatever  was 
the  precise  method  of  symbolism,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  true  interpretation  was  the 
restoration  from  death  to  eternal  life,  and 
that  the  funereal  part  of  the  initiation  re- 
ferred to  a  loss,  and  the  exultation  after- 
wards to  a  recovery.  Hence  it  was  folly 
to  deny  the  coincidence  that  exists  between 
this  Eleusinian  drama  and  that  enacted  in 
the  third  degree  of  Masonry.  It  is  not 
claimed  that  the  one  was  the  uninterrupted 
successor  of  the  other,  but  there  must  have 
been  a  common  ideal  source  for  the  origin  of 
both.  The  lesson,  the  dogma,  the  symbol, 
and  the  method  of  instruction  are  the  same. 
Having  now,  as  Pindar  says,  "descended 
beneath  the  hollow  earth,  and  beheld  those 


ELEUSINIAN 


ELOQUENCE 


249 


mysteries,"  the  initiate  ceased  to  be  a 
mystes,  or  blind  man,  and  was  thenceforth 
called  an  epopt,  a  word  signifying  he  who 
beholds. 

The  Eleusinian  mysteries,  which,  by 
their  splendor,  surpassed  all  contemporary 
institutions  of  the  kind,  were  deemed  of  so 
much  importance  as  to  be  taken  under  the 
special  protection  of  the  state,  and  to  the 
council  of  five  hundred  were  intrusted  the 
observance  of  the  ordinances  which  regu- 
lated them.  By  a  law  of  Solon,  the  magis- 
trates met  every  year  at  the  close  of  the 
festival,  to  pass  sentence  upon  any  who  had 
violated  or  transgressed  any  of  the  rules 
which  governed  the  administration  of  the 
sacred  rites.  Any  attempt  to  disclose  the 
esoteric  ceremonies  of  initiation  was  pun- 
ished with  death.  Plutarch  tells  us,  in  his 
Lifeoj Alcibiades,  that  that  votary  of  pleasure 
was  indicted  for  sacrilege,  because  he  had 
imitated  the  mysteries,  and  shown  them  to 
his  companions  in  the  same  dress  as  that 
worn  by  the  Hierophant ;  and  we  get  from 
Livy  (xxxi.  14,)  the  following  relation: 

Two  Acarnanian  youths,  who  had  not 
been  initiated,  accidentally  entered  the 
temple  of  Demeter  .during  the  celebration 
of  the  mysteries.  They  were  soon  detected 
by  their  absurd  questions,  and  being  carried 
to  the  managers  of  the  temple,  although 
it  was  evident  that  their  intrusion  was  ac- 
cidental, they  were  put  to  death  for  so  hor- 
rible a  crime.  It  is  not,  therefore,  surpris- 
ing that,  in  the  account  of  them,  we  should 
find  such  uncertain  and  even  conflicting 
assertions  of  the  ancient  writers,  who  hesi- 
tated to  discuss  publicly  so  forbidden  a 
subject. 

The  qualifications  for  initiation  were  ma- 
turity of  age  and  purity  of  life.  Such  was 
the  theory,  although  in  practice  these 
qualifications  were  not  always  rigidly  re- 
garded. But  the  early  doctrine  was  that 
none  but  the  pure,  morally  and  ceremonially, 
could  be  admitted  to  initiation.  At  first, 
too,  the  right  of  admission  was  restricted 
to  natives  of  Greece;  but  even  in  the  time 
of  Herodotus  this  law  was  dispensed  with, 
and  the  citizens  of  all  countries  were  con- 
sidered eligible.  So  in  time  these  myste- 
ries were  extended  beyond  the  limits  of 
Greece,  and  in  the  days  of  the  empire  they 
were  introduced  into  Rome,  where  they  be- 
came exceedingly  popular. 

The  scenic  representations,  the  partici- 
pation in  secret  signs  and  words  of  recog- 
nition, the  instruction  in  a  peculiar  dogma, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  hidden  bond  of 
fraternity,  gave  attraction  to  these  myste- 
ries, which  lasted  until  the  very  fall  of  the 
Roman  empire,  and  exerted  a  powerful  in- 
fluence on  the  mystical  associations  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  bond  of  union  which 
2G 


connects  them  with  the  modern  initiations 
of  Freemasonry  is  evident  in  the  common 
thought  which  pervades  and  identifies  both; 
though  it  is  difficult,  and  perhaps  impos- 
sible, to  trace  all  the  connecting  links  of 
the  historic  chain.  We  see  the  beginning 
and  we  see  the  end  of  one  pervading  idea, 
but  the  central  point  is  hidden  from  us  to 
await  some  future  discoverer. 

Eleven.  In  the  Prestonian  lectures, 
eleven  was  a  mystical  number,  and  was  the 
final  series  of  steps  in  the  winding  stairs 
of  the  Fellow  Craft,  which  were  said  to 
consist  of  3,  5,  7,  9,  and  11.  The  eleven 
was  referred  to  the  eleven  apostles  after  the 
defection  of  Judas,  and  to  the  eleven  sons 
of  Jacob  after  Joseph  went  into  Egypt. 
But  when  the  lectures  were  revived  by 
Hemming,  the  eleven  was  struck  out.  In 
Templar  Masonry,  however,  eleven  is  still 
significant  as  being  the  constitutional  num- 
ber required  to  open  a  Commandery  ;  and 
here  it  is  evidently  allusive  of  the  eleven 
true  disciples. 

Eligibility  for  Initiation.  See 
Qualifications  of  Candidates. 

Elihoreph.  One  of  Solomon's  secre- 
taries.   See  Ahiah. 

Elizabeth  of  England.  Preston 
{Illustrations,  B.  IV.,  §iv.,)  states  that  the 
following  circumstance  is  recorded  of  this 
sovereign :  Hearing  that  the  Masons  were 
in  possession  of  secrets  which  they  would 
not  reveal,  and  being  jealous  of  all  secret 
assemblies,  she  sent  an  armed  force  to  York, 
with  intent  to  break  up  their  annual  Grand 
Lodge.  This  design,  however,  was  happily 
frustrated  by  the  interposition  of  Sir 
Thomas  Sackville,  who  took  care  to  initi- 
ate some  of  the  chief  officers  whom  she 
had  sent  on  this  duty.  They  joined  in 
communication  with  the  Masons,  and  made 
so  favorable  a  report  to  the  queen  on  their 
return  that  she  countermanded  her  orders, 
and  never  afterwards  attempted  to  disturb 
the  meetings  of  the  Fraternity.  The  icon- 
oclasts, of  course,  assert  that  the  story  is 
void  of  authenticity. 

Elizabeth  of  Portugal.  In  May, 
1792,  this  queen,  having  conceived  a  suspi- 
cion of  the  Lodges  in  Madeira,  gave  an 
order  to  the  governor  to  arrest  all  the  Free- 
masons in  the  island,  and  deliver  them  over 
to  the  Inquisition.  The  rigorous  execution 
of  this  order  occasioned  an  emigration  of 
many  families,  ten  of  whom  repaired  to 
New  York,  and  were  liberally  assisted  by 
the  Masons  of  that  city. 

Elohini.  DT6x.  A  name  applied  in 
Hebrew  to  any  deity,  but  sometimes  also 
to  the  true  God.  According  to  Lanci,  it 
means  the  most  beneficent.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, much  used  in  Masonry. 

Eloquence  of  Masonry.  Lawyers 


250 


ELU 


EMBLEM 


boast  of  the  eloquence  of  the  bar,  and 
point  to  the  arguments  of  counsel  in  well 
known  cases ;  the  clergy  have  the  eloquence 
of  the  pulpit  exhibited  in  sermons,  many 
of  which  have  a  world-wide  reputation ; 
and  statesmen  vaunt  of  the  eloquence  of 
Congress  —  some  of  the  speeches,  however, 
being  indebted,  it  is  said,  for  their  power 
and  beauty,  to  the  talent  of  the  stenographic 
reporter  rather  than  the  member  who  is 
supposed  to  be  the  author. 

Freemasonry,  too,  has  its  eloquence, 
which  is  sometimes,  although  not  always, 
of  a  very  high  order.  This  eloquence  is  to 
be  found  in  the  addresses,  orations,  and 
discourses  which  have  usually  been  de- 
livered on  the  great  festivals  of  the  Order, 
at  consecrations  of  Lodges,  dedications  of 
halls,  and  the  laying  of  foundation-stones. 
These  addresses  constitute,  in  fact,  the 
principal  part  of  the  early  literature  of 
Freemasonry.     See  Addresses,  Masonic. 

Kin.  The  fourth  degree  of  the  French 
Eite.     See  Elus. 

Eliil.  V?X.  The  sixth  month  of  the 
ecclesiastical  and  the  twelfth  of  the  civil 
year  of  the  Jews.  The  twelfth  also,  there- 
fore, of  the  Masonic  calendar  used  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Eite.  It 
begins  on  the  new  moon  of  August  or  Sep- 
tember, and  consists  of  twenty-nine  days. 

KIus.  The  French  word  elu  means 
elected;  and  the  degrees,  whose  object  is  to 
detail  the  detection  and  punishment  of  the 
actors  in  the  crime  traditionally  related  in 
the  third  degree,  are  called  Elus,  or  the 
degrees  of  the  Elected,  because  they  re- 
ferred to  those  of  the  Craft  who  were 
chosen  or  elected  to  make  the  discovery, 
and  to  inflict  the  punishment.  They  form 
a  particular  system  of  Masonry,  and  are  to 
be  found  in  every  Eite,  if  not  in  all  in 
name,  at  least  in  principle.  In  the  York 
and  American  Eites,  the  Elu  is  incorporated 
in  the  Master's  degree;  in  the  French  Eite 
it  constitutes  an  independent  degree ;  and  in 
the  Scottish  Eite  it  consists  of  three  de- 
grees, the  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh.  Ea- 
gon  counts  the  five  preceding  degrees  among 
the  Elus,  but  they  more  properly  belong  to 
the  Order  of  Masters.  The  symbolism  of 
these  Elu  degrees  has  been  greatly  mistaken 
and  perverted  by  anti-Masonic  writers,  who 
have  thus  attributed  to  Masonry  a  spirit  of 
vengeance  which  is  not  its  characteristic. 
They  must  be  looked  upon  as  conveying 
only  a  symbolic  meaning.  Those  higher 
degrees,  in  which  the  object  of  the  election 
is  changed  and  connected  with  Templarism, 
are  more  properly  called  Kadoshes.  Thory 
says  that  all  the  Elus  are  derived  from  the 
degree  of  Kadosh,  which  preceded  them. 
The  reverse,  I  think,  is  the  truth.  The 
Elu    system    sprang    naturally  from    the 


Master's  degree,  and  was  only  applied  to 
Templarism  when  De  Molay  was  substituted 
for  Hiram  the  Builder. 

Emanation.  Literally,  "a  flowing 
forth."  The  doctrine  of  emanations  was  a 
theory  predominant  in  many  of  the  Ori- 
ental religions,  such,  especially,  as  Brah- 
manism  and  Parseeism,  and  subsequently 
adopted  by  the  Kabbalists  and  the  Gnostics, 
and  taught  by  Philo  and  Plato.  It  assumed 
that  all  things  emanated,  flowed  forth, 
(which  is  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word,) 
or  were  developed  and  descended  by  de- 
grees from  the  Supreme  Being.  Thus,  in 
the  ancient  religion  of  India,  the  anima 
mundi,  or  soul  of  the  word,  the  mys- 
terious source  of  all  life,  was  identified 
with  Brahma,  the  Supreme  God.  The 
doctrine  of  Gnosticism  was  that  all  be- 
ings emanated  from  the  Deity ;  that  there 
was  a  progressive  degeneration  of  these 
beings  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest 
emanation,  and  a  final  redemption  and 
return  of  all  to  the  purity  of  the  Creator. 
Philo  taught  that  the  Supreme  Being  was 
the  Primitive  Light  or  the  Archetype  of 
Light,  whose  rays  illuminate,  as  from  a 
common  source,  all  souls.  The  theory  of 
emanations  is  interesting  to  the  Mason, 
because  of  the  reference  in  many  of  the 
higher  degrees  to  the  doctrines  of  Philo, 
the  Gnostics,  and  the  Kabbalists. 

Emanuel.  A  sacred  word  in  some  of 
the  high  degrees,  being  one  of  the  names 
applied  in  Scripture  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  a  Greek  form  from  the  Hebrew,  Im- 
manuel,  SttTjqp,  and  signifies  "  God  is  with 
us." 

Embassy.  The  embassy  of  Zerubba- 
bel  and  four  other  Jewish  chiefs  to  the 
court  of  Darius,  to  obtain  the  protection 
of  that  monarch  from  the  encroachments 
of  the  Samaritans,  who  interrupted  the 
labors  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  Temple, 
constitutes  the  legend  of  the  sixteenth  de- 
gree of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Eite,  and  also  of  the  Eed  Cross  degree  of 
the  American  Eite,  which  is  surely  bor- 
rowed from  the  former.  The  history  of 
this  embassy  is  found  in  the  eleventh  book 
of  the  Antiquities  of  Josephus,  whence  the 
Masonic  ritualists  have  undoubtedly  taken 
it.  The  only  authority  of  Josephus  is  the 
apocryphal  record  of  Esdras,  and  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  whole  transaction  is  doubt- 
ed or  denied  by  modern  historians. 

Emblem.  The  emblem  is  an  occult 
representation  of  something  unknown  or 
concealed  by  a  sign  or  thing  that  is  known. 
Thus,  a  square  is  in  Freemasonry  an  em- 
blem of  morality ;  a  plumb  line,  of  recti- 
tude of  conduct ;  and  a  level,  of  equality 
of  human  conditions.  Emblem  is  very  gen- 
erally used  as  synonymous  with  symbol,  al- 


EMERALD 


EMPERORS 


251 


though  the  two  words  do  not  express  ex- 
actly the  same  meaning.  An  emblem  is 
properly  a  representation  of  an  idea  by  a 
visible  object,  as  in  the  examples  quoted 
above ;  but  a  symbol  is  more  extensive  in 
its  application,  includes  every  representa- 
tion of  an  idea  by  an  image,  whether  that 
image  is  presented  immediately  to  the 
senses  as  a  visible  and  tangible  substance, 
or  only  brought  before  the  mind  by  words. 
Hence  an  action  or  event  as  described,  a 
myth  or  legend,  may  be  a  symbol ;  and 
hence,  too,  it  follows  that  while  all  emblems 
are  symbols,  all  symbols  are  not  emblems. 
See  Symbol. 

Emerald.  In  Hebrew,  ~\3D,  caphak. 
It  was  the  first  stone  in  the  first  row  of  the 
high  priest's  breastplate,  and  was  referred 
to  Levi.  Adam  Clarke  says  it  is  the  same 
stone  as  the  smaragdus,  and  is  of  a  bright 
green  color.  Joseph  us,  the  Septuagint, 
and  the  Jerusalem  Targum  understood  by 
the  Hebrew  word  the  carbuncle,  which  is 
red.  The  modern  emerald,  as  everybody 
knows,  is  green. 

Emergency.  The  general  law  of  Ma- 
sonry requires  a  month  to  elapse  between 
the  time  of  receiving  a  petition  for  initia- 
tion and  that  of  balloting  for  the  candi- 
date, and  also  that  there  shall  be  an  in- 
terval of  one  month  between  the  reception 
of  each  of  the  degrees  of  Craft  Masonry. 
Cases  sometimes  occur  when  a  Lodge  de- 
sires this  probationary  period  to  be  dis- 
pensed with,  so  that  the  candidate's  peti- 
tion may  be  received  and  balloted  for  at 
the  same  communication,  or  so  that  the  de- 
grees may  be  conferred  at  much  shorter  in- 
tervals. As  some  reason  must  be  assigned 
for  the  application  to  the  Grand  Master  for 
the  dispensation,  such  reason  is  generally 
stated  to  be  that  the  candidate  is  about  to 
go  on  a  long  journey,  or  some  other  equally 
valid.  Cases  of  this  kind  are  called,  in  the 
technical  language  of  Masonry,  cases  of 
emergency.  It  is  evident  that  the  emer- 
gency is  made  for  the  sake  of  the  candi- 
date, and  not  for  that  of  the  Lodge  or  of 
Masonry.  The  too  frequent  occurrence  of 
applications  for  dispensations  in  cases  of 
emergency  have  been  a  fruitful  source  of 
evil,  as  thereby  unworthy  persons,  escap- 
ing the  ordeal  of  an  investigation  into 
character,  have  been  introduced  into  the 
Order;  and  even  where  the  candidates  have 
been  worthy,  the  rapid  passing  through  the 
degrees  prevents  a  due  impression  from 
being  made  on  the  mind,  and  the  candidate 
fails  to  justly  appreciate  the  beauties  and 
merits  of  the  Masonic  system.  Hence, 
these  cases  of  emergency  have  been  very 
unpopular  with  the  most  distinguished 
members  of  the  Fraternity.  In  the  olden 
time    the    Master    and    Wardens    of  the 


Lodge  were  vested  with  the  prerogative  of 
deciding  what  was  a  case  of  emergency ; 
but  modern  law  and  usage  (in  this  country, 
at  least,)  make  the  Grand  Master  the  sole 
judge  of  what  constitutes  a  case  of  emer- 
gency. 

Emergent  Lodge.  A  Lodge  held 
at  an  emergent  meeting. 

Emergent  Meeting.  The  meeting 
of  a  Lodge  called  to  elect  a  candidate,  and 
confer  the  degrees  in  a  case  of  emergency, 
or  for  any  other  sudden  and  unexpected 
cause,  has  been  called  an  emergent  meet- 
ing. The  term  is  not  very  common,  but  it 
has  been  used  by  W.  S.  Mitchell  and  a  few 
other  writers. 

Emeritus.  Latin ;  plural,  emeriti. 
The  Romans  applied  this  word  —  which 
comes  from  the  verb  emerere,  to  be  greatly 
deserving  —  to  a  soldier  who  had  served  out 
his  time;  hence,  in  the  Supreme  Councils 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
of  this  country,  an  active  member,  who  re- 
signs his  seat  by  reason  of  age,  infirmity, 
or  for  other  cause  deemed  good  by  the 
Council,  may  be  elected  an  Emeritus  mem- 
ber, and  will  possess  the  privilege  of  pro- 
posing measures  and  being  heard  in  debate, 
but  not  of  voting. 

Emetli.  Hebrew,  HEtf-  One  of  the 
words  in  the  high  degrees.  It  signifies 
integrity,  fidelity,  firmness,  and  constancy  in 
keeping  a  promise,  and  especially  Truth, 
as  opposed  to  falsehood.  In  the  Scottish 
Rite,  the  Sublime  Knights  Elect  of  Twelve 
of  the  eleventh  degree  are  called  "  Princes 
Emeth,"  which  means  simply  men  of  ex- 
alted character  who  are  devoted  to  truth. 

Eminent.  The  title  given  to  the 
Commander  or  presiding  officer  of  a  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars,  and  to  all 
officers  below  the  Grand  Commander  in  a 
Grand  Commandery.  The  Grand  Com- 
mander is  styled  "  Right  Eminent,"  and  the 
Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Encampment 
of  the  United  States,  "Most  Eminent." 
The  word  is  from  the  Latin  eminens,  "stand- 
ing above,"  and  literally  signifies  "exalted 
in  rank."  Hence,  it  is  a  title  given  to  the 
cardinals  in  the  Roman  Church. 

Emperor  of  Lebanon.  ( Empereur 
du  Liban.)  This  degree,  says  Thory,  {Act. 
Lat.,  i.  311,)  which  was  a  part  of  the  col- 
lection of  M.  Le  Rouge,  was  composed  in 
the  isle  of  Bourbon,  in  1778,  by  the  Mar- 
quis de  Beurnonville,  who  was  then  Na- 
tional Grand  Master  of  all  the  Lodges  of 
India. 

Emperors  of  the  East  and  West. 
In  1758  there  was  established  in  Paris  a 
Chapter  called  the  "  Council  of  Emperors 
of  the  East  and  West."  The  members  as- 
sumed the  titles  of  "  Sovereign  Prince  Ma- 
sons," "Substitutes  General  of  the  Royal 


252 


EMPERORS 


ENGLAND 


Art,"  "  Grand  Superintendents  and  officers 
of  the  Grand  and  Sovereign  Lodge  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem."  Their  ritual,  which 
was  based  on  the  Templar  system,  con- 
sisted of  twenty-five  degrees,  as  follows: 
1  to  19,  the  same  as  the  Scottish  Rite ;  20, 
Grand  Patriarch  Noachite ;  21,  Key  of  Ma- 
sonry ;  22,  Prince  of  Lebanon ;  23,  Knight 
of  the  Sun ;  24,  Kadosh ;  25,  Prince  of  the 
Royal  Secret.  It  granted  warrants  for 
Lodges  of  the  high  degrees,  appointed 
Grand  Inspectors  and  Deputies,  and  estab- 
lished several  subordinate  bodies  in  the 
interior  of  France,  among  which  was  a 
"  Council  of  Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret," 
at  Bordeaux.  In  1763,  one  Pincemaille, 
the  Master  of  the  Lodge  La  Candeur,  at 
Metz,  began  to  publish  an  exposition  of 
these  degrees  in  the  serial  numbers  of  a 
work  entitled,  Conversations  Allegoriques  sur 
la  Franche-Magonnerie.  In  1764,  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  France  offered  him  300  livres  to 
suppress  the  book.  Pincemaille  accepted 
the  bribe,  but  continued  the  publication, 
which  lasted  until  1766. 

In  1758,  the  year  of  their  establishment 
in  France,  the  degrees  of  this  Rite  of  Here- 
dom,  or  of  Perfection,  as  it  was  called,  were 
carried  by  the  Marquis  de  Bernez  to  Berlin, 
and  adopted  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
Three  Globes. 

Between  the  years  1760  and  1765,  there 
was  much  dissension  in  the  Rite.  A  new 
Council,  called  the  Knights  of  the  East, 
was  established  at  Paris,  in  1760,  as  the 
rival  of  the  Emperors  of  the  East  and 
West.  The  controversies  of  these  two  bod- 
ies were  carried  into  the  Grand  Lodge, 
which,  in  1766,  was  compelled,  for  the  sake 
of  peace,  to  issue  a  decree  in  opposition  to 
the  high  degrees,  excluding  the  malcon- 
tents, and  forbidding  the  symbolical  Lodges 
to  recognize  the  authority  of  these  Chap- 
ters. But  the  excluded  Masons  continued 
to  work  clandestinely  and  to  grant  war- 
rants. From  that  time  until  its  dissolution, 
the  history  of  the  Council  of  the  Emperors 
of  the  East  and  West  is  but  a  history  of 
continuous  disputes  with  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  France.     At  length,  in  1781,  it  was  com- 

Eletely  absorbed  in  the  Grand  Orient,  and 
as  no  longer  an  existence. 
The  assertion  of  Thory,  (Act.  Lat.,)  and 
of  Ragon.  (Orthod.  Mac.,)  that  the  Council 
of  the  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West  was 
the  origin  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite,  —  Frederick  of  Prussia  having  added 
eight  to  the  original  twenty-five, — although 
it  has  been  denied,  does  not  seem  destitute 
of  truth.  It  is  very  certain,  if  the  docu- 
mentary evidence  is  authentic,  that  the 
Constitutions  of  1762  were  framed  by  this 
Council ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  under 
these  Constitutions  a  patent  was  granted  to 


Stephen  Morin,  through  whom  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  was  established 
in  America. 

Emnnah.  fOlON-  Sometimes  spelled 
Amunah,  but  not  in  accordance  with  the 
Masoretic  points.  A  significant  word  in 
the  high  degrees  signifying  fidelity,  espe- 
cially in  fulfilling  one's  promises. 

Encampment.  All  regular  assem- 
blies of  Knights  Templars  were  formerly 
called  Encampments,  and  are  still  so  called 
in  England.  They  are  now  styled  Oom- 
manderies  in  this  country,  and  Grand  En- 
campments of  the  States  are  called  Graud 
Commanderies.  See  Commandery  and  Com- 
mandery,  Grand. 

Encampment.  General  Grand. 
The  title,  before  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  1856,  of  the  Grand  Encamp- 
ment of  the  United  States. 

Encampment.  Grand.  The  Grand 
Encampment  of  the  United  States  was  in- 
stituted on  the  22d  of  June,  1816,  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  It  consists  of  a  Grand 
Master,  Deputy  Grand  Master,  and  other 
Grand  officers  who  are  similar  to  those  of 
a  Grand  Commandery,  with  Past  Grand 
officers  and  the  representatives  of  the 
various  Grand  Commanderies,  and  of  the 
subordinate  Commanderies  deriving  their 
warrants  immediately  from  it.  It  exercises 
jurisdiction  over  all  the  Templars  of  the 
United  States,  and  meets  triennially.  The 
term  Encampment  is  borrowed  from  mili- 
tary usage,  and  is  very  properly  applied  to 
the  temporary  congregation  at  stated 
periods  of"  the  army  of  Templars,  who  may 
be  said  to  be,  for  the  time  being,  in  camp. 

Encyclical.  Circular ;  sent  to  many 
places  or  persons.  Encyclical  letters,  con- 
taining information,  advice,  or  admonition, 
are  sometimes  issued  by  Grand  Lodges  or 
Grand  Masters  to  the  Lodges  and  Masons 
of  a  jurisdiction.  The  word  is  not  in  very 
common  use;  but  I  find  that  in  1848  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  South  Carolina  issued  "  an 
encyclical  letter  of  advice,  of  admonition, 
and  of  direction,"  to  the  subordinate  Lodges 
under  her  jurisdiction  ;  and  that  a  similar 
letter  was  issued  in  1865  by  the  Grand 
Master  of  Iowa. 

En  famille.  French,  meaning  as  a 
/amity.  In  French  Lodges,  during  the 
reading  of  the  minutes,  and  sometimes 
when  the  Lodge  is  engaged  in  the  discus- 
sion of  delicate  matters  affecting  only  it- 
self, the  Lodge  is  said  to  meet "  en  famille," 
at  which  time  visitors  are  not  admitted. 

England.  I  shall  give  a  brief  resume 
of  the  nistory  of  Freemasonry  in  England 
as  it  has  hitherto  been  written,  and  is  now 
generally  received  by  the  Fraternity.  It  is 
but  right,  however,  to  say,  that  recent  re- 
searches have  thrown  doubts  on  the  authen- 


ENGLAND 


ENGLAND 


253 


ticity  of  many  of  the  statements, — that  the 
legend  of  Prince  Edwin  has  been  doubted  ; 
the  establishment  of  a  Grand  Lodge  at 
York  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  denied;  and  the  existence  of  any 
thing  but  Operative  Masonry  before  1717 
controverted.  These  questions  are  still  in 
dispute;  but  the  labors  of  Masonic  anti- 
quaries, through  which  many  old  records 
and  ancient  constitutions  are  being  con- 
tinually exhumed  from  the  British  Museum 
and  from  Lodge  libraries,  will  eventually 
enable  us  to  settle  upon  the  truth. 

According  to  Anderson  and  Preston,  the 
first  charter  granted  in  England  to  the 
Masons,  as  a  body,  was  bestowed  by  King 
Athelstan,  in  926,  upon  the  application  of 
his  brother,  Prince  Edwin.  "  Accordingly," 
says  a  legend  first  cited  by  Anderson, 
"  Prince  Edwin  summoned  all  the  Masons 
in  the  realm  to  meet  him  in  a  congregation 
at  York,  who  came  and  composed  a  Gen- 
eral Lodge,  of  which  he  was  Grand  Master ; 
and  having  brought  with  them  all  the  writ- 
ings and  records  extant,  some  in  Greek, 
some  in  Latin,  some  in  French,  and  other 
languages,  from  the  contents  thereof  that 
assembly  did  frame  the  Constitution  and 
Charges  of  an  English  Lodge." 

From  this  assembly  at  York,  the  rise  of 
Masonry  in  England  is  generally  dated; 
from  the  statutes  there  enacted  are  derived 
the  English  Masonic  Constitutions ;  and 
from  the  place  of  meeting,  the  ritual  of  the 
English  Lodges  is  designated  as  the  "  An- 
cient York  Rite." 

For  a  long  time,  the  York  Assembly  ex- 
ercised the  Masonic  jurisdiction  over  all 
England ;  but  in  1567  the  Masons  of  the 
southern  part  of  the  island  elected  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham,  the  celebrated  merchant, 
their  Grand  Master.  He  was  succeeded  by 
the  illustrious  architect,  Inigo  Jones.  There 
were  now  two  Grand  Masters  in  England 
who  assumed  distinctive  titles ;  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  north  being  called  Grand 
Master  of  all  England,  while  he  who  pre- 
sided in  the  south  was  called  Grand  Master 
of  England. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, Masonry  in  the  south  of  England  had 
fallen  into  decay.  The  disturbances  of  the 
revolution,  which  placed  William  III.  on 
the  throne,  and  the  subsequent  warmth  of 
political  feelings  which  agitated  the  two 
parties  of  the  state,  had  given  this  peace- 
ful society  a  wound  fatal  to  its  success.  Sir 
Christopher  Wren,  the  Grand  Master  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne,  had  become  aged,  in- 
firm, and  inactive,  and  hence  the  general 
assemblies  of  the  Grand  Lodge  had  ceased 
to  take  place.  There  were,  in  the  year 
1715,  but  four  Lodges  in  the  south  of  Eng- 
land, all  working  in  the  city  of  London. 


These  four  Lodges,  desirous  of  reviving  the 
prosperity  of  the  Order,  determined  to 
unite  themselves  under  a  Grand  Master, 
Sir  Christopher  Wren  being  now  dead,  and 
none  having,  as  yet,  been  appointed  in  his 
place.  They  therefore  "  met  at  the  Apple- 
Tree  Tavern ;  and  having  put  into  the  chair 
the  oldest  Master  Mason,  (being  the  Master 
of  a  Lodge,)  they  constituted  themselves  a 
Grand  Lodge,  pro  tempore,  in  due  form,  and 
forthwith  revived  the  quarterly  communi- 
cation of  the  officers  of  Lodges,  (called  the 
Grand  Lodge,)  resolved  to  hold  the  annual 
assembly  and  feast,  and  then  to  choose  a 
Grand  Master  from  among  themselves,  till 
they  should  have  the  honor  of  a  noble 
brother  at  their  head." 

Accordingly,  on  St.  John  the  Baptist's 
day,  1717,  the  annual  assembly  and  feast 
were  held,  and  Mr.  Anthony  Sayer  duly 
proposed  and  elected  Grand  Master.  The 
Grand  Lodge  adopted,  among  its  regula- 
tions, the  following:  "That  the  privilege 
of  assembling  as  Masons,  which  had  hith- 
erto been  unlimited,  should  be  vested  in 
certain  Lodges  or  assemblies  of  Masons 
convened  in  certain  places ;  and  that  every 
Lodge  to  be  hereafter  convened,  except  the 
four  old  Lodges  at  this  time  existing,  should 
be  legally  authorized  to  act  by  a  warrant 
from  the  Grand  Master,  for  the  time  being, 
granted  to  certain  individuals  by  petition, 
with  the  consent  and  approbation  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  in  communication,  and  that, 
without  such  warrant,  no  Lodge  should  be 
hereafter  deemed  regular  or  constitutional." 

In  compliment,  however,  to  the  four  old 
Lodges,  the  privileges  which  they  had  al- 
ways possessed  under  the  old  organization 
were  particularly  reserved  to  them ;  and  it 
was  enacted  that  "  no  law,  rule,  or  regula- 
tion, to  be  hereafter  made  or  passed  in 
Grand  Lodge,  should  ever  deprive  them  of 
such  privilege,  or  encroach  on  any  land- 
mark which  was  at  that  time  established 
as  the  standard  of  Masonic  government." 

The  Grand  Lodges  of  York  and  of  Lon- 
don kept  up  a  friendly  intercourse,  and  mu- 
tual interchange  of  recognition,  until  the 
latter  body,  in  1725,  granted  a  warrant  of 
constitution  to  some  Masons  who  had  se- 
ceded from  the  former.  This  unmasonic 
act  was  severely  reprobated  by  the  York 
Grand  Lodge,  and  produced  the  first  inter- 
ruption to  the  harmony  that  had  long  sub- 
sisted between  them.  It  was,  however,  fol- 
lowed some  years  after  by  another  unjusti- 
fiable act  of  interference.  In  1735,  the 
Earl  of  Crawford,  Grand  Master  of  Eng- 
land, constituted  two  Lodges  within  the  ju- 
risdiction of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  York,  and 
granted,  without  its  consent,  deputations 
for  Lancashire,  Durham,  and  Northumber- 
land.    "  This  circumstance,"  says  Preston, 


254 


ENGLAND 


ENOCH 


{Illust.,  p.  184,)  "  the  Grand  Lodge  at  York 
highly  resented,  and  ever  afterward  viewed 
the  proceedings  of  the  brethren  in  the 
south  with  a  jealous  eye.  All  friendly  in- 
tercourse ceased,  and  the  York  Masons, 
from  that  moment,  considered  their  inte- 
rests distinct  from  the  Masons  under  the 
Grand  Lodge  in  London." 

Three  years  after,  in  1738,  several  brethren, 
dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  seceded  from  it,  and  held 
unauthorized  meetings  for  the  purpose  of  ini- 
tiation. Taking  advantage  of  the  breach 
between  the  Grand  Lodges  of  York  and 
London,  they  assumed  the  character  of 
York  Masons.  On  the  Grand  Lodge's  de- 
termination to  put  strictly  in  execution  the 
laws  against  such  seceders,  they  still  fur- 
ther separated  from  its  jurisdiction,  and 
assumed  the  appellation  of  "Ancient  York 
Masons."  They  announced  that  the  ancient 
landmarks  were  alone  preserved  by  them ; 
and,  declaring  that  the  regular  Lodges  had 
adopted  new  plans,  and  sanctioned  inno- 
vations, they  branded  them  with  the  name  of 
"Modern  Masons."  In  1739,  they  established 
a  new  Grand  Lodge  in  London,  under  the 
name  of  the  "Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient 
York  Masons,"  and,  persevering  in  the  meas- 
ures they  had  adopted,  held  communications 
and  appointed  annual  feasts.  They  were 
soon  afterward  recognized  by  the  Masons 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  were  encour- 
aged and  fostered  by  many  of  the  nobility. 
The  two  Grand  Lodges  continued  to  exist, 
and  to  act  in  opposition  to  each  other,  ex- 
tending their  schisms  into  other  countries, 
especially  into  America,  until  the  year  1813, 
when,  under  the  Grand  Mastership  of  the 
Duke  of  Sussex,  they  were  united  under 
the  title  of  the  United  Grand  Lodge  of 
England. 

Such  is  the  history  of  Freemasonry  in 
England  as  uninterruptedly  believed  by  all 
Masons  and  Masonic  writers  for  nearly  a 
century  and  a  half.  Recent  researches 
have  thrown  great  doubts  on  its  entire  ac- 
curacy. Until  the  year  1717,  the  details 
are  either  traditional,  or  supported  only  by 
manuscripts  whose  authenticity  has  not  yet 
been  satisfactorily  proved.  Much  of  the 
history  is  uncertain ;  some  of  it,  especially 
as  referring  to  York,  is  deemed  apocryphal 
by  Hughan  and  other  laborious  writers. 
Yet,  as  the  hereditary  tradition  of  the 
Order,  it  cannot  be  safely  or  justly  thrown 
altogether  aside;  though  it  should  be  re- 
ceived with  many  reservations  until  the 
profound  researches  of  Masonic  antiquaries, 
now  being  actively  pursued  in  England, 
shall  have  been  brought  to  a  satisfactory 
conclusion.  The  investigations  on  this  im- 
portant subject  should  oe  conducted  with 
impartial  judgment,  and  with  an  earnest 


desire  to  find  the  truth,  and  not  to  uphold 
a  theory.  The  legend  may  not  be  true ;  but 
if  it  has  been  long  accepted  and  venerated 
as  truth,  it  should  not  be  rejected  until  there 
is  incontestable  evidence  of  its  falsity.  In 
criticisms  of  this  kind  we  should  remember 
the  caution  of  an  eminent  metaphysician, 
that  "  the  hand  that  cannot  build  a  hovel 
may  demolish  a  palace."  So  far,  the  re- 
searches of  these  inquiries  into  the  early 
history  of  English  Freemasonry,  of  whom 
Bro.  Hughan,  of  Cornwall,  may  justly  be 
considered  as  the  chief,  have  been  generally 
conducted  with  earnest  fairness  and  labori- 
ous learning.    See  York. 

Englct.  A  corruption  of  Euclid,  found 
in  the  Old  Constitutions  known  as  the 
Matthew  Cooke  MS.,  "  wherefore  ye  for- 
sayde  maister  Englet  ordegnet  thei  were 
passing  of  conying  schold  be  passing  hon- 
oured," (line  674-7.)  lam  inclined  to  think 
that  the  copyist  has  mistaken  a  badly-made 
old  English  u  for  an  n,  and  that  the  origi- 
nal had  Euglet,  which  would  be  a  nearer 
approximation  to  Euclid. 

Engrave.  In  French  Lodges,  buriner, 
to  engrave,  is  used  instead  of  ecrire,  to 
write.  The  "  engraved  tablets "  are  the 
"  written  records." 

Enlightened.  This  word,  equivalent 
to  the  Latin  illuminatus,  is  frequently  used 
to  designate  a  Freemason  as  one  who  ha3 
been  rescued  from  darkness,  and  received 
intellectual  light.  Webster's  definition 
shows  its  appositeness :  "Illuminated;  in- 
structed ;  informed ;  furnished  with  clear 
views."  Many  old  Latin  diplomas  com- 
mence with  the  heading,  "  Omnibus  illu- 
minatis,"  i.  e.,  "  to  all  the  enlightened." 

Enlightenment,  Shock  of.  See 
Shock  of  Enlightenment. 

Enoch.  Though  the  Scriptures  fur- 
nish but  a  meagre  account  of  Enoch,  the 
traditions  of  Freemasonry  closely  connect 
him,  by  numerous  circumstances,  with  the 
early  history  of  the  Institution.  All,  in- 
deed, that  we  learn  from  the  Book  of  Gene- 
sis on  the  subject  of  his  life  is,  that  he  was 
the  seventh  of  the  patriarchs ;  the  son  of 
Jared,  and  the  great-grandfather  of  Noah  ; 
that  he  was  born  in  the  year  of  the  world 
622 ;  that  his  life  was  one  of  eminent  virtue, 
so  much  so,  that  he  is  described  as  "  walk- 
ing with  God  ;  "  and  that  in  the  year  987 
his  earthly  pilgrimage  was  terminated,  (as 
the  commentators  generally  suppose,)  not  by 
death,  but  by  a  bodily  translation  to  heaven. 

In  the  very  commencement  of  our  in- 
quiries, we  shall  find  circumstances  in  the 
life  of  this  great  patriarch  that  shadow 
forth,  as  it  were,  something  of  that  mysti- 
cism with  which  the  traditions  of  Masonry 
have  connected  him.  His  name,  in  the 
Hebrew  language,  "piT  Henoch,  signifies 


ENOCH 


ENOCH 


255 


to  initiate  and  to  instruct,  and  seems  intended 
to  express  the  fact  that  he  was,  as  Oliver 
remarks,  the  first  to  give  a  decisive  charac- 
ter to  the  rite  of  initiation,  and  to  add  to 
the  practice  of  divine  worship  the  study 
and  application  of  human  science.  In 
confirmation  of  this  view,  a  writer  in  the 
Freemason's  Quarterly  Review  says,  on  this 
subject,  that  "  it  seems  probable  that  Enoch 
introduced  the  speculative  principles  into 
the  Masonic  creed,  and  that  he  originated 
its  exclusive  character,"  which  theory  must 
be  taken,  if  it  is  accepted  at  all,  with  very 
considerable  modifications. 

The  years  of  his  life  may  also  be  supposed 
to  contain  a  mystic  meaning,  for  they 
amounted  to  three  hundred  and  sixty-five, 
being  exactly  equal  to  a  solar  revolution. 
In  all  the  ancient  rites  this  number  has  oc- 
cupied a  prominent  place,  because  it  was 
the  representative  of  the  annual  course  of 
that  luminary  which,  as  the  great  fructifier 
of  the  earth,  was  the  peculiar  object  of 
divine  worship. 

Of  the  early  history  of  Enoch,  we  know 
nothing.  It  is,  however,  probable  that,  like 
the  other  descendants  of  the  pious  Seth,  he 
passed  his  pastoral  life  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Mount  Moriah.  From  the  other 
f>atriarchs  he  differed  only  in  this,  that,  en- 
ightened  by  the  divine  knowledge  which 
had  been  imparted  to  him,  he  instructed 
his  contemporaries  in  the  practice  of  those 
rites,  and  in  the  study  of  those  sciences,  with 
which  he  had  himself  become  acquainted. 

The  Oriental  writers  abound  in  tradition- 
ary evidence  of  the  learning  of  the  venera- 
ble patriarch.  One  tradition  states  that  he 
received  from  God  the  gift  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge,  and  that  God  sent  him  thirty 
volumes  from  heaven,  filled  with  all  the  se- 
crets of  the  most  mysterious  sciences.  The 
Babylonians  supposed  him  to  have  been  in- 
timately acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the 
stars;  and  they  attribute  to  him  the  inven- 
tion of  astrology.  The  Rabbins  maintain 
that  he  was  taught  by  God  and  Adam  how 
to  sacrifice,  and  how  to  worship  the  Deity 
aright.  The  kabbalistic  book  of  Raziel 
says  that  he  received  the  divine  mysteries 
from  Adam,  through  the  direct  line  of  the 
preceding  patriarchs. 

The  Greek  Christians  supposed  him  to 
have  been  identical  with  the  first  Egyptian 
Hermes,  who  dwelt  at  Sais.  They  say  he 
was  the  first  to  give  instruction  on  the  ce- 
lestial bodies  ;  that  he  foretold  the  deluge 
that  was  to  overwhelm  his  descendants ; 
and  that  he  built  the  Pyramids,  engraving 
thereon  figures  of  artificial  instruments  and 
the  elements  of  the  sciences,  fearing  lest 
the  memory  of  man  should  perish  in  that 
general  destruction.  Eupolemus,  a  Grecian 
writer,  makes  him  the  same  as  Atlas,  and 


attributes  to  him,  as  the  Pagans  did  to  that 
deity,  the  invention  of  astronomy. 

Mr.  Wait,  in  his  Oriental  Antiquities, 
quotes  a  passage  from  Bar  Hebraeus,  a  Jew- 
ish writer,  which  asserts  that  Enoch  was 
the  first  who  invented  books  and  writing ; 
that  he  taught  men  the  art  of  building 
cities;  that  he  discovered  the  knowledge 
of  the  Zodiac  and  the  course  of  the  planets ; 
and  that  he  inculcated  the  worship  of  God 
by  fasting,  prayer,  alms,  votive  offerings, 
and  tithes.  Bar  Hebraeus  adds,  that  he 
also  appointed  festivals  for  sacrifices  to  the 
sun  at  the  periods  when  that  luminary  en- 
tered each  of  the  zodiacal  signs ;  but  this 
statement,  which  would  make  him  the  au- 
thor of  idolatry,  is  entirely  inconsistent 
with  all  that  we  know  of  his  character, 
from  both  history  and  tradition,  and  arose, 
as  Oliver  supposes,  most  probably  from  a 
blending  of  the  characters  of  Enos  and 
Enoch. 

In  the  study  of  the  sciences,  in  teaching 
them  to  his  children  and  his  contempora- 
ries, and  in  instituting  the  rites  of  initiation, 
Enoch  is  supposed  to  have  passed  the  years 
of  his  peaceful,  his  pious,  and  his  useful 
life,  until  the  crimes  of  mankind  had  in- 
creased to  such  a  height  that,  in  the  ex- 
pressive words  of  Holy  Writ,  "  every  imag- 
ination of  the  thoughts  of  man's  heart  was 
only  evil  continually."  It  was  then,  ac- 
cording to  a  Masonic  tradition,  that  Enoch, 
disgusted  with  the  wickedness  that  sur- 
rounded him,  and  appalled  at  the  thought 
of  its  inevitable  consequences,  fled  to  the 
solitude  and  secrecy  of  Mount  Moriah,  and 
devoted  himself  to  prayer  and  pious  con- 
templation. In  was  on  that  spot  —  then 
first  consecrated  by  this  patriarchal  hermit- 
age, and  afterwards  to  be  made  still  more 
holy  by  the  sacrifices  of  Abraham,  of  David, 
and  of  Solomon  —  that  we  are  informed 
that  the  Shekinah  or  sacred  presence  ap- 
peared to  him,  and  gave  him  those  instruc- 
tions which  were  to  preserve  the  wisdom 
of  the  antediluvians  to  their  posterity  when 
the  world,  with  the  exception  of  but  one 
family,  should  have  been  destroyed  by  the 
forthcoming  flood.  The  circumstances 
which  occurred  at  that  time  are  recorded 
in  a  tradition  which  forms  what  has  been 
called  the  great  Masonic  "Legend  of 
Enoch,"  and  which  runs  to  this  effect: 

Enoch,  being  inspired  by  the  Most  High, 
and  in  commemoration  of  a  wonderful  vi- 
sion, built  a  temple  under  ground,  and  ded- 
icated it  to  God.  His  son,  Methuselah, 
constructed  the  building ;  although  he  was 
not  acquainted  with  his  father's  motives 
for  the  erection.  This  temple  consisted  of 
nine  brick  vaults,  situated  perpendicularly 
beneath  each  other,  and  communicating  by 
apertures  left  in  the  arch  of  each  vault. 


256 


ENOCH 


ENOCH 


Enoch  then  caused  a  triangular  plate  of 
gold  to  be  made,  each  side  of  which  was  a 
cubit  long;  he  enriched  it  with  the  most 
precious  stones,  and  encrusted  the  plate 
upon  a  stone  of  agate  of  the  same  form. 
On  the  plate  he  engraved,  in  ineffable  char- 
acters, the  true  name  of  Deity,  and,  placing 
it  on  a  cubical  pedestal  of  white  marble, 
he  deposited  the  whole  within  the  deepest 
arch. 

When  this  subterranean  building  was 
completed,  he  made  a  door  of  stone,  and 
attaching  to  it  a  ring  of  iron,  by  which  it 
might  be  occasionally  raised,  he  placed  it 
over  the  opening  of  the  uppermost  arch, 
and  so  covered  it  over  that  the  aperture 
could  not  be  discovered.  Enoch  himself 
was  not  permitted  to  enter  it  but  once  a 
year ;  and  on  the  death  of  Enoch,  Methu- 
selah, and  Lamech,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  world  by  the  deluge,  all  knowledge  of 
this  temple,  and  of  the  sacred  treasure  which 
it  contained,  was  lost  until,  in  after  times, 
it  was  accidentally  discovered  by  another 
worthy  of  Freemasonry,  who,  like  Enoch, 
was  engaged  in  the  erection  of  a  temple  on 
the  same  spot. 

The  legend  goes  on  to  inform  us  that 
after  Enoch  had  completed  the  subterra- 
nean temple,  fearing  that  the  principles  of 
those  arts  and  sciences  which  he  had  culti- 
vated with  so  much  assiduity  would  be  lost 
in  that  general  destruction  of  which  he  had 
received  a  prophetic  vision,  he  erected  two 
pillars,— the  one  of  marble,  to  withstand  the 
influence  of  fire,  and  the  other  of  brass,  to 
resist  the  action  of  water.  On  the  pillar  of 
brass  he  engraved  the  history  of  the  cre- 
ation, the  principles  of  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences, and  the  doctrines  of  Speculative 
Freemasonry  as  they  were  practised  in  his 
times ;  and  on  the  one  of  marble  he  in- 
scribed characters  in  hieroglyphics,  im- 
porting that  near  the  spot  where  they  stood 
a  precious  treasure  was  deposited  in  a  sub- 
terranean vault. 

Josephus  gives  an  account  of  these  pil- 
lars in  the  first  book  of  his  Antiquities. 
He  ascribes  them  to  the  children  of  Seth, 
which  is  by  no  means  a  contradiction  of 
the  Masonic  tradition,  since  Enoch  was  one 
of  these  children.  "  That  their  inventions," 
says  the  historian, "  might  not  be  lost  before 
they  were  sufficiently  known,  upon  Adam's 
prediction  that  the  world  was  to  be  de- 
stroyed at  one  time  by  the  force  of  fire  and 
at  another  time  by  the  violence  and  quan- 
tity of  water,  they  made  two  pillars  —  the 
one  of  brick,  the  other  of  stone ;  they  in- 
scribed their  discoveries  on  them  both,  that 
in  case  the  pillar  of  brick  should  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  flood,  the  pillar  of  stone 
might  remain  and  exhibit  those  discoveries 
to   mankind,  and  also   inform  them  that 


there  was  another  pillar  of  brick  erected  by 
them.  Now  this  remains  in  the  land  of 
Siriad  to  this  day." 

Enoch,  having  completed  these  labors, 
called  his  descendants  around  him  on 
Mount  Moriah,  and  having  warned  them 
in  the  most  solemn  manner  of  the  conse- 
quences of  their  wickedness,  exhorted  them 
to  forsake  their  idolatries  and  return  once 
more  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God.  Ma- 
sonic tradition  informs  us  that  he  then  de- 
livered up  the  government  of  the  Craft  to 
his  grandson,  Lamech,  and  disappeared 
from  earth. 

Enoch,  Brother.  [Frere  Enoch.) 
Evidently  the  nom  de  plume  of  a  French 
writer  and  the  inventor  of  a  Masonic  rite. 
He  published  at  Liege,  in  1773,  two  works : 
1.  Le  Vrai  Franc-Magon,  in  276  pages ;  2. 
Lettres  Magonniques  pour  servir  de  Supple- 
ment au  Vrai  Franc-Magon.  The  design  of 
the  former  of  these  works  was  to  give  an 
account  of  the  origin  and  object  of  Free- 
masonry, a  description  of  all  the  degrees, 
and  an  answer  to  the  objections  urged 
against  the  Institution.  The  historical 
theories  of  Frere  Enoch  were  exceedingly 
fanciful  and  wholly  untenable.  Thus,  he 
asserts  that  in  the  year  814,  Louis  the  Fair 
of  France,  being  flattered  by  the  fidelity 
and  devotion  of  the  Operative  Masons,  or- 
ganized them  into  a  society  of  four  degrees, 
granting  the  Masters  the  privilege  of  wear- 
ing swords  in  the  Lodge,  —  a  custom  still 
continued  in  French  Lodges,  —  and,  having 
been  received  into  the  Order  himself,  ac- 
cepted the  Grand  Mastership  on  the  festival 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  in  the  year  814. 
Other  equally  extravagant  opinions  make 
his  book  rather  a  source  of  amusement 
than  of  instruction.  His  definition  of 
Freemasonry  is,  however,  good.  He  saya 
that  it  is  "  a  holy  and  religious  society  of 
men  who  are  friends,  which  has  for  its 
foundation,  discretion ;  for  its  object,  the 
service  of  God,  fidelity  to  the  sovereign, 
and  love  of  our  neighbor ;  and  for  its  doc- 
trine,  the  erection  of  an  allegorical  build- 
ing dedicated  to  the  virtues,  which  it  teaches 
with  certain  signs  of  recognition." 

Enoch,  Legend  of.  This  legend  is 
detailed  in  a  preceding  article.  It  never 
formed  any  part  of  the  old  system  of  Ma- 
sonry, and  was  first  introduced  from  Tal- 
mudic  and  Rabbinical  sources  into  the  high 
degrees,  where,  however,  it  is  really  to  be 
viewed  rather  as  symbolical  than  as  his- 
torical. Enoch  himself  is  but  the  symbol 
of  initiation,  and  his  legend  is  intended 
symbolically  to  express  the  doctrine  that 
the  true  Word  or  divine  truth  was  preserved 
in  the  ancient  initiations. 

Enoch,  Rite  of.  A  Eite  attempted 
to  be  established  at  Liege,  in  France,  about 


EN  SOPH 


EPHRAIMITES 


257 


the  year  1773.  It  consisted  of  four  de- 
grees, viz.,  1.  Manouvre,  or  Apprentice, 
whose  object  was  friendship  and  benevo- 
lence. 2.  Ouvrier,  or  Fellow  Craft,  whose 
object  was  fidelity  to  the  Sovereign.  3. 
Maitre,  or  Master,  whose  object  was  sub- 
mission to  the  Supreme  Being.  4.  Archi- 
tected whose  object  was  the  perfection  of  all 
the  virtues.  The  Rite  never  made  much 
progress. 

En  Soph.  SID  m  In  the  Kabbalis- 
tic  doctrines,  the  Divine  Word,  or  Supreme 
Creator,  is  called  the  En  Soph,  or  rather  the 
Or  En  Soph,  the  Infinite  Intellectual  Light. 
The  theory  is,  that  all  things  emanated 
from  this  Primeval  Light.    See  Kabbala. 

Entered.  When  a  candidate  receives 
the  first  degree  of  Masonry  he  is  said  to  be 
entered.  It  is  used  in  the  sense  of  admitted, 
or  introduced ;  a  common  as  well  as  a  Ma- 
sonic employment  of  the  word,  as  when  we 
say,  "  the  youth  entered  college ;  "  or,  "  the 
soldier  entered  the  service." 

Entered  Apprentice.  See  Appren- 
tice. 

Entick,  John.  An  English  clergy- 
man, born  in  1713,  who  took  much  interest 
in  Freemasonry  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  He  revised  the  third 
and  fourth  editions  of  Anderson's  Constitu- 
tions, by  order  of  the  Grand  Lodge.  They 
were  published  in  1756  and  1767.  Both  of 
these  editions  were  printed  in  quarto  form, 
and  have  the  name  of  Entick  on  the  title- 

{>age.  In  1769  another  edition  was  pub- 
ished  in  octavo,  being  an  exact  copy  of 
the  1767  edition,  except  a  slight  alteration 
of  the  title-page,  from  which  Entick's  name 
is  omitted,  and  a  brief  appendix,  which 
carries  the  transactions  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
up  to  1769.  On  a  careful  collation,  I  can 
find  no  other  differences.  Kloss  does  not 
appear  to  have  seen  this  edition,  for  he 
only  refers  to  it  briefly  in  his  Bibliographic, 
as  No.  147,  without  full  title,  on  the  au- 
thority of  Krause.  Entick  was  also  the 
author  of  many  Masonic  sermons,  a  few 
of  which  were  published.  Oliver  speaks 
of  him  as  a  man  of  grave  and  sober  habits, 
a  good  Master  of  his  Lodge,  a  fair  disciplin- 
arian, and  popular  with  the  Craft.  But 
Entick  did  not  confine  his  literary  labors 
to  Masonry.  He  was  the  author  of  a  His- 
tory of  the  War  which  ended  in  1763,  in  5 
vols.,  8vo ;  and  a  History  of  London,  in  4 
vols.,  8vo.  As  an  orthoepist  he  had  consid- 
erable reputation,  and  published  a  Latin 
and  English  Dictionary,  and  an  English 
Spelling  Dictionary.     He  died  in  1773. 

Entombment.  An  impressive  cere- 
mony in  the  degree  of  Perfect  Master  of 
the  Scottish  Rite. 

Entrance,  Points  of.  See  Points 
of  Entrance. 

2H  17 


Entrance,  Shock  of.  See  Shock 
of  Entrance. 

Envy.  This  meanest  of  vices  has  al- 
ways been  discouraged  in  Masonry.  The 
fifth  of  the  Old  Charges,  approved  in 
1722,  says :  "  None  shall  discover  envy  at 
the  prosperity  of  a  brother." 

Eons.  In  the  doctrine  of  Gnosticism, 
divine  spirits  occupying  the  intermediate 
state  which  was  supposed  to  exist  between 
the  Supreme  Being  and  the  Jehovah  of  the 
Jewish  theology,  whom  the  Gnostics  called 
only  a  secondary  deity.  These  spiritual 
beings  were  indeed  no  more  than  abstrac- 
tions, such  as  Wisdom,  Faith,  Prudence,  etc. 
They  derived  their  name  from  the  Greek 
aiuv,  an  age,  in  reference  to  the  long  du- 
ration of  their  existence.  Valentinius  said 
there  were  but  thirty  of  them ;  but  Basilides 
reckons  them  as  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five,  which  certainly  has  an  allusion  to  the 
days  of  the  solar  year.  In  some  of  the 
philosophical  degrees,  references  are  made 
to  the  Eons,  whose  introduction  into  them 
is  doubtless  to  be  attributed  to  the  con- 
nection of  Gnosticism  with  certain  of  the 
high  degrees. 

Eons,  Rite  of  the.  Ragon  ( Tu.il- 
leur  Gen.,  186,)  describes  this  Rite  as  one 
full  of  beautiful  and  learned  instruction, 
but  scarcely  known,  and  practised  only  in 
Asia,  being  founded  on  the  religious  dog- 
mas of  Zoroaster.  I  doubt  the  existence 
of  it  as  a  genuine  Rite.  Ragon's  informa- 
tion is  very  meagre. 

Ephod.  The  sacred  vestment  worn  by 
the  high  priest  of  the  Jews  over  the  tunic 
and  outer  garment.  It  was  without  sleeves, 
and  divided  below  the  arm-pits  into  two 
parts  or  halves,  one  falling  before  and  the 
other  behind,  and  both  reaching  to  the 
middle  of  the  thighs.  They  were  joined 
above  on  the  shoulders  by  buckles  and  two 
large  precious  stones,  on  which  were  in- 
scribed the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes,  six 
on  each.  The  ephod  was  a  distinctive 
mark  of  the  priesthood.  It  was  of  two 
kinds,  one  of  plain  linen  for  the  priests,  and 
another,  richer  and  embroidered,  for  the 
high  priest,  which  was  composed  of  blue, 
purple,  crimson,  and  fine  linen.  The  robe 
worn  by  the  High  Priest  in  a  Royal  Arch 
Chapter  is  intended  to  be  a  representation, 
but  hardly  can  be  called  an  imitation,  of  the 
ephod. 

Ephraimites.  The  descendants  of 
Ephraim.  They  inhabited  the  centre  of 
Judea  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
river  Jordan.  The  character  given  to  them 
in  the  ritual  of  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree, 
of  being  "  a  stiffnecked  and  rebellious 
people,"  coincides  with  history,  which  de- 
scribes them  as  haughty,  tenacious  to  a 
fault  of  their  rights,  and  ever  ready  to  re- 


258 


EPOCH 


EQUES 


sist  the  pretensions  of  the  other  tribes,  and 
more  especially  that  of  Judah,  of  which 
they  were  peculiarly  jealous.  The  circum- 
stance in  their  history  which  has  been  ap- 
propriated for  a  symbolic  purpose  in  the 
ceremonies  of  the  second  degree  of  Ma- 
sonry, may  be  briefly  related  thus.  The 
Ammonites,  who  were  the  descendants  of 
the  younger  son  of  Lot,  and  inhabited  a 
tract  of  country  east  of  the  river  Jordan, 
had  been  always  engaged  in  hostility 
against  the  Israelites.  On  the  occasion  re- 
ferred to,  they  had  commenced  a  war  upon 
the  pretext  that  the  Israelites  had  deprived 
them  of  a  portion  of  their  territory.  Jeph- 
tha,  having  been  called  by  the  Israelites  to 
the  head  of  their  army,  defeated  the  Am- 
monites, but  had  not  called  upon  the 
Ephraimites  to  assist  in  the  victory.  Hence, 
that  high-spirited  people  were  incensed,  and 
more  especially  as  they  had  had  no  share 
in  the  rich  spoils  obtained  by  Jephtha  from 
the  Ammonites.  They  accordingly  gave 
him  battle,  but  were  defeated  with  great 
slaughter  by  the  Gileadites,  or  countrymen 
of  Jephtha,  with  whom  alone  he  resisted 
their  attack.  As  the  land  of  Gilead,  the 
residence  of  Jephtha,  was  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Jordan,  and  as  the  Ephraimites 
lived  on  the  east  side,  in  making  their  in- 
vasion it  was  necessary  that  they  should 
cross  the  river,  and  after  their  defeat,  in  at- 
tempting to  effect  a  retreat  to  their  own 
country,  they  were  compelled  to  recross  the 
river.  But  Jephtha,  aware  of  this,  had 
placed  forces  at  the  different  fords  of  the 
river,  who  intercepted  the  Ephraimites,  and 
detected  their  nationality  by  a  peculiar  de- 
fect in  their  pronunciation.  For  although 
the  Ephraimites  did  not  speak  a  dialect 
different  from  that  of  the  other  tribes,  they 
had  a  different  pronunciation  of  some 
words,  and  an  inability  to  pronounce  the 
letter  Jjf  or  SH,  which  they  pronounced  as 
if  it  were  Q  or  S.  Thus,  when  called  upon 
to  say  SHIBBOLETH,  they  pronounced 
it  SIBBOLETH,  "  which  trifling  defect," 
says  the  ritual,"  proved  them  to  be  enemies." 
The  test  to  a  Hebrew  was  a  palpable  one, 
for  the  two  words  have  an  entirely  different 
signification  ;  shibboleth  meaning  an  ear  of 
corn,  and  sibboleth,  a  burden.  The  biblical 
relation  will  be  found  in  the  twelfth  chapter 
of  the  Book  of  Judges. 

Epoch.  In  chronology,  a  certain  point 
of  time  marked  by  some  memorable  event 
at  which  the  calculation  of  years  begins. 
Different  peoples  have  different  epochs  or 
epocha.  Thus,  the  epoch  of  Christians 
is  the  birth  of  Christ ;  that  of  Jews,  the 
creation  of  the  world ;  and  that  of  Moham- 
medans, the  flight  of  their  prophet  from 
Mecca.    See  Calendar. 

Epopt.     This  was  the  name  given  to 


one  who  had  passed  through  the  Great 
Mysteries,  and  been  permitted  to  behold 
what  was  concealed  from  the  mystoz,  who 
had  only  been  initiated  into  the  Lesser.  It 
signifies  an  eye-witness,  and  is  derived 
from  the  Greek,  e-kotztevu,  to  look  into,  to  be- 
hold. The  epopts  repeated  the  oath  of 
secrecy  which  had  been  administered  to 
them  on  their  initiation  into  the  Lesser 
Mysteries,  and  were  then  conducted  into 
the  lighted  interior  of  the  sanctuary  and 
permitted  to  behold  what  the  Greeks  em- 
phatically termed  "the  sight,"  avroipia. 
The  epopts  alone  were  admitted  to  the 
sanctuary,  for  the  mystse  were  confined  to 
the  vestibule  of  the  temple.  The  epopts 
were,  in  fact,  the  Master  Masons  of  the 
Mysteries,  while  the  mystse  were  the  Ap- 
prentices and  Fellow  Crafts  ;  these  words 
being  used,  of  course,  only  in  a  comparative 
sense. 

Equality.  Among  the  ancient  icon- 
ologists,  equality  was  symbolized  by  a  fe- 
male figure  holding  in  one  hand  a  pair  of 
scales  equipoised  and  in  the  other  a  nest 
of  swallows.  The  moderns  have  substi- 
tuted a  level  for  the  scales.  And  this  is 
the  Masonic  idea.  In  Masonry,  the  level 
is  the  symbol  of  that  equality  which,  as 
Higgins  [Anac.,  i.  790,)  says,  is  the  very 
essence  of  Freemasonry.  "  All,  let  their 
rank  in  life  be  what  it  may,  when  in  the 
Lodge  are  brothers  —  brethren  with  the 
Father  at  their  head.  No  person  can  read 
the  Evangelists  and  not  see  that  this  is 
correctly  Gospel  Christianity." 

Equerry.  An  officer  in  some  courts 
who  has  the  charge  of  horses.  I  do  not 
know  why  the  title  has  been  introduced 
into  some  of  the  high  degrees. 

Eques.  A  Latin  word  signifying 
knight.  Every  member  of  the  Rite  of 
Strict  Observance,  on  attaining  to  the  sev- 
enth or  highest  degree,  received  a  "char- 
acteristic name,"  which  was  formed  in  Latin 
by  the  addition  of  a  noun  in  the  ablative 
case,  governed  by  the  preposition  a  or  ab, 
to  the  word  Eques,  as  "  Eques  a  Serpente," 
or  Knight  of  the  Serpent,  "  Eques  ab  Aquila," 
or  Knight  of  the  Eagle,  etc.,  and  by  this 
name  he  was  ever  afterwards  known  in  the 
Order.  Thus  Bode,  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Rite,  was  recognized  as  "  Eques  a  Lilio 
Convallium,"  or  Knight  of  the  Lily  of  the 
Valleys,  and  the  Baron  Hund,  another 
founder,  as  "  Eques  ab  Euse,"  or  Knight  of 
the  Sword.  A  similar  custom  prevailed 
among  the  Illuminati  and  in  the  Royal 
Order  of  Scotland.  Eques  signified  among 
the  Romans  a  knight,  but  in  the  Middle 
Ages  the  knight  was  called  miles;  although 
the  Latin  word  miles  denoted  only  a  soldier, 
yet,  by  the  usage  of  chivalry,  it  received 
the  nobler  signification.     Indeed,  Muratori 


EQUES 


ERICA 


259 


says,  on  the  authority  of  an  old  inscription, 
that  Eques  was  inferior  in  dignity  to  Miles. 
See  Miles. 

Eques  Professus.  Professed  Knight. 
The  seventh  and  last  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  Strict  Observance.  Added,  it  is  said,  to 
the  original  series  by  Von  Hund. 

Equilateral  Triangle.  See  Tri- 
angle. 

Equity.  The  equipoised  balance  is  an 
ancient  symbol  of  equity.  On  the  medals, 
this  virtue  is  represented  by  a  female  hold- 
ing in  the  right  hand  a  balance,  and  in  the 
left  a  measuring  wand,  to  indicate  that  she 
gives  to  each  one  his  just  measure.  In  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,  the  thirty-first 
degree,  or  Grand  Inspector  Inquisitor  Com- 
mander, is  illustrative  of  the  virtue  of 
equity ;  and  hence  the  balance  is  a  promi- 
nent symbol  of  that  degree,  as  it  is  also  of 
the  sixteenth  degree,  or  Princes  of  Jerusa- 
lem, because,  according  to  the  old  rituals, 
they  were  chiefs  in  Masonry,  and  adminis- 
tered justice  to  the  inferior  degrees. 

Equivocation.  The  words  of  the 
covenant  of  Masonry  require  that  it  should 
be  made  without  evasion,  equivocation,  or 
mental  reservation.  This  is  exactly  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  law  of  ethics  in  relation 
to  promises  made.  And  it  properly  applies 
in  this  case,  because  the  covenant,  as  it  is 
called,  is  simply  a  promise,  or  series  of 
promises,  made  by  the  candidate  to  the 
Fraternity  —  to  the  brotherhood  into  whose 
association  he  is  about  to  be  admitted.  In 
making  a  promise,  an  evasion  is  the  eluding 
or  avoiding  the  terms  of  the  promise ;  and 
this  is  done,  or  attempted  to  be  done,  by 
equivocation,  which  is  by  giving  to  the 
words  used  a  secret  signification,  different 
from  that  which  they  were  intended  to  con- 
vey by  him  who  imposed  the  promise,  so 
as  to  mislead,  or  by  a  mental  reservation, 
which  is  a  concealment  or  withholding  in 
the  mind  of  the  promiser  of  certain  condi- 
tions under  which  he  makes  it,  which  con- 
ditions are  not  known  to  the  one  to  whom 
the  promise  is  made.  All  of  this  is  in 
direct  violation  of  the  law  of  veracity.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Jesuits  is  very  different. 
Suarez,  one  of  their  most  distinguished 
casuists,  lays  it  down  as  good  law,  that  if 
any  one  makes  a  promise  or  contract,  he 
may  secretly  understand  that  he  does  not 
sincerely  promise,  or  that  he  promises  with- 
out any  intention  of  fulfilling  the  promise. 
This  is  not  the  rule  of  Masonry,  which  re- 
quires that  the  words  of  the  covenant  be 
taken  in  the  patent  sense  which  they  were 
intended  by  the  ordinary  use  of  language 
to  convey.  It  adheres  to  the  true  rule  of 
ethics,  which  is,  as  Paley  says,  that  a  prom- 
ise is  binding  in  the  sense  in  which  the  prom- 
iser supposed  the  promisee  to  receive  it. 


Eranoi.  Among  the  ancient  Greeks 
there  were  friendly  societies,  whose  object 
was,  like  the  modern  Masonic  Lodges,  to  re- 
lieve the  distresses  of  their  necessitous  mem- 
bers. They  were  permanently  organized, 
and  had  a  common  fund  by  the  voluntary 
contributions  of  the  members.  If  a  mem- 
ber was  reduced  to  poverty,  or  was  in  tem- 
porary distress  for  money,  he  applied  to  the 
eranos,  and,  if  worthy,  received  the  neces- 
sary assistance,  which  was,  however,  ad- 
vanced rather  as  a  loan  than  a  gift,  and  the 
amount  was  to  be  returned  when  the  recip- 
ient was  in  better  circumstances.  In  the 
days  of  the  Roman  empire  these  friendly 
societies  were  frequent  among  the  Greek 
cities,  and  were  looked  on  with  suspicion 
by  the  emperors,  as  tending  to  political 
combinations.  Smith  says  {Diet.  Or.  and 
Rom.  Ant.)  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  gilds,  or 
fraternities  for  mutual  aid,  resembled  the 
eranoi  of  the  Greeks.  In  their  spirit,  these 
Grecian  confraternities  partook  more  of  the 
Masonic  character,  as  charitable  associa- 
tions, than  of  the  modern  friendly  societies, 
where  relief  is  based  on  a  system  of  mu- 
tual insurance ;  for  the  assistance  was  given 
only  to  cases  of  actual  need,  and  did  not 
depend  on  any  calculation  of  natural  con- 
tingencies. 

Erica.  The  Egyptians  selected  the 
erica  as  a  sacred  plant.  The  origin  of  the 
consecration  of  this  plant  will  be  peculiarly 
interesting  to  the  Masonic  student.  There 
was  a  legend  in  the  mysteries  of  Osiris, 
which  related  that  Isis,  when  in  search  of 
the  body  of  her  murdered  husband,  dis- 
covered it  interred  at  the  brow  of  a  hill  near 
which  an  erica  grew ;  and  hence,  after  the 
recovery  of  the  body  and  the  resurrection 
of  the  god,  when  she  established  the  mys- 
teries to  commemorate  her  loss  and  her  re- 
covery, she  adopted  the  erica  as  a  sacred 
plant,  in  memory  of  its  having  pointed  out 
the  spot  where  the  mangled  remains  of 
Osiris  were  concealed. 

Ragon  ( Gours  des  Initiations,  p.  151,)  thus 
alludes  to  this  mystical  event :  "  Isis  found 
the  body  of  Osiris  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Biblos,  and  near  a  tall  plant  called  the  erica. 
Oppressed  with  grief,  she  seated  herself  on 
the  margin  of  a  fountain,  whose  waters  is- 
sued from  a  rock.  This  rock  is  the  small 
hill  mentioned  in  the  ritual;  the  erica  ha9 
been  replaced  by  the  acacia,  and  the  grief 
of  Isis  has  been  changed  for  that  of  the 
Fellow  Crafts." 

The  lexicographers  define  epeUtj  as  "  the 
health  plant;  "  but  it  is  really,  as  Plutarch 
asserts,  the  tamarisk  tree;  and  Schwenk 
{Die  Mythologie  der  Semiten,  p.  248,)  says 
that  Phylce,  so  renowned  among  the  an- 
cients as  one  of  the  burial-places  of  Osiris, 
and  among  the  moderns  for  its  wealth  of 


260 


ERNEST 


ESSENES 


architectural  remains,  contains  monuments 
in  which  the  grave  of  Osiris  is  overshad- 
owed by  the  tamarisk. 

Ernest  and  Fa  Ik.  Ernst  und  Folk. 
Gesprache  far  Freimaurerei,  i.  e.,  "  Ernest 
and  Falk.  Conversations  on  Freemasonry," 
is  the  title  of  a  German  work  written  by 
Gottfried  Ephraim  Lessing,  and  first  pub- 
lished in  1778.  Ernest  is  an  inquirer,  and 
Falk  a  Freemason,  who  gives  to  his  inter- 
locutor a  very  philosophical  idea  of  the 
character,  aims,  and  objects  of  the  Institu- 
tion. The  work  has  been  faithfully  trans- 
lated by  Bro.  Kenneth  R.  H.  Mackenzie, 
F.  S.  A.,  in  the  London  Freemason's  Quar- 
terly Magazine,  in  1854,  and  continued  and 
finished,  so  far  as  the  author  had  completed 
it,  in  the  London  Freemason  in  1872.  Fin- 
del  says  of  this  work,  that  it  is  one  of  the 
best  things  that  has  ever  been  written  upon 
Freemasonry. 

Erwin  Ton  Steinbach.  A  distin- 
guished German,  who  was  born,  as  his  name 
imports,  at  Steinbach,  near  Buhl,  about 
the  middle  of  the  13th  century.  He  was 
the  master  of  the  works  at  the  Cathedral 
of  Strasburg,  the  tower  of  which  he  com- 
menced in  1275.  He  finished  the  tower  and 
doorway  before  his  death,  which  was  in 
1318.  He  was  at  the  head  of  the  German 
Fraternity  of  Stonemasons,  who  were  the 
precursors  of  the  modern  Freemasons. 
See  Strasburg. 

Esoteric  Masonry.  That  secret 
portion  of  Masonry  which  is  known  only 
to  the  initiates  as  distinguished  from  exo- 
teric Masonry,  or  monitorial,  which  is  acces- 
sible to  all  who  choose  to  read  the  manuals 
and  published  works  of  the  Order.  The 
words  are  from  the  Greek,  'eoorrepiKog,  in- 
ternal, and  'eS-wTEpiKoq,  external,  and  were 
first  used  by  Pythagoras,  whose  philosophy 
was  divided  into  the  exoteric,  or  that 
taught  to  all,  and  the  esoteric,  or  that 
taught  to  a  select  few  ;  and  thus  his  disci- 
ples were  divided  into  two  classes,  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  initiation  to  which  they 
had  attained,  as  being  either  fully  admitted 
into  the  society,  and  invested  with  all  the 
knowledge  that  the  Master  could  commu- 
nicate, or  as  merely  postulants,  enjoying 
only  the  public  instructions  of  the  school, 
and  awaiting  the  gradual  reception  of  fur- 
ther knowledge.  This  double  mode  of  in- 
struction was  borrowed  by  Pythagoras 
from  the  Egyptian  priests,  whose  theology 
was  of  two  kinds  —  the  one  exoteric,  and 
addressed  to  the  people  in  general;  the 
other  esoteric,  and  confined  to  a  select  num- 
ber of  the  priests  and  to  those  who  pos- 
sessed, or  were  to  possess,  the  regal  power. 
And  the  mystical  nature  of  this  concealed 
doctrine  was  expressed  in  their  symbolic 
language  by  the  images  of  sphinxes  placed 


at  the  entrance  of  their  temples.  Two  cen- 
turies later,  Aristotle  adopted  the  system 
of  Pythagoras,  and,  in  the  Lyceum  at 
Athens,  delivered  in  the  morning  to  his 
select  disciples  his  subtle  and  concealed 
doctrines  concerning  God,  Nature,  and 
Life,  and  in  the  evening  lectured  on  more 
elementary  subjects  to  a  promiscuous  audi- 
ence. These  different  lectures  he  called 
his  Morning  and  his  Evening  Walk. 

Essenes.  Lawrie,  in  his  History  of 
Freemasonry,  in  replying  to  the  objection, 
that  if  the  Fraternity  of  Freemasons  had 
flourished  during  the  reign  of  Solomon,  it 
would  have  existed  in  Judea  in  after  ages, 
attempts  to  meet  the  argument  by  showing 
that  there  did  exist,  after  the  building  of 
the  Temple,  an  association  of  men  resem- 
bling Freemasons  in  the  nature,  ceremo- 
nies, and  object  of  their  institution.  The 
association  to  which  he  here  alludes  is  that 
of  the  Essenes,  whom  he  subsequently  de- 
scribes as  an  ancient  Fraternity  originat- 
ing from  an  association  of  architects  who 
were  connected  with  the  building  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple. 

Lawrie  evidently  seeks  to  connect  his- 
torically the  Essenes  with  the  Freemasons, 
and  to  impress  his  readers  with  the  identity 
of  the  two  Institutions.  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  go  so  far;  but  there  is  such  a  simi- 
larity between  the  two,  and  such  remarka- 
ble coincidences  in  many  of  their  usages,  as 
to  render  this  Jewish  sect  an  interesting 
study  to  every  Freemason,  to  whom  there- 
fore some  account  of  the  usages  and  doc- 
trines of  this  holy  brotherhood  will  not, 
perhaps,  be  unacceptable. 

At  the  time  of  the  advent  of  Jesus  Christ, 
there  were  three  religious  sects  in  Judea  — 
the  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees,  and  the  Es- 
senes ;  and  to  one  of  these  sects  every  Jew 
was  compelled  to  unite  himself.  The  Sa- 
viour has  been  supposed  by  many  writers 
to  have  been  an  Essene,  because,  while  re- 
peatedly denouncing  the  errors  of  the  two 
other  sects,  he  has  nowhere  uttered  a  word 
of  censure  against  the  Essenes;  and  be- 
cause, also,  many  of  the  precepts  of  the 
New  Testament  are  to  be  found  among  the 
laws  of  this  sect. 

In  ancient  authors,  such  as  Josephus, 
Philo,  Porphyry,  Eusebius,  and  Pliny,  who 
have  had  occasion  to  refer  to  the  subject, 
the  notices  of  this  singular  sect  have  been 
so  brief  and  unsatisfactory,  that  modern 
writers  have  found  great  difficulty  in  pro- 
perly understanding  the  true  character  of 
Esseuism.  And  yet  our  antiquaries,  never 
weary  of  the  task  of  investigation,  have  at 
length,  within  a  recent  period,  succeeded 
in  eliciting,  from  the  collation  of  all  that 
has  been  previously  written  on  the  subject, 
very  correct  details  of  the  doctrines  and 


ESSENES 


ESSENES 


261 


practices  of  the  Essenes.     Of  these  writers, 
none,  I  think,  have  been  more  successful 
than  the  laborious  German  critics  Frankel 
and  Rappaport.    Their  investigations  have 
been  ably  and  thoroughly  condensed   by 
Dr.  Christian  D.  Ginsburg,  whose  essay  on 
The  Essenes,   their  History  and  Doctrines, 
(Lond.,  1864,)  has  supplied  the  most  ma- 
terial facts  contained  in  the  present  article. 
It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  precise 
date  of  the  development  of  Essenism  as  a 
distinct  organization.     The  old  writers  are 
so  exaggerated  in  their  statements,  that 
they  are  worth  nothing  as  historical  au- 
thorities.    Philo  says,   for   instance,   that 
Moses   himself   instituted  the  order,  and 
Josephus  that  it  existed  ever  since  the  an- 
cient time  of  the  Fathers;  while  Pliny  as- 
serts, with  mythical  liberality,  that  it  has 
continued    for    thousands    of   ages.      Dr. 
Ginsburg  thinks  that  Essenism  was  a  grad- 
ual development  of  the  prevalent  religious 
notions  out  of  Judaism,  a  theory  which 
Dr.  Dollinger  repudiates.     But  Rappaport, 
who  was  a  learned   Jew,  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  Talmud  and  other  He- 
brew writings,  and  who  is  hence  called  by 
Ginsburg  "the  corypheus  of  Jewish  critics," 
asserts  that  the  Essenes  were  not  a  distinct 
sect,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  but 
simply  an  order  of  Judaism,  and  that  there 
never  was  a  rupture  between  them  and  the 
rest  of  the  Jewish  community.     This  theory 
is  sustained  by  Frankel,  a  learned  German, 
who  maintains  that  the  Essenes  were  sim- 
ply an  intensification  of  the  Pharisaic  sect, 
and  that  they  were  the  same  as  the  Chasi- 
dim,  whom  Lawrie  calls  the  Kassideans, 
and  of  whom  he  speaks  as  the  guardians 
of  King  Solomon's  Temple.    If  this  view 
be  the  correct  one,  and  there  is  no  good 
reason  to  doubt  it,  then  there  will  be  an- 
other feature  of  resemblance  and   coinci- 
dence between  the  Freemasons  and  the  Es- 
senes ;  for,  as  the  latter  was  not  a  religious 
sect,  but  merely  a  development  of  Judaism, 
an  order  of  Jews  entertaining  no  heterodox 
opinions,  but  simply  carrying  out  the  reli- 
gious dogmas  of  their  faith  with  an  un- 
usual strictness  of  observance,  so  are  the 
Freemasons  not  a  religious  sect,  but  simply 
a  development  of  the  religious  idea  of  the 
age.      The    difference,    however,   between 
Freemasonry  and    Essenism   lies    in    the 
spirit  of  universal  tolerance  prominent  in 
the  one  and  absent  in  the  other.     Free- 
masonry is  Christian  as  to  its  membership 
in  general,  but  recognizing  and  tolerating 
in  its  bosom  all  other  religions :  Essenism, 
on  the  contrary,  was  exclusively  and  in- 
tensely Jewish  in  its  membership,  its  usages, 
and  its  doctrines. 

The  Essenes  are  first  mentioned  by  Jose- 
phus as  existing  in  the  days  of  Jonathan 


the  Maccabaean,  one  hundred  and  sixty-six 
years  before  Christ.  The  Jewish  historian 
repeatedly  speaks  of  them  at  subsequent 
periods;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  they 
constituted  one  of  the  three  sects  which  di- 
vided the  Jewish  religious  world  at  the  ad- 
vent of  our  Saviour,  and  of  this  sect  he  is 
supposed,  as  has  been  already  said,  to  have 
been  a  member. 

On  this  subject,  Ginsburg  says :  "  Jesus, 
who  in  all  things  conformed  to  the  Jewish 
law,  and  who  was  holy,  harmless,  undefiled, 
and  separate  from  sinners,  would,  there- 
fore, naturally  associate  himself  with  that 
order  of  Judaism  which  was  most  congenial 
to  his  holy  nature.  Moreover,  the  fact  that 
Christ,  with  the  exception  of  once,  was  not 
heard  of  in  public  till  his  thirtieth  year, 
implying  that  he  lived  in  seclusion  with 
this  Fraternity,  and  that,  though  he  fre- 
quently rebuked  the  Scribes,  Pharisees,  and 
Sadducees,  he  never  denounced  the  Es- 
senes, strongly  confirms  this  decision." 
But  he  admits  that  Christ  neither  adopted 
nor  preached  their  extreme  doctrines  of  as- 
ceticism. 

After  the  establishment  of  Christianity, 
the  Essenes  fade  out  of  notice,  and  it  has 
been  supposed  that  they  were  among  the 
earliest  converts  to  the  new  faith.  Indeed, 
De  Quincey  rather  paradoxically  asserts 
that  they  were  a  disguised  portion  of  the 
early  Christians. 

The  etymology  of  the  word  has  not  been 
settled.  Yet,  among  the  contending  opin- 
ions, the  preferable  one  seems  to  be  that  it 
is  derived  from  the  Hebrew  CHASID, 
—  holy,  pious,  —  which  connects  the  Es- 
senes with  the  Chasidim,  a  sect  which  pre- 
ceded them,  and  of  whom  Lawrie  says, 
(quoting  from  Scaliger,)  that  they  were  "an 
order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Temple  of 
Jerusalem,  who  bound  themselves  to 
adorn  the  porches  of  that  magnificent  struc- 
ture, and  to  preserve  it  from  injury  and 
decay." 

The  Essenes  were  so  strict  in  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Mosaic  laws  of  purity,  that 
they  were  compelled,  for  the  purpose  of 
avoiding  contamination,  to  withdraw  al- 
together from  the  rest  of  the  Jewish  nation 
and  to  form  a  separate  community,  which 
thus  became  a  brotherhood.  The  same 
scruples  which  led  them  to  withdraw  from 
their  less  strict  Jewish  brethren  induced 
most  of  them  to  abstain  from  marriage, 
and  hence  the  unavoidable  depletion  of 
their  membership  by  death  could  only  be 
repaired  by  the  initiation  of  converts.  They 
had  a  common  treasury,  in  which  was  de- 
posited whatever  any  one  of  them  possessed, 
and  from  this  the  wants  of  the  whole  com- 
munity were  supplied  by  stewards  appoint- 
ed by  the  brotherhood,  so  that  they  had 


262 


ESSENES 


ESSENES 


everything  in  common.  Hence  there  was 
no  distinction  among  them  of  rich  and 
poor,  or  masters  and  servants ;  but  the  only 
gradation  of  rank  which  they  recognized 
was  derived  from  the  degrees  or  orders  into 
which  the  members  were  divided,  and 
which  depended  on  holiness  alone.  They 
lived  peaceably  with  all  men,  reprobated 
slavery  and  war,  and  would  not  even  manu- 
facture any  warlike  instruments.  They 
were  governed  by  a  president,  who  was 
elected  by  the  whole  community;  and 
members  who  had  violated  their  rules  were, 
after  due  trial,  excommunicated  or  ex- 
pelled. 

As  they  held  no  communication  outside 
of  their  own  fraternity,  they  had  to  raise 
their  own  supplies,  and  some  were  engaged 
in  tilling,  some  in  tending  flocks,  others  in 
making  clothing,  and  others  in  preparing 
food.  They  got  up  before  sunrise,  and, 
after  singing  a  hymn  of  praise  for  the  re- 
turn of  light,  which  they  did  with  their 
faces  turned  to  the  east,  each  one  repaired 
to  his  appropriate  task.  At  the  fifth  hour, 
or  eleven  in  the  forenoon,  the  morning 
labor  terminated.  The  brethren  then  again 
assembled,  and  after  a  lustration  in  cold 
water,  they  put  on  white  garments  and 
proceeded  to  the  refectory,  where  they  par- 
took of  the  common  meal,  which  was  always 
of  the  most  frugal  character.  A  mysterious 
silence  was  observed  during  this  meal, 
which,  to  some  extent,  had  the  character 
of  a  sacrament.  The  feast  being  ended, 
and  the  priest  having  returned  thanks,  the 
brethren  withdrew  and  put  off  their  white 
garments,  resumed  their  working  -  clothes 
and  their  several  employments  until  even- 
ing, when  they  again  assembled  as  before, 
to  partake  of  a  common  meal. 

They  observed  the  Sabbath  with  more 
than  Judaic  strictness,  regarding  even  the 
removal  of  a  vessel  as  a  desecration  of  the 
holy  day.  On  that  day,  each  took  his  seat 
in  the  synagogue  in  becoming  attire ;  and, 
as  they  had  no  ordained  ministers,  any  one 
that  liked  read  out  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
another,  experienced  in  spiritual  matters, 
expounded  the  passages  that  had  been  read. 
The  distinctive  ordinances  of  the  brother- 
hood and  the  mysteries  connected  with  the 
Tetragrammaton  and  the  angelic  worlds 
were  the  prominent  topics  of  Sabbatical 
instruction.  In  particular,  did  they  pay 
attention  to  the  mysteries  connected  with 
the  Tetragrammaton,  or  the  Shem  hampho- 
rash,  the  expository  name,  and  the  other 
names  of  God  which  play  so  important  a 
part  in  the  mystical  theosophy  of  the  Jew- 
ish Kabbalists,  a  great  deal  of  which  has 
descended  to  the  Freemasonry  of  our  own 
days. 

Josephus  describes  them  as  being  distin- 


guished for  their  brotherly  love,  and  for 
their  charity  in  helping  the  needy,  and 
showing  mercy.  He  says  that  they  are 
just  dispensers  of  their  anger,  curbers  of 
their  passions,  representatives  of  fidelity, 
ministers  of  peace,  and  every  word  with 
them  is  of  more  force  than  an  oath.  They 
avoid  taking  an  oath,  and  regard  it  as 
worse  than  perjury ;  for  they  say  that  he 
who  is  not  believed  without  calling  on  God 
to  witness,  is  already  condemned  of  per- 
jury. He  also  states  that  they  studied 
with  great  assiduity  the  writings  of  the 
ancients  on  distempers  and  their  remedies, 
alluding,  as  it  is  supposed,  to  the  magical 
works  imputed  by  the  Talmudists  to  Solo- 
mon. 

It  has  already  been  observed  that,  in 
consequence  of  the  celibacy  of  the  Essenes, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  recruit  their  ranks 
by  the  introduction  of  converts,  who  were 
admitted  by  a  solemn  form  of  initiation. 
The  candidate,  or  aspirant,  was  required  to 
pass  through  a  novitiate  of  two  stages, 
which  extended  over  three  years,  before  he 
was  admitted  to  a  full  participation  in  the 
privileges  of  the  Order.  Upon  entering 
the  first  stage,  which  lasted  for  twelve 
months,  the  novice  cast  all  his  possessions 
into  the  common  treasury.  He  then  re- 
ceived a  copy  of  the  regulations  of  the 
brotherhood,  and  was  presented  with  a 
spade,  an  apron,  and  a  white  robe.  The 
spade  was  employed  to  bury  excrement,  the 
apron  was  used  at  the  daily  lustrations,  and 
the  white  robe  was  worn  as  a  symbol  of 
purity.  During  all  this  period  the  aspi- 
rant was  considered  as  being  outside  the 
order,  and,  although  required  to  observe 
some  of  the  ascetic  rules  of  the  society,  he 
was  not  admitted  to  the  common  meal.  At 
the  end  of  the  probationary  year,  the  aspi- 
rant, if  approved,  was  advanced  to  the 
second  stage,  which  lasted  two  years,  and 
was  then  called  an  approacher.  During 
this  period  he  was  permitted  to  unite  with 
the  brethren  in  their  lustrations,  but  was 
not  admitted  to  the  common  meal,  nor  to 
hold  any  office.  Should  this  second  stage 
of  probation  be  passed  with  approval,  the 
approacher  became  an  associate,  and  was 
admitted  into  full  membership,  and  at 
length  allowed  to  partake  of  the  common 
meal. 

There  was  a  third  rank  or  degree,  called 
the  disciple  or  companion,  in  which  there 
was  a  still  closer  union.  Upon  admission 
to  this  highest  grade,  the  candidate  was 
bound  by  a  solemn  oath  to  love  God,  to  be 
just  to  all  men,  to  practise  charity,  main- 
tain truth,  and  to  conceal  the  secrets  of  the 
society  and  the  mysteries  connected  with 
the  Tetragammaton  and  the  other  names 
of  God. 


ESSENE3 


ESTHER 


2G^ 


These  three  sections  or  degrees,  of  aspi- 
rant, associate,  and  companion,  were  sub- 
divided into  four  orders  or  ranks,  distin- 
guished from  each  other  by  different  de- 
grees of  holiness;  and  so  marked  were 
these  distinctions,  that  if  one  belonging  to 
a  higher  degree  of  purity  touched  one  of 
a  lower  order,  he  immediately  became  im- 
pure, and  could  only  regaiu  his  purity  by  a 
series  of  lustrations. 

The  earnestness  and  determination  of 
these  Essenes,  says  Ginsburg,  to  advance  to 
the  highest  state  of  holiness,  were  seen  in 
their  self-denying  and  godly  life,  and  it 
may  fairly  be  questioned  whether  any  reli- 
gious system  has  ever  produced  such  a  com- 
munity of  saints.  Their  absolute  confi- 
dence in  God  and  resignation  to  the  deal- 
ings of  Providence;  their  uniformly  holy 
and  unselfish  life;  their  unbounded  love  of 
virtue  and  utter  contempt  for  worldly  fame, 
riches,  and  pleasures;  their  industry,  tem- 
perance, modesty,  and  simplicity  of  life; 
their  contentment  of  mind  and  cheerful- 
ness of  temper;  their  love  of  order,  and 
abhorrence  of  even  the  semblance  of  false- 
hood; their  benevolence  and  philanthropy; 
their  love  for  the  brethren,  and  their  fol- 
lowing peace  with  all  men ;  their  hatred 
of  slavery  and  war ;  their  tender  regard  for 
children,  and  reverence  and  anxious  care 
for  the  aged ;  their  attendance  on  the  sick, 
and  readiness  to  relieve  the  distressed; 
their  humility  and  magnanimity;  their 
firmness  of  character  and  power  to  subdue 
their  passions;  their  heroic  endurance 
under  the  most  agonizing  sufferings  for 
righteousness'  sake;  and  their  cheerfully 
looking  forward  to  death,  as  releasing  their 
immortal  souls  from  the  bonds  of  the  body, 
to  be  forever  in  a  state  of  bliss  with  their 
Creator,  —  have  hardly  found  a  parallel  in 
the  history  of  mankind. 

Lawrie,  in  his  History  of  Freemasonry, 
gives,  on  the  authority  of'  Pictet,  of  Bas- 
nage,  and  of  Philo,  the  following  con- 
densed recapitulation  of  what  has  been 
said  in  the  preceding  pages  of  the  usages 
of  the  Essenes: 

"When  a  candidate  was  proposed  for 
admission,  the  strictest  scrutiny  was  made 
into  his  character.  If  his  life  had  hitherto 
been  exemplary,  and  if  he  appeared  capable 
of  curbing  his  passions,  and  regulating  his 
conduct  according  to  the  virtuous,  though 
austere,  maxims  of  their  order,  he  was  pre- 
sented, at  the  expiration  of  his  novitiate, 
with  a  white  garment,  as  an  emblem  of  the 
regularity  of  his  conduct  and  the  purity  of 
his  heart.  A  solemn  oath  was  then  ad- 
ministered to  him,  that  he  would  never  di- 
vulge the  mysteries  of  the  Order;  that  he 
would  make  no  innovations  on  the  doctrines 
of  the  society ;  and  that  he  would  continue 


in  that  honorable  course  of  piety  and  virtue 
which  he  had  begun  to  pursue.  Like  Free- 
masons, they  instructed  the  young  member 
in  the  knowledge  which  they  derived  from 
their  ancestors.  They  admitted  no  women 
into  their  order.  They  had  particular 
signs  for  recognizing  each  other,  which 
have  a  strong  resemblance  to  those  of  Free- 
masons. They  had  colleges  or  places  of 
retirement,  where  they  resorted  to  practise 
their  rites  and  settle  the  affairs  of  the  so- 
ciety ;  and,  after  the  performance  of  these 
duties,  they  assembled  in  a  large  hall, 
where  an  entertainment  was  provided  for 
them  by  the  president  or  master  of  the 
college,  who  allotted  a  certain  quantity  of 
provisions  to  every  individual.  They  abol- 
ished all  distinctions  of  rank ;  and  if  pref- 
erence was  ever  given,  it  was  given  to 
piety,  liberality,  and  virtue.  Treasurers 
were  appointed;  in  every  town,  to  supply 
the  wants  of  indigent  strangers." 

Lawrie  thinks  that  this  remarkable  coin- 
cidence between  the  chief  features  of  the 
Masonic  and  Essenian  fraternities  can  be 
accounted  for  only  by  referring  them  to  the 
same  origin  ;  and,  to  sustain  this  view,  he 
attempts  to  trace  them  to  the  Kassideans, 
or  Assideans,  more  properly  the  Chasidim, 
"  an  association  of  architects  who  were 
connected  with  the  building  of  Solomon's 
Temple."  But,  aside  from  the  considera- 
tion that  there  is  no  evidence  that  the 
Chasidim  were  a  body  of  architects,  —  for 
they  were  really  a  sect  of  Jewish  puritans, 
who  held  the  Temple  in  especial  honor, — we 
cannot  conclude,  from  a  mere  coincidence 
of  doctrines  and  usages,  that  the  origin  of 
the  Essenes  and  the  Freemasons  is  identi- 
cal. Such  a  course  of  reasoning  would 
place  the  Pythagoreans  in  the  same  cate- 
gory :  a  theory  that  has  been  rejected  by 
the  best  modern  critics. 

The  truth  appears  to  be  that  the  Essenes, 
the  School  of  Pythagoras,  and  the  Free- 
masons, derive  their  similarity  from  that 
spirit  of  brotherhood  which  has  prevailed 
in  all  ages  of  the  civilized  world,  the  inhe- 
rent principles  of  which,  as  the  results  of 
any  fraternity, —  all  the  members  of  which 
are  engaged  in  the  same  pursuit  and  as- 
senting to  the  same  religious  creed,  —  are 
brotherly  love,  charity,  and  that  secrecy 
which  gives  them  their  exclusiveness.  And 
hence,  between  all  fraternities,  ancient  and 
modern,  these  "  remarkable  coincidences" 
will  be  found. 

Esther.  The  second  degree  of  the 
American  Adoptive  Rite  of  the  Eastern 
Star.  It  is  also  called  "  the  wife's  degree," 
and  in  its  ceremonies  comprises  the  history 
of  Esther  the  wife  and  queen  of  Ahasuerus, 
king  of  Persia,  as  related  in  the  Book  of 
Esther. 


264 


ETERNAL 


ETHICS 


Eternal  Life.  The  doctrine  of  eter- 
nal lite  is  taught  in  the  Master's  degree,  as 
it  was  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries  of  all  na- 
tions.    See  Immortality  of  the  Soul. 

Eternity.  The  ancient  symbol  of 
eternity  was  a  serpent  in  the  form  of  a  cir- 
cle, the  tail  being  placed  in  the  mouth. 
The  simple  circle,  the  figure  which  has 
neither  beginning  nor  end,  but  returns 
continually  into  itself,  was  also  a  symbol 
of  eternity. 

Ethics  of  Freemasonry.  There 
is  a  Greek  word,  edoc  {ethos),  which  signifies 
custom,  from  which  Aristotle  derives  another 
word  rjdoq,  [ethos,)  which  means  ethics ;  be- 
cause, as  he  says,  from  the  custom  of  doing 
good  acts  arises  the  habit  of  moral  virtue. 
Ethics,  then,  is  the  science  of  morals  teach- 
ing the  theory  and  practice  of  all  that  is 
good  in  relation  to  God  and  to  man,  to  the 
state  and  the  individual ;  it  is,  in  short,  to 
use  the  emphatic  expression  of  a  German 
writer,  "  the  science  of  the  good  "  Ethics 
being  thus  engaged  in  the  inculcation  of 
moral  duties,  there  must  be  a  standard  of 
these  duties,  an  authoritative  ground-prin- 
ciple on  which  they  depend,  a  doctrine 
that  requires  their  performance,  making 
certain  acts  just  those  that  ought  to  be  done, 
and  which,  therefore,  are  duties,  and  that 
forbid  the  performance  of  others  which  are, 
therefore,  offences.  Ethics,  then,  as  a  sci- 
ence, is  divisible  into  several  species,  vary- 
ing in  name  and  character,  according  to  the 
foundation  on  which  it  is  built. 

Thus  we  have  the  Ethics  of  Theology, 
which  is  founded  on  that  science  which 
teaches  the  nature  and  attributes  of  God; 
and,  as  this  forms  a  part  of  all  religious 
systems,  every  religion,  whether  it  be 
Christianity,  or  Judaism,  Brahmanism,  or 
Buddhism,  or  any  other  form  of  recognized 
worship,  has  within  its  bosom  a  science  of 
theological  ethics  which  teaches,  accord- 
ing to  the  lights  of  that  religion,  the  du- 
ties which  are  incumbent  on  man  from  his 
relations  to  a  Supreme  Being.  And  then 
we  have  the  Ethics  of  Christianity,  which, 
being  founded  on  the  Scriptures,  recog- 
nized by  Christians  as  the  revealed  will  of 
God,  is  nothing  other  than  theological 
ethics  applied  to  and  limited  by  Chris- 
tianity. 

Then,  again,  we  have  the  Ethics  of  Phi- 
losophy, which  is  altogether  speculative, 
and  derived  from  and  founded  on  man's 
speculations  concerning  God  and  himself. 
There  might  be  a  sect  of  philosophers  who 
denied  the  existence  of  a  Superintending 
Providence ;  but  it  would  still  have  a  sci- 
ence of  ethics  referring  to  the  relations  of 
man  to  man,  although  that  system  would 
be  without  strength,  because  it  would  have 
no  Divine  sanction  for  its  enforcement. 


And,  lastly,  we  have  the  Ethics  of  Free- 
masonry, whose  character  combines  those 
of  the  three  others.  The  first  and  second 
systems  in  the  series  above  enumerated  are 
founded  on  religious  dogmas;  the  third  on 
philosophical  speculations.  Now,  as  Free- 
masonry claims  to  be  a  religion,  in  so  far 
as  it  is  founded  on  a  recognition  of  the  re- 
lations of  man  and  God,  and  a  philosophy 
in  so  far  as  it  is  engaged  in  speculations 
on  the  nature  of  man,  as  an  immortal,  so- 
cial, and  responsible  being,  the  ethics  of 
Freemasonry  will  be  both  religious  and 
philosophical 

The  symbolism  of  Masonry,  which  is  its 
peculiar  mode  of  instruction,  inculcates  all 
the  duties  which  we  owe  to  God  as  being 
his  children,  and  to  men  as  being  their 
brethren.  "There  is,"  says  Dr.  Oliver, 
"  scarcely  a  point  of  duty  or  morality  which 
man  has  been  presumed  to  owe  to  God,  his 
neighbor,  or  himself,  under  the  Patriarchal, 
the  Mosaic,  or  the  Christian  dispensation, 
which,  in  the  construction  of  our  symboli- 
cal system,  has  been  left  untouched." 
Hence,  he  says,  that  these  symbols  all 
unite  to  form  "  a  code  of  moral  and  theo- 
logical philosophy ; "  the  term  of  which  ex- 
pression would  have  been  better  if  he  had 
called  it  a  "a  code  of  philosophical  and 
theological  ethics." 

At  a  very  early  period  of  his  initiation, 
the  Mason  is  instructed  that  he  owes  a 
threefold  duty,  — to  God,  his  neighbor,  and 
himself,  —  and  the  inculcation  of  these  du- 
ties constitutes  the  ethics  of  Freemasonry. 

Now,  the  Tetragrammaton,  the  letter  G, 
and  many  other  symbols  of  a  like  charac- 
ter, impressively  inculcate  the  lesson  that 
there  is  a  God  in  whom  "  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being,"  and  of  whom 
the  apostle,  quoting  from  the  Greek  poet, 
tells  us  that  "  we  are  his  offspring."  To 
him,  then,  as  the  Universal  Father,  does 
the  ethics  of  Freemasonry  teach  us  that 
we  owe  the  duty  of  loving  and  obedient 
children. 

And,  then,  the  vast  extent  of  the  Lodge, 
making  the  whole  world  the  common  home 
of  all  Masons,  and  the  temple,  in  which 
we  all  labor  for  the  building  up  of  our 
bodies  as  a  spiritual  house,  are  significant 
symbols,  which  teach  us  that  we  are  not 
only  the  children  of  the  Father,  but  fel- 
low-workers, laboring  together  in  the  same 
task  and  owing  a  common  servitude  to  God 
as  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  universe  —  the 
Algabil  or  Master  Builder  of  the  world  and 
all  that  is  therein  ;  and  thus  these  symbols 
of  a  joint  labor,  for  a  joint  purpose,  tell  us 
that  there  is  a  brotherhood  of  man :  to  that 
brotherhood  does  the  ethics  of  Freemasonry 
teach  us  that  we  owe  the  duty  of  fraternal 
kindness  in  all  its  manifold  phases. 


ETHIOPIA 


EUCLID 


265 


And  so  we  find  that  the  ethics  of  Free- 
masonry is  really  founded  on  the  two  great 
ideas  of  the  universal  fatherhood  of  God 
and  the  universal  hrotherhood  of  man. 

Ethiopia..  A  tract  of  country  to  the 
south  of  Egypt,  and  watered  by  the  upper 
Nile.  The  reference  to  Ethiopia,  in  the 
Master's  degree  of  the  American  Rite,  as 
a  place  of  attempted  escape  for  certain 
criminals,  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  English 
or  French  rituals,  and  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  this  addition  to  the  Hiramic  le- 
gend is  an  American  interpolation.  The 
selection  of  Ethiopia,  by  the  ritualist,  as  a 
place  of  refuge,  seems  to  be  rather  inappro- 
priate when  we  consider  what  must  have 
been  the  character  of  that  country  in  the 
age  of  Solomon. 

Etymology.  For  the  etymology  of 
the  word  Mason,  see  Mason,  derivation  of. 

Euclid.  In  the  year  of  the  world  3650, 
which  was  G46  years  after  the  building  of 
King  Solomon's  Temple,  Euclid,  the  cele- 
brated geometrician,  was  born.  His  name 
has  been  always  associated  with  the  history 
of  Freemasonry,  and  in  the  reign  of  Ptol- 
emy Soter,  the  Order  is  said  to  have  greatly 
flourished  in  Egypt,  under  his  auspices. 
The  well  known  forty-seventh  problem 
of  his  first  book,  although  not  discovered 
by  him,  but  long  before  by  Pythagoras,  has 
been  adopted  as  a  symbol  in  the  third  de- 
gree. 

Euclid,  Legend  of.  All  the  old 
manuscript  Constitutions  contain  the  well 
known  "  legend  of  Euclid,"  whose  name  is 
presented  to  us  as  the  "  Worthy  Clerk  Eu- 
clid" in  every  conceivable  variety  of  cor- 
rupted form.  I  select,  of  these  Old  Re- 
cords, the  so-called  Dowland  Manuscript, 
from  which  to  give  the  form  of  this  Euclid- 
ian legend  of  the  old  Masons.  The  Dow- 
land Manuscript,  although  apparently  writ- 
ten in  the  seventeenth  century,  is  believed, 
on  good  authority,  to  be  only  a  copy,  in 
more  modern  and  more  intelligible  lan- 
guage, of  an  earlier  manuscript  of  the  year 
1530.  And  it  is  because  of  its  easier  in- 
telligibility by  modern  readers  that  I  have 
selected  it,  in  preference  to  any  of  the  older 
records,  although  in  each  the  legend  is  sub- 
stantially the  same.  The  legend  is  in  the 
following  words : 

"  Moreover,  when  Abraham  and  Sara  his 
wife  went  into  Egipt,  there  he  taught  the 
Seaven  Sciences  to  the  Egiptians ;  and  he 
had  a  worthy  Scoller  that  height  Ewclyde, 
and  he  learned  right  well,  and  was  a  master 
of  all  the  vij  Sciences  liberall.  And  in  his 
dayes  it  befell  that  the  lord  and  the  estates 
of  the  realme  had  soe  many  sonns  that 
they  had  gotten  some  by  their  wifes  and 
some  by  other  ladyes  of  the  realme ;  for 
that  land  is  a  hott  land  and  a  plentious  of 
21 


generacion.  And  they  had  not  competent 
livehode  to  find  with  their  children ;  where- 
fore they  made  much  care.  And  then  the 
King  of  the  land  made  a  great  counsell 
and  a  parliament,  to  witt,  how  they  might 
find  their  children  honestly  as  gentlemen. 
And  they  could  find  no  manner  of  good 
way.  And  then  they  did  crye  through  all 
the  realme,  if  there  were  any  man  that 
could  enforme  them,  that  he  should  come 
to  them,  and  he  should  be  soe  rewarded  for 
his  travail,  that  he  should  hold  him  pleased. 

"After  that  this  cry  was  made,  then 
came  this  worthy  clarke  Ewclyde,  and  said 
to  the  King  and  to  all  his  great  lords:  '  If 
yee  will,  take  me  your  children  to  governe, 
and  to  teach  them  one  of  the  Seaven  Sci- 
ences, wherewith  they  may  live  honestly  as 
gentlemen  should,  under  a  condition  that 
yee  will  grant  me  and  them  a  commission 
that  I  may  have  power  to  rule  them  after 
the  manner  that  the  science  ought  to  be 
ruled.'  And  that  the  King  and  all  his 
counsell  granted  to  him  anone,  and  sealed 
their  commission.  And  then  this  worthy 
tooke  to  him  these  lords'  sonns,  and  taught 
them  the  science  of  Geometrie  in  practice, 
for  to  work  in  stones  all  manner  of  worthy 
worke  that  belongeth  to  buildinge  churches, 
temples,  castells,  towres,  and  mannors,  and 
all  other  manner  of  buildings  ;  and  he  gave 
them  a  charge  on  this  manner:  " 

Here  follow  the  usual  "  charges  "  of  a 
Freemason  as  given  in  all  the  old  Consti- 
tutions; and  then  the  legend  concludes 
with  these  words : 

"And  thus  was  the  science  grounded 
there;  and  that  worthy  Master  Ewclyde 
gave  it  the  name  of  Geometrie.  And  now 
it  is  called  through  all  this  land  Masonrye." 

This  legend,  considered  historically,  is 
certainly  very  absurd,  and  the  anachronism 
which  makes  Euclid  the  contemporary  of 
Abraham  adds,  if  possible,  to  the  absurdity. 
But  interpreted  as  all  Masonic  legends 
should  be  interpreted,  as  merely  intended 
to  convey  a  Masonic  truth  in  symbolic  lan- 
guage, it  loses  its  absurdity,  and  becomes 
invested  with  an  importance  that  we  should 
not  otherwise  attach  to  it. 

Euclid  is  here  very  appropriately  used  as 
a  type  of  geometry,  that  science  of  which 
he  was  so  eminent  a  teacher ;  and  the  myth 
or  legend  then  symbolizes  the  fact  that 
there  was  in  Egypt  a  close  connection  be- 
tween that  science  and  the  great  moral  and 
religious  system  which  was  among  the 
Egyptians,  as  well  as  other  ancient  nations, 
what  Freemasonry  is  at  the  present  day  — 
a  secret  institution,  established  for  the  in- 
culcation of  the  same  principles,  and  in- 
culcating them  in  the  same  symbolic  man- 
ner. So  interpreted,  this  legend  corre- 
sponds to  all  the  developments  of  Egyptian 


266 


EULOGY 


EXAMINATION 


history,  which  teach  us  how  close  a  con- 
nection existed  in  that  country  between 
the  religious  and  scientific  systems.  Thus 
Kenrick  (Anc.  Eg.,  i.  383)  tells  us  that 
"  when  we  read  of  foreigners  [in  Egypt] 
being  obliged  to  submit  to  painful  and  te- 
dious ceremonies  of  initiation,  it  was  not 
that  they  might  learn  the  secret  meaning 
of  the  rites  of  Osiris  or  Isis,  but  that  they 
might  partake  of  the  knowledge  of  astron- 
omy, physic,  geometry,  and  theology." 

The  legend  of  Euclid  belongs  to  that 
class  of  narrations  which,  in  another  work, 
I  have  ventured  to  call  "The  Mythical 
Symbols  of  Freemasonry." 

Eulogy.  Masonry  delights  to  do  honor 
to  the  memory  of  departed  brethren  by  the 
delivery  of  eulogies  of  their  worth  and 
merit,  which  are  either  delivered  at  the 
time  of  their  burial,  or  at  some  future  pe- 
riod. The  eulogy  forms  the  most  important 
part  of  the  ceremonies  of  a  Sorrow  Lodge. 
But  the  language  of  the  eulogist  should  be 
restrained  within  certain  limits ;  while  the 
veil  of  charity  should  be  thrown  over  the 
frailties  of  the  deceased,  the  praise  of  his 
virtues  should  not  be  expressed  with  exag- 
gerated adulation. 

Eumolpus.  A  king  of  Eleusis,  who 
founded,  about  the  year  1374  B.  c,  the  Mys- 
teries of  Eleusis.  His  descendants,  the 
Eumolpidae,  presided  for  twelve  hundred 
years  over  these  Mysteries  as  Hierophants. 

Ennnch.  It  is  usual,  in  the  most  cor- 
rect rituals  of  the  third  degree,  especially 
to  name  eunuchs  as  being  incapable  of  ini- 
tiation. In  none  of  the  old  Constitutions 
and  Charges  is  this  class  of  persons  alluded 
to  by  name,  although  of  course  they  are 
comprehended  in  the  general  prohibition 
against  making  persons  who  have  any 
blemish  or  maim.  However,  in  the  Charges 
which  were  published  by  Dr.  Anderson, 
in  his  second  edition,  they  are  included  in 
the  list  of  prohibited  candidates.  It  is 
probable  from  this  that  at  that  time  it  was 
usual  to  name  them  in  the  point  of  OB. 
referred  to ;  and  this  presumption  derives 
strength  from  the  fact  that  Dermott,  in 
copying  his  Charges  from  those  of  Ander- 
son's second  edition,  added  a  note  com- 
plaining of  the  " moderns"  for  having  dis- 
regarded this  ancient  law,  in  at  least  one 
instance.  The  question  is,  however,  not 
worth  discussion,  except  as  a  matter  of 
ritual  history,  since  the  legal  principle  is 
already  determined  that  eunuchs  cannot 
be  initiated  because  they  are  not  perfect 
men,  "  having  no  maim  or  defect  in  their 
bodies." 

Euphrates.  One  of  the  largest  and 
most  celebrated  rivers  of  Asia.  Rising  in 
the  mountains  of  Armenia  and  flowing  into 
the  Persian  gulf,  it  necessarily  lies  between 


Jerusalem  and  Babylon.  In  the  ritual  of 
the  higher  degrees  it  is  referred  to  as  the 
stream  over  which  the  Knights  of  the  East 
won  a  passage  by  their  arms  in  returning 
from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem. 

Euresis.  From  the  Greek,  evpeaig,  a 
discovert/.  That  part  of  the  initiation  in 
the  Ancient  Mysteries  which  represented 
the  finding  of  the  body  of  the  god  or  hero 
whose  death  and  resurrection  was  the  sub- 
ject of  the  initiation.  The  euresis  has  been 
adopted  in  Freemasonry,  and  forms  an  es- 
sential portion  of  the  ritual  of  the  third 
degree. 

Evangelist.  See  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist. 

Evergreen.  An  evergreen  plant  is  a 
symbol  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The 
ancients,  therefore,  as  well  as  the  moderns, 
planted  evergreens  at  the  heads  of  graves. 
Freemasons  wear  evergreens  at  the  funerals 
of  their  brethren,  and  cast  them  into  the 
grave.  The  acacia  is  the  plant  which 
should  be  used  on  these  occasions,  but 
where  it  cannot  be  obtained,  some  other 
evergreen  plant,  especially  the  cedar,  is 
used  as  a  substitute.     See  Acacia. 

Exalted.  A  candidate  is  said  to  be 
exalted,  when  he  receives  the  degree  of 
Holy  Royal  Arch,  the  seventh  in  American 
Masonry.  Exalted  means  elevated  or  lifted 
up,  and  is  applicable  both  to  a  peculiar  cere- 
mony of  the  degree,  and  to  the  fact  that 
this  degree,  in  the  Rite  in  which  it  is  prac- 
tised, constitutes  the  summit  of  ancient 
Masonry. 

The  rising  of  the  sun  of  spring  from  his 
wintry  sleep  into  the  glory  of  the  vernal 
equinox  was  called  by  the  old  sun-worship- 
pers his  "  exaltation ; "  and  the  Fathers  of 
the  Church  afterwards  applied  the  same 
term  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  St. 
Athanasius  says  that  by  the  expression, 
"  God  hath  exalted  him,"  St.  Paul  meant 
the  resurrection.  Exaltation,  therefore, 
technically  means  a  rising  from  a  lower  to 
a  higher  sphere,  and  in  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry may  be  supposed  to  refer  to  the  being 
lifted  up  out  of  the  first  temple  of  this  life 
into  the  second  temple  of  the  future  life. 
The  candidate  is  raised  in  the  Master's  de- 
gree, he  is  exalted  in  the  Royal  Arch.  In 
both  the  symbolic  idea  is  the  same. 

Examination  of  Candidates. 
It  is  an  almost  universal  rule  of  the  modern 
Constitutions  of  Masonry,  that  an  examina- 
tion upon  the  subjects  which  had  been  taught 
in  the  preceding  degree  shall  be  required 
of  every  brother  who  is  desirous  of  receiv- 
ing a  higher  degree;  and  it  is  directed  that 
this  examination  shall  take  place  in  an 
open  Lodge  of  the  degree  upon  which  the 
examination  is  made,  that  all  the  members 
present  may  have  an  opportunity  of  judg- 


EXAMINATION 


EXCELLENT 


267 


ing  from  actual  inspection  of  the  proficiency 
and  fitness  of  the  candidate  for  the  advance- 
ment to  which  he  aspires.  The  necessity 
of  an  adequate  comprehension  of  the  mys- 
teries of  one  degree,  before  any  attempt  is 
made  to  acquire  a  higher  one,  seems  to  have 
been  duly  appreciated  from  the  earliest 
times;  and  hence  the  Old  York  Constitu- 
tions of  926,  or  the  document  usually  re- 
garded as  such,  prescribe,  "  that  if  the  Mas- 
ter have  an  Apprentice,  he  shall  thoroughly 
teach  him,  so  that  he  may  perfectly  under- 
stand his  Craft."  But  there  is  no  evidence 
that  the  system  of  examining  candidates  as 
to  their  proficiency,  before  their  advance- 
ment, is  other  than  a  modern  improvement, 
and  first  adopted  not  very  early  in  the  pres- 
ent century. 

Examination  of  the  Ballot- 
Box.  This  is  always  done  during  the  bal- 
lot for  a  candidate,  by  presenting  the  box 
first  to  the  Junior  Warden,  then  to  the 
Senior,  and  lastly  to  the  Master,  each  of 
whom  proclaims  the  result  as  "  clear  "  or 
"  foul."  This  order  is  adopted  so  that  the 
declaration  of  the  inferior  officer,  as  to  the 
state  of  the  ballots,  may  be  confirmed  and 
substantiated  by  his  superior. 

Examination  of  Visitors.  The 
due  examination  of  strangers  who  claim  the 
right  to  visit,  should  be  intrusted  only  to 
the  most  skilful  and  prudent  brethren  of 
the  Lodge.  And  the  examining  committee 
should  never  forget,  that  no  man  applying 
for  admission  is  to  be  considered  as  a  Ma- 
son, however  strong  may  be  his  recommen- 
dations, until  by  undeniable  evidence  he 
has  proved  himself  to  be  such. 

All  the  necessary  forms  and  antecedent 
cautions  should  be  observed.  Inquiries 
should  be  made  as  to  the  time  and  place  of 
initiation,  as  a  preliminary  step  the  Tiler's 
OB,  of  course,  never  being  omitted.  Then 
remember  the  good  old  rule  of  "  commenc- 
ing at  the  beginning."  Let  everything  pro- 
ceed in  regular  course,  not  varying  in  the 
slightest  degree  from  the  order  in  which  it 
is  to  be  supposed  that  the  information 
sought  was  originally  received.  Whatever 
be  the  suspicions  of  imposture,  let  no  ex- 
pression of  those  suspicions  be  made  until 
the  final  decree  for  rejection  is  uttered.  And 
let  that  decree  be  uttered  in  general  terms, 
such  as,  "  I  am  not  satisfied,"  or  "  I  do  not 
recognize  you."  and  not  in  more  specific 
language,  such  as, "  You  did  not  answer  this 
inquiry,"  or  "  You  are  ignorant  on  that 
point."  The  candidate  for  examination  is 
only  entitled  to  know  that  he  has  not  com- 
plied generally  with  the  requisitions  of  his 
examiner.  To  descend  to  particulars  is  al- 
ways improper  and  often  dangerous.  Above 
all,  never  ask  what  the  lawyers  call  "  lead- 
ing questions,"  which  include  in  themselves 


the  answers,  nor  in  any  manner  aid  the 
memory  or  prompt  the  forgetfulness  of  the 
party  examined,  by  the  slightest  hints.  If 
he  has  it  in  him  it  will  come  out  without 
assistance,  and  if  he  has  it  not,  he  is  clearly 
entitled  to  no  aid.  The  Mason  who  is  so 
unmindful  of  his  obligations  as  to  have  for- 
gotten the  instructions  he  has  received, 
must  pay  the  penalty  of  his  carelessness, 
and  be  deprived  of  his  contemplated  visit 
to  that  society  whose  secret  modes  of  recog- 
nition he  has  so  little  valued  as  not  to  have 
treasured  them  in  his  memory. 

Lastly,  never  should  an  unjustifiable 
delicacy  weaken  the  rigor  of  these  rules. 
Remember,  that  for  the  wisest  and  most 
evident  reasons,  the  merciful  maxim  of  the 
law,  which  says  that  it  is  better  that  ninety- 
nine  guilty  men  should  escape  than  that 
one  innocent  man  should  be  punished,  is 
with  us  reversed,  and  that  in  Masonry  it  is 
better  that  ninety  and  nine  true  men  should 
be  turned  away  from,  the  door  of  a  Lodge  than 
that  one  cowan  should  be  admitted. 

Excavations.  Excavations  beneath 
Jerusalem  have  for  some  years  past  been  in 
progress,  under  the  direction  of  the  Eng- 
lish society,  which  controls  the  "  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,"  and  many  important 
discoveries,  especially  interesting  to  Masons, 
have  been  made.  For  the  results,  see  Jeru- 
salem. 

Excellent.  A  title  conferred  on  the 
Grand  Captain  of  the  Host,  and  Grand 
Principal  Sojourner  of  a  Grand  Chapter, 
and  on  the  King  and  Scribe  of  a  subordi- 
nate Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  in 
America. 

Excellent  Masons.  Dr.  Oliver 
[Hist.  Landm.,  i.  420,)  gives  a  tradition 
that  at  the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple 
there  were  nine  Lodges  of  Excellent  Ma- 
sons, having  nine  in  each,  which  were  dis- 
tributed as  follows:  Six  Lodges,  or  fifty- 
four  Excellent  Masons  in  the  quarries; 
three  Lodges,  or  twenty-seven  Excellent 
Masons  in  the  forest  of  Lebanon  ;  eight 
Lodges,  or  seventy-two  Excellent  Masons 
engaged  in  preparing  the  materials;  and 
nine  Lodges,  or  eighty-one  Excellent  Ma- 
sons subsequently  employed  in  building  the 
Temple.  Of  this  tradition  there  is  not  the 
slightest  support  in  authentic  history,  and 
it  must  have  been  invented  altogether  for 
a  symbolic  purpose,  in  reference  perhaps  to 
the  mystical  numbers  which  it  details. 

Excellent  Master.  A  degree  in 
the  Irish  system  which,  with  Super-Excel- 
lent Master,  is  given  as  preparatory  to  the 
Royal  Arch.  It  is  given  in  a  Lodge  gov- 
erned by  a  Master  and  two  Wardens,  and 
refers  to  the  legation  of  Moses. 

Excellent,  Most.  See  Most  Excel- 
lent. 


268 


EXCELLENT 


EXCLUSIVENESS 


Excellent,  Right.  See  Right  Ex- 
cellent. 

Excellent,  Super.  See  Super-Ex- 
cellent. 

Excellent,  Very.  See  Very  Excel- 
lent. 

Exclusion.  In  England  the  Grand 
Lodge  only  expels  from  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  Masonry.  But  a  subordinate 
Lodge  may  exclude  a  member  after  giving 
him  due  notice  of  the  charge  preferred 
against  him,  and  of  the  time  appointed  for 
its  consideration.  The  name  of  any  one 
so  excluded,  and  the  cause  of  his  exclusion 
must  be  sent  to  the  Grand  Secretary.  No 
Mason  excluded  is  eligible  to  any  other 
Lodge  until  the  Lodge  to  which  he  applies 
has  been  made  acquainted  with  his  exclu- 
sion, and  the  cause,  so  that  the  brethren 
may  exercise  their  discretion  as  to  his  ad- 
mission. In  America,  the  word  used  as 
synonymous  with  exclusion  is  striking  from 
the  roll,  except  that  the  latter  punishment 
is  only  inflicted  for  non-payment  of  Lodge 
dues. 

Exclusiveness  of  Masonry.  The 
exclusiveness  of  Masonic  benevolence  is  a 
charge  that  has  frequently  been  made 
against  the  Order ;  and  it  is  said  that  the 
charity  of  which  it  boasts  is  always  con- 
ferred on  its  own  members  in  preference 
to  strangers.  It  cannot  be  denied  that 
Masons,  simply  as  Masons,  have  ever  been 
more  constant  and  more  profuse  in  their 
charities  to  their  own  brethren  than  to  the 
rest  of  the  world;  that  in  apportioning  the 
alms  which  God  has  given  them  to  bestow, 
they  have  first  looked  for  the  poor  in  their 
own  home  before  they  sought  those  who 
were  abroad;  and  that  their  hearts  have 
felt  more  deeply  for  the  destitution  of  a 
brother  than  a  stranger. 

The  principle  that  governs  the  institution 
of  Freemasonry,  in  the  distribution  of  its 
charities,  and  the  exercise  of  all  the  friendly 
affections,  is  that  which  was  laid  down  by 
St.  Paul  for  the  government  of  the  infant 
church  at  Galatia:  "As  we  have  therefore 
opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men, 
especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the  house- 
hold." 

This  sentiment  of  preference  for  one's 
own  household,  thus  sanctioned  by  apos- 
tolic authority,  is  the  dictate  of  human  na- 
ture, and  the  words  of  Scripture  find  their 
echo  in  every  heart.  "  Blood,"  says  the 
Spanish  proverb,  "  is  thicker  than  water," 
and  the  claims  of  kindred,  of  friends  and 
comrades  to  our  affections,  must  not  be 
weighed  in  the  same  scale  with  those  of 
the  stranger,  who  has  no  stronger  tie  to 
bind  him  to  our  sympathies,  than  that  of  a 
common  origin  from  the  founder  of  our 
race.     All  associations  of  men  act  on  this 


principle.  It  is  acknowledged  in  the 
church,  which  follows  with  strict  obedience 
the  injunction  of  the  apostle;  and  in  the 
relief  it  affords  to  the  distressed,  in  the 
comforts  and  consolations  which  it  imparts 
to  the  afflicted,  and  in  the  rights  and 
privileges  which  it  bestows  upon  its  own 
members,  distinguishes  between  those  who 
have  no  community  with  it  of  religious 
belief,  and  those  who,  by  worshipping  at 
the  same  altar,  have  established  the  higher 
claim  of  being  of  the  household. 

It  is  recognized  by  all  other  societies, 
which,  however  they  may,  from  time  to 
time,  and  under  the  pressure  of  peculiar 
circumstances,  extend  temporary  aid  to 
accidental  cases  of  distress,  carefully  pre- 
serve their  own  peculiar  funds  for  the  re- 
lief of  those  who,  by  their  election  as  mem- 
bers, by  their  subscription  to  a  written  con- 
stitution, and  by  the  regular  payment  of 
arrears,  have  assumed  the  relationship  which 
St.  Paul  defines  as  being  of  the  household. 

It  is  recognized  by  governments,  which, 
however  liberally  they  may  frame  their 
laws,  so  that  every  burden  may  bear  equally 
on  all,  and  each  may  enjoy  the  same  civil 
and  religious  rights,  never  fail,  in  the  privi- 
leges which  they  bestow,  to  discriminate 
between  the  alien  and  foreigner,  whose  visit 
is  but  temporary  or  whose  allegiance  is 
elsewhere,  and  their  own  citizens,  the  chil- 
dren of  their  household. 

This  principle  of  preference  is  universally 
diffused,  and  it  is  well  that  it  is  so.  It  is 
well  that  those  who  are  nearer  should  be 
dearer ;  and  that  a  similitude  of  blood,  an 
indentity  of  interest,  or  a  community  of 
purpose,  should  give  additional  strength  to 
the  ordinary  ties  that  bind  man  to  man. 
Man,  in  the  weakness  of  his  nature,  re- 
quires this  security.  By  his  own  unaided 
efforts,  he  cannot  accomplish  the  objects  of 
his  life  nor  supply  the  necessary  wants  of 
his  existence.  In  this  state  of  utter  help- 
lessness, God  has  wisely  and  mercifully 
provided  a  remedy  by  implanting  in  the 
human  breast  a  love  of  union  and  an 
ardent  desire  for  society.  Guided  by  this 
instinct  of  preservation,  man  eagerly  seeks 
the  communion  of  man,  and  the  weakness 
of  the  individual  is  compensated  by  the 
strength  of  association.  It  is  to  this  con- 
sciousness of  mutual  dependence,  that  na- 
tions are  indebted  for  their  existence,  and 
governments  for  their  durability.  And 
under  the  impulse  of  the  same  instinct  of 
society,  brotherhoods  and  associations  are 
formed,  whose  members,  concentrating 
their  efforts  for  the  attainment  of  one  com- 
mon object,  bind  themselves  by  voluntary 
ties  of  love  and  friendship,  more  powerful 
than  those  which  arise  from  the  ordinary 
sentiments  and  feelings  of  human  nature. 


EXCUSE 


EXPOSITIONS 


269 


Excuse.  Many  Lodges  in  the  last 
century  and  in  the  beginning  of  this  in- 
flicted pecuniary  fines  for  non-attendance 
at  Lodge  meetings,  and  of  course  excuses 
were  then  required  to  avoid  the  penalty. 
But  this  has  now  grown  out  of  use.  Ma- 
sonry being  considered  a  voluntary  institu- 
tion, fines  for  absence  are  not  inflicted,  and 
excuses  are  therefore  not  now  required. 
The  infliction  of  a  fine  would,  it  is  sup- 
posed, detract  from  the  solemnity  of  the 
obligation  which  makes  attendance  a  duty. 
The  old  Constitutions,  however,  required 
excuses  for  non-attendance,  although  no 
penalty  was  prescribed  for  a  violation  of 
the  rule.  Thus,  in  the  Matthew  Cooke 
Manuscript  (fifteenth  century),  it  is  said, 
"  that  every  master  of  this  art  should  be 
warned  to  come  to  his  congregation  that 
they  come  duly,  but  if  (unless)  they  may  be 
excused  by  some  manner  of  cause."  And 
in  the  Halliwell  Manuscript,  which  pur- 
ports to  contain  the  York  Constitutions  of 
926,  it  is  written : 

"That  every  mayster,  that  is  a  Mason, 
Must  ben  at  the  generale  congregacyon, 
So  that  he  hyt  resonebly  y-colde 
Where  that  the  semble  shall  be  holde ; 
And  to  that  semble  he  must  nede  gon, 
But  he  have  a  resenabul  skwsacyon." 

Executive  Powers  of  a  Grand 
Eodge.     See  Grand  Lodge. 
Exemplification  of  the  Work. 

This  term  is  of  frequent  use  in  American 
Masonry.  When  a  lecturer  or  teacher  per- 
forms the  ceremonies  of  a  degree  for  in- 
struction, using  generally  one  of  the  Ma- 
sons present  as  a  substitute  for  the  candi- 
date, he  is  said  "  to  exemplify  the  work." 
It  is  done  for  instruction,  or  to  enable  the 
members  of  the  Grand  or  subordinate 
Lodge  to  determine  on  the  character  of 
the  ritual  that  is  taught  by  the  exemplifier. 

Exoteric.  Public,  not  secret.  See 
Esoteric. 

Expert.  In  Lodges  of  the  French 
Rite,  there  are  two  officers  called  First  and 
Second  Experts,  whose  duty  it  is  to  assist 
the  Master  of  Ceremonies  in  the  initiation 
of  a  candidate.  In  Lodges  of  Perfection 
of  the  Scottish  Rite,  there  are  similar 
officers  who  are  known  as  the  Senior  and 
Junior  Expert. 

Expositions.  Very  early  after  the 
revival  of  Masonry,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  pretended  exposi- 
tions of  the  ritual  of  Masonry  began  to  be 
published.  The  following  catalogue  com- 
prises the  most  notorious  of  these  pseudo- 
revelations.  The  leading  titles  only  are 
given. 

1.  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Freemasons 
Discovered.    London,  1724. 


2.  The  Secret  History  of  the  Freemason- 
ry.    London,  1725. 

3.  Masonry  Dissected,  by  Samuel  Prich- 
ard.  London,  1730.  There  were  several 
subsequent  editions,  and  a  French  transla- 
tion in  1737,  and  a  German  one  in  1736, 

4.  The  Secrets  of  Masonry  made  known 
to  all  men,  by  S.  P.  [Samuel  Prichard.J 
London,  1737. 

5.  Masonry  further  dissected.  London. 
1738. 

6.  The  Mystery  of  Masonry.  London, 
1737. 

7.  Le  Secret  des  Franc-Maqons,  par  M. 
l'Abbe  Perau.     Geneva,  1742. 

8.  Catechisme  des  Franc-Macons,  par 
Leonard  Gabanon  (Louis  Travenol).  Paris, 
1745.  He  published  several  editions,  vary- 
ing the  titles. 

9.  L'Ordre  de  Franc-Macons  train  et  le 
Secret  des  Mopses  revele.  Amsterdam, 
1745.  Many  subsequent  editions,  and  a 
German  and  a  Dutch  translation. 

10.  Solomon  in  all  his  Glory.  London, 
1766. 

11.  Jachin  and  Boaz.     London,  1750. 

12.  The  Three  Distinct  Knocks.  Lon- 
don, 1767. 

13.  Hiram  ;  or,  The  Grand  Master  Key. 
London,  1764. 

14.  The  Freemason  Stripped  Naked,  by 
Charles  Warren.     London,  1769. 

15.  Shibboleth ;  or,  Every  Man  a  Free- 
mason.    Dublin,  1775. 

16.  Receuil  precieux  de  la  Maqonnerie 
Adonhiramite,  par  Louis  Guillemin  de  St. 
Victor.  Paris,  1781.  This  work  was  not 
written  with  an  unfriendly  purpose,  and 
many  editions  of  it  were  published. 

17.  The  Master  Key,  by  I.  Browne.  Lon- 
don, 1794.  Scarcely  an  exposition,  since 
the  cipher  in  which  it  is  printed  renders  it 
a  sealed  book  to  all  who  do  not  possess  the 
key. 

18.  A  Masonic  Treatise,  with  an  Eluci- 
dation on  the  Religious  and  Moral  Beauties 
of  Freemasonry,  etc.,  by  W.  Finch.  Lon- 
don, 1801. 

19.  Manual  of  Freemasonry,  in  three 
parts,  by  the  late  Richard  Carlisle.  Now 
first  collected  in  one  volume.  London, 
1845. 

20.  Illustrations  of  Masonry,  by  William 
Morgan.  The  first  edition  is  without  date 
or  place,  but  it  was  probably  printed  at 
Batavia,  in  1828. 

21.  Light  on  Masonry,  by  David  Bernard. 
Utica,  N.  Y.,  1829. 

22.  A  Ritual  of  Freemasonry,  by  Avery 
Allyn.     New  York,  1852. 

There  have  been  several  other  American 
expositions,  but  the  compilers  have  only 
been  servile  copyists  of  Morgan,  Ber- 
nard, and  Allyn.    It  has  been,  and  con- 


270 


EXPULSION 


EXPULSION 


tinues  to  be,  simply  the  pouring  out  of  one 
vial  into  another. 

The  expositions  which  abound  in  the 
French,  German,  and  other  continental 
languages,  are  not  attacks  upon  Freema- 
sonry, but  are  written  often  under  author- 
ity, for  the  use  of  the  Fraternity.  The 
usages  of  continental  Masonry  permit  a 
freedom  of  publication  that  would  scarcely 
be  tolerated  by  the  English  or  American 
Fraternity. 

Expulsion.  Expulsion  is,  of  all  Ma- 
sonic penalties,  the  highest  that  can  be  in- 
flicted on  a  member  of  the  Order,  and 
hence  it  has  been  often  called  a  Masonic 
death.  It  deprives  the  expelled  of  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  that  he  ever  enjoyed, 
not  only  as  a  member  of  the  particular 
Lodge  from  which  he  has  been  ejected,  but 
also  of  those  which  were  inherent  in  him 
as  a  member  of  the  Fraternity  at  large.  He 
is  at  once  as  completely  divested  of  his  Ma- 
sonic character  as  though  he  had  never 
been  admitted,  so  far  as  regards  his  rights, 
while  his  duties  and  obligations  remain  as 
firm  as  ever,  it  being  impossible  for  any 
human  power  to  cancel  them.  He  can  no 
longer  demand  the  aid  of  his  brethren,  nor 
require  from  them  the  performance  of  any 
of  the  duties  to  which  he  was  formerly  en- 
titled, nor  visit  any  Lodge,  nor  unite  in  any 
of  the  public  or  private  ceremonies  of  the 
Order.  He  is  considered  as  being  without 
the  pale,  and  it  would  be  criminal  in  any 
brother,  aware  of  his  expulsion,  to  hold 
communication  with  him  on  Masonic  sub- 
jects. 

The  only  proper  tribunal  to  impose  this 
heavy  punishment  is  a  Grand  Lodge.  A 
subordinate  Lodge  tries  its  delinquent 
member,  and  if  guilty  declares  him  ex- 
pelled. But  the  sentence  is  of  no  force  un- 
til the  Grand  Lodge,  under  whose  jurisdic- 
tion it  is  working,  has  confirmed  it.  And 
it  is  optional  with  the  Grand  Lodge  to  do 
so,  or,  as  is  frequently  done,  to  reverse  the  de- 
cision and  reinstate  the  brother.  Some  of 
the  Lodges  in  this  country  claim  the  right 
to  expel  independently  of  the  action  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  but  the  claim  is  not  valid. 
The  very  fact  that  an  expulsion  is  a  penalty, 
affecting  the  general  relations  of  the  pun- 
ished brother  with  the  whole  Fraternity, 
proves  that  its  exercise  never  could  with 
propriety  be  intrusted  to  a  body  so  circum- 
scribed in  its  authority  as  a  subordinate 
Lodge.  Besides,  the  general  practice  of 
the  Fraternity  is  against  it.  The  English 
Constitutions  vest  the  power  to  expel  ex- 
clusively in  the  Grand  Lodge.  "  The  sub- 
ordinate Lodge  may  suspend  and  report 
the  case  to  the  Grand  Lodge.  If  the  offence 
and  evidence  be  sufficient,  expulsion  is  de- 
creed." 


All  Masons,  whether  members  of  Lodges 
or  not,  are  subject  to  the  infliction  of  this 
punishment  when  found  to  merit  it.  Resig- 
nation or  withdrawal  from  the  Order  does 
not  cancel  a  Mason's  obligations,  nor  exempt 
him  from  that  wholesome  control  which 
the  Order  exercises  over  the  moral  conduct 
of  its  members.  The  fact  that  a  Mason, 
not  a  member  of  any  particular  Lodge,  but 
who  has  been  guilty  of  immoral  or  unma- 
sonic  conduct,  can  be  tried  and  punished 
by  any  Lodge  within  whose  jurisdiction  he 
may  be  residing,  is  a  point  on  which  there 
is  no  doubt. 

Immoral  conduct,  such  as  would  subject 
a  candidate  for  admission  to  rejection, 
should  be  the  only  offence  visited  with 
expulsion.  As  the  punishment  is  general, 
affecting  the  relation  of  the  one  expelled 
with  the  whole  Fraternity,  it  should  not  be 
lightly  imposed  for  the  violation  of  any 
Masonic  act  not  general  in  its  character. 
The  commission  of  a  grossly  immoral  act 
is  a  violation  of  the  contract  entered  into 
between  each  Mason  and  his  Order.  If 
sanctioned  by  silence  or  impunity,  it  would 
bring  discredit  on  the  Institution,  and  tend 
to  impair  its  usefulness.  A  Mason  who  is 
a  bad  man  is  to  the  Fraternity  what  a  mor- 
tified limb  is  to  the  body,  and  should  be 
treated  with  the  same  mode  of  cure,  —  he 
should  be  cut  off,  lest  his  example  spread, 
and  disease  be  propagated  through  the 
constitution. 

Expulsion  from  one  of  what  is  called  the 
higher  degrees  of  Masonry,  such  as  a  Chap- 
ter or  an  Encampment,  does  not  affect  the 
relations  of  the  expelled  party  to  Blue 
Masonry.  A  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons is  not  and  cannot  be  recognized  as  a 
Masonic  body  by  a  Lodge  of  Master  Masons 
by  any  of  the  modes  of  recognition  known 
to  Masonry.  The  acts,  therefore,  of  a  Chap- 
ter cannot  be  recognized  by  a  Master  Ma- 
son's Lodge  any  more  than  the  acts  of  a 
literary  or  charitable  society  wholly  uncon- 
nected with  the  Order.  Besides,  by  the 
present  organization  of  Freemasonry,  Grand 
Lodges  are  the  supreme  Masonic  tribunals. 
If,  therefore,  expulsion  from  a  Chapter  of 
Royal  Arch  Masons  involved  expulsion 
from  a  Blue  Lodge,  the  right  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  to  hear  and  determine  causes,  and 
to  regulate  the  internal  concerns  of  the 
Institution,  would  be  interfered  with  by 
another  body  beyond  its  control.  But  the 
converse  of  this  proposition  does  not  hold 
good.  Expulsion  from  a  Blue  Lodge  in- 
volves expulsion  from  all  the  higher  de- 
grees; because,  as  they  are  composed  of 
Blue  Masons,  the  members  could  not  of 
right  sit  and  hold  communications  on  Ma- 
sonic subjects  with  one  who  was  an  expelled 
Mason. 


EXTENDED 


EZRA 


271 


Extended  Wings  of  the  Cheru- 
bim. An  expression  used  in  the  ceremo- 
nies of  Eoyal  Master,  the  tenth  degree  of 
the  American  Rite,  and  intended  to  teach 
symbolically  that  he  who  comes  to  ask  and 
to  seek  Divine  Truth  symbolized  by  the 
True  Word,  should  begin  by  placing  him- 
self under  the  protection  of  that  Divine 
Power  who  alone  is  Truth,  and  from  whom 
alone  Truth  can  be  obtained.  Of  him  the 
cherubim  with  extended  wings  in  the  Holy 
of  Holies  were  a  type. 

Extent  of  the  Lodge.  The  extent 
of  a  Mason's  Lodge  is  said  to  be  in  height 
from  the  earth  to  the  highest  heavens ;  in 
depth,  from  the  surface  to  the  centre;  in 
length,  from  east  to  west;  and  in  breadth, 
from  north  to  south.  The  expression  is  a 
symbolic  one,  and  is  intended  to  teach  the 
extensive  boundaries  of  Masonry  and  the 
coterminal  extension  of  Masonic  charity. 
See  Form  of  the  Lodge. 

External  Qualifications.  The 
external  qualifications  of  candidates  for 
initiation  are  those  which  refer  to  their 
outward  fitness,  based  upon  moral  and  reli- 
gious character,  the  frame  of  body,  the 
constitution  of  the  mind,  and  social  posi- 
tion. Hence  they  are  divided  into  Moral, 
Religious,  Physical,  Mental,  and  Polit- 
ical, for  all  of  which  see  the  respective 
words.  The  expression  in  the  ritual,  that 
"  it  is  the  internal  and  not  the  external 
qualifications  that  recommend  a  man  to  be 
made  a  Mason,"  it  is  evident,  from  the  con- 
text, refers  entirely  to  "worldly  wealth  and 
honors,"  which,  of  course,  are  not  to  be 
taken  "  into  consideration  in  inquiring  into 
the  qualifications  of  a  candidate." 

Extinct  Lodge.  A  Lodge  is  said  to 
be  extinct  which  has  ceased  to  exist  and 
work,  which  is  no  longer  on  the  registry  of 
the  Grand  Lodge,  and  whose  Charter  has 
been  revoked  for  mis-use  or  forfeited  for 
non-use. 

Extra  Communication.  The 
same  as  Special  Communication,  which  see. 

Extraneous.  Not_  regularly  made; 
clandestine.  The  word  is  now  obsolete  in 
this  signification,  but  was  so  used  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  in  a  motion 
adopted  March  31,  1735,  and  reported  by 
Anderson  in  his  1738  edition  of  the  Consti- 
tutions, p.  182.  "No  extraneous  brothers, 
that  is,  not  regularly  made,  but  clandestine, 
.  .  .  .  shall  be  ever  qualified  to  par- 
take of  the  Mason's  general  charity." 

Extrusion.  Used  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland  for  expul- 
sion. "  If  a  brother  shall  be  convicted  of 
crime  by  any  Court  of  Justice,  such  brother 
shall  be  permanently  extruded."  (Sect.  29.) 
Not  in  use  elsewhere  as  a  Masonic  term. 


Eye.     See  All-Seeing  Eye. 

Ezckiel,  Temple  of.  See  Temple 
of  Ezekiel. 

Ezel.  In  Hebrew,  SlXH  px,  eben  hah- 
ezel,  the  stone  of  the  departure,  viz.,  a 
mile-stone.  An  old  testimonial  stone  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Saul's  residence,  the 
scene  of  the  parting  of  David  and  Jona- 
than, and  the  mark  beyond  which  the  fall- 
ing of  Jonathan's  arrow  indicated  danger. 
Hence,  a  word  adopted  in  the  honorary 
degree  called  the  "Mason's  wife  and 
daughter." 

Ezra.  There  are  two  persons  named 
Ezra  who  are  recorded  in  Scripture.  1. 
Ezra,  a  leading  priest  among  the  first  colo- 
nists who  came  up  to  Jerusalem  with  Ze- 
rubbabel,  and  who  is  mentioned  by  Nehe- 
miah  ;  and,  2.  Ezra,  the  celebrated  Jewish 
scribe  and  restorer  of  the  law,  who  visited 
Jerusalem  forty-two  years  after  the  second 
Temple  had  been  completed.  Calmet, 
however,  says  that  this  second  Ezra  had 
visited  Jerusalem  previously  in  company 
with  Zerubbabel.  Some  explanation  of 
this  kind  is  necessary  to  reconcile  an  other- 
wise apparent  inconsistency  in  the  English 
system  of  the  Royal  Arch,  which  makes 
two  of  its  officers  represent  Ezra  and  Ne- 
hemiah  under  the  title  of  scribes,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  makes  the  time  of  the 
ritual  refer  to  the  laying  of  the  foundation 
of  the  second  Temple,  and  yet  places  in  the 
scene,  as  a  prominent  actor,  the  later  Ezra, 
who  did  not  go  up  to  Jerusalem  until  more 
than  forty  years  after  the  completion  of  the 
building.  It  is,  I  think,  more  probable 
that  the  Ezra  who  is  said  in  the  ritual  to 
have  wrought  with  Joshua,  Haggai,  and 
Zerubbabel,  was  intended  by  the  original 
framer  of  the  ritual  to  refer  to  the  first 
Ezra,  who  is  recorded  by  Nehemiah  as  hav- 
ing been  present;  and  that  the  change  was 
made  in  the  reference,  without  due  consid- 
eration, by  some  succeeding  ritualist,  whose 
mistake  has  been  carelessly  perpetuated  by 
those  who  followed  him.  Dr.  Oliver  {Hist. 
Landmarks,  ii.  428,)  attempts  to  reconcile 
the  difficulty,  and  to  remove  the  anachron- 
ism, by  saying  that  Esdras  was  the  scribe 
under  Joshua,  Haggai,  and  Zerubbabel, 
and  that  he  was  succeeded  in  this  impor- 
tant office  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  But  the 
English  ritual  makes  no  allusion  to  this 
change  of  succession ;  and  if  it  did,  it  would 
not  enable  us  to  understand  how  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  could  be  present  as  scribes  when 
the  foundations  of  the  second  Temple  were 
laid,  and  the  important  secrets  of  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  were  brought  to  light,  unless 
the  Ezra  meant  is  the  one  who  came  to  Je- 
rusalem with  Nehemiah.  There  is  a  con- 
fusion in  all  this  which  should  be  rectified. 


272 


FV 


FELICITY 


F. 


F.*.  In  French  Masonic  documents  the 
abbreviation  of  Frere,  or  Brother.  FF.\  is 
the  abbreviation  of  Freres,  or  Brethren. 

Fabre-Palaprat,Bernard  Ray- 
mond. The  restorer,  or,  to  speak  more 
correctly,  the  organizer  of  the  Order  of  the 
Temple  at  Paris,  of  which  he  was  elected 
Grand  Master  in  1804.  He  died  at  Pau,  in 
the  lower  Pyrenees,  February  18, 1838.  See 
Temple,  Order  of  the. 

Faculty  of  Abrac.  In  the  so-called 
Leland  Manuscript,  it  is  said  that  Masons 
"  conceal  the  way  of  wynninge  the  facultye 
of  Abrac."  That  is,  that  they  conceal  the 
method  of  acquiring  the  powers  bestowed 
by  a  knowledge  of  the  magical  talisman 
that  is  called  Abracadabra.  See  Abraca- 
dabra and  Leland  Manuscript. 

Faith.  In  the  theological  ladder,  the 
explanation  of  which  forms  a  part  of  the 
ritual  of  the  first  degree  of  Masonry,  faith 
is  said  to  typify  the  lowest  round.  Faith, 
here,  is  synonymous  with  confidence  or  trust, 
and  hence  we  find  merely  a  repetition  of 
the  lesson  which  had  been  previously 
taught  that  the  first,  the  essential  qualifi- 
cation of  a  candidate  for  initiation,  is  that 
he  should  trust  in  God. 

In  the  lecture  of  the  same  degree,  it  is 
said  that  "  Faith  may  be  lost  in  sight ; 
Hope  ends  in  fruition ;  but  Charity  extends 
beyond  the  grave,  through  the  boundless 
realms  of  eternity."  And  this  is  said,  be- 
cause as  faith  is  "  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen,"  when  we  see  we  no  longer  be- 
lieve by  faith  but  through  demonstration  ; 
and  as  hope  lives  only  in  the  expectation 
of  possession,  it  ceases  to  exist  when  the 
object  once  hoped  for  is  at  length  enjoyed, 
but  charity,  exercised  on  earth  in  acts  of 
mutual  kindness  and  forbearance,  is  still 
found  in  the  world  to  come,  in  the  sublimer 
form  of  mercy  from  God  to  his  erring  crea- 
tures. 

Faithful  Breast.  See  Breast,  the 
Faithful. 

Fall  of  Water.    See  Waterfall. 

Family  Lodge.    A  Lodge  held  es- 

f>ecially  for  the  transaction  of  private  and 
ocal  business  of  so  delicate  a  nature  that  it 
is  found  necessary  to  exclude,  during  the 
session,  the  presence  of  all  except  members. 
In  France  a  Lodge  when  so  meeting  is  said 
to  be  en  famille,  and  the  meeting  is  called 
a  tenue  de  famille  or  family  session;  in 
Germany  such  Lodges  are  called,  some- 
times, Familien-Logen,  but  more  generally 
Conferenz-Jjogen.     See  Conference  Lodge. 

Fasces.  The  bundle  of  rods  borne  be- 
fore the  Roman  magistrates  as  an  ensign 
of  their  authority.     In   French  Masonry, 


faisceau,  or  fasces,  is  used  to  denote  a  num- 
ber of  speeches  or  records  tied  up  in  a  roll 
and  deposited  in  the  archives. 

Favorite  Brother  of  St.  An- 
drew. -The  ninth  degree  of  the  Swedish 
Rite. 

Favorite  Brother  of  St.  John. 
The  eighth  degree  of  the  Swedish  Rite. 

Feast.  The  convocation  of  the  Craft 
together  at  an  annual  feast,  for  the  lauda- 
ble purpose  of  promoting  social  feelings, 
and  cementing  the  bonds  of  brotherly  love 
by  the  interchange  of  courtesies,  is  a  time- 
honored  custom,  which  is  unfortunately 
growing  into  disuse.  The  "  Assembly  and 
Feast"  are  words  constantly  conjoined  in 
the  Book  of  Constitutions.  At  this  meet- 
ing, no  business  of  any  kind,  except  the 
installation  of  officers,  was  transacted,  and 
the  day  was  passed  in  innocent  festivity. 
The  election  of  officers  always  took  place 
at  a  previous  meeting,  in  obedience  to  a 
regulation  adopted  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  in  1720,  as  follows :  "  It  was 
agreed,  in  order  to  avoid  disputes  on  the 
annual  feast-day,  that  the  new  Grand 
Master  for  the  future  shall  be  named  and 
proposed  to  the  Grand  Lodge  some  time 
before  the  feast." 

Feasts  of  the  Order.  The  festi- 
vals of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  June  24th  and  December 
27th,  are  so  called. 

Feeling.  One  of  the  five  human 
senses,  and  esteemed  by  Masons  above  all 
the  others.  For  as  Anthony  Brewer,  an 
old  dramatist,  says : 

"  Though  one  hear,  and  see,  and  smell,  and  taste, 
If  he  wants  touch,  he  is  counted  but  a  block." 

Fees  of  Honor.  In  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  every  Grand  officer,  on 
his  election  or  re-election,  is  required  to 
pay  a  sum  of  money,  varying  from  two  to 
twenty  guineas.  The  sums  thus  paid  for 
honors  bestowed  are  technically  called 
"  fees  of  honor."  A  similar  custom  pre- 
vails in  the  Grand  Lodges  of  Ireland  and 
Scotland;  but  the  usage  is  unknown  in 
this  country. 

Felicity,  Order  of.  An  androgy- 
nous secret  society,  founded  in  1743,  at 
Paris,  by  M.  Chambonnet.  It  was  among 
the  first  of  the  pseudo-Masonic  associa- 
tions, or  coteries,  invented  by  French  Ma- 
sons to  gratify  the  curiosity  and  to  secure 
the  support  of  women.  It  had  a  ritual  and 
a  vocabulary  which  were  nautical  in  their 
character,  and  there  was  a  rather  too  free 
indulgence  in  the   latitude  of  gallantry. 


FELD 


FENDEURS 


273 


It  consisted  of  four  degrees,  Cabin  boy, 
Master,  Commodore,  and  Vice  Admiral. 
The  chief  of  the  order  was  called  Admiral, 
and  this  position  was  of  course  occupied 
by  M.  Chambonnet,  the  inventor  of  the 
system. 

■  Feld  LiOge.  What  is  designated  in 
England  and  America  as  a  Military  or 
Travelling  Lodge  is  called  in  Germany  a 
Feld  Loge.  Sometimes,  "ein  ambulante 
Loge." 

Fellow.  The  Saxon  word  for  fellow 
is  felaw.  Spelman  derives  it  from  two 
words,  fe  and  lot/,  which  signifies  bound  in 
mutual  trust;  a  plausible  derivation,  and 
not  unsuited  to  the  meaning  of  .the  word. 
But  Hicks  gives  a  better  etymology  when 
he  derives  it  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  folgian, 
"to  follow,"  and  thus  a  fellow  would  be  a 
follower,  a  companion,  an  associate.  In  the 
Middle  Ages,  the  Operative  Masons  were 
divided  into  Masters  and  Fellows.  Thus 
in  the  Harleian  MS.  it  is  said:  "Now  I 
will  rehearse  other  charges  in  singular  for 
Maisters  and  Fellowes."  Those  who  were  of 
greater  skill  held  a  higher  position  and 
were  designated  as  Masters,  while  the 
masses  of  the  fraternity,  the  commonalty, 
as  we  might  say,  were  called  Fellows.  In 
the  Matthew  Cooke  MS.  this  principle  is 
very  plainly  laid  down.  There  it  is  written 
that  Euclid  "  ordained  that  they  who  were 
passing  of  cunning  should  be  passing  hon- 
ored, and  commanded  to  call  the  cunninger 
Master  ....  and  commanded  that  they 
that  were  less  of  wit  should  not  be  called 
servant  nor  subject,  but  Fellow,  for  nobility 
of  their  gentle  blood."  (Lines  675-688.) 
From  this  custom  has  originated  the  mod- 
ern title  of  Fellow  Craft,  given  to  the  second 
degree  of  Speculative  Masonry;  although 
not  long  after  the  revival  of  1717  the  Fel- 
lows ceased  to  constitute  the  main  body  of 
the  Fraternity,  the  Masters  having  taken 
and  still  holding  that  position. 

Fellow  Craft.  The  second  degree 
of  Freemasonry  in  all  the  Rites  is  that  of 
the  Fellow  Craft.  In  French  it  is  called 
Compagnon  ;  in  Spanish,  Companero;  in 
Italian,  Oompagno  ;  and  in  German,  Oesell; 
in  all  of  which  the  radical  meaning  of  the 
word  is  a.  fellow  workman,  thus  showing  the 
origin  of  the  title  from  an  operative  insti- 
tution. Like  the  degree  of  Apprentice,  it 
is  only  preparatory  to  the  higher  initia- 
tion of  the  Master ;  and  yet  it  differs  essen- 
tially from  it  in  its  symbolism.  For,  as 
the  first  degree  was  typical  of  youth,  the 
second  is  supposed  to  represent  the  stage 
of  manhood,  and  hence  the  acquisition  of 
science  is  made  its  prominent  characteristic. 
While  the  former  is  directed  in  all  its  sym- 
bols and  allegorical  ceremonies  to  the  puri- 
fication of  the  heart,  the  latter  is  intended 
2K  18 


by  its  lessons  to  cultivate  the  reasoning 
faculties  and  improve  the  intellectual  pow- 
ers. Before  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
great  body  of  the  Fraternity  consisted  of 
Fellow  Crafts,  who  are  designated  in  all  the 
old  manuscripts  as  "  Fellows."  After  the 
revival  in  1717,  the  Fellow  Crafts,  who  then 
first  began  to  be  called  by  that  name,  lost 
their  prominent  position,  and  the  great 
body  of  the  brotherhood  was,  for  a  long 
time,  made  up  altogether  of  Apprentices, 
while  the  government  of  the  Institution 
was  committed  to  the  Masters  and  Fellows, 
both  of  whom  were  made  only  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  until  1725,  when  the  regulation  was 
repealed,  and  subordinate  Lodges  were  per- 
mitted to  confer  these  two  degrees. 

Fellow  Craft  Perfect  Architect. 
( Compagnon  Parfait  Architect.)  The  twen- 
ty-sixth degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 
There  are  several  other  degrees  which,  like 
this,  are  so  called,  not  because  they  have 
any  relation  to  the  orignal  second  degree 
of  Symbolic  Masonry,  but  to  indicate  that 
they  constitute  the  second  in  any  particular 
series  of  degrees  which  are  preparatory  to 
the  culmination  of  that  series.  Thus,  in  the 
Rite  of  Mizraim,  we  have  che  Master  Per- 
fect Architect,  which  is  the  twenty-seventh 
degree,  while  the  twenty-fifth  and  twenty- 
sixth  are  Apprentice  and  Fellow  Craft  Per- 
fect Architect.  So  we  have  in  other  rites  and 
systems  the  Fellow  Craft  Cohen,  Hermetic, 
and  Kabbalistic  Fellow  Craft,  where  Master 
Cohen  and  Hermetic  and  Kabbalistic  Mas- 
ter are  the  topmost  degrees  of  the  different 
series.  Fellow  Craft  in  all  these,  and  many 
other  instances  like  them,  means  only  the 
second  preparation  towards  perfection. 

Fellowship,  FiTC  Points  of.  See 
Points  of  Fellowship. 

Female  Masonry.  See  Adoption, 
Rite  of. 

Female  Masons.  The  landmarks 
of  Speculative  Masonry  peremptorily  ex- 
clude females  from  any  active  participation 
in  its  mysteries.  But  there  are  a  few  in- 
stances in  which  the  othewise  unalterable 
rule  of  female  exclusion  has  been  made  to 
yield  to  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  the  occa- 
sion ;  and  some  cases  are  well  authenticatd 
where  this  "Salique  law"  has  been  vio- 
lated from  necessity,  and  females  have  been 
permitted  to  receive  at  least  the  first  de- 
gree. Such,  however,  have  been  only  the 
exceptions  which  have  given  confirmation 
to  the  rule.  See  Aldworth,  Beaton,  and 
Xentrailles. 

Fendenrs.  L'Ordre  des  Fendeurs, 
i.  c.  the  Order  of  Wood-cutters,  was  a  secret 
society  established  at  Paris,  in  1743,  by  the 
Chevalier  Beauchain.  The  Lodge  repre- 
sented a  forest,  and  was  generally  held  in 
a  garden.     It  was  androgynous,  and  had 


274 


FERDINAND 


FESSLER 


secret  signs  and  words,  and  an  allegorical 
language  borrowed  from  the  profession  of 
wood-cutting.  The  Abbe'  Barruel  (torn,  ii., 
p.  345,)  thought  that  the  Order  originated 
in  the  forests  among  the  actual  wood-cut- 
ters, and  that  many  intelligent  inhabitants 
of  the  city  having  united  with  them,  the 
operative  business  of  felling  trees  was  aban- 
doned, and  Philosophic  Lodges  were  estab- 
lished,— a  course  of  conversion  from  Oper- 
ative to  Speculative  precisely  like  that,  he 
Bays,  which  occurred  in  Masonry,  and  this 
conversion  was  owing  to  the  number  of 
Fendeurs  who  were  also  Freemasons. 

Ferdinand  IV.  This  king  of  the 
two  Sicilies,  on  the  12th  of  September, 
1775,  issued  an  edict  forbidding  the  meeting 
of  Masons  in  Lodges  in  his  dominions, 
under  penalty  of  death.  In  1777,  at  the 
solicitation  of  his  queen,  Caroline,  this 
edict  was  repealed,  and  Masonry  was  once 
more  tolerated ;  but  in  1781  the  decree  was 
renewed. 

Ferdinand  VI.  In  1751,  Ferdinand 
VI.,  king  of  Spain,  at  the  solicitation  of 
Joseph  Ferrubia,  Visitor  of  the  Holy  In- 
quisition, enforced  in  his  dominions  the 
bull  of  excommunication  of  Pope  Bene- 
dict XIV.,  and  forbade  the  congregation 
of  Masons  under  the  highest  penalties  of 
law.  In  the  Journal  of  Freemasonry,  Vi- 
enna, 1784,  (pp.  176-224,)  will  be  found  a 
translation  from  Spanish  into  German  of 
Ferrubia's  "Act  of  Accusation,"  which 
gave  rise  to  this  persecution. 

Ferdinand  VII.  The  king  of  Spain 
who  bore  this  title  was  one  of  the  greatest 
bigots  of  his  time.  He  had  no  sooner  as- 
cended the  throne  in  1814,  than  he  re- 
established the  Inquisition,  which  had  been 
abolished  by  his  predecessor,  proscribed  the 
exercise  of  Freemasonry,  and  ordered  the 
closing  of  all  the  Lodges,  under  the  heaviest 
penalties.  In  September  following,  twenty- 
five  persons,  among  whom  were  several 
distinguished  noblemen,  were  arrested  as 
"suspected  of  Freemasonry."  On  March 
30,  1818,  a  still  more  rigorous  edict  was 
issued,  by  which  those  convicted  of  being 
Freemasons  were  subjected  to  the  most 
severe  punishments,  such  as  banishment  to 
India  and  confiscation  of  goods,  or  some- 
times death  by  a  cruel  form  of  execution. 
But  the  subsequent  revolution  of  1820  and 
the  abolition  of  the  Inquisition  removed 
these  blots  from  the  Spanish  records. 

Fervency.  From  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  ardent  devotion  to  duty,  fervor 
or  fervency,  was  taught  as  a  Masonic  virtue 
in  the  lectures  of  the  first  degree,  and  sym- 
bolized by  charcoal,  because,  as  later  rituals 
say,  all  metals  were  dissolved  by  the  fervor 
of  ignited  charcoal.  Subsequently,  in  the 
higher  degrees,  fervency  and  zeal  were  sym- 
bolized by  the  color  scarlet,  which  is  the 


appropriate  tincture  of  Eoyal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry. 

Fessler,  Ignaz  Anrelius.  A  dis- 
tinguished German  writer  and  Masonic  re- 
former, and  was  born  at  Czurendorf.  in  Hun- 
gary, in  1756.  He  was  the  son  of  very  poor 
parents.  His  mother,  who  was  a  bigoted 
Catholic,  had  devoted  him  to  a  monastic 
life,  and  having  been  educated  at  the  Jesuit 
Bchool  of  Raab,  he  took  holy  orders  in  1772, 
and  was  removed  to  the  Capuchin  monas- 
tery in  Vienna.  In  consequence,  however, 
of  his  exposure  to  the  Emperor  Joseph  II. 
of  monastic  abuses,  he  incurred  the  perse- 
cutions of  his  superiors.  But  the  emperor, 
having  taken  him  under  his  protection, 
nominated  him,  in  1783,  as  ex-professor  of 
the  Oriental  languages  in  the  University 
of  Lemberg.  But  the  monks  having  threat- 
ened him  with  legal  proceedings,  he  fled  to 
Breslau  in  1788,  where  he  subsequently 
was  appointed  the  tutor  of  the  son  of  the 
Prince  of  Corolath.  Here  he  established  a 
secret  Order,  called  by  him  the  "  Ever- 
geten,"  which  bore  a  resemblance  to  Free- 
masonry in  its  organization,  and  was  in- 
tended to  effect  moral  reforms,  which  at 
the  time  he  thought  Masonry  incapable  of 
producing.  The  Order,  however,  never 
really  had  an  active  existence,  and  the  at- 
tempt of  Fessler  failed  by  the  dissolution, 
in  1793,  of  the  society.  In  1791  he  adopted 
the  Lutheran  faith,  and,  having  married, 
settled  in  Berlin,  where  until  1806  he  was 
employed  as  a  superintendent  of  schools. 
He  wrote  during  this  period  several  his- 
torical works,  which  gave  him  a  high  repu- 
tation as  an  author.  But  the  victorious 
progress  of  the  French  army  in  Prussia 
caused  him  to  lose  his  official  position. 
Having  been  divorced  from  his  wife  in  1802, 
he  again  married,  and,  retiring  in  1803  from 
Berlin,  betook  himself  to  the  quietude  of  a 
country  life.  Becoming  now  greatly  em- 
barrassed in  pecuniary  matters,  he  received 
adequate  relief  from  several  of  the  German 
Lodges,  for  which  he  expressed  the  most 
lively  gratitude.  In  1808  he  accepted  the 
position  of  a  professor  in  the  University  of 
St.  Petersburg,  which,  however,  he  was 
soon  compelled  to  relinquish  in  consequence 
of  the  intrigues  of  the  clergy,  who  were 
displeased  with  his  liberal  views.  Subse- 
quently he  was  appointed  superintendent 
of  the  Evangelical  community,  over  nine 
Russian  departments,  and  Ecclesiastical 
President  of  the  consistory  at  Saratow,  with 
a  large  salary.  In  1827,  on  the  invitation 
of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  he  removed 
permanently  to  St.  Petersburg,  where,  in 
1833,  he  received  the  appointment  of  Ec- 
clesiastical Counsellor,  and  died  there  De- 
cember 15,  1839,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-three  years. 

Fessler  was  initiated  into  Masonry  at 


FESSLER 


FESSLER 


275 


Lemberg,  in  1783,  and  immediately  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  its  science  and  his- 
tory. In  June,  1796,  he  affiliated  with  the 
Lodge  Royal  York,  zur  Freundschaft,  in 
Berlin, and  having  been  made  oueof  its  Sub- 
lime Council,  was  invested  with  the  charge 
of  revising  and  remodelling  the  entire  ritual 
of  the  Lodge,  which  was  based  on  the  high  de- 
grees of  the  French  system.  To  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  laborious  task,  Fessler  at 
once,  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  de- 
voted his  great  intellect  and  his  indefati- 
gable energies.  In  a  very  short  period  he 
succeeded  in  a  reformation  of  the  symbolic 
degrees,  and  finding  the  brethren  unwilling 
to  reject  the  high  degrees,  which  were  four 
in  number,  then  practised  by  the  Lodge,  he 
remodelled  them,  retaining  a  considerable 
part  of  the  French  ritual,  but  incorporated 
with  it  a  portion  of  the  Swedish  system.  The 
work  thus  accomplished  met  with  general 
approbation.  In  his  next  task  of  forming 
a  new  Constitution  he  was  not  so  success- 
ful, although  at  length  he  induced  the  Royal 
York  Lodge  to  assume  the  character  and 
rank  of  a  Grand  Lodge,  which  it  did  in 
1798,  with  seven  subordinate  Lodges  under 
its  obedience.  Again  Fessler  commenced 
the  work  of  a  revision  of  the  ritual.  He 
had  always  been  opposed  to  the  high  degree 
system.  He  proposed,  therefore,  the  abo- 
lition of  everything  above  the  degree  of 
Master.  In  this,  however,  he  was  warmly 
opposed,  and  was  compelled  to  abandon  his 
project  of  reducing  German  Masonry  to  the 
simplicity  of  the  English  system.  Yet  he 
was  enabled  to  accomplish  something,  and 
had  the  satisfaction,  in  1800,  of  metamor- 
phosing the  Elu,  the  Ecossais,  and  the  Rose 
Croix,  of  the  old  ritual  of  the  Royal  York 
Lodge  into  the  "degrees  of  knowledge," 
which  constitute  the  Rite  known  as  the 
Rite  of  Fessler. 

In  1798,  Fessler  had  been  elected  Deputy 
Grand  Master  when  there  were  but  three 
Lodges  under  the  Grand  Lodge.  In  1801, 
by  his  persevering  activity,  the  number  had 
been  increased  to  sixteen.  Still,  notwith- 
standing his  meritorious  exertions  in  be- 
half of  Masonry,  he  met  with  that  ingrati- 
tude, from  those  whom  he  sought  to  serve, 
which  appears  to  be  the  fate  of  almost  all 
Masonic  reformers.  In  1802,  wearied  with 
the  opposition  of  his  antagonists,  he  re- 
nounced all  the  offices  that  he  had  filled, 
and  resigned  from  the  Grand  Lodge. 
Thenceforth  he  devoted  himself  in  a  more 
retired  way  to  the  pursuits  of  Masonry. 

Before  Fessler  resigned,  he  had  con- 
ceived and  carried  out  the  scheme  of  estab- 
lishing a  great  union  of  scientific  Masons, 
who  should  devote  themselves  to  the  inves- 
tigation of  the  history  of  Masonry.  Of  this 
society  Mossdorf,  Fischer,  and  many  other 


distinguished  Masons,  were  members.  See 
Scientific  Masons. 

Fessler's  contributions  to  the  literature 
of  Freemasonry  were  numerous  and  valu- 
able. His  chief  work  was,  An  Attempt  to 
Furnish  a  Critical  History  of  Freemasonry 
and  the  Masonic  Fraternity  from  the  earliest 
times  to  the  year  1802.  This  work  was  never 
printed,  but  only  sold  in  four  folio  manu- 
script volumes,  at  the  price  of  £30,  to  per- 
sons who  pledged  themselves  eventually  to 
return  it.  It  was  a  mistake  to  circumscribe 
the  results  of  his  researches  within  so  nar- 
row a  field.  But  he  published  many  other 
works.  His  productions  were  mostly  his- 
torical and  judicial,  and  made  a  great  im- 
pression on  the  German  Masonic  mind. 
His  collected  works  were  published  in  Ber- 
lin, from  1801  to  1807,  but,  unfortunately, 
they  have  never  been  translated  into  Eng- 
lish. The  object  of  all  he  wrote  was  to 
elevate  Freemasonry  to  the  highest  sphere 
of  intellectual  character. 

Fessler,  Rite  of.  This  Rite,  which 
was  prepared  by  Fessler  at  the  request  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  Royal  York  of  Berlin, 
consisted  of  nine  degrees,  as  follows  : 

1.  Entered  Apprentice. 

2.  Fellow  Craft. 

3.  Master  Mason. 

These  but  slightly  differ  from  the  same 
degrees  in  all  the  Rites,  and  are  followed 
by  six  other  degrees,  which  he  called  the 
higher  knowledge,  namely : 

4.  The  Holy  of  Holies.  —  This  degree  is 
occupied  in  a  critical  exposition  of  the  vari- 
ous hypotheses  which  have  been  proposed 
as  to  the  origin  of  Freemasonry ;  as,  whether 
it  sprang  from  the  Templars,  from  the 
Cathedral  of  Strasburg,  from  the  Rose 
Croix  of  the  seventeenth  century,  from 
Oliver  Cromwell,  from  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Paul's  at  London,  from  that  of  the 
Palace  of  Kensington,  or  from  the  Jesuits. 

5.  Justification. — Critical  examination  of 
the  origin  of  certain  of  the  high  degrees, 
such  as  the  Ecossais  and  the  Chapter  of 
Clermont. 

6.  Celebration.  —  Critical  examination  of 
the  four  following  systems:  Rose  Croix, 
Strict  Observance,  African  Architects,  and 
Initiated  Brothers  of  Asia. 

7.  True  Light.  —  Critical  examination  of 
the  Swedish  System,  the  System  of  Zin- 
nendorf,  the  Royal  Arch  of  England,  of 
the  succession  of  the  Mysteries,  and  of  all 
systems  and  their  ramifications. 

8.  The  Country.  —  Examination  of  the 
origin  of  the  Mysteries  of  the  Divine  King- 
dom, introduced  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ;  of 
the  exoteric  doctrines  communicated  by 
him  immediately  to  his  disciples,  and  of 
those  which  sprang  up  after  his  death,  up 
to  the  time  of  the  Gnostics. 


276 


FESTIVALS 


FIFTEEN 


9.  Perfection. — A  complete  critical  his- 
tory of  all  Mysteries  comprehended  in  ac- 
tual Freemasonry. 

Both  Clavel  and  Ragon  say  that  the 
rituals  of  these  degrees  were  drawn  up 
from  the  rituals  of  the  Golden  Rose  Croix, 
of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  of  the  Il- 
luminated Chapter  of  Sweden,  and  the  An- 
cient Chapter  of  Clermont.  Fessler's  Rite 
was,  perhaps,  the  most  abstrusely  learned 
and  philosophical  of  all  the  Masonic  sys- 
tems; but  it  did  not  have  a  long  existence, 
as  it  was  abandoned  by  the  Grand  Lodge, 
which  had  at  first  accepted  it,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  adopting  the  Ancient  York  Rite 
under  the  Constitutions  of  England. 

Festivals.  In  all  religions  there  have 
been  certain  days  consecrated  to  festive  en- 
joyment, and  hence  called  festivals.  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  (on  Daniel,  p.  204,)  says : 
"The  heathen  were  delighted  with  the 
festivals  of  their  gods,  and  unwilling  to  part 
with  these  delights ;  and,  therefore,  Gregory 
Thaumaturgus,  who  died  in  265,  and  was 
Bishop  of  Neocsesarea,  to  facilitate  their 
conversion,  instituted  annual  festivals  to 
the  saints  and  martyrs.  Hence  it  came  to 
pass  that,  for  exploding  the  festivals  of  the 
heathens,  the  principal  festivals  of  the 
Christians  succeeded  in  their  room ;  as  the 
keeping  of  Christmas  with  joy,  and  feast- 
ing, and  playing,  and  sports,  in  the  room 
of  the  Bacchinalia  and  Saturnalia;  the  cele- 
brating of  May  day  with  flowers,  in  the 
room  of  the  Floralia ;  and  the  keeping  of 
festivals  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  John  the 
Baptist,  and  divers  of  the  apostles,  in  the 
room  of  the  solemnities  at  the  entrance  of 
the  sun  into  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  in  the 
old  Julian  Calendar."  The  Masons,  bor- 
rowing from  and  imitating  the  usage  of 
the  Church,  have  also  always  had  their 
festivals  or  days  of  festivity  and  celebra- 
tion. The  chief  festivals  of  the  Operative 
or  Stone  Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages  were 
those  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  on  the  24th 
June,  and  the  Four  Crowned  Martyrs  on 
the  4th  November.  The  latter  were,  how- 
ever, discarded  by  the  Speculative  Masons ; 
and  the  festivals  now  most  generally  cele- 
brated by  the  Fraternity  are  those  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  June  24,  and  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  December  27.  These  are 
the  days  kept  in  this  country.  Such,  too, 
was  formerly  the  case  in  England  ;  but  the 
annual  festival  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England  now  falls  on  the  Wednesday  fol- 
lowing St.  George's  day,  April  23,  that 
saint  being  the  patron  of  England.  For 
a  similar  reason,  St.  Andrew's  day,  Novem- 
ber 30,  is  kept  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland.  In  Ireland  the  festivals  kept 
are  those  of  the  two  Saints  John. 

Fidelity.    See  Fides. 


Fides.  In  the  lecture  of  the  first  degree, 
it  is  said  that  "  our  ancient  brethren  wor- 
shipped deity  under  the  name  of  Fides  or 
Fidelity,  which  was  sometimes  represented 
by  two  right  hands  joined,  and  sometimes 
by  two  human  figures  holding  each  other 
by  the  right  hands."  The  deity  here  re- 
ferred to  was  the  goddess  Fides,  to  whom 
Numa  first  erected  temples,  and  whose 
priests  were  covered  by  a  white  veil  as  a 
symbol  of  the  purity  which  should  charac- 
terize Fidelity.  No  victims  were  slain  on 
her  altars,  and  no  offerings  made  to  her 
except  flowers,  wine,  and  incense.  Her 
statues  were  represented  clothed  in  a  white 
mantle,  with  a  key  in  her  hand  and  a  dog 
at  her  feet.  The  virtue  of  Fidelity  is, 
however,  frequently  symbolized  in  ancient 
medals  by  a  heart  in  the  open  hand,  but 
more  usually  by  two  right  hands  clasped. 
Horace  calls  her  "  incorrupta  fides,"  and 
makes  her  the  sister  of  Justice ;  while  Cicero 
says  that  that  which  is  religion  towards 
God  and  piety  towards  our  parents  is  fidel- 
ity towards  our  fellow-men.  There  was 
among  the  Romans  another  deity  called 
Fidius,  who  presided  over  oaths  and  con- 
tracts, a  very  usual  form  of  imprecation 
being  "  Me  Dius  Fidius  adjuvet,"  that  is, 
so  help  me  the  god  Fidius.  No'el  {Diet. 
Fab.)  says  that  there  was  an  ancient  marble 
at  Rome  consecrated  to  the  god  Fidius,  on 
which  was  depicted  two  figures  clasping 
each  other's  hands  as  the  representatives  of 
Honor  and  Truth,  without  which  there  can 
be  no  fidelity  nor  truth  among  men.  Ma- 
sonry, borrowing  its  ideas  from  the  ancient 
poets,  also  makes  the  right  hand  the  sym- 
bol of  Fidelity. 

Fiducial  Sign.  That  is,  the  sign  of 
confiding  trust,  called  also  the  sign  of 
Truth  and  Hope.     One  of  the  signs  of  the 

lEnglish  Royal  Arch  system,  which  is  thus 
explained  by  Dr.  Oliver,  {Diet.  Symb. 
Mas.)  "The  fiducial  sign  shows  us  if  we 
prostrate  ourselves  with  our  face  to  the 
earth,  we  thus  throw  ourselves  on  the 
mercy  of  our  Creator  and  Judge,  looking 
forward  with  humble  confidence  to  his  holy 
promises,  by  which  alone  we  hope  to  pass 
through  the  ark  of  our  redemption  into 
the  mansion  of  eternal  bliss  and  glory 
to  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  the  great 
I  AM,  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  Begin- 
ning and  the  Ending,  the  First  and  the 
Last." 

Fifteen.  A  sacred  number  symbolic 
of  the  name  of  God,  because  the  letters  of 

'the  holy  name  HS  JAH>  are  equal,  in  the 
Hebrew  mode  of  numeration  by  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet,  to  fifteen ;  for  *>  is  equal 
to  ten,  and  |"7  is  equal  to  five.  Hence, 
from  veneration  for  this  sacred  name,  the 
Hebrews  do  not,  in  ordinary  computations, 


FINANCES 


FIRE 


277 


when  they  wish  to  express  the  number 
fifteen,  make  use  of  these  two  letters,  but 
of  two  others,  which  are  equivalent  to  nine 
and  six. 

Finances.  According  to  universal 
usage  in  Masonry,  the  Treasurer  of  the 
Lodge  or  other  body  is  the  banker  or  de- 
positary of  the  finances  of  the  Lodge. 
They  are  first  received  by  the  Secretary, 
who  receipts  for  them,  and  immediately 
pays  them  over  to  the  Treasurer.  The 
Treasurer  distributes  them  under  the  orders 
of  the  Master  and  the  consent  of  the  Lodge. 
This  consent  can  only  be  known  officially 
to  him  by  the  statement  of  the  Secretary. 
And  hence  all  orders  drawn  on  the  Treas- 
urer for  the  disbursement  of  money  should 
be  countersigned  by  the  Secretary. 

Finch,  William.  A  Masonic  char- 
latan, who  flourished  at  the  end  of  the  last 
and  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
Finch  was  a  tailor  in  Canterbury,  who, 
having  been  expelled  for  some  misconduct 
by  the  Grand  Lodge,  commenced  a  system 
of  practical  Masonry  on  his  own  account, 
and  opened  a  Lodge  in  his  house,  where  he 
undertook  to  initiate  candidates  and  to 
give  instructions  in  Masonry.  He  pub- 
lished a  great  number  of  pamphlets,  many 
of  them  in  a  cipher  of  his  own,  which  he 
pretended  were  for  the  instruction  of  the 
Fraternity.  Among  the  books  published 
by  him  are  A  Masonic  Treatise,  with  an  Elu- 
cidation on  the  Religious  and  Moral  Beauties 
of  Freemasonry,  etc. ;  printed  at  Canterbury 
in  1802.  The  Lectures,  Laws,  and  Ceremo- 
nies of  the  Holy  Arch  Degree  of  Freemasonry, 
etc.:  Lambeth,  1812.  The  Origin  of  Free- 
masons, etc.  :  London,  1816.  Finch  found 
many  dupes,  and  made  a  great  deal  of 
money.  But  having  on  one  occasion  been 
sued  by  an  engraver  named  Smith,  for 
money  due  for  printing  his  plates,  Finch 
pleaded  an  offset  of  money  due  by  Smith 
for  initiation  and  instruction  in  Masonry. 
Smith  brought  the  Grand  Secretary  and 
other  distinguished  Masons  into  court,  who 
testified  that  Finch  was  an  impostor.  In 
consequence  of  this  exposure,  Finch  lost 
credit  with  the  community,  and,  sinking 
into  obscurity,  died  sometime  after,  1816, 
in  abject  poverty. 

As  it  is  impossible  to  read  Finch's  Trea- 
tises without  a  knowledge  of  the  cipher 
employed  by  him,  the  following  key  will 
be  found  useful.  We  owe  it  to  the  re- 
searches of  Bro.  H.  C.  Levander,  (Freem. 
Mag.  and  Rev.,  1859,  p.  490.)  In  the  first 
part  of  the  book  the  cipher  used  is  formed 
by  reversing  the  alphabet,  writing  z  for  a,  y 
for  b,  etc.  The  cipher  used  on  the  title- 
page  differs  somewhat  from  this,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  following  tables  : 


FOE  THE  TITLE-PAGE. 

Cipher,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h,  i,  j,  k,  1,  m,  n, 
o,  p,  q,  r,  s,  t,  u,  v,  w,  x,  y,  z. 

■  Key.  b,  d,  f,  h,  j,  1,  n,  p,  r,  t,  v,  x,  z,  y,  w, 
u,  s,  q,  o,  m,  k,  i,  g,  e,  c,  a. 

FOR  THE   FIRST   PART. 

Cipher,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h,  i,  j,  k,  1,  m,  n, 

0,  p,  q,  r,  s,  t,  u,  v,  w,  x,  y,  z. 

Key.  z,  y,  x,  w,  v,  u,  t,  s,  r,  q,  p,  o,  n,  m, 

1,  k,  j,  i,  h,  g,  f,  e,  d,  c,  b,  a. 

In  the  second  part  of  the  work,  a  totally 
different  system  is  employed.  The  words 
may  be  deciphered  by  taking  the  last  letter, 
then  the  first,  then  the  last  but  one,  then 
the  second,  and  so  on.  Two  or  three  words 
are  also  often  run  into  one ;  for  example, 
ereetemhdrdoh,  is  he  ordered  them.  The  nine 
digits  represent  certain  words  of  frequent 
recurrence,  a  repetition  of  the  same  digit 
denoting  the  plural ;  thus,  1  stands  for 
Lodge;  11,  for  Lodges;  3,  Fellow  Craft; 
33,  Fellow  Crafts,  etc. 

Fines.  Fines  for  non-attendance  or 
neglect  of  duty  are  not  now  usually  im- 
posed in  Masonic  bodies,  because  each 
member  is  bound  to  the  discharge  of  these 
duties  by  a  motive  more  powerful  than 
any  that  could  be  furnished  by  a  pecuniary 
penalty.  The  imposition  of  such  a  penalty 
would  be  a  tacit  acknowledgment  of  the 
inadequacy  of  that  motive,  and  would  hence 
detract  from  its  solemnity  and  its  binding 
nature.  It  cannot,  however,  be  denied  that 
the  records  of  old  Lodges  show  that  it 
was  formerly  a  common  custom  to  impose 
fines  for  a  violation  of  the  rules. 

Fire.  The  French,  in  their  Table 
Lodges,  called  the  drinking  a  toast,  feu,  or 
fire. 

Fire    Philosophers.      See    Theo- 


Fire,  Pillars  of.  See  Pillars  of  Fire. 

Fire,  Purification  hy.  See  Puri- 
fication. 

Fire-Worship.  Of  all  the  ancient 
religions,  fire-worship  was  one  of  the  ear- 
liest, next  to  Sabaism ;  and  even  of  this  it 
seems  only  to  have  been  a  development,  as 
with  the  Sabaists  the  sun  was  deemed  the 
Universal  Fire.  "  Darius,"  says  Quintus 
Curtius,  "  invoked  the  sun  as  Mithras,  the 
sacred  and  eternal  fire."  It  was  the  faith 
of  the  ancient  Magi  and  the  old  Persians, 
still  retained  by  their  modern  descendants 
the  Parsees.  But  with  them  it  was  not  an 
idolatry.  The  fire  was  venerated  only  as  a 
visible  symbol  of  the  Supreme  Deity,  of 
the  creative  energy,  from  whom  all  things 
come,  and  to  whom  all  things  ascend.  The 
flame  darting  upwards  to  meet  its  divine 
original,    the    mundane    fire   seeking    an 


278 


FISH 


FIVE 


ascension  to  and  an  absorption  into  the  ce- 
lestial fire,  or  God  himself,  constituted  what 
has  been  called  "  the  flame-secret "  of  the 
fire-worshippers.  This  religion  was  not 
only  very  ancient,  but  also  very  universal. 
From  India  it  passed  over  into  Egypt,  and 
thence  extended  to  the  Hebrews  and  to  the 
Greeks,  and  has  shown  its  power  and  preva- 
lence even  in  modern  thought.  On  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  the  people  did  not,  in- 
deed, fall  down  like  the  old  Persians  and 
worship  fire,  but  they  venerated  the  fire- 
secret  and  its  symbolic  teaching.  Hence 
the  Pyramids,  {pyr  is  Greek  for  fire,)  the 
representation  of  ascending  flame;  and 
Jennings  Hargrave  shrewdly  says  that 
what  has  been  supposed  to  be  a  tomb,  in 
the  centre  of  the  Great  Pyramid,  was  in 
reality  a  depository  of  the  sacred,  ever- 
burning fire.  Monoliths  were  everywhere 
in  antiquity  erected  to  fire  or  to  the  sun, 
as  the  type  of  fire.  Among  the  Hebrews, 
the  sacred  idea  of  fire,  as  something  con- 
nected with  the  Divine  Being,  was  very 
prominent.  God  appeared  to  Moses  in  a 
flame  of  fire;  he  descended  on  Mount 
Sinai  in  the  midst  of  flames ;  at  the  Tem- 
ple the  fire  descended  from  heaven  to  con- 
sume the  burnt-offering.  Everywhere  in 
Scripture,  fire  is  a  symbol  of  the  holiness 
of  God.  The  lights  on  the  altar  are  the 
symbols  of  the  Christian  God.  The  puri- 
fying power  of  fire  is  naturally  deduced 
from  this  symbol  of  the  holiness  of  the  ele- 
ment. And  in  the  high  degrees  of  Mason- 
ry, as  in  the  ancient  institutions,  there  is  a 
purification  by  fire,  coming  down  to  us 
insensibly  and  unconsciously  from  the  old 
Magian  cultus.  In  the  Mediaeval  ages 
there  was  a  sect  of  "  fire-philosophers  "  — 
philosophi  per  ignem  —  who  were  a  branch 
or  offshoot  of  Rosicrucianism,  with  which 
Freemasonry  has  so  much  in  common. 
These  fire-philosophers  kept  up  the  venera- 
tion for  fire,  and  cultivated  the  "fire-se- 
cret," not  as  an  idolatrous  belief,  but  modi- 
fied by  their  hermetic  notions.  They  were 
also  called  "  theosophists,"  and  through 
them,  or  in  reference  to  them,  we  find 
the  theosophic  degrees  of  Masonry,  which 
sprang  up  in  the  eighteenth  century.  As 
fire  and  light  are  identical,  so  the  fire, 
which  was  to  the  Zoroastrians  the  symbol 
of  the  Divine  Being,  is  to  the  Mason,  under 
the  equivalent  idea  of  light,  the  symbol  of 
Divine  Truth,  or  of  the  Grand  Architect. 

Fish.  The  Greek  word  for  fish  is 
IX6T2.  Now  these  five  letters  are  the  ini- 
tials of  the  five  words  Yrjaovq  Xpiaroc  Qeov 
T^of  "Zurrip,  that  is,  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Saviour.  Hence  the  early  Chris- 
tians adopted  the  fish  as  a  Christian  sym- 
bol ;  and  it  is  to  be  fouud  on  many  of  their 
tombs,  and  was  often  worn  as  an  ornament. 


Clement  of  Alexandria,  in  writing  of  the 
ornaments  that  a  Christian  may  constantly 
wear,  mentions  the  fish  as  a  proper  device 
for  a  ring,  as  serving  to  remind  the  Chris- 
tian of  the  origin  of  his  spiritual  life,  the 
fish  referring  to  the  waters  of  baptism. 
The  Vesica  Piscis,  which  is  an  oval  figure, 
pointed  at  both  ends,  and  representing  the 
air  bladder  of  a  fish,  was  adopted,  and  is 
still  often  used  as  the  form  of  the  seal  of 
religious  houses  and  confraternities.  Mar- 
goliouth  (  Vest,  of  Gen.  Freem.,  45,)  says : 
"  In  former  days,  the  Grand  Master  of  our 
Order  used  to  wear  a  silver  fish  on  his  per- 
son ;  but  it  is  to  be  regretted  that,  amongst 
the  many  innovations  which  have  been  of 
late  introduced  into  the  society  to  con- 
ciliate the  prejudices  of  some  who  cannot 
consistently  be  members  of  it,  this  beauti- 
ful emblem  has  disappeared." 

Five.  Among  the  Pythagoreans  five 
was  a  mystical  number,  because  it  wa3 
formed  by  the  union  of  the  first  even  num- 
ber and  the  first  odd,  rejecting  unity ;  and 
hence  it  symbolized  the  mixed  conditions 
of  order  and  disorder,  happiness  and  mis- 
fortune, life  and  death.  The  same  union 
of  the  odd  and  even,  or  male  and  female, 
numbers  made  it  the  symbol  of  marriage. 
Among  the  Greeks  it  was  a  symbol  of  the 
world,  because,  says  Diodorus,  it  repre- 
sented ether  and  the  four  elements.  It 
was  a  sacred  round  number  among  the 
Hebrews.  In  Egypt,  India,  and  other 
Oriental  nations,  says  Gesenius,  the  five 
minor  planets  and  the  five  elements  and 
elementary  powers  were  accounted  sacred. 
It  was  the  pentas  of  the  Gnostics  and  the 
Hermetic  Philosophers ;  it  was  the  symbol 
of  their  quintessence,  the  fifth  or  highest 
essence  of  power  in  a  natural  body.  In 
Masonry,  five  is  a  sacred  number,  inferior 
only  in  importance  to  three  and  seven.  It 
is  especially  significant  in  the  Fellow 
Craft's  degree,  where  five  are  required  to 
hold  a  Lodge,  and  where,  in  the  winding 
stairs,  the  five  steps  are  referred  to  the 
orders  of  architecture  and  the  human 
senses.  In  the  third  degree,  we  find  the 
reference  to  the  five  points  of  fellowship 
and  their  symbol,  the  five-pointed  star. 
Geometry,  too,  which  is  deemed  synony- 
mous with  Masonry,  is  called  the  fifth  sci- 
ence; and,  in  fact,  throughout  nearly  all  the 
degrees  of  Masonry,  we  find  abundant  allu- 
sions to  five  as  a  sacred  and  mystical 
number. 

Five-Pointed  Star.  The  five- 
pointed  star,  which  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  blazing  star,  is  not  found 
among  the  old  symbols  of  Masonry;  in- 
deed, some  writers  have  denied  that  it  is  a 
Masonic  emblem  at  all.  Jt  is  undoubtedly 
of  recent  origin,  and  was  probably  intro- 


FIVE 


FLORIDA 


279 


duced  by  Jeremy  Cross,  who  placed  it 
among  the  plates  in  the  emblems  of  the 
third  degree  prefixed  to  his  Hieroglyphic 
Chart.  It  is  not  mentioned  in  the  ritual 
or  the  lecture  of  the  third  degree,  but  the 
Masons  of  this  country  have,  by  tacit  con- 
sent, referred  to  it  as  a  symbol  of  the  Five 
Points  of  Fellowship.  The  outlines  of  the 
five-pointed  star  are  the  same  as  those  of 
the  pentalpha  of  Pythagoras,  which  was 
the  symbol  of  health.  M.  Jomard,  in  his 
Description  de  VEgypte,  (torn,  viii.,  p.  423,) 
says  that  the  star  engraved  on  the  Egyptian 
monuments,  where  it  is  a  very  common 
hieroglyphic,  has  constantly  five  points, 
never  more  nor  less. 

Five  Points  of  Fellowship.  See 
Points  of  Fellowship. 

Five  Senses.  The  five  senses  of  Hear- 
ing,  Seeing,  Feeling,  Tasting,  and  Smelling 
are  introduced  into  the  lecture  of  the  Fel- 
low Craft  as  a  part  of  the  instructions  of 
that  degree.  See  each  word  in  its  appro- 
priate place.  In  the  earlier  lectures  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  five  senses  were 
explained  in  the  first  degree  as  referring  to 
the  five  who  make  a  Lodge.  Their  subse- 
quent reference  to  the  winding  stairs,  and 
their  introduction  into  the  second  degree, 
were  modern  improvements.  As  these 
senses  are  the  avenues  by  which  the  mind 
receives  its  perceptions  of  things  exterior 
to  it,  and  thus  becomes  the  storehouse  of 
ideas,  they  are  most  appropriately  referred 
to  that  degree  of  Masonry  whose  professed 
object  is  the  pursuit  and  acquisition  of 
knowledge. 

Fixed  Lights.  In  the  old  lectures 
of  the  last  century,  the  fixed  lights  were  the 
three  windows  always  supposed  to  exist  in 
the  East,  South,  and  West.  Their  uses  were, 
according  to  the  ritual,  "  to  light  the  men  to, 
at,  and  from  their  work."  In  the  modern 
lectures  they  have  been  omitted,  and  their 
place  as  symbols  supplied  by  the  lesser  lights. 

Flaming  Sword.  A  sword  whose 
blade  is  of  a  spiral  or  twisted  form  is  called 
by  the  heralds  a  flaming  sword,  from  its  re- 
semblance to  the  ascending  curvature  of  a 
flame  of  fire.  Until  very  recently, 
this  was  the  form  of  the  Tiler's 
sword.  Carelessness  or  ignorance 
has  now  in  many  Lodges  substi- 
tuted for  it  a  common  sword  of  any 
form.  The  flaming  sword  of  the 
Tiler  refers  to  the  flaming  sword 
which  guarded  the  entrance  to 
Paradise,  as  described  in  Genesis, 
(iii.  24:)  "So  he  drove  out  the 
man ;  and  he  placed  at  the  east  of 
the  garden  of  Eden  cherubim, 
and  a  flaming  sword  which  turned 
every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the 
tree  of  life ;  "  or,  as  Eaphall  has 


translated  it,  " the  flaming  sword  which  re- 
volveth,  to  guard  the  way  to  the  tree  of 
life."  In  former  times,  when  symbols  and 
ceremonies  were  more  respected  than  they 
are  now ;  when  collars  were  worn,  and  not 
ribbons  in  the  button-hole ;  and  when  the 
standing  column  of  the  Senior  Warden, 
and  the  recumbent  one  of  the  Junior  dur- 
ing labor,  to  be  reversed  during  refresh- 
ment, were  deemed  necessary  for  the  com- 
plete furniture  of  the  Lodge,  the  cavalry 
sword  was  unknown  as  a  Masonic  imple- 
ment, and  the  Tiler  always  bore  a  flaming 
sword.  It  were  better  if  we  could  get  back 
to  the  old  customs. 

Floats.  Pieces  of  timber,  made  fast 
together  with  rafters,  for  conveying  bur- 
dens down  a  river  with  the  stream.  The 
use  of  these  floats  in  the  building  of  the 
Temple  is  thus  described  in  the  letter  of 
King  Hiram  to  Solomon :  "  And  we  will 
cut  wood  out  of  Lebanon,  as  much  as  thou 
shalt  need ;  and  we  will  bring  it  to  thee  in 
floats  by  sea  to  Joppa;  and  thou  shalt 
carry  it  up  to  Jerusalem."     2  Chron.  ii.  16. 

Floor.  The  floor  of  a  properly  con- 
structed Lodge  room  should  be  covered 
with  alternate  squares  of  black  and  white, 
to  represent  the  Mosaic  pavement  which 
was  the  ground  floor  of  King  Solomon's 
Temple. 

Floor-Cloth.  A  frame-work  of  board 
or  canvas,  on  which  the  emblems  of  any 
particular  degree  are  inscribed,  for  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Master  in  giving  a  lecture. 
It  is  so  called  because  formerly  it  was  the 
custom  to  inscribe  these  designs  on  the 
floor  of  the  Lodge  room  in  chalk,  which 
was  wiped  out  when  the  Lodge  was  closed. 
It  is  the  same  as  the  "  Carpet,"  or  "Trac- 
ing Board." 

Flooring.  The  same  as  floor-cloth, 
which  see. 

Florida.  Freemasonry  was  first  intro- 
duced into  Florida,  in  1806,  by  the  organi- 
zation, in  the  city  of  St  Augustine,  of  St. 
Fernando  Lodge  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Georgia.  In  the  year  1811,  it  was  sup- 
pressed by  a  mandate  of  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment. In  1820,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
South  Carolina  granted  a  Charter  to  Flo- 
ridian  Virtue  Lodge,  No.  28,  but,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  hostility  of  the  political  and 
religious  authorities,  it  did  not  long  exist. 
In  1824,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  South  Caro- 
lina granted  another  Charter  for  Esperanza 
Lodge  at  St.  Augustine,  which  body,  how- 
ever, became  extinct  after  a  year  by  the 
removal  of  most  of  its  members  to  Ha- 
vana. In  1826,  the  Grand  Lodges  of 
Tennessee  and  Georgia  granted  warrants 
for  the  establishment  respectively  of  Jack- 
son Lodge  at  Tallahassee,  Washington 
Lodge  at  Quincy,  and  Harmony  Lodge  at 


280 


FLUDD 


FOLKES 


Mariana.  On  the  5th  July,  1830,  delegates 
from  these  three  Lodges  met  at  Tallahassee, 
and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Florida. 

Fludd,  Robert.  Robert  Fludd,  or, 
as  he  called  himself  in  his  Latin  writings, 
Robertus  de  Fluctibus,  was  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Rosi crucian  Fraternity.  He  was  born  in 
England  in  1574,  and  having  taken  the  de- 
grees of  Bachelor  and  Master  of  Arts  at 
St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  he  commenced 
the  study  of  physic,  and  in  due  time  took 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He 
died  in  1637.  In  1616,  he  commenced  the 
publication  of  his  works  and  became  a 
voluminous  writer,  whose  subject  and  style 
were  equally  dark  and  mysterious.  The 
most  important  of  his  publications  are 
Apologia  Compendaria,  Fraternitatem  de 
Rosea  Cruce,  suspicionis  et  in/amice  maculis 
aspersum  abluens,"  (Leyden,  1616,)  i.  e.,  A 
Brief  Apology,  clearing  the  Fraternity  of  the 
Rosy  Cross  from  the  stigma  of  suspicion  and 
infamy  with  which  they  have  been  aspersed  ; 
and  Tractatus  Apologeticus  integritatem  Socie- 
tatis  de  Rosea  Oruce  defendem  contra  Liba- 
nium  et  alios,  (Leyden,  1617,)  or,  An  Apol- 
ogetic Tract  defending  the  purity  of  the  So- 
ciety of  the  Rosy  Cross  from  the  attacks  of 
lAbanius  and  others.  And  last,  and  wildest 
of  all,  was  his  extravagant  work  on  magic, 
the  kabbala,  alchemy,  and  Rosicrucianism, 
entitled  Summum  bonum,  quod  est  verum 
magim,  cabalos,  alchymice,  fratrum  Rosoz 
Crucis  verorum  veroz  subjectum.  Rosicruci- 
anism was  perhaps  indebted  more  to  Fludd 
than  to  any  other  person  for  its  introduc- 
tion from  Germany  into  England,  and  it  may 
have  had  its  influence  in  moulding  the  form 
of  Speculative  Freemasonry ;  but  I  am  not 
prepared  to  go  as  far  as  a  distinguished  writer 
in  the  London  Freemason's  Magazine,  (April, 
1858, )  who  says  that "  Fludd  must  be  consid- 
ered as  the  immediate  father  of  Freemasonry 
as  Andrea  was  its  remote  father."  Nicolai 
more  rationally  remarks  that  Fludd,  like 
Andrea,  exerted  a  considerable  and  benefi- 
cial influence  on  the  manners  of  his  age. 
His  explanation  of  the  Rose  Croix  is  worth 
quoting.  He  says  that  it  symbolically  sig- 
nifies the  cross  dyed  with  the  blood  of  the 
Saviour;  a  Christian  idea  which  was  in  ad- 
vance of  the  original  Rosicrucians. 

Folkes,  Martin.  From  his  acquaint- 
ance with  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  and  his 
intimacy  with  Dr.  Desaguliers,  Martin 
Folkes  was  induced  to  take  an  active  part 
in  the  reorganization  of  Freemasonry  in 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  his 
literary  attainments  and  prominent  position 
in  the  scientific  world  enabled  him  to  ex- 
ercise a  favorable  influence  on  the  character 
of  the  Institution.  He  was  descended 
from  a  good  family,  being  the  eldest  son  of 


Martin  Folkes,  Esq.,  Counsellor  at  Law,  and 
Dorothy,  the  daughter  of  Sir  William 
Howell,  Knt.,  of  the  county  of  Norfolk. 
He  was  born  in  Queen  Street,  Leicester 
Inn  Fields,  Westminster,  October  29,  1690. 
In  1707  he  was  entered  at  Clare  Hall,  Cam- 
bridge, and  in  1713  elected  a  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society,  of  which,  in  1723,  he 
was  appointed  Vice  President.  In  1727, 
on  the  death  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  he  be- 
came a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  in 
which  he  was  defeated  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane, 
who,  however,  renewed  his  appointment  as 
Vice  President,  and  in  1741,  on  the  resig- 
nation of  Sloane  as  President,  he  was 
elected  his  successor.  In  1742,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Royal  Academy 
of  Sciences  of  Paris,  and  in  1746  received 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  the 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge. 

In  1750,  he  was  elected  President  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries.  To  this  and  to  the 
Royal  Society  he  contributed  many  essays, 
and  published  a  work  entitled,  A  Table  of 
English  Silver  Coins,  which  is  still  much  es- 
teemed as  a  numismatic  authority.  On 
September  26,  1751,  he  was  struck  with 
paralysis,  from  which  he  never  completely 
recovered.  On  November  30,  1753,  he  re- 
signed the  Presidency  of  the  Royal  Society, 
but  retained  that  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries until  his  death.  In  1733,  he  visited 
Italy,  and  remained  there  until  1735,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  appears  to  have  ingrati- 
ated himself  with  the  Masons  of  that 
country,  for  in  1742  they  struck  a  medal  in 
his  honor,  a  copy  of  which  is  to  be  found 
in  Thory's  History  of  tlie  Foundation  of  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France.  On  one  side  is  a 
pyramid,  a  sphinx,  some  Masonic  ciphers, 
and  the  two  pillars,  and  on  the  obverse  a 
likeness  of  Folkes. 

Of  the  Masonic  life  of  Folkes  we  have 
but  few  records.  In  1725,  he  was  appointed 
Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  and  is  recorded  as  having  paid 
great  attention  to  the  duties  of  his  office. 
Anderson  says  that  he  presided  over  the 
Grand  Lodge  in  May  of  that  year,  and 
"  prompted  a  most  agreeable  communica- 
tion." But  he  held  no  office  afterwards; 
yet  he  is  spoken  of  as  having  taken  great  in- 
terest in  the  Institution.  Of  his  literary 
contributions  to  Masonry  nothing  remains. 

The  Pocket  Companion  cites  an  address 
by  him,  in  1725,  before  the  Grand  Lodge, 
probably  at  that  very  communication  to 
which  Anderson  has  alluded,  but  it  is  un- 
fortunately no  longer  extant.  He  died  June 
25,  1754,  and  was  buried  in  the  Chancel  of 
Hillington  Church  near  Lynn,  Norfolk. 
He  left  a  wife  and  two  daughters,  an  only 
son  having  died  before  him. 

Nichols,  who  knew  him  personally,  says 


FOOL 


FORM 


281 


{Lit. Anecd., ii.  591,)  of  him:  "His  knowl- 
edge was  very  extensive,  his  judgment  ex- 
act and  accurate,  and  the  precision  of  his 
ideas  appeared  from  the  perspicuity  and 
conciseness  of  his  expression  in  his  dis- 
courses and  writings  on  abstruse  and  diffi- 
cult   topics He    had    turned     his 

thoughts  to  the  study  of  antiquity  and  the 
polite  arts  with  a  philosophical  spirit, 
which  he  had  contracted  by  the  cultivation 
of  the  mathematical  sciences  from  his 
earliest  youth."  His  valuable  library  of 
more  than  five  thousand  volumes  wafe  sold 
for  £3,090  at  auction  after  his  decease. 

Fool.  A  fool,  as  one  not  in  possession 
of  sound  reason,  a  natural  or  idiot,  is  intel- 
lectually unfit  for  initiation  into  the  mys- 
teries of  Freemasonry,  because  he  is  in- 
capable of  comprehending  the  principles  of 
the  Institution,  and  is  without  any  moral 
responsibility  for  a  violation  or  neglect  of 
its  duties. 

Foot  stone.  The  corner  -  stone.  "  To 
level  the  footstone "  =  to  lay  the  corner- 
stone. Thus,  Oliver :  "  Solomon  was  en- 
abled to  level  the  footstone  of  the  Temple 
in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign." 

Foot  to  Foot.  The  old  lectures  of 
the  last  century  descanted  on  the  symbolism 
of  foot  to  foot  as  teaching  us  "  that  indo- 
lence should  not  permit  the  foot  to  halt  or 
wrath  to  turn  our  steps  out  of  the  way ; 
but  forgetting  injuries  and  selfish  feelings, 
and  remembering  that  man  was  born  for 
the  aid  of  his  fellow-creatures,  not  for  his 
own  enjoyments  only,  but  to  do  that  which 
is  good,  we  should  be  swift  to  extend  our 
mercy  and  benevolence  to  all,  but  more 
particularly  to  a  brother  Mason."  The 
present  lecture  on  the  same  subject  gives  the 
same  lesson  more  briefly  and  more  emphati- 
cally, when  it  says,  "  we  should  never  halt 
nor  grow  weary  in  the  service  of  a  brother 
Mason." 

Fords  of  the  Jordan.  The  slaugh- 
ter of  the  Ephraimitesat  the  passages  or  fords 
of  the  river  Jordan,  which  is  described  in  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Judges,  is  re- 
ferred to  in  the  ritual  of  the  Fellow  Craft's 
degree.  Morris,  in  his  Freemasonry  in  the 
Holy  Land,  (p.  316,)  says :  "  The  exact  locali- 
ty of"  these  fords  (or  *■  passages,'  as  the  Bible 
terms  them,)  cannot  now  be  designated, 
but  most  likely  they  were  those  nearly  due 
east  of  Seikoot  and  opposite  Mizpah.  At 
these  fords,  in  summer  time,  the  water  is  not 
more  than  three  or  four  feet  deep,  the  bottom 
being  composed  of  a  hard  limestone  rock. 
If,  as  some  think,  the  fords,  thirty  miles 
higher  up,  are  those  referred  to,  the  same  de- 
scription will  apply.  At  either  place,  the 
Jordan  is  about  eighty  feet  wide,  its  banks 
encumbered  by  a  dense  growth  of  tama- 
risks, cane,  willows,  thorn-bushes,  and  other 
2L 


low  vegetation  of  the  shrubby  and  thorny 
sorts,  which  make  it  difficult  even  to  ap- 
proach the  margin  of  the  stream.  The 
Arabs  cross  the  river  at  the  present  day, 
at  stages  of  low  water,  at  a  number  of 
fords,  from  the  one  near  the  point  where 
the  Jordan  leaves  the  Sea  of  Galilee  down 
to  the  Pilgrims'  Ford,  six  miles  above  the 
Dead  Sea." 

Foreign  Country.  The  lecture  of 
the  third  degree  begins  by  declaring  that 
the  recipient  was  induced  to  seek  that 
sublime  degree  "  that  he  might  perfect  him- 
self in  Masonry,  so  as  to  travel  into  foreign 
countries,  and  work  and  receive  wages  as  a 
Master  Mason." 

Thousands  have  often  heard  this  ritual- 
istic expression  at  the  opening  and  closing 
of  a  Master's  Lodge,  without  dreaming  for 
a  moment  of  its  hidden  and  spiritual  mean- 
ing, or,  if  they  think  of  any  meaning  at  all, 
they  content  themselves  by  interpreting  it 
as  referring  to  the  actual  travels  of  the  Ma- 
sons, after  the  completion  of  the  Temple, 
into  the  surrounding  countries  in  search  of 
employment,  whose  wages  were  to  be  the 
gold  and  silver  which  they  could  earn  by  the 
exercise  of  their'  skill  in  the  operative  art. 

But  the  true  symbolic  meaning  of  the 
foreign  country  into  which  the  Master  Ma- 
son travels  in  search  of  wages  is  far  dif- 
ferent. 

The  symbolism  of  this  life  terminates 
with  the  Master's  degree.  The  completion 
of  that  degree  is  the  lesson  of  death  and  the 
resurrection  to  a  future  life,  where  the  tkue 
word,  or  Divine  Truth,  not  given  in  this, 
is  to  be  received  as  the  reward  of  a  life 
worthily  spent  in  its  search.  Heaven,  the 
future  life,  the  higher  state  of  existence 
after  death,  is  the  foreign  country  in  which 
the  Master  Mason  is  to  enter,  and  there  he 
is  to  receive  his  wages  in  the  reception  of 
that  truth  which  can  be  imparted  only  in 
that  better  land. 

Foresters'  Degrees.  This  title  has 
been  given  to  certain  secret  associations 
which  derive  their  symbols  and  ceremonies 
from  trades  practised  in  forests,  such  as  the 
Carbonari,  or  Charcoal-burners;  the  Fen- 
deurs,  or  Wood-cutters  ;  the  Sawyers,  etc. 
They  are  all  imitative  of  Freemasonry. 

Forest  of  ^Lebanon.    See  Lebanon. 

Forfeiture  of  Charter.  A  Lodge 
may  forfeit  its  charter  for  misconduct,  and 
when  forfeited,  the  warrant  or  charter  is 
revoked  by  the  Grand  Lodge.  See  Revoca- 
tion of  Charter. 

Form.  In  Masonry,  an  official  act  is 
said  to  be  done,  according  to  the  rank  of 
the  person  who  does  it,  either  in  ample  form, 
in  due  form,  or  simply  inform.  Thus,  when 
the  Grand  Lodge  is  opened  by  the  Grand 
Master  in  person,  it  is  said  to  be  opened  in 


282 


FORM 


FORTY 


ample  form ;  when  by  the  Deputy  Grand 
Master,  it  is  said  to  be  in  due  form  ;  when 
by  any  other  qualified  officer,  it  is  said  to 
be  in  form.  The  legality  of  the  act  is  the 
same  whether  it  be  done  in  form  or  in 
ample  form ;  and  the  expletive  refers  only 
to  the  dignity  of  the  officer  by  whom  the 
act  is  performed. 

Form  of  the  Lodge.  The  form  of 
a  Mason's  Lodge  is  said  to  be  an  oblong 
square,  having  its  greatest  length  from  east 
to  west,  and  its  greatest  breadth  from  north 
to  south.  This  oblong  form  of  the  Lodge 
has,  I  think,  a  symbolic  allusion  that  has 
not  been  adverted  to  by  any  other  writer. 

If,  on  a  map  of  the  world,  we  draw  lines 
which  shall  circumscribe  just  that  portion 
which  was  known  and  inhabited  at  the 
time  of  the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple, 
these  lines,  running  a  short  distance  north 
and  south  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and 
extending  from  Spain  to  Asia  Minor,  will 
form  an  oblong  square,  whose  greatest  length 
will  be  from  east  to  west,  and  whose  greatest 
breadth  will  be  from  north  to  south,  as  is 
shown  in  the  annexed  diagram. 


AFRIC  A^-^ 


There  is  a  peculiar  fitness  in  this  theory, 
which  is  really  only  making  the  Masonic 
Lodge  a  symbol  of  the  world.  It  must  be 
remembered  that,  at  the  era  of  the  Temple, 
the  earth  was  supposed  to  have  the  form  of 
a  parallelogram,  or  "  oblong  square."  Such 
a  figure  inscribed  upon  a  map  of  the  world, 
and  including  only  that  part  of  it  which 
was  known  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  would 
present  just  such  a  square,  embracing  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  countries  lying 
immediately  on  its  northern,  southern,  and 
eastern  borders.  Beyond,  far  in  the  north, 
would  be  Cimmerian  deserts  as  a  place  of 
darkness,  while  the  pillars  of  Hercules  in 
the  west,  on  each  side  of  the  Straits  of  Ga- 
des  —  now  Gibraltar  —  might  appropriately 
be  referred  to  the  two  pillars  that  stood  at 
the  porch  of  the  Temple.  Thus  the  world 
itself  would  be  the  true  Mason's  Lodge,  in 
which  he  was  to  live  and  labor.  Again  : 
the  solid  contents  of  the  earth  below,  "from 
the  surface  to  the  centre,"  and  the  profound 
expanse  above,  "from  the  earth  to  the 
highest  heavens,"  would  give  to  this  paral- 


lelogram the  outlines  of  a  double  cube,  and 
meet  thereby  that  definition  which  says 
that  "  the  form  of  the  Lodge  ought  to  be  a 
double  cube,  as  an  expressive  emblem  of 
the  powers  of  light  and  darkness  in  the 
creation." 

Formula.  A  prescribed  mode  or  form 
of  doing  or  saying  anything.  The  word  is 
derived  from  the  technical  language  of  the 
Roman  law,  where,  after  the  old  legal  ac- 
tions had  been  abolished,  suits  were  prac- 
tised according  to  certain  prescribed  forms 
called  'formu  Ice. 

Formulas  in  Freemasonry  are  very  fre- 
quent. They  are  either  oral  or  monitorial. 
Oral  formulas  are  those  that  are  employed 
in  various  parts  of  the  ritual,  such  as  the 
opening  and  closing  of  a  Lodge,  the  investi- 
ture of  a  candidate,  etc.  From  the  fact  of 
their  oral  transmission  they  are  frequently 
corrupted  or  altered,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  prolific  sources  of  non-conformity  so 
often  complained  of  by  Masonic  teach- 
ers. Monitorial  formulas  are  those  that  are 
committed  to  writing,  and  are  to  be  found 
in  the  various  monitors  and  manuals.  They 
are  such  as  relate  to  public  installations, 
to  laying  foundation-stones,  to  dedica- 
tions of  halls,  to  funerals,  etc.  Their 
monitorial  character  ought  to  preserve 
them  from  change ;  but  uniformity  is  not 
even  here  always  attained,  owing  to  the 
whims  of  the  compilers  of  manuals  or  of 
monitors,  who  have  often  unnecessarily 
changed  the  form  of  words  from  the 
original  standard. 

Fortitude.  One  of  the  four  cardi- 
nal virtues,  whose  excellencies  are  di- 
lated on  in  the  first  degree.  It  not  only 
instructs  the  worthy  Mason  to  bear  the  ills 
of  life  with  becoming  resignation,  "  taking 
up  arms  against  a  sea  of  trouble,"  but.  by  its 
intimate  connection  with  a  portion  of  our 
ceremonies,  it  teaches  him  to  let  no  dan- 
gers shake,  no  pains  dissolve  the  inviolable 
fidelity  he  owes  to  the  trusts  reposed  in 
him.  Or,  in  the  words  of  the  old  Presto- 
nian  lecture,  it  is  "  a  fence  or  security 
against  any  attack  that  might  be  made 
upon  him,  by  force  or  otherwise,  to  extort 
from  him  any  of  our  Eoyal  Secrets." 

Spence,  in  his  Polymetis,  (p.  139,)  when 
describing  the  moral  virtues,  says  of  Forti- 
tude :  "  She  may  be  easily  known  by  her 
erect  air  and  military  dress,  the  spear  she 
rests  on  with  one  hand,  and  the  sword  which 
she  holds  in  the  other.  She  has  a  globe 
under  her  feet;  I  suppose  to  show  that  the 
Romans,  by  means  of  this  virtue,  were  to 
subdue  the  whole  world." 

Forty -Seventh  Prohlem.  The 
forty-seventh  problem  of  Euclid's  first  book, 
which  has  been  adopted  as  a  symbol  in  the 
Master's  degree,  is  thus  enunciated:   "In 


FORTY 


FORTY 


283 


any  right-angled  triangle,  the  square  which 
is  described  upon  the  side  subtending  the 
right  angle  is  equal  to  the  squares  described 
upon  the  sides  which  contain  the  right 
angle."  Thus,  in  a  triangle  whose  perpen- 
dicular is  3  feet,  the  square  of  which  is  9, 
and  whose  base  is  4  feet,  the  square  of 
which  is  16,  the  hypothenuse,  or  subtend- 
ing side,  will  be  5  feet,  the  square  of  which 
will  be  25,  which  is  the  sum  of  9  and  16. 
This  interesting  problem,  on  account  of  its 
great  utility  in  making  calculations  and 
drawing  plans  for  buildings,  is  sometimes 
called  the  "  Carpenter's  Theorem." 

For  the  demonstration  of  this  problem 
the  world  is  indebted  to  Pythagoras,  who, 
it  is  said,  was  so  elated  after  making  the 
discovery,  that  he  made  an  offering  of  a 
hecatomb,  or  a  sacrifice  of  a  hundred 
oxen,  to  the  gods.  The  devotion  to  learn- 
ing which  this  religious  act  indicated  in 
the  mind  of  the  ancient  philosopher  has 
induced  Masons  to  adopt  the  problem  as  a 
memento,  instructing  them  to  be  lovers  of 
the  arts  and  sciences. 

The  triangle,  whose  base  is  4  parts,  whose 
perpendicular  is  3,  and  whose  hypothenuse 
is  5,  and  which  would  exactly  serve  for  a 
demonstration  of  this  problem,  was,  accord- 
ing to  Plutarch,  a  symbol  frequently  em- 
ployed by  the  Egyptian  priests,  and  hence 
it  is  called  by  M.  Jomard,  in  his  Exposi- 
tion du  Systime  Metrique  des  Anciens  Egyp- 
tiens,  the  Egyptian  triangle.  It  was,  with 
the  Egyptians,  the  symbol  of  universal  na- 
ture, —  the  base  representing  Osiris,  or  the 
male  principle;  the  perpendicular,  Isis,  or 
the  female  principle;  and  the  hypothenuse, 
Horus,  their  son,  or  the  produce  of  the  two 
principles.  They  added  that  3  was  the 
first  perfect  odd  number,  that  4  was  the 
square  of  2,  the  first  even  number,  and 
that  5  was  the  result  of  3  and  2. 

But  the  Egyptians  made  a  still  more  im- 
portant use  of  this  triangle.  It  was  the 
standard  of  all  their  measures  of  extent, 
and  was  applied  by  them  to  the  building 
of  the  pyramids.  The  researches  of  M. 
Jomard,  on  the  Egyptian  system  of  meas- 
ures, published  in  the  magnificent  work  of 
the  French  savans  on  Egypt,  has  placed  us 
completely  in  possession  of  the  uses  made 
by  the  Egyptians  of  this  forty-seventh 
problem  of  Euclid,  and  of  the  triangle 
which  formed  the  diagram  by  which  it  was 
demonstrated. 

If  we  inscribe  within  a  circle  a  triangle, 
whose  perpendicular  shall  be  300  parts, 
whose  base  shall  be  400  parts,  and  whose 
hypothenuse  shall  be  500  parts,  which,  of 
course,  bear  the  same  proportion  to  each 
other  as  3,  4,  and  5;  then  if  we  let  a  per- 
pendicular fall  from  the  angle  of  the  per- 
pendicular and  base  to  the  hypothenuse, 


and  extend  it  through  the  hypothenuse  to 
the  circumference  of  the  circle,  this  chord 
or  line  will  be  equal  to  480  parts,  and  the 
two  segments  of  the  hypothenuse,  on  each 
side  of  it,  will  be  found  equal,  respectively, 
to  180  and  320.  From  the  point  where 
this  chord  intersects  the  hypothenuse  let 
another  line  fall  perpendicularly  to  the 
shortest  side  of  the  triangle,  and  this  line 
will  be  equal  to  144  parts,  while  the  shorter 
segment,  formed  by  its  junction  with  the 
perpendicular  side  of  the  triangle,  will  be 
equal  to  108  parts.  Hence,  we  may  derive 
the  following  measures  from  the  diagram : 
500,  480,  400,  320,  180,  144,  and  108,  and 
all  these  without  the  slightest  fraction. 
Supposing,  then,  the  500  to  be  cubits,  we 
have  the  measure  of  the  base  of  the  great 
pyramid  of  Memphis.  In  the  400  cubits 
of  the  base  of  the  triangle  we  have  the 
exact  length  of  the  Egyptian  stadium. 
The  320  gives  us  the  exact  number  of 
Egyptian  cubits  contained  in  the  Hebrew 
and  Babylonian  stadium.  The  stadium  of 
Ptolemy  is  represented  by  the  480  cubits, 
or  length  of  the  line  falling  from  the  right 
angle  to  the  circumference  of  the  circle, 
through  the  hypothenuse.  The  number 
180,  which  expresses  the  smaller  segment 
of  the  hypothenuse,  being  doubled,  will 
give  360  cubits,  which  will  be  the  stadium 
of  Cleomedes.  By  doubling  the  144,  the 
result  will  be  288  cubits,  or  the  length  of 
the  stadium  of  Archimedes ;  and  by  dou- 
bling the  108,  we  produce  216  cubits,  or 
the  precise  value  of  the  lesser  Egyptian 
stadium.  In  this  manner,  we  obtain  from 
this  triangle  all  the  measures  of  length 
that  were  in  use  among  the  Egyptians; 
and  since  this  triangle,  whose  sides  are 
equal  to  3,  4,  and  5,  was  the  very  one  that 
most  naturally  would  be  used  in  demon- 
strating the  forty-seventh  problem  of  Eu- 
clid; and  since  by  these  three  sides  the 
Egyptians  symbolized  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Ho- 
rus, or  the  two  producers  and  the  product, 
the  very  principle,  expressed  in  symbolic 
language,  which  constitutes  the  terms  of 
the  problem  as  enunciated  by  Pythagoras, 
that  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  two  sides 
will  produce  the  square  of  the  third,  we 
have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  forty- 
seventh  problem  was  perfectly  known  to 
the  Egyptian  priests,  and  by  them  commu- 
nicated to  Pythagoras. 

Dr.  Lardner,  in  his  edition  of  Euclid, 
says :  "  Whether  we  consider  the  forty- 
seventh  proposition  with  reference  to  the 
peculiar  and  beautiful  relation  established 
in  it,  or  to  its  innumerable  uses  in  every 
department  of  mathematical  science,  or  to 
its  fertility  in  the  consequences  derivable 
from  it,  it  must  certainly  be  esteemed  the 
most  celebrated  and  important  in  the  whole 


284 


FOUL 


FOUR 


of  the  elements,  if  not  in  the  whole  range, 
of  mathematical  science.  It  is  by  the  influ- 
ence of  this  proposition,  and  that  which 
establishes  the  similitude  of  equiangular 
triangles,  (in  the  sixth  book,)  that  geom- 
etry has  been  brought  under  the  dominion 
of  algebra ;  and  it  is  upon  the  same  princi- 
ples that  the  whole  science  of  trigonometry 
is  founded. 

"The  XXXIId  and  XLVIIth  proposi- 
tions are  said  to  have  been  discovered  by 
Pythagoras,  and  extraordinary  accounts  are 
given  of  his  exultation  upon  his  first  percep- 
tion of  their  truth.  It  is,  however,  supposed 
by  some  that  Pythagoras  acquired  a  knowl- 
edge of  them  in  Egypt,  and  was  the  first  to 
make  them  known  in  Greece." 

Foul.  The  ballot-box  is  said  to  be 
"  foul"  when,  in  the  ballot  for  the  initiation 
or  advancement  of  a  candidate,  one  or  more 
black  balls  are  found  in  it. 

Foundation-Stone.  This  term  has 
been  repeatedly  used  by  Dr.  Oliver,  and 
after  him  by  some  other  writers,  to  desig- 
nate the  chief  or  corner-stone  of  the  Tem- 
ple or  any  other  building.  Thus,  Oliver 
says,  "  the  Masonic  days  proper  for  laying 
the  foundation-stone  of  a  Mason's  Lodge 
are  from  the  loth  of  April  to  the  15th  of 
May ; "  evidently  meaning  the  corner- 
stone. The  usage  is  an  incorrect  one. 
The  foundation-stone,  more  properly  the 
stone  of  foundation,  is  very  different  from 
the  corner-stone. 

Foundation,  Stone  of.  See  Stone 
of  Foundation. 

Fountain.  In  some  of  the  high  de- 
grees a  fountain  constitutes  a  part  of  the 
furniture  of  the  initiation.  In  the  science 
of  symbology,  the  fountain,  as  representing 
a  stream  of  continually  flowing  water,  is  a 
symbol  of  refreshment  to  the  weary ;  and  so 
it  might  be  applied  in  the  degrees  in  which 
it  is  found,  although  there  is  no  explicit 
interpretation  of  it  in  the  ritual,  where  it 
seems  to  have  been  introduced  rather  as  an 
exponent  of  the  dampness  and  darkness  of 
the  place  which  was  a  refuge  for  criminals 
and  a  spot  fit  for  crime.  Brother  Pike  re- 
fers to  the  fountain  as  "  tradition,  a  slender 
stream  flowing  from  the  Past  into  the  Pres- 
ent, which,  even  in  the  thickest  darkness 
of  barbarism,  keeps  alive  some  memory  of 
the  Old  Truth  in  the  human  heart."  But 
this  beautiful  idea  is  not  found  in  the  sym- 
bolism as  interpreted  in  the  old  rituals. 

Four.  Four  is  the  tetrad  or  quarternary 
of  the  Pythagoreans,  and  it  is  a  sacred 
number  in  the  high  degrees.  The  Pytha- 
goreans called  it  a  perfect  number,  and 
hence  it  has  been  adopted  as  a  sacred  num- 
ber in  the  degree  of  Perfect  Master.  In 
many  nations  of  antiquity  the  name  of  God 
consists  of  four  letters,  as  the  Adad  of  the 


Syrians,  the  Amum  of  the  Egyptians,  the 
9E02  of  the  Greeks,  the  Deus  of  the  Ro- 
mans, and  pre-eminently  the  Tetragramma- 
ton  or  lour- lettered  name  of  the  Jews.  But 
in  Symbolic  Masonry  this  number  has  no 
special  significance. 

Four  Crowned  Martyrs.  The 
legend  of  "The  Four  Crowned  Martyrs" 
should  be  interesting  to  Masonic  scholars, 
because  it  is  one  of  the  few  instances,  per- 
haps the  only  one,  in  which  the  church 
has  been  willing  to  do  honor  to  those  old 
workers  in  stone,  whose  services  it  readily 
secured  in  the  Mediaeval  ages,  but  with 
whom,  as  with  their  successors  the  modern 
Freemasons,  it  has  always  appeared  to  be 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  antagonism. 
Besides,  these  humble  but  true-hearted  con- 
fessors of  the  faith  of  Christianity  were 
adopted  by  the  Stone-masons  of  Germany 
as  the  patron  saints  of  Operative  Masonry, 
just  as  the  two  Saints  John  have  been 
since  selected  as  the  patrons  of  the  Specu- 
lative branch  of  the  Institution. 

The  late  Dr.  Christian  Ehrmann,  of 
Strasburg,  who  for  thirty  years  had  de- 
voted his  attention  to  this  and  to  kindred 
subjects  of  Masonic  archaeology,  has  sup- 
plied us  with  the  most  interesting  details 
of  the  life  and  death  of  the  Four  Crowned 
Martyrs. 

The  Roman  Church  has  consecrated  the 
8th  of  November  to  the  commemoration  of 
these  martyrs,  and  yearly,  on  that  day, 
offers  up  the  prayer:  "Grant,  we  beseech 
thee,  O  Almighty  God,  that  as  we  have 
been  informed  of  the  constancy  of  the  glo- 
rious martyrs  in  the  profession  of  Thy 
faith,  so  we  may  experience  their  kindness 
in  recommending  us  to  Thy  mercy."  The 
Roman  Breviary  of  1474  is  more  explicit, 
and  mentions  them  particularly  by  name. 

It  is,  therefore,  somewhat  remarkable, 
that,  although  thus  careful  in  their  com- 
memoration, the  missals  of  the  church 
give  us  no  information  of  the  deeds  of  these 
holy  men.  It  is  only  from  the  breviaries 
that  we  can  learn  anything  of  the  act  on 
which  the  commemoration  in  the  calendar 
was  founded.  Of  these  breviaries,  Ehr- 
mann has  given  full  citations  from  two : 
the  Breviary  of  Rome,  published  in  1474, 
and  the  Breviary  of  Spire,  published  in 
1478.  These,  with  some  few  extracts  from 
other  books  on  the  subject,  have  been  made 
accessible  to  us  by  George  Kloss,  in  his  in- 
teresting work  entitled,  Freimaurerei  in 
ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  or  Freemasonry  in 
its  true  Significance. 

The  Breviarium  Romanum  is  much  more 
complete  in  its  details  than  the  Breviarium 
Spireme;  and  yet  the  latter  contains  a  few 
incidents  that  are  not  related  in  the  former. 
Both  agree  in  applying  to  the  Four  Crowned 


FOUR 


FOUR 


285 


Martyrs  the  title  of  "  quadratarii.'"  Now 
quadratarius,  in  the  Latin  of  the  lower  age, 
signified  a  Stone-squarer  or  a  Mason.  This 
will  remind  us  of  the  passage  in  the  Book 
of  Kings,  thus  translated  in  the  authorized 
version :  "And  Solomon's  builders  and  Hi- 
ram's builders  did  hew  them,  and  the  stone- 
squarers."  It  is  evident  from  the  use  of 
this  word  "  quadratarii  "  in  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal legends,  as  well  as  from  the  incidents 
of  the  martyrdom  itself,  that  the  four  mar- 
tyrs were  not  simply  sculptors,  but  stone- 
cutters and  builders  of  temples :  in  other 
words,  Operative  Masons.  Nor  can  we 
deny  the  probability  of  the  supposition, 
that  they  were  members  of  one  of  those  col- 
leges of  architects,  which  afterwards  gave 
birth  to  the  gilds  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
corporations  of  builders,  and  through  these 
to  the  modern  Lodges  of  Freemasons.  Sup- 
posing the  legend  to  be  true,  or  even  ad- 
mitting that  it  is  only  symbolical,  we  must 
acknowledge  that  there  has  been  good  rea- 
son why  the  Operative  Masons  should  have 
selected  these  martyrs  as  the  patron  saints 
of  their  profession. 

And  now  let  us  apply  ourselves  to  the 
legend.  Taking  the  Roman  Breviary  as 
the  groundwork,  and  only  interpolating  it 
at  the  proper  points  with  the  additional 
incidents  related  in  the  Breviary  of  Spire, 
we  have  the  following  result  as  the  story 
of  the  Four  Crowned  Martyrs. 

In  the  last  quarter  of  the  third  century 
Diocletian  was  emperor  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire. In  his  reign  commenced  that  series 
of  persecutions  of  the  Christian  church, 
which  threatened  at  one  time  to  annihilate 
the  new  religion,  and  gave  to  the  period 
among  Christian  writers  the  name  of  the 
iEra  of  Martyrs.  Thousands  of  Christians, 
who  refused  to  violate  their  consciences  by 
sacrificing  to  the  heathen  gods,  became  the 
victims  of  the  bigotry  and  intolerance,  the 
hatred  and  the  cruelty,  of  the  Pagan  priests 
and  the  Platonic  philosophers;  and  the 
scourge,  the  cross,  or  the  watery  grave 
daily  testified  to  the  constancy  and  firm- 
ness of  the  disciples  of  the  prophet  of 
Nazareth. 

Diocletian  had  gone  to  the  province  of 
Pannonia,  that  he  might  by  his  own  pres- 
ence superintend  the  bringing  of  metals 
and  stones  from  the  neighboring  mines  of 
Noricum,  wherewith  to  construct  a  temple 
consecrated  to  the  sun-god,  Apollo.  Among 
the  six  hundred  and  twenty-two  artisans 
whom  he  had  collected  together  for  this 
purpose  were  four  —  by  name  Claudius, 
Castorius,  Symphorianus,  and  Nichostra- 
tus  —  said  to  have  been  distinguished  for 
their  skill  as  Stone-masons.  They  had  aban- 
doned the  old  heathen  faith  and  were  in 
secret  Christians,  doing  all  their  work  as 


Masons  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  Breviary  of  Spires  relates  here  an 
additional  occurrence,  which  is  not  con- 
tained in  the  Breviary  of  Rome,  and  which, 
as  giving  a  miraculous  aspect  to  the  legend, 
must  have  made  it  doubly  acceptable  to  the 
pious  Christians  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
upon  whose  religious  credulity  one  could 
safely  draw  without  danger  of  a  protest. 

It  seems  that,  in  company  with  our  four 
blessed  martyrs,  there  worked  another  Ma- 
son, one  Simplicius,  who  was  also  a  Mason, 
but  a  heathen.  While  he  was  employed 
in  labor  near  them,  he  wondered  to  see  how 
much  they  surpassed  in  skill  and  cunning 
all  the  other  artisans.  They  succeeded  in 
all  that  they  attempted,  while  he  was  un- 
fortunate, and  always  breaking  his  working 
tools.  At  last  he  approached  Claudius,  and 
said  to  him : 

"Strengthen,  I  beseech  thee,  my  tools, 
that  they  may  no  longer  break." 

Claudius  took  them  in  his  hands,  and 
said: 

"In  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
be  these  tools  henceforth  strong  and  faith- 
ful to  their  work." 

From  this  time,  Simplicius  did  his  work 
well,  and  succeeded  in  all  that  he  attempted 
to  do.  Amazed  at  the  change,  Simplicius 
was  continually  asking  his  fellow-workmen 
how  it  was  that  the  tools  had  been  so 
strengthened  that  now  they  never  broke. 
At  length  Claudius  replied  : 

"  God,  who  is  our  Creator,  and  the  Lord 
of  all  things,  has  made  his  creatures 
strong." 

Then  Simplicius  inquired : 

"  Was  not  this  done  by  the  God  Zeus?  " 

To  this  Claudius  replied  : 

"Repent,  O  my  brother,  of  what  thou 
hast  said,  for  thou  hast  blasphemed  God, 
our  Creator,  whom  alone  we  worship ;  that 
which  our  own  hands  have  made  we  do  not 
recognize  as  a  God." 

With  these  and  such  sentences  they  con- 
verted Simplicius  to  the  Christian  faith, 
who,  being  baptized  by  Cyrillus,  bishop  of 
Antioch,  soon  afterwards  suffered  martyr- 
dom for  his  refusal  to  sacrifice  to  the  Pagan 


But  to  return  from  this  episode  to  the  le- 
gend of  the  Four  Martyrs :  It  happened 
that  one  day  Diocletian  issued  an  order, 
that  out  of  a  piece  of  marble  should  be  con- 
structed a  noble  statue  of  Apollo  sitting  in 
his  chariot.  And  now  all  the  workmen 
and  the  philosophers  began  to  consult  on 
the  subject,  and  each  one  had  arrived  at  a 
different  opinion. 

And  when  at  length  they  had  found  a 
huge  block  of  stone,  which  had  been  brought 
from  the  Island  of  Thasos,  it  proved  that 


286 


FOUR 


FOUR 


the  marble  was  not  fit  for  the  statue  which 
Diocletian  had  commanded ;  and  now  be- 
gan a  great  war  of  words  between  the  mas- 
ters of  the  work  and  the  philosophers.  But 
one  day  the  whole  of  the  artisans,  six  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  in  number,  with  five 
philosophers,  came  together,  that  they 
might  examine  the  defects  and  the  veins 
of  the  stone,  and  there  arose  a  still  more 
wonderful  contest  between  the  workmen 
and  the  philosophers. 

Then  began  the  philosophers  to  rail 
against  Claudius,  Symphorianus,  Nicho- 
stratus,  and  Simplicius,  and  said : 

"  Why  do  ye  not  hearken  to  the  com- 
mands of  our  devout  emperor,  Diocletian, 
and  obey  his  will." 

And  Claudius  answered  and  said  : 

"  Because  we  cannot  offend  our  Creator 
and  commit  a  sin,  whereof  we  should  be 
found  guilty  in  his  sight." 

Then  said  the  philosophers  : 

"From  this  it  appears  that  you  are 
Christians." 

And  Claudius  replied : 

"  Truly  we  are  Christians." 

Hereupon  the  philosophers  chose  other 
Masons,  and  caused  them  to  make  a  statue 
of  Esculapius  out  of  the  stone  which  had 
been  rejected,  which,  after  thirty-one  days, 
they  finished  and  presented  to  the  philoso- 
phers. These  then  informed  the  emperor 
that  the  statue  of  Esculapius  was  finished, 
when  he  ordered  it  to  be  brought  before 
him  for  inspection.  But  as  soon  as  he  saw 
it  he  was  greatly  astonished,  and  said : 

"  This  is  a  proof  of  the  skill  of  these  men, 
who  receive  my  approval  as  sculptors." 

It  is  very  apparent  that  this,  like  all 
other  legends  of  the  church,  is  insufficient 
in  its  details,  and  that  it  leaves  many  links 
in  the  chain  of  the  narrative  to  be  supplied 
by  the  fancy  or  the  judgment  of  the  read- 
ers. It  is  equally  evident  from  what  has 
already  been  said,  in  connection  with  what 
is  subsequently  told,  that  the  writer  of  the 
legend  desired  to  make  the  impression  that 
it  was  through  the  influence  of  Claudius 
and  the  other  Christian  Masons  that  the 
rest  of  the  workmen  were  persuaded  that 
the  Thasian  stone  was  defective  and  unfit 
for  the  use  of  a  sculptor ;  that  this  was  done 
by  them  because  they  were  unwilling  to 
engage  in  the  construction  of  the  statue  of 
a  Pagan  god ;  that  this  was  the  cause  of  the 
controversy  between  the  workmen  and  the 
philosophers ;  that  the  latter  denied  the  de- 
fectiveness of  the  stone ;  and,  lastly,  that 
they  sought  to  prove  its  fitness  by  causing 
other  Masons,  who  were  not  Christians,  to 
make  out  of  it  a  statue  of  Esculapius. 
These  explanations  are  necessary  to  an  un- 
derstanding of  the  legend,  which  proceeds 
as  follows : 


As  soon  as  Diocletian  had  expressed  his 
admiration  of  the  statue  of  Esculapius,  the 
philosopher  said : 

"Most  mighty  Caesar,  know  that  these 
men  whom  your  majesty  has  praised  for 
their  skill  in  Masonry,  namely,  Claudius, 
Symphorianus,  Nichostratus,  and  Castorius, 
are  Christians,  and  by  magic  spells  or  in- 
cantations make  men  obedient  to  their 
will." 

Then  said  Diocletian : 

"  If  they  have  violated  the  laws,  and  if 
your  accusations  be  true,  let  them  suffer  the 
punishment  of  sacrilege." 

But  Diocletian,  in  consideration  of  their 
skill,  sent  for  the  Tribune  Lampadius,  and 
said  to  him : 

"  If  they  refuse  to  offer  sacrifice  to  the 
sun-god  Apollo,  then  let  them  be  scourged 
with  scorpions.  But  if  they  are  willing  to 
do  so,  then  treat  them  with  kindness." 

For  five  days  sat  Lampadius  in  the  same 
place,  before  the  temple  of  the  sun-god, 
and  called  on  them  by  the  proclamation  of 
the  herald,  and  showed  them  many  dreadful 
things,  and  all  sorts  of  instruments  for  the 
punishment  of  martyrs,  and  then  he  said  to 
them: 

"  Hearken  to  me  and  avoid  the  doom  of 
martyrs,  and  be  obedient  to  the  mighty 
prince,  and  offer  a  sacrifice  to  the  sun-god, 
for  no  longer  can  I  speak  to  you  in  gentle 
words." 

But  Claudius  replied  for  himself  and  for 
his  companions  with  great  boldness  : 

"  This  let  the  Emperor  Diocletian  know : 
that  we  truly  are  Christians,  and  never  can 
depart  from  the  worship  of  our  God." 

Thereupon  the  Tribune  Lampadius,  be- 
coming enraged,  caused  them  to  be  stripped 
and  to  be  scourged  with  scorpions,  while  a 
herald,  by  proclamation,  announced  that 
this  was  done  because  they  had  disobeyed 
the  commands  of  the  emperor.  In  the 
same  hour  Lampadius,  being  seized  by  an 
evil  spirit,  died  on  his  seat  of  judgment. 

As  soon  as  the  wife  and  the  domestics  of 
Lampadius  heard  of  his  death,  they  ran 
with  great  outcries  to  the  palace.  Diocle- 
tian, when  he  had  learned  what  had  hap- 
pened, ordered  four  leaden  coffins  to  be 
made,  and  that  —  Claudius  and  his  three 
companions  being  placed  therein  alive  — 
they  should  be  thrown  into  the  river  Dan- 
ube. This  order  Nicetius,  the  assistant  of 
Lampadius,  caused  to  be  obeyed,  and  thus 
the  faithful  Masons  suffered  the  penalty 
and  gained  the  crown  of  martyrdom. 

There  are  some  legend  books  which  give 
the  names  of  the  Four  Crowned  Martyrs  as 
Severus,  Severianus,  Carpophorus,  and  Vic- 
torinus,  and  others  again  which  speak  of 
five  confessors  who,  a  few  years  afterwards, 
suffered  martyrdom  for  refusing  to  sacrifice 


FOUR 


FOURFOLD 


287 


to  the  Pagan  gods,  and  whose  names  being 
at  the  time  unknown,  Pope  Melchiades 
caused  them  to  be  distinguished  in  the 
church  calendar  as  the  Four  Crowned 
Martyrs :  an  error,  says  Jacob  de  Voragine, 
which,  although  subsequently  discovered, 
was  never  corrected.  But  the  true  legend 
of  the  Four  Crowned  Martyrs  is  that  which 
has  been  given  above  from  the  best  author- 
ity, the  Roman  Breviary  of  1474. 

"On  the  other  side  of  the  Esquiline," 
says  Mrs.  Jameson,  (in  her  Sacred  and  Le- 
gendary Art,  vol.  ii.,  p.  624,)  "and  on  the 
road  leading  from  the  Coliseum  to  the  Lat- 
eran,  surmounting  a  heap  of  sand  and 
ruins,  we  come  to  the  church  of  the  'Quat- 
tro  Coronati,'  the  Four  Crowned  Brothers. 
On  this  spot,  sometime  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, were  found  the  bodies  of  four  men 
who  had  suffered  decapitation,  whose  names 
being  then  unknown,  they  were  merely  dis- 
tinguished as  Corokati,  crowned — that  is, 
with  the  crown  of  martyrdom." 

There  is  great  obscurity  and  confusion  in 
the  history  of  these. 

Their  church,  Mrs.  Jameson  goes  on  to 
say,  is  held  in  particular  respect  by  the 
builders  and  stone-cutters  of  Koine.  She 
has  found  allusion  to  these  martyr  Masons 
not  only  in  Roman  art,  but  in  the  old  sculp- 
ture and  stained  glass  of  Germany.  Their 
effigies,  she  tells  us,  are  easily  distinguished 
by  the  fact,  that  they  stand  in  a  row,  bear- 
ing palms,  with  crowns  upon  their  heads 
and  various  Masonic  implements  at  their 
feet — such  as  the  rule,  the  square,  the  mal- 
let, and  the  chisel. 

They  suffered  on  the  8th  of  November, 
287,  and  hence  in  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sal that  day  is  dedicated  to  their  commem- 
oration. From  their  profession  as  Stone- 
masons and  from  the  pious  firmness  with 
which  they  refused,  at  the  cost  of  their  lives, 
to  consecrate  their  skill  in  their  art  to  the 
construction  of  Pagan  temples,  they  have 
been  adopted  by  the  Stone-masons  of  Europe 
as  the  Patron  Saints  of  Operative  Masonry. 
Thus  the  oldest  regulation  of  the  Stone- 
masons of  Strasburg,  which  has  the  date  of 
the  year  1459,  commences  with  the  follow- 
ing invocation :  "  In  the  name  of  the  Fa- 
ther, and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  of  our  gracious  Mother  Mary, 
and  also  of  her  Blessed  Servants,  the  Four 
Crowned  Martyrs  of  everlasting  memory." 

Such  allusions  are  common  in  the  German 
Masonic  documents  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
It  is  true,  however,  that  the  English  Ma- 
sons ceased  at  a  later  period  to  refer  in 
their  constitutions  to  those  martyrs,  although 
they  undoubtedly  borrowed  many  of  their 
usages  from  Germany.  Yet  the  Halliwell 
Manuscript  of  the  Constitutions  of  Ma- 
sonry,  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  English 


Records,  whose  date  is  variously  traced 
from  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  to  the  middle 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  under  the  title  of 
"ars  quatuor  coronatorum"  gives  a  rather 
copious  detail  of  the  legend,  which  is  here 
inserted  with  only  those  slight  alterations 
of  its  antiquated  phraseology  which  are 
necessary  to  render  it  intelligible  to  modern 
readers,  although  in  doing  so  the  rhyme  of 
the  original  is  somewhat  destroyed  : 

"  Pray  we  now  to  God  Almighty, 
And  to  His  Mother,  Mary  bright, 
That  we  may  keep  these  articles  here 
And  these  points  well  altogether, 
As  did  those  holy  martyrs  four 
That  were  in  this  Craft  of  great  honor. 
They  were  as  good  Mason  as  on  earth  shall  go, 
Gravers  and  image  makers  they  were  also, 
For  they  were  workmen  of  the  best, 
The  emperor  had  them  in  great  liking; 
He  invoked  them  an  image  to  make, 
That  might  be  worshiped  for  his  sake ; 
Such  idols  he  had  in  his  day 
To  turn  the  people  from  Christ's  law, 
But  they  were  steadfast  in  Christ's  religion 
And  to  their  Craft,  without  denial ; 
They  loved  well  God  and  all  his  doctrines, 
And  were  in  his  service  evermore. 
True  men  they  were,  in  that  day, 
And  lived  well  in  God's  law ; 
They  resolved  no  idols  for  to  make, 
For  no  good  that  they  might  take  ; 
To  believe  on  that  idol  for  their  god, 
They  would  not  do  so,  though  he  were  mad, 
For  they  would  not  forsake  their  true  faith, 
And  believe  on  his  false  religion. 
The  emperor  caused  to  take  them  at  once 
And  put  them  in  a  deep  prison. 
The  sorer  he  punished  them  in  that  place, 
The  more  joy  was  to  them  of  Christ's  grace. 
Then  when  he  saw  no  other  way, 
To  death  he  caused  them  to  go. 
Who  so  will  of  their  life  more  know, 
By  the  book  he  may  it  learn, 
In  the  legends  of  the  saints, 
The  names  of  the  four  crowned  ones. 
Their  feast  will  be,  without  denial, 
After  All  Hallows,  the  eighth  day." 

The  devotion  of  these  saints,  which  led 
to  the  introduction  of  their  legend  into  an 
ancient  Constitution  of  Masonry,  shows 
how  much  they  were  reverenced,  by  the 
Craft.  In  fact,  the  Four  Crowned  Martyrs 
were  to  the  Stone-cutters  of  Germany  and 
to  the  earlier  Operative  Masons  of  England 
what  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  John  the 
Evangelist  became  to  their  successors,  the 
Speculative  Freemasons  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Fourfold  Cord.  In  the  ritual  of  the 
Past  Master's  degree  in  this  country  we 
find  the  following  expression:  "A  twofold 
cord  is  strong,  a  threefold  cord  is  stronger, 
but  a  fourfold  cord  is  not  easily  broken." 
The  expression  is  taken  from  a  Hebrew 
proverb  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  book 
of  Ecclesiastes,  (iv.  12:)  "And  if  one  pre- 
vail against  him,  two  shall  withstand  him  ; 


288 


FOURTEEN 


FRANCE 


and  a  threefold  cord  is  not  easily  broken." 
The  form  of  the  Hebrew  proverb  has  been 
necessarily  changed  to  suit  the  symbolism 
of  the  degree. 

Fourteen.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
remind  the  well-informed  Mason  of  the 
fourteen  days  of  burial  mentioned  in  the 
legend  of  the  third  degree.  Now,  this  pe- 
riod of  fourteen  was  not,  in  the  opinion 
of  Masonic  symbologists,  an  arbitrary  se- 
lection, but  was  intended  to  refer  to  or 
symbolize  the  fourteen  days  of  lunary  dark- 
ness, or  decreasing  light,  which  intervene 
between  the  full  moon  and  its  continued 
decrease  until  the  end  of  the  lunar  month. 
In  the  Egyptian  mysteries,  the  body  of 
Osiris  is  said  to  have  been  cut  into  fourteen 
pieces  by  Typhon,  and  thrown  into  the 
Nile.  Plutarch,  speaking  of  this  in  his 
treatise  On  Isis  and  Osiris,  thus  explains 
the  symbolism  of  the  number  fourteen, 
which  comprises  the  Masonic  idea:  "The 
body  of  Osiris  was  cut/'  says  Plutarch, 
"  into  fourteen  pieces ;  that  is,  into  as  many 
parts  as  there  are  days  between  the  full 
moon  and  the  new.  This  circumstance  has 
reference  to  the  gradual  diminution  of  the 
lunary  light  during  the  fourteen  days  that 
follow  the  full  moon.  The  moon,  at  the 
end  of  fourteen  days,  enters  Taurus,  and 
becomes  united  to  the  sun,  from  whom  she 
collects  fire  upon  her  disk  during  the  four- 
teen days  which  follow.  She  is  then  found 
every  month  in  conjunction  with  him  in 
the  superior  parts  of  the  signs.  The  equi- 
noctial year  finishes  at  the  moment  when 
the  sun  and  moon  are  found  united  with 
Orion,  or  the  star  of  Orus,  a  constellation 
placed  under  Taurus,  which  unites  itself 
to  the  Neomenia  of  spring.  The  moon 
renews  herself  in  Taurus,  and  a  few  days 
afterwards  is  seen,  in  the  form  of  a  cres- 
cent, in  the  following  sign,  that  is,  Gemini, 
the  home  of  Mercury.  Then  Orion,  united 
to  the  sun  in  the  attitude  of  a  formidable 
warrior,  precipitates  Scorpio,  his  rival,  into 
the  shades  of  night;  for  he  sets  every  time 
Orion  appears  above  the  horizon.  The 
day  becomes  lengthened,  and  the  germs  of 
evil  are  by  degrees  destroyed.  It  is  thus 
that  the  poet  Nonnus  pictures  to  us  Typhon 
conquered  at  the  end  of  winter,  when  the 
sun  arrives  in  Taurus,  and  when  Orion 
mounts  into  the  heavens  with  him." 

France.  The  early  history  of  Ma- 
sonry in  France  is,  from  the  want  of  au- 
thentic documents,  in  a  state  of  much 
uncertainty.  Kloss,  in  his  Geschichte  der 
Freimaurerei  in  Frankreich,  (vol.  i.,  p.  14,) 
says,  in  reference  to  the  introduction  of 
Freemasonry  into  that  kingdom,  that  the 
earliest  date  of  any  certainty  is  1725.  Yet 
he  copies  the  statement  of  the  Sgeau  Bompu, 
— a  work  published  in  1745,  —  that  the  ear- 


liest recognized  date  of  its  introduction  is 
1718;  and  the  Abbe  Robin  says  that  noth- 
ing of  it  is  to  be  found  farther  back  than 
1720. 

Lalande,  the  great  astronomer,  was  the 
author  of  the  article  on  Freemasonry  in  the 
Encyclopedic  Mtthodique,  and  his  account 
has  been  generally  recognized  as  authentic 
by  succeeding  writers.  According  to  him, 
Lord  Derwentwater,  the  Chevalier  Maske- 
leyue,  Mr.  Heguetty,  and  some  other  Eng- 
lishmen, (the  names  being  corrupted,  of 
course,  according  to  French  usage,)  founded, 
in  1725,  the  first  Lodge  in  Paris.  It  was 
held  at  the  house  of  an  English  confec- 
tioner named  Hure,  in  the  Rue  de  Bouch- 
eries.  In  ten  years  the  number  of  Lodges 
in  Paris  had  increased  to  six,  and  there 
were  several  also  in  the  provincial  towns. 

As  the  first  Paris  Lodge  had  been  opened 
by  Lord  Derwentwater,  he  was  regarded  as 
the  Grand  Master  of  the  French  Masons, 
without  any  formal  recognition  on  the  part 
of  the  brethren,  at  least  until  1736,  when 
the  six  Lodges  of  Paris  formally  elected 
Lord  Harnouester  as  Provincial  Grand  Mas- 
ter; in  1738,  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Duke 
D' Antin ;  and  on  the  death  of  the  Duke,  in 
1743,  the  Count  de  Clermont  was  elected  to 
supply  his  place. 

Organized  Freemasonry  in  France  dates 
its  existence  from  this  latter  year.  In 
1735,  the  Lodges  of  Paris  had  petitioned 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge, 
which,  on  political  grounds,  had  been  re- 
fused. In  1743,  however,  it  was  granted, 
and  the  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of  France 
was  constituted  under  the  name  of  the 
"Grand  Loge  Anglaise  de  France."  The 
Grand  Master,  the  Count  de  Clermont,  was, 
however,  an  inefficient  officer ;  anarchy  and 
confusion  once  more  invaded  the  Frater- 
nity; the  authority  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
was  prostrated;  and  the  establishment  of 
Mother  Lodges  in  the  provinces,  with  the 
original  intention  of  superintending  the 
proceedings  of  the  distant  provincial  Lodges, 
instead  of  restoring  harmony,  as  was  vainly 
expected,  widened  still  more  the  breach. 
For,  assuming  the  rank  and  exercising  the 
functions  of  Grand  Lodges,  they  ceased  all 
correspondence  with  the  metropolitan  body, 
and  became  in  fact  its  rivals. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  Grand 
Lodge  declared  itself  independent  of  Eng- 
land in  1756,  and  assumed  the  title  of  the 
"National  Grand  Lodge  of  France."  It 
recognized  only  the  three  degrees  of  Ap- 
prentice, Fellow  Craft,  and  Master  Mason, 
and  was  composed  of  the  grand  officers  to 
be  elected  out  of  the  body  of  the  Frater- 
nity, and  of  the  Masters  for  life  of  the  Pa- 
risian Lodges ;  thus  formally  excluding  the 


FRANCE 


FRANCE 


289 


provincial  Lodges  from  any  participation  in 
the  government  of  the  Craft. 

But  the  proceedings  of  this  body  were 
not  less  stormy  than  those  of  its  predeces- 
sor. The  Count  de  Clermont  appointed,  in 
succession,  two  deputies,  both  of  whom  had 
been  displeasing  to  the  Fraternity.  The 
last,  Lacorne,  was  a  man  of  such  low  origin 
and  rude  manners,  that  the  Grand  Lodge 
refused  to  meet  him  as  their  presiding 
officer.  Irritated  at  this  pointed  disrespect, 
he  sought  in  the  taverns  of  Paris  those 
Masters  who  had  made  a  traffic  of  initia- 
tions, but  who,  heretofore,  had  submitted  to 
the  control,  and  been  checked  by  the  au- 
thority of,  the  Grand  Lodge.  From  among 
them  he  selected  officers  devoted  to  his  ser- 
vice, and  undertook  a  complete  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

The  retired  members,  however,  protested 
against  these  illegal  proceedings;  and  in 
the  subsequent  year,  the  Grand  Master  con- 
sented to  revoke  the  authority  he  had  be- 
stowed upon  Lacorne,  and  appointed  as  his 
deputy,  M.  Chaillou  de  Jonville.  The  re- 
spectable members  now  returned  to  their 
seats  in  the  Grand  Lodge ;  and  in  the  trien- 
nial election  which  took  place  in  June, 
1765,  the  officers  who  had  been  elected  dur- 
ing the  Deputy  Grand  Mastership  of  La- 
corne were  all  removed.  The  displaced 
officers  protested,  and  published  a  defama- 
tory memoir  on  the  subject,  and  were  in 
consequence  expelled  from  Masonry  by  the 
Grand  Lodge.  Ill  feeling  on  both  sides 
was  thus  engendered,  and  carried  to  such  a 
height,  that,  at  one  of  the  communications 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  the  expelled  brethren, 
attempting  to  force  their  way  in,  were  re- 
sisted with  violence.  The  next  day  the 
lieutenant  of  police  issued  an  edict,  forbid- 
ding the  future  meetings  of  the  Grand 
Lodge. 

The  expelled  party,  however,  still  con- 
tinued their  meetings.  The  Count  de 
Clermont  died  in  1771 ;  and  the  excluded 
brethren  having  invited  the  Duke  of  Char- 
tres  (afterwards  Duke  of  Orleans)  to  the 
Grand  Mastership,  he  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment. They  now  offered  to  unite  with  the 
Grand  Lodge,  on  condition  that  the  latter 
would  revoke  the  decree  of  expulsion.  The 
proposal  was  accepted,  and  the  Grand  Lodge 
went  once  more  into  operation. 

Another  union  took  place,  which  has 
since  considerably  influenced  the  character 
of  French  Masonry.  During  the  troubles 
of  the  preceding  years,  Masonic  bodies 
were  instituted  in  various  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, which  professed  to  confer  degrees  of 
a  higher  nature  than  those  belonging  to 
Craft  Masonry,  and  which  have  since  been 
known  by  the  name  of  the  High  De- 
grees. These  Chapters  assumed  a  right  to 
2M  19 


organize  and  control  Symbolic  or  Blue 
Lodges,  and  this  assumption  had  been  a 
fertile  source  of  controversy  between  them 
and  the  Grand  Lodge.  By  the  latter  body 
they  had  never  been  recognized,  but  the 
Lodges  under  their  direction  had  often  been 
declared  irregular,  and  their  members  ex- 
pelled. They  now,  however,  demanded  a 
recognition,  and  proposed,  if  their  request 
was  complied  with,  to  bestow  the  govern- 
ment of  the  "hautes  grades"  upon  the 
same  person  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Grand  Lodge.  The  compromise  was  made, 
the  recognition  was  decreed,  and  the  Duke 
of  Chartres  was  elected  Grand  Master  of 
all  the  Councils,  Chapters,  and  Scotch 
Lodges  of  France. 

But  peace  was  not  yet  restored.  The 
party  who  had  been  expelled,  moved  by  a 
spirit  of  revenge  for  the  disgrace  formerly 
inflicted  on  them,  succeeded  in  obtaining 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  which  was 
empowered  to  prepare  a  new  Constitution. 
All  the  Lodges  of  Paris  and  the  provinces 
were  requested  to  appoint  deputies,  who 
were  to  form  a  convention  to  take  the  new 
Constitution  into  consideration.  This  con- 
vention, or,  as  they  called  it,  National  As- 
sembly, met  at  Paris  in  December,  1771. 
The  Duke  of  Luxemburg  presided,  and  on 
the  twenty-fourth  of  that  month  the  An- 
cient Grand  Lodge  of  France  was  declared 
extinct,  and  in  its  place  another  substituted, 
with  the  title  of  Grand  Orient  de  France. 

Notwithstanding  the  declaration  of  ex- 
tinction by  the  National  Assembly,  the 
Grand  Lodge  continued  to  meet  and  to 
exercise  its  functions.  Thus  the  Fraternity 
of  France  continued  to  be  harassed,  by  the 
bitter  contentions  of  these  rival  bodies,  until 
the  commencement  of  the  revolution  com- 

Eelled  both  the  Grand  Orient  and  the  Grand 
lodge  to  suspend  their  labors. 
On  the  restoration  of  civil  order,  both 
bodies  resumed  their  operations,  but  the 
Grand  Lodge  had  been  weakened  by  the 
death  of  many  of  the  perpetual  Masters, 
who  had  originally  been  attached  to  it ;  and 
a  better  spirit  arising,  the  Grand  Lodge 
was,  by  a  solemn  and  mutual  declaration, 
united  to  the  Grand  Orient  on  the  28th  of 
June,  1799. 

Dissensions,  however,  continued  to  arise 
between  the  Grand  Orient  and  the  different 
Chapters  of  the  high  degrees.  Several  of 
those  bodies  had  at  various  periods  given  in 
their  adhesion  to  the  Grand  Orient,  and 
again  violated  the  compact  of  peace.  Fi- 
nally, the  Grand  Orient,  perceiving  that 
the  pretensions  of  the  Scotch  Bite  Masons 
would  be  a  perpetual  source  of  disorder,  de- 
creed on  the  16th  of  September,  1805,  that 
the  Supreme  Council  of  the  thirty-third  de- 
gree should  thenceforth  become  an  inde- 


290 


FRANCIS 


FRANKLIN 


pendent  body,  with  the  power  to  confer 
warrants  of  constitution  for  all  the  degrees 
superior  to  the  eighteenth,  or  Rose  Croix ; 
while  the  Chapters  of  that  and  the  inferior 
degrees  were  placed  under  the  exclusive 
control  of  the  Grand  Orient. 

But  the  concordat  was  not  faithfully  ob- 
served by  either  party,  and  dissensions  con- 
tinued to  exist  with  intermittent  and  un- 
successful attempts  at  reconciliation,  which 
was,  however,  at  last  effected  in  some  sort  in 
1841.  The  Masonic  obedience  of  France  is 
now  divided  between  the  two  bodies,  and 
the  Grand  Orient  and  the  Supreme  Council 
now  both  exist  as  independent  powers  in 
French  Masonry.  The  constant  tendency 
of  the  former  to  interfere  in  the  administra- 
tion of  other  countries  would  furnish  an 
unpleasant  history  for  the  succeeding  thirty 
years,  at  last  terminated  by  the  refusal  of 
all  the  Grand  Lodges  in  the  United  States, 
and  some  in  Europe,  to  hold  further  Ma- 
sonic communication  with  it;  a  breach 
which  every  good  Mason  must  desire  to  see 
eventually  healed.  One  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary acts  of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France 
has  been  the  recent  abolition  of  the  office  of 
Grand  Master,  the  duties  being  performed  by 
the  President  of  the  Council  of  the  Order. 

Francis  II.,  Emperor  of  Germany, 
was  a  bitter  enemy  of  Freemasonry.  In 
1789,  he  ordered  all  the  Lodges  in  his  do- 
minions to  be  closed,  and  directed  all  civil 
and  military  functionaries  to  take  an  oath 
never  to  unite  with  any  secret  society,  under 
pain  of  exemplary  punishment  and  desti- 
tution of  office.'  In  1794,  he  proposed  to 
the  diet  of  Ratisbon  the  suppression  of 
the  Freemasons,  the  Illuminati,  and  all 
other  secret  societies.  The  diet,  controlled 
by  the  influence  of  Prussia,  Brunswick,  and 
Hanover,  refused  to  accede  to  the  proposi- 
tion, replying  to  the  emperor  that  he  might 
interdict  the  Lodges  in  his  own  states,  but 
that  others  claimed  Germanic  liberty.  In 
1801,  he  renewed  his  opposition  to  secret 
societies,  and  especially  to  the  Masonic 
Lodges,  and  all  civil,  military,  and  ecclesi- 
astical functionaries  were  restrained  from 
taking  any  part  in  them  under  the  penalty 
of  forfeiting  their  offices. 

Francken,  Henry  A.  The  first 
Deputy  Inspector  General  appointed  by 
Stephen  Morin,  under  his  commission  from 
the  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West. 
Francken  received  his  degrees  and  his  ap- 
pointment at  Kingston,  Jamaica.  The 
date  is  not  known,  but  it  must  have  been 
between  1762  and  1767.  Francken  soon 
afterwards  repaired  to  the  United  States, 
where  he  gave  the  appointment  of  a  Deputy 
to  Moses  M.  Hayes,  at  Boston,  and  organ- 
ized a  council  of  Princes  of  Jerusalem  at 
Albany.     He  may,  I  think,  be  considered 


as  the  first  propagator  of  the  high  degrees 
in  the  United  States. 

Franc  -  Macon,  Franc  -  Macon- 
nerie.  The  French  names  of  Freemason 
and  of  Freemasonry.  The  construction  of 
these  words  is  not  conformable  to  the  genius 
or  the  idiom  of  the  French  language,  which 
would  more  properly  employ  the  terms 
"Mac,on  libre,"  and  "Maqonnerie  libre;" 
and  hence  Laurens,  in  his  Essais  historiques 
et  critiques  sur  la  Franc- Maconnerie,  adduces 
their  incorporation  into  the  language  as  an 
evidence  that  the  Institution  in  France  was 
derived  directly  from  England,  the  words 
being  a  literal  and  unidiomatic  translation 
of  the  English  titles.  But  he  blunders  in 
supposing  that  Franc-Mason  and  Franc- 
Masonry  are  any  part  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. 

Frankfort-on-the-M  ain.  A  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Lodge  was  established  in  this 
city,  in  1766,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land. In  the  dissensions  which  soon  after 
prevailed  among  the  Masons  of  Germany, 
the  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of  Frankfort, 
not  finding  itself  supported  by  its  mother 
Grand  Lodge,  declared  itself  independent 
in  1782.  Since  1825,  it  has  worked  under 
the  title  of  the  "  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Eclec- 
tic Union  of  Freemasons." 

Franklin,  Benjamin.  This  sage 
and  patriot  was  born  in  the  city  of  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1706. 
Of  the  time  and  place  of  his  initiation  as  a 
Freemason  we  have  no  positive  evidence; 
it  was,  however,  certainly  anterior  to  the 
year  1734,  and  he  was  probably  made  a 
Mason  in  England  during  a  temporary  visit 
which  he  paid  to  that  country.  On  the  24th 
of  June,  1734,  a  petition  was  signed  by  him- 
self and  several  brethren  residing  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  presented  to  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Massachusetts,  praying  for  a  Constitution 
to  hold  a  Lodge  in  that  city.  The  prayer 
of  the  petition  was  granted,  and  Franklin 
was  appointed  the  first  Master.  "  He  was," 
says  C.  W.  Moore,  "  probably  invested  with 
special  powers,  for  we  find  that  in  Novem- 
ber following  he  affixes  to  his  name  the 
title  of  '  Grand  Master  of  Pennsylvania.'  " 
[Freemason's  Magazine,  vol.  v.,  105.)  In 
November,  1734,  Franklin  applied  to  Henry 
Price,  who  had  received  from  England  au- 
thority to  establish  Masonry  in  this  country, 
for  a  confirmation  of  those  powers  conferred 
by  the  first  deputation  or  warrant.  It  is 
probable  that  the  request  was  granted,  al- 
though I  can  find  no  record  of  the  fact. 
In  1734,  Franklin  edited  an  edition  of  An- 
derson's Constitutions,  which  was  proba- 
bly the  first  Masonic  work  published  in 
America. 

While  Franklin  was  in  France  as  the 
Ambassador  from  this  country,  he  appears 


FRATER 


FREDERICK 


291 


to  have  taken  much  interest  in  Masonry. 
He  affiliated  with  the  celebrated  Lodge  of 
the  Nine  Sisters,  of  which  Lalande,  Court 
de  Gebelin,  and  other  celebrities  of  French 
literature,  were  members.  He  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  initiation  of  Voltaire,  and 
on  his  death  acted  as  Senior  Warden  of  the 
Lodge  of  Sorrow  held  in  his  memory.  The 
Lodge  of  Nine  Sisters  held  Franklin  in  such 
esteem  that  it  struck  a  medal  in  his  honor, 
of  which  a  copy,  supposed  to  be  the  only 
one  now  in  existence,  belongs  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Lodge  of  Mecklenburg. 

Frater.  Latin,  Brother.  A  term 
borrowed  from  the  monks  by  the  Military 
Orders  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  applied  by 
the  members  to  each  other.  It  is  constant- 
ly employed  in  England  by  the  Masonic 
Knights  Templars,  and  is  beginning  to  be 
adopted,  although  not  very  generally,  in 
the  United  States.  When  speaking  of  two 
or  more,  it  is  an  error  of  ignorance,  some- 
times committed,  to  call  them  f raters.  The 
correct  plural  \%fratres. 

Fraternally.  The  usual  mode  of 
subscription  to  letters  written  by  one  Ma- 
son to  another  is,  "  I  remain,  fraternally, 
yours." 

Fraternity.  The  word  was  originally 
used  to  designate  those  associations  formed 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  for  the  pur- 
suit of  special  religious  and  ecclesiastical 
purposes,  such  as  the  nursing  of  the  sick, 
the  support  of  the  poor,  the  practice  of  par- 
ticular devotions,  etc.  They  do  not  date 
earlier  than  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
name  was  subsequently  applied  to  secular 
associations,  such  as  the  Freemasons.  The 
word  is  only  a  Latin  form  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Brotherhood. 

In  the  earliest  lectures  of  the  last  century 
we  find  the  word  fraternity  alluded  to  in 
the  following  formula : 

"  Q.  How  many  particular  points  per- 
tain to  a  Freemason? 

"A.  Three:  Fraternity,  Fidelity,  and 
Taciturnity. 

"  Q.  What  do  they  represent  ? 
"A.  Brotherly  Love,  Relief,  and  Truth 
among  all  Right  Masons." 

Fraternize.  To  recognize  as  a 
brother;  to  associate  with  Masonically. 

Frederick  of  Nassau.  Prince 
Frederick,  son  of  the  king  of  the  Nether- 
lands, was  for  many  years  the  Grand  Master 
of  the  National  Grand  Lodge  of  that  king- 
dom. He  was  ambitious  of  becoming  a 
Masonic  reformer,  and  in  addition  to  his 
connection  with  the  Charter  of  Cologne,  an 
account  of  which  has  been  given  under 
that  head,  he  attempted,  in  1819,  to  intro- 
duce a  new  Rite.  He  denounced  the  high 
degrees  as  being  contrary  to  the  true  intent 
of  Masonry ;  and  in  a  circular  to  all  the 


Lodges  under  the  obedience  of  the  National 
Grand  Lodge,  he  proposed  a  new  system, 
to  consist  of  five  degrees,  namely,  the  three 
symbolic,  and  two  more  as  complements  or 
illustrations  of  the  third,  which  he  called 
Elect  Master  and  Supreme  Elect  Master. 
Some  few  Lodges  adopted  this  new  system, 
but  most  of  them  rejected  it.  The  Grand 
Chapter,  whose  existence  it  had  attacked, 
denounced  it.  The  Lodges  practising  it  in 
Belgium  were  dissolved  in  1830,  but  a  few 
of  them  probably  still  remain  in  Holland. 
The  full  rituals  of  the  two  supplementary 
degrees  are  printed  in  the  second  volume 
of  Hermes,  and  an  attentive  perusal  of  them 
does  not  give  an  exalted  idea  of  the  inven- 
tive genius  of  the  Prince. 

Frederick  the  Great.  Frederick 
II.,  king  of  Prussia,  surnamed  the  Great, 
was  born  on  the  24th  of  January,  1712,  and 
died  on  the  17th  of  August,  1786,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-four  years  and  a  few  months. 
He  was  initiated  as  a  Mason,  at  Brunswick, 
on  the  night  of  the  14th  of  August,  1738, 
not  quite  two  years  before  he  ascended  the 
throne. 

In  English,  we  have  two  accounts  of  this 
initiation, —  one  by  Campbell,  in  his  work  on 
Frederick  the  Great  and  his  Times,  and  the 
other  by  Carlyle  in  his  History  of  Frederick 
the  Second.  Both  are  substantially  the  same, 
because  both  are  merely  translations  of  the 
original  account  given  by  Bielfeld  in  his 
Freundschaftliche  Briefe,  or  Familiar  Let- 
ters. The  Baron  von  Bielfeld  was,  at  the 
time,  an  intimate  companion  of  the  Prince, 
and  was  present  at  the  initiation. 

Bielfeld  tells  us  that  in  a  conversation 
which  took  place  on  the  6th  of  August  at 
Loo,  (but  Carlyle  corrects  him  as  to  time 
and  place,  and  says  it  probably  occurred  at 
Minden,  on  the  17th  of  July,)  the  institu- 
tion of  Freemasonry  had  been  enthusiasti- 
cally lauded  by  the  Count  of  Lippe  Bucke- 
burg.  The  Crown  Prince  soon  after  pri- 
vately expressed  to  the  Count  his  wish  to 
join  the  society.  Of  course,  this  wish  was 
to  be  gratified.  The  necessary  furniture 
and  assistance  for  conferring  the  degrees 
were  obtained  from  the  Lodge  at  Hamburg. 
Bielfeld  gives  an  amusing  account  of  the 
embarrassments  which  were  encountered  in 
passing  the  chest  containing  the  Masonic 
implements  through  the  custom-house 
without  detection.  Campbell,  quoting  from 
Bielfeld,  says : 

"The  whole  of  the  14th  (August)  was 
spent  in  preparations  for  the  Lodge,  and  at 
twelve  at  night  the  Prince  Royal  arrived, 
accompanied  by  Count  Wartenslefen,  a 
captain  in  the  king's  regiment  at  Potsdam. 
The  Prince  introduced  him  to  us  as  a  can- 
didate whom  he  very  warmly  recommended, 
and  begged  that  he  might  be  admitted  im- 


292 


FREDERICK 


FREDERICK 


mediately  after  himself.  At  the  same  time, 
he  desired  that  he  might  be  treated  like 
any  private  individual,  and  that  none  of 
the  usual  ceremonies  might  be  altered  on 
his  account.  Accordingly,  he  was  admitted 
in  the  customary  form,  and  I  could  not  suf- 
ficiently admire  his  fearlessness,  his  com- 
posure, and  his  address.  After  the  double 
reception,  a  Lodge  was  held.  All  was  over 
by  four  in  the  morning,  and  the  Prince  re- 
turned to  the  ducal  palace,  apparently  as 
well  pleased  with  us  as  we  were  charmed 
with  him." 

Of  the  truth  of  this  account  there  never 
has  been  any  doubt.  Frederick  the  Great 
was  certainly  a  Mason.  But  Carlyle,  in  his 
usual  sarcastic  vein,  adds:  "The  Crown 
Prince  prosecuted  his  Masonry  at  Reins- 
berg  or  elsewhere,  occasionally,  for  a  year  or 
two,  but  was  never  ardent  in  it,  and  very 
soon  after  his  accession  left  off  altogether. 
....  A  Royal  Lodge  was  established  at 
Berlin,  of  which  the  new  king  consented  to 
be  patron ;  but  he  never  once  entered  the 
palace,  and  only  his  portrait  (a  welcomely 
good  one,  still  to  be  found  there)  presided 
over  the  mysteries  of  that  establishment." 

Now  how  much  of  truth  with  the  sar- 
casm, and  how  much  of  sarcasm  without 
the  truth,  there  is  in  this  remark  of  Carlyle, 
is  just  what  the  Masonic  world  is  bound  to 
discover.  Until  further  light  is  thrown 
upon  the  subject  by  documentary  evidence 
from  the  Prussian  Lodges,  the  question  can- 
not be  definitely  answered.  But  what  is 
the  now  known  further  Masonic  history  of 
Frederick  ? 

Bielfeld  tells  us  that  the  zeal  of  the 
Prince  for  the  Fraternity  induced  him  to 
invite  the  Baron  Von  Oberg  and  himself 
to  Reinsberg,  where,  in  1739,  they  founded 
a  Lodge,  into  which  Keyserling,  Jordan, 
Moolendorf,  Queis,  and  Fredersdorf  (Fred- 
erick's valet)  were  admitted. 

Bielfeld  is  again  our  authority  for  stating 
that  on  the  20th  of  June,  1740,  King  Fred- 
erick— for  he  had  then  ascended  the  throne 
—  held  a  Lodge  at  Charlottenburg,  and,  as 
Master  in  the  chair,  initiated  Prince  William 
of  Prussia,  his  brother,  the  Margrave 
Charles  of  Brandenburg,  and  Frederick 
"William,  Duke  of  Holstein.  The  Duke  of 
Holstein  was  seven  years  afterwards  elected 
Adjutant  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  Three  Globes  at  Berlin. 

We  hear  no  more  of  Frederick's  Masonry 
in  the  printed  records  until  the  16th  of 
July,  1774,  when  he  granted  his  protection 
to  the  National  Grand  Lodge  of  Germany, 
and  officially  approved  of  the  treaty  with 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  by  which  the 
National  Grand  Lodge  was  established.  In 
the  year  1777,  the  Mother  Lodge  "  Royal 
York  of  Friendship,"  at  Berlin,  celebrated, 


by  a  festival,  the  King's  birthday,  on  which 
occasion  Frederick  wrote  the  following 
letter,  which,  as  it  is  the  only  printed  dec- 
laration of  his  opinion  of  Freemasonry 
that  is  now  extant,  is  well  worth  copying : 
"I  cannot  but  be  sensible  of  the  new 
homage  of  the  Lodge  'Royal  York  of 
Friendship '  on  the  occasion  of  the  anni- 
versary of  my  birth,  bearing,  as  it  does,  the 
evidence  of  its  zeal  and  attachment  for  my 
person.  Its  orator  has  well  expressed  the 
sentiments  which  animate  all  its  labors; 
and  a  society  which  employs  itself  only  in 
sowing  the  seed  and  bringing  forth  the 
fruit  of  every  kind  of  virtue  in  my  domin- 
ions may  always  be  assured  of  my  protec- 
tion. It  is  the  glorious  task  of  every  good 
sovereign,  and  I  will  never  cease  to  fulfil  it. 
And  so  I  pray  God  to  take  you  and  your 
Lodge  under  his  holy  and  deserved  pro- 
tection. Potsdam,  this  14th  of  February, 
1777.  — Frederick." 

In  the  circular  issued  by  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  Sovereign  Inspectors  from  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  on  the  10th  of  October, 
1802,  it  is  stated  that  "  on  the  first  of  May, 
1786,  the  Grand  Constitution  of  the  thirty- 
third  degree,  called  the  Supreme  Council 
of  Sovereign  Grand  Inspectors  General,  was 
finally  ratified  by  his  Majesty  the  King  of 
Prussia,  who,  as  Grand  Commander  of  the 
Order  of  Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret,  pos- 
sessed the  sovereign  Masonic  power  over  all 
the  Craft.  In  the  new  Constitution,  this 
high  power  was  conferred  on  a  Supreme 
Council  of  nine  brethren  in  each  nation, 
who  possess  all  the  Masonic  prerogatives, 
in  their  own  district,  that  his  Majesty  in- 
dividually possessed,  and  are  sovereigns  of 
Masonry." 

The  "  Livre  d'Or  "  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  France  contains  a  similar  statement, 
but  with  more  minute  details.  It  says  that 
on  the  1st  of  May,  1786,  Frederick  II.,  King 
of  Prussia,  caused  the  high  degrees  and 
Masonic  Constitutions  of  the  Ancient  Rite 
to  be  revived.  He  added  eight  degrees  to 
the  twenty-five  already  recognized  in  Prus- 
sia, and  founded  a  Supreme  Council  of 
thirty-three  degrees,  of  which  he  himself 
constructed  the  regulations  in  eighteen 
articles. 

It  must  not  be  concealed  that  the  truth 
of  these  last  statements  has  been  contro- 
verted ;  not,  however,  by  positive  evidence, 
but  simply  on  grounds  of  probability.  Len- 
ning  denies  it,  because  he  says  that  Fred- 
erick had,  for  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his 
life,  abandoned  all  direct  and  indirect  ac- 
tivity in  Masonry;  and  he  adds,  that  he 
was  said  to  be  decidedly  opposed  to  the 
high  degrees  because,  in  common  with 
many  of  the  respectable  brethren  and 
Lodges  of  Germany,  he  thought  that  he 


FREDERICK 


FREDERICK 


293 


saw  in  them  the  root  of  all  the  corruptions 
in  Masonry,  and  the  seed  of  the  discord 
which  existed  between  different  Lodges  and 
systems.  But  for  this  assertion  of  the  King's 
antipathy  to  the  high  degrees,  Lenning 
gives  no  other  authority  than  indefinite  re- 
report. 

Reghellini  (t.  2,  p.  263,)  says  that  the 
opponents  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite  had  denied  that  Frederick  could  have 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  establishment 
of  the  Constitutions  of  May,  1786,  because 
the  King,  although  the  protector  of  the 
Order,  had  never  been  either  its  Chief  or 
its  Grand  Master ;  and  because  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  have  approved  of  any 
Masonic  regulations,  since  he  had  not  been 
able,  in  consequence  of  severe  illness, 
to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  for 
eleven  months  before  his  death,  which  took 
place  in  August,  1786. 

The  idea  that  Frederick  never  had  been 
Grand  Master  of  the  Prussian  Lodges 
seems  to  be  inferred  from  a  passage  in  Mi- 
rabeau's  Histoire  de  la  Monarchic  Prussienne, 
which  is  in  the  following  words :  "  It  is  a 
great  pity  that  Frederick  II.  never  carried 
his  zeal  so  far  as  to  become  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  German,  or  at  least  of  the 
Prussian,  Lodges.  His  power  would  have 
been  greatly  increased,  and  perhaps  many 
of  his  military  enterprises  would  have 
taken  another  turn,  if  he  had  never  been 
embroiled  with  the  superiors  of  this  associ- 
ation." Mirabeau  acknowledges  himself 
to  be  indebted  for  this  remark  to  Fischer's 
Geschicte  Friedericks  II.  But  I  look  in 
vain  in  Thory,  or  any  other  historians  of 
Masonry,  for  an  account  of  those  embroil- 
ments of  which  Fischer,  and  Mirabeau  after 
him,  have  spoken. 

That  Frederick  did  not,  in  his  latter  days, 
take  that  active  interest  in  Masonry  which 
had  distinguished  the  beginning  of  his 
reign,  although  he  always  continued  to  be 
partial  to  the  Institution,  is  attempted  to 
be  accounted  for  by  the  author  of  a  German 
work  entitled  Erwinia.  I  am  not  acquaint- 
ed with  the  book ;  but  an  extract  from  it 
was  published  several  years  ago  by  that 
distinguished  Masonic  antiquary,  Giles  F. 
Yates,  in  the  Boston  Magazine.  It  seems, 
from  the  anecdote  there  related,  that  Gen. 
Wallgrave,  an  officer  of  distinction,  and 
one  of  the  members  of  a  select  Lodge  in 
Berlin  over  which  Frederick  had  presided 
for  many  years,  had  been  guilty  of  treason- 
able practices,  which  became  known  to  his 
Master.  While  the  Lodge  was  in  session, 
the  King  communicated  the  fact  that  one 
of  the  brethren,  whose  name  he  did  not 
disclose,  had  violated  the  laws  of  the  Order 
and  of  the  State.  He  called  upon  him  to 
make  a  full  confession,  in  open  Lodge,  of 


his  guilt,  and  to  ask  forgiveness,  on  which 
conditions,  as  a  Mason,  he  consented  to 
pardon  and  forget  the  offence.  Wallgrave, 
however,  did  not  avail  himself  of  the  fra- 
ternal offer ;  when  the  monarch,  expressing 
his  regret  at  the  conviction  that  no  Mason- 
ic sentiment  could  prevail  even  among  so 
small  a  number  as  composed  that  Lodge, 
closed  it,  and  laid  down  the  gavel,  which 
he  never  afterwards  resumed,  and  Wall- 
grave  was  subsequently  punished.  The 
author  adds,  that  from  the  moment  Fred- 
erick had  been  thus  forced  to  break  the  ties 
which  bound  him  to  a  brother  Mason  he 
ceased  to  engage  in  the  active  work  of  a 
Lodge.  But  this  did  not  induce  him  to 
dissolve  his  connection  with  the  Order, 
which,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  never 
ceased  to  honor,  and  to  extend  to  it  his 
protection  and  patronage. 

The  evidence  of  the  connection  of  Fred- 
erick with  the  Institution  in  his  latter  days, 
and  of  his  organization  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  are,  it  must  be 
confessed,  derived  only  from  the  assertions 
made  in  the  Grand  Constitutions  of  1786, 
and  from  the  statements  of  the  earliest 
bodies  that  have  received  and  recognized 
these  Constitutions.  If  the  document  is 
not  authentic,  and  if  those  who  made  the 
statements  here  have  been  mistaken  or  been 
dishonest,  then  the  proof  of  Frederick's  in- 
terest and  labors  in  Masonry  must  fall  to 
the  ground.  Yet,  on  the  other  side,  the 
oppugners  of  the  theory  that  in  May,  1786, 
the  King  signed  the  Constitutions, — which 
fact  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  establish 
his  Masonic  character, — have  been  able  to 
bring  forward  in  support  of  their  denial 
little  more  than  mere  conjecture,  and,  in 
some  instances,  perversions  of  acknowledged 
history.  Brother  Albert  Pike,  in  the  edi- 
tion of  the  Grand  Constitutions  which  he 
prepared  for  the  use  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  the  Southern  Jurisdiction,  and  pub- 
lished in  1872,  has  most  thoroughly  inves- 
tigated this  subject  with  the  learning  of 
a  scholar  and  the  acumen  of  a  lawyer. 
While  unable  to  advance  any  new  facts,  he 
has  collected  all  the  authorities,  and  has, 
by  the  most  irrefragable  arguments,  shown 
that  the  conclusions  of  those  who  deny  the 
authenticity  of  the  Constitutions  of  1786, 
and  Frederick's  connection  with  them,  are 
illogical,  and  are  sustained  only  by  false 
statements  and  wild  conjecture.  Brother 
Pike  very  candidly  says  : 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  Frederick  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  great  pretensions 
of  Masonry  in  the  blue  degrees  were  mere- 
ly imaginary  and  deceptive.  He  ridiculed 
the  Order,  and  thought  its  ceremonies  mere 
child's  play;  and  some  of  his  sayings  to 
that  effect  have  been  preserved.     But  i* 


294 


FREDERICK 


FREE 


does  not  at  all  follow  that  he  might  not  at 
a  later  day  have  found  it  politic  to  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  an  Order  that  had 
become  a  power;  and,  adopting  such  of  the 
degrees  as  were  not  objectionable,  to  reject 
all  that  were  of  dangerous  tendency,  that 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits,  or 
been  engrafted  on  the  Order  by  the  Illumi- 
nati." 

It  is  evident  that  the  question  of  what 
active  part  Frederick  took  in  the  affairs  of 
Masonry  is  not  yet  settled.  Those  who 
claim  him  as  having  been,  to  within  a  short 
period  before  his  death,  an  active  patron 
of  and  worker  in  the  Order,  attempt  to  sus- 
tain their  position  by  the  production  of 
certain  documents.     Those  who  deny  that 

Eosition  assert  that  those  documents  have 
een  forged.  Yet  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  proofs  of  forgery  that  have  been  offered 
are  not  such  as  in  an  ordinary  criminal 
trial  would  satisfy  a  jury. 

Frederick  'William  III.  King 
of  Prussia,  and,  although  not  a  Freemason, 
a  generous  patron  of  the  Order.  On  De- 
cember 29,  1797,  he  wrote  to  the  Lodge 
Royal  York  of  Friendship,  at  Berlin,  these 
words : .  "  I  have  never  been  initiated,  as 
every  one  knows,  but  I  am  far  from  con- 
ceiving the  slightest  distrust  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  members  of  the  Lodge.  I  be- 
lieve that  its  design  is  noble,  and  founded 
on  the  cultivation  of  virtue ;  that  its  methods 
are  legitimate,  and  that  every  political  ten- 
dency is  banished  from  its  operations. 
Hence,  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  manifesting 
on  all  occasions  my  good-will  and  my  affec- 
tion to  the  Lodge  Royal  York  of  Friend- 
ship, as  well  as  to  every  other  Lodge  in  my 
dominions."  In  a  similar  tone  of  kindness 
towards  Masonry,  he  wrote  three  months 
afterwards  to  Fessler.  And  when  he  issued, 
October  20, 1798,  an  edict  forbidding  secret 
societies,  he  made  a  special  exemption  in 
favor  of  the  Masonic  Lodges.  To  the  time 
of  his  death,  he  was  always  the  avowed 
friend  of  the  Order. 

Free.  The  word  "  free,"  in  connection 
with  "  Mason,"  originally  signified  that  the 
person  so  called  was  free  of  the  company  or 
gild  of  incorporated  Masons.  For  those 
operative  Masons  who  were  not  thus  made 
free  of  the  gild,  were  not  permitted  to  work 
with  those  who  were.  A  similar  regulation 
still  exists  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  al- 
though it  is  not  known  to  this  country. 
The  term  appears  to  have  been  first  thus 
used  in  the  tenth  century,  when  the  travel- 
ling Freemasons  were  incorporated  by  the 
Roman  Pontiff.     See  Travelling  Freemasons. 

In  reference  to  the  other  sense  of  free  as 
meaning  not  bound,  not  in  captivity,  it  is  a 
rule  of  Masonry  that  no  one  can  be  initiated 
who  is  at  the  time  restrained  of  his  liberty. 


The  Grand  Lodge  of  England  extends 
this  doctrine,  that  Masons  should  be  free  in 
all  their  thoughts  and  actions,  so  far,  that 
it  will  not  permit  the  initiation  of  a  candi- 
date who  is  only  temporarily  in  a  place  of 
confinement.  In  the  year  1782,  the  Master 
of  the  Royal  Military  Lodge  at  Woolwich 
being  confined,  most  probably  for  debt,  in 
the  King's  Bench  prison,  at  London,  the 
Lodge,  which  was  itinerant  in  its  character 
and  allowed  to  move  from  place  to  place 
with  its  regiment,  adjourned,  with  its  war- 
rant of  Constitution,  to  the  Master  in  prison, 
where  several  Masons  were  made.  The 
Grand  Lodge,  being  informed  of  the  cir- 
cumstances, immediately  summoned  the 
Master  and  Wardens  of  the  Lodge  "to 
answer  for  their  conduct  in  making  Masons 
in  the  King's  Bench  prison,"  and,  at  the 
same  time,  adopted  a  resolution,  affirming 
that  "  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  principles 
of  Freemasonry  for  any  Freemason's  Lodge 
to  be  held,  for  the  purpose  of  making,  pass- 
ing, or  raising  Masons,  in  any  prison  or 
place  of  confinement." 

Free  and  Accepted.  The  title  of 
"  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  "  was  first  used 
by  Dr.  Anderson  in  the  second  edition  of  the 
Book  of  Constitutions,  published  in  1738, 
the  title  of  which  is  "  The  History  and 
Constitutions  of  the  Most  Ancient  and  Hon- 
orable Fraternity  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons."  In  the  first  edition  of  1723,  the 
title  was  "  The  Constitutions  of  the  Free- 
masons." The  newer  title  continued  to  be 
used  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  in 
which  it  was  followed  by  those  of  Scotland 
and  Ireland ;  and  a  majority  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  in  this  country  have  adopted  the 
same  style,  and  call  themselves  Grand 
Lodges  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 
See  Accepted.  The  old  lectures  formerly 
used  in  England  give  the  following  account 
of  the  origin  of  the  term : 

"  The  Masons  who  were  selected  to  build 
the  Temple  of  Solomon  were  declared  Free, 
and  were  exempted,  together  with  their  de- 
scendants, from  imposts,  duties,  and  taxes. 
They  had  also  the  privilege  to  bear  arms. 
At  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the  posterity  of  these  Masons 
were  carried  into  captivity  with  the  ancient 
Jews.  But  the  good-will  of  Cyrus  gave 
them  permission  to  erect  a  second  Temple, 
having  set  them  at  liberty  for  that  purpose. 
It  is  from  this  epoch  that  we  bear  the  name 
of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons." 

Free  Born.  In  all  the  old  Constitutions, 
free  birth  is  required  as  a  requisite  to  the  re- 
ception of  Apprentices.  Thus  the  Lands- 
downe  MS.  says,  "  That  the  prentice  be  able 
of  birth,  that  'is,  free  born."  So  it  is  in  the 
Edinburgh  Kilwinning,  the  York,  the  An- 
tiquity, and  in  every  other  manuscript  that 


FREE 


FREEMASON 


295 


has  been  so  far  discovered.  And  hence, 
the  modern  Constitutions  framed  in  1721 
continue  the  regulation.  After  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  West  Indies  by  the 
British  Parliament,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England  changed  the  word  "  free  born  "  into 
"free,"  but  the  ancient  landmark  never 
has  been  removed  in  this  country. 

The  non-admission  of  a  slave  seems  to 
have  been  founded  upon  the  best  of  rea- 
sons; because,  as  Freemasonry  involves  a 
solemn  contract,  no  one  can  legally  bind 
himself  to  its  performance  who  is  not  a  free 
agent  and  the  master  of  his  own  actions. 
That  the  restriction  is  extended  to  those 
who  were  originally  in  a  servile  condition, 
but  who  may  have  since  acquired  their  lib- 
erty, seems  to  depend  on  the  principle  that 
birth  in  a  servile  condition  is  accompanied 
by  a  degradation  of  mind  and  abasement 
of  spirit  which  no  subsequent  disenthral- 
ment  can  so  completely  efface  as  to  render 
the  party  qualified  to  perform  his  duties,  as 
a  Mason,  with  that "  freedom,  fervency,  and 
zeal "  which  are  said  to  have  distinguished 
our  ancient  brethren.  "Children,"  says 
Oliver,  "cannot  inherit  a  free  and  noble 
spirit  except  they  be  born  of  a  free  woman." 

The  same  usage  existed  in  the  spurious 
Freemasonry  or  the  mysteries  of  the  ancient 
world.  There,  no  slave,  or  man  born  in 
slavery,  could  be  initiated;  because  the 
prerequisites  imperatively  demanded  that 
the  candidate  should  not  only  be  a  man  of 
irreproachable  manners,  but  also  a  freeborn 
denizen  of  the  country  in  which  the  mys- 
teries were  celebrated. 

Some  Masonic  writers  have  thought  that 
in  this  regulation,  in  relation  to  free  birth, 
some  allusion  is  intended,  both  in  the  mys- 
teries and  in  Freemasonry,  to  the  relative 
conditions  and  characters  of  Isaac  and  Ish- 
mael.  The  former  —  the  accepted  one,  to 
whom  the  promise  was  given  —  was  the  son 
of  a  free  woman,  and  the  latter,  who  was 
cast  forth  to  have  "  his  hand  against  every 
man  and  every  man's  hand  against  him," 
was  the  child  of  a  slave.  Wherefore,  we 
read  that  Sarah  demanded  of  Abraham, 
"  Cast  out  this  bondwoman  and  her  son ; 
for  the  son  of  the  bondwoman  shall  not  be 
heir  with  my  son."  Dr.  Oliver,  in  speaking 
of  the  grand  festival  with  which  Abraham 
celebrated  the  weaning  of  Isaac,  says  that 
he  "  had  not  paid  the  same  compliment  at 
the  weaning  of  Ishmael,  because  he  was  the 
son  of  a  bondwoman,  and  consequently 
could  not  be  admitted  to  participate  in  the 
Freemasonry  of  his  father,  which  could  only 
be  conferred  on  free  men  born  of  free  wo- 
men." The  ancient  Greeks  were  of  the 
same  opinion;  for  they  used  the  word 
dovAoTrpeneia,  or  "  slave  manners,"  to  desig- 
nate any  very  great  impropriety  of  manners. 


Freedom.  This  is  defined  to  be  a 
state  of  exemption  from  the  control  or 
power  of  another.  The  doctrine  that  Ma- 
sons should  enjoy  unrestrained  liberty,  and 
be  free  in  all  their  thoughts  and  actions, 
is  carried  so  far  in  Masonry,  that  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  will  not  permit  the  ini- 
tiation of  a  candidate  who  is  only  tempo- 
rarily deprived  of  his  liberty,  or  even  in  a 
place  of  confinement.    See  Free. 

It  is  evident  that  the  word  freedom  is 
used  in  Masonry  in  a  symbolical  or  meta- 
physical sense  differing  from  its  ordinary 
signification.  While,  in  the  application  of 
the  words  free  born  and  freeman,  we  use 
them  in  their  usual  legal  acceptation,  we 
combine  freedom  with  fervency  and  zeal 
as  embodying  a  symbolic  idea.  Gadicke, 
under  the  word  Freiheit,  in  his  Freimaurer- 
Lexicon,  thus  defines  the  word : 

"  A  word  that  is  often  heard  among  us, 
but  which  is  restricted  to  the  same  limita- 
tion as  the  freedom  of  social  life.  We  have 
in  our  assemblies  no  freedom  to  act  each 
one  as  he  pleases.  But  we  are,  or  should 
be,  free  from  the  dominion  of  passion, 
pride,  prejudice,  and  all  the  other  follies  of 
human  nature.  We  are  free  from  the  false 
delusion  that  we  need  not  be  obedient  to 
the  laws."  Thus  he  makes  it  equivalent  to 
integrity;  a  sense  that  I  think  it  bears  in 
the  next  article. 

Freedom,  Fervency,  and  Zeal. 
The  earliest  lectures  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury designated  freedom,  fervency,  and  zeal 
as  the  qualities  which  should  distinguish 
the  servitude  of  Apprentices,  and  the  same 
symbolism  is  found  in  the  ritual  of  the 
present  day.  The  word  freedom  is  not  here 
to  be  taken  in  its  modern  sense  of  liberty, 
but  rather  in  its  primitive  Anglo-Saxon 
meaning  of  frankness,  generosity,  a  generous 
willingness  to  work  or  perform  one's  duty. 
So  Chaucer  uses  it  in  the  Prior's  Tale, 
(v.  46:) 

"  A  knight  there  was,  and  that  a  worthy  man, 
That  fro  the  time  that  he  first  began 
To  riden  out,  he  loved  chivalrie, 
Trouthe  and  Honour,  Freedom  and  Chivalrie." 
See  Fervency  and  Zeal. 

Freeman.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land, some  years  ago,  erased  from  their  list 
of  the  qualifications  of  candidates  the  word 
"  free  born,"  and  substituted  for  it  "  free- 
man." Their  rule  now  reads,  "  every  can- 
didate must  be  a  freeman."  This  has  been 
generally  considered  an  unauthorized  vio- 
lation of  a  landmark. 

Freemason.  One  who  has  been  ini- 
tiated into  the  mysteries  of  the  fraternity 
of  Freemasonry.  Freemasons  are  so  called 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  Operative  or 


296 


FREEMASON 


FREEMASONRY 


Stone-masons,  who  constituted  an  inferior 
class  of  workmen,  and  out  of  whom  they 
sprang.  See  Stone-Masons  and  Travelling 
Freemasons.  The  meaning  of  the  epithet 
free,  as  applied  to  Mason,  is  given  under 
the  word  Free.  In  the  old  lectures  of  the 
last  century  a  Freemason  was  described  as 
being  "a  freeman,  born  of  a  freewoman, 
brother  to  a  king,  fellow  to  a  prince,  or 
companion  to  a  beggar,  if  a  Mason,"  and 
by  this  was  meant  to  indicate  the  univer- 
sality of  the  brotherhood. 

The  word  "Freemason"  was  until  re- 
cently divided  into  two  words,  sometimes 
with  and  sometimes  without  a  hyphen; 
and  we  find  in  all  the  old  books  and  manu- 
scripts "Free  Mason"  or  "  Free -Mason." 
But  this  usage  has  been  abandoned  by  all 
good  writers,  and  "  Freemason "  is  now 
always  spelled  as  one  word.  The  old  Con- 
stitutions constantly  used  the  word  Mason. 
I  do  not  recollect  meeting  with  Freemason 
in  any  of  them.  Yet  the  word  was  em- 
ployed at  a  very  early  period  in  the  parish 
registers  of  England,  and  by  some  writers. 
Thus,  in  the  register  of  the  parish  of  Ast- 
bury  we  find  these  items : 

"  1685.  Smallwood,  Jos.,  fils  Jos.  Hen- 
shaw,  Freemason,  bapt.  3°  die  Nov. 

"  1697.  Jos.  fil  Jos.  Henshaw,  Freema- 
son, buried  7  April." 

But  the  most  singular  passage  is  one 
found  in  Cawdray's  Treasurie  of  Similies, 
published  in  1609,  and  which  he  copied  from 
Bishop  Coverdale's  translation  of  Werd- 
muller's  A  Spiritual  and  most  Precious  Perle, 
which  was  published  in  1550.  It  is  as  fol- 
lows: "As  the  Free -Mason  heweth  the 
hard  stones  ....  even  so  God  the  Heav- 
enly Free -Mason  buildeth  a  Christian 
church."  But,  in  fact,  the  word  was  used 
at  a  much  earlier  period,  and  occurs,  Stein- 
brenner  says,  {Orig.  and  Early  Hist  of  Mas., 
p.  110,)  for  the  first  time  in  a  statute  passed 
in  1350,  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  Edward 
I.,  where  the  wages  of  a  master  Freemason 
are  fixed  at  4  pence,  and  of  other  masons 
at  3  pence.  The  original  French  text  of 
the  statute  is  "Mestre  de  franche-peer." 
"Here,"  saysSteinbrenner, "  the  word  Free- 
mason evidently  signifies  a  free-stone  ma- 
son —  one  who  works  in  free-stone,  (Fr. 
franche-peer,  i.  e.,  franche-pierre, )  as  distin- 
guished from  the  rough  mason,  who  merely 
built  walls  of  rough,  unhewn  stone."  This 
latter  sort  of  workmen  was  that  class  called 
by  the  Scotch  Masons  cowans,  whom  the 
Freemasons  were  forbidden  to  work  with, 
whence  we  get  the  modern  use  of  that 
word.  Ten  years  after,  in  1360,  we  have  a 
statute  of  Edward  III.,  in  which  it  is  or- 
dained that  "  every  mason  shall  finish  his 
work,  be  it  of  free-stone  or  of  rough-stone," 
where  the  French  text  of  the  statute  is 


"  de  francbe-pere  ou  de  grosse-pere."  Thus 
it  seems  evident  that  the  word  free-mason 
was  originally  used  in  contradistinction 
to  rough-mason.  The  old  Constitutions 
sometimes  call  these  latter  masons  rough- 
la"ers. 

Freemasonry,  History  of.  It  is 
the  opprobrium  of  Freemasonry  that  its 
history  has  never  yet  been  written  in  a 
spirit  of  critical  truth ;  that  credulity,  and 
not  incredulity,  has  been  the  foundation  on 
which  all  Masonic  historical  investigations 
have  hitherto  been  built ;  that  imagination 
has  too  often  "  lent  enchantment  to  the 
view ; "  that  the  missing  links  of  a  chain 
of  evidence  have  been  frequently  supplied 
by  gratuitous  invention ;  and  that  state- 
ments of  vast  importance  have  been  care- 
lessly sustained  by  the  testimony  of  docu- 
ments whose  authenticity  has  not  been 
proved. 

And  this  leads  me  to  the  important  ques- 
tion :  How  is  the  history  of  Freemasonry 
to  be  written,  so  that  the  narrative  shall 
win  the  respect  of  its  enemies,  and  secure 
the  assent  and  approbation  of  its  friends  ? 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  begin  by  a 
strict  definition  of  the  word  Masonry.  If 
we  make  it  synonymous  with  Freemasonry, 
then  must  we  confine  ourselves  closely  to 
the  events  that  are  connected  with  the  In- 
stitution in  its  present  form  and  organ- 
ization. We  may  then  say  that  Ma- 
sonry received  a  new  organization  and  a 
restoration  in  the  beginning  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  We  may  trace  this  very 
Institution,  with  an  older  but  not  dissimilar 
form,  in  the  Masonic  gilds  of  Europe ;  in 
the  corporations  of  Stone-masons  of  Ger- 
many ;  in  the  travelling  Freemasons  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  connect  it  with  the  Col- 
leges of  Architects  of  Rome.  Such  a  his- 
tory will  not  want  authentic  memorials  to 
substantiate  its  truth,  and  there  will  be  no 
difficulty  in  conferring  upon  the  Institution 
an  enviable  antiquity. 

But  if  we  confound  the  term  Masonry  with 
Geometry,  with  Architecture,  or  with  Moral 
Science,  we  shall  beget  in  the  mind,  equally 
of  the  writer  and  the  reader,  such  a  confu- 
sion of  ideas  as  can  never  lead  to  any  prac- 
tical result.  And  yet  this  has  been  the  pre- 
vailing error  of  all"  the  great  English  writ- 
ers on  Masonry  in  the  last,  and,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  even  in  the  present  century. 
At  one  moment  they  speak  of  Masonry  as 
a  mystical  institution  which,  in  its  then 
existing  form,  was  familiar  to  their  readers. 
Soon  afterwards,  perhaps  on  the  same  page, 
a  long  paragraph  is  found  to  refer,  without 
any  change  of  name,  under  the  identical 
term  Masonry,  to  the  rise  of  Architecture, 
to  the  progress  of  Geometry,  or  perhaps  to 
the  condition  of  the  moral  virtues. 


FREEMASONRY 


FREEMASONS 


297 


Thus  Preston,  in  his  Illustrations  of  Ma- 
sonry, begins  his  section  on  the  Origin  of 
Masonry  by  stating  that,  "  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  world  we  may  trace  the 
foundation  of  Masonry."  And  he  adds: 
"  Ever  since  symmetry  began  and  harmony 
displayed  her  charms,  our  Order  has  had  a 
being."  But,  after  we  have  read  through 
the  entire  chapter,  we  find  that  it  is  not  to 
Freemasonry,  such  as  we  know  and  recog- 
nize it,  that  the  author  has  been  referring, 
but  to  some  great  moral  virtue,  to  the  social 
feeling,  to  the  love  of  man  for  man,  which, 
as  inherent  in  the  human  breast,  must  have 
existed  from  the  very  creation  of  the  race, 
and  necessarily  have  been  the  precursor  of 
civilization  and  the  arts. 

Oliver,  who,  notwithstanding  the  valua- 
ble services  which  he  has  rendered  to  Ma- 
sonry, was  unfortunately  too  much  given 
to  abstract  speculations,  has  "out-heroded 
Herod,"  and,  in  commenting  on  this  pas- 
sage of  Preston,  proclaims  "  that  our  science 
existed  before  the  creation  of  this  globe,  and 
was  diffused  amidst  the  numerous  systems 
with  which  the  grand  empyreum  of  uni- 
versal space  is  furnished."  But  on  further 
reading,  we  find  that  by  Speculative  Ma- 
sonry the  writer  means  "  a  system  of  ethics 
founded  on  the  belief  of  a  God,"  and  that 
in  this  grandiloquent  sentence  he  does  not 
refer  to  the  Freemasonry  of  whose  history 
he  is  professing  to  treat,  but  to  the  exist- 
ence of  such  a  belief  among  the  sentient 
intelligences  who,  as  he  supposes,  inhabit 
the  planets  and  stars  of  the  solar  system. 

Anderson  is  more  modest  in  his  claims, 
and  traces  Masonry  only  to  Adam  in  the 
garden  of  Eden  ;  but  soon  we  find  that  he, 
too,  is  treating  of  different  things  by  the 
same  name,  and  that  the  Masonry  of  the 
primal  patriarch  is  not  the  Freemasonry  of 
our  day,  but  Geometry  and  Architecture. 

Now,  all  this  is  to  write  romance,  not  his- 
tory. Such  statements  may  be  said  to  be 
what  the  French  call  fagons  de  parler  — 
rhetorical  flourishes,  having  much  sound, 
and  no  meaning.  But  when  the  reader 
meets  with  them  in  books  written  by  men 
of  eminence,  professedly  intended  to  give 
the  true  history  of  the  Order,  he  either  aban- 
dons in  disgust  a  study  which  has  been 
treated  with  so  much  folly,  or  he  is  led  to 
adopt  theories  which  he  cannot  maintain, 
because  they  are  absurd.  In  the  former 
case  Freemasonry  perhaps  loses  a  disciple; 
in  the  latter,  he  is  ensnared  by  a  delusion. 

The  true  history  of  Freemasonry  is  much 
in  its  character  like  the  history  of  a  nation. 
It  has  its  historic  and  its  pre-historic  era. 
In  its  historic  era,  the  Institution  can  be 
regularly  traced  through  various  antece- 
dent associations,  similar  in  design  and 
organization,  to  a  comparatively  remote 
2N 


period.  Its  connection  with  these  associa- 
tions can  be  rationally  established  by  au- 
thentic documents,  and  by  other  evidence 
which  no  historian  would  reject.  Thus 
dispassionately  and  philosophically  treated, 
as  though  it  were  the  history  of  an  empire 
that  was  under  investigation,  —  no  claim 
being  advanced  that  cannot  be  substanti- 
ated, no  assertion  made  that  cannot  be 
proved,  —  Freemasonry  —  the  word  so  used 
meaning,  without  evasion  or  reservation, 
precisely  what  everybody  supposes  it  to 
mean  —  can  be  invested  with  an  antiquity 
sufficient  for  the  pride  of  the  most  exacting 
admirer  of  the  Society. 

And  then,  for  the  pre-historic  era,  —  that 
which  connects  it  with  the  mysteries  of  the 
Pagan  world,  and  with  the  old  priests  of 
Eleusis,  of  Samothrace,  or  of  Syria,  —  let 
us  honestly  say  that  we  now  no  longer 
treat  of  Freemasonry  under  its  present  or- 
ganization, which  we  know  did  not  exist 
in  those  days,  but  of  a  science  peculiar, 
and  peculiar  only,  to  the  Mysteries  and  to 
Freemasonry,  —  a  science  which  we  may 
call  Masonic  symbolism,  and  which  con- 
stituted the  very  heart-blood  of  the  ancient 
and  the  modern  institutions,  and  gave  to 
them,  while  presenting  a  dissimilarity  of 
form,  an  identity  of  spirit.  And  then,  in 
showing  the  connection  and  in  tracing  the 
germ  of  Freemasonry  in  those  pre-historic 
days,  although  we  shall  be  guided  by  no 
documents,  and  shall  have  no  authentic 
spoken  or  written  narratives  on  which  to 
rely,  we  shall  find  fossil  thoughts  embalmed 
in  those  ancient  intellects  precisely  like 
the  living  ones  which  crop  out  in  modern 
Masonry,  and  which,  like  the  fossil  shells 
and  fishes  of  the  old  physical  formations 
of  the  earth,  show,  by  their  resemblance  to 
living  specimens,  the  graduated  connection 
of  the  past  with  the  present. 

No  greater  honor  could  accrue  to  any 
man  than  that  of  having  been  the  founder 
of  a  new  school  of  Masonic  history,  in 
which  the  fictions  and  loose  statements  of 
former  writers  would  be  rejected,  and  in 
which  the  rule  would  be  adopted  that  has 
been  laid  down  as  a  vital  maxim  of  all  in- 
ductive science,  —  in  words  that  have  been 
chosen  as  his  motto  by  a  recent  powerful 
investigator  of  historical  truth : 

"  Not  to  exceed  and  not  to  fall  short  of 
facts  —  not  to  add  and  not  to  take  away. 
To  state  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth." 

Freemasons  of  the  Church.  An 
architectural  college  was  organized  in  Lon- 
don, in  the  year  1842,  under  the  name  of 
"  Freemasons  of  the  Church  for  the  Recov- 
ery, Maintenance,  and  Furtherance  of  the 
True  Principles  and  Practice  of  Architec- 
ture."    The  founders  of  the  association 


298 


FREE-WILL 


FRENCH 


announced  their  objects  to  be  "  the  redis- 
covery of  the  ancient  principles  of  archi- 
tecture ;  the  sanction  of  good  principles  of 
building,  and  the  condemnation  of  bad 
ones ;  the  exercise  of  scientific  and  expe- 
rienced judgment  in  the  choice  and  use  of 
the  proper  materials;  the  infusion,  main- 
tenance, and  advancement  of  science 
throughout  architecture;  and  eventually, 
by  developing  the  powers  of  the  college 
upon  a  just  and  beneficial  footing,  to  reform 
the  whole  practice  of  architecture,  to  raise 
it  from  its  present  vituperated  condition, 
and  to  bring  around  it  the  same  unques- 
tioned honor  which  is  at  present  enjoyed 
by  almost  every  other  profession."  One  of 
their  members  has  said  that  the  title  as- 
sumed was  not  intended  to  express  any 
conformity  with  the  general  bodyof  Free- 
masons, but  rather  as  indicative  of  the  pro- 
found views  of  the  college,  namely,  the 
recovery,  maintenance,  and  furtherance  of 
the  free  principles  and  practice  of  archi- 
tecture ;  and  that,  in  addition,  they  made 
it  an  object  of  their  exertions  to  preserve 
or  effect  the  restoration  of  architectural 
remains  of  antiquity,  threatened  unnecessa- 
rily with  demolition  or  endangered  by  de- 
cay. But  it  is  evident,  from  the  close 
connection  of  modern  Freemasonry  with 
the  building  gilds  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that 
any  investigation  into  the  condition  of 
Mediaeval  architecture  must  throw  light  on 
Masonic  history. 

Free- Will  and  Aceord.  There  is 
one  peculiar  feature  in  the  Masonic  Insti- 
tution that  must  commend  it  to  the  respect 
of  every  generous  mind.  In  other  associa- 
tions it  is  considered  meritorious  in  a  mem- 
ber to  exert  his  influence  in  obtaining 
applications  for  admission ;  but  it  is  wholly 
uncongenial  with  the  spirit  of  our  Order 
to  persuade  any  one  to  become  a  Mason. 
Whosoever  seeks  a  knowledge  of  our  mys- 
tic rites,  must  first  be  prepared  for  the 
ordeal  in  his  heart;  he  must  not  only  be 
endowed  with  the  necessary  moral  qualifi- 
cations which  would  fit  him  for  admission 
into  our  ranks,  but  he  must  come,  too,  un- 
influenced by  friends  and  unbiassed  by 
unworthy  motives.  This  is  a  settled  land- 
mark of  the  Order ;  and,  therefore,  nothing 
can  be  more  painful  to  a  true  Mason  than 
to  see  this  landmark  violated  by  young  and 
heedless  brethren.  For  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  it  is  sometimes  violated;  and  this 
habit  of  violation  is  one  of  those  unhappy 
influences  sometimes  almost  insensibly  ex- 
erted upon  Masonry  by  the  existence  of 
the  many  secret  societies  to  which  the 
present  age  has  given  birth,  and  which  re- 
semble Masonry  in  nothing  except  in  hav- 
ing some  sort  of  a  secret  ceremony  of 
initiation.     These  societies  are  introducing 


into  some  parts  of  our  country  such  phrase- 
ology as  a  "  card  "  for  a  "  demit,"  or  "wor- 
thy" for  "worshipful,"  or  "brothers"  for 
"  brethren."  And  there  are  some  men  who, 
coming  among  us  imbued  with  the  princi- 
ples and  accustomed  to  the  usages  of  these 
modern  societies,  in  which  the  persevering 
solicitation  of  candidates  is  considered  as  a 
legitimate  and  even  laudable  practice, 
bring  with  them  these  preconceived  no- 
tions, and  consider  it  their  duty  to  exert 
all  their  influence  in  persuading  their 
friends  to  become  members  of  the  Craft. 
Men  who  thus  misunderstand  the  true 
policy  of  our  Institution  should  be  in- 
structed by  their  older  and  more  experi- 
enced brethren  that  it  is  wholly  in  opposi- 
tion to  all  our  laws  and  principles  to  ask 
any  man  to  become  a  Mason,  or  to  exercise 
any  kind  of  influence  upon  the  minds  of 
others,  except  that  of  a  truly  Masonic  life 
and  a  practical  exemplification  of  its  tenets, 
by  which  they  may  be  induced  to  ask  ad- 
mission into  our  Lodges,  We  must  not 
seek,  —  we  are  to  be  sought. 

And  if  this  were  not  an  ancient  law, 
imbedded  in  the  very  cement  that  upholds 
our  system,  policy  alone  would  dictate  an 
adherence  to  the  voluntary  usage.  We 
need  not  now  fear  that  our  Institution  will 
suffer  from  a  deficiency  of  members.  Our 
greater  dread  should  be  that,  in  its  rapid 
extension,  less  care  may  be  given  to  the 
selection  of  candidates  than  the  interests 
and  welfare  of  the  Order  demand.  There 
can,  therefore,  be  no  excuse  for  the  prac- 
tice of  persuading  candidates,  and  every 
hope  of  safety  in  avoiding  such  a  practice. 
It  should  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
candidate  who  comes  to  us  not  of  his  own 
"  free-will  and  accord,"  but  induced  by  the 
persuasions  of  his  friends, — no  matter  how 
worthy  he  otherwise  may  be, — violates,  by 
so  coming,  the  requirements  of  our  Institu- 
tion on  the  very  threshold  of  its  temple, 
and,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred, 
fails  to  become  imbued  with  that  zealous 
attachment  to  the  Order  which  is  absolutely 
essential  to  the  formation  of  a  true  Ma- 
sonic character. 

Freimaurer.  German  for  Freemason. 
Matter  means  "  a  wall,"  and  mauern,  "  to 
build  a  wall."  Hence,  literally,  freimaurer 
is  a  "  builder  of  walls"  who  is  free  of  his 
gild,  from  the  fact  that  the  building  of 
walls  was  the  first  occupation  of  masons. 

Freimaurerei.  German  for  Free- 
masonry. 

French,  Benjamin  Brown.  A 
distinguished  Mason  of  the  United  States, 
who  was  born  at  Chester,  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, September  4,  1800,  and  died  at  the 
city  of  Washington,  where  he  had  long  re- 
sided, on  August  12,  1870.     He  was  initi- 


FRENCH 


FUND 


299 


ated  into  Masonry  in  1825,  and  during  his 
whole  life  took  an  active  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Fraternity.  He  served  for 
many  years  as  General  Grand  Secretary  of 
the  General  Grand  Chapter,  and  Grand  Re- 
corder of  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the 
United  States.  In  1846,  soon  after  his  ar- 
rival in  Washington,  he  was  elected  Grand 
Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  District, 
a  position  which  he  repeatedly  occupied. 
In  1859  he  was  elected  Grand  Master  of  the 
Templars  of  the  United  States,  a  distin- 
guished position  which  he  held  for  six 
years,  having  been  re-elected  in  1862.  His 
administration,  during  a  period  of  much 
excitement  in  the  country,  was  marked  by 
great  firmness,  mingled  with  a  spirit  of 
conciliation.  He  was  also  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was 
the  Lieutenant  Grand  Commander  of  the 
Supreme  Council  for  the  Southern  Juris- 
diction of  the  United  States. 

Brother  French  was  possessed  of  much 
intellectual  ability,  and  contributed  no 
small  share  of  his  studies  to  the  literature 
of  Masonry.  His  writings,  which  have  not 
yet  been  collected,  were  numerous,  and 
consisted  of  Masonic  odes,  many  of  them 
marked  with  the  true  poetic  spirit,  eloquent 
addresses  on  various  public  occasions, 
learned  dissertations  on  Masonic  law,  and 
didactic  essays,  which  were  published  at  the 
time  in  various  periodicals.  His  decisions 
on  Templar  law  have  always  been  esteemed 
of  great  value. 

French  Rite.  [Rite  Frangais  on 
Modeme.)  The  French  or  Modern  Rite  is 
one  of  the  three  principal  Rites  of  Freema- 
sonry. It  consists  of  seven  degrees,  three 
symbolic  and  four  higher,  viz. :  1.  Appren- 
tice; 2.  Fellow-Craft;  3.  Master;  4.  Elect; 
5.  Scotch  Master  ;  6.  Knight  of  the  East ; 
7.  Rose  Croix.  This  Rite  is  practised  in 
France,  in  Brazil,  and  in  Louisiana.  It 
was  founded,  in  1786,  by  the  Grand  Orient 
of  France,  who,  unwilling  to  destroy  entire- 
ly the  high  degrees  which  were  then  prac- 
tised by  the  different  Rites,  and  yet  anxious 
to  reduce  them  to  a  smaller  number  and  to 
greater  simplicity,  extracted  these  degrees 
out  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection,  making  some 
few  slight  modifications.  Most  of  the  au- 
thors who  have  treated  of  this  Rite  have 
given  to  its  symbolism  an  entirely  astro- 
nomical meaning.  Among  these  writers, 
we  may  refer  to  Ragon,  in  his  Cours  Phi- 
losophique,  as  probably  the  most  scientific. 

Ragon,  in  his  Tuileur  General,  (p.  51,) 
says  that  the  four  degrees  of  the  French 
Rite,  which  were  elaborated  to  take  the 
place  of  the  thirty  degrees  of  the  Scottish 
Rite,  have  for  their  basis  the  four  physical 
proofs  to  which  the  recipiendary  submits  in 


the  first  degree.  And  that  the  symbolism 
further  represents  the  sun  in  his  annual 
progress  through  the  four  seasons.  Thus, 
the  Elect  degree  represents  the  element  of 
Earth  and  the  season  of  Spring  ;  the  Scot- 
tish Master  represents  Air  and  the  Summer; 
the  Knight  of  the  East  represents  Water 
and  Autumn;  and  the  Rose  Croix  repre- 
sents Fire;  but  he  does  claim  that  it  is  con- 
secrated to  Winter,  although  that  would  be 
the  natural  conclusion. 

The  original  Rose  Croix  was  an  eminent- 
ly Christian  degree,  which,  being  found  in- 
convenient, was  in  1860  substituted  by  the 
Philosophic  Rose  Croix,  which  now  forms 
the  summit  of  the  French  Rite. 

Friendly  Societies.  Societies  first 
established  towards  the  end  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, in  England,  for  the  relief  of  mechanics, 
laborers,  and  other  persons  who  derived  their 
support  from  their  daily  toil.  By  the  week- 
ly payment  of  a  stipulated  sum,  the  mem- 
bers secured  support  and  assistance  from 
the  society  when  sick,  and  payment  of  the 
expenses  of  burial  when  they  died.  These 
societies  gave  origin  to  the  Odd  Fellow's 
and  other  similar  associations,  but  they 
have  no  relation  whatever  to  Freemasonry. 

Friend  of  St.  John.    The  sixth  de- 

free  of  the  system  practised  by  the  Grand 
iodge  of  Sweden.  It  is  comprehended  in 
the  degree  of  Knight  of  the  East  and  West. 

Friend  of  Truth.  The  filth  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  African  Architects. 

Friendship.  Leslie,  in  1741,  de- 
livered the  first  descant  on  Friendship  as 
peculiarly  a  Masonic  virtue.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  Hutchinson,  Preston,  and  other 
writers,  and  now  in  the  modern  lectures  it 
is  adopted  as  one  of  the  precious  jewels  of 
a  Master  Mason.  Of  universal  friendship, 
blue  is  said  to  be  the  symbolic  color.  "  In 
regular  gradation,"  says  Munkhouse,  (Disc, 
i.  17,)  "and  by  an  easy  descent,  brotherly 
love  extends  itself  to  lesser  distinct  societies 
or  to  particular  individuals,  and  thus  be- 
comes friendship  either  of  convenience  or 
of  personal  affection."  Cicero  says,  "  Ami- 
citia  nisi  inter  bonos  non  potest,"  Friend- 
ship can  exist  only  among  the  good. 

Fund  of  Benevolence.  A  fund 
established  many  years  ago  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  principally  through  the 
exertions  of  Dr.  Crucefix.  The  regulations 
for  its  management  are  as  follows.  Its  dis- 
tribution and  application  is  directed  by  the 
Constitution  to  be  monthly,  for  which  pur- 
pose a  committee  or  Lodge  of  Benevolence 
is  holden  on  the  last  Wednesday  of  every 
month.    This    Lodge  consists  of   all  the 

K resent  and  past  Grand  officers,  all  actual 
[asters  of  Lodges,  and  twelve  Past  Masters. 
The  brother  presiding  is  bound  strictly  to 
enforce  all  the  regulations  of  the  Craft  re- 


300 


FUND 


G 


specting  the  distribution  of  the  fund,  and 
must  be  satisfied,  before  any  petition  is  read, 
that  all  the  required  formalities  have  been 
complied  with.  To  every  petition  must  be 
added  a  recommendation,  signed  in  open 
Lodge  by  the  Master,  Wardens,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  members  then  present,  to 
which  the  petitioner  does  or  did  belong,  or 
from  some  other  contributing  Lodge,  certi- 
fying that  they  have  known  him  to  have 
been  in  reputable,  or  at  least  tolerable,  cir- 
cumstances, and  that  he  has  been  not  less 
than  two  years  a  subscribing  member  to  a 
regular  Lodge. 

Funds  of  the  Lodge.  The  funds  of 
the  Lodge  are  placed  in  the  keeping  of  the 
Treasurer,  to  whom  all  moneys  received  by 
the  Secretary  must  be  immediately  paid. 
Hence  each  of  these  officers  is  a  check  on 
the  other.  And  hence,  too,  the  "Thirty- 
nine  Regulations"  of  1721  say  that  the 
Treasurer  should  be  "a  brother  of  good 
worldly  substance,"  lest  impecuniosity 
should  tempt  him  to  make  use  of  the  Lodge 
funds. 

Funeral  Rites.    See  Burial. 

Furl stc.  A  word  in  the  high  degrees, 
whose  etymology  is  uncertain,  but  probably 
Arabic.  It  is  said  to  signify  the  angel  of 
the  earth. 

Furniture  of  a  Lodge.  The  Bible, 
square,  and  compasses  are  technically  said 
to  constitute  the  furniture  of  a  Lodge. 
They  are  respectfully  dedicated  to  God,  the 
Master  of  the  Lodge,  and  the  Craft.  Our 
English  brethren  differ  from  us  in  their  ex- 
planation of  the  furniture.  Oliver  gives 
their  illustration,  from  the  English  lectures, 
as  follows : 

"  The  Bible  is  said  to  derive  from  God 
to  man  in  general,  because  the  Almighty 
has  been  pleased  to  reveal  more  of  hia 


divine  will  by  that  holy  book  than  by  any 
other  means.  The  compasses,  being  the 
chief  implement  used  in  the  construction 
of  all  architectural  plans  and  designs,  are 
assigned  to  the  Grand  Master  in  particular 
as  emblems  of  his  dignity,  he  being  the 
chief  head  and  ruler  of  the  Craft.  The 
square  is  given  to  the  whole  Masonic  body, 
because  we  are  all  obligated  within  it,  and 
are  consequently  bound  to  act  thereon." 
But  the  lecture  of  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century  made  the  furniture  consist  of  the 
Mosaic  Pavement,  Blazing  Star,  and  the  In- 
dented Tarsel,  while  the  Bible,  square,  and 
compass  were  considered  as  additional 
furniture. 

Fustier.  An  officer  of  the  Grand 
Orient  of  France  in  the  beginning  of  this 
century.  In  1810,  he  published,  and  pre- 
sented to  the  Grand  Orient,  a  Geographical 
Chart  of  the  Lodges  in  France  and  its  Depen- 
dencies. He  was  the  author  of  several 
memoirs,  dissertations,  etc.,  on  Masonic 
subjects,  and  of  a  manuscript  entitled  No- 
menclature Alphabetique  des  Grades.  Oliver 
{Landmarks,  ii.  95,)  says  that  he  promul- 
gated a  new  system  of  sixty-four  degrees. 
I  think  he  has  mistaken  Fustier's  catalogue 
of  degrees  invented  by  others  for  a  system 
established  by  himself.  I  can  find  no  rec- 
ord elsewhere  of  such  a  system.  Lenning 
says  (Encyc.  der  Freimaurerei)  that  Fustier 
was  a  dealer  in  Masonic  decorations  and  in 
the  transcript  of  rituals,  of  which  he  had 
made  a  collection  of  more  than  four  hun- 
dred, which  he  sold  at  established  prices. 

Future  L.ife.  Lorenzo  de  Medici 
said  that  all  those  are  dead,  even  for  the 
present  life,  who  do  not  believe  in  a  future 
state.  The  belief  in  that  future  life,  it  is 
the  object  of  Freemasonry,  as  it  was  of  the 
ancient  initiations,  to  teach. 


G 


©.  As  in  all  Roman  Catholic  and  in 
many  Protestant  churches  the  cross,  en- 
graved or  sculptured  in  some  prominent 
position,  will  be  found  as  the  expressive 
symbol  of  Christianity,  so  in  every  Masonic 
Lodge  a  letter  G  may  be  seen  in  the  east, 
either  painted  on  the  wall  or  sculptured  in 
wood  or  metal,  and  suspended  over  the 
Master's  chair.  This  is,  in  fact,  if  not  the 
most  prominent,  certainly  the  most  familiar, 
of  all  the  symbols  of  Freemasonry.  It  is 
the  one  to  which  the  poet  Burns  alluded  in 


those  well-known  and  often-quoted  lines, 
in  which  he  speaks  of 

" that  hieroglyphic  bright, 

Which  none  but  Craftsmen  ever  saw ; " 

that  is  to  say,  ever  saw  understanding^  — 
ever  saw,  knowing  at  the  same  time  what  it 
meant. 

There  is  an  uncertainty  as  to  the  exact 
time  when  this  symbol  was  first  introduced 
into  Speculative  Masonry.  It  was  not  de- 
rived, in  its  present  form,  from  the  opera- 


G 


G 


301 


tive  Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages,  who  be- 
stowed upon  Freemasonry  so  much  of  its 
symbolism,  for  it  is  not  found  among  the 
architectural  decorations  of  the  old  cathe- 
drals. Dr.  Oliver  says  it  was  "  in  the  old 
lectures ; "  but  this  is  an  uncertain  expres- 
sion. From  Prichard's  Masonry  Dissected, 
which  was  published  in  1730,  it  would  seem 
that  the  symbol  was  not  in  use  at  that  date. 
But  it  may  have  been  omitted.  If  Tubal 
Gain,  which  was  published  in  1768,  is,  as 
it  purported  to  be,  identical  with  Prichard's 
work,  the  question  is  settled ;  for  it  contains 
the  lecture  on  the  letter  G,  to  which  refer- 
ence will  directly  be  made. 

It  is,  however,  certain  that  the  symbol 
was  well  known  and  recognized  in  1766,  and 
some  few  years  before.  The  book  entitled 
Solomon  in  all  his  Glory,  the  first  edition 
of  which  appeared  in  that  year,  and  is  said, 
on  the  title-page,  to  be  a  translation  of  a 
French  original,  contains  the  reference  to 
and  the  explanation  of  the  symbol.  The 
work  contains  abundant  internal  evidence 
that  it  is  a  translation,  and  hence  the  sym- 
bol may,  like  some  others  of  the  system 
subsequent  to  1717,  have  been  first  intro- 
duced on  the  Continent,  and  then  returned 
in  the  translation,  all  of  which  would  indi- 
cate a  date  some  years  anterior  to  1776  for 
the  time  of  its  adoption. 

In  the  ritual  contained  in  Tubal  Gain, 
(p.  18,)  or,  if  that  be  only  a  reprint,  in  Ma- 
sonry Dissected,  that  is  to  say,  in  1768  or 
in  1730,  there  is  a  test  which  is  called  "The 
Eepeating  the  Letter  G,"  and  which  Dr. 
Oliver  gives  in  his  Landmarks  (i.  454)  as  a 
part  of  the  "old  lectures."  It  is  doggerel 
verse,  and  in  the  form  of  a  catechism  be- 
tween an  examiner  and  a  respondent,  a 
form  greatly  affected  in  these  old  lectures, 
and  is  as  follows : 

"Kesp.  —  In  the  Midst  of  Solomon's  Temple 
there  stands  a  G, 
A  letter  for  all  to  read  and  see ; 
But  few  there  be  that  understand 
What  means  the  letter  G. 

"  Ex.  —  My  friend,  if  you  pretend  to  be 
Of  this  Fraternity, 
You  can  forthwith  and  rightly  tell 
What  means  that  letter  G. 

"  Kesp.  —  By  sciences  are  brought  about, 
Bodies  of  various  kinds, 
Which  do  appear  to  perfect  sight ; 
But  none  but  males  shall  know  my 
mind. 

"Ex.  —  The  Right  shall. 

"  Resp.  —  If  Worshipful. 

"  Ex.  —  Both  Right  and  Worshipful  I  am ; 
To  hail  you  I  have  command, 
That  you  forthwith  let  me  know, 
As  I  you  may  understand. 


"  Resp.  —  By  letters  four  and  science  five, 
This  G  aright  doth  stand, 
In  a  due  art  and  proportion ; 
You  have  your  answer,  Friend." 

And  now  as  to  the  signification  of  the 
symbol.  We  may  say,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  explanation  is  by  no  means,  and 
never  has  been,  esoteric.  As  the  symbol  it- 
self has  always  been  exposed  to  public  view, 
forming,  as  it  does,  a  prominent  part  of  the 
furniture  of  a  Lodge,  to  be  seen  by  every 
one,  so  our  Masonic  authors,  from  the 
earliest  times,  have  not  hesitated  to  write, 
openly  and  in  the  plainest  language,  of  its 
signification.  The  fact  is,  that  the  secret 
instruction  in  reference  to  this  symbol  re- 
lates not  to  the  knowledge  of  the  symbol 
itself,  but  to  the  mode  in  which,  and  the 
object  for  which,  that  knowledge  has  been 
obtained. 

Hutchinson,  who  wrote  as  early  as  1776, 
says,  in  his  Spirit  of  Masonry,  (Lect.  viii.,) 
"  It  is  now  incumbent  on  me  to  demonstrate 
to  you  the  great  signification  of  the  letter 
G,  wherewith  Lodges  and  the  medals  of 
Masons  are  ornamented. 

"To  apply  it  to  the  name  of  God  only  is 
depriving  it  of  part  of  its  Masonic  import; 
although  I  have  already  shown  that  the 
symbols  used  in  Lodges  are  expressive  of 
the  Divinity's  being  the  great  object  of  Ma- 
sonry as  Architect  of  the  world. 

"  This  significant  letter  denotes  Geome-  < 
try.  which,  to  artificers,  is  the  science  by 
which  all  their  labors  are  calculated  and 
formed ;  and  to  Masons  contains  the  deter- 
mination, definition,  and  proof  of  the  order, 
beauty,  and  wonderful  wisdom  of  the  power 
of  God  in  His  creation."  • 

Again,  Dr.  Frederick  Dalcho,  a  distin- 
guished Mason  of  South  Carolina,  in  one 
of  his  Orations,  delivered  and  published  in 
1801,  uses  the  following  language: 

"  The  letter  G,  which  ornaments  the  Mas- 
ter's Lodge,  is  not  only  expressive  of  the 
name  of  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  uni- 
verse, but  also  denotes  the  science  of  Geom- 
etry, so  necessary  to  artists.  But  the  adop- 
tion of  it  by  Masons  implies  no  more  than 
their  respect  for  those  inventions  which 
demonstrate  to  the  world  the  power,  the 
wisdom,  and  beneficence  of  the  Almighty 
Builder  in  the  works  of  the  creation." 

Lastly,  Dr.  Oliver  has  said,  in  his  Golden 
Remains  of  the  Early  Masonic  Writers,  that 
"  the  term  G.  A.  O.  T.  U.  is  used  among 
Masons  for  this  great  and  glorious  being, 
designated  by  the  letter  G,  that  it  may  be 
applied  by  every  brother  to  the  object  of 
his  adoration." 

More  quotations  are  unnecessary  to  show 
that  from  the  earliest  times,  since  the  adop- 
tion of  the  letter  as  a  symbol,  its  explana- 


302 


G 


GABAON 


tion  has  not  been  deemed  an  esoteric  or  se- 
cret part  of  the  ritual.  No  Masonic  writer 
has  hesitated  openly  to  give  an  explanation 
of  its  meaning.  The  mode  in  which,  and 
the  purpose  for  which,  that  explanation 
was  obtained  are  the  only  hidden  things 
about  the  symbol. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  letter  G,  as 
a  symbol,  was  ever  admitted  into  the  Ma- 
sonic system.  The  use  of  it,  as  an  initial, 
would  necessarily  confine  it  to  the  English 
language  and  to  modern  times.  It  wants, 
therefore,  as  a  symbol,  the  necessary  char- 
acteristics of  both  universality  and  anti- 
quity. The  Greek  letter  gamma  is  said  to 
nave  been  venerated  by  the  Pythagoreans 
because  it  was  the  initial  of  yeufierpia,  or 
Geometry.  But  this  veneration  could  not 
have  been  shared  by  other  nations  whose 
alphabet  had  no  gamma,  and  where  the 
word  for  geometry  was  entirely  different. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  letter  G 
is  a  very  modern  symbol,  not  belonging  to 
any  old  system  anterior  to  the  origin  of  the 
English  language.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  corrup- 
tion of  the  old  Hebrew  Kabbalistic  symbol, 
the  letter  yod,  >,  by  which  the  sacred  name 
of  God  —  in  fact,  the  most  sacred  name,  the 
Tetragrammaton  —  is  expressed.  This  let- 
ter, yod,  is  the  initial  letter  of  the  word 
nii"Pi  or  Jehovah,  and  is  constantly  to  be 
met  with  among  Hebrew  writers,  as  the 
abbreviation  or  symbol  of  that  most  holy  • 
name,  which,  indeed,  was  never  written  at 
length.  Now,  as  G  is  in  like  manner  the 
initial  of  God,  the  English  equivalent  of 
the  Hebrew  Jehovah,  the  letter  has  been 
adopted  as  a  symbol  intended  to  supply  to 
modern  Lodges  the  place  of  the  Hebrew 
symbol.  First  adopted  by  the  English 
ritual  makers,  it  has,  without  remark,  been 
transferred  to  the  Masonry  of  the  Conti- 
nent, and  it  is  to  be  found  as  a  symbol  in 
all  the  systems  of  Germany,  France,  Spain, 
Italy,  Portugal,  and  every  other  country 
where  Masonry  has  been  introduced;  al- 
though in  Germany  only  can  it  serve,  as  it 
does  in  England,  for  an  intelligent  symbol. 

The  letter  G,  then,  has  in  Masonry  the 
same  force  and  signification  that  the  letter 
yod  had  among  the  Kabbalists.  It  is  only  a 
symbol  of  the  Hebrew  letter,  and,  as  that 
is  a  symbol  of  God,  the  letter  G  is  only  a 
symbol  of  a  symbol.  As  for  its  reference 
to  geometry,  Kloss,  the  German  Masonic 
historian,  says  that  the  old  Operative  Ma- 
sons referred  the  entire  science  of  geometry 
to  the  art  of  building,  which  gave  to  the 
modern  English  Masons  occasion  to  em- 
brace the  whole  system  of  Freemasonry 
under  the  head  of  Geometry,  and  hence 
the  symbol  of  that  science,  as  well  as  of 
God,  was  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
elevation  to  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree. 


Indeed,  the  symbol,  made  sacred  by  its 
reference  to  the  Grand  Geometrician  of  the 
universe,  was  well  worthy  to  be  applied  to 
that  science  which  has,  from  the  remotest 
times,  been  deemed  synonymous  with  Ma- 
sonry. 

Oabaon.  A  significant  word  in  the 
high  degrees.  Oliver  says,  {Landm.,  i.  335,) 
"in  philosophical  Masonry,  heaven,  or, 
more  correctly  speaking,  the  "third  heaven,  is 
denominated  Mount  Gabaon,  which  is 
feigned  to  be  accessible  only  by  the  seven 
degrees  that  compass  the  winding  staircase. 
These  are  the  degrees  terminating  in  the 
Royal  Arch."  Gabaon  is  defined  to  signify 
"  a  high  place."  It  is  the  Septuagint  and 
Vulgate  form  of  |l^3J,  Gibeon,  which  was 
the  city  in  which  the  tabernacle  was  sta- 
tioned during  the  reigns  of  David  and  Sol- 
omon. The  word  means  a  city  built  on  a  hill, 
and  is  referred  to  in  2  Chron.  i.  3.  "So 
Solomon,  and  all  the  congregation  with  him, 
went  to  the  high  place  that  was  at  Gibeon; 
for  there  was  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre- 
gation of  God." 

In  a  ritual  of  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, it  is  said  that  Gabanon  is  the  name 
of  a  Master  Mason.  This  word  is  a  striking 
evidence  of  the  changes  which  Hebrew 
words  have  undergone  in  their  transmission 
to  Masonic  rituals,  and  of  the  almost  im- 
possibility of  tracing  them  to  their  proper 
root.  It  would  seem  difficult  to  find  a  con- 
nection between  Gabanon  and  any  known 
Hebrew  word.  But  if  we  refer  to  Guille- 
main's  Ritual  of  Adonhiramite  Masonry,  we 
will  find  the  following  passage: 

"  Q.  How  is  a  Master  called? 

"  A.  Gabaoc,  which  is  the  name  of  the 
place  where  the  Israelites  deposited  the 
ark  in  the  time  of  trouble. 

"  Q.  What  does  this  signify? 

"  A.  That  the  heart  of  a  Mason  ought  to 
be  pure  enough  to  be  a  temple  suitable  for 
God." 

There  is  abundant  internal  evidence  that 
these  two  rituals  came  from  a  common 
source,  and  that  Gabaoc  is  a  French  distor- 
tion, as  Gabanon  is  an  English  one,  of  some 
unknown  word  —  connected,  however,  with 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  as  the  place  where 
that  article  was  deposited. 

Now,  we  learn  from  the  Jewish  records 
that  the  Philistines,  who  had  captured  the 
ark,  deposited  it  "  in  the  house  of  Abinadab 
that  was  in  Gibeah  ;  "  and  that  David,  sub- 
sequently recapturing  it,  carried  it  to  Jeru- 
salem, but  left  the  tabernacle  at  Gibeon. 
The  ritualist  did  not  remember  that  the 
tabernacle  at  Gibeon  was  without  the  ark, 
but  supposed  that  it  was  still  in  that  sacred 
shrine.  Hence,  Gabaoc  or  Gabanon  must 
have  been  corrupted  from  either  Gibeah  or 
Gibeon,  because  the  ark  was  considered  to 


GABAONNE 


GAVEL 


303 


be  at  some  time  in  both  places.  But  Gib- 
eon  bad  already  been  corrupted  by  the 
Septuagint  and  the  Vulgate  versions  into 
Gabaon  ;  and  this  undoubtedly  is  the  word 
from  which  Gabanon  is  derived,  through 
either  the  Septuagint  or  the  Vulgate,  or 
perhaps  from  Josephus,  who  calls  it  Gabao. 

Gabaonne.  In  French  Masonic  lan- 
guage, the  widow  of  a  Master  Mason.  De- 
rived from  Gabaon. 

Gabor.  Heb.,  ^3J,  strong.  A  signifi- 
cant word  in  the  high  degrees. 

Gabriel.  Heb.,  Sxnoi,  a  man  of  God. 
The  name  of  one  of  the  archangels,  referred 
to  in  some  of  the  high  degrees. 

Gaedicke,  J  oh  ami  Christian. 
A  bookseller  of  Berlin,  born  on  the  14th 
of  December,  1763,  and  initiated  into  Ma- 
sonry in  1804.  He  took  much  interest  in 
the  Order,  and  was  the  author  of  several 
works,  the  most  valuable  and  best  known 
of  which  is  the  Freimaurer- Lexicon,  or 
Freemason's  Lexicon,  published  in  1818  ; 
which,  although  far  inferior  to  that  of  Len- 
ning,  which  appeared  four  years  afterwards, 
is,  as  a  pioneer  work,  very  creditable  to  its 
author.  The  Lexicon  was  translated  into 
English  and  published  in  the  London  Free- 
mason's Magazine. 

Galahad.  Also  spelled  Galaad.  Most 
probably  a  corruption  of  Gilead.  Said  in 
the  old  rituals  to  have  been  the  keeper  of 
the  Seals  in  the  Scottish  degree  of  Knights 
of  the  Ninth,  Arch  or  Sacred  Vault  of 
James  VI. 

G.\  A.*.  O.*.  T.\  IJ.\  An  abbrevia- 
tion of  Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe,  which 
see. 

Garinous.  Said  in  the  old  ritual  of 
the  degree  of  Knights  of  the  East  and  West 
to  have  been  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 
between  whose  hands  the  first  Knights  of 
that  Order  took,  in  1182,  their  vows.  It  is 
a  corruption,  by  the  French  ritualists,  of 
Garimond  or  Garimund,  Patriarch  of  Je- 
rusalem, before  whom  the  Hospitallers  took 
their  three  vows  of  obedience,  chastity,  and 
poverty. 

Gassicourt,  Cadet  de.  An  apothe- 
cary of  Paris,  who,  in  the  year  1796,  pub- 
lished a  work  entitled  Le  Tombeau  de 
Jacques  Molai,  ou  histoire  secrete  et  abregee 
des  inities  anciens  et  modernes.  In  this  book, 
which  embraced  all  the  errors  of  Barruel 
and  Robison,  he  made  the  same  charges  of 
atheism  and  conspiracy  against  the  Frater- 
nity, and  loaded  the  Chevalier  Ramsay,  the 
inventor  of  some  of  the  high  degrees,  with 
the  most  vehement  indignation  asalibertine 
and  traitor.  But  De  Gassicourt  subsequen  tly 
acknowledged  his  folly  in  writing  against 
a  society  of  which  he  really  knew  nothing. 
In  fact,  in  1805,  he  solicited  admission  into 
the  Order,  and  was  initiated  in  the  Lodge 
"  I'Abeille,"  at  Paris,  where,  in  the  various 


offices  of  Orator  and  Master,  which  he  filled, 
he  taught  and  recommended  that  Institu- 
tion which  he  had  once  abused ;  and  even 
on  a  public  occasion  pronounced  the  eulogy 
of  that  Ramsay  whom  he  had  formerly 
anathematized. 

Gaston,  John.  Grand  Duke  of  Tus- 
cany; in  1737  he  inaugurated  a  persecu- 
tion against  the  Freemasons  in  his  domin- 
ions.   See  Tuscany. 

Gates  of  the  Temple.  In  the  sys- 
tem of  Freemasonry,  the  Temple  of  Solo- 
mon is  represented  as  having  a  gate  on  the 
east,  west,  and  south  sides,  but  none  on  the 
north.  In  reference  to  the  historical  Tem- 
ple of  Jerusalem,  such  a  representation  is 
wholly  incorrect.  In  the  walls  of  the  build- 
ing itself  there  were  no  places  of  entrance 
except  the  door  of  the  porch,  which  gave 
admission  to  the  house.  But  in  the  sur- 
rounding courts  there  were  gates  at  every 
point  of  the  compass.  The  Masonic  idea 
of  the  Temple  is,  however,  entirely  symbolic. 
The  Temple  is  to  the  Speculative  Mason  only 
a  symbol  not  an  historical  building,  and 
the  gates  are  imaginary  and  symbolic  also. 
They  are,  in  the  first  place,  symbols  of  the 
progress  of  the  sun  in  his  daily  course, 
rising  in  the  east,  culminating  to  the  me- 
ridian in  the  south,  and  setting  in  the  west. 
They  are  also,  in  the  allegory  of  life,  which 
it  is  the  object  of  the  third  degree  to  illus- 
trate, symbols  of  the  three  stages  of  youth, 
manhood,  and  old  age,  or,  more  properly  of 
birth,  life,  and  death. 

Gauge.     See  Twenty-four-inch  Gauge. 

Gauntlets.  Gloves  formerly  made  of 
steel  and  worn  by  knights  as  a  protection 
to  their  hands  in  battle.  They  have  been 
adopted  in  the  United  States,  as  a  part  of 
the  costume  of  a  Knight  Templar,  under  a 
regulation  of  the  Grand  Encampment, 
which  directs  them  to  be  "  of  buff  leather, 
the  flap  to  extend  four  inches  upwards  from 
the  wrist,  and  to  have  the  appropriate  cross 
embroidered  in  gold,  on  the  proper  colored 
velvet,  two  inches  in  length.'' 

Gavel.  The  common  gavel  is  one  of 
the  working  tools  of  an  Entered  Apprentice. 
It  is  made  use  of  by  the  Operative  Mason 
to  break  off  the  corners  of  the  rough  ashlar, 
and  thus  fit  it  the  better  for  the  builder's  use, 
and  is  therefore  adopted  as  a  symbol  in 
Speculative  Masonry,  to  admonish  us  of 
the  duty  of  divesting  our  minds  and  con- 
sciences of  all  the  vices  and  impurities  of 
life,  thereby  fitting  our  bodies  as  living 
stones  for  that  spiritual  building  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

It  borrows  its  name  from  its  shape,  being 
that  of  the  gable  or  gavel  end  of  a  house ; 
and  this  word  again  comes  from  the  Ger- 
man gipfel,  a  summit,  top,  or  peak,  —  the 
idea  of  a  pointed  extremity  being  common 
to  all. 


304 


GEBAL 


GENERAL 


The  true  form  of  the  gavel  is  that  of  the 
stone-mason's 
hammer.  It  is 
to  be  made  with 
a  cutting  edge, 
as  in  the  annex- 
ed engraving, 
that  it  may  be 
used  "  to  break 
off  the  corners  of  rough  stones,"  an  opera- 
tion which  could  never  be  effected  by  the 
common  hammer  or  mallet.  The  gavel 
thus  shaped  will  give,  when  looked  at  in 
front,  the  exact  representation  of  the  gavel 
or  gable  end  of  a  house,  whence,  as  I  have 
already  said,  the  name  is  derived. 

The  gavel  of  the  Master  is  also  called  a 
"  Hiram,"  because,  like  that  architect,  it 
governs  the  Craft  and  keeps  order  in  the 
Lodge,  as  he  did  in  the  Temple. 

Gebal.  A  city  of  Phoenicia,  on  the 
Mediterranean,  and  under  Mount  Lebanon. 
It  was  the  Byblos  of  the  Greeks,  where  the 
worship  of  Adonis,  the  Syrian  Thammuz, 
was  celebrated.  The  inhabitants,  who  were 
Giblites  or,  in  Masonic  language,  Giblemites, 
are  said  to  have  been  distinguished  for  the 
art  of  stone-carving,  and  are  called  in  the 
first  Book  of  Kings  "  stone-squarers."  See 
Giblim. 

Oedaliah.  The  second  officer  in  a 
Council  of  Super-Excellent  Masters  repre- 
sents Gedaliah  the  son  of  Pashur.  An 
historical  error  has  crept  into  the  ritual  of 
this  degree  in  reference  to  the  Gedaliah 
who  is  represented  in  it.  I  have  sought 
to  elucidate  the  question  in  my  work 
on  Cryptic  Masonry  in  the  following 
manner : 

There  are  five  persons  of  the  name  of 
Gedaliah  who  are  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
but  only  two  of  them  were  contemporary 
with  the  destruction  of  the  Temple. 

Gedaliah  the  son  of  Pashur  is  mentioned 
by  the  prophet  Jeremiah  (xxxviii.  1)  as  a 
prince  of  the  court  of  Zedekiah.  He  was 
present  at  its  destruction,  and  is  known  to 
have  been  one  of  the  advisers  of  the  king.  It 
was  through  his  counsels,  and  those  ot  his 
colleagues,  that  Zedekiah  was  persuaded  to 
deliver  up  the  prophet  Jeremiah  to  death, 
from  which  he  was  rescued  only  by  the  in- 
tercession of  a  eunuch  of  the  palace. 

The  other  Gedaliah  was  the  son  of  Ahi- 
kam.  He  seems  to  have  been  greatly  in 
favor  with  Nebuchadnezzar,  for  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  deporta- 
tion of  Zedekiah,  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Chaldean  monarqh  as  his  satrap  or  govern- 
or over  Judea.  He  took  up  his  residence 
at  Mizpah,  where  he  was  shortly  afterwards 
murdered  by  Ishmael,  one  of  the  descend- 
ants of  the  house  of  David. 
The  question  now  arises,  which  of  these 


two  is  the  one  referred  to  in  the  ceremonies 
of  a  Council  of  Super- Excellent  Masters? 
I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
founders  of  the  degree  intended  the  second 
officer  of  the  Council  to  represent  the  former, 
and  not  the  latter  Gedaliah  —  the  son  of 
Pashur,  and  not  Gedaliah  the  son  of  Ahi- 
kam ;  the  prince  of  Judah,  and  not  the 
governor  of  Judea. 

We  are  forced  to  this  conclusion  by  vari- 
ous reasons.  The  Gedaliah  represented  in 
the  degree  must  have  been  a  resident  of 
Jerusalem  during  the  siege,  and  at  the  very 
time  of  the  assault,  which  immediately 
preceded  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  and 
the  city.  Now,  we  know  that  Gedaliah  the 
son  of  Pashur  was  with  Hezekiah  as  one 
of  his  advisers.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
most  unlikely  that  Gedaliah  the  son  of 
Ahikara  could  have  been  a  resident  of 
Jerusalem,  for  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  would  have  selected  such 
an  one  for  the  important  and  confidential 
office  of  a  satrap  or  governor.  We  should 
rather  suppose  that  Gedaliah  the  son  of 
Ahikam  had  been  carried  away  to  Babylon 
after  one  of  the  former  sieges;  that  he  had 
there,  like  Daniel,  gained  by  his  good  con- 
duct the  esteem  and  respect  of  the  Chal- 
dean monarch ;  that  he  had  come  back  to 
Judea  with  the  army ;  and  that,  on  the 
taking  of  the  city,  he  had  been  appointed 
governor  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  Such  being 
the  facts,  it  is  evident  that  he  could  not 
have  been  in  the  council  of  King  Zedekiah, 
advising  and  directing  his  attempted  escape. 

The  modern  revivers  of  the  degree  of 
Super-Excellent  Master  have,  therefore, 
been  wrong  in  supposing  that  Gedaliah  the 
son  of  Ahikam,  and  afterwards  governor  of 
Judea,  was  the  person  represented  by  the 
second  officer  of  the  Council.  He  was  Ge- 
daliah the  son  of  Pashur,  a  wicked  man, 
one  of  Zedekiah's  princes,  and  was  most 
probably  put  to  death  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
with  the  other  princes  and  nobles  whom  he 
captured  in  the  plains  of  Jericho. 

Gemara.    See  Talmud. 

General  Assembly.    See  Assembly. 

General  Grand  Chapter.  Until 
the  year  1797,  the  Koyal  Arch  degree  and 
the  degrees  subsidiary  to  it  were  conferred 
in  this  country,  either  in  irresponsible  bodies 
calling  themselves  Chapters,  but  obedient 
to  no  superior  authority,  or  in  Lodges  work- 
ing under  a  Grand  Lodge  Warrant.  On 
the  24th  of  October,  1797,  a  convention  of 
committees  from  three  Chapters,  namely, 
St.  Andrew's  Chapter  of  Boston,  Temple 
Chapter  of  Albany,  and  Newburyport 
Chapter,  was  held  at  Boston,  which  re- 
commended to  the  several  Chapters  with- 
in the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Massa- 
chusetts, Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Ver- 


GENERAL 


GENERAL 


305 


mont,  and  New  York,  to  hold  a  convention 
at  Hartford  on  the  fourth  Wednesday  of 
January  ensuing,  to  form  a  Grand  Chapter 
for  the  said  States. 

Accordingly,  on  the  24th  of  January, 
1798,  delegates  from  St.  Andrew's  Chapter 
of  Boston,  Mass. ;  King  Cyrus  Chapter  of 
Newburyport,  Mass. ;  Providence  Chapter 
of  Providence,  R.  I. ;  Solomon  Chapter  of 
Derby,  Conn.;  Franklin  Chapter  of  Nor- 
wich, Conn. ;  Franklin  Chapter  of  New 
Haven,  Conn. ;  and  Hudson  Chapter  of 
Hudson,  N.  Y. ;  to  which  were  the  next 
day  added  Temple  Chapter  of  Albany,  N. 
Y.,  and  Horeb  Chapter  of  Whitestown, 
N.  Y.,  assembled  at  Hartford  in  Conven- 
tion, and,  having  adopted  a  Constitution,  or- 
ganized a  governing  body  which  they  styled, 
"The  Grand  Eoyal  Arch  Chapter  of  the 
Northern  States  of  America."  This  body 
assumed  in  its  Constitution  jurisdiction  over 
only  the  States  of  New  England  and  New 
York,  and  provided  that  Deputy  Grand 
Chapters,  subject  to  its  obedience,  should 
be  organized  in  those  States.  Ephraim 
Kirby,  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  was  elected 
Grand  High  Priest;  and  it  was  ordered  that 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Grand  Chapter 
should  be  held  at  Middletown,  Conn.,  on 
the  third  Wednesday  of  September  next 
ensuing. 

On  that  day  the  Grand  Chapter  met,  but 
the  Grand  Secretary  and  Grand  Chaplain 
were  the  only  Grand  officers  present.  The 
Grand  King  was  represented  by  a  proxy. 
The  Grand  Chapter,  however,  proceeded  to 
an  election  of  Grand  officers,  and  the  old 
officers  were  elected.  The  body  then  ad- 
journed to  meet  in  January,  1 799,  at  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1799,  the  Grand 
Chapter  met  at  Providence,  the  Deputy 
Grand  Chapters  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  and  New  York  being  represented. 
At  this  meeting,  the  Constitution  was 
very  considerably  modified,  and  the  Grand 
Chapter  assumed  the  title  of  "  The  General 
Grand  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  for  the 
six  Northern  States  enumerated  in  the  pre- 
amble." The  meetings  were  directed  to  be 
held  septennially ;  and  the  Deputy  Grand 
Chapters  were  in  future  to  be  called  "State 
Grand  Chapters."  No  attempt  was,  how- 
ever, made  in  words  to  extend  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  General  Grand  Chapter  beyond 
the  States  already  named. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1806,  a  meeting 
of  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter 
was  held  at  Middletown,  representatives 
being  present  from  the  States  of  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  Vermont,  and  New 
York.  The  Constitution  was  again  revised. 
The  title  was  for  the  first  time  assumed  of 
"The  General  Grand  Chapter  of  Royal 
20 


Arch  Masons  for  the  United  States  of 
America,"  and  jurisdiction  was  extended 
over  the  whole  country.  This  year  may, 
therefore,  be  considered  as  the  true  date  of 
the  establishment  of  the  General  Grand 
Chapter. 

In  1826,  the  septennial  meetings  were 
abolished,  and  the  General  Grand  Chapter 
has  ever  since  met  triennially. 

The  General  Grand  Chapter  consists  of 
the  present  and  past  Grand  High  Priests, 
Deputy  Grand  High  Priests,  Grand  Kings 
and  Scribes  of  the  State  Grand  Chapters, 
and  the  Past  General  Grand  officers. 

The  officers  are  a  General  Grand  High 
Priest,  Deputy  General  Grand  High  Priest, 
General  Grand  King,  General  Grand  Scribe, 
General  Grand  Treasurer,  General  Grand 
Secretary,  General  Grand  Chaplain,  Gen- 
eral Grand  Captain  of  the  Host,  and  Gen- 
eral Grand  Royal  Arch  Captain. 

It  originally  possessed  large  prerogatives, 
extending  even  to  the  suspension  of  Grand 
Chapters ;  but  by  its  present  Constitution 
it  has  "  no  power  of  discipline,  admonition, 
censure,  or  instruction  over  the  Grand 
Chapters,  nor  any  legislative  powers  what- 
ever not  specially  granted "  by  its  Consti- 
tution. It  may,  indeed,  be  considered  as 
scarcely  more  than  a  great  Masonic  Con- 
gress meeting  triennially  for  consultation. 
But  even  with  these  restricted  powers,  it  is 
capable  of  doing  much  good. 

General  Grand  High  Priest. 
The  presiding  officer  of  the  General  Grand 
Chapter  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
He  is  elected  every  third  year  by  the  Gen- 
eral Grand  Chapter.  The  title  was  first 
assumed  in  1799,  although  the  General 
Grand  Chapter  did  not  at  that  time  extend 
its  jurisdiction  beyond  six  of  the  Northern 
States. 

General  Grand  Iiodge.  Ever 
since  the  Grand  Lodges  of  this  country 
began,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  to  abandon  their  dependence 
on  the  Grand  Lodges  of  England  and  Scot- 
land,—  that  is  to  say,  as  soon  as  they 
emerged  from  the  subordinate  position  of 
Provincial  Grand  Lodges,  and  were  com- 
pelled to  assume  a  sovereign  and  indepen- 
dent character, — attempts  have,  from  time 
to  time,  been  made  by  members  of  the 
Craft  to  destroy  this  sovereignty  of  the 
State  Grand  Lodges,  and  to  institute  in  its 
place  a  superintending  power,  to  be  consti- 
tuted either  as  a  Grand  Master  of  North 
America  or  as  a  General  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
United  States.  Led,  perhaps,  by  the  analogy 
of  the  united  Colonies  under  one  federal 
head,  or,  in  the  very  commencement  of  the 
Revolutionary  struggle,  controlled  by  long 
habits  of  dependence  on  the  mother  Grand 
Lodges  of  Europe,  the  contest   had   no 


306 


GENERAL 


GENERAL 


sooner  begun,  and  a  disseverance  of  politi- 
cal relations  between  England  and  America 
taken  place,  than  the  attempt  was  made  to 
institute  the  office  of  Grand  Master  of  the 
United  States,  the  object  being  —  of  which 
there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  —  to  invest 
Washington  with  the  distinguished  dignity. 
The  effort  emanated,  it  appears,  with  the 
military  Lodges  in  the  army.  For  a  full 
account  of  it  we  are  indebted  to  the  indus- 
trious researches  of  Bro.  E.  G.  Storer,  who 
published  the  entire  Minutes  of  the  "Amer- 
ican Union  Lodge,"  attached  to  the  Con- 
necticut line,  in  his  work  on  The  Early 
Records  of  Freemasonry  in  the  State  of  Con- 

On  the  27th  of  December,  1779,  the 
Lodge  met  to  celebrate  the  day  at  Morris- 
town,  in  New  Jersey,  which,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, was  then  the  winter-quarters  of 
the  army.  At  that  communication  —  at 
which,  it  may  be  remarked,  by  the  way, 
"  Bro.  Washington  "  is  recorded  among  the 
visitors — a  petition  was  read,  represent- 
ing the  present  state  of  Freemasonry  to 
the  several  Deputy  Grand  Masters  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  desiring  them  to 
adopt  some  measures  for  appointing  a  Grand 
Master  over  said  States. 

The  petition  purports  to  emanate  from 
"  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  in 
the  several  lines  of  the  army  ;  "  and  on  its 
being  read,  it  was  resolved  that  a  committee 
be  appointed  from  the  different  Lodges  in 
the  army,  and  from  the  staff,  to  meet  in 
■convention  at  Morristown  on  the  7th  of 
February  next.  Accordingly,  on  the  7th 
of  February,  1780,  a  convention,  called  in 
•the  records  "  a  committee,"  met  at  Morris- 
town.  This  convention  adopted  an  address 
to  the  "Grand  Masters  of  the  several 
Lodges  in  the  respective  United  States." 
The  recommendations  of  this  address  were 
that  the  said  Grand  Masters  should  adopt 
and  pursue  the  most  necessary  measures 
for  establishing  one  Grand  Lodge  in  Amer- 
ica, to  preside  over  and  govern  all  other 
Lodges  of  whatsoever  degree  or  denomina- 
tion, licensed  or  to  be  licensed,  upon  the 
continent;  that  they  should  nominate,  as 
Grand  Master  of  said  Lodge,  a  brother 
whose  merit  and  capacity  may  be  adequate 
to  a  station  so  important  and  elevated ; 
and  that  his  name  should  be  transmitted 
"  to  our  Grand  Mother  Lodge  in  Europe  " 
for  approbation  and  confirmation. 

This  convention  contained  delegates  from 
the  States  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  and  Maryland.  Between  the 
time  of  its  conception,  on  the  27th  of  De- 
cember, 1779,  and  that  of  its  meeting  on 
the  7th  of  February,  1780,  that  is  to  say  in 
January,  1780,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Penn- 


sylvania had  held  an  emergent  meeting, 
and  in  some  measure  anticipated  the  pro- 
posed action  of  the  convention  by  electing 
General  Washington  Grand  Master  of  the 
United  States. 

From  the  contemporaneous  character  of 
these  events,  it  would  seem  probable  that 
there  was  some  concert  of  action  between 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
Masons  of  Morristown.  Perhaps,  the  ini- 
tiative having  been  taken  by  the  latter  in 
December,  the  former  determined  to  give 
its  influence,  in  January,  to  the  final  recom- 
mendations which  were  to  be  made  in  the 
following  February.  All  this,  however, 
although  plausible,  is  but  conjecture. 
Nothing  appears  to  have  resulted  from  the 
action  of  either  body.  The  only  further 
reference  which  I  find  to  the  subject,  in 
subsequent  Masonic  documents,  is  the  dec- 
laration of  a  convention  held  in  1783,  to 
organize  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Maryland, 
where  it  is  remarked  that  "  another  Grand 
Lodge  was  requisite  before  an  election 
could  be  had  of  a  Grand  Master  for  the 
United  States." 

But  the  attempt  to  form  a  General  Grand 
Lodge,  although,  on  this  occasion,  unsuc- 
cessful, was  soon  to  be  renewed.  In  1790, 
the  proposition  was  again  made  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Georgia,  and  here,  true  to 
the  Roman  axiom,  Tempora  mutantur  et 
nos  mutamur  in  illis,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Pennsylvania  became  the  opponent  of  the 
measure,  and  declared  it  to  be  impracti- 
cable. 

Again,  in  1799,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
South  Carolina  renewed  the  proposition, 
and  recommended  a  convention  to  be  held 
at  the  city  of  Washington  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing  a  "  Superintending  Grand 
Lodge  of  America."  The  reasons  assigned 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  South  Carolina  for 
making  this  proposition  are  set  forth  in  the 
circular  which  it  issued  on  the  subject  to 
its  sister  Grand  Lodges.  They  are  "  to 
draw  closer  the  bonds  of  union  between  the 
different  Lodges  of  the  United  States,  and 
to  induce  them  to  join  in  some  systematic 
plan  whereby  the  drooping  spirit  of  the 
Ancient  Craft  may  be  revived  and  become 
more  generally  useful  and  beneficial,  and 
whereby  Ancient  Masonry,  so  excellent  and 
beautiful  in  its  primitive  institution,  may 
be  placed  upon  such  a  respectable  and  firm 
basis  in  this  western  world  as  to  bid  defi- 
ance to  the  shafts  of  malice  or  the  feeble 
attempts  of  any  foreign  disclaimers  to 
bring  it  into  disrepute."  The  allusion 
here  is  to  the  Abbe  Barruel,  who  had  just 
published  his  abusive  and  anti-Masonic 
History  of  Jacobinism. 

Several  Grand  Lodges  acceded  to  the 
proposition  for  holding  a  convention,  al- 


GENERAL 


GENERAL 


307 


though  they  believed  the  scheme  of  a 
"  Superintending  Grand  Lodge  "  inexpedi- 
ent and  impracticable;  but  they  were  will- 
ing to  send  delegates  for  the  purpose  of 
producing  uniformity  in  the  Masonic  sys- 
tem. The  convention,  however,  did  not 
assemble. 

The  proposition  was  again  made  in  1803, 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  North  Carolina, 
and  with  a  like  want  of  success. 

In  1806,  the  subject  of  a  General  Grand 
Lodge  was  again  presented  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  Grand  Lodges  of  the  Union, 
and  propositions  were  made  for  conventions 
to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1807,  and  in 
Washington  city  in  1808,  neither  of  which 
was  convened.  The  "  Proceedings  "  of  the 
various  Grand  Lodges  in  the  years  1806, 
1807,  and  1808  contain  allusions  to  this 
subject,  most  of  them  in  favor  of  a  conven- 
tion to  introduce  uniformity,  but  unfavor- 
able to  the  permanent  establishment  of  a 
General  Grand  Lodge.  North  Carolina, 
however,  in  1807,  expressed  the  opinion 
that  "  a  National  Grand  Lodge  should  pos- 
sess controlling  and  corrective  powers  over 
all  Grand  Lodges  under  its  jurisdiction." 

An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  again  made 
to  hold  a  convention  at  Washington  in 
January,  1811,  "  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
a  Superintending  Grand  Lodge  of  Amer- 
ica." 

After  the  failure  of  this  effort,  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  North  Carolina,  which  seems  to 
have  been  earnest  in  its  endeavors  to  ac- 
complish its  favorite  object,  again  proposed 
a  convention,  to  be  convoked  at  Washing- 
ton in  1812.  But  the  effort,  like  all  which 
had  preceded  it,  proved  abortive.  No  con- 
vention was  held. 

The  effort  seems  now,  after  all  these  dis- 
couraging efforts,  to  have  been  laid  upon 
the  shelf  for  nearly  ten  years.  At  length, 
however,  the  effort  for  a  convention  which 
had  so  often  failed  was  destined  to  meet 
with  partial  success,  and  one  rather  extem- 
poraneous in  its  character  was  held  in 
Washington  on  the  8th  of  March,  1822. 
Over  this  convention,  which  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Maryland  rather  equivocally  de- 
scribes as  "  composed  of  members  of  Con- 
gress and  strangers,"  the  renowned  orator 
and  statesman  Henry  Clay  presided.  A 
strong  appeal,  most  probably  from  the  facile 
pen  of  its  eloquent  president,  was  made  to 
the  Grand  Lodges  of  the  country  to  concur 
in  the  establishment  of  a  General  Grand 
Lodge.  But  the  appeal  fell  upon  unwilling 
ears,  and  the  Grand  Lodges  continued  firm 
in  their  opposition  to  the  organization  of 
such  a  superintending  body. 

The  subject  was  again  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Fraternity  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Maryland,   which  body,  at  its 


communication  in  May,  1845,  invited  its 
sister  Grand  Lodges  to  meet  in  convention 
at  Baltimore  on  the  23d  of  September,  1847, 
for  the  purpose  of  reporting  a  Constitution 
of  a  General  Grand  Lodge. 

This  convention  met  at  the  appointed 
time  and  place,  but  only  seven  Grand 
Lodges  were  represented  by  twice  that 
number  of  delegates.  A  Constitution  was 
formed  for  a  "Supreme  Grand  Lodge  of 
the  United  States,"  which  was  submitted 
for  approval  or  rejection  to  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  the  Union.  The  opinion  ex- 
pressed of  that  Constitution  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Ohio,  "  that  it  embraced,  in  seve- 
ral of  its  sections,  indefinite  and  unmeaning 
powers,  to  which  it  was  impossible  to  give 
a  definite  construction,  and  that  it  gave  a 
jurisdiction  to  the  body  which  that  Grand 
Lodge  would  in  no  event  consent  to,"  seems 
to  have  been  very  generally  concurred  in 
by  the  other  Grand  bodies,  and  the  "  Su- 
preme Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States  " 
never  went  into  operation.  The  formation 
of  its  Constitution  was  its  first,  its  last,  and 
its  only  act. 

The  next  action  that  we  find  on  this 
much  discussed  subject  was  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  New  York,  which  body  recom- 
mended, in  1848,  that  each  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  should  frame  the  outlines  of  a  Gen- 
eral Grand  Constitution  such  as  would  be 
acceptable  to  it,  and  send  it  with  a  delegate 
to  a  convention  to  be  holden  at  Boston  in 
1850,  at  the  time  of  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
eral Grand  Chapter  and  General  Grand  En- 
campment. The  committee  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  New  York,  who  made  this  recom- 
mendation, also  presented  the  outlines  of  a 
General  Grand  Constitution. 

This  instrument  defines  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  proposed  General  Grand 
Lodge  as  intended  to  be  "  over  all  contro- 
versies and  disputes  between  the  different 
Grand  Lodges  which  may  become  parties 
to  the  compact,  when  such  controversies 
are  referred  for  decision ;  and  the  decisions 
in  all  cases  to  be  final  when  concurred  in 
by  a  majority  of  the  Grand  Lodges  present;" 
but  it  disclaims  all  appeals  from  State  Grand 
Lodges  or  their  subordinates  in  matters  re- 
lating to  their  own  internal  affairs.  It  is 
evident  that  the  friends  of  the  measure  had 
abated  much  of  their  pretensions  since  the 
year  1779,  when  they  wanted  a  Grand 
Lodge  of  America,  "to  preside  over  and 
govern  all  other  Lodges  of  whatsoever  de- 
gree or  denomination,  licensed  or  to  be 
licensed,  on  the  continent." 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Rhode  Island  also 
submitted  the  draft  of  a  General  Grand 
Constitution,  more  extensive  in  its  details 
than  that  presented  by  New  York,  but  sub- 
stantially the   same   in  principle.      The 


308 


GENERAL 


GENUFLECTION 


Grand  Lodge  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
also  concurred  in  the  proposition.  The 
convention  did  not,  however,  meet ;  for  the 
idea  of  a  Supreme  Grand  Lodge  was  still 
an  unpopular  one  with  the  Craft.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1850,  Texas  expressed  the  general 
sentiment  of  the  Fraternity  when  it  said : 
"The  formation  of  a  General  Grand  Lodge 
will  not  accomplish  the  desired  end.  The 
same  feeling  and  spirit  that  now  lead  to 
difficulties  between  the  different  Grand 
Lodges  would  produce  insubordination  and 
disobedience  of  the  edicts  of  a  General 
Grand  Lodge." 

But  another  attempt  was  to  be  made  by 
its  friends  to  carry  this  favorite  measure, 
and  a  convention  of  delegates  was  held  at 
Lexington,  Ky.,  in  September,  1853,  during 
the  session  of  the  General  Grand  Chapter 
and  Encampment  at  that  city.  This  con- 
vention did  little  more  than  invite  the 
meeting  of  a  fuller  convention,  whose  dele- 
gates should  be  clothed  with  more  plenary 
powers,  to  assemble  at  Washington  in  Jan- 
uary, 1855. 

The  proposed  convention  met  at  Wash- 
ington, and  submitted  a  series  of  nine  propo- 
sitions styled  "Articles  of  Confederation." 
The  gist  of  these  articles  is  to  be  found  in 
the  initial  one,  and  is  in  these  words :  "All 
matters  of  difficulty  which  may  hereafter 
arise  in  any  Grand  Lodge,  or  between  two 
or  more  Grand  Lodges  of  the  United  States, 
which  cannot  by  their  own  action  be  satis- 
factorily adjusted  or  disposed  of,  shall,  if 
the  importance  of  the  case  or  the  common 
welfare  of  the  Fraternity  demand  it,  be 
submitted,  with  accompanying  evidence  and 
documents,  to  the  several  Grand  Lodges  in 
their  individual  capacities ;  and  the  con- 
current decision  thereon  of  two-thirds  of 
the  whole  number,  officially  communicated, 
shall  be  held  authoritative,  binding,  and 
final  on  all  parties  concerned." 

The  provisions  of  these  articles  were  to 
be  considered  as  ratified,  and  were  to  take 
effect  as  soon  as  they  were  approved  by 
twenty  Grand  Lodges  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  approbation 
was  never  received,  and  the  proposed  con- 
federation failed  to  assume  a  permanent 
form. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  a  General  Grand  Lodge  is  here,  at 
onceandin  full,  abandoned.  The  proposition 
was  simply  for  a  confederated  league,  with 
scarcely  a  shadow  of  power  to  enforce  its 
decisions,  with  no  penal  jurisdiction  what- 
soever, and  with  no  other  authority  than 
that  which,  from  time  to  time,  might  be 
delegated  to  it  by  the  voluntary  consent  of 
the  parties  entering  into  the  confederation. 
If  the  plan  had  been  adopted,  the  body 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  died  in  a 


few  years  of  sheer  debility.    There  was  no 
principle  of  vitality  to  keep  it  together. 

But  the  friends  of  a  General  Grand  Lodge 
did  not  abandon  the  hope  of  effecting  their 
object,  and  in  1857  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Maine  issued  a  circular,  urging  the  forma- 
tion of  a  General  Graud  Lodge  at  a  con- 
vention to  be  held  at  Chicago  in  September, 
1859,  during  the  session  of  the  General 
Grand  Chapter  and  General  Grand  En- 
campment at  that  city.  This  call  was  gen- 
erally and  courteously  responded  to;  the 
convention  was  held,  but  it  resulted  in  a 
failure,  and  since  then  all  idea  of  a  Gen- 
eral Grand  Lodge  appears  to  have  been 
abandoned. 

Generalissimo.  The  second  officer 
in  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  and 
one  of  its  representatives  in  the  Grand 
Commandery.  His  duty  is  to  receive  and 
communicate  all  orders,  signs,  and  peti- 
tions ;  to  assist  the  Eminent  Commander, 
and,  in  his  absence,  to  preside  over  the 
Commandery.  His  station  is  on  the  right 
of  the  Eminent  Commander,  and  his  jewel 
is  a  square,  surmounted  by  a  paschal 
lamb. 

The  use  of  the  title  in  Templarism  is  of 
very  recent  origin,  and  peculiar  to  this 
country.  No  such  officer  was  known  in 
the  old  Order.  It  is,  besides,  inappropriate 
to  a  subordinate  officer,  being  derived  from 
the  French  generalissime,  and  that  from  the 
Italian  generalissimo,  both  signifying  a  su- 
preme commander.  It  has  the  same  mean- 
ing in  English. 

Gentleman  Mason.  In  some  of 
the  old  lectures  of  the  last  century  this  title 
is  used  as  equivalent  to  Speculative  Free- 
mason. Thus  they  had  the  following  cate- 
chism : 

"  Q.  What  do  you  learn  by  being  a  Gen- 
tleman Mason? 

"A.  Secrecy,  Morality,  and  Good-Fellow- 
ship. 

"  Q.  What  do  you  learn  by  being  an 
Operative  Mason  ? 

"A.  Hew,  Square,  Mould  stone,  lay  a 
Level,  and  raise  a  Perpendicular." 

Hence  we  see  that  Gentleman  Mason  was 
in  contrast  with  Operative  Mason. 

Genuflection.  Bending  the  knees 
has,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  been  consid- 
ered as  an  act  of  reverence  and  humility, 
and  hence  Pliny,  the  Roman  naturalist, 
observes,  that "  a  certain  degree  of  religious 
reverence  is  attributed  to  the  knees  of  a 
man."  Solomon  placed  himself  in  this  po- 
sition when  he  prayed  at  the  consecration 
of  the  Temple ;  and  Masons  use  the  same 
posture  in  some  portions  of  their  ceremo- 
nies, as  a  token  of  solemn  reverence.  In 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  during  prayer,  it  is 
the  custom  for  the  members  to  stand,  but  in 


GEOMETRICAL 


GERMANY 


309 


the  higher  degrees,  kneeling,  and  generally 
on  one  knee,  is  the  more  usual  form. 
Geometrical  Master  Mason.    A 

term  in  use  in  England  during  the  last  cen- 
tury. By  the  primitive  regulations  of  the 
Grand  Chapter,  an  applicant  for  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  was  required  to  produce  a  cer- 
tificate that  he  was  "  a  Geometrical  Master 
Mason,"  and  had  passed  the  chair.  The 
word  Geometrical  was  here  synonymous 
with  Speculative. 

Geometric  Points.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  French  Masonry,  this  name  is 
given  to  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the 
compass,  because  they  must  agree  with  the 
four  sides  of  a  regular  Temple  or  Lodge. 
They  are  a  symbol  of  regularity  and  per- 
fection. 

Geometry.  In  the  modern  rituals, 
geometry  is  said  to  be  the  basis  on  which 
the  superstructure  of  Masonry  is  erected ; 
and  in  the  old  Constitutions  of  the  Medi- 
aeval Freemasons  of  England  the  most 
prominent  place  of  all  the  sciences  is  given 
to  geometry,  which  is  made  synonymous 
with  Masonry.  Thus,  in  the  Halliwell  MS., 
which  dates  not  later  than  the  latter  part  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  the  Constitutions 
of  Masonry  are  called  "the  Constitution  of 
the  art  of  geometry  according  to  Euclid," 
the  words  geometry  and  Masonry  being 
used  indifferently  throughout  the  document; 
and  in  the  Harleian  MS.  it  is  said,  "  thus 
the  craft  Geometry  was  governed  there,  and 
that  worthy  Master  (Euclid)  gave  it  the 
name  of  Geometry,  and  it  is  called  Masonrie 
in  this  land  long  after."  In  another  part 
of  the  same  MS.  it  is  thus  defined :  "  The 
fifth  science  is  called  Geometry,  and  it 
teaches  a  man  to  mete  and  measure  of  the 
earth  and  other  things,  which  science  is 
Masonrie." 

The  Egyptians  were  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  first  nations  who  cultivated  geometry 
as  a  science.  "  It  was  not  less  useful  and 
necessary  to  them,"  as  Goguet  observes, 
(Orig.  des Lois.,  I.,  iv. 4,)  "in  the  affairs  of 
life,  than  agreeable  to  their  speculatively 
philosophical  genius."  From  Egypt,  which 
was  the  parent  both  of  the  sciences  and  the 
mysteries  of  the  Pagan  world,  it  passed 
over  into  other  countries ;  and  geometry 
and  Operative  Masonry  have  ever  been 
found  together,  the  latter  carrying  into  ex- 
ecution those  designs  which  were  first 
traced  according  to  the  principles  of  the 
former. 

Speculative  Masonry  is,  in  like  manner, 
intimately  connected  with  geometry.  In 
deference  to  our  operative  ancestors,  and, 
in  fact,  as  a  necessary  result  of  our  close 
connection  with  them,  Speculative  Free- 
masonry derives  its  most  important  symbols 
from  this  parent  science.    Hence  it  is  not 


strange  that  Euclid,  the  most  famous  of 
geometricians,  should  be  spoken  of  in  all 
the  Old  Records  as  a  founder  of  Ma- 
sonry in  Egypt,  and  that  a  special  legend 
should  have  been  invented  in  honor  of  his 
memory. 

Georgia.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced at  a  very  early  period  into  the  pro- 
vince of  Georgia.  Roger  Lacey  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  Provincial  Grand  Mas- 
ter, and  to  him  the  warrant  for  Solomon's 
Lodge,  at  Savannah,  was  directed  in  1735. 
Rockwell  (Ahim.  Rez.,  p.  323,)  denies  this, 
and  thinks  that  there  was  an  earlier  Lodge 
organized  by  Lacey,  perhaps  in  1730.  The 
original  warrant  of  Solomon's  Lodge  has, 
however,  been  destroyed,  and  we  have  no 
authentic  evidence  on  the  subject ;  although 
it  is  very  generally  conceded  that  the  intro- 
duction of  organized  Masonry  into  Georgia 
does  not  date  later  than  the  year  1735. 
There  is  no  evidence,  except  tradition,  of 
the  existence  of  an  earlier  Lodge.  In  1786 
—  Mitchell,  (Hist.,  i.  570,)  with  his  usual 
typographical  inaccuracy,  says  1776  —  the 
Independent  Grand  Lodge  of  Georgia  was 
formed,  Samuel  Elbert,  (again  Mitchell 
blunders  and  says  Elliot,)  the  last  Provin- 
cial Grand  Master  resigning  his  position  to 
William  Stephens,  who  was  elected  the  first 
Grand  Master. 

German  Union  of  Two  and 
Twenty.  A  secret  society  founded  in 
Germany,  in  1786,  by  Dr.  Bahrdt,  whose 
only  connection  with  Freemasonry  was 
that  Bahrdt  and  the  twenty-one  others  who 
founded  it  were  Masons,  and  that  they  in- 
vited to  their  co-operation  the  most  dis- 
tinguished Masons  of  Germany.  The 
founder  professed  that  the  object  of  the  as- 
sociation was  to  diffuse  intellectual  light, 
to  annihilate  superstition,  and  to  perfect 
the  human  race.  Its  instruction  was  di- 
vided into  six  degrees,  as  follows :  1.  The 
Adolescent ;  2.  The  Man ;  3.  The  Old  Man ; 
4.  The  Mesopolite;  5.  The  Diocesan;  6. 
The  Superior.  The  first  three  degrees  were 
considered  a  preparatory  school  for  the  last 
three,  out  of  which  the  rules  of  the  society 
were  chosen.  It  lasted  only  four  years,  and 
was  dissolved  by  the  imprisonment  of  its 
founder  for  a  political  libel,  most  of  its 
members  joining  the  Illuminati.  The  pub- 
lication of  a  work  in  1789  entitled  Mehr 
Noten  ah  Text,  etc.,  i.  e.,  More  Notes  than 
Text,  or  The  German  Union  of  XX II.,  which 
divulged  its  secret  organization,  tended  to 
hasten  its  dissolution.     See  Bahrdt. 

Germany.  Of  all  countries  Germany 
plays  the  most  important  part  in  the  history 
of  ancient  Masonry,  since  it  was  there  that 
the  gilds  of  Operative  Stone-masons  first 
assumed  that  definite  organization  which 
subsequently  led  to  the  establishment  of 


310 


GHIBLIM 


GILDS 


Speculative  Freemasonry.  But  it  was  not 
until  a  later  date  that  the  latter  institution 
obtained  a  footing  on  German  soil.  Findel 
{Hkt.,  p.  238,)  says  that  as  early  as  1730 
temporary  Lodges,  occupied  only  in  the 
communication  of  Masonic  knowledge  and 
in  the  study  of  the  ritual,  were  formed  at 
different  points.  But  the  first  regular  Lodge 
was  established  at  Hamburg,  in  1733,  under 
a  warrant  of  Lord  Strath  more,  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  England;  which  did  not,  however, 
come  into  active  operation  until  four  years 
later.  Its  progress  was  at  first  slow ;  but, 
under  the  patronage  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
it  assumed  a  firm  footing,  which  it  has  never 
lost,  and  nowhere  is  Freemasonry  now  more 
popular  or  more  deserving  of  popularity. 
Its  scholars  have  brought  to  the  study  of 
its  antiquities  and  its  philosophy  all  the 
laborious  research  that  distinguishes  the 
Teutonic  mind,  and  the  most  learned  works 
on  these  subjects  have  emanated  from  the 
German  press.  The  detailed  history  of  its 
progress  would  involve  the  necessity  of  no 
ordinary  volume. 

Ghiblim.  The  form  in  which  Dr. 
Anderson  spells  Giblim.  In  the  Book  of 
Constitutions,  ed.  1738,  page  70,  it  is  stated 
that  in  1350  "John  de  Spoulee,  call'd  Mas- 
ter of  the  Ghiblim"  rebuilt  St.  George's 
chapel. 

Gibalim.  A  Masonic  corruption  of 
Giblim,  the  Giblites,  or  men  of  Gebal.  See 
Giblim. 

Giblim.  Heb.,  thli.  A  significant 
word  in  Masonry.  It  is  the  plural  of  the 
Gentile  noun  Gibli,  (the  g  pronounced 
hard,)  and  means,  according  to  the  idiom 
of  the  Hebrew,  Giblites,  or  inhabitants  of 
the  city  of  Gebal.  The  Giblim,  or  Giblites, 
are  mentioned  in  Scripture  as  assisting 
Solomon's  and  Hiram's  builders  to  prepare 
the  trees  and  the  stones  for  building  the 
Temple,  and  from  this  passage  it  is  evident 
that  they  were  clever  artificers.  The  pas- 
sage is  in  1  Kings  v.  18,  and,  in  our  common 
version,  is  as  follows:  "And  Solomon's 
builders  and  Hiram's  builders  did  hew 
them,  and  the  stone-squarers ;  so  they  pre- 
pared timber  and  stones  to  build  the  house," 
where  the  word  translated  in  the  authorized 
version  by  stone-squarers  is,  in  the  original, 
Giblim.  It  is  so  also  in  that  translation 
known  as  the  Bishop's  Bible.  The  Geneva 
version  has  masons.  The  French  version 
of  Martin  has  tailleurs  de  pierres,  following 
the  English ;  but  Luther,  in  his  German 
version,  retains  the  original  word  Giblim. 

It  is  probable  that  the  English  transla- 
tion followed  the  Jewish  Targum,  which 
has  a  word  of  similar  import  in  this  pas- 
sage. The  error  has,  however,  assumed 
importance  in  the  Masonic  ritual,  where 
Giblim  is  supposed  to  be  synonymous  with 


a  Mason.  And  Sir  Wm.  Drummond  con- 
firms this  by  saying,  in  his  Origines,  (vol. 
iii.,  b.  v.,  ch.  iv.,  p.  129,)  that  "  the  Gibalim 
were  Master  Masons  who  put  the  finishing 
hand  to  King  Solomon's  Temple."  See 
Gebal. 

Gilds.  The  word  gild,  guild,  or  geld, 
from  the  Saxon  gildan,  to  pay,  originally 
meant  a  tax  or  tribute,  and  hence  those 
fraternities  which,  in  the  early  ages,  con- 
tributed sums  to  a  common  stock,  were 
called  Gilds.  Cowell,  the  old  English  jurist, 
defines  a  Gild  to  be  "  a  fraternity  or  com- 
monality of  men  gathered  together  into 
one  combination,  supporting  their  common 
charge  by  mutual  contribution." 

Societies  of  this  kind,  but  not  under  the 
same  name,  were  known  to  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans,  and  their  artificers 
and  traders  were  formed  into  distinct  com- 
panies which  occupied  particular  streets 
named  after  them.  But  according  to  Dr. 
Lujo  Brentano,  who  published,  in  1870,  an 
essay  on  The  History  and  Development  of 
Gilds,  England  is  the  birthplace  of  the  Med- 
iaeval Gilds,  from  whom  he  says  that  the 
modern  Freemasons  emerged.  They  ex- 
isted, however,  in  every  country  of  Europe, 
and  we  identify  them  in  the  Compagnons 
de  la  Tour  of  France,  and  the  Baucorpora- 
tionen  of  Germany.  The  difference,  how- 
ever, was  that  while  they  were  patronized 
by  the  municipal  authorities  in  England, 
they  were  discouraged  by  both  the  Church 
and  State  on  the  Continent. 

The  Gilds  in  England  were  of  three 
kinds,  Religious  Gilds,  Merchant  Gilds, 
and  Craft  Gilds,  specimens  of  all  of  which 
still  exist,  although  greatly  modified  in 
their  laws  and  usages.  The  Religious  or 
Ecclesiastical  Gilds  are  principally  found 
in  Roman  Catholic  countries,  where,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  Church,  they  often  ac- 
complish much  good  by  the  direction  of 
their  benevolence  to  particular  purposes. 
Merchant  Gilds  are  exemplified  in  the 
twelve  great  Livery  Companies  of  London. 
And  the  modern  Trades  Unions  are  noth- 
ing else  but  Craft  Gilds  under  another 
name.  But  the  most  interesting  point  in 
the  history  of  the  Craft  Gilds  is  the  fact 
that  from  them  arose  the  Brotherhoods  of 
the  Freemasons. 

Brentano  gives  the  following  almost  ex- 
haustive account  of  the  organization  and 
customs  of  the  Craft  Gilds : 

"  The  Craft  Gilds  themselves  first  sprang 
up  amongst  the  free  craftsmen,  when  they 
were  excluded  from  the  fraternities  which 
had  taken  the  place  of  the  family  unions, 
and  later  among  the  bondmen,  when  they 
ceased  to  belong  to  the  familia  of  their 
lord.  Like  those  Frith  Gilds,  the  object 
of  the  early  Craft  Gilds  was  to  create  rela- 


GILDS 


GILDS 


311 


tions  as  if  among  brothers ;  and  above  all 
things,  to  grant  to  their  members  that  as- 
sistance which  the  member  of  a  family 
might  expect  from  that  family.  As  men's 
wants  had  become  different,  this  assistance 
no  longer  concerned  the  protection  of  life, 
limbs,  and  property,  for  this  was  provided 
for  by  the  Frith  Gilds,  now  recognized  as 
the  legitimate  authority ;  but  the  princi- 
pal object  of  the  Craft  Gilds  was  to  secure 
their  members  in  the  independent,  unim- 
paired, and  regular  earning  of  their  daily 
bread  by  means  of  their  craft. 

"The  very  soul  of  the  Craft  Gild  was 
its  meetings,  which  brought  all  the  Gild 
brothers  together  every  week  or  quarter. 
These  meetings  were  always  held  with  cer- 
tain ceremonies,  tor  the  sake  of  greater 
solemnity.  The  box,  having  several  locks 
like  that  of  the  Trade  Unions,  and  contain- 
ing the  charters  of  the  Gild,  the  statutes, 
the  money,  and  other  valuable  articles,  was 
opened  on  such  occasions,  and  all  present 
had  to  uncover  their  heads.  These  meetings 
possessed  all  the  rights  which  they  them- 
selves had  not  chosen  to  delegate.  They 
elected  the  presidents  (originally  called 
Aldermen,  afterwards  Masters  and  War- 
dens) and  other  officials,  except  in  those 
cases  already  mentioned,  in  which  the  Mas- 
ter was  appointed  by  the  king,  the  bishop, 
or  the  authorities  of  the  town.  As  a  rule, 
the  Gilds  were  free  to  choose  their  Masters, 
either  from  their  own  members,  or  from 
men  of  higher  rank,  though  they  were 
sometimes  limited  in  their  choice  to  the 
former. 

"  The  Wardens  summoned  and  presided 
at  the  meetings,  with  their  consent  enacted 
ordinances  for  the  regulation  of  the  trade, 
saw  these  ordinances  properly  executed, 
and  watched  over  the  maintenance  of  the 
customs  of  the  Craft.  They  had  the  right 
to  examine  all  manufactures,  and  a  right 
of  search  for  all  unlawful  tools  and  pro- 
ducts. They  formed,  with  the  assistance 
of  a  quorum  of  Gild  brothers,  the  highest 
authority  in  all  the  concerns  of  the  Gild. 
No  Gild  member  could  be  arraigned  about 
trade  matters  before  any  other  judge.  We 
have  still  numerous  documentary  proofs  of 
the  severity  and  justice  with  which  the 
Wardens  exercised  their  judicial  duties. 
Whenever  they  held  a  court,  it  was  under 
special  forms  and  solemnities;  thus,  for 
instance,  in  1275  the  chief  Warden  of  the 
masons  building  Strasburg  cathedral  held 
a  court  sitting  under  a  canopy. 

"  Besides  being  brotherhoods  for  the  care 
of  the  temporal  welfare  of  their  members, 
the  Craft  Gilds  were,  like  the  rest  of  the 
Gilds,  at  the  same  time  religious  fraterni- 
ties. In  the  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
Company  of  Grocers,  it  is  mentioned  that 


at  the  very  first  meeting  they  fixed  a  sti- 
pend for  the  priest,  who  had  to  conduct 
their  religious  services  and  pray  for  their 
dead.  In  this  respect  the  Craft  Gilds  of 
all  countries  are  alike ;  and  in  reading  their 
statutes,  one  might  fancy  sometimes  that 
the  old  craftsmen  cared  only  for  the  well- 
being  of  their  souls.  All  had  particular 
saints  for  patrons,  after  whom  the  society 
was  frequently  called ;  and,  where  it  was 
possible,  they  chose  one  who  had  some  re- 
lation to  their  trade.  They  founded  masses, 
altars,  and  painted  windows  in  cathedrals ; 
and  even  at  the  present  day  their  coats  of 
arms  and  their  gifts  range  proudly  by  the 
side  of  those  of  kings  and  barons.  Some- 
times individual  Craft  Gilds  appear  to  have 
stood  in  special  relation  to  a  particular 
church,  by  virtue  of  which  they  had  to 
perform  special  services,  and  received  in 
return  a  special  share  in  all  the  prayers  of 
the  clergy  of  that  church.  In  later  times, 
the  Craft  Gilds  frequently  went  in  solemn 
procession  to  their  churches.  We  find  in- 
numerable ordinances  also  as  to  the  support 
of  the  sick  and  poor ;  and  to  afford  a  set- 
tled asylum  for  distress,  the  London  Com- 
panies early  built  dwellings  near  their 
halls.  The  chief  care,  however,  of  the 
Gildmen  was  always  directed  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  souls  of  the  dead.  Every  year 
a  requiem  was  sung  for  all  departed  Gild 
brothers,  when  they  were  all  mentioned  by 
name ;  and  on  the  death  of  any  member, 
special  services  were  held  for  his  soul,  and 
distribution  of  alms  was  made  to  the  poor, 
who,  in  return,  had  to  offer  up  prayers  for 
the  dead,  as  is  still  the  custom  in  Roman 
Catholic  countries." 

In  a  History  of  the  English  Guilds,  edited 
by  Toulmin  Smith  from  old  documents  in 
the  Record  Office  at  London,  and  published 
by  the  Early  English  Text  Society,  we  find 
many  facts  confirmatory  of  those  given  by 
Brentano,  as  to  the  organization  of  these 
organizations. 

The  testimony  of  these  old  records  shows 
that  a  religious  element  pervaded  the  Gilds, 
and  exercised  a  very  powerful  influence 
over  them.  Women  were  admitted  to  all 
of  them,  which  Herbert  (Liv.  Comp.,  i.  83,) 
thinks  was  borrowed  from  the  Ecclesiastical 
Gilds  of  Southern  Europe ;  and  the  breth- 
ren and  sisters  were  on  terms  of  complete 
equality.  There  were  fees  on  entrance, 
yearly  and  special  payments,  and  fines  for 
wax  for  lights  to  burn  at  the  altar  or  in 
funeral  rites.  The  Gilds  had  set  days  of 
meeting,  known  as  "  morning  speeches,"  or 
"days  of  spekyngges  totiedare  for  here 
comune  profyte,"  and  a  grand  festival  on 
the  patron  saint's  day,  when  the  members 
assembled  for  worship,  almsgiving,  feast- 
ing, and  for  nourishing  of  brotherly  love. 


312 


GILKES 


GLOBE 


Mystery  plays  were  often  performed.  They 
had  a  treasure-chest,  the  opening  of  which 
was  a  sign  that  business  had  begun.  While 
it  remained  open  all  stood  with  uncovered 
heads,  when  cursing  and  swearing  and  all 
loose  conduct  were  severely  punished.  The 
Gild  property  consisted  of  land,  cattle, 
money,  etc.  The  expenditure  was  on  the 
sick  poor  and  aged,  in  making  good  losses 
by  robbery,  etc.  Loans  were  advanced, 
pilgrims  assisted,  and,  in  one  city,  "  any 
good  girl  of  the  Gild  "  was  to  have  a  dowry 
on  marriage,  if  her  father  could  not  pro- 
vide it.  Poor  travellers  were  lodged  and 
fed.  Roads  were  kept  in  repair,  and 
churches  were  sustained  and  beautified. 
They  wore  a  particular  costume,  which  was 
enforced  by  their  statutes,  whence  come  the 
liveries  of  the  London  Companies  of  the 
present  day  and  the  "clothing"  of  the  Free- 
masons. 

An  investigation  of  the  usages  of  these 
Medieval  Gilds,  and  a  comparison  of  their 
regulations  with  the  old  Masonic  Constitu- 
tions, will  furnish  a  fertile  source  of  inter- 
est to  the  Masonic  archaeologist,  and  will 
throw  much  light  on  the  early  history  of 
Freemasonry. 

Gilkes,  Peter  William.  Born  in 
London  in  1765,  and  died  in  1833.  He 
was  celebrated  for  his  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  ritual  of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry 
according  to  the  English  ritual,  which  he 
successfully  taught  for  many  years.  His 
reputation  in  England  as  a  Masonic  teacher 
was  very  great. 

Girdle.  In  ancient  symbology  the 
girdle  was  always  considered  as  typical  of 
chastity  and  purity.  In  the  Brahmanical 
initiations,  the  candidate  was  presented 
with  the  Zennar,  or  sacred  cord,  as  a  part 
of  the  sacred  garments ;  and  Gibbon  says 
that  "at  the  age  of  puberty  the  faithful 
Persian  was  invested  with  a  mysterious 
girdle ;  fifteen  genuflections  were  required 
after  he  put  on  the  sacred  girdle."  The 
old  Templars  assumed  the  obligations  of 
poverty,  obedience,  and  chastity;  and  a 
girdle  was  given  them,  at  their  initiation, 
as  a  symbol  of  the  last  of  the  three  vows. 
As  a  symbol  of  purity,  the  girdle  is  still 
used  in  many  chivalric  initiations,  and 
may  be  properly  considered  as  the  analogue 
of  the  Masonic  apron. 

Glaire,  Peter  Mauriee.  A  dis- 
tinguished Mason,  who  was  born  in  Switzer- 
land in  1743,  and  died  in  1819.  In  1764, 
he  went  to  Poland,  and  became  the  inti- 
mate friend  of  King  Stanislaus  Poniatow- 
ski,  who  confided  to  him  man,  important 
diplomatic  missions.  During  his  residence 
in  Poland,  Glaire  greatly  patronized  the 
Freemasons  of  that  kingdom,  and  estab- 
lished there  a  Rite  of  seven  degrees.     He 


returned  to  Switzerland  in  1788,  where  he 
continued  to  exercise  an  interest  in  Free- 
masonry, and  in  1810  was  elected  Grand 
Master  for  three  years,  and  in  1813,  for  life 
of  the  Roman  Grand  Orient  of  Helvetia, 
which  body  adopted  his  Rite. 

Gleason,  Benjamin.  A  lecturer 
and  teacher  of  the  Masonic  ritual,  accord- 
ing to  the  system  of  Webb,  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  from  1806  to  1842. 
Gleason  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  lib- 
eral education,  and  a  graduate  in  1802  of 
Brown  University.  He  became  soon  after 
a  pupil  of  Thomas  Smith  Webb,  whose 
lectures  he  taught  in  Massachusetts  and 
elsewhere.  The  assertion  of  some  writers 
that  Gleason  went  to  England  and  lectured 
before  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  which 
recognized  his  or  Webb's  system  as  being 
the  same  as  that  of  Preston,  is  highly  im- 
probable and  wants  confirmation. 

Globe.  In  the  second  degree,  the  celes- 
tial and  terrestrial  globes  have  been  adopted 
as  symbols  of  the  universal  extension  of 
the  Order,  and  as  suggestive  of  the  univer- 
sal claims  of  brotherly  love.  The  symbol 
is  a  very  ancient  one,  and  is  to  be  found  in 
the  religious  systems  of  many  countries. 
Among  the  Mexicans  the  globe  was  the 
symbol  of  universal  power.  But  the  Ma- 
sonic symbol  appears  to  have  been  derived 
from,  or  at  least  to  have  an  allusion  to, 
the  Egyptian  symbol  of  the  winged  globe. 
There  is  nothing  more  common  among  the 
Egyptian  monuments  than  the  symbol  of  a 
globe  supported  on  each  side  by  a  serpent, 
and  accompanied  with  wings  extended  wide 
beyond  them,  occupying  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  entablature  above  the  entrance  of 
many  of  their  temples.  We  are  thus  re- 
minded of  the  globes  on  the  pillars  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon.  The 
winged  globe,  as  the  symbol  of  Cneph,  the 
Creator  Sun,  was  adopted  by  the  Egyptians 
as  their  national  device,  as  the  Lion  is  that 
of  England,  or  the  Eagle  of  the  United 
States.  In  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Isa- 
iah, where  the  authorized  version  of  King 
James's  Bible  has  "  Woe  to  the  land  shadow- 
ing with  wings,"  Lowth,  after  Bochart, 
translates,  "  Ho  1  to  the  land  of  the 
winged  cymbal,"  supposing  the  Hebrew 
byhy  to  mean  the  sistrum,  which  was  a 
round  instrument,  consisting  of  a  broad 
rim  of  metal,  having  rods  passing  through 
it,  and  some  of  which,  extending  beyond 
the  sides,  would,  says  Bishop  Lowth,  have 
the  appearance  of  wings,  and  be  expressed 
by  the  same  Hebrew  word.  But  Rosellini 
translates  the  passage  differently,  and  says, 
"  Ho,  land  of  the  winged  globe." 

Dudley,  in  his  Naology,  (p.  18,)  says 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  spherical  figure 
of  the  earth  was  familiar  to  the  Egyptians 


GLORY 


GLOVES 


313 


in  the  early  ages,  in  which  some  of  their 
temples  were  constructed.  Of  the  round 
figure  described  above,  he  says  that  al- 
though it  be  called  a  globe,  an  egg,  the 
symbol  of  the  world  was  perhaps  intended ; 
and  he  thinks  that  if  the  globes  of  the 
Egyptian  entablatures  were  closely  ex- 
amined, they  would  perhaps  be  found  of  an 
oval  shape,  figurative  of  the  creation,  and 
not  bearing  any  reference  to  the  form  of 
the  world. 

The  interpretation  of  the  Masonic  globes, 
as  a  symbol  of  the  universality  of  Masonry, 
would  very  well  agree  with  the  idea  of  the 
Egyptian  symbol  referring  to  the  extent  of 
creation.  That  the  globes  on  the  pillars, 
placed  like  the  Egyptian  symbol  before 
the  temple,  were  a  representation  of  the 
celestial  and  terrestrial  globes,  is  a  very 
modern  idea.  In  the  passage  of  the  Book 
of  Kings,  whence  Masonry  has  derived  its 
ritualistic  description,  it  is  said,  (1  Kings 
vii.  16,)  "And  he  made  two  chapiters  of 
molten  brass,  to  set  upon  the  tops  of  the 
pillars."  In  the  Masonic  ritual  it  is  said 
that  "  the  pillars  were  surmounted  by  two 
pomels  or  globes."  Now  pomel,  VoiS,  is  the 
very  word  employed  by  Rabbi  Solomon  in 
his  commentary  on  this  passage,  a  word 
which  signifies  a  globe  or  spherical  body. 
The  Masonic  globes  were  really  the  chap- 
iters described  in  the  Book  of  Kings.  Again 
it  is  said,  (1  Kings  vii.  22,)  "  Upon  the  top 
of  the  pillars  was  lily  work."  We  now 
know  that  the  plant  here  called  the  lily 
was  really  the  lotus,  or  the  Egyptian  water- 
lily.  But  among  the  Egyptians  the  lotus 
was  a  symbol  of  the  universe ;  and  hence, 
although  the  Masons  in  their  ritual  have 
changed  the  expanded  flower  of  the  lotus, 
which  crowned  the  chapiter  and  surmounted 
each  pillar  of  the  porch,  into  a  globe,  they 
have  retained  the  interpretation  of  univer- 
sality. The  Egyptian  globe  or  egg  and 
lotus  or  lily  and  the  Masonic  globe  are  all 
symbols  of  something  universal,  and  the 
Masonic  idea  has  only  restricted  by  a 
natural  impulse  the  idea  to  the  universality 
of  the  Order  and  its  benign  influences.  But 
it  is  a  pity  that  Masonic  ritualists  did  not 
preserve  the  Egyptian  and  scriptural  sym- 
bol of  the  lotus  surrounding  a  ball  or  sphere, 
and  omit  the  more  modern  figures  of  globes 
celestial  and  terrestrial. 

Glory,  Symbol  of.  The  Blazing  Star 
in  the  old  lectures  was  called  "  the  glory 
in  the  centre,"  because  it  was  placed  in  the 
centre  of  the  floor-cloth,  and  represented 
the  glorious  name  of  Deity.  Hence  Dr. 
Oliver  gives  to  one  of  his  most  interesting 
works,  which  treats  of  the  symbolism  of  the 
Blazing  Star,  the  title  of  The  symbol  of 
Glory. 

Gloves.    In  the  continental  Rites  of 
2P 


Masonry,  as  practised  in  France,  in  Ger- 
many, and  in  other  countries  of  Europe,  it 
is  an  invariable  custom  to  present  the  new- 
ly-initiated candidate  not  only,  as  we  do, 
with  a  white  leather  apron,  but  also  with 
two  pair  of  white  kid  gloves,  —  one  a  man's 
pair  for  himself,  and  the  other  a  woman's,  — 
to  be  presented  by  him  in  turn  to  his  wife 
or  his  betrothed,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  German  Masons,  or,  according  to  the 
French,  to  the  female  whom  he  most  es- 
teems, which,  indeed,  amounts,  or  should 
amount,  to  the  same  thing. 

There  is  in  this,  of  course,  as  there  is 
in  everything  else  which  pertains  to  Free- 
masonry, a  symbolism.  The  gloves  given 
to  the  candidate  for  himself  are  intended 
to  teach  him  that  the  acts  of  a  Mason 
should  be  as  pure  and  spotless  as  the  gloves 
now  given  to  him.  In  the  German  Lodges, 
the  word  used  for  acts  is,  of  course,  hand- 
lung,  or  handlings,  "  the  works  of  his  hands," 
which  makes  the  symbolic  idea  more  im- 
pressive. 

Dr.  Robert  Plot  —  no  friend  of  Masonry, 
but  still  an  historian  of  much  research  — 
says,  in  his  Natural  History  of  Staffordshire, 
that  the  Society  of  Freemasons  in  his  time 
(and  he  wrote  in  1686)  presented  their  can- 
didates with  gloves  for  themselves  and  their 
wives.  This  shows  that  the  custom,  still 
preserved  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  once 
was  practised  in  England;  although  there, 
as  well  as  in  America,  it  is  discontinued, 
which  is  perhaps  to  be  regretted. 

But  although  the  presentation  of  the 
gloves  to  the  candidate  is  no  longer  prac- 
tised as  a  ceremony  in  England  or  America, 
yet  the  use  of  them  as  a  part  of  the  proper 
professional  clothing  of  a  Mason  in  the 
duties  of  the  Lodge  or  in  processions,  is 
still  retained ;  and  in  many  well-regulated 
Lodges  the  members  are  almost  as  regularly 
clothed  in  their  white  gloves  as  in  their 
white  aprons. 

The  symbolism  of  the  gloves,  it  will  be 
admitted,  is  in  fact  but  a  modification  of 
that  of  the  apron.  They  both  signify  the 
same  thing,  both  are  allusive  to  a  purifica- 
tion of  life.  "  Who  shall  ascend,"  says  the 
Psalmist,  "into  the  hill  of  the  Lord?  or 
who  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place?  He 
that  hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart." 
The  apron  may  be  said  to  refer  to  the  "  pure 
heart;"  the  gloves,  to  the  "clean  hands." 
Both  are  significant  of  purification — of  that 

Eurification  which  was  always  symbolized 
y  the  ablution  which  preceded  the  ancient 
initiations  into  the  sacred  mysteries.  But 
while  our  American  and  English  Masons 
have  adhered  only  to  the  apron,  and  rejected 
the  gloves  as  a  Masonic  symbol,  the  latter 
appear  to  be  far  more  important  in  symbolic 
science,  because  the  allusions  to  pure  or 


314 


GLOVES 


GNOSTICS 


clean  hands  are  abundant  in  all  the  ancient 
writers. 

"Hands,"  says  Wemyss,  in  his  Clavis 
Symbolica,  "  are  the  symbols  of  human  ac- 
tions— pure  hands  are  pure  actions ;  unjust 
hands  are  deeds  of  injustice."  There  are 
numerous  references  in  sacred  or  profane 
writers  to  this  symbolism.  The  washing 
of  the  hands  has  the  outward  sign  of  an 
internal  purification.  Hence  the  Psalmist 
says,  "  I  will  wash  my  hands  in  innocence, 
and  I  will  encompass  thine  altar,  Jehovah." 

In  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  the  washing  of 
the  hands  was  always  an  introductory  cere- 
mony to  the  initiation,  and,  of  course,  it 
was  used  symbolically  to  indicate  the  ne- 
cessity of  purity  from  crime  as  a  qualifica- 
tion of  those  who  sought  admission  into 
the  sacred  rites ;  and  hence  on  a  temple  in 
the  island  of   Crete  this  inscription  was 

E laced:  "Cleanse  your  feet,  wash  your 
ands,  and  then  enter." 
Indeed,  the  washing  of  hands,  as  sym- 
bolic of  purity,  was  among  the  ancients  a 
peculiarly  religious  rite.  No  one  dared  to 
pray  to  the  gods  until  he  had  cleansed  his 
hands.    Thus,  Homer  makes  Hector  say, 

"  I  dread  with  unwashed  hands  to  bring 
My  incensed  wine  to  Jove  an  offering." 

The  same  practice  existed  among  the 
Jews ;  and  a  striking  instance  of  the  sym- 
bolism is  exhibited  in  that  well-known  ac- 
tion of  Pilate,  who,  when  the  Jews  clam- 
ored for  Jesus  that  they  might  crucify  him, 
appeared  before  the  people,  and,  having 
taken  water,  washed  his  hands,  saying  at 
the  same  time,  "  I  am  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  this  just  man.  See  ye  to  it."  In 
the  Christian  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
gloves  were  always  worn  by  bishops  or 
priests  when  in  the  performance  of  ecclesi- 
astical functions.  They  were  made  of  linen 
and  were  white;  and  Durandus,  a  celebrated 
ritualist,  says  that  "by  the  white  gloves 
were  denoted  chastity  and  purity,  because 
the  hands  were  thus  kept  clean  and  free 
from  all  impurity." 

There  is  no  necessity  to  extend  examples 
any  further.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
use  of  the  gloves  in  Masonry  is  a  symbolic 
idea,  borrowed  from  the  ancient  and  uni- 
versal language  of  symbolism,  and  was  in- 
tended, like  the  apron,  to  denote  the  neces- 
sity of  purity  of  life. 

The  builders,  who  associated  in  com- 
panies, who  traversed  Europe  and  were  en- 
gaged in  the  construction  of  palaces  and 
cathedrals,  have  left  to  us,  as  their  de- 
scendants, their  name,  their  technical  lan- 
guage, and  the  apron,  that  distinctive  piece 
of  clothing  by  which  they  protected  their 
garments  from  the  pollutions  of  their  labo- 


rious employment.  Did  they  also  bequeath 
to  us  their  gloves?  This  is  a  question 
which  some  modern  discoveries  will  at  last 
enable  us  to  solve. 

M.  Didron,  in  his  Annales  Archeologiques, 
presents  us  with  an  engraving  copied  from 
the  painted  glass  of  a  window  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Chartres,  in  France.  The  painting 
was  executed  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
represents  a  number  of  operative  masons 
at  work.  Three  of  them  are  adorned  with 
laurel  crowns.  May  not  these  be  intended 
to  represent  the  three  officers  of  a  Lodge? 
All  of  the  masons  wear  gloves.  M.  Didron 
remarks  that  in  the  old  documents  which 
he  has  examined  mention  is  often  made  of 
gloves  which  are  intended  to  be  presented 
to  masons  and  stone-cutters.  In  a  subse- 
quent number  of  the  Annales,  he  gives  the 
following  three  examples  of  this  fact  : 

In  the  year  1331,  the  Chatelan  of  Vil- 
laines,  in  Duemois,  bought  a  considerable 
quantity  of  gloves  to  be  given  to  the  work- 
men, in  order,  as  it  is  said,  "  to  shield  their 
hands  from  the  stone  and  lime." 

In  October,  1383,  as  he  learns  from  a 
document  of  that  period,  three  dozen  pair 
of  gloves  were  bought  and  distributed  to 
the  masons  when  they  commenced  the 
buildings  at  the  Chartreuse  of  Dijon. 

And,  lastly,  in  1486  or  1487,  twenty-two 
pair  of  gloves  were  given  to  the  masons 
and  stone-cutters  who  were  engaged  in  work 
at  the  city  of  Amiens. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  the  builders  —  the 
operative  masons — of  the  Middle  Ages  wore 
gloves  to  protect  their  hands  from  the 
effects  of  their  work.  It  is  equally  evident 
that  the  Speculative  Masons  have  received 
from  their  operative  predecessors  the  gloves 
as  well  as  the  apron,  both  of  which,  being 
used  by  the  latter  for  practical  uses,  have 
been,  in  the  spirit  of  symbolism,  appropri- 
ated by  the  former  to  "  a  more  noble  and 
glorious  purpose." 

Gnostics.  The  general  name  of  Gnos- 
tics has  been  employed  to  designate  several 
sects  that  sprung  up  in  the  eastern  parts 
of  the  Roman  empire  about  the  time  of  the 
advent  of  Christianity ;  although  it  is  sup- 
posed that  their  principal  doctrines  had 
been  taught  centuries  before  in  many  of 
the  cities  of  Asia  Minor.  The  word  Gnos- 
ticism is  derived  from  the  Greek  Gnosis  or 
knowledge,  and  was  a  term  used  in  the  ear- 
liest days  of  philosophy  to  signify  the  sci- 
ence of  divine  things,  or,  as  Matter  says, 
"superior  or  celestial  knowledge."  He 
thinks  the  word  was  first  used  by  the  Jew- 
ish philosophers  of  the  famous  school  of 
Alexandria.  The  favorite  opinion  of 
scholars  is  that  the  sect  of  Gnostics  arose 
among  the  philosophers  who  were  the  con- 
I  verts  of  Paul  and  the  other  Apostles,  and 


GNOSTICS 


GOD 


315 


who  sought  to  mingle  the  notions  of  the 
Jewish  Egyptian  school,  the  speculations 
of  the  Kabbalists,  and  the  Grecian  and 
Asiatic  doctrines  with  the  simpler  teachings 
of  the  new  religion  which  they  had  em- 
braced. They  believed  that  the  writings  of 
the  Apostles  enunciated  only  the  articles  of 
the  vulgar  faith ;  but  that  there  were  eso- 
teric traditions  which  had  been  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation  in  mysteries, 
to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Gnosti- 
cism or  Gnosis.  King  says  {Gnostics,  p.  7,) 
that  they  drew  the  materials  out  of  which 
they  constructed  their  system  from  two  re- 
ligions, viz.,  the  Zendavesta  and  its  modi- 
fications in  the  Kabbala,  and  the  reformed 
Brahmanical  religion,  as  taught  by  the 
Buddhist  missionaries. 

Notwithstanding  the  large  area  of  coun- 
try over  which  this  system  of  mystical  phi- 
losophy extended,  and  the  number  of  dif- 
ferent sects  that  adopted  it,  the  same  fun- 
damental doctrine  was  everywhere  held  by 
the  chiefs  of  Gnosticism.  This  was,  that 
the  visible  creation  was  not  the  work  of  the 
Supreme  Deity,  but  of  the  Demiurgus,  a 
simple  emanation,  and  several  degrees  re- 
moved from  the  Godhead.  To  the  latter, 
indeed,  styled  by  them  "  the  unknown 
Father,"  they  attributed  the  creation  of  the 
intellectual  world,  the  iEons  and  Angels, 
while  they  made  the  creation  of  the  world 
of  matter  the  work  of  the  Demiurgus. 

Gnosticism  abounded  in  symbols  and 
legends,  in  talismans  and  amulets,  many 
of  which  were  adopted  into  the  popular  su- 
perstitions of  the  Mediaeval  ages.  It  is,  too, 
interesting  to  the  student  of  Masonic  anti- 
quities because  of  its  remote  connection 
with  that  Order,  some  of  whose  symbols 
have  been  indirectly  traced  to  a  Gnostic 
origin.  The  Druses  of  Mount  Lebanon 
were  supposed  to  be  a  sect  of  Gnostics;  and 
the  constant  intercourse  which  was  main- 
tained during  the  Crusades  between  Europe 
and  Syria  produced  an  effect  upon  the 
Western  nations  through  the  influence  of 
the  pilgrims  and  warriors. 

Towards  the  Manicheans,  the  most 
prominent  offshoot  of  Gnosticism,  the 
Templars  exercised  a  tolerant  spirit  very 
inconsistent  with  the  professed  objects  of 
their  original  foundation,  which  led  to  the 
charge  that  they  were  affected  by  the 
dogmas  of  Manicheism. 

The  strange  ceremonies  observed  in  the 
initiation  into  various  secret  societies  that 
existed  in  the  Lower  Empire  are  said  to 
have  been  modelled  on  the  Gnostic  rites  of 
the  Mithraic  Cave. 

The  architects  and  stone-masons  of  the 
Middle  Ages  borrowed  many  of  the  princi- 
ples of  ornamentation,  by  which  they  deco- 
rated the  ecclesiastical  edifices  which  they 


constructed,  from  the  abstruse  symbols  of 
the  Gnostics. 

So,  too,  we  find  Gnostic  symbols  in  the  Her- 
metic Philosophy  and  in  the  system  of  Ro- 
sicrucianism ;  and  lastly,  many  of  the  sym- 
bols still  used  by  Freemasonry  —  such,  for 
instance,  as  the  triangle  within  a  circle,  the 
letter  G,  and  the  pentacle  of  Solomon  — 
have  been  traced  to  a  Gnostic  source. 

Goat,  Riding  the.  The  vulgar  idea 
that  "  riding  the  goat "  constitutes  a  part 
of  the  ceremonies  of  initiation  in  a  Ma- 
sonic Lodge  has  its  real  origin  in  the  su- 
perstition of  antiquity.  The  old  Greeks 
and  Romans  portrayed  their  mystical  god 
Pan  in  horns  and  hoof  and  shaggy  hide, 
and  called  him  "goat-footed."  When  the 
demonology  of  the  classics  was  adopted 
and  modified  by  the  early  Christians,  Pan 
gave  way  to  Satan,  who  naturally  inherited 
his  attributes;  so  that  to  the  common  mind 
the  Devil  was  represented  by  a  he-goat, 
and  his  best  known  marks  were  the  horns, 
the  beard,  and  the  cloven  hoofs.  Then 
came  the  witch  stories  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  the  belief  in  the  witch  orgies,  where, 
it  was  said,  the  Devil  appeared  riding  on 
a  goat.  These  orgies  of  the  witches,  where, 
amid  fearfully  blasphemous  ceremonies, 
they  practised  initiation  into  their  Satanic 
rites,  became,  to  the  vulgar  and  the  illiter- 
ate, the  type  of  the  Masonic  mysteries;  for, 
as  Dr.  Oliver  says,  it  was  in  England  a 
common  belief  that  the  Freemasons  were 
accustomed  in  their  Lodges  "  to  raise  the 
Devil."  So  the  "  riding  of  the  goat,"  which 
was  believed  to  be  practised  by  the  witches, 
was  transferred  to  the  Freemasons;  and  the 
saying  remains  to  this  day,  although  the 
belief  has  very  long  since  died  out. 

God.  A  belief  in  the  existence  of  God 
is  an  essential  point  of  Speculative  Ma- 
sonry—  so  essential,  indeed,  that  it  is  a 
landmark  of  the  Order  that  no  Atheist  can 
be  made  a  Mason.  Nor  is  this  left  to  an 
inference ;  for  a  specific  declaration  to  that 
effect  is  demanded  as  an  indispensable 
preparation  for  initiation.  And  hence 
Hutchinson  says  that  the  worship  of  God 
"  was  the  first  and  corner-stone  on  which 
our  originals  thought  it  expedient  to  place 
the  foundation  of  Masonry."  The  religion 
of  Masonry  is  cosmopolitan,  universal ;  but 
the  required  belief  in  God  is  not  incom- 
patible with  this  universality;  for  it  is  the 
belief  of  all  peoples.  "Be  assured,"  says 
Godfrey  Higgins,  "that  God  is  equally 
present  with  the  pious  Hindoo  in  the  tem- 
ple, the  Jew  in  the  synagogue,  the  Moham- 
medan in  the  mosque,  and  the  Christian  in 
the  church."  There  never  has  been  a  time 
since  the  revival  of  Freemasonry,  when 
this  belief  in  God  as  a  superintending 
power  did  not  form  a  part  of  the  system. 


316 


GODFATHER 


GOOD 


The  very  earliest  rituals  that  are  extant, 
going  back  almost  to  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  contain  precisely  the 
same  question  as  to  the  trust  in  God  which 
is  found  in  those  of  the  present  day;  and 
the  oldest  manuscript  Constitutions,  dating 
as  far  back  as  the  fifteenth  century  at  least, 
all  commence  with,  or  contain,  an  invoca- 
tion to  the  "  Mighty  Father  of  Heaven." 
There  never  was  a  time  when  the  dogma 
did  not  form  an  essential  part  of  the  Ma- 
sonic system. 

Godfather.  In  French  Lodges  the 
member  who  introduces  a  candidate  for 
initiation  is  called  his  "parrain,"  or  "god- 
father." 

Goethe,  John  Wolfgang  von. 
This  illustrious  German  poet  was  much  at- 
tached to  Freemasonry.  He  was  initiated 
on  the  eve  of  the  festival  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  in  1780 ;  and  on  the  eve  of  the  same 
festival,  in  1830,  the  Masons  of  Weimar 
celebrated  the  semi-centennial  anniversary 
of  his  admission  into  the  Order,  of  which, 
in  a  letter  to  the  musical  composer,  Zeeter, 
who  had  been,  like  himself,  initiated  on  the 
same  day  fifty  years  before,  he  speaks  with 
great  gratification  as  his  "  Masonic  jubi- 
lee." He  says, "  The  gentlemen  have  treated 
this  epoch  with  the  greatest  courtesy.  I 
responded  to  it  in  the  most  friendly  man- 
ner on  the  following  day."  Goethe's  writ- 
ings contain  many  favorable  allusions  to 
the  Institution. 

Golden  Candlestick.  The  golden 
candlestick  which  was  made  by  Moses  for 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  and  was  after- 
wards deposited  in  the  holy  place  of  the 
temple,  to  throw  light  upon  the  altar  of 
incense,  and  the  table  of  showbread,  was 
made  wholly  of  pure  gold,  and  had  seven 
branches;  that  is,  three  on  each  side,  and 
one  in  the  centre.  These  branches  were  at 
equal  distances,  and  each  one  was  adorned 
with  flowers  like  lilies,  gold  knobs  after 
the  form  of  an  apple,  and  similar  ones  re- 
sembling an  almond.  Upon  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  branches  were  seven  golden 
lamps,  which  were  fed  with  pure  olive-oil, 
and  lighted  every  evening  by  the  priests  on 
duty.  Its  seven  branches  are  explained  in 
the  Ineffable  degrees  as  symbolizing  the 
seven  planets.  It  is  also  used  as  a  deco- 
ration in  Chapters  of  the  Royal  Arch,  but 
apparently  without  any  positive  symbolic 
signification. 

Golden  Fleece.  In  the  lecture  of 
the  first  degree,  it  is  said  of  the  Mason's 
apron,  that  it  is  "  more  ancient  than  the 
Golden  Fleece  or  Roman  Eagle,  more  hon- 
orable than  the  Star  and  Garter."  The  refer- 
ence is  here  evidently  not  to  the  Argo- 
nautic  expedition  in  search  of  the  golden 
fleece,  nor  to  the  deluge,  of  which  that 


event  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  figure, 
as  Dr.  Oliver  incorrectly  supposes,  [Symb. 
Diet.,)  but  to  certain  decorations  of  honor 
with  which  the  apron  is  compared.  The 
eagle  was  to  the  Romans  the  ensign  of  im- 
perial power;  the  Order  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  was  of  high  repute  as  an  Order  of 
Knighthood.  It  was  established  in  Flan- 
ders, in  1429,  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
who  selected  the  fleece  for  its  badge  be- 
cause wool  was  the  staple  production  of  the 
country.  It  has  ever  been  considered,  says 
Clark,  one  of  the  most  illustrious  Orders  in 
Europe.  The  Order  of  the  Garter  was,  and 
is  still  considered,  the  highest  decoration 
that  can  be  bestowed  upon  a  subject  by  a 
sovereign  of  Great  Britain.  Thus,  the  apron 
is  proudly  compared  with  the  noblest  decora- 
tions of  ancient  Rome  and  of  modern  Eu- 
rope. But  the  Masons  may  have  been  also 
influenced  in  their,  selection,  of  a  reference 
to  the  Golden  Fleece,  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  Middle  Ages  it  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant symbols  of  the  Hermetic  philoso- 
phers. 

Golden  Key,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Golden  Key. 

Golden  Lance,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Golden  Lance. 

Golgotha.  Greek,  To?.yodd,  from  the 
Hebrew,  rhlhl,  Gulgoleth,  "a  skull." 
The  name  given  by  the  Jews  to  Calvary, 
the  place  of  Christ's  crucifixion  and  burial. 
It  is  a  significant  word  in  Templar  Mason- 
ry.   See  Calvary. 

Good  Samaritan.  An  androgy- 
nous, honorary  or  side  degree  conferred  in 
the  United  States  with  rather  impressive 
ceremonies.  It  is,  of  course,  as  a  degree  to 
be  conferred  on  females,  unconnected  with 
Masonic  history  or  traditions,  but  draws  its 
allusions  from  the  fate  of  Lot's  wife,  and  from 
the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  related 
in  the  Gospels.  The  passages  of  Scripture 
which  refer  to  these  events  are  read  during 
the  ceremony  of  initiation.  This  degree  is 
to  be  conferred  only  on  Royal  Arch  Masons 
and  their  wives,  and  in  conferring  it  two 
Good  Samaritans  must  always  be  present, 
one  of  whom  must  be  a  Royal  Arch  Mason. 
Much  dignity  and  importance  has  been 
given  to  this  degree  by  its  possessors;  and 
it  is  usual  in  many  places  for  a  certain 
number  of  Good  Samaritans  to  organize 
themselves  into  regular,  but  of  course  inde- 
pendent, bodies  to  hold  monthly  meetings 
under  the  name  of  Assemblies,  to  elect 
proper  officers,  and  receive  applications  for 
initiation.  In  this  manner  the  assemblies 
of  Good  Samaritans,  consisting  of  male  and 
female  members,  bear  a  very  near  resem- 
blance to  the  female  Lodges,  which,  under 
the  name  of  "Maqonnerie  d'Adoption," 
prevail  in  France. 


GOOD 


GOTHIC 


317 


Good  Shepherd.  Our  Saviour  called 
himself  the  Good  Shepherd.  Thus,  in 
St.  John's  Gospel,  (x.  14,  15,  16,)  he  says: 
"  I  am  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  know  my 
sheep,  and  am  known  of  mine.  As  the 
Father  knoweth  me,  even  so  know  I  the 
Father:  and  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the 
sheep.  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are 
not  of  this  fold :  them  also  must  I  bring, 
and  they  shall  hear  my  voice ;  and  there 
shall  be  one  fold,  and  one  Shepherd." 
Hence,  in  Masonic  as  well  as  in  Christian 
symbolism,  Christ  is  naturally  called  the 
Good  Shepherd. 

Good  Shepherd,  Sign  of  the. 
When  Jesus  was  relating  (Luke  xv.)  the 
parable  in  which  one  having  lost  a  sheep 
goes  into  the  wilderness  to  search  for  it,  he 
said :  "  And  when  he  hath  found  it,  he 
layeth  it  on  his  shoulders,  rejoicing."  Mr. 
Hettner,  a  German  writer  on  Greek  cus- 
toms, says :  "  When  the  Greek  carries 
home  his  lamb,  he  slings  it  round  his  neck, 
holding  it  by  the  feet  crossed  over  the 
breast.  This  is  to  be  seen  with  us  also, 
but  the  sight  is  especially  attractive  at 
Athens,  for  it  was  in  this  manner  that  the 
ancients  represented  Hermes  as  the  guar- 
dian and  multiplier  of  flocks ;  so  stood  the 
statue  of  Hermes  at  Olympia,  Occhalia, 
and  Tanagra.  Small  marble  statues  of  this 
kind  have  even  come  down  to  us,  one  of 
which  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Pembroke  col- 
lection at  Wilton  House ;  another,  a  smaller 
one,  in  the  Stoa  of  Hadrian,  at  Athens. 
This  representation,  however,  appears  most 
frequently  in  the  oldest  works  of  Christian 
art,  in  which  the  laden  Hermes  is  turned 
into  a  laden  Christ,  who  often  called  him- 
self the  Good  Shepherd,  and  expressly  says 
in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  that  when  the 
shepherd  finds  the  sheep,  he  lays  it  joyfully 
on  his  shoulder." 

Now,  although  the  idea  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  may  have  been  of  Pagan  origin, 
yet  derived  from  the  parable  of  our  Saviour 
in  St.  Luke  and  his  language  in  St.  John, 
it  was  early  adopted  by  the  Christians  as  a 
religious  emblem.  The  Good  Shepherd 
bearing  the  sheep  upon  his  shoulders,  the 
two  hands  of  the  Shepherd  crossed  upon 
his  breast  and  holding  the  legs  of  the  sheep, 
is  a  very  common  subject  in  the  paintings 
of  the  earliest  Christian  era.    It  is  an  ex- 

Eressive  symbol  of  the  Saviour's  love  —  of 
im  who  taught  us  to  build  the  new  temple 
of  eternal  life  —  and,  consequently,  as 
Didron  says,  "the  heart  and  imagination 
of  Christians  have  dwelt  fondly  upon  this 
theme;  it  has  been  unceasingly  repeated 
under  every  possible  aspect,  and  may  be 
almost  said  to  have  been  worn  threadbare 
by  Christian  art.  From  the  earliest  ages, 
Christianity  completely  made  it  her  own." 


And  hence  the  Christian  degree  of  Rose 
Croix  has  very  naturally  appropriated  the 
"  sign  of  the  Good  Shepherd,"  the  repre- 
sentation of  Christ  bearing  his  once  lost 
but  now  recovered  sheep  upon  his  shoul- 
ders, as  one  of  its  most  impressive  symbols. 

Goose  and  Gridiron.  An  alehouse 
with  this  sign,  in  London  House- Yard,  at 
the  north  end  of  St.  Paul's.  In  1717  the 
Lodge  of  Antiquity  met  at  the  Goose  and 
Gridiron,  and  it  was  there  that  the  first 
quarterly  communication  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  after  the  revival  of  1717, 
was  held  on  the  24th  of  June,  1717. 

Gormogons.  A  secret  society  estab- 
lished in  1724,  in  England,  in  opposition 
to  Freemasonry.  One  of  its  rules  was  that 
no  Freemason  could  be  admitted  until  he 
was  first  degraded,  and  had  then  renounced 
the  Masonic  Order.  It  was  absurdly  and 
intentionally  pretentious  in  its  character; 
claiming,  in  ridicule  of  Freemasonry,  a  great 
antiquity,  and  pretending  that  it  was  de- 
scended from  an  ancient  society  in  China. 
There  was  much  antipathy  between  the 
two  associations,  as  will  appear  from  the 
following  doggerel,  published  in  1729  by 
Henry  Carey : 

"  The  Masons  and  the  Gormogons 

Are  laughing  at  one  another, 
While  all  mankind  are  laughing  at  them  ; 
Then  why  do  they  make  such  a  bother  ? 

"  They  bait  their  hook  for  simple  gulls, 
And  truth  with  bam  they  smother ; 
But  when  they  've  taken  in  their  culls, 
Why  then  'tis  —  Welcome,  Brother !  " 

The  Gormogons  made  a  great  splutter  in 
their  day,  and  published  many  squibs  against 
Freemasonry ;  yet  that  is  still  living,  while 
the  Gormogons  were  long  ago  extinguished. 
They  seemed  to  have  flourished  for  but  a 
very  few  years. 

Gothic  Architectnre.  Of  all  the 
styles  of  architecture,  the  Gothic  is  that 
which  is  most  intimately  connected  with 
the  history  of  Freemasonry,  having  been 
the  system  peculiarly  practised  by  the 
Freemasons  of  the  Middle  Ages.  To  what 
country  or  people  it  owes  its  origin  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  determined;  al- 
though it  has  generally  been  conjectured 
that  it  was  of  Arabic  or  Saracenic  extrac- 
tion, and  that  it  was  introduced  into  Eu- 
rope by  persons  returning  from  the  Cru- 
sades. The  Christians  who  had  been  in 
the  Holy  Wars  received  there  an  idea  of 
the  Saracenic  works,  which  they  imitated 
on  their  return  to  the  West,  and  refined 
on  them  as  they  proceeded  in  the  building 
of  churches.  The  Italians,  Germans, 
French,  and  Flemings,  with  Greek  refugees, 
united  in  a  fraternity  of  architects   and 


318 


GOTHIC 


GRAND 


ranged  from  country  to  country,  and  erected 
buildings  according  to  the  Gothic  style, 
which  they  had  learned  during  their 
visits  to  the  East,  and  whose  fundamental 
principles  they  improved  by  the  addition 
of  other  details  derived  from  their  own 
architectural  taste  and  judgment.  Hence 
Sir  Christopher  Wren  thinks  that  this  style 
of  the  Mediaeval  Freemasons  should  be 
rather  called  the  Saracenic  than  the  Gothic. 
This  style,  which  was  distinguished,  by  its 
pointed  arches,  and  especially  by  the  per- 
pendicularity of  its  lines,  from  the  rounded 
arch  and  horizontal  lines  of  previous  styles, 
was  altogether  in  the  hands  of  those  archi- 
tects who  were  known,  from  the  tenth  to 
the  sixteenth  centuries,  as  Freemasons,  and 
who  kept  their  system  of  building  as  a 
secret,  and  thus  obtained  an  entire  mo- 
nopoly of  both  domestic  and  ecclesiastical 
architecture.  At  length,  when  the  gilds  or 
fraternities  of  Freemasons,  "  who  alone," 
says  Mr.  Hope,  "  held  the  secrets  of  Gothic 
art,"  were  dissolved,  the  style  itself  was 
lost,  and  was  succeeded  by  what  Paley  says 
{Man.  of  Goth.  Arch.,  p.  15,)  was  "  a  worse 
than  brazen  era  of  architecture."  For  fur- 
ther details,  see  Travelling  Freemasons. 

Gothic  Constitutions.  A  title 
sometimes  given  to  the  Constitutions  which 
are  supposed  to  have  been  adopted  by  the 
Freemasons  at  the  city  of  York,  in  the 
tenth  century,  and  so  called  in  allusion  to 
the  Gothic  architecture  which  was  intro- 
duced into  England  by  the  Fraternity.  A 
more  correct  and  more  usual  designation  of 
these  laws  is  the  York  Constitutions,  which 
see. 

Gothic  Mysteries.  See  Scandina- 
vian Mysteries. 

Gourgas,  John  James  Joseph. 
A  merchant  of  New  York,  who  was  born 
in  France  in  1777,  and  received  a  member 
of  the  Scottish  Rite  in  1806.  His  name  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  rise  and  pro- 
gress of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite  in  the  Northern  Jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States.  Through  his  representa- 
tions and  his  indefatigable  exertions,  the 
Mother  Council  at  Charleston  was  induced 
to  denounce  the  spurious  Consistory  of 
Joseph  Cerneau  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  to  establish  there  a  Supreme  Council 
for  the  Northern  Jurisdiction,  of  which  Bro. 
Gourgas  was  elected  the  Secretary  General. 
He  continued  to  hold  this  office  until  1832, 
when  he  was  elected  Sovereign  Grand  Com- 
mander. In  1851,  on  the  removal  of  the 
Grand  East  of  the  Supreme  Council  to 
Boston,  he  resigned  his  office  in  favor  of 
Brother  Giles  Fonda  Yates,  but  continued 
to  take  an  active  interest,  so  far  as  his  age 
would  permit,  in  the  Rite  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  New  York  on  February 


14,  1865,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-eight, 
and  being  at  the  time  probably  the  oldest 
possessor  of  the  thirtieth  degree  in  the  world. 
Brother  Gourgas  was  distinguished  for  the 
purity  of  his  life  and  the  powers  of  his  in- 
tellect. His  Masonic  library  was  very  val- 
uable, and  especially  rich  in  manuscripts. 
His  correspondence  with  Dr.  Moses  Hol- 
brook,  at  one  time  Grand  Commander  of 
the  Southern  Council,  is  in  the  Archives  of 
that  body,  and  bears  testimony  to  his  large 
Masonic  attainments. 

Grades.  Degrees  in  Masonry  are 
sometimes  so  called.  It  is  a  French  word. 
See  Degrees. 

Grammar.  One  of  the  seven  liberal 
arts  and  sciences,  which  forms,  with  Logic 
and  Rhetoric,  a  triad  dedicated  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  language.  "  God,"  says  Sanc- 
tius,  "  created  man  the  participant  of  rea- 
son ;  and  as  he  willed  him  to  be  a  social 
being,  he  bestowed  upon  him  the  gift  of 
language,  in  the  perfecting  of  which  there 
are  three  aids.  The  first  is  Grammar, 
which  rejects  from  language  all  solecisms 
and  barbarous  expressions ;  the  second  is 
Logic,  which  is  occupied  with  the  truthful- 
ness of  language ;  and  the  third  is  Rhetoric, 
which  seeks  only  the  adornment  of  lan- 
guage." 

Grand  Architect.  A  degree  in 
several  of  the  Rites  modelled  upon  the 
twelfth  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite.  It  is,  1.  The  sixth  degree 
of  the  Reform  of  St.  Martin  ;  2.  The  four- 
teenth of  the  Rite  of  Elected  Cohens  ;  3. 
The  twenty-third  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim ; 
and  4.  The  twenty-fourth  of  the  Metropol- 
itan Chapter  of  France. 

Grand  Architect  of  the  Uni- 
verse. The  title  applied  in  the  technical 
language  of  Freemasonry  to  the  Deity.  It 
is  appropriate  that  a  society  founded  on 
the  principles  of  architecture,  which  sym- 
bolizes the  terms  of  that  science  to  moral 
purposes,  and  whose  members  profess  to  be 
the  architects  of  a  spiritual  temple,  should 
view  the  Divine  Being,  under  whose  holy 
law  they  are  constructing  that  edifice,  as 
their  Master  Builder  or  Grand  Architect. 

Grand  Chapter.  A  Grand  Chapter 
consists  of  the  High  Priests,  Kings,  and 
Scribes,  for  the  time  being,  of  the  several 
Chapters  under  its  jurisdiction,  of  the  Past 
Grand  and  Deputy  Grand  High  Priests, 
Kings.and  Scribes  of  thesaid  Grand  Chapter. 
In  some  Grand  Chapters  Past  High  Priests 
are  admitted  to  membership,  but  in  others 
they  are  not  granted  this  privilege,  unless 
they  shall  have  served  as  Grand  and  Dep- 
uty Grand  High  Priests,  Kings,  or  Scribes. 
Grand  Chapters  have  the  sole  government 
and  superintendence  of  the  several  Royal 
Arch  Chapters  and  Lodges  of  Most  Excel- 


GRAND 


GRAND 


319 


lent  Past  and  Mark  Masters  within  their 
several  jurisdictions. 

Until  the  year  1797,  there  was  no  organ- 
ization of  Grand  Chapters  in  the  United 
States.  Chapters  were  held  under  the  au- 
thority of  a  Master's  Warrant,  although  the 
consent  of  a  neighboring  Chapter  was 
generally  deemed  expedient.  But  in  1797, 
delegates  from  several  of  the  Chapters  in 
the  Northern  States  assembled  at  Boston 
for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  on  the  ex- 
pediency of  organizing  a  Grand  Chapter 
for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the 
several  Chapters  within  the  said  States. 
This  convention  prepared  an  address  to  the 
Chapters  in  New  York  and  New  England, 
disclaiming  the  power  of  any  Grand  Lodge 
to  exercise  authority  over  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  and  declaring  it  expedient  to  es- 
tablish a  Grand  Chapter.  In  consequence 
of  this  address,  delegates  from  most  of  the 
States  above  mentioned  met  at  Hartford 
in  January,  1798,  and  organized  a  Grand 
Chapter,  formed  and  adopted  a  Constitu- 
tion, and  elected  and  installed  their  officers. 
This  example  was  quickly  followed  by  other 
parts  of  the  Union,  and  Grand  Chapters 
now  exist  in  nearly  all  the  States. 

The  officers  of  a  Grand  Chapter  are  usu- 
ally the  same  as  those  of  a  Chapter,  with 
the  distinguishing  prefix  of  "Grand"  to 
the  titles.  The  jewels  are  also  the  same, 
but  enclosed  within  a  circle.  In  England 
and  Scotland  the  Grand  Chapter  bears  the 
title  of  Supreme  Grand  Chapter. 

Grand  Commander.  The  presid- 
ing officer  of  a  Grand  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars. 

Grand  Commander  of  the  East- 
ern Star.  (Grand  Commandeur  de 
VEtoile  d' Orient.)  A  degree  in  Pyron's 
collection. 

Grand  Conclave.  The  title  of  the 
presiding  body  of  Templarism  in  England 
is  the  "Grand  Conclave  of  the  Religious 
and  Military  Order  of  Masonic  Knights 
Templars." 

Grand  Conservators.  On  July  1, 
1814,  the  Grand  Mastership  of  the  Order  in 
France,  then  held  by  Prince  CambacSres, 
was,  in  consequence  of  the  political  troubles 
attendant  upon  the  restoration  of  the  mon- 
archy, declared  vacant  by  the  Grand  Orient. 
On  August  12,  the  Grand  Orient  decreed 
that  the  functions  of  Grand  Master  should 
be  provisionally  discharged  by  a  commis- 
sion consisting  of  three  Grand  officers,  to 
be  called  Grand  Conservators,  and  Mac- 
donald,  Duke  of  Tarentum,  the  Count  de 
Beurnonville,  and  Timbrune,  Count  de 
Val6nce,  were  appointed  to  that  office. 

Grand  Consistory.  The  governing 
body  over  a  State  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite;  subject,  however,  to 


the  superior  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Thirty-third.  The  members 
of  the  Grand  Consistory  are  required  to  be 
in  possession  of  the  thirty-second  degree. 

Grand  Council.  The  title  given  to 
the  first  three  officers  of  a  Royal  Arch 
Chapter.  Also  the  name  of  the  superin- 
tending body  of  Cryptic  Masonry  in  any 
jurisdiction.  It  is  composed  of  the  first 
three  officers  of  each  Council  in  the  juris- 
diction. Its  officers  are:  Most  Puissant 
Grand  Master,  Thrice  Illustrious  Deputy 
Grand  Master,  Illustrious  Grand  Conductor 
of  the  Works,  Grand  Treasurer,  Grand  Re- 
corder, Grand  Chaplain,  Grand  Marshal, 
Grand  Captain  of  the  Guards,  Grand  Con- 
ductor of  the  Council,  and  Grand  Steward. 

Grand  East.  The  city  in  which  the 
Grand  Lodge,  or  other  governing  Masonic 
Body,  is  situated,  and  whence  its  official 
documents  emanate,  is  called  the  Grand 
East.  Thus,  a  document  issued  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts  would  be 
dated  from  the  "  Grand  East  of  Boston," 
or  if  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Louisiana, 
it  would  be  the  "  Grand  East  of  New  Or- 
leans." The  place  where  a  Grand  Lodge 
meets  is  therefore  called  a  Grand  East. 
The  word  is  in  constant  use  on  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  and  in  America,  but  seldom 
employed  in  England,  Scotland,  or  Ireland. 

Grand  Encampment.  See  En- 
campment, Grand. 

Grand  High  Priest.  The  presid- 
ing officer  of  a  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter 
in  the  American  system.  The  powers  and 
prerogatives  of  a  Grand  High  Priest  are 
far  more  circumscribed  than  those  of  a 
Grand  Master.  As  the  office  has  been  con- 
stitutionally created  by  the  Grand  Chapter, 
and  did  not  precede  it  as  that  of  Grand 
Masters  did  the  Grand  Lodges,  he  possesses 
no  inherent  prerogatives,  but  those  only 
which  are  derived  from  and  delegated  to 
him  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Grand  Chap- 
ter and  regulations  formed  under  it  for  the 
government  of  Royal  Arch  Masonry. 

Grand  Inquiring  Commander. 
The  sixty-sixth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. 

Grand  Inspector,  Inquisitor 
Commander.  The  thirty-first  degree 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
It  is  not  an  historical  degree,  but  simply  a 
judicial  power  of  the  higher  degrees.  The 
place  of  meeting  is  called  a  Supreme  Tri- 
bunal. The  decorations  are  white,  and  the 
presiding  officer  is  styled  Most  Perfect 
President.  The  jewel  of  the  degree  is  a 
Teutonic  cross  of  silver  attached  to  white 
watered  ribbon. 

Grand  Lodge.  A  Grand  Lodge  is  the 
dogmatic  and  administrative  authority  of 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  or  the  three  Sym- 


320 


GRAND 


GRAND 


bolic  degrees.  It  is  defined  in  the  old  Charges 
of  1725  as  "  consisting  of  and  formed  by  the 
Masters  and  Wardens  of  all  the  regular 
Lodges  upon  record,  with  the  Grand  Master 
at  their  head,  and  his  Deputy  on  his  left 
hand,  and  the  Grand  Wardens  in  their  pro- 
per places."  This  definition  refers  to  a  very 
modern  organization,  for  of  Grand  Lodges 
thus  constituted  we  have  no  written  evi- 
dence previous  to  the  year  1717,  when  Free- 
masonry was  revived  in  England.  Previ- 
ous to  that  time  the  administrative  au- 
thority of  the  Craft  was  exercised  by  a 
General  Assembly  of  the  Masons  of  a  ju- 
risdiction which  met  annually.  (See  Assem- 
bly.) The  true  history  of  Grand  Lodges 
commences,  therefore,  from  what  has  been 
called  the  era  of  the  revival. 

In  1717,  there  were  only  four  Lodges 
in  existence  in  London,  and  no  others  in 
the  whole  south  of  England.  These  four 
Lodges  determimed,  if  possible,  to  revive 
the  Institution  from  its  depressed  state,  and 
accordingly  they  met  in  February,  1717,  at 
the  Apple-Tree  Tavern,  (whose  name  has 
thus  been  rendered  famous  for  all  time;)  and 
after  placing  the  oldest  Master  Mason,  who 
was  the  Master  of  a  Lodge,  in  the  chair, 
they  constituted  themselves  into  a  Grand 
Lodge,  and  resolved,  says  Preston,  "  to  re- 
vive the  quarterly  communications  of  the 
Fraternity."  On  the  following  St.  John 
the  Baptist's  day,  the  Grand  Lodge  wa3 
duly  organized,  and  Mr.  Anthony  Sayre 
was  elected  Grand  Master,  who  "  appointed 
his  Wardens,  and  commanded  the  brethren 
of  the  four  old  Lodges  to  meet  him  and 
the  Wardens  quarterly  in  communication." 
From  that  time  Grand  Lodges  have  been 
uninterruptedly  held ;  receiving,  however, 
at  different  periods,  various  modifications. 

A  Grand  Lodge  is  invested  with  power 
and  authority  over  all  the  Craft  within  its 
jurisdiction.  It  is  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Appeal  in  all  Masonic  cases,  and  to  its 
decrees  implicit  obedience  must  be  paid 
by  every  Lodge  and  every  Mason  situated 
within  its  control.  The  government  of 
Grand  Lodges  is,  therefore,  completely  des- 
potic. While  a  Grand  Lodge  exists,  its 
edicts  must  be  respected  and  obeyed  with- 
out examination  by  its  subordinate  Lodges. 

This  autocratic  power  of  a  Grand  Lodge 
is  based  upon  a  principle  of  expediency,  and 
derived  from  the  fundamental  law  estab- 
lished at  the  organization  of  Grand  Lodges 
in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  In 
so  large  a  body  as  the  Craft,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  there  should  be  a  supreme 
controlling  body  to  protect  the  Institution 
from  anarchy,  and  none  could  be  more  con- 
veniently selected  than  one  which,  by  its 
representative  character,  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
composed  of  the  united  wisdom,  prudence, 


and  experience  of  all  the  subordinate 
Lodges  under  its  obedience ;  so  that  the 
voice  of  the  Grand  Lodge  is  nothing  else 
than  the  voice  of  the  Craft  expressed  by 
their  representatives.  Hence  the  twelfth 
of  the  General  Regulations  declares  that 
"  the  Grand  Lodge  consists  of,  and  is  formed 
by,  the  Masters  and  Wardens  of  all  the 
regular  particular  Lodges  upon  record." 

So  careful  has  the  Institution  been  to 
preserve  the  dogmatic  and  autocratic  power 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  that  all  elected  Masters 
are  required,  at  the  time  of  their  installa- 
tion, to  make  the  following  declaration : 

"You  agree  to  hold  in  veneration  the 
original  rulers  and  patrons  of  the  Order  of 
Freemasonry,  and  their  regular  successors, 
supreme  and  subordinate,  according  to 
their  stations ;  and  to  submit  to  the  awards 
and  resolutions  of  your  brethren  in  Grand 
Lodge  convened,  in  every  case,  consistent 
with  the  Constitutions  of  the  Order. 

"You  promise  to  pay  homage  to  the 
Grand  Master  for  the  time  being,  and  to 
his  officers  when  duly  installed,  and  strictly 
to  conform  to  every  edict  of  the  Grand 
Lodge." 

The  organization  of  new  Grand  Lodges 
in  America  has  followed  that  adopted,  in 
essential  particulars,  by  the  four  Lodges 
which  established  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land in  1717.  When  it  is  desired  to  or- 
ganize a  Grand  Lodge,  three  or  more  le- 
gally-constituted Lodges,  working  in  any 
State,  territory,  or  other  independent  po- 
litical division,  where  no  Grand  Lodge  al- 
ready exists,  may  meet  in  convention, 
adopt  by-laws,  elect  officers,  and  organize 
a  Grand  Lodge.  The  Lodges  within  its 
jurisdiction  then  surrender  their  Warrants 
of  constitution  to  the  Grand  Lodges  from 
which  they  respectively  had  received  them, 
and  accept  others  from  the  newly-organ- 
ized Grand  Lodge,  which  thenceforward 
exercises  all  Masonic  jurisdiction  over  the 
State  in  which  it  has  been  organized. 

A  Grand  Lodge  thus  organized  consists 
of  the  Masters  and  Wardens  of  all  the 
Lodges  under  its  jurisdiction,  and  such 
Past  Masters  as  may  enroll  themselves  or 
be  elected  as  members.  Past  Masters  are 
not,  however,  members  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
by  inherent  right,  but  only  by  courtesy, 
and  no  Past  Master  can  remain  a  member 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  unless  he  is  attached 
to  some  subordinate  Lodge  in  its  jurisdic- 
tion. 

All  Grand  Lodges  are  governed  by  the 
following  officers:  Grand  Master,  Deputy 
Grand  Master,  Senior  and  Junior  Grand 
Wardens,  Grand  Treasurer,  and  Grand 
Secretary.  These  are  usually  termed  the 
Grand  officers;  in  addition  to  them  there 
are  subordinate  officers  appointed  by  the 


GRAND 


GRAND 


321 


Grand  Master  and  the  Grand  Warden3, 
such  as  Grand  Deacons,  Grand  Stewards, 
Grand  Marshal,  Grand  Pursuivant,  Grand 
Sword  Bearer,  and  Grand  Tiler ;  but  their 
number  and  titles  vary  in  different  Grand 
Lodges. 

Grand  Lodge  Manuscript.  A 
roll  of  parchment,  nine  inches  in  length 
and  five  in  breadth,  containing  the  Legend 
of  the  Craft  and  the  Old  Charges.     It  is 

E reserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Grand 
rodge  of  England,  but  there  is  no  record 
of  how  it  got  there.  Affixed  to  it  is  the 
date  A.  D.  1132,  which  is  evidently  an  error, 
and  was  most  probably  intended  for  1632, 
perhaps  1532,  for  in  the  sixteenth  century 
manuscripts  there  is  a  very  slight  differ- 
ence in  the  form  of  the  1  and  the  5.  This 
manuscript  was  first  noticed  by  Brother  W. 
J.  Hughan,  who  transcribed  it,  and  pub- 
lished it  in  his  Old  Charges  of  British  Free- 
masons. 

Grand  Master.  The  presiding  offi- 
cer of  the  symbolic  degrees  in  a  jurisdic- 
tion. He  presides,  of  course,  over  the 
Grand  Lodge,  and  has  the  right  not  only 
to  be  present,  but  also  to  preside  in  every 
Lodge,  with  the  Master  of  the  Lodge  on 
his  left  hand,  and  to  order  his  Grand  War- 
dens to  attend  him,  and  act  as  Wardens  in 
that  particular  Lodge.  He  has  the  right 
of  visiting  the  Lodges  and  inspecting  their 
books  and  mode  of  work  as  often  as  he 
pleases,  or,  if  unable  to  do  so,  he  may  de- 

Eute  his  Grand  officers  to  act  for  him.  He 
as  the  power  of  granting  dispensations  for 
the  formation  of  new  Lodges ;  which  dis- 
pensations are  of  force  until  revoked  by 
himself  or  the  Grand  Lodge.  He  may  also 
grant  dispensations  for  several  other  pur- 
poses, for  which  see  the  article  Dispensa- 
tion. Formerly,  the  Grand  Master  ap- 
pointed his  Grand  officers,  but  this  regula- 
tion has  been  repealed,  and  the  Grand  offi- 
cers are  now  all  elected  by  the  Grand 
Lodges. 

When  the  Grand  Master  visits  a  Lodge, 
he  must  be  received  with  the  greatest  re- 
spect, and  the  Master  of  the  Lodge  should 
always  offer  him  the  chair,  which  the 
Grand  Master  may  or  may  not  accept  at 
his  pleasure. 

Should  the  Grand  Master  die,  or  be  ab- 
sent from  the  jurisdiction  during  his  term 
of  office,  the  Deputy  Grand  Master  assumes 
his  powers,  or,  if  there  be  no  Deputy,  then 
the  Grand  Wardens  according  to  seniority. 

Grand  Master  Architect.  ( Grand 
Maitre  Architect.)  The  twelfth  degree  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Eite.  This 
is  strictly  a  scientific  degree,  resembling  in 
that  respect  the  degree  of  Fellow  Craft. 
In  it  the  principles  of  architecture  and  the 
connection  of  the  liberal  arts  with  Masonry 
2Q  21 


are  unfolded.  Its  officers  are  three  —  a 
Master,  and  two  Wardens.  The  Chapter 
is  decorated  with  white  and  red  hangings, 
and  furnished  with  the  five  orders  of  archi- 
tecture, and  a  case  of  mathematical  instru- 
ments. The  apron  is  white,  lined  with 
blue;  and  the  jewel  is  a  gold  medal,  on 
which  are  engraved  the  orders  of  architec- 
ture. It  is  suspended  by  a  stone-colored 
ribbon. 

Grand  Master  Mason.  The  title 
given  to  the  Grand  Master  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland. 

Grand  Master  of  all  Symbolic 
Lodges.  (  Venirable  Maitre  de  toutes  les 
Loges. )  The  twentieth  degree  in  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  The  presiding 
officer  is  styled  Venerable  Grand  Master, 
and  is  assisted  by  two  Wardens  in  the  west. 
The  decorations  of  the  Lodge  are  blue  and 
yellow.  The  old  ritual  contains  some  inter- 
esting instructions  respecting  the  first  and 
second  Temple. 

Among  the  traditions  preserved  by  the 
possessors  of  this  degree,  is  one  which 
states  that  after  the  third  Temple  was  de- 
stroyed by  Titus,  the  son  of  Vespasian,  the 
Christian  Freemasons  who  were  then  in 
the  Holy  Land,  being  filled  with  sorrow, 
departed  from  home  with  the  determina- 
tion of  building  a  fourth,  and  that,  dividing 
themselves  into  several  bodies,  they  dis- 
persed over  the  various  parts  of  Europe. 
The  greater  number  went  to  Scotland,  and 
repaired  to  the  town  of  Kilwinning,  where 
they  established  a  Lodge  and  built  an  ab- 
bey, and  where  the  records  of  the  Order 
were  deposited.  This  tradition,  preserved 
in  the  original  rituals,  is  a  very  strong  pre- 
sumptive evidence  that  the  degree  owed  its 
existence  to  the  Templar  system  of  Ramsay. 

Grand  Master  of  Light.  One  of 
the  various  names  bestowed  on  the  degree 
of  Knight  of  St.  Andrew. 

Grand  Offerings.  According  to  the 
English  system  of  lectures,  three  important 
events  recorded  in  Scripture  are  designated 
as  the  three  grand  offerings  of  Masonry, 
because  they  are  said  to  have  occurred  on 
Mount  Moriah,  which  symbolically  repre- 
sents the  ground-floor  of  the  Lodge.  These 
three  grand  offerings  are  as  follows:  The 
first  grand  offering  was  when  Abraham 
prepared  to  offer  up  his  son  Isaac ;  the  sec- 
ond was  when  David  built  an  altar  to  stay 
the  pestilence  with  which  his  people  were 
afflicted ;  and  the  third  was  when  Solomon 
dedicated  to  Jehovah  the  Temple  which  he 
had  completed.  See  Ground-Floor  of  the 
Lodge. 

Grand  Officers.  The  elective  officers 
of  a  superintending  Masonic  body,  such  as 
Grand  Lodge,  Grand  Chapter,  etc.,  are  so 
called.    The  appointed  officers  are  desig- 


322 


GRAND 


GRAND 


nated  as  subordinate  officers ;  but  this  dis- 
tinction is  not  always  strictly  observed. 

Orand  Orient.  Most  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  established  by  the  Latin  races, 
such  as  those  of  France,  Spain,  Italy,  and 
the  South  American  States,  are  called 
Grand  Orients.  Tbe  word  is  thus,  in  one 
sense,  synonymous  with  Grand  Lodge ;  but 
these  Grand  Orients  have  often  a  more  ex- 
tensive obedience  than  Grand  Lodges,  fre- 
quently exercising  jurisdiction  over  the 
highest  degrees,  from  which  English  and 
American  Grand  Lodges  refrain.  Thus, 
the  Grand  Orient  of  France  exercises  juris- 
diction not  only  over  the  seven  degrees  of 
its  own  Rite,  but  also  over  the  thirty-three 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted,  and  over  all 
the  other  Rites  which  are  practised  in 
France. 

Grand  Orient  is  also  used  in  English, 
and  especially  in  American,  Masonry  to  in- 
dicate the  seat  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
highest  Masonic  power,  and  is  thus  equiva- 
lent to  Grand  East,  which  see. 

Orand  Pontiff.  ( Grand  Pontife  ou 
Sublime  Ecossais.)  The  nineteenth  degree 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
The  degree  is  occupied  in  an  examination 
of  the  Apocalyptic  mysteries  of  the  New 
Jerusalem.  Its  officers  are  a  Thrice  Puis- 
sant and  one  Warden.  The  Thrice  Puis- 
sant is  seated  in  tbe  east  on  a  throne 
canopied  with  blue,  and  wears  a  white  satin 
robe.  The  Warden  is  in  the  west,  and  holds 
a  staff  of  gold.  The  members  are  clothed 
in  white,  with  blue  fillets  embroidered  with 
twelve  stars  of  gold,  and  are  called  True 
and  Faithful  Brothers.  The  decorations 
of  the  Lodge  are  blue  sprinkled  with  gold 
stars. 

Orand  Principals.  The  first  three 
officers  of  the  Grand  Chapter  of  England 
are  so  called.  They  are  respectively  desig- 
nated as  Z.,  H.,  and  J.,  meaning  Zerubba- 
bel,  Haggai,  and  Joshua. 

Orand  Prior.  1.  Each  chief  or  con- 
ventual bailiff  of  the  eight  languages  of 
the  Order  of  Malta  was  called  a  Grand 
Prior.  There  were  also  other  Grand  Priors, 
under  whom  were  several  Commanderies. 
The  Grand  Priors  of  the  Order  were  twenty- 
six  in  number.  2.  The  third  officer  in  the 
Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite  for  the  Southern  Ju- 
risdiction of  the  United  States.   See  Prior. 

Orand  Secretary.  The  recording 
and  corresponding  officer  of  a  Grand  Lodge, 
whose  signature  must  be  attached  to  every 
document  issued  from  the  Grand  Lodge; 
where  there  is  no  Grand  Register  or  Keeper 
of  the  Seals,  he  is  the  custodian  of  the  Seal 
of  the  Grand  Lodge.  The  Regulations  of 
1722  had  provided  for  the  office,  but  no  ap- 
pointment was  made  until  1723,  when  Wil- 


liam Cowper  was  chosen  by  the  Grand 
Lodge.  The  office  was  therefore  at  first  an 
elective  one,  but  Anderson,  in  his  edition 
of  1738,  says  that  "ever  since,  the  new 
Grand  Master,  upon  his  commencement, 
appoints  the  Secretary,  or  continues  him 
by  returning  him  the  books."  This  usage 
is  still  pursued  by  the  modern  Grand  Lodge 
of  England ;  but  in  every  jurisdiction  of 
this  country  the  office  of  Grand  Secretary 
is  an  elective  one.  The  jewel  of  the  Grand 
Secretary  is  a  circle  enclosing  two  pens 
crossed.  His  badge  of  office  was  formerly 
a  bag.     See  Bag. 

Orand  Stewards.  Officers  of  a  Grand 
Lodge,  whose  duty  it  is  to  prepare  and  serve 
at  the  Grand  Feast.  This  duty  was  at  first 
performed  by  the  Grand  Wardens,  but  in 
1720  they  were  authorized  "  to  take  some 
Stewards  to  their  assistance."  This  was 
sometimes  done  and  sometimes  omitted,  so 
that  often  there  were  no  Stewards.  In  1732, 
the  Stewards,  to  the  number  of  twelve, 
were  made  permanent  officers ;  and  it  was 
resolved  that  in  future,  at  the  annual  elec- 
tion, each  Steward  should  nominate  his 
successor.  At  present,  in  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  eighteen  Grand  Stewards  are 
annually  appointed  from  eighteen  different 
Lodges.  Each  Lodge  recommends  one  of 
its  subscribing  members,  who  is  nominated 
by  the  former  Steward  of  that  Lodge,  and 
the  appointment  is  made  by  the  Grand 
Master.  The  number  of  Grand  Stewards 
in  this  country  seldom  exceeds  two,  and 
the  appointment  is  made  in  some  Grand 
Lodges  by  the  Grand  Master,  and  in  others 
by  the  Junior  Grand  Warden.  The  jewel 
of  a  Grand  Steward  is  a  cornucopia  within 
a  circle,  and  his  badge  of  office  a  white  rod. 

Orand  Stewards'  Lodge.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Constitutions  of  England, 
the  past  and  present  Grand  Stewards  con- 
stitute a  Lodge,  which  has  no  number,  but 
is  registered  in  the  Grand  Lodge  books  at 
the  head  of  all  other  Lodges.  It  is  repre- 
sented in  the  Grand  Lodge  by  its  Master, 
Wardens,  and  Past  Masters,  but  has  no 
power  of  making  Masons.  The  institution 
has  not  been  introduced  into  this  country 
except  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Maryland, 
where  the  Grand  Stewards'  Lodge  acts  as  a 
Committee  of  Grievances  during  the  recess 
of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Orand  Tiler.  An  officer  who  per- 
forms in  a  Grand  Lodge  the  same  duties 
that  a  Tiler  does  in  a  subordinate  Lodge. 
The  Grand  Tiler  is  prohibited  from  being  a 
member  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  because  his 
duties  outside  of  the  door  would  prevent 
his  taking  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
body. 

Orand  Treasurer.  The  office  of 
Grand  Treasurer  was  provided  for  by  the 


GRAND 


GRAVE 


323 


Regulations  of  1722,  and  in  1724,  on  the 
organization  of  the  Committee  of  Charity, 
it  was  enacted  that  a  Treasurer  should  be 
appointed.  But  it  was  not  until  1727  that 
the  office  appears  to  have  been  really  filled 
by  the  selection  of  Nathaniel  Blakerly. 
But  as  he  was  elected  Deputy  Grand  Mas- 
ter in  the  same  year,  and  yet  continued  to 
perform  the  duties  of  Treasurer,  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  considered  as  a  dis- 
tinct appointment.  In  1738,  he  demitted 
the  office,  when  Revis,  the  Grand  Secretary, 
was  appointed.  But  he  declined  on  the 
ground  that  the  offices  of  Secretary  and 
Treasurer  should  not  be  held  by  the  same 
person,  —  "the  one  being  a  check  on  the 
other."  So  that,  in  1739,  it  was  made  a 
permanent  office  of  the  Grand  Lodge  by 
the  appointment  of  Bro.  John  Jesse.  It  is 
an  elective  office ;  and  it  was  provided,  by 
the  Old  Regulations,  that  he  should  be  "  a 
brother  of  good  worldly  substance."  The 
duties  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Treasurer 
of  a  subordinate  Lodge.  The  jewel  is  a 
circle  enclosing  two  keys  crossed,  or  in 
saltire.  According  to  ancient  custom,  his 
badge  of  office  was  a  white  staff",  but  this  is 
generally  disused  in  this  country. 

Grand  Wardens.  The  Senior  and 
Junior  Grand  Wardens  are  the  third  and 
fourth  officers  of  a  Grand  Lodge.  Their 
duties  do  not  differ  very  materially  from 
those  of  the  corresponding  officers  of  a  sub- 
ordinate Lodge,  but  their  powers  are  of 
course  more  extensive. 

The  Grand  Wardens  succeed  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Craft,  in  order  of  rank, 
upon  the  death  or  absence  from  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Grand  and  Deputy  Grand 
Masters.    See  Succession  to  the  Chair. 

It  is  also  their  prerogative  to  accompany 
the  Grand  Master  in  his  visitations  of  the 
Lodges,  and  when  there  to  act  as  his  War- 
dens. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Senior  Grand  War- 
den, the  Junior  does  not  occupy  the  west, 
but  retains  his  position  in  the  south. 
Having  been  elected  and  installed  to  pre- 
side in  the  south,  and  to  leave  that  station 
only  for  the  east,  the  temporary  vacancy 
in  the  west  must  be  supplied  by  the  ap- 
pointment by  the  Grand  Master  of  some 
other  brother.    See  Wardens. 

On  the  same  principle,  the  Senior  Grand 
Warden  does  not  supply  the  place  of  the 
absent  Deputy  Grand  Master,  but  retains 
his  station  in  the  west. 

The  old  Charges  of  1722  required  that 
no  one  could  be  a  Grand  Warden  until  he 
had  been  the  Master  of  a  Lodge.  The  rule 
still  continues  in  force,  either  by  specific 
regulations  or  by  the  force  of  usage. 

By  the  Regulations  of  1721,  the  Grand 
Master  nominated  the  Grand  Wardens,  but 


if  his  nomination  was  not  approved,  the 
Grand  Lodge  proceeded  to  an  election.  By 
the  present  Constitutions  of  England  the 
power  of  appointment  is  vested  absolutely 
in  the  Grand  Master.  In  this  country  the 
Grand  Wardens  are  elected  by  the  Grand 
Lodge. 

Grasse  Tilly,  Alexandre  Fran- 
cois Auguste  Comte  de.  He  was 
we  son  of  the  Comte  de  Grasse  who  com- 
manded the  French  fleet  that  had  been  sent 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Americans  in  their 
revolutionary  struggle.  De  Grasse  Tilly 
was  born  at  Versailles,  in  France,  about  the 
year  1766.  He  was  initiated  in  the  Mother 
Scottish  Lodge  du  Contrat  Social,  and  sub- 
sequently, going  over  to  America,  resided 
for  some  time  in  the  island  of  St.  Domingo, 
whence  he  removed  to  the  city  of  Charleston, 
in  South  Carolina,  where,  in  1796,  he  affili- 
ated with  the  French  Lodge  la  Candeur. 
In  1799,  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Lodge  la  Reunion  Franchise,  of  which  he 
was  at  one  time  the  Venerable  or  Master. 
In  1802,  the  Comte  de  Grasse  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Rite,  which  had  been  estab- 
lished the  year  before  at  Charleston ;  and  in 
the  same  year  he  received  a  patent  as 
Grand  Commander  for  life  of  the  French 
West  India  islands.  In  1802  he  returned 
to  St.  Domingo,  and  established  a  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Scottish  Rite  at  Port  au 
Prince.  In  1804  he  went  to  Europe,  and 
labored  with  great  energy  for  the  extension 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  On 
September  22,  1804,  he  founded  at  Paris  a 
Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite,  of  which  body  he  was, 
until  1806,  the  Grand  Commander.  On 
March  5,  1805,  he  organized  a  Supreme 
Council  at  Milan,  in  Italy,  and  on  July  4, 
1811,  another  at  Madrid,  in  Spain.  The 
Comte  de  Grasse  was  an  officer  in  the 
French  army,  and  was  taken  prisoner  by 
the  English  and  detained  in  England  until 
1815,  when  he  returned  to  Paris.  He  im- 
mediately resumed  his  functions  as  Grand 
Commander  of  a  body  which  took  the  un- 
authorized pretentious  title  of  the  Supreme 
Council  of  America.  For  several  years 
Scottish  Masonry  in  France  was  convulsed 
with  dissensions,  which  De  Grasse  vainly 
labored  to  reconcile.  Finally,  in  1818,  he 
resigned  his  post  as  Grand  Commander, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  Comte  Decazes. 
From  that  period  he  appears  to  have  passed 
quietly  out  of  the  Masonic  history  of  France, 
and  probably  died  soon  after. 

Grave.  The  grave  is,  in  the  Master's 
degree,  the  analogue  of  the  pastos,  couch 
or  coffin,  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  and  is 
intended  scenically  to  serve  the  same  pur- 
pose.   The  grave  is,  therefore,  in  that  de- 


324 


GREATER 


GREGORIANS 


gree,  intended,  in  connection  with  the  sprig 
of  acacia,  to  teach  symbolically  the  great 
Masonic  doctrine  of  a  future  life. 

Greater  Lights.  See  Lights,  Sym- 
bolic. 

Greece.  In  1867,  the  first  steps  were 
taken  to  establish  a  Grand  Lodge  in  Greece 
by  the  Lodges  wbich  bad  been  recently 
founded  there  by  the  Grand  Orient  of  Italy, 
but  owing  to  various  causes  the  organiza- 
tion did  not  succeed,  and  until  1872  the 
Grecian  Lodges  were  presided  over  by  a 
Deputy  Grand  Master,  appointed  by  and 
the  representative  of  the  Grand  Orient  of 
Italy. 

On  July  22,  1872,  the  Lodges  of  Greece 
met  at  Athens,  and  organized  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Greece,  electing  His  Imperial 
Highness  Prince  Bhodocanakis  the  first 
Grand  Master.  The  Order  is  now  repre- 
sented by  seven  Lodges,  at  Syra,  Athens, 
Piraeus,  Chalkis,  Corfu,  Patras,  Lamia,  and 
Argos. 

At  the  same  time  a  Supreme  Council  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Kite 
was  organized.  The  seat  of  both  bodies  is 
at  Athens. 

Greece,  Mysteries  in.  The  princi- 
pal Pagan  mysteries  celebrated  in  Greece 
were  the  Eleusinian  and  the  Bacchic,  both 
of  which  see. 

Green.  Green,  as  a  Masonic  color,  is 
almost  confined  to  the  four  degrees  of  Per- 
fect Master,  Knight  of  the  East,  Knight  of 
the  Red  Cross,  and  Prince  of  Mercy.  In 
the  degree  of  Perfect  Master  it  is  a  symbol 
of  the  moral  resurrection  of  the  candidate, 
teaching  him  that  being  dead  to  vice  he 
should  hope  to  revive  in  virtue. 

In  the  degree  of  Knight  of  the  Red  Cross, 
this  color  is  employed  as  a  symbol  of  the 
immutable  nature  of  truth,  which,  like  the 
bay  tree,  will  ever  flourish  in  immortal 
green. 

This  idea  of  the  unchanging  immortality 
of  that  which  is  divine  and  true,  was  al- 
ways connected  by  the  ancients  with  the 
color  of  green.  Among  the  Egyptians,  the 
god  Phtha,  the  active  spirit,  the  creator  and 
regenerator  of  the  world,  the  goddess  ■ 
Pascht,  the  divine  preserver,  and  Thoth,  the 
instructor  of  men  in  the  sacred  doctrines  of 
truth,  were  all  painted  in  the  hieroglyphic 
system  with  green  flesh. 

Portal  says,  in  his  essay  on  Symbolic 
Colors,  that  "  green  was  the  symbol  of  vic- 
tory ; "  and  this  reminds  us  of  the  motto 
of  the  Red  Cross  Knights, "  magna  est  Veri- 
tas et  prevalebit,"  —  great  is  truth  and 
mighty  above  all  things;  and  hence  green  is 
the  symbolic  color  of  that  degree. 

In  the  degree  of  Prince  of  Mercy,  or  the 
twenty-sixth  degree  of  the  Scottish  Rite, 
green  is  also  symbolic  of  truth,  and  is  the 


appropriate  color  of  the  degree,  because 
truth  is  there  said  to  be  the  palladium  of 
the  Order. 

In  the  degree  of  Knight  of  the  East,  in 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite, 
green  is  also  the  symbolic  color.  We  may 
very  readily  suppose,  from  the  close  con- 
nection of  this  degree  in  its  ritual  with  that 
of  the  Red  Cross  Knight,  that  the  same 
symbolic  explanation  of  the  color  would 
apply  to  both,  and  I  think  that  such  an  ex- 
planation might  very  properly  be  made; 
but  it  is  generally  supposed  by  its  posses- 
sors that  the  green  of  the  Knights  of  the 
East  alludes  to  the  waters  of  the  river  Eu- 
phrates, and  hence  its  symbolism  is  not 
moral  but  historical. 

The  evergreen  of  the  third  degree  is  to 
the  Master  Mason  an  emblem  of  immortal- 
ity. Green  was  with  the  Druids  a  symbol 
of  hope,  and  the  virtue  of  hope  with  a  Ma- 
son illustrates  hope  of  immortality.  In  all 
the  Ancient  Mysteries,  this  idea  was  carried 
out,  and  green  symbolized  the  birth  of  the 
world,  and  the  moral  creation  or  resurrec- 
tion of  the  initiate.  If  we  apply  this  to  the 
evergreen  of  the  Master  Mason  we  shall 
again  find  a  resemblance,  for  the  acacia  is 
emblematic  of  a  new  creation  of  the  body, 
and  a  moral  and  physical  resurrection. 

Greeting.  This  word  means  saluta- 
tion, and,  under  the  form  of  "  Thrice  Greet- 
ing," it  is  very  common  at  the  head  of  Ma- 
sonic documents.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century  it  was  usual  at  the  meeting  of 
Masons  to  say,  "  God's  good  greeting  be  to 
this  our  happy  meeting."  Brown  gives  the 
formula  as  practised  in  1800 :  "  The  recom- 
mendation I  bring  is  from  the  right  worthy 
and  worshipful  brothers  and  fellows  of  the 
Holy  Lodge  of  St.  John,  who  greet  your 
worship  well."  This  formula  is  obsolete, 
but  the  word  greeting  is  still  in  use  among 
Freemasons.  In  Masonic  documents  it  is 
sometimes  found  in  the  form  of  S.*.  S.\  S.\, 
which  three  letters  are  the  initials  of  the 
Latin  word  salutem  or  health,  three  times 
repeated,  and  therefore  equivalent  to 
"  Thrice  Greeting." 

Gregorians.  An  association  estab- 
lished early  in  the  eighteenth  century  in 
ridicule  of  and  in  opposition  to  the  Free- 
masons. There  was  some  feud  between  the 
two  Orders,  but  the  Gregorians  at  last  suc- 
cumbed, and  long  ago  became  extinct. 
They  lasted,  however,  at  least  until  the  end 
of  the  century,  for  there  is  extant  a  Sermon 
preached  before  them  in  1797.  They  must 
too,  by  that  time,  have  changed  their  char- 
acter, for  Prince  William  Frederick  of 
Gloucester  was  then  their  presiding  officer ; 
and  Dr.  Munkhouse,  the  author  of  that 
sermon,  who  was  a  very  ardent  Mason, 
speaks  in  high  terms  of  the  Order  as  an 


GREINEMANN 


GUGOMOS 


325 


ally  of  Freemasonry,  and  distinguished  for 
its  "  benign  tendency  and  salutary  effects.'' 

Greinemann,  Ludwig.  A  Do- 
minican monk,  who,  while  preaching  a 
course  of  Lent  sermons  at  Aix-la-Chapelle 
in  1779,  endeavored  to  prove  that  the  Jews 
who  crucified  Jesus  were  Freemasons;  that 
Pilate  and  Herod  were  Wardens  in  a  Ma- 
sonic Lodge;  and  that  Judas,  before  he  be- 
trayed his  Lord,  had  been  initiated  in  the 
synagogue,  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  which 
he  returned  being  the  amount  of  his  fee  for 
initiation.  With  discourses  like  these, 
Greinemann,  who  had  threatened,  if  his 
followers  would  assist  him,  he  would  slay 
every  Freemason  he  met  with  his  own  hand, 
so  excited  the  people,  that  the  magistrates 
were  compelled  to  issue  an  edict  forbidding 
the  assemblies  of  the  Freemasons.  Peter 
Schuff,  a  Capuchin,  also  vied  with  Greine- 
mann in  the  labor  of  persecution,  and  peace 
was  not  restored  until  the  neighboring  free 
imperial  states  threatened  that,  if  the 
monks  did  not  refrain  from  stirring  up  the 
mob  against  Freemasonry,  they  should  be 
prohibited  from  collecting  alms  in  their 
territories. 

Grip.  This  word  is  peculiar  to  Masonic 
language.  It  is  not  to  be  found  in  any 
English  dictionary  except  Webster's,  where 
it  is  marked  as  "  obsolete  or  vulgar."  The 
correct  equivalent  English  word  is  "  gripe," 
which  is  used  also  in  one  or  two  Masonic 
works  of  the  beginning  of  the  last  century ; 
but  grip  was  very  soon  adopted  as  the  tech- 
nical word  of  Masonry;  and  so  uninter- 
rupted has  been  its  use,  that  at  length,  not- 
withstanding the  derogatory  remark  of 
Webster,  it  has  passed  into  the  colloquial 
language  of  the  day  to  signify  a  grasp  of 
the  hand.  But  in  Masonry  the  meaning  of 
the  word  is  somewhat  different.  German 
Masons  call  it  der  griff,  and  French  ones, 
V  attouchement. 

Groton.  In  the  Leland  Manuscript,  a 
corruption  of  Crotona,  where  Pythagoras 
established  his  school. 

Ground-Floor  of  the  Lodge. 
Mount  Moriah,  on  which  the  Temple  of 
Solomon  was  built,  is  symbolically  called 
the  ground-floor  of  the  Lodge,  and  hence  it 
is  said  that  "the  Lodge  rests  on  holy 
ground."  This  ground-floor  of  the  Lodge 
is  remarkable  for  three  great  events  re- 
corded in  Scripture,  and  which  are  called 
"  the  three  grand  offerings  of  Masonry."  It 
was  here  that  Abraham  prepared,  as  a  token 
of  his  faith,  to  offer  up  his  beloved  son 
Isaac — this  was  the  first  grand  offering  ;  it 
was  here  that  David,  when  his  people  were 
afflicted  with  a  pestilence,  built  an  altar,  and 
offered  thereon  peace-offerings  and  burnt-of- 
ferings to  appease  the  wrath  of  God  —  this 


was  the  second  grand  offering  ;  and  lastly,  it 
was  here,  that  when  the  Temple  was  com- 
pleted, King  Solomon  dedicated  that  mag- 
nificent structure  to  the  service  of  Jehovah, 
with  the  offering  of  pious  prayers  and  many 
costly  presents  —  and  this  was  the  third 
grand  offering. 

This  sacred  spot  was  once  the  threshing- 
floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite,  and  from  him 
David  purchased  it  for  fifty  shekels  of 
silver.  The  Kabbalists  delight  to  invest  it 
with  still  more  solemn  associations,  and  de- 
clare that  it  was  the  spot  on  which  Adam 
was  born  and  Abel  slain.  See  Holy  Ground. 

Ground-Floor  of  King  Solo- 
mon's Temple.  This  is  said  to  have 
been  a  Mosaic  pavement,  consisting  of 
black  and  white  stones  laid  lozengewise, 
and  surrounded  by  a  tesselated  border.  The 
tradition  of  the  Order  is  that  Entered  Ap- 
prentices' Lodges  were  held  on  the  ground- 
floor  of  King  Solomon's  Temple;  and  hence 
a  Mosaic  pavement,  or  a  carpet  representing 
one,  is  a  very  common  decoration  of  Ma- 
sonic Lodges.  See  Mosaic  Pavement,  and 
Grand  Offerings. 

Guard.    See  Due  Guard. 

G  uard  of  the  Conclave.  See  Knight 
of  the  Christian  Mark. 

Guards.  Officers  used  in  working  the 
rituals  of  the  Red  Cross  and  Templar  de- 
grees. They  do  not  constitute  regular 
officers  of  a  Council  or  Commandery,  but 
are  appointed  pro  re  natd. 

Guerrier  de  Dumast.  A  distin- 
guished French  Mason,  born  at  Nancy  on 
February  26,  1796.  He  is  the  author  of  a 
poem  entitled  La  Maconnerie,  in  three  can- 
tos, enriched  with  historical,  etymological, 
and  critical  notes,  published  in  1820.  For 
this  work  he  received  from  the  Lodge 
Freres  Artistes,  of  which  he  was  the  orator, 
a  gold  medal.  He  was  the  author  of  several 
other  works  both  Masonic  and  secular. 

Gugomos,  Baron  Ton.  An  im- 
postor in  Masonry,  who,  in  1775,  appeared 
in  Germany,  and,  being  a  member  of  the 
Order  of  Strict  Observance,  claimed  that 
lie  had  been  delegated  by  the  Unknown 
Superiors  of  the  Holy  See  at  Cyprus  to 
establish  a  new  Order  of  Knights  Templars. 
Calling  himself  Dux  and  High  Priest,  he 
convoked  a  Masonic  Congress  at  Wies- 
baden, which,  notwithstanding  the  warning 
of  Dr.  Bode,  was  attended  by  many  influen- 
tial members  of  the  Fraternity.  His  pre- 
tensions were  so  absurd,  that  at  length  his 
imposture  was  detected,  and  he  escaped 
secretly  out  of  Wiesbaden.  In  1786,  Gu- 
gomos confessed  the  imposition,  and,  it  is 
said,  asserted  that  he  had  been  employed 
as  a  tool  by  the  Jesuits  to  perform  this  part, 
that  Freemasonry  might  be  injured. 


326 


GUIBBS 


HAGGAI 


Gnibbs.  The  names  given  to  the  As- 
sassins of  the  third  degree  by  some  of  the 
inventors  of  the  high  degrees,  are  of  so 
singular  a  form  as  to  have  almost  irresist- 
ibly led  to  the  conclusion  that  these  names 
were  bestowed  by  the  adherents  of  the 
house  of  Stuarts  upon  some  of  their  ene- 
mies as  marks  of  infamy.  Such,  for  in- 
stance, is  Romvel,  the  name  of  one  of  the 
Assassins  in  certain  Scottish  degrees,  which 
is  probably  a  corruption  of  Cromwell. 
Jubelum  Gulbbs,  another  name  of  one  of 
these  traitors,  has  much  puzzled  the  Ma- 
sonic etymologists.  I  think  that  I  have 
found  its  origin  in  the  name  of  the  Rev. 
Adam  Gib,  who  was  an  antiburgher  clergy- 
man of  Edinburgh.  When  that  city  was 
taken  possession  of  by  the  young  Pre- 
tender, Charles  Edward,  in  1745,  the  clergy 
generally  fled.  But  Gib  removed  only  three 
miles  from  the  city,  where,  collecting  his 
loyal  congregation,  he  hurled  anathemas 
for  five  successive  Sundays  against  the  Pre- 
tender, and  boldly  prayed  for  the  downfall 
of  the  rebellion.  He  subsequently  joined 
the  loyal  army,  and  at  Falkirk  took  a  rebel 
prisoner.  So  active  was  Gib  in  his  oppo- 
sition to  the  cause  of  the  house  of  Stuart, 
and  so  obnoxious  had  he  become,  that  sev- 
eral attempts  were  made  by  the  rebels  to 
take  his  life.  On  Charles  Edward's  return 
to  France,  he  erected  in  1747  his  "  Primor- 
dial Chapter"  at  Arras;  and  in  the  compo- 
sition of  the  high  degrees  there  practised, 
it  is  very  probable  that  he  bestowed  the 
name  of  his  old  enemy  Gib  on  the  most 
atrocious  of  the  Assassins  who  figure  in  the 
legend  of  third  degree.  The  letter  u  was 
doubtless  inserted  to  prevent  the  French, 
in  pronouncing  the  name,  from  falling  into 
the  soft  sound  of  the  G  and  calling  the 
word  Jib.  The  additional  b  and  s  were  the 
natural  and  customary  results  of  a  French 
attempt  to  spell  a  foreign  proper  name. 


Guillemain  de  St.  Tic  tor, 
Louis.  A  distinguished  French  writer, 
who  published  several  works  on  Freema- 
sonry, the  most  valuable  and  best  known 
of  which  is  his  Recueil  Precieux  de  la  Ma- 
connerie  Adonhiramite,  first  issued  at  Paris 
in  1782.  This  work,  of  which  several  edi- 
tions were  published,  contains  the  cate- 
chisms of  the  first  four  degrees  of  Adoni- 
ramite  Masonry,  and  an  account  of  several 
other  degrees,  and  is  enriched  with  many 
learned  notes.  Ragon,  who  speaks  high- 
ly of  the  work,  erroneously  attributes  its 
authorship  to  the  celebrated  Baron  de 
Tschoudy. 

Gustavus  IT.,  King  of  Sweden.  He 
was  initiated  into  Masonry,  at  Stockholm, 
on  the  10th  of  March,  1793.  Ten  years 
after,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1803,  Gustavus 
issued  an  Ordonnance  by  which  he  re- 
quired all  the  secret  societies  in  his  domin- 
ions to  make  known  to  the  stadtholders  of 
the  cities  where  they  resided,  and  in  the 
provinces  to  his  governors,  not  only  the 
formula  of  the  oath  which  they  adminis- 
tered to  their  members,  but  the  duties 
which  they  prescribed,  and  the  object  of 
their  association;  and  also  to  submit  at  any 
time  to  a  personal  inspection  by  the  officers 
of  government.  But  at  the  end  of  the  Or- 
donnance the  King  says :  "  The  Freemasons, 
who  are  under  our  immediate  protection, 
are  alone  excepted  from  this  inspection, 
and  from  this  Ordonnance  in  general." 

Guttural  Point  of  Entrance. 
From  the  Latin  guttur,  the  throat.  The 
throat  is  that  avenue  of  the  body  which  is 
most  employed  in  the  sins  of  intemperance, 
and  hence  it  suggests  to  the  Mason  certain 
symbolic  instructions  in  relation  to  the  vir- 
tue of  temperance.  See  Perfect  Points  of 
Entrance. 

Gymnosophist.  The  eighth  degree 
of  the  Kabbalistic  Rite. 


H. 


H.".  A.'.  B.*.  An  abbreviation  of 
Hiram  Abif. 

Hadeeses.  An  Arabic  word,  signify- 
ing the  traditions  handed  down  by  Moham- 
med and  preserved  by  the  Mohammedan 
doctors.  They  are  said  to  amount  to  5266 
in  number.  Many  of  the  traditions  of  Mo- 
hammedan Masonry  are  said  to  be  bor- 
rowed from  the  Hadeeses,  just  as  much  of 
the  legendary  lore  of  European  Masonry  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Jewish  Talmud. 

Ilagar.    The  old  lectures  taught  the 


doctrine,  and  hence  it  was  the  theory  of 
the  Masons  of  the  eighteenth  century,  that 
the  landmark  which  requires  all  candidates 
for  initiation  to  be  free  born  is  derived  from 
the  fact  that  the  promise  which  was  given 
to  Isaac,  the  free-born  son  of  Abraham  and 
Sarah,  was  denied  to  Ishmael,  the  slave- 
born  son  of  the  Egyptian  bondwoman  Ha- 
gar.  This  theory  is  entertained  by  Oliver 
in  all  his  writings,  as  a  part  of  the  old  Ma- 
sonic system.     See  Free  Born. 

Haggai.     According  to  Jewish  tradi- 


HAGUE 


HALL 


327 


tion,  Haggai  was  born  in  Babylon  during  tbe 
captivity,  and  being  a  young  man  at  the 
time  of  the  liberation  by  Cyrus,  he  came 
to  Jerusalem  in  company  with  Joshua  and 
Zerubbabel,  to  aid  in  the  rebuilding  of  the 
Temple.  The  work  being  suspended  during 
the  reigns  of  the  two  immediate  successors 
of  Cyrus,  on  the  accession  of  Darius,  Hag- 
gai urged  the  renewal  of  the  undertaking, 
and  for  that  purpose  obtained  the  sanction 
of  the  King.  Animated  by  the  courage 
and  patriotism  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah, 
the  people  prosecuted  the  work  with  vigor, 
and  the  second  Temple  was  completed  and 
dedicated  in  the  year  516  B.  c. 

In  the  Royal  Arch  system  of  America, 
Haggai  represents  the  scribe,  or  third  offi- 
cer of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter.  In  the  Eng- 
lish system  he  represents  the  second  offi- 
cer, and  is  called  the  prophet. 

Hague,  The.  A  city  of  the  Nether- 
lands, formerly  South  Holland.  Free- 
masonry was  introduced  there  in  1731  by 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  when  an 
occasional  Lodge  was  opened  for  the  initia- 
tion of  Francis,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  after- 
wards Emperor  of  Germany.  Between 
that  year  and  1735  an  English  and  a  Dutch 
Lodge  were  regularly  instituted,  from  which 
other  Lodges  in  Holland  subsequently  pro- 
ceeded. In  1749,  the  Lodge  at  the  Hague 
assumed  the  name  of  "  The  Mother  Lodge 
of  the  Royal  Union,"  whence  resulted  the 
National  Grand  Lodge,  which  declared  its 
independence  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land in  1770.     See  Netherlands. 

Hah.  The  Hebrew  definite  article  j"|, 
"  the."  It  forms  the  second  syllable  of  the 
Substitute  Word. 

Hail  or  Hale.  This  word  is  used 
among  Masons  with  two  very  different  sig- 
nifications. 1.  When  addressed  as  an  in- 
quiry to  a  visiting  brother,  it  has  the  same 
import  as  that  in  which  it  is  used  under 
like  circumstances  by  mariners.  Thus: 
"Whence  do  you  hail?  "  that  is,  "of  what 
Lodge  are  you  a  member?"  Used  in  this 
sense,  it  comes  from  the  Saxon  term  of  salu- 
tation" h^el,"  and  should  be  spelled  "hail." 
2.  Its  second  use  is  confined  to  what 
Masons  understand  by  the  "tie,"  and  in 
this  sense  it  signifies  to  conceal,  being  de- 
rived from  the  Saxon  word  "  helan,"  to 
hide,  the  e  being  pronounced  in  Anglo- 
Saxon  as  a  in  the  word  fate.  By  the  rules 
of  etymology,  it  should  be  spelled  "  hale." 
The  preservation  of  this  Saxon  word  in  the 
Masonic  dialect,  while  it  has  ceased  to  exist 
in  the  vernacular,  is  a  striking  proof  of  the 
antiquity  of  the  Order  and  its  ceremonies 
in  England.  "  In  the  western  parts  of 
England,"  says  Lord  King,  ( Crit.  Hist.  Ap. 
Creed,  p.  178,)  "  at  this  very  day,  to  hele 
over  anything  signifies,  among  the  common 


Eeople,  to  cover  it ;  and  he  that  covereth  an 
ouse  with  tile  or  slate  is  called  a  helliar." 
Hall  Committee.  A  committee  es- 
tablished in  all  Lodges  and  Grand  Lodges 
which  own  the  building  in  which  they  meet, 
to  which  is  entrusted  the  supervision  of  the 
building.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  England 
first  appointed  its  Hall  Committee  in  1772, 
for  the  purpose  of  superintending  the  erec- 
tion of  the  hall  which  had  been  projected. 

Hall,  Masonic.  For  a  long  time 
after  the  revival  of  Masonry  in  1717,  Ma- 
sonic Lodges  continued  to  meet,  as  they 
had  done  before  that  period,  in  taverns. 
Thus,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  was 
organized,  and,  to  use  the  language  of  An- 
derson, "  the  quarterly  communications 
were  revived,"  by  four  Lodges,  whose  re- 
spective places  of  meeting  were  the  Goose 
and  Gridiron  Ale-House,  the  Crown  Ale- 
House,  the  Apple-Tree  Tavern,  and  the 
Rummer  and  Grapes  Tavern.  For  many 
years  the  Grand  Lodge  held  its  quarterly 
meetings  sometimes  at  the  Apple-Tree,  but 
principally  at  the  Devil  Tavern,  and  kept 
the  Grand  Feast  at  the  hall  of  one  of  the 
Livery  companies.  The  first  Lodge  in 
Paris  was  organized  at  a  tavern  kept  in  the 
Rue  des  Boucheries  by  one  Hure,  and  the 
Lodges  subsequently  organized  in  France 
continued  to  meet,  like  those  of  England, 
in  public  houses.  The  custom  was  long 
followed  in  other  countries  of  Europe.  In 
America  the  practice  ceased  only  at  a  com- 
paratively recent  period,  and  it  is  possible 
that  in  some  obscure  villages  it  has  not  yet 
been  abandoned. 

At  as  early  a  period  as  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  the  Gilds,  or  Livery 
Companies,  of  London  had  their  halls  or 
places  of  meeting,  and  in  which  they  stored 
their  goods  for  sale.  At  first  these  were 
mean  buildings,  but  gradually  they  rose 
into  importance,  and  the  Goldsmith's  Hall, 
erected  in  the  fifteenth  century,  is  said  to 
have  been  an  edifice  of  large  dimensions 
and  of  imposing  appearance.  These  halls, 
probably,  as  they  were  very  common  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  were  suggestive  to  the 
Freemasons  of  similar  edifices  for  their 
own  Fraternity;  but  undoubtedly  the  ne- 
cessity, as  the  Association  grew  into  im- 
portance, of  a  more  respectable,  more  con- 
venient, and  more  secure  locality  than  was 
afforded  by  temporary  resort  to  taverns  and 
ale-houses  must  have  led  to  the  erection  of 
isolated  edifices  for  their  own  special  use. 

The  first  Masonic  Hall  of  which  we  have 
any  account  is  the  one  that  was  erected  by 
the  Lodge  at  Marseilles,  in  France,  in  the 
year  1765.  Smith  describes  it  very  fully 
in  his  Use  and  Abuse  of  Freemasonry,  and 
calls  it  "a  very  magnificent  hall."  In 
1772,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  made 


328 


HALL 


HALL 


preliminary  arrangements  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  hall,  a  considerable  sum  having 
been  already  subscribed  for  that  purpose. 
On  the  1st  of  May,  1775,  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  new  edifice  was  laid  in  solemn 
form,  according  to  a  ceremonial  which  was 
then  adopted,  and  which,  with  a  few  modi- 
fications, continues  to  be  used  at  the  pres- 
ent day  on  similar  occasions.  On  the 
corner-stone  it  was  designated  as  Aula  La- 
tamorum,  "  The  Freemason's  Hall."  It  was 
finished  in  less  than  twelve  months,  and 
was  dedicated,  on  the  23d  of  May,  177(5,  to 
Masonry,  Virtue,  and  Universal  Benevolence ; 
a  formula  still  adhered  to  without  variation 
in  the  English  and  American  rituals. 

In  the  same  year,  the  Lodge  at  Newcas- 
tle, stimulated  by  the  enterprise  of  the 
London  Freemasons,  erected  a  hall;  an  ex- 
ample which  was  followed,  two  years  after- 
wards, by  the  Lodge  of  Sunderland.  And 
after  this  the  erection  of  isolated  halls  for 
Masonic  purposes  became  common  not  only 
in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  but  all 
over  the  Continent,  wherever  the  funds  of 
a  Lodge  would  permit  of  the  expenditure. 

In  America,  Lodges  continued  to  be  held 
in  taverns  up  to  a  very  recent  period.  It 
is  not  now  considered  reputable;  although, 
as  has  been  already  remarked,  the  custom 
is,  perhaps,  not  entirely  discontinued,  espe- 
cially in  remote  country  villages.  It  is 
impossible  to  tell  at  what  precise  period 
and  in  what  locality  the  first  Masonic  hall 
was  erected  in  this  country.  It  is  true  that 
in  a  Boston  paper  of  1773  we  find  (Moore's 
Mag.,  xv.  162,)  an  advertisement  summon- 
ing the  Masons  to  celebrate  the  festival  of 
St.  John  the  Evangelist  at  "Freemason's 
Hall ; "  but,  on  examination,  we  learn  that 
this  was  no  other  than  a  room  in  the  Green 
Dragon  Tavern.  Other  buildings,  such  as 
the  Exchange  Coffee-House,  only  partially 
used  for  Masonic  purposes,  were  subse- 
quently erected  in  Boston,  and  received  by 
courtesy,  but  not  by  right,  the  name  of 
"Masonic  Halls;"  but  it  was  not  until 
1832  that  the  first  independent  hall  was 
built  in  that  city,  which  received  the  name 
of  the  Masonic  Temple,  a  title  which  has 
since  been  very  usually  conferred  on  the 
halls  in  the  larger  cities.  We  may  suppose 
that  it  was  about  this  time,  when  a  resusci- 
tation of  Masonic  energy,  which  had  been 
paralyzed  by  the  anti-Masonic  opposition, 
had  commenced  to  develop  itself,  that  the 
Lodges  and  Grand  Lodges  began  to  erect 
halls  for  their  peculiar  use.  At  present 
there  is  no  dearth  of  these  buildings,  and 
Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Wash- 
ington, Cincinnati,  and  other  large  cities, 
present  edifices  for  Masonic  use  of  imposing 
grandeur  and  architectural  beauty  to  the 
eye  of  the  spectators,  while  buildings  of 


less  pretentious  appearance,  and  yet  credit- 
able to  the  Institution  of  which  they  are 
the  abiding-places,  are  to  be  found  scattered 
all  over  the  land. 

In  this  country,  as  well  as  in  Britain,  the 
construction  of  Masonic  Halls  is  governed 
by  no  specific  rules,  and  is  too  often  left  to 
the  judgment  and  taste  of  the  architect,  and 
hence,  if  that  person  be  not  an  experienced 
Freemason,  the  building  is  often  erected 
without  due  reference  to  the  ritual  require- 
ments of  the  Order.  But  in  these  particulars, 
says  Oliver,  the  Masons  of  the  Continent 
are  governed  by  a  Ritual  of  Building,  and 
he  quotes,  as  a  specimen  of  the  Helvetian 
Ritual  in  reference  to  the  laying  of  the 
foundation-stone  of  a  Masonic  Hall,  the 
following  directions : 

"A  Mason,  assisted  by  two  others,  if 
there  be  a  dearth  of  workmen,  or  distress, 
or  war,  or  peril,  or  threats  of  danger,  may 
begin  the  work  of  building  a  Lodge ;  but  it 
is  better  to  have  seven  known  and  sworn 
workmen.  The  Lodge  is,  as  we  know,  due 
east  and  west ;  but  its  chief  window  or  its 
chief  door  must  look  to  the  east.  On  a  day 
allowed  and  a  place  appointed,  the  whole 
company  of  builders  set  out  after  high  noon 
to  lay  the  first  stone." 

Far  more  practical  are  the  directions  of 
Dr.  Oliver  himself  for  the  construction  of  a 
Masonic  Hall,  given  in  his  Book  of  the 
Lodge,  (ch.  iii,)  which  is  here  condensed. 

"A  Masonic  Hall  should  be  isolated,  and, 
if  possible,  surrounded  with  lofty  walls,  so 
as  to  be  included  in  a  court,  and  apart  from 
any  other  buildings,  to  preclude  the  possi- 
bility of  being  overlooked  by  cowans  or 
eavesdroppers.  As,  however,  such  a  situa- 
tion in  large  towns  can  seldom  be  obtained, 
the  Lodge  should  be  formed  in  an  upper 
story ;  and  if  there  be  any  contiguous  build- 
ings, the  windows  should  be  either  in  the 
roof,  or  very  high  from  the  floor.  These 
windows  ought  to  be  all  on  one  side  —  the 
south,  if  practicable  —  and  furnished  with 
proper  ventilation,  that  the  brethren  be  not 
incommoded,  when  pursuing  their  accus- 
tomed avocations,  by  the  heat  of  the  Lodge. 
The  room,  to  preserve  a  just  proportion, 
must,  of  course,  be  lofty.  It  should  be  fur- 
nished with  a  pitched  roof,  open  within, 
and  relieved  with  an  ornamental  framework 
of  oak,  or  painted  so  as  to  represent  that 
species  of  timber.  It  should  be  supported 
on  corbels  running  along  the  cornice,  on 
which  should  be  engraven  Masonic  orna- 
ments. The.  dimensions  of  the  room,  in 
length  and  breadth,  will  depend  in  a  great 
measure  on  the  situation  ol  the  Lodge,  or 
the  space  which  is  assigned  for  its  position; 
and  this  will  often  be  extremely  circum- 
scribed in  a  large  and  populous  place, 
where  building   land  is  scarce  and  dear, 


HALL 


HALL 


329 


or  the  fund  inadequate  to  any  extensive 
operations.  But  in  all  cases  a  due  propor- 
tion should  be  observed  in  the  several  mem- 
bers of  the  fabric  wherever  it  is  practicable, 
that  no  unsightly  appearance  may  offend 
the  eye,  by  disturbing  that  general  harmony 
of  parts  which  constitutes  the  beauty  and 
excellence  of  every  architectural  produc- 
tion. 

"The  principal  entrance  to  the  Lodge 
room  ought  to  face  the  east,  because  the  east 
is  a  place  of  light  both  physical  and  moral ; 
and  therefore  the  brethren  have  access  to 
the  Lodge  by  that  entrance,  as  a  symbol  of 
mental  illumination.  The  approaches  to 
the  Lodge  must  be  angular,  for  a  straight 
entrance  is  unmasonic  and  cannot  be  toler- 
ated. The  advance  from  the  external 
avenue  to  the  east  ought  to  consist  of 
three  lines  and  two  angles.  The  first  line 
passes  through  a  small  room  or  closet  for 
the  accommodation  of  visitors.  At  the  ex- 
tremity of  this  apartment  there  ought  to  be 
another  angular  passage  leading  to  the 
Tiler's  room  adjacent  to  the  Lodge;  and 
from  thence,  by  another  right  angle,  you 
are  admitted  into  the  presence  of  the 
brethren  with  your  face  to  the  Light. 

"  In  every  convenient  place  the  architect 
should  contrive  secret  cryptae  or  closets. 
They  are  of  indispensable  utility ;  but  in 
practice  are  not  sufficiently  attended  to  in 
this  country.  On  the  Continent  they  are 
numerous,  and  are  dignified  with  the  name 
of  chapels.  Two  of  these  apartments  have 
already  been  mentioned  —  a  room  for  vis- 
itors and  the  Tiler's  room;  added  to  which 
there  ought  to  be  a  vestry,  where  the  orna- 
ments, furniture,  jewels,  and  other  regalia 
are  deposited.  This  is  called  the  treasury, 
or  Tiler's  conclave,  because  these  things  are 
under  his  especial  charge,  and  a  communi- 
cation is  usually  made  to  this  apartment 
from  the  Tiler's  room.  There  ought  to  be 
also  a  chapel  for  preparations,  hung  with 
black,  and  having  only  one  small  light, 
placed  high  up,  near  the  ceiling ;  a  chapel 
for  the  dead  furnished  with  a  table,  on 
which  are  a  lamp  and  emblems  of  mortal- 
ity ;  the  Master's  conclave,  where  the 
records,  the  warrants,  the  minutes,  and 
every  written  document  are  kept.  To  this 
room  the  Worshipful  Master  retires  when 
the  Lodge  is  called  from  labor  to  re- 
freshment, and  at  other  times  when  his 
presence  in  the  Lodge  is  not  essential ;  and 
here  he  examines  the  visitors,  for  which 
purpose  a  communication  is  formed  be- 
tween his  conclave  and  the  visitor's  chapel. 
It  is  furnished  with  blue.  And  here  he 
transacts  the  Lodge  business  with  his  Sec- 
retary. The  Ark  of  the  Covenant  is  also 
deposited  in  this  apartment.  None  of  these 
closets  should  exceed  twelve  feet  square. 
2R 


and  may  be  of  smaller  dimensions,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances.  In  the  middle  of  the 
hall  there  should  be  a  movable  trap-door 
in  the  floor,  seven  feet  long  and  three  or 
four  feet  broad,  opening  into  a  small  crypt, 
about  three  feet  in  depth,  the  use  of  which 
is  known  to  none  but  perfect  Masons,  who 
have  passed  through  all  the  symbolical  de- 
grees. All  of  these  particulars  may  not  be 
equally  necessary  to  the  construction  of  a 
Masonic  Hall ;  but  a  close  attendance  to 
their  general  spirit  and  direction,  or  to 
similar  regulations,  should  be  impressed  on 
every  Lodge  that  undertakes  the  construc- 
tion of  a  building  exclusively  for  Masonic 
purposes ;  and  such  a  building  only  is  en- 
titled to  be  called  a  Masonic  Hall." 

The  division  in  the  American  Rite  of  the 
degrees  among  different  bodies  imposes  the 
necessity,  or  at  least  the  convenience,  when 
erecting  a  Masonic  Hall  in  this  country, 
of  appropriating  some  of  the  rooms  to  the 
uses  of  Ancient  Craft  Lodges,  some  to 
Royal  Arch  Chapters,  some  to  Royal  and 
Select  Councils,  and  some  to  Commanderies 
of  Knights  Templars.  It  is  neither  proper 
nor  convenient  that  a  Chapter  should  be 
held  in  a  Lodge ;  and  it  is  equally  expedi- 
ent that  the  Asylum  of  a  Commandery 
should  be  kept  separate  from  both. 

All  of  these  rooms  should  be  oblong  in 
form,  lofty  in  height,  with  an  elevated 
dais  or  platform  in  the  east,  and  two  doors 
in  the  west,  the  one  in  the  north-west 
corner  leading  into  the  preparation  room, 
and  the  other  communicating  with  the 
Tiler's  apartment.  But  in  other  respects 
they  differ.  First,  as  to  the  color  of  the 
decorations.  In  a  Lodge  room  the  pre- 
dominating color  should  be  blue,  in  a 
Chapter  red,  and  in  a  Council  and  Com- 
mandery black. 

In  a  Lodge  room  the  dais  should  be  ele- 
vated on  three  steps,  and  provided  with  a 
pedestal  for  the  Master,  while  on  each  side 
are  seats  for  the  Past  Masters,  and  digni- 
taries who  may  visit  the  Lodge.  The  ped- 
estal of  the  Senior  Warden  in  the  west 
should  be  elevated  on  two  steps,  and  that 
of  the  Junior  Warden  in  the  south  on  one. 

A  similar  arrangement,  either  perma- 
nent or  temporary,  should  be  provided  in 
the  Chapter  room  for  working  the  interme- 
diate degrees ;  but  the  eastern  dais  should 
be  supplied  with  three  pedestals  instead  of 
one,  for  the  reception  of  the  Grand  Coun- 
cil. The  tabernacle  also  forms  an  essential 
part  of  the  Chapter  room.  This  is  some- 
times erected  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  al- 
though the  consistency  of  the  symbolism 
would  require  that  the  whole  room,  during 
the  working  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree, 
should  be  deemed  a  tabernacle,  and  then 
the  veils  would,   with  propriety,  extend 


330 


HALL 


HAND 


from  the  ceiling  to  the  floor,  and  from  one 
side  of  the  room  to  the  other.  There  are 
some  other  arrangements  required  in  the 
construction  of  a  Chapter  room,  of  which 
it  is  unnecessary  to  speak. 

Councils  of  Royal  and  Select  Masters  are 
usually  held  in  Chapter  rooms,  with  an  en- 
tire disregard  of  the  historical  teachings 
of  the  degrees.  In  a  properly-constructed 
Council  chamber,  which,  of  course,  would 
be  in  a  distinct  apartment,  there  should  be 
no  veils,  but  nine  curtains  of  a  stone  color ; 
and  these,  except  the  last,  starting  from  one 
side  of  the  room,  should  stop  short  of  the 
other,  so  as  to  form  a  narrow  passage  be- 
tween the  wall  and  the  extremities  of  the 
curtains,  reaching  from  the  door  to  the 
ninth  curtain,  which  alone  should  reach 
across  the  entire  extent  of  the  room.  These 
are  used  only  in  the  Select  degree,  and  can 
be  removed  when  the  Royal  Master  is  to 
be  conferred.  Unlike  a  Lodge  and  Chapter, 
in  a  Council  there  is  no  dais  or  raised  plat- 
form ;  but  three  tables,  of  a  triangular 
form,  are  placed  upon  the  level  of  the  floor 
in  the  east.  It  is,  however,  very  seldom 
that  the  funds  of  a  Council  will  permit  of 
the  indulgence  in  a  separate  room,  and 
those  bodies  are  content  to  work,  although 
at  a  disadvantage,  in  a  Chapter  room. 

It  is  impossible,  with  any  convenience, 
to  work  a  Commandery  in  a  Lodge,  or  even 
a  Chapter  room.  The  officers  and  their 
stations  are  so  different,  that  what  is  suit- 
able for  one  is  unsuitable  for  the  other. 
The  dais,  which  has  but  one  station  in  a 
Lodge  and  three  in  a  Chapter,  requires  four 
in  a  Commandery,  the  Prelate  taking  his 
proper  place  on  the  right  of  the  Generalis- 
simo. But  there  are  other  more  important 
differences.  The  principal  apartment  should 
be  capable  of  a  division  by  a  curtain, 
which  should  separate  the  Asylum  proper 
from  the  rest  of  the  room,  as  the  mystical 
veil  in  the  ancient  Church  shut  off  the 
prospect  of  the  altar,  during  the  eucha- 
ristic  sacrifice,  from  the  view  of  the  catechu- 
mens. There  are  several  other  rooms  re- 
quired in  the  Templar  ritual  which  are  not 
used  by  a  Lodge,  a  Chapter,  or  a  Council, 
and  which  makes  it  necessary  that  the 
apartments  of  a  Commandery  should  be 
distinct.  A  banquet-room  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  Asylum  is  essential ;  and  con- 
venience requires  that  there  should  be  an 
armory  for  the  deposit  of  the  arms  and 
costume  of  the  Knights.  But  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  speak  of  reflection  rooms,  and  other 
places  well  known  to  those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  ritual,  and  which  cannot  be  dis- 
pensed with. 

In  the  construction  of  a  Masonic  Hall  all 
these  things  require  to  be  considered,  and 
the  more  they  are  considered  and  the  more 


thoroughly  carried  out,  the  more  appropri- 
ate will  the  edifice  be  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  erected, 
namely,  that  of  a  due,  convenient,  and 
decorous  observance  of  the  Masonic  ritual. 

Hamburg.  By  a  deputation  of  the 
Earl  of  Strathmore,  granted  in  1733  to 
eleven  German  Masons,  a  Lodge  was  estab- 
lished in  Hamburg,  (Preston,  p.  202,)  from 
which  we  date  the  introduction  of  Free- 
masonry into  Germany.  Of  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  Lodge  we  have  no  further  in- 
formation. In  1740  Brother  Luettman 
brought  from  England  a  Warrant  for  the 
establishment  of  a  Lodge,  and  a  patent  for 
himself,  as  Provincial  Grand  Master  of 
Hamburg  and  Lower  Saxony,  (Lenn.)  In 
October,  1741,  it  assumed  the  name  of  Ab- 
salom, and  in  the  same  year  the  Provincial 
Grand  Lodge  of  Hamburg  and  Saxony  was 
opened,  a  body  which,  Findel  says,  (p.  239,) 
was  the  oldest  Mother  Lodge  in  Germany. 
About  the  year  1787  the  Provincial  Grand 
Lodge  adopted  the  newly-invented  Rite  of 
Frederick  L.  Schroder,  consisting  of  only 
three  degrees.  In  1801  it  declared  itself  an 
independent  Grand  Lodge,  and  has  so  con- 
tinued. The  Grand  Lodge  of  Hamburg 
practises  Schroder's  Rite.  See  Schroder. 
There  is  also  in  Hamburg  a  sort  of  Chapter, 
which  was  formed  by  Schroder,  under  the 
title  of  Geschichtliche  Engbund,  or  Histo- 
rical Select  Union.  It  was  intended  as  a 
substitute  for  Fessler's  Degrees  of  Knowl- 
edge, the  members  of  which  employ  their 
time  in  studying  the  various  systems  of 
Masonry.  The  Mutter-Bund  of  the  Con- 
federacy of  Hamburg  Lodges,  which  make 
up  this  system,  is  independent  of  the  Grand 
Lodge.  The  two  authorities  are  entirely 
distinct,  and  bear  much  the  same  relation 
to  each  other  as  the  Grand  Lodges  and 
Grand  Chapters  of  the  United  States. 

Hand.  In  Freemasonry,  the  hand  as 
a  symbol  holds  a  high  place,  because  it  is 
the  principal  seat  of  the  sense  of  feeling  so 
necessary  to  and  so  highly  revered  by  Ma- 
sons. The  same  symbol  is  found  in  the 
most  ancient  religions,  and  some  of  their 
analogies  to  Masonic  symbolism  are  pe- 
culiar. Thus,  Horapollo  says  that  among 
the  Egyptians  the  hand  was  the  symbol  of 
a  builder,  or  one  fond  of  buildi  ng,  because  all 
labor  proceeds  from  the  hand.  In  many  of 
the  Ancient  Mysteries  the  hand,  especially 
the  left,  was  deemed  the  symbol  of  equity. 
In  Christian  art  a  hand  is  the  indication 
of  a  holy  person  or  thing.  In  early  Medi- 
aeval art,  the  Supreme  Being  was  always 
represented  by  a  hand  extended  from  a 
cloud,  and  generally  in  the  act  of  benedic- 
tion. The  form  of  this  act  of  benediction, 
as  adopted  by  the  Roman  Church,  which 
seems  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  sym- 


HAND 


HARLEIAN 


331 


bols  of  the  Phrygian  and  Eleusiniari  priests 
or  hierophants,  who  used  it  in  their  mystical 
processions,  presents  a  singular  analogy, 
which  will  be  interesting  to  Mark  Mas- 
ter Masons,  who  will  recognize  in  it  a  sym- 
bol of  their  own  ritual.  In  the  benediction 
referred  to,  as  given  in  the  Latin 
Church,  the  thumb,  index,  and 
middle  fingers  are  extended,  and 
the  two  others  bent  against  the 
palm.  The  church  explains  this 
position  of  the  extended  thumb 
and  two  fingers  as  representing 
the  Trinity ;  but  the  older  symbol  of  the 
Pagan  priests,  which  was  precisely  of  the 
same  form,  must  have  had  a  different  mean- 
ing. A  writer  in  the  British  Magazine  (vol. 
i.,  p.  565,)  thinks  that  the  hand,  which  was 
used  in  the  Mithraic  mysteries  in  this  posi- 
tion, was  symbolic  of  theLight  emanating  not 
from  the  sun,  but  from  the  Creator,  directly 
as  a  special  manifestation;  and  he  remarks 
that  chiromancy  or  divination  by  the  hand 
is  an  art  founded  upon  the  notion  that  the 
human  hand  has  some  reference  to  the  de- 
crees of  the  supreme  power  peculiar  to  it 
above  all  other  parts  of  the  microcosmus — 
man.  Certainly,  to  the  Mason,  the  hand 
is  most  important  as  the  symbol  of  that 
mystical  intelligence  by  which  one  Mason 
knows  another  "  in  the  dark  as  well  as  in 
the  light." 

Hand,  Left.    See  Left  Hand. 

Hand,  Right.    See  Right  Hand. 

Hand  to  Back.  See  Points  of  Fel- 
lowship. 

Hand  to  Hand.  See  Points  of  Fel- 
lowship. 

Hanover.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  Hanover,  in  the  year  1744,  by 
the  organization  of  the  Lodge  "  Frederick ;" 
which  did  not,  however,  get  into  active 
operation,  in  consequence  of  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  priests,  until  two  years  after. 
A  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  was  established 
in  1755,  which  in  1828  became  an  inde- 
pendent Grand  Lodge.  In  1866,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  war  between  Austria  and 
Prussia,  Hanover  was  annexed  to  the  latter 
country.  There  being  three  Grand  Lodges 
at  that  time  in  Prussia,  the  King  deemed  it 
inexpedient  to  add  a  fourth,  and,  by  a  cabi- 
net order  of  February  17,  1867,  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Hanover  was  dissolved.  Most  of 
the  Hanoverian  Lodges  united  with  the 
Grand  Lodge  Royal  York  at  Berlin,  and  a 
few  with  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Globes. 

Ha rn in.  Grand.  The  seventy-third 
degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Hardie,  James.  A  Mason  of  New 
York,  who  published,  in  1818,  a  work  en- 
titled The  New  Freemason's  Monitor  and 
Masonic    Guide.    It    evinces   considerable 


ability,  is  more  valuable  than  the  Monitors 

of  Webb  and  Cross,  and  deserved  a  greater 

popularity  than  it  seems  to  have  received. 

Harleian   Manuscript.    An   old 

record  of  the  Constitutions  of  Freemasonry, 
so  called  because  it  forms  No.  2,054  of  the 
collection  of  manuscripts  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, which  were  originally  collected  by 
Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  the  celebrat- 
ed prime  minister  of  Queen  Anne,  and  known 
as  the  "Bibliotheca  Harleian,"  or  Harleian 
Library.  The  MS.  consists  of  four  leaves, 
containing  six  and  a  half  pages  of  close 
writing  in  a  cramped  hand,  said  to  be  that 
of  Randle  Holmes,  Chester  Herald,  who 
died  in  1659.  The  MS.  was  first  published 
by  Bro.  William  James  Hughan,  in  his 
Unpublished  Records  of  the  Craft.  The 
Manuscript  was  carefully  transcribed  for 
Bro.  Hughan  by  a  faithful  copyist,  and  its 
correctness  was  verified  by  Mr.  Sims,  of  the 
MS.  department  of  the  British  Museum. 
Bro.  Hughan  places  the  date  of  the  record 
in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  in  this  he  is  probably  correct. 

"  The  two  following  folios,"  says  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Woodford,  "in  the  volume  (viz.,  33  and 
34)  are  of  a  very  important  character,  inas- 
much as  the  secrets  of  Freemasonry  are 
referred  to  in  the  'obligation'  taken  by 
Initiates,  and  the  sums  are  recorded  which 
'  William  Wade  give  to  be  a  Freemason,' 
and  others  who  were  admitted  members  of 
the  Lodge.  The  amounts  varied  from  five 
shillings  to  a  pound,  the  majority  being 
ten  shillings  and  upwards.  The  fragment 
on  folio  33  is  as  follows,  and  was  written 
about  the  same  time  as  the  MS.  Constitu- 
tions : 

"  '  There  is  severall  words  &  signes  of  a 
free  mason  to  be  reveiled  to  yu  wch  as  y"  will 
answr  before  God  at  the  Great  &  terrible 
day  of  Judgmt  y"  keep  secret  &  not  to  re- 
vaile  the  same  in  the  heares  of  any  person 
or  to  any  but  to  the  M™  &  fellows  of  the 
said  society  of  free  masons  so  helpe  me 
God,  etc' " 

There  is  another  MS.  in  the  same  collec- 
tion marked  No.  1492,  the  date  of  which 
is  conjectured  to  be  about  1670.  It  was 
copied  by  Bro.  Henry  Phillips,  and  first 
published  in  the  Freemason's  Quarterly  Re- 
view in  1836,  pp.  228-295.  The  copy,  how- 
ever, unfortunately,  is  not  an  exact  one,  as 
Mr.  E.  A.  Bond,  of  the  Museum,  who  com- 
pared a  part  of  the  transcript  with  the 
original,  says  that  "  the  copyist  has  over- 
looked peculiarities  in  many  instances." 
It  is  important  in  containing  the  "  Oath 
of  Secrecy,"  which  is  in  the  following 
words : 

"  I,  A.  B.  Doe,  in  the  presence  of  Al- 
mighty God,  and  my  fellows  and  Brethren 
here  present,  promise  and  declare  that  I 


332 


HARMONY 


HARODIM 


will  not  at  any  time  hereafter,  by  any  Act, 
or  Circumstance  whatsoever,  directly  or 
indirectly  publish,  discover,  reveall,  or 
make  knowne  any  of  the  Secrets,  privi- 
ledges,  or  Counsels  of  the  Fraternity  or  fel- 
lowship of  Freemasonry,  which  at  this 
time,  or  any  time  hereafter  shall  be  made 
known  unto  me ;  soe  helpe  mee  God  and 
the  holy  contents  of  this  book." 

Harmony.  It  is  a  duty  especially  in- 
trusted to  the  Senior  Warden  of  a  Lodge, 
who  is  figuratively  supposed  to  preside  over 
the  Craft  during  the  hours  of  labor,  so  to 
act  that  none  shall  depart  from  the  Lodge 
dissatisfied  or  discontented,  that  harmony 
may  be  thus  preserved,  because,  as  the 
ritual  expresses  it,  harmony  is  the  strength 
and  support  of  all  well-regulated  institu- 
tions. 

Harmony.  Universal.  See  Mes- 
meric Masonry. 

Harnouester.  More  properly  Ham- 
wester.  The  Earl  of  Harnvvester  was  elect- 
ed by  the  four  Lodges  of  Paris,  as  the  sec- 
ond Grand  Master  of  France,  in  1732,  suc- 
ceeding the  Earl  of  Derwentwater.  He 
left  France  in  1734,  and  having  resigned 
his  office  was  succeeded  by  the  Duke  d' 
Antin.  I  have  sought  in  vain  to  find  some 
account  of  this  nobleman  in  contemporary 
history.  Burke  makes  no  allusion  to  him 
in  his  Extinct  Peerages,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  the  word  has  undergone  one 
of  those  indecipherable  mutations  to  which 
French  writers  are  accustomed  to  subject 
all  foreign  names. 

Harodim.  We  owe  the  Masonic 
use  of  this  word  to  Anderson,  who  first 
employed  it  in  the  Book  of  Constitutions, 
where  he  tells  us  that  "  there  were  employed 
about  the  Temple  no  less  than  three  thou- 
sand and  six  hundred  Princes  or  Master 
Masons  to  conduct  the  work,"  and  in  a  note 
he  says  that  "  in  1  Kings  v.  16  they  are 
called  Harodim,  Rulers  or  Provosts."  The 
passage  here  alluded  to  may  be  translated 
somewhat  more  literally  than  in  the  author- 
ized version,  thus :  "  Besides  from  the  chiefs 
or  princes  appointed  by  Solomon  who  were 
over  the  work,  there  were  three  thousand 
and  three  hundred  harodim  over  the  people 
who  labored  at  the  work."  Harodim,  in 
Hebrew  Q11""in>  is  a  grammatically  com- 
pounded word  of  the  plural  form,  and  is 
composed  of  the  definite  article  n,  hah, 
the  or  those,  and  a  participle  of  the  verb 
HTI,  radah,  to  rule  over,  and  means,  there- 
fore, those  who  rule  over,  or  overseers.  In 
the  parallel  passage  of  2  Chronicles  ii.  18, 
the  word  used  is  Menatzchim,  which  has  a 
similar  meaning.  But  from  the  use  of  this 
word  Harodim  in  1  Kings,  and  the  com- 
mentary on  it  by  Anderson,  it  has  come  to 
pass  that  Harodim  is  now  technically  used 


to  signify  "Princes  in  Masonry."  They 
were  really  overseers  of  the  work,  and  hence 
the  Masonic  use  of  the  term  is  not  al- 
together inappropriate.  Whoever  inspects 
the  two  parallel  passages  in  1  Kings  v.  16 
and  2  Chron.  ii.  18,  will  notice  an  apparent 
discrepancy.  In  the  former  it  is  said  that 
there  were  three  thousand  and  three  hun- 
dred of  these  overseers,  and  in  the  latter 
the  number  is  increased  to  three  thousand 
and  six  hundred.  The  commentators  have 
noted  but  not  explained  the  incongruity. 
Lee,  in  his  Temple  of  Solomon,  attempts  to 
solve  it  by  supposing  that  "  possibly  three 
hundred  at  a  second  review  might  be  added 
to  the  number  of  officers  for  the  greater 
care  of  the  business."  This  is  not  satisfac- 
tory ;  not  more  so  is  the  explanation  offer- 
ed by  myself,  many  years  ago,  in  the  Lexi- 
con of  Freemasonry.  It  is  much  more  rea- 
sonable to  suspect  a  clerical  error  of  some 
old  copyist  which  has  been  perpetuated. 
There  is  room  for  such  an  inadvertence,  for 
there  is  no  very  great  difference  between 
ll'bw,  the  Hebrew  for  three,  and  K'K',  which 
is  six.  The  omission  of  the  central  letter 
would  create  the  mistake.  Masonic  writers 
have  adhered  to  the  three  thousand  and 
six  hundred,  which  is  the  enumeration  in 
Chronicles. 

Harodim,  Grand  Chapter  of. 
An  institution  under  the  title  of  the  "  Grand 
Chapter  of  the  Ancient  and  Venerable  Or- 
der of  Harodim  "  was  established  in  Lon- 
don, in  the  year  1787,  by  the  celebrated 
Masonic  lecturer,  William  Preston.  He 
thus  defines,  in  his  Illustrations,  its  nature 
and  objects : 

"  The  mysteries  of  this  Order  are  peculiar 
to  the  institution  itself;  while  the  lectures 
of  the  Chapter  include  every  branch  of  the 
Masonic  system,  and  represent  the  art  of 
Masonry  in  a  finished  and  complete  form. 

"  Different  classes  are  established,  and 
particular  lectures  restricted  to  each  class. 
The  lectures  are  divided  into  sections,  and 
the  sections  into  clauses.  The  sections  are 
annually  assigned  by  the  Chief  Harod  to  a 
certain  number  of  skilful  Companions  in 
each  class,  who  are  denominated  Section- 
ists ;  and  they  are  empowered  to  distribute 
the  clauses  of  their  respective  sections,  with 
the  approbation  of  the  Chief  Harod  and 
General  Director,  among  the  private  com- 
panions of  the  Chapter,  who  are  denomi- 
nated Clauseholders.  Such  Companions 
as  by  assiduity  become  possessed  of  all  the 
sections  in  the  lecture  are  called  Lecturers; 
and  out  of  these  the  General  Director  is 
always  chosen. 

"Every  Clauseholder,  on  his  appointment, 
is  presented  with  a  ticket,  signed  by  the 
Chief  Harod,  specifying  the  clause  allotted 
to  him.    This  ticket  entitles  him  to  enjoy 


HARODIM 


HAUTES 


333 


the  rank  and  privileges  of  a  Clauseholder 
in  the  Chapter ;  and  no  Clauseholder  can 
transfer  his  ticket  to  another  Companion, 
unless  the  consent  of  the  Council  has  been 
obtained  for  that  purpose,  and  the  General 
Director  has  approved  the  Companion  to 
whom  it  is  to  be  transferred  as  qualified  to 
hold  it.  In  case  of  the  death,  sickness,  or 
non-residence  in  London  of  any  Lecturer, 
Sectionist,  or  Clauseholder,  another  Com- 
panion is  appointed  to  fill  up  the  vacancy 
for  the  time  being,  that  the  lectures  may  be 
always  complete;  and  during  the  session 
a  public  lecture  is  usually  delivered  at 
stated  times. 

"The  Grand  Chapter  is  governed  by  a 
Grand  Patron,  two  Vice  Patrons,  a  chief 
Ruler,  and  two  Assistants,  with  a  Council 
of  twelve  respectable  Companions,  who  are 
chosen  annually  at  the  Chapter  nearest  to 
the  festival  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist." 

The  whole  system  was  admirably  adapted 
to  the  purposes  of  Masonic  instruction,  and 
was  intended  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Prestonian  system  of  lectures.  The  body 
no  longer  exists,  but  the  Prestonian  lectures 
are  still  delivered  in  London  at  stated 
times  by  the  authority  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Harodim,  Prince  of.  In  the  old 
lectures  of  the  Ineffable  degrees,  it  is  said 
that  Tito,  the  oldest  of  the  Provosts  and 
Judges,  was  the  Prince  of  Harodim,  that  is, 
chief  of  the  three  hundred  architects  who 
were  the  Harodim,  or  additional  three  hun- 
dred added  to  the  thirty-three  thousand 
Menatzchim  mentioned  in  Chronicles,  and 
who  thus  make  up  the  number  of  three 
thousand  six  hundred  recorded  in  the  first 
Book  of  Kings,  and  who  in  the  old  lecture 
of  the  degree  of  Provost  and  Judge  are 
supposed  to  have  been  the  Harodim  or 
Rulers  in  Masonry.  The  statement  is  a 
myth  ;  but  it  thus  attempts  to  explain  the 
discrepancy  alluded  to  in  the  article  Haro- 
dim. 

Harpocrates.  The  Greek  god  of 
silence  and  secrecy.  He  was,  however,  a 
divinity  of  the  Egyptian  mythology;  his 
true  name  being,  according  to  Bunsen  and 
Lepsius,  Har-pi-chrati,  that  is,  Horus  the 
child ;  and  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
son  of  Osiris  and  Isis.  He  is  represented 
as  a  nude  figure,  sitting  sometimes  on  a 
lotus  flower,  either  bareheaded  or  covered 
by  an  Egyptian  mitre,  but  always  with  his 
finger  pressed  upon  his  lips.  Plutarch 
thinks  that  this  gesture  was  an  indication 
of  his  childlike  and  helpless  nature;  but  the 
Greeks,  and  after  them  the  Romans,  sup- 

Eosed  it  to  be  a  symbol  of  silence ;  and 
ence,  while  he  is  sometimes  described  as 
the  god  of  the  renewed  year,  whence  peach 
blossoms  were  consecrated  to  him  because 
of  their  early  appearance  in  spring,  he  is 


more  commonly  represented  as  the  god  of 
silence  and  secrecy.  Thus,  Ovid  says  of 
him: 

"  Quique  premit  vocem  digitoque  silentia 
suadet." 

He  who  controls  the  voice  and  persuades  to 
silence  with  his  finger. 

In  this  capacity,  his  statue  was  often 
placed  at  the  entrance  of  temples  and  places 
where  the  mysteries  were  celebrated,  as  an 
indication  of  the  silence  and  secrecy  that 
should  there  be  observed.  Hence  the  finger 
on  the  lips  is  a  symbol  of  secrecy,  and  has 
so  been  adopted  in  Masonic  symbolism. 

Harris,  Thaddeus  llason.  The 
Rev.  Thaddeus  Mason  Harris,  D.D.,  an 
American  Masonic  writer  of  some  reputa- 
tion, was  born  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  July  7, 
1767,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1787.  He  was  ordained  as  minister  of  a 
church  in  Dorchester  in  1793,  and  died  at 
Boston,  April  3, 1842.  He  held  at  different 
times  the  offices  of  Deputy  Grand  Master, 
Grand  Chaplain,  and  Corresponding  Grand 
Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massa- 
chusetts. "  His  first  great  Masonic  work," 
says  Hun  toon,  [Eulogy,)  "  was  the  editing  of 
a  collation,  revision,  and  publication  of  the 
'  Constitutions  of  the  Ancient  and  Honor- 
able Fraternity  of  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons,' a  quarto  volume,  printed  at  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  1792 ;  a  work  which  he  ac- 
complished with  the  accustomed  diligence 
and  fidelity  with  which  he  performed  every 
enterprise  confided  to  his  care.  His  vari- 
ous occasional  addresses  while  Grand 
Chaplain  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  Masonic 
defences,  and  his  volume  of  Masonic  Dis- 
courses, published  in  1801 ,  constitute  a  large 
and  valuable  portion  of  the  Masonic  classic 
literature  of  America." 

I  nasi  dim.  Sovereign  Prince. 
The  seventy-fifth  and  seventy-sixth  degrees 
of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  It  should  be 
Chasidim,  which  see. 

Hat.  To  uncover  the  head  in  the  pres- 
ence of  superiors  has  been,  among  all 
Christian  nations,  held  as  a  mark  of  respect 
and  reverence.  The  Eastern  nations  un- 
cover the  feet  when  they  enter  a  place  of 
worship;  the  Western  uncover  the  head. 
The  converse  of  this  is  also  true ;  and  to 
keep  the  head  covered  while  all  around  are 
uncovered  is  a  token  of  superiority  of  rank 
or  office.  The  king  remains  covered,  the 
courtiers  standing  around  him  take  off  their 
hats. 

Haupt-Hutte.  Among  the  German 
Stone  -  masons  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
original  Lodge  at  Strasburg  was  considered 
as  the  head  of  the  Craft,  under  the  title  of 
the  Haupt-Hutte,  or  Grand  Lodge. 

Haute*  Grades.  French.  High 
Degrees,  which  see. 


334 


HEAL 


HELMET 


Ileal.  A  technical  Masonic  term 
which  signifies  to  make  valid  or  legal. 
Hence  one  who  has  received  a  degree  in  an 
irregular  manner  or  from  incompetent  au- 
thority is  not  recognized  until  he  has  been 
healed.  The  precise  mode  of  healing  de- 
pends on  circumstances.  If  the  Lodge 
which  conferred  the  degree  was  clandestine, 
the  whole  ceremony  of  initiation  would 
have  to  be  repeated.  If  the  authority  which 
conferred  the  degree  was  only  irregular, 
and  the  question  was  merely  a  technical  one 
of  legal  competence,  it  has  been  supposed 
that  it  was  only  necessary  to  exact  an  obli- 
gation of  allegiance,  or  in  other  words  to 
renew  the  covenant. 

Hearing.  One  of  the  five  senses,  and 
an  important  symbol  in  Masonry,  because 
it  is  through  it  that  we  receive  instruction 
when  ignorant,  admonition  when  in  dan- 
ger, reproof  when  in  error,  and  the  claim 
of  a  brother  who  is  in  distress.  Without 
this  sense,  the  Mason  would  be  crippled  in 
the  performance  of  all  his  duties ;  and  hence 
deafness  is  deemed  a  disqualification  for  ini- 
tiation. 

Heart.  Notwithstanding  that  all  the 
modern  American  Masonic  Manuals  and 
Master's  Carpets  from  the  time  of  Jeremy 
L.  Cross  exhibit  the  picture  of  a  heart 
among  the  emblems  of  the  third  degree, 
there  is  no  such  symbol  in  the  ritual.  But 
the  theory  that  every  man  who  becomes  a 
Mason  must  first  be  prepared  in  his  heart 
was  advanced  among  the  earliest  lectures 
of  the  last  century,  and  demonstrates,  as 
Krause  properly  remarks,  in  Speculative 
Masonry,  an  internal  principle  which  ad- 
dresses itself  not  simply  to  the  outward 
conduct,  but  to  the  inner  spirit  and  con- 
science of  all  men  who  seek  its  instruc- 
tions. 

Heart  of  Hiram  Abif.  There  is  a 
legend  in  some  of  the  high  degrees  and  in 
continental  Masonry,  that  the  heart  of 
Hiram  Abif  was  deposited  in  an  urn  and 

E  laced  upon  a  monument  near  the  holy  of 
olies ;  and  in  some  of  the  tracing  boards  it 
is  represented  as  a  symbol.  The  myth,  for 
such  it  is,  was  probably  derived  from  the 
very  common  custom  in  the  Middle  Ages 
of  persons  causing  their  bodies  to  be  dis- 
membered after  death  for  the  purpose  of 
having  parts  of  them  buried  in  a  church,  or 
some  place  which  had  been  dear  to  them  in 
life.  Thus  Hardynge,  in  his  Metrical  Chron- 
icle of  England,  tells  us  of  Richard  I.  that 

"  He  queathed  his  corpse  then  to  be  buried 
At  Fount  Everard,  there  at  his  father's  feete ; 

■z-        ■»        *        •        *        #        *        * 
His  herte  invyncyble  to  Rome  he  sent  full 

mete 
For  their  great  truth  and  stedfast  great  con- 
stance." 


The  Mediaeval  idea  has  descended  to  mod- 
ern times ;  for  our  present  lectures  say  that 
the  ashes  of  Hiram  were  deposited  in  an  urn. 

Hecart,  Gabriel  Antoiiie  Jo- 
seph. A  French  Masonic  writer,  who  was 
born  at  Valenciennes  in  1755,  and  died  in 
1838.  He  made  a  curious  collection  of 
degrees,  and  invented  a  system  of  five, 
namely  :  1.  Knight  of  the  Prussian  Eagle ; 
2.  Knight  of  the  Comet ;  3.  The  Scottish 
Purifier ;  4.  Victorious  Knight ;  5.  Scottish 
Trinitarian,  or  Grand  Master  Commander 
of  the  Temple.  This  cannot  be  called  a 
Rite,  because  it  was  never  accepted  and 
practised  by  any  Masonic  authority.  It  is 
known  in  nomenclatures  as  Hecart's  system. 
He  was  the  author  of  many  dissertations 
and  didactic  essays  on  Masonic  subjects. 
He  at  one  time  proposed  to  publish  his 
collection  of  degrees  with  a  full  explanation 
of  each,  but  did  not  carry  his  design  into 
execution.  Many  of  them  are  cited  in  this 
work. 

Height  of  the  L.odge.  From  the 
earth  to  the  highest  heavens.  A  symbolic 
expression.    See  Form  of  the  Lodge. 

Heldmann,  Dr.  Friedrich.  He 
was  a  professor  of  political  science  in  the 
Academy  of  Bern,  in  Switzerland,  and  was 
born  at  Margetshochheim,  in  Franconia, 
November  24,  1770.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  profound  of  the  German  investigators 
into  the  history  and  philosophy  of  Masonry. 
He  was  initiated  into  the  Order  at  Frei- 
burg, in  1809,  and,  devoting  himself  to  the 
study  of  the  works  of  Fessler  and  other 
eminent  scholars,  he  resolved  to  establish  a 
system  founded  on  a  collation  of  all  the 
rituals,  and  which  should  be  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  true  design  of  the  Insti- 
tution. For  this  purpose,  in  1816,  he  or- 
ganized the  Lodge  zur  Brudertreue  at 
Aarau,  in  Switzerland,  where  he  then  re- 
sided as  a  professor.  For  this  Lodge  he 
prepared  a  Manual,  which  he  proposed  to 
publish.  But  the  Helvetian  Directory  de- 
manded that  the  manuscript  should  be 
given  to  that  body  for  inspection  and  cor- 
rection, which  the  Lodge,  unwilling  to  sub- 
mit to  such  a  censorship,  refused  to  do. 
Heldmann,  being  reluctant  to  involve  the 
Lodge  in  a  controversy  with  its  superiors, 
withdrew  from  it.  He  subsequently  pub- 
lished a  valuable  work  entitled  Die  drei  dies- 
ten  geschichtlichen  Denkmale  der  deutschen 
Freimaurerbruderschaft ;  i.  e.,  The  three 
oldest  Memorials  of  the  German  Masonic 
Brotherhood,  which  appeared  at  Aarau  in 
1819.  In  this  work,  which  is  chiefly  founded 
on  the  learned  researches  of  Krause,  theCon- 
stitutions  of  the  Stone-masons  of  Strasburg 
were  published  for  the  first  time. 

Helmet.  A  defensive  weapon  where- 
with the  head  and  neck  are  covered.    In 


HELMETS 


HEREDOM 


335 


heraldry,  it  is  a  mark  of  chivalry  and  no- 
bility. It  was,  of  course,  a  part  of  the  ar- 
mor of  a  knight,  and  therefore,  whatever 
may  be  the  head  covering  adopted  by  mod- 
ern Knights  Templars,  it  is  in  the  ritual 
called  a  helmet. 

Helmets,  To  Deposit.  In  Tem- 
plar ritualism,  to  lay  aside  the  covering  of 
the  head. 

Helmets,  To  Recover.  In  Tem- 
plar ritualism,  to  resume  the  covering  of 
the  head. 

Help.     See  Aid  and  Assistance. 

Hemming,  Samuel,  I>.  I>.  Pre- 
vious to  the  union  of  the  two  Grand  Lodges 
of  England  in  1813,  the  Prestonian  system 
of  lectures  was  practised  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Modern  Masons,  while  the  Athol 
Masons  recognized  higher  degrees,  and  va- 
ried somewhat  in  their  ritual  of  the  lower. 
When  the  union  was  consummated,  and 
the  United  Grand  Lodge  of  England  was 
organized,  a  compromise  was  effected,  and 
Dr.  Hemming,  who  was  the  Senior  Grand 
Warden,  and  had  been  distinguished  for 
his  skill  as  the  Master  of  a  Lodge  and  his 
acquaintance  with  the  ritual,  was  appointed 
to  frame  a  new  system  of  lectures.  The  Pres- 
tonian system  was  abandoned,  and  the  Hem- 
ming lectures  adopted  in  its  place,  not  with- 
out the  regret  of  many  distinguished  Masons, 
among  whom  was  Dr.  Oliver.  The  Hem- 
ming lectures  are  now  the  authorized  sys- 
tem of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  Some 
of  the  country  Lodges,  however,  still  ad- 
here to  the  system  of  Preston,  and  the  Pres- 
tonian lectures  are  annually  delivered  in 
London.  Among  the  innovations  of  Dr. 
Hemming,  which  are  to  be  regretted,  are 
the  abolition  of  the  dedication  to  the  two 
Saints  John,  and  the  substitution  for  it  of  a 
dedication  to  Solomon.  Some  other  changes 
that  were  made  were  certainly  no  improve- 
ments. 

.Henrietta  Maria.  The  widow  of 
Charles  I.,  of  England.  It  is  asserted,  by 
those  who  support  the  theory  that  the  Mas- 
ter's degree  was  invented  by  the  adherents 
of  the  exiled  house  of  Stuart,  and  that  its 
legend  refers  to  the  death  of  Charles  I.  and 
the  restoration  of  his  son,  that  in  the  tech- 
nical Masonic  expression  of  the  "  widow's 
son,"  the  allusion  is  to  the  widow  of  the 
decapitated  monarch.  Those  who  look 
farther  for  the  foundation  of  the  legend 
give,  of  course,  no  credence  to  a  statement 
whose  plausibility  depends  only  on  a  coin- 
cidence. 

Henry  VI.  King  of  England  from 
1422  to  1461.  This  monarch  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  Masonry  because, 
in  the  beginning  of  his  reign  and  during  his 
minority,  the  celebrated  "Statute  of  La- 
borers," which  prohibited  the  congregations 


of  the  Masons,  was  passed  by  an  intolerant 
Parliament,  and  because  of  the  questions 
said  to  have  been  proposed  to  the  Masons 
by  the  king,  and  their  answers,  which  are 
contained  in  what  is  called  the  "  Leland 
Manuscript,"  a  document  which,  if  authen- 
tic, is  highly  important ;  but  of  whose  au- 
thenticity there  are  as  many  oppugners  as 
there  are  defenders. 

Heredom.  In  what  are  called  the 
"  high  degrees  "  of  the  continental  Kites, 
there  is  nothing  more  puzzling  than  the 
etymology  of  this  word.  We  have  the 
Royal  Order  of  Heredom,  given  as  the  ne 
plus  ultra  of  Masonry  in  Scotland,  and  in 
almost  all  the  Rites  the  Rose  Croix  of  Here- 
dom, but  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  is 
apparently  unknown.  Ragon,  in  his  Ortho- 
doxie  Maconnique,  (p.  91,)  asserts  that  it 
has  a  political  signification,  and  that  it  was 
invented  between  the  years  1740  and  1745, 
by  the  adherents  of  Charles  Edward  the 
Pretender,  at  the  Court  of  St.  Germain, 
which  was  the  residence,  during  that  period, 
of  the  unfortunate  prince,  and  that  in  their 
letters  to  England,  dated  from  Heredom,  they 
mean  to  denote  St.  Germain.  He  supposes 
it  to  be  derived  from  the  Mediaeval  Latin 
word  "  hoeredum,"  signifying  "  a  heritage," 
and  that  it  alludes  to  the  Castle  of  St. 
Germain,  the  only  heritage  left  to  the  de- 
throned sovereign.  But  as  Ragon's  favor- 
ite notion  was  that  the  hautes  grades  were 
originally  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  aid- 
ing the  house  of  Stuart  in  its  restoration  to 
the  throne,  a  theory  not  now  generally  ac- 
cepted, at  least  without  modification,  this 
etymology  must  be  taken  with  some  grains 
of  allowance.  The  suggestion  is,  however, 
an  ingenious  one. 

In  some  of  the  old  manuscripts  the  word 
Heroden  is  found  as  the  name  of  a  mountain 
in  Scotland;  and  we  sometimes  find  in  the 
French  Cahiers  the  title  of  "  Rose  Croix  de 
Heroden."  There  is  not  a  very  great  dif- 
ference in  the  French  pronunciation  of 
Heredom  and  Heroden,  and  one  might  be  a 
corruption  of  the  other.  I  was  once  in- 
clined to  this  theory ;  but  even  if  it  were  the 
correct  one  we  should  gain  nothing,  for  the 
same  difficulty  would  recur  in  tracing  the 
root  and  meaning  of  Heroden. 

The  most  plausible  derivation  is  one  given 
in  1858,  by  a  writer  in  the  London  Free- 
mason's Magazine.  He  thinks  it  should  be 
spelled  "  Heredom,"  and  traces  it  to  the  two 
Greek  words,  ispbq,  hieros,  holy,  and  66/iog, 
domos,  house.  It  would  thus  refer  to  Ma- 
sonry as  symbolically  the  Holy  House  or 
Temple.  In  this  way  the  title  of  Rose 
Croix  of  Heredom  would  signify  the  Rosy 
Cross  of  the  Holy  House  of  Masonry.  This 
derivation  is  now  very  generally  recognized 
as  the  true  one. 


336 


HERMAIMES 


HEROIXE 


Hermaimes.  A  corruption  of  Her- 
mes, found  in  some  of  the  old  Constitutions. 

Hermaphrodite.  The  merest  igno- 
rance has,  in  a  few  instances,  permitted  the 
introduction  of  this  word  into  the  ritual 
as  one  of  the  classes  which  the  Masons 
promise  not  to  initiate.  The  word  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  old  Constitutions  nor  in 
any  of  the  rituals;  but  if  such  monsters  did 
actually  exist,  which  naturalists  deny,  their 
exclusion  would  be  founded  on  the  general 
law  which  prohibits  the  initiation  of  those 
who  have  any  physical  defect  or  maim. 

Hermes.  In  all  the  old  manuscript 
records  which  contain  the  Legend  of  the 
Craft,  mention  is  made  of  Hermes  as  one 
of  the  founders  of  Masonry.  Thus,  in  the 
"  Grand  Lodge  MS.,"  whose  date  is  1632,  it 
is  said  —  and  the  statement  is  substantially 
and  almost  verbally  the  same  in  alh,  the 
others  —  that  "The  great  Hermarines  that 
was  Cubys  sonne,  the  which  Cubye  was 
Semmes  sonne,  that  was  Noes  sonne.  This 
same  Hermarines  was  afterwards  called 
Hermes  the  father  of  Wisdome ;  he  found 
one  of  the  two  pillars  of  stone,  and  found 
the  science  written  thereon,  and  he  taught 
it  to  other  men." 

There  are  two  persons  of  the  name  of 
Hermes  mentioned  in  sacred  history.  The 
first  is  the  divine  Hermes,  called  by  the 
Romans  Mercury.  Among  the  Egyptians 
he  was  known  as  Thoth.  Diodorus  Siculus 
describes  him  as  the  secretary  of  Osiris  ;  he 
is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  the  son 
of  Mizraim,  and  Cumberland  says  that  he 
was  the  same  as  Osiris.  There  is,  however, 
much  confusion  among  the  mythologists 
concerning  his  attributes. 

The  second  was  Hermes  Trismegistus  or 
the  Thrice  Great,  who  was  a  celebrated 
Egyptian  legislator,  priest,  and  philosopher, 
who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Ninus,  about  the 
year  of  the  world  2670.  He  is  said  to  have 
written  thirty-sixbooks  on  theology  and  phi- 
losophy, and  six  upon  medicine,  all  which  are 
lost.  There  are  many  traditions  of  him ;  one 
of  which,  related  by  Eusebius,  is  that  he  in- 
troduced hieroglyphics  into  Egypt.  This 
Hermes  Trismegistus,  although  the  reality 
of  his  existence  is  doubtful,  was  claimed  by 
the  alchemists  as  the  founder  of  their  art, 
whence  it  is  called  the  Hermetic  science, 
and  whence  we  get  in  Masonry,  Hermetic 
Eites  and  Hermetic  degrees.  It  is  to  him 
that  the  Legend  of  the  Craft  refers ;  and,  in- 
deed, the  York  Constitutions,  which  are  of 
importance,  though  not  probably  of  the 
date  of  926,  assigned  to  them  by  Krause, 
give  him  that  title,  and  say  that  he  brought 
the  custom  of  making  himself  understood 
by  signs  with  him  to  Egypt.  In  the  first 
ages  of  the  Christian  church,  this  mythical 
Egyptian    philosopher   was   in   fact   con- 


sidered as  the  inventor  of  everything  known 
to  the  human  intellect.  It  was  fabled  that 
Pythagoras  and  Plato  had  derived  their 
knowledge  from  him,  and  that  he  had  re- 
corded his  inventions  on  pillars.  The 
Operative  Masons,  who  wrote  the  old  Con- 
stitutions, obtained  their  acquaintance  with 
him  from  the  Polycronycon  of  the  monk 
Ranulf  Higdeu,  which  was  translated  from 
the  Latin  by  Trevisa,  and  printed  by  Wil- 
liam Caxton  in  1482.  It  is  repeatedly 
quoted  in  the  Cooke  MS.,  whose  probable 
date  is  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, and  was  undoubtedly  familiar  to  the 
writers  of  the  other  Constitutions. 

Hermetic  Art.  The  art  or  science 
of  Alchemy,  so  termed  from  Hermes  Tris- 
megistus, who  was  looked  up  to  by  the 
alchemists  as  the  founder  of  their  art.  The 
Hermetic  philosophers  say  that  all  the 
sages  of  antiquity,  such  as  Plato,  Socrates, 
Aristotle,  and  Pythagoras,  were  initiated 
into  the  secrets  of  their  science ;  and  that 
the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt  and  all  the  fables 
of  mythology  were  invented  to  teach  the  dog- 
mas of  Hermetic  philosophy.    See  Alchemy. 

Hermetic  Bite.  A  Rite  established 
by  Pernetty  at  Avignon,  in  France,  and 
more  commonly  called  the  Illuminati  of 
Avignon.    See  Avignon. 

Herodem.    See  Heredom. 

Herodem,  Royal  Order  of.  See 
Royal  Order  of  Scotland. 

Heroden.  "Heroden,"  says  a  MS. 
of  the  Ancient  Scottish  Rite  in  my  posses- 
sion, "  is  a  mountain  situated  in  the  north- 
west of  Scotland,  where  the  first  or  metro- 
politan Lodge  of  Europe  was  held."  The 
word  is  not  now  used  by  Masonic  writers, 
and  was,  undoubtedly,  a  corruption  of 
Heredom. 

Heroine  of  Jericho.  An  androgy- 
nous degree  conferred,  in  America,  on  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  their  wives,  and  daughters. 
It  is  intended  to  instruct  its  female  recipi- 
ents in  the  claims  which  they  have  upon 
the  protection  of  their  husbands'  and  fathers' 
companions,  and  to  communicate  to  them 
an  effectual  method  of  proving  those  claims. 
An  instance  of  friendship  extended  to  the 
whole  family  of  a  benefactress  by  those 
whom  she  had  benefited,  and  of  the  influ- 
ence of  a  solemn  contract  in  averting  dan- 
ger, is  referred  to  in  the  case  of  Rahab,  the 
woman  of  Jericho,  from  whom  the  degree 
derives  its  name ;  and  for  this  purpose  the 
second  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Joshua  is 
read  to  the  candidate.  When  the  degree  is 
received  by  a  male,  he  is  called  a  Knight 
of  Jericho,  and  when  by  a  female,  she  is 
termed  a  Heroine.  It  is  a  side  or  honorary 
degree,  and  may  be  conferred  by  any  Royal 
Arch  Mason  on  a  candidate  qualified  to 
receive  it. 


HESED 


HIGHEST 


337 


Hesed.  A  corruption  of  Ghesed,  which 
see. 

Hexagon.  A  figure  of  six  equal  sides 
constitutes  a  part  of  the  camp  in  the  Scot- 
tish degree  of  Sublime  Princes  of  the  Royal 
Secret.  Stieglitz,  in  an  essay  on  the  sym- 
bols of  Freemasonry,  published  in  1825,  in 
the  Altenburg  Zeitschrift,  says  that  the  hex- 
agon, formed  by  six  triangles,  whose  apices 
converge  to  a  point,  making  the  following 
figure, 


is  a  symbol  of  the  universal  creation,  the 
six  points  crossing  the  central  point;  thus 
assimilating  the  hexagon  to  the  older  sym- 
bol of  the  point  within  a  circle. 

Hieroglyphics.  From  two  Greek 
words  which  signify  the  engraving  of  sa- 
cred things.  Hieroglyphics  are  properly 
the  expressions  of  ideas  by  representations 
of  visible  objects,  and  the  word  is  more 
peculiarly  applied  to  that  species  of  pic- 
ture-writing which  was  in  use  among  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  whose  priests  by  this 
means  concealed  from  the  profane  that 
knowledge  which  they  communicated  only 
to  their  initiates.  Browne  says  ( Master  Key, 
p.  87),  "The  usages  amongst  Masons  have 
ever  corresponded  with  those  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians.  Their  Philosophers,  unwilling 
to  expose  their  Mysteries  to  vulgar  Curios- 
ity, couched  the  Principles  of  their  Learn- 
ing and  Philosophy  under  Hieroglyphical 
Figures  and  Allegorical  Emblems,  and  ex- 
pressed their  notions  of  Government  by 
Signs  and  Symbols,  which  they  communi- 
cated to  the  Magi,  or  wise  Men  only,  who  were 
solemnly  obligated  never  to  reveal  them." 

II ierogrammatists.  The  title  of 
those  priests  in  the  Egyptian  mysteries  to 
whom  were  confided  the  keeping  of  the  sa- 
cred records.  Their  duty  was  also  to  in- 
struct the  neophytes  in  the  ritual  of  initia- 
tion, and  to  secure  its  accurate  observance. 

Hierophant.  From  the  Greek, 
'ispoipavTEg,  which  signifies  one  who  explains 
the  sacred  things.  The  Hierophant  was,  in 
the  Ancient  Mysteries,  what  the  Master  is 
in  a  Masonic  Lodge  —  he  who  instructed 
the  neophyte  in  the  doctrines  which  it  was 
the  object  of  the  mysteries  to  inculcate. 

High  Degrees.  Not  long  after  the 
introduction  of  Freemasonry  on  the  Conti- 
nent, in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  Chevalier  Ramsay  invented 
three  new  degrees,  which  he  called  Ecos- 
2S  22 


sais,  Novice,  and  Knight  Templar.  These 
gave  the  impulse  to  the  invention  of  many 
other  degrees,  all  above  the  Master's  degree. 
To  these  the  name  ofhautes  grades  or  high  de- 
grees was  given.  Their  number  is  very  great. 
Many  of  them  now  remain  only  in  the  cata- 
logues of  Masonic  collectors,  or  are  known 
merely  by  their  titles;  while  others  still  exist, 
and  constitute  the  body  of  the  different 
Rites.  The  word  is  not  properly  applicable 
to  the  Royal  Arch  or  degrees  of  the  Eng- 
lish and  American  systems,  which  are  in- 
timately connected  with  the  Master's  de- 
gree, but  is  confined  to  the  additions  made 
to  Ancient  Craft  Masonry  by  continental 
ritualists.  These  degrees  have,  from  time 
to  time,  met  with  great  opposition  as  inno- 
vations on  Ancient  Masonry,  and  some  of 
the  Grand  Lodges  have  not  only  rejected 
them,  but  forbidden  their  cultivation  by 
those  who  are  under  their  obedience.  But 
on  the  other  hand,  they  have  been  strenu- 
ously supported  by  many  who  have  believed 
the  Ancient  Craft  degrees  do  not  afford  a 
sufficient  field  for  the  expansion  of  Masonic 
thought.  A  writer  in  the  London  Freema- 
son's Magazine  (1858,  i.  1167,)  has,  I  think, 
expressed  the  true  theory  on  this  subject  in 
the  following  language : 

"  It  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  an 
exclusive  addiction  to  Craft  Masonry  that 
the  intellectual  and  artistic  development 
of  the  minds  of  the  members  must  suffer, 
the  ritual  sink  to  formalism,  and  the  ad- 
ministration fall  into  the  hands  of  the  lower 
members  of  the  Order,  by  a  diminution  in 
the  initiations  of  men  of  high  intellectual 
calibre,  and  by  the  inactivity,  or  practical 
secession,  of  those  within  the  Order.  The 
suppression  of  the  higher  degrees,  that  is, 
of  the  higher  Masonry,  may  be  agreeable  to 
those  who  are  content  to  possess  the  admin- 
istrative functions  of  the  Order  without  gen- 
uine qualifications  for  their  exercise,  but  it 
is  a  policy  most  fatal  to  the  true  progress 
of  the  Order.  When  Masonry  has  so  fallen, 
to  restore  the  higher  degrees  to  their  full 
activity  is  the  measure  essential  for  re- 
storing the  efficacy  of  Masonry  within  and 
without.  Thus,  in  the  last  century,  when 
Craft  Masonry  had  spread  rapidly  over  the 
whole  of  Europe,  a  reaction  set  in,  till  the 
heads  of  the  Order  brought  the  high  degrees 
into  vigor,  and  they  continued  to  exercise 
the  most  powerful  influence." 

Highest  of  Hills.  In  the  Old  York 
Lectures  was  the  following  passage :  "  Be- 
fore we  had  the  convenience  of  such  well- 
formed  Lodges,  the  Brethren  used  to  meet 
on  the  highest  of  hills  and  in  the  lowest  of 
valleys.  And  if  they  were  asked  why  they 
met  so  high,  so  low,  and  so  very  secret, 
they  replied  —  the  better  to  see  and  observe 
all  that  might  ascend  or  descend ;  and  in 


338 


HIGH 


HIGH 


case  a  cowan  should  appear,  the  Tiler 
might  give  timely  notice  to  the  Worshipful 
Master,  by  which  means  the  Lodge  might  be 
closed,  the  jewels  put  by,  thereby  prevent- 
ing any  unlawful  intrusion."  Comment- 
ing on  this,  Dr.  Oliver  (Landm.,  i.  319,)  says : 
"Among  other  observances  which  were 
common  to  both  the  true  and  spurious 
Freemasonry,  we  find  the  practice  of  per- 
forming commemorative  rites  on  the  highest 
of  hi  Us  and  in  the  lowest  of  valleys.  This 
practice  was  in  high  esteem  amongst  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  ancient  world,  from  a 
fixed  persuasion  that  the  summit  of  moun- 
tains made  a  nearer  approach  to  the  celes- 
tial deities,  and  the  valley  or  holy  cavern 
to  the  infernal  and  submarine  gods  than 
the  level  country ;  and  that,  therefore,  the 

Erayers  of  mortals  were  more  likely  to  be 
eard  in  such  situations."  Hutchinson 
also  says :  "  The  highest  hills  and  the  low- 
est valleys  were  from  the  earliest  times  es- 
teemed sacred,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  peculiarly  diffusive  in 
those  places."  The  sentiment  was  expressed 
in  the  language  of  the  earliest  lectures  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  is  still  re- 
tained, without  change  of  words,  in  the 
lectures  of  the  present  day.  But  intro- 
duced, at  first,  undoubtedly  with  special 
reference  to  the  ancient  worship  on  "  high 
places,"  and  the  celebration  of  the  myste- 
ries in  the  caverns  of  initiation,  it  is  now 
retained  for  the  purpose  of  giving  warning 
and  instruction  as  to  the  necessity  of  secu- 
rity and  secrecy  in  the  performance  of  our 
mystical  rites,  and  this  is  the  reason  as- 
signed in  the  modern  lectures.  And,  in- 
deed, the  notion  of  thus  expressing  the  ne- 
cessity of  secrecy  seems  to  have  been  early 
adopted,  while  that  of  the  sacredness  of 
these  places  was  beginning  to  be  lost  sight 
of;  for  in  a  lecture  of  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  or  perhaps  earlier,  it  was  said  that 
"  the  Lodge  stands  upon  holy  ground,  or 
the  highest  hill  or  lowest  vale,  or  in  the 
Vale  of  Jehosophat,  or  any  oilier  secret 
place."  The  sacredness  of  the  spot  is,  it  is 
true,  here  adverted  to,  but  there  is  an  em- 
phasis given  to  its  secrecy. 

High  Grades.  Sometimes  used  for 
High  Degrees,  which  see. 

High  Priest.  The  presiding  officer 
of  a  Chapter  of  Eoyal  Arch  Masons  accord- 
ing to  the  American  system.  His  title 
is  "  Most  Excellent,"  and  he  represents 
Joshua,  or  Jeshua,  who  was  the  son  of 
Josedech,  and  the  High  Priest  of  the  Jews 
when  they  returned  from  the  Babylonian 
exile.  He  is  seated  in  the  east,  and  clothed 
in  the  apparel  of  the  ancient  High  Priest  of 
the  Jews.  He  wears  a  robe  of  blue,  purple, 
scarlet,  and  white  linen,  and  is  decorated 
with  a  breastplate    and   mitre.     On    the 


front  of  the  mitre  is  inscribed  the  words, 
"  Holiness  to  the  Lord."    His  jewel  is 
a  mitre. 
High    Priesthood,    Order    of. 

This  order  is  an  honorarium,  to  be  bestowed 
upon  the  High  Priest  of  a  Royal  Arch  Chap- 
ter in  the  United  States,  and  consequently  no 
one  is  legally  entitled  to  receive  it  until  he 
has  been  duly  elected  to  preside  as  High 
Priest  in  a  regular  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch 
Masons.  It  should  not  be  conferred  when 
a  less  number  than  three  duly  qualified 
High  Priests  are  present.  Whenever  the 
ceremony  is  performed  in  ample  form,  the 
assistance  of  at  least  nine  High  Priests, 
who  have  received  it,  is  requisite.  The 
General  Grand  Chapter  of  the  United 
States  has  decided  that  although  it  is 
highly  expedient  that  every  High  Priest 
should  receive  the  order,  yet  its  posses- 
sion is  not  essentially  necessary  as  a  qual- 
ification lor  the  discharge  of  his  official 
duties. 


r>'  '.'.,..l!E3SE«: 


The  jewel  of  the  degree  consists  of  a  plate 
of  gold  in  the  form  of  a  triple  triangle,  a 
breastplate  being  placed  over  the  point  of 
union.  In  front,  the  face  of  each  triangle 
is  inscribed  with  the  Tetragrammaton, 
niiT;  on  tne  other  side,  the  upper  tri- 
angle has  the  following  mystical  notation, 
JTJ  fj***;  the  two  lower  triangles  have 
the  Hebrew  letters  Q  and  p  inserted  upon 
them.  Each  side  of  each  triangle  should 
be  one  inch  in  length,  and  may  be  orna- 
mented at  the  fancy  of  the  wearer.  The 
breastplate  may  be  plainly  engraved  or  set 
with  stones.  It  was  adopted  in  1856,  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  author  of  this  work,  at  a 
very  general  but  informal  meeting  of  Grand 


HIGH 


HIGH 


339 


and  Past  Grand  High  Priests  during  the 
session  of  the  General  Grand  Chapter  held 
at  Hartford.     It  is  now  in  general  use. 

It  is  impossible,  from  the  want  of  au- 
thentic documents,  to  throw  much  light 
upon  the  historical  origin  of  this  degree. 
No  allusion  to  it  can  be  found  in  any  ritual 
works  out  of  America,  nor  even  here  an- 
terior to  about  the  end  of  the  last  and  be- 
ginning of  this  century.  Webb  is  the  first 
who  mentions  it,  and  gives  it  a  place  in  the 
series  of  capitular  degrees.  The  question 
has,  however,  been  exhaustively  examined 
by  Brother  William  Hacker,  Past  Grand 
High  Priest  of  Indiana,  who  has  paid  much 
attention  to  the  subject  of  American  Masonic 
archaeology.  In  a  letter  to  the  author  in  Au- 
gust, 1873,  he  has  sought  to  investigate  the 
origin  of  this  Order,  and  I  gladly  avail  my- 
self of  the  result  of  his  inquiries. 

"Thomas  Smith  Webb,"  says  Brother 
Hacker,  "  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Monitor, 
published  in  1797,  makes  no  mention  of  it. 
But  in  the  second  edition,  published  in 
1802,  he  gives  a  monitorial  ritual  for  the 
Order;  or,  as  he  terms  it,  Observations  on 
the  Order  of  High  Priests. 

"Now,  I  infer,  as  we  find  no  mention 
of  the  Order  in  the  edition  of  1797,  and  a 
monitorial  ritual  appearing  in  the  edition 
of  1802,  that  at  some  time  between  those 
dates  we  must  look  for  the  true  origin  of 
the  Order. 

"  Turning  then  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
General  Grand  Chapter  of  the  United  States, 
we  find  that  at  the  Communication  held  in 
the  city  of  Providence,  in  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island,  on  the  9th  day  of  January, 
1799,  Benjamin  Hurd,  Jr.,  Thomas  S.  Webb, 
and  James  Harrison  were  appointed  'a 
Committee  to  revise  the  Constitution,  and 
report  such  alterations  and  amendments 
thereto  as  they  shall  find  necessary  to  be 
made.' 

"  The  next  day,  January  10, 1799,  Webb, 
as  chairman  of  the  committee,  submitted 
their  report,  which  was  adopted  as  reported. 
In  Article  IV.  of  that  Constitution,  we  find 
the  forms  for  constituting  new  Chapters 
and  installing  High  Priests  fully  laid  down 
and  provided  for.  In  those  forms,  after 
certain  ceremonies  had  been  gone  through 
with,  'All  the  Companions,  except  High 
Priests  and  Past  High  Priests,  are  requested 
to  withdraw,  while  the  new  High  Priest  is 
solemnly  bound  to  the  performance  of  his 
duties ;  and  after  the  performance  of  other 
necessary  ceremonies,  not  proper  to  be 
written,  they  are  permitted  to  return.' 

"  Now,  right  here  the  question  naturally 
arises,  What  were  those  'other  necessary 
ceremonies  not  proper  to  be  written '  ?  A 
few  lines  farther  on  we  find  this  language 
laid  down :  '  In  consequence  of  your  cheer- 


ful acquiescence  with  the  charges  and  reg- 
ulations just  recited,  I  now  declare  you  duly 
installed  and  anointed  High  Priest  of  this 
new*  Chapter.'  Now  do  not  the  words 
'  and  anointed^  as  here  used,  fully  answer 
the  question  as  to  what  those  'other  ne- 
cessary ceremonies '  were  ?  It  seems  so  to 
me. 

"  Upon  this  theory,  then,  we  have  Thomas 
Smith  Webb  and  his  associates  on  the  com- 
mittee, Benjamin  Hurd,  Jr.,  and  James 
Harrison,  as  the  authors  of  the  Order.  It 
was  adopted  by  the  General  Grand  Chapter 
on  the  10th  day  of  January,  1799,  when  it 
became  a  part  of  the  constitutional  re- 
quirements of  Royal  Arch  Masonry,  so  far, 
at  least,  as  the  authority  of  the  General 
Grand  Chapter  extended. 

"  Following  this  matter  out,  we  find  that 
this  provision  of  the  Constitution  was  re- 
tained until  the  Triennial  Communication 
held  in  the  city  of  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
on  the  19th  day  of  September,  1853,  when, 
on  motion  of  Companion  Gould,  the  sec- 
tion was  repealed;  thus  leaving  the  Order 
of  High  Priesthood  the  exclusive  property 
of  those  who  were  in  possession  of  it. 

"  Where  these  Excellent  Companions  got 
the  original  thought  or  germ  out  of  which 
the  Order  was  formed  will  have,  perhaps,  to 
be  left  to  conjecture ;  yet  even  here  I  think 
we  may  find  some  data  upon  which  to  found 
a  conclusion. 

"In  setting  about  the  formation  of  an 
order  suitable  for  the  office  of  High  Priest, 
what  could  be  more  natural  or  appropriate 
than  to  take  the  scriptural  history  of  the 
meeting  of  Abraham  with  Melchizedek, 
Priest  of  the  Most  High  God ;  the  circum- 
stances which  brought  that  meeting  about; 
the  bringing  forth  the  bread  and  wine;  the 
blessing,  etc. ;  and  the  anointing  of  Aaron 
and  his  sons  to  the  Priesthood  under  the 
Mosaic  dispensations.  It  does  seem  to  me 
that  these  would  be  the  most  natural  sources 
for  any  one  to  go  to  for  facts  and  circum- 
stances to  work  into  an  order  of  this  kind. 

"  We  can  illustrate  this  point  farther  by 
reference  to  a  note  found  in  an  old  ritual 
of  the  'Mediterranean  Pass,'  as  then  — 
and  perhaps  it  may  be  so  now  —  conferred 
under  the  Grand  Priory  of  England  and 
Wales,  preparatory  to  the  Order  of  Malta. 
That  note  read  as  follows : 

" '  In  some  Priories  the  candidate  partakes 
of  bread  from  the  point  of  a  sword,  and 
wine  from  a  chalice  placed  upon  the  blade, 
handed  to  him  by  the  Prelate.' 

"  Again,  in  an  old  manuscript  of  the  ritual 
of  the  Royal  Grand  Conclave  of  Scotland, 
now  also  lying  before  me,  I  find  similar 
language  used  in  the  ritual  of  the  Templars' 
Order.  How  well  the  thoughts  contained 
in  these  extracts  have  been  worked  into 


340 


HIGH 


HIGH 


the  order  of  High  Priest,  every  well-in- 
formed High  Priest  must  very  well  under- 
stand. 

"  But  the  question  now  comes  up :  were 
Webb  and  his  associates  in  possession  of 
these  rituals  at  the  time  they  originated  the 
order  of  High  Priesthood?  I  think  they 
were,  and  for  these  reasons :  In  these  rituals 
to  which  I  have  referred  I  find  these  ex- 
pressions used :  '  That  I  will  not  shed  the 
blood  of  a  K.  T.  unlawfully ; '  '  the  skull 
to  be  laid  open,  and  all  the  brains  to  be  ex- 
posed to  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun ; ' 
with  several  other  familiar  expressions, 
which  every  Royal  Arch  Mason  will  read- 
ily recognize  as  appropriately  wrought  into 
Webb's  Royal  Arch  degree. 

"From  the  foregoing  facts,  as  well  as 
others  not  stated,  I  infer  that  Thomas 
Smith  Webb,  with  his  co-advisers,  Benja- 
min Hurd,  Jr.,  and  James  Harrison,  were 
the  true  authors  of  the  Order  ;  that  it  dates 
from  the  10th  day  of  January,  1799,  at 
which  time  it  was  adopted  by  the  General 
Grand  Chapter,  and  became  a  part  of  the 
constitutional  regulations  and  requirements 
of  Royal  Arch  Masonry  so  far  as  the  au- 
thority of  the  General  Grand  Chapter  ex- 
tended, and  that  it  continued  as  such  until 
the  19th  day  of  September,  1853,  when  it 
was  repealed,  as  before  stated. 

"A  thought  or  two  further,  and  I  will 
have  done.  Webb,  in  arranging  the  Order, 
evidently  intended  that  it  should  be  con- 
ferred as  a  part  of  the  installation  ceremo- 
nies of  a  High  Priest ;  and  whether  he  ever 
conferred  it  at  any  other  time  or  in  any 
other  manner  I  have  been  unable  to  learn, 
as  I  have  never  met  with  any  one  who 
claimed  to  have  received  the  Order  from 
him.  At  what  time  and  by  whom  it  was 
first  conferred  as  a  separate  ceremonial  is 
equally  unknown  to  me.  All  I  have  yet 
been  able  to  find  upon  this  point  is  in 
Cross's  Chart,  where,  in  the  edition  of  1826, 
and  it  may  also  be  in  the  earlier  editions, 
I  find  it  arranged  as  a  separate  ceremonial, 
and  disconnected  with  the  ceremonies  of 
installation. 

"The  earliest  authentic  record  of  the  or- 
ganization of  a  Council  of  High  Priests  I 
have  yet  found  is  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Grand  Chapter  of  Ohio  in  1828,  where  it 
appears  that  a  Council  was  duly  formed, 
rules  adopted  for  its  government,  and  a  full 
list  of  officers  elected,  with  Companion 
John  Snow  as  President. 

"It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  Order 
has  always  been  conferred,  west  of  the 
mountains,  as  a  separate  ceremonial,  and 
never  as  a  part  of  the  installation  ceremo- 
nies. It  is  well  known  that  John  Snow, 
who  no  doubt  brought  it  with  him  when  he 
came  to  the  West,  always  so  conferred  it, 


and  not  then  until  the  applicant  had  been 
regularly  elected  and  installed  as  High 
Priest  of  his  Chapter.  I  have  also  met 
with  those  who  claimed  to  have  received  it 
from  the  celebrated  Lorenzo  Dow,  of  whom 
it  is  further  alleged  that  he  always  required 
an  election  and  installation  as  a  prerequisite 
to  the  Order.  With  these  facts  before  us, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  every 
word  of  them,  I  would  ask  of  those  who 
have  attempted  to  heap  such  obloquy  and 
derision  upon  the  Order,  as  Dr.  Mitchell 
and  others  who  have  followed  him,  to 
point  us  to  any  other  single  order  or  degree 
of  Masonry  that  can  be  traced  so  success- 
fully to  the  source  from  whence  it  came ; 
that  has  in  it  more  of  the  elements  of  sub- 
limity and  impressiveness,  and  that  is  more 
scripturally  and  Masonically  appropriate 
for  that  for  which  it  was  intended,  than  has 
this  much-maligned  Order  of  High  Priest- 
hood ;  remembering  also  that  it  was  estab- 
lished upon  the  constitutional  authority  of 
the  General  Grand  Chapter  of  the  United 
States,  which  is,  and  ever  has  been,  the 
highest  authority  in  Royal  Arch  Masonry 
in  the  United  States.  And  again,  among 
the  names  of  those  zealous  companions  who 
participated  in  its  adoption  stands  that 
of  the  Honorable  De  Witt  Clinton,  for 
so  many  years  the  zealous  and  efficient 
General  Grand  High  Priest.  Then  I  say, 
when  we  take  all  these  facts  together,  as 
they  stand  recorded  before  us,  I  think  the 
question  as  to  the  origin  and  authenticity 
may  be  considered  as  fully  settled." 

High  Priest  of  the  Jews.  The 
important  office  of  the  High  Priesthood 
was  instituted  by  Moses  after  the  comple- 
tion of  the  directions  for  erecting  the  taber- 
nacle, and  was  restricted  to  Aaron  and  his 
descendants,  and  was  so  confined  until 
the  time  of  the  Asmonean  dynasty,  when  it 
passed  into  the  family  of  Judas  Maccabaeus. 
The  High  Priest  was  at  the  head  not  only 
of  ecclesiastical  but  of  civil  affairs,  presiding 
in  the  Sanhedrim  and  judging  the  people. 
He  superintended  the  Temple,  directing  the 
mode  of  worship,  and  preserving  the  build- 
ing from  profanation.  He  was  inducted 
into  his  office  by  anointment  and  sacrifices, 
and  was  invested  with  a  peculiar  dress. 
This  dress,  as  the  Rabbins  describe  it,  con- 
sisted of  eight  parts,  namely,  the  breast- 
plate, the  ephod,  with  its  curious  girdle, 
the  robe  of  the  ephod,  the  mitre,  the  Droid- 
ered  coat,  and  the  girdle.  The  materials 
of  which  these  were  composed  were  gold, 
blue,  red,  purple,  and  fine  white  linen.  As 
these  garments  are  to  a  certain  extent  rep- 
resented in  the  vestment  of  a  High  Priest 
of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  a  brief  descrip- 
tion of  them  may  be  expedient: 

The  High  Priest  was  first  clothed  in  a 


HIGH 


HINDUSTAN 


341 


pair  of  linen  drawers.  Over  this  was  a  coat 
or  shirt  of  fine  linen  reaching  to  his  feet, 
and  with  sleeves  extending  to  his  wrists. 
Over  this  again  was  a  robe  of  blue,  called 
the  coat  of  ephod.  It  was  without  sleeves, 
but  consisted  of  two  pieces,  one  before  and 
another  behind,  having  a  large  opening  in 
the  top  for  the  passage  of  the  head,  and  an- 
other on  each  side  to  admit  the  arms.  It 
extended  only  to  the  middle  of  the  legs, 
and  its  skirt  was  adorned  with  little  golden 
bells  and  pomegranates.  Above  all  these 
vestments  was  placed  the  ephod,  which  has 
already  been  described  as  a  short  garment 
coming  down  only  to  the  breast  before,  but 
somewhat  longer  behind,  without  sleeves, 
and  artificially  wrought  with  gold,  and 
blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  in  embroidery 
of  various  figures.  It  was  looped  on  the 
shoulders  with  two  onyx  stones,  on  each  of 
which  was  inscribed  the  names  of  six  of  the 
tribes.  On  the  front  of  the  ephod  he  wore 
the  breastplate ;  at  solemn  ministrations  a 
mitre  of  fine  linen  of  a  blue  color.  This  was 
wrapped  in  several  folds,  and  worn  about 
his  head  in  the  manner  of  a  Turkish  turban, 
except  that  it  was  without  a  crown,  being 
open  on  top,  and  sitting  on  his  head  like  a 
garland.  In  front  of  it  there  hung  down 
upon  his  forehead  a  square  plate  of  gold, 
called  the  plate  of  the  golden  crown,  upon 
which  were  inscribed  the  words  Holiness 
to  the  Lord,  which  were  engraved  in  the 
ancient  Hebrew  or  Samaritan  characters. 
The  vestments  of  a  High  Priest  of  a  Royal 
Arch  Chapter  are  intended  to  represent — 
though  the  representation  is  imperfect — 
the  gorgeous  apparel  of  the  Jewish  Pontiff. 
They  area  mitre,  breastplate,  and  a  robe  of 
four  colors.  To  these  the  Masonic  ritual- 
ists have  ascribed  a  symbolic  signification. 
The  mitre  teaches  the  High  Priest  the 
dignity  of  his  office;  the  breastplate,  his 
responsibility  to  the  laws  and  ordinances 
of  the  Institution,  and  that  the  honor  and 
interest  of  the  Chapter  should  be  always 
near  his  heart ;  and  the  robe,  the  different 
graces  and  virtues  which  are  symbolized 
by  the  various  colors  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed. 

High  Twelve.  The  hour  of  noon  or 
twelve  o'clock  in  the  day,  when  the  sun  is 
high  in  the  heavens,  in  contradistinction 
to  low  twelve,  or  midnight,  when  the  sun  is 
low  down  beneath  the  earth.  The  expres- 
sion is  always  used,  in  Masonic  language, 
to  indicate  the  hour  of  noon,  at  which  time, 
as  the  tradition  tells  us,  the  Craft  in  the 
Temple  were  called  from  labor  to  refresh- 
ment. The  phrase  was  used  in  the  earliest 
rituals  of  the  last  century.  The  answer  in 
the  old  catechisms  to  the  question,  "  What's 
a  clock  ?  "  was  always,  "  High  Twelve." 

Hindustan,  Mysteries  of.    Of  all 


the  ethnic  religions,  that  of  Hindustan  is 
admitted  to  be  the  oldest,  for  its  Vedas  or 
sacred  books  claim  an  antiquity  of  nearly 
forty  centuries.  However  Brahmanism 
may  have  been  corrupted  in  more  modern 
times,  in  its  earliest  state  it  consisted  of  a 
series  of  doctrines  which  embraced  a  belief 
in  a  Supreme  Being  and  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul.  All  primitive  religions  were 
more  or  less  mystical,  and  that  of  India 
formed  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Oliver, 
in  his  History  of  Initiation,  has  given  a 
very  succinct  account  of  the  Brahmanical 
mysteries,  collected  from  the  most  authen- 
tic sources,  such  as  Maurice,  Colebrook, 
Jones,  and  Faber.  His  description  refers 
almost  exclusively  to  the  reception  and 
advancement  of  a  Brahman  in  his  sacred 
profession;  for  the  initiations  of  India,  like 
those  of  Egypt,  were  confined  to  the  priest- 
hood. All  Brahmans,  it  is  true,  do  not 
necessarily  belong  to  the  sacerdotal  order, 
but  every  Brahman  who  has  been  initiated, 
and  thus  been  made  acquainted  with  the 
formulas  of  worship,  may  at  any  time  be- 
come an  officiating  priest.  The  ceremonies 
of  initiation,  as  they  have  been  described 
by  Oliver,  were  celebrated  in  spacious  cav- 
erns, the  principal  of  which  were  Elephanta 
and  Salsette,  both  situated  near  Bombay. 
The  mysteries  were  divided  into  four  de- 
grees, and  the  candidate  was  permitted  to 
perform  the  probation  of  the  first  at  the 
early  age  of  eight  years.  It  consisted  sim- 
ply in  the  investiture  with  the  linen  gar- 
ment and  Zennar  or  sacred  cord;  of  sacri- 
fices accompanied  by  ablutions ;  and  of  an 
explanatory  lecture.  The  aspirant  was  now 
delivered  into  the  care  of  a  Brahman,  who 
thenceforth  became  his  spiritual  guide,  and 
prepared  him  by  repeated  instructions  and 
a  life  of  austerity  for  admission  into  the 
second  degree.  To  this,  if  found  qualified, 
he  was  admitted  at  the  requisite  age.  The 
probationary  ceremonies  of  this  degree  con- 
sisted in  an  incessant  occupation  in  pray- 
ers, fastings,  ablutions,  and  the  study  of 
astronomy.  Having  undergone  these  aus- 
terities for  a  sufficient  period,  he  was  led  at 
night  to  the  gloomy  caverns  of  initiation, 
which  had  been  duly  prepared  for  his  re- 
ception. 

The  interior  of  this  cavern  was  brilliantly 
illuminated,  and  there  sat  the  three  chief 
hierophants,  in  the  east,  west,  and  south, 
representing  the  gods  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and 
Siva,  surrounded  by  the  attendant  mysta- 
gogues,  dressed  in  appropriate  vestments. 
After  an  invocation  to  the  sun,  the  aspi- 
rant was  called  upon  to  promise  that  he 
would  be  obedient  to  his  superiors,  keep 
his  body  pure,  and  preserve  inviolable 
secrecy  on  the  subject  of*  the  mysteries.  He 
was  then  sprinkled  with  water,  an  invoca- 


342 


HINDUSTAN 


HIRAM 


tion  of  the  deity  was  whispered  in  his  ear ; 
he  was  divested  of  his  shoes,  and  made  to 
circumambulate  the  cavern  three  times,  in 
imitation  of  the  course  of  the  sun,  whose 
rising  was  personated  by  the  hierophant 
representing  Brahma,  stationed  in  the 
east,  whose  meridian  height  by  the  repre- 
sentative of  Siva  in  the  south,  and  whose 
setting  by  the  representative  of  Vishnu 
in  the  west.  He  was  then  conducted 
through  seven  ranges  of  dark  and  gloomy 
caverns,  during  which  period  the  wail- 
ing of  Mahadeva  for  the  loss  of  Siva 
was  represented  by  dismal  howlings.  The 
usual  paraphernalia  of  flashes  of  light,  of 
dismal  sounds  and  horrid  phantoms,  was 
practised  to  intimidate  or  confuse  the  aspi- 
rant. After  the  performance  of  a  variety 
of  other  ceremonies,  many  of  which  we  can 
only  conjecture,  the  candidate  reached  the 
extremity  of  the  seven  caverns;  he  was 
now  prepared  for  enlightenment  by  requi- 
site instruction  and  the  administration  of  a 
solemn  oath. 

This  part  of  the  ceremonies  being  con- 
cluded, the  sacred  conch  was  blown,  the 
folding-doors  were  suddenly  thrown  open, 
and  the  aspirant  was  admitted  into  a  spa- 
cious apartment  filled  with  dazzling  light, 
ornamented  with  statues  and  emblematical 
figures,  richly  decorated  with  gems,  and 
scented  with  the  most  fragrant  perfumes. 
This  was  a  representation  of  Paradise. 

The  candidate  was  now  supposed  to  be 
regenerated,  and  he  was  invested  by  the 
chief  Brahman  with  the  white  robe  and 
tiara;  a  cross  was  marked  upon  his  fore- 
head, and  a  tau  upon  his  breast,  and  he 
was  instructed  in  the  signs,  tokens,  and 
lectures  of  the  Order.  He  was  presented 
with  the  sacred  belt,  the  magical  black 
stone,  the  talismanic  jewel  to  be  worn  upon 
his  breast,  and  the  serpent  stone,  which,  as 
its  name  imported,  was  an  antidote  against 
the  bite  of  serpents.  And,  lastly,  he  was 
intrusted  with  the  sacred  name,  known 
only  to  the  initiated.  This  ineffable  name 
was  AUM,  which,  in  its  triliteral  form,  was 
significant  of  the  creative,  preservative, 
and  destroying  power,  that  is,  of  Brahma, 
Vishnu,  and  Siva.  It  could  not  be  pro- 
nounced, but  was  to  be  the  subject  of  in- 
cessant silent  contemplation.  The  symbols 
and  the  aporrheta,  or  secret  things  of  the 
mysteries,  were  now  explained. 

Here  ended  the  second  degree.  The  third 
took  place  when  the  candidate  had  grown 
old,  and  his  children  had  all  been  provided 
for.  This  consisted  in  a  total  exclusion  in 
the  forest,  where,  as  an  anchorite,  he  occu- 
pied himself  in  ablutions,  prayers,  and  sac- 
rifices. 

In  the  fourth  degree  he  underwent  still 
greater  austerities,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  impart  to  the  happy  sage  who  observed 


them  a  portion  of  the  divine  nature,  and 
to  secure  him  a  residence  among  the  im- 
mortal gods. 

The  object  of  the  Indian  mysteries  ap- 
pears, says  Oliver,  to  have  been  to  teach 
the  unity  of  God  and  the  necessity  of  virtue. 
The  happiness  of  our  first  parents,  the  sub- 
sequent depravity  of  the  human  race,  and 
the  universal  deluge  were  described  in  a 
manner  which  showed  that  their  knowledge 
must  have  been  derived  from  an  authentic 
source.  What  was  the  instruction  intended 
to  be  conveyed  by  these  mystical  initiations 
will  be  best  learned  from  the  Vedas,  in 
which  the  true  dogma  of  the  ancient  Brah- 
manical  faith  is  fully  developed. 

Hiram.  The  gavel,  when  wielded  by 
the  Master  of  the  Lodge,  is  sometimes 
called  the  Hiram,  because  as  the  workmen 
at  the  Temple  were  controlled  and  directed 
by  Hiram,  the  chief  builder,  so  the  Master 
preserves  order  in  the  Lodge  by  the  proper 
use  of  the  gavel. 

Hiram  or  Huram.  In  Hebrew, 
□"I'll  or  □")"in>  meaning  noble-born.  The 
more  correct  pronunciation,  according  to 
the  true  value  of  the  Hebrew  letters,  is 
Khuramor  Khurum;  but  universal  Masonic 
usage  renders  it  now  impossible,  or,  at  least, 
inexpedient,  to  make  the  change.  The  name 
of  the  king  of  Tyre  is  spelled  Hiram  every- 
where in  Scripture  except  in  1  Chronicles 
xiv.  1,  where  it  occurs  as  Huram.  In  1 
Chron.  xiv.  1,  the  original  Hebrew  text  has 
Hiram,  but  the  Masorites  in  the  margin 
direct  it  to  be  read  Huram.  In  our  author- 
ized version,  the  name  is  spelled  Hiram, 
which  is  also  the  form  used  in  the  Vulgate 
and  in  the  Targums;  the  Septuagint  has 
Xeipafi,  or  Cheiram.  The  same  changes 
occur  in  Chronicles. 

Hiram  Abif.  There  is  no  character 
in  the  annals  of  Freemasonry  whose  life  is 
so  dependent  on  tradition  as  the  celebrated 
architect  of  King  Solomon's  Temple.  Pro- 
fane history  is  entirely  silent  in  respect  to 
his  career,  and  the  sacred  records  supply  us 
with  only  very  unimportant  items.  To  fill 
up  the  space  between  his  life  and  his  death, 
we  are  necessarily  compelled  to  resort  to 
those  oral  legends  which  have  been  handed 
down  from  the  ancient  Masons  to  their  suc- 
cessors. Yet,  looking  to  their  character,  I 
should  be  unwilling  to  vouch  for  the  au- 
thenticity of  all ;  most  of  them  were  prob- 
ably at  first  symbolical  in  their  character; 
the  symbol  in  the  lapse  of  time  having  been 
converted  into  a  myth,  and  the  myth,  by  con- 
stant repetition,  having  assumed  the  formal 
appearance  of  a  truthful  narrative.  Such 
has  been  the  case  in  the  history  of  all  nations. 
But  whatever  may  have  been  their  true 
character,  to  the  Mason,  at  least,  they  are 
interesting,  and  cannot  be  altogether  void 
of  instruction. 


HIRAM 


HIRAM 


343 


When  King  Solomon  was  about  to  build 
a  temple  to  Jehovah,  the  difficulty  of  ob- 
taining skilful  workmen  to  superintend  and 
to  execute  the  architectural  part  of  the  un- 
dertaking was  such,  that  he  found  it  neces- 
sary to  request  of  his  friend  and  ally,  Hiram, 
King  of  Tyre,  'ne  use  0*  some  of  his  most 
able  builders ;  for  the  Tyrians  and  Sidonians 
were  celebrated  artists,  and  at  that  time 
were  admitted  to  be  the  best  mechanics  in 
the  world.  Hiram  willingly  complied  with 
his  request,  and  despatched  to  his  assistance 
an  abundance  of  men  and  materials,  to  be 
employed  in  the  construction  of  the  Temple, 
and  among  the  former,  a  distinguished 
artist,  to  whom  was  given  the  superinten- 
dence of  all  the  workmen,  both  Jews  and 
Tyrians,  and  who  was  in  possession  of  all 
the  skill  and  learning  that  were  required  to 
carry  out,  in  the  most  efficient  manner,  all 
the  plans  and  designs  of  the  king  of  Israel. 

Of  this  artist,  whom  Freemasons  recog- 
nize sometimes  as  Hiram  the  Builder,  some- 
times as  the  Widow's  Son,  but  more  com- 
monly as  Hiram  Abif,  the  earliest  account 
is  found  in  the  first  Book  of  Kings  (vii.  13, 
14,)  where  the  passage  reads  as  follows: 

"  And  King  Solomon  sent  and  fetched 
Hiram  out  of  Tyre.  He  was  a  widow's 
son  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  and  his  father 
was  a  man  of  Tyre,  a  worker  in  brass,  and 
he  was  filled  with  wisdom  and  understand- 
ing, and  cunning  to  work  all  works  in  brass. 
And  he  came  to  King  Solomon  and  wrought 
all  his  work." 

He  is  next  mentioned  in  the  second  Book 
of  Chronicles,  (ch.  ii.  13, 14,)  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  Hiram  of  Tyre  to  King 
Solomon. 

"  And  now  I  have  sent  a  cunning  man, 
endued  with  understanding,  of  Huram  my 
father's.  The  son  of  a  woman  of  the 
daughters  of  Dan,  and  his  father  was  a  man 
of  Tyre,  skilful  to  work  in  gold  and  in  sil- 
ver, in  brass,  in  iron,  in  stone  and  in  tim- 
ber, in  purple,  in  blue  and  in  fine  linen  and 
in  crimson ;  also  to  grave  any  manner  of 
graving,  and  to  find  out  every  device  which 
shall  be  put  to  him,  with  thy  cunning  men, 
and  with  the  cunning  men  of  my  lord 
David,  thy  father." 

In  reading  these  two  descriptions,  every 
one  will  be  at  once  struck  with  an  apparent 
contradiction  in  them  in  relation  to  the 
parentage  of  their  subject.  There  is  no 
doubt  —  for  in  this  both  passages  agree  — 
that  his  father  was  a  man  of  Tyre;  but  the 
discrepancy  is  in  reference  to  the  birth- 
place of  his  mother,  who  in  one  passage  is 
said  to  have  been  "  of  the  tribe  of  Naph- 
tali," and  in  the  other,  "  of  the  daughters 
of  Dan."  Commentators  have,  however, 
met  with  no  difficulty  in  reconciling  the 
contradiction,  and  the  suggestion  of  Bishop 


Patrick  is  now  generally  adopted  on  this 
subject.  He  supposes  that  she  herself  was 
of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  but  that  her  first  hus- 
band was  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  by  whom 
she  had  this  son ;  and  that  when  she  was  a 
widow,  she  married  a  man  of  Tyre,  who  is 
called  Hiram's  father  because  he  bred  him 
up  and  was  the  husband  of  his  mother. 

Hiram  Abif  undoubtedly  derived  much 
of  his  knowledge  in  mechanical  arts  from 
that  man  of  Tyre  who  had  married  his 
mother,  and  we  may  justly  conclude  that 
he  increased  that  knowledge  by  assiduous 
study  and  constant  intercourse  with  the 
artisans  of  Tyre,  who  were  greatly  distin- 
guished for  their  attainments  in  architec- 
ture. Tyre,  was  one  of  the  principal  seats 
of  the  Dionysiac  fraternity  of  artificers,  a 
society  engaged  exclusively  in  the  construc- 
tion of  edifices,  and  living  under  a  secret 
organization,  which  was  subsequently  imi- 
tated by  the  Operative  Freemasons.  Of  this 
association,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  Hiram  Abif  was  a  member,  and 
that  on  arriving  at  Jerusalem  he  intro- 
duced among  the  Jewish  workmen  the  same 
exact  system  of  discipline  which  he  had 
found  of  so  much  advantage  in  the  Diony- 
siac associations  at  home,  and  thus  gave, 
under  the  sanction  of  King  Solomon,  a  pe- 
culiar organization  to  the  Masons  who  were 
engaged  in  building  the  Temple. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  this  celebrated  artist 
at  Jerusalem,  which  was  in  the  year  B.  c. 
1012,  he  was  at  once  received  into  the  inti- 
mate confidence  of  Solomon,  and  intrusted 
with  the  superintendence  of  all  the  work- 
men, both  Tyrians  and  Jews,  who  were  en- 
gaged in  the  construction  of  the  building. 
He  received  the  title  of  "Principal  Con- 
ductor of  the  Works,"  an  office  which,  pre- 
vious to  his  arrival,  had  been  filled  by  Adoni- 
ram,  and,  according  to  Masonic  tradition, 
formed  with  Solomon  and  King  Hiram  of 
Tyre,  his  ancient  patron,  the  Supreme 
Council  of  Grand  Masters,  in  which  every 
thing  was  determined  in  relation  to  the 
construction  of  the  edifice  and  the  govern- 
ment of  the  workmen. 

The  Book  of  Constitutions,  as  it  was  edited 
by  Entick,  (p.  19,)  speaks  of  him  in  the 
following  language:  This  inspired  master 
was.  without  question,  the  most  cunning, 
skilful,  and  curious  workman  that  ever 
lived;  whose  abilities  were  not  confined  to 
building  only,  but  extended  to  all  kinds  of 
work,  whether  in  gold,  silver,  brass  or  iron  ; 
whether  in  linen,  tapestry  or  embroidery ; 
whether  considered  as  architect,  statuary, 
founder  or  designer,  separately  or  together, 
he  equally  excelled.  From  his  designs  and 
under  his  direction,  all  the  rich  and  splen- 
did furniture  of  the  Temple  and  its  several 
appendages  were  begun,   carried  on,  and 


344 


HIRAM 


HIRAM 


finished.  Solomon  appointed  him,  in  his 
absence,  to  fill  the  Chair  as  Deputy  Grand 
Master,  and  in  his  presence,  Senior  Grand 
Warden,  Master  of  Work,  and  general  over- 
seer of  all  artists,  as  well  those  whom 
David  had  formerly  procured  from  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  as  those  Hiram  should  now 
send." 

This  statement  requires  some  correction. 
According  to  the  most  consistent  systems 
and  the  general  course  of  the  traditions, 
there  were  three  Grand  Masters  at  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple,  of  whom  Hiram  Abif 
was  one,  and  hence  in  our  Lodges  he  al- 
ways receives  the  title  of  a  Grand  Master. 
We  may,  however,  reconcile  the  assertion  of 
Anderson,  that  he  was  sometimes  a  Deputy 
Grand  Master,  and  sometimes  a  Senior 
Grand  Warden,  by  supposing  that  the  three 
Grand  Masters  were,  among  the  Craft,  pos- 
sessed of  equal  authority,  and  held  in  equal 
reverence,  while  among  themselves  there 
was  an  acknowledged  subordination  of  sta- 
tion and  power.  But  in  no  way  can  the  as- 
sertion be  explained  that  he  was  at  any  time 
a  Senior  Grand  Warden,  which  would  be 
wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  symbolism 
of  the  Temple.  In  the  mythical  Master's 
Lodge,  supposed  to  have  been  held  in  the 
Temple,  and  the  only  one  ever  held  before 
its  completion,  at  which  the  three  Grand 
Masters  alone  were  present,  the  office  of 
Junior  Warden  is  assigned  to  Hiram  Abif. 
According  to  Masonic  tradition,  which  is 
in  part  supported  by  scriptural  authority, 
Hiram  was  charged  with  all  the  architec- 
tural decorations  and  interior  embellish- 
ments of  the  building.  He  cast  the  vari- 
ous vessels  and  implements  that  were  to  be 
used  in  the  religious  service  of  the  Temple, 
as  well  as  the  pillars  that  adorned  the  porch, 
selecting  as  the  most  convenient  and  ap- 
propriate place  for  the  scene  of  his  oper- 
ations, the  clay  grounds  which  extend  be- 
tween Succoth  and  Zaredatha ;  and  the  old 
lectures  state  that  the  whole  interior  of  the 
bouse,  its  posts  and  doors,  its  very  floors 
and  ceilings,  which  were  made  of  the  most 
expensive  timber,  and  overlaid  with  plates 
of  burnished  gold,  were,  by  his  exquisite 
taste,  enchased  with  magnificent  designs 
and  adorned  with  the  most  precious  gems. 
Even  the  abundance  of  these  precious 
jewels,  in  the  decorations  of  the  Temple, 
is  attributed  to  the  foresight  and  prudence 
of  Hiram  Abif;  since  a  Masonic  tradition, 
quoted  by  Dr.  Oliver,  informs  us,  that  about 
four  years  before  the  Temple  was  begun,  he, 
as  the  agent  of  the  Tyrian  king,  purchased 
some  curious  stones  from  an  Arabian  mer- 
chant, who  told  him,  upon  inquiry,  that 
they  had  been  found  by  accident  on  an 
island  in  the  Red  Sea.  By  the  permission 
of  King  Hiram,  he  investigated  the  truth 


of  this  report,  and  had  the  good  fortune  to 
discover  many  precious  gems,  and  among 
the  rest  an  abundance  of  the  topaz.  They 
were  subsequently  imported  by  the  ships  of 
Tyre  for  the  service  of  King  Solomon. 

In  allusion  to  these  labors  of  taste  and 
skill  displayed  by  the  widow's  son,  our 
lectures  say,  that  while  the  wisdom  of 
Solomon  contrived  the  fabric,  and  the 
strength  of  King  Hiram's  wealth  and  power 
supported  the  undertaking,  it  was  adorned 
by  the  beauty  of  Hiram  Abif's  curious  and 
cunning  workmanship. 

In  the  character  of  the  chief  architect  of 
the  Temple,  one  of  the  peculiarities  which 
most  strongly  attract  attention,  was  the 
systematic  manner  in  which  he  conducted 
all  the  extensive  operations  which  were 
placed  under  his  charge.  In  the  classifica- 
tion of  the  workmen,  such  arrangements 
were  made,  by  his  advice,  as  to  avoid  any 
discord  or  confusion;  and  although  about 
two  hundred  thousand  craftsmen  and  labor- 
ers were  employed,  so  complete  were  his 
arrangements,  that  the  general  harmony 
was  never  once  disturbed.  In  the  payment 
of  wages,  such  means  were,  at  his  suggestion, 
adopted,  that  every  one's  labor  was  readily 
distinguished,  and  his  defects  ascertained, 
every  attempt  at  imposition  detected,  and 
the  particular  amount  of  money  due  to 
each  workman  accurately  determined  and 
easily  paid,  so  that,  as  Webb  remarks,  "the 
disorder  and  confusion  that  might  other- 
wise have  attended  so  immense  an  under- 
taking was  completely  prevented."  It  was 
his  custom  never  to  put  off  until  to-morrow 
the  work  that  might  have  been  accomplished 
to-day,  for  he  was  as  remarkable  for  his 
punctuality  in  the  discharge  of  the  most 
trifling  duties,  as  he  was  for  his  skill  in 
performing  the  most  important.  It  was  his 
constant  habit  to  furnish  the  craftsmen 
every  morning  with  a  copy  of  the  plans 
which  he  had,  on  the  previous  afternoon, 
designed  for  their  labor  in  the  course  of  the 
ensuing  day.  As  new  designs  were  thus  fur- 
nished by  him  from  day  to  day,  any  neglect 
to  provide  the  workmen  with  them  on  each 
successive  morning  would  necessarily  have 
stopped  the  labors  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
workmen  for  that  day  ;  a  circumstance  that 
in  so  large  a  number  must  have  produced 
the  greatest  disorder  and  confusion.  Hence 
the  practice  of  punctuality  was  in  him  a 
duty  of  the  highest  obligation,  and  one 
which  could  never  for  a  moment  have  been 
neglected  without  leading  to  immediate  ob- 
servation. Such  is  the  character  of  this 
distinguished  personage,  whether  mythical 
or  not,  that  has  been  transmitted  by  the 
uninterrupted  stream  of  Masonic  tradition. 

The  trestle-board  used  by  him  in  drawing 
his  designs  is  said  to  have  been  made,  as 


HIRAM 


HIRAM 


345 


the  ancient  tablets  were,  of  wood,  and 
covered  with  a  coating  of  wax.  On  this 
coating  he  inscribed  bis  plans  with  a  pen 
or  stylus  of  steel,  which  an  old  tradition, 
preserved  by  Oliver,  says  was  found  upon 
him  when  he  was  raised,  and  ordered  by 
King  Solomon  to  be  deposited  in  tbe  centre 
of  his  monument.  Tbe  same  tradition  in- 
forms us  tbat  the  first  time  he  used  tbis 
stylus  for  any  of  the  purposes  of  the  Tem- 
ple was  on  the  morning  that  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  building  was  laid,  when  he 
drew  the  celebrated  diagram  known  as  the 
forty-seventh  problem  of  Euclid,  and  which 
gained  a  prize  that  Solomon  had  offered  on 
that  occasion.  But  this  is  so  evidently  a 
mere  myth,  invented  by  some  myth-maker 
of  the  last  century,  without  even  the  excuse 
of  a  symbolic  meaning,  that  it  has  been 
rejected  or,  at  least,  forgotten  by  the  Craft. 

Another  and  more  interesting  legend  has 
been  preserved  by  Oliver,  which  may  be 
received  as  a  mythical  symbol  of  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  duty.     It  runs  thus : 

"  It  was  the  duty  of  Hiram  Abif  to  su- 

Eerintend  the  workmen,  and  the  reports  of 
is  officers  were  always  examined  with  the 
most  scrupulous  exactness.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  day,  when  the  sun  was  rising  in 
the  east,  it  was  his  constant  custom,  before 
the  commencement  of  labor,  to  go  into  the 
Temple,  and  offer  up  his  prayers  to  Jeho- 
vah for  a  blessing  on  the  work ;  and  in  like 
manner  when  the  sun  was  setting  in  the 
west.  And  after  the  labors  of  the  day  were 
closed,  and  the  workmen  had  left  the  Tem- 
ple, he  returned  his  thanks  to  the  Great 
Architect  of  the  Universe  for  the  harmo- 
nious protection  of  the  day.  Not  content 
with  this  devout  expression  of  his  feelings, 
he  always  went  into  the  Temple  at  the 
hour  of  high  twelve,  when  the  men  were 
called  off  from  labor  to  refreshment,  to 
inspect  the  work,  to  draw  fresh  designs 
upon  the  trestle-board,  if  such  were  neces- 
sary, and  to  perform  other  scientific  labors, 
—  never  forgetting  to  consecrate  the  duties 
by  solemn  prayer.  These  religious  customs 
were  faithfulty  performed  for  the  first  six 
years  in  the  secret  recesses  of  his  Lodge, 
and  for  the  last  year  in  the  precincts  of  the 
most  holy  place." 

While  assiduously  engaged  in  the  dis- 
charge of  these  arduous  duties,  seven  years 
passed  rapidly  away,  and  the  magnificent 
Temple  at  Jerusalem  was  nearly  completed. 
The  Fraternity  were  about  to  celebrate  the 
cope-stone  with  the  greatest  demonstrations 
of  joy ;  but,  in  the  language  of  the  vener- 
able Book  of  Constitutions,  "  their  joy  was 
soon  interrupted  by  the  sudden  death  of 
their  dear  and  worthy  master,  Hiram  Abif." 
On  the  very  day  appointed  for  celebrating 
the  cope-stone  of  the  building,  says  one 
2  T 


tradition,  he  repaired  to  his  usual  place  of 
retirement  at  the  meridian  hour,  and  did 
not  return  alive.  On  this  subject  we  can 
say  no  more.  This  is  neither  the  time  nor 
the  place  to  detail  the  particulars  of  his 
death.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  circum- 
stance filled  the  Craft  with  the  most  pro- 
found grief,  which  was  deeply  shared  by 
his  friend  and  patron,  King  Solomon,  who, 
according  to  the  Book  of  Constitutions, 
"after  some  time  allowed  to  the  Craft  to 
vent  their  sorrow,  ordered  his  obsequies  to 
be  performed  with  great  solemnity  and  de- 
cency, and  buried  him  in  the  Lodge  near 
the  Temple,  —  according  to  the  ancient 
usages  among  Masons, — and  long  mourned 
his  loss." 

Hiramites.  In  the  degree  of  Patri- 
arch Noachites,  the  legend  is,  that  the  Ma- 
sons of  that  degree  are  descended  from  Noah 
through  Peleg.  Distinguishing  themselves, 
therefore,  as  Noachites,  they  call  the  Masons 
of  the  other  degrees  Hiramites,  as  being 
descended  from  Hiram  Abif.  The  word  is 
not  elsewhere  used. 

Hiram,  King  of  Tyre.  He  was 
the  son  of  Abibal,  and  the  contemporary  of 
both  David  and  Solomon.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  former's  reign,  he  sent  messen- 
gers to  him,  and  Hiram  supplied  the 
Israelitish  king  with  "  cedar-trees,  and  car- 
penters, and  masons :  and  they  built  David 
a  house."  (2  Sam.  v.  11.)  Nearly  forty 
years  afterwards,  when  Solomon  ascended 
the  throne  and  began  to  prepare  for  build- 
ing the  Temple,  he  sent  to  the  old  friend 
of  his  father  for  the  same  kind  of  assist- 
ance. The  king  of  Tyre  gave  a  favorable 
response,  and  sent  workmen  and  materials 
to  Jerusalem,  by  the  aid  of  which  Solomon 
was  enabled  to  carry  out  his  great  design. 
Historians  celebrate  the  friendly  intercourse 
of  these  monarchs,  and  Josephus  says  that 
the  correspondence  between  them  in  respect 
to  the  building  of  the  Temple  was,  in  his 
days,  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  king- 
dom of  Tyre.  The  answer  of  Hiram  to  the 
application  of  Solomon  is  given  in  the  first 
Book  of  Kings  (v.  8,  9,)  in  the  following 
language:  "I  will  do  all  thy  desire  con- 
cerning timber  of  cedar  and  timber  of  fir. 
My  servants  shall  bring  them  down  from 
Lebanon  unto  the  sea;  and  I  will  convey 
them  by  sea  in  floats  unto  tbe  place  that 
thou  shalt  appoint  me,  and  will  cause  them 
to  be  discharged  there,  and  thou  shalt  re- 
ceive them ;  and  thou  shalt  accomplish  my 
desire  in  giving  food  for  my  household." 
In  return  for  this  kindness,  Solomon  gave 
Hiram  20,000  measures,  or  corim,  of  wheat 
and  the  same  quantity  of  oil,  which  was 
nearly  200,000  bushels  of  one  and  1,500,000 
gallons  of  the  other ;  an  almost  incredible 
amount,   but    not  disproportioned  to  the 


346 


HIRAM 


HO-HI 


magnificent  expenditure  of  the  Temple  in 
other  respects.  After  Solomon  had  finished 
his  work,  he  presented  the  king  of  Tyre 
with  twenty  towns  in  Galilee;  but  when 
Hiram  viewed  these  places,  he  was  so  dis- 
satisfied with  their  appearance  that  he  called 
them  the  land  of  Cabul,  —  which  signifies 
barren,  desolate,  —  saying  reproachfully  to 
Solomon,  "Are  these,  my  brother,  the 
towns  which  you  have  given  me?"  On 
this  incident  the  Scottish  Rite  Masons  have 
founded  their  sixth  degree,  or  Intimate  Sec- 
retary. 

Hiram  appears,  like  Solomon,  to  have 
been  disposed  to  mysticism,  for  Dius  and 
Menander,  two  Greek  historians,  tell  us 
that  the  two  kings  proposed  enigmas  to 
each  other  for  solution.  Dius  says  that 
Solomon  first  sent  some  to  Hiram  ;  and  that 
the  latter  king,  being  unable  to  solve  them, 
paid  a  large  sum  of  money  as  a  forfeit,  but 
that  afterwards  he  explained  them  with  the 
assistance  of  one  Abdemon;  and  that  he  in 
turn  proposed  some  to  Solomon,  who,  not 
being  able  to  solve  them,  paid  a  much 
greater  sum  to  Hiram  than  he  had  himself 
received  on  the  like  occasion. 

The  connection  of  the  king  of  Tyre  with 
king  Solomon  in  the  construction  of  the 
Temple  has  given  him  a  great  importance 
in  the  legendary  history  of  Masonry.  An- 
derson says,  "  The  tradition  is  that  King 
Hiram  had  been  Grand  Master  of  all  Ma- 
sons ;  but  when  the  Temple  was  finished, 
Hiram  came  to  survey  it  before  its  conse- 
cration, and  to  commune  with  Solomon 
about  wisdom  and  art ;  and  finding  that 
the  Great  Architect  of  the  Universe  had 
inspired  Solomon  above  all  mortal  men, 
Hiram  very  readily  yielded  the  pre-emi- 
nence to  Solomon  Jedediah,  the  beloved  of 
God."  He  is  called  in  the  rituals  one  of 
our  "  Ancient  Grand  Masters,"  and  when 
the  mythical  Master's  Lodge  was  held  in 
the  Temple  is  supposed  to  have  acted  as 
the  Senior  Warden.  It  is  said,  too,  that 
in  the  symbolic  supports  of  Masonry  he 
represented  the  pillar  of  strength,  because 
"  by  his  power  and  wealth  he  assisted  the 
great  undertaking"  of  constructing  the 
Temple.  He  is  reported,  also,  to  have 
visited  Jerusalem  several  times  (a  fact  on 
which  profane  history  is  silent)  for  the 
purpose  of  consultation  with  Solomon  and 
his  great  architect  on  the  symbolism  of  the 
Word,  and  to  have  been  present  at  the 
time  of  the  death  of  the  latter.  Many 
other  legends  are  related  of  him  in  the 
Master's  degree  and  those  connected  with 
it,  but  he  is  lost  sight  of  after  the  comple- 
tion of  the  first  Temple,  and  is  seldom  heard 
of  in  the  high  degrees. 

Hiram  Ike  Builder.  See  Hiram 
Abif. 


Hirschau,  Wilhelm  Ton.     The 

Abbot  Wilhelm  von  Hirschau,  Count  Pal- 
atine of  Scheuren,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
founder,  at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  centu- 
ry, of  the  German  Bauhutten.  Having  been 
previously  the  Master  of  the  Bauhutte,  or 
Lodge  of  St.  Emmerau,  in  Ratisbon,  when 
he  became  Abbot  of  Hirschau,  he  col- 
lected together  in  1080-1091  the  Masons 
for  the  purpose  of  enlarging  the  convent. 
He  incorporated  the  workmen,  says  Findel, 
[Hist,  p.  54,)  with  the  monastery,  as  lay 
brethren,  and  greatly  promoted  their  in- 
struction and  general  improvement.  Their 
social  life  was  regulated  by  special  laws ; 
and  the  one  most  frequently  inculcated  by 
him  was  that  brotherly  concord  should  pre- 
vail, because  only  by  working  together  and 
lovingly  uniting  all  their  strength  would 
it  be  possible  to  accomplish  such  great 
works  as  were  these  undertakings  for  the 
public  benefit. 

H.\  K.\  T.\  The  abbreviation  of 
Hiram,  King  of  Tyre. 

Blo-hi.  A  combination  of  the  two  He- 
brew pronouns  1,~J,  ho,  meaning  "he,"  and 
*JX  hi,  meaning  "she;"  thus  mystically 
representing  the  twofold  sex  of  the  Creator, 
and  obtained  by  a  Kabbalistic  transposition 
or  inversion  of  the  letters  of  the  Tetragram- 
maton,  HIIT  or  IHOH.  HO-HI,  therefore, 
thus  Kabbalistically  obtained,  denotes  the 
male  and  female  principle,  the  vis  genitrix, 
the  phallus  and  lingam,  the  point  within  the 
circle ;  the  notion  of  which,  in  some  one 
form  or  another  of  this  double  gender,  per- 
vades all  the  ancient  systems  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  creative  power. 

Thus,  one  of  the  names  given  by  the  my- 
thological writers  to  the  Supreme  Jupiter 
was  appevoOrjXvg,  the  man-woman.  In  one 
of  the  Orphic  hymns  we  find  the  following 
line: 

Zev(  aporjv,  ytvtro,  Zcvs  ap/?poru?  irXtro  w/ify. 
Jove  is  a  male,  Jove  is  an  immortal  virgin. 

And  Plutarch,  in  his  Isis  and  Osiris,  says, 
"  God,  who  is  a  male  and  female  intelli- 
gence, being  both  life  and  light,  brought 
forth  another  intelligence,  the  Creator  of 
the  world."  All  the  Pagan  gods  and  god- 
desses, however  various  their  appellation, 
were  but  different  expressions  for  the  male 
and  female  principle.  "  In  fact,"  says 
Russel,  "they  may  all  be  included  in  the 
one  great  Hermaphrodite,  the  a'ppevoftrjlvq, 
who  combines  in  his  nature  all  the  ele- 
ments of  production,  and  who  continues  to 
support  the  vast  creation  which  originally 
proceeded  from  his  will."  And  thus,  too, 
may  we  learn  something  of  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  passage  in  Genesis,  (i.  27,)  where 
it  is  said,  "  So  God  created  man  in  his  own 


HOLINESS 


HOLY 


347 


image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him ; 
male  and  female  created  he  them." 

For  the  suggestion  of  this  working  of 
Ho-hi  out  of  Ih-ho,  I  was  many  years 
ago  indebted  to  my  learned  and  lamented 
friend,  George  R.  Gliddon,  the  great  Egyp- 
tologist, who  had  obtained  it  from  the  writ- 
ings of  Lanzi,  the  Italian  antiquary. 

Holiness  to  the  Lord.  In  Hebrew, 
mrr1?  BHp,  KODESH  LAYEHOVAH.  It 
was  the  'inscription  on  the  plate  of  gold 
that  was  placed  in  front  of  the  high  priest's 
mitre.  The  letters  were  in  the  ancient  Sa- 
maritan character. 

Holland.    See  Netherlands. 

Holy  Ghost,  Knight  of  the.  See 
Knight  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Holy  Ground.  A  Masonic  Lodge  is 
said  to  be  held  on  holy  ground,  according 
to  the  Prestonian  lecture,  because  the  first 
regularly  constituted  Lodge  was  held  on 
that  holy,  consecrated  ground  wherein  the 
first  three  grand  offerings  were  made,  which 
afterwards  met  with  Divine  approbation. 
See  Ground-Floor  of  the  Lodge. 

Holy  Lodge.  The  old  lectures  of 
the  last  century  taught  symbolically  that 
there  were  three  Lodges  opened  at  three 
different  periods  in  Masonic  history ;  these 
were  the  Holy  Lodge,  the  Sacred  Lodge, 
and  the  Royal  Lodge.  The  Holy  Lodge 
was  opened  in  the  tabernacle  in  the  wil- 
derness, and  over  it  presided  Moses,  Aho- 
liab,  and  Bezaleei ;  the  Sacred  Lodge  was 
opened  on  Mount  Moriah  during  the  build- 
ing of  the  first  Temple,  and  was  presided 
over  by  Solomon,  King  of  Israel,  Hiram, 
King  of  Tyre,  and  Hiram  the  Builder;  the 
Royal  Lodge  was  opened  among  the  ruins 
of  the  first  Temple,  at  the  building  of  the 
second,  and  was  presided  over  by  Joshua, 
Zerubbabel,  and  Haggai.  Though  pre- 
sented as  a  tradition,  it  is  really  only  a 
symbol  intended  to  illustrate  three  impor- 
tant events  in  the  progress  of  Masonic 
science. 

Holy  Name.  Freemasonry  teaches, 
in  all  its  symbols  and  rituals,  a  reverence 
for  the  name  of  God,  which  is  emphatically 
called  the  "  Holy  Name."  In  the  prayer 
"  Ahabath  Olam,"  first  introduced  by  Der- 
mott,  it  is  said,  "  because  we  trusted  in  thy 
holy,  great,  mighty,  and  terrible  Name;" 
and  in  the  introductory  prayer  of  the  Royal 
Arch,  according  to  the  American  system, 
similar  phraseology  is  employed :  "  Teach 
us,  we  pray  thee,  the  true  reverence  of  thy 
great,  mighty,  and  terrible  Name."  The 
expression,  if  not  the  sentiment,  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  Hebrew  mysteries. 

Holy  of  Holies.  Every  student  of 
Jewish  antiquities  knows,  and  every  Mason 
who  has  taken  the  third  degree  ought  to 
know,  what  was  the  peculiar  construction, 


character,  and  uses  of  the  Sanctum  Sanc- 
torum or  Holy  of  Holies  in  King  Solomon's 
Temple.  Situated  in  the  western  end  of 
the  Temple,  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
building  by  a  heavy  curtain,  and  enclosed 
on  three  sides  by  dead  walls  without  any 
aperture  or  window,  it  contained  the  sacred 
ark  of  the  covenant,  and  was  secluded  and 
set  apart  from  all  intrusion  save  of  the 
high  priest,  who  only  entered  it  on  certain 
solemn  occasions.  As  it  was  the  most 
sacred  of  the  three  parts  of  the  Temple,  so 
has  it  been  made  symbolic  of  a  Master's 
Lodge,  in  which  are  performed  the  most 
sacred  rites  of  initiation  in  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry. 

But  as  modern  hierologists  have  found  in 
all  the  Hebrew  rites  and  ceremonies  the 
traces  of  more  ancient  mysteries,  from 
which  they  seem  to  have  been  derived,  or 
on  which  they  have  been  modified,  whence 
we  trace  also  to  the  same  mysteries  most  of 
the  Masonic  forms  which,  of  course,  are 
more  immediately  founded  on  the  Jewish 
Scriptures,  so  we  shall  find  in  the  ancient 
Gentile  temples  the  type  of  this  same  Sanc- 
tum Sanctorum  or  Holy  of  Holies,  under 
the  name  of  Adyton  or  Adytum.  And  what 
is  more  singular,  we  shall  find  a  greater  re- 
semblance between  this  Adytum  of  the 
Pagan  temples  and  the  Lodge  of  Master 
Masons,  than  we  will  discover  between  the 
latter  and  the  Sanctum  Sanctorum  of  the 
Solomonic  Temple.  It  will  be  curious  and 
interesting  to  trace  this  resemblance,  and  to 
follow  up  the  suggestions  that  it  offers  in 
reference  to  the  antiquity  of  Masonic  rites. 

The  Adytum  was  the  most  retired  and 
secret  part  of  the  ancient  Gentile  temple, 
into  which,  as  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  of 
the  Jewish  Temple,  the  people  were,  not 
permitted  to  enter,  but  which  was  acces- 
sible only  to  the  priesthood.  And  hence  the 
derivation  of  the  word  from  the  Greek 
Adoein,  "  not  to  enter,"  "  that  which  it  is 
not  permitted  to  enter."  Seclusion  and 
mystery  were  always  characteristic  of  the 
Adytum,  and  therefore,  like  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  it  never  admitted  of  windows. 

In  the  Adytum  was  to  be  found  a  taphos 
or  tomb,  and  some  relic  or  image  or  statue 
of  the  god  to  whom  the  temple  was  dedicated. 
The  tomb  reminds  us  of  the  characteristic 
feature  of  the  third  degree  of  Masonry ;  the 
image  or  statue  of  the  god  finds  its  analogue 
in  the  ark  of  the  covenant  and  the  over- 
shadowing cherubim. 

It  being  supposed  that  temples  owed  their 
first  origin  to  the  reverence  paid  by  the 
ancients  to  their  deceased  friends,  and  as  it 
was  an  accepted  theory  that  the  gods  were 
once  men  who  had  been  deified  on  account 
of  their  heroic  virtues,  temples  were,  per- 
haps, in  the  beginning  only  stately  monu- 


348 


HOLY 


HONORARY 


ments  erected  in  honor  of  the  dead.  Hence 
the  interior  of  the  temple  was  originally 
nothing  more  than  a  cell  or  cavity,  that  is 
to  say,  a  grave  regarded  as  a  place  of  de- 
posit for  the  reception  of  a  person  interred, 
and,  therefore,  in  it  was  to  be  found  the 
soros  or  coffin,  and  the  taphos  or  tomb,  or, 
among  the  Scandinavians,  the  barrow  or 
mound  grave.  In  time  the  statue  or  image 
of  a  god  took  the  place  of  the  coffin ;  but 
the  reverence  for  the  spot,  as  one  of  peculiar 
sanctity,  remained,  and  this  interior  part 
of  the  temple  became  among  the  Greeks 
the  sekos  or  chapel,  among  the  Romans 
the  Adytum  or  forbidden  place,  and  among 
the  Jews  the  kodesh  kodashim,  or  Holy  of 
Holies. 

"  The  sanctity  thus  acquired,"  says  Dud- 
ley in  his  Naology,  (p.  393,)  "  by  the  cell 
of  interment  might  readily  and  with  pro- 
priety be  assigned  to  any  fabric  capable  of 
containing  the  body  of  the  departed  friend, 
or  relic,  or  even  the  symbol  of  the  presence 
or  existence,  of  a  divine  personage."  And 
thus  it  happened  that  there  was  in  every 
ancient  temple  an  Adytum  or  most  holy 
place. 

There  was  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  the 
Jewish  Temple,  it  is  true,  no  tomb  nor  coffin 
containing  the  relics  of  the  dead.  But  there 
was  an  ark  of  the  covenant  which  was  the 
recipient  of  the  rod  of  Aaron,  and  the  pot 
of  manna,  which  might  well  be  considered 
the  relics  of  the  past  life  of  the  Jewish 
nation  in  the  wilderness.  There  was  an 
analogy  easily  understood  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  science  of  symbolism. 
There  was  no  statue  or  image  of  a  god,  but 
there  were  the  sacred  cherubim,  and,  above 
all,  the  Shekinah  or  Divine  Presence,  and 
the  bathkol  or  voice  of  God. 

But  when  Masonry  established  its  system 
partly  on  the  ancient  rites  and  partly  on 
the  Jewish  ceremonies,  it  founded  its  third 
degree  as  the  Adytum  or  holy  of  holies  of 
all  its  mysteries,  the  exclusive  place  into 
which  none  but  the  most  worthy  —  the 
priesthood  of  Masonry  —  the  Masters  in 
Israel  —  were  permitted  to  enter;  and  then 
going  back  to  the  mortuary  idea  of  the  an- 
cient temple,  it  recognized  the  reverence  for 
the  dead  which  constitutes  the  peculiar 
characteristic  of  that  degree.  And,  there- 
fore, in  every  Lodge  of  Master  Masons  there 
should  be  found,  either  actually  or  alle- 
gorically,  a  grave,  or  tomb,  and  coffin,  be- 
cause the  third  degree  is  the  inmost  sanc- 
tuary, the  kodesh  kodashim,  the  Holy  of 
Holies  of  the  Masonic  temple. 

Holy  Place.  Called  also  the  sanc- 
tuary. It  was  that  part  of  the  Temple  of 
Solomon  which  was  situated  between  the 
Porch  and  the  Holy  of  Holies.  It  was  ap- 
propriated to  the  purposes  of  daily  worship, 


and  contained  the  altars  and  utensils  used 
in  that  service.  It  has  no  symbolic  mean- 
ing in  Masonry;  although  really,  as  it 
occupied  the  ground-floor  of  the  Temple, 
it  might  be  properly  considered  as  repre- 
sented by  an  Entered  Apprentice's  Lodge, 
that  is  to  say,  by  the  Lodge  when  occupied 
in  the  ceremonies  of  the  first  degree. 

Holy  Sepulchre,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Holy  Sejmlchre. 

Honorable.  This  was  the  title  for- 
merly given  to  the  degree  of  Fellow  Craft. 

Honorarium.  When  a  degree  of 
Masonry  is  conferred  honoris  causa,  that  is, 
as  a  mark  of  respect,  and  without  the  pay- 
ment of  a  fee,  it  is  said  to  be  conferred  as  an 
honorarium.  This  is  seldom  done  in  An- 
cient Craft  Masonry  ;  but  it  is  not  unusual 
in  the  high  degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite, 
which  are  sometimes  bestowed  by  Inspect- 
ors on  distinguished  Masons  as  an  honora- 
rium. 

Honorary  Degrees.  1.  The  Mark 
Master's  degree  in  the  American  system  is 
called  the  Honorary  degree  of  Mark  Mas- 
ter," because  it  is  traditionally  supposed  to 
have  been  conferred  in  the  Temple  upon 
a  portion  of  the  Fellow  Crafts  as  a  mark 
of  honor  and  of  trust.  The  degrees  of  Past 
Master  and  of  High  Priesthood  are  also 
styled  honorary,  because  each  is  conferred 
as  an  honorarium  or  reward  attendant  upon 
certain  offices ;  that  of  Past  Master  upon 
the  elected  Master  of  a  symbolic  Lodge, 
and  that  of  High  Priesthood  upon  the 
elected  High  Priest  of  a  Chapter  of  Royal 
Arch  Masons. 

2.  Those  degrees  which  are  outside  of 
the  regular  series,  and  which  are  more  com- 
monly known  by  the  epithet  "  side  degrees," 
are  also  sometimes  called  honorary  degrees, 
because  no  fee  is  usually  exacted  for  them. 

Honorary  Masons.  A  schismatic 
body  which  arose  soon  after  the  revival  in 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  members  of  which  rejected  the  estab- 
lished formula  of  an  obligation,  and  bound 
themselves  to  secrecy  and  obedience  by  a 
pledge  of  honor  only.  Like  the  Gregorians 
and  the  Gormogons,  who  arose  about  the 
same  time,  they  soon  died  a  natural  death. 
A  song  of  theirs,  preserved  in  Carey's  Mu- 
sical Century,  is  almost  the  only  record  left 
of  their  existence. 

Honorary  Members.  It  is  a  cus- 
tom in  some  Lodges  to  invest  distinguished 
Masons  with  the  rank  and  title  of  honorary 
membership.  This  confers  upon  them,  as 
the  by-laws  may  prescribe,  sometimes  all 
the  rights  of  active  membership  and  some- 
times only  the  right  of  speaking,  but  al- 
ways without  the  exaction  of  annual  dues. 
Nor  does  honorary  membership  subject  the 
person  receiving  it  to  the  discipline  of  the 


HONORARY 


HONORS 


349 


Lodge  further  than  to  a  revocation  of  the 
honor  bestowed.  The  custom  of  electing 
honorary  members  is  a  usage  of  very  mod- 
ern date,  and  has  not  the  sanction  of  the 
old  Constitutions.  It  is  common  in  France ; 
less  so,  but  not  altogether  unknown,  in 
America  and  England.  Oliver,  in  the  title 
of  one  of  his  works,  claimed  honorary  mem- 
bership in  more  than  nine  Lodges.  It  may 
be  considered  unobjectionable  as  a  method 
of  paying  respect  to  distinguished  merit  and 
Masonic  services,  when  it  is  viewed  only 
as  a  local  regulation,  and  does  not  attempt 
to  interfere  with  Masonic  discipline.  A 
Mason  who  is  expelled  forfeits,  of  course, 
with  his  active  membership  in  his  own 
Lodge,  his  honorary  membership  in  other 
Lodges. 

Honorary  Thirty  -  Thirds.  The 
Supreme  Councils  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite  in  this  country  have, 
within  a  few  years  past,  adopted  the  cus- 
tom of  electing  honorary  members,  who 
are  sometimes  called  "  Honorary  Thirty- 
Thirds."  They  possess  none  of  the  rights 
of  Inspectors  General  or  Active  Members, 
except  that  of  being  present  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Council,  and  taking  part  to  a 
limited  extent  in  its  deliberations. 

Honors,  Grand.  The  Grand  Honors 
of  Masonry  are  those  peculiar  acts  and  ges- 
tures by  which  the  Craft  have  always  been 
accustomed  to  express  their  homage,  their 
joy,  or  their  grief  on  memorable  occasions. 
In  the  Symbolic  degrees  of  the  American 
Rite,  they  are  of  two  kinds,  the  private  and 
public,  which  are  used  on  different  occa- 
sions and  for  different  purposes. 

The  private  Grand  Honors  of  Masonry 
are  performed  in  a  manner  known  only  to 
Master  Masons,  since  they  can  only  be  used 
in  a  Master's  Lodge.  They  are  practised 
by  the  Craft  only  on  four  occasions :  when 
a  Masonic  hall  is  to  be  consecrated,  a  new 
Lodge  to  be  constituted,  a  Master  elect  to 
be  installed,  or  a  Grand  Master,  or  his 
Deputy,  to  be  received  on  an  official  visita- 
tion to  a  Lodge.  They  are  used  at  all  these 
ceremonies  as  tokens  of  congratulation  and 
homage.  And  as  they  can  only  be  given 
by  Master  Masons,  it  is  evident  that  every 
consecration  of  a  hall,  or  constitution  of  a 
new  Lodge,  every  installation  of  a  Wor- 
shipful Master,  and  every  reception  of  a 
Grand  Master,  must  be  done  in  the  third 
degree.  It  is  also  evident,  from  what  has 
been  said,  that  the  mode  and  manner  of 
giving  the  private  Grand  Honors  can  only 
be  personally  communicated  to  Master  Ma- 
sons. They  are  among  the  aporrheta  —  the 
things  forbidden  to  be  divulged. 

The  public  Grand  Honors,  as  their  name 
imports,  do  not  partake  of  this  secret  char- 
acter.    They  are  given  ou  all  public  occa- 


sions, in  the  presence  of  the  profane  as  well 
as  the  initiated.  They  are  used  at  the  lay- 
ing of  corner-stones  of  public  buildings,  or 
in  other  services  in  which  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  Fraternity  are  required,  and 
especially  in  funerals.  They  are  given  in 
the  following  manner:  Both  arms  are 
crossed  on  the  breast,  the  left  uppermost, 
and  the  open  palms  of  the  hands  sharply 
striking  the  shoulders ;  they  are  then  raised 
above  the  head,,  the  palms  striking  each 
other,  and  then  made  to  fall  smartly  upon 
the  thighs.  This  is  repeated  three  times, 
and  as  there  are  three  blows  given  each 
time,  namely,  on  the  breast,  on  the  palms 
of  the  hands,  and  on  the  thighs,  making 
nine  concussions  in  all,  the  Grand  Honors 
are  technically  said  to  be  given  "  by  three 
times  three."  On  the  occasion  of  funerals, 
each  one  of  these  honors  is  accompanied 
by  the  words,  "the  will  of  God  is  accom- 
plished; so  mote  it  be"  audibly  pronounced 
by  the  brethren. 

These  Grand  Honors  of  Masonry  have 
undoubtedly  a  classical  origin,  and  are  but 
an  imitation  of  the  plaudits  and  acclama- 
tions practised  by  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans  in  their  theatres,  their  senates, 
and  their  public  games.  There  is  abun- 
dant evidence  in  the  writings  of  the  an- 
cients, that  in  the  days  of  the  empire,  the 
Romans  had  circumscribed  the  mode  of 
doing  homage  to  their  emperors  and  great 
men  when  they  made  their  appearance  in 
public,  and  of  expressing  their  approbation 
of  actors  at  the  theatre,  within  as  explicit 
rules  and  regulations  as  those  that  govern 
the  system  of  giving  the  Grand  Honors  in 
Freemasonry.  This  was  not  the  case  in  the 
earlier  ages  of  Rome,  for  Ovid,  speaking  of 
the  Sabines,  says  that  when  they  applauded, 
they  did  so  without  any  rules  of  art : 

"  In  medio  plausu,  plausus  tunc  arte  carebat." 

And  Propertius  speaks,  at  a  later  day,  of 
the  ignorance  of  the  country  people,  who, 
at  the  theatres,  destroyed  the  general  har- 
mony by  their  awkward  attempts  to  join 
in  the  modulated  applauses  of  the  more 
skilful  citizens. 

The  ancient  Romans  had  carried  their 
science  on  this  subject  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  have  divided  these  honors  into  three 
kinds,  differing  from  each  other  in  the 
mode  in  which  the  hands  were  struck 
against  each  other,  and  in  the  sound  that 
thence  resulted.  Suetonius,  in  his  life  of 
Nero,  (cap.  xx.,)  gives  the  names  of  these 
various  kinds  of  applause,  which  he  says 
were  called  bombi,  imbrices,  testoz  ;  and  Sen- 
eca, in  his  Naturales  Qucestiones,  gives  a  de- 
scription of  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
executed.  The  "bombi,"  or  hums,  were 
produced  by  striking  the   palms   of  the 


350 


HOODWINK 


HOSPITALLER 


hands  together,  while  they  were  in  a  hol- 
low or  concave  position,  and  doing  this  at 
frequent  intervals,  but  with  little  force,  so 
as  to  imitate  the  humming  sound  of  a  swarm 
of  bees.  The  "  imbrices,"  or  tiles,  were 
made  by  briskly  striking  the  flattened  and 
extended  palms  of  the  hands  against  each 
other,  so  as  to  resemble  the  sound  of  hail 
pattering  upon  the  tiles  of  a  roof.  The 
"  testa?,"  or  earthen  vases,  were  executed  by 
striking  the  palm  of  the  left  hand,  with  the 
fingers  of  the  right  collected  into  one  point. 
By  this  blow  a  sound  was  elicited  which 
imitated  that  given  out  by  an  earthen  vase 
when  struck  by  a  stick. 

The  Romans,  and  other  ancient  nations, 
having  invested  this  system  of  applauding 
with  all  the  accuracy  of  a  science,  used  it 
in  its  various  forms,  not  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  testifying  their  approbation  of  act- 
ors in  the  theatre,  but  also  bestowed  it,  as 
a  mark  of  respect  or  a  token  of  adulation, 
on  their  emperors,  and  other  great  men,  on 
the  occasion  of  their  making  their  appear- 
ance in  public.  Huzzas  and  cheers  have, 
in  this  latter  case,  been  generally  adopted 
by  the  moderns,  while  the  manual  applause 
is  only  appropriated  to  successful  public 
speakers  and  declaimers.  The  Freemasons, 
however,  have  altogether  preserved  the 
ancient  custom  of  applause,  guarding  and 
regulating  its  use  by  as  strict,  though  dif- 
ferent rules  as  did  the  Romans ;  and  thus 
showing,  as  another  evidence  of  the  anti- 
quity of  their  Institution,  that  the  "Grand 
Honors  "  of  Freemasonry  are  legitimately 
derived  from  the  "  plausus,"  or  applaud- 
ings,  practised  by  the  ancients  on  public 
occasions. 

In  the  higher  degrees,  and  in  other  Rites, 
the  Grand  Honors  are  different  from  those 
of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry  in  the  American 
Rite. 

^  Hoodwink.  A  symbol  of  the  secrecy, 
silence,  and  darkness  in  which  the  myste- 
ries of  our  art  should  be  preserved  from  the 
unhallowed  gaze  of  the  profane.  It  has 
been  supposed  to  have  a  symbolic  reference 
to  the  passage  in  St.  John's  Gospel,  (i.  5,) 
"  And  the  light  shineth  in  darkness ;  and 
the  darkness  comprehended  it  not."  But 
it  is  more  certain  that  there  is  in  the  hood- 
wink a  representation  of  the  mystical  dark- 
ness whicn  always  preceded  the  rites  of  the 
ancient  initiations. 

Hope.  The  9t*;ond  round  in  the  theo- 
logical and  Masonic  ladder,  and  symbolic 
of  a  hope  in  immortality.  It  is  appropri- 
ately placed  there,  for,  having  attained  the 
first,  or  faith  in  God,  we  are  led  by  a  belief 
in  his  wisdom  and  goodness  to  the  hope  of 
immortality.  This  is  but  a  reasonable  ex- 
pectation ;  without  it,  virtue  would  lose  its 
necessary  stimulus  and  vice  its  salutary 


fear ;  life  would  be  devoid  of  joy,  and  the 
grave  but  a  scene  of  desolation.  The  an- 
cients represented  Hope  by  a  nymph  hold- 
inginher  hand  a  bouquet  of  opening  flowers, 
indicative  of  the  coming  fruit ;  but  in  mod- 
ern and  Masonic  iconology  it  is  represent- 
ed by  a  virgin  leaning  on  an  anchor,  the 
anchor  itself  being  a  symbol  of  hope. 

Hope  Manuscript.  A  manuscript 
copy  of  the  old  Constitutions,  which  is  in 
the  possession  of  the  Lodge  of  Hope  at 
Bradford,  in  England.  The  parchment 
roll  on  which  this  Constitution  is  written  is 
six  feet  long  and  six  inches  wide,  and  is 
defaced  and  worn  away  at  the  lower  edge. 
It  is  considered  a  very  important  manu- 
script. Its  date  is  supposed  to  be  about 
1680.  From  a  transcript  in  the  possession 
of  Bro.  A.  F.  A.  Woodford,  whose  correct- 
ness is  certified  to  by  the  Master  of  the 
Lodge,  Bro.  Hughan  first  published  it  in 
his  Old  Charges  of  the  British  Freemasons. 

Horn  of  Plenty.  The  jewel  of  the 
Steward  of  a  Lodge.  See  Cornucopia. 
Horns  of  the  Altar.  In  the  Jewish 
Temple,  the  altars  of 
burnt-offering  and  of 
incense  had  each  at 
the  four  corners  four 
horns  of  shittim  wood. 
Among  the  Jews,  as 
well  as  all  oth^r  an- 
cient peoples,  the  al- 
tar was  considered 
peculiarly  holy  and 
privileged ;  an  y.  hence, 
when  a  criminal,  flee- 
ing, took  hold  of  these  horns,  he  found  an 
asylum  and  safety.  As  the  Masonic  altar 
is  a  representation  of  the  altar  of  the  Solo- 
monic member,  it  should  be  constructed 
with  these  horns ;  and  Cross  has  very  prop- 
erly so  represented  it  in  his  Hieroglyphic 
Chart. 

Hoschea.  The  word  of  acclamation 
used  by  the  French  Masons  of  the  Scottish 
Rite.  In  some  of  the  Cahiers  it  is  spelled 
Ozee.  It  is,  I  think,  a  corruption  of  the 
word  huzza,  which  is  used  by  the  English 
and  American  Masons  of  the  same  Rite. 

Hospitality.  This  virtue  has  always 
been  highly  esteemed  among  Masons. 
Nothing  is  more  usual  in  diplomas  or  cer- 
tificates than  to  recommend  the  bearer  "to 
the  hospitality  of  all  the  brethren  where- 
soever dispersed  over  the  globe ;  "  a  recom- 
mendation that  is  seldom  disregarded.  All 
of  the  old  Constitutions  detail  the  practice 
of  hospitality,  as  one  of  the  duties  of  the 
Craft,  in  language  like  this :  "  Every  Mason 
shall  receive  and  cherish  strange  fellowes 
when  they  come  over  the  countreye." 

Hospitaller,  Knight.  See  Knight 
Hospitaller. 


HOSPITALLERS 


HU 


351 


Hospitallers  of  Jerusalem.    In 

the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  some 
merchants  of  Amalfi,  a  rich  city  of  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  while  trading  in  Egypt, 
obtained  from  the  Caliph  Monstaser  Billah 
permission  to  establish  hospitals  in  the  city 
of  Jerusalem  for  the  use  of  poor  and  sick 
Catholic  pilgrims.  A  site  was  assigned  to 
them  close  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  on  which 
they  erected  a  chapel  dedicated  to  the  Vir- 
gin, giving  it  the  name  of  St.  Mary  ad  Lat- 
inos, to  distinguish  it  from  those  churches 
where  the  service  was  performed  according 
to  the  Greek  ritual.  The  building  was 
completed  in  the  year  1048;  and  at  the 
same  time  two  hospitals,  one  for  either  sex, 
were  erected  in  the  vicinity  of  the  chapel 
for  the  reception  of  pilgrims.  Subsequently 
each  of  these  hospitals  had  a  separate 
chapel  annexed  to  it ;  that  for  the  men  be- 
ing dedicated  to  St.  John  the  Almoner,  and 
that  for  the  women  to  St.  Mary  Magdalen. 
Many  of  the  pilgrims,  who  had  experienced 
the  kindness  so  liberally  bestowed  upon  all 
wayfarers,  abandoned  all  idea  of  returning 
to  Europe,  and  formed  themselves  into  a 
band  of  charitable  assistants,  and,  without 
assuming  any  regular,  religious  profession, 
devoted  themselves  to  the  service  of  the 
hospital  and  the  care  of  its  sick  inmates. 
The  chief  cities  of  the  south  of  Europe 
subscribed  liberally  for  the  support  of  this 
institution;  and  the  merchants  of  Amalfi 
who  were  its  original  founders  acted  as  the 
stewards  of  their  bounty,  which  was  greatly 
augmented  from  the  favorable  reports  of 
grateful  pilgrims  who  had  returned  home, 
and  the  revenues  of  the  hospital  were  thus 
much  increased.  The  associates  assumed 
the  name  of  Hospitallers  of  Jerusalem. 
Afterwards,  taking  up  arms  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  holy  places  against  the  Saracens, 
they  called  themselves  Knights  Hospital- 
lers, a  title  which  they  subsequently  changed 
to  that  of  Knights  of  Rhodes,  and  finally 
to  that  of  Knights  of  Malta. 

Host,  Captain  of  the.  See  Captain 
of  the  Host. 

Hour-Glass.  An  emblem  used  in  the 
third  degree,  according  to  the  Webb  lec- 
tures, to  remind  us  by  the  quick  passage  of 
its  sands  of  the  transitory  nature  of  human 
life.  As  a  Masonic  symbol  it  is  of  com- 
paratively modern  date,  but  the  use  of  the 
hour-glass  as  an  emblem  of  the  passage 
of  time  is  older  than  our  oldest  rituals. 
Thus,  in  a  speech  before  Parliament,  in 
1627,  it  is  said :  "  We  may  dandle  and  play 
with  the  hour-glass  that  is  in  our  power,  but 
the  hour  will  not  stay  for  us ;  and  an  op- 
portunity once  lost  cannot  be  regained." 
We  are  told  in  Notes  and  Queries,  (1st  Ser., 
v.  223,)  that  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury it  was  a  custom  to  inter  an  hour-glass 


with  the  dead,  as  an  emblem  of  the  sand  of 
life  being  run  out. 

Hours,  Mason  ic.  The  language  of 
Masonry,  in  reference  to  the  hours  of  labor 
and  refreshment,  is  altogether  symbolical. 
The  old  lectures  contained  a  tradition  that 
our  ancient  brethren  wrought  six  days  in 
the  week  and  twelve  hours  in  the  day, 
being  called  off  regularly  at  the  hour  of 
high  twelve  from  labor  to  refreshment.  In 
the  French  and  German  systems,  the  Craft 
were  said  to  be  called  from  labor  at  low 
twelve,  or  midnight,  which  is  therefore  the 
supposed  or  fictitious  time  at  which  a 
French  or  German  Lodge  is  closed.  But 
in  the  English  and  American  systems  the 
Craft  are  supposed  to  be  called  off  at  high 
twelve,  and  when  called  on  again  the  time 
for  recommencing  labor  is  said  to  be  "  one 
hour  past  high  twelve:"  all  this  refers  to 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  In  some  of  the 
high  degrees  the  hours  designated  for  labor 
or  rest  are  different.  So,  too,  in  the  different 
Kites :  thus,  in  the  system  of  Zinnendorf,  it 
is  said  that  there  are  in  a  Mason's  Lodge 
five  hours,  namely,  twelve  struck,  noon, 
high  noon,  midnight  and  high  midnight; 
which  are  thus  explained.  Twelve  struck, 
is  before  the  Lodge  is  opened  and  after  it  is 
closed;  noon  is  when  the  Master  is  about  to 
open  the  Lodge;  high  noon,  when  it  is 
duly  open ;  midnight,  when  the  Master  is 
about  to  close  it;  and  high  midnight,  when 
it  is  closed  and  the  uninitiated  are  permit- 
ted to  draw  near. 

Hours  of  Initiation.  In  Masonic 
Lodges,  as  they  were  in  the  Ancient  Mys- 
teries, initiations  are  always  at  night. 
No  Lodges  ever  meet  in  the  daytime  for 
that  purpose,  if  it  can  be  avoided.  See 
Night. 

How  go  Squares  ?  The  question  was 
one  of  the  earliest  of  the  tests  which  were 
common  in  the  eighteenth  century.  In  the 
Grand  Mystery,  published  in  1724,  we  find 
it  in  the  following  form : 

"  Q.  How  go  squares  ? 

"A.  Straight." 

It  is  noteworthy,  that  this  phrase  has  an 
earlier  date  than  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  did  not  belong  exclusively  to  the  Ma- 
sons. In  Thomas  May's  comedy  of  The 
Old  Couple,  published  in  1658,  (Act.  iv.,  sc. 
i.,)  will  be  found  the  following  passage: 

"Sir  Argent  Scrape.  Ha !  Mr.  Frightful, 
welcome.  How  go  squares  ?  What  do  you 
think  of  me  to  make  a  bridegroom  ?  Do  I 
look  young  enough?  "  See  it  in  Dodsley's 
Collection  of  Old  Plays,  Vol.  10. 

H.\  R.\  D.\  M.\  An  abbreviation 
of  Heredom  or  Herodem. 

Hu.  The  name  of  the  chief  god  among 
the  Druids,  commonly  called  Hu  Gadam, 
or  Hu  the  Mighty.     He  is  thus  described 


352 


HUMILITY 


HUND 


by  one  of  the  Welsh  bards:  "The  smallest 
of  the  small,  Hu  is  the  mighty  in  the  world's 
judgment ;  yet  he  is  the  greatest  and  Lord 
over  us  and  our  God  of  mystery.  His 
course  is  light  and  swift,  his  car  is  a  parti- 
cle of  bright  sunshine.  He  is  great  on 
land  and  sea,  the  greatest  whom  I  shall  be- 
hold, greater  than  the  worlds.  Offer  not 
indignity  to  him,  the  Great  and  Beautiful." 
Bryant  and  Davies,  in  accordance  with 
their  arkite  theory,  think  that  he  was  Noah 
deified ;  but  the  Masonic  scholar  will  be  re- 
minded of  the  Hi-hu  eliminated  by  the 
Kabbalists  out  of  the  name  of  Jehovah. 

Humility.  The  Divine  Master  has 
said,  "  He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be 
exalted,"  (Luke  xiv.  2,)  and  the  lesson  is 
emphatically  taught  by  a  portion  of  the 
ritual  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree.  Indeed, 
the  first  step  towards  the  acquisition  of 
truth  is  a  humility  of  mind  which  teaches 
us  our  own  ignorance  and  our  necessity  for 
knowledge,  so  that  thus  we  may  be  prepared 
for  its  reception.  Dr.  Oliver  has  greatly 
erred  in  saying  [Landmarks,  ii.  471,)  that 
bare  feet  are  a  Masonic  symbol  of  humility. 
They  are  properly  a  symbol  of  reverence. 
The  true  Masonic  symbol  of  humility  is 
bodily  prostration,  and  it  is  so  exemplified 
in  the  Royal  Arch  degree. 

Hand,  Baron  Von.  Carl  Gotthhelf, 
Baron  Von  Hund,  was  born  in  Oberlausitz, 
in  Germany,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1722. 
He  was  a  nobleman  and  hereditary  landed 
proprietor  in  the  Lausitz.  He  is  said  to 
have  been  upright  in  his  conduct,  although 
beset  by  vanity  and  a  love  of  adventure. 
But  Findel  is  scarcely  correct  in  character- 
izing him  as  a  man  of  moderate  understand- 
ing, since  the  position  which  he  took  among 
his  Masonic  contemporaries  —  many  of 
whom  were  of  acknowledged  talent  —  and 
the  ability  with  which  he  defended  and 
maintained  his  opinions,  would  indicate  the 
possession  of  very  respectable  intelligence. 
In  religious  faith  he  was  a  Protestant. 
That  rare  work,  the  Anti-Saint- Nicaise, 
contains  in  its  first  volume  a  brief  biogra- 
phy of  Von  Hund,  from  which  some  de- 
tails of  his  personal  appearance  and  char- 
acter may  be  obtained.  He  was  of  middling 
stature,  but  well  formed;  never  dressed 
sumptuously,  but  always  with  taste  and 
neatness ;  and  although  himself  a  moderate 
liver,  was  distinguished  for  his  hospitality, 
and  his  table  was  always  well  supplied  for 
the  entertainment  of  friends  and  visitors. 
The  record  that  his  servants  were  never 
changed,  but  that  those  who  were  employed 
in  his  domestic  service  constantly  remained 
with  him,  is  a  simple  but  conclusive  testi- 
mony to  the  amiability  of  his  character. 

The  scanty  details  of  the  life  of  Hund, 
which  are  supplied  by  Clavel  in  his  His- 


toire  Pittoresque ;  by  Thory,  in  the  Acta 
Latamorum;  by  Ragon,  in  his  Orthodoxie 
Maconnique;  by  Robison,  in  his  Proofs  of 
a  Conspiracy ;  by  Lenning  and  Gadicke,  in 
the  Encyclopadie  of  each ;  by  Oliver,  in 
his  Historical  Landmarks ;  and  by  Findel, 
in  his  History,  vary  so  much  in  dates  and 
in  the  record  of  events,  that  he  who  should 
depend  on  their  conflicting  authority  for 
information  would  be  involved  in  almost 
inextricable  confusion  in  attempting  to 
follow  any  connected  thread  of  a  narrative. 
As  Thory,  however,  writes  as  an  annalist, 
in  chronological  order,  it  may  be  presumed 
that  his  dates  are  more  to  be  depended  on 
than  those  of  the  looser  compilers  of  his- 
torical essays.  He,  therefore,  will  furnish 
us  with  at  least  an  outline  of  the  principal 
Masonic  events  in  the  life  of  Hund,  while 
from  other  writers  we  may  derive  the  ma- 
terial facts  which  the  brevity  of  Thory 
does  not  provide.  But  even  Thory  must 
sometimes  be  abandoned,  where  he  has 
evidently  neglected  to  note  a  particular 
circumstance,  and  his  omission  must  be 
supplied  from  some  other  source. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  1742,  when  still 
lacking  some  months  of  being  twenty  years 
of  age,  he  was  initiated  into  the  mysteries 
of  Freemasonry  in  the  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Thistles  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main.  Fin- 
del places  the  date  of  his  initiation  in  the 
year  1741 ;  but,  for  the  reason  already  as- 
signed, I  prefer  the  authority  of  Thory, 
with  whom  Lenning  concurs.  The  first 
and  second  degrees  were  conferred  on  the 
same  day,  and  in  due  time  his  initiation 
into  the  symbolic  degrees  was  completed. 

Soon  after  his  initiation,  the  Baron  Von 
Hund  travelled  through  England  and  Hol- 
land, and  paid  a  visit  to  Paris.  Robison, 
who  speaks  of  the  Baron  as  "a  gentleman 
of  honorable  character,"  and  whose  own 
reputation  secures  him  from  the  imputation 
of  wilful  falsehood,  although  it  could  not 
preserve  him  from  the  effects  of  prejudice, 
says  that  Hund,  while  in  Paris,  became 
acquainted  with  the  Earl  of  Kilmarnock 
and  some  other  gentlemen,  who  were  ad- 
herents of  the  Pretender,  and  received  from 
them  the  new  degrees,  which  had  been  in- 
vented, it  is  said,  for  political  purposes  by 
the  followers  of  the  exiled  house  of  Stuart. 
Gadicke  states  that  while  there  he  also 
received  the  Order  of  the  Mopses,  which 
he  afterwards  attempted,  but  without  suc- 
cess, to  introduce  into  Germany.  This 
must,  however,  be  an  error ;  for  the  Order 
of  the  Mopses,  an  androgynous  institution, 
which  subsequently  gave  birth  to  the  French 
Lodges  of  Adoption,  was  not  established 
until  1776,  long  after  the  return  of  Hund  to 
his  native  country. 

While  he  resided  in  Paris  he  received, 


HUND 


HUND 


353 


says  Findel,  some  intimations  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars  in 
Scotland.  The  legend,  which  it  is  necessary 
to  say  has  been  deemed  fabulous,  is  given 
to  us  by  Clavel,  (Hist.  Pittor.,  184,)  who 
tells  us  that,  after  the  execution  of  Jacques 
de  Molay,  Pierre  d'Aumont,  the  Provincial 
Grand  Master  of  Auvergne,  accompanied 
by  two  Commanders  and  five  Knights,  es- 
caped to  Scotland,  assuming  during  their 
journey,  for  the  purpose  of  concealment, 
the  costume  of  Operative  Masons.  Having 
landed  on  one  of  the  Scottish  Islands,  they 
met  several  other  companions,  Scottish 
Knights,  with  whom  they  resolved  to  con- 
tinue their  existence  of  the  Order,  whose 
abolition  had  been  determined  by  the  Pope 
and  the  King  of  France.  At  a  Chapter 
held  on  St.  John's  day,  1313,  Aumont  was 
elected  Grand  Master,  and  the  Knights,  to 
avoid  in  future  the  persecutions  to  which 
they  had  been  subjected,  professed  to  be 
Freemasons,  and  adopted  the  symbols  of 
that  Order.  In  1361  the  Grand  Master 
transported  his  see  to  the  city  of  Aberdeen, 
and  from  that  time  the  Order  of  the  Temple 
spread,  under  the  guise  of  Freemasonry, 
throughout  the  British  Islands  and  the 
Continent. 

The  question  is  not  now  as  to  the  truth 
or  even  the  probability  of  this  legend.  It 
is  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  to  say, 
that  the  Baron  Von  Hund  accepted  it  as  a 
veritable  historical  fact.  He  was  admitted, 
at  Paris,  to  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars, 
Clavel  says,  by  the  Pretender,  Charles 
Edward,  who  was  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
Order.  Of  this  we  have  no  other  evidence 
than  the  rather  doubtful  authority  of  Cla- 
vel. Robison  intimates  that  he  was  in- 
ducted by  the  Earl  of  Kilmarnock,  whose 
signature  was  attached  to  his  diploma.  G'a- 
dicke  says  that  he  travelled  over  Brabant 
to  the  French  army,  and  was  there  made  a 
Templar  by  high  chiefs  of  the  Order.  And 
this  statement  might  be  reconciled  with 
that  of  Robison,  for  the  high  chiefs  (hohe 
Obere)  of  Gadicke  were  possibly  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  Pretender,  some  of  whom 
were  likely  to  have  been  with  the  French 
army.  The  point  is  not,  however,  worth 
the  trouble  of  an  investigation.  Two  things 
have  been  well  settled,  namely:  That  in 
1743  Von  Hund  was  initiated  as  a  Knight 
Templar,  and  that  at  the  same  time  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  a  Provincial 
Grand  Master,  with  ample  powers  to  pro- 
pagate the  Order  in  Germany.  He  re- 
turned to  his  native  country,  but  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  very  active  at  first  as 
a  missionary  of  Templarism,  although  he 
continued  to  exhibit  his  strong  attachment 
to  Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  In  the  year 
1749  he  erected,  at  his  own  expense,  a  Lodge 
2U  23 


on  his  estates  at  Kittlitz,  near  Loban,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  the  "  Lodge  of 
the  Three  Pillars."  At  the  same  time  he 
built  there  a  Protestant  church,  the  corner- 
stone of  which  was  laid  by  the  brethren, 
with  the  usual  Masonic  ceremonies. 

I  am  compelled  to  suppose,  from  inci- 
dents in  his  life  which  subsequently  oc- 
curred, that  Hund  must  have  visited  Paris 
a  second  time,  and  that  he  was  there  in  the 
year  1754.  On  the  24th  of  November  in 
that  year,  the  Chevalier  de  Bonneville, 
supported  by  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
Masons  of  Paris,  instituted  a  Chapter  of 
the  High  Degrees,  which  received  the  name 
of  the  "Chapter  of  Clermont,"  and  into 
which  he  introduced  the  Templar  system, 
that  is,  the  system  which  finds  the  origin 
of  Freemasonry  in  Templarism.  In  this 
Chapter  Baron  Von  Hund,  who  was  then 
in  Paris,  received  the  degrees  of  the  Cler- 
mont system,  and  there,  says  Thory,  he 
learned  the  doctrine  upon  which  he  subse- 
quently founded  his  new  Rite  of  Strict  Ob- 
servance. This  doctrine  was,  that  Free- 
masonry owes  its  existence  to  Knight  Tem- 
plarism, of  which  it  is  the  natural  successor; 
and,  therefore,  that  every  Mason  is  a  Tem- 
plar, although  not  entitled  to  all  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Order  until  he  has  attained  the 
highest  degree. 

Von  Hund  returned  to  Germany  pos- 
sessed of  powers,  or  a  deputation  granted 
to  him  in  Paris  by  which  he  was  author- 
ized to  disseminate  the  high  degrees  in  that 
country.  He  was  not  slow  to  exhibit  these 
documents,  and  soon  collected  around  him 
a  band  of  adherents.  He  then  attempted 
what  he  termed  a  reform  in  primitive  Ma- 
sonry or  the  simple  English  system  of  the 
three  symbolic  degrees,  which  alone  most 
of  the  German  Lodges  recognized.  The 
result  was  the  establishment  of  a  new  sys- 
tem, well  known  as  the  Rite  of  Strict  Ob- 
servance. 

But  here  we  again  encounter  the  em- 
barrassments of  conflicting  authorities. 
The  distinctive  feature  of  the  Rite  of  Strict 
Observance  was,  that  Freemasonry  is  the 
successor  of  Templarism ;  the  legend  of  Au- 
mont being  unhesitatingly  accepted  as  au- 
thentic. The  author  of  Anti- Saint- Nicaise, 
the  book  already  referred  to,  asserted  that 
between  the  years  1730  and  1740  there  was 
already  in  Lusatia  a  Chapter  of  Templars ; 
that  he  knew  one,  at  least,  who  had  been 
there  initiated  before  the  innovation  of  the 
Baron  Von  Hund  ;  and  that  the  dignities 
of  Prior,  Sub-prior,  Prefect,  and  Com- 
mander, which  he  professed  to  introduce 
into  Germany  for  the  first  time,  had  been 
known  there  at  a  long  antecedent  period. 

Ragon  also  asserts  that  the  Templar  sys- 
tem of  Ramsay  was  known  in  Germany  be- 


354 


HUND 


HUND 


fore  the  foundation  of  the  Chapter  of  Cler- 
mont, whence  Von  Hund  derived  his  infor- 
mation and  his  powers;  that  it  consisted 
of  six  degrees,  to  which  Hund  added  a 
seventh;  and  that  at  the  time  of  Von 
Hund's  arrival  in  Germany  this  regime 
had  Baron  Von  Marshall  as  its  head,  to 
whom  Hund's  superiors  in  Paris  had  re- 
ferred him. 

This  seems  to  be  the  correct  version  of 
the  affair  ;  and  so  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observ- 
ance was  not  actually  established,  but  only 
reformed  and  put  into  more  active  opera- 
tion, by  Von  Hund. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  this  Rite  was, 
that  every  member  was  called  a  Knight,  or 
Eques;  the  classical  Latin  for  a  Roman 
knight  being,  by  a  strange  inconsistency, 
adopted  by  these  professed  Templars,  in- 
stead of  the  Mediaeval  word  Miles,  which 
had  been  always  appropriated  to  the  mili- 
tary knights  of  chivalry.  To  this  word  was 
appended  another,  and  the  title  thus  formed 
was  called  the  "  characteristic  name."  Lists 
of  these  characteristic  names,  and  of  the 
persons  whom  they  represented,  are  given 
in  all  the  registers  and  lists  of  the  Rite. 
Von  Hund  selected  for  himself  the  title  of 
Eques  ab  Ense,  or  Knight  of  the  Sword; 
and,  to  show  the  mixed  military  and  Ma- 
sonic character  of  his  regime,  chose  for  his 
seal  a  square  and  sword  crossed,  or,  in 
heraldic  language,  saltierwise. 

Von  Hund  divided  Europe  into  nine 
provinces,  and  called  himself  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  seventh  province,  which  em- 
braced Lower  Saxony,  Prussian  Poland, 
Livonia,  and  Courland.  He  succeeded  in 
getting  the  Duke  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick 
to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Rite, 
and  secured  its  adoption  by  most  of  the 
Lodges  of  Berlin  and  of  other  parts  of 
Prussia.  After  this  he  retired  into  com- 
parative inactivity,  and  left  the  Lodges  of 
his  Rite  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

But  in  1763  he  was  aroused  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  one  Johnson  on  the  Masonic 
stage.  This  man,  whose  real  name  was 
Leucht,  was  a  Jew,  and  had  formerly  been 
the  secretary  of  the  Prince  of  Anhalt- 
Bernburg,  under  the  assumed  name  of 
Becker.  But,  changing  his  name  again  to 
that  of  Johnson,  he  visited  the  city  of  Jena, 
.and  proclaimed  himself  to  the  Masons 
there  as  possessed  of  powers  far  more  ex- 
tensive than  those  of  Von  Hund,  which 
he  pretended  to  have  received  from  "  un- 
known Superiors  "  at  Aberdeen,  Scotland, 
the  supposed  seat  of  the  Templar  Order, 
which  had  been  revived  by  Aumont.  Von 
Hund  at  first  admitted  the  claims  of  John- 
son, and  recognized  him  as  the  Grand  Prior 
of  the  Order.  Ragon  says  that  this  recog- 
nition was  a  fraud  on  the  part  of  Von 


Hund,  who  had  really  selected  Johnson  as 
his  agent,  to  give  greater  strength  to  his 
Rite.  I  am  reluctant  to  admit  the  truth 
of  this  charge,  and  am  rather  disposed  to 
believe  that  the  enthusiasm  and  credulity 
of  Von  Hund  had  made  him  for  a  time  the 
victim  of  Johnson's  ostentatious  preten- 
sions. If  this  be  so,  he  was  soon  unde- 
ceived, and,  discovering  the  true  character 
as  well  as  the  dangerous  designs  of  John- 
son, he  proclaimed  him  to  be  an  adven- 
turer. He  denied  that  Johnson  had  been 
sent  as  a  delegate  from  Scotland,  and  as- 
serted anew  that  he  alone  was  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Order  in  Germany,  with  the 
power  to  confer  the  high  degrees.  Johnson, 
accused  of  abstracting  the  papers  of  a  Lord 
of  Courland,  in  whose  service  he  had  been, 
and  of  the  forgery  of  documents,  was  ar- 
rested at  Magdeburg  through  the  influence 
of  Von  Hund,  on  the  further  charges  of 
larceny  and  counterfeiting  money,  and  died 
in  1775  in  prison. 

Von  Hund  now  renewed  his  activity  as  a 
Mason,  and  assembled  a  Congress  of  the 
Rite  at  Altenberg,  where  he  was  recognized 
as  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars,  and  aug- 
mented his  strength  by  numerous  impor- 
tant initiations.  His  reappearance  among 
the  brethren  exerted  as  much  surprise  as 
joy,  and  its  good  effects  were  speedily  seen 
in  a  large  increase  of  Chapters;  and  the 
Rite  of  Strict  Observance  soon  became  the 
predominating  system  in  Germany. 

But  dissatisfaction  began  to  appear  as  a 
consequence  of  the  high  claims  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Rite  to  the  possession  of  supe- 
rior knowledge.  The  Knights  looked  haugh- 
tily upon  the  Masons  who  had  been  invested 
only  with  the  primitive  degrees,  and  these 
were  offended  at  the  superciliousness  with 
which  they  were  treated.  A  Mother  Lodge 
was  established  at  Frankfort,  which  recog- 
nized and  worked  only  the  three  degrees. 
Other  systems  of  high  degrees  also  arose 
as  rivals  of  the  Rite,  and  Von  Hund's 
regime  began  to  feel  sensibly  the  effects  of 
this  compound  antagonism. 

Hitherto  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance 
had  been  cosmopolitan  in  its  constitution, 
admitting  the  believers  in  all  creeds  to  its 
bosom,  and  professing  to  revive  only  the 
military  and  chivalric  character  of  the  an- 
cient Templars,  without  any  reference  to 
their  religious  condition.  But  in  1767,  Von 
Starck,  the  rector  at  Wismar,  proposed  to 
engraft  upon  the  Rite  a  new  branch,  to  be 
called  the  clerical  system  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars. This  was  to  be  nominally  spiritual 
in  character ;  and,  while  announcing  that 
it  was  in  possession  of  secrets  not  known  to 
the  chivalric  branch  of  the  Order,  demand- 
ed, as  preliminary  to  admission,  that  every 
candidate  should  be  a  Roman  Catholic,  and 


HUND 


**  or  thi 
#14tVER»tTY 


HUTCHINSON 


355 


have  previously  received  the  degrees  of  the 
Strict  Observance. 

Starck  wrote  to  Von  Hund,  proposing  a 
fusion  of  the  two  branches ;  and  he,  "  be- 
cause," to  borrow  the  language  of  Findel, 
"  himself  helpless  and  lacking  expedients, 
eagerly  stretched  out  his  hand  to  grasp  the 
offered  assistance,  and  entered  into  connec- 
tion with  the  so-called  clergy."  He  even, 
it  is  said,  renounced  Protestantism  and  be- 
came a  Catholic,  so  as  to  qualify  himself 
for  admission. 

In  1774,  a  Congress  assembled  at  Kohlo, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  reconcile  the 
difference  between  these  two  branches  of 
the  Rite.  Here  Von  Hund  appears  to  have 
been  divested  of  some  portion  of  his  dig- 
nities, for  he  was  appointed  only  Provin- 
cial Superior  of  Upper  and  Lower  Alsace, 
of  Denmark  and  of  Courland,  while  the 
Grand  Mastership  of  the  Rite  was  con- 
ferred on  Frederick,  Duke  of  Brunswick. 

Another  Congress  was  held  in  1775,  at 
Brunswick,  where  Hund  again  appeared. 
Here  Findel,  who  seems  to  have  no  friendly 
disposition  towards  Von  Hund,  charges  him 
with  "  indulgence  in  his  love  of  outward 
pomp  and  show,"  a  charge  that  is  not  con- 
sistent with  the  character  given  him  by 
other  writers,  who  speak  of  his  modesty  of 
demeanor.  The  question  of  the  Superiores 
Incogniti,  or  Unknown  Superiors,  from  whom 
Von  Hund  professed  to  derive  his  powers, 
came  under  consideration.  His  replies 
were  not  satisfactory.  He  denied  that  he 
was  bound  to  give  any  explanations  at  all, 
and  asserted  that  his  oath  precluded  him 
from  saying  anything  more.  Confidence 
in  him  now  declined,  and  the  Rite  to  which 
he  was  so  much  attached,  and  of  which  he 
had  been  the  founder  and  the  chief  sup- 
porter, began  to  lose  its  influence.  The 
clerical  branch  of  the  Rite  seceded,  and 
formed  an  independent  Order,  and  the 
Lodges  of  Strict  Observance  thenceforward 
called  themselves  the  "United  German 
Lodges." 

With  his  failure  at  Brunswick,  the  func- 
tions of  Von  Hund  ceased.  He  retired 
altogether  from  the  field  of  Masonic  labor, 
and  died,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  on 
the  8th  of  November,  1776,  at  Meiningen, 
in  Prussia.  The  members  of  the  Lodge 
Minerva,  at  Leipsic,  struck  a  medal  in  com- 
memoration of  him,  which  contains  on  the 
obverse  an  urn  encircled  by  a  serpent,  the 
symbol  of  immortality,  and  on  the  reverse 
a  likeness  of  him,  which  is  said  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly accurate.  A  copy  of  it  may  be 
found  in  the  Taschenbuche  der  Freimaurerei, 
and  in  the  American  Quarterly  Review  of 
Freemasonry. 

For  this  amiable  enthusiast,  as  he  cer- 
tainly was  —  credulous  but  untiring  in  his 


devotion  to  Masonry ;  deceived  but  enthu- 
siastic ;  generous  and  kind  in  his  disposi- 
tion ;  whose  heart  was  better  than  his  head 
—  we  may  not  entertain  the  profoundest 
veneration ;  but  we  cannot  but  feel  an  emo- 
tion of  sympathy.  We  know  not  how 
much  the  antagonism  and  contests  of  years, 
and  final  defeat  and  failure,  may  have  em- 
bittered his  days  or  destroyed  his  energy ; 
but  we  do  know  that  he  ceased  the  warfare 
of  life  while  still  there  ought  to  have  been 
the  promise  of  many  years  of  strength  and 
vigor. 

Hungary.  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  Hungary  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  In  1760,  a  Lodge,  ac- 
cording to  Hund's  Templar  system,  wa3 
instituted  at  Presburg.  Smith  says  ( Use 
and  Abuse,  p.  219,)  that  there  were  several 
Lodges  there  in  1783,  but  none  working 
under  the  English  Constitution.  Most 
probably  they  received  their  Warrants  from 
Germany.  In  1870,  there  were  seven 
Lodges  in  Hungary.  On  the  30th  of  Jan- 
uary in  that  year  these  Lodges  met  in  con- 
vention at  Pesth,  and  organized  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Hungary. 

Hutchinson,  William.  Of  all  the 
Masonic  writers  of  the  last  century  there 
was  no  one  who  did  more  to  elevate  the 
spirit  and  character  of  the  Institution  than 
William  Hutchinson  of  Barnard  Castle,  in 
the  county  of  Durham,  England.  To  him 
are  we  indebted  for  the  first  philosophical 
explanation  of  the  symbolism  of  the  Order, 
and  his  Spirit  of  Masonry  still  remains  a 
priceless  boon  to  the  Masonic  student. 

Hutchinson  was  born  in  1732,  and  died 
April  7,  1814,  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-two 
years.  He  was  by  profession  a  solicitor; 
but  such  was  his  literary  industry,  that  a 
very  extensive  practice  did  not  preclude 
his  devotion  to  more  liberal  studies.  He 
published  several  works  of  fiction,  which, 
at  the  time,  were  favorably  received.  His 
first  contribution  to  literature  was  The 
Hermitage,  a  British  Story,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1772.  This  was  followed,  in  1773, 
by  a  descriptive  work,  entitled  An  Excur- 
sion to  the  Lakes  of  Westmoreland  and  Cum- 
berland. In  1775,  he  published  The  Doubt- 
ful Marriage,  and  in  1776  A  Week  in  a  Cot- 
tage, and  A  Romance  after  the  Fashion  of 
the  Castle  of  Otranto.  In  1778,  he  com- 
menced as  a  dramatic  writer,  and  besides 
two  tragedies,  Pygmalion,  King  of  Tyre  and 
Tlie  Tyrant  of  Onia,  which  were  never  acted, 
he  also  wrote  The  Princess  of  Zanfara,  which 
was  successfully  performed  at  several  of  the 
provincial  theatres. 

Hutchinson  subsequently  devoted  him- 
self to  archaeological  studies,  and  became  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Antiquaries.     His  labors  in  this  direction 


356 


HUTCHINSON 


HUTCHINSON 


were  such  as  to  win  for  him  from  Nichols 
the  title  of  "an  industrious  antiquary." 
He  published  in  1776-4  View  of  Northum- 
berland, in  two  volumes ;  in  1785, 1787,  and 
1794,  three  consecutive  quarto  volumes  of 
The  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  County 
Palatinate  of  Durham ;  and  in  1794,  in  two 
quarto  volumes,  A  History  of  Cumberland, 
— works  which  are  still  referred  to  by  schol- 
ars as  containing  valuable  information  on 
the  subjects  of  which  they  treat,  and  are 
an  evidence  of  the  learning  and  industry 
of  the  author. 

But  it  is  as  a  Masonic  writer  that  Hutch- 
inson has  acquired  the  most  lasting  reputa- 
tion, and  his  labors  as  such  have  made  his 
name  a  household  word  in  the  Order.  He 
was  for  some  years  the  Master  of  Barnard 
Castle  Lodge,  where  he  sought  to  instruct 
the  members  by  the  composition  and  deliv- 
ery of  a  series  of  Lectures  and  Charges, 
which  were  so  far  superior  to  those  then  in 
use  as  to  attract  crowds  of  visitors  from 
neighboring  Lodges  to  hear  him  and  to 
profit  by  his  instructions.  Some  of  these 
were  from  time  to  time  printed,  and  won  so 
much  admiration  from  the  Craft  that  he  was 
requested  to  make  a  selection,  and  publish 
them  in  a  permanent  form. 

Accordingly,  he  applied  in  1774,  for  per- 
mission to  publish,  to  the  Grand  Lodge,  — 
which  then  assumed  to  be  a  rigid  censor  of 
the  Masonic  press,  —  and,  having  obtained 
it,  he  gave  to  the  Masonic  world  the  first 
edition  of  his  now  celebrated  treatise  en- 
titled, The  Spirit  of  Masonry,  in  Moral  and 
Elucidatory  Lectures;  but  the  latter  part  of 
the  title  was  omitted  in  all  the  subsequent 
editions.  The  sanction  for  its  publication, 
prefixed  to  the  first  edition,  has  an  almost 
supercilious  sound,  when  we  compare  the 
reputation  of  the  work  —  which  at  once 
created  a  revolution  in  Masonic  literature 
— with  that  of  those  who  gave  the  sanction, 
and  whose  names  are  preserved  only  by  the 
official  titles  which  were  affixed  to  them. 
The  sanction  is  in  these  words : 

"  Whereas,  Brother  William  Hutchinson 
has  compiled  a  book,  entitled  The  Spirit  of 
Masonry,  and  has  requested  our  sanction 
for  the  publication  thereof;  we,  having 
perused  the  said  book  and  finding  it  will  be 
of  use  to  this  Society,  do  recommend  the 
same."  This  is  signed  by  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter and  his  Deputy,  by  the  Grand  Wardens, 
and  the  Grand  Treasurer  and  Secretary. 
But  their  judgment,  though  tamely  ex- 
pressed, was  not  amiss.  A  century  has 
since  shown  that  the  book  of  Hutchinson 
has  really  been  "  of  use  to  the  Socity."  It 
opened  new  thoughts  on  the  symbolism 
and  philosophy  of  Masonry,  which,  worked 
out  by  subsequent  writers,  have  given  to 
Masonry  the  high  rank  it  now  holds,  and 


has  elevated  it  from  a  convivial  association, 
such  as  it  was  in  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  to  that  school  of  reli- 
gious philosophy  which  it  now  is.  To  the 
suggestions  of  Hutchinson,  Hemming  un- 
doubtedly owed  that  noble  definition,  that 
"  Freemasonry  was  a  science  of  morality 
veiled  in  allegory,  and  illustrated  by  sym- 
bols." 

The  first  edition  of  The  Spirit  of  Mason- 
ry was  published  in  1775,  the  second  in 
1795,  the  third  in  1802,  the  fourth  in  1813, 
the  fifth  in  1814,  and  the  sixth  in  1815,  all 
except  the  last  in  the  lifetime  of  the  au- 
thor. Several  subsequent  editions  have 
been  published  both  in  this  country  and  in 
Great  Britain.  In  1780  it  was  translated 
into  German,  and  published  at  Berlin  un- 
der the  title  of  Der  Geist  der  Freimaurerei, 
in  moralischen  und  erlauternden  Vortragen. 

Of  this  great  work  the  Craft  never  appear 
to  have  had  but  one  opinion.  It  was  re- 
ceived on  its  first  appearance  with  enthu- 
siasm, and  its  popularity  among  Masonic 
scholars  has  never -decreased.  Dr.  Oliver 
says  of  it:  "  It  was  the  first  efficient  attempt 
to  explain,  in  a  rational  and  scientific  man- 
ner, the  true  philosophy  of  the  Order.  Dr. 
Anderson  and  the  writer  of  the  Gloucester 
sermon  indicated  the  mine,  Calcott  opened 
it,  and  Hutchinson  worked  it.  In  this 
book  he  gives  to  the  science  its  proper  value. 
After  explaining  his  design,  he  enters  copi- 
ously on  the  rites,  ceremonies,  and  institu- 
tions of  ancient  nations.  Then  he  dilates 
on  the  Lodge,  with  its  ornaments,  furniture, 
and  jewels ;  the  building  of  the  Temple  ; 
geometry ;  and  after  explaining  the  third 
degree  with  a  minuteness  which  is  highly 
gratifying,  he  expatiates  on  secrecy,  char- 
ity, and  brotherly  love;  and  sets  at  rest  all 
the  vague  conjectures  of  cowans  and  unbe- 
lievers, by  a  description  of  the  occupations 
of  Masons  and  a  masterly  defence  of  our 
peculiar  rites  and  ceremonies." 

The  peculiar  theory  of  Hutchinson  in 
reference  to  the  symbolic  design  of  Mason- 
ryis  set  forth  more  particularly  in  his  ninth 
lecture,  entitled  "  The  Master  Mason's  Or- 
der." His  doctrine  was  that  the  lost  word 
was  typical  of  the  lost  religious  purity, 
which  had  been  occasioned  by  the  corrup- 
tions of  the  Jewish  faith.  The  piety  which 
had  planted  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  had 
been  expunged,  and  the  reverence  and 
adoration  due  to  God  had  been  buried  in 
the  filth  and  rubbish  of  the  world,  so  that 
it  might  well  be  said  "  that  the  guide  to 
heaven  was  lost,  and  the  master  of  the 
works  of  righteousness  was  smitten."  ^  In 
the  same  way  he  extends  the  symbolism. 
"  True  religion,"  he  says,  "  was  fled.  Those 
who  sought  her  through  the  wisdom  of 
the  ancients  were  not  able   to  raise  her, 


HUTCHINSON 


IATRIC 


357 


She  eluded  the  grasp,  and  their  polluted 
hands  were  stretched  forth  in  vain  for  her 
restoration.  Those  who  sought  her  by  the 
old  law  were  frustrated,  for  death  had  step- 
ped between,  and  corruption  defiled  the 
embrace." 

Hence  the  Hutchinsonian  theory  is,  that 
the  third  degree  of  Masonry  symbolizes  the 
new  law  of  Christ,  taking  the  place  of 
the  old  law  of  Judaism,  which  had  become 
dead  and  corrupt.  With  him,  Hiram  or 
Huram  is  only  the  Greek  huramen,  "we 
have  found  it,"  and  Acacia,  from  the  same 
Greek,  signifies  freedom  from  sin;  and 
"thus  the  Master  Mason  represents  a  man, 
under  the  Christian  doctrine,  saved  from 
the  grave  of  iniquity  and  raised  to  the  faith 
of  salvation." 

Some  of  Hutchinson's  etymologies  are 
unquestionably  inadmissible;  as,  when  he 
derives  Tubal  Cain  from  a  corruption  of  the 
Greek,  tumbon  choeo,  "  I  prepare  my  sepul- 
chre," and  when  he  translates  the  substitute 
word  as  meaning  "  I  ardently  wish  for  life." 
But  fanciful  etymologies  are  the  besetting 
sin  of  all  antiquaries.  So  his  theory  of 
the  exclusive  Christian  application  of  the 
third  degree  will  not  be  received  as  the 
dogma  of  the  present  day.  But  such  was 
the  universally  recognized  theory  of  all  his 


contemporaries.  Still,  in  his  enlarged  and 
elevated  views  of  the  symbolism  and  philo- 
sophy of  Masonry  as  a  great  moral  and 
religious  science,  he  was  immeasurably  in 
advance  of  his  age. 

In  his  private  life,  Hutchinson  was  greatly 
respected  for  his  cultivated  mind  and  exten- 
sive literary  acquirements,  while  the  suavity 
of  his  manners  and  the  generosity  of  his 
disposition  secured  the  admiration  of  all 
who  knew  him.  He  had  been  long  married 
to  an  estimable  woman,  whose  death  was 
followed  in  only  two  days  by  his  own, 
and  they  were  both  interred  in  the  same 
grave. 

Iluttc.  A  word  equivalent  among  the 
Stone-masons  of  Germany,  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  to  the  English  word  Lodge.  Findel 
defines  it  as  "a  booth  made  of  boards, 
erected  near  the  edifice  that  was  being 
built,  where  the  stone-cutters  kept  their 
tools,  carried  on  their  work,  assembled,  and 
most  probably  occasionally  eat  and  slept." 
These  hutten  accord  exactly  with  the 
Lodges  which  Wren  describes  as  having 
been  erected  by  the  English  Masons  around 
the  edifice  they  were  constructing. 

Huzza.  The  acclamation  in  the  Scot- 
tish Rite.  In  the  old  French  rituals  it  is 
generally  written  Lloschea. 


I 


I.  A.  A.  T.  Reghellini  (i.  29,)  says 
that  the  Rose  Croix  Masons  of  Germany 
and  Italy  always  wear  a  ring  of  gold  or 
silver,  on  which  are  engraved  these  letters, 
the  initials  of  Ignis,  Aer,  Aqua,  Terra,  in 
allusion  to  the  Egyptian  mystical  doctrine 
of  the  generation,  destruction,  and  regen- 
eration of  all  things  by  the  four  elements, 
fire,  air,  water,  and  earth  ;  which  doctrine 
passed  over  from  the  Egyptians  to  the 
Greeks,  and  was  taught  in  the  philosophy 
of  Empedocles.  But  these  Rose  Croix 
Masons,  I  think,  must  have  borrowed  their 
doctrine  from  the  Gnostics. 

I  Am  that  I  Am.  The  name  which 
the  Grand  Architect  directed  Moses  to  u^e, 
(Exod.  iii.  14,)  that  he  might  identify 
himself  to  the  Israelites  as  the  messenger 
sent  to  them  by  God.  It  is  one  of  the 
modifications  of  the  Tetragrammaton,  and 
as  such,  in  its  Hebrew  form  of  "IJ^K  rVHN 
J-pnNj  eheyeh  asher  eheyeh,  (the  e  pro- 
nounced like  a  in  fate,)  has  been  adopted 
as  a  significant  word  in  the  high  degrees  of 


the  York,  American,  and  several  other 
Rites.  The  original  Hebrew  words  are  act- 
ually in  the  future  tense,  and  grammati- 
cally mean  I  will  be  what  1  will  be;  but  all 
the  versions  give  a  present  signification. 
Thus,  the  Vulgate  has  it,  I  am  who  am;  the 
Septuagint,  /  am  he  who  exists;  and  the 
Arabic  paraphrase,  /  am  the  Eternal  who 
passes  not  away.  The  expression  seems  in- 
tended to  point  out  the  eternity  and  self- 
existence  of  God,  and  such  is  the  sense  in 
which  it  is  used  in  Masonry.  See  Eheyeh 
asher  eheyeh. 

lilt ric  Masonry.  From  \a.TpiKT),  the 
art  of  medicine.  Ragon,  in  his  Orthodoxie 
Magonnique,  (p.  450,)  says  that  this  system 
was  instituted  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  that  its  adepts  were  occupied  in  the 
search  for  the  universal  medicine.  It  must 
therefore  have  been  a  Hermetic  Rite.  Ra- 
gon knew  very  little  of  it,  and  mentions 
only  one  degree,  called  the  "  Oracle  of  Cos." 
The  island  of  Cos  was  the  birthplace  of 
Hippocrates,  the  father  of  medicine,  and 


358 


IDIOT 


ILLINOIS 


to  him  the  degree  is  dedicated.  The  Order 
or  Rite  has,  I  suppose,  no  longer  an  exist- 
ence. 

Idiot.  Idiocy  is  one  of  the  mental  dis- 
qualifications for  initiation.  This  does  not, 
however,  include  a  mere  dulness  of  intel- 
lect and  indocility  of  apprehension.  These 
amount  only  to  stupidity,  and  "  the  judg- 
ment of  the  heavy  or  stupid  man,"  as  Dr. 
Good  has  correctly  remarked,  "  is  often  as 
sound  in  itself  as  that  of  the  man  of  more 
capacious  comprehension."  The  idiot  is 
defined  by  Blackstone  as  "one  that  hath 
had  no  understanding  from  his  nativity; 
and  therefore  is  by  law  presumed  never 
likely  to  attain  any."  A  being  thus  men- 
tally imperfect  is  incompetent  to  observe 
the  obligations  or  to  appreciate  the  instruc- 
tions of  Freemasonry.  It  is  true  that  the 
word  does  not  occur  in  any  of  the  old  Con- 
stitutions, but  from  their  general  tenor  it  is 
evident  that  idiots  were  excluded,  because 
"  cunning,"  or  knowledge  and  skill,  are 
everywhere  deemed  essential  qualifications 
of  a  Mason.  But  the  ritual  law  is  explicit 
on  the  subject. 

Idolatry.  The  worship  paid  to  any 
created  object.  It  was  in  some  one  of  its 
forms  the  religion  of  the  entire  ancient 
world  except  the  Jews.  The  forms  of  idol- 
atry are  generally  reckoned  as  four  in  num- 
ber. 1.  Fetichism,  the  lowest  form,  con- 
sisting in  the  worship  of  animals,  trees, 
rivers,  mountains,  and  stones.  2.  Sabian- 
ism  or  Sabaism,  the  worship  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars.  3.  Sintooism,  or  the  wor- 
ship of  deceased  ancestors  or  the  leaders 
of  a  nation.  4.  Idealism,  or  the  worship 
of  abstractions  or  mental  qualities.  Oli- 
ver and  his  school  have  propounded  the 
theory  that  among  the  idolatrous  nations 
of  antiquity,  who  were,  of  course,  the  de- 
scendants, in  common  with  the  monotheis- 
tic Jews,  of  Noah,  there  were  the  remains 
of  certain  legends  and  religious  truths 
which  they  had  received  from  their  com- 
mon ancestor,  but  which  had  been  greatly 
distorted  and  perverted  in  the  system  which 
they  practised.  This  system,  taught  in  the 
Ancient  Mysteries,  he  called  "  the  Spurious 
Freemasonry  "  of  antiquity. 

Iconology.  The  science  which  teaches 
the  doctrine  of  images  and  symbolic  repre- 
sentations. It  is  a  science  collateral  with 
Masonry,  and  is  of  great  importance  to  the 
Masonic  student,  because  it  is  engaged  in 
the  consideration  of  the  meaning  and  his- 
tory of  the  symbols  which  constitute  so 
material  a  part  of  the  Masonic  system. 

Idaho.  One  of  the  United  States  very 
recently  settled.  In  1867  there  were  four 
Lodges  in  what  was  then  the  Territory, 
three  chartered  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ore- 
gon, and  one  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Wash- 
ington   Territory.     In    that    year    these 


Lodges  met  in  convention  and  organized 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Idaho.  The  Grand 
Lodge  is  migratory,  holding  its  sessions  on 
the  first  Monday  in  October,  at  such  place 
as  may  be  determined  at  the  previous  ses- 
sion. 

Igne  Natura  RenoTatnr  Inte- 
gra. By  fire,  nature  is  perfectly  renewed. 
See  I:.  N.\  R.\  I.: 

Ignorance.  The  ignorant  Freema- 
son is  a  drone  and  an  incumbrance  in  the 
Order.  He  who  does  not  study  the  nature, 
the  design,  the  history,  and  character  of  the 
Institution,  but  from  the  hour  of  his  initia- 
tion neither  gives  nor  receives  any  ideas 
that  could  not  be  shared  by  a  profane,  is  of 
no  more  advantage  to  Masonry  than  Ma- 
sonry is  to  him.  The  true  Mason  seeks 
light  that  darkness  may  be  dispelled,  and 
knowledge  that  ignorance  may  be  removed. 
The  ignorant  aspirant,  no  matter  how 
loudly  he  may  have  asked  for  light,  is  still 
a  blind  groper  in  the  dark. 

Ili-IIo.  The  Kabbalistic  mode  of  read- 
ing Ho-hi,  one  of  the  forms  of  the  Tetra- 
grammaton.    See  Ho- JR. 

I.  H.  S.  A  monogram,  to  which  va- 
rious meanings  have  been  attached.  Thus, 
these  letters  have  been  supposed  to  be  the 
initials  of  In  hoc  signo,  words  which  sur- 
rounded the  cross  seen  by  Constantine. 
But  that  inscription  was  in  Greek ;  and  be- 
sides, even  in  a  Latin  translation,  the  letter 
V,  for  vinces,  would  be  required  to  complete 
it.  The  Church  has  generally  accepted  the 
monogram  as  containing  the  initials  of 
Jesus  Hominum  Salvator,  Jesus  the  Saviour 
of  Men;  a  sense  in  which  it  has  been 
adopted  by  the  Jesuits,  who  have  taken  it 

in  this  form,  I.  H.  S.,  as  the  badge  of  their 
society.  So,  too,  it  is  interpreted  by  the 
Masonic  Templars,  on  whose  banners  it 
often  appears.  A  later  interpretation  is  ad- 
vocated by  the  Cambridge  Camden  So- 
ciety in  a  work  published  by  them  on  the 
subject.  In  this  work  they  contend  that 
the  monogram  is  of  Greek  origin,  and  is 
the  first  three  letters  of  the  Greek  name, 
IHS0T2,  Jesus.  But  the  second  of  these 
interpretations  is  the  one  most  generally 
received. 

I  jar.  "V*fc{.  The  seventh  month  of 
the  Hebrew  civil  year.  It  corresponds  to 
a  part  of  the  months  of  May  and  June. 

Illinois.  The  first  Grand  Lodge  es- 
tablished in  this  State  was  in  the  year  1822 ; 
but  this  body  yielded  in  a  few  years  to  the 
storm  of  anti-Masonry  which  swept  over 
the  country,  and  ceased  to  exist.    Subse- 

?iuently,  Lodges  were  chartered  by  the 
Wand  Lodges  of  Kentucky  and  other  juris- 
dictions, and  on  the  20th  January,  1840,  a 
convention  of  six  Lodges  was  held  in  the 
city  of  Jackson,  which  organized  the  G^and 


ILLITERACY 


ILLUMINATI 


359 


Lodge  of  Illinois.  The  seat  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  ia  Springfield.  A  Grand  Chapter, 
Grand  Council,  and  Grand  Commandery 
were  subsequently  established. 

Illiteracy.  The  word  illiteracy,  as 
signifying  an  ignorance  of  letters,  an  inca- 
pability to  read  and  write,  suggests  the  in- 
quiry whether  illiterate  persons  are  quali- 
fied to  be  made  Masons.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  from  historic  evidence,  that  at  the 
period  when  the  Institution  was  operative 
in  its  character,  the  members  for  the  most 
part  —  that  is,  the  great  mass  of  the  Fra- 
ternity—  were  unable  to  read  or  write.  At 
a  time  when  even  kings  made  at  the  foot 
of  documents  the  sign  of  the  cross,  "pro 
ignorantia  liter  arum"  because  they  could 
not  write  their  names,  it  could  hardly  be 
expected  that  an  Operative  Mason  should 
be  gifted  with  a  greater  share  of  education 
than  his  sovereign.  But  the  change  of  the 
society  from  Operative  to  Speculative  gave 
to  it  an  intellectual  elevation,  and  the  phi- 
losophy and  science  of  symbolism  which 
was  then  introduced  could  hardly  be  under- 
stood by  one  who  had  no  preliminary  edu- 
cation. Accordingly,  the  provision  in  all 
Lodges,  that  initiation  must  be  preceded 
by  a  written  petition,  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate that  no  one  is  expected  or  desired  to 
apply  for  initiation  unless  he  can  comply 
with  that  regulation,  by  writing,  or  at 
least  signing,  such  a  petition.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  does  not  leave  this  prin- 
ciple to  be  settled  by  implication,  but  in 
express  words  requires  that  a  candidate 
shall  know  how  to  write,  by  inserting  in  its 
Constitution  the  provision  that  a  candidate, 
"  previous  to  his  initiation,  must  subscribe 
his  name  at  full  length  to  a  declaration." 
The  official  commentary  on  this,  in  an  ac- 
companying note,  is,  that  "  any  individual 
who  cannot  write  is  consequently  ineligible 
to  be  initiated  into  the  Order,"  and  this  is 
now  the  very  generally  accepted  law.  The 
ne  varietur  in  Masonic  diplomas,  which  fol- 
lows the  signature  in  the  margin,  indicates 
that  the  holder  is  required  to  know  how  to 
sign  his  name. 

Illuminated  Theosophists.  A 
modification  of  the  system  of  Pernetty  in- 
stituted at  Paris  by  Benedict  Chastanier, 
who  subsequently  succeeded  in  introducing 
it  into  London.  It  consisted  of  nine  de- 
grees, for  an  account  of  which  see  Chastanier, 

Illuminati.  This  is  a  Latin  word, 
signifying  the  enlightened,  and  hence  often 
applied  in  Latin  diplomas  as  an  epithet  of 
Freemasons. 

Illuminati  of  Bavaria.  A  secret 
society,  founded  on  May  1,  1776,  by  Adam 
Weishaupt,  who  was  professor  of  canon  law 
at  the  University  of  Ingoldstadt.  Its  found- 
er at  first  called  it  the  Order  of  the  Per- 


fectibilists ;  but  he  subsequently  gave  it  the 
name  by  which  it  is  now  universally  known. 
Its  professed  object  was,  by  the  mutual  assist- 
ance of  its  members,  to  attain  the  highest 
possible  degree  of  morality  and  virtue,  and 
to  lay  the  foundation  for  the  reformation 
of  the  world  by  the  association  of  good  men 
to  oppose  the  progress  of  moral  evil.  To 
give  to  the  Order  a  higher  influence,  Weis- 
haupt connected  it  with  the  Masonic  insti- 
tution, after  whose  system  of  degrees,  of 
esoteric  instruction,  and  of  secret  modes  of 
recognition,  it  was  organized.  It  has  thus 
become  confounded  by  superficial  writers 
with  Freemasonry,  although  it  never  could 
be  considered  as  properly  a  Masonic  Rite. 
Weishaupt,  though  a  reformer  in  religion 
and  a  liberal  in  politics,  had  originally 
been  a  Jesuit;  and  he  employed,  therefore, 
in  the  construction  of  his  association,  the 
shrewdness  and  subtlety  which  distinguish- 
ed the  disciples  of  Loyola ;  and  having  been 
initiated  in  1777  in  a  Lodge  at  Munich,  he 
also  borrowed  for  its  use  the  mystical  or- 
ganization which  was  peculiar  to  Freema- 
sonry. In  this  latter  task  he  was  greatly 
assisted  by  the  Baron  Von  Knigge,  a  zeal- 
ous and  well-instructed  Mason,  who  joined 
the  Illuminati  in  1780,  and  soon  became  a 
leader,  dividing  with  Weishaupt  the  con- 
trol and  direction  of  the  Order. 

In  its  internal  organization  the  Order  of 
Illuminati  was  divided  into  three  great 
classes,  namely,  1.  The  Nursery ;  2.  Syon- 
bolic  Freemasonry ;  and  3.  The  Mysteries  ; 
each  of  which  was  subdivided  into  several 
degrees,  making  ten  in  all,  as  in  the  follow- 
ing table : 

I.  Nursery. 

After  a  ceremony  of  preparation  it  began : 

1.  Novice. 

2.  Mi  nerval. 

3.  Illuminatus  Minor. 

II.  Symbolic  Freemasonry. 

The  first  three  degrees  were  communi- 
cated without  any  exact  respect  to  the  di- 
visions, and  then  the  candidate  proceeded : 

4.  Illuminatus  Major,  or  Scottish  Nov- 

ice. 

5.  Illuminatus   Dirigens,   or    Scottish 

Knight. 

III.  The  Mysteries. 

This  class  was  subdivided  into  the  Les- 
ser and  the  Greater  Mysteries. 
The  Lesser  Mysteries  were : 

6.  Presbyter,  Priest,  or  Epopt. 

7.  Prince,  or  Regent. 
The  Greater  Mysteries  were : 

8.  Magus. 

9.  Rex,  or  King. 


360 


ILLUMINATI 


IMMANUEL 


Any  one  otherwise  qualified  could  be 
received  into  the  degree  of  Novice  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  ;  and  after  a  probation  of 
not  less  than  a  year  he  was  admitted  to  the 
second  and  third  degrees,  and  so  on  to  the 
higher  degrees ;  though  but  few  reached  the 
ninth  and  tenth  degrees,  in  which  the  in- 
most secret  designs  of  the  Order  were  con- 
tained, and,  in  fact,  it  is  said  that  these 
last  degrees  were  never  thoroughly  worked 
up. 

The  Illuminati  selected  for  themselves 
Order  names,  which  were  always  of  a  classi- 
cal character.  Thus,  Weishaupt  called  him- 
self Spartacus,  Knigge  was  Philo,  and 
Zvvack,  another  leader,  was  known  as  Cato. 
They  gave  also  fictitious  names  to  coun- 
tries. Ingoldstadt,  where  the  Order  origi- 
nated, was  called  Eleusis;  Austria  was 
Egypt,  in  reference  to  the  Egyptian  darkness 
of  that  kingdom,  which  excluded  all  Ma- 
sonry from  its  territories;  Munich  was 
called  Athens,  and  Vienna  was  Rome.  The 
Order  had  also  its  calendar,  and  the  months 
were  designated  by  peculiar  names;  as, 
Dimeh  for  January,  and  Bemeh  for  Feb- 
ruary. They  had  also  a  cipher,  in  which 
the  official  correspondence  of  the  members 
was  conducted.  The  character  CD,  now  so 
much  used  by  Masons  to  represent  a  Lodge, 
was  invented  and  first  used  by  the  Illumi- 
nati. 

The  Order  was  at  first  very  popular,  and 
enrolled  no  less  than  two  thousand  names 
upon  its  registers,  among  whom  were  some 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  Germany. 
It  extended  rapidly  into  other  countries, 
and  its  Lodges  were  to  be  found  in  France, 
Belgium,  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Po- 
land, Hungary,  and  Italy. 

The  original  design  of  Illuminism  was 
undoubtedly  the  elevation  of  the  human 
race.  Knigge,  who  was  one  of  its  most 
prominent  working  members,  and  the  au- 
thor of  several  of  its  degrees,  was  a  religious 
man,  and  would  never  have  united  with  it 
had  its  object  been,  as  has  been  charged,  to 
abolish  Christianity.  But  it  cannot  be  de- 
nied, that  in  process  of  time  abuses  had 
crept  into  the  Institution,  and  that  by  the 
influence  of  unworthy  men  the  system  be- 
came corrupted ;  yet  the  coarse  accusations 
of  such  writers  as  Barruel  and  Eobison 
are  known  to  be  exaggerated,  and  some  of 
them  altogether  false.  The  Conversations- 
Lexicon,  for  instance,  declares  that  the 
society  had  no  influence  whatever  on  the 
French  Revolution,  which  is  charged  upon 
it  by  these  as  well  as  other  writers. 

But  Illuminism  came  directly  and  pro- 
fessedly in  conflict  with  the  Jesuits  and 
with  the  Roman  Church,  whose  tendencies 
were  to  repress  the  freedom  of  thought. 
The  priests  became,  therefore,  its  active 


enemies,  and  waged  war  so  successfully 
against  it,  that  on  June  22, 1784,  the  Elec- 
tor of  Bavaria  issued  an  edict  for  its  sup- 
pression. Many  of  its  members  were  fined 
or  imprisoned,  and  some,  among  whom 
was  Weishaupt,  were  compelled  to  flee  the 
country.  The  edicts  of  the  Elector  of  Ba- 
varia were  repeated  in  March  and  August, 
1785,  and  the  Order  began  to  decline,  so 
that  by  the  end  of  the  last  century  it  had 
ceased  to  exist.  Adopting  Masonry  only 
as  a  means  of  its  own  more  successful 
propagation,  and  using  it  only  as,  inci- 
dental to  its  own  organization,  it  exercised 
while  in  prosperity  no  favorable  influence 
on  the  Masonic  institution,  nor  any  un- 
favorable effect  on  it  by  its  dissolution. 

Illuminati  of  Avignon.  See  Avig- 
non. 

Illuminati  of  Stockholm.  An 
Order  but  little  known ;  mentioned  by  Ra- 
gon  in  his  Catalogue  as  having  been  insti- 
tuted for  the  propagation  of  Martinism. 

Illuminism.  The  system  or  Rite 
practised  by  the  German  Illuminati  is  so 
called. 

Illustrious.  A  title  given  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  to  all 
those  who  possess  the  thirty-second  or 
thirty-third  degree. 

Illustrious  Elect  of  the  Fifteen. 
The  title  now  generally  given  to  the  Elect 
of  Fifteen,  which  see. 

Imitative  Societies.  A  title  some- 
times given  to  those  secret  societies  which, 
imitating  the  general  organization  of  Free- 
masonry, differ  from  it  entirely  in  their 
character  and  object.  Such,  in  the  last 
century,  when  at  one  time  they  abounded, 
were  the  Bucks,  the  Sawyers,  the  Gormo- 
gons,  and  the  Gregorians ;  and,  in  the  pres- 
ent century,  the  Odd  Fellows,  the  Good 
Templars,  and  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 
Most  of  them  imitate  the  Masons  in  their 
external  appearance,  such  as  the  wearing 
of  aprons,  collars,  and  jewels,  and  in  calling 
their  places  of  meeting,  by  a  strange  mis- 
nomer, Lodges.  But  in  these  points  is  their 
only  resemblance  to  the  original  Institu- 
tion. 

I  in  in  a  unci.  A  Hebrew  word  signi- 
fying "God  with  us,"  from  "0£]7,  immanu, 
''with  us,"  and  Sx,  el,  "God."  It  was  the 
symbolical  name  given  by  the  prophet  Isa- 
iah to  the  child  who  was  announced  to 
Ahaz  and  the  people  of  Judah  as  the  sign 
which  God  would  give  of  their  deliverance 
from  their  enemies,  and  afterwards  applied 
by  the  Apostle  Matthew  to  the  Messiah 
born  of  the  Virgin.  As  one  of  the  appel- 
lations of  Christ,  it  has  been  adopted  as  a 
significant  word  in  modern  Templarism, 
where,  however,  the  form  of  Emanuel  is 
most  usually  employed. 


IMMORTALITY 


IMPOSTORS 


361 


Immortality  of  the  Soul.  Very 
wisely  has  Max  Miiller  said,  [Chips,  i.  45,) 
that  "  without  a  belief  in  personal  immor- 
tality, religion  is  surely  like  an  arch  resting 
on  one  pillar,  like  a  bridge  ending  in  an 
abyss ; "  and  he  cites  passages  from  the 
Vedas  to  show  that  to  the  ancient  Brah- 
mans  the  idea  was  a  familiar  one.  Indeed, 
almost  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  with 
whose  religious  faith  we  are  acquainted 
recognize  the  dogma,  although  sometimes 
in  vague  and,  perhaps,  materialistic  forms. 

It  was  the  professed  teaching  of  the  An- 
cient Mysteries,  where,  in  the  concluding 
rites  of  their  initiation,  the  restoration  of 
the  hero  of  their  legend  was  a  symbol  of 
the  immortal  life.  So,  too,  the  same  doc- 
trine is  taught  by  a  similar  legendary  and 
symbolic  method  in  the  third  degree  of 
Masonry. 

Archdeacon  Mant  thus  describes  the  dif- 
ferences, in  the  teaching  of  this  doctrine  of 
immortality,  between  what  he  calls,  after 
the  school  of  Oliver,  the  spurious  and  the 
true  Freemasonry : 

"  Whereas  the  heathens  had  taught  this 
doctrine  only  by  the  application  of  a  fable 
to  their  purpose,  the  wisdom  of  the  pious 
Grand  Master  of  the  Israelitish  Masons 
took  advantage  of  a  real  circumstance, 
which  would  more  forcibly  impress  the 
sublime  truths  he  intended  to  inculcate 
upon  the  minds  of  all  brethren." 

It  will  be  doubted  by  some  of  our  modern 
sceptics  whether  the  Hiramic  myth  is  enti- 
tled to  more  authenticity  as  an  historic 
narrative  than  the  Osiric  or  the  Diony- 
sian ;  but  it  will  not  be  denied  that,  while 
they  all  taught  the  same  dogma  of  immor- 
tality, the  method  of  teaching  by  symbolism 
was  in  all  the  same. 

Immovable  Jewels.  See  Jewels  of 
a  Lodge. 

Implements.  The  Operative  Free- 
masons of  the  Middle  Ages  gave  to  certain 
of  their  implements  —  the  most  important 
of  which  were  the  square,  the  compasses, 
the  stone-hammer,  or  gavel,  and  the  foot- 
rule — a  special  symbolic  meaning.  When 
the  Operative  Institution  was  merged  in  the 
Speculative,  the  custom  of  thus  spiritual- 
izing, as  it  was  called,  these  implements 
was  continued ;  but  the  system  of  symbolic 
instruction  has  been  so  greatly  enlarged 
and  improved  as  to  constitute,  in  fact,  the 
characteristic  feature  of  modern  Freema- 
sonry,— a  feature  which  widely  distinguishes 
it  from  all  other  societies,  whether  secret  or 
open.  Thus,  the  twenty-four  inch  gauge 
and  gavel  are  bestowed  upon  the  Entered 
Apprentice  because  these  are  the  imple- 
ments used  in  the  quarries  in  hewing  the 
stones  and  fitting  them  for  the  builder's  use, 
an  occupation  which,  for  its  simplicity,  is 
2  V 


properly  suited  to  the  unskilled  apprentice. 
The  square,  level,  and  plumb  are  employed 
in  the  still  further  preparation  of  these 
stones  and  in  adjusting  them  to  their  proper 
positions.  This  is  the  labor  of  the  crafts- 
men, and  hence  to  the  Fellow  Craft  are 
they  presented.     But  the  work  is  not  com- 

Eleted  until  the  stones  thus  adjusted  have 
een  accurately  examined  by  the  master 
workman,  and  permanently  secured  in  their 
places  by  cement.  This  is  accomplished 
by  the  trowel,  and  hence  this  implement  is 
intrusted  to  the  Master  Mason.  Thus,  the 
tools  attached  to  each  degree  admonish  the 
Mason,  as  an  Apprentice,  to  prepare  his 
mind  for  the  reception  of  the  great  truths 
which  are  hereafter  to  be  unfolded  to  him ; 
as  a  Fellow  Craft,  to  mark  their  importance 
and  adapt  them  to  their  proper  uses ;  and 
as  a  Master,  to  adorn  their  beauty  by  the 
practice  of  brotherly  love  and  kindness,  the 
cement  that  binds  all  Masons  in  one  com- 
mon fraternity. 

There  is  no  doubt,  as  Findel  says,  (Hist., 
68,)  that  the  stone-masons  were  not  the 
first  who  symbolized  the  implements  of 
their  craft.  But  they  had  reason,  above  all 
other  gilds,  for  investing  them  with  a  far 
higher  worth,  and  associating  them  with  a 
spiritual  meaning,  on  account  of  the  sacred 
calling  to  which  they  were  devoted.  By 
the  erection  of  churches,  the  Master  Mason 
not  only  perpetuated  his  own  name,  but  as- 
sisted in  giving  glory  to  God,  in  spreading 
the  knowledge  of  Christianity,  and  in 
stimulating  to  the  practice  of  the  Christian 
virtues.  And  hence  the  church-building 
Masons  naturally  gave  a  more  sacred  sig- 
nification in  their  symbolism  to  the  imple- 
ments employed  in  such  holy  purposes. 
And  thus  it  was  that  they  transmitted  to 
their  successors,  the  Speculative  Masons, 
the  same  sacred  interpretation  of  their 
symbols.  Modern  Freemasonry  has  been 
derived  from  an  association  of  church 
architects,  and  this  accounts  for  the  reli- 
gious character  of  its  symbolism.  Had  it 
been  the  offspring  of  the  Templars,  as 
Kamsay  contends,  its  symbolism  would 
have  been  undoubtedly  military,  somewhat 
like  that  employed  by  St.  Paul  in  his 
epistle  to  the  Ephesians. 

Impostors.  Impostors  in  Masonry 
may  be  either  profanes  who,  never  having 
been  initiated,  yet  endeavor  to  pass  them- 
selves for  regular  Freemasons,  or  Masons 
who,  having  been  expelled  or  suspended 
from  the  Order,  seek  to  conceal  the  fact  and 
still  claim  the  privileges  of  members  in 
good  standing.  The  false  pretensions  of 
the  former  class  are  easily  detected,  be- 
cause their  real  ignorance  must  after  a 
proper  trial  become  apparent.  The  latter 
class,  having  once  been  invested  with  the 


362 


IN 


INCORPORATION 


proper  instructions,  can  stand  the  test  of  an 
examination  ;  and  their  true  position  must 
be  discovered  only  by  information  derived 
from  the  Lodges  which  have  suspended  or 
expelled  them.  The  Tiler's  oath  is  in- 
tended to  meet  each  of  these  cases,  because 
it  requires  every  strange  visitor  to  declare 
that  he  has  been  lawfully  initiated,  and 
that  he  is  in  good  standing.  But  perjury 
added  to  imposture  will  easily  escape  this 
test.  Hence  the  necessity  for  the  utmost 
caution,  and  therefore  the  Charges  of  1722 
say,  "  You  are  cautiously  to  examine  a 
strange  brother  in  such  a  method  as  pru- 
dence shall  direct  you,  that  you  may 
not  be  imposed  on  by  an  ignorant,  false, 
pretender,  whom  you  are  to  reject  with  con- 
tempt and  derision,  and  beware  of  giving 
him  any  hints  of  knowledge."  The  Ma- 
sonic rule  is,  that  it  is  better  that  ninety 
and  nine  true  brethren  be  rejected  than 
that  one  impostor  be  admitted. 

In  Activity.  When  a  Lodge  is  per- 
forming all  its  duties  and  functious,  and  is 
regularly  represented  in  the  Grand  Lodge, 
it  is  said  to  be  in  activity,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  a  Lodge  which  has  ceased  to  work 
or  hold  communications,  which  is  said  to 
be  dormant. 

Inauguration.  A  word  applied  by 
the  ancient  Romans  to  the  ceremony  by 
which,  after  the  augurs  had  been  consulted, 
some  thing  or  person  was  solemnly  conse- 
crated. The  consecration  of  a  Master  of  a 
Lodge  to  his  office,  which  is  equivalent  to 
the  ancient  inauguration  of  a  priest  or 
king,  is  in  Masonic  language  called  an  In- 
stallation, which  see. 

Incense.  The  use  of  incense  as  a 
part  of  the  divine  worship  was  common  to 
all  the  nations  of  antiquity.  Among  the 
Hebrews,  the  Egyptians,  and  the  Hindus  it 
seems  to  have  been  used  for  no  other  pur- 
poses ;  but  the  Persians  burnt  it  also  before 
the  king.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has 
borrowed  the  usage  from  the  ancients  ;  and 
the  burning  of  incense  in  certain  sacred 
rites  is  also  practised  in  Masonry,  especially 
in  the  high  degrees.  In  Scripture,  incense 
is  continually  spoken  of,  both  in  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testaments,  as  a  symbol  of 
prayer.  Thus  the  Psalmist  says,  (cxli.  2,) 
"  Let  my  prayer  be  set  before  thee  as  in- 
cense." It  has  in  Masonry  a  similar  signi- 
fication ;  and  hence  the  pot  of  incense  has 
been  adopted  as  a  symbol  in  the  third  de- 
gree, typifying  the  pure  heart  from  which 
Srayers  and  aspirations  arise,  as  incense 
oes  from  the  pot  or  incensorium,  as  an 
acceptable  sacrifice  to  the  Deity. 

Inchoate  Lodges.  From  the  Latin, 
inchoatus,  unfinished,  incomplete.  Lodges 
working  under  the  dispensation  of  the 
Grand  Master  are  said  to  be  "  inchoate  "  or 


incomplete,  because  they  do  not  possess  all 
the  rights  and  prerogatives  that  belong  to 
a  Lodge  working  under  the  Warrant  of 
constitution  of  a  Grand  Lodge.  The  same 
term  is  applied  to  Chapters  which  work 
under  the  dispensation  of  a  Grand  High 
Priest.     See  Lodges  under  Dispensation. 

Incommunicable.  The  Tetra- 
grammaton,  so  called  because  it  was  not 
common  to,  and  could  not  be  bestowed 
upon,  nor  shared  by,  any  other  being.  It 
was  proper  to  the  true  God  alone.  Thus 
Drusius  (Telragrammaton,  sive  de  Nomine 
Dei  proprio,  p.  108,)  says,  "Nomen  quatuor 
literarum  proprie  et  absolute  non  tribui 
nisi  Deo  vero.  Unde  doctores  catholici  di- 
cunt  incommunicabile  [not  common]  esse 
creaturae." 

That  is:  "The  name  of  four  letter?, 
which  is  not  to  be  attributed,  properly  and 
absolutely,  except  to  the  true  God.  Whence 
the  Catholic  doctors  say  that  it  is  incom- 
municable, not  common  to  or  to  be  shared 
by  any  creature."  Oliver,  in  his  Symbolic 
Dictionary,  commits  a  curious  blunder  in 
supposing  that  the  Incommunicable  Name 
is  the  Name  not  to  be  communicated  to  or 
pronounced  by  any  one;  thus  incorrectly 
confounding  the  words  incommunicable  and 
ineffable.  Although  the  two  epithets  are 
applied  to  the  same  name,  yet  the  qualities 
of  incommunicability  and  ineffability  are 
very  different. 

Incorporation.  By  an  act  of  in- 
corporation, the  supreme  legislature  of  a 
country  creates  a  corporation  or  body  poli- 
tic, which  is  defined  by  Mr.  Kyd  ( Corp.,  i. 
13,)  to  be  "a  collection  of  many  individuals 
united  in  one  body,  under  a  special  denomi- 
nation, having  perpetual  succession  under 
an  artificial  form,  and  vested  by  the  policy 
of  the  law  with  a  capacity  of  acting  in  several 
respects  as  an  individual,  particularly  of 
taking  and  granting  property,  contracting 
obligations,  and  of  suing  and  being  sued ; 
of  enjoying  privileges  and  immunities  in 
common,  and  of  exercising  a  variety  of  po- 
litical rights."  Some  Grand  Lodges  in  this 
country  are  incorporated  by  act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  their  respective  States; 
others  are  not,  and  these  generally  hold 
their  property  through  Trustees.  In  1768, 
an  effort  was  made  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England  to  petition  Parliament  for  incor- 
poration, and  after  many  discussions  the 
question  was  submitted  to  the  Lodges;  a 
large  majority  of  whom  having  agreed  to 
the  measure,  a  bill  was  introduced  in  Par- 
liament by  the  Deputy  Grand  Master,  but, 
being  approved  on  its  second  reading,  at 
the  request  of  several  of  the  Fraternity, 
who  had  petitioned  the  House  against  it, 
it  was  withdrawn  by  the  mover,  and  thus 
the  design  of  an  incorporation  fell  to  the 


INDEFEASIBLE 


INDUCTOR 


363 


ground.  Perhaps  the  best  system  of  Ma- 
sonic incorporation  in  existence  is  that  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  South  Carolina.  There 
the  act,  by  which  the  Grand  Lodge  was  in- 
corporated, in  1817,  delegates  to  that  body 
the  power  of  incorporating  its  subordi- 
nates ;  so  that  a  Lodge,  whenever  it  receives 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  a  Warrant  of  con- 
stitution, acquires  thereby  at  once  all  the 
rights  of  a  corporate  body,  which  it  ceases 
to  exercise  whenever  the  said  Warrant  is 
revoked  by  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Objections  have  been  made  to  the  incor- 
poration of  Lodges  in  consequence  of  some 
of  the  legal  results  which  would  follow. 
An  incorporated  Lodge  becomes  subject  to 
the  surveillance  of  the  courts  of  law,  from 
which  an  unincorporated  Lodge  is  exempt. 
Thus,  a  Mason  expelled  by  an  unincorpo- 
rated Lodge  must  look  for  his  redress  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  alone.  But  if  the  Lodge  be 
incorporated,  he  may  apply  to  the  courts 
for  a  restoration  of  his  franchise  as  a  mem- 
ber. Masonic  discipline  would  thus  be 
seriously  affected.  The  objection  to  incor- 
poration is,  I  think,  founded  on  good  rea- 
sons. 

Indefeasible.  Unavoidable, that 
which  cannot  be  voided  or  taken  away. 
The  word  is  thus  used  in  the  second  of 
the  Charges  of  1722,  where,  speaking  of  a 
brother  who  has  been  guilty  of  treason  or 
rebellion,  it  is  said  that  he  cannot  for  this 
cause  be  expelled  from  the  Lodge,  and  that 
"his  relation  to  it  remains  indefeasible."  It 
is  a  law  term,  which  is  usually  applied  to 
an  estate  or  right  which  cannot  be  defeated. 

Indelibility.  The  indelibility  of  the 
Masonic  character,  as  expressed  in  the 
often  repeated  maxim,  '"'once  a  Mason, 
always  a  Mason,"  is  universally  admitted. 
That  is  to  say.  no  voluntary  or  even  forced 
withdrawal  from  the  Order  can  cancel  cer- 
tain obligations  which  have  been  contracted, 
and  place  the  person  withdrawing  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  relative  position  towards 
the  Institution  that  he  had  occupied  before 
his  initiation. 

Indented  Tarsel.  In  the  old  rituals 
these  words  were  used  for  what  is  now  called 
the  tessellated  border.     See  Tarsel. 

Indented  Tessel.  The  ornamented 
border  which  surrounds  the  Mosaic  pave- 
ment.    See  Tessellated  Border. 

India.  In  1728,  Lord  Kingston,  Grand 
Master  of  England,  granted  a  Deputation 
to  George  Pomfret,  Esq.,  for  Bengal,  in  the 
East  Indies,  but  no  action  seems  to  have 
been  taken,  under  that  authority,  until 
1740,  in  which  year  the  Lodge  Star  in  the 
East,  No.  70  on  the  English  Register,  was 
established  at  Calcutta;  and  this  may  there- 
fore be  considered  as  the  era  of  the  intro- 
duction of  Freemasonry  into   India.     In 


Hutchinson's  List  of  Lodges  we  find  the 
next  established  at  Madras  in  1752 ;  a  third 
at  Bombay  in  1757 ;  and  a  fourth  at  Cal- 
cutta in  1761.  From  that  time  Masonry 
made  rapid  progress  in  India,  and  in  1779 
there  was  scarcely  a  town  of  importance 
in  Hindustan  in  which  there  was  not  a 
Lodge.  The  dissensions  of  the  Ancients 
and  the  Moderns,  which  commenced  in 
England  in  1738,  unhappily  spread  to  In- 
dia, and  an  Ancient  York  Lodge  was  estab- 
lished on  the  coast  of  Coromandel.  This 
subsequently  voluntarily  surrendered  its 
Warrant,  and  all  differences  were  reconciled 
in  1787,  by  the  establishment  of  a  Provin- 
cial Grand  Lodge,  of  which  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Home  was  appointed  Provincial  Grand 
Master  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland.  Tem- 
plarism  and  Royal  Arch  Masonry  were  sub- 
sequently introduced,  and  Lodges,  Chap- 
ters, and  Commanderies  are  now  in  success- 
ful operation. 

Indiana.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  the  State  of  Indiana  in  1807, 
by  the  establishment  of  Vincennes  Lodge, 
No.  15,  at  Vincennes,  under  a  Warrant 
granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Kentucky. 
Five  other  Lodges  were  subsequently  char- 
tered by  the  same  authority.     On  Dec.  3, 

1817,  a  convention  assembled  at  Corydon, 
at  which  were  present  the  representatives 
of  six  chartered  Lodges,  and  two  under  dis- 
pensation from  Kentucky,  and  one  under 
dispensation  from  Ohio.  The  convention, 
having  taken  the  preliminary  steps,  ad- 
journed to  meet  at  Madison  on  Jan.  12, 

1818,  on  which  day  the  Grand  Lodge  was 
organized. 

The  Grand  Chapter  was  established  in 
1845 ;  the  Grand  Commandery  on  May  16, 
1854,  and  the  Grand  Council  of  Royal*  and 
Select  Masters  on  Dec.  11,  1855. 

Indifferent**.  A  secret  society  of 
men  and  women  established  in  Paris,  in 
1738,  in  imitation  of  Freemasonry.  The 
object  of  the  society  was  to  protect  its 
members  from  the  influence  of  love,  and 
hence  it  wore,  as  an  appropriate  device,  a 
jewel  representing  an  icicle. 

Induetion.  1.  The  Master  of  a 
Lodge,  when  installed  into  office,  is  said  to 
be  inducted  into  the  Oriental  Chair  of  King 
Solomon.  The  same  term  is  applied  to 
the  reception  of  a  candidate  into  the  Past 
Master's  degree.  The  word  is  derived  from 
the  language  of  the  law,  where  the  giving  a 
clerk  or  parson  possession  of  his  benefice  is 
called  his  induction.  2.  Induction  is  also 
used  to  signify  initiation  into  the  degree 
called  Thrice  Illustrious  Order  of  the 
Cross. 

Indnetor.  The  Senior  and  Junior 
Inductors  are  officers  in  a  Council  of  the 
Thrice  Illustrious  Order  of  the  Cross,  cor- 


364 


INDUSTRY 


INHERENT 


responding  to  the  Senior  and  Junior  Dea- 
cons. 

Industry.  A  virtue  inculcated 
amongst  Masons,  because  by  it  they  are 
enabled  not  only  to  support  themselves 
and  families,  but  to  contribute  to  the  re- 
lief of  worthy  distressed  brethren.  "  All 
Masons,"  say  the  Charges  of  1722,  "shall 
work  honestly  on  working  days  that  they 
may  live  creditably  on  holy  days."  The 
Masonic  symbol  of  industry  is  the  beehive, 
which  is  used  in  the  third  degree. 

Ineffable  Degrees.  From  the  Latin 
word,  ineffabilis,  that  which  cannot  or  ought 
not  to  be  spoken  or  expressed.  The  de- 
grees from  the  fourth  to  the  fourteenth 
inclusive  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  and  are  so  called  because  they 
are  principally  engaged  in  the  investigation 
and  contemplation  of  the  Ineffable  name. 

Ineffable  IVame.  It  was  forbidden 
to  the  Jews  to  pronounce  the  Tetragramma- 
ton  or  sacred  name  of  God ;  a  reverential 
usage  which  is  also  observed  in  Masonry. 
Hence  the  Tetragrammaton  is  called  the 
Ineffable  Name.  As  in  Masonry,  so  in  all 
the  secret  societies  of  antiquity,  much  mys- 
tery has  been  attached  to  the  Divine  Name, 
which  it  was  considered  unlawful  to  pro- 
nounce, and  for  which  some  other  word 
was  substituted.  Adonai  was  among  the 
Hebrews  the  substitute  for  the  Tetragram- 
maton. 

Ineligible.  Who  are  and  who  are  not 
ineligible  for  initiation  into  the  mysteries 
of  Freemasonry  is  treated  of  under  the 
head  of  Qualifications,  which  see. 

Information,  Lawful.  One  of  the 
modes  of  recognizing  a  stranger  as  a  true 
brother,  is  from  the  "  lawful  information  " 
of  a  third  party.  No  Mason  can  lawfully 
give  information  of  another's  qualifications 
unless  he  has  actually  tested  him  by  the 
strictest  trial  and  examination,  or  knows 
that  it  has  been  done  by  another.  But  it 
is  not  every  Mason  who  is  competent  to  give 
"lawful  information."  Ignorant  and  un- 
skilful brethren  cannot  do  so,  because  they 
are  incapable  of  discovering  truth  or  of  de- 
tecting error.  A  "rusty  Mason"  should 
never  attempt  to  examine  a  stranger,  and 
certainly,  if  he  does,  his  opinion  as  to  the 
result  is  worth  nothing.  If  the  informa- 
tion given  is  on  the  ground  that  the  party 
who  is  vouched  for  has  been  seen  sitting 
in  a  Lodge,  care  must  be  taken  to  inquire 
if  it  was  a  "just  and  legally  constituted 
Lodge  of  Master  Masons."  A  person  may 
forget  from  the  lapse  of  time,  and  vouch 
for  a  stranger  as  a  Master  Mason,  when  the 
Lodge  in  which  he  saw  him  was  only 
opened  in  the  first  or  second  degree.  In- 
formation given  by  letter,  or  through  a 
third  party,  is  irregular.   The  person  giving 


the  information,  the  one  receiving  it,  and 
the  one  of  whom  it  is  given,  should  all  be 
present  at  the  same  time,  for  otherwise 
there  would  be  no  certainty  of  identity. 
The  information  must  be  positive,  not 
founded  on  belief  or  opinion,  but  derived 
from  a  legitimate  source.  And,  lastly,  it 
must  not  have  been  received  casually,  but 
for  the  very  purpose  of  being  used  for 
Masonic  purposes.  For  one  to  say  to  an- 
other, in  the  course  of  a  desultory  conver- 
sation, "  A.  B.  is  a  Mason,"  is  not  sufficient. 
He  may  not  be  speaking  with  due  caution, 
under  the  expectation  that  his  words  will 
be  considered  of  weight.  He  must  say 
something  to  this  effect:  "I  know  this  man 
to  be  a  Master  Mason,  for  such  or  such 
reasons,  and  you  may  safely  recognize  him 
as  such."  This  alone  will  ensure  the  neces- 
sary care  and  proper  observance  of  pru- 
dence. 

Inherent  Rights  of  a  Grand 
Master.  This  has  been  a  subject  of  fer- 
tile discussion  among  Masonic  jurists,  al- 
though only  a  few  have  thought  proper  to 
deny  the  existence  of  such  rights.  Upon 
the  theory  which,  however  recently  con- 
troverted, has  very  generally  been  recog- 
nized, that  Grand  Masters  existed  before 
Grand  Lodges  were  organized,  it  must  be 
evident  that  the  rights  of  a  Grand  Master 
are  of  two  kinds  —  those,  namely,  which 
he  derives  from  the  Constitution  of  a  Grand 
Lodge  of  which  he  has  been  made  the  pre- 
siding officer,  and  those  which  exist  in  the 
office  independent  of  any  Constitution,  be- 
cause they  are  derived  from  the  landmarks 
and  ancient  usages  of  the  Craft.  The  rights 
and  prerogatives  which  depend  on  and  are 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution  may  be 
modified  or  rescinded  by  that  instrument. 
They  differ  in  different  jurisdictions,  be- 
cause one  Grand  Lodge  may  confer  more 
or  less  power  upon  its  presiding  officer  than 
another ;  and  they  differ  at  different  times, 
because  the  Constitution  of  every  Grand 
Lodge  is  subject,  in  regard  to  its  internal 
regulations,  to  repeated  alteration  and 
amendment.  These  may  be  called  the  acci- 
dental rights  of  a  Grand  Master,  because  they 
are  derived  from  the  accidental  provisions 
of  a  Grand  Lodge,  and  have  in  them  noth- 
ing essential  to  the  integrity  of  the  office. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  enumerate  them,  be- 
cause they  may  be  found  in  varied  modifi- 
cations in  the  Constitutions  of  all  Grand 
Lodges.  But  the  rights  and  prerogatives 
which  Grand  Masters  are  supposed  to  have 
possessed,  not  as  the  presiding  officers  of 
an  artificial  body,  but  as  the  rulers  of  the 
Craft  in  general,  before  Grand  Lodges  came 
into  existence,  and  which  are  dependent, 
not  on  any  prescribed  rules  which  may  be 
enacted  to-day  and  repealed  to-morrow, 


IN 


INNOVATIONS 


365 


but  on  the  long-continued  usages  of  the 
Order  and  the  concessions  of  the  Craft  from 
time  out  of  mind,  inhere  in  the  office,  and 
cannot  be  augmented  or  diminished  by 
the  action  of  any  authority,  because  they 
are  landmarks,  and  therefore  unchangeable. 
These  are  culled  the  inherent  rights  of  a 
Grand  Master.  They  comprise  the  right 
to  preside  over  the  Craft  whenever  assem- 
bled, to  grant  dispensations,  and,  as  a  part 
of  that  power,  to  make  Masons  at  sight. 

In  IIoc  Signo  Vinces.  On  the 
Grand  Standard  of  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars  these  words  are  inscribed 
over  "  a  blood-red  Passion  Cross,"  and  they 
constitute  in  part  the  motto  of  the  Ameri- 
can branch  of  the  Order.  Their  meaning, 
"  by  this  sign  thou  shalt  conquer,"  is  a  sub- 
stantial, but  not  literal,  translation  of  the 
original  Greek,  ev  tcvtu  vina.  For  the  ori- 
gin of  the  motto,  we  must  go  back  to  a 
well-known  legend  of  the  church,  which 
has,  however,  found  more  doubters  than 
believers  among  the  learned.  Eusebius, 
who  wrote  a  life  of  Constantino,  says  that 
while  the  emperor  was  in  Gaul,  in  the  year 
312,  preparing  for  war  with  his  rival,  Max- 
entius,  about  tbe  middle  hours  of  the  day, 
as  the  sun  began  to  verge  towards  its  set- 
ting, he  saw  in  the  heavens,  with  his  own 
eyes,  the  sun  surmounted  with  the  trophy 
of  the  cross,  which  was  composed  of  light, 
and  a  legend  annexed,  which  said  "  by  this 
conquer."  This  account  Eusebius  affirms  to 
be  in  the  words  of  Constantine.  Lactan- 
tius,  who  places  the  occurrence  at  a  later 
date  and  on  the  eve  of  a  battle  with  Max- 
entius,  in  which  the  latter  was  defeated, 
relates  it  not  as  an  actual  occurrence,  but 
as  a  dream  or  vision ;  and  this  is  now  the 
generally  received  opinion  of  those  who  do 
not  deem  the  whole  legend  a  fabrication. 
On  the  next  day  Constantine  had  an  image 
of  this  cross  made  into  a  banner,  called  the 
labarum,  which  he  ever  afterwards  used  as 
the  imperial  standard.  Eusebius  describes 
it  very  fully.  It  was  not  a  Passion  Cross, 
such  as  is  now  used  on  the  modern  Tem- 
plar standard,  but  the  monogram  of  Christ. 
The  shaft  was  a  very  long  spear.  On  the 
top  was  a  crown  composed  of  gold  and  pre- 
cious stones,  and  containing  the  sacred 
symbol,  namely,  the  Greek  letter  rho  or  P, 
intersected  by  the  chi  or  X,  which  two  let- 
ters are  the  first  and  second  of  the  name 
XPI2T02,  or  CHRIST.  If,  then,  the  Tem- 
plars retain  the  motto  on  their  banner,  they 
should,  for  the  sake  of  historical  accuracy, 
discard  the  Passion  Cross,  and  replace  it 
with  the  Constantinian  Chronogram,  or 
Cross  of  the  Labarum.  But  the  truth  is, 
that  the  ancient  Templars  used  neither  the 
Passion  Cross,  nor  that  of  Constantine,  nor 
yet  the  motto  in  hoc  signo  vinces  on  their 


standard.  Their  only  banner  was  the  black 
and  white  Beauseant,  and  at  the  bottom  of 
it  wa3  inscribed  their  motto,  "  Non  nobis 
Domine,  non  nobis,  sed  nomini  tuo  da  glo- 
riam,"  —  not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us, 
but  unto  thee  give  the  glory.  This  was  the 
song  or  shout  of  victory  sung  by  the  Tem- 
plars when  triumphant  in  battle. 

Ill  Menioriam.  Lat.  As  a  memo- 
rial. Words  frequently  placed  at  the  heads 
of  pages  in  the  transactions  of  Grand 
Lodges  on  which  are  inscribed  the  names 
of  brethren  who  have  died  during  the  past 
year.  The  fuller  phrase,  of  which  they  are 
an  abbreviated  form,  is  "  In  perpetuam  rei 
memoriam,"  As  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the 
event.  Words  often  inscribed  on  pillars 
erected  in  commemoration  of  some  person 
or  thing. 

Initiate.  (Iniliatus.)  1.  The  fifth  and 
last  degree  of  the  Order  of  the  Temple ;  2. 
The  eleventh  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Philale- 
tb.es ;  3.  The  candidate  in  any  of  the  de- 
grees of  Masonry  is  called  an  Initiate. 

Initiated  Knight  and  Brother 
of  Asia.  The  thirty-second  degree  of  the 
Order  of  Initiated  Brothers  of  Asia.  See 
Asia,  Brotliers  of. 

Initiate  in  the  Egyptian  Se- 
crets. The  second  degree  in  the  Rite  of 
African  Architects. 

Initiate  in  the  Mysteries.  The 
twenty-first  degree  in  the  Metropolitan 
Chapter  of  France. 

Initiate  in  the  Profound  Mys- 
teries. The  sixty-second  degree  of  the 
collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Initiation.  A  term  used  by  the  Ro- 
mans to  designate  admission  into  the  mys- 
teries of  their  sacred  and  secret  rites.  It 
is  derived  from  the  word  initio,,  which  sig- 
nifies the  first  principles  of  a  science.  Thus 
Justin  {Lib.  xi.,  c.  7,)  says  of  Mida,  king  of 
Phrygia,  that  he  was  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  by  Orpheus.  "  Ab  Orpheo  sacro- 
rum  solemnibus  initiatus."  The  Greeks 
used  the  term  Mvarayuyla,  from  fivaTTjpLov,  a 
mystery.  From  the  Latin,  the  Masons 
have  adopted  the  word  to  signify  a  recep- 
tion into  their  Order.  It  is  sometimes  spe- 
cially applied  to  a  reception  into  the  first 
degree,  but  he  who  has  been  made  an  En- 
tered Apprentice  is  more  correctly  said  to 
be  Entered.    See  Mysteries. 

Inner  Guard.  An  officer  of  a  Lodge, 
according  to  the  English  system,  whose 
functions  correspond  in  some  particulars 
with  those  of  the  Junior  Deacon  in  the 
American  Rite.  His  duties  are  to  admit 
visitors,  to  receive  candidates,  and  to  obey 
the  commands  of  the  Junior  Warden.  This 
officer  is  unknown  in  the  American  system. 

Innovations.    There  is  a  well-known 


366 


INNOVATIONS 


I.-.  N.\  R.-.  I. 


maxim  of  the  law  which  says  Omnis  inno- 
vatio  plus  novitate  perturbat  quam  utililate 
prodest,  that  is,  every  innovation  occasions 
more  harm  and  disarrangement  by  its  nov- 
elty than  benefit  by  its  actual  utility.  This 
maxim  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  Freema- 
sonry, whose  system  is  opposed  to  all  in- 
novations. Thus  Dr.  Dalcho  says,  in  his 
Ahiman  Rezon,  (p.  191,)  "Antiquity  is 
dear  to  a  Mason's  heart;  innovation  is 
treason,  and  saps  the  venerable  fabric  of 
the  Order."  In  accordance  with  this  sen- 
timent, we  find  the  installation  charges  of 
the  Master  of  a  Lodge  affirming  that  "it  is 
not  in  the  power  of  any  man  or  body  of 
men  to  make  innovations  in  the  body  of 
Masonry." 

By  the  "body  of  Masonry  "  is  here  meant, 
undoubtedly,  the  landmarks,  which  have 
always  been  declared  to  be  unchangeable. 
The  non-essentials,  such  as  the  local  and 
general  regulations  and  the  lectures,  are 
not  included  in  this  term.  The  former  are 
changing  every  day,  accordingly  as  experi- 
ence or  caprice  suggests  improvement  or 
alteration.  The  most  important  of  these 
changes  in  this  country  has  been  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  Quarterly  Communications  of 
the  Grand  Lodge,  and  the  substitution  for 
them,  except,  perhaps,  in  a  single  State,  of 
an  Annual  Communication.  But,  after  all, 
this  is,  perhaps,  only  a  recurrence  to  first 
usages ;  for,  although  Anderson  says  that  in 
1717  the  Quarterly  Communications  "  were 
revived,"  there  is  no  evidence  extant  that 
before  that  period  the  Masons  ever  met 
except  once  a  year  in  their  "  General  As- 
sembly." If  so,  the  change  in  1717  was  an 
innovation,  and  not  that  which  has  almost 
universally  prevailed  in  America. 

The  lectures,  which  are  but  the  commen- 
taries on  the  ritual  and  the  interpretation 
of  the  symbolism,  have  been  subjected,  from 
the  time  of  Anderson  to  the  present  day,  to 
repeated  modifications. 

But  notwithstanding  the  repugnance  of 
Masons  to  innovations,  a  few  have  occurred 
in  the  Order.  Thus,  in  the  schism  which 
took  place  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  which  resulted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancients,  as 
they  called  themselves  in  contradistinction 
to  the  regular  Grand  Lodge  of  England, 
which  was  styled  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Moderns,  the  former  body,  to  prevent  the 
intrusion  of  the  latter  upon  their  meetings, 
made  changes  in  some  of  the  modes  of  re- 
cognition,—  changes  which,  although  Dal- 
cho has  said  that  they  amounted  to  no 
more  than  a  dispute  "  whether  the  glove 
should  be  placed  first  upon  the  right  hand 
or  on  the  left,"  (Ahim.  Rez.,  193,)  were 
among  the  causes  of  continuous  acrimony 
among  the  two  bodies,   which  was  only 


healed,  in  1813,  by  a  partial  sacrifice  of 
principle  on  the  part  of  the  legitimate 
Grand  Lodge,  and  have  perpetuated  differ- 
ences which  still  exist  among  the  English 
and  American  and  the  continental  Freema- 
sons. 

But  the  most  important  innovation  which 
sprang  out  of  this  unfortunate  schism  is 
that  which  is  connected  with  the  Royal 
Arch  degree.  On  this  subject  there  have 
been  two  theories:  One,  that  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  originally  constituted  a  part 
of  the  Master's  degree,  and  that  it  was  dis- 
severed from  it  by  the  Ancients ;  the  other, 
that  it  never  had  any  existence  until  it  was 
invented  by  Ramsay,  and  adopted  by  Der- 
mott  for  his  Ancient  Grand  Lodge.  If  the 
first,  which  is  the  most  probable  and  the 
most  generally  received  opinion,  be  true, 
then  the  regular  or  Modern  Grand  Lodge 
committed  an  innovation  in  continuing  the 
disseverance  at  the  union  in  1813.  If  the 
second  be  the  true  theory,  then  the  Grand 
Lodge  equally  perpetuated  an  innovation 
in  recognizing  it  as  legal,  and  declaring,  as 
it  did,  that  "  Ancient  Craft  Masonry  con- 
sists of  three  degrees,  including  the  Holy 
Royal  Arch."  But  however  the  innovation 
may  have  been  introduced,  the  Royal  Arch 
degree  has  now  become,  so  far  as  the  York 
and  American  Rites  are  concerned,  well 
settled  and  recognized  as  an  integral  part 
of  the  Masonic  system. 

About  the  same  time  there  was  another 
innovation  attempted  in  France.  The  ad- 
herents of  the  Pretender,  Charles  Edward, 
sought  to  give  to  Masonry  a  political  bias 
in  favor  of  the  exiled  house  of  Stuarts, 
and,  for  this  purpose,  altered  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  great  legend  of  the  third  de- 
gree, so  as  to  make  it  applicable  to  the  exe- 
cution or,  as  they  called  it,  the  martyrdom 
of  Charles  the  First.  But  this  attempted 
innovation  was  not  successful,  and  the  sys- 
tem in  which  this  lesson  was  practised  has 
ceased  to  exist,  although  its  workings  are 
now  and  then  seen  in  some  of  the  high  de- 
grees, without,  however,  any  manifest  evil 
effect. 

On  the  whole,  the  spirit  of  Freemasonry, 
so  antagonistic  to  innovation,  has  been  suc- 
cessfully maintained;  and  an  investigator 
of  the  system  as  it  prevailed  in  the  year 
1717,  and  as  it  is  maintained  at  the  present 
day,  will  not  refrain  from  wonder  at  the 
little  change  which  has  been  brought  about 
by  the  long  cycle  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years. 

I.*.  IX.'.  R.*.  I.*.  The  initials  of  the 
Latin  sentence  which  was  placed  upon  the 
cross :  Jesus  Nazarenu*  Bex  Judceorum.  The 
Rosicrucians  used  them  as  the  initials  of 
one  of  their  hermetic  secrets :  Igne  Natura 
Benovatur  Integra,  "  By  fire,  nature  is  per- 


INSIGNIA 


INTEGRITY 


367 


fectly  renewed."  They  also  adopted  them 
to  express  the  names  of  their  three  ele- 
mentary principles — salt,  sulphur,  and  mer- 
cury—  by  making  them  the  initials  of  the 
sentence,  Igne  Nitrum  Boris  Invenitur.  Ra- 
gon  finds  in  the  equivalent  Hebrew  letters 
i"\^  the  initials  of  the  Hebrew  names  of 
the  ancient  elements:  Iaminim,  water; 
Nour,  fire ;  Ruach,  air ;  and  Iebschah,  earth. 

Insignia.     See  Jewels  of  Office. 

Inspector.  See  Sovereign  Grand  In- 
spector General. 

Installation.  The  act  by  which  an 
officer  is  put  in  possession  of  the  place  he 
is  to  fill.  In  Masonry  it  is,  therefore,  ap- 
plied to  the  induction  of  one  who  has  been 
elected  into  his  office.  The  officers  of  a 
Lodge,  before  they  can  proceed  to  discharge 
their  functions,  must  be  installed.  The 
officers  of  a  new  Lodge  are  installed  by  the 
Grand  Master,  or  by  some  Past  Master 
deputed  by  him  to  perform  the  ceremony. 
Formerly,  the  Master  was  installed  by  the 
Grand  Master,  the  Wardens  by  the  Grand 
Wardens,  and  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
by  the  Grand  Secretary  and  Treasurer ;  but 
now  this  custom  is  not  continued.  At  the 
election  of  the  officers  of  an  old  Lodge,  the 
Master  is  installed  by  his  predecessor  or 
some  Past  Master  present,  and  the  Master 
elect  then  installs  his  subordinate  officers. 
No  officer  after  his  installation  can  resign. 
At  his  installation,  the  Master  receives  the 
degree  of  Past  Master.  It  is  a  law  of  Ma- 
sonry that  all  officers  hold  on  to  their  re- 
spective offices  until  their  successors  are 
installed.  It  is  installation  only  that  gives 
the  right  to  exercise  the  franchises  of  an 
office. 

The  ceremony  is  an  old  one,  and  does  not 
pertain  exclusively  to  Masonry.  The  an- 
cient Romans  installed  their  priests,  their 
kings,  and  their  magistrates ;  but  the  cere- 
mony was  called  inauguration,  because  per- 
formed generally  by  the  augurs.  The  word 
installation  is  of  comparatively  modern  ori- 
gin, being  Mediaeval  Latin,  and  is  com- 
pounded of  in  and  stallum,  a  seat.  Priests, 
after  ordination  or  reception  into  the  sacer- 
dotal order,  were  installed  into  the  churches 
or  parishes  to  which  they  were  appointed. 
The  term  as  well  as  the  custom  is  still  in 
use. 

Installation  as  a  Masonic  ceremony  was 
early  used.  We  find  in  the  first  edition  of 
Anderson's  Constitutions,  a  form  of  "  Con- 
stituting a  New  Lodge,"  which  was  practised 
by  the  Duke  of  Wharton,  who  was  Grand 
Master  in  1723.  It  was  probably  prepared 
by  Desaguliers,  who  was  Deputy,  or  by  An- 
derson, who  was  one  of  the  Wardens,  and 
perhaps  by  both.  It  included  the  cere- 
mony of  installing  the  new  Master  and 
Wardens.     The  words  "  Shall,  in  due  form, 


install  them  "  are  found  in  this  document. 
The  usage  then  was  for  the  Grand  Master, 
or  some  brother  for  him,  to  install  the  Mas- 
ter, and  for  the  Master  to  install  his  War- 
dens ;  a  usage  which  still  exists. 

Installed  Masters,  Board  of. 
An  expression  used  in  England  to  desig- 
nate a  committee  of  Masters  to  whom  "  the 
Master  elect  is  presented  that  he  may  re- 
ceive from  his  predecessor  the  benefit  of 
installation."  It  is  the  same  as  the  emer- 
gent Lodge  of  Past  Masters  assembled  in 
this  country  for  the  same  purpose. 

Installing  Officer.  The  person  who 
performs  the  ceremony  of  installation  is 
thus  called.  He  should  be  of  the  same 
official  dignity  at  least;  although  necessity 
has  sometimes  permitted  a  Grand  Master 
to  be  installed  by  a  Past  Deputy,  who  in 
such  case  acts  as  locum  tenens  of  a  Grand 
Master.  The  Masonic  rule  is  that  any  one 
who  has  been  installed  into  an  office  may 
install  others  into  similar  or  inferior  offices. 
In  this  it  agrees  with  the  old  Rabbinical 
law  as  described  by  Maimonides,  (Stat,  de 
Sanhed.,  c.  4,)  who  says :  "  Formerly,  all 
Rabbis  who  had  been  installed,  hasmocha- 
chim,  could  install  others;  but  since  the 
time  of  Hillel  the  faculty  can  be  exercised 
only  by  those  who  have  been  invested  with 
it  by  the  Prince  of  the  Grand  Sanhedrim; 
nor  then,  unless  there  be  two  witnesses 
present,  for  an  installation  cannot  be  per- 
formed by  less  than  three."  So  the  strict 
Masonic  rule  requires  the  presence  of  three 
Past  Masters  in  the  complete  installation 
of  a  Master  and  his  investiture  with  the 
Past  Master's  degree. 

The  first  Master  of  a  new  Lodge  can  be 
installed  only  by  the  Grand  Master,  or  by  a 
Past  Master  especially  appointed  by  him 
and  acting  as  his  proxy. 

Instruction.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
Master  of  the  Lodge  to  give  the  necessary 
instruction  to  the  candidate  on  his  initia- 
tion. In  some  of  the  higher  and  in  the 
continental  Rites  these  instructions  are 
imparted  by  an  officer  called  the  Orator; 
but  the  office  is  unknown  in  the  English 
and  American  systems  of  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry. 

Instruction,  todge  of.  See  Lodge 
of  Instruction. 

Instructive  Tongue.  See  Tongue, 
the  Instructive. 

Instrumental  Masonry.  Oliver 
by  this  term  defines  a  species  of  Masonry 
which  is  engaged  in  the  study  of  mechani- 
cal instruments.  But  I  find  no  authority  in 
any  other  writer  for  the  use  of  the  term,  nor 
can  I  perceive  its  necessity  or  relevancy. 

Integrity.  Integrity  of  purpose  and 
conduct  is  symbolized  by  the  plumb,  which 


368 


INTEMPERANCE 


IONIC 


Intemperance.  This  is  a  vice  which 
is  wholly  incompatible  with  the  Masonic 
character,  and  the  habitual  indulgence  in 
which  subjects  the  offender  to  the  penalty  of 
expulsion  from  the  Order.    See  Temperance. 

I  nt  curia  nl  or  the  Building.  [In- 
tendant  du  Bdtiment.)  This  degree  is  some- 
times called  "  Master  in  Israel."  It  is  the 
eighth  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite.  Its  emblematic  color  is  red;  and 
its  principal  officers,  according  to  the  old 
rituals,  are  a  Thrice  Puissant,  representing 
Solomon;  a  Senior  Warden,  representing 
the  illustrious  Tito,  one  of  the  Harodim  ; 
and  a  Junior  Warden,  representing  Adoni- 
ram  the  son  of  Abda.  But  in  the  present 
rituals  of  the  two  Supreme  Councils  of  the 
United  States  the  three  chief  officers  repre- 
sent Adoniram,  Joabert,  and  Stolkin ;  but 
in  the  working  of  the  degree  the  past  officer 
assumes  the  character  of  Solomon.  The 
legend  of  the  degree  is,  that  it  was  insti- 
tuted to  supply  the  place  of  the  chief  archi- 
tect of  the  Temple. 

Intention.  The  obligations  of  Ma- 
sonry are  required  to  be  taken  with  an 
honest  determination  to  observe  them ;  and 
hence  the  Mason  solemnly  affirms  that  in 
assuming  those  responsibilities  he  does  so 
without  equivocation,  secret  evasion,  or 
mental  reservation. 

Internal  Preparation.  See  Pre- 
paration of  Candidates. 

Internal  Qualifications.  Those 
qualifications  of  a  candidate  which  refer 
to  a  condition  known  only  to  himself,  and 
which  are  not  patent  to  the  world,  are  called 
internal  qualifications.  They  are :  1st.  That 
he  comes  forward  of  his  own  free-will  and 
accord,  and  unbiassed  by  the  solicitations 
of  others.  2d.  That  he  is  not  influenced 
by  mercenary  motives;  and,  3d,  That  he 
has  a  disposition  to  conform  to  the  usages 
of  the  Order.  The  knowledge  of  these  can 
only  be  obtained  from  his  own  statements, 
and  hence  they  are  included  in  the  pre- 
liminary questions  which  are  proposed  be- 
fore initiation.  See  Questions  to  Candidates. 

Intimate  Initiate.  [Intimus  Initia- 
tes.) Lat.  The  fourth  degree  of  the  Order 
of  the  Temple. 

.  Intimate  Secretary.  {Secretaire  in- 
time.)  The  sixth  degree  in  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  Its  emblem- 
atic color  is  black,  strewed  with  tears;  and 
its  collar  and  the  lining  of  the  apron  are 
red.  Its  officers  are  only  three :  Solomon, 
King  of  Israel ;  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre ;  and 
a  Captain  of  the  Guards.  Its  history  records 
an  instance  of  unlawful  curiosity,  the  pun- 
ishment of  which  was  only  averted  by  the 
previous  fidelity  of  the  offender.  The  legend 
in  this  degree  refers  to  the  cities  in  Galilee 
which  were  presented  by  Solomon  to  Hiram, 


King  of  Tyre;  and  with  whose  character 
the  latter  was  so  displeased  that  he  called 
them  the  land  of  Cabul. 

Introductor  and  Introduc- 
tress.  Officers  in  a  Lodge  of  Adoption, 
whose  functions  resemble  those  of  a  Master 
of  Ceremonies. 

Intrusting.  That  portion  of  the  cere- 
mony of  initiation  which  consists  in  com- 
municating to  the  candidate  the  modes  of 
recognition. 

Investiture.  The  presentation  of  the 
apron  to  a  candidate  in  the  ceremony  of 
initiation. 

Invincible.  The  degree  of  Knights 
of  the  Christian  Mark,  formerly  conferred 
in  this  country,  was  called  the  Invincible 
Order,  and  the  title  of  the  presiding  officer 
was  Invincible  Knight. 

Inwood,  Jetbro.  The  Rev.  Jethro 
Inwood  was  curate  of  St.  Paul's  at  Dept- 
ford,  in  England.  He  was  born  about  the 
year  1767,  and  initiated  into  Masonry  in 
1785  as  a  lewis,  according  to  Oliver.  He 
was  soon  after  appointed  Chaplain  of  the 
Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of  Kent,  an  office 
which  he  held  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
during  which  time  he  delivered  a  great 
number  of  sermons  on  festival  and  other 
occasions.  A  volume  of  these  sermons  was 
published  in  1799,  with  a  portrait  of  the 
author,  under  the  title  of  Sermons,  in  which 
are  explained  and  enforced  the  religious, 
moral,  and  political  virtues  of  Freemasonry, 
preached  upon  several  occasions  before  the 
Provincial  Grand  Officers  and  Brethren  in 
the  Counties  of  Kent  and  Essex.  An  edition 
of  these  sermons  was  published  by  Oliver, 
in  1849,  in  the  fourth  volume  of  his  Golden 
Remains.  These  sermons  are  written,  to 
use  the  author's  own  expression,  "  in  a  lan- 
guage that  is  plain,  homely,  and  search- 
ing;" but,  in  Masonic  character,  surpass 
the  generality  of  sermons  called  Masonic, 
simply  because  they  have  been  preached 
before  the  Craft.  Dr.  Oliver  describes  him 
as  "  an  assiduous  Mason,  who  permitted  no 
opportunity  to  pass  unimproved  of  storing 
his  mind  with  useful  knowledge,  or  of  im- 
parting instruction  to  those  who  needed  it." 

Ionic  Order.  One  of  the  three  Gre- 
cian orders,  and  the  one  that  takes  the 
highest  place  in  Masonic  symbolism.  Its 
distinguishing  characteristic  is  the  volute 
of  its  capital,  and  the  shaft  is  cut  into 
twenty  flutes  separated  by  fillets.  It  is 
more  delicate  and  graceful  than  the  Doric, 
and  more  simply  majestic  than  the  Corin- 
thian. The  judgment  and  skill  displayed 
in  its  construction,  as  combining  the 
strength  of  the  former  with  the  beauty  of 
the  latter,  has  caused  it  to  be  adopted  in 
Masonry  as  the  symbol  of  Wisdom,  and 
being  placed  in  the  east  of  the  Lodge  it  is 


IOWA 


IRELAND 


369 


referred  to  as  represented  by  the  Worship- 
ful Master. 

Iowa.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  Iowa  on  Nov.  20,  1840,  by  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Lodge  at  Burlington,  under  a 
Warrant  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri. 
Of  this  Lodge,  Bro.  Theodore  S.  Parvin, 
since  a  Past  Grand  Master  of  the  State,  was 
one  of  the  founders,  and  James  R.  Hart- 
sock,  another  Past  Grand  Master,  was  the 
first  initiate.  A  second  Lodge  was  formed 
at  Bloomington,  now  Muscatine,  Feb.  4, 
1841 ;  a  third  at  Dubuque,  Oct.  20,  1841 ; 
and  a  fourth  in  Iowa  City,  Oct.  10,  1842. 
A  convention  was  held  on  Jan.  2,  1844, 
and  a  Grand  Lodge  organized ;  Oliver  Cock 
being  elected  Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Chapter  was  organized  June 
8,  1854;  the  Grand  Council  in  1857,  and 
the  Grand  Commandery,  June  6,  1864. 
The  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
has  also  been  introduced  into  the  State,  and 
there  is  a  Grand  Consistory  and  several 
subordinate  bodies. 

Ireland.  The  early  history  of  Free- 
masonry in  Ireland  is  involved  in  the  deep- 
est obscurity.  It  is  vain  to  look  in  Ander- 
son, in  Preston,  Smith,  or  any  other  Eng- 
lish writer  of  the  last  century,  for  any  ac- 
count of  the  organization  of  Lodges  in  that 
kingdom  anterior  to  the  establishment  of 
a  Grand  Lodge.  In  none  of  the  published 
registers  is  there  any  reference  to  an  Irish 
Lodge.  The  late  Bro.  Michael  Furnel,  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Master  of  Munster,  says,  in 
a  Calendar  published  by  him  in  1850,  that 
there  are  irrefutable  records  and  data  which 
show  the  existence  of  several  self-designated 
Grand  Lodges  in  past  centuries,  and  that 
Lodge  No.  1,  on  the  present  registry,  claims 
an  uninterrupted  descent  from  an  indepen- 
dent Lodge  which  existed  from  time  im- 
memorial, and  retains  many  quaint  docu- 
ments in  her  archives.  But  I  fear  that  the 
evidence  intended  to  support  these  asser- 
tions is  not  such  as  would  now  satisfy  any 
student  of  Masonic  history.  The  statement 
in  the  Irish  Book  of  Constitutions,  (first 
edition,  Anno  1730,)  that  "about  three 
hundred  and  seventy  years  before  the  birth 
of  Christ,  the  four  sons  of  Milesius  the 
Spaniard,  subdued  the  kingdom,  settled 
themselves  in  several  parts  of  it,  planted 
colonies  and  erected  Lodges,"  is,  of  course, 
utterly  fabulous  and  mythical.  The  list  of 
"  curious  and  stately  buildings  "  erected  by 
Masons  at  various  periods  only  proves  the 
existence  of  Operative  Masons  there  as  in 
other  countries  of  Europe. 

Furnel  says  that  the  books  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Lodge  of  Munster  show  that 
that  body  was  in  existence  in  1726,  and 
that  the  Hon.  Col.  James  O'Brien  was 
Grand  Master.  I  should  be  inclined,  had 
2W  24 


I  no  other  authority  than  conjecture,  to 
place  credence  in  this  statement,  notwith- 
standing the  doubt  of  Findel,  "  because  we 
find  no  official  documents  to  confirm  the 
report."  This  might  be  properly  attributed 
to  the  well-known  scantiness  and  inaccu- 
racy of  the  records  of  that  period.  And, 
indeed,  in  1869,  Bro.  W.  J.  Hughan,  in  a 
communication  to  the  London  Freemason, 
says :  "  Bro.  J.  G.  Findel  wrote  me  some- 
time since  respecting  the  '  Grand  Lodge  of 
Munster,'  and  stated  there  were  some  val- 
uable papers,  consisting  of  records  of  its 
transactions,  in  the  possession  of  a  brother 
in  Ireland,  of  about  1726  to  1729."  So  that 
the  German  historian  may  have  seen  cause 
to  modify  to  some  extent  his  opinion  ex- 

Eressed  in  1865.  This  Provincial  Grand 
lodge  is  the  only  organized  body  of  Masons 
in  Ireland  of  which  we  hear  until  1730,  and 
its  existence  has  now  been  clearly  estab- 
lished as  an  historical  fact  by  the  testimony 
of  that  distinguished  Irish  Mason,  Dr.  J. 
F.  Townsend,  who,  in  a  letter  to  Bro.  Al- 
bert Pike,  writes  as  follows : 

"  The  earliest  records  (written)  that  I  am 
aware  of,  are  the  transactions  of  what  ap- 

E eared  to  be  then  the  head  or  governing 
ody  in  Ireland,  called  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Munster,  as  it  is  on  the  old  seal.  This 
body  was  established  in  Cork.  The  date 
of  the  earliest  entry  is  1721.  It  is  a  record 
of  a  Lodge  meeting,  and  is  signed  by  the 
Earl  of  Kingston,  G.  M.,  and,  what  may  be 
interesting  to  you,  by  Springett  Penn,  as 
Deputy  Grand  Master.  This  Penn  was  the 
eldest  son  of  the  celebrated  William  Penn.  I 
find  that  William  Penn  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  Sir  Wm.  Springett,  an  English  baro- 
net, hence  the  name  of  his  son.  Penn  got 
grants  of  considerable  property  in  lands  in 
the  county  of  Cork,  which  are  now  vested 
in  his  descendant,  a  young  man,  Penn 
Gaskell.  He  is  a  member  of  No.  1  Lodge, 
Cork ;  and  was  much  gratified  when  I 
showed  him  Springett  Penn's  signature, 
and  told  him  what  I  now  write.  In  a  few 
years  after,  this  Lodge  or  Grand  Lodge  was, 
as  was  natural,  transferred  to  Dublin,  the 
metropolis,  and  then  commenced  the  issuing 
of  Warrants  according  to  the  Grand  Lodge 
system  established  in  or  about  1717.  No.  1 
Warrant  was  granted  to  Cork ;  and  it  is  still 
there,  a  flourishing  Blue  Lodge,  very  proud 
of  its  ancient  charter.  I  have  been  always 
a  member  of  it,  and  am  still,  as  many  of 
my  family  had  been  for  a  century  back. 
No.  2  granted  to  Dublin,  No.  3  to  Cork, 
No.  4  to  Dublin,  and  so  on.  The  Provin- 
cial Grand  Lodge  of  Munster  seems  to  be 
the  successor  of  that  old  body.  I  was  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Master  for  many  years  be- 
fore I  came  to  reside  in  Dublin-  It  holds 
the  ancient  records  still." 


370 


IRELAND 


IRISH 


In  the  year  1730,  a  Grand  Lodge  was  or- 
ganized, by  whom  it  is  not  stated,  at  Dub- 
lin. The  brief  account  of  this  event  in  the 
Irish  Book  of  Constitutions  is  in  these 
words :  "  At  last  the  ancient  Fraternity  of 
the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  in  Ireland, 
being  duly  assembled  in  their  Grand  Lodge 
at  Dublin,  chose  a  Noble  Grand  Master,  in 
imitation  of  their  brethren."  The  Grand 
Master  so  chosen  was  Lord  Viscount  King- 
ston, who  the  year  preceding  had  been 
Grand  Master  of  England.  He  introduced 
the  English  Constitutions  and  usages,  and 
in  the  same  year  "The  Constitutions  of 
the  Freemasons,  containing  the  History, 
Charges,  Regulations,  etc.,  of  that  most 
Ancient  and  Right  Worshipful  Fraternity. 
For  the  use  of  the  Lodges,"  was  published 
at  Dublin.  A  second  edition  was  published 
in  1744,  and  a  third,  in  1751. 

In  1749,  the  "Grand  Master's  Lodge" 
was  instituted,  which  still  exists ;  a  singular 
institution,  possessing  several  unusual  privi- 
leges, among  which  are  that  its  members 
are  members  of  the  Grand  Lodge  without 
the  payment  of  dues,  that  the  Lodge  takes 
precedence  of  all  other  Lodges,  and  that 
any  candidates  nominated  by  the  Grand 
Master  are  to  be  initiated  without  ballot. 

In  1772,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ireland  re- 
cognized the  schismatic  Grand  Lodge  of 
Ancient  Masons,  and  entered  into  an  alli- 
ance with  it,  which  was  also  done  in  the 
same  year  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland. 
This  does  not  appear  to  have  given  any  of- 
fence to  the  regular  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land; for  when  that  body,  in  1777,  passed  a 
vote  of  censure  on  the  Lodges  of  Ancient 
Masons,  it  specially  excepted  from  the  cen- 
sure the  Lodges  of  Ireland  and  Scotland. 

In  1779,  an  application  was  made  to  the 
Mother  Kilwinning  Lodge  of  Scotland,  by 
certain  brethren  in  Dublin,  for  a  charter 
empowering  them  to  form  a  Lodge  to  be 
called  the  "  High  Knights  Templars,"  that 
they  might  confer  the  Templar  degree.  The 
Kilwinning  Lodge  granted  the  petition  for 
the  three  Craft  degrees  only,  but  at  a  later 
period  this  Lodge  became,  says  Findel,  the 
source  of  the  Grand  Encampment  of  Ire- 
land. 

To  Bro.  Townsend's  interesting  letter  am 
I  indebted  for  an  account  of  the  working 
system  in  Ireland.  The  Grand  Lodge  holds 
jurisdiction  over  all  the  Blue  Lodges.  The 
Duke  of  Leinster,  who  has  been  Grand  Mas- 
ter for  sixty  years,  having  been  elected  in 
1813,  is  also  head  of  all  the  degrees  worked 
in  Ireland.  The  Mark  degree  is  worked 
under  the  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter. 
Next  comes  the  Royal  Arch,  which  formerly 
consisted  of  three  degrees,  the  Excellent, 
Super- Excellent,  and  Royal  Arch — the  first 
two  being  nothing  more  than  passing  the 


first  two  veils  with  each  a  separate  obliga- 
tion. But  that  system  was  abolished  some 
years  ago,  and  a  new  ritual  framed  some- 
thing like  the  American,  except  that  the 
King  and  not  the  High  Priest  is  made  the 
Presiding  Officer.  The  next  degrees  are 
the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth, 
which  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Templar  Grand  Conclave,  and  are  given  to 
the  candidate  previous  to  his  being  created 
a  Knight  Templar.  Some  change  will  here 
have  now  to  be  made  in  consequence  of  the 
recent  alliance  of  the  Templars  of  England 
and  Ireland,  and  their  abolition  of  connec- 
tion with  all  Masonry  except  the  Craft  de- 
grees. Next  to  the  Templar  degree  in  the 
Irish  system  comes  the  eighteenth  or  Rose 
Croix,  which  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Grand  Chapter  of  Prince  Masons  or 
Council  of  Rites,  composed  of  the  first 
three  officers  of  all  the  Rose  Croix  Chap- 
ters, the  Supreme  Council  having  some 
years  ago  surrendered  its  authority  over 
the  degree.  The  twenty-eighth  degree  or 
Knight  of  the  Sun  is  the  next  conferred, 
and  then  the  thirtieth  or  Kadosh  in  a  body 
over  which  the  Supreme  Council  has  no 
control  except  to  grant  certificates  to  its 
members.  The  Supreme  Council  confers 
the  thirty-first,  thirty-second,  and  thirty- 
third  degrees,  there  being  no  Grand  Con- 
sistory. 

The  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite  for  Ireland  was 
established  by  a  Patent  from  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  United  States,  at  Charles- 
ton, dated  Aug.  13,  1824,  by  which  the 
Duke  of  Leinster,  John  Fowler,  and  Thomas 
McGill  were  constituted  a  Supreme  Council 
for  Ireland,  and  under  that  authority  it 
continues  to  work. 

Whence  the  high  degrees  came  into  Ire- 
land is  not  clearly  known.  Bro.  Townsend 
says  they  came  "  by  piecemeal,  in  a  dis- 
jointed, irregular  way."  The  Rose  Croix 
and  Kadosh  degrees  existed  in  Ireland  long 
before  the  establishment  of  the  Supreme 
Council.  I  have  in  my  library  a  copy  of 
Dalcho's  Orations,  republished  at  Dublin, 
in  1808,  by  "the  Illustrious  College  of 
Knights  of  K.  H.,  and  the  Original  Chapter 
of  Prince  Masons."  It  is  probable  that 
these  degrees  were  received  from  Bristol, 
England,  where  are  preserved  the  earliest 
English  records  of  the  Rose  Croix. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Ireland  practises 
the  simplest  form  of  Masonry,  that  of  the 
York  Rite,  which  with  its  Constitutions  it 
received  in  1730  from  England. 

Irish  Chapters.  These  Chapters 
existed  in  Paris  about  the  year  1730  to 
1740,  and  were  thence  disseminated  through 
France.  They  consisted  of  degrees,  such 
as  Irish  Master,  Perfect  Irish  Master,  and 


IRISH 


ITALY 


371 


Sublime  Irish  Master,  which,  it  is  said, 
were  invented  by  the  adherents  of  the 
house  of  Stuart  when  they  sought  to  make 
Freemasonry  a  political  means  of  restoring 
the  exiled  family  to  the  throne  of  England. 
Ramsay,  when  he  assumed  his  theory  of 
the  establishment  of  Freemasonry  in  Scot- 
land by  the  Templars,  who  had  fled  thither 
under  d'Aumont,  took  possession  of  these 
degrees,  (if  he  did  not,  as  some  suppose,  in- 
vent them  himself, )  and  changed  their  name, 
in  deference  to  his  theory,  from  Irish  to 
Scottish,  calling,  for  instance,  the  degree 
of  Maitre  Irlandais  or  Irish  Master,  the 
Maitre  Ecossais  or  Scottish  Master. 

Irish  Colleges.  The  Irish  Chapters 
are  also  called  by  some  writers  Irish  Col- 
leges. 

Irish  Degrees.    See  Irish  Chapters. 

Iron  Tools.  The  lectures  teach  us 
that  at  the  building  of  King  Solomon's 
Temple  there  was  not  heard  the  sound  of 
axe,  hammer,  or  other  metallic  tool.  But 
all  the  stones  were  hewn,  squared,  and 
numbered  in  the  quarries ;  and  the  timbers 
felled  and  prepared  in  the  forest  of  Leb- 
anon, whence  they  were  brought  on  floats 
by  sea  to  Joppa,  and  thence  carried  by 
land  to  Jerusalem,  where,  on  being  put  up, 
each  part  was  found  to  fit  with  such  exact 
nicety  that  the  whole,  when  completed, 
seemed  rather  the  handiwork  of  the  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe  than  of  mere  hu- 
man hands.  This  can  hardly  be  called  a 
legend,  because  the  same  facts  are  substan- 
tially related  in  the  first  Book  of  Kings; 
but  the  circumstance  has  been  appropri- 
ated in  Masonry  to  symbolize  the  entire 
peace  and  harmony  which  should  prevail 
among  Masons  when  laboring  on  that 
spiritual  temple  of  which  the  Solomonic 
Temple  was  the  archetype. 

Isaae  and  Ishmael.  The  sons  of 
Abraham  by  Sarah  and  Hagar.  They  are 
recognized,  from  the  conditions  of  their 
mothers,  as  the  free  born  and  the  bondman. 
According  to  Oliver,  the  fact  that  the  in- 
heritance which  was  bestowed  upon  Isaac, 
the  son  of  his  free-born  wife,  was  refused 
to  Ishmael,  the  son  of  a  slave  woman,  gave 
rise  to  the  Masonic  theory  which  constitutes 
a  landmark  that  none  but  the  free  born  are 
entitled  to  initiation. 

Ish  Chotzeb.  2¥H  I2>*N-  Liter- 
ally, "  men  of  hewing,"  i,  e.,  "  hewers." 
The  phrase  was  first  used  by  Anderson  in 
the  first  edition  of  the  "  Constitutions,"  but 
is  not  found  in  the  original  Hebrew.  1 
Kings  v.  18,  to  which  he  refers,  where  it 
is  said  that  Solomon  had  fourscore  "  hewers 
in  the  mountains,"  chotzeb  bahar.  But  ish 
clwtzeb  is  properly  constructed  according 
to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  and  is  employed  by 
Anderson  to  designate  the  hewers  who,  with 


the  "Giblim,"  or  stone-cutters,  and  the 
"  Bonai,"  or  builders,  amounted  to  eighty 
thousand,  all  of  whom  he  calls,  in  his  sec- 
ond edition,  "  bright  Fellow  Crafts."  But 
he  distinguishes  them  from  the  thirty  thou- 
sand who  cut  wood  on  Mount  Lebanon 
under  Adoniram.* 

Ish  Salmi.  73D  E^tf-  Men  of  bur- 
den. Anderson  thus  designates  the  70,000 
laborers  who,  in  the  original  Hebrew,  are 
(1  Kings  v.  18,)  called  noshe  sabal,  bear- 
ers of  burdens.  Anderson  says  "  they  were 
of  the  remains  of  the  old  Canaanites,  and, 
being  bondmen,  are  not  to  be  reckoned 
among  Masons."  But  in  Webb's  system 
they  constitute  the  Apprentices  at  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple. 

Ish  Sod i.  Corruptly,  Ish  Soudy.  This 
expression  is  composed  of  the  two  Hebrew 
words,  g»,  ISH,  and  T)[),  SOD.  The  first 
of  these  words,  ISH,  means  a  man,  and  SOD 
signifies  primarily  a  couch  on  which  one 
reclines.  Hence  ISH  SODI  would  mean, 
first,  a  man  of  my  couch,  one  who  reclines 
with  me  on  the  same  seat,  an  indication 
of  great  familiarity  and  confidence.  Thence 
followed  the  secondary  meaning  given  to 
SOD,  of  familiar  intercourse,  consultation, 
or  intimacy.  Job  (xix.  19)  applies  it  in 
this  sense,  when,  using  MATI,  a  word  sy- 
nonymous with  ISH,  he  speaks  of  MATI 
SODI  in  the  passage  which  the  common 
version  has  translated  thus :  "  all  my  in- 
ward friends  abhorred  me,"  but  which  the 
marginal  interpretation  has  more  correctly 
rendered,  "  all  the  men  of  my  secret."  Ish 
Sodi,  therefore,  in  this  degree,  very  clearly 
means  a  man  of  my  intimate  counsel,  a  man 
of  my  choice,  one  selected  to  share  with  me 
a  secret  task  or  labor.  Such  was  the  posi- 
tion of  every  Select  Master  to  King  Solo- 
mon, and  in  this  view  those  are  not  wrong 
who  have  interpreted  Ish  Sodi  as  meaning 
a  Select  Master. 

Isis.  The  sister  and  the  wife  of  Osiris, 
and  worshipped  by  the  Egyptians  as  the 
great  goddess  of  nature.  Her  mysteries 
constituted  one  of  the  degrees  of  the  ancient 
Egyptian  initiation.  See  Egyptian  Mysteries 
and  Osiris. 

Italy.  In  the  year  1733,  Freemasonry 
was  introduced  into  Italy,  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Lodge  at  Florence,  by  Charles 
Sackville,  Duke  of  Dorset.  Thory,  and  after 
him  Findel,  calls  him  Duke  of  Middlesex ; 
but  there  was  at  that  time  no  such  title  in 
the  peerage  of  England.  A  medal  was 
struck  on  this  occasion.  It  is  not  known 
under  what  authority  the  Duke  of  Dorset 
established  this  Lodge,  but  most  probably 
under  that  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England. 
The  initiation  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tus- 
cany had  a  favorable  influence  on  the  pros- 
pects of  the  Order,  and  in  1735  Lodges*  were 


372 


ITALY 


JACOBINS 


established  at  Milan,  Verona,  Padua,  Vin- 
cenza,  Venice,  and  Naples.  In  1737,  John 
Gaston,  the  last  duke  of  the  house  of  the 
Medicis,  prohibited  Freemasonry,  but  dy- 
ing soon  after,  the  Lodges  continued  to 
meet.  His  successor,  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  declared  himself  the  protector  of 
the  Order,  and  many  new  Lodges  were 
established  under  his  auspices.  In  1738, 
Pope  Clement  XIV.  issued  his  bill  forbid- 
ding all  congregations  of  Freemasons,  which 
was  followed  in  January,  1739,  by  the  edict 
of  Cardinal  Firrao,  which  inflicted  the  pen- 
alty of  death  and  confiscation  of  goods  on 
all  who  should  contravene  the  Papal  order. 
Several  arrests  were  made  at  Florence  by 
the  Inquisition,  but,  through  the  interces- 
sion of  the  Grand  Duke,  the  persons  who 
had  been  arrested  were  set  at  liberty. 

For  many  years  Freemasonry  held  but  a 
precarious  existence  in  Italy,  the  persecu- 
tions of  the  church  preventing  any  healthy 
growth.  The  Masons  continued  to  meet, 
although  generally  in  secret.  The  Masons 
of  Rome  struck  a  medal,  in  1746,  in  honor 
of  Martin  Folkes;  and  the  author  of  Anti- 
Saint-Xicaise  says  that  there  was  a  Grand 
Lodge  at  Naples  in  1756,  which  was  in 
correspondence  with  the  Lodges  of  Ger- 
many. Naples,  indeed,  seems  to  have  been 
for  a  long  time  the  only  place  where  the 
Lodges  were  in  any  kind  of  activity.  In 
1776,  Queen  Caroline  exerted  her  interest 
in  behalf  of  the  Order.  Smith,  writing  in 
1783,  ( Use  and  Abuse,  p.  211,)  says,  "At 
present  most  of  the  Italian  nobles  and  dig- 
nified ecclesiastics  are  Freemasons,  who 
hold  their  meetings  generally  in  private 
houses,  though  they  have  established 
Lodges  at  Naples,  Leghorn,  Venice,  Vero- 


na, Turin,  Messina,  in  the  island  of  Sicily, 
Genoa,  and  Modena." 

In  1805  a  Supreme  Council  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Rite  was  established  at 
Milan  by  Count  de  Grasse-Tilly,  and  Prince 
Eugene  accepted  the  offices  of  Grand  Com- 
mander of  the  Council  and  Grand  Master 
of  the  Grand  Orient. 

When,  by  the  defeat  of  Napoleon  in 
1814,  the  liberal  policy  of  France  was  with- 
drawn from  Italy,  to  be  again  substituted 
by  the  ignorance  of  the  Bourbon  dynasty 
and  the  bigotry  of  the  Roman  Church, 
Italian  Masonry  ceased  any  longer  to  have 
an  existence,  nor  did  it  revive  until  1860. 
But  the  centralization  of  Italy,  and  the 
political  movements  that  led  to  it,  restored 
Italy  to  freedom  and  intelligence,  and  Free- 
masonry has  again  found,  even  beneath  the 
shadow  of  the  Vatican,  a  congenial  soil. 

A  Lodge  was  established  at  Turin  in 
1859,  and  a  Grand  Lodge  in  1861.  A  Grand 
Orient  was  subsequently  established  by 
Garibaldi,  who  adopted  the  system  of  the 
Scottish  Rite.  A  Supreme  Council  was  also 
formed  at  Naples.  Internal  dissensions, 
however,  unfortunately  took  place.  The 
Grand  Orient  was  removed  from  Turin  to 
Florence,  when  many  resignations  took 
place,  and  a  recusant  body  was  formed.  But 
peace  at  length  prevails,  and  at  a  Constit- 
uent Assembly  held  at  Rome  on  April  28, 
1873,  "  the  fundamental  bases  of  Italian  Ma- 
sonic Fraternity"  were  adopted;  and  "the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Freemasons  of  Italy  and 
its  Masonic  Colonies"  is  now  in  success- 
ful operation.  There  is  also  a  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Izabud.  A  corruption  of  Zabud, 
which  see. 


J. 


Jacliin.  ry.  Hence  called  by  Dud- 
ley and  some  other  writers,  who  reject  the 
Eoints,  ichin.  It  is  the  name  of  the  right- 
and  pillar  that  stood  at  the  porch  of  King 
Solomon's  Temple.  It  is  derived  from  two 
Hebrew  words,  7V,  jah,  "God,"  and  yy, 
iachin,  "  will  establish."  It  signifies,  there- 
fore, "God  will  establish,"  and  is  often 
called  "  the  pillar  of  establishment." 

JjK'liinai.  A  Gallic  corruption  of 
Shekinah,  to  be  found  only  in  the  French 
Cahiers  of  the  high  degrees. 

Jacobins.  A  political  sect  that  sprang 
up  in  the  beginning  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, and  which  gave  origin  to  the  Jacobin 
clubs,  so  well  known  as  having  been  the 


places  where  the  leaders  of  the  Revolution 
concocted  their  plans  for  the  abolition  of 
the  monarchy  and  the  aristocracy.  Lieber 
says  that  it  is  a  most  surprising  phenome- 
non, that  "  so  large  a  body  of  men  could  be 
found  uniting  rare  energy  with  execrable 
vice,  political  madness,  and  outrageous  cru- 
elty, committed  always  in  the  name  of  vir- 
tue." Barruel,  in  his  Histoire  de  Jacobinisme, 
and  Robison,  in  his  Proofs  of  a  Conspiracy, 
both  endeavor  to  prove  that  there  was  a 
coalition  of  the  revolutionary  conspirators 
with  the  Illuminati  and  the  Freemasons 
which  formed  the  Jacobin  clubs,  those  bod- 
ies being,  as  they  contend,  only  Masonic 
Lodges  in  disguise.    The  falsity  of  these 


JACOB'S 


JACOB'S 


373 


charges  will  be  evident  to  any  one  who 
reads  the  history  of  French  Masonry  dur- 
ing the  Revolution,  and  more  especially 
during  that  part  of  the  period  known  as 
the  "  Reign  of  Terror,"  when  the  Jacobin 
clubs  were  in  most  vigor.  The  Grand 
Orient,  in  1788,  declared  that  a  politico- 
Masonic  work,  entitled  Les  Jesuites  chasses 
de  la  Magonnerie  et  leur  Poignard  brise  par 
les  Masons,  was  the  production  of  a  perverse 
mind,  prepared  as  a  poison  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  Masonry,  and  ordered  it  to  be 
burned.  During  the  Revolution,  the  Grand 
Orient  suspended  its  labors,  and  the  Lodges 
in  France  were  dissolved ;  and  in  1793,  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  the  head  of  the  Jacobins, 
who  was  also,  unfortunately,  Grand  Master 
of  the  French  Masons,  resigned  the  latter 
position,  assigning  as  a  reason  that  he  did 
not  believe  that  there  snould  be  any  mys- 
tery nor  any  secret  society  in  a  republic. 
It  is  evident  that  the  Freemasons,  as  an 
Order,  held  themselves  aloof  from  the  po- 
litical contests  of  that  period. 

Jacob's  Ladder.  The  introduction 
of  Jacob's  ladder  into  the  symbolism  of 
Speculative  Masonry  is  to  be  traced  to  the 
vision  of  Jacob,  which  is  thus  substantially 
recorded  in  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of 
the  Book  of  Genesis :  When  Jacob,  by  the 
command  of  his  father  Isaac,  was  jour- 
neying towards  Padan-aram,  while  sleeping 
one  night  with  the  bare  earth  for  his  couch 
and  a  stone  for  his  pillow,  he  beheld  the 
vision  of  a  ladder,  whose  foot  rested  on  the 
earth  and  whose  top  reached  to  heaven. 
Angels  were  continually  ascending  and  de- 
scending upon  it,  and  promised  him  the 
blessing  of  a  numerous  and  happy  posterity. 
When  Jacob  awoke,  he  was  filled  with  pious 
gratitude,  and  consecrated  the  spot  as  the 
house  of  God. 

This  ladder,  so  remarkable  in  the  history 
of  the  Jewish  people,  finds  its  analogue  in 
all  the  ancient  initiations.  Whether  this 
is  to  be  attributed  simply  to  a  coincidence — 
a  theory  which  but  few  scholars  would  be 
willing  to  accept  —  or  to  the  fact  that  these 
analogues  were  all  derived  from  a  common 
fountain  of  symbolism,  or  whether,  as  sug- 
gested by  Oliver,  the  origin  of  the  symbol 
was  lost  among  the  practices  of  the  Pagan 
rites,  while  the  symbol  itself  was  retained, 
it  is,  perhaps,  impossible  authoritatively  to 
determine.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  the 
ladder  as  a  symbol  of  moral  and  intellec- 
tual progress  existed  almost  universally  in 
antiquity,  presenting  itself  either  as  a  suc- 
cession of  steps,  of  gates,  of  degrees,  or  in 
some  other  modified  form.  The  number  of 
the  steps  varied;  although  the  favorite  one 
appears  to  have  been  seven,  in  reference, 
apparently,  to  the  mystical  character  almost 
everywhere  given  to  that  number. 


Thus,  in  the  Persian  mysteries  of  Mi- 
thras, there  was  a  ladder  of  seven  rounds, 
the  passage  through  them  being  symbolical 
of  the  soul's  approach  to  perfection.  These 
rounds  were  called  gates,  and,  in  allusion 
to  them,  the  candidate  was  made  to  pass 
through  seven  dark  and  winding  caverns, 
which  process  was  called  the  ascent  of  the 
ladder  of  perfection.  Each  of  these  cav- 
erns was  the  representative  of  a  world,  or 
state  of  existence  through  which  the  soul 
was  supposed  to  pass  in  its  progress  from 
the  first  world  to  the  last,  or  the  world  of 
truth.  Each  round  of  the  ladder  was  said 
to  be  of  metal  of  increasing  purity,  and 
was  dignified  also  with  the  name  of  its  pro- 
tecting planet.  Some  idea  of  the  con- 
struction of  this  symbolic  ladder  may  be 
obtained  from  the  following  table : 


7  Gold, 
6  Silver, 
5  Iron, 
4  Tin, 
3  Copper? 


Sun,  Truth.  [Blessed. 

Moon,  Mansion  of  the 

Mars,  World  of  Births. 

Jupiter,  Middle  World. 

Venus,  Heaven.  [ence. 


2  Quicksilver,  Mercury,     World  of  Pre-exist- 
1  Lead,  Saturn,      First  World. 

In  the  mysteries  of  Brahma  we  find  the 
same  reference  to  the  ladder  of  seven  steps. 
The  names  of  these  were  not  different,  and 
there  was  the  same  allusion  to  the  symbol 
of  the  universe.  The  seven  steps  were  em- 
blematical of  the  seven  worlds  which  con- 
stituted the  Indian  universe.  The  lowest 
was  the  Earth ;  the  second,  the  World 
of  Pre-existence ;  the  third,  Heaven ;  the 
,  fourth,  the  Middle  World,  or  interme- 
diate region  between  the  lower  and  upper 
worlds ;  the  fifth,  the  World  of  Births,  in 
which  souls  are  again  born  ;  the  sixth,  the 
Mansion  of  the  Blessed ;  and  the  seventh, 
or  topmost  round,  the  Sphere  of  Truth,  and 
the  abode  of  Brahma.  Dr.  Oliver  thinks 
that  in  the  Scandinavian  mysteries  the  tree 
Yggrasil  was  the  representative  of  the  mys- 
tical ladder.  But  although  the  ascent  of 
the  tree,  like  the  ascent  of  the  ladder,  was 
a  change  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  sphere — 
from  time  to  eternity,  and  from  death  to 
life — yet  the  unimaginative  genius  of  the 
North  seems  to  have  shorn  the  symbolism 
of  many  of  its  more  salient  features. 

Among  the  Kabbalists,  the  ladder  was 
represented  by  the  ten  Sephiroths,  which, 
commencing  from  the  bottom,  were  the 
Kingdom,  Foundation,  Splendor,  Firmness, 
Beauty,  Justice,  Mercy,  Intelligence,  Wis- 
dom, and  the  Crown,  by  which  we  arrive 
at  the  En  Soph,  or  the  Infinite. 

In  the  higher  Masonry  we  find  the  ladder 
of  Kadosh,  which  consists  of  seven  steps, 
thus  commencing  from  the  bottom :  Justice, 
Equity,  Kindness,  Good  Faith,  Labor, 
Patience,  and  Intelligence.     The  arrange- 


374 


JACOB'S 


JACOB'S 


ment  of  these  steps,  for  which  we  are  in- 
debted to  modern  ritualism,  does  not  seem 
to  be  perfect ;  but  yet  the  idea  of  intellec- 
tual progress  to  perfection  is  carried  out  by 
making  the  topmost  round  represent  Wis- 
dom or  Understanding. 

The  Masonic  ladder  which  is  presented 
in  the  symbolism  of  the  first  degree  ought 
really  to  consist  of  seven  steps,  which  thus 
ascend:  Temperance,  Fortitude,  Prudence, 
Justice,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity ;  but  the 
earliest  examples  of  it  present  it  only  with 
three,  referring  to  the  three  theological 
virtues,  whence  it  is  called  the  theological 
ladder.  It  seems,  therefore,  to  have  been 
settled  by  general  usage  that  the  Masonic 
ladder  has  but  three  steps. 

As  a  symbol  of  progress,  Jacob's  ladder 
was  early  recognized.  Picus  of  Mirandola, 
who  wrote  in  the  sixteenth  century,  in  his 
oration,  "  De  Hominis  Dignitate,"  says  that 
Jacob's  ladder  is  a  symbol  of  the  progressive 
scale  of  intellectual  communication  betwixt 
earth  and  heaven;  and  upon  the  ladder,  as 
it  were,  step  by  step,  man  is  permitted  with 
the  angels  to  ascend  and  descend  until  the 
mind  finds  blissful  and  complete  repose  in 
the  bosom  of  divinity.  The  highest  step 
he  defines  to  be  theology,  or  the  study  and 
contemplation  of  the  Deity  in  his  own  ab- 
stract and  exalted  nature. 

Other  interpretations  have,  however,  been 
given  to  it.  The  Jewish  writers  differ  very 
much  in  their  expositions  of  it.  Thus,  a 
writer  of  one  of  the  Midrashes  or  Com- 
mentaries, finding  that  the  Hebrew  words 
for  Ladder  and  Sinai  have  each  the  same 
numerical  value  of  letters,  expounds  the 
ladder  as  typifying  the  giving  of  the  law 
on  that  mount.  Aben  Ezra  thought  that 
it  was  a  symbol  of  the  human  mind,  and 
that  the  angels  represented  the  sublime 
meditations  of  man.  Maimonides  supposed 
the  ladder  to  symbolize  nature  in  its  oper- 
ations ;  and,  citing  the  authority  of  a  Mi- 
drash  which  gives  to  it  four  steps,  says  that 
they  represent  the  four  elements;  the  two 
heavier,  earth  and  water,  descending  by 
their  specific  gravity,  and  the  two  lighter, 
fire  and  air,  ascending  from  the  same  cause. 
Abarbanel,  assuming  the  Talmudic  theory 
that  Luz,  where  Jacob  slept,  was  Mount 
Moriah,  supposes  that  the  ladder,  resting  on 
the  spot  which  afterwards  became  the  holy 
of  holies,  was  a  prophetic  symbol  of  the 
building  of  the  Temple.  And,  lastly,  Ra- 
phael interprets  the  ladder,  and  the  ascent 
and  the  descent  of  the  angels,  as  the  prayers 
of  man  and  the  answering  inspiration  of 
God.  Fludd,  the  hermetic  philosopher,  in 
his  Philosophia  Mosaica,  (1638,)  calls  the 
ladder  the  symbol  of  the  triple  world,  moral, 
physical,  and  intellectual ;  and  Nicolai  says 
that  the  ladder  with  three  steps  was,  among 


the  Rosicrucian  Freemasons  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  a  symbol  of  the  knowledge 
of  nature.  Finally,  Krause  says  in  his 
drei  altestenten  Kumturkunden,  (ii.  481,) 
that  a  Brother  Keher  of  Edinburgh,  whom 
he  describes  as  a  skilful  and  truthful  Ma- 
son, had  in  1802  assured  the  members  of  a 
Lodge  at  Altenberg  that  originally  only  one 
Scottish  degree  existed,  whose  object  was 
the  restoration  of  James  II.  to  the  throne 
of  England,  and  that  of  that  restoration 
Jacob's  ladder  had  been  adopted  by  them 
as  a  symbol.  Of  this  fact  he  further  said 
that  an  authentic  narrative  was  contained 
in  the  archives  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scot- 
land. Notwithstanding  Lawrie's  silence 
on  the  subject,  Krause  is  inclined  to  believe 
the  story,  nor  is  it  in  all  its  parts  alto- 
gether without  probability.  It  is  more  than 
likely  that  the  Chevalier  Ramsay,  who 
was  a  warm  adherent  of  the  Stuarts,  trans- 
ferred the  symbol  of  the  mystical  ladder 
from  the  Mithraic  mysteries,  with  which  he 
was  very  familiar,  into  his  Scottish  degrees, 
and  that  thus  it  became  a  part  of  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  Kadosh  system.  In  some  of 
the  political  Lodges  instituted  under  the 
influence  of  the  Stuarts  to  assist  in  the  res- 
toration of  their  house,  the  philosophical 
interpretation  of  the  symbol  may  have  been 
perverted  to  a  political  meaning,  and  to 
these  Lodges  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  Ke- 
her alluded ;  but  that  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland  had  made  any  official  recognition 
of  the  fact  is  not  to  be  believed.  Lawrie's 
silence  seems  to  be  conclusive. 

In  the  Ancient  Craft  degrees  of  the  York 
Rite,  Jacob's  ladder  was  not  an  original 
symbol.  It  is  said  to  have  been  introduced 
by  Dunckerley  when  he  reformed  the  lec- 
tures. This  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the  early  rit- 
uals of  the  last  century,  nor  even  by 
Hutchinson,  who  had  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  so  in  his  lecture  on  the 
Nature  of  the  Lodge,  where  he  speaks  of 
the  covering  of  the  Lodge,  but  says  nothing 
of  the  means  of  reaching  it,  which  he  would 
have  done,  had  he  been  acquainted  with 
the  ladder  as  a  symbol.  Its  first  appear- 
ance is  in  a  Tracing  Board,  on  which  the 
date  of  1776  is  inscribed,  which  very  well 
agrees  with  the  date  of  Dunckerley's  im- 

f>rovements.  In  this  Tracing  Board,  the 
adder  has  but  three  rounds;  a  change  from 
the  old  seven-stepped  ladder  of  the  mys- 
teries; which,  however,  Preston  corrected 
when  he  described  it  as  having  many 
rounds,  but  three  principal  ones.  Dunc- 
kerley, I  think,  was  indebted  for  this  sym- 
bol to  Ramsay,  from  whom  he  liberally 
borrowed  on  several  other  occasions,  taking 
from  him  his  Royal  Arch,  and  learning  from 
him  to  eliminate  the  Master's  Word  from  the 


JACQUES 


JAMBLICHUS 


375 


third  degree,  where  it  had  heen  placed  by 
his  predecessors. 

As  to  the  modern  Masonic  symbolism  of 
the  ladder,  it  is,  as  I  have  already  said,  a 
symbol  of  progress,  such  as  it  is  in  all  the 
old  initiations.  Its  three  principal  rounds, 
representing  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity, 
present  us  with  the  means  of  advancing 
from  earth  to  heaven,  from  death  to  life  — 
from  the  mortal  to  immortality.  Hence 
its  foot  is  placed  on  the  ground-floor  of  the 
Lodge,  which  is  typical  of  the  world,  and 
its  top  rests  on  the  covering  of  the  Lodge, 
which  is  symbolic  of  heaven. 

In  the  Prestonian  lecture,  which  was 
elaborated  out  of  Dunckerley's  system,  the 
ladder  is  said  to  rest  on  the  Holy  Bible, 
and  to  reach  to  the  heavens.  This  sym- 
bolism is  thus  explained. 

"  By  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Holy 
Bible  we  are  taught  to  believe  in  the  divine 
dispensation  of  Providence,  which  belief 
strengthens  our  Faith,  and  enables  us  to  as- 
cend the  first  step. 

"  That  Faith  naturally  creates  in  us  a 
Hope  of  becoming  partakers  of  some  of  the 
blessed  promises  therein  recorded,  which 
Hope  enables  us  to  ascend  the  second  step. 

"But  the  third  and  last  being  Charity 
comprehends  the  whole,  and  he  who  is 
possessed  of  this  virtue  in  its  ample  sense, 
is  said  to  have  arrived  to  the  summit  of  his 
profession,  or,  more  metaphorically,  into  an 
ethereal  mansion  veiled  from  the  mortal 
eye  by  the  starry  firmament." 

In  the  modern  lectures,  the  language  is 
materially  changed,  but  the  idea  and  the 
symbolism  are  retained  unaltered. 

The  delineation  of  the  ladder  with  three 
steps  only  on  the  Tracing  Board  of  1776, 
which  is  a  small  one,  may  be  attributed  to 
notions  of  convenience.  But  the  fact  that 
Dunckerley  derived  his  symbol  from  Ram- 
say ;  that  Ramsay's  ladder  had  seven  steps, 
being  the  same  as  the  Kadosh  symbol ;  that 
in  all  the  old  initiations  the  number  seven 
was  preserved ;  and  lastly,  that  Preston  de- 
scribes it  as  having  "many  rounds  or 
staves,  which  point  out  as  many  moral  vir- 
tues, but  three  principal  ones,  namely, 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,"  irresistibly  lead 
us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Masonic  lad- 
der should  properly  have  seven  steps,  which 
represent  the  four  cardinal  and  the  three 
theological  virtues. 

Jacques  de  Holay.    See  Molay. 

Jail.  In  Hebrew,  |"|\  Maimonides 
calls  it  the  "  two-lettered  name,"  and  de- 
rives it  from  the  Tetragrammaton,  of  which 
he  says  it  is  an  abbreviation.  Others  have 
denied  this,  and  assert  that  Jah  is  a  name 
independent  of  Jehovah,  but  expressing 
the  same  idea  of  the  Divine  Essence.  It 
is    uniformly    translated    in    the  author- 


ized version  of  the  Bible  by  the  word 
Lord,  being  thus  considered  as  synony- 
mous with  Jehovah,  except  in  Psalm  lxviii. 
4,  where  the  original  word  is  preserved: 
"  Extol  him  that  rideth  upon  the  heavens 
by  his  name  JAH,"  upon  which  the  Tar- 
gum  comment  is  :  "  Extol  him  who  sitteth 
on  the  throne  of  glory  in  the  ninth  heaven ; 
YAH  is  his  name."  It  seems,  also,  to  have 
been  well  known  to  the  Gentile  nations  as 
the  triliteral  name  of  God;  for,  although 
biliteral  among  the  Hebrews,  it  assumed 
among  the  Greeks  the  triliteral  form,  as 
IA£2.  Macrobius,  in  his  Saturnalia,  says 
that  this  was  the  sacred  name  of  the  Su- 
preme Deity ;  and  the  Clarian  Oracle  being 
asked  which  of  the  gods  was  Jao,  replied, 
"The  initiated  are  bound  to  conceal  the 
mysterious  secrets.  Learn  thou  that  IAQ 
is  the  Great  God  Supreme  who  ruleth  over 
all."    See  Jehovah. 

Jamblichus.  It  is  strange  that  the 
old  Masons,  when  inventing  their  legend, 
which  gave  so  prominent  a  place  to  Pythag- 
oras as  "  an  ancient  friend  and  brother," 
should  have  entirely  forgotten  his  biogra- 
pher, Jamblichus,  whose  claims  to  their  es- 
teem and  veneration  are  much  greater  than 
those  of  the  Samian  sage.  Jamblichus  was 
a  Neoplatonic  philosopher,  who  was  born 
at  Chalcis,  in  Calo,  Syria,  and  flourished 
in  the  fourth  century.  He  was  a  pupil  of 
Porphyry,  and  was  deeply  versed  in  the 
philosophic  systems  of  Plato  and  Pythag- 
oras, and,  like  the  latter,  had  studied  the 
mystical  theology  of  the  Egyptians  and 
Chaldeans,  whose  divine  origin  and  truth 
he  attempts  to  vindicate.  He  maintained 
that  man,  through  theurgic  rites  and  cere- 
monies, might  commune  with  the  Deity; 
and  hence  he  attached  great  importance  to 
initiation  as  the  means  of  inculcating  truth. 
He  carried  his  superstitious  veneration  for 
numbers  and  numerical  formula  to  a  far 
greater  extent  than  did  the  school  of  Py- 
thagoras ;  so  that  all  the  principles  of  his 
philosophy  can  be  represented  by  numbers. 

Thus,  he  taught  that  one,  or  the  monad, 
was  the  principle  of  all  unity  as  well  as  di- 
versity ;  the  duad,  or  two,  was  the  intellect; 
three,  the  soul ;  four,  the  principle  of  uni- 
versal harmony ;  eight,  the  source  of  mo- 
tion ;  nine,  perfection ;  and  ten,  the  result 
of  all  the  emanations  of  the  to  en.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  Jamblichus,  while  adopt- 
ing the  general  theory  of  numbers  that 
distinguished  the  Pythagorean  school,  dif- 
fered very  materially  in  his  explanations. 
He  wrote  many  philosophical  works  on  the 
basis  of  these  principles,  and  was  the  au- 
thor of  a  Life  of  Pythagoras,  and  a  Treatise 
of  the  Mysteries.  Of  all  the  ancient  phil- 
osophers, his  system  assimilates  him  most 
—  if  not  in  its  details,  at  least  in  its  spirit 


376 


JANITOR 


JEHOVAH 


—  to  the  mystical  and  symbolic  character 
of  the  Masonic  philosophy. 

Janitor.  A  door-keeper.  The  word 
Sentinel,  which  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  is 
the  proper  equivalent  of  the  Tiler  in  a 
Lodge,  is  in  some  jurisdictions  replaced  by 
the  word  Janitor.  There  is  no  good  author- 
ity for  the  usage. 

Japan.  Freemasonry  was  introduced  in 
Japan  by  the  establishment  at  Yokohama, 
in  1868,  of  a  Lodge  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England.  A  Masonic  hall  was  built  at 
Yokohama,  in  1869. 

Japhet.  Heb.,  j"l£)*.  The  eldest  son 
of  Noah.  It  is  said  that  the  first  ark  —  the 
ark  of  safety,  the  archetype  of  the  taberna- 
cle—  was  constructed  by  Shem,  Ham,  and 
Japhet  under  the  superintendence  of  Noah. 
Hence  these  are  significant  words  in  the 
Royal  Arch  degree. 

Jasper.  Heb.,  n£)&^*-  A  precious 
stone  of  a  dullish  green  color,  which  was 
the  last  of  the  twelve  inserted  in  the  high 
priest's  breastplate,  according  to  the  au- 
thorized version ;  but  the  Vulgate  trans- 
lation more  correctly  makes  it  the  third 
stone  of  the  second  row.  It  represented 
the  tribe  of  Zebulun. 

Jebusite.    See  Oman. 

Jedadian.  A  special  name  given  to 
King  Solomon  at  his  birth.  It  signifies 
"beloved  of  God." 

Jehoshaphat.  East  of  Jerusalem,  be- 
tween Mount  Zion  and  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
lies  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  In  the  most 
recent  rituals  this  word  has  lost  its  signifi- 
cance, but  in  the  older  ones  it  played  an 
important  part.  There  was  in  reality  no 
such  valley  in  ancient  Judea,  nor  is  there 
any  mention  of  it  in  Scripture,  except  once 
by  the  prophet  Joel.  The  name  is  alto- 
gether modern.  But,  as  the  Hebrew  means 
the  judgment  of  God,  and  as  the  prophecy 
of  Joel  declared  that  God  would  there  judge 
the  heathen  for  their  deeds  against  the 
Israelites,  it  came  at  last  to  be  believed  by 
the  Jews,  which  belief  is  shared  by  the 
Mohammedans,  that  the  Valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat is  to  be  the  place  of  the  last  judgment. 
Hence  it  was  invested  with  a  peculiar  de- 
gree of  sanctity  as  a  holy  place.  The  idea 
was  borrowed  by  the  Masons  of  the  last 
century,  who  considered  it  as  the  symbol 
of  holy  ground.  Thus,  in  the  earliest  rit- 
uals we  find  this  language : 

"  Where  does  the  Lodge  stand  ? 

"  Upon  holy  ground,  or  the  highest  hill 
or  lowest  vale,  or  in  the  Valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat, or  any  other  secret  place." 

This  reference  to  the  Valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat as  the  symbol  of  the  ground-floor  of 
the  Lodge  was  in  this  country  retained 
until  a  very  recent  period ;  and  the  expres- 
sion which  alludes  to  it  in  the  ritual  of  the 


second  degree  has  only  within  a  few  years 
past  been  abandoned.  Hutchinson  referred 
to  this  symbolism,  when  he  said  that  the 
Spiritual  Lodge  was  placed  in  the  Valley 
of  Jehoshaphat  to  imply  that  the  principles 
of  Masonry  are  derived  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  God,  and  are  established  in  the 
judgments  of  the  Lord. 

Jehovah.  Jehovah  is,  of  all  the  sig- 
nificant words  of  Masonry,  by  far  the  most 
important.  Reghellini  very  properly  calls 
it  "  the  basis  of  our  dogma  and  of  our  mys- 
teries." In  Hebrew  it  consists  of  four  fet- 
ters, niiT,  and  hence  is  called  the  Tetra- 
grammaton,  or  four-lettered  name ;  and  be- 
cause it  was  forbidden  to  a  Jew,  as  it  is  to 
a  Mason,  to  pronounce  it,  it  is  also  called 
the  Ineffable  or  Unpronounceable  name. 
For  its  history  we  must  refer  to  the  sixth 
chapter  of  Exodus,  (verses  2,  3.)  When 
Moses  returned  discouraged  from  his  first 
visit  to  Pharaoh,  and  complained  to  the 
Lord  that  the  only  result  of  his  mission 
had  been  to  incense  the  Egyptian  king,  and 
to  excite  him  to  the  exaction  of  greater 
burdens  from  the  oppressed  Israelites,  God 
encouraged  the  patriarch  by  the  promise 
of  the  great  wonders  which  he  would  per- 
form in  behalf  of  his  people,  and  confirmed 
the  promise  by  imparting  to  him  that  sub- 
lime name  by  which  he  had  not.  hitherto 
been  known  :  "And  God,"  says  the  sacred 
writer,  "  spake  unto  Moses,  and  said  unto 
him,  I  am  Jehovah  :  and  I  appeared  unto 
Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob  as 
El  Shaddai,  but  by  my  name  Jehovah 
was  I  not  known  unto  them." 

This  Ineffable  name  is  derived  from  the 
substantive  verb  nTl?  hayah,  to  be;  and 
combining,  as  it  does,  in  its  formation  the 
present,  past,  and  future  significations  of 
the  verb,  it  is  considered  as  designating 
God  in  his  immutable  and  eternal  exist- 
ence. This  idea  is  carried  by  the  Rabbins 
to  such  an  extent,  that  Menasseh  Ben 
Israel  says  that  its  four  letters  may  be  so  ar- 
ranged by  permutations  as  to  form  twelve 
words,  every  one  of  which  is  a  modification 
of  the  verb  to  be,  and  hence  it  is  called  the 
nomen  substantive  vel  essential,  the  name  of 
his  substance  or  existence. 

The  first  thing  that  attracts  our  atten- 
tion in  the  investigation  of  this  name  is 
the  ancient  regulation,  still  existing,  by 
which  it  was  made  unlawful  to  pronounce 
it.  This,  perhaps,  originally  arose  from  a 
wish  to  conceal  it  from  the  surrounding 
heathen  nations,  so  that  they  might  not 
desecrate  it  by  applying  it  to  their  idols. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  reason,  the 
rule  was  imperative  among  the  Jews.  The 
Talmud,  in  one  of  its  treatises,  the  "  San- 
hedrim," which  treats  of  the  question,  Who 
of  the  Israelites  shall  have  future  life  and 


JEHOVAH 


JEHOVAH 


377 


who  shall  not?  says:  "Even  he  who  thinks 
the  name  of  God  with  its  true  letters  for- 
feits his  future  life."  Abraham  Ben  David 
Halevi,  when  discussing  the  names  of  God, 
says:  "But  the  name  niH*  we  are  n°t 
allowed  to  pronounce.  In  its  original  mean- 
ing it  is  conferred  upon  no  other  being,  and 
therefore  we  abstain  from  giving  any  ex- 
planation of  it."  We  learn  from  Jerome, 
Origen,  and  Eusebius  that  in  their  time 
the  Jews  wrote  the  name  in  their  copies  of 
the  Bible  in  Samaritan  instead  of  Hebrew 
letters,  in  order  to  veil  it  from  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  profane.  Capellus  says  that  the 
rule  that  the  holy  name  was  not  to  be  pro- 
nounced was  derived  from  a  tradition, 
based  on  a  passage  in  Leviticus,  (xxiv. 
16,)  which  says  that  he  who  blasphemeth 
the  name  of  Jehovah  shall  be  put  to  death ; 
and  he  translates  this  passage,  "  whosoever 
shall  pronounce  the  name  Jehovah  shall 
suffer  death,"  because  the  word  nokeb,  here 
translated  to  blaspheme,"  means  also  "  to 
pronounce  distinctly,  to  call  by  name." 
Another  reason  for  the  rule  is  to  be  found 
in  a  rabbinical  misinterpretation  of  a  pas- 
sage in  Exodus. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  that  book,  when 
Moses  asks  of  God  what  is  his  name,  he  re- 
plies "I  Am  that  I  Am;  and  he  said, 
Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  I  AM  hath  sent  me  unto  you,"  and 
he  adds,  "  this  is  my  name  forever."  Now, 
the  Hebrew  word  I  AM  is  JlTl^  Ehyeh. 
But  as  Mendelsohn  has  correctly  observed, 
there  is  no  essential  difference  between 
nV"!Ki  m  the  sixth  chapter  and  Hlrl* m  the 
third,  the  former  being  the  first  person  sin- 
gular, and  the  latter  the  third  person  of  the 
same  verb,  (the  future  used  in  the  present 
sense  of  the  verb  to  be;)  and  hence  what 
was  said  of  the  name  Ehyeh  was  applied 
by  the  Rabbins  to  the  name  Jehovah.  But 
of  Ehyeh  God  had  said,  "  this  is  my  name 
forever."  Now  the  word  forever  is  repre- 
sented in  the  original  by  dSj;1?,  Polam; 
but  the  Rabbins,  says  Capellus,  by  the 
change  of  a  single  letter,  made  Volam,  for- 
ever, read  as  if  it  had  been  written  Valam, 
which  means  "to  be  concealed,"  and  hence 
the  passage  was  translated  "this  is  my 
name  to  be  concealed,"  instead  of  "  this  is 
my  name  forever."  And  thus  Josephus,  in 
writing  upon  this  subject,  uses  the  follow- 
ing expressions :  "  Whereupon  God  de- 
clared to  Moses  his  holy  name,  which  had 
never  been  discovered  to  men  before ;  con- 
cerning which  it  is  not  lawful  for  me  to  say 
any  more."  In  obedience  to  this  law,  when- 
ever the  word  Jehovah  occurs  to  a  Jew  in 
reading,  he  abstains  from  pronouncing  it, 
and  substitutes  in  its  place  the  word  *^"Tfr$, 
Adonai.  Thus,  instead  of  saying  "  holi- 
ness to  Jehovah,"  as  it  is  in  the  original, 
2X 


he  would  say  "  holiness  to  Adonai."  And 
this  same  reverential  reticence  has  been 
preserved  by  our  translators  in  the  author- 
ized version,  who,  wherever  Jehovah  oc- 
curs, have,  with  a  few  exceptions,  trans- 
lated it  by  the  word  "  Lord,"  the  very  pas- 
sage just  quoted,  being  rendered  "  holiness 
to  the  Lord." 

Maimonides  tells  us  that  the  knowledge 
of  this  word  was  confined  to  the  hachamin 
or  wise  men,  who  communicated  its  true 
pronunciation  arid  the  mysteries  connected 
with  it  only  on  the  Sabbath  day,  to  such 
of  their  disciples  as  were  found  worthy ; 
but  how  it  was  to  be  sounded,  or  with  what 
vocal  sounds  its  four  letters  were  to  be 
uttered,  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  people. 
Once  a  year,  namely,  on  the  day  of  atone- 
ment, the  holy  name  was  pronounced  with 
the  sound  of  its  letters  and  with  the  utmost 
veneration  by  the  high  priest  in  the  Sanc- 
tuary. The  last  priest  who  pronounced  it, 
says  Rabbi  Bechai,  was  Simeon  the  Just, 
and  his  successors  used  in  blessing  only  the 
twelve- lettered  name.  After  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  and  Temple  by  Vespasian, 
the  pronunciation  of  it  ceased,  for  it  was 
not  lawful  to  pronounce  it  anywhere  except 
in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  thus  the 
true  and  genuine  pronunciation  of  the 
name  was  entirely  lost  to  the  Jewish  people. 
Nor  is  it  now  known  how  it  was  originally 
pronounced.  The  Greeks  called  it  Jao  ; 
the  Romans,  Jova  ;  the  Samaritans  always 
pronounced  it  Jah\ue. 

The  task  is  difficult  to  make  one  unac- 
quainted with  the  peculiarities  of  the  He- 
brew language  comprehend  how  the  pro- 
nunciation of  a  word  whose  letters  are  pre- 
served can  be  wholly  lost.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  attempted.  The  Hebrew  alphabet 
consists  entirely  of  consonants.  The  vowel 
sounds  were  originally  supplied  by  the 
reader  while  reading,  he  being  previously 
made  acquainted  with  the  correct  pronun- 
ciation of  each  word ;  and  if  he  did  not 
Eossess  this  knowledge,  the  letters  before 
im  could  not  supply  it,  and  he  was,  of 
course,  unable  to  pronounce  the  word. 
Every  Hebrew,  however,  knew  from  prac- 
tice the  vocal  sounds  with  which  the  con- 
sonants were  pronounced  in  the  different 
words,  in  the  same  manner  as  every  Eng- 
lish reader  knows  the  different  sounds  of 
a  in  hat,  hate,  far,  was,  and  that  knt  is  pro- 
nounced knight.  The  words  "  God  save  the 
republic,"  written  in  the  Hebrew  method, 
would  appear  thus:  "Gd  sv  th  rpblc." 
Now,  this  incommunicable  name  of  God 
consists  of  four  letters,  Yod,  He,  Vau, 
and  He,  equivalent  in  English  to  the  com- 
bination JHVH.  It  is  evident  that  these 
four  letters  cannot,  in  our  language,  be 
pronounced,  unless  at  least  two  vowels  be 


378 


JEHOVAH 


JEHOVAH 


supplied.  Neither  can  they  in  Hebrew. 
In  other  words,  the  vowels  were  known  to 
the  Jew,  because  he  heard  the  words  con- 
tinually pronounced,  just  as  we  know  that 
Mr.  stands  for  Mister,  because  we  contin- 
ually hear  this  combination  so  pronounced. 
But  the  name  of  God,  of  which  these  four 
letters  are  symbols,  was  never  pronounced, 
but  another  word,  Adonai,  substituted  for 
it;  and  hence,  as  the  letters  themselves 
have  no  vocal  power,  the  Jew,  not  knowing 
the  implied  vowels,  was  unable  to  supply 
them,  and  thus  the  pronunciation  of  the 
word  was  in  time  entirely  lost. 

Hence  some  of  the  most  learned  of  the 
Jewish  writers  even  doubt  whether  Jehovah 
is  the  true  pronunciation,  and  say  that  the 
recovery  of  the  name  is  one  of  the  mys- 
teries that  will  be  revealed  only  at  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah.  They  attribute 
the  loss  to  the  fact  that  the  Masoretic  or 
vowel  points  belongingto  another  word  were 
applied  to  the  sacred  name,  whereby  in  time 
a  confusion  occurred  in  its  vocalization. 

In  the  ineffable  degrees  of  the  Scottish 
Rite,  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  pronun- 
ciation varied  among  the  patriarchs  in 
different  ages.  Methuselah,  Lamech,  and 
Noah  pronounced  it  Juha;  Shem,  Arphaxad, 
Selah,  Heber,  and  Peleg  pronounced  it 
Jeva;  Reu,  Serug,  Nahor,  Terah,  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Judah,  called  it  Jova;  by  Hez- 
rom  and  Ram  it  was  pronounced  Jevo;  by 
Aminadab  and  Nasshon,  Jevah;  by  Salmon, 
Boaz,  and  Obed,  Johe;  by  Jesse  and  David, 
Jehovah.  And  they  imply  that  none  of 
these  was  the  right  pronunciation,  which 
was  only  in  the  possession  of  Enoch,  Jacob, 
and  Moses,  whose  names  are,  therefore,  not 
mentioned  in  this  list.  In  all  these  words 
it  must  be  noticed  that  the  J  is  to  be  pro- 
nounced as  Y,  the  a  as  in  father,  and  the 
e  as  a  in  fate.  Thus,  Je-ho-vah  would  be 
pronounced  Yay-ho-vah. 

The  Jews  believed  that  this  holy  name, 
which  they  held  in  the  highest  veneration, 
was  possessed  of  unbounded  powers.  "  He 
who  pronounces  it,"  said  they,  "  shakes 
heaven  and  earth,  and  inspires  the  very 
angels  with  astonishment  and  terror.  There 
is  a  sovereign  authority  in  this  name:  it 
governs  the  world  by  its  power.  The  other 
names  and  surnames  of  the  Deity  are 
ranged  about  it  like  officers  and  soldiers 
about  their  sovereigns  and  generals :  from 
this  king-name  they  receive  their  orders, 
and  obey." 

It  was  called  the  Shem  hamphorash,  the 
explanatory  or  declaratory  name,  because  it 
alone,  of  all  the  divine  names,  distinctly 
explains  or  declares  what  is  the  true  essence 
of  the  Deity. 

Among  the  Essenes,  this  sacred  name, 
which  was  never  uttered  aloud,  but  always 
in  a  whisper,  was  one  of  the  mysteries  of 


their  initiation,  which  candidates  were 
bound  by  a  solemn  oath  never  to  divulge. 

It  is  reported  to  have  been,  under  a  modi- 
fied form,  a  password  in  the  Egyptian  mys- 
teries, and  none,  says  Schiller,  dare  enter 
the  temple  of  Serapis  who  did  not  bear  on 
his  breast  or  forehead  the  name  Jao  or  Je- 
ha-ho  ;  a  name  almost  equivalent  in  sound 
to  that  of  Jehovah,  and  probably  of  iden- 
tical import ;  and  no  name  was  uttered  in 
Egypt  with  more  reverence. 

The  Rabbins  asserted  that  it  was  engraved 
on  the  rod  of  Moses,  and  enabled  him  to 
perform  all  his  miracles.  Indeed,  the  Tal- 
mud says  that  it  was  by  the  utterance  of 
this  awful  name,  and  not  by  a  club,  that  he 
slew  the  Egyptian  ;  although  it  fails  to  tell 
us  how  he  got  at  that  time  his  knowledge 
of  it. 

That  scurrilous  book  of  the  Jews  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  called  the  Toldoth  Jeshu,  at- 
tributes all  the  wonderful  works  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  potency  of  this  incommunica- 
ble name,  which  he  is  said  to  have  abstract- 
ed from  the  Temple,  and  worn  about  him. 
But  it  would  be  tedious  and  unprofitable  to 
relate  all  the  superstitious  myths  that  have 
been  invented  about  this  name. 

And  now  as  to  the  grammatical  signifi- 
cation of  this  important  word.  Gesenius 
( Thesaur.,  ii.  577,)  thinks — and  many  mod- 
ern scholars  agree  with  him  —  that  the 
word  is  the  future  form  of  the  Hiphil  con- 
jugation of  the  verb  to  be,  pronounced  Ya- 
vah,  and  therefore  that  it  denotes  "He  who 
made  to  exist,  called  into  existence,"  that 
is,  the  Creator.  The  more  generally  ac- 
cepted definition  of  the  name  is,  that  it  ex- 
presses the  eternal  and  unchangeable  exist- 
ence of  God  in  respect  to  the  past,  the  pre- 
sent, and  the  future.  The  word  HliT  is 
derived  from  the  substantive  verb  n*jf> 
hay  ah,  to  be,  and  in  its  four  letters  combines 
those  of  the  past,  present,  and  future  of  the 
verb.  The  letter  *  in  the  beginning,  says 
Buxtorf,  (de  Nomine,  v,)  is  a  characteristic 
of  the  future ;  the  "|  in  the  middle,  of  the 
participle  or  present  time;  and  the  Jf  a* 
the  end,  of  the  past.  Thus,  out  of  HliT  we 
get  rVi7»  ne  was>  mn>  he  is;  and  fVn*> 
he  will  be.  Hence,  among  other  titles  it  re- 
ceived that  of  nomen  essentia,  because  it  shows 
the  essential  nature  of  God's  eternal  exist- 
ence. The  other  names  of  God  define  his 
power,  wisdom,  goodness,  and  other  quali- 
ties; but  this  alone  defines  his  existence. 

It  has  been  a  controverted  point  whether 
this  name  was  made  known  for  the  first 
time  to  Moses,  or  whether  the  patriarchs  had 
been  previously  acquainted  with  it.  The 
generally  recognized  opinion  now  is,  and 
the  records  of  Genesis  and  Exodus  sustain 
it,  that  the  name  was  known  to  the  patri- 
archs, but  not  in  its  essential  meaning,  into 
which  Moses  was  the  first  to  be  initiated- 


JEHOVAH 


JEHOVAH 


379 


In  the  language  of  Aben  Ezra,  "  Certainly 
the  name  was  already  known  to  the  patri- 
archs, but  only  as  an  uncomprehended  and 
unmeaning  noun,  not  as  a  descriptive,  ap- 
pellative one,  indicative  of  the  attributes 
and  qualities  of  the  Deity."  "  It  is  mani- 
fest," says  Kallisch,  (Comm.  on  Ex.,)  "that 
Moses,  in  being  initiated  into  the  holy  and 
comprehensive  name  of  the  Deity,  obtains 
a  superiority  over  the  patriarchs,  who,  al- 
though perhaps  from  the  beginning  more 
believing  than  the  long-wavering  Moses, 
lived  more  in  the  sphere  of  innocent,  child- 
like obedience  than  of  manly,  spiritual  en- 
lightenment." This,  too,  is  the  Masonic 
doctrine.  In  Freemasonry  the  Holy  Name 
is  the  representative  of  the  Word,  which  is 
itself  the  symbol  of  the  nature  of  God.  To 
know  the  Word  is  to  know  the  true  nature 
and  essence  of  the  Grand  Architect. 

When  the  pronunciation  of  the  name 
was  first  interdicted  to  the  people  is  not 
certainly  known.  Leusden  says  it  was  a 
rabbinical  prohibition,  and  was  probably 
made  at  the  second  Temple.  The  state- 
ment of  the  Rabbi  Bechai,  already  cited, 
that  the  word  was  pronounced  for  the  last 
time  by  Simeon,  before  the  spoliation  by 
the  Roman  emperor  Vespasian,  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  it  was  known  at  the 
second  Temple,  although  its  utterance  was 
forbidden,  which  would  coincide  with  the 
Masonic  tradition  that  it  was  discovered 
while  the  foundations  of  the  second  Tem- 
ple were  being  laid.  But  the  general  opin- 
ion is,  that  the  prohibition  commenced  in 
the  time  of  Moses,  the  rabbinical  writers 
tracing  it  to  the  law  of  Leviticus,  already 
cited.  This,  too,  is  the  theory  of  Masonry, 
which  also  preserves  a  tradition  that  the 
prohibition  would  have  been  removed  at 
the  first  Temple,  had  not  a  well-known  oc- 
currence prevented  it.  But  this  is  not  to 
be  viewed  as  an  historic  statement,  but  only 
as  a  medium  of  creating  a  symbol. 

The  Jews  had  four  symbols  by  which 
they  expressed  this  Ineffable  name  of  God : 
the  first  and  most  common  was  two  Yods, 
with  a  Sheva  and  the  point  Kametz  under- 
neath,  thus,    *T*;    the  second  was   three 

points  in  a  radiated  form  like  a  diadem, 
thus,  \;/,  to  represent,  in  all  probability,  the 
sovereignty  of  God ;  the  third  was  a  Yod 
within  an  equilateral  triangle,  which  the 
Kabbalists  explained  as  a  ray  of  light, 
whose  lustre  was  too  transcendent  to  be 
contemplated  by  human  eyes;  and  the 
fourth  was  the  letter  JJJ,  which  is  the  ini- 
tial letter  of  Shadai,  "  the  Almighty,"  and 
was  the  symbol  usually  placed  upon  their 
phylacteries.  Buxtorf  mentions  a  fifth 
method,  which  was  by  three  Yods,  with  a 
Kametz  underneath  * * ♦,  inclosed  in  a  circle. 


In  Freemasonry,  the  equilateral  triangle, 
called  the  delta,  with  or  without  a  Yod  in 
the  centre,  the  Yod  alone,  and  the  letter  G, 
are  recognized  as  symbols  of  the  sacred  and 
Ineffable  name. 

The  history  of  the  introduction  of  this 
word  into  the  ritualism  of  Freemasonry 
would  be  highly  interesting,  were  it  not  so 
obscure.  Being  in  almost  all  respects  an 
esoteric  symbol,  nearly  all  that  we  know 
of  its  Masonic  relations  is  derived  from 
tradition ;  and  as  to  written  records  on  the 
subject,  we  are  compelled,  in  general,  to 
depend  on  mere  intimations  or  allusions, 
which  are  not  always  distinct  in  their  mean- 
ing. In  Masonry,  as  in  the  Hebrew  mys- 
teries, it  was  under  the  different  appellations 
of  the  Word,  the  True  Word,  or  the  Lost 
Word,  the  symbol  of  the  knowledge  of  Di- 
vine Truth,  or  the  true  nature  of  God. 

That  this  name,  in  its  mystical  use,  was 
not  unknown  to  the  Mediaeval  Freemasons 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  Many  of  their  ar- 
chitectural emblems  show  that  they  pos- 
sessed this  knowledge.  Nor  can  there  be 
any  more  doubt  that  through  them  it 
came  to  their  successors,  the  Freemasons 
of  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. No  one  can  read  Dr.  Anderson's 
Defence  of  Masonry,  written  in  1730,  with- 
out being  convinced  that  this  prominent 
actor  in  the  revival  was  well  acquainted 
with  this  name;  although  he  is,  of  course, 
careful  to  make  no  very  distinct  reference 
to  it,  except  in  one  instance.  "  The  occa- 
sion," he  says,  "  of  the  brethren  searching 
so  diligently  for  their  Master  was,  it  seems, 
to  receive  from  him  the  secret  Word  of  Ma- 
sonry, which  should  be  delivered  down  to 
their  posterity  in  after  ages." 

It  is  now  conceded,  from  indisputable 
evidence,  that  the  holy  name  was,  in  the 
earlier  years,  and,  indeed,  up  to  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  attached  to  the  third 
degree,  and  then  called  the  Master's  Word. 
I  have  now  lying  before  me  two  tracing- 
boards  of  that  degree,  one^an  Irish  one  of 
the  date  of  1769,  the  other  a  continental 
one  of  1778;  but  both,  apparently,  copies 
of  some  earlier  one.  Among  the  emblems 
displayed  is  a  coffin,  on  which  is  inscribed, 
in  capital  letters,  the  word  JEHOVAH. 
Hutchinson,  who  wrote  in  1774,  makes  no 
reference  whatever  to  the  Royal  Arch,  al- 
though that  system  had,  by  that  time,  been 
partially  established  in  England;  but  in  his 
lectures  to  Master  Masons  and  on  the  third 
degree  refers  to  "  the  mystic  word,  the  Tet- 
ragrammaton."  Oliver  tells  us  distinctly 
that  it  was  the  Master's  Word  until  Dunck- 
erley  took  it  out  of  the  degree  and  trans- 
ferred it  to  the  Royal  Arch.  That  it  was 
so  on  the  Continent,  we  have  the  unmis- 
takable   testimony   of  Guillemain  de  St. 


380 


JEHOVAH 


JEHOVAH 


Victor,  who  says,  in  his  Adonhiramite  Ma- 
sonry, that  Solomon  placed  a  medal  on  the 
tomb  of  Hiram,  "  on  which  was  engraved 
Jehova,  the  old  Master's  Word,  and  which 
signifies  the  Supreme  Being." 

So  far,  then,  these  facts  appear  to  be  es- 
tablished: that  this  Ineffable  name  was 
known  to  the  Operative  Freemasons  of  the 
Middle  Age3;  that  it  was  derived  from 
them  by  the  Speculative  Masons,  who,  in 
1717,  revived  the  Order  in  England ;  that 
they  knew  it  as  Master  Masons ;  and  that 
it  continued  to  be  the  Master's  Word  until 
late  in  that  century,  when  it  was  removed 
by  Dunckerley  into  the  Royal  Arch. 

Although  there  is,  perhaps,  no  point  in 
the  esoteric  system  of  Masonry  more  clearly 
established  than  that  the  Tetragrammaton 
is  the  true  omnific  word,  yet  innovations 
have  been  admitted,  by  which,  in  some 
jurisdictions  in  this  country,  that  word  has 
been  changed  into  three  others,  which  sim- 
ply signify  Divine  names  in  other  lan- 
guages, but  have  none  of  the  sublime  sym- 
bolism that  belongs  to  the  true  name  of 
God.  It  is  true  that  the  General  Grand 
Chapter  of  the  United  States  adopted  a 
regulation  disapproving  of  the  innovation 
of  these  explanatory  words,  and  restoring 
the  Tetragrammaton ;  but  this  declaration 
of  what  might  almost  be  considered  a  tru- 
ism in  Masonry  has  been  met  with  open 
opposition  or  reluctant  obedience  in  some 
places. 

The  Grand  Chapter  of  England  has  fallen 
into  the  same  error,  and  abandoned  the 
teachings  of  Dunckerley,  the  founder  of 
the  Royal  Arch  in  that  country,  as  some 
of  the  Grand  Chapters  in  America  did  those 
of  Webb,  who  was  the  founder  of  the  sys- 
tem here.  It  is  well,  therefore,  to  inquire 
what  was  the  omnific  word  when  the  Royal 
Arch  system  was  first  invented. 

We  have  the  authority  of  Oliver,  who 
had  the  best  opportunity  of  any  man  in 
England  of  knowing  the  facts,  for  saying 
that  Dunckerley  established  the  Royal 
Arch  for  the  modern  Grand  Lodge;  that 
he  wisely  borrowed  many  things  from  Ram- 
say and  Dermott ;  and  that  he  boldly  trans- 
S  Ian  ted  the  word  Jehovah  from  the  Master's 
egree  and  placed  it  in  his  new  system. 

Now,  what  was  "  The  Word  "  of  the 
Royal  Arch,  as  understood  by  Dunckerley? 
We  have  no  difficulty  here,  for  he  himself 
answers  the  question.  To  the  first  edition 
of  the  Laws  and  Regulations  of  the  Royal 
Arch,  published  in  1782,  there  is  prefixed 
an  essay  on  Freemasonry,  which  is  attrib- 
uted to  Dunckerley.  In  this  he  makes  the 
following  remarks : 

"  It  must  be  observed  that  the  expression 
The  Word  is  not  to  be  understood  as  a 
watchword  only,  after  the  manner  of  those 


annexed  to  the  several  degrees  of  the  Craft ; 
but  also  theologically,  as  a  term,  thereby  to 
convey  to  the  mind  some  idea  of  that  Grand 
Being  who  is  the  sole  author  of  our  exist- 
ence ;  and  to  carry  along  with  it  the  most 
solemn  veneration  for  his  sacred  Name  and 
Word,  as  well  as  the  most  clear  and  perfect 
elucidation  of  his  power  and  attributes 
that  the  human  mind  is  capable  of  receiv- 
ing. And  this  is  the  light  in  which  the 
Name  and  Word  hath  always  been  con- 
sidered, from  the  remotest  ages,  amongst  us 
Christians  and  the  Jews." 

And  then,  after  giving  the  well-known 
history  from  Josephus  of  the  word,  which, 
to  remove  all  doubt  of  what  it  is,  he  says 
is  the  "  Shem  Hamphorash,  or  the  Unutter- 
able Name,"  he  adds :  "  Philo,  the  learned 
Jew,  tells  us  not  only  that  the  word  was  lost, 
but  also  the  time  when,  and  the  reason  why. 
But,  to  make  an  end  of  these  unprofitable 
disputes  among  the  learned,  be  it  remem- 
bered that  they  all  concur  with  the  Royal 
Arch  Masons  in  others  much  more  essen- 
tial :  first,  that  the  Name  or  Word  is  ex- 
pressive of  Self- Existence  and  Eter- 
nity ;  and,  secondly,  that  it  can  be  appli- 
cable only  to  that  Great  Being  who  was 
and  is  and  will  be." 

Notwithstanding  this  explicit  and  un- 
mistakable declaration  of  the  founder  of 
the  English  Royal  Arch,  that  the  Tetra- 
grammaton is  the  omnific  word,  the  pres- 
ent system  in  England  has  rejected  it,  and 
substituted  in  its  place  three  other  words, 
the  second  of  which  is  wholy  unmeaning." 

In  the  American  system,  as  revised  by 
Thomas  Smith  Webb,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Tetragrammaton  was  recog- 
nized as  the  omnific  word.  In  the  Free- 
mason's Monitor,  prepared  by  him  for  mon- 
itorial instruction,  he  has  inserted,  among 
the  passages  of  Scripture  to  be  read  during 
an  exaltation,  the  following  from  Exodus, 
which  is  the  last  in  order,  and  which  any 
one  at  all  acquainted  with  the  ritual  will 
at  once  see  is  appropriated  to  the  time  of 
the  euresis  or  discovery  of  the  Word. 

"And  God  spake  unto  Moses,  and  said 
unto  him,  I  am  the  Lord,  and  I  appeared 
unto  Abraham,  and  unto  Isaac,  and  unto 
Jacob  by  the  name  of  God  Amighty,  but 
by  my  name  JEHOVAH  was  I  not  known 
to  them." 

From  this  it  will  be  evident  that  Webb 
recognized  the  word  Jehovah,  and  not  the 
three  other  words  that  have  since  been  sub- 
stituted for  them  by  some  Grand  Chapters 
in  this  country,  and  which  it  is  probable 
were  originally  used  by  Webb  as  merely 
explanatory  or  declaratory  of  the  Divine 
nature  of  the  other  and  principal  word. 
And  this  is  in  accordance  with  one  of  the 
traditions  of  the  degree, .  that  they  were 


JEPHTHAH 


JERUSALEM 


381 


placed  on  the  substitute  ark  around  the 
real  word,  as  a  key  to  explain  its  significa- 
tion. 

To  call  anything  else  but  this  four- 
lettered  name  an  omnific  word  —  an  all- 
creating  and  all -performing  word  —  either 
in  Masonry  or  in  Hebrew  symbolism,  whence 
Masonry  derived  it,  is  to  oppose  all  the 
doctrines  of  the  Talmudists,  the  Kabbalists, 
and  the  Gnostics,  and  to  repudiate  the 
teachings  of  every  Hebrew  scholar  from 
Buxtorf  to  Gesenius.  To  fight  the  battle 
against  such  odds  is  to  secure  defeat.  It 
shows  more  of  boldness  than  of  discretion. 
And  hence  the  General  Grand  Chapter  of 
the  United  States  has  very  wisely  restored 
the  word  Jehovah  to  its  proper  place.  It 
is  only  in  the  York  and  in  the  American 
Rites  that  this  error  has  ever  existed.  In 
every  other  Rite  the  Tetragrammaton  is 
recognized  as  the  true  word. 

Jephthah.  A  Judge  of  Israel,  and  the 
leader  of  the  Gileadites  in  their  war  against 
the  Ephraimites,  which  terminated  in  the 
slaughter  of  so  many  of  the  latter  at  the 
passes  of  the  river  Jordan.  See  Ephraim- 
ites. 

Jericho,  Heroine  of.  See  Heroine 
of  Jericho. 

Jericho,  Knight  of.  See  Knight 
of  Jericho. 

Jermyn,  Henry.  Preston  says 
[Illustrations,  p.  161.  ol.  ed.,)  that  Henry 
Jermyn,  Earl  of  St.  Albans,  was  elected 
Grand  Master  at  a  General  Assembly  held 
on  the  27th  of  December,  1663,  and  that  at 
this  Assembly  "  several  useful  regulations 
were  made,"  some  of  which  he  gives  in  a 
note.  Roberts,  in  his  edition  of  the  "Old 
Constitutions "  printed  in  1722,  the  earli- 
est printed  Masonic  book  that  we  have,  re- 
fers also  to  this  General  Assembly ;  the  date 
of  which  he,  however,  makes  the  8th  of 
December.  Roberts  gives  what  he  calls 
the  Additional  Orders  and  Constitutions. 
The  Harleian  MS.,  in  the  British  Museum, 
numbered  1942,  which  Hughan  supposes  to 
have  the  date  of  1670,  and  which  he  has 
published  in  his  Old  Charges  of  the  Brit- 
ish Freemasons,  (p.  52,)  contains  also  three 
"  new  articles."  The  articles  in  Roberts' 
and  the  Harleian  MS.  are  identical.  In 
Preston,  they  are  modified  in  language, 
as  they  are  also  in  the  1738  edition  of  An- 
derson. But  neither  of  these  writers  is  trust- 
worthy in  relation  to  citations  from  old 
documents.  Of  these  new  articles,  one  of 
the  most  important  is  that  which  prescribes 
that  the  society  of  Freemasons  shall  there- 
after be  governed  by  a  Master  and  War- 
dens. Bro.  Hughan  thinks  that  there  is  no 
evidence  of  the  statement  that  a  General  As- 
sembly was  held  in  1663.  But  I  think  that 
the  concurring  testimony  of   Roberts  in 


1722,  and  of  Anderson  in  1738,  with  the 
significant  fact  that  the  charges  are  found 
in  a  manuscript  written  seven  years  after, 
give  some  plausibility  to  the  statement  that 
a  General  Assembly  was  held  at  that  time. 

Jekson.  This  word  is  found  in  the 
French  Cahiers  of  the  high  degrees.  It  is 
undoubtedly  a  corruption  of  Jacquesson, 
and  this  a  mongrel  word  compounded  of 
the  French  Jacques  and  the  English  son, 
and  means  the  son  of  James,  that  is,  James 
II.  It  refers  to  Charles  Edward  the  Pre- 
tender, who  was  the  son  of  that  abdicated 
and  exiled  monarch.  It  is  a  significant 
relic  of  the  system  attempted  to  be  intro- 
duced by  the  adherents  of  the  house  of 
Stuart,  and  by  which  they  expected  to  enlist 
Masonry  as  an  instrument  to  effect  the  res- 
toration of  the  Pretender  to  the  throne  of 
England.  For  this  purpose  they  had  altered 
the  legend  of  the  third  degree,  making  it 
applicable  to  Charles  II.,  who,  being  the  son 
of  Henrietta  Maria,  the  widow  of  Charles 
L,  was  designated  as  "  the  widow's  son." 

Jena,  Congress  of.  Jena  is  a  city 
of  Saxe- Weimar,  in  Thuringia.  A  Ma- 
sonic Congress  was  convoked  there  in  1763, 
by  the  Lodge  of  Strict  Observance,  under 
the  presidency  of  Johnson,  a  Masonic  char- 
latan, but  whose  real  name  was  Becker.  In 
this  Congress  the  doctrine  was  announced 
that  the  Freemasons  were  the  successors  of 
the  Knights  Templars,  a  dogma  peculiarly 
characteristic  of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observ- 
ance. In  the  year  1764,  a  second  Congress 
was  convoked  by  Johnson  or  Leucht  with 
the  desire  of  authoritatively  establishing  his 
doctrine  of  the  connection  between  Tem- 
plarism  and  Masonry.  The  empirical  char- 
acter of  Johnson  was  here  discovered  by  the 
Baron  Hund,  and  he  was  denounced,  and 
subsequently  punished  at  Magdeburg  by 
the  public  authorities. 

Jerusalem.  The  capital  of  Judea, 
and  memorable  in  Masonic  history  as  the 
place  where  was  erected  the  Temple  of  Sol- 
omon. It  is  early  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
and  is  supposed  to  be  the  Salem  of  which 
Melchizedek  was  king.  At  the  time  that 
the  Israelites  entered  the  Promised  Land, 
the  city  was  in  possession  of  the  Jebusites, 
from  whom,  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  it 
was  conquered,  and  afterwards  inhabited 
by  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin.  The 
Jebusites  were  not,  however,  driven  out ; 
and  we  learn  that  David  purchased  Mount 
Moriah  from  Oman  or  Araunah  the  Jebu- 
site  as  a  site  for  the  Temple.  It  is  only  in 
reference  to  this  Temple  that  Jerusalem  is 
connected  with  the  legends  of  Ancient 
Craft  Masonry.  In  the  degrees  of  chivalry 
it  is  also  important,  because  it  was  the 
city  where  the  holy  places  were  situated, 
and  for  the  possession  of  which  the  Cru- 


382 


JERUSALEM 


JEWELS 


saders  so  long  and  so  bravely  contested.  It 
was  there,  too,  that  the  Templars  and  the 
Hospitallers  were  established  as  Orders  of 
religious  and  military  knighthood. 

Modern  Speculative  Masonry  was  intro- 
duced into  Jerusalem  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Lodge  in  1872.  The  warrant  for 
which,  on  the  application  of  Robert  Morris 
and  others,  was  granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Canada. 

Jerusalem,  Knight  of.  See  Knight 
of  Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem,  New.  The  symbolic 
name  of  the  Christian  Church  (Rev.  xxi. 
2-21 ;  iii.  12).  The  Apostle  John,  (Rev. 
xxi.,)  from  the  summit  of  a  high  mountain, 
beheld,  in  a  pictorial  symbol  or  scenic  rep- 
resentation, a  city  resplendent  with  celes- 
tial brightness,  which  seemed  to  descend 
from  the  heavens  to  the  earth.  It  was 
stated  to  be  a  square  of  about  400  miles, 
or  12,000  stadia,  equal  to  about  16,000 
miles  in  circumference  —  of  course,  a  mys- 
tical number,  denoting  that  the  city  was 
capable  of  holding  almost  countless  myriads 
of  inhabitants.  The  New  Jerusalem  was 
beheld,  like  Jacob's  ladder,  extending  from 
earth  to  heaven.  It  plays  an  important 
part  in  the  ritual  of  the  nineteenth  degree, 
or  Grand  Pontiff  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite,  where  the  descent  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  is  a  symbol  of  the  de- 
scent of  the  empire  of  Light  and  Truth 
upon  the  earth. 

Jerusalem,  Prince  of.  See  Prince 
of  Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem  Word.  In  the  cate- 
chism of  1724  occurs  the  following  ques- 
tion and  answer. 

"  Q.  Give  me  the  Jerusalem  Word. 

"A.  Giblin." 

The  origin  of  this  phrase  may  perhaps  be 
thus  traced.  The  theory  that  after  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Temple  a  portion  of  the  work- 
men travelled  abroad  to  seek  employment, 
while  another  portion  remained  at  Jerusa- 
lem, was  well  known  to  the  Fraternity  at 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  It  is 
amply  detailed  in  that  old  manuscript 
known  as  the  York  MS.,  which  is  now  lost, 
but  was  translated  by  Krause,  and  inserted 
in  his  Kunsturkunden.  It  may  be  sup- 
posed that  this  "  Jerusalem  Word  "  was  the 
word  which  the  Masons  used  at  Jerusalem, 
while  the  "  Universal  Word,"  which  is 
given  in  the  next  question  and  answer,  was 
the  word  common  to  the  Craft  everywhere. 
The  Jerusalem  Word,  as  such,  is  no  longer 
in  use,  but  the  Universal  Word  is  still 
found  in  the  first  degree. 

Jesuits.  In  the  last  century  the  Jesuits 
were  charged  with  having  an  intimate  con- 
nection with  Freemasonry,  and  the  inven- 
tion of  the  degree  of  Kadosh  was  even  at- 


tributed to  those  members  of  the  Society 
who  constituted  the  College  of  Clermont. 
This  theory  of  a  Jesuitical  Masonry  seems 
to  have  originated  with  the  Illuminati,  who 
were  probably  governed  in  its  promulgation 
by  a  desire  to  depreciate  the  character  of 
all  other  Masonic  systems  in  comparison 
with  their  own,  where  no  such  priestly  in- 
terference was  permitted.  Barruel  scoffs 
at  the  idea  of  such  a  connection,  and  calls 
it  {Hist,  de  Ja.,  iv.  287,)  "la  fable  de  la 
Franc-Ma<jonnerie  Je'suiteque."  For  once 
he  is  right.  Like  oil  and  water,  the  toler- 
ance of  Freemasonry  and  the  intolerance 
of  the  "Society  of  Jesus"  cannot  com- 
mingle. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that,  while  the 
Jesuits  have  had  no  part  in  the  construc- 
tion of  pure  Freemasonry,  there  are  reasons 
for  believing  that  they  took  an  interest  in 
the  invention  of  some  degrees  and  sys- 
tems which  were  intended  to  advance  their 
own  interests.  But  wherever  they  touched 
the  Institution  they  left  the  trail  of  the  ser- 
pent. They  sought  to  convert  its  pure 
philanthropy  and  toleration  into  political 
intrigue  and  religious  bigotry.  Hence  it  is 
believed  that  they  had  something  to  do 
with  the  invention  of  those  degrees,  which 
were  intended  to  aid  the  exiled  house  of 
Stuart  in  its  efforts  to  regain  the  English 
throne,  because  they  believed  that  would 
secure  the  restoration  in  England  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion.  Almost  a  library 
of  books  has  been  written  on  both  sides  of 
this  subject  in  Germany  and  in  France. 

Jewel  of  an  Ancient  Grand 
Master.  A  Masonic  tradition  informs  us 
that  the  jewel  of  an  ancient  Grand  Master 
at  the  Temple  was  the  square  and  compass 
with  the  letter  G  between.  This  was  the 
jewel  worn  by  Hiram  Abif  on  the  day 
which  deprived  the  Craft  of  his  invaluable 
services,  and  which  was  subsequently  found 
upon  him. 

Jewel,  Member's.  In  many  Lodges, 
especially  among  the  Germans,  where  it  is 
called  "Mitgleider  Zeichen,"  a  jewel  is 
provided  for  every  member,  and  presented 
to  him  on  his  initiation  or  affiliation.  It 
is  to  be  worn  from  the  button-hole,  and 
generally  contains  the  name  of  the  Lodge 
and  some  Masonic  device. 

Jewels,  Immovable.  See  Jewels 
of  a  Lodge. 

Jewels,  Movable.  See  Jewels  of  a 
Lodge. 

Jewels  of  a  TLodge.  Every  Lodge 
is  furnished  with  six  jewels,  three  of  which 
are  movable  and  three  immovable.  They 
are  termed  jewels,  says  Oliver,  because  they 
have  a  moral  tendency  which  renders  them 
jewels  of  inestimable  value.  The  movable 
jewels,  so  called  because  they  are  not  con- 


JEWELS 


JEWS 


383 


fined  to  any  particular  part  of  the  Lodge, 
are  the  rough  ashlar,  the  perfect  ashlar, 
and  the  trestle-board.  The  immovable  jew- 
els are  the  square,  the  level,  and  the  plumb. 
They  are  termed  immovable,  because  they 
are  appropriated  to  particular  parts  of  the 
Lodge,  where  alone  they  should  be  found, 
namely,  the  square  to  the  east,  the  level  to 
the  west,  and  the  plumb  to  the  south.  In 
the  English  system  the  division  is  the  re- 
verse of  this.  There,  the  square,  level,  and 
plumb  are  called  movable  jewels,  because 
they  pass  from  the  three  officers  who  wear 
them  to  their  successors. 

Jewels,  Official.  Jewels  are  the 
names  applied  to  the  emblems  worn  by  the 
officers  of  Masonic  bodies  as  distinctive 
badges  of  their  offices.  For  the  purpose 
of  reference,  the  jewels  worn  in  symbolic 
Lodges,  in  Chapters,  Councils,  and  Encamp- 
ments are  here  appended. 

1.  In  Symbolic  Lodges. 

W.\  Master       wears  a  square. 

Senior  Warden     "      a  level. 

Junior  Warden     "      a  plumb. 

Treasurer  "      cross  keys. 

Secretary  "      cross  pens. 

Senior  Deacon      "      square  and  compass, 

sun  in  the  centre. 
Junior  Deacon      "      square  and  compass, 

moon  in  the  centre. 
Steward  "      a  cornucopia. 

Tiler  "      cross  swords. 

The  jewels  are  of  silver  in  a  subordinate 
Lodge,  and  of  gold  in  a  Grand  Lodge.  In 
English  Lodges,  the  jewel  of  the  Deacon  is 
a  dove. 

2.  In  Royal  Arch  Chapters. 

High  Priest  wears  a  mitre. 

King  "      a  level  surmounted 

by  a  crown. 

Scribe  "      a  plumb-rule  sur- 

mounted   by    a 
turban. 

Captain  of  the  Host "  a  triangular  plate 
inscribed  with  a 
soldier. 

Principal  Sojourner  "  a  triangular  plate 
inscribed  with  a 
pilgrim. 

Royal  Arch  Captain  "      a  sword. 

Grand  Master  of 
the  Veils.  "       a  sword. 

The  other  officers  as  in  a  symbolic  Lodge. 
All  the  jewels  are  of  gold,  and  suspended 
within  an  equilateral  triangle. 

3.  In  Royal  and  Select  Councils. 

T.  I.  Grand  Master    wears  a    trowel    and 

square. 


I.  Hiram  of  Tyre      wears   a    trowel    and 

level. 
Principal  Conductor      "      a    trowel    and 

of  the  works  plumb. 

Treasurer  "      a    trowel    and 

cross  keys. 
Recorder  "      a    trowel    and 

cross  pens. 
Captain  of  the  Guards  "      a    trowel    and 

sword. 
Steward  "      a    trowel    and 

cross  swords. 
Marshal  "      a    trowel     and 

baton. 

If  a  Conductor  of  the  Council  is  used, 
he  wears  a  trowel  and  baton,  and  then  a 
scroll  is  added  to  the  Marshal's  baton  to 
distinguish  the  two  officers. 

All  the  jewels  are  of  silver,  and  are  en- 
closed within  an  equilateral  triangle. 

4.  In  Commanderies  of  Knighte  Templars. 
Em't  Commander  wears  a  cross  surmounted 
by  rays  of  light. 
Generalissimo  "      a     square      sur- 

mounted   by   a 
paschal  lamb. 
Captain  General         "      a       level       sur- 
mounted   by   a 
cock. 
Prelate  "      a  triple  triangle. 

Senior  Warden  "      a    hollow  square 

and    sword  of 
justice. 
Junior  Warden  "      eagle  and  flaming 

sword. 
Treasurer  "      cross  keys. 

Recorder  "      cross  pens. 

Standard  Bearer         "      a      plumb      sur- 
mounted   by    a 
banner. 
Warder  "      a     square     plate 

inscribed  with  a 
trumpet        and 
cross  swords. 
Three  Guards  "      a  square  plate  in- 

scribed with   a 
battle-axe. 
The  jewels  are  of  silver. 
Jewels,  Precious.    In  the  lectures 
of  the  second  and  third  degrees,  allusion  is 
made  to  certain  moral  qualities,  which,  as 
they  are  intended  to  elucidate  and  impress 
the  most  important  moral  principles  of  the 
degree,  are  for  their  great  value  called  the 
Precious  Jewels  of  a  Fellow  Craft  and  the 
Precious  Jewels  of  a  Master  Mason.     There 
are  three  in  each  degree,  and  they  are  re- 
ferred to  by  the  Alarm.    Their  explanation 
is  esoteric. 

Jews,  Disqualification  of.  The 
great  principles  of  religious  and  political 
toleration  which  peculiarly  characterize 
Freemasonry  would  legitimately  make  no 


384 


JEZIRAH 


JOHNSON 


religious  faith  which  recognized  a  Supreme 
Being  a  disqualification  for  initiation.  But, 
unfortunately,  these  principles  have  not 
always  been  regarded,  and  from  an  early 
period  the  German  Lodges,  and  especially 
the  Prussian,  were  reluctant  to  accord  ad- 
mission to  Jews.  This  action  has  given 
great  offence  to  the  Grand  Lodges  of  other 
countries  which  were  more  liberal  in  their 
views,  and  were  more  in  accord  with  the 
Masonic  spirit,  and  was  productive  of  dis- 
sensions among  the  Masons  of  Germany, 
many  of  whom  were  opposed  to  this  intol- 
erant policy.  But  a  better  spirit  now  pre- 
vails ;  and  very  recently  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  the  Three  Globes  at  Berlin,  the  leading 
Masonic  body  of  Prussia,  has  removed  the 
interdict,  and  Judaism  is  there  no  longer  a 
disqualification  for  initiation. 

Jezirali,  or  Jetzirah,  Book  of. 
JT"Vy*  HpD)  *•  e->  Book  of  the  Creation. 
A  Kabbalistic  work,  which  is  claimed  by 
the  Kabbalists  as  their  first  and  oldest  code 
of  doctrines,  although  it  has  no  real  affinity 
with  the  tenets  of  the  Kabbala.  The  au- 
thorship of  it  is  attributed  to  the  patriarch 
Abraham;  but  the  actual  date  of  its  first 
appearance  is  supposed  to  be  about  the 
ninth  century.  Steinschneider  says  that  it 
opens  the  literature  of  the  Secret  Doctrine. 
Its  fundamental  idea  is,  that  in  the  ten 
digits  and  the  twenty  letters  of  the  Hebrew 
alphabet  we  are  to  find  the  origin  of  all 
things.  Landauer,  a  German  Hebraist, 
thinks  that  the  author  of  the  Jetzirah  bor- 
rowed his  doctrine  of  numbers  from  the 
School  of  Pythagoras,  which  is  very  prob- 
able. The  old  Masons,  it  is  probable,  de- 
rived some  of  their  mystical  ideas  of  sacred 
numbers  from  this  work. 

Joabert.  This,  according  to  the  le- 
gends of  the  high  degrees,  was  the  nataie 
of  the  chief  favorite  of  Solomon,  who  in- 
curred the  displeasure  of  Hiram  of  Tyre 
on  a  certain  occasion,  but  was  subsequently 
pardoned,  and,  on  account  of  the  great  at- 
tachment he  had  shown  to  the  person  of 
his  master,  was  appointed  the  Secretary  of 
Solomon  and  Hiram  in  their  most  intimate 
relations.  He  was  afterwards  still  further 
promoted  by  Solomon,  and  appointed  with 
Tito  and  Adoniram  a  Provost  and  Judge. 
He  distinguished  himself  in  his  successful 
efforts  to  bring  certain  traitors  to  condign 
punishment,  and  although  by  his  rashness 
he  at  first  excited  the  anger  of  the  king,  he 
was  subsequently  forgiven,  and  eventually 
received  the  highest  reward  that  Solomon 
could  bestow,  by  being  made  an  Elect,  Per- 
fect, and  Sublime  Mason.  The  name  is  evi- 
dently not  Hebrew,  or  must  at  least  have 
undergone  much  corruption,  for  in  its  pres- 
ent form  it  cannot  be  traced  to  a  Hebrew 
root.     Lenning  says  {Encycbpddve)  that  it 


is  Johaben,  or,  more  properly,  Ihaoben, 
which  he  interprets  the  Son  of  God;  but  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  any  such  meaning 
according  to  the  recognized  rules  of  the 
Hebrew  etymology. 

Joachim,  Order  of.  A  secret  asso- 
ciation instituted  in  Germany  towards  the 
end  of  the  last  century.  Its  recipients  swore 
that  they  believed  in  the  Trinity,  and 
would  never  waltz.  None  but  nobles,  their 
wives  and  children,  were  admitted.  It  had 
no  connection  with  Masonry. 

Johannite  Masonry.  A  term  in- 
troduced by  Dr.  Oliver  to  designate  the  sys- 
tem of  Masonry,  of  which  the  two  Sts.  John 
are  recognized  as  the  patrons,  and  to  whom 
the  Lodges  are  dedicated,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  more  recent  system  of  Dr.  Hem- 
ming, in  which  the  dedication  is  to  Moses 
and  Solomon.  Oliver  was  much  opposed 
to  the  change,  and  wrote  an  interesting 
work  on  the  subject,  entitled  A  Mirror  for 
the  Johannite  Mawns,  which  was  published 
in  1848.  According  to  his  definition,  the 
system  practised  in  the  United  States  is 
Johannite  Masonry. 

Johannites.  A  Masonico -religious 
sect  established  in  Paris,  in  1814,  by  Fabr6- 
Paliprat,  and  attached  to  the  Order  of  the 
Temple,  of  which  he  was  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter. See  Leviticon,  and  Temple,  Order  of  the. 

John's  Brothers.  In  the  charter 
of  Cologne,  it  is  said  that  before  the  year 
1440  the  society  of  Freemasons  was  known 
by  no  other  name  than  that  of  "John's 
Brothers,"  Joannaeorum  fratrum;  that 
they  then  began  to  be  called  at  Valenci- 
ennes, Free  and  Accepted  Masons;  and 
that  at  that  time,  in  some  parts  of  Flanders, 
by  the  assistance  and  riches  of  the  brother- 
hood, the  first  hospitals  were  erected  for 
the  relief  of  such  as  were  afflicted  with  St. 
Anthony's  fire.  In  another  part  of  the 
charter  it  is  said  that  the  authors  of  the 
associations  were  called  "Brothers  conse- 
crated to  John,"  — fratres  Joanni  Sacros, — 
because  "  they  followed  the  example  and 
imitation  of  John  the  Baptist." 

Johnson.  Sometimes  spelled  John- 
stone. An  adventurer,  and  Masonic  char- 
latan, whose  real  name  was  Leucht.  He 
assumed  Masonry  as  a  disguise  under  which 
he  could  carry  on  his  impositions.  He  ap- 
peared first  at  Jena,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1763,  and  proclaimed  that  he  had 
been  deputed  by  the  chiefs  of  Templar 
Masonry  in  Scotland  to  introduce  a  reform 
into  the  German  Lodges.  He  established  a 
Chapter  of  Strict  Observance,  (the  Rite  then 
dominating  in  Germany,)  and  assumed  the 
dignity  of  Grand  Prior.  He  made  war  upon 
Rosa,  the  founder  of  the  Rosaic  Rite,  and 
upon  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Three  Globes, 
which  then  sustained  that  enthusiast.  Many 


JOHN 


JONES 


385 


of  the  German  Lodges  succumbed  to  his  pre- 
tensions, and,  surrendering  their  Warrants, 
gave  in  their  adhesion  to  Johnson.  Von 
Hund  himself  was  at  first  deceived  by  him; 
but  in  1764,  at  Aitenberg,  having  dis- 
covered that  Johnson  had  been  formerly, 
under  the  name  of  Becker,  the  secretary 
of  the  Prince  of  Bernberg, whose  confidence 
he  had  betrayed ;  that  during  the  seven  years' 
war  he  had  been  wandering  about,  becom- 
ing, finally,  the  servant  of  a  Mason,  whose 
papers  he  had  stolen,  and  that  by  means  of 
these  papers  he  had  been  passing  himself 
as  that  individual.  Von  Hund  denounced 
him  as  an  impostor.  Johnson  fled,  but 
was  subsequently  arrested  at  Magdeburg, 
and  imprisoned  in  the  fortress  of  Wartz- 
berg,  where  in  1773  he  died  suddenly. 

John  the  Baptist.  See  Saint  John 
the  Baptist. 

John  the  Evangelist.  See  Saint 
John  the  Evangelist. 

Jones,  Inigo.  One  of  the  most  cele- 
brated of  English  architects,  and  hence 
called  the  Vitruvius  of  England.  He  was 
born  at  London  on  July  15,  1573,  and  died 
June  21, 1652,  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  successively  the  archi- 
tect of  three  kings,  —  James  I.,  Charles 
I.,  and  Charles  II.,  —  and  during  his  long 
career  superintended  the  erection  of  many 
of  the  most  magnificent  public  and  private 
edifices  in  England,  among  which  were  the 
Banqueting-House  of  Whitehall,  and  the 
old  church  of  St.  Paul's.  Jones's  official 
position  placed  him,  of  course,  in  close  con- 
nection with  the  Operative  Masons.  An- 
derson, seizing  on  this  circumstance,  says 
that  James  I.  "approved  of  his  being 
chosen  Grand  Master  of  England,  to  pre- 
side over  the  Lodges;"  but  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke  being  afterwards  chosen  Grand 
Master,  he  appointed  Jones  his  Deputy. 
These  statements  are  copied  by  Entick  and 
Noorthouck  in  their  respective  editions  of 
the  Book  of  Constitutions ;  but  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  they  need  historical 
confirmation.     Preston  says : 

"  During  his  administration,  several 
learned  men  were  initiated  into  the  Order, 
and  the  society  considerably  increased  in 
consequence  and  reputation.  Ingenious 
artists  daily  resorted  to  England,  where 
they  met  with  great  encouragement ; 
Lodges  were  instituted  as  seminaries  of 
instruction  in  the  sciences  and  polite  arts, 
after  the  model  of  the  Italian  schools ;  the 
communications  of  the  Fraternity  were  es- 
tablished, and  the  annual  festivals  regu- 
larly observed." 

There  may  be  exaggeration  or  assump- 
tion in  much  of  this,  but  it  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  the  office  of  Jones  as  "King's 
Architect,"  and  his  labors  as  the  most  ex- 
2Y  25 


tensive  builder  of  his  time,  must  have 
brought  him  into  close  intimacy  with  the 
associations  of  Operative  Masons,  which 
were  being  rapidly  influenced  by  a  specu- 
lative character.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  five  years  before  Jones's  death,  Elias 
Ashmole  was,  by  his  own  account,  made  a 
Freemason  at  Warrington,  and  Jones  the 
architect  and  builder  could  hardly  have 
taken  less  interest  in  the  society  than  Ash- 
mole the  astrologer  and  antiquary.  We 
have,  I  think,  a  right  to  believe  that  Jones 
was  a  Freemason. 

Jones,  Stephen.  A  miscellaneous 
writer  and  Masonic  author  of  some  celeb- 
rity. He  was  born  at  London  in  1764,  and 
educated  at  St.  Paul's  school.  He  was,  on 
leaving  school,  placed  under  an  eminent 
sculptor,  but,  on  account  of  some  difference, 
was  removed  and  apprenticed  to  a  printer. 
On  the  expiration  of  his  articles,  he  was  en- 
gaged as  corrector  of  the  press,  by  Mr.  Stra- 
han,  the  king's  printer.  Four  years  after- 
wards, he  removed  to  the  office  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Wright,  where  he  remained  until 
1797,  when  the  death  of  his  employer  dis- 
solved his  immediate  connection  with  the 
printing  business.  He  then  became  the 
editor  of  the  Whitehall  Evening  Post,  and, 
on  the  decline  of  that  paper,  of  the  General 
Evening  Post,  and  afterwards  of  the  Euro- 
pean Magazine.  His  contributions  to  liter- 
ature were  very  various.  He  supervised 
an  edition  of  Reed's  Biographia  Dramati- 
ca,  an  abridgment  of  Burke's  Reflections  on 
the  French  Revolution,  and  also  abridgments 
of  many  other  popular  works.  But  he  is 
best  known  in  general  literature  by  his 
Pronouncing  and  Explanatory  Dictionary 
of  the  English  Language,  published  in  1798. 
This  production,  although  following  Walk- 
er's far  superior  work,  was  very  favorably 
received  by  the  public. 

In  Masonry,  Stephen  Jones  occupied  a 
very  high  position.  He  was  a  Past  Master 
of  the  Lodge  of  Antiquity,  of  which  Wil- 
liam Preston  was  a  member,  and  of  whom 
Jones  was  an  intimate  friend,  and  one  of 
his  executors.  Preston  had  thoroughly 
instructed  him  in  his  system,  and  after  the 
death  of  that  distinguished  Mason,  he  was 
the  first  to  fill  the  appointment  of  Presto- 
nian  lecturer.  In  1797  he  published  Ma- 
sonic Miscellanies  in  Prose  and  Poetry,  which 
went  through  many  editions,  the  last  being 
that  of  1811.  In  a  graceful  dedication  to 
Preston,  he  acknowledges  his  indebtedness 
to  him  for  any  insight  that  he  may  have 
acquired  into  the  nature  and  design  of  Ma- 
sonry. In  1816,  he  contributed  the  article 
"  Masonry  or  Freemasonry  "  to  the  Ency- 
clopaedia Londinensis.  In  1821,  after  the 
death  of  Preston,  he  published  an  edition 
of  the  Rlustrations,  with  Additions  and  Cor- 


386 


JOPPA 


JOSHUA 


reclions.  Bro.  Matthew  Cooke  (London 
Freemason's  Magazine,  Sept.,  1859,)  says  of 
him :  "  In  the  Masonic  Craft,  Bro.  Jones 
was  very  deeply  versed.  He  was  a  man  of 
genial  sympathies,  and  a  great  promoter 
of  social  gatherings."  John  Britton  the 
architect,  who  knew  him  well,  says  of  him, 
(Autobiog.,  p.  302,)  that  "  he  was  a  man  of 
mild  disposition,  strict  honesty,  great  in- 
dustry, and  unblemished  character."  In  his 
latter  days  he  was  in  embarrassed  circum- 
stances, and  derived  pecuniary  aid  from 
the  Literary  Fund.  He  died,  on  Dec. 
20, 1828,  of  dropsy,  in  King  St.,  Holborn, 
London. 

Joppa.  A  town  of  Palestine  and  the 
seaport  of  Jerusalem,  from  which  it  is  dis- 
tant about  forty  miles  in  a  westerly  direc- 
tion. It  was  here  that  the  King  of  Tyre 
sent  ships  laden  with  timber  and  marble  to 
be  forwarded  overland  to  Solomon  for  the 
construction  of  the  Temple.  Its  shore  is 
exceedingly  rough,  and  much  dreaded  by 
navigators,  who,  on  account  of  its  exposure, 
and  the  perpendicularity  of  its  banks,  are 
compelled  to  be  perpetually  on  their  guard. 
The  following  extract  from  the  narrative 
of  the  Baron  Geramb,  a  Trappist,  who 
visited  the  Holy  Land  in  1842,  will  be  in- 
teresting to  Mark  Masters.  "  Yesterday 
morning  at  daybreak,  boats  put  off  and 
surrounded  the  vessel  to  take  us  to  the 
town  (of  Joppa),  the  access  to  which  is  diffi- 
cult on  account  of  the  numerous  rocks  that 
present  to  view  their  bare  flanks.  The  walls 
were  covered  with  spectators,  attracted  by 
curiosity.  The  boats  being  much  lower 
than  the  bridge,  upon  which  one  is  obliged 
to  climb,  and  having  no  ladder,  the  landing 
is  not  effected  without  danger.  More  than 
once  it  has  happened  that  passengers,  in 
springing  out, have  broken  their  limbs;  and 
we  might  have  met  with  the  like  accident, 
if  several  persons  had  not  hastened  to  our 
assistance."  (Pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  and 
Mount  Sinai,  vol.  i.,  p.  27.)  The  place  is 
now  called  Jaffa. 

Jordan.  A  river  of  Judea,  on  the 
banks  of  which  occurred  the  slaughter  of 
the  Ephraimites,  which  is  alluded  to  in  the 
second  degree. 

Jordan,  Charles  Stephen.  Se- 
cret counsellor  of  the  King  of  Prussia, 
and  Vice  President  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  in  Berlin,  was  born  in  the  year 
1700,  and  died  in  the  year  1745.  In  the 
year  1740,  he  founded,  with  the  Baron  von 
Bielfeld,  the  Lodge  of  Three  Globes  at 
Berlin,  of  which  he  was  Secretary  until  the 
time  of  his  death. 

Jordan,  Fords  of  the.  The  exact 
locality  of  these  fords  (or  "passages,"  as 
the  Bible  terms  them,)  cannot  now  be  des- 
ignated, but  most  likely  they  were  those 
nearly  due  east  of  Seikoot,  and  opposite 


Mizpah.  At  these  fords,  in  summer  time, 
the  water  is  not  more  than  three  or  four 
feet  deep,  the  bottom  being  composed  of  a 
hard  limestone  rock.  If,  as  some  think, 
the  fords  thirty  miles  higher  up  are  those 
referred  to,  the  same  description  will  apply. 
At  either  place,  the  Jordan  is  about  eighty 
feet  wide ;  its  banks  encumbered  by  a  dense 
growth  of  tamarisks,  cane,  willows,  thorn- 
bushes,  and  other  low  vegetation  of  the 
shrubby  and  thorny  sorts,  which  make  it 
difficult  even  to  approach  the  margin  of  the 
stream.  The  Arabs  cross  the  river  at  the 
present  day,  at  stages  of  low  water,  at  a 
number  of  fords,  from  the  one  near  the 
point  where  the  Jordan  leaves  the  sea  of 
Galilee,  down  to  the  Pilgrims'  Ford,  six 
miles  above  the  Dead  Sea.  Morris :  Free- 
masonry in  the  Holy  Land,  p.  316. 

Joseph  II.  This  emperor  of  Ger- 
many, who  succeeded  his  mother  Maria 
Theresa,  at  one  time  encouraged  the  Masons 
in  his  dominions,  and,  notwithstanding  the 
efforts  of  the  priests  to  prevent  it,  issued  a 
decree  in  1785,  written,  says  Lenning,  by 
his  own  hand,  which  permitted  the  meet- 
ings of  Lodges  under  certain  restrictions  as 
to  number.     In  this  decree  he  says : 

"  In  return  for  their  compliance  with  this 
ordinance,  the  government  accords  to  the 
Freemasons  welcome,  protection,  and  lib- 
erty ;  leaving  entirely  to  their  own  direc- 
tion the  control  of  their  members  and  their 
constitutions.  The  government  will  not  at- 
tempt to  penetrate  into  their  mysteries. 

"  Following  these  directions,  the  Order  of 
Freemasons,  in  which  body  are  comprised  a 
great  number  of  worthy  men  who  are  well- 
known  to  me,  may  become  useful  to  the 
state." 

But  the  Austrian  Masons  did  not  enjoy 
this  tolerance  long;  the  Emperor  at  length 
yielded  to  the  counsels  and  the  influence  of 
the  bigoted  priesthood,  and  in  1789  the  or- 
dinance was  rescinded,  and  the  Lodges  were 
forbidden  to  congregate  under  the  severest 
penalties. 

Josephns,  Flavins.  A  Jewish  au- 
thor who  lived  in  the  first  century,  and 
wrote  in  Greek,  among  other  works,  a  His- 
tory of  the  Jews,  to  which  recourse  has  been 
had  in  some  of  the  high  degrees,  such  as 
the  Prince  of  Jerusalem,  and  Knight  of  the 
Red  Cross,  or  Red  Cross  of  Babylon,  for  de- 
tails in  framing  their  rituals. 

Joshua.  The  high  priest  who,-  with 
Zerubbabel  the  Prince  of  Judah,  superin- 
tended the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  after 
the  Babylonian  captivity.  He  was  the  high 
priest  by  lineal  descent  from  the  pontifical 
family,  for  he  was  the  son  of  Josadek,  who 
was  the  son  of  Seraiah,  who  was  the  high 
priest  when  the  Temple  was  destroyed  by 
the  Chaldeans.  He  was  distinguished  for 
the  zeal  with  which  he  prosecuted  the  work 


JOURNEY 


JURISDICTION 


387 


of  rebuilding,  and  opposed  the  interference 
of  the  Samaritans.  He  is  represented  by 
the  High  Priest  in  the  Royal  Arch  degree 
according  to  the  York  and  American  Rites. 

Journey.  Journeywork,  or  work  by 
the  day,  in  contradistinction  to  task,  or 
work  by  the  piece,  and  so  used  in  all  the 
old  Constitutions.  Thus,  in  the  Dowland 
MS.,  there  is  the  charge  "  that  noe  maister 
nor  fellowe,  put  no  lord's  work  to  taske 
that  was  want  to  goe  to  jornaye."  It  was 
fairer  to  the  lord  and  to  the  craftsman  to 
work  by  the  day  than  by  the  piece. 

Journeyman.  When  the  Lodges 
were  altogether  operative  in  their  charac- 
ter, a  Mason,  having  served  his  apprentice- 
ship, began  to  work  for  himself,  and  he  was 
then  called  &  journeyman;  but  he  was  re- 
quired, within  a  reasonable  period,  (in 
Scotland  it  was  two  years,)  to  obtain  ad- 
mission into  a  Lodge,  when  he  was  said  to 
have  passed  a  Fellow  Craft.  Hence  the 
distinction  between  Fellow  Crafts  and  jour- 
neymen was  that  the  former  were  and  the 
latter  were  not  members  of  Lodges.  Thus, 
in  the  minutes  of  St.  Mary's  Chapel  Lodge 
of  Edinburgh,  on  the  27th  of  December, 
1689,  it  was  declared  that  "  No  Master  shall 
employ  a  person  who  has  not  been  passed 
a  Fellow  Craft  in  two  years  after  the  expir- 
ing of  his  apprenticeship ; "  and  the  names 
of  several  journeymen  are  given  who  had 
not  complied  with  the  law.  A  similar  reg- 
ulation was  repeated  by  the  same  Lodge  in 
1705,  complaint  having  been  made  "that 
there  are  several  Masteris  of  this  house 
that  tolerate  jurnimen  to  work  up  and  down 
this  citie  contrary  to  their  oath  of  admis- 
sion;"  and  such  journeymen  were  forbidden 
to  seek  employment.  The  patronage  of 
the  Craft  of  Freemasons  was  bestowed  only 
on  those  who  had  become  "  free  of  the  gild." 

Jova.  A  significant  word  in  the  high 
degrees.  It  is  a  corrupted  form  of  the  Tet- 
ragrammaton. 

J  int.  A  corrupted  form  of  the  Tetra- 
grammaton,  and  a  significant  word  in  the 
high  degrees. 

J  Uriah.  The  whole  of  Palestine  was 
sometimes  called  the  land  of  Judah,  be- 
cause Judah  was  a  distinguished  tribe  in 
obtaining  possession  of  the  country.  The 
tribe  of  Judah  bore  a  lion  in  its  standard, 
and  hence  the  Masonic  allusion  to  the  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  See  also  Genesis 
xlix.  9,  "  Judah  is  a  lion's  whelp." 

Judah  and  Benjamin.  Of  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel  who  were,  at  various 
times,  carried  into  captivity,  only  two,  those 
of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  returned  under 
Zerubbabel  to  rebuild  the  second  Temple. 
Hence,  in  the  high  degrees,  which  are 
founded  on  events  that  occurred  at  and 
after  the  building  of  the  second  Temple, 


the  allusions  are  made  only  to  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin. 

Jug  Lodges.  An  opprobrious  epithet 
bestowed,  during  the  anti-Masonic  excite- 
ment, upon  certain  assemblages  of  worthless 
men  who  pretended  to  confer  the  degrees 
upon  candidates  weak  enough  to  confide  in 
them.  They  derived  their  instructions 
from  the  so-called  expositions  of  Morgan, 
and  exacted  a  trifling  fee  for  initiation, 
which  was  generally  a  jug  of  whiskey,  or 
money  enough  to  buy  one.  They  were 
found  in  the  mountain  regions  of  North 
and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

Junior  Adept.  {Junior  Adeptus.)  One 
of  the  degrees  of  the  German  Rose  Croix. 

Junior  Entered  Apprentice. 
According  to  the  rituals  of  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century,  the  Junior  Entered 
Apprentice  was  placed  in  the  North,  and 
his  duty  was  to  keep  out  all  cowans  and 
eavesdroppers.  There  was  also  a  Senior 
Entered  Apprentice,  and  the  two  seem  to 
have  occupied,  in  some  manner,  the  posi- 
tions now  occupied  by  the  Senior  and 
Junior  Deacons.  See  Senior  Entered  Ap- 
prentice. 

Junior  Overseer.  The  lowest  offi- 
cer in  a  Mark  Lodge.  When  Royal  Arch 
Chapters  are  opened  in  the  Mark  degree, 
the  duties  of  the  Junior  Overseer  are  per- 
formed by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  first 
Veil. 

Junior  Warden.  The  third  officer 
in  a  symbolic  Lodge.  He  presides  over 
the  Craft  during  the  hours  of  refreshment, 
and,  in  the  absence  of  the  Master  and  Se- 
nior Warden,  he  performs  the  duty  of  pre- 
siding officer.  Hence,  if  the  Master  and 
Senior  Warden  were  to  die  or  remove  from 
the  jurisdiction,  the  Junior  Warden  would 
assume  the  chair  for  the  remainder  of  the 
term.  The  jewel  of  the  Junior  Warden  is 
a  plumb,  emblematic  of  the  rectitude  of 
conduct  which  should  distinguish  the 
brethren  when,  during  the  hours  of  re- 
freshment, they  are  beyond  the  precincts 
of  the  Lodge.  His  seat  is  in  the  South, 
and  he  represents  the  Pillar  of  Beauty. 
He  has  placed  before  him,  and  carries  in 
procession,  a  column,  which  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  left-hand  pillar  which  stood 
at  the  porch  of  the  Temple.     See  Wardens. 

The  sixth  officer  in  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars  is  also  styled  Junior 
Warden.  His  duties,  especially  in  the  re- 
ception of  candidates,  are  very  important. 
His  jewel  of  office  is  an  Eagle  holding  a 
Flaming  Sword. 

Jupiter,  Knight  of.  See  Knight 
of  Jupiter. 

Jurisdiction  of  a  Grand  Lodge. 
The  jurisdiction  of  a  Grand  Lodge  extends 
over  every  Lodge  working  within  its  terri- 


388 


JURISDICTION 


JUST 


torial  limits,  and  over  all  places  not  already 
occupied  by  a  Grand  Lodge.  The  territo- 
rial limits  of  a  Grand  Lodge  are  deter- 
mined in  general  by  the  political  bounda- 
ries of  the  country  in  which  it  is  placed. 
Thus  the  territorial  limits  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  New  York  are  circumscribed 
within  the  settled  boundaries  of  that  State. 
Nor  can  its  jurisdiction  extend  beyond 
these  limits  into  any  of  the  neighboring 
States.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  New  York 
could  not,  therefore,  without  an  infringe- 
ment of  Masonic  usage,  grant  a  Warrant 
of  Constitution  to  any  Lodge  located  in 
any  State  where  there  was  already  a  Grand 
Lodge.  It  might,  however,  charter  a  Lodge 
in  a  Territory  where  there  is  not  in  exist- 
ence a  Grand  Lodge  of  that  Territory. 
Thus  the  Lodges  of  France  held  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  until  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Grand  Lodge  of  France,  and  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  both  England,  Scotland, 
and  France  granted  Warrants  to  various 
Lodges  in  America  until  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  the  States  began  to  organize 
Grand  Lodges  for  themselves.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  avoiding  collision  and  unfriendly 
feeling,  it  has  become  the  settled  usage, 
that  when  a  Grand  Lodge  has  been  legally 
organized  in  a  State,  all  the  Lodges  within 
its  limits  must  surrender  the  charters  which 
they  have  received  from  foreign  bodies,  and 
accept  new  ones  from  the  newly  estab- 
lished Grand  Lodge.  This  is  the  settled 
and  well-recognized  law  of  American  and 
English  Masonry.  But  the  continental 
Masons,  and  especially  the  Germans,  have 
not  so  rigidly  interpreted  this  law  of  un- 
occupied territory ;  and  there  have  been  in 
France,  and  still  are  in  Germany,  several 
Grand  Lodges  in  the  same  kingdom  exer- 
cising co-ordinate  powers. 

Jurisdiction  of  a  Lodge.  The 
jurisdiction  of  a  Lodge  is  geographical  or 
personal.  The  geographical  jurisdiction  of 
a  Lodge  is  that  which  it  exercises  over  the 
territory  within  which  it  is  situated,  and 
extends  to  all  the  Masons,  affiliated  and 
unaffiliated,  who  live  within  that  territory. 
This  jurisdiction  extends  to  a  point  equally 
distant  from  the  adjacent  Lodge.  Thus, 
if  two  Lodges  are  situated  within  twenty 
miles  of  each  other,  the  geographical  juris- 
diction of  each  will  extend  ten  miles  from 
its  seat  in  the  direction  of  the  other  Lodge. 
But  in  this  case  both  Lodges  must  be  situ- 
ated in  the  same  State,  and  hold  their  War- 
rants from  the  same  Grand  Lodge ;  for  it 
is  a  settled  point  of  Masonic  law  that  no 


Lodge  can  extend  its  geographical  juris- 
diction beyond  the  territorial  limits  of  its 
own  Grand  Lodge. 

The  personal  jurisdiction  of  a  Lodge  is 
that  penal  jurisdiction  which  it  exercises 
over  its  own  members  wherever  they  may 
be  situated.  No  matter  how  far  a  Mason 
may  remove  from  the  Lodge  of  which  he 
is  a  member,  his  allegiance  to  that  Lodge 
is  indefeasible  so  long  as  he  continuas  a 
member,  and  it  may  exercise  penal  juris- 
diction over  him. 

Jurisdiction  of  a  Supreme 
Council.  The  Masonic  jurisdiction  of 
the  whole  territory  of  the  United  States 
for  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Bite 
was  divided  between  the  Southern  and 
Northern  Supreme  Councils  in  accordance 
with  a  special  concession  made  by  the  for- 
mer body  in  1813,  when  the  latter  was  or- 
ganized. By  this  concession  the  Northern 
Supreme  Council  has  jurisdiction  over  the 
States  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, Massachusetts,  Bhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Indiana ; 
all  the  other  States  and  Territories  are  un- 
der the  jurisdiction  of  the  Southern  Su- 
preme Council. 

Justice.  One  of  the  four  cardinal  vir- 
tues, the  practice  of  which  is  inculcated  in 
the  first  degree.  The  Mason  who  remembers 
how  emphatically  he  has  been  charged  to 
preserve  an  upright  position  in  all  his  deal- 
ings with  mankind,  should  never  fail  to  act 
justly  to  himself,  to  his  brethren,  and  to 
the  world.  This  is  the  corner-stone  on 
which  alone  he  can  expect  "  to  erect  a  su- 
perstructure alike  honorable  to  himself  and 
to  the  Fraternity."  In  iconology,  Justice 
is  usually  represented  as  a  matron  with 
bandaged  eyes,  holding  in  one  hand  a 
sword  and  in  the  other  a  pair  of  scales  at 
equipoise.  But  in  Masonry  the  true  sym- 
bol of  Justice,  as  illustrated  in  the  first  de- 
gree, is  the  feet  firmly  planted  on  the  ground, 
and  the  body  upright. 

Justification.  The  fifth  degree  in 
the  Rite  of  Fessler. 

Just  Lodge.  A  Lodge  is  said  to  be 
Just,  Perfect,  and  Regular  under  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances :  Just,  when  it  is  fur- 
nished with  the  three  Great  Lights ;  Per- 
fect, when  it  contains  the  constitutional 
number  of  members  ;  and  Regular,  when  it 
is  working  under  a  Charter  of  Warrant 
of  Constitution  emanating  from  the  legal 
authority. 


KAABA 


KABBALA 


389 


K. 


Kaaba.  The  name  of  the  holy  tem- 
ple of  Mecca,  which  is  to  the  Mohamme- 
dans what  the  Temple  of  Solomon  was  to 
the  Jews.  It  is  certainly  older,  as  Gibbon 
admits,  than  the  Christian  era,  and  is  sup- 
posed, by  the  tradition  of  the  Arabians,  to 
have  been  erected  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury B.  c,  by  Abraham,  who  was  assisted 
by  his  son  Ishmael.  It  derives  its  name 
of  Kaaba  from  its  cubical  form,  it  being 
fifteen  feet  long,  wide,  and  high.  It  has 
but  one  aperture  for  light,  which  is  a  door 
in  the  east  end.  In  the  north-east  corner  is 
a  black  stone,  religiously  venerated  by  the 
Mussulmans,  called  "  the  black  stone  of  the 
Kaaba,"  around  which  cluster  many  tra- 
ditions. One  of  these  is  that  it  came  down 
from  Paradise,  and  was  originally  as  white 
as  milk,  but  that  the  sins  of  mankind  turned 
it  black ;  another  is,  that  it  is  a  ruby  which 
was  originally  one  of  the  precious  stones 
of  heaven,  but  that  God  deprived  it  of  its 
brilliancy,  which  would  have  illuminated 
the  world  from  one  end  to  the  other.  Syed 
Ahmed,  who,  for  a  Mussulman,  has  written 
a  very  rational  History  of  the  Holy  Mecca, 
(London,  1870,)  says  that  the  black  stone 
is  really  a  piece  of  rock  from  the  moun- 
tains in  the  vicinity  of  Mecca ;  that  it  owes 
its  black  color  to  the  effects  of  fire ;  and  that 
before  the  erection  of  the  temple  of  the 
Kaaba,  it  was  no  other  than  one  of  the 
numerous  altars  erected  for  the  worship  of 
God,  and  was,  together  with  other  stones, 
laid  up  in  one  of  the  corners  of  the  tem- 
ple at  the  time  of  its  construction.  It  is, 
in  fact,  one  of  the  relics  of  the  ancient 
stone  worship ;  yet  it  reminds  us  of  the 
foundation-stone  of  the  Solomonic  Temple, 
to  which  building  the  temple  of  the  Kaaba 
has  other  resemblances.  Thus,  Syed  Ah- 
med, who,  in  opposition  to  most  Christian 
writers,  devoutly  believes  in  its  Abrahamic 
origin,  says  that  (p.  6,)  "  the  temple  of  the 
Kaaba  was  built  by  Abraham  in  conformity 
with  those  religious  practices  according  to 
which,  after  a  lapse  of  time,  the  descend- 
ants of  his  second  son  built  the  Temple  of 
Jerusalem." 

Kabbala.  The  mystical  philosophy 
or  theosophy  of  the  Jews  is  called  the 
Kabbala.  The  word  is  derived  from  the 
Hebrew  S3D,  Kabal,  signifying  to  receive, 
because  it'  is  the  doctrine  received  from 
the  elders.  It  has  sometimes  been  used  in 
an  enlarged  sense,  as  comprehending  all 
the  explanations,  maxims,  and  ceremonies 
which  have  been  traditionally  handed  down 
to  the  Jews ;  but  in  that  more  limited  ac- 
ceptation, in  which  it  is  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  symbolic  science  of  Free- 


masonry, the  Kabbala  may  be  defined  to  be  a 
system  of  philosophy  which  embraces  cer- 
tain mystical  interpretations  of  Scripture, 
and  metaphysical  speculations  concerning 
the  Deity,  man,  and  spiritual  beings.  In 
these  interpretations  and  speculations,  ac- 
cording to  the  Jewish  doctors,  were  envel- 
oped the  most  profound  truths  of  religion, 
which,  to  be  comprehended  by  finite  beings, 
are  obliged  to  be  revealed  through  the  me- 
dium of  symbols  and  allegories.  Buxtorf 
{Lex.  Talm.,)  defines  the  Kabbala  to  be  a 
secret  science,  which  treats  in  a  mystical 
and  enigmatical  manner  of  things  divine, 
angelical,  theological,  celestial,  and  meta- 
physical ;  the  subjects  being  enveloped  in 
striking  symbols  and  secret  modes  of  teach- 
ing. Much  use  is  made  of  it  in  the  high 
degrees,  and  entire  Kites  have  been  con- 
structed on  its  principles.  Hence  it  de- 
mands a  place  in  any  general  work  on  Ma- 
sonry. 

In  what  estimation  the  Kabbala  is  held 
by  Jewish  scholars,  we  may  learn  from  the 
traditions  which  they  teach,  and  which  Dr. 
Ginsburg  has  given  in  his  exhaustive  work, 
[Kabbalah,  p.  84,)  in  the  following  words: 

"  The  Kabbalah  was  first  taught  by  God 
himself  to  a  select  company  of  angels,  who 
formed  a  theosophic  school  in  Paradise. 
After  the  fall,  the  angels  most  graciously 
communicated  this  heavenly  doctrine  to 
the  disobedient  child  of  earth,  to  furnish 
the  protoplasts  with  the  means  of  return- 
ing to  their  pristine  nobility  and  felicity. 
From  Adam  it  passed  over  to  Noah,  .and 
then  to  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God,  who 
emigrated  with  it  to  Egypt,  where  the 
patriarch  allowed  a  portion  of  this  mysteri- 
ous doctrine  to  ooze  out.  It  was  in  this 
way  that  the  Egyptians  obtained  some 
knowledge  of  it,  and  the  other  Eastern  na- 
tions could  introduce  it  into  their  philo- 
sophical systems.  Moses,  who  was  learned  in 
all  the  wisdom  of  Egypt,  was  first  initiated 
into  it  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  but  became 
most  proficient  in  it  during  his  wanderings 
in  the  wilderness,  when  he  not  only  devoted 
to  it  the  leisure  hours  of  the  whole  forty 
years,  but  received  lessons  in  it  from  one  of 
the  angels.  By  the  aid  of  this  mysterious 
science,  the  lawgiver  was  enabled  to  solve 
the  difficulties  which  arose  during  his  man- 
agement of  the  Israelites,  in  spite  of  the 
pilgrimages,  wars,  and  the  frequent  miseries 
of  the  nation.  He  covertly  laid  down  the 
principles  of  this  secret  doctrine  in  the  first 
four  books  of  the  Pentateuch,  but  withheld 
them  from  Deuteronomy.  This  constitutes 
the  former  the  man,  and  the  latter  the 
woman.    Moses  also  initiated  the  seventy 


390 


KABBALA 


KABBALA 


elders  into  the  secrets  of  this  doctrine,  and 
they  again  transmitted  them  from  hand  to 
hand.  Of  all  who  formed  the  unbroken 
line  of  tradition,  David  and  Solomon  were 
first  initiated  into  the  Kabbalah.  No  one, 
however,  dared  to  write  it  down  till  Simon 
ben  Jochai,  who  lived  at  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  the  second  Temple.  Having 
been  condemned  to  death  by  Titus,  Eabbi 
Simon  managed  to  escape  with  his  son,  and 
concealed  himself  in  a  cavern,  where  he  re- 
mained for  twelve  years.  Here  in  this  sub- 
terranean abode,  he  occupied  himself  en- 
tirely with  the  contemplation  of  the  sub- 
lime Kabbalah,  and  was  constantly  visited 
by  the  prophet  Elias,  who  disclosed  to  him 
some  of  its  secrets,  which  were  still  con- 
cealed from  the  theosophical  Rabbi.  Here, 
too,  his  disciples  resorted  to  be  initiated  by 
their  master  into  these  divine  mysteries; 
and  here  Simon  ben  Jochai  expired  with 
this  heavenly  doctrine  in  his  mouth,  whilst 
discoursing  on  it  to  hi3  disciples.  Scarcely 
had  his  spirit  departed,  when  a  dazzling  light 
filled  the  cavern,  so  that  no  one  could  look 
at  the  Rabbi;  whilst  a  burning  fire  ap- 
peared outside,  forming  as  it  were  a  senti- 
nel at  the  entrance  of  the  cave,  and  denying 
admittance  to  the  neighbors.  It  was  not 
till  the  light  inside,  and  the  fire  outside, 
had  disappeared,  that  the  disciples  per- 
ceived that  the  lamp  of  Israel  was  extin- 
guished. As  they  were  preparing  for  his 
obsequies,  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven, 
saying, '  Come  ye  to  the  marriage  of  Simon 
b.  Jochai ;  he  is  entering  into  peace,  and 
shall  rest  in  his  chamber ! '  A  flame  pre- 
ceded the  coffin,  which  seemed  enveloped 
by  and  burning  like  fire.  And  when  the 
remains  were  deposited  in  the  tomb,  another 
voice  was  heard  from  heaven,  saying,  'This 
is  he  who  caused  the  earth  to  quake  and 
the  kingdoms  to  shake ! '  His  son,  R. 
Eliezer,  and  his  secretary,  R.  Abba,  as 
well  as  his  disciples,  then  collated  R.  Simon 
b.  Jochai's  treatises,  and  out  of  these  com- 
posed the  celebrated  work  called  Sohar, 
(*1HD))  i-  e->  Slendour,  which  is  the  grand 
storehouse  of  Kabbalism." 

The  Kabbala  is  divided  into  two  kinds, 
the  Practical  and  the  Theoretical.  The 
Practical  Kabbala  is  occupied  in  instruc- 
tions for  the  construction  of  talismans  and 
amulets,  and  has  no  connection  with  Ma- 
sonic science.  The  Theoretical  Kabbala 
is  again  divided  into  the  Dogmatic  and 
the  Literal.  The  Dogmatic  Kabbala  is  the 
summary  of  the  rabbinical  theosophy  and 
philosophy.  The  Literal  Kabbala  is  the 
science  which  teaches  a  mystical  mode  of 
explaining  sacred  things  by  a  peculiar  use 
of  the  letters  of  words,  and  a  reference  to 
their  value.  Each  of  these  divisions  de- 
mands a  separate  attention. 

I.  The    Dogmatic    Kabbala.      The 


origin  of  the  Kabbala  has  been  placed  by 
some  scholars  at  a  period  posterior  to  the 
advent  of  Christianity,  but  it  is  evident, 
from  the  traces  of  it  which  are  found  in  the 
Book  of  Daniel,  that  it  arose  at  a  much 
earlier  day.  It  has  been  supposed  to  he 
derived  originally  from  the  system  of  Zoro- 
aster, but  whether  its  inventors  were  the 
contemporaries  or  the  successors  of  that 
philosopher  and  reformer  it  is  impossible 
to  say.  The  doctrine  of  emanation  is, 
says  King,  [Gnostics,  p.  10,)  "  the  soul,  the 
essential  element  of  the  Kabbala ;  it  is  like- 
wise the  essential  element  of  Zoroastrism." 
But  as  we  advance  in  the  study  of  each  we 
will  find  important  differences,  showing 
that,  while  the  idea  of  the  Kabbalistic  the- 
osophy was  borrowed  from  the  Zendavesta, 
the  sacred  book  of  the  Persian  sage,  it  was 
not  a  copy,  but  a  development  of  it. 

The  Kabbalistic  teaching  of  emanation 
is  best  understood  by  an  examination  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  Sephiroth. 

The  Supreme  Being,  say  the  Kabbalists, 
is  an  absolute  and  inscrutable  unity,  hav- 
ing nothing  without  him  and  everything 
within  him.  He  is  called  T1D  fX,  EN 
SOPH,  "The  Infinite  One."  In  this  in- 
finitude he  cannot  be  comprehended  by  the 
intellect,  nor  described  in  words  intelligible 
by  human  minds,  so  as  to  make  his  exist- 
ence perceptible.  It  was  necessary,  there- 
fore, that,  to  render  himself  comprehensible, 
the  En  Soph  should  make  himself  active 
and  creative.  But  he  could  not  become  the 
direct  creator ;  because,  being  infinite,  he  is 
without  will,  intention,  thought,  desire,  or 
action,  all  of  which  are  qualities  of  a  finite 
being  only.  The  En  Soph,  therefore,  was 
compelled  to  create  the  world  in  an  indirect 
manner,  by  ten  emanations  from  the  infin- 
ite light  which  he  was  and  in  which  he 
dwelt.  These  ten  emanations  are  the  ten 
Sephiroth,  or  Splendors  of  the  Infinite  One, 
and  the  way  in  which  they  were  produced 
was  thus :  At  first  the  En  Soph  sent  forth 
into  space  one  spiritual  emanation.  This 
first  Sephira  is  called  "in?>  Kether,  "the 
Crown,"  because  it  occupies  the  highest 
position.  This  first  Sephira  contained 
within  it  the  other  nine,  which  sprang  forth 
in  the  following  order :  At  first  a  male,  or 
active  potency,  proceeded  from  it,  and  this, 
the  second  Sephira,  is  called  HOD  IT 
Chocmah  or  "Wisdom."  This  sent  forth 
an  opposite,  female  or  passive  potency, 
named  HYD,  Binah  or  "Intelligence." 
These  three  Sephiroth  constitute  the  first 
triad,  and  out  of  them  proceeded  the  other 
seven.  From  the  junction  of  Wisdom  and 
Intelligence  came  the  fourth  Sephirah, 
called  1DH.  Chesed  or  "Mercy."  This 
was  a  male  potency,  and  from  it  emanated 
the  fifth  Sephira,  named  miDJ}>  Giburah 
or  "Justice."    The  union  of   Mercy  and 


KABBALA 


KABBALA 


391 


Justice  produced  the  sixth  Sephira, 
n^{<£3n,  Tiphereth  or  "Beauty;"  and 
these  three  constitute  the  second  triad. 
From  the  sixth  Sephira  came  forth  the 
seventh  Sephira,  |"7!»  J>  Niizach  or  "  Firm- 
ness." This  was  a  male  potency,  and  pro- 
duced the  female  potency  named  *l^n»  Hod 
or  "  Splendor."  From  these  two  proceeded 
*"11D*,  hod  or  "  Foundation ; "  and  these 
three  constituted  the  third  triad  of  the 
Sephiroth.  Lastly,  from  the  Foundation 
came  the  tenth  Sephira,  called  ni^D, 
Malcuth  or  "  Kingdom,"  which  was  at  the 
foot  of  all,  as  the  Grown  was  at  the  top. 

This  division  of  the  ten  Sephiroth  into 
three  triads  was  arranged  into  a  form 
called  by  the  Kabbalists  the  Kabbalistic 
Tree,  or  the  Tree  of  Life,  as  shown  in  the 
following  diagram : 


In  this  diagram  the  vertical  arrangement 
of  the  Sephiroth  is  called  "  Pillars."  Thus 
the  four  Sephiroth  in  the  centre  are  called 
the  "  Middle  Pillar ; "  the  three  on  the  right, 


the  "  Pillar  of  Mercy ; "  and  the  three  on 
the  left,  the  "  Pillar  of  Justice."  They  al- 
lude to  these  two  qualities  of  God,  of  which 
the  benignity  of  the  one  modifies  the  rigor 
of  the  other,  so  that  the  Divine  Justice  is 
always  tempered  by  the  Divine  Mercy.  C. 
W.  King,  in  his  Gnostics,  (p.  12,)  refers  the 
right-hand  pillar  to  the  Pillar  Jachin,  and 
the  left-hand  pillar  to  the  Pillar  Boaz, 
which  stood  at  the  porch  of  the  Temple; 
and  "  these  two  pillars,"  he  says,  "  figure 
largely  amongst  all  the  secret  societies  of 
modern  times,  and  naturally  so ;  for  these 
illuminati  have  borrowed,  without  under- 
standing it,  the  phraseology  of  the  Kabba- 
lists and  the  Valentinians."  But  an  in- 
spection of  the  arrangement  of  the  Sephi- 
roth will  show,  if  he  is  correct  in  his  gene- 
ral reference,  that  he  has  transposed  the 
pillars.  Firmness  would  more  naturally 
symbolize  Boaz  or  Strength,  as  Splendor 
would  Jachin  or  Establishment. 

These  ten  Sephiroth  are  collectively  de- 
nominated the  archetypal  man,  the  Micro- 
cosm, as  the  Greek  philosophers  called  it, 
and  each  of  them  refers  to  a  particular  part 
of  the  body.  Thus  the  Crown  is  the  head  ; 
Wisdom,  the  brain;  and  Intelligence,  the 
heart,  which  was  deemed  the  seat  of  under- 
standing. These  three  represent  the  intel- 
lectual ;  and  the  first  triad  is  therefore 
called  the  Intellectual  World.  Mercy  is  the 
right  arm,  and  Justice  the  left  arm,  and 
Beauty  is  the  chest.  These  three  represent 
moral  qualities ;  and  hence  the  second  triad 
is  called  the  Moral  World.  Firmness  is  the 
right  leg,  Splendor  the  left  leg,  and  Founda- 
tion the  privates.  These  three  represent 
power  and  stability ;  and  hence  the  third 
triad  is  called  the  Material  World.  Lastly, 
Kingdom  is  the  feet,  the  basis  on  which  all 
stand,  and  represents  the  harmony  of  the 
whole  archetypal  man. 

Again,  each  of  these  Sephiroth  was  rep- 
resented by  a  Divine  name  and  by  an  An- 
gelic name,  which  may  be  thus  tabulated  : 


Sephiroth. 

Crown, 

Wisdom, 

Intelligence, 

Mercy, 

Justice, 

Beauty, 

Firmness, 

Splendor, 

Foundation, 

Kingdom. 


These  ten  Sephiroth  constitute  in  their 
totality  the  Atzilatic  world  or  the  world 
of  emanations,  and  from  it  proceeded  three 
other  worlds,  each  having  also  its  ten  Sephi- 
roth, namely,  the  Briatic  world  or  the  world 
of  creation;   the  Jetziratic  world  or  the 


Divine  A'ames. 

Angelic  Names. 

Eheyeh, 

Chajoth, 

Jah, 

Ophanim, 

Jehovah, 

Arelim, 

El, 

Cashmalim, 

Eloha, 

Seraphim, 

Elohim, 

Shinanim, 

Jehovah  Sabaoth, 

Tarshishim, 

Elohim  Sabaoth, 

Beni  Elohim, 

El  Chai, 

Ishim, 

Adonai. 

Cherubim. 

392 


KABBALA 


KADOSH 


world  of  .formation ;  and  the  Ashiatic 
world  or  the  world  of  action :  each  inhab- 
ited by  a  different  order  of  beings.  But  to 
enter  fully  upon  the  nature  of  these  worlds 
would  carry  us  too  far  into  the  obscure 
mysticism  of  the  Kabbala. 

These  ten  Sephiroth,  represented  in  their 
order  of  ascent  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest,  from  the  Foundation  to  the  Crown, 
forcibly  remind  us  of  the  system  of  Mysti- 
cal Ladders  which  pervaded  all  the  ancient 
as  well  as  the  modern  initiations;  the 
Brahmanical  Ladder  of  the  Indian  myste- 
ries ;  the  Ladder  of  Mithras,  used  in  the 
Persian  mysteries;  the  Scandinavian  Lad- 
der of  the  Gothic  mysteries,  and  in  the  Ma- 
sonic mysteries  the  Ladder  of  Kadosh  ;  and 
lastly,  the  Theological  Ladder  of  the  Sym- 
bolical degrees. 

II.  The  Literal  Kabbala.  This  divi- 
sion of  the  Kabbala,  being,  as  has  already 
been  said,  occupied  in  the  explanation  of 
sacred  words  by  the  value  of  the  letters  of 
which  they  are  composed,  has  been  exten- 
sively used  by  the  inventors  of  the  high 
degrees  in  the  symbolism  of  their  signifi- 
cant words.  It  is  divided  into  three  spe- 
cies :  Gematria,  Notaricon,  and  Temura. 

1.  Gematria.  This  word,  which  is  evi- 
dently a  rabbinical  corruption  of  the 
Greek  geometria,  is  defined  by  Buxtorf  to 
be  "  a  species  of  the  Kabbala  which  col- 
lects the  same  sense  of  different  words  from 
their  equal  numerical  value."  The  He- 
brews, like  other  ancient  nations,  having 
no  figures  in  their  language,  made  use  of 
the  letters  of  their  alphabet  instead  of 
numbers,  each  having  a  numerical  value. 
Gematria  is,  therefore,  a  mode  of  contem- 
plating words  according  to  the  numerical 
value  of  their  letters. 

Any  two  words,  the  letters  of  which  have 
the  same  numerical  value,  are  mutually 
convertible,  and  each  is  supposed  to  con- 
tain the  latent  signification  of  the  other. 
Thus  the  words  in  Genesis  xlix.  10,  "  Shiloh 
shall  come,"  are  supposed  to  contain  a 
prophecy  of  the  Messiah,  because  the  letters 
of  "  Shiloh  shall  come,"  riS'tWO',  and  of 
"  Messiah,"  j"Vt^O>  Doth  have  the  numer- 
ical value  of  358,  according  to  the  above 
table.  By  Gematria,  applied  to  the  Greek 
language,  we  find  the  identity  of  Abraxas 
and  Mithras.  The  letters  of  each  word 
having  in  the  Greek  alphabet  the  equal 
value  of  365.  This  is  by  far  the  most 
common  mode  of  applying  the  literal  Kab- 
bala. 

2.  Notaricon  is  derived  from  the  Latin 
notarius,  a  short-hand  writer  or  writer  in 
cipher.  The  lloman  Notarii  were  accus- 
tomed to  use  single  letters,  to  signify  whole 
words  with  other  methods  of  abbreviation, 
by  marks  called  "  notae."     Hence,  among 


the  Kabbalists,  notaricon  is  a  mode  of  con- 
structing one  word  out  of  the  initials  or 
finals  of  many,  or  a  sentence  out  of  the 
letters  of  a  word,  each  letter  being  used 
as  the  initial  of  another  word.  Thus  of 
the  sentence  in  Deuteronomy  xxx.  12, 
"  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to  heaven?"  in 
Hebrew  HD-DtPH ) ih  rhjr  '0,  the  initial  letters 
of  each  word  are  taken  to  form  the  word 
nS'D,  "  circumcision,"  and  the  finals  to  form 
rnrV  "Jehovah;"  hence  it  is  concluded 
that  Jehovah  hath  shown  circumcision  to 
be  the  way  to  heaven.  Again:  the  six 
letters  of  the  first  word  in  Genesis, 
fVCN^O  "*n  tne  beginning,"  are  made 
use  of  to  form  the  initials  of  six  words 
which  constitute  a  sentence  signifying  that 
"  In  the  beginning  God  saw  that  Israel 
would  accept  the  law,"  rntn  Sjrw  V72iTtP 

Q'nVx  ran  rvjp>ro. 

3.  Temura  is  a  rabbinical  word  which 
signifies  permutation.  Hence  temura  is  a 
Kabbalistic  result  produced  by  a  change 
or  permutation  of  the  letters  of  a  word. 
Sometimes  the  letters  are  transposed  to 
form  another  word,  as  in  the  modern  ana- 
gram; and  sometimes  the  letters  are 
changed  for  others,  according  to  certain 
fixed  rules  of  alphabetical  permutation, 
the  1st  letter  being  placed  for  the  22d,  the 
2d  for  the  21st,  the  3d  for  the  20th,  and  so 
on.  It  is  in  this  way  that  Babel,  ^33,  is 
made  out  of  Sheshach,  "|tPSP,  and  hence  the 
Kabbalists  say  that  when  Jeremiah  used 
the  word  Sheshach  (xxv.  26)  he  referred  to 
Babel. 

Kadiri,  Order  of.  A  secret  society 
existing  in  Arabia,  which  so  much  resem- 
bles Freemasonry  in  its  object  and  forms, 
that  Lieut.  Burton,  who  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining initiation  into  it,  calls  the  members 
"Oriental  Freemasons."  Burton  gives  a 
very  interesting  account  of  the  Order  in  his 
Pilgrimage  to  El  Medinah  and  Mecca. 

Kadosh.  The  name  of  a  very  im- 
portant degree  in  many  of  the  Masonic 
Rites.  The  word  BHp  is  Hebrew,  and  sig- 
nifies holy  or  consecrated,  and  is  thus  in- 
tended to  denote  the  elevated  character  of 
the  degree  and  the  sublimity  of  the  truths 
which  distinguish  it  and  its  possessors  from 
the  other  degrees.  Pluche  says  that  in  the 
East,  a  person  preferred  to  honors  bore  a 
sceptre,  and  sometimes  a  plate  of  gold  on 
the  forehead,  called  a  Kadosh,  to  apprise 
the  people  that  the  bearer  of  this  mark  or 
rod  was  a  public  person,  who  possessed  the 
privilege  of  entering  into  hostile  camps 
without  the  fear  of  losing  his  personal 
liberty. 

The  degree  of  Kadosh,  though  found  in 
many  of  the  Rites  and  in  various  countries, 
seems,  in  all  of  them,  to  have  been  more 
or  less  connected  with  the  Knights  Tern- 


KADOSH 


KELLY 


393 


plars.  In  some  of  the  Rites  it  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  list,  and  was  then  digni- 
fied as  the  "ne plus  ultra"  of  Masonry. 

It  was  sometimes  given  as  a  separate 
order  or  Rite  within  itself,  and  then  it  was 
divided  into  the  three  degrees  of  Illus- 
trious Knight  of  the  Temple,  Knight  of 
the  Black  Eagle,  and  Grand  Elect. 

Oliver  enumerates  six  degrees  of  Kadosh : 
the  Knight  Kadosh  ;  Kadosh  of  the  Chap- 
ter of  Clermont ;  Philosophical  Kadosh  ; 
Kadosh  Prince  of  Death ;  and  Kadosh  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

The  French  rituals  speak  of  seven :  Ka- 
dosh of  the  Hebrews ;  Kadosh  of  the  first 
Christians ;  Kadosh  of  the  Crusades  ;  Ka- 
dosh of  the  Templars ;  Kadosh  of  Crom- 
well or  the  Puritans ;  Kadosh  of  the  Jes- 
uits ;  and  the  True  Kadosh.  But  I  doubt 
the  correctness  of  this  enumeration,  which 
cannot  be  sustained  by  documentary  evi- 
dence. In  all  of  these  Kadoshes  the  doc- 
trine and  the  modes  of  recognition  are 
substantially  the  same,  though  in  most  of 
them  the  ceremonies  of  initiation  differ. 

Ragon  mentions  a  Kadosh  which  is  said 
to  have  been  established  at  Jerusalem  in 
1118 ;  but  here  he  undoubtedly  refers  to  the 
Order  of  Knights  Templars.  He  gives  also 
in  his  Tuileur  General  the  nomenclature  of 
no  less  than  fourteen  Kadosh  degrees. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Kadosh  system  is 
that  the  persecutions  of  the  Knights  Tem- 
plars by  Philip  the  Fair  of  France,  and 
Pope  Clement  v.,  however  cruel  and  san- 
guinary in  its  results,  did  not  extinguish  the 
Order,  but  it  continued  to  exist  under  the 
forms  of  Freemasonry.  That  the  ancient 
Templars  are  the  modern  Kadoshes,  and 
that  the  builder  at  the  Temple  of  Solomon 
is  now  replaced  by  James  de  Molay,  the 
martyred  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars, 
the  assassins  being  represented  by  the  king 
of  France,  the  Pope,  and  Naffodei  the  in- 
former against  the  Order;  or,  it  is  some- 
times said,  by  the  three  informers,  Squin 
de  Florian,  Naffodei,  and  the  Prior  of  Mont- 
faucon. 

As  to  the  history  of  the  Kadosh  degree,  it 
is  said  to  have  been  first  invented  at  Lyons, 
in  France,  in  1743,  where  it  appeared  under 
the  name  of  the  Petit  Elu.  This  degree, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  based  upon  the 
Templar  doctrine  heretofore  referred  to, 
was  afterwards  developed  into  the  Kadosh, 
which  we  find  in  1758  incorporated  as  the 
Grand  Elect  Kadosh  into  the  system  of  the 
Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West, 
which  was  that  year  formed  at  Paris,  whence 
it  descended  to  the  Scottish  Rite  Masons. 

Of  all  the  Kadoshes,  two  only  are  now 

important,  viz. :  the  Philosophic  Kadosh, 

which  has  been    adopted  by   the  Grand 

Orient  of  France,  and  the  Knight  Kadosh, 

2Z 


which  constitutes  the  thirtieth  degree  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite, 
this  latter  being  the  most  generally  diffused 
of  the  Kadoshes. 

Kadosh,  called  also  the  Holy  Man. 
(Kadosch  ou  V Homme  Saint.)  The  tenth  and 
last  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Martinism. 

Kadosh,  Grand,  Elect  Knight. 
The  sixty-fifth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. 

Kadosh,  Knight.  The  thirtieth 
degree  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  See  White 
and  Black  Eagle,  Knight  of  the. 

Kadosh  of  the  Jesuits.  Accord- 
ing to  Thory,  [Act.  Lot.,  i.  320,)  this  degree 
is  said  to  have  been  invented  by  the  Jesuits 
of  the  College  of  Clermont.  The  state- 
ment is  not  well  supported.  De  Bonne- 
ville's Masonic  Chapter  of  Clermont  was 
probably,  either  with  or  without  design, 
confounded  with  the  Jesuitical  College  of 
Clermont.     See  Jesuits. 

Kadosh,  Philosophic.  A  modifi- 
cation of  the  original  Kadosh,  for  which  it 
has  been  substituted  and  adopted  by  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France.  The  military 
character  of  the  Order  is  abandoned,  and 
the  Philosophic  Kadosh  wear  no  swords. 
Their  only  weapon  is  the  Word. 

Kadosh,  Prince.  A  degree  of  the 
collection  of  Pyron. 

Kadosh  Prince  of  Death.  The 
twenty-seventh  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. 

Kamea.  Hebrew,  JPDp,  an  amulet. 
More  particularly  applied  by  the  Kab- 
balists  to  magic  squares  inscribed  on  paper 
or  parchment,  and  tied  around  the  neck  as 
a  safeguard  against  evil.  See  Magic  Squares. 
Kasideans.  A  Latinized  spelling  of 
Chasidim,  which  see. 

Katharsis.  Greek,  _  mdapciq.  The 
ceremony  of  purification  in  the  Ancient 
Mysteries.  Muller  says  {Dorians,  i.  384,) 
that  "one  of  the  important  parts  of  the 
Pythagorean  worship  was  the pcean,  which 
was  sung  to  the  lyre  in  spring-time  by  a 
person  sitting  in  the  midst  of  a  circle  of 
listeners:  this  was  called  the  katharsis  or 
purification." 

Keeper  of  the  Seals.  An  ofiicer 
called  Garde  des  Sceaux  in  Lodges  of  the 
French  Rite.  It  is  also  the  title  of  an 
officer  in  Consistories  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 
The  title  sufficiently  indicates  the  functions 
of  the  office. 

Kelly,  Christopher.  A  Masonic 
plagiarist,  who  stole  bodily  the  whole  of 
the  typical  part  of  the  celebrated  work  of 
Samuel  Lee  entitled  Orbis  Miraculum,  or 
The  Temple  of  Solomon  pourtrayed  by  Scrip- 
ture Light,  and  published  it  as  his  own  under 
the  title  of  Solomon's  Temple  spiritualized,- 
setting  forth  the  Divine  Mysteries  of  the  Tern- 


394 


KEY 


KEY-STOKE 


pie,  with  an  account  of  its  Destruction.  He 
prefaced  the  book  with  An  Address  to  all 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  The  first  edi- 
tion was  published  at  Dublin  in  1803,  and 
on  his  removal  to  America  he  published  a 
second  in  1820,  at  Philadelphia.  Kelly 
was,  unfortunately,  a  Freemason,  but  not  an 
honest  one. 

Key.  "The  key,"  says  Dr.  Oliver, 
(Landm.,  i.  180,)  "is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant symbols  of  Freemasonry.  It  bears 
the  appearance  of  a  common  metal  instru- 
ment, confined  to  the  performance  of  one 
simple  act.  But  the  well-instructed  brother 
beholds  in  it  the  symbol  which  teaches  him 
to  keep  a  tongue  of  good  report,  and  to  ab- 
stain from  the  debasing  vices  of  slander 
and  defamation."  Among  the  ancients  the 
key  was  a  symbol  of  silence  and  circum- 
spection ;  and  thus  Sophocles  alludes  to  it 
in  the  OEdipus  Goloneus,  (1051)  where  he 
makes  the  chorus  speak  of  "the  golden 
key  which  had  come  upon  the  tongue  of 
the  ministering  hierophant  in  the  mysteries 
of  Eleusis  —  uv  nal  XRva^a  kXtj-  iwi  yluoap 
ftiflane  irpoa-rrd'kuv  evuo2.Tudav.  '  Callimachus 
says  that  the  priestess  of  Ceres  bore  a  key 
as  the  ensign  of  her  mystic  office.  The  key 
was  in  the  mysteries  of  Isis  a  hieroglyphic 
of  the  opening  or  disclosing  of  the  heart 
and  conscience,  in  the  kingdom  of  death, 
for  trial  and  judgment. 

In  the  old  rituals  of  Masonry  the  key 
was  an  important  symbol,  and  Dr.  Oliver 
regrets  that  it  has  been  abandoned  in  the 
modern  system.  In  the  rituals  of  the  first 
degree,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  allusion 
is  made  to  a  key  by  whose  help  the  secrets 
of  Masonry  are  to  be  obtained,  which  key 
"  is  said  to  hang  and  not  to  lie,  because  it 
is  always  to  hang  in  a  brother's  defence 
and  not  to  lie  to  his  prejudice."  It  was  said, 
too,  to  hang  "  by  the  thread  of  life  at  the 
entrance,"  and  was  closely  connected  with 
the  heart,  because  the  tongue  "ought  to 
utter  nothing  but  what  the  heart  dictates." 
And,  finally,  this  key  is  described  as  being 
"  composed  of  no  metal,  but  a  tongue  of  good 
report."  In  the  ritual  of  the  Master's  de- 
gree in  the  Adonhiramite  Rite,  we  find  this 
catechism : 

"  Q.  What  do  you  conceal  ? 

"  A.  All  the  secrets  which  have  been  in- 
trusted to  me. 

"  Q.  Where  do  you  conceal  them  ? 

"  A.  In  the  heart. 

"  Q.  Have  you  a  key  to  gain  entrance 
there? 

"A.  Yes,  Right  Worshipful. 

"  Q.  Where  do  you  keep  it  ? 

"  A.  In  a  box  of  coral  which  opens  and 
shuts  only  with  ivory  keys. 

"  Q.  Of  what  metal  is  it  composed  ? 

"  A.  Of  none.    It  is  a  tongue  obedient 


to  reason,  which  knows  only  how  to  speak 
well  of  those  of  whom  it  speaks  in  their 
absence  as  in  their  presence." 

All  of  this  shows  that  the  key  as  a  sym- 
bol was  formerly  equivalent  to  the  modern 
symbol  of  the  "  instructive  tongue,"  which, 
however,  with  almost  the  same  interpreta- 
tion, has  now  been  transformed  to  the  sec- 
ond or  Fellow  Craft's  degree.  The  key, 
however,  is  still  preserved  as  a  symbol  of 
secrecy  in  the  Royal  Arch  degree;  and  it  is 
also  presented  to  us  in  the  same  sense  in 
the  ivory  key  of  the  Secret  Master,  or 
fourth  degree  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  In 
many  of  the  German  Lodges  an  ivory  key 
is  made  a  part  of  the  Masonic  clothing  of 
each  brother,  to  remind  him  that  he  should 
lock  up  or  conceal  the  secrets  of  Freema- 
sonry in  his  heart. 

But  among  the  ancients  the  key  was  also 
a  symbol  of  power;  and  thus  among  the 
Greeks  the  title  of  uleiSovxos,  or  key-bearer, 
was  bestowed  upon  one  holding  high  office ; 
and  with  the  Romans,  the  keys  are  given 
to  the  bride  on  the  day  of  marriage,  as  a 
token  that  the  authority  of  the  house  was 
bestowed  upon  her ;  and  if  afterwards  di- 
vorced, they  were  taken  from  her,  as  a 
symbol  of  the  deprivation  of  her  office. 
Among  the  Hebrews  the  key  was  used  in 
the  same  sense.  "As  the  robe  and  the 
baldric,"  says  Lowth,  (Is.,  p.  2,  s.  4,)  "  were 
the  ensigns  of  power  and  authority,  so  like- 
wise was  the  key  the  mark  of  office,  either 
sacred  or  civil."  Thus  in  Isaiah  it  is  said : 
"  The  key  of  the  house  of  David  will  I  lay 
upon  his  shoulders ;  so  he  shall  open,  and 
none  shall  shut;  and  he  shall  shut,  and 
none  shall  open,"  (xxii.  22.)  Our  Saviour 
expressed  a  similar  idea  when  he  said  to  St. 
Peter,  "  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  It  is  in  reference 
to  thin.  interpretation  of  the  symbol,  and 
not  that  of  secrecy,  that  the  key  has  been 
adopted  as  the  official  jewel  of  the  treas- 
urer of  a  Lodge,  because  he  has  the  purse, 
the  source  of  power,  under  his  command. 

Key  of  Masonry.  See  Knight  of 
the  Sun. 

Key-Stone.  The  stone  placed  in  the 
centre  of  an  arch  which  preserves  the 
others  in  their  places,  and  secures  firmness 
and  stability  to  the  arch.  As  it  was  for- 
merly the  custom  of  Operative  Masons  to 
Elace  a  peculiar  mark  on  each  stone  of  a 
uilding  to  designate  the  workman  by 
whom  it  had  been  adjusted,  so  the  Key- 
Stone  was  most  likely  to  receive  the  most 
prominent  mark,  that  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  structure.  Such  is  related  to 
have  occurred  to  that  Key -Stone  which 
plays  so  important  a  part  in  the  legend  of 
the  Royal  Arch  degree. 

The  objection  has  sometimes  been  made, 


KILWINNING 


KILWINNING 


395 


that  the  arch  was  unknown  in  the  time  of 
Solomon.  But  this  objection  has  been  com- 
pletely laid  at  rest  by  the  researches  of  an- 
tiquaries and  travellers  within  a  few  years 
past.  Wilkinson  discovered  arches  with 
regular  key-stones  in  the  doorways  of  the 
tombs  of  Thebes,  the  construction  of  which 
he  traced  to  the  year  1540  B.  a,  or  460 
years  before  the  building  of  the  Temple  of 
Solomon.  And  Dr.  Clark  asserts  that  the 
Cycoplean  gallery  of  Tyrius  exhibits  lancet- 
shaped  arches  almost  as  old  as  the  time  of 
Abraham.  In  fact,  at  the  Solomonic  era, 
the  construction  of  the  arch  must  have 
been  known  to  the  Dionysian  artificers,  of 
whom,  it  is  the  received  theory,  many  were 
present  at  the  building  of  the  Temple. 

Kilwinning.  As  the  city  of  York 
claims  to  be  the  birthplace  of  Masonry  in 
England,  the  obscure  little  village  of  Kil- 
winning is  entitled  to  the  same  honor  with 
respect  to  the  origin  of  the  Order  in  the 
sister  kingdom  of  Scotland.  The  claim  to 
the  honor,  however,  in  each  case,  depends 
on  the  bare  authority  of  a  legend,  the  au- 
thenticity of  which  is  now  doubted  by  many 
Masonic  historians.  A  place,  which,  in  it- 
self small  and  wholly  undistinguishable 
in  the  political,  the  literary,  or  the  com- 
mercial annals  of  its  country,  has  become 
of  great  importance  in  the  estimation  of 
the  Masonic  antiquary  from  its  intimate 
connection  with  the  history  of  the  Institu- 
tion. 

The  abbey  of  Kilwinning  is  situated  in 
the  bailiwick  of  Cunningham,  about  three 
miles  north  of  the  royal  burgh  of  Irving, 
near  the  Irish  Sea.  The  abbey  was  founded 
in  the  year  1140,  by  Hugh  Morville,  Con- 
stable of  Scotland,  and  dedicated  to  St. 
Winning,  being  intended  for  a  company  of 
monks  of  the  Tyronesian  Order,  who  had 
been  brought  from  Kelso.  The  edifice 
must  have  been  constructed  at  great  ex- 
pense, and  with  much  magnificence,  since 
it  is  said  to  have  occupied  several  acres  of 
ground  in  its  whole  extent. 

Lawrie  [Hist,  of  Freemasonry)  says  that, 
by  authentic  documents  as  well  as  by  other 
collateral  arguments  which  amount  almost 
to  a  demonstration,  the  existence  of  the 
Kilwinning  Lodge  has  been  traced  back  as 
far  as  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  But 
we  know  that  the  body  of  architects  who 
perambulated  the  continent  of  Europe 
under  the  name  of  "Travelling  Free- 
masons," flourished  at  a  much  earlier 
period ;  and  we  learn,  also,  from  Lawrie 
himself,  that  several  of  these  Masons 
travelled  into  Scotland,  about  the  beginning 
of  the  twelfth  century.  Hence,  we  have 
every  reason  to  suppose  that  these  men 
were  the  architects  who  constructed  the 
abbey  at  Kilwinning,  and  who  first  estab- 


lished the  institution  of  Freemasonry  in 
Scotland.  If  such  be  the  fact,  we  must 
place  the  origin  of  the  first  Lodge  in  that 
kingdom  at  an  earlier  date,  by  three  cen- 
turies, than  that  claimed  for  it  by  Lawrie, 
which  would  bring  it  much  nearer,  in  point 
of  time,  to  the  great  Masonic  Assembly, 
which  is  traditionally  said  to  have  been 
convened  in  the  year  926,  by  Prince  Edwin, 
at  York,  in  England. 

There  is  some  collateral  evidence  to  sus- 
tain the  probability  of  this  early  commence- 
ment of  Masonry  in  Scotland.  It  is  very 
generally  admitted  that  the  Royal  Order  of 
Herodem  was  founded  by  King  Kobert 
Bruce,  at  Kilwinning.  Thory,  in  the  Acta 
Latamorum,  gives  the  following  chronicle : 
"  Kobert  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland,  under 
the  title  of  Kobert  I.,  created  the  Order  of 
St.  Andrew  of  Chardon,  after  the  battle  of 
Bannockburn,  which  was  fought  on  the  24th 
of  June,  1314.  To  this  Order  was  after- 
wards united  that  of  Herodem,  for  the  sake 
of  the  Scotch  Masons,  who  formed  a  part 
of  the  thirty  thousand  troops  with  whom 
he  had  fought  an  army  of  one  hundred 
thousand  Englishmen.  King  Robert  re- 
served the  title  of  Grand  Master  to  himself 
and  his  successors  forever,  and  founded  the 
Koyal  Grand  Lodge  of  Herodem  at  Kil- 
winning." 

Dr.  Oliver  says  that  "the  Royal  Order 
of  Herodem  had  formerly  its  chief  seat  at 
Kilwinning;  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
think  that  it  and  St.  John's  Masonry  were 
then  governed  by  the  same  Grand  Lodge." 

In  1820,  there  was  published  at  Paris  a 
record  which  states  that  in  1286,  James, 
Lord  Stewart,  received  the  Earls  of  Glou- 
cester and  Ulster  into  his  Lodge  at  Kil- 
winning ;  which  goes  to  prove  that  a  Lodge 
was  then  existing  and  in  active  operation 
at  that  place. 

The  modern  iconoclasts,  however,  who 
are  levelling  these  old  legends  with  un- 
sparing hands,  have  here  been  at  work. 
Brother  D.  Murray  Lyon  has  attacked  the 
Bruce  legend,  and  in  the  London  Free- 
mason's Magazine,  (1868,  p.  141,)  says: 
"  Seeing  that  the  fraternity  of  Kilwinning 
never  at  any  period  practised  or  acknowl- 
edged other  than  Craft  degrees,  and  have 
not  preserved  even  a  shadow  of  a  tradition 
that  can  in  the  remotest  degree  be  held  to 
identify  Robert  Bruce  with  the  holding  of 
Masonic  Courts,  or  the  Institution  of  a 
Secret  Order  at  Kilwinning,  the  fraternity 
of  the  '  Herodim '  must  be  attributed  to 
another  than  the  hero  of  Bannockburn,  and 
a  birthplace  must  be  sought  for  it  in  a  soil 
still  more  favorable  to  the  growth  of  the 
high  grades  than  Scotland  has  hitherto 
proved."  He  intimates  that  the  legend 
was  the  invention  of  the  Chevalier  Ramsay, 


396 


KILWINNING 


KILWINNING 


whose  birthplace  was  in  the  vicinity  of 
Kilwinning. 

I  confess  that  I  look  upon  the  legend  and 
the  documents  that  contain  it  with  some 
favor,  as  at  least  furnishing  the  evidence 
that  there  has  been  among  the  Fraternity  a 
general  belief  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Kil- 
winning Lodge.  Those,  however,  whose 
faith  is  of  a  more  hesitating  character,  will 
find  the  most  satisfactory  testimonies  of  the 
existence  of  that  Lodge  in  the  beginning 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  At  that  period, 
when  James  II.  was  on  the  throne,  the 
Barons  of  Roslin,  as  hereditary  Patrons  of 
Scotch  Masonry,  held  their  annual  meet- 
ings at  Kilwinning,  and  the  Lodge  at  that 
place  granted  Warrants  of  Constitution  for 
the  formation  of  subordinate  Lodges  in 
other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  The  Lodges 
thus  formed,  in  token  of  their  respect  for, 
and  submission  to,  the  mother  Lodge 
whence  they  derived  their  existence,  affixed 
the  word  Kilwinning  to  their  own  dis- 
tinctive name;  many  instances  of  which 
are  still  to  be  found  on  the  register  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  —  such  as  Cannon- 
gate  Kilwinning,  Greenock  Kilwinning, 
Cumberland  Kilwinning,  etc. 

But,  in  process  of  time,  this  Grand  Lodge 
at  Kilwinning  ceased  to  retain  its  suprem- 
acy, and  finally  its  very  existence.  As 
in  the  case  of  the  sister  kingdom,  where 
the  Grand  Lodge  was  removed  from  York, 
the  birthplace  of  English  Masonry,  to 
London,  so  in  Scotland,  the  supreme  seat 
of  the  Order  was  at  length  transferred  from 
Kilwinning  to  the  metropolis ;  and  hence, 
in  the  doubtful  document  entitled  the 
"  Charter  of  Cologne,"  which  purports  to 
have  been  written  in  1542,  we  find,  in  a 
list  of  nineteen  Grand  Lodges  in  Europe, 
that  that  of  Scotland  is  mentioned  as  sit- 
ting at  Edinburgh,  under  the  Grand  Mas- 
tership of  John  Bruce.  In  1736,  when  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  was  organized, 
the  Kilwinning  Lodge  was  one  of  its  con- 
stituent bodies,  and  continued  in  its  obedi- 
ence until  1743.  In  that  year  petitioned 
to  be  recognized  as  the  oldest  Lodge  in  Scot- 
land; but  as  the  records  of  the  original 
Lodge  had  been  lost,  the  present  Lodge 
could  not  prove,  says  Lawrie,  that  it  was 
the  identical  Lodge  which  had  first  prac- 
tised Freemasonry  in  Scotland.  The  peti- 
tion was  therefore  rejected,  and,  in  con- 
sequence, the  Kilwinning  Lodge  seceded 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  and  established  it- 
self as  an  independent  body.  It  organized 
Lodges  in  Scotland ;  and  several  instances 
are  on  record  of  its  issuing  charters  as 
Mother  Kilwinning  Lodge  to  Lodges  in 
foreign  countries.  Thus,  it  granted  one  to 
a  Lodge  in  Virginia  in  1758,  and  another 
in  1779  to  some  brethren  in  Ireland  calling 


themselves  the  Lodge  of  High  Knights 
Templars.  But  in  1807  the  Mother  Lodge 
of  Kilwinning  renounced  all  right  of  grant- 
ing charters,  and  came  once  more  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  bringing  with 
her  all  her  daughter  Lodges. 

Here  terminates  the  connection  of  Kil- 
winning as  a  place  of  any  special  import- 
ance with  the  Masonry  of  Scotland.  As 
for  the  abbey,  the  stupendous  fabric  which 
was  executed  by  the  Freemasons  who  first 
migrated  into  Scotland,  its  history,  like  that 
of  the  Lodge  which  they  founded,  is  one 
of  decline  and  decay.  In  1560,  it  was  in  a 
great  measure  demolished  by  Alexander, 
Earl  of  Glencairne,  in  obedience  to  an 
Order  from  the  States  of  Scotland,  in  the 
exercise  of  their  usurped  authority  during 
the  imprisonment  of  Mary  Stuart.  A  few 
years  afterwards,  a  part  of  the  abbey  chapel 
was  repaired  and  converted  into  the  parish 
church,  and  was  used  as  such  until  about 
the  year  1775,  when,  in  consequence  of  its 
ruinous  and  dangerous  state,  it  was  pulled 
down  and  an  elegant  church  erected  in  the 
modern  style.  In  1789,  so  much  of  the 
ancient  abbey  remained  as  to  enable  Grose, 
the  antiquary,  to  take  a  sketch  of  the  ruins; 
but  now  not  a  vestige  of  the  building  is  to 
be  found,  nor  can  its  exact  site  be  ascer- 
tained with  any  precision. 

Kilwinning  Manuscript.  Also 
called  the  Edinburgh  Kilwinning.  This 
manuscript  derives  its  name  from  its  being 
written  in  a  small  quarto  book,  belonging 
to  the  celebrated  "Mother  Kilwinning 
Lodge"  of  Scotland.  For  its  publication, 
the  Masonic  Fraternity  is  indebted  to  Bro. 
William  James  Hughan,  who  has  inserted 
it  in  his  Unpublished  Records  of  the  Craft, 
from  a  copy  made  for  him  from  the  original 
by  Bro.  D.  Murray  Lyon,  of  Ayr,  Scotland. 
Bro.  Lyon,  "whilst  glancing  at  the  min- 
utes of  the  Lodge  of  Edinburgh  from  Decem- 
ber 27, 1675,  till  March  12, 1678,  was  struck 
with  the  similarity  which  the  handwriting 
bore  to  that  in  which  the  Kilwinning  copy 
of  the  Narrative  of  the  Founding  of  the  Craft 
is  written,  and  upon  closer  examination  he 
was  convinced  that  in  both  cases  the  calli- 
graphy is  the  same."  I  agree  with  him  in 
believing  that  this  proves  the  date  as  well 
as  the  source  of  the  manuscript,  which, 
says  Bro.  Hughan,  "  was  probably  written 
earlier  than  A.  D.  1670.  The  Anglican 
phraseology,  and  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
charges  requires  that  Masons  should  be 
"liedgemen  to  the  King  of  England,"  con- 
clusively show  thatthe  manuscript  was  writ- 
ten in  England  and  introduced  into  Scot- 
land. It  is  so  much  like  the  text  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  MS.,  published  by  Bro.  Hughan  in 
his  Old  Charges  of  British  Freemasons,  that, 
to  use  the  language  of  Bro.  Woodford,  "  it 


KILWINNING 


KNIGGE 


397 


would  pass  as  an  indifferent  copy  of  that 
document." 
Kilwinning,  Mother  Lodge.  For 

an  account  of  this  body,  which  was  for 
some  time  the  rival  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland,  see  Kilwinning. 

Kilwinning  System.  The  Masonry 
practised  in  Scotland,  so  called  because  it 
is  supposed  to  have  been  instituted  at  the 
Abbey  of  Kilwinning.  Oliver  uses  the 
term  in  his  Mirror  for  the  Johannite  Masons, 
(p.  120.)    See  Saint  John's  Masonry, 

King.  The  second  officer  in  a  Royal 
Arch  Chapter.  He  is  the  representative  of 
Zerubbabel,  prince  or  governor  of  Judah. 
When  the  Chapter  meets  as  a  Lodge  of 
Mark,  Past,  or  Most  Excellent  Masters,  the 
King  acts  as  Senior  Warden. 

After  the  rebuilding  of  the  second  Tem- 
ple, the  government  of  the  Jews  was  ad- 
ministered by  the  high  priests  as  the  vice- 
gerents of  the  kings  of  Persia,  to  whom 
they  paid  tribute.  This  is  the  reason  that 
the  High  Priest  is  the  presiding  officer  in  a 
Chapter,  and  the  King  only  a  subordinate. 
But  in  the  Chapters  of  England  and  Ire- 
land, the  King  is  made  the  presiding  officer. 
The  jewel  of  the  King  is  a  level  surmounted 
by  a  crown  suspended  within  a  triangle. 

Kiss,  Fraternal.  The  Germans  call 
it  der  bruder  kuss;  the  French,  le  baiser  fra- 
ternal. It  is  the  kiss  given  in  the  French 
and  German  Lodges  by  each  brother  to  his 
right  and  left  hand  neighbor  when  the 
labors  of  the  Lodge  are  closed.  It  is  not 
adopted  in  the  English  or  American  sys- 
tems of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  although 
practised  in  some  of  the  high  degrees. 

Kiss  of  Peace.  In  the  reception 
of  an  Ancient  Knight  Templar,  it  was  the 
practice  for  the  one  who  received  him  to 
greet  him  with  a  kiss  upon  the  mouth. 
This,  which  was  called  the  osculum  pads  or 
kiss  of  peace,  was  borrowed  by  the  Tem- 
plars from  the  religious  orders,  in  all  of 
which  it  was  observed.  It  is  not  practised 
in  the  receptions  of  Masonic  Templarism. 

K  loss.  Oeorg  Burkh.  Franz.  A 
celebrated  German  Mason  and  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  who  was  born  in  1788.  Dr. 
Kloss  was  initiated  into  Masonry  early  in 
life.  He  reorganized  the  Eclectic  Grand 
Lodge,  of  which  he  was  several  times  Grand 
Master.  He  resided  at  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  where  he  enjoyed  a  high  reputation 
as  a  physician.  He  was  the  possessor  of 
an  extensive  Masonic  library,  and  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  antiquities  and 
true  character  of  the  Masonic  institution, 
insomuch  that  he  was  styled  the  "  teacher 
of  the  German  Freemasons."  Kloss's  the- 
ory was  that  the  present  Order  of  Freema- 
sons found  its  origin  in  the  stone-cutters 
and  building  corporations  of  the  Middle 


Ages.  He  delivered,  in  the  course  of  his 
life,  many  valuable  historical  discourses 
before  the  Lodge  Zur  Einigheit,  several 
of  which  were  printed  and  published.  An- 
nals of  the  Lodge  Zur  Einigheit,  Frankfort, 
1840 ;  Freemasonry  in  its  true  meaning ,  from 
the  ancient  and  genuine  documents  of  the 
Stonemasons,  Leipsic,  1846 ;  A  History  of 
Freemasonry  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land, Leipsic,  1848;  A  History  of  the  Free- 
masons of  France,  from  genuine  documents, 
Darmstadt,  1852;  and  a  Bibliography  of 
Freemasonry,  Frankfort,  1844.  This  last  is  a 
most  valuable  contribution  to  Masonic  lit- 
erature. It  contains  a  list  of  more  than 
six  thousand  Masonic  works  in  all  lan- 
guages, with  critical  remarks  on  many  of 
them.  Dr.  Kloss  died  at  Frankfort,  Febru- 
ary 10, 1854.  Bro.  Meisinger,  who  delivered 
his  funeral  eulogy,  says  of  him :  "  He  had 
a  rare  amount  of  learning,  and  was  a  dis- 
tinguished linguist;  his  reputation  as  a  phy- 
sician was  deservedly  great ;  and  he  added 
to  these  a  friendly,  tender,  amiable  dispo- 
sition, with  great  simplicity  and  upright- 
ness of  character." 

Kneeling.  Bending  the  knees  has,  in 
all  ages  of  the  world,  been  considered  as  an 
act  of  reverence  and  humility,  and  hence 
Pliny,  the  Roman  naturalist,  observes,  that 
"  a  certain  degree  of  religious  reverence  is 
attributed  to  the  knees  of  man."  Solomon 
placed  himself  in  this  position  when  he 
prayed  at  the  consecration  of  the  Temple ; 
and  Masons  use  the  same  posture  in  some 
portions  of  their  ceremonies,  as  a  token  of 
solemn  reverence.  In  the  act  of  prayer, 
Masons  in  the  lower  degrees  adopt  the 
standing  posture,  which  was  the  usage  of 
the  primitive  Church,  where  it  was  sym- 
bolic of  the  resurrection;  but  Masons  in 
the  higher  degrees  generally  kneel  on  one 
knee. 

Knee  to  Knee.  When,  in  his 
devotions  to  the  G.  A.  O.  T.  U.,  he  seeks 
forgiveness  for  the  past  and  strength  for 
the  future,  the  Mason  is  taught  that  he 
should,  in  these  offices  of  devotion,  join  his 
brother's  name  with  his  own.  The  pre- 
rogative that  Job,  in  his  blindness,  thought 
was  denied  to  him,  when  he  exclaimed, 
"  Oh  that  one  might  plead  for  a  man  with 
God,  as  a  man  pleadeth  for  his  neighbor  I " 
is  here  not  only  taught  as  a  right,  but  in- 
culcated as  a  duty ;  and  the  knee  is  directed 
to  be  bent  in  intercession,  not  for  ourselves 
alone,  but  for  the  whole  household  of  our 
brethren. 

Knigge,  Adolph  Franz  Friede- 
ricn  Iaidwig,  Baron  Von.  He  was 
at  one  time  among  the  most  distinguished 
Masons  of  Germany ;  for  while  Weishaupt 
was  the  ostensible  inventor  and  leader  of 
the  system  of  Bavarian  Illuminism,  it  was 


398 


KNIGGE 


KNIGHTHOOD 


indebted  for  its  real  form  and  organiza- 
tion to  the  inventive  genius  of  Knigge. 
He  was  born  at  Brendenbeck,  near  Hano- 
ver, October  16,  1752.  He  was  initiated, 
January  20,  1772,  in  a  Lodge  of  Strict  Ob- 
servance at  Cassel,  but  does  not  appear  at 
first  to  have  been  much  impressed  with 
the  Institution,  for,  in  a  letter  to  Prince 
Charles  of  Hesse,  he  calls  its  ceremonies 
"absurd,  juggling  tricks."  Subsequently 
his  views  became  changed,  at  least  for  a 
time.  When,  in  1780,  the  Marquis  de  Cos- 
tan  zo  was  despatched  by  Weishaupt  to 
Northern  Germany  to  propagate  the  Order 
of  the  Illuminati,  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Knigge,  and  succeeded  in  gaining 
him  as  a  disciple.  Knigge  afterwards  en- 
tered into  a  correspondence  with  Weis- 
haupt, in  consequence  of  which  his  enthu- 
siasm was  greatly  increased.  After  some 
time,  in  reply  to  the  urgent  entreaties  of 
Knigge  for  more  light,  Weishaupt  confessed 
that  the  Order  was  as  yet  in  an  unfinished 
state,  and  actually  existed  only  in  his  own 
brain  ;  the  lower  classes  alone  having  been 
organized.  Recognizing  Knigge's  abilities, 
he  invited  him  to  Bavaria,  and  promised  to 
surrender  to  him  all  the  manuscript  mate- 
rials in  his  possession,  that  Knigge  might 
out  of  them,  assisted  by  his  own  invention, 
construct  the  high  degrees  of  the  Rite. 

Knigge  accordingly  repaired  to  Bavaria 
in  1781,  and  when  he  met  Weishaupt,  the 
latter  consented  that  Knigge  should  elabo- 
rate the  whole  system  up  to  the  highest 
mysteries. 

This  task  Knigge  accomplished,  and  en- 
tered into  correspondence  with  the  Lodges, 
exerting  all  his  talents,  which  were  of  no 
mean  order,  for  the  advancement  of  the  Rite. 
He  brought  to  its  aid  the  invaluable  labors 
of  Bode,  whom  he  prevailed  upon  to  receive 
the  degrees. 

After  Knigge  had  fully  elaborated  the 
system,  and  secured  for  it  the  approval  of  the 
Areopagites,  he  introduced  it  into  his  dis- 
trict, and  began  to  labor  with  every  prospect 
of  success.  But  Weishaupt  now  interfered ; 
and,  notwithstanding  his  compact  with 
Knigge,  he  made  many  alterations  and  ad- 
ditions, which  he  imperiously  ordered  the 
Provincial  Directors  to  insert  in  the  ritual. 
Knigge,  becoming  disgusted  with  this  pro- 
ceeding, withdrew  from  the  Order  and  soon 
afterwards  entirely  from  Freemasonry,  de- 
voting the  rest  of  his  life  to  general  litera- 
ture.    He  died  at  Bremen,  May  6,  1796. 

Knigge  was  a  man  of  considerable  talents, 
and  the  author  of  many  books,  both  Ma- 
sonic and  non-Masonic.  Of  these  the 
following  are  the  most  important.  A  work 
published  anonymously  in  1781,  entitled 
Ueber  Jesuiten,  Freimaureren  und  deutsche 
Rosenkreuzer,  i.  e.,  "  On  the  Jesuits,  Free- 


masons and  Rosicrucians ; "  Versuch  iiber  die 
Freimaurerei,  i.  e., "  Essay  on  Freemasonry," 
in  1784;  Beytrag  zur  neuesten  Geschichte 
des  Freimaurerordens,  i.  e.,  "  Contribution 
towards  the  latest  History  of  the  Order  of 
Freemasons,"  in  1786 ;  and,  after  he  had 
retired  from  the  Illuminati,  a  work  en- 
titled Philo's  endliche  Erklarung,  or  "  Phi- 
lo's  final  Declaration,"  1788,  which  pro- 
fessed to  be  his  answer  to  the  numerous 
inquiries  made  of  him  in  reference  to  his 
connection  with  the  Order. 

Among  his  most  popular  non-Masonic 
works  was  a  treatise  on  Social  Philosophy, 
with  the  title  of  Ueber  den  Umgang  mit 
Memchen,  or,  "On  Conversation  with 
Men."  This  work,  which  was  written 
towards  the  close  of  his  life,  was  very  fa- 
vorably received  throughout  Germany,  and 
translated  into  many  languages.  Although 
abounding  in  many  admirable  remarks  on 
the  various  relations  and  duties  of  life,  to 
the  Mason  it  will  be  particularly  interest- 
ing as  furnishing  a  proof  of  the  instability 
of  the  author's  opinions,  for,  with  all  his 
abilities,  Knigge  evidently  wanted  a  well- 
balanced  judgment.  Commencing  life  with 
an  enthusiastic  admiration  for  Freema- 
sonry, in  a  few  years  he  became  disgusted 
with  it ;  no  long  time  elapsed  before  he  was 
found  one  of  its  most  zealous  apostles ;  and 
again  retiring  from  the  Order,  he  spent  his 
last  days  in  writing  against  it.  In  his  Con- 
versation with  Men,  is  a  long  chapter  on 
Secret  Societies,  in  which  he  is  scarcely 
less  denunciatory  of  them  than  Barruel  or 
Robison. 

Knighthood.  The  Saxon  word  cnecht, 
from  which  we  get  the  English  knight,  sig- 
nified at  first  a  youth,  and  then  a  servant, 
or  one  who  did  domestic  service,  or  a  sol- 
dier who  did  military  service,  which  might 
either  be  on  foot  or  on  horseback ;  but  the 
French  word  chevalier  and  the  German  ritter 
both  refer  to  his  equestrian  character.  Al- 
though Tacitus  says  that  the  German  kings 
and  chiefs  were  attended  in  war  and  peace 
by  a  select  body  of  faithful  servants,  and 
although  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  and  thanes 
had  their  military  attendants,  who  served 
them  with  a  personal  fealty,  the  knight,  in 
the  modern  acceptation  of  the  word,  did 
not  appear  until  the  establishment  in 
France  of  the  order  of  chivalry.  Thence 
knighthood  rapidly  passed  into  the  other 
countries  of  Christendom ;  for  it  always  was 
a  Christian  institution. 

The  stages  through  which  a  candidate 
passed  until  his  full  investiture  with  the 
rank  of  knighthood  were  three :  the  Page, 
the  Squire  or  Esquire,  and  the  Knight. 

1.  The  Page.  The  child  who  was  des- 
tined to  knighthood  continued  until  he 
was  seven  years  old  in  the  charge  of  women, 


KNIGHTHOOD 


KNIGHTHOOD 


399 


who  gave  him  that  care  which  his  tender 
age  required.  He  was  then  taken  from 
them  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  governor, 
who  prepared  him  by  a  robust  and  manly 
education  for  the  labors  and  dangers  of 
war.  He  was  afterwards  put  into  the 
household  of  some  noble,  where  he  first  as- 
sumed the  title  of  a  Page.  His  employ- 
ments were  to  perform  the  service  of  a  do- 
mestic about  the  person  of  his  master  and 
mistress;  to  attend  them  in  the  chase, 
on  their  journeys,  their  visits,  and  their 
walks ;  to  carry  their  messages,  or  even  to 
wait  on  them  at  table.  The  first  lessons 
given  to  him  were  in  the  love  of  God  and 
attachment  and  respect  to  females.  His 
religious  education  was  not  neglected,  and 
he  was  taught  a  veneration  for  all  sacred 
things.  His  instructions  in  respect  to 
manners,  conversation,  and  virtuous  habits 
were  all  intended  to  prepare  him  for  his 
future  condition  as  a  knight. 

2.  The  Squire.  The  youth,  on  emerging 
from  the  employment  of  a  Page,  took  on 
him  that  of  Squire,  called  in  French  ecuyer. 
This  promotion  was  not  unaccompanied  by 
an  appropriate  ceremony.  The  Page  who 
was  to  be  made  a  Squire  was  presented  to 
the  altar  by  his  father  and  mother,  or  by 
those  who  represented  them,  each  holding 
a  lighted  taper  in  his  hand.  The  officiating 
priest  took  from  the  altar  a  sword  and  belt, 
on  which  he  bestowed  several  benedictions, 
and  then  placed  them  on  the  youth,  who 
from  that  time  constantly  wore  them.  The 
Squires  were  divided  into  various  classes, 
each  of  whose  employment  was  different. 
To  some,  as  to  the  chamberlains,  was  com- 
mitted the  care  of  the  gold  and  silver  of 
the  household;  others,  as  the  constable, 
had  the  charge  of  the  table  utensils  ;  others 
were  carvers,  and  others  butlers.  But  the 
most  honorable  and  the  only  one  connected 
immediately  with  chivalry  was  the  Squire 
of  Honor  or  the  Body  Squire.  He  was 
immediately  attached  to  some  knight, 
whose  standard  he  carried.  He  helped  to 
dress  and  undress  him,  and  attended  him 
morning  and  evening  in  his  apartment. 
On  a  march,  he  led  the  war-horse  of  his 
master  and  carried  his  sword,  his  helmet, 
and  his  shield.  In  the  hour  of  battle,  the 
Squire,  although  he  did  not  actually  take  a 
part  in  the  combat,  was  not  altogether  an 
idle  spectator  of  the  contest.  In  the  shock 
of  battle,  the  two  lines  of  knights,  with 
their  lances  in  rest,  fell  impetuously  on 
each  other;  some,  who  were  thrown  from 
their  horses,  drew  their  swords  or  battle- 
axes  to  defend  themselves  and  to  make  new 
attacks,  while  advantage  was  sought  by  their 
enemies  over  those  who  had  been  thrown. 
During  all  this  time,  the  Squire  was  atten- 
tive to  every  motion  of  his  master.     In  the 


one  case,  to  give  him  new  arms,  or  to  sup- 
ply him  with  another  horse ;  to  raise  him 
up  when  he  fell,  and  to  ward  off  the  strokes 
aimed  at  him ;  while  in  the  other  case,  he 
seconded  the  knight  by  every  means  that 
his  skill,  his  valor,  and  his  zeal  could  sug- 
gest, always,  however,  within  the  strict 
bounds  of  the  defensive,  for  the  Squire  was 
not  permitted  by  the  laws  of  chivalry  to 
engage  in  offensive  combat  with  a  knight. 

3.  The  Knight.  These  services  merited 
and  generally  received  from  the  knight  the 
most  grateful  acknowledgment,  and  in  time 
the  high  honor  of  the  badge  of  knighthood 
bestowed  by  his  own  hand,  for  every  knight 
possessed  the  prerogative  of  making  other 
knights. 

The  age  of  twenty-one  was  that  in  which 
the  youthful  Squire,  after  so  many  proofs 
of  zeal,  fidelity,  and  valor,  might  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  honor  of  knighthood.  The 
rule  as  to  age  was  not,  however,  always  ob- 
served. Sometimes  the  Squire  was  not 
knighted  until  he  was  further  advanced  in 
years,  and  in  the  case  of  princes  the  time 
was  often  anticipated.  There  are  instances 
of  infants,  the  sons  of  kings,  receiving  the 
dignity  of  knighthood. 

The  creation  of  a  knight  was  accompanied 
by  solemn  ceremonies,  which  some  writers 
have  been  pleased  to  compare  to  those  of 
the  Church  in  the  administration  of  its 
sacraments,  and  there  was,  if  not  a  close 
resemblance,  a  manifest  allusion  in  the  one 
to  the  other.  The  white  habit  and  the  bath 
of  the  knight  corresponded  to  the  form  of 
baptism ;  the  stroke  on  the  neck  and  the  em- 
brace given  to  the  new  knight  were  compared 
to  the  ceremony  of  confirmation ;  and  as  the 
godfather  made  a  present  to  the  child  whom 
he  held  at  the  font,  so  the  lord  who  con- 
ferred knighthood  was  expected  to  make  a 
gift  or  grant  some  peculiar  favor  to  the 
knight  whom  he  had  dubbed. 

The  preliminary  ceremonies  which  pre- 
pared the  neophyte  for  the  sword  of  chiv- 
alry were  as  follows:  austere  fasts;  whole 
nights  passed  in  prayers  in  a  church  or 
chapel ;  the  sacraments  of  confession,  pen- 
ance, and  the  eucharist;  bathings,  which 
prefigured  purity  of  manners  and  life ;  a 
white  habit  as  a  symbol  of  the  same  purity, 
and  in  imitation  of  the  custom  with  new 
converts  on  their  admission  into  the  Church ; 
and  a  serious  attention  to  sermons,  were  all 
duties  of  preparation  to  be  devoutly  per- 
formed by  the  Squire  previous  to  his  being 
armed  with  the  weapons  and  decorated  with 
the  honors  of  knighthood. 

An  old  French  chronicler  thus  succinctly 
details  the  ceremony  of  creation  and  inves- 
titure. The  neophyte  bathes ;  after  which, 
clothed  in  white  apparel,  he  is  to  watch  all 
night  in  the  church,  and  remain  there  xn> 


400 


KNIGHTHOOD 


KNIGHTHOOD 


prayer  until  after  the  celebration  of  high, 
mass.  The  communion  being  then  re- 
ceived, the  youth  solemnly  raises  his  joined 
hands  and  his  eyes  to  heaven,  when  the 
priest  who  had  administered  the  sacrament 
passes  the  sword  over  the  neck  of  the  youth 
and  blesses  it.  The  candidate  then  kneels 
at  the  feet  of  the  lord  or  knight  who  is  to 
arm  him.  The  lord  asks  him  with  what 
intent  he  desires  to  enter  into  that  sacred 
Order,  and  if  his  views  tend  only  to  the 
maintenance  and  honor  of  religion  and  of 
knighthood.  The  lord,  having  received 
from  the  candidate  a  satisfactory  reply  to 
these  questions,  administers  the  oath  of 
reception,  and  gives  him  three  strokes  on 
the  neck  with  the  flat  end  of  the  sword, 
which  he  then  girds  upon  him.  This  scene 
passes  sometimes  in  a  hall  or  in  the  court  of 
a  palace,  or,  in  time  of  war,  in  the  open  field. 

The  girding  on  of  the  sword  was  accom- 
panied with  these  or  similar  words :  "  In 
the  name  of  God,  of  St.  Michael,  and  of 
St.  George,  I  make  thee  a  knight:  be  brave, 
be  hardy,  and  be  loyal."  And  then  the 
kneeling  candidate  is  struck  upon  the 
shoulder  or  back  of  the  neck,  by  him  who 
confers  the  dignity,  with  the  flat  of  the 
sword,  and  directed  to  rise  in  words  like 
these  :  "  Arise,  Sir  Damian ; "  a  formula 
still  followed  by  the  sovereigns  of  England 
when  they  confer  the  honor  of  knighthood. 
And  hence  the  word  "Sir,"  which  is  equiv- 
alent to  the  old  French  "Sire,"  is  ac- 
counted, says  Ashmole,  "parcel  of  their 
style." 

Sir  William  Segar,  in  his  treatise  on 
Civil  and  Military  Honor,  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  ceremonies  used  in  Eng- 
land in  the  sixth  century : 

"  A  stage  was  erected  in  some  cathedral, 
or  spacious  place  near  it,  to  which  the  gen- 
tleman was  conducted  to  receive  the  honor 
of  knighthood.  Being  seated  on  a  chair 
decorated  with  green  silk,  it  was  demanded 
of  him  if  he  were  of  a  good  constitution, 
and  able  to  undergo  the  fatigue  required  in 
a  soldier ;  also  whether  he  were  a  man  of 

food  morals,  and  what  credible  witnesses 
e  could  produce  to  affirm  the  same. 

"  Then  the  Bishop  or  Chief  Prelate  of  the 
Church  administered  the  following  oath: 
'  Sir,  you  that  desire  to  receive  the  honor  of 
knighthood,  swear  before  God  and  this  holy 
book  that  you  will  not  fight  against  his  Ma- 
jesty, that  now  bestoweth  the  order  of  knight- 
hood upon  you.  You  shall  also  swear  to 
maintain  and  defend  all  Ladies,  Gentlemen, 
Widows  and  Orphans;  and  you  shall  shun 
no  adventure  of  your  person  in  any  war 
wherein  you  shall  happen  to  be.' 

"The  oath  being  taken,  two  Lords  led 
him  to  the  King,  who  drew  his  sword,  and 
laid  it  upon  his  head,  saying,  God  and  St. 


George  (or  what  other  saint  the  King 
pleased  to  name, )  make  thee  a  good  knight ; 
after  which  seven  Ladies  dressed  in  white 
came  and  girt  a  sword  to  his  side  and  four 
knights  put  on  his  spurs. 

"  These  ceremonies  being  over,  the  Queen 
took  him  by  the  right  hand,  and  a  Duchess 
by  the  left,  and  leading  him  to  a  rich  seat, 
placed  him  on  an  ascent,  where  they  seated 
him,  the  King  sitting  on  his  right  hand, 
and  the  Queen  on  his  left. 

"Then  the  Lords  and  Ladies  also  sat 
down  upon  other  seats,  three  descents 
under  the  King ;  and  being  all  thus  seated, 
they  were  entertained  with  a  delicate  colla- 
tion ;  and  so  the  ceremony  ended." 

The  manner  of  arming  a  newly-made 
knight  was  first  to  put  on  the  spurs,  then 
the  coat-of-mail,  the  cuirass,  the  brasset  or 
casque,  and  the  gauntlets.  The  lord  or 
knight  conferring  the  honor  then  girded 
on  the  sword,  which  last  was  considered  as 
the  most  honorable  badge  of  chivalry,  and 
a  symbol  of  the  labor  that  the  knight  was 
in  future  to  encounter.  It  was  in  fact 
deemed  the  real  and  essential  part  of  the 
ceremony,  and  that  which  actually  consti- 
tuted the  knight.  Du  Cange,  in  his  Glos- 
sarium,  defines  the  Latin  word  rniliiare,  in 
its  mediaeval  sense,  as  signifying  "to  make 
a  knight,"  which  was,  he  says,  "balteo 
militari  accingere,"  i.  e.,  to  gird  on  him  the 
knightly  belt ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that  cingulus,  which  in  pure  Latin  signifies 
a  belt,  came  in  the  later  Latin  of  Justinian 
to  denote  the  military  profession.  I  need 
not  refer  to  the  common  expression,  "a 
belted  knight,"  as  indicating  the  close  con- 
nection between  knighthood  and  the  gird- 
ing of  the  belt.  It  was  indeed  the  belt  and 
sword  that  made  the  knight. 

The  oath  taken  by  the  knight  at  his  re- 
ception devoted  him  to  the  defence  of  re- 
ligion and  the  Church,  and  to  the  protection 
of  widows,  orphans,  and  all  of  either  sex 
who  were  powerless,  unhappy,  or  suffering 
under  injustice  and  oppression ;  and  to 
shrink  from  the  performance  of  these  du- 
ties whenever  called  upon,  even  at  the 
sacrifice  of  his  life,  was  to  incur  dishonor 
for  the  rest  of  his  days. 

Of  all  the  laws  of  chivalry,  none  was 
maintained  with  more  rigor  than  that  which 
secured  respect  for  the  female  sex.  "  If  an 
honest  and  virtuous  lady,"  says  Brantome, 
"  will  maintain  her  firmness  and  constancy, 
her  servant,  that  is  to  say  the  knight  who 
had  devoted  himself  to  her  service,  must 
not  even  spare  his  life  to  protect  and  de- 
fend her,  if  she  runs  the  least  risk  either 
of  her  fortune,  or  her  honor,  or  of  any  cen- 
sorious word,  for  we  are  bound  by  the  laws 
of  Chivalry  to  be  the  champions  of  women's 
afflictions." 


KNIGHTHOOD 


KNIGHTHOOD 


401 


Nor  did  any  human  law  insist  with  so 
much  force  as  that  of  chivalry  upon  the 
necessity  of  an  inviolable  attachment  to 
truth.  Adherence  to  his  word  was  esteemed 
the  most  honorable  part  of  a  knight's 
character.  Hence  to  give  the  lie  was  con- 
sidered the  most  mortal  and  irreparable 
affront,  to  be  expiated  only  by  blood. 

An  oath  or  solemn  promise  given  in  the 
name  of  a  knight  was  of  all  oaths  the  most 
inviolable.  Knights  taken  in  battle  en- 
gaged to  come  of  their  own  accord  to  prison 
whenever  it  was  required  by  their  captors, 
and  on  their  word  of  honor  they  were  read- 
ily allowed  liberty  for  the  time  for  which 
they  asked  it ;  for  no  one  ever  doubted  that 
they  would  fulfil  their  engagements.  Sov- 
ereigns considered  their  oath  of  knight- 
hood as  the  most  solemn  that  they  could 
give,  and  hence  the  Duke  of  Bretagne, 
having  made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Charles 
the  Sixth  of  France,  swore  to  its  observ- 
ance "  by  the  faith  of  his  body  and  the  loy- 
alty of  his  knighthood." 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  gen- 
erous courage  was  an  indispensable  quality 
of  a  knight.  An  act  of  cowardice,  of  cru- 
elty, or  of  dishonorable  warfare  in  battle, 
would  overwhelm  the  doer  with  deserved 
infamy.  In  one  of  the  tenzones,  or  poetical 
contests  of  the  Troubadours,  it  is  said  that 
to  form  a  perfect  knight  all  the  tender 
offices  of  humanity  should  be  united  to  the 
greatest  valor,  and  pity  and  generosity  to 
the  conquered  associated  with  the  strictest 
justice  and  integrity.  Whatever  was  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  war  was  inconsistent 
with  the  laws  of  chivalry. 

The  laws  of  chivalry  also  enforced  with 
peculiar  impressiveness  sweetness  and  mod- 
esty of  temper,  with  that  politeness  of  de- 
meanor which  the  word  courtesy  was  meant 
perfectly  to  express.  An  uncourteous  knight 
would  have  been  an  anomaly. 

Almost  all  of  these  knightly  qualities  are 
well  expressed  by  Chaucer  in  the  Prologue 
to  his  Knight's  Tale  : 

"  A  knight  there  was,  and  that  a  worthy  man, 
That  from  the  time  that  he  first  began 
To  riden  out  he  loved  chivalry, 
Truth  and  honor,  freedom  and  courtesy. 
Full  worthy  was  he  in  his  lord's  war 
And  thereto  had  he  ridden,  no  man  farre ; 
As  well  in  Christendom  as  in  Heatheness, 
And  ever  honored  for  his  worthiness. 

"  And  ever  more  he  had  a  sovereign  price, 
And  though  that  he  was  worthy,  he  was  wise 
And  of  his  port  as  meek  as  was  a  maid. 
He  never  yet  no  villainy  he  said 
In  all  his  life  unto  no  manner  wight, 
He  was  a  very  perfect,  gentle  knight." 

The  most  common  and   frequent  occa- 
sions on  which  knights  were  created,  inde- 
3  A  26 


pendent  of  those  which  happened  in  war, 
were  at  the  great  feasts  of  the  Church,  and 
especially  at  the  feast  of  Pentecost ;  also  at 
the  publications  of  peace  or  a  truce,  the 
coronations  of  kings,  the  birth  or  baptism 
of  princes,  and  the  days  on  which  those 
princes  had  themselves  received  knight- 
hood. But  a  knight  could  at  any  time  con- 
fer the  distinction  on  one  whom  he  deemed 
deserving  of  it. 

There  was  a  distinction  between  the  titles 
as  well  as  the  dress  of  a  knight  and  a 
squire.  The  knight  was  called  Don,  Sire, 
Messire,  or,  in  English,  Sir  —  a  title  not  be- 
stowed upon  a  squire :  and  while  the  wife 
of  the  former  was  called  a  Lady,  that  of 
the  latter  was  only  a  Gentlewoman.  The 
wife  of  a  knight  was  sometimes  called 
Militissa,  or  female  knight. 

In  their  dresses  and  their  harness, 
knights  were  entitled  to  wear  gold  and 
golden  decorations,  while  the  squires  were 
confined  to  the  use  of  silver.  Knights 
alone  had  a  right  to  wear,  for  the  lining  of 
their  cloaks  and  mantles,  ermine,  sable, 
and  meniver,  which  were  the  most  valua- 
ble furs ;  while  those  of  a  less  costly  kind 
were  for  the  squires.  The  long  and  train- 
ing mantle,  of  a  scarlet  color,  and  lined 
with  ermine  or  other  precious  furs,  which 
was  called  the  Mantle  of  Honor,  was  espe- 
cially reserved  for  the  knight.  Such  a 
mantle  was  always  presented  by  the  kings 
of  France  to  knights  whom  they  created. 
The  mantle  was  considered  the  most  august 
and  noble  decoration  that  a  knight  could 
wear,  when  he  was  not  dressed  in  his  armor. 
The  official  robes  still  worn  by  many  mag- 
istrates in  Europe  are  derived  from  the 
knightly  Mantle  of  Honor. 

It  should  be  remarked  that  the  order 
of  knighthood,  and  the  ceremonies  accom- 
panying the  investiture  of  a  knight,  were 
of  a  symbolic  character,  and  are  well  cal- 
culated to  remind  the  Freemason  of  the 
symbolic  character  of  his  own  Institution. 

The  sword  which  the  knight  received 
was  called  "  the  arms  of  mercy,"  and  he 
was  told  to  conquer  his  enemies  by  mercy 
rather  than  by  force  of  arms.  Its  blade 
was  two-edged,  to  remind  him  that  he  must 
maintain  chivalry  and  justice,  and  contend 
only  for  the  support  of  these  two  chief  pil- 
lars of  the  temple  of  honor.  The  lance  rep- 
resented Truth,  because  truth,  like  the 
lance,  is  straight.  The  coat  of  mail  was 
the  symbol  of  a  fortress  erected  against 
vice ;  for,  as  castles  are  surrounded  by  walls 
and  ditches,  the  coat  of  mail  is  closed  in  all 
its  parts,  and  defends  the  knight  against 
treason,  disloyalty,  pride,  and  every  other 
evil  passion.  The  rowels  of  the  spur  were 
given  to  urge  the  possessor  on  to  deeds  of 
honor  and  virtue.    The  shield,  which  he 


402 


KNIGHTHOOD 


KNIGHTHOOD 


places  betwixt  himself  and  his  enemy,  was 
to  remind  him  that  the  knight  is  a  shield 
interposed  between  the  prince  and  the  peo- 
ple, to  preserve  peace  and  tranquillity. 

In  a  Latin  manuscript  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  copied  by  Anstis,  (App.,  p.  95,)  will 
be  found  the  following  symbolical  expla- 
nation of  the  ceremonial  of  knighthood. 
The  bath  was  a  symbol  of  the  washing 
away  of  sin  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism. 
The  bed  into  which  the  novice  entered  and 
reposed  after  the  bath,  was  a  symbol  of  the 
peace  of  mind  which  would  be  acquired  by 
the  virtue  of  chivalry.  The  white  gar- 
ments with  which  he  was  afterwards 
clothed,  were  a  symbol  of  the  purity  which 
a  knight  should  maintain.  The  scarlet 
robe  put  on  the  newly-made  knight  was 
symbolic  of  the  blood  which  he  should  be 
ready  to  shed  for  Christ  and  the  Church. 
The  dark  boots  are  a  sign  of  the  earth, 
whence  we  all  came,  and  to  which  we  are 
all  to  return.  The  white  belt  is  a  symbol 
of  chastity.  The  golden  spur  symbolizes 
promptitude  of  action.  The  sword  is  a 
symbol  of  severity  against  the  attacks  of 
Satan ;  its  two  edges  are  to  teach  the 
knight  that  he  is  to  defend  the  poor 
against  the  rich,  and  the  weak  against  the 
powerful.  The  white  fillet  around  the  head 
is  a  symbol  of  good  works.  The  alapa  or 
blow  was  in  memorial  of  him  who  made  him 
a  knight. 

There  was  one  usage  of  knighthood 
which  is  peculiarly  worthy  of  attention. 
The  love  of  glory,  which  was  so  inspiring 
to  the  knights  of  chivalry,  is  apt  to  pro- 
duce a  spirit  of  rivalry  and  emulation  that 
might  elsewhere  prove  the  fruitful  source 
of  division  and  discord.  But  this  was  pre- 
vented by  the  fraternities  of  arms  so  com- 
mon among  the  knights.  Two  knights  who 
had,  perhaps,  been  engaged  in  the  same  ex- 
peditions, and  had  conceived  for  each  other 
a  mutual  esteem  and  confidence,  would  en- 
ter into  a  solemn  compact  by  which  they 
became  and  were  called  "  Brothers  in 
arms."  Under  this  compact,  they  swore  to 
share  equally  the  labors  and  the  glory,  the 
dangers  and  the  profits  of  all  enterprises, 
and  never,  under  any  circumstances,  to 
abandon  each  other.  The  brother  in  arms 
was  to  be  the  enemy  of  those  who  were  the 
enemies  of  his  brother,  and  the  friend  of 
those  who  were  his  friends  ;  both  of  them 
were  to  divide  their  present  and  future 
wealth,  and  to  employ  that  and  their  lives 
for  the  deliverance  of  each  other  if  taken 
prisoner.  The  claims  of  a  brother  in  arms 
were  paramount  to  all  others,  except  those 
of  the  sovereign.  If  the  services  of  a 
knight  were  demanded  at  the  same  time  by 
a  lady  and  by  a  brother  in  arms,  the  claim 
of  the  former  gave  way  to  that  of  the  latter. 


But  the  duty  which  was  owing  to  the  prince 
or  to  the  country  was  preferred  to  all  others, 
and  hence  brothers  in  arms  of  different  na- 
tions were  only  united  together  so  long  as 
their  respective  sovereigns  were  at  peace, 
and  a  declaration  of  war  between  two 
princes  dissolved  all  such  confraternities 
between  the  subjects  of  each.  But  except 
in  this  particular  case,  the  bond  of  brother- 
hood was  indissoluble,  and  a  violation  of 
the  oath  which  bound  two  brothers  to- 
gether was  deemed  an  act  of  the  greatest 
infamy.  They  could  not  challenge  each 
other.  They  even  wore  in  battle  the  same 
habits  and  armor,  as  if  they  desired  that 
the  enemy  should  mistake  one  for  the 
other,  and  thus  that  both  might  incur  an 
equal  risk  of  the  dangers  with  which  each 
was  threatened. 

Knights  were  divided  into  two  ranks, 
namely,  Knights  Bachelors  and  Knights 
Bannerets. 

The  Knight  Bachelor  was  of  the  lower 
rank,  and  derived  his  title  most  prob- 
ably from  the  French  bas  chevalier.  In  the 
days  of  chivalry,  as  well  as  in  later  times, 
this  dignity  was  conferred  without  any  refer- 
ence to  a  qualification  of  property.  Many 
Knights  Bachelors  were  in  fact  mere  ad- 
venturers, unconnected  by  feudal  ties  of 
any  sort,  who  offered  their  services  in  war 
to  any  successful  leader,  and  found  in  their 
sword  a  means  of  subsistence,  not  only  by 
pay  and  plunder,  but  in  the  regularly  es- 
tablished system  of  ransom,  which  every 
knight  taken  in  action  paid  for  his  liberty. 
The  Knight  Bachelor  bore  instead  of  a 
square  banner  a  pointed  or  triangular  en- 
sign, which  was  forked  by  being  extended 
in  two  cornets  or  points,  and  which  was 
called  a  pennon.  The  triangular  banner, 
not  forked,  was  called  a  pennoncel,  and  was 
carried  by  a  squire. 

The  Knight  Banneret,  a  name  derived 
from  banneret,  a  little  banner,  was  one  who 
possessed  many  fiefs,  and  who  was  obliged 
to  serve  in  war  with  a  large  attendance  of 
followers. 

If  a  knight  was  rich  and  powerful  enough 
to  furnish  the  state  or  his  sovereign  with  a 
certain  number  of  armed  men,  and  to  enter- 
tain them  at  his  own  expense,  permission 
was  accorded  to  him  to  add  to  his  simple 
designation  of  Knight  or  Knight  Bachelor, 
the  more  noble  and  exalted  title  of  Knight 
Banneret.  •  This  gave  him  the  right  to 
carry  a  square  banner  on  the  top  of  his 
lance.  Knights  Bachelors  were  sometimes 
made  Bannerets  on  the  field  of  battle,  and 
as  a  reward  of  their  prowess,  by  the  simple 
ceremony  of  the  sovereign  cutting  off  with 
his  sword  the  cornets  or  points  of  their 
pennons,  thus  transforming  them  into 
square  banners.    Clark,  in  his  History  of 


KNIGHTHOOD 


KNIGHTHOOD 


403 


Knighthood,  (vol.  i.,  p.  73,)  thus  describes 
this  ceremony  in  detail : 

"  The  king  or  his  general,  at  the  head 
of  his  army  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle 
after  a  victory,  under  the  royal  standard 
displayed,  attended  by  all  the  officers  and 
nobility  present,  receives  the  knight  led  be- 
tween two  knights  carrying  his  pennon  of 
arms  in  his  hand,  the  heralds  walking  be- 
fore him,  who  proclaim  his  valiant  achieve- 
ments for  which  he  has  deserved  to  be 
made  a  Knight  Banneret,  and  to  display 
his  banner  in  the  field ;  then  the  king  or 
general  says  to  him,  Advancez  toy  banneret, 
and  causes  the  point  of  his  pennon  to  be 
rent  off;  then  the  new  knight,  having  the 
trumpets  before  him  sounding,  the  nobility 
and  officers  bearing  him  company,  is  sent 
back  to  his  tent,  where  they  are  all  enter- 
tained." 

But  generally  the  same  ceremonial  was 
used  in  times  of  peace  at  the  making  of  a 
Knight  Banneret  as  at  the  institution  of 
barons,  viscounts,  earls,  and  the  other  or- 
ders of  nobility,  with  whom  they  claimed 
an  almost  equality  of  rank. 

Not  long  after  the  institution  of  knight- 
hood as  an  offshot  of  chivalry,  we  find,  be- 
sides the  individual  Knights  Bachelors 
and  Knights  Bannerets,  associations  of 
knights  banded  together  for  some  common 
purpose,  of  which  there  were  two  classes. 
First:  Fraternities  possessing  property 
and  rights  of  their  own  as  independent 
bodies  into  which  knights  were  admitted  as 
monks  were  into  religious  foundations.  Of 
this  class  may  be  mentioned,  as  examples, 
the  three  great  religious  Orders  —  the  Tem- 
plars, the  Hospitallers,  and  the  Teutonic 
Knights. 

The  second  class  consisted  of  honorary 
associations  established  by  sovereigns  with- 
in their  respective  dominions,  consisting 
of  members  whose  only  common  tie  is  the 

Possession  of  the  same  titular  distinction, 
uch  are  most  of  the  European  orders  of 
knighthood  now  existing,  as  the  Knights 
of  the  Garter  in  England,  the  Knights  of 
St.  Andrew  in  Russia,  and  the  Knights  of 
the  Golden  Fleece  in  Spain.  The  institu- 
tion of  these  titular  orders  of  knighthood 
dates  at  a  much  more  recent  period  than 
that  of  the  Fraternities  who  constitute  the 
first  class,  for  not  one  of  them  can  trace 
its  birth  to  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  at 
which  time  the  Templars  and  similar  or- 
ders sprang  into  existence. 

Ragon,  in  his  Cours  Philosophique,  at- 
tempts to  draw  a  parallel  between  the  in- 
stitution of  knighthood  and  that  of  Free- 
masonry, such  as  that  there  were  three  de- 
grees in  one  as  there  are  in  the  other,  and 
that  there  was  a  close  resemblance  in  the 
ceremonies  of  initiation  into  both  orders. 


He  thus  intimates  for  them  a  common  ori- 
gin ;  but  these  parallels  should  rather  be 
considered  simply  as  coincidences.  The 
theory  first  advanced  by  the  Chevalier 
Ramsay,  and  adopted  by  Hund  and  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance, 
that  all  Freemasons  are  Templars,  and  that 
Freemasonry  is  a  lineal  successor  of  ancient 
knighthood,  is  now  rejected  as  wholly  un- 
tenable and  unsupported  by  any  authentic 
history.  The  only  connection  between 
knighthood  and  Freemasonry  is  that  which 
was  instituted  after  the  martyrdom  of  James 
de  Molay,  when  the  Knights  Templars 
sought  concealment  and  security  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

When  one  was  made  a  knight,  he  was 
said  to  be  dubbed.  This  is  a  word  in  con- 
stant use  in  the  Mediaeval  manuscripts.  In 
the  old  Patavian  statutes,  "Miles  adobatus," 
a  dubbed  knight,  is  defined  to  be  "  one  who, 
by  the  usual  ceremonies,  acquires  the  dig- 
nity and  profession  of  chivalry."  The 
Provencal  writers  constantly  employ  the 
term  to  dub,  "adouber,"  and  designate  a 
knight  who  has  gone  through  the  ceremony 
of  investiture  as  "  un  chevalier  adoube',"  a 
dubbed  knight.  Thus,  in  the  Jiomaunt 
d'Auberi,  the  Lady  d'Auberi  says  to  the 
King,— 

"  Sire,  dit  elle,  par  Deu  de  Paradis 
Soit  adouber  mes  freres  auberis." 

That  is,  "  Sire,  for  the  love  of  the  God  of 
Paradise,  let  my  brothers  be  dubbed." 

The  meaning  of  the  word  then  is  plain : 
to  dub,  is  to  make  or  create  a  knight.  But 
its  derivation  is  not  so  easily  settled  amid 
the  conflicting  views  of  writers  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  derivation  by  Menage  from  du- 
plex is  not  worth  consideration.  Hen- 
schell's,  from  a  Provencal  word  adobare, 
"to  equip,"  although  better,  is  scarcely 
tenable.  The  derivation  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  dubban,  "to  strike  or  give  a  blow," 
would  be  reasonable,  were  it  not  presuma- 
ble that  the  Anglo-Saxons  borrowed  their 
word  from  the  French  and  from  the  usages 
of  chivalry.  It  is  more  likely  that  dubban 
came  from  adouber,  than  that  adouber  came 
from  dubban.  The  Anglo-Saxons  took  their 
forms  and  technicalities  of  chivalry  from 
the  French.  After  all,  the  derivation  pro- 
posed by  Du  Cange  is  the  most  plausible 
and  the  one  most  generally  adopted,  be- 
cause it  is  supported  by  the  best  author- 
ities. He  says  that  it  is  derived  from  the 
Latin  adoptare,  to  adopt,  "quod  qui  ali- 
quem  armis  instruit  ac  Militem  facit,  eum 
quodammodo  adoptat  in  filium,"  i.  e.,  "He 
who  equips  any  one  with  arms,  and  makes 
him  a  knight,  adopts  him,  as  it  were,  as  a 
son."     To  dub  one  as  a  knight  is,  then,  to 


404 


KNIGHTHOOD 


KNIGHTHOOD 


adopt  him  into  the  order  of  chivalry.  The 
idea  was  evidently  taken  from  the  Roman 
law  of  adoptaiio,  or  adoption,  where,  as  in 
conferring  knighthood,  a  blow  on  the  cheek 
was  given. 

The  word  accolade  is  another  term  of 
chivalry  about  which  there  is  much  mis- 
understanding. It  is  now  supposed  to 
mean  the  blow  of  the  sword,  given  by  the 
knight  conferring  the  dignity,  on  the  neck 
or  shoulder  of  him  who  received  it.  But 
this  is  most  probably  an  error.  The  word 
is  derived,  says  Brewer,  [Diet.  Phr.  and 
Fab.,)  from  the  Latin  ad  collum,  "around 
the  neck,"  and  signifies  the  embrace  "given 
by  the  Grand  Master  when  he  receives  a 
neophyte  or  new  convert."  It  was  an  early 
custom  to  confer  an  embrace  and  the  kiss 
of  peace  upon  the  newly-made  knight, 
which  ceremony,  Ashmole  thinks,  was 
called  the  accolade.  Thus,  in  his  History 
of  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  (p.  15,)  he  says: 
"The  first  Christian  kings,  at  giving  the 
belt,  kissed  the  new  knight  on  the  left 
cheek,  saying:  In  the  honor  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  I  make  you 
a  knight.  It  was  called  the  osmium  pacts, 
the  kiss  of  favor  or  of  brotherhood,  [more 
correctly  the  kiss  of  peace,]  and  is  pre- 
sumed to  be  the  accolade  or  ceremony  of 
embracing,  which  Charles  the  Great  used 
when  he  knighted  his  son  Louis  the  De- 
bonnair."  In  the  book  of  Johan  de  Vignay, 
which  was  written  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, this  kiss  of  peace  is  mentioned  to- 
gether with  the  accolade :  "  Et  le  Seigneur 
leur  doit  donner  une  colee  en  signe  de  pro- 
este  et  de  hardement,  et  que  il  leur  souveigne 
de  celui  noble  homme  qui  la  fait  chevalier. 
Et  done  les  doit  le  Seigneur  baisier  en  la 
bouche  en  signe  de  paix  et  d'amour ; "  i.  e., 
"And  the  lord  ought  to  give  him  [the 
newly- made  knight]  an  accolade  as  a 
symbol  of  readiness  and  boldness,  and  in 
memory  of  the  nobleman  who  has  made 
him  a  knight ;  and  then  the  lord  ought  to 
kiss  him  on  the  mouth  as  a  sign  of  peace 
and  love." 

In  an  old  manuscript  in  the  Cottonian  Li- 
brary, entitled  "  The  manner  of  makynge 
Knyghtes  after  the  customeof  Engelande," 
a  copy  of  which  is  inserted  in  Anstis's 
Historical  Essay  on  the  Knighthood  of  the 
Bath,  (Append.,  p.  99,)  is  this  account  of 
the  embrace  and  kiss,  accompanied  with 
a  blow  on  the  neck :  "  Thanne  shall  the 
Squyere  lift  up  his  armes  on  high,  and  the 
Kynge  shall  put  his  armes  about  thenekke 
of  the  Squyer,  and  lyftynge  up  his  right 
hande  he  shall  smyte  the  Squyer  in  the 
nekke,  seyeng  thus :  Be  ye  a  good  Knyhte  ; 
kissing  him.  Anstis  himself  is  quite  con- 
fused in  his  description  of  the  ceremonial, 
and  enumerates  "  the  blow  upon  the  neck, 


the  accolade,  with  the  embracing  and  kiss 
of  peace,"  as  if  they  were  distinct  and  sepa- 
rate ceremonies ;  but  in  another  part  of  his 
book  he  calls  the  accolade  "the  laying 
hands  upon  the  shoulders."  I  am  inclined 
to  believe,  after  much  research,  that  both 
the  blow  on  the  neck  and  the  embrace  con- 
stituted properly  the  accolade.  This  blow 
was  sometimes  given  with  the  hand,  but 
sometimes  with  the  sword.  Anstis  says  that 
"the  action  which  fully  and  finally  im- 
presses the  character  of  knighthood  is  the 
blow  given  with  the  hand  upon  the  neck 
or  shoulder."  But  he  admits  that  there 
has  been  a  controversy  among  writers 
whether  the  blow  was  heretofore  given 
with  a  sword  or  by  the  bare  hand  upon  the 
neck,  (p.  73.) 

The  mystical  signification  which  Case- 
neuve  gives  in  hhEtymologies  (voc.Aceollee) 
is  ingenious  and  appropriate,  namely,  that 
the  blow  was  given  on  the  neck  to  remind 
him  who  received  it  that  he  ought  never, 
by  flight  from  battle,  to  give  an  enemy  the 
opportunity  of  striking  him  on  the  same 
place. 

But  there  was  another  blow,  which  was 
given  in  the  earliest  times  of  chivalry,  and 
which  has  by  some  writers  been  confounded 
with  the  accolade,  which  at  length  came  to 
be  substituted  for  it.  This  was  the  blow  on 
the  cheek,  or,  in  common  language,  the  box 
on  the  ear,  which  was  given  to  a  knight  at 
his  investiture.  This  blow  is  never  called 
the  accolade  by  the  old  writers,  but  gen- 
erally the  alapa,  rarely  the  gatitada.  Du 
Cange  says  that  this  blow  was  sometimes 
given  on  the  neck,  and  that  then  it  was 
called  the  colaphus,  or  by  the  French  colee, 
from  col,  the  neck.  Duchesne  says  the 
blow  was  always  given  with  the  hand,  and 
not  with  the  sword. 

Ashmole  says :  "  It  was  in  the  time  of 
Charles  the  Great  the  way  of  knighting  by 
the  colaphum,  or  blow  on  the  ear,  used  in 
sign  of  sustaining  future  hardships,  .... 
a  custom  long  alter  retained  in  Germany 
and  France.  Thus  William,  Earl  of  Hol- 
land, who  was  to  be  knighted  before  he 
could  be  emperor,  at  his  being  elected  king 
of  the  Romans,  received  knighthood  by  the 
box  of  the  ear,  etc.,  from  John,  king  of  Bo- 
hemia, A.  D.  1247." 

Both  the  word  alapa  and  the  ceremony 
which  it  indicated  were  derived  from  the 
form  of  manumission  among  the  Romans, 
where  the  slave  on  being  freed  received  a 
blow  called  alapa  on  the  cheek,  character- 
ized by  Claudian  as  "feliz  injuria,"  a  happy 
injury,  to  remind  him  that  it  was  the  last 
blow  he  was  compelled  to  submit  to :  for 
thenceforth  he  was  to  be  a  freeman,  capable 
of  vindicating  his  honor  from  insult.  The 
alapa,  in  conferring  knighthood,  was  em- 


KNIGHTHOOD 


KNIGHT 


405 


ployed  with  a  similar  symbolism.  Thus  in 
an  old  register  of  1260,  which  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  knighting  of  Hildebrand  by 
the  Lord  Bidolfonus,  we  find  this  passage, 
which  I  give  in  the  original,  for  the  sake 
of  the  one  word  gautata,  which  is  unusual : 
"  Postea  Ridolfonus  de  more  dedit  illi  gau- 
tatam  et  dixit  illi.  Tu  es  miles  nobilis  mili- 
tiae  equestris,  et  haec  gautata  est  in  recorda- 
tionem,  illius  qui  te  armavit  militem,  et  hoec 
gautata  debet  esse  ultima  injuria,  quam 
patienter  acceperis."  That  is:  "After- 
wards Ridolfonus  gave  him  in  the  custom- 
ary way  the  blow,  and  said  to  him :  Thou 
art  a  noble  Knight  of  the  Equestrian  Order 
of  Chivalry,  and  this  blow  is  given  in  mem- 
ory of  him  who  hath  armed  thee  as  a  knight, 
and  it  must  be  the  last  injury  which  thou 
shalt  patiently  endure."  The  first  reason 
assigned  for  the  blow  refers  to  an  old  cus- 
tom of  cuffing  the  witnesses  to  a  transac- 
tion, to  impress  it  on  their  memory.  Thus, 
by  the  riparian  law,  when  there  was  a  sale 
of  land,  some  twelve  witnesses  were  col- 
lected to  see  the  transfer  of  property  and 
the  payment  of  the  price,  and  each  received 
a  box  on  the  ear,  that  he  might  thus  the 
better  remember  the  occurrence.  So  the 
knight  received  the  blow  to  make  him  re- 
member the  time  of  his  receiving  his  knight- 
hood and  the  person  who  conferred  it. 

For  the  commission  of  crime,  more  es- 
pecially for  disloyalty  to  his  sovereign,  a 
knight  might  be  degraded  from  the  Order; 
and  this  act  of  degradation  was  accom- 
panied with  many  ceremonies,  the  chief  of 
which  was  the  hacking  off  his  spurs.  This 
was  to  be  done  for  greater  infamy,  not  by 
a  knight,  but  by  the  master  cook.  Thus 
Stow  says  that,  at  the  making  of  Knights  of 
the  Bath,  the  king's  master  cook  stood  at 
the  door  of  the  chapel,  and  said  to  each 
knight  as  he  entered,  "Sir  Knight,  look 
that  you  be  true  and  loyal  to  the  king  my 
master,  or  else  I  must  hew  these  spurs  from 
your  heels."  His  shield  too  was  reversed, 
and  the  heralds  had  certain  marks  called 
abatements,  which  they  placed  on  it  to  in- 
dicate his  dishonor. 

M.  de  St.  Palaye  concludes  his  learned 
and  exhaustive  Memoires  sur  Fancienne 
Chevalerie  with  this  truthful  tribute  to 
that  spirit  of  chivalry  in  which  ancient 
knighthood  found  its  birth,  and  with  it  I 
may  appropriately  close  this  article : 

"  It  is  certain  that  chivalry,  in  its  earliest 
period,  tended  to  promote  order  and  good 
morals ;  and  although  it  was  in  some  respects 
imperfect,  yet  it  produced  the  most  accom- 
plished models  of  public  valor  and  of  those 
pacific  and  gentle  virtues  that  are  the  orna- 
ments of  domestic  life ;  and  it  is  worthy  of 
consideration,  that  in  an  age  of  darkness, 
most  rude  and  unpolished,  such  examples 


were  to  be  found  as  the  results  of  an  in- 
stitution founded  solely  for  the  public  wel- 
fare, as  in  the  most  enlightened  times 
have  never  been  surpassed  and  very  seldom 
equalled." 

Knight.  1.  An  order  of  chivalry.  See 
Knighthood  and  Knight  Masonic. 

2.  The  eleventh  and  last  degree  of  the 
Order  of  African  Architects. 

Knight,  Black.  See  Black  Brothers. 

Knight  Commander.  {Chevalier 
Commandeur.)  1.  The  ninth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Elect  Cohens.  2.  A  distinction 
conferred  by  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  for 
the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  on  deserving  Honorary  Thirty -Thirds 
and  Sublime  Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret. 
It  is  conferred  by  a  vote  of  the  Supreme 
Council,  and  is  unattended  with  any  other 
ceremony  than  the  presentation  of  a  dec- 
oration and  a  patent. 

Knight  Commander  of  the 
Temple.  See  Sovereign  Commander  of 
the  Temple. 

Knight  Commander  of  the 
White  and  Black  Eagle.  {Cheva- 
lier Commandeur  de  I'Aigle  blanc  et  noir. )  The 
eightieth  degree  of  the  collection  of  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Knight,  Crusader.  ( Chevalier 
Croise.)  Thory  says  {Act.  Lat.,  i.  303,)  that 
this  is  a  chivalric  degree,  which  was  com- 
municated to  him  by  a  member  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Copenhagen.  He  gives 
no  further  account  of  its  character. 

Knight  Elect  of  Fifteen.  1.  The 
sixteenth  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Rite,  more  commonly  called  Illus- 
trious Elect  of  the  Fifteen.  See  Elect  of 
the  Fifteen. 

2.  The  tenth  degree  of  the  Chapter  of 
Emperors  of  the  East  and  West. 

3.  The  eleventh  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim. 

Knight  Elect  of  Twelve,  Sub- 
lime. The  eleventh  degree  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Rite,  sometimes  called 
"  Twelve  Illustrious  Knights."  After  ven- 
geance had  been  taken  upon  the  traitors 
mentioned  in  the  degrees  of  Elected 
Knights  of  Nine  and  Illustrious  Elected 
of  Fifteen,  Solomon,  to  reward  those  who 
had  exhibited  their  zeal  and  fidelity  in  in- 
flicting the  required  punishment,  as  well  as 
to  make  room  for  the  exaltation  of  others 
to  the  degree  of  Illustrious  Elected  of 
Fifteen,  appointed  twelve  of  these  latter, 
chosen  by  ballot,  to  constitute  a  new  de- 
gree, on  which  he  bestowed  the  name  of 
Sublime  Knights  Elected,  and  gave  them 
the  command  over  the  twelve  tribes  of  Is- 
real.  The  Sublime  Knights  rendered  an 
account  each  day  to  Solomon  of  the  work 


406 


KXIGHT 


KNIGHT 


that  was  done  in  the  Temple  by  their  re- 
spective tribes,  and  received  their  pay. 
The  Lodge  is  called  a  Chapter.  In  the  old 
rituals  Solomon  presides,  with  the  title  of 
Thrice  Puissant,  and  instead  of  Wardens, 
there  are  a  Grand  Inspector  and  a  Master 
of  Ceremonies.  In  the  modern  ritual  of 
the  Southern  Jurisdiction,  the  Master 
and  Wardens  represent  Solomon,  Hiram 
of  Tyre,  and  Adoniram,  and  the  style  of 
the  Master  and  Senior  Warden  is  Thrice 
Illustrious.  The  room  is  hung  with  black, 
sprinkled  with  white  and  red  tears. 

The  apron  is  white,  lined  and  bordered 
with  black,  with  black  strings ;  on  the  flap, 
a  flaming  heart. 

The  sash  is  black,  with  a  flaming  heart 
on  the  breast,  suspended  from  the  right 
shoulder  to  the  left  hip. 

The  jewel  is  a  sword  of  justice. 

This  is  the  last  of  the  three  Elus  which 
are  found  in  the  Ancient  Scottish  Rite.  In 
the  French  Rite  they  have  been  condensed 
into  one,  and  make  the  fourth  degree  of 
that  ritual,  but  not,  as  Ragon  admits,  with 
the  happiest  effect. 

Knight  Hospitaller.  See  Knight 
of  Malta. 

Knight,  Illustrious  or  Illustri- 
ous Elect.  ( Chevalier  Illustre  or  Elu  II- 
luslre.)  The  thirteenth  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  Mizraim. 

Knight  Jupiter.  (Le  Chevalier 
Jupiter.)  The  seventy -eighth  degree  of  the 
collection  of  Peuvret. 

Knight  Kadosh,  formerly  called 
Grand  Elect  Knight  Kadosh.  ( Grand  Elu 
du  Chevalier  Kadosch.)  The  Knight  Ka- 
dosh is  the  thirtieth  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  called  also 
Knight  of  the  White  and  Black  Eagle. 
While  retaining  the  general  Templar  doc- 
trine of  the  Kadosh  system,  it  symbolizes 
and  humanizes  the  old  lesson  of  vengeance. 
It  is  the  most  popular  of  all  the  Kadoshes. 

In  the  Knight  Kadosh  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  the  meetings 
are  called  Councils.  The  principal  officers 
are,  according  to  the  recent  rituals,  a  Com- 
mander, two  Lieutenant  Commanders,  called 
also  Prior  and  Preceptor;  a  Chancellor, 
Orator,  Almoner,  Recorder,  and  Treasurer. 
The  jewel,  as  described  in  the  ritual  of  the 
Southern  Supreme  Council,  is  a  double- 
headed  eagle,  displayed  resting  on  a  teu- 
tonic cross,  the  eagle  silver,  the  cross  gold 
enamelled  red.  The  Northern  Council  uses 
instead  of  the  eagle  the  letters  J.  B.  M. 
The  Kadoshes,  as  representatives  of  the 
Templars,  adopt  the  Beauseant  as  their 
standard.  In  this  degree,  as  in  all  the  other 
Kadoshes,  we  find  the  mystical  ladder  of 
seven  steps. 

Knight  Kadosh  of  Cromwell. 


Ragon  says  of  this  (Tuileur,  171,)  that  it  is 
a  pretended  degree,  of  which  he  has  four 
copies,  and  that  it  appears  to  be  a  mon- 
strosity invented  by  an  enemy  of  the  Order 
for  the  purposes  of  calumniation.  The 
ritual  says  that  the  degree  is  conferred  only 
in  England  and  Prussia,  which  is  un- 
doubtedly untrue. 

Knight  Masonic.  The  word  knight, 
prefixed  to  so  many  of  the  high  degrees  as 
a  part  of  the  title,  has  no  reference  what- 
ever to  the  orders  of  chivalry,  except  in 
the  case  of  Knights  Templars  and  Knights 
of  Malta.  The  word,  in  such  titles  as 
Knight  of  the  Ninth  Arch,  Knight  of  the 
Brazen  Serpent,  etc.,  has  a  meaning  totally 
unconnected  with  Mediaeval  knighthood. 
In  fact,  although  the  English,  German,  and 
French  words  Knight,  Ritter,  and  Cheva- 
lier, are  applied  to  both,  the  Latin  word 
for  each  is  different.  A  Masonic  knight 
is,  in  Latin,  eques;  while  the  Mediaeval 
writers  always  called  a  knight  of  chivalry 
miles.  So  constant  is  this  distinction,  that 
in  the  two  instances  of  Masonic  knight- 
hood derived  from  the  chivalric  orders,  the 
Knight  Templar  and  the  Knight  of  Malta, 
this  word  miles  is  used,  instead  of  eques,  to 
indicate  that  they  are  not  really  degrees  of 
Masonic  knighthood.  Thus  we  say  Miles 
Templarius  and  Miles  Melitoz.  If  they  had 
been  inventions  of  a  Masonic  ritualist,  the 
titles  would  have  been  Eques  Templarius 
and  Eques  Melitoz. 

The  eques,  or  Masonic  knight,  is  there- 
fore not,  in  the  heraldic  sense,  a  knight  at 
all.  The  word  is  used  simply  to  denote  a 
position  higher  than  that  of  a  mere  Master; 
a  position  calling,  like  the  "devoir"  of 
knighthood,  for  the  performance  of  especial 
duties.  As  the  word  "  prince,"  in  Masonic 
language,  denotes  not  one  of  princely  rank, 
but  one  invested  with  a  share  of  Masonic 
sovereignty  and  command,  so  "  knight " 
denotes  one  who  is  expected  to  be  distin- 
guished with  peculiar  fidelity  to  the  cause 
in  which  he  has  enlisted.  It  is  simply,  as  I 
have  said,  a  point  of  rank  above  that  of  the 
Master  Mason.  It  is,  therefore,  confined  to 
the  high  degrees. 

Knight  .Haliadon.  ( Chevalier  Ma- 
hadon.)  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Lodge  of  Saint  Louis  des  Amis  Re'unis  at 
Calais. 

Knight  of  Asia,  Initiated.  See 
Asia,  Initiated  Knights  of. 

Knight  of  Athens.  (Chevalier  oV 
Athenes.)  1.  The  fifty -second  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  2.  A  degree  in  the 
nomenclature  of  Fustier.  3.  A  degree  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Philosophic  Rite  in  France. 

Knight  of  Aurora.  ( Chevalier  de 
VAurore.)     A  degree  belonging  to  the  Rite 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


407 


of  Palestine.  It  is  a  modification  of  the 
Kadosh,  and  is  cited  in  the  collection  of 
Fustier.  In  the  collection  of  M.  Viany,  it 
is  also  called  Knight  of  Palestine. 

Knight  of  Beneficence.  ( Cheva- 
lier de  la  Bienfaisance.)  The  forty-ninth 
degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan 
Chapter  of  France.  It  is  also  called  Knight 
of  Perfect  Silence. 

Knight  of  Brightness.  ( Chevalier 
de  la  ClartS. )  The  seventh  and  last  degree 
of  the  system  of  the  Clerks  of  Strict  Obser- 
vance, called  also  Magus. 

Knight  of  Christ.  After  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Templars  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  those  knights  who  resided  in  Por- 
tugal retained  the  possessions  of  the  Order 
in  that  country,  and  perpetuated  it  under 
the  name  of  the  Knights  of  Christ.  Their 
badge  is  a  red  cross  patte'e,  charged  with  a 
plain  white  cross.     See  Christ,  Order  of. 

Knight  of  Constantinople.  A 
side  degree ;  instituted,  doubtless,  by  some 
lecturer;  teaching,  however,  an  excellent 
moral  lesson  of  humility.  Its  history  has 
no  connection  whatever  with  Masonry. 
The  degree  is  not  very  extensively  diffused ; 
but  several  Masons,  especially  in  the  West- 
ern States,  are  in  possession  of  it.  It  may 
be  conferred  by  any  Master  Mason  on 
another ;  although  the  proper  performance 
of  the  ceremonies  requires  the  assistance  of 
several.  When  the  degree  is  formally  con- 
ferred, the  body  is  called  a  Council,  and 
consists  of  the  following  officers :  Illustri- 
ous Sovereign,  Chief'  of  the  Artisans, 
Seneschal,  Conductor,  Prefect  of  the  Pal- 
ace, and  Captain  of  the  Guards. 

Knight  of  Hope.  1.  A  species  of 
androgynous  Masonry,  formerly  practised 
in  France.  The  female  members  were 
called  Dames  or  Ladies  of  Hope.  2.  A 
synonym  of  Knight  of  the  Morning  Star, 
which  see. 

Knight  of  Iris.  ( Chevalier  de  VIris. ) 
The  fourth  degree  of  the  Hermetic  Rite  of 
Montpellier. 

Knight  of  Jerusalem.  ( Chevalier 
de  Jerusalem.)  The  sixty-fifth  degree  of 
the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France. 

Knight  of  Justice.  Knights  Hos- 
pitallers of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  or  Knights 
of  Malta  were  called,  in  the  technical  lan- 
guage of  the  Order,  Knights  of  Justice. 

Knights  of  Malta.  This  Order,  which 
at  various  times  in  the  progress  of  its  his- 
tory received  the  names  of  Knights  Hos- 
pitallers, Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jeru- 
salem, Knights  of  Rhodes,  and,  lastly, 
Knights  of  Malta,  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  religious  and  military  orders 
of  knighthood  which  sprang  into  exist- 
ence during  the  Crusades  which  were  insti- 


tuted for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land. 
It  owes  its  origin  to  the  Hospitallers  of  Je- 
rusalem, that  wholly  religious  and  charita- 
ble Order  which  was  established  at  Jerusa- 
lem, in  1048,  by  pious  merchants  of  Amalfi 
for  the  succor  of  poor  and  distressed  Latin 
pilgrims.  (See  Hospitallers  of  Jerusalem.) 
This  society,  established  when  Jerusalem 
was  in  possession  of  the  Mohammedans, 
passed  through  many  vicissitudes,  but  lived 
to  see  the  Holy  City  conquered  by  the 
Christian  knights.  It  then  received  many 
accessions  from  the  Crusaders,  who,  laying 
aside  their  arms,  devoted  themselves  to  the 
pious  avocation  of  attending  the  sick.  It 
was  then  that  Gerard,  the  Rector  of  the 
Hospital,  induced  the  brethren  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  vows  of  poverty,  obedience, 
and  chastity,  which  they  did  at  the  hands 
of  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who  clothed 
them  in  the  habit  selected  for  the  Order, 
which  was  a  plain,  black  robe  bearing  a 
white  cross  of  eight  points  on  the  left 
breast.  This  was  in  the  year  1099,  and 
some  writers  here  date  the  beginning  of  the 
Order  of  Knights  of  Malta.  But  this  is  an 
error.  It  was  not  until  after  the  death  of 
Gerard  that  the  Order  assumed  that  mili- 
tary character  which  it  ever  afterwards 
maintained,  or,  in  other  words,  that  the 
peaceful  Hospitallers  of  Jerusalem  became 
the  warlike  Knights  of  St.  John. 

In  1118,  Gerard,  the  Rector  of  the  Hospi- 
tal, died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Raymond 
du  Puy,  whom  Marulli,  the  old  chronicler 
of  the  Order,  in  his  Vile  de'  Oran  Maestri, 
(Napoli,  1636,)  calls  "secondo  Rettore  e 
primo  Maestro." 

The  peaceful  habits  and  monastic  seclu- 
sion of  the  Brethren  of  the  Hospital,  which 
had  been  fostered  by  Gerard,  no  longer 
suited  the  warlike  genius  of  his  successor. 
He  therefore  proposed  a  change  in  the 
character  of  the  society,  by  which  it  should 
become  a  military  Order,  devoted  to  active 
labors  in  the  field  and  the  protection  of 
Palestine  from  the  encroachments  of  the 
infidels.  This  proposition  was  warmly  ap- 
proved by  Baldwyn  II.,  king  of  Jerusalem, 
who,  harassed  by  a  continual  warfare,  gladly 
accepted  this  addition  to  his  forces.  The 
Order  having  thus  been  organized  on  a  mili- 
tary basis,  the  members  took  a  new  oath, 
at  the  hands  of  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 
by  which  they  bound  themselves  to  defend 
the  cause  of  Christianity  against  the  infi- 
dels in  the  Holy  Land  to  the  last  drop  of 
their  blood,  but  on  no  account  to  bear  arms 
for  any  other  purpose. 

This  act,  done  in  1118,  is  considered  as 
the  beginning  of  the  establishment  of  the 
Order  of  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John, 
of  which  Raymond  du  Puy  is,  by  all  his- 
torians, deemed  the  first  Grand  Master. 


408 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


By  the  rule  established  by  Du  Puy  for 
the  government  of  the  Order,  it  was 
divided  into  three  classes,  namely,  1. 
Knights,  who  were  called  Knights  of  Jus- 
tice; 2.  Chaplains;  and  3.  Serving  Bro- 
thers ;  all  of  whom  took  the  three  vows  of 
chastity,  obedience,  and  poverty.  There 
was  also  attached  to  the  institution  a  body 
of  men  called  Donats,  who,  without  assum- 
ing the  vows  of  the  Order,  were  employed 
in  the  different  offices  of  the  hospital,  and 
who  wore  what  was  called  the  demi-cross, 
as  a  badge  of  their  connection. 

The  history  of  the  Knights  from  this 
time  until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury is  but  a  chronicle  of  continued  war- 
fare with  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  faith. 
When  Jerusalem  was  captured  by  Saladin, 
in  1187,  the  Hospitallers  retired  to  Margat, 
a  town  and  fortress  of  Palestine  which  still 
acknowledged  the  Christian  sway.  In  1191, 
they  made  Acre,  which  in  that  year  had 
been  recaptured  by  the  Christians,  their 

Erincipal  place  of  residence.  For  just  one 
undred  years  the  knights  were  engaged, 
with  varying  success,  in  sanguinary  contests 
with  the  Saracens  and  other  infidel  hordes, 
until  Acre,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Chris- 
tians in  the  Holy  Land,  having  fallen  be- 
neath the  blows  of  the  victorious  Moslems, 
Syria  was  abandoned  by  the  Latin  race,  and 
the  Hospitallers  found  refuge  in  the  island 
of  Cyprus,  where  they  established  their  con- 
vent. 

The  Order  had  been  much  attenuated  by 
its  frequent  losses  in  the  field,  and  its  treas- 
ury had  been  impoverished.  But  commands 
were  at  once  issued  by  John  de  Villiers,  the 
Grand  Master,  to  the  different  Grand  Prio- 
ries in  Europe,  and  large  reinforcements  in 
men  and  money  were  soon  received,  so  that 
the  Fraternity  were  enabled  again  to  open 
their  hospital  and  to  recommence  the  prac- 
tice of  their  religious  duties.  No  longer 
able  to  continue  their  military  exploits  on 
land,  the  knights  betook  themselves  to  their 
galleys,  and,  while  they  protected  the  pil- 
grims who  still  flocked  in  vast  numbers  to 
Palestine,  gave  security  to  the  Christian 
commerce  of  the  Mediterranean.  On  sea, 
as  on  land,  the  Hospitallers  still  showed 
that  they  were  the  inexorable  and  terrible 
foes  of  the  infidels,  whose  captured  vessels 
soon  filled  the  harbor  of  Cyprus. 

But  in  time  a  residence  in  Cyprus  became 
unpleasant.  The  king,  by  heavy  taxes  and 
other  rigorous  exactions,  had  so  disgusted 
them,  that  they  determined  to  seek  some 
other  residence.  The  neighboring  island 
of  Rhodes  had  long,  under  its  independent 
princes,  been  the  refuge  of  Turkish  corsairs; 
a  name  equivalent  to  the  more  modern  one 
of  pirates.  Fulk  de  Villaret,  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Hospital,  having  obtained  the 


approval  of  Pope  Clement  and  the  assist- 
ance of  several  of  the  European  States, 
made  a  descent  upon  the  island,  and,  after 
months  of  hard  fighting,  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1310,  planted  the  standard  of  the 
Order  on  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Rhodes ; 
and  the  island  thenceforth  became  the  home 
of  the  Hospitallers,  whence  they  were  often 
called  the  Knights  of  Rhodes. 

The  Fraternity  continued  to  reside  at 
Rhodes  for  two  hundred  years,  acting  as 
the  outpost  and  defence  of  Christendom 
from  the  encroachments  of  the  Ottoman 
power.  Of  this  long  period,  but  few  years 
were  passed  in  peace,  and  the  military  repu- 
tation of  the  Order  was  still  more  firmly 
established  by  the  prowess  of  the  knights. 
These  two  centuries  were  marked  by  other 
events  which  had  an  important  bearing  on 
the  fortunes  of  the  institution.  The  rival 
brotherhood  of  the  Templars  was  abolished 
by  the  machinations  of  a  pope  and  a  king 
of  France,  and  what  of  its  revenues  and 
possessions  was  saved  from  the  spoliation 
of  its  enemies  was  transferred  to  the  Hospi- 
tallers. 

There  had  always  existed  a  bitter  rivalry 
between  the  two  Orders,  marked  by  un- 
happy contentions,  which  on  some  occa- 
sions, while  both  were  in  Palestine, 
amounted  to  actual  strife.  Towards  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  the  Templars  had 
never  felt  nor  expressed  a  very  kindly  feel- 
ing; and  now  this  acceptance  of  an  unjust 
appropriation  of  their  goods  in  the  hour  of 
their  disaster,  keenly  added  to  the  sentiment 
of  ill-will,  and  the  unhappy  children  of  De 
Molay,  as  they  passed  away  from  the  thea- 
tre of  knighthood,  left  behind  them  the 
bitterest  imprecations  on  the  disciples  of 
the  Hospital. 

The  Order,  during  its  residence  at  Rhodes, 
also  underwent  several  changes  in  its  or- 
ganization, by  which  the  simpler  system 
observed  during  its  infancy  in  the  Holy 
Land  was  rendered  more  perfect  and  more 
complicated.  The  greatest  of  all  these 
changes  was  in  the  character  of  the  Eu- 
ropean Commanderies.  During  the  period 
that  the  Order  was  occupied  in  the  defence 
of  the  holy  places,  and  losing  large  num- 
bers of  its  warriors  in  its  almost  continual 
battles,  these  Commanderies  served  as  nur- 
series for  the  preparation  and  education  of 
young  knights  who  might  be  sent  to  Pales- 
tine to  reinforce  the  exhausted  ranks  of 
their  brethren.  But  now,  secured  in  their 
island  home,  Jerusalem  permanently  in 
possession  of  the  infidel,  and  the  enthusi- 
asm once  inspired  by  Peter  the  Hermit 
forever  dead,  there  was  no  longer  need  for 
new  Crusaders.  But  the  knights,  engaged 
in  strengthening  and  decorating  their  in- 
sular possession  by  erecting  fortifications 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


409 


for  defence,  and  palaces  and  convents  for 
residence,  now  required  large  additions  to 
their  revenue  to  defray  the  expenses  thus 
incurred.  Hence  the  Commanderies  were 
the  sources  whence  this  revenue  was  to 
be  derived ;  and  the  Commanders,  once  the 
Principals,  as  it  were,  of  military  schools, 
became  lords  of  the  manor  in  their  respec- 
tive provinces.  There,  by  a  judicious  and 
economical  administration  of  the  property 
which  had  been  intrusted  to  them,  by  the 
cultivation  of  gardens  and  orchards,  by  the 
rent  received  from  arable  and  meadow- 
lands,  of  mills  and  fisheries  appertaining 
to  their  estates,  and  even  by  the  voluntary 
contributions  of  their  neighbors,  and  by  the 
raising  of  stock,  they  were  enabled  to  add 
greatly  to  their  income.  Of  this  one-fifth 
was  claimed,  under  the  name  of  respon- 
sions,  as  a  tribute  to  be  sent  annually  to 
Rhodes  for  the  recuperation  of  the  always 
diminishing  revenue  of  the  Order. 

Another  important  change  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Order  was  made  at  a  General 
Chapter  held  about  1320  at  Montpellier, 
under  the  Grand  Mastership  of  Villanova. 
The  Order  was  there  divided  into  languages, 
a  division  unknown  during  its  existence  in 
Palestine.  These  languages  were  at  first 
seven  in  number,  but  afterwards  increased  to 
eight,  by  the  subdivision  of  that  of  Aragon. 
The  principal  dignities  of  the  Order  were 
at  the  same  time  divided  among  these 
languages,  so  that  a  particular  dignity 
should  be  always  enjoyed  by  the  same 
language.  These  languages,  and  the  digni- 
ties respectively  attached  to  them,  were  as 
follows : 

1.  Provence :  Grand  Commander. 

2.  Auvergne :  Grand  Marshal. 

3.  France:  Grand  Hospitaller. 

4.  Italy :  Grand  Admiral. 

5.  Aragon :  Grand  Conservator. 

6.  Germany  :  Grand  Bailiff. 

7.  Castile:  Grand  Chancellor. 

8.  England :  Grand  Turcopolier. 

But  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  changes 
was  that  which  took  place  in  the  personal 
character  of  the  Knights.  "  The  Order," 
says  Taafe,  {Hist.,  iv.  234,)  "  had  been  above 
two  hundred  years  old  before  it  managed  a 
boat,  but  was  altogether  equestrian  during 
its  two  first,  and  perhaps  most  glorious,  cen- 
turies." But  on  settling  at  Rhodes,  the 
knights  began  to  attack  their  old  enemies 
by  sea  with  the  same  prowess  with  which 
they  had  formerly  met  them  on  land,  and 
the  victorious  contests  of  the  galleys  of  St. 
John  with  the  Turkish  corsairs,  who  were 
infesting  the  Mediterranean,  proved  them 
well  entitled  to  the  epithet  of  naval  war- 
riors." 

In  the  year  1480,  Rhodes  was  unsuccess- 
fully besieged  by  the  Ottoman  army  of 
3B 


Mahomet  II.,  under  the  command  of  Pale- 
ologus  Pasha.  After  many  contests,  the 
Turks  were  repulsed  with  great  slaughter. 
But  the  attack  of  the  Sultan  Solyman,  forty- 
four  years  afterwards,  was  attended  with  a 
different  result,  and  Rhodes  was  surren- 
dered to  the  Turkish  forces  on  the  20th  De- 
cember, 1522.  The  terms  of  the  capitula- 
tion were  liberal  to  the  knights,  who  were 
permitted  to  retire  with  all  their  personal 
property ;  and  thus,  in  the  Grand  Master- 
ship of  L'Isle  Adam,  Rhodes  ceased  forever 
to  be  the  home  of  the  Order,  and  six  days 
afterwards,  on  New  Year's  day,  1523,  the 
fleet,  containing  the  knights  and  four  thou- 
sand of  the  inhabitants,  sailed  for  the  island 
of  Candia. 

From  Candia,  where  the  Grand  Master 
remained  but  a  short  time,  he  proceeded 
with  his  knights  to  Italy.  Seven  long 
years  were  passed  in  negotiations  with  the 
monarchs  of  Europe,  and  in  the  search  for 
a  home.  At  length,  the  Emperor  Charles 
V.,  of  Germany,  vested  in  the  Order  the 
complete  and  perpetual  sovereignty  of  the 
islands  of  Malta  and  Gozo,  and  the  city  of 
Tripoli;  and  in  1530,  the  knights  took 
formal  possession  of  Malta,  where,  to  borrow 
the  language  of  Porter,  {Hist,  ii.  33,)  "for 
upwards  of  two  centuries  and  a  half,  waved 
the  banner  of  St.  John,  an  honor  to  Christi- 
anity and  a  terror  to  the  infidel  of  the  East." 
From  this  time  the  Order  received  the  des- 
ignation of  "  Knights  of  Malta,"  a  title 
often  bestowed  upon  it,  even  in  official  docu- 
ments, in  the  place  of  the  original  one  of 
"Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jeru- 
salem." 

For  268  years  the  Order  retained  pos- 
session of  the  island  of  Malta.  But  in 
1798  it  was  surrendered  without  a  strug- 
gle by  Louis  de  Hompesch,  the  imbecile 
and  pusillanimous  Grand  Master,  to  the 
French  army  and  fleet  under  Bonaparte; 
and  this  event  may  be  considered  as  the 
commencement  of  the  suppression  of  the 
Order  as  an  active  power. 

Hompesch,  accompanied  by  a  few  knights, 
embarked  in  a  few  days  for  Trieste,  and 
subsequently  retired  to  Montpellier,  where 
he  resided  in  the  strictest  seclusion  and 
poverty  until  May  12,  1805,  when  he  died, 
leaving  behind  him  not  enough  to  remuner- 
ate the  physicians  who  had  attended  him. 

The  great  body  of  the  knights  proceeded 
to  Russia,  where  the  Emperor  Paul  had  a  few 
years  before  been  proclaimed  the  protector 
of  the  Order.  On  the  27th  October,  1798, 
a  Chapter  of  such  of  the  knights  as  were 
in  St.  Petersburg  was  held,  and  the  Em- 
peror Paul  I.  was  elected  Grand  Master. 
This  election  was  made  valid,  so  far  as  its 
irregularities  would  permit,  by  the  abdica- 
tion of  Hompesch  in  July,  1799. 


410 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


At  the  death  of  Paul  in  1801,  his  suc- 
cessor on  the  throne,  Alexander,  appointed 
Count  Soltikoff  as  Lieutenant  of  the 
Mastery,  and  directed  him  to  convene  a 
Council  at  St.  Petersburg  to  deliberate  on 
future  action.  This  assembly  adopted  a 
new  statute  for  the  election  of  the  Grand 
Master,  which  provided  that  each  Grand 
Priory  should  in  a  Provincial  Chapter 
nominate  a  candidate,  and  that  out  of  the 
persons  so  nominated  the  Pope  should 
make  a  selection.  Accordingly,  in  1802,  the 
Pope  appointed  John  de  Tommasi,  who 
was  the  last  knight  that  bore  the  title  of 
Grand  Master. 

On  the  death  of  Tommasi,  the  Pope  de- 
clined to  assume  any  longer  the  responsi- 
bility of  nominating  a  Grand  Master,  and 
appointed  the  Bailiff  Guevarr  Luardo 
simply  as  Lieutenant  of  the  Mastery,  a 
title  afterwards  held  by  his  successors  Cen- 
telles,  Busca.  De  Candida  and  Collavedo. 
In  1826  and  1827,  the  first  steps  were  taken 
for  the  revival  of  the  English  language,  and 
Sir  Joshua  Meredith,  Bart.,  who  had  been 
made  a  knight  in  1798  by  Hompesch, 
being  appointed  Lieutenant  Prior  of  Eng- 
land, admitted  many  English  gentlemen 
into  the  Order. 

But  the  real  history  of  the  Order  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem  ends  with  the  disgrace- 
ful capitulation  of  Malta  in  1798.  All 
that  has  since  remained  of  it;  all  that  now 
remains, —  however  imposing  may  be  the 
titles  assumed, — is  but  the  diluted  shadow 
of  its  former  existence. 

The  organization  of  the  Order  in  its 
days  of  prosperity  was  very  complicated, 
partaking  both  of  a  monarchial  and  a  re- 
publican character.  Over  all  presided  a 
Grand  Master,  who,  although  invested  with 
extensive  powers,  was  still  controlled  by  the 
legislative  action  of  the  General  Chapter. 

The  Order  was  divided  into  eight  lan- 
guages, over  each  of  which  presided  one  of 
the  Grand  dignitaries  with  the  title  of  Con- 
ventual Bailiff.  These  dignitaries  were  the 
Grand  Commander,  the  Grand  Marshal,  the 
Grand  Hospitaller,  the  Grand  Conservator, 
the  Grand  Turcopolier,  the  Grand  Bailiff, 
and  the  Grand  Chancellor.  Each  of  these 
dignitaries  resided  in  the  palace  or  inn  at 
Malta  which  was  appropriated  to  his  lan- 
guage. In  every  province  there  were  one 
or  more  Grand  Priories  presided  over  by 
Grand  Priors,  and  beneath  these  were  the 
Commanderies,  over  each  of  which  was  a 
Commander.  There  were  scattered  through 
the  different  countries  of  Europe  22  Grand 
Priories  and  596  Commanderies. 

Those  who  desired  admission  into  the 
Order  as  members  of  the  first  class,  or 
Knights  of  Justice,  were  required  to  pro- 
duce proofs  of  noble  descent.     The  cere- 


monies of  initiation  were  public  and  exceed- 
ingly simple,  consisting  of  little  more  than 
the  taking  of  the  necessary  vow.  In  this 
the  Hospitallers  differed  from  the  Templars, 
whose  formula  of  admission  was  veiled  in 
secrecy.  Indeed,  Porter  (Hist.,  i.  203,)  at- 
tributes the  escape  of  the  former  Order 
from  the  accusations  that  were  heaped  upon 
the  latter,  and  which  led  to  its  dissolution, 
to  the  fact  that  the  Knights  "abjured  all 
secrecy  in  their  forms  and  ceremonies." 

The  Order  was  dissolved  in  England  by 
Henry  VIII.,  and,  although  temporarily 
restored  by  Mary,  was  finally  abolished  in 
England.  A  decree  of  the  Constituent 
Assembly  abolished  it  in  France  in  1792. 
By  a  decree  of  Charles  IV.,  of  Spain,  in 
1802,  the  two  languages  of  Aragon  and 
Castile  became  the  Royal  Spanish  Order  of 
St.  John,  of  which  he  declared  himself  the 
Grand  Master. 

Now,  only  the  languages  of  Germany  and 
Italy  remain.  The  Order  is,  therefore,  at 
this  day  in  a  state  of  abeyance,  if  not  of 
disintegration,  although  it  still  maintains 
its  vitality,  and  the  functions  of  Grand 
Master  are  exercised  by  a  Lieutenant  of  the 
Magistery,  who  resides  at  Rome.  Attempts 
have  also  been  made,  from  time  to  time,  to 
revive  the  Order  in  different  places,  some- 
times with  and  sometimes  without  the  legal 
sanction  of  the  recognized  head  of  the  Or- 
der. For  instance,  there  are  now  in  Eng- 
land two  bodies, — one  Catholic,  under  Sir 
George  Bowyer,  and  the  other  Protestant, 
at  the  head  of  which  is  the  Duke  of  Man- 
chester; but  each  repudiates  the  other. 
But  the  relic  of  the  old  and  valiant  Order 
of  Knights  Hospitallers  claims  no  connec- 
tion with  the  branch  of  Masonry  which 
bears  the  title  of  Knights  of  Malta,  and 
hence  the  investigation  of  its  present  con- 
dition is  no  part  of  the  province  of  this 
work. 

Knight  of  Malta,  Masonic.  The 
degree  of  Knight  of  Malta  is  conferred  in 
the  United  States  as  "an  appendant  Order" 
in  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Templars. 
There  is  a  ritual  attached  to  the  degree,  but 
very  few  are  in  possession  of  it,  and  it  is 
generally  communicated  alter  the  candidate 
has  been  created  a  Knight  Templar;  the 
ceremony  consisting  generally  only  in  the 
reading  of  the  passage  of  Scripture  pre- 
scribed in  the  Monitors,  and  the  communi- 
cation of  the  modes  of  recognition. 

How  anything  so  anomalous  in  history 
as  the  commingling  in  one  body  of  Knights 
Templars  and  Knights  of  Malta,  and  making 
the  same  person  a  representative  of  both 
Orders,  first  arose,  it  is  now  difficult  to  de- 
termine. It  was,  most  probably,  a  device 
of  Thomas  S.  Webb,  and  was,  it  may  be 
supposed,  one  of  the  results  of  a  too  great 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


411 


fondness  for  the  accumulation  of  degrees. 
Mitchell,  in  his  History  of  Freemasonry, 
(ii.  83,)  says:  "The  degree,  so  called,  of 
Malta,  or  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  crept  in, 
we  suppose,  by  means  of  a  bungler,  who, 
not  knowing  enough  of  the  ritual  to  confer 
it  properly,  satisfied  himself  by  simply 
adding  a  few  words  in  the  ceremony  of 
dubbing ;  and  thus,  by  the  addition  of  a  few 
signs  and  words  but  imperfectly  understood, 
constituted  a  Knight  Templar  also  a  Knight 
of  Malta,  and  so  the  matter  stands  to  this 
day."  I  am  not  generally  inclined  to  place 
much  confidence  in  Mitchell  as  an  historian ; 
yet  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  in  this  in- 
stance his  guess  is  not  very  far  from  the 
truth,  although,  as  usual  with  him,  there 
is  a  tinge  of  exaggeration  in  his  statement. 

There  is  evidence  that  the  degree  was 
introduced  at  a  very  early  period  into  the 
Masonry  of  this  country.  In  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  "  United  States  Grand  Encamp- 
ment," adopted  in  1805,  one  section  enu- 
merates "  Encampments  of  Knights  of 
Malta,  Knights  Templars,  and  Councils  of 
Knights  of  the  Red  Cross."  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  Knight  of  Malta  precedes 
the  Knight  Templar ;  whereas,  in  the  pres- 
ent system,  the  former  is  made  the  ultimate 
degree  of  the  series.  Yet,  in  this  Consti- 
tution, no  further  notice  is  taken  of  the 
degree ;  for  while  the  fees  for  the  Red  Cross 
and  the  Templar  degrees  are  prescribed, 
there  is  no  reference  to  any  to  be  paid  for 
that  of  Malta.  In  the  revised  Constitution 
of  1816,  the  order  of  the  series  was  changed 
to  Red  Cross,  Templar,  and  Malta,  which 
arrangement  has  ever  since  been  main- 
tained. The  Knights  of  Malta  are  desig- 
nated as  one  of  the  "  Appendant  Orders," 
a  title  and  a  subordinate  position  which 
the  pride  of  the  old  Knights  of  Malta  would 
hardly  have  permitted  them  to  accept. 

In  1856,  the  Knights  Templars  of  the 
United  States  had  become  convinced  that 
the  incorporation  of  the  Order  of  Malta 
with  the  Knights  Templars,  and  making 
the  same  person  the  possessor  of  both 
Orders,  was  so  absurd  a  violation  of  all  his- 
toric truth,  that  at  the  session  of  the  Gen- 
eral Grand  Encampment  in  that  year,  at 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  on  the  suggestion 
of  the  author,  the  degree  was  unanimously 
stricken  from  the  Constitution  ;  but  at  the 
session  of  1862,  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  it  was, 
I  think,  without  due  consideration,  restored, 
and  is  now  communicated  in  the  Com- 
manderies  of  Knights  Templars. 

There  is  no  fact  in  history  better  known 
than  that  there  existed  from  their  very 
birth  a  rivalry  between  the  two  Orders  of 
the  Temple  and  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
which  sometimes  burst  forth  into  open  hos- 
tility.    Porter  says,  (Hist.  K.  of  Malta,  i. 


107,)  speaking  of  the  dissensions  of  the  two 
Orders,  "  instead  of  confining  their  rivalry 
to  a  friendly  emulation,  whilst  combating 
against  their  common  foe,  they  appeared 
more  intent  upon  thwarting  and  frustrating 
each  other,  than  in  opposing  the  Saracen." 

To  such  an  extent  had  the  quarrels  of  the 
two  Orders  proceeded,  that  Pope  Alexan- 
der III.  found  it  necessary  to  interfere;  and 
in  1179  a  hollow  truce  was  signed  by  the 
rival  houses  of  the  Temple  and  the  Hospi- 
tal ;  the  terms  of  which  were,  however, 
never  strictly  observed  by  either  side.  On 
the  dissolution  of  the  Templars  so  much 
of  their  possessions  as  were  not  confiscated 
to  public  use  were  given  by  the  sovereigns 
of  Europe  to  the  Knights  of  Malta,  who 
accepted  the  gift  without  compunction. 
And  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  surviving 
Templars,  indignant  at  the  spoliation  and 
at  the  mercenary  act  of  their  old  rivals  in 
willingly  becoming  a  party  to  the  robbery, 
solemnly  registered  a  vow  never  thereafter 
to  recognize  them  as  friends. 

The  attempt  at  this  day  to  make  a  mod- 
ern Knight  Templar  accept  initiation  into 
a  hated  and  antagonistic  Order  is  to  dis- 
play a  lamentable  ignorance  of  the  facts  of 
history. 

Another  reason  why  the  degree  of 
Knight  of  Malta  should  be  rejected  from 
the  Masonic  system  is  that  the  ancient 
Order  never  was  a  secret  association.  Its 
rites  of  reception  were  open  and  public, 
wholly  unlike  anything  in  Masonry.  In 
fact,  historians  have  believed  that  the  favor 
shown  to  the  Hospitallers,  and  the  persecu- 
tions waged  against  the  Templars,  are  to  be 
attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  latter  Order 
had  a  secret  system  of  initiation  which  did 
not  exist  in  the  former.  The  ritual  of  re- 
ception, the  signs  and  words  as  modes  of 
recognition  now  practised  in  the  modern 
Masonic  ceremonial,  are  all  a  mere  inven- 
tion of  a  very  recent  date.  The  old  Knights 
knew  nothing  of  such  a  system. 

A  third,  and  perhaps  the  best,  reason  for 
rejecting  the  Knights  of  Malta  as  a  Masonic 
degree  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
Order  still  exists,  although  in  a  somewhat 
decayed  condition ;  and  that  its  members, 
claiming  an  uninterrupted  descent  from  the 
Knights  who,  with  Hompesch,  left  the 
island  of  Malta  in  1797,  and  threw  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  Paul  of  Rus- 
sia, utterly  disclaim  any  connection  with 
the  Freemasons,  and  almost  contemptu- 
ously repudiate  the  so-called  Masonic 
branch  of  the  Order.  In  1858,  a  manifesto 
was  issued  by  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  Order,  dated  from  "the  Magisterial 
Palace  of  the  Sacred  Order"  at  Rome, 
which,  after  stating  that  the  Order,  as  it 
then  existed,  consisted  only  of  the  Grand 


412 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


Priories  in  the  Langues  of  Italy  and  Ger- 
many, the  knights  in  Prussia,  who  trace 
descent  from  the  Grand  Bailiwick  of  Bran- 
denburg, and  a  few  other  knights  who  had 
been  legally  received  by  the  Mastership 
and  Council,  declares  that  : 

"  Beyond  and  out  of  the  above-men- 
tioned Langues  and  Priories,  and  except- 
ing the  knights  created  and  constituted  as 
aforesaid,  all  those  who  may  so  call  or  enti- 
tle themselves  are  legally  ignored  by  our 
Sacred  Order." 

There  is  no  room  there  provided  for  the 
so-called  Masonic  Knights  of  Malta.  But 
a  writer  in  Notes  and  Queries,  (3d  Ser.,  iii. 
413,)  who  professes  to  be  in  possession  of 
the  degree,  says,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry,  that 
the  Masonic  degree  "  has  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem."  This  is  most  un- 
doubtedly true  in  reference  to  the  American 
degree.  Neither  in  its  form,  its  ritual,  the 
objects  it  professes,  its  tradition,  nor  its 
historical  relations,  is  it  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree assimilated  to  the  ancient  Order  of 
Hospitallers,  afterwards  called  Knights  of 
Rhodes,  and,  finally,  Knights  of  Malta. 
To  claim,  therefore,  to  be  the  modern  repre- 
sentatives of  that  Order,  to  wear  its  dress, 
to  adopt  its  insignia,  to  flaunt  its  banners, 
and  to  leave  the  world  to  believe  that  the 
one  is  but  the  uninterrupted  continuation 
of  the  other,  are  acts  which  must  be  regarded 
as  a  very  ridiculous  assumption,  if  not  actu- 
ally entitled  to  a  less  courteous  appellation. 

For  all  these  reasons,  I  think  that  it  is 
much  to  be  regretted  that  the  action  of  the 
Grand  Encampment  in  repudiating  the  de- 
gree in  1856  was  reversed  in  1862.  The 
degree  has  no  historical  or  traditional  con- 
nection with  Masonry;  holds  no  proper 
place  in  a  Commandery  of  Templars,  and 
ought  to  be  wiped  out  of  the  catalogue  of 
Masonic  degrees. 

Knight  of  Masonry,  Terrible. 
(  Chevalier  Terrible  de  la  Maconnerie. )  A  de- 
gree contained  in  the  collection  of  Le  Page. 

Knight  of  Palestine.  [Chevalier 
de  la  Palestine.)  1.  The  sixty-third  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  2.  The  ninth  de- 
gree of  the  Reform  of  St.  Martin.  3.  One 
of  the  series  of  degrees  formerly  given  in 
the  Baldwyn  Encampment  of  England,  and 
said  to  have  been  introduced  into  Bristol,  in 
1800,  by  some  French  refugees  under  the 
authority  of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France. 

Knight  of  Patmos.  An  apocalyptic 
degree  mentioned  by  Oliver  in  his  Land- 
marks. It  refers,  he  says,  to  the  banish- 
ment of  St.  John. 

Knight  of  Perfumes.  ( Chevalier 
des  Parfums.)  The  eighth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  the  East  (Rite  d'Orient)  according 
to  the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 


Knight  of  Pure  Truth.  ( Chevalier 
de  la  Pure  Verity.)  Thory  mentions  this  as 
a  secret  society  instituted  by  the  scholars 
of  the  Jesuitical  college  at  Tulle.  It  could 
scarcely  have  been  Masonic. 

Knight  of  Purity  and  Light. 
[Bitter  der  Klarheit  und  des  Lichts.)  The 
seventh  and  last  degree  of  the  Rite  of  the 
Clerks  of  Strict  Observance,  which  see. 

Knight  of  Rhodes.  1.  One  of  the 
titles  given  to  the  Knights  Hospitallers  in 
consequence  of  their  long  residence  on  the 
island  of  Rhodes.  2.  A  degree  formerly 
conferred  in  the  Baldwyn  Encampment  at 
Bristol,  England.  It  seems  in  some  way  to 
have  been  confounded  with  the  Mediterra- 
nean Pass. 

Knight  of  Rose  Croix.  See  Rose 
Croix. 

Knight  of  St.  Andrew,  Grand 
Scottish.  {Grand  Ecossak  de  Saint  An- 
dre.) Sometimes  called  "  Patriarch  of  the 
Crusades."  The  twenty-ninth  degree  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  Its 
ritual  is  founded  on  a  legend,  first  promul- 
gated by  the  Chevalier  Ramsay,  to  this 
effect:  that  the  Freemasons  were  originally 
a  society  of  knights  founded  in  Palestine  for 
the  purpose  of  building  Christian  churches; 
that  the  Saracens,  to  prevent  the  execution 
of  this  design,  sent  emissaries  among  them, 
who  disguised  themselves  as  Christians, 
and  were  continually  throwing  obstacles  in 
their  way ;  that  on  discovering  the  exist- 
ence of  these  spies,  the  knights  instituted 
certain  modes  of  recognition  to  serve  as  the 
means  of  detection ;  that  they  also  adopted 
symbolic  ceremonies  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
structing the  proselytes  who  had  entered 
the  society  in  the  forms  and  principles  of 
their  new  religion ;  and  finally,  that  the 
Saracens,  having  become  too  powerful  for 
the  knights  any  longer  to  contend  with 
them,  they  had  accepted  the  invitation  of 
a  king  of  England,  and  had  removed  into 
his  dominions,  where  they  thenceforth  de- 
voted themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  arch- 
itecture and  the  fine  arts.  On  this  mythical 
legend,  which  in  reality  was  only  an  appli- 
cation of  Ramsay's  theory  of  the  origin  of 
Freemasonry,  the  Baron  de  Tschoudy  is 
said,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  to 
have  formed  this  degree,  which  Ragon  says 
(Orthod.  Macon.,  p.  138,)  at  his  death,  in 
1769,  he  bequeathed  in  manuscript  to  the 
Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West. 
On  the  subsequent  extension  of  the  twenty- 
five  degrees  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection,  in- 
stituted by  that  body,  to  the  thirty-three  de- 
grees of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite, 
this  degree  was  adopted  as  the  twenty-ninth, 
and  as  an  appropriate  introduction  to  the 
Knights  of  Kadosh,  which  it  immediate- 
ly precedes.    Hence  the  jewel,  a  St.  An- 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


413 


drew's  cross,  is  said,  by  Ragon,  to  be  only 
a  concealed  form  of  the  Templar  Cross.  In 
allusion  to  the  time  of  its  supposed  inven- 
tion, it  has  been  called  "  Patriarch  of  the 
Crusades."  On  account  of  the  Masonic  in- 
struction which  it  contains,  it  also  some- 
times receives  the  title  of  "  Grand  Master 
of  Light." 

The  Lodge  is  decorated  with  red  hang- 
ings supported  by  white  columns.  There 
are  eighty-one  lights,  arranged  as  follows  : 
four  in  each  corner  before  a  St.  Andrew's 
cross,  two  before  the  altar,  and  sixty-three 
arranged  by  nines  in  seven  different  parts 
of  the  room.  There  are  three  officers,  a 
Venerable  Grand  Master  and  two  Wardens. 
The  jewel  is  a  St.  Andrew's  cross,  appropri- 
ately decorated,  and  suspended  from  a  green 
collar  bordered  with  red. 

In  the  ritual  of  the  Southern  Jurisdiction, 
the  leading  idea  of  a  communication  be- 
tween the  Christian  knights  and  the  Sara- 
cens has  been  preserved ;  but  the  ceremonies 
and  the  legend  have  been  altered.  The  lesson 
intended  to  be  taught  is  toleration  of  religion. 

This  degree  also  constitutes  the  sixty- 
third  of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan 
Chapter  of  France;  the  fifth  of  the  Rite 
of  Clerks  of  Strict  Observance  ;  and  the 
twenty-first  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  It  is 
also  to  be  found  in  many  other  systems. 

Knight  of  St.  Andrew,  Free. 
( Chevalier  libre  de  Saint- Andre'. )  A  degree 
found  in  the  collection  of  Pyron. 

Knight  of  St.  Andrew  of  the 
Thistle.  ( Chevalier  Ecossais  de  S.  Andre 
du  Chardon.)  The  seventy-fifth  degree  of 
the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France. 

Knight  of  St.  John  of  Jerusa- 
lem. 1.  The  original  title  of  the  Knights 
of  Malta,  and  derived  from  the  church  and 
monastery  built  at  Jerusalem  in  1048  by 
the  founders  of  the  Order,  and  dedicated  to 
St.  John  the  Baptist.     See  Knight  of  Malta. 

2.  A  mystical  degree  divided  into  three 
sections,  which  is  found  in  the  collection  of 
Lemanceau. 

Knight  of  SI .  John  of  Palestine. 
{Chevalier  de  Sainte  Jean  de  la  Palestine.) 
The  forty-eighth  degree  of  the  Metropol- 
itan Chapter  of  France. 

Knight  of  the  Altar.  ( Chevalier 
de  I 'Autel.)  The  twelfth  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  the  East  according  to  the  nomenclature 
of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  American  Ea- 
gle. An  honorary  degree  invented  many 
years  ago  in  Texas  or  some  of  the  Western 
States.  It  was  founded  on  incidents  of  the 
American  Revolution,  and  gave  an  absurd 
legion  of  Hiram  Abif's  boyhood.  It  is 
now,  I  believe,  obsolete. 

Knight  of  the  Anchor.    ( Cheva- 


lier de  I'Ancre.)  1.  An  androgynous  de- 
gree. See  Anchor,  Order  of.  2.  The  twenty- 
first  degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Metro- 
politan Chapter  of  France. 

Knight  of  the  Ape  and  I, ion. 
Gadicke  says  (Freimaurer-Lez.)  that  this 
Order  appeared  about  the  year  1780,  but 
that  its  existence  was  only  made  known  by 
its  extinction.  It  adopted  the  lion  sleep- 
ing with  open  eyes  as  a  symbol  of  watch- 
fulness, and  the  ape  as  a  symbol  of  those 
who  imitate  without  due  penetration.  The 
members  boasted  that  they  possessed  all 
the  secrets  of  the  Ancient  Templars,  on 
which  account  they  were  persecuted  by  the 
modern  Order.  The  lion  and  ape,  as  sym- 
bols of  courage  and  address,  are  found  in 
one  of  the  degrees  described  in  the  Franc- 
Macons  Ecrasses. 

Knight  of  the  Arch.  ( Chevalier  de 
FArche.)  A  degree  found  in  the  nomen- 
clature of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Argonauts.  ( Cheva- 
lier dea  Argonautes.)  The  first  point  of 
the  sixth  degree,  or  Knight  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  of  the  Hermetic  Rite  of  Montpellier. 

Knight  of  the  Banqueting 
Tahle  of  the  Seven  Sages.  ( Cheva- 
lier de  la  Table  du  Banquet  des  Sept  Sages.) 
A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the  Mother 
Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Knight  of  the  Black  Eagle. 
( Chevalier  de  VAigle  noir.)  1.  The  seventy- 
sixth  degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Met- 
ropolitan Chapter  of  France;  called  also 
Grand  Inquisitor,  Grand  Inspector,  Grand 
Elu  or  Elect,  in  the  collection  of  Le 
Rouge.  2.  The  thirty-eighth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Knight  of  the  Brazen  Serpent. 
( Chevalier  du  Serpent  d'Airain.)  The  twen- 
ty-fifth degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite.  The  history  of  this  degree 
is  founded  upon  the  circumstances  related 
in  Numbers,  ch.  xxi.,  ver.  6-9 :  "  And  the 
Lord  sent  fiery  serpents  among  the  people, 
and  they  bit  the  people ;  and  much  people 
of  Israel  died.  Therefore  the  people  came 
to  Moses,  and  said,  We  have  sinned;  for 
we  have  spoken  against  the  Lord,  and 
against  thee :  pray  unto  the  Lord  that  he 
take  away  the  serpents  from  us.  And  Moses 
prayed  for  the  people.  And  the  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  Make  thee  a  fiery  serpent,  and 
set  it  upon  a  pole:  and  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  every  one  that  is  bitten,  when  he 
looketh  upon  it  shall  live.  And  Moses 
made  a  serpent  of  brass,  and  put  it  upon  a 
pole ;  and  it  came  to  pass,  that  if  a  serpent 
had  bitten  any  man,  when  he  beheld  the 
serpent  of  brass,  he  lived."  In  the  old 
rituals  the  Lodge  was  called  the  Court  of 
Sinai ;  the  presiding  officer  was  styled  Most 
Puissant  Grand  Master,  and  represented 


414 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


Moses ;  while  the  two  Wardens,  or  Minis- 
ters, represented  Aaron  and  Joshua.  The 
Orator  was  called  Pontiff;  the  Secretary, 
Grand  Graver ;  and  the  candidate,  a  Travel- 
ler. In  the  modern  ritual  adopted  in  this 
country,  the  Council  represents  the  camp  of 
the  Israelites.  The  first  three  officers  repre- 
sent Moses,  Joshua,  and  Caleb,  and  are 
respectively  styled  Most  Puissant  Leader, 
Valiant  Captain  of  the  Host,  and  Illus- 
trious Chief  of  the  Ten  Tribes.  The  Ora- 
tor represents  Eleazar;  the  Secretary, 
Ithamar ;  the  Treasurer,  Phinehas ;  and  the 
candidate  an  intercessor  for  the  people. 
The  jewel  is  a  crux  ansata,  with  a  serpent 
entwined  around  it.  On  the  upright  of  the 
cross  is  engraved  TlSn,  khalati,  I  have  suf- 
fered, and  on  the  arms  |ruPinJ,  nakhushtan, 
a  serpent.  The  French  ritualists  would 
have  done  better  to  have  substituted  for  the 
first  word  YlXttn,  khatati,  /  have  sinned  ; 
the  original  in  Numbers  being  USttWl, 
Kathanu,  we  have  sinned.  The  apron  is 
white,  lined  with  black,  and  symbolically 
decorated. 

There  is  an  old  legend  which  says  that 
this  degree  was  founded  in  the  time  of  the 
Crusades,  by  John  Ralph,  who  established 
the  Order  in  the  Holy  Land  as  a  military 
and  monastic  society,  and  gave  it  the  name 
of  the  Brazen  Serpent,  because  it  was  a 
part  of  their  obligation  to  receive  and  gra- 
tuitously nurse  sick  travellers,  to  protect 
them  against  the  attacks  of  the  Saraoens, 
and  escort  them  safely  to  Palestine ;  thus 
alluding  to  the  healing  and  saving  virtues 
of  the  Brazen  Serpent  among  the  Israelites 
in  the  wilderness. 

Knight  of  the  Burning  Bush. 
(Chevalier  du  Buisson  ardent.)  A  theo- 
sophic  degree  of  the  collection  of  the 
Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish 
Rite. 

Knight  of  the  Chanuca.  ( Cheva- 
lier de  la  Kanuka.)  The  sixty-ninth  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  The  rDljIl,  or 
Chanuca,  is  the  feast  of  the  dedication  cele- 
brated by  the  Jews  in  commemoration  of 
the  dedication  of  the  Temple  by  Judas  Mac- 
cabseus  after  its  pollution  by  the  Syrians. 
In  the  ritual  of  the  degree,  the  Jewish  light- 
ing of  seven  lamps,  one  on  each  day,  is  imi- 
tated, and  therefore  the  ceremony  of  initia- 
tion lasts  for  seven  days. 

Knight  of  the  Christian  Mark. 
Called  also  Guard  of  the  Conclave.  A  de- 
gree formerly  conferred  in  the  United 
States  on  Knights  Templars  in  a  body 
called  a  Council  of  the  Trinity.  The  legend 
of  the  Order  is  that  it  was  organized  by 
Pope  Alexander  for  the  defence  of  his  per- 
son, and  that  its  members  were  selected 
from  the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem. 
In  the  ceremonies  there  is  a  reference  to 


the  tau  cross  or  mark  on  the  forehead, 
spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  and 
hence  the  name  of  the  degree.  The  motto 
of  the  Order  is,  "  Christus  regnat,  vincit, 
triumphat.  Rex  regnantium,  Dominus 
dominantium."  Christ  reigns,  conquers, 
and  triumphs.  King  of  kings  and  Lord 
of  lords. 

Knight  of  the  Columns.  (Cheva- 
lier des  Colonnes.)  The  seventh  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  the  East  according  to  the  no- 
menclature of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Comet.  (Chevalier 
de  la  Cornite.)  A  degree  found  in  the  col- 
lection of  Hecart. 

Knight  of  the  Cork.  ( Chevalier  du 
Bouchon.)  An  androgynous  secret  society 
established  in  Italy  after  the  Papal  bull 
excommunicating  the  Freemasons,  and  in- 
tended by  its  founders  to  take  the  place  of 
the  Masonic  institution. 

Knight  of  the  Courts.  ( Chevalier 
des  Parvis.)  The  third  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  the  East  according  to  the  nomenclature 
of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Crown.  ( Chevalier 
de  la  Couronne.)  A  degree  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Pyron. 

Knight  of  the  Door.  ( Chevalier  de 
la  Porte.)  The  fourth  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  the  East  according  to  the  nomenclature 
of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Dove.  See  Dove, 
Knights  of  the.  The  Knights  and  Ladies 
of  the  Dove  ( Chevaliers  et  Chevalieres  de  la 
Colombe)  was  an  androgynous  secret  society 
framed  on  the  model  of  Freemasonry,  and 
instituted  at  Versailles  in  1784.  It  had  but 
an  ephemeral  existence. 

Knight  of  the  Eagle.  (Chevalier 
de  V Aigle. )  1 .  The  first  degree  of  the  Chap- 
ter of  Clermont.  2.  The  third  degree  of 
the  Clerks  of  Strict  Observance.  3.  The 
fifty-fifth  degree  of  the  collection  of  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France.  4.  It 
was  also  one  of  the  degrees  of  the  Chapter 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  Royal  York  of  Berlin. 
5.  The  thirty-seventh  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim.  Thory  says  it  was  also  one  of 
the  appellations  of  the  degree  more  com- 
monly called  Perfect  Master  in  Architecture, 
which  is  the  fourteenth  of  the  Primitive 
Scottish  Rite,  and  is  found  also  in  some 
other  systems. 

Knight  of  the  Eagle  and  Peli- 
ean.  One  of  the  appellations  of  the  degree 
of  Rose  Croix,  because  the  jewel  has  on 
one  side  an  eagle  and  on  the  other  a  peli- 
can, both  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  symbolism  of  the  degree.  See 
Rose  Croix. 

Knight  of  the  Eagle  reversed. 
(Chevalier  de  P  Aigle  renverse.)  Thory  re- 
cords this  as  a  degree  to  be  found  in  the 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


415 


Archives  of  the  Scottish  Lodge  Saint  Louis 
des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais.  In  heraldic 
phrase,  an  eagle  reversed  is  an  eagle  with 
the  wings  drooping. 

Knight  of  the  East.  {Chevalier 
d' Orient.)  This  is  a  degree  which  has  been 
extensively  diffused  through  the  most  im- 
portant Rites,  and  it  owes  its  popularity  to 
the  fact  that  it  commemorates  in  its  legend 
and  its  ceremonies  the  labors  of  the  Masons 
in  the  construction  of  the  second  Temple. 

1.  It  is  the  fifteenth  degree  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  the  de- 
scription of  which  will  apply  with  slight 
modifications  to  the  same  degree  in  all  the 
other  Rites.  It  is  founded  upon  the  history 
of  the  assistance  rendered  by  Cyrus  to  the 
Jews,  who  permitted  them  to  return  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  to  commence  the  rebuilding  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord.  Zerubbabel,  there- 
fore, as  the  Prince  of  the  Jews,  and  Cyrus 
the  King  of  Persia,  as  his  patron,  are  im- 
portant personages  in  the  drama  of  recep- 
tion ;  which  is  conducted  with  great  impres- 
siveness  even  in  the  old  and  somewhat  im- 
perfect ritual  of  the  last  century,  but  which 
has  been  greatly  improved,  I  think,  in  the 
modern  rituals  adopted  by  the  Supreme 
Councils  of  the  United  States. 

The  cordon  of  a  Knight  of  the  East  is  a 
broad  green  watered  ribbon,  worn  as  a 
baldric  from  left  to  right.  The  sash  or 
girdle  is  of  white  watered  silk,  edged  above, 
and  fringed  below  with  gold.  On  it  is  em- 
broidered a  bridge,  with  the  letters  L.  D. 
P.  on  the  arch,  and  also  on  other  parts 
of  the  girdle  human  heads,  and  mutilated 
limbs,  and  crowns,  and  swords.  The  apron 
is  crimson,  edged  with  green,  a  bleeding 
head  and  two  swords  crossed  on  the  flap, 
and  on  the  apron  three  triangles  interlaced 
formed  of  triangular  links  of  chains.  The 
jewel  is  three  triangles  interlaced  enclosing 
two  naked  swords. 

Scripture  and  the  traditions  of  the  Order 
furnish  us  with  many  interesting  facts  in 
relation  to  this  degree.  The  Knights  of 
the  East  are  said  to  derive  their  origin  from 
the  captivity  of  the  Israelites  in  Babylon. 
After  seventy-two  years  of  servitude,  they 
were  restored  to  liberty  by  Cyrus,  King  of 
Persia,  through  the  intercession  of  Zerub- 
babel, a  prince  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and 
Nehemias,  a  holy  man  of  a  distinguished 
family,  and  permitted  to  return  to  Jeru- 
salem and  rebuild  the  Temple. 

2.  It  is  the  sixth  degree  of  the  French 
Rite.  It  is  substantially  the  same  as  the 
preceding  degree. 

3.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  old  system  of 
the  Royal  York  Lodge  of  Berlin. 

4.  The  fifteenth  degree  of  the  Chapter  of 
the  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West,  and 
this  was  most  probably  the  original  degree. 


5.  The  fifty -second  degree  of  the  col- 
lection of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

6.  The  forty-first  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim. 

7.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Phila- 
lethes. 

8.  The  eleventh  degree  of  the  Adonhi- 
ramite  Rite. 

9.  It  is  also  substantially  the  tenth  de- 
gree, or  Knight  of  the  Red  Cross  of  the 
American  Rite.  Indeed,  it  is  found  in  all 
the  Rites  and  systems  which  refer  to  the 
second  Temple. 

Knight  of  the  East  and  West. 
(Chevalier  d' Orient  et  d' Occident.)  1.  The 
seventeenth  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite.  The  oldest  rituals 
of  the  degree  were  very  imperfect,  and  did 
not  connect  it  with  Freemasonry.  They 
contained  a  legend  that  upon  the  return  of 
the  knights  from  the  Holy  Land,  in  the 
time  of  the  Crusaders,  they  organized  the 
Order,  and  that  in  the  year  1118  the  first 
knights,  to  the  number  of  eleven,  took  their 
vows  between  ffle  hands  of  Garinus,  patri- 
arch. The  allusion,  here,  is  evidently  to  the 
Knights  Templars;  and  this  legend  would 
most  probably  indicate  that  the  degree 
originated  with  the  Templar  system  of 
Ramsay.  This  theory  is  further  strength- 
ened by  the  other  legend,  that  the  Knights 
of  the  East  represented  the  Masons  who 
remained  in  the  East  after  the  building  of 
the  first  Temple,  while  the  Knights  of  the 
East  and  West  represented  those  who  trav- 
elled West  and  disseminated  the  Order 
over  Europe,  but  who  returned  during  the 
Crusades  and  reunited  with  their  ancient 
brethren,  whence  we  get  the  name. 

The  modern  ritual  as  used  in  the  United 
States  has  been  greatly  enlarged.  It  still 
retains  the  apocalyptic  character  of  the  de- 
gree which  always  attached  to  it,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  old  tracing-board,  which  is 
the  figure  described  in  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Revelation  of  St.  John.  The  jewel  is 
a  heptagon  inscribed  with  symbols  derived 
from  the  Apocalypse,  among  which  are  the 
lamb  and  the  book  with  seven  seals.  The 
apron  is  yellow,  lined  and  edged  with  crim- 
son. In  the  old  ritual  its  device  was  a  two- 
edged  sword.  In  the  new  one  is  a  tetractys 
of  ten  dots.  This  is  the  first  of  the  philo- 
sophical degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  2. 
The  seventeenth  degree  of  the  Chapter  of 
Emperors  of  the  East  and  West. 

Knight  of  the  Eastern  Star. 
(Chevalier  de  VEtoile  d' Orient.)  The  fifty- 
seventh  degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Met- 
ropolitan Chapter  of  France. 

Knight  of  the  East,  Victorious. 
(Chevalier  victorieux  de  V Orient.)  A  de- 
gree found  in  the  collection  of  Hecart. 


416 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


Knight    of   the   East,    White. 

{Chevalier  of  Orient.)  The  fortieth  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Knight  of  the  Election.  ( Cheva- 
lier du  Choice.)  The  thirty-third  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Knight  of  the  Election,  Sub- 
lime. (Chevalier  sublime  du  Choix.)  The 
thirty-fourth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Knight  of  the  Golden  Eagle. 
(Chevalier  de  V Aigle  (for.)  A  degree  in 
the  collection  of  Pyron. 

Knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece. 
(Chevalier  de  la  Toisson  (Tor.)  The  sixth 
degree  of  the  Hermetic  Rite  or  Montpellier. 

Knight  of  the  Golden  Key. 
(Chevalier  de  la  Clef  (For.)  The  third  de- 
gree of  the  Hermetic  Rite  of  Montpellier. 

Knight  of  the  Golden  Star. 
(Chevalier  de  I'Etoile  (Tor.)  A  degree  con- 
tained in  the  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Knight  of  the  Grand  Arch. 
(Chevalier  de  la  Grande  Arche.)  A  degree 
which  Thory  says  is  contained  in  the  Ar- 
chives of  the  Lodge  of  Saint  Louis  des 
Amis  Reunis  at  Calais. 

Knight  of  the  Holy  City,  Be- 
neficent. ( Chevalier  bienfaisant  de  la  Cite 
Sainte.)  The  Order  of  Beneficent  Knights 
of  the  Holy  City  of  Jerusalem  was  created, 
according  to  Ragon,  at  Lyons,  in  France,  in 
1782,  by  the  brethren  of  the  Lodge  of  Chev- 
aliers Bienfaisants.  But  Thory  says  it  was 
instituted  at  the  Congress  of  Wllhelmsbad. 
Both  are  perhaps  right.  It  was  probably 
first  invented  at  Lyons,  at  one  time  a  pro- 
lific field  for  the  hautes  grades,  and  after- 
wards adopted  at  Wilhelmsbad,  whence  it 
began  to  exercise  a  great  influence  over  the 
Lodges  of  Strict  Observance.  The  Order 
professed  the  Rite  of  Martinism ;  but  the 
members  attempted  to  convert  Freemasonry 
into  Templarism,  and  transferred  all  the 
symbols  of  the  former  to  the  latter  system. 
Thus,  they  interpreted  the  two  pillars  of  the 
porch  and  their  names  as  alluding  to  Jaco- 
bus Burgundus  or  James  the  Burgundian, 
meaning  James  de  Molay,  the  last  Grand 
Master  of  the  Templars ;  the  three  gates  of 
the  Temple  signified  the  three  vows  of  the 
Knights  Templars,  obedience,  poverty,  and 
chastity  ;  and  the  sprig  of  acacia  referred 
to  that  which  was  planted  over  the  ashes 
of  De  Molay  when  they  were  transferred 
to  Heredom  in  Scotland.  The  Order  and 
the  doctrine  sprang  from  the  Templar  sys- 
tem of  Ramsay.  The  theory  of  its  Jesuitic 
origin  can  scarcely  be  admitted. 

Knight  of  the  Holy  Sepnlchre. 
1.  As  a  Masonic  degree,  this  was  formerly 
given  in  what  were  called  Councils  of  the 
Trinity,  next  after  the  Knight  of  the  Chris- 
tian Mark ;  but  it  is  no  longer  conferred  in 
this  country,  and  may  now  be  considered 


as  obsolete.  The  Masonic  legend  that  it 
was  instituted  by  St.  Helena,  the  mother 
of  Constantine,  in  302,  after  she  had  visited 
Jerusalem  and  discovered  the  cross,  and 
that,  in  304,  it  was  confirmed  by  Pope 
Marcellinus,  is  altogether  apocryphal.  The 
military  Order  of  Knights  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  still  exists;  and  Mr.  Curzon,  in 
his  Visits  to  the  Monasteries  in  the  Ijevant, 
states  that  the  Order  is  still  conferred  in 
Jerusalem,  but  only  on  Roman  Catholics 
of  noble  birth,  by  the  Reverendissimo  or 
Superior  of  the  Franciscans,  and  that  the 
accolade,  or  blow  of  knighthood,  is  bestowed 
with  the  sword  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon, 
which  is  preserved,  with  his  spurs,  in  the 
sacristy  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre. Madame  Pfeiffer,  in  her  Travels  in 
the  Holy  Land,  confirms  this  account.  Dr. 
Heyliu  says  that  the  Order  was  instituted 
in  1099,  when  Jerusalem  was  regained  from 
the  Saracens  by  Philip  of  France.  Faryn, 
in  his  Theatre  d' Honneur,  gives  a  different 
account  of  the  institution.  He  says  that 
while  the  Saracens  possessed  the  city  they 
permitted  certain  canons  regular  of  St. 
Augustine  to  have  the  custody  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  Afterwards  Baldwyn,  King  of 
Jerusalem,  made  them  Men-of-Arms  and 
Knights  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  or- 
dained that  they  should  continue  to  wear 
their  white  habits,  and  on  the  breast  his 
own  arms,  which  were  a  red  cross  potent 
between  four  Jerusalem  crosses.  Their 
rule  was  confirmed  by  Pope  Innocent  III. 
The  Grand  Master  was  the  Patriarch  of 
Jerusalem.  They  engaged  to  fight  against 
infidels,  to  protect  pilgrims,  to  redeem 
Christian  captives,  hear  Mass  every  day,  re- 
cite the  hours  of  the  cross,  and  bear  the  five 
red  crosses  in  memory  of  our  Saviour's 
wounds.  On  the  loss  of  the  Holy  Land, 
they  retired  to  Perugia,  in  Italy,  where 
they  retained  their  white  habit,  but  assumed 
a  double  red  cross.  In  1484,  they  were  in- 
corporated with  the  Knights  Hospitallers, 
who  were  then  at  Rhodes,  but  in  1496, 
Alexander  VI.  assumed,  for  himself  and  the 
Popes  his  successors,  the  Grand  Mastership, 
ana  empowered  the  Guardian  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  to  bestow  Knighthood  of  the 
Order  upon  pilgrims.  Unsuccessful  at- 
tempts were  made  by  Philip  II.,  of  Spain, 
in  1558,  and  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  in  1625, 
to  restore  the  Order.  It  is  now  found  only 
in  Jerusalem,  where  it  is  conferred,  as  has 
been  already  said,  by  the  Superior  of  the 
Franciscans. 

2.  It  is  also  the  fiftieth  degree  of  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Knight  of  the  Interior.  ( Cheva- 
lier de  rinterieur.)  The  fifth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  the  East  according  to  the  nomen- 
clature of  Fustier. 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


417 


Knight  of  the  Kahhala.  ( Cheva- 
lier de  la  Cabate.)  The  eighth  degree  of 
the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France. 

Knight  of  the  Lilies  of  the  Val- 
ley. This  was  a  degree  conferred  by  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France  as  an  appendage 
to  Templarism.  The  Knights  Templars 
who  received  it  were  constituted  Knights 
Commanders. 

Knight  of  the  Uoii.  (Chevalier 
du  Lion.)  The  twentieth  degree  of  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Knight  of  the  Mediterranean 
Pass.  An  honorary  degree  that  was 
formerly  conferred  in  Encampments  of 
Knights  Templars,  but  is  now  disused. 
Its  meetings  were  called  Councils;  and  its 
ritual,  which  was  very  impressive,  supplies 
the  tradition  that  it  was  founded  about  the 
year  1367,  in  consequence  of  certain  events 
which  occurred  to  the  Knights  of  Malta. 
In  an  excursion  made  by  a  party  of  these 
knights  in  search  of  forage  and  provisions, 
they  were  attacked  while  crossing  the  river 
Offanto,  (the  ancient  Aufidio,)  by  a  large 
body  of  Saracens,  under  the  command  of 
the  renowned  Amurath  I.  The  Saracens 
had  concealed  themselves  in  ambush,  and 
when  the  knights  were  on  the  middle  of 
the  bridge  which  spanned  the  river,  they 
were  attacked  by  a  sudden  charge  of  their 
enemies  upon  both  extremities  of  the  bridge. 
A  long  and  sanguinary  contest  ensued;  the 
knights  fought  with  their  usual  valor,  and 
were  at  length  victorious.  The  Saracens 
were  defeated  with  such  immense  slaugh- 
ter, that  fifteen  hundred  of  their  dead  bod- 
ies encumbered  the  bridge,  and  the  river 
was  literally  stained  with  their  blood.  In 
commemoration  of  this  event,  and  as  a  re- 
ward for  their  valor,  the  victorious  knights 
had  free  permission  to  pass  and  repass  in 
all  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
without  danger  of  molestation,  whence  the 
name  of  the  degree  is  derived.  As  the  lat- 
ter part  of  this  legend  has  not  been  veri- 
fied by  voyagers  in  the  Mediterranean,  the 
degree  has  long  been  disused.  I  had  a 
ritual  of  it,  which  was  in  the  handwriting 
of  Dr.  Moses  Holbrook,  the  Grand  Com- 
mander of  the  Southern  Supreme  Council 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Knight  of  the  Moon.  A  mock 
Masonic  society,  established  in  the  last 
century  in  London.  It  ceased  to  exist  in 
the  year  1810. 

Knight  of  the  Morning  Star. 
Called  also,  Knight  of  Hope.  A  degree 
in  the  Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of 
the  Philosophical  Rite,  which  is  said  to  be  a 
modification  of  the  Kadosh. 

Knight  of  the  \ i nth  Arch.  The 
thirteenth  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 

3C  27 


cepted  Scottish  Rite,  called  also  the  "  Royal 
Arch  of  Solomon,"  and  sometimes  the 
"  Royal  Arch  of  Enoch."  It  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  impressive  of  what 
are  called  the  Ineffable  degrees.  Its  legend 
refers  to  Enoch  and  to  the  method  by  which, 
notwithstanding  the  destructive  influence 
of  the  deluge  and  the  lapse  of  time,  he  was 
enabled  to  preserve  important  secrets  to  be 
afterwards  communicated  to  the  Craft.  Ac- 
cording to  the  present  ritual,  its  principal 
officers  are  a  Thrice  Puissant  Grand  Master, 
representing  King  Solomon,  and  two  War- 
dens, representing  the  King  of  Tyre  and  the 
Inspector  Adoniram.  Bodies  of  this  degree 
are  called  Chapters.  The  color  is  black 
strewed  with  tears.  The  jewel  is  a  circular 
medal  of  gold,  around  which  is  inscribed 
the  following  letters:  R.  S.  R.  S.  T.  P.  S. 
R.  I.  A.  Y.  E.  S.,  with  the  date  Anno  Eno- 
chi  2995.  On  the  reverse  is  a  blazing  tri- 
angle with  theTetragrammaton  in  the  centre 
in  Samaritan  letters. 

This  degree  claims  great  importance  in 
the  history  of  Masonic  ritualism.  It  is 
found,  under  various  modifications,  in  al- 
most all  the  Rites;  and,  indeed,  without  it, 
or  something  like  it,  the  symbolism  of  Free- 
masonry cannot  be  considered  as  complete. 
Indebted  for  its  origin  to  the  inventive 
genius  of  the  Chevalier  Ramsay,  it  was 
adopted  by  the  Council  of  the  Emperors  of 
the  East  and  West,  whence  it  passed  into 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  Brought 
by  Ramsay  into  England, — where,  however, 
he  failed  to  secure  its  adoption,  —  it  subse- 
quently gave  rise  to  the  Royal  Arch  of  Der- 
mott  and  that  of  Dunckerley.  Though 
entirely  different  in  its  legend  from  the 
Royal  Arch  of  the  York  and  American 
Rites,  its  symbolic  design  is  the  same,  for 
one  common  thought  of  a  treasure  lost  and 
found  pervades  them  all.  Vassal,  who  is 
exceedingly  flippant  in  much  that  he  has 
written  of  Ecossism,  says  of  this  degree, 
that,  "considered  under  its  moral  and  reli- 
gious aspects,  it  offers  nothing  either  in- 
structive or  useful."  It  is  evident  that  he 
understood  nothing  of  its  true  symbolism. 

Knight  of  the  Worth.  ( Chevalier 
du Nord.\  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Lodge  or  Saint  Louis  des  Amis  Reunis  at 
Calais.  Thory  mentions  another  degree 
called  Sublime  Knight  of  the  North,  which 
he  says  is  the  same  as  one  in  the  collection 
of  Peuvret,  which  has  the  singular  title  of 
Daybreak  of  the  Rough  Ashlar,  Point  du 
Jour  de  la  Pierre  Brute. 

Knight  of  the  Phoenix.  ( Cheva- 
lier du  Phenix.)  The  fourth  degree  of  the 
Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Knight  of  the  Prussian  Eagle. 
( Chevalier  de  VAigle  Prussien. )  A  degree  in 
the  collection  of  Hecart. 


418 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


Knight    of   the    Purificatory. 

{Chevalier  du  Purifieatoire.)  The  sixteenth 
degree  of  the  Rite  of  the  East  according  to 
the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Pyramid.  ( Cheva- 
lier de  la  Pyramids. )  The  seventh  degree 
of  the  Kabbalistic  Rite. 

Knight  of  the  Rainbow.  {Cheva- 
lier de  F Arc-en-ciel.)  The  sixty-eighth  de- 
gree of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Knight  of  the  Red  Cross.  This 
degree,  whose  legend  dates  it  far  anterior 
to  the  Christian  era,  and  in  the  reign  of 
Darius,  has  no  analogy  with  the  chivalric 
orders  of  knighthood.  It  is  purely  Ma- 
sonic, and  intimately  connected  with  the 
Royal  Arch  degree,  of  which,  in  fact,  it 
ought  rightly  to  be  considered  as  an  ap- 
pendage. It  is,  however,  now  always  con- 
ferred in  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Tem- 
f>lars  in  this  country,  and  is  given  as  a  pre- 
iminary  to  reception  in  that  degree.  For- 
merly, the  degree  was  sometimes  conferred 
in  an  independent  council,  which  Webb 
(edit.  1812,  p.  123,)  defines  to  be  "  a  coun- 
cil that  derives  its  authority  immediately 
from  the  Grand  Encampment  unconnected 
with  an  Encampment  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars." The  embassy  of  Zerubbabel  and 
tour  other  Jewish  chiefs  to  the  court  of 
Darius  to  obtain  the  protection  of  that 
monarch  from  the  encroachments  of  the 
Samaritans,  who  interrupted  the  labors  in 
the  reconstruction  of  the  Temple,  consti- 
tutes the  legend  of  the  Red  Cross  degree. 
The  history  of  this  embassy  is  found  in  the 
eleventh  book  of  the  Antiquities  of  Jose- 
phus,  whence  the  Masonic  ritualists  have 
undoubtedly  taken  it.  The  only  authority 
of  Josephus  is  the  apocryphal  record  of 
Esdras,  and  the  authenticity  of  the  whole 
transaction  is  doubted  or  denied  by  modern 
historians.  The  legend  is  as  follows :  After 
the  death  of  Cyrus,  the  Jews,  who  had  been 
released  by  him  from  their  captivity,  and 
permitted  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rebuilding  the  Temple,  found  them- 
selves obstructed  in  the  undertaking  by  the 
neighboring  nations,  and  especially  by  the 
Samaritans.  Hereupon  they  sent  an  em- 
bassy, at  the  head  of  which  was  their 
•prince,  Zerubbabel,  to  Darius,  the  successor 
-of  Cyrus,  to  crave  his  interposition  and 
protection.  Zerubbabel,  awaiting  a  favor- 
able opportunity,  succeeded  not  only  in 
obtaining  his  request,  but  also  in  renewing 
the  friendship  which  formerly  existed  be- 
tween the  king  and  himself.  In  commemo- 
ration of  these  events,  Darius  is  said  to 
have  instituted  a  new  order,  and  called  it 
the  Knights  of  the  East.  They  afterwards 
assumed  their  present  name  from  the  red 
cross  borne  in  their  banners.  Webb,  or 
whoever  else  introduced  it  into  the  Ameri- 


can Templar  system,  undoubtedly  took  it 
from  the  sixteenth  degree,  or  Prince  of 
Jerusalem  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite.  It  has,  within  a  few  years,  been  car- 
ried into  England,  under  the  title  of  the 
"  Red  Cross  of  Babylon."  In  New  Bruns- 
wick, it  has  been  connected  with  Cryptic 
Masonry.  It  is  there  as  much  out  of  place 
as  it  is  in  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars. Its  only  true  connection  is  with  the 
Royal  Arch  degree. 

Knight  of  the  Red  Eagle.  {Chev- 
alier de  UAigle  rouge.)  The  thirty-ninth 
degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  The  red 
eagle  forms  a  part  of  the  arms  of  the  House 
of  Brandenburg,  and  the  Order  of  Knights 
of  the  Red  Eagle  was  instituted,  in  1705, 
by  George  William,  hereditary  Prince  of 
Bayreuth.  In  1792,  it  was  placed  among 
the  Prussian  orders.  The  Masonic  degree 
has  no  connection  with  the  political  order. 
The  Mizraimites  appropriated  all  titles  that 
they  fancied. 

Knight  of  the  Rose.  {Chevalier  de 
la  Rose.)  The  Order  of  the  Knights  and 
Ladies  of  the  Rose  (  Chevaliers  et  Chevalieres 
de  la  Pose)  was  an  order  of  adoptive  or 
androgynous  Masonry,  invented  in  France 
towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
M.  de  Chaumont,  the  Masonic  secretary 
of  the  Due  de  Chartres,  was  its  author. 
The  principal  seat  of  the  order  was  at 
Paris.  The  hall  of  meeting  was  called  the 
Temple  of  Love.  It  was  ornamented  with 
garlands  of  flowers,  and  hung  round  with 
escutcheons  on  which  were  painted  various 
devices  and  emblems  of  gallantry.  There 
were  two  presiding  officers,  a  male  and  fe- 
male, who  were  styled  the  Hierophant  and 
the  High  Priestess.  The  former  initiated 
men,  and  the  latter,  women.  In  the  initia- 
tions, the  Hierophant  was  assisted  by  a 
conductor  or  deacon  called  Sentiment,  and 
the  High  Priestess  by  a  conductress  or  dea- 
coness called  Discretion.  The  members 
received  the  title  of  Knights  and  Nymphs. 
The  Knights  wore  a  crown  of  myrtle,  the 
Nymphs,  a  crown  of  roses.  The  Hierophant 
and  High  Priestess  wore,  in  addition,  a  rose- 
colored  scarf,  on  which  were  embroidered 
two  doves  within  a  wreath  of  myrtle.  Dur- 
ing the  time  of  initiation,  the  hall  was  lit 
with  a  single  dull  taper,  but  afterwards  it 
was  brilliantly  illuminated  by  numerous 
wax  candles. 

When  a  candidate  was  to  be  initiated,  he 
or  she  was  taken  in  charge,  according  to 
the  sex,  by  the  conductor  or  conductress, 
divested  of  all  weapons,  jewels,  or  money, 
hoodwinked,  loaded  with  chains,  and  in  this 
condition  conducted  to  the  door  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  Love,  where  admission  was  demanded 
by  two  knocks.  Brother  Sentiment  then 
introduced  the  candidate  by  order  of  the 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


419 


Hierophant  or  High  Priestess,  and  he  or  she 
was  asked  his  or  her  name,  country,  condi- 
tion of  life,  and,  lastly,  what  he  or  she  was 
seeking.  To  this  the  answer  was,  "  Happi- 
ness." 

The  next  question  proposed  was,  "  What 
is  your  age  ?  "  The  candidate,  if  a  male, 
replied,  "The  age  to  love;"  if  a  female, 
"  The  age  to  please  and  to  be  loved." 

The  candidates  were  then  interrogated 
concerning  their  private  opinions  and  con- 
duct in  relation  to  matters  of  gallantry. 
The  chains  were  then  taken  from  them,  and 
they  were  invested  with  garlands  of  flowers 
which  were  called  "the  chains  of  love." 
In  this  condition  they  were  made  to  trav- 
erse the  apartment  from  one  extremity  to 
another,  and  then  back  in  a  contrary  direc- 
tion, over  a  path  inscribed  with  love-knots. 
The  following  obligation  was  then  adminis- 
tered: 

11 1  promise  and  swear  by  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  the  Universe  never  to  reveal  the  se- 
crets of  the  Order  of  the  Rose ;  and  should  I 
fail  in  this  my  vow,  may  the  mysteries  I 
shall  receive  add  nothing  to  my  pleasures, 
aud  instead  of  the  roses  of  happiness  may 
I  find  nothing  but  the  thorns  of  repent- 
ance." 

The  candidates  were  then  conducted  to 
the  mysterious  groves  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Temple  of  Love,  where  the  Knights 
received  a  crown  of  myrtle,  and  the  Nymphs 
a  simple  rose.  During  this  time  a  soft, 
melodious  march  was  played  by  the  orches- 
tra. After  this,  the  candidates  were  con- 
ducted to  the  altar  of  mystery,  placed  at  the 
foot  of  the  Hierophant's  throne,  and  there 
incense  was  offered  up  to  Venus  and  her 
son.  If  it  was  a  Knight  who  had  been  ini- 
tiated, he  now  exchanged  his  crown  of  myr- 
tle for  the  rose  of  the  last  initiated  Nymph  ; 
and  if  a  Nymph,  she  exchanged  her  rose 
for  the  myrtle  crown  of  Brother  Sentiment. 
The  Hierophant  now  read  a  copy  of  verses 
in  honor  of  the  god  of  Mystery,  and  the 
bandage  was  at  length  taken  from  the  eyes 
of  the  candidate.  Delicious  music  and 
brilliant  lights  now  added  to  the  charms 
of  this  enchanting  scene,  in  the  midst  of 
which  the  Hierophant  communicated  to  the 
candidate  the  modes  of  recognition  pecu- 
lier  to  the  Order. 

The  Order  had  but  a  brief  existence. 
In  1784,  F.  B.  von  Grossing  invented,  in 
Germany,  an  Order  bearing  a  similar  name, 
but  its  duration  was  as  ephemeral  as  that 
of  the  French  one. 

Knight  of  the  Rosy  and  Triple 
Cross.  (Chevalier  de  la  Hose  et  Triple 
Croix.)  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Lodge  of  St.  Louis  des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais. 

Knight  of  the  Rosy  Cross.  See 
Rosy  Cross. 


Knight  of  the  Round -Table. 

(Chevalier  de  la  Table  ronde.)  A  degree  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Lodge  of  Saint  Louis 
des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais. 

Knight  of  the  Kou n d -Table  of 
King  Arthur.  ( Chevalier  de  la  Table 
ronde  du  Roi  Arthur.)  1.  Thory  says  that 
this  is  a  degree  of  the  Primitive  Rite ;  but 
I  can  find  no  such  degree  in  the  nomencla- 
ture of  the  Rite. 

2.  I  have  seen  the  manuscript  of  a  de- 
gree of  this  name  written  many  years  ago, 
which  was  in  the  possession  of  Brother  C.W. 
Moore,  of  Boston.  It  was  an  honorary  de- 
gree, and  referred,  if  I  recollect  aright,  to 
the  poetic  legend  of  King  Arthur  and  his 
knights. 

Knight  of  the  Royal  Axe.  (Cheva- 
lier de  la  royale  Uache. )  The  twenty -second 
degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  called  also  Prince  of  Libanus,  or 
Lebanon.  It  was  instituted  to  record  the 
memorable  services  rendered  to  Masonry 
by  the  "  mighty  cedars  of  Lebanon."  The 
legend  of  the  degree  informs  us  that  the 
Sidonians  were  employed  in  cutting  cedars 
on  Mount  Libanus  or  Lebanon  for  the 
construction  of  Noah's  ark.  Their  descend- 
ants subsequently  cut  cedars  from  the  same 
place  for  the  ark  of  the  covenant ;  and  the 
descendants  of  these  were  again  employed 
in  the  same  offices,  and  in  the  same  place, 
in  obtaining  materials  for  building  Solo- 
mon's Temple.  Lastly,  Zerubbabel  em- 
ployed them  in  cutting  the  cedars  of  Leb- 
anon for  the  use  of  the  second  Temple. 
This  celebrated  nation  formed  colleges  on 
Mount  Lebanon,  and  in  their  labors  always 
adored  the  Great  Architect  of  the  Universe. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  this  last  sentence  re- 
fers to  the  Druses,  that  secret  sect  of  Theists 
who  still  reside  upon  Mount  Lebanon  and 
in  the  adjacent  parts  of  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine, and  whose  mysterious  ceremonies  have 
attracted  so  much  of  the  curiosity  of  East- 
ern travellers. 

The  apron  of  the  Knights  of  the  Royal 
Axe  is  white,  lined  and  bordered  with  pur- 
ple. On  it  is  painted  a  round-table,  on 
which  are  laid  several  architectural  plans. 
On  the  flap  is  a  three-headed  serpent.  The 
jewel  is  a  golden  axe,  having  on  the  han- 
dle and  blade  the  initials  of  several  per- 
sonages illustrious  in  the  history  of  Ma- 
sonry. The  places  of  meeting  in  this  degree 
are  called  "  Colleges."  This  degree  is  espe- 
cially interesting  to  the  Masonic  scholar  in 
consequence  of  its  evident  reference  to  the 
mystical  association  of  the  Druses,  whose 
connection  with  the  Templars  at  the  time 
of  the  Crusades  forms  a  yet  to  be  investi- 
gated episode  in  the  history  of  Freema- 
sonry. 

Knight  of  the  Saered  Moun- 


420 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


tain.  ( Chevalier  de  la  Montague  Sacre'e.) 
A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the  Lodge  of 
Saint  Louis  des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais. 

Knight  of  the  Sanctuary. 
(Chevalier  du  Sanctuaire.)  The  eleventh 
degree  of  the  Bite  of  the  East  according 
to  the  collection  of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Sepulchre.  The 
sixth  degree  of  the  system  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  Royal  York  at  Berlin. 

Knight  of  the  South.  (Chevalier 
du  Sud. )  The  eighth  degree  of  the  Swedish 
Rite,  better  known  as  the  Favorite  of  St. 
John. 

Knight  of  the  Star.  ( Chevalier  de 
VEtoile.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of 
Pyron. 

Knight  of  the  Sun.  ( Chevalier  du 
Soleil.)  The  twenty-eighth  degree  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  called 
also  Prince  of  the  Sun,  Prince  Adept,  and 
Key  of  Masonry,  or  Chaos  Disentangled. 
It  is  a  Kabbalistic  and  Hermetic  degree,  and 
its  instructions  and  symbols  are  full  of  the 
Kabbala  and  Alchemy.  Thus,  one  of  its 
favorite  words  is  Stibium,  which,  with  the 
Hermetic  Philosophers,  meant  the  primal 
matter  of  all  things.  The  principal  officers 
are  Father  Adam  and  Brother  Truth,  alle- 

forizing  in  the  old  rituals  the  search  of 
Ian  after  Truth.  The  other  officers  are 
named  after  the  seven  chief  angels,  and  the 
brethren  are  called  Sylphs,  or,  in  the  Amer- 
can  ritual,  Aralim  or  Heroes.  The  jewel  is 
a  golden  sun,  having  on  its  reverse  a  hem- 
isphere with  the  six  northern  signs  of  the 
zodiac.  There  is  but  one  light  in  the 
Lodge,  which  shines  through  a  globe  of 
glass. 

This  degree  is  not  confined  to  the  Scot- 
tish Rite,  but  is  found  sometimes  with  a 
different  name,  but  with  the  same  Hermetic 
design,  more  or  less  developed  in  other 
Rites.  Ragon,  with  whom  Delauuay  and 
Chemin  -  Dupontes  concur,  says  that  it  is 
not,  like  many  of  the  high  degrees,  a  mere 
modern  invention,  but  that  it  is  of  the 
highest  antiquity ;  and  was,  in  fact,  the  last 
degree  of  the  ancient  initiations  teaching, 
under  an  Hermetic  appearance,  the  doc- 
trines of  natural  religion,  which  formed  an 
essential  part  of  the  Mysteries.  But  Ra- 
gon must  here  evidently  refer  to  the  gen- 
eral, philosophic  design  rather  than  to  the 
particular  organization  of  the  degree. 
Thory,  with  more  plausibility,  ascribes  its 
invention  as  a  Masonic  degree  to  Pernetty, 
the  founder  of  the  Hermetic  Rite.  Of  all 
the  high  degrees,  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
important  and  the  most  interesting  to  the 
scholar  who  desires  to  investigate  the  true 
secret  of  the  Order.  Its  old  catechisms, 
now  unfortunately  too  much  neglected,  are 
full  of  suggestive  thoughts,  and  in  its  mod- 


ern ritual,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the 
inventive  genius  of  Brother  Albert  Pike,  it 
is  by  far  the  most  learned  and  philosophi- 
cal of  the  Scottish  degrees. 

Knight  of  the  Sword.  ( Chevalier 
de  VEpee.)  One  of  the  titles  of  the  Scot- 
tish Rite  degree  of  Knight  of  the  East.  So 
called  in  allusion  to  the  legend  that  the 
Masons  at  the  second  Temple  worked  with 
the  trowel  in  one  hand  and  the  sword  in 
the  other.  Du  Cange,  on  the  authority  of 
Arnoldus  Lubeckius,  describes  an  Order,  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  of  Knights  of  the  Sword, 
{Milites  Oladii,)  who,  having  vowed  to  wield 
the  sword  for  God's  service,  wore  a  sword 
embroidered  on  their  mantles  as  a  sign  of 
their  profession,  whence  they  took  their 
name.  But  it  was  not  connected  with  the 
Masonic  degree. 

Knight  of  the  Tahernacle.  In 
the  Minute  Book  of  the  "  Grand  Lodge  of 
all  England,"  extracts  from  which  are 
given  by  Bro.  Hughan  in  his  Unpublished 
Records,  we  find  the  expression  Knight  of 
the  Tabernacle,  used  in  the  year  1780,  as 
synonymous  with  Knight  Templar. 

Knight  of  the  Tahernacle  of 
the  Divine  Truths.  (Chevalier  du 
Tabernacle  des  Verites  divines.)  A  degree 
cited  in  the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Temple.  ( Chevalier 
du  Temple.)  This  degree  is  common  to  all 
the  systems  of  Masonry  founded  on  the 
Templar  doctrine. 

1.  It  is  a  synonym  of  Knight  Templar. 

2.  The  eighth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  the 
Philalethes. 

3.  The  sixty-ninth  degree  of  the  collec- 
tion of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

4.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  Clerks  of  Strict 
Observance. 

5.  The  ninth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  the 
East  according  to  the  nomenclature  of 
Fustier. 

6.  The  thirty-sixth  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim. 

Knight  of  the  Three  Kings.  An 
American  side  degree  of  but  little  impor- 
tance. Its  history  connects  it  with  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  first  Temple,  the  conferrer  of 
the  degree  representing  King  Solomon.  Its 
moral  tendency  appears  to  be  the  inculca- 
tion of  reconciliation  of  grievances  among 
Masons  by  friendly  conference.  It  may  be 
conferred  by  any  Master  Mason  on  another. 

Knight  of  the  Throne.  ( Chevalier 
du  Tr&ne.)  The  second  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  the  East  according  to  the  nomenclature 
of  Fustier. 

Knight  of  the  Triple  Cross. 
(Chevalier  de  la  Triple  Croix.)  The  sixty- 
sixth  degree  of  the  collection  of  the  Metro- 
politan Chapter  of  France. 

Knight  of  the  Triple  Period. 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


421 


{Chevalier  de  la  Triple  Periode.)  A  degree 
in  the  Archives  of  the  Lodge  of  Saint 
Louis  des  Amis  Eeunis  at  Calais. 

Knight  of  the  Triple  Sword. 
(Chevalier  de  la  Triple  Epee.)  A  degree  in 
the  collection  of  Pyron. 

Knight  of  the  Two  Crowned 
Eagles.  ( Chevalier  des  teux  Aigles  Cou- 
ronnees.)  The  twenty -second  degree  of  the 
collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Knight  of  the  West.  ( Chevalier  <P 
Occident.)  1.  The  sixty-fourth  degree  of 
the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France.  2.  The  forty-seventh  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Knight  of  the  White  and  Blaek 
Eagle.  ( Chevalier  de  PAigle  blanc  et  noir.) 
One  of  the  titles  of  the  thirtieth  degree  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  or 
Knight  Kadosh.  In  the  Rite  of  Perfection 
of  the  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West,  it 
constituted  the  twenty-fourth  degree,  under 
the  title  of  Knight  Commander  of  the 
White  and  Black  Eagle.  The  white  eagle 
was  the  emblem  of  the  eastern  empire,  and 
the  black  of  the  western.  Hence  we  have 
the  Knights  of  the  White  Eagle  in  Russia, 
and  the  Knights  of  the  Black  Eagle  in 
Prussia,  as  orders  of  chivalry.  The  two 
combined  were,  therefore,  appropriately 
(so  far  as  the  title  is  concerned)  adopted 
by  the  Council  which  assumed  Masonic 
jurisdiction  over  both  empires. 

Knight  of  the  White  Eagle. 
The  sixty-fourth  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim.  As  a  political  order,  that  of  the 
Knights  of  the  White  Eagle  were  instituted 
by  Wladistas,  King  of  Poland,  in  1325. 
It  is  still  conferred  by  the  Czar  of  Russia. 

Knight  of  Unetion.  ( Chevalier  d' 
Onction.)  The  fifty-first  degree  of  the  col- 
lection of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Knight,  Perfect.  {Chevalier  Par- 
fait.)  A  degree  of  the  Ancient  Chapter  of 
Clermont,  found  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Rite. 

Knight,  Professed.  See  Eques 
Prqfexsus. 

Knight,  Prussian.  See  Noachite. 
Also  the  thirty-fifth  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim. 

Knight  Rower.  ( Chevalier  Rameur. ) 
The  Order  of  the  Knights  and  Ladies 
Rowers  (Ordre  des  Chevaliers  Rameurs  et 
Chevalieres  Rameures)  was  an  androgynous 
and  adoptive  Rite,  founded  at  the  city  of 
Rouen,  in  France,  in  1738,  and  was  there- 
fore one  of  the  earliest  instances  of  the 
adoptive  system.  It  met  with  very  little 
success. 

Knight,  Royal  Tictorions. 
[Chevalier   royal    Victorieux.)      A    degree 


formerly  conferred  in  the  Chapter  attached 
to  the  Grand  Orient  of  Bologne. 

Knight,  Sacrificing.  ( Chevalier 
Sacrifiant.)  A  degree  found  in  the  Archives 
of  the  Lodge  of  Saint  Louis  des  Amis 
Reunis  at  Calais. 

Knights  of  the  East,  Council  of. 
( ConseU  des  Chevaliers  d'  Orient.)  A  Chap- 
ter of  High  Degrees,  under  this  name,  was 
established  at  Paris,  on  July  22,  1762,  by 
one  Pirlet,  a  tailor,  as  the  rival  of  the 
Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West. 
Baron  de  Tschoudy  became  one  of  its 
members. 

Knight  Templar.  The  piety  or 
the  superstition  of  the  age  had  induced 
multitudes  of  pilgrims  in  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries  to  visit  Jerusalem  for  the 
purpose  of  offering  their  devotions  at  the 
sepulchre  of  the  Lord  and  the  other  holy 
places  in  that  city.  Many  of  these  religious 
wanderers  were  weak  or  aged,  almost  all 
of  them  unarmed,  and  thousands  of  them 
were  subjected  to  insult,  to  pillage,  and 
often  to  death,  inflicted  by  the  hordes  of 
Arabs  who,  even  after  the  capture  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Christians,  continued  to  in- 
fest the  sea-coast  of  Palestine  and  the  roads 
to  the  capital. 

To  protect  the  pious  pilgrims  thus  ex- 
posed to  plunder  and  bodily  outrage,  nine 
French  knights,  the  followers  of  Baldwyn, 
united,  in  the  year  1118,  in  a  military  con- 
fraternity or  brotherhood  in  arms,  and  en- 
tered into  a  solemn  compact  to  aid  each 
other  in  clearing  the  roads,  and  in  defend- 
ing the  pilgrims  in  their  passage  to  the 
holy  city. 

Two  of  these  knights  were  Hugh  de 
Payens  and  Godfrey  de  St.  Aldemar.  Ray- 
nouard  (Les  Templiers)  says  that  the  names 
of  the  other  seven  have  not  been  preserved 
in  history,  but  Wilke  (Geschichte  des  T.  If. 
Ordens)  gives  them  as  Roral,  Gundemar, 
Godfrey  Bisol,  Payens  de  Montidier,  Arch- 
ibald de  St.  Aman,  Andre  de  Montbar,  and 
the  Count  of  Provence. 

Uniting  the  monastic  with  the  military 
character,  they  took,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  the  usual  vows  of 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  and  with 
great  humility  assumed  the  title  of  "Poor 
Fellow  Soldiers  of  Christ."  Baldwyn,  the 
King  of  Jerusalem,  assigned  for  their  resi- 
dence a  part  of  his  palace  which  stood  near 
the  former  site  at  the  Temple;  and  the 
Abbot  and  Canons  of  the  Temple  gave 
them,  as  a  place  in  which  to  store  their 
arms  and  magazines,  the  street  between  the 
palace  and  the  Temple,  whence  they  de- 
rived the  name  of  Templars  ;#  a  title  which 
they  ever  afterwards  retained. 

Raynouard  says  that  Baldwyn  sent  Hugh 
de  Payens  to  Europe  to  solicit  a  new  cru- 


422 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


sade,  and  that  while  there  he  presented  his 
companions  to  Pope  Honorius  II.,  from 
whom  he  craved  permission  to  form  a  reli- 
gious military  order  in  imitation  of  that 
of  the  Hospitallers.  The  pontiff  referred 
them  to  the  ecclesiastical  council  which 
was  then  in  session  at  Troyes,  in  Cham- 
pagne. Thither  De  Payens  repaired,  and 
represented  to  the  fathers  the  vocation  of 
himself  and  his  companions  as  defenders 
of  the  pilgrim ;  the  enterprise  was  approved, 
and  St.  Bernard  was  directed  to  prescribe  a 
rule  for  the  infant  Order. 

This  rule,  in  which  the  knights  of  the 
Order  are  called  Pauperes  commilitis  Christi 
et  Templi  Salomonis,  or  "  The  Poor  Fellow 
Soldiers  of  Christ  and  of  the  Temple  of 
Solomon,"  is  still  extant.  It  consists  of 
seventy-two  chapters,  the  details  of  which 
are  remarkable  for  their  ascetic  character. 
It  enjoined  severe  devotional  exercises,  self- 
mortification,  fasting,  and  prayer.  It  pre- 
scribed for  the  professed  knights  white  gar- 
ments as  a  symbol  of  a  pure  life;  esquires 
and  retainers  were  to  be  clothed  in  black. 
To  the  white  dress,  Pope  Eugenius  II.  sub- 
sequently added  a  red  cross,  to  be  worn  on 
the  left  breast  as  a  symbol  of  martyrdom. 

Hugh  de  Payens,  thus  provided  with  a 
rule  that  gave  permanence  to  his  Order,and 
encouraged  by  the  approval  of  the  Church, 
returned  to  Jerusalem,  carrying  with  him 
many  recruits  from  among  the  noblest  fam- 
ilies of  Europe. 

The  Templars  soon  became  pre-eminently 
distinguished  as  warriors  of  the  cross.  St. 
Bernard,  who  visited  them  in  their  Tem- 
ple retreat,  speaks  in  the  warmest  terms  of 
their  self-denial,  their  frugality,  their  mod- 
esty, their  piety,  and  their  bravery.  "  Their 
arms,"  he  says,  "  are  their  only  finery,  and 
they  use  them  with  courage,  without  dread- 
ing either  the  number  or  the  strength  of 
the  barbarians.  All  their  confidence  is  in 
the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  in  fighting  for  his 
cause  they  seek  a  sure  victory  or  a  Chris- 
tian and  honorable  death." 

Their  banner  was  the  Beauseant,  of  di- 
vided white  and  black,  indicative  of  peace 
to  their  friends,  but  destruction  to  their 
foes.  At  their  reception  each  Templar  swore 
never  to  turn  his  back  on  three  enemies,  but 
should  he  be  alone,  to  fight  them  if  they 
were  infidels.  It  was  their  wont  to  say 
that  a  Templar  ought  either  to  vanquish  or 
die,  since  he  had  nothing  to  give  for  his 
ransom  but  his  girdle  and  his  knife. 

The  Order  of  the  Temple,  at  first  ex- 
ceedingly simple  in  its  organization,  became 
in  a  short  time  very  complicated.  In  the 
twelfth  century  it  was  divided  into  three 
classes,  which  were  Knights,  Chaplains, 
and  Serving  Brethren. 

1.  The  Knight*.     It  was  required  that 


whoever  presented  himself  for  admission 
into  the  Order  must  prove  that  he  was 
sprung  from  a  knightly  family,  and  was 
born  in  lawful  wedlock;  that  he  was  free 
from  all  previous  obligations  ;  that  he  was 
neither  married  nor  betrothed ;  that  he  had 
not  made  any  vows  of  reception  in  another 
Order;  that  he  was  not  involved  in  debt; 
and  finally,  that  he  was  of  a  sound  and 
healthy  constitution  of  body. 

2.  The  Chaplains.  The  Order  of  the 
Temple,  unlike  that  of  the  Hospitallers, 
consisted  at  first  only  of  laymen.  But  the 
bull  of  Pope  Alexander  III.,  issued  in 
1162,  gave  the  Templars  permission  to  re- 
ceive into  their  houses  spiritual  persons 
who  were  not  bound  by  previous  vows, 
the  technical  name  of  whom  was  chap- 
lains. They  were  required  to  serve  a  novi- 
tiate of  a  year.  The  reception  was,  except 
in  a  few  points  not  applicable  to  the  clergy, 
the  same  as  that  of  the  knights,  and  they 
were  required  to  take  only  the  three  vows 
of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience.  Their 
duties  were  to  perform  all  religious  offices, 
and  to  officiate  at  all  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Order,  such  as  the  admission  of  members 
at  installations,  etc.  Their  privileges  were, 
however,  unimportant,  and  consisted  prin- 
cipally in  sitting  next  to  the  Master,  and 
being  first  served  at  table. 

3.  The  Serving  Brethren.  The  only  qual- 
ification required  of  the  serving  brethren, 
was,  that  they  should  be  free  born  and  not 
slaves ;  yet  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  all 
the  persons  of  this  class  were  of  mean  con- 
dition. Many  men,  not  of  noble  birth,  but 
of  wealth  and  high  position,  were  found 
among  the  serving  brethren.  They  fought 
in  the  field  under  the  knights,  and  per- 
formed at  home  the  menial  offices  of  the 
household.  At  first  there  was  but  one  class 
of  them,  but  afterwards  they  were  divided 
into  two  —  the  Brethren-at-Arms,  and  the 
Handicraft  Brethren.  The  former  were  the 
soldiers  of  the  Order.  The  latter,  who  were 
the  most  esteemed,  remained  in  the  Precep- 
tories,  and  exercised  their  various  trades, 
such  as  those  of  farriers,  armorers,  etc. 
The  reception  of  the  serving  brethren  did 
not  differ,  except  in  some  necessary  par- 
ticulars, from  that  of  the  knights.  They 
were,  however,  by  the  accident  of  their 
birth,  precluded  from  promotion  out  of 
their  class. 

Besides  these  three  classes  there  was  a 
fourth,  —  not,  however,  living  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Order, — who  were  called  Affiliati 
or  the  Affiliated.  These  were  persons  of 
various  ranks  and  of  both  sexes,  who  were 
recognized  by  the  Order,  though  not  openly 
connected  with  it,  as  entitled  to  its  pro- 
tection, and  admitted  to  a  participation  in 
some  of  its  privileges,  such  as  protection 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


423 


from  the  interdicts  of  the  Church,  which 
did  not  apply  to  the  members  of  the  Order. 

There  was  also  a  class  called  Donates  or 
Donate.  These  were  either  youths  whom 
their  parents  destined  for  the  service  of  the 
Order  when  they  had  attained  the  proper 
age,  or  adults  who  had  bound  themselves  to 
aid  and  assist  the  Order  so  long  as  they 
lived,  solely  from  their  admiration  of  it, 
and  a  desire  to  share  its  honors. 

Over  these  presided  the  Grand  Master, 
more  usually  styled,  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Order,  simply  the  Master  of  the  Temple. 
In  the  treaty  of  peace  executed  in  1178, 
between  the  Templars  and  the  Hospitallers, 
Odo  de  St.  Armand  calls  himself  "  Humble 
Master  of  the  Order  of  the  Temple."  But 
in  after  times  this  spirit  of  humility  was 
lost  sight  of,  and  the  title  of  Grand  Master 
was  generally  accorded  to  him.  His  allow- 
ances were  suitable  to  the  distinguished 
rank  he  held,  for  in  the  best  days  of  the 
Order  the  Grand  Master  was  considered  as 
the  equal  of  a  sovereign. 

The  Grand  Master  resided  originally  at 
Jerusalem ;  afterwards,  when  that  city  was 
lost,  at  Acre,  and  finally  at  Cyprus.  His 
duty  always  required  him  to  be  in  the  Holy 
Land;  he  consequently  never  resided  in 
Europe.  He  was  elected  for  life  from 
among  the  knights  in  the  following  man- 
ner. On  the  death  of  the  Grand  Master,  a 
Grand  Prior  was  chosen  to  administer  the 
affairs  of  the  Order  until  a  successor  could 
be  elected.  When  the  day  which  had  been 
appointed  for  the  election  arrived,  the 
Chapter  usually  assembled  at  the  chief  seat 
of  the  Order ;  three  or  more  of  the  most 
esteemed  knights  were  then  proposed;  the 
Grand  Prior  collected  the  votes,  and  he  who 
had  received  the  greatest  number  was  nom- 
inated to  be  the  electing  Prior.  An  Assist- 
ant was  then  associated  with  him,  in  the 
person  of  another  knight.  These  two  re- 
mained all  night  in  the  chapel,  engaged  in 
prayer.  In  the  morning,  they  chose  two 
others,  and  these  four,  two  more,  and  so  on 
until  the  number  of  twelve  (that  of  the 
apostles)  had  been  selected.  The  twelve 
then  selected  a  Chaplain.  The  thirteen 
then  proceeded  to  vote  for  a  Grand  Master, 
who  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  the  votes. 
When  the  election  was  completed,  it  was 
announced  to  the  assembled  brethren ;  and 
when  all  had  promised  obedience,  the  Prior, 
if  the  person  was  present,  said  to  him,  "  In 
the  name  of  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  we  have  chosen,  and  do 
choose  thee,  Brother  N.,  to  be  our  Master." 
Then,  turning  to  the  brethren,  he  said, 
"Beloved  Sirs  and  Brethren,  give  thanks 
unto  God;  behold  here  our  Master."  The 
Chaplains  then  chanted  the  Te  Deum;  and 
the  brethren,  taking  their  new  Master  in 


their  arms,  carried  him  into  the  chapel 
and  placed  him  before  the  altar,  where  he 
continued  kneeling,  while  the  brethren 
prayed,  and  the  Chaplains  repeated  the 
Kyrie  Eleison,  the  Pater  JVoster,  and  other 
devotional  exercises. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  Grand  Master  was 
the  Seneschal,  who  was  his  representative 
and  lieutenant.  Then  came  the  Marshal, 
who  was  the  General  of  the  Order.  Next 
was  the  Treasurer,  an  office  that  was  always 
united  with  that  of  Grand  Preceptor  of  Jeru- 
salem. He  was  the  Admiral  of  the  Order. 
The  Draper,  the  next  officer  in  rank,  had 
charge  of  the  clothing  of  the  Order.  He 
was  a  kind  of  Commissary  General.  The 
Turcopolier  was  the  Commander  of  the 
light-horse.  There  was  also  a  class  of  offi- 
cers called  Visitors,  whose  duties,  as  their 
name  imports,  was  to  visit  the  different 
Provinces,  and  correct  abuses.  There  were 
also  some  subordinate  offices  appropriated 
to  the  Serving  Brethren,  such  as  Sub-Mar- 
shal, Standard- Bearer,  Farrier,  etc. 

These  officers,  with  the  Grand  Preceptors 
of  the  Provinces  and  the  most  distinguished 
knights  who  could  attend,  constituted  the 
General  Chapter  or  great  legislative  assem- 
bly of  the  Order,  where  all  laws  and  regula- 
tions were  made  and  great  officers  elected. 
This  assembly  was  not  often  convened,  and 
in  the  intervals  its  powers  were  exercised 
by  the  Chapter  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Order  thus  organized,  as  it  increased 
in  prosperity  and  augmented  its  possessions 
in  the  East  and  in  Europe,  was  divided  in- 
to Provinces,  each  of  which  was  governed 
by  a  Grand  Preceptor  or  Grand  Prior ;  for 
the  titles  were  indiscriminately  used.  That, 
however,  of  Preceptor  was  peculiar  to  the 
Templars,  while  that  of  Prior  was  common 
both  to  them  and  to  the  Knights  Hospital- 
lers of  St.  John.  These  Provinces  were 
fifteen  in  number,  and  were  as  follows: 
Jerusalem,  Tripolis,  Antioch,  Cyprus,  Por- 
tugal, Castile  and  Leon,  Aragon,  France 
and  Auvergne,  Normandy,  Aquitaine,  Pro- 
vence, England,  including  Scotland  and  Ire- 
laud  ;  Germany,  Upper  and  Central  Italy, 
and  Apulia  and  Sicily.  Hence  it  will  be 
seen  that  there  was  no  part  of  Europe,  ex- 
cept the  impoverished  kingdoms  of  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  and  Norway,  where  the 
Templars  had  not  extended  their  posses- 
sions and  their  influence. 

In  all  the  Provinces  there  were  numerous 
temple-houses  called  Preceptories,  presided 
over  by  a  Preceptor.  In  each  of  the  larger 
Preceptories  there  was  a  Chapter,  in  which 
local  regulations  were  made  and  members 
were  received  into  the  Order. 

The  reception  of  a  knight  into  the  Order 
was  a  very  solemn  ceremonial.  It  was  se- 
cret, none  but  members  of  the  Order  being 


424 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


permitted  to  be  present.  In  this  it  differed 
from  that  of  the  Knights  of  Malta,  whose 
form  of  reception  was  open  and  public;  and 
it  is  to  this  difference,  between  a  public  re- 
ception and  a  secret  initiation,  that  may, 
perhaps,  be  attributed  a  portion  of  the  spirit 
of  persecution  exhibited  by  the  Church  to 
the  Order  in  its  latter  days. 

Of  this  reception,  the  best  and  most  au- 
thentic account  is  given  by  Mlinter  in  his 
Statutenbuch  des  Ordens  der  Tempelherren, 
(pp.  29-42,)  and  on  that  I  shall  principally 
rely. 

On  the  day  of  the  reception,  the  Master 
and  the  knights  being  in  the  Chapter,  the 
Master  said : 

"  Beloved  Knights  and  Brethren,  ye  see 
that  the  majority  are  willing  that  this  man 
shall  be  received  as  a  brother.  If  there  be 
among  you  any  one  who  knows  anything 
concerning  him,  wherefor  he  cannot  right- 
fully become  a  brother,  let  him  say  so. 
For  it  is  better  that  this  should  be  made 
known  beforehand  than  after  he  has  been 
brought  before  us."  All  being  silent,  the 
candidate  is  conducted  into  an  adjoining 
chamber.  Two  or  three  of  the  oldest 
knights  are  sent  to  him  to  warn  him  of  the 
difficulties  and  hardships  that  he  will  have 
to  encounter;  or,  as  the  Benedictine  rule 
says,  all  the  hard  and  rough  ways  that  lead 
to  God  —  "  omnia  dura  et  aspera,  per  quae 
itur  ad  Deum." 

They  commenced  by  saying :  "  Brother,  do 
you  seek  the  fellowship  of  the  Order?  "  If 
he  replied  affirmatively,  they  warned  him 
of  the  rigorous  services  which  would  be  de- 
manded of  him.  Should  he  reply  that  he 
was  willing  to  endure  all  for  the  sake  of 
God  and  to  become  the  slave  of  the  Order, 
they  further  asked  him  if  he  were  married 
or  betrothed ;  if  he  had  ever  entered  any 
other  Order ;  if  he  owed  more  than  he  could 
pay ;  if  he  was  of  sound  body ;  and  if  he 
was  of  free  condition?  If  his  replies  were 
satisfactory,  his  examiners  returned  to  the 
Chapter  room  and  made  report;  whereupon 
the  Master  again  inquired  if  any  one  pres- 
ent knew  anything  against  the  candidate. 
All  being  silent,  he  asked :  "  Are  you  will- 
ing that  he  should  be  received  in  God's 
name;"  and  all  the  knights  answered: 
"Let  him  be  received  in  God's  name."  His 
examiners  then  returned  to  him  and  asked 
him  if  he  still  persisted  in  his  intention. 
If  he  replied  that  he  did,  they  gave  him  the 
necessary  instructions  how  he  should  act, 
and  led  him  to  the  door  of  the  Chapter 
room.  There  entering  he  cast  himself  on 
his  knees  before  the  Master,  with  folded 
hands,  and  said : "  Sir,  I  am  come  before  God, 
before  you  and  the  brethren,  and  pray  and 
beseech  you,  for  God  and  our  dear  Lady's 
sake,  to  admit  me  into  your  fellowship  and 


to  the  good  deeds  of  the  Order,  as  one  who 
will  for  all  his  life  long  be  the  servant  and 
slave  of  the  Order." 

The  Master  replied:  "Beloved  Brother, 
you  are  desirous  of  a  great  matter,  for  you 
see  nothing  but  the  outward  shell  of  our 
Order.  It  is  only  the  outward  shell  when 
you  see  that  we  have  fine  horses  and  rich 
caparisons,  that  we  eat  and  drink  well,  and 
are  splendidly  clothed.  From  this  you 
conclude  that  you  will  be  well  off"  with  us. 
But  you  know  not  the  rigorous  maxims 
which  are  in  our  interior.  For  it  is  a  hard 
matter  for  you,  who  are  your  own  master, 
to  become  the  servant  of  another.  You 
will  hardly  be  able  to  perform,  in  future, 
what  you  wish  yourself.  For  when  you 
wish  to  be  on  this  side  of  the  sea,  you  will 
be  sent  to  the  other  side;  when  you  will 
wish  to  be  in  Acre,  you  will  be  sent  to  the 
district  of  Antioch,  to  Tripolis,  or  to  Ar- 
menia; or  you  will  be  sent  to  Apulia,  to 
Sicily,  or  to  Lombardy,  or  to  Burgundy, 
France,  England,  or  any  other  country 
where  we  have  houses  and  possessions. 
When  you  will  wish  to  sleep,  you  will  be 
ordered  to  watch ;  when  you  will  wish  to 
watch,  then  you  will  be  ordered  to  go  to 
bed ;  when  you  will  wish  to  eat,  then  you 
will  be  ordered  to  do  something  else.  And 
as  both  we  and  you  might  suffer  great  in- 
convenience from  what  you  have,  mayhap, 
concealed  from  us,  look  here  on  the  holy 
Evangelists  and  the  word  of  God,  and  an- 
swer the  truth  to  the  questions  which  we 
shall  put  to  you ;  for  if  you  lie,  you  will  be 
perjured,  and  may  be  expelled  the  Order, 
from  which  God  keep  you ! " 

The  questions  which  had  been  before 
asked  him  by  his  examiners  were  then  re- 
peated more  at  large,  with  the  additional 
one  whether  he  had  made  any  contract  with 
a  Templar  or  any  other  person  to  secure  his 
admission. 

His  answers  being  satisfactory,  the  Mas- 
ter proceeded  :  "  Beloved  Brother,  take 
good  heed  that  you  have  spoken  truth  to 
us,  for  should  you  in  any  one  point  have 
spoken  falsely,  you  would  be  put  out  of  the 
Order,  from  which  God  preserve  you.  Now, 
beloved  Brother,  heed  well  what  we  shall 
say  to  you.  Do  you  promise  God  and  Mary, 
our  dear  Lady,  that  your  life  long  you  will 
be  obedient  to  the  Master  of  the  Temple 
and  the  Prior  who  is  set  over  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Sir,  God  willing." 

"  Do  you  promise  God  and  Mary,  our 
dear  Lady,  all  your  life  long  to  Uve  chaste 
in  your  body  ?  " 

"Yes,  Sir,  God  willing." 

"Do  you  promise  God  and  Mary,  our 
dear  Lady,  your  life  long  to  observe  the 
laudable  manners  and  customs  of  our  Or- 
der, those  which  now  are  and  those  which 


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425 


the  Master  and  knights  may  hereafter 
ordain?" 

"  Yes,  Sir,  God  willing." 

"Do  you  promise  God  and  Mary,  our 
dear  Lady,  that  your  life  long  you  will, 
with  the  power  and  strength  that  God  gives 
you,  help  to  conquer  the  holy  land  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  with  your  best  power  you  will 
help  to  keep  and  guard  that  which  the 
Christians  possess?" 

"Yes,  Sir,  God  willing." 

"Do  you  promise  God  and  Mary,  our 
dear  Lady,  never  to  hold  this  Order  for 
stronger  or  weaker,  for  worse  or  for  better, 
but  with  the  permission  of  the  Master  or 
the  convent  which  has  the  authority  ?" 

"Yes,  Sir,  God  willing." 

"  Finally,  do  you  promise  God  and  Mary, 
our  dear  Lady,  that  you  will  never  be  pres- 
ent when  a  Christian  shall  be  unjustly  and 
unlawfully  despoiled  of  his  heritage,  and 
that  you  will  never  by  counsel  or  act  take 
part  therein  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Sir,  God  willing." 

Then  the  Master  said:  "Thus,  in  the 
name  of  God  and  Mary  our  dear  Lady, 
and  in  the  name  of  St.  Peter  of  Rome,  and 
our  Father  the  Pope,  and  in  the  name  of 
all  the  Brethren  of  the  Temple,  we  receive 
you  to  all  the  good  works  of  the  Order 
which  have  been  done  from  the  beginning, 
and  shall  be  done  to  the  end,  you,  your 
father,  your  mother,  and  all  your  lineage, 
who  you  are  willing  shall  have  a  share 
therein.  In  like  manner  do  you  receive  us 
into  all  the  good  works  which  you  have 
done  or  shall  do.  We  assure  you  bread 
and  water,  and  the  poor  clothing  of  the  Or- 
der, and  toil  and  labor  in  abundance." 

The  Chaplain  then  read  the  133d  Psalm 
and  the  prayer  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Deus 
qui  cordafidelium,  and  the  brethren  repeated 
the  Lord's  prayer.  The  Prior  and  the 
Chaplain  gave  the  recipient  the  fraternal 
kiss.  He  was  then  seated  before  the  Mas- 
ter, who  delivered  to  him  a  discourse  on 
his  duties  and  obligations  as  a  member  of 
the  Order. 

These  duties  may  be  thus  summed  up. 
He  was  never  to  assault  a  Christian,  nor 
swear,  nor  receive  any  attendance  from  a 
woman  without  the  permission  of  his  su- 
periors; not  to  kiss  a  woman,  even  his 
mother  or  sister ;  to  hold  no  child  to  the 
baptismal  font ;  and  to  abuse  no  man,  but 
to  be  courteous  to  all.  He  was  to  sleep  in 
a  linen  shirt,  drawers  and  hose,  and  girded 
with  a  small  girdle ;  to  attend  divine  ser- 
vice punctually,  and  to  begin  and  end  his 
meals  with  a  prayer. 

Such  is  the  formula  of  reception,  which 
has  been  collected  by  Miinter  from  the 
most  authentic  sources.  It  is  evident,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  not  complete.  The  secret 
3D 


parts  of  the  ritual  are  omitted,  so  that  the 
formula  is  here  something  like  what  a 
Freemason  would  call  the  monitorial  part 
of  the  instruction.  Miinter  does  not  even 
give  the  form  of  the  oath  taken  by  the  can- 
didate; although  Raynouard  says  that  it  is 
preserved  in  the  Archives  of  the  Abbey  of 
Alcobaza,  in  Aragon,  and  gives  it  in  the 
following  words,  on  the  authority  of  Hen- 
ri gu  ez  in  his  Regula,  etc. ,  Ordinis  Cisterniensis. 

"  I  swear  to  consecrate  my  discourse,  my 
arms,  my  faculties,  and  my  life,  to  the  de- 
fence of  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  faith, 
and  to  that  of  the  unity  of  God.  I  also 
promise  to  be  submissive  and  obedient  to 

the  Grand  Master  of  the  Order At 

all  times  that  it  may  be  necessary,  I  will 
cross  the  seas  to  go  to  battle ;  I  will  con- 
tribute succor  against  infidel  kings  and 
princes ;  I  will  not  turn  my  back  on  three 
foes ;  and  even  if  I  be  alone,  I  will  fight 
them  if  they  are  infidels." 

The  fact  that  the  Templars  had  a  secret 
initiation  is  now  generally  conceded,  al- 
though a  few  writers  have  denied  it.  But 
the  circumstantial  evidence  in  its  favor  is 
too  great  to  be  overcome  by  anything  ex- 
cept positive  proof  to  the  contrary,  which 
has  never  been  adduced.  It  is  known  that 
at  these  receptions  none  but  members  of  the 
Order  were  admitted ;  a  prohibition  which 
would  have  been  unnecessary  if  the  cere- 
monies had  not  been  secret.  In  the  meet- 
ings of  the  General  Chapter  of  the  Order, 
even  the  Pope's  Legate  was  refused  admis- 
sion. 

It  would  not  be  fair  to  quote  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty  accusations  preferred 
against  the  Templars  by  Clement,  because 
they  were  undoubtedly  malicious  falsehoods 
invented  by  an  unprincipled  Pontiff  pan- 
dering to  the  cupidity  of  an  avaricious 
monarch ;  but  yet  some  of  them  are  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  indicate  what  was  the  gen- 
eral belief  of  men  at  the  time.  Thus,  Art. 
32  says :  "  Quod  receptiones  istius  clandes- 
tine faciebant ; "  i.  e.  that  they  were  wont  to 
have  their  receptions  in  secret.  The  100th  is 
in  these  words :  "  Quod  sic  se  includunt  ad 
tenenda  capitula  ut  omnes  januas  domus  et 
ecclesise  in  quibus  tenent  capitula  ferment 
adeo  firmiter  quod  nullus  sit  nee  esse  pos- 
sit  accessus  ad  eos  nee  juxta:   ut  possit 

auicunque  videre  vel  audire  de  factis  vel 
ictis  eorum ; "  i.  e.,  that  when  they  held 
their  Chapters,  they  shut  all  the  doors  of  the 
house  or  church  in  which  they  met  so  closely 
that  no  one  could  approach  near  enough  to 
see  or  hear  vjhat  they  were  doing  and  saying. 
And  the  next  article  is  more  particular,  for 
it  states  that,  to  secure  themselves  against 
eavesdroppers,they  were  accustomed  to  place 
a  watch,  as  we  should  now  say  a  tiler,  upon 
the  roof  of  the  house,  "  excubicum  super 


426 


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KNIGHT 


tectum,"   who   could  give   the   necessary 
warning. 

Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  all  the  details  of  this 
secret  reception  of  the  ancient  Templars, 
since  it  must  have  been  generally  oral ;  but 
I  have  always  been  inclined  to  tbink,  from 
allusions  here  and  there  scattered  through 
the  history  of  their  customs,  that  many  of 
its  features  have  descended  to  us,  and  are 
to  be  found  in  the  ritual  of  initiation  prac- 
tised by  the  Masonic  Knights  Templars. 

The  dress  of  the  Templars  was  prescribed 
for  them  by  St.  Bernard,  in  the  rule  which 
he  composed  for  the  government  of  the 
Order,  and  is  thus  described  in  chapter  xx. 
"  To  all  the  professed  knights,  both  in 
winter  and  summer,  we  give,  if  they  can  be 
procured,  white  garments,  that  those  who 
have  cast  behind  them  a  dark  life,  may 
know  that  they  are  to  commend  themselves 
to  their  Creator  by  a  pure  and  white  life." 
The  white  mantle  was 
therefore  the  peculiar 
vestment  of  the  Tem- 
plars, as  the  black  was 
of  the  Hospitallers. 
Subsequently,  for  at 
first  they  wore  no 
cross,  Pope  Euge- 
^  nius  III.  gave  them  a 
red  cross  pattee  as  a 
symbol  of  martyrdom,  which  they  were  di- 
rected to  wear  on  the  left  breast,  just  over 
the  heart. 

The  general  direction  of  St.  Bernard  as 
to  clothing  was  afterwards  expanded,  so  that 
the  dress  of  a  Templar  consisted  of  a  long, 
white  tunic,  nearly  resembling  that  of  a 
priest's  in  shape,  with  a  red  cross  on  the 
front  and  back ;  under  this  was  his  linen 
shirt  clasped  by  a  girdle.  Over  all  was  the 
white  mantle  with  the  red  cross  pattee. 
The  head  was  covered  by  a  cap  or  hood  at- 
tached to  the  mantle.  The  arms  were  a 
sword,  lance,  mace,  and  shield.  Although 
at  first  the  Order  adopted  as  a  seal  the  rep- 
resentation of  two  knights  riding  on  one 
horse,  as  a  mark  of  their  poverty,  subse- 
quently each  knight  was  provided  with 
three  horses,  and  an  esquire  selected  usu- 
ally from  the  class  of  Serving  Brethren. 

To  write  the  history  of  the  Templar 
Order  for  the  two  centuries  of  its  existence 
would,  says  Addison,  be  to  write  the  Latin 
history  of  Palestine,  and  would  occupy  a 
volume.  Its  details  would  be  accounts  of 
glorious  struggles  with  the  infidel  in  de- 
fence of  the  holy  land,  and  of  Christian 
pilgrimage,  sometimes  successful  and  often 
disastrous;  of  arid  sands  well  moistened 
with  the  blood  of  Christian  and  Saracen 
warriors ;  of  disreputable  contests  with  its 
rival  of  St.  John ;  of  final  forced  departure 


from  the  places  which  its  prowess  had 
conquered,  but  which  it  had  not  strength 
to  hold,  and  of  a  few  years  of  luxurious, 
and  it  may  be  of  licentious  indolence,  ter- 
minated by  a  cruel  martyrdom  and  dissolu- 
tion. 

The  fall  of  Acre  in  1292,  under  the  vigor- 
ous assault  of  the  Sultan  Mansour,  led  at 
once  to  the  evacuation  of  Palestine  by  the 
Christians.  The  Knights  Hospitallers  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  afterwards  called 
Knights  of  Rhodes,  and  then  of  Malta,  be- 
took themselves  to  Rhodes,  where  the 
former,  assuming  a  naval  character,  resumed 
the  warfare  in  their  galleys  against  the 
Mohammedans.  The  Templars,  after  a 
brief  stay  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  retired 
to  their  different  Preceptories  in  Europe. 

Porter  {Hist.  K.  of  Malta,  i.  174,)  has  no 
panegyric  for  these  recreant  knights.  After 
eulogizing  the  Hospitallers  for  the  persever- 
ing energy  with  which,  from  their  island 
home  of  Rhodes,  they  continued  the  war 
with  the  infidels,  he  says : 

"  The  Templar,  on  the  other  hand,  after 
a  brief  sojourn  in  Cyprus,  instead  of  ren- 
dering the  smallest  assistance  to  his  chival- 
rous and  knightly  brethren  in  their  new 
undertaking,  hurried  with  unseemly  haste 
to  his  numerous  wealthy  European  Pre- 
ceptories, where  the  grossness  of  his  licen- 
tiousness, the  height  of  his  luxury,  and 
the  arrogance  of  his  pride,  soon  rendered 
him  an  object  of  the  most  invincible  hatred 
among  those  who  possessed  ample  power  to 
accomplish  his  overthrow.  During  these 
last  years  of  their  existence  little  can  be 
said  in  defence  of  the  Order;  and  although 
the  barbarous  cruelty  with  which  their  ex- 
tinction was  accomplished  has  raised  a 
feeling  of  compassion  in  their  behalf, 
which  bids  fair  to  efface  the  memory  of 
their  crimes,  still  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
they  had  of  late  years  so  far  deviated  from 
the  original  purposes  of  their  Institution 
as  to  render  them  highly  unfit  depositaries 
of  that  wealth  which  had  been  bequeathed 
to  them  for  purposes  so  widely  different 
from  those  to  which  they  had  appropriated 
it." 

The  act  of  cruelty  and  of  injustice  by 
which  the  Templar  Order  was  dissolved  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  has  bequeathed  an 
inglorious  memory  on  the  names  of  the  in- 
famous king,  and  no  less  infamous  pope 
who  accomplished  it.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  the  throne  of  France 
was  filled  by  Philip  the  Fair,  an  ambitious, 
a  vindictive,  and  an  avaricious  prince.  In 
his  celebrated  controversy  with  Pope  Bon- 
iface, the  Templars  had,  as  was  usual  with 
them,  sided  with  the  pontiff  and  opposed 
the  king ;  this  act  excited  his  hatred  :  the 
Order  was  enormously  wealthy ;  this  aroused 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


427 


his  avarice :  their  power  interfered  with  his 
designs  of  political  aggrandizement;  and  this 
alarmed  his  ambition.  He,  therefore,  secretly 
concerted  with  Pope  Clement  V.  a  plan  for 
their  destruction,  and  the  appropriation  of 
their  revenues.  Clement,  by  his  direction, 
wrote  in  June,  1306,  to  De  Molay,  the 
Grand  Master,  who  was  then  at  Cyprus,  in- 
viting him  to  come  and  consult  with  him 
on  some  matters  of  great  importance  to  the 
Order.  De  Molay  obeyed  the  summons, 
and  arrived  in  the  beginning  of  1307  at 
Paris,  with  sixty  knights  and  a  large 
amount  of  treasure.  He  was  immediately 
imprisoned,  and,  on  the  thirteenth  of  Oc- 
tober following,  every  knight  in  France 
was,  in  consequence  of  the  secret  orders  of 
the  king,  arrested  on  the  pretended  charge 
of  idolatry,  and  other  enormous  crimes,  of 
which  Squin  de  Flexian,  a  renegade  and 
expelled  Prior  of  the  Order,  was  said  to 
have  confessed  that  the  knights  were  guilty 
in  their  secret  Chapters. 

What  these  charges  were  has  not  been 
left  to  conjecture.  Pope  Clement  sent  a 
list  of  the  articles  of  accusation,  amounting 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  in  number,  to  all 
the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  Papal  commis- 
saries upon  which  to  examine  the  knights 
who  should  be  brought  before  them.  This 
list  is  still  in  existence,  and  in  it  we  find 
such  charges  as  these.  1.  That  they  re- 
quired those  who  were  received  into  the 
Order  to  abjure  Christ,  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  all  the  saints.  7.  That  they  denied 
that  Christ  had  suffered  for  man's  redemp- 
tion. 9.  That  they  made  their  recipient  spit 
upon  the  cross  or  the  crucifix.  14.  That 
they  worshipped  a  cat  in  their  assemblies. 
16.  That  they  did  not  believe  in  the  eucha- 
ristic  sacrifice.  20.  That  they  said  that  the 
Grand  Master  had  the  power  of  absolution. 
26.  That  they  practised  obscene  ceremonies 
in  their  receptions.  32.  That  their  recep- 
tions were  secret;  a  charge  repeated  in  arti- 
cles 97,  98,  99,  100,  and  101,  in  different 
forms.  42.  That  they  had  an  idol,  which 
was  a  head  with  one  or  with  three  faces,  and 
sometimes  a  human  skull.  52,  53.  That 
they  exercised  magic  arts. 

On  such  preposterous  charges  as  these 
the  knights  were  tried,  and  of  course,  as  a 
foregone  conclusion  condemned.  On  the 
12th  of  May,  1310,  fifty-four  of  the  knights 
were  publicly  burnt,  and  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1313,  De  Molay,  the  Grand  Master, 
and  the  three  principal  dignitaries  of  the 
order,  suffered  the  same  fate.  They  died 
faithfully  asserting  their  innocence  of  all 
the  crimes  imputed  to  them.  The  Order  was 
now,  by  the  energy  of  the  king  of  France, 
assisted  by  the  spiritual  authority  of  the 
pope,  suppressed  throughout  Europe.  So 
much  of  its  vast  possessions  as  were  not 


appropriated  by  the  different  sovereigns  to 
their  own  use,  or  to  that  of  their  favorites, 
was  bestowed  upon  the  Order  of  the  Knights 
of  Malta,  whose  acceptance  of  the  donation 
did  not  tend  to  diminish  the  ill  feeling  which 
had  always  existed  between  the  members 
of  the  two  Orders. 

As  to  the  story  of  the  continuation  of  the 
Order,  after  the  death  of  James  de  Molay, 
by  Johannes  Larmenius,  under  the  au- 
thority of  a  charter  of  transmission  given 
to  him  by  De  Molay  a  few  days  before  his 
death,  that  subject  is  more  appropriately 
treated  in  the  history  of  the  Order  of  the 
Temple,  which  claims,  by  virtue  of  this 
charter,  to  be  the  regular  successor  of  the 
ancient  Order. 

From  the  establishment  of  the  Order  by 
Hugh  de  Payens,  until  its  dissolution 
during  the  Mastership  of  De  Molay,  twenty- 
two  Grand  Masters  presided  over  the  Order, 
of  whom  the  following  is  an  accurate  list, 
compiled  on  the  authority  of  Addison.  The 
roll  of  Grand  Masters  in  the  Rite  of  Strict 
Observance,  and  that  in  the  Order  of  the 
Templar,  differ  in  several  names ;  but  these 
rolls  are  destitute  of  authenticity. 

1.  Hugh  de  Payens,        elected  in    1118. 

2.  Robert  of  Burgundy,         "  1136. 

3.  Everard  de  Barri,  "  1146. 

4.  Bernard  de  Tremellay,      "  1151. 

5.  Bertrand  de  Blanqueiort,  "  1154. 

6.  Philip  of  Naplous,  "  1167. 

7.  Odo  de  St.  Amand,  "  1170. 

8.  Arnold  de  Troye,  "  1180. 

9.  Gerard  de  Ridefort,  "  1185. 

10.  Brother  Walter,  "  1189. 

11.  Robert  de  Sable,  "  1191. 

12.  Gilbert  Horal,  "  1195. 

13.  Philip  de  Plessis,  "  1201. 

14.  William  de  Chartres,        "  1217. 

15.  Peter  de  Montaigu,  "  1218. 

16.  Hermann  de  Perigord,      "  1236. 

17.  William  de  Sonnac,  "  1245. 

18.  Reginald  de  Vichier,         "  1252. 

19.  Thomas  Berard,  "  1256. 

20.  William  de  Beaujeu,  "  1273. 

21.  Theobald  de  Gaudini,        "  1291. 

22.  James  de  Molay,  "  1297. 
Knight     Templar,     Masonic. 

The  connection  of  the  Knights  Templars 
with  the  Freemasons  may  much  more 
plausibly  be  traced  than  that  of  the  Knights 
of  Malta.  Yet,  unfortunately,  the  sources 
from  which  information  is  to  be  derived 
are  for  the  most  part  traditionary ;  authen- 
tic dates  and  documents  are  wanting. 
Tradition  has  always  been  inclined  to  trace 
the  connection  to  an  early  period,  and  to 
give  to  the  Templar  system  of  secret  recep- 
tion a  Masonic  character,  derived  from 
their  association  during  the  Crusades  with 
the  mystical  Society  of  the  Assassins  in 
Syria.    Lawrie,  {Hist.,  p.  87,)  or  Brewster, 


428 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


who  is  said  by  some  to  have  written  the 
work  which  bears  Lawrie's  name,  embodies 
the  tradition  in  this  form : 

"  Almost  all  the  secret  associations  of  the 
ancients  either  flourished  or  originated  in 
Syria  and  the  adjacent  countries.  It  was 
here  that  the  Dionysian  artists,  the  Essenes 
and  the  Kassideans,  arose.  From  this 
country  also  came  several  members  of  that 
trading  association  of  Masons  which  ap- 
peared in  Europe  during  the  dark  ages; 
and  we  are  assured,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  unfavorable  condition  of  that  province, 
there  exists  at  this  day,  on  Mount  Libanus, 
one  of  these  Syriac  fraternities.  As  the 
Order  of  the  Templars,  therefore,  was 
originally  formed  in  Syria,  and  existed 
there  for  a  considerable  time,  it  would  be 
no  improbable  supposition  that  they  re- 
ceived their  Masonic  knowledge  from  the 
Lodges  in  that  quarter.  But  we  are  fortu- 
nately, in  this  case,  not  left  to  conjecture, 
for  we  are  expressly  informed  by  a  foreign 
author  [Adler,  de  Drusis],  who  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  history  and  customs 
of  Syria,  that  the  Knights  Templars  were 
actually  members  of  the  Syriac  fraterni- 
ties." 

Even  if  this  hypothesis  were  true,  al- 
though it  might  probably  suggest  the  origin 
of  the  secret  reception  of  the  Templars,  it 
would  not  explain  the  connection  of  the 
modern  Templars  with  the  Freemasons, 
because  there  is  no  evidence  that  these 
Syriac  fraternities  were  Masonic. 

There  are  four  sources  from  which  the 
Masonic  Templars  are  said  to  have  derived 
their  existence ;  making,  therefore,  as  many 
different  divisions  of  the  Order. 

1.  The  Templars  who  claim  John  Mark 
Larmenius  as  the  successor  of  James  de 
Molay. 

2.  Those  who  recognize  Peter  d'Aumont 
as  the  successor  of  Molay. 

3.  Those  who  derive  their  Templarism 
from  the  Count  Beaujeu,  the  nephew  of 
Molay. 

4.  Those  who  claim  an  independent 
origin,  and  repudiate  alike  the  authority 
of  Larmenius,  of  Aumont,  and  of  Beaujeu. 

From  the  first  class  spring  the  Templars 
of  France,  who  professed  to  have  continued 
the  Order  by  authority  of  a  charter  given 
by  Molay  to  Larmenius.  This  body  of 
Templars  designate  themselves  as  the 
"Order  of  the  Temple."  Its  seat  is  in 
Paris.  The  Duke  of  Sussex  received  from 
it  the  degree  and  the  authority  to  establish 
a  Grand  Conclave  in  England.  He  did  so ; 
and  convened  that  body  once,  but  only 
once.  During  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life,  Templarism  had  no  activity  in  England, 
as  he  discountenanced  all  Christian  and 
chivalric  Masonry.  See  Temple,  Order  of  the. 


The  second  division  of  Templars  is  that 
which  is  founded  on  the  theory  that  Peter 
d'Aumont  fled  with  several  knights  into 
Scotland,  and  there  united  with  the  Freema- 
sons. This  legend  is  intimately  connected 
with  Ramsay's  tradition — that  Freemasonry 
sprang  from  Templarism,  and  that  all  Free- 
masons are  Knights  Templars.  The  Chap- 
ter of  Clermont  adopted  this  theory;  and 
in  establishing  their  high  degrees  asserted 
that  they  were  derived  from  these  Tem- 
plars of  Scotland.  The  Baron  Hund  car- 
ried the  theory  into  Germany,  and  on  it 
established  his  Rite  of  Strict  Observance, 
which  was  a  Templar  system.  Hence  the 
Templars  of  Germany  must  be  classed  un- 
der the  head  of  the  followers  of  Aumont. 
See  Strict  Observance. 

The  third  division  is  that  which  asserts 
that  the  Count  Beaujeu,  a  nephew  of  the 
last  Grand  Master,  Molay,  and  a  member 
of  the  Order  of  Knights  of  Christ,  —  the 
name  assumed  by  the  Templars  of  Portu- 

§al,  —  had  received  authority  from  that 
Irder  to  disseminate  the  degree.  He 
is  said  to  have  carried  the  degree  and  its 
ritual  into  Sweden,  where  he  incorporated 
it  with  Freemasonry.  The  story  is,  too, 
that  Beaujeu  collected  his  uncle's  ashes  and 
interred  them  in  Stockholm,  where  a 
monument  was  erected  to  his  memory. 
Hence  the  Swedish  Templar  Masons  claim 
their  descent  from  Beaujeu,  and  the  Swed- 
ish Rite  is  through  this  source  a  Templar 
system. 

Of  the  last  class,  or  the  Templars  who 
recognized  the  authority  of  neither  of  the 
leaders  who  have  been  mentioned,  there 
were  two  subdivisions,  the  Scotch  and  the 
English ;  for  it  is  only  in  Scotland  and 
England  that  this  independent  Templarism 
found  a  foothold. 

It  was  only  in  Scotland  that  the  Tem- 
plars endured  no  persecution.  Long  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  Order  in  every  other 
country  of  Europe,  the  Scottish  Preceptories 
continued  to  exist,  and  the  knights  lived 
undisturbed.  One  portion  of  the  Scottish 
Templars  entered  the  army  of  Robert 
Bruce,  and,  after  the  battle  of  Bannock- 
burn,  were  merged  in  the  "  Royal  Order 
of  Scotland,"  then  established  by  him.  See 
Royal  Order  of  Scotland. 
Another  portion  of  the  Scottish  Tem- 

{>lars  united  with  the  Knights  Hospital- 
ers of  St.  John.  They  lived  amicably  in 
the  same  houses,  and  continued  to  do  so 
until  the  Reformation.  At  this  time  many 
of  them  embraced  Protestantism.  Some 
of  them  united  with  the  Freemasons,  and 
established  "  the  Ancient  Lodge  "  at  Stir- 
ling, where  they  conferred  the  degrees  of 
Knight  of  the  Sepulchre,  Knight  of  Malta, 
and  Knight  Templar.   It  is  to  this  division 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


429 


that  we  are  to  trace  the  Masonic  Templars 
of  Scotland. 

The  Roman  Catholic  knights  remain- 
ing in  the  Order,  placed  themselves  under 
David  Seaton.  Lord  Dundee  afterwards 
became  their  Grand  Master.  Charles 
Edward,  the  "  Young  Pretender,"  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Order  at  Holyrood  House, 
Edinburgh,  on  September  24,  1745,  and 
made  the  Grand  Master.  He  carried  the 
degree  with  him,  of  course,  into  France, 
after  the  downfall  of  his  enterprise,  and 
established  the  Chapter  of  Arras  and  the 
high  degrees.  To  this  branch,  I  think, 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  we  are 
to  attribute  the  Templar  system  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  as  devel- 
oped in  its  degree  of  Kadosh. 

The  English  Masonic  Templars  are  most 
probably  derived  from  that  body  called  the 
"  Baldwyn  Encampment,"  or  from  some 
one  of  the  four  co-ordinate  Encampments 
of  London,  Bath,  York,  and  Salisbury, 
which  it  is  claimed  were  formed  by  the 
members  of  the  Preceptory  which  had  long 
existed  at  Bristol,  and  who,  on  the  dissolu- 
tion of  their  Order,  are  supposed  to  have 
united  with  the  Masonic  fraternity.  The 
Baldwyn  Encampment  claims  to  have  ex- 
isted from  "  time  immemorial,"  —  an  in- 
definite period, —  but  we  can  trace  it  back 
far  enough  to  give  it  a  priority  over  all 
other  English  Encampments.  From  this 
division  of  the  Templars,  repudiating  all 
connection  with  Larmenius,  with  Aumont, 
or  any  other  of  the  self-constituted  leaders, 
but  tracing  its  origin  to  the  independent 
action  of  knights  who  fled  for  security  and 
for  perpetuity  into  the  body  of  Masonry, 
are  we,  I  think,  justly  entitled  to  derive 
the  Templars  of  the  United  States. 

Of  this  brief  statement,  we  may  make  the 
following  summary : 

1.  From  Larmenius  came  the  French 
Templars. 

2.  From  Aumont,  the  German  Templars 
of  Strict  Observance. 

3.  From  Beaujeu,  the  Swedish  Templars 
of  the  Rite  of  Zinnendorf. 

4.  From  the  Protestant  Templars  of 
Scotland  and  the  Ancient  Lodge  of  Stir- 
ling, the  Scotch  Templars. 

5.  From  Prince  Charles  Edward  and  his 
adherents,  the  Templars  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

6.  From  the  Baldwyn  Encampment  and 
its  co-ordinates,  the  old  English  and  the 
American  Templars. 

The  Government  of  Masonic  Knights 
Templars  in  the  United  States  is  vested, 
first,  in  Commanderies,  which  confer  the 
Red  Cross  and  Templar  degrees  and  instruct 
in  the  secrets  of  Malta.  The  usual  expres- 
sion, that  a  candidate  after  being  made  a 


Knight  Templar  is  also  created  a  Knight 
of  Malta,  involves  an  absurdity.  No  man 
being  a  Knight  Templar  could,  by  the 
original  statutes,  be  a  member  of  any  other 
Order;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
wise  provision  of  the  Grand  Encampment 
in  1856,  which  struck  the  degree  of  Malta 
from  the  ritual  of  the  Commanderies,  should 
have  been  in  1862  unwisely  repealed.  The 
secrets  in  which  the  candidate  is  instructed 
are  the  modern  inventions  of  the  Masonic 
Knights  of  Malta.  The  original  Order  had 
no  secrets. 

Commanderies  are  under  the  control  of 
Grand  Commanderies  in  States  in  which 
those  bodies  exist.  Where  they  do  not,  the 
Warrants  are  derived  directly  from  the 
Grand  Encampment. 

The  supreme  authority  of  the  Order  is 
exercised  by  the  Grand  Encampment  of 
the  United  States,  which  meets  triennially. 
The  presiding  officer  is  a  Grand  Master. 

The  Costume  of  the  Knights  Templars 
of  the  United  States  is  of  two  kinds.  First, 
the  original  uniform,  which  was  in  general 
use  until  the  year  1859,  and  is  still  used 
by  Commanderies  which  were  in  existence 
before  that  time.     It  is  thus  described : 

The  suit  is  black,  with  black  gloves.  A 
black  velvet  sash,  trimmed  with  silver  lace, 
crosses  the  body  from  the  left  shoulder  to 
right  hip,  having  at  its  end  a  cross-hilted 
dagger,  a  black  rose  on  the  left  shoulder, 
and  a  Maltese  cross  at  the  end.  Where  the 
sash  crosses  the  left  breast,  is  a  nine-point- 
ed star  in  silver,  with  a  cross  and  serpent 
of  gold  in  the  centre,  within  a  circle,  around 
which  are  the  words,  "  in  hoc  signo  vinces," 
The  apron  is  of  black  velvet,  in  triangular 
form,  to  represent  the  delta,  and  edged  with 
silver  lace.  On  its  flap  is  placed  a  triangle 
of  silver,  perforated  with  twelve  holes,  with 
a  cross  and  serpent  in  the  centre ;  on  the 
centre  of  the  apron  are  a  skull  and  cross- 
bones,  between  three  stars  of  seven  points, 
having  a  red  cross  in  the  centre  of  each. 
The  belt  is  black,  to  which  is  attached  a 
cross-hilted  sword.  The  caps  vary  in  form 
and  decoration  in  different  Encampments. 
The  standard  is  black,  bearing  a  nine-point- 
ed cross  of  silver,  having  in  its  centre  a 
circle  of  green,  with  the  cross  and  serpent 
in  gold,  and  the  motto  around  "  in  hoc  signo 
vinces" 

In  1859  the  Grand  Encampment  enacted 
a  statute  providing  that  all  Commanderies 
which  might  be  thereafter  chartered  should 
provide  a  new  costume  of  an  entirely  differ- 
ent kind,  which  should  also  be  adopted  by 
the  old  Commanderies  whenever  they  should 
change  their  uniform.  This  new  costume 
was  further  altered  in  1862,  and  is  now  of 
the  following  description,  as  detailed  in  the 
statute : 


430 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


Full  Dress.  —  Black  frock  coat,  black 
pantaloons,  scarf,  sword,  belt,  sboulder 
straps,  gauntlets,  and  chapeau,  with  appro- 
priate trimmings. 

Fatigue  Dress.  —  Same  as  full  dress,  ex- 
cept for  chapeau  a  black  cloth  cap,  navy- 
form,  with  appropriate  cross  in  front,  and 
for  gauntlets,  white  gloves. 

Scarf.  —  Five  inches  wide  in  the  whole, 
of  white,  bordered  with  black  one  inch  on 
either  side,  a  strip  of  navy  lace  one-fourth 
of  an  inch  wide,  at  the  inner  edge  of  the 
black.  On  the  front  centre  of  the  scarf  a 
metal  star  of  nine  points,  in  allusion  to  the 
nine  founders  of  the  Temple  Order,  inclo- 
sing the  Passion  Cross,  surrounded  by  the 
Latin  motto,  "In  hoc  signo  vinces;"  the 
star  to  be  three  and  three-quarter  inches  in 
diameter.  The  scarf  to  be  worn  from  the 
right  shoulder  to  the  left  hip,  with  the  ends 
extending  six  inches  below  the  point  of 
intersection. 

Chapeau.  —  The  military  chapeau,  trim- 
med with  black  binding,  one  white  and  two 
black  plumes,  and  appropriate  cross  on  the 
left  side. 

Gauntlets.  —  Of  buff  leather,  the  flap  to 
extend  four  inches  upwards  from  the  wrist, 
and  to  have  the  appropriate  cross  embroid- 
ered in  gold,  on  the  proper  colored  velvet, 
two  inches  in  length. 

Sword.  —  Thirty-four  to  forty  inches,  in- 
clusive of  scabbard ;  helmet  head,  cross  han- 
dle, and  metal  scabbard. 

Belt.  —  Red  enamelled  or  patent  leather, 
two  inches  wide,  fastened  round  the  body 
with  buckle  or  clasp. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  appear 
that  there  are  two  modes  of  dress  or  costume 
in  use  among  the  Templars  of  the  United 
States — one,  the  old  or  "black  uniform," 
which  was  adopted  at  the  first  organization 
of  the  Order  in  this  country,  and  which  is 
still  used  by  the  old  Commanderies  which 
were  in  existence  previous  to  the  year  1859; 
and  the  new  or  "  black  uniform,"  which  was 
adopted  by  the  Grand  Encampment  in 
that  year,  and  which  has  been  prescribed 
for  all  Commanderies  chartered  since  that 
year. 

This  difference  of  costume  has  recently 
been  the  occasion  of  much  discussion  in 
the  Order.  In  1872,  Sir  J.  Q.  A.  Fellows, 
the  Grand  Master,  thinking  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  enforce  a  uniform  dress  in  the 
Order,  issued  his  decree  requiring  all  the 
Commanderies  in  the  United  States  which 
were  then  using  "  the  black  uniform,"  to 
abandon  it,  and  to  adopt  "the  white  uni- 
form," which  had  been  originally  ordered 
in  1859,  and  subsequently  amended  in  1862. 
Much  opposition  has  been  manifested  to  this 
order  in  the  Commanderies  and  Grand  Com- 
manderies where  the  black  costume  was  in 


use.  The  Grand  Master's  interpretation  of 
the  statute  of  the  Grand  Encampment  has 
been  doubted  or  denied,  and  the  order  has 
been  virtually  disobeyed  by  most,  if  not  by  all 
of  them.  Thequestion  has  assumed  greatim- 
portance  in  consequence  of  the  feeling  that 
has  been  created,  and  is  therefore  worthy  of 
discussion.  The  author's  views  were  against 
the  correctness  of  the  Grand  Master's  inter- 
pretation of  the  law,  and  so  were  those  of 
the  living  Past  Grand  Masters  of  the  Order. 
It  is,  however,  but  fair  to  say  that  some 
distinguished  Templars  have  been  of  a 
different  opinion.  The  following  views  ad- 
vanced by  me  in  the  National  Freemason  in 
December,  1872,  express  what  I  am  com- 
pelled to  think  is  the  true  condition  of  the 
question. 

Previous  to  the  year  1859  the  costume  of 
the  Knights  Templars  of  this  country  was 
determined  only  by  a  traditional  rule,  and 
consisted  of  a  black  dress,  with  the  richly 
decorated  baldric  and  apron ;  the  latter  in- 
tended to  show  the  connection  which  ex- 
isted between  the  Order  and  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry. 

In  1856,  at  Hartford,  a  new  Constitution 
was  proposed  and  adopted,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  part  that  referred  to  costume. 
Sir  Knight  Mackey,  from  the  committee  on 
the  Constitution,  made  a  report  on  the  sub- 
ject of  dress,  as  a  part  of  the  Constitution  ; 
but  the  consideration  of  this  report  was 
postponed  until  the  next  triennial  meeting. 
The  changes  in  costume  proposed  by  the 
committee  were  not  very  great ;  the  baldric 
and  the  essential  apron  were  preserved,  and 
a  white  tunic,  not  hitherto  used,  was  re- 
commended. 

At  the  session  of  1859,  at  Chicago,  the 
subject  of  dress  was  alluded  to  by  the 
Grand  Master  in  his  address ;  and  his  re- 
marks, together  with  the  report  of  the 
committee  made  in  1856,  were  referred  to  a 
special  committee  of  seven,  of  which  the 
Grand  Master  was  chairman,  and  Sir 
Knights  Doyle,  Pike,  Simons,  Mackey, 
Morris,  and  French  were  the  members. 

This  committee  reported  a  uniform  which 
made  material  differences  in  the  dress  there- 
tofore worn,  and  especially  by  the  rejection 
of  the  apron  and  the  introduction  of  a 
white  tunic  and  a  white  cloak.  These  last 
were  favorite  notions  of  Grand  Master 
Hubbard,  and  they  were,  I  think,  adopted 
by  the  committee  mainly  in  deference  to 
his  high  authority. 

The  proposed  measure  met  at  first  with 
serious  opposition,  partly  on  account  of  the 
rejection  of  the  apron,  which  many  Tem- 
plars then  held,  as  they  do  now,  to  be  an 
essential  feature  of  Masonic  Templarism, 
and  a  tangible  record  of  the  union  at  a 
specific  period  in  history  of  the  two  Orders ; 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


431 


but  mainly,  perhaps,  on  account  of  the 
very  heavy  expense  and  inconvenience 
which  would  devolve  on  the  old  Command- 
eries,  if  they  were  required  at  once  to  throw 
aside  their  old  dress  and  provide  a  new 
one. 

I  have  a  distinct  recollection  that  this 
opposition  was  only  quelled  by  the  agree- 
ment on  a  compromise,  by  which  the  old 
Commanderies  were  to  be  exempted  from  the 
operation  of  the  law.  The  regulations  for 
the  new  costume  were  then  passed,  and  the 
compromise  immediately  after  adopted  in 
the  words  of  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  proposed  by  Sir  Knight  Doyle,  who 
was  one  of  the  committee : 

"Resolved,  That  the  costume  this  day 
adopted  by  the  Grand  Encampment  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby,  ordered  to  be  worn 
by  all  Commanderies  chartered  at  this 
Communication,  or  that  shall  hereafter  be 
established  in  this  jurisdiction,  and  by  all 
Commanderies  heretofore  existing,  when- 
ever they  shall  procure  a  new  costume;" 
and  all  State  Grand  Commanderies  were 
directed  to  enforce  it  in  all  subordinates 
that  may  hereafter  be  chartered  in  their  re- 
spective jurisdictions. 

I  say  that  this  was  a  compromise,  noth- 
ing more  or  less,  and  so  understood  at  the 
time.  The  old  Commanderies  were  then  in 
the  majority,  and  would  not,  I  think,  have 
consented  to  any  change  involving  so  much 
expenditure,  unless  they  had  been  relieved 
from  the  burden  themselves. 

But  the  white  tunic  and  cloak  were  never 
popular  with  the  knights,  who  had  been 
required  by  the  regulations  of  1859  to  wear 
them.  In  consequence  of  this,  at  the  ses- 
sion in  1862,  on  motion  of  Sir  Knight 
Bailey,  "  the  subject-matter  of  costume  and 
the  resolution  relating  thereto  were  referred 
to  a  Select  Committee  of  Five." 

This  committee  made  a  report,  in  which 
they  "  proposed  "  a  uniform.  The  record 
says  that "  the  report  was  agreed  to,  and 
the  uniform  was  adopted."  But  there  are 
some  points  in  this  report  that  are  worthy 
of  notice.  In  the  first  place,  not  a  word  is 
said  about  the  compromise  resolution  adopt- 
ed in  1859,  although  it  was  referred  to  the 
committee.  That  resolution  was  not  re- 
pealed by  any  action  taken  at  the  session 
of  1862,  and  still  must  remain  in  force.  It 
secured  to  the  old  Commanderies  the  right 
to  wear  the  old  black  costume;  a  right 
which  could  not  be  taken  from  them,  ex- 
cept by  a  repeal  of  the  resolution  confer- 
ring the  right.  I  say  nothing  of  the  mani- 
fest injustice  of  repealing  a  resolution 
granted  by  the  friends  of  a  measure  to  its 
opponents  to  remove  their  opposition.  In 
1859,  the  promise  was  made  to  the  old 
Commanderies,  that  if  they  would  agree  to 


a  certain  uniform,  to  be  prescribed  for  new 
Commanderies,  their  own  old,  traditional 
costume  should  never  be  interfered  with. 
Might  could,  it  is  true,  repeal  this  com- 
promise; but  Right  would,  for  that  pur- 
pose, have  to  be  sacrificed.  But  the  fact  is, 
that  the  sense  of  right  in  the  Grand  En- 
campment prevented  such  an  act  of  dis- 
courtesy, "  not  to  put  too  fine  a  point  upon 
it,"  and  no  one  can  find  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  Grand  Encampment  any  act  which 
repeals  the  compromise  resolution  of  1859  ; 
and  this  has  been  the  opinion  and  the  de- 
cision of  all  the  Grand  Masters  who  have 
wielded  the  baculus  of  office,  except  the 
present  one. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  the  report  of 
1862  shows  clearly  that  the  object  of  the 
committee  was  to  recommend  a  change  in 
the  uniform  that  had  been  adopted  for  new 
Commanderies  in  1859,  and  which  had  be- 
come objectionable  on  account  of  the  tunic 
and  cloak,  and  that  they  did  not  intend  to 
refer  at  all  to  the  old  dress  of  the  old  Com- 
manderies. 

In  the  report  the  committee  say :  "  The 
objections  advanced  to  the  costume  adopted 
at  the  last  Triennial  Conclave  of  this  Grand 
Body  are  want  of  adaptation  to  the  require- 
ments of  our  modern  Templars,  its  liability 
to  injury,  and  its  expensiveness."  Now, 
who  advanced  these  objections?  Clearly, 
not  the  old  Commanderies.  They  were 
well  satisfied  with  the  mode  of  dress  which 
they  had  received  from  their  fathers ;  and 
which  was  dear  to  them  for  its  solemn 
beauty  and  its  traditional  associations ;  and 
the  right  to  wear  which  had  been  secured 
to  them  in  1859,  with  the  understanding 
that  if  they  ever  desired,  of  their  own  ac- 
cord, to  lay  it  aside,  they  would  then  adopt, 
in  its  stead,  the  regulation  dress  of  the 
Grand  Encampment.  But  this  was  to  be 
for  their  own  free  action. 

It  was  very  evident  that  the  old  Com- 
manderies had  never  complained  that  the 
tunics  and  cloaks  were  from  their  material 
expensive,  and  from  their  color  liable  to 
injury.  The  old  Commanderies  did  not 
use  these  expensive  and  easily- soiled 
garments.  It  was  the  new  Commanderies 
that  had  made  the  objection,  and  for  them 
the  legislation  of  1862  was  undertaken. 

I  hold,  therefore,  that  the  compromise 
resolution  of  1859  still  remains  in  force ; 
that  even  if  the  Grand  Encampment  had 
the  right  to  repeal  it,  which  I  do  not  believe 
it  has,  it  never  has  enacted  any  such  repeal ; 
that  the  old  Commanderies  have  the  right 
to  wear  the  old  black  uniform,  and  that  the 
legislation  of  1862  was  intended  only  to 
affect  the  new  Commanderies  which  had 
been  established  since  the  year  1859,  when 
the  first  dress  regulation  was  adopted. 


432 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


It  would  scarcely  be  proper  to  close  this 
article  on  Masonic  Templarism  without 
some  reference  to  a  philological  controversy 
which  has  recently  arisen  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Order  in  the  United  States  in 
reference  to  the  question  whether  the  proper 
title  in  the  plural  is  "  Knights  Templars  "  or 
"  Knights  Templar."  This  subject  was  first 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Order  by 
the  introduction,  in  the  session  of  the  Grand 
Encampment  in  1871,  of  the  following  reso- 
lutions by  Sir  Knight  Charles  F.  Stansbury, 
of  Washington  city. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  proper  title  of  the 
Templar  Order  is  '  Knights  Templars/  and 
not  '  Knights  Templar,'  as  now  commonly 
used  under  the  sanction  of  the  example  of 
this  Grand  Encampment. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  use  of  the  term 
'Knights  Templar'  is  an  innovation,  in 
violation  of  historic  truth,  literary  usage, 
and  the  philology  and  grammar  of  the 
English  language." 

This  report  was  referred  to  a  committee, 
who  reported  "that  this  Grand  Encamp- 
ment has  no  authority  to  determine  ques- 
tions of '  historic  truth,  literary  usage,  and 
the  philology  and  grammar  of  the  English 
language ; ' "  and  they  asked  to  be  dis- 
charged from  the  further  consideration  of 
the  subject.  This  report  is  not  very  credit- 
able to  the  committee,  and  puts  a  very  low 
estimate  on  the  character  of  the  Grand 
Encampment.  Certainly,  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  body  of  men  to  inquire  whether  the 
documents  issued  under  their  name  are  in 
violation  of  these  principles,  and  if  so  to 
correct  the  error.  If  a  private  man  habit- 
ually writes  bad  English,  it  shows  that  he 
is  illiterate;  and  the  committee  should  have 
sought  to  preserve  the  Grand  Encampment 
from  a  similar  charge.  It  should  have  in- 
vestigated the  subject,  which  to  scholars  is 
of  more  importance  than  they  seemed  to 
consider  it;  they  should  have  defended  the 
Grand  Encampment  in  the  use  of  the  term, 
or  have  recommended  its  abandonment. 
Moreover,  the  Grand  Recorder  reports  that 
on  examination  he  finds  that  the  title 
Knights  Templars  was  always  used  until 
1856,  when  it  was  changed  to  Knights  Tem- 
plar; and  the  committee  should  have  in- 
quired by  whose  authority  the  change  was 
made.  But  having  failed  to  grapple  with 
the  question  of  good  English,  the  Craft 
afterwards  took  the  subject  up,  and  a  long 
discussion  ensued  in  the  different  Masonic 
journals,  resulting  at  last  in  the  expression, 
by  the  best  scholars  of  the  Order,  of  the 
opinion  that  Knights  Templars  was  correct, 
because  it  was  in  accordance  with  the  rules 
of  good  English,  and  in  unexceptional 
agreement  with  the  usage  of  all  literary 
men  who  have  written  on  the  subject. 


Brother  Stansbury,  in  an  article  on  this 
question  which  he  published  in  Mackey's 
National  Freemason,  (i.  191,)  has  almost 
exhausted  the  subject  of  authority  and 
grammatical  usage.  He  says :  "  That  it 
is  an  innovation  in  violation  of  historic 
truth  is  proved  by  reference  to  all  histori- 
cal authorities.  I  have  made  diligent  re- 
searches in  the  Congressional  Library,  and 
have  invoked  the  aid  of  all  my  friends  who 
were  likely  to  be  able  to  assist  me  in  such 
an  investigation,  and  so  far  from  finding 
any  conflict  of  authority  on  the  question, 
I  have  never  been  able  to  discover  a  single 
historical  authority  in  favor  of  any  other 
title  than  '  Knights  Templars.' 

"  I  refer  to  the  following  list  of  authorities : 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Encyclopedia 
Americana,  Chambers'  Encyclopedia,  Lon- 
don Encyclopedia,  Encyclopedia  Metro- 
politana,  Penny  Cyclopedia,  Cottage  Cyclo- 
pedia, Bees'  Cyclopedia,  Wade's  British 
Chronology,  Blair's  Chronological  Tables, 
Chambers'  Miscellany  (Crusades),  Cham- 
bers' Book  of  Days,  Addison's  Knights 
Templars,  Pantalogia,  Boutelle's  Heraldry, 
Hallam's  Middle  Ages,  Lingard's  History 
of  England;  Glossographia  Anglicana 
Nova,  1707;  Blackstone's  Commentaries, 
vol.  i.,  p.  406 ;  Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of 
Biography,  (Molai;)  Townsend's  Calendar 
of  Knights,  London,  1828 ;  Mosheim's  Ec- 
clesiastical History,  (ed.  1832,)  vol.  ii.,  p. 
481 ;  Dugdale's  Monasticon  Anglicanum, 
vol.  vi.,  p.  813;  Hayden's  Dictionary  of 
Dates;  Beeton's  Dictionary  of  Universal 
Information ;  Burne's  Sketch  of  the  History 
of  the  Knights  Templars  ;  Laurie's  History 
of  Freemasonry;  Taffe's  History  of  Knights 
of  Malta;  London  Freemasons'  Magazine; 
Sutherland's  Achievements  of  Knights  of 
Malta;  Clark's  History  of  Knighthood; 
Ashmole's  History  of  the  Order  of  the 
Garter;  Turner's  England  in  the  Middle 
Ages;  Brande's  Encyclopedia;  Tanner's 
Notitia  Monastica,  1744,  pp.  307-310. 

"These  will,  perhaps,  suffice  to  show 
what,  in  the  opinion  of  historical  authori- 
ties, is  the  proper  title  of  the  Order.  In 
all  of  them,  the  term  '  Knights  Templars ' 
is  the  only  one  employed. 

"  They  might,  perhaps,  be  sufficient  also 
on  the  question  of  literary  usage ;  but  on 
that  point  I  refer,  in  addition,  to  the  follow- 
ing: 

"London  Quarterly  Review,  1829,  p.  608. 
Article:  'History  of  the  Knights  Tem- 
plars.' 

"Edinburgh  Review,  October,  1806,  p. 
196.  Review  of  M.  Renouard's  work, 
'  Les  Templiers.' 

"Eclectic  Review,  1842,  p.  189.  Review 
of  the  '  History  of  the  Knights  Templars, 
the  Temple  Church,  and  the  Temple,'  by 


KNIGHT 


KNIGHT 


433 


Chas.  G-.  Addison.  The  running  title  is 
'  History  of  the  Knights  Templars.' 

"  Retrospective  Review,  1821,  vol.  iv.,  p. 
250.  Review  of  the  '  History  of  the 
Templars,'  by  Nicholas  Gaulterius,  Am- 
sterdam, 1703.  The  running  title  is  '  His- 
tory of  the  Knights  Templars.' 

"  In  Dr.  Mackey's  various  Masonic  works 
both  titles  are  occasionally  used ;  but  that 
fact  is  fully  explained  in  the  letter  from 
that  distinguished  Masonic  authority,  with 
which  I  shall  conclude  this  article." 

On  the  philological  and  grammatical 
question,  I  would  observe  that  it  mainly 
turns  on  the  inquiry  whether  the  word 
Templar  is  a  noun  or  an  adjective.  I  think 
it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  every 
dictionary  of  the  English  language  in 
which  the  word  occurs,  gives  it  as  a  noun, 
and  as  a  noun  only.  This  is  certainly  the 
fact  as  to  Johnson's  Dictionary,  Webster's 
Dictionary,  Cole's  Dictionary,  Crabb's 
Dictionary  (Technological),  Imperial  Dic- 
tionary, Craig's  Dictionary  (Universal),  and 
Worcester's  Dictionary. 

If,  then,  the  word  "  Templar"  is  a  noun, 
we  have  in  the  combination  —  "Knights 
Templar"  —  two  nouns,  referring  to  the 
same  person,  one  of  which  is  in  the  plural, 
and  the  other  in  the  singular.  The  well- 
known  rule  of  apposition,  which  prevails 
in  all  the  languages  with  which  I  am  ac- 
quainted, requires  nouns  under  these  cir- 
cumstances to  agree  in  number  and  case. 
This  is,  in  fact,  a  principle  of  general 
grammar,  founded  in  common  sense.  The 
combination  "  Knights  Templar  "  is  there- 
fore false  in  grammar,  if  the  word  "  Tem- 
plar "  is  a  noun.  But  some  may  say  that 
it  is  a  noun  used  as  an  adjective  —  a  quali- 
fying noun  —  a  very  common  usage  in  the 
English  tongue.  If  this  were  so,  the  com- 
bination "Knights  Templar"  would  still 
be  entirely  out  of  harmony  with  the  usage 
of  the  language  in  regard  to  qualifying 
nouns,  the  invariable  practice  being  to 
place  the  adjective  noun  before  the  noun 
which  it  qualifies.  A  few  familiar  ex- 
amples will  show  this.  Take  the  following : 
mansion  house,  bird  cage,  sea  fog,  dog  days, 
mouse  trap,  devil  fish,  ink  stand,  and  beer 
cask.  In  every  case  the  generic  word 
follows  the  qualifying  noun. 

But  if  we  even  went  to  the  length  of  admit- 
ting the  word  "  Templar  "  to  be  an  adjective, 
the  combination  "  Knights  Templar"  would 
still  be  contrary  to  the  genius  of  the  language, 
which,  except  in  rare  cases,  places  the  ad- 
jective before  the  noun  which  it  qualifies. 
In  poetry,  and  in  some  technical  terms  of 
foreign  origin,  the  opposite  practice  prevails. 

The  analogy  of  the  usage,  in  reference  to 
the  designations  of  other  Orders  of  knight- 
hood, is  also  against  the  use  of  "  Knights 
3E  28 


Templar."  We  have  Knights  Commanders, 
Knights  Bachelors,  Knights  Bannerets, 
Knights  Baronets,  and  Knights  Hospi- 
tallers. 

Against  all  this,  the  only  thing  that  can  be 
pleaded  is  the  present  usage  of  the  Grand 
Encampment  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
some  Commanderies  which  have  followed 
in  its  wake.  The  propriety  of  this  usage 
is  the  very  question  at  issue ;  and  it  would 
be  curious  reasoning,  indeed,  that  would 
cite  the  fact  of  the  usage  in  proof  of  its 
propriety.  If  the  Templars  of  to-day  are 
the  successors  of  De  Molay  and  Hugh  de 
Payens,  the  preservation  and  restoration  of 
the  correct  title  of  the  Order  cannot  be  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  them. 

In  reference  to  the  varying  use  of  the  two 
expressions  in  the  author's  Lexicon  of  Free- 
masonry, I  find,  on  reference  to  that  work, 
that  in  the  first  part  I  used  the  phrase 
"  Knights  Templars,"  and  that  in  the  latter 
part  I  made  a  change  of  the  expression  to 
"  Knights  Templar."  I  am  unable  now  to 
say  from  memory  what  led  me  to  make  the 
change ;  but  I  suppose  that  I  must  have 
used  the  first  form  in  compliance  with  the 
general  usage  of  writers,  and  that  I  subse- 
quently made  the  alteration  in  deference  to 
the  action  of  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the 
United  States,  which  body  about  that  time 
adopted  the  expression  "Knights  Templar ;" 
and  I  must  have  made  this  alteration  with- 
out any  reference  to  the  philological  merits 
of  the  question. 

In  coming  to  the  consideration  of  the 
question,  it  appears  to  me  that  it  must  be 
examined  in  two  ways,  grammatically  and 
traditionally:  in  other  words,  we  must  in- 
quire, first,  which  of  these  two  expressions 
better  accords  with  the  rules  of  English 
grammar ;  and,  secondly,  which  of  them 
has  the  support  and  authority  of  the  best 
English  writers. 

1.  If  we  examine  the  subject  grammati- 
cally, we  shall  find  that  its  proper  decision 
depends  simply  on  the  question :  Is  "  Tem- 
plar "  a  noun  or  an  adjective?  If  it  is  an 
adjective,  then  "Knights  Templar"  is 
correct,  because  adjectives  in  English  have 
no  plural  form.  It  would,  however,  be  an 
awkward  and  unusual  phraseology,  because 
it  is  the  almost  invariable  rule  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  that  the  adjective  should  pre- 
cede and  not  follow  the  substantive  which 
it  qualifies. 

But  if  "  Templar "  is  a  substantive  or 
noun,  then,  clearly,  "Knights  Templar" 
is  an  ungrammatical  phrase,  because  "  Tem- 
plar" would  then  be  in  apposition  with 
"  Knights"  and  should  be  in  the  same  regi- 
men ;  that  is  to  say,  two  nouns  coming  to- 
gether, and  referring  to  the  same  person  or 
thing,  being  thus  said  to  be  in  apposition. 


434 


KNIGHT 


KONX 


must  agree  in  number  and  case.  Thus  we 
say  King  George  or  Duke  William,  when 
King  and  Oeorge,  and  Duke  and  William 
are  in  apposition  and  in  the  singular ;  but 
speaking  of  Thackeray's  "  Four  Georges," 
and  intending  to  designate  who  they  were 
by  an  explanatory  noun  in  apposition,  we 
should  put  both  nouns  in  the  plural,  and 
say  "  the  four  Georges,  Kings  of  England." 
So  when  we  wish  to  designate  a  simple 
Knight,  who  is  not  only  a  Knight,  but  al- 
so belongs  to  that  branch  of  the  Order 
which  is  known  as  Templars,  we  should 
call  him  a  "  Knight  Templar ;  "  and  if  there 
be  two  or  more  of  these  Templars,  we 
should  call  them  "  Knights  Templars," 
just  as  we  say  "  Knight  Hospitaller"  and 
"  Knights  Hospitallers." 

Now  there  is  abundant  evidence,  in  the 
best  works  on  the  subject,  of  the  use  of  the 
word  "Templar"  as  a  substantive,  and 
none  of  its  use  as  an  adjective. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  cite  authorities, 
but  a  reference  to  our  best  English  writers 
will  show  the  constant  employment  of 
"Templar"  as  a  substantive  only.  The 
analogy  of  the  Latin  and  French  languages 
supports  this  view,  for  "  Templarius  "  is  a 
noun  in  Latin,  as  "  Templier  "  is  in  French. 

2.  As  to  traditional  authority,  the  usage 
of  good  writers,  which  is  the  "jus  et  norma 
loquendi,"  is  altogether  in  favor  of"  Knights 
Templars"  and  not  "  Knights  Templar." 

In  addition  to  the  very  numerous  au- 
thorities collected  by  Brother  Stansbury 
from  the  shelves  of  the  Congressional  Li- 
brary, I  have  collated  all  the  authorities  in 
my  own  library. 

All  the  English  and  American  writers, 
Masonic  and  unmasonic,  except  some  recent 
American  ones,  use  the  plural  of  Templar 
to  designate  more  than  one  Knight.  I  have 
in  a  few  instances  found  "Knight  Tem- 
plars," but  never  "Knights  Templar." 
The  very  recent  American  use  of  this  lat- 
ter phrase  is  derived  from  the  authority  of 
the  present  Constitution  of  the  Grand  En- 
campment of  the  United  States,  and  is 
therefore  the  very  point  in  controversy. 
The  former  Constitution  used  the  phrase 
"  Knights  Templars."  On  the  whole,  I  am 
satisfied  that  the  expression  "  Knights  Tem- 
plar" is  a  violation  both  of  the  grammat- 
ical laws  of  our  language  and  of  the  usage 
iof  our  best  writers  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic, and  it  should  therefore,  I  think,  be 
•^abandoned. 

Knight,  Victorious.  ( Chevalier 
Victorious.)  A  degree  contained  in  the  col- 
lection of  Hecart. 

Knowledge.  In  the  dualism  of  Ma- 
sonry, knowledge  is  symbolized  by  light,  as 
ignorance  is  by  darkness.  To  be  initiated, 
to  receive  light  is  to  acquire  knowledge; 


and  the  cry  of  the  neophyte  for  light  is  the 

natural  aspiration  of  the  soul  for  knowledge. 

Knowledge,  Degrees   of.       See 

Degrees  of  Knowledge. 

Konx  Ompax.  There  is  hardly  any- 
thing that  has  been  more  puzzling  to  the 
learned  than  the  meaning  and  use  of  these 
two  apparently  barbarous  words.  Bishop 
Warburton  says,  (Div.  Leg.,  I.,  ii.  4,)  but 
without  giving  his  authority,  that  in  the 
celebration  of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries, 
"the  assembly  was  dismissed  with  these 
two  barbarous  words,  KOrS  OMIIAS;" 
and  he  thinks  that  this  "shows  the  Mys- 
teries not  to  have  been  originally  Greek." 
Le  Clerc  (Bib.  Univ.,  vi.  86,)  thinks  that 
the  words  seem  to  be  only  an  incorrect  pro- 
nunciation of  kots  and  omphets,  which,  he 
says,  signify  in  the  Phoenician  language, 
"watch,  and  abstain  from  evil."  Potter 
also  (Gr.  Ant,  346,)  says  that  the  words 
were  used  in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries. 

The  words  occur  in  none  of  the  old 
Greek  lexicons,  except  that  of  Hesychius, 
where  it  is  thus  defined : 

"  K<5yf  ouirat;.  An  acclamation  used  by 
those  who  have  finished  anything.  It  is 
also  the  sound  of  the  judge's  ballots  and 
of  the  clepsydra.  The  Athenians  used  the 
word  blops." 

The  words  were  always  deemed  inexpli- 
cable until  1797,  when  Captain  Wilford 
offered,  in  the  Asiatic  Researches,  (vol.  v., 
p.  300,)  the  following  explanation.  He 
there  says  that  the  real  words  are  Candsha 
OmPacsha;  that  they  are  pure  Sanscrit ; 
and  are  used  to  this  day  by  the  Brahmans 
at  the  conclusion  of  their  religious  rites. 
Candsha  signifies  the  object  of  our  most 
ardent  wishes.  Om  is  the  famous  monosyl- 
lable used  both  at  the  beginning  and  con- 
clusion of  a  prayer  or  religious  rite,  like  our 
word  Amen.  Pacsha  exactly  answers  to 
the  obsolete  Latin  word  vix ;  it  signifies 
change,  course,  stead,  place,  turn  of  work, 
duty,  fortune,  etc.,  and  is  particularly  used 
in  pouring  water  in  honor  of  the  gods. 

Uwaroff  (Ess.  sur  les  Myst.  cPKletis.)  calls 
this  "the  most  important  of  modern  dis- 
coveries." Creuzer,  Schelling,  and  Mlinter 
also  approve  of  it. 

Not  so  with  Lobeck,who,  in  his  Aglaopha- 
mus,  (p.  775,)  denies  not  only  that  such 
words  were  used  in  the  Eleusinian  myste- 
ries, but  the  very  existence  of  the  words 
themselves.  He  says  that  in  the  title  of 
the  article  in  Hesychius  there  is  a  mis- 
print. Instead  of  «<5yf  "o/uira^,  it  should  be 
/cdyf  6fi.  n&%,  where  6u  is  the  usual  abbrevi- 
ation of  6/ioiug,  like  or  similar  to;  so  that 
the  true  reading  would  be  «oyf  d/aoiug  irai-,  or 
konx,  like  pax ;  and  he  confirms  this  by  re- 
ferring to  na!-,  to  which  Hesychius  gives  the 
same  meaning  as  he  does  to  «oyf.    This  is 


KORAN 


KRAUSE 


435 


too  simple  for  Godfrey  Higgins,  who  calls 
it  (Anacal.,  i.  253,)  "  a  pretended  emenda- 
tion." It  is  nevertheless  very  ingenious, 
and  is  calculated  to  shake  our  belief  that 
these  words  were  ever  used  in  the  Eleusin- 
ian  rites,  notwithstanding  the  learned  au- 
thority of  Meursius,  Warburton,  Lempriere, 
Creuzer,  UwarofF,  and  others. 

Koran.  The  sacred  book  of  the  Mo- 
hammedans, and  believed  by  them  to  con- 
tain a  record  of  the  revelations  made  by 
God  to  Mohammed,  and  afterwards  dic- 
tated by  him  to  an  amanuensis,  since  the 
prophet  could  neither  read  nor  write.  In 
a  Lodge  consisting  wholly  of  Mohamme- 
dans, the  Koran  would  be  esteemed  as  the 
Book  of  the  Law,  and  take  the  place  on  the 
altar  which  is  occupied  iu  Christian  Lodges 
by  the  Bible.  It  would  thus  become  the 
symbol  to  them  of  the  Tracing-Board  of 
the  Divine  Architect.  But,  unlike  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  the  Koran  has  no 
connection  with,  and  gives  no  support  to, 
any  of  the  Masonic  legends  or  symbols,  ex- 
cept in  those  parts  which  were  plagiarized 
by  the  prophet  from  the  Jewish  and  Chris- 
tian Scriptures.  Finch,  however,  in  one  of 
his  apocryphal  works,  produced  a  system 
of  Mohammedan  Masonry,  consisting  of 
twelve  degrees,  founded  on  the  teachings 
of  the  Koran,  and  the  Hadeeses  or  tradi- 
tions of  the  prophet.  This  system  was  a 
pure  invention  of  Finch. 

Krause,  Carl  Christian  Frie- 
derich.  One  of  the  most  learned  and 
laborious  Masons  of  Germany,  and  one  who 
received  the  smallest  reward  and  the  largest 
persecution  for  his  learning  and  his  labors. 
The  record  of  his  life  reflects  but  little 
credit  on  his  contemporaries  who  were 
high  in  office,  but  it  would  seem  low  in  in- 
tellect. Findel  calls  them  "  the  antiquated 
German  Masonic  world."  Dr.  Krause 
was  born  at  Eisenberg,  a  small  city  of  Al- 
tenberg,  May  6, 1781.  He  was  educated  at 
Jena,  where  he  enjoyed  the  instructions  of 
Keinhold,  Fichte,  and  Schelling.  While 
making  theology  his  chief  study,  he  de- 
voted his  attention  at  the  same  time  to 
philosophy  and  mathematics.  In  1801,  he 
obtained  his  degree  as  Doctor  of  Philos- 
ophy, and  established  himself  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Jena  as  an  extraordinary  professor. 
There  he  remained  until  1805,  marrying  in 
the  meantime  a  lady  of  the  name  of  Fuchs, 
with  whom  he  passed  thirty  years,  leaving 
as  the  fruit  of  his  union  eight  sons  and 
five  daughters. 

In  1805,  Krause  removed  to  Dresden,  and 
remained  there  until  1813.  In  April,  1805, 
he  was  initiated  into  Freemasonry  in  the 
Lodge  "  Archimides."  As  soon  as  he  had 
been  initiated,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
the  Institution  by  the  reading  of  every  Ma- 


sonic work  that  was  accessible.  It  was  at 
this  time  that  Krause  adopted  his  peculiar 
system  of  philosophy,  which  was  founded 
on  the  theory  that  the  collective  life  of 
man — that  is  to  say,  of  humanity — was  an 
organic  and  harmonious  unity;  and  he  con- 
ceived the  scheme  of  a  formal  union  of  the 
whole  race  of  mankind  into  one  confed- 
eracy, embracing  all  partial  unions  of 
church  organizations,  of  State  government, 
and  of  private,  social  aggregations,  into  one 
general  confederation,  which  should  labor, 
irrespective  of  political,  ecclesiastical,  or 
personal  influences,  for  the  universal  and 
uniform  culture  of  mankind.  Of  such  a 
confederation  he  supposed  that  he  could 
see  the  germ  in  the  Order  of  Freemasonry, 
which,  therefore,  it  was  his  object  to  ele- 
vate to  that  position. 

He  first  submitted  these  views  in  a  series 
of  lectures  delivered  before  the  Lodge  "  Zu 
den  drei  Schwertern"  in  Dresden,  of 
which  he  had  been  appointed  the  Orator. 
They  were .  received  with  much  approba- 
tion, and  were  published  in  1811  under  the 
title  of  the  Spiritualization  of  the  Genuine 
Symbols  of  Freemasonry.  In  these  lectures, 
Krause  has  not  confined  himself  to  the  re- 
ceived rituals  and  accustomed  interpreta- 
tions, but  has  adopted  a  system  of  his  own. 
This  is  the  course  that  was  pursued  by 
him  in  his  greater  work,  the  Kunsturkun- 
den  ;  and  it  was  this  which  partly  gave  so 
much  offence  to  his  Masonic,  but  not  his 
intellectual,  superiors.  In  1810,  he  pub- 
lished, as  the  result  of  all  his  labors  and  re- 
searches, his  greatest  work,  the  one  on 
which  his  reputation  principally  depends, 
and  which,  notwithstanding  its  errors,  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  learned  works  that 
ever  issued  from  the  Masonic  press.  This 
is  Die  drei  altesten  Kunsturkunden  der  Frei- 
maurerbruderschaft,  or  "  The  Three  Oldest 
Professional  Documents  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Freemasons." 

The  announcement  that  this  work  was 
shortly  to  appear,  produced  the  greatest  ex- 
citement in  the  Masonic  circles  of  Germany. 
The  progressive  members  of  the  Craft 
looked  with  anxious  expectation  for  the 
new  discoveries  which  must  result  from  the 
investigations  of  an  enlightened  mind. 
The  antiquated  and  unprogressive  Masons, 
who  were  opposed  to  all  discussion  of  what 
they  deemed  esoteric  subjects,  dreaded  the 
effects  of  such  a  work  on  the  exclusiveness 
of  the  Order.  Hence  attempts  were  made 
by  these  latter  to  suppress  the  publication. 
So  far  were  these  efforts  carried,  that  one 
of  the  German  Grand  Lodges  offered  the 
author  a  large  amount  of  money  for  his 
book,  which  proposal  was  of  course  re- 
jected. After  the  publication,  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  three  Grand  Lodges  sought 


436 


KRAUSE 


KUM 


every  means  of  excommunicating  Krause 
and  Mossdorf,  who  had  sustained  him  in 
his  views.  After  much  angry  discussion, 
the  Dresden  Lodge,  "  Zu  den  drei  Schwer- 
tern,"  was  prevailed  upon  to  act  as  execu- 
tioner of  this  ignorant  spirit  of  fanaticism, 
and  Krause  and  Mossdorf,  two  of  the 
greatest  lights  that  ever  burst  upon  the 
horizon  of  Masonic  literature,  were  excom- 
municated. Nor  did  the  persecution  here 
cease.  Krause  experienced  its  effects 
through  all  the  remaining  years  of  his  life. 
He  was  prevented  on  frequent  occasions,  by 
the  machinations  of  his  Masonic  enemies, 
from  advancement  in  his  literary  and  pro- 
fessional pursuits,  and  failed  through  their 
influence  to  obtain  professorships  to  which, 
from  his  learning  and  services,  he  was 
justly  entitled.      Findel  has  approvingly 

Suoted  Dr.  Schauberg  as  calling  this  "  the 
arkest  page  in  the  history  of  German 
Freemasonry." 

In  1814,  Krause  removed  to  Berlin.  In 
1821  he  travelled  through  Germany,  Italy, 
and  France,  and  in  1823  established  him- 
self at  Gbttingen,  where  he  gave  lectures  on 
philosophy  until  1830.  He  then  removed 
to  Munich,  where  he  died  September  27, 
1832.  Besides  his  contributions  to  Free- 
masonry, Krause  was  an  extensive  writer 
on  philosophical  subjects.  His  most  im- 
portant works  are  his  Lectures  on  the  System 
of  Philosophy,  1828,  and  his  Lectures  on  the 
Fundamental  Truths  of  Science,  1829;  both 
published  at  Gbttingen. 

His  great  work,  however,  to  which  he 
owes  his  Masonic  fame,  is  his  Kunsturkun- 
den.  He  commences  this  work  by  a  decla- 
ration of  his  design  in  writing  it,  which  was 
twofold :  first,  to  enlighten  the  brotherhood 
in  reference  to  the  three  oldest  documents 
in  possession  of  the  Craft,  by  a  philological 
ana  philosophical  examination  of  these 
records ;  and  secondly,  and  with  a  higher 
purpose,  to  call  their  attention  to  a  clear 
perception  of  the  fundamental  idea  of  a 
general  union  of  mankind,  to  be  accom- 
plished by  a  reorganization  of  their  own  bro- 


therhood. To  the  rituals  of  the  present  day 
he  objected  as  wanting  in  scientific  formula, 
and  he  thought  that  out  of  these  old  records 
they  might  well  construct  a  better  and  more 
practical  system. 

But  with  all  his  learning,  while  his  ideas 
of  reform,  if  properly  carried  out,  would 
undoubtedly  advance  and  elevate  the  Ma- 
sonic institution,  he  committed  grave  errors 
in  his  estimation  of  the  documents  that  he 
has  made  the  groundwork  of  his  system. 

The  three  documents  which  he  has  pre- 
sented as  the  oldest  and  most  authentic  rec- 
ords of  the  Fraternity  are:  1.  The  well- 
known  Leland  Manuscript,  a  document  of 
whose  authenticity  there  are  the  gravest 
doubts ;  2.  The  Entered  Apprentice's  Lecture, 
a  document  published  early  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  to  which,  in  his  second  edi- 
tion, he  has  added  what  he  calls  the  New 
English  Lecture;  but  it  is  now  known  that 
Krause's  Lecture  is  by  no  means  the  oldest 
catechism  extant ;  and  3.  The  York  Con- 
stitution, which,  claiming  the  date  of  926, 
has  been  recently  suspected  to  be  not  older 
than  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

Notwithstanding  these  assumptions  of 
authenticity  for  documents  not  really  au- 
thentic, the  vast  learning  of  the  author  is 
worthy  of  all  admiration.  His  pages  are 
filled  with  important  facts  and  suggestive 
thoughts  that  cannot  fail  to  exert  an  influ- 
ence on  all  Masonic  investigations.  Krause 
cannot  but  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
founders  of  a  new  Masonic  literature,  not 
for  Germany  alone,  but  for  the  whole  world 
of  Masonic  students. 

Iviiiii.  Kivi.  These  two  words,  pro- 
nounced koom  and  keevy,  are  found  as  cere- 
monial words  in  one  of  the  high  degrees. 
They  are  from  the  Hebrew,  and  are  inter- 
preted as  meaning  arise  /  and  kneel!  They 
are  not  significant  words,  having  no  sym- 
bolic allusion,  and  seem  to  have  been  intro- 
duced merely  to  mark  the  Jewish  origin  of 
the  degree  in  which  they  are  employed.  In 
the  modern  rituals  they  are  disused. 


LABARUM 


LABORERS 


437 


L. 


eeit.     it 


I^abanim.  The  monogram  of  the 
name  of  Christ,  formed  by  the  first  two  let- 
ters of  that  name,  XPI2T0Z,  in  Greek.  It 
is  the  celebrated  sign  which  the 
legend  says  appeared  in  the  sky  at 
noonday  to  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tine,  and  which  was  afterwards 
placed  by  him  upon  his  standard. 
Hence  it  is  sometimes  called  the 
Cross  of  Constantine.  It  was  adopted  as  a 
symbol  by  the  early  Christians,  and  frequent 
instances  of  it  are  to  be  found  in  the  cata- 
combs. According  to  Eusebius,  the  Laba- 
rum  was  surrounded  by  the  motto  EN  TOYTQ 
NIKA,  or  "conquer  by  this,"  which  has 
been  Latinized  into  In  hoc  signo  vinces,  the 
motto  assumed  by  the  Masonic  Knights 
Templars.  The  derivation  of  the  word 
Labarum  is  uncertain.  See  In  hoc  signo 
vinces. 

Labor.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
features  of  the  Masonic  institution,  that  it 
teaches  not  only  the  necessity,  but  the  no- 
bility of  labor.  From  the  time  of  opening 
to  that  of  closing,  a  Lodge  is  said  to  be  at 
labor.  This  is  but  one  of  the  numerous  in- 
stances in  which  the  terms  of  Operative 
Masonry  are  symbolically  applied  to  Spec- 
ulative ;  for,  as  the  Operative  Masons  were 
engaged  in  the  building  of  material  edifices, 
so  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  are  supposed 
to  be  employed  in  the  erection  of  a  super- 
structure of  virtue  and  morality  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  Masonic  principles  which 
they  were  taught  at  their  admission  into  the 
Order.  When  the  Lodge  is  engaged  in  read- 
ing petitions,  hearing  reports,  debating 
financial  matters,  etc.,  it  is  said  to  be  occu- 
pied in  business  ;  but  when  it  is  engaged  in 
the  form  and  ceremony  of  initiation  into 
any  of  the  degrees,  it  is  said  to  be  at  work. 
Initiation  is  Masonic  labor.  This  phrase- 
ology at  once  suggests  the  connection  of  our 
speculative  system  with  an  operative  art  that 
preceded  it,  and  upon  which  it  has  been 
founded. 

"  Labor,"  says  Gadicke,  "  is  an  important 
word  in  Masonry;  indeed,  we  might  say 
the  most  important.  For  this,  and  this 
alone,  does  a  man  become  a  Freemason. 
Every  other  object  is  secondary  or  inciden- 
tal. Labor  is  the  accustomed  design  of 
every  Lodge  meeting.  But  does  such  meet- 
ings always  furnish  evidence  of  industry? 
The  labor  of  an  Operative  Mason  will  be 
visible,  and  he  will  receive  his  reward  for 
it,  even  though  the  building  he  has  con- 
structed may,  in  the  next  hour,  be  over- 
thrown by  a  tempest.  He  knows  that  he 
has  done  his  labor.  And  so  must  the  Free- 
mason labor.    His  labor  must  be  visible  to 


himself  and  to  his  brethren,  or,  at  least,  it 
must  conduce  to  his  own  internal  satisfac- 
tion. As  we  build  neither  a  visible  Solo- 
monic Temple  nor  an  Egyptian  pyramid, 
our  industry  must  become  visible  in  works 
that  are  imperishable,  so  that  when  we 
vanish  from  the  eyes  of  mortals  it  may  be 
said  of  us  that  our  labor  was  well  done." 
As  Masons,  we  labor  in  our  Lodge  to  make 
ourselves  a  perfect  building,  without  blem- 
ish, working  hopefully  for  the  consumma- 
tion, when  the  house  of  our  earthly  taber- 
nacle shall  be  finished,  when  the  lost 
WORD  of  divine  truth  shall  at  last  be  dis- 
covered, and  when  we  shall  be  found  by 
our  own  efforts  at  perfection  to  have  done 
God  service. 

I -a  bora  re  est  orare.  To  labor  u  to 
pray ;  or,  in  other  words,  labor  is  worship. 
This  was  a  saying  of  the  Mediaeval  monks, 
which  is  well  worth  meditation.  This  doc- 
trine, that  labor  is  worship,  has  been  ad- 
vanced and  maintained,  from  time  im- 
memorial, as  a  leading  dogma  of  the  Order 
of  Freemasonry.  There  is  no  other  human 
institution  under  the  sun  which  has  set 
forth  this  great  principle  in  such  bold  re- 
lief. We  hear  constantly  of  Freemasonry 
as  an  institution  that  inculcates  morality, 
that  fosters  the  social  feeling,  that  teaches 
brotherly  love  ;  and  all  this  is  well,  because 
it  is  true ;  but  we  must  never  forget  that 
from  its  foundation-stone  to  its  pinnacle, 
all  over  its  vast  temple,  is  inscribed,  in 
symbols  of  living  light,  the  great  truth  that 
labor  is  worship. 

I  .a  borers.  Statutes  of.  Towards  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  a  plague 
of  excessive  virulence,  known  in  history 
as  the  Black  Death,  invaded  Europe,  and 
swept  off  fully  one-half  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  death  of  so  many  workmen  had  the 
effect  of  advancing  the  price  of  all  kinds 
of  labor  to  double  the  former  rate.  In 
England,  the  Parliament,  in  1350,  enacted 
a  statute,  which  was  soon  followed  by 
others,  the  object  of  which  was  to  regulate 
the  rate  of  wages  and  the  price  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  Against  these  enactments, 
which  were  called  the  Statutes  of  Laborers, 
the  artisans  of  all  kinds  rebelled ;  but  the 
most  active  opposition  was  found  among 
the  Masons,  whose  organization,  being 
better  regulated,  was  more  effective.  In 
1360,  statutes  were  passed  forbidding  their 
"  congregations,  chapters,  regulations,  and 
oaths,"  which  were  from  time  to  time  re- 
peated, until  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI.,  A.  D.  1425,  when  the  celebrated 
statute  entitled  "  Masons  shall  not  confed- 
erate themselves  in  chapters  and  congre- 


438 


LABORERS 


LADDER 


gations,"  was  enacted  in  the  following 
words : 

"  Whereas,  by  yearly  congregations  and 
confederacies,  made  by  the  Masons  in  their 
General  Assemblies,  the  good  course  and 
effect  of  the  Statutes  for  Laborers  be  openly 
violated  and  broken,  in  subversion  of  the 
law,  and  to  the  great  damage  of  all  the 
Commons,  our  said  sovereign  lord  the 
king,  willing  in  this  case  to  provide  a 
remedy,  by  the  advice  and  assent  aforesaid, 
and  at  the  special  request  of  the  Commons, 
hath  ordained  and  established  that  such 
chapters  and  congregations  shall  not  be 
hereafter  holden ;  and  if  any  such  be  made, 
they  that  cause  such  chapters  and  congre- 
gations to  be  assembled  and  holden,  if  they 
thereof  be  convict,  shall  be  judged  for 
felons,  and  that  the  other  Masons  that 
come  to  such  chapters  and  congregations 
be  punished  by  imprisonment  of  their 
bodies,  and  make  fine  and  ransom  at  the 
king's  will." 

Findel  (Hist.,  p.  94,)  thus  explains  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  enactment  of  this 
law.  Henry  VI.  being  then  but  four  years 
old,  Gloucester  and  the  Bishop  of  Winches- 
ter were  both  contending  for  the  possession 
of  the  government;  the  former  was  a  great 
patron  and  encourager  of  the  Masons,  who 
naturally,  therefore,  took  part  with  him  in 
the  political  contest,  and  opposed,  with 
actual  violence,  the  entrance  of  the  Bishop 
into  the  city  of  London.  On  the  arrival  of 
the  Duke  of  Bedford,  who  was  the  Regent 
of  France,  and  to  whom  the  dispute  had 
been  referred,  a  Parliament  was  convened, 
and  which,  for  the  reason  already  assigned, 
(see  Bat  Parliament,)  has  been  known  in 
history  as  the  "Bat  Parliament."  The 
Bishop,  not  forgetting  the  assistance  given 
by  the  Masons  to  his  opponent,  succeeded 
in  obtaining  the  passage  of  this  law, 
which  was  to  restrain  the  meetings  of  his 
old  enemies.  But  the  influence  of  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester  prevented  its  enforce- 
ment during  the  king's  minority ;  and  An- 
derson tells  us  that  the  king,  when  he  ar- 
rived to  man's  estate,  became  the  encourager 
and  patron  of  the  Masons.  So  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  same  authority,  the  law  has 
always  existed  as  a  deaa  letter  on  the 
statute-book,  and  the  Freemasons  have 
never  considered  it  worth  while  to  use  their 
influence  for  its  repeal. 

All  the  Statutes  of  Laborers  were  repealed 
in  the  fifth  year  of  Elizabeth ;  and  Lord 
Coke  gave  the  opinion  that  this  act  of 
Henry  VI.  became,  in  consequence,  "  of  no 
force  or  effect ;  "  a  decision  which  led  An- 
derson, very  absurdly,  to  suppose  that 
"  this  most  learned  judge  really  belonged 
to  the  ancient  Lodge,  and  was  a  faithful 
brother ; "  as  if  it  required  a  judge  to  be  a 


Mason  to  give  a  just  judgment  concerning 
the  interests  of  Masonry. 

Lacorne.  The  Count  of  Clermont, 
who  was  Grand  Master  of  France,  having 
abandoned  all  care  of  the  French  Lodges, 
left  them  to  the  direction  of  his  Deputies. 
In  1761,  he  appointed  one  Lacorne,  a  danc- 
ing-master, his  Deputy;  but  the  Grand 
Lodge,  indignant  at  the  appointment,  re- 
fused to  sanction  it  or  to  recognize  Lacorne 
as  a  presiding  officer.  He  accordingly  con- 
stituted another  Grand  Lodge,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  adherents  of  his  own  character, 
who  were  designated  by  the  more  respecta- 
ble Masons  as  the  "  Lacorne  faction."  In 
1762,  the  Count  of  Clermont,  influenced  by 
the  representations  that  were  made  to  him, 
revoked  the  commission  of  Lacorne,  and 
appointed  M.  Chailous  de  Joinville  his  Sub- 
stitute General.  In  consequence  of  this, 
the  two  rival  Grand  Lodges  became  recon- 
ciled, and  a  union  was  effected  on  the  24th 
of  June,  1762.  But  the  reconciliation  did 
not  prove  altogether  satisfactory.  In  1765, 
at  the  annual  election,  neither  Lacorne  nor 
any  of  his  associates  were  chosen  to  office. 
They  became  disgusted,  and,  retiring  from 
the  Grand  Lodge,  issued  a  scandalous  pro- 
test, for  which  they  were  expelled ;  and  sub- 
sequently they  organized  a  spurious  Grand 
Lodge  and  chartered  several  Lodges.  But 
from  this  time  Lacorne  ceased  to  have  a 
place  in  regular  Masonry,  although  the 
dissensions  first  begun  by  him  ultimately 
gave  rise  to  the  Grand  Orient  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Ladder.  A  symbol  of  progressive  ad- 
vancement from  a  lower  to  a  higher  sphere, 
which  is  common  to  Masonry  and  to  many, 
if  not  all,  of  the  Ancient  Mysteries.  In 
each,  generally,  as  in  Masonry,  the  number 
of  steps  was  seven.     See  Jacob's  Ladder. 

Ladder,  Brahmanical.  The  sym- 
bolic ladder  used  in  the  mysteries  of  Brah- 
ma. It  had  seven  steps,  symbolic  of  the 
seven  worlds  of  the  Indian  universe.  The 
lowest  was  the  Earth ;  the  second,  the 
World  of  Re-existence ;  the  third,  Heaven  ; 
the  fourth,  the  Middle  World,  or  interme- 
diate region  between  the  lower  and  the 
upper  worlds;  the  fifth,  the  World  of  Births, 
in  which  souls  are  born  again ;  the  sixth, 
the  Mansion  of  the  Blessed;  and  the 
seventh,  or  topmost  round,  the  Sphere  of 
Truth,  the  abode  of  Brahma,  who  was  him- 
self a  symbol  of  the  sun. 

Ladder,  Jacob's.  See  Jacob's  Lad- 
der. 

Ladder,  Kabbalistic.  The  ladder 
of  the  Kabbalists  consisted  of  the  ten  Se- 
phiroths  or  emanations  of  Deity.  The 
steps  were  in  an  ascending  series,  —  the 
Kingdom,  Foundation,  Splendor,  Firm- 
ness, Beauty,  Justice,  Mercy,  Intelligence, 


LADDER 


LANDMARKS 


439 


Wisdom,  and  the  Crown.  This  ladder 
formed  the  exception  to  the  usual  number 
of  seven  steps  or  rounds. 

Ladder,  Mithraitic.  The  symbolic 
ladder  used  in  the  Persian  mysteries  of 
Mithras.  It  had  seven  steps,  symbolic  of 
the  seven  planets  and  the  seven  metals. 
Thus,  beginning  at  the  bottom,  we  have  Sat- 
urn represented  by  lead,  Venus  by  tin,  Ju- 
piter by  brass,  Mercury  by  iron,  Mars  by  a 
mixed  metal,  the  Moon  by  silver,  and  the 
Sun  by  gold ;  the  whole  being  a  symbol  of 
the  sidereal  progress  of  the  sun  through  the 
universe. 

Ladder  of  Kadosh.  This  ladder, 
belonging  to  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry, 
consists  of  the  seven  following  steps,  be- 
ginning at  the  bottom:  Justice,  Equity, 
Kindliness,  Good  Faith,  Labor,  Patience, 
and  Intelligence  or  Wisdom.  Its  supports 
are  love  of  God  and  love  of  our  neighbor, 
and  their  totality  constitute  a  symbolism 
of  the  devoir  of  Knighthood  and  Masonry, 
the  fulfilment  of  which  is  necessary  to 
make  a  Perfect  Knight  and  Perfect  Mason. 

Ladder,  Rosicrucian.  Among 
the  symbols  of  the  Rosicrucians  is  a  ladder 
of  seven  steps  standing  on  a  globe  of  the 
earth,  with  an  open  Bible,  square,  and  com- 
passes resting  on  the  top.  Between  each 
of  the  steps  is  one  of  the  following  letters, 
beginning  from  the  bottom :  I.  N.  R.  I.  F. 
S.  C.,  being  the  initials  of  Iesus,  Nazarenus, 
Rex,  Iudaeorum,  Fides,  Spes,  Caritas.  But 
a  more  recondite  meaning  is  sometimes 
given  to  the  first  four  letters. 

Ladder,  Scandinavian.  The  sym- 
bolic ladder  used  in  the  Gothic  mysteries. 
Dr.  Oliver  refers  it  to  the  Yggrasil,  or 
sacred  ash -tree.  But  the  symbolism  is 
either  very  abstruse  or  very  doubtful.  It 
retains,  however,  the  idea  of  an  ascent  from 
a  lower  to  a  higher  sphere,  which  was  com- 
mon to  all  the  mystical  ladder  systems. 
At  its  root  lies  the  dragon  of  death ;  at  its 
top  are  the  eagle  and  hawk,  the  symbols 
of  life. 

Ladder,  Theological.  The  sym- 
bolic ladder  of  the  Masonic  mysteries.  It 
refers  to  the  ladder  seen  by  Jacob  in  his 
vision,  and  consists,  like  all  symbolical 
ladders,  of  seven  rounds,  alluding  to  the 
four  cardinal  and  the  three  theological 
virtues.     See  Jacob's  Ladder. 

Ladrian.  A  corruption  of  Edwin. 
It  occurs  in  the  Sloane  MS.,  "  hee  [Athel- 
stane]  had  a  sonne  y'  was  named  Ladrian." 

Lady.  In  the  androgynous  Lodges  of 
Adoption,  where  the  male  members  are 
called  Knights,  the  .female  members  are 
called  Ladies ;  as,  the  Knights  and  Ladies  of 
the  Rose.   The  French  use  the  word  Dame. 

Lalande.    See  De  la  Lalande. 

Lamb.    In  ancient  Craft  Masonry  the 


lamb  is  the  symbol  of  innocence ;  thus  in 
the  ritual  of  the  first  degree:  "  In  all  ages 
the  lamb  has  been  deemed  an  emblem  of 
innocence."  Hence  it  is  required  that  a 
Mason's  apron  should  be  made  of  lamb- 
skin. In  the  high  degrees,  and  in  the  de- 
grees of  chivalry,  as  in  Christian  iconog- 
raphy, the  lamb  is  a  symbol  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  introduction  of  this  Christian 
symbolism  of  the  lamb  comes  from  the  ex- 
pression of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  who  ex- 
claimed, on  seeing  Jesus,  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God ; "  which  was  undoubtedly 
derived  from  the  prophetic  writers,  who 
compare  the  Messiah  suffering  on  the  cross 
to  a  lamb  under  the  knife  of  a  butcher. 
In  the  vision  of  St.  John,  in  the  Apocalypse, 
Christ  is  seen,  under  the  form  of  a  lamb, 
wounded  in  the  throat,  and  opening  the 
book  with  the  seven  seals.  Hence,  in  one 
of  the  degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  the 
seventeenth,  or  Knight  of  the  East  and 
West,  the  lamb  lying  on  the  book  with  the 
seven  seals  is  a  part  of  the  jewel. 

Lamb  of  God.    See  Lamb,  Paschal. 

Lamb,  Paschal.  The  paschal  lamb, 
sometimes  called  the  Holy  Lamb,  was  the 
lamb  offered  up  by  the  Jews  at  the  paschal 
feast.  This  has  been  transferred  to  Chris- 
tian symbolism,  and  naturally  to  chivalric 
Masonry;  and  hence  we  find  it  among  the 
symbols  of  modern  Templarism.  The  pas- 
chal lamb,  as  a  Christian  and  Masonic 
symbol,  called  also  the  Agnus  Dei,  or  the 
Lamb  of  God,  first  appeared  in  Christian 
art  after  the  sixth  century.  It  is  depicted 
as  a  lamb  standing  on  the  ground,  holding 
by  the  left  forefoot  a  banner,  on  which  a 
cross  is  inscribed.  This  paschal  lamb,  or 
Lamb  of  God,  has  been  adopted  as  a  symbol 
by  the  Knights  Templars,  being  borne  in 
one  of  the  banners  of  the  Order,  and  con- 
stituting, with  the  square  which  it  sur- 
mounts, the  jewel  of  the  Generalissimo  of 
a  Commandery.  The  lamb  is  a  symbol  of 
Christ;  the  cross,  of  his  passion;  and  the 
banner,  of  his  victory  over  death  and  hell. 
Mr.  Barrington  states  (Arcfueologia,  ix.  134,) 
that  in  a  deed  of  the  English  Knights  Tem- 
plars, granting  lands  in  Cambridgeshire, 
the  seal  is  a  Holy  Lamb,  and  the  arms  of 
the  Master  of  the  Temple  at  London  were 
argent,  a  cross  gules,  and  on  the  nombril 
point  thereof  a  Holy  Lamb,  that  is,  a  pas- 
chal or  Holy  Lamb  on  the  centre  of  a  red 
cross  in  a  white  field. 

Lambskin  Apron.    See  Apron. 

Landmarks.  In  ancient  times,  it 
was  the  custom  to  mark  the  boundaries  of 
lands  by  means  of  stone  pillars,  the  re- 
moval of  which,  by  malicious  persons, 
would  be  the  occasion  of  much  confusion, 
men  having  no  other  guide  than  these  pil- 
lars by  which  to  distinguish  the  limits  of 


440 


LANDMARKS 


LANDMARKS 


their  property.  To  remove  them,  there- 
fore, was  considered  a  heinous  crime. 
"  Thou  shalt  not,"  says  the  Jewish  law, 
M  remove  thy  neighbor's  landmark,  which 
they  of  old  time  have  set  in  thine  inher- 
itance." Hence  those  peculiar  marks  of 
distinction  by  which  we  are  separated 
from  the  profane  world,  and  by  which  we 
are  enabled  to  designate  our  inheritance  as 
the  "  sons  of  light,"  are  called  the  land- 
marks of  the  Order.  Th e  universal  language 
and  the  universal  laws  of  Masonry  are  land- 
marks, but  not  so  are  the  local  ceremonies, 
laws,  and  usages,  which  vary  in  different 
countries.  To  attempt  to  alter  or  remove 
these  sacred  landmarks,  by  which  we  ex- 
amine and  prove  a  brother's  claims  to  share 
in  our  privileges,  is  one  of  the  most  heinous 
offences  that  a  Mason  can  commit. 

In  the  decision  of  the  question  what  are 
and  what  are  not  the  landmarks  of  Masonry, 
there  has  been  much  diversity  of  opinion 
among  writers.  Dr.  Oliver  says,  [Diet. 
Symb.  Mas.,)  that  "some  restrict  them  to 
the  O.  B.  signs,  tokens,  and  words.  Others 
include  theceremonies  of  initiation,  passing, 
and  raising;  and  the  form,  dimensions,  and 
support ;  the  ground,  situation,  and  cover- 
ing ;  the  ornaments,  furniture,  and  jewels 
of  a  Lodge,  or  their  characteristic  symbols. 
Some  think  that  the  Order  has  no  land- 
marks beyond  its  peculiar  secrets."  But 
all  of  these  are  loose  and  unsatisfactory 
definitions,  excluding  things  that  are  es- 
sential, and  admitting  others  that  are  un- 
essential. 

Perhaps  the  safest  method  is  to  restrict 
them  to  those  ancient,  and  therefore  uni- 
versal, customs  of  the  Order,  which  either 
gradually  grew  into  operation  as  rules  of 
action,  or,  if  at  once  enacted  by  any  compe- 
tent authority,  were  enacted  at  a  period  so 
remote,  that  no  account  of  their  origin  is 
to  be  found  in  the  records  of  history.  Both 
the  enactors  and  the  time  of  the  enactment 
have  passed  away  from  the  record,  and  the 
landmarks  are  therefore  "  of  higher  anti- 
quity than  memory  or  history  can  reach." 

The  first  requisite,  therefore,  of  a  custom 
or  rule  of  action  to  constitute  it  a  landmark, 
is,  that  it  must  have  existed  from  "  time 
whereof  the  memory  of  man  runneth  not 
to  the  contrary."  Its  antiquity  is  its  essen- 
tial element.  Were  it  possible  for  all  the 
Masonic  authorities  at  the  present  day  to 
unite  in  a  universal  congress,  and  with  the 
most  perfect  unanimity  to  adopt  any  new 
regulation,  although  such  regulation  would, 
so  long  as  it  remained  unrepealed,  be  ob- 
ligatory on  the  whole  Craft,  yet  it  would 
not  be  a  landmark.  It  would  have  the 
character  of  universality,  it  is  true,  but  it 
would  be  wanting  in  that  of  antiquity. 

Another  peculiarity  of  these  landmarks 


of  Masonry  is,  that  they  are  unrepealable. 
As  the  congress  to  which  I  have  just  alluded 
would  not  have  the  power  to  enact  a  land- 
mark, so  neither  would  it  have  the  pre- 
rogative of  abolishing  one.  The  landmarks 
of  the  Order,  like  the  laws  of  the  Medes 
and  the  Persians,  can  suffer  no  change. 
What  they  were  centuries  ago,  they  still 
remain,  and  must  so  continue  in  force  until 
Masonry  itself  shall  cease  to  exist. 

Until  the  year  1858,  no  attempt  had  been 
made  by  any  Masonic  writer  to  distinctly 
enumerate  the  landmarks  of  Freemasonry, 
and  to  give  to  them  a  comprehensible  form. 
In  October  of  that  year,  the  author  of  this 
work  published  in  the  American  Quarterly 
Review  of  Freemasonry  (vol.  ii.,  p.  230,)  an 
article  on  "The  Foundations  of  Masonic 
Law,"  which  contained  a  distinct  enumera- 
tion of  the  landmarks,  which  was  the  first 
time  that  such  a  list  had  been  presented  to 
the  Fraternity.  This  enumeration  was  sub- 
sequently incorporated  by  the  author  in  his 
Text  Book  of  Masonic  Jurisprudence.  It  has 
since  been  very  generally  adopted  by  the 
Fraternity,  and  republished  by  many  writers 
on  Masonic  law;  sometimes  without  any 
acknowledgment  of  the  source  whence  they 
derived  their  information.  According  to 
this  recapitulation,  the  result  of  much  labor 
and  research,  the  landmarks  are  twenty -five 
in  number,  and  are  as  follows  : 

1.  The  modes  of  recognition  are,  of  all 
the  landmarks,  the  most  legitimate  and 
unquestioned.  They  admit  of  no  variation ; 
and  if  ever  they  have  suffered  alteration  or 
addition,  the  evil  of  such  a  violation  of  the 
ancient  law  has  always  made  itself  subse- 
quently manifest. 

2.  The  division  of  symbolic  Masonry 
into  three  degrees  is  a  landmark  that  has 
been  better  preserved  than  almost  any  other ; 
although  even  here  the  mischievous  spirit 
of  innovation  has  left  its  traces,  and,  by  the 
disruption  of  its  concluding  portion  from 
the  third  degree,  a  want  of  uniformity  has 
been  created  in  respect  to  the  final  teaching 
of  the  Master's  Order;  and  the  Royal  Arch 
of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Amer- 
ica, and  the  "high  degrees"  of  France  and 
Germany,  are  all  made  to  differ  in  the 
mode  in  which  they  lead  the  neophyte  to 
the  great  consummation  of  all  symbolic 
Masonry.  In  1813,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England  vindicated  the  ancient  landmark, 
by  solemnly  enacting  that  ancient  Craft 
Masonry  consisted  of  the  three  degrees  of 
Entered  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and 
Master  Mason,  including  the  Holy  Royal 
Arch.  But  the  disruption  has  never  been 
healed,  and  the  landmark,  although  ac- 
knowledged in  its  integrity  by  all,  still  con- 
tinues to  be  violated. 

3.  The  legend  of  the  third  degree  is  an 


LANDMARKS 


LANDMARKS 


441 


important  landmark,  the  integrity  of 
which  has  been  well  preserved.  There  is 
no  rite  of  Masonry,  practised  in  any  coun- 
try or  language,  in  which  the  essential  ele- 
ments of  this  legend  are  not  taught.  The 
lectures  may  vary,  and  indeed  are  constantly 
changing,  but  the  legend  has  ever  remained 
substantially  the  same.  And  it  is  necessary 
that  it  should  be  so,  for  the  legend  of  the 
Temple  Builder  constitutes  the  very  essence 
and  identity  of  Masonry.  Any  rite  which 
should  exclude  it,  or  materially  alter  it, 
would  at  once,  by  that  exclusion  or  alter- 
ation, cease  to  be  a  Masonic  rite. 

4.  The  government  of  the  Fraternity  by 
a  presiding  officer  called  a  Grand  Master, 
who  is  elected  from  the  body  of  the  Craft, 
is  a  fourth  landmark  of  the  Order.     Many 

Sersons  suppose  that  the  election  of  the 
rrand  Master  is  held  in  consequence  of  a 
law  or  regulation  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 
Such,  however,  is  not  the  case.  The  office 
is  indebted  for  its  existence  to  a  landmark 
of  the  Order.  Grand  Masters,  or  persons 
performing  the  functions  under  a  different 
but  equivalent  title,  are  to  be  found  in  the 
records  of  the  Institution  long  before  Grand 
Lodges  were  established ;  and  if  the  present 
system  of  legislative  government  by  Grand 
Lodges  were  to  be  abolished,  a  Grand 
Master  would  still  be  necessary. 

5.  The  prerogative  of  the  Grand  Master 
to  preside  over  every  assembly  of  the  Craft, 
wheresoever  and  whensoever  held,  is  a  fifth 
landmark.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this 
law,  derived  from  ancient  usage,  and  not 
from  any  special  enactment,  that  the  Grand 
Master  assumes  the  chair,  or  as  it  is  called 
in  England,  "  the  throne,"  at  every  com- 
munication of  the  Grand  Lodge ;  and  that 
he  is  also  entitled  to  preside  at  the  commu- 
nication of  every  subordinate  Lodge,  where 
he  may  happen  to  be  present. 

6.  The  prerogative  of  the  Grand  Master 
to  grant  dispensations  for  conferring  de- 
grees at  irregular  times,  is  another  and  a 
very  important  landmark.  The  statutory 
law  of  Masonry  requires  a  month,  or  other 
determinate  period,  to  elapse  between  the 
presentation  of  a  petition  and  the  election 
of  a  candidate.  But  the  Grand  Master  has 
the  power  to  set  aside  or  dispense  with  this 

Erobation,  and  to  allow  a  candidate  to 
e  initiated  at  once.  This  prerogative  he 
possessed  before  the  enactment  of  the  law 
inquiring  a  probation,  and  as  no  statute  can 
impair  his  prerogative,  he  still  retains  the 
power. 

7.  The  prerogative  of  the  Grand  Master 
to  give  dispensations  for  opening  and  hold- 
ing Lodges  is  another  landmark.  He  may 
grant,  in  virtue  of  this,  to  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  Masons,  the  privilege  of  meeting  to- 
gether and  conferring  degrees.     The  Lodges 

3F 


thus  established  are  called  "  Lodges  under 
dispensation."  See  Lodges  under  Dispensa- 
tion. 

8.  The  prerogative  of  the  Grand  Master 
to  make  Masons  at  sight  is  a  landmark 
which  is  closely  connected  with  the  pre- 
ceding one.  There  has  been  much  misap- 
prehension in  relation  to  this  landmark, 
which  misapprehension  has  sometimes  led 
to  a  denial  of"  its  existence  in  jurisdictions 
where  the  Grand  Master  was,  perhaps,  at 
the  very  time  substantially  exercising  the 
prerogative,  without  the  slightest  remark 
or  opposition.   See  Sight,  Making  Masons  at. 

9.  The  necessity  for  Masons  to  congre- 
gate in  Lodges  is  another  landmark.  It 
is  not  to  be  understood  by  this  that  any 
ancient  landmark  has  directed  that  perma- 
nent organization  of  subordinate  Lodges 
which  constitutes  one  of  the  features  of 
the  Masonic  system  as  it  now  prevails. 
But  the  landmarks  of  the  Order  always 
prescribed  that  Masons  should,  from  time 
to  time,  congregate  together  for  the  pur- 

f>ose  of  either  Operative  or  Speculative 
abor,  and  that  these  congregations  should 
be  called  Lodges.  Formerly,  these  were  ex- 
temporary meetings  called  together  for 
special  purposes,  and  then  dissolved,  the 
brethren  departing  to  meet  again  at  other 
times  and  other  places,  according  to  the 
necessity  of  circumstances.  But  Warrants 
of  constitution,  by-laws,  permanent  officers, 
and  annual  arrears  are  modern  innovations 
wholly  outside  the  landmarks,  and  depen- 
dent entirely  on  the  special  enactments  of 
a  comparatively  recent  period. 

10.  The  government  of  the  Craft,  when 
so  congregated  in  a  Lodge,  by  a  Master  and 
two  Wardens,  is  also  a  landmark.  A  con- 
gregation of  Masons  meeting  together 
under  any  other  government,  as  that,  for  in- 
stance, of  a  president  and  vice-president, 
or  a  chairman  and  sub-chairman,  would 
not  be  recognized  as  a  Lodge.  The  pres- 
ence of  a  Master  and  two  Wardens  is  as 
essential  to  the  valid  organization  of  a 
Lodge  as  a  Warrant  of  constitution  is  at 
the  present  day.  The  names,  of  course, 
vary  in  different  languages;  but  the  officers, 
their  number,  prerogatives,  and  duties  are 
everywhere  identical. 

11.  The  necessity  that  every  Lodge,  when 
congregated,  should  be  duly  tiled,  is  an  im- 
portant landmark  of  the  Institution  which 
is  never  neglected.  The  necessity  of  this 
law  arises  from  the  esoteric  character  of 
Masonry.  The  duty  of  guarding  the  door, 
and  keeping  off  cowans  and  eavesdroppers, 
is  an  ancient  one,  which  therefore  consti- 
tutes a  landmark. 

12.  The  right  of  every  Mason  to  be  rep- 
resented in  all  general  meetings  of  the 
Craft,  and  to  instruct  his  representatives, 


442 


LANDMARKS 


LANDMARKS 


is  a  twelfth  landmark.  Formerly,  these 
general  meetings,  which  were  usually  held 
once  a  year,  were  called  "  General  Assem- 
blies," and  all  the  Fraternity,  even  to  the 
youngest  Entered  Apprentice,  were  per- 
mitted to  be  present.  Now  they  are  called 
"  Grand  Lodges,"  and  only  the  Masters  and 
Wardens  of  the  subordinate  Lodges  are 
summoned.  But  this  is  simply  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  tbeir  members.  Originally, 
each  Mason  represented  himself;  now  he 
is  represented  by  his  officers.  See  Repre- 
sentatives of  Lodges. 

13.  The  right  of  every  Mason  to  appeal 
from  the  decision  of  his  brethren,  in  Lodge 
convened,  to  the  Grand  Lodge  or  General 
Assembly  of  Masons,  is  a  landmark  highly 
essential  to  the  preservation  of  justice,  and 
the  prevention  of  oppression.  A  few  mod- 
ern Grand  Lodges,  in  adopting  a  regula- 
tion that  the  decision  of  subordinate 
Lodges,  in  cases  of  expulsion,  cannot  be 
wholly  set  aside  upon  an  appeal,  have  vio- 
lated this  unquestioned  landmark,  as  well 
as  the  principles  of  just  government. 

14.  The  right  of  every  Mason  to  visit  and 
sit  in  every  regular  Lodge  is  an  unques- 
tionable landmark  of  the  Order.  This 
is  called  "  the  right  of  visitation."  This 
right  of  visitation  has  always  been  recog- 
nized as  an  inherent  right  which  inures  to 
every  Mason  as  he  travels  through  the 
world.  And  this  is  because  Lodges  are 
justly  considered  as  only  divisions  for  con- 
venience of  the  universal  Masonic  family. 
This  right  may,  of  course,  be  impaired  or 
forfeited  on  special  occasions  by  various 
circumstances ;  but  when  admission  is  re- 
fused to  a  Mason  in  good  standing,  who 
knocks  at  the  door  of  a  Lodge  as  a  visitor, 
it  is  to  be  expected  that  some  good  and  suffi- 
cient reason  shall  be  furnished  for  this  vio- 
lation of  what  is,  in  general,  a  Masonic 
right,  founded  on  the  landmarks  of  the 
Order. 

15.  It  is  a  landmark  of  the  Order,  that 
no  visitor  unknown  to  the  brethren  present, 
or  to  some  one  of  them  as  a  Mason,  can 
enter  a  Lodge  without  first  passing  an  ex- 
amination according  to  ancient  usage.  Of 
course,  if  the  visitor  is  known  to  any 
brother  present  to  be  a  Mason  in  good 
standing,  and  if  that  brother  will  vouch  for 
his  qualifications,  the  examination  may  be 
dispensed  with,  as  the  landmark  refers 
only  to  the  cases  of  strangers,  who  are  not 
to  be  recognized  unless  after  strict  trial, 
due  examination,  or  lawful  information. 

16.  No  Lodge  can  interfere  in  the  busi- 
ness of  another  Lodge,  nor  give  degrees  to 
brethren  who  are  members  of  other  Lodges. 
This  is  undoubtedly  an  ancient  landmark, 
founded  on  the  great  principles  of  courtesy 
and  fraternal  kindness,  which  are  at  the 


very  foundation  of  our  Institution.  It  has 
been  repeatedly  recognized  by  subsequent 
statutory  enactments  of  all  Grand  Lodges. 

17.  It  is  a  landmark  that  every  Free- 
mason is  amenable  to  the  laws  and  regula- 
tions of  the  Masonic  jurisdiction  in  which 
he  resides,  and  this  although  he  may  not 
be  a  member  of  any  Lodge.  Non-affilia- 
tion, which  is,  in  fact,  in  itself  a  Masonic 
offence,  does  not  exempt  a  Mason  from 
Masonic  jurisdiction. 

18.  Certain  qualifications  of  candidates 
for  initiation  are  derived  from  a  landmark 
of  the  Order.  These  qualifications  are 
that  he  shall  be  a  man  —  unmutilated,  free 
born,  and  of  mature  age.  That  is  to  say, 
a  woman,  a  cripple,  or  a  slave,  or  one  born 
in  slavery,  is  disqualified  for  initiation  into 
the  rites  of  Masonry.  Statutes,  it  is  true, 
have  from  time  to  time  been  enacted,  en- 
forcing or  explaining  these  principles ;  but 
the  qualifications  really  arise  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  Masonic  institution,  and  from 
its  symbolic  teachings,  and  have  always  ex- 
isted as  landmarks. 

19.  A  belief  in  the  existence  of  God  as 
the  Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe,  is  one 
of  the  most  important  landmarks  of  the 
Order.  It  has  been  always  admitted  that 
a  denial  of  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  and 
Superintending  Power  is  an  absolute  dis- 
qualification for  initiation.  The  annals  of 
the  Order  never  yet  have  furnished  or 
could  furnish  an  instance  in  which  an 
avowed  Atheist  was  ever  made  a  Mason. 
The  very  initiatory  ceremonies  of  the  first 
degree  forbid  and  prevent  the  possibility 
of  such  an  occurrence. 

20.  Subsidiary  to  this  belief  in  God,  as  a 
landmark  of  the  Order,  is  the  belief  in  a 
resurrection  to  a  future  life.  This  land- 
mark is  not  so  positively  impressed  on  the 
candidate  by  exact  words  as  the  preceding; 
but  the  doctrine  is  taught  by  very  plain 
implication,  and  runs  through  the  whole 
symbolism  of  the  Order.  To  believe  in 
Masonry,  and  not  to  believe  in  a  resurrec- 
tion, would  be  an  absurd  anomaly,  which 
could  only  be  excused  by  the  reflection, 
that  he  who  thus  confounded  his  belief  and 
his  skepticism  was  so  ignorant  of  the  mean- 
ing of  both  theories  as  to  have  no  rational 
foundation  for  his  knowledge  of  either. 

21.  It  is  a  landmark  that  a  "Book  of 
the  Law  "  shall  constitute  an  indispensable 
part  of  the  furniture  of  every  Lodge.  I 
say,  advisedly,  Book  of  the  Law,  because  it 
is  not  absolutely  required  that  everywhere 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  shall  be  used. 
The  "  Book  of  the  Law "  is  that  volume 
which,  by  the  religion  of  the  country,  is 
believed  to  contain  the  revealed  will  of  the 
Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe.  Hence, 
in  all  Lodges  in  Christian  countries,  the 


LANDMARKS 


LANGUAGE 


443 


"  Book  of  the  Law  "  is  composed  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments ;  in  a  country  where 
Judaism  was  the  prevailing  faith,  the  Old 
Testament  alone  would  be  sufficient;  and 
in  Mohammedan  countries,  and  among 
Mohammedan  Masons,  the  Koran  might  be 
substituted.  Masonry  does  not  attempt  to 
interfere  with  the  peculiar  religious  faith 
of  its  disciples,  except  so  far  as  relates  to 
the  belief  in  the  existence  of  God,  and  what 
necessarily  results  from  that  belief.  The 
"  Book  of  the  Law  "  is  to  the  Speculative 
Mason  his  spiritual  trestle-board ;  without 
this  he  cannot  labor  ;  whatever  he  believes 
to  be  the  revealed  will  of  the  Grand  Arch- 
itect constitutes  for  him  this  spiritual 
trestle-board,  and  must  ever  be  before  him 
in  his  hours  of  speculative  labor,  to  be  the 
rule  and  guide  of  his  conduct.  The  land- 
mark, therefore,  requires  that  a  "Book  of  the 
Law,"  a  religious  code  of  some  kind,  pur- 
porting to  be  an  exemplar  of  the  revealed 
will  of  God,  shall  form  an  essential  part  of 
the  furniture  of  every  Lodge. 

22.  The  equality  of  all  Masons  is  another 
landmark  of  the  Order.  This  equality 
has  no  reference  to  any  subversion  of  those 
gradations  of  rank  which  have  been  insti- 
tuted by  the  usages  of  society.  The  mon- 
arch, the  nobleman,  or  the  gentleman  is 
entitled  to  all  the  influence,  and  receives  all 
the  respect,  which  rightly  belong  to  his 
position.  But  the  doctrine  of  Masonic 
equality  implies  that,  as  children  of  one 
great  Father,  we  meet  in  the  Lodge  upon 
the  level  —  that  on  that  level  we  are  all 
travelling  to  one  predestined  goal  —  that 
in  the  Lodge  genuine  merit  shall  receive 
more  respect  than  boundless  wealth,  and 
that  virtue  and  knowledge  alone  should  be 
the  basis  of  all  Masonic  honors,  and  be  re- 
warded with  preferment.  When  the  labors 
of  the  Lodge  are  over,  and  the  brethren 
have  retired  from  their  peaceful  retreat,  to 
mingle  once  more  with  the  world,  each  will 
then  again  resume  that  social  position,  and 
exercise  the  privileges  of  that  rank,  to 
which  the  customs  of  society  entitle  him. 

23.  The  secrecy  of  the  Institution  is 
another  and  most  important  landmark. 
The  form  of  secrecy  is  a  form  inherent  in 
it,  existing  with  it  from  its  very  founda- 
tion, and  secured  to  it  by  its  ancient  land- 
marks. If  divested  of  its  secret  character, 
it  would  lose  its  identity,  and  would  cease 
to  be  Freemasonry.  Whatever  objections 
may,  therefore,  be  made  to  the  Institution 
on  account  of  its  secrecy,  and  however 
much  some  unskilful  brethren  have  been 
unwilling  in  times  of  trial,  for  the  sake  of 
expediency,  to  divest  it  of  its  secret  char- 
acter, it  will  be  ever  impossible  to  do  so, 
even  were  the  landmark  not  standing  be- 
fore us  as  an  insurmountable  obstacle ;  be- 


cause such  change  of  its  character  would 
be  social  suicide,  and  the  death  of  the 
Order  would  follow  its  legalized  exposure. 
Freemasonry,  as  a  secret  association,  has 
lived  unchanged  for  centuries ;  as  an  open 
society,  it  would  not  last  for  as  many  years. 

24.  The  foundation  of  a  speculative 
science  upon  an  operative  art,  and  the 
symbolic  use  and  explanation  of  the  terms 
of  that  art,  for  the  purposes  of  religious  or 
moral  teaching,  constitute  another  land- 
mark of  the  Order.  The  Temple  of  Solo- 
mon was  the  symbolic  cradle  of  the  Insti- 
tution, and,  therefore,  the  reference  to  the 
Operative  Masonry  which  constructed  that 
magnificent  edifice,  to  the  materials  and 
implements  which  were  employed  in  its 
construction,  and  to  the  artists  who  were 
engaged  in  the  building,  are  all  component 
and  essential  parts  of  the  body  of  Free- 
masonry, which  could  not  be  subtracted 
from  it  without  an  entire  destruction  of 
the  whole  identity  of  the  Order.  Hence, 
all  the  comparatively  modern  rites  of  Ma- 
sonry, however  they  may  differ  in  other 
respects,  religiously  preserve  this  Temple 
history  and  these  operative  elements,  as 
the  substratum  of  all  their  modifications 
of  the  Masonic  system. 

25.  The  last  and  crowning  landmark  of 
all  is,  that  these  landmarks  can  never  be 
changed.  Nothing  can  be  subtracted  from 
them  —  nothing  can  be  added  to  them  —  not 
the  slightest  modification  can  be  made  in 
them.  As  they  were  received  from  our 
predecessors,  we  are  bound  by  the  most 
solemn  obligations  of  duty  to  transmit 
them  to  our  successors.  Not  one  jot  or 
one  tittle  of  these  unwritten  laws  can  be 
repealed;  for,  in  respect  to  them,  we  are 
not  only  willing,  but  compelled  to  adopt 
the  language  of  the  sturdy  old  barons  of 
England,  "  Nolumus  leges  mutari." 

Language,  Universal.  The  in- 
vention of  a  universal  language,  which 
men  of  all  nations  could  understand  and 
through  which  they  could  communicate 
their  thoughts,  has  always  been  one  of  the 
Utopian  dreams  of  certain  philologists. 
In  the  seventeenth  century,  Dalgarno  had 
written  his  Ars  Signorum  to  prove  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  universal  character  and  a 
philosophical  language.  About  the  same 
time  Bishop  Wilkins  published  his  Essay 
towards  a  Real  Character  and  a  Philosophi- 
cal Language ;  and  even  the  mathematical 
Leibnitz  entertained  the  project  of  a  uni- 
versal language  for  all  the  world.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  surprising,  that  when  the  so- 
called  Lei  and  Manuscript  stated  that  the 
Masons  concealed  a  "  universelle  longage,'' 
Mr.  Locke,  or  whoever  was  the  commenta- 
tor on  that  document,  should  have  been 
attracted  by  the  statement.   "  A  universal 


444 


LAPICIDA 


LATOMIA 


language,"  he  says,  "has  heen  much  de- 
sired by  the  learned  of  many  ages.  It  is  a 
thing  rather  to  be  wished  than  hoped  for. 
But  it  seems  the  Masons  pretend  to  have 
such  a  thing  among  them.  If  it  be  true, 
I  guess  it  must  be  something  like  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Pantomimes  among  the  an- 
cient Eomans,  who  are  said  to  be  able, 
by  signs  only,  to  express  and  deliver  any 
oration  intelligibly  to  men  of  all  nations 
and  languages." 

The  "guess"  of  the  commentator  was 
near  the  truth.  A  universal  language 
founded  on  words  is  utterly  impracticable. 
Even  if  once  inaugurated  by  common  con- 
sent, a  thing  itself  impossible,  the  lapse  of 
but  a  few  years,  and  the  continual  innova- 
tion of  new  phrases,  would  soon  destroy  its 
universality.  But  there  are  signs  and  sym- 
bols which,  by  tacit  consent,  have  always 
been  recognized  as  the  exponents  of  cer- 
tain idea3,  and  these  are  everywhere  under- 
stood. It  is  well  known  that  such  a  sys- 
tem exists  over  the  vast  territory  occupied 
by  the  North  American  savages,  and  that 
the  Indians  of  two  tribes,  which  totally 
differ  in  language,  meeting  on  the  prairie 
or  in  the  forest,  are  enabled,  by  conventual 
signs  of  universal  agreement,  to  hold  long 
and  intelligible  intercourse.  On  such  a  basis 
the  "universal  language"  of  Freemasonry  is 
founded.  It  is  not  universal  to  the  world, 
but  it  is  to  the  Craft ;  and  a  Mason  of  one 
country  and  language  meeting  a  Mason  of 
another  can  make  himself  understood  for 
all  practical  purposes  of  the  Craft,  simply 
because  the  system  of  signs  and  symbols 
has  been  so  perfected  that  in  every  lan- 
guage they  convey  the  same  meaning  and 
make  the  same  impression!  This,  and  this 
only,  is  the  extent  to  which  the  universal 
language  of  Masonry  reaches.  It  would  be 
an  error  to  suppose  that  it  meets  the  ex- 
pectations of  Dalgarno  or  Wilkins,  or  any 
other  dreamer,  and  that  it  is  so  perfect  as 
to  supersede  the  necessity  of  any  other 
method  of  intercommunication. 

Linpicida.  A  word  sometimes  used  in 
Masonic  documents  to  denote  a  Freemason. 
It  is  derived  from  lapis,  a  stone,  and  ccedo, 
to  cut,  and  is  employed  by  Varro  and  Livy 
to  signify  "a  stone-cutter."  But  in  the 
low  Latin  of  the  Mediaeval  age  it  took 
another  meaning ;  and  Du  Cange  defines  it 
in  his  Qlogsarium  as  "JEdeficiorum  structor. 
Gall.  Macon,"  i.  e.,  "A  builder  of  edifices; 
in  French,  a  Mason ; "  and  he  quotes  two 
authorities  of  1304  and  1392,  where  lapicidce 
evidently  means  builders.  In  the  Vocabu- 
larium  of  Ugutio,  Anno  1592,  Lapicedius  is 
defined  "  a  cutter  of  stones."  The  Latin 
word  now  more  commonly  used  by  Masonic 
writers  for  Freemason  is  Latomus;  but  I  think 
that  Lapicida  is  purer  Latin.  See  Latomus. 


Larmenius,  Johannes  Marcus. 

According  to  the  tradition  of  the  Order  of 
the  Temple,  —  the  credibility  of  which  is, 
however,  denied  by  most  Masonic  scholars, 
—  John  Mark  Larmenius  was  in  1314  ap- 
pointed by  James  de  Molay  his  successor 
as  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars,  which 
power  was  transmitted  by  Larmenius  to  his 
successors,  in  a  document  known  as  the 
"  Charter  of  Transmission."  See  Temple, 
Order  of  the. 

Larudan,  Abbe'.  The  author  of  a 
work  entitled  Les  Franc-  Macons  ecrases. 
Suite  du  livre  intitule  I'Ordre  des  Franc- 
Macons  train,  traduit  du  Latin.  The  first 
edition  was  published  at  Amsterdam  in 
1746.  In  calling  it  the  sequel  ofL'Ordre 
des  Franc-Macons  trahi,  by  the  Abbe  Perau, 
Larudan  has  sought  to  attribute  the  author- 
ship of  his  own  libellous  work  to  Perau, 
but  without  success,  as  the  internal  evi- 
dence of  style  and  of  tone  sufficiently  dis- 
tinguishes the  two  works.  Kloss  says 
(Bibliog.,  No.  1874,)  that  this  work  is  the 
armory  from  which  all  subsequent  enemies 
of  Masonry  have  derived  their  weapons. 
Larudan  was  the  first  to  broach  the  theory 
that  Oliver  Cromwell  was  the  inventor  of 
Freemasonry. 

Latin  Lodge.  In  the  year  1784,  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  granted  a  War- 
rant for  the  establishment  of  Roman  Eagle 
Lodge  at  Edinburgh ;  the  whole  of  whose 
work  was  conducted  in  the  Latin  language. 
Of  this  Lodge,  the  celebrated  and  learned 
Dr.  John  Brown  was  the  founder  and 
Master.  He  had  himself  translated  the 
ritual  into  the  classical  language  of  Rome ; 
but  it  required  his  abilities  as  a  linguist  to 
keep  the  Lodge  alive,  which  became  ex- 
tinct on  his  removal  to  London. 

Latomia.  This  word  has  sometimes 
been  used  in  modern  Masonic  documents 
as  the  Latin  translation  of  the  word  Lodge, 
with  what  correctness  we  will  see.  The 
Greek  larofielov,  latomeion,  from  the  roots 
laa&,  a  stone,  and  temno,  to  cut,  meant  a 
place  where  stones  were  cut,  a  quarry. 
From  this  the  Romans  got  their  latomia, 
more  usually  spelled  lautomia,  which  also, 
in  pure  Latinity,  meant  a  stone-quarry. 
But  as  slaves  were  confined  and  made  to 
work  in  the  quarries  by  way  of  punish- 
ment, the  name  was  given  to  any  prison 
excavated  out  of  the  living  rock  and  below 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  was  especially 
so  applied  to  the  prison  excavated  by  Ser- 
vius  Tullius  under  the  Capitoline  hill  at 
Rome,  and  to  the  state  prison  at  Syracuse. 
Du  Cange  gives  the  same  meaning  to  the 
word  lautumioz  in  his  Glossarium,  and  refers 
for  an  example  to  the  Syracusan  prison. 
Lathomia,  he  defines  a  cutting  of  stone.  It 
seems  to  have  lost  and  never  recovered  its 


LATOMUS 


LAWRIE 


445 


primitive  meaning  as  a  stone-quarry,  and 
is,  therefore,  inappropriately  applied  to  a 
Masonic  Lodge. 

] ,<u 1 0111  us.  By  Masonic  writers  used 
as  a  translation  of  Freemason  into  Latin ; 
thus,  Thory  entitles  his  valuable  work, 
Acta  Latomorum,  i.  e.,  "  Transactions  of  the 
Freemasons."  This  word  was  not  used  in 
classical  Latinity.  In  the  low  Latin  of  the 
Middle  Ages  it  was  used  as  equivalent  to 
lapicida.  Du  Cange  defines  it,  in  the  form 
of  lathomus,  as  a  cutter  of  stones,  "  Caesor 
lapidum."  He  gives  an  example  from  one 
of  the  ecclesiastical  Constitutions,  where 
we  find  the  expression  "carpentarii  ac 
Latomi,"  which  may  mean  Carpenters  and 
Masons  or  Carpenters  and  Stone-cutters.  Du 
Cange  also  gives  Latomus  as  one  of  the  defi- 
nitions of  Maconetus,  which  he  derives  from 
the  French  Macon.  But  Maconetus  and 
Latomus  could  not  have  had  precisely  the 
same  meaning,  for  in  one  of  the  examples 
cited  by  Du  Cange,  we  have  "  Joanne  de 
Bareno,  Maqoneto,  Latonio  de  Gratiano- 

golis,"  i.  e.,  "John  de  Bareno,  Mason  and 
tone-cutter  (?)  of  Grenoble."  Latomus  is 
here  evidently  an  addition  to  Maconetus, 
showing  two  different  kinds  of  occupation. 
We  have  abundant  evidence  in  Mediaeval 
documents  that  a  Maconetus  was  a  builder, 
and  a  Latomus  was  most  probably  an  in- 
ferior order,  what  the  Masonic  Constitutions 
call  a  "  rough  Mason."  I  doubt  the  pro- 
priety of  applying  it  to  a  Freemason.  The 
word  is  sometimes  found  as  Lathomus  and 
Latonius. 

Latres.  This  word  has  given  much 
unnecessary  trouble  to  the  commentators 
on  the  old  Records  of  Masonry.  In  the 
legend  of  the  Craft  contained  in  all  the 
old  Constitutions,  we  are  informed  that  the 
children  of  Lamech  "  knew  well  that  God 
would  take  vengeance  for  sinne,  either  by 
fire  or  water,  wherefore  they  did  write  these 
sciences  that  they  found  in  twoe  pillars  of 
stone,  that  they  might  be  found  after  that 
God  had  taken  vengeance ;  the  one  was  of 
marble  and  would  not  burne,  the  other  was 
Latres  and  could  not  drowne  in  water." 
(Harleian  MS.)  It  is  the  Latin  word  later, 
a  brick.  The  legend  is  derived  from 
Josephus,  (Antiq.,  I.,  ii.,)  where  the  same 
story  is  told.  Whiston  properly  translates 
the  passage,  "they  made  two  pillars;  the 
one  of  brick,  the  other  of  stone."  The 
original  Greek  is  nllvdog,  which  has  the 
same  meaning.  The  word  is  variously  cor- 
rupted in  the  manuscript.  Thus  the  Har- 
leian MS.  has  laters,  which  comes  nearest 
to  the  correct  Latin  plural  lateres ;  the 
Cooke  MS.  has  laterus /tne  Dowland,  laterns; 
the  Landsdowne,  latheme  ;  and  the  Sloane, 

fetting  furthest  from  the  truth,  has  letera. 
t  is  strange  that  Halliwell  should  have 


been  ignorant  of  the  true  meaning,  and 
that  Phillips,  in  commenting  on  the  Har- 
leian MS.,  should  have  supposed  that  it 
alluded  "  to  some  floating  substance."  The 
Latin  word  later  and  the  passage  in  Jose- 
phus ought  readily  to  have  led  to  an  expli- 
cation. 

Laurel  Crown.  A  decoration  used 
in  some  of  the  higher  degrees  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  The 
laurel  is  an  emblem  of  victory ;  and  the 
corona  triumphalis  of  the  Romans,  which 
was  given  to  generals  who  had  gained  a 
triumph  by  their  conquests,  was  made  of 
laurel  leaves.  The  laurel  crown  in  Ma- 
sonry is  given  to  him  who  has  made  a  con- 
quest over  his  passions. 

Laurens,  J.  Ii.  A  French  Masonic 
writer,  and  the  author  of  an  Essai  historique 
et  antique  sur  la  Franche-Maconnerie,  pub- 
lished at  Paris  in  1805.  In  this  work  he 
gives  a  critical  examination  of  the  princi- 
pal works  that  have  treated  of  the  Institu- 
tion. It  contains  also  a  refutation  of  the 
imputations  of  anti-Masonic  writers.  In 
1808  he  edited  an  edition  of  the  Vocabu- 
laire  des  Franc-Macons,  the  first  edition  of 
which  had  been  issued  in  1805.  In  1825 
he  published  a  Histoire  des  Initiations  de 
Fancienne  Egypt.  Of  the  authorship  of 
this  last  work  I  have  only  the  statement 
of  Kloss,  who  attributes  it  to  J.  L.  Laurens. 

Laurie.     See  Lawrie,  Alexander. 

Lawful  Information.  See  Infor- 
mation, Lawful. 

Law,  Moral.    See  Moral  Law. 

Law,  Oral.    See  Oral  Law. 

Law,  Parliamentary.  See  Par- 
liamentary Law. 

Lawrie,  Alexander.  He  was  ori- 
ginally a  stocking-weaver,  and  afterwards 
became  a  bookseller  and  stationer  in  Par- 
liament Square,  Edinburgh,  and  printer  of 
the  Edinburgh  Gazette.  He  was  appointed 
bookseller  and  stationer  to  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Scotland,  and  afterwards  Grand  Sec- 
retary. In  1804  he  published  a  book  en- 
titled; "  The  History  of  Freemasonry,  drawn 
from  authentic  sources  of  information; 
with  an  Account  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland,  from  its  Institution  in  1736  to 
the  present  time,  compiled  from  the  Rec- 
ords; and  an  Appendix  of  Original  Pa- 
pers." Of  this  valuable  and  interesting 
work,  Lawrie  has  always  been  deemed  the 
author,  notwithstanding  that  the  learning 
exhibited  in  the  first  part,  and  the  numer- 
ous references  to  Greek  and  Latin  author- 
ities, furnished  abundant  internal  evidence 
of  his  incapacity,  from  previous  education, 
to  have  written  it.  The  doubt  which  natu- 
rally arises,whether  he  was  really  the  author, 
derives  great  support  from  the  testimony  of 
the  late  Dr.  David  Irving,  Librarian  to  the 


446 


LAW 


LAX 


Faculty  of  Advocates,  Edinburgh.  A  writer 
in  the  Notes  and  Queries,  (3d  Ser.,  iii.  366,) 
on  May  9,  1863,  stated  that  at  the  sale 
of  the  library  of  Dr.  Irving,  on  Saturday, 
March  28, 1862,  a  copy  of  Lawrie's  History 
of  Freemasonry  was  sold  for  £1.  In  that 
copy  there  was  the  following  memorandum 
in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Irving : 

"  The  history  of  this  book  is  somewhat 
curious,  and  perhaps  there  are  only  two  in- 
dividuals now  living  by  whom  it  could  be 
divulged.  The  late  Alexander  Lawrie, 
'Grand  Stationer,'  wished  to  recommend 
himself  to  the  Fraternity  by  the  publication 
of  such  a  work.  Through  Dr.  Anderson, 
he  requested  me  to  undertake  its  compila- 
tion, and  offered  a  suitable  remuneration. 
As  I  did  not  relish  the  task,  he  made  a 
similar  offer  to  my  old  acquaintance  David 
Brewster,  by  whom  it  was  readily  under- 
taken, and  I  can  say  was  executed  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  his  employers.  The 
title-page  does  not  exhibit  the  name  of  the 
author,  but  the  dedication  bears  the  signa- 
ture of  Alexander  Lawrie,  and  the  volume 
is  commonly  described  as  Lawrie's  History 
of  Freemasonry." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of 
this  statement.  It  has  never  been  unusual 
for  publishers  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
labors  of  literary  men  and  affix  their  own 
names  to  books  which  they  have  written  by 
proxy.  Besides,  the  familiarity  with  ab- 
struse learning  that  this  work  exhibits, 
although  totally  irreconcilable  with  the 
attainments  of  the  stocking- weaver,  can 
readily  be  assigned  to  Sir  David  Brewster 
the  philosopher. 

Lawrie  had  a  son,  William  Alexander 
Laurie,  (he  had  thus,  for  some  unknown 
reason,  changed  the  spelling  of  his  name,) 
who  was  for  very  many  years  the  Grand 
Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland, 
and  died  in  office  in  1870,  highly  esteemed. 
In  1859  he  published  a  new  edition  of  the 
History,  with  many  additions,  under  the  title 
of  "  The  History  of  Freemasonry  and  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland,  with  chapters 
on  the  Knights  Templar,  Knights  of  St. 
John,  Mark  Masonry,  and  the  R.  A.  De- 
gree." 

IiJi  w,  Sacred.    See  Sacred  Law. 

Laws,  General.  See  Laws  of  Ma- 
sonry. 

liii  ws,  Local.    See  Laws  of  Masonry. 

Laws  of  Masonry.  The  laws  of 
Masonry,  or  those  rules  of  action  by  which 
the  Institution  is  governed,  are  very  prop- 
erly divided  into  three  classes :  1.  Land- 
marks. 2.  General  Laws  or  Regulations. 
3.  Local  Laws  or  Regulations. 

1.  Landmarks.  These  are  the  unwritten 
laws  of  the  Order,  derived  from  those  an- 
cient and  universal  customs  which  date  at 


so  remote  a  period  that  we  have  no  record 
of  their  origin. 

2.  General  Laws.  These  are  all  those 
Regulations  that  have  been  enacted  by 
such  bodies  as  had  at  the  time  universal 
jurisdiction.  They  operate,  therefore,  over 
the  Craft  wheresoever  dispersed;  and 
as  the  paramount  bodies  which  enacted 
them  have  long  ceased  to  exist,  it  would 
seem  that  they  are  unrepealable.  It 
is  generally  agreed  that  these  General  or 
Universal  Laws  are  to  be  found  in  the  old 
Constitutions  and  Charges,  so  far  as  they 
were  recognized  and  accepted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  at  the  revival  in  1717, 
and  adopted  previous  to  the  year  1721. 

3.  Local  Laws.  These  are  the  Regula- 
tions which,  since  1721,  have  been  and 
continue  to  be  enacted  by  Grand  Lodges. 
They  are  of  force  only  in  those  jurisdic- 
tions which  have  adopted  them,  and  are  re- 
pealable  by  the  bodies  which  have  enacted 
them.  They  must,  to  be  valid,  be  not  re- 
pugnant to  the  Landmarks  or  the  General 
Laws,  which  are  of  paramount  authority. 

Lawsuits.  In  the  Old  Charges  which 
were  approved  in  1722,  and  published  in 
1723,  by  Anderson,  in  the  Book  of  Consti- 
tutions, the  regulations  as  to  lawsuits  are 
thus  laid  down :  "  And  if  any  of  them  do 
you  injury,  you  must  apply  to  your  own  or 
his  Lodge,  and  from  thence  you  may  appeal 
to  the  Grand  Lodge,  at  the  Quarterly  Com- 
munication, and  from  thence  to  the  Annual 
Grand  Lodge,  as  has  been  the  ancient  laud- 
able conduct  of  our  forefathers  in  every 
nation ;  never  taking  a  legal  course  but 
when  the  case  cannot  be  otherwise  decided, 
and  patiently  listening  to  the  honest  and 
friendly  advice  of  Master  and  Fellows, 
when  they  would  prevent  you  going  to  law 
with  strangers,  or  would  excite  you  to  put 
a  speedy  period  to  all  lawsuits,  that  so  you 
may  mind  the  affair  of  Masonry  with  the 
more  alacrity  and  success ;  but  with  respect 
to  Brothers  or  Fellows  at  law,  the  Master 
and  Brethren  should  kindly  offer  their  me- 
diation, which  ought  to  be  thankfully  sub- 
mitted to  by  the  contending  brethren ;  and 
if  that  submission  is  impracticable,  they 
must,  however,  carry  on  their  process  or 
lawsuit  without  wrath  and  rancor,  (not  in 
the  common  way,)  saying  or  doing  nothing 
which  may  hinder  brotherly  love  and  good 
offices  to  be  renewed  and  continued ;  that 
all  may  see  the  benign  influence  of  Masonry, 
as  all  true  Masons  have  done  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world,  and  will  do  to  the 
end  of  time." 

L.ax  Observance.  ( Observantia 
Lata.)  When  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observ- 
ance was  instituted  in  Germany  by  Von 
Hund,  its  disciples  gave  to  all  the  other 
German  Lodges  which  refused  to  submit  to 


LAYER 


LECTURE 


447 


its  obedience  and  adopt  its  innovations,  but 

S referred  to  remain  faithful  to  the  English 
lite,  the  title  of  "  Lodges  of  Lax  Observ- 
ance." Ragon,  in  his  Orthodoxie  Macon- 
nique,  (p.  236.)  has  committed  the  unac- 
countable error  of  calling  it  a  schism, 
established  at  Vienna  in  1767;  thus  evi- 
dently confounding  it  with  Starck's  Rite 
of  the  Clerks  of  Strict  Observance. 

Layer.  A  term  used  in  the  old 
Records  to  designate  a  workman  inferior 
to  an  Operative  Freemason.  Thus :  "  Alsoe 
that  no  Mason  set  noe  layer  within  a  Lodge 
or  without  to  have  mould  stones  with  one 
mould  of  his  workeing."  In  the  Harleian 
and  Kilwinning  MSS.,  it  is  layer ;  in  the 
Sloane,  Iyer;  and  in  the  Alnwick,  rough  layer. 
In  the  contract  for  Fotheringay  Church, 
we  find  the  word  under  the  form  of  leye. 
The  word,  I  think,  means  one  who  builds 
in  brick,  and  is  familiar  to  us  in  the  com- 
pound term  bricklayer;  a  word  not  unknown 
at  the  time  of  the  writing  of  those  manu- 
scripts. Thus  in  The  Bookefor  a  Justice  of 
Peace,  (fol.  17,)  published  in  1559,  we  find 
this  passage:  "None  artificer  nor  labourer 
hereafter  named,  take  no  more  nor  greater 
wages  than  hereafter  is  limited  ....  that 
is  to  say,  a  free  mason,  master  carpenter, 
rough  mason,  bricke  layer"  etc. 

Lebanon.  A  mountain,  or  rather  a 
rauge  of  mountains  in  Syria,  extending 
from  beyond  Sidon  to  Tyre,  and  forming 
the  northern  boundary  of  Palestine.  Leb- 
anon is  celebrated  for  the  cedars  which  it 
produces,  many  of  which  are  from  fifty  to 
eighty  feet  in  height,  and  cover  with  their 
branches  a  space  of  ground  the  diameter 
of  which  is  still  greater.  Hiram,  King  of 
Tyre,  in  whose  dominions  Mount  Lebanon 
was  situated,  furnished  these  trees  for  the 
building  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon.  In 
relation  to  Lebanon,  Kitto,  in  his  Biblical 
Cyclopedia,  has  these  remarks:  "The  for- 
ests of  the  Lebanon  mountains  only  could 
supply  the  timber  for  the  Temple.  Such 
of  these  forests  as  lay  nearest  the  sea  were 
in  the  possession  of  the  Phoenicians,  among 
whom  timber  was  in  such  constant  demand, 
that  they  had  acquired  great  and  ac- 
knowledged skill  in  the  felling  and  trans- 
portation thereof;  and  hence  it  was  of  such 
importance  that  Hiram  consented  to  em- 

Eloy  large  bodies  of  men  in  Lebanon  to 
ew  timber,  as  well  as  others  to  perform 
the  service  of  bringing  it  down  to  the  sea- 
side, whence  it  was  to  be  taken  along  the 
coasts  in  floats  to  the  port  of  Joppa,  from 
which  place  it  could  be  easily  taken  across 
the  country  to  Jerusalem." 

The  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
has  dedicated  to  this  mountain  its  twenty- 
second  degree,  or  Prince  of  Lebanon.  The 
Druses  now  inhabit  Mount  Lebanon,  and 


still  preserve  there  a  secret  organization. 
See  Druses. 

Lebanon,  Prince  of.  See  Prince 
of  Lebanon. 

Le  Bauld  de  Nans,  Clande 
Etienne.  A  distinguished  Masonic 
writer,  born  at  Besancon  in  1736.  He  was 
by  profession  a  highly  respected  actor,  and 
a  man  of  much  learning,  which  he  devoted 
to  the  cultivation  of  Freemasonry.  He 
was  for  seven  years  Master  of  the  Lodge 
St.  Charles  de  l'Union,  in  Mannheim ;  and 
on  his  removal  to  Berlin,  in  1771,  became 
the  Orator  of  the  Lodge  Royale  York  de 
l'Amitie',  and  editor  of  a  Masonic  journal. 
He  delivered,  while  Orator  of  the  Lodge, 
—  a  position  which  he  resigned  in  1778, — 
a  large  number  of  discourses,  a  collection 
of  which  was  published  at  Berlin  in  1788. 
He  also  composed  many  Masonic  odes  and 
songs,  and  published,  in  1781,  a  collection 
of  his  songs  for  the  use  of  the  Lodge  Royale 
York,  and  in  1786,  his  Lyre  Maconnique. 
He  is  described  by  his  contemporaries  as  a 
man  of  great  knowledge  and  talents,  and 
Fessler  has  paid  a  warm  tribute  to  his 
learning  and  to  his  labors  in  behalf  of 
Masonry.     He  died  at  Berlin  in  1789. 

L<ecliaiigeur.  An  officer  of  one  of 
the  Lodges  of  Milan,  Italy,  of  whom  Re- 
bold  [Hist,  des  Trois  G.  Loges,  p.  573,)  gives 
the  following  account.  When,  in  1805,  a 
Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite  was  established  at 
Milan,  Lechangeur  became  a  candidate  for 
membership.  He  received  some  of  the  de- 
grees; but  subsequently  the  founders  of  the 
Council,  for  satisfactory  reasons,  declined 
to  confer  upon  him  the  superior  grades. 
Incensed  at  this,  Lechangeur  announced  to 
them  that  he  would  elevate  himself  above 
them  by  creating  a  Rite  of  ninety  degrees, 
into  which  they  should  not  be  admitted. 
He  carried  this  project  into  effect,  and  the 
result  was  the  Rite  of  Mizraim,  of  which 
he  declared  himself  to  be  the  Superior 
Grand  Conservator.  His  energies  seem  to 
have  been  exhausted  in  the  creation  of  his 
unwieldy  Rite,  for  no  Chapters  were  estab- 
lished except  in  the  city  of  Naples.  But 
in  1810  a  patent  was  granted  by  him  to 
Michel  Bedarride,  by  whom  the  Rite  was 
propagated  in  France.  Lechangeur's  fame, 
as  the  founder  of  the  Rite,  was  overshad- 
owed by  the  greater  zeal  and  impetuosity 
of  Bedarride,  by  whom  his  self-assumed 
prerogatives  were  usurped.  He  died  in 
1812. 

Lecture.  Each  degree  of  Masonry 
contains  a  course  of  instruction,  in  which 
the  ceremonies,  traditions,  and  moral  in- 
struction appertaining  to  the  degree  are 
set  forth.  This  arrangement  is  called  a 
lecture.    Each  lecture,  for  the  sake  of  cop- 


448 


LECTURE 


LECTURES 


venience,  and  for  the  purpose  of  conform- 
ing to  certain  divisions  in  the  ceremonies, 
is  divided  into  sections,  the  number  of 
which  have  varied  at  different  periods, 
although  the  substance  remains  the  same. 
According  to  Preston,  the  lecture  of  the 
first  degree  contains  six  sections ;  that  of 
the  second,  four;  and  that  of  the  third, 
twelve.  But  according  to  the  arrangement 
adopted  in  this  country,  commonly  known 
as  the  "  Webb  lectures,"  there  are  three 
sections  in  the  first  degree,  two  in  the 
second,  and  three  in  the  third. 

In  the  Entered  Apprentices',  the  first  sec- 
tion is  almost  entirely  devoted  to  a  reca- 
pitulation of  the  ceremonies  of  initiation. 
The  initiatory  portion,  however,  supplies 
certain  modes  of  recognition.  The  second 
section  is  occupied  with  an  explanation  of 
the  ceremonies  that  had  been  detailed  in 
the  first, —  the  two  together  furnishing  the 
interpretation  of  ritualistic  symbolism. 
The  third  is  exclusively  occupied  in  ex- 
plaining the  signification  of  the  symbols 
peculiar  to  the  degree. 

In  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree,  the  first 
section,  like  the  first  section  of  the  Entered 
Apprentice,  is  merely  a  recapitulation  of 
ceremonies,  with  a  passing  commentary  on 
some  of  them.  The  second  section  intro- 
duces the  neophyte  for  the  first  time  to  the 
differences  between  Operative  and  Specu- 
lative Masonry  and  to  the  Temple  of  King 
Solomon  as  a  Masonic  symbol,  while  the  can- 
didate is  ingeniously  deputed  as  a  seeker 
after  knowledge. 

In  the  Master's  degree  the  first  section 
is  again  only  a  detail  of  ceremonies.  The 
second  section  is  the  most  important  and 
impressive  portion  of  all  the  lectures,  for  it 
contains  the  legend  on  which  the  whole 
symbolic  character  of  the  Institution  is 
founded.  The  third  section  is  an  interpre- 
tation of  the  symbols  of  the  degree,  and  is, 
of  all  the  sections,  the  one  least  creditable 
to  the  composer. 

In  fact,  it  must  be  confessed  that  many 
of  the  interpretations  given  in  these  lec- 
tures are  unsatisfactory  to  the  cultivated 
mind,  and  seem  to  have  been  adopted  on 
the  principle  of  the  old  Egyptians,  who 
made  use  of  symbols  to  conceal  rather  than 
to  express  their  thoughts.  Learned  Ma- 
sons have  been,  therefore,  always  disposed 
to  go  beyond  the  mere  technicalities  and 
stereotyped  phrases  of  the  lectures,  and  to 
look  in  the  history  and  the  philosophy  of 
the  ancient  religions,  and  the  organization 
of  the  ancient  mysteries,  for  a  true  expla- 
nation of  most  01  the  symbols  of  Masonry, 
and  there  they  have  always  been  enabled 
to  find  this  true  interpretation.  The  lec- 
tures, however,  serve  as  an  introduction  or 
preliminary  essay,  enabling  the  student,  as 


he  advances  in  his  initiation,  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  symbolic  character  of 
the  Institution.  But  if  he  ever  expects  to 
become  a  learned  Mason,  he  must  seek  in 
other  sources  for  the  true  development  of 
Masonic  symbolism.  The  lectures  alone 
are  but  the  primer  of  the  science. 

Lecturer,  Grand.  An  officer  known 
only  in  the  United  States.  He  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  Grand  Master  or  the  Grand 
Lodge.  His  duty  is  to  visit  the  subordi- 
nate Lodges,  and  instruct  them  in  the  ritual 
of  the  Order  as  practised  in  his  jurisdic- 
tion, for  which  he  receives  compensation 
partly  from  the  Grand  Lodge  and  partly 
from  the  Lodges  which  he  visits. 

Lectures,  History  of  the.  To 
each  of  the  degrees  of  Symbolic  Masonry 
a  catechetical  instruction  is  appended,  in 
which  the  ceremonies,  traditions,  and  other 
esoteric  instructions  of  the  degree  are  con- 
tained. A  knowledge  of  these  lectures — 
which  must,  of  course,  be  communicated 
by  oral  teaching — constitutes  a  very  impor- 
tant part  of  a  Masonic  education;  and, 
until  the  great  progress  made  within  the 
present  century  in  Masonic  literature, 
many  "  bright  Masons,"  as  they  are  tech- 
nically styled,  could  claim  no  other  founda- 
tion than  such  a  knowledge  for  their  high 
Masonic  reputation.  But  some  share  of 
learning  more  difficult  to  attain,  and  more 
sublime  in  its  character  than  anything  to 
be  found  in  these  oral  catechisms,  is  now 
considered  necessary  to  form  a  Masonic 
scholar.  Still,  as  the  best  commentary  on 
the  ritual  observances  is  to  be  found  in  the 
lectures,  and  as  they  also  furnish  a  large 
portion  of  that  secret  mode  of  recognition, 
or  that  universal  language,  which  has  al- 
ways been  the  boast  of  the  Institution,  not 
only  is  a  knowledge  of  them  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  every  practical  Freemason,  but  a 
history  of  the  changes  which  they  have  from 
time  to  time  undergone  constitutes  an  in- 
teresting part  of  the  literature  of  the  Order. 

Comparatively  speaking,  (comparatively 
in  respect  to  the  age  of  the  Masonic  insti- 
tution,) the  system  of  Lodge  lectures  is  un- 
doubtedly a  modern  invention.  That  is  to 
say,  we  can  find  no  traces  of  any  forms  of 
lectures  like  the  present  before  the  middle, 
or  perhaps  the  close,  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Examinations,  however,  of  a  techni- 
cal nature,  intended  to  test  the  claims  of 
the  person  examined  to  the  privileges  of 
the  Order,  appear  to  have  existed  at  an 
early  period.  They  were  used  until  at 
least  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
but  were  perpetually  changing,  so  that  the 
tests  of  one  generation  of  Masons  consti- 
tuted no  tests  for  the  succeeding  one.  Oli- 
ver very  properly  describes  them  as  being 
"something  like  the  conundrums  of  the 


LECTURES 


LECTURES 


449 


present  day — difficult  of  comprehension  — 
admitting  only  of  one  answer,  which  ap- 
peared to  have  no  direct  correspondence 
with  the  question,  and  applicable  only  in 
consonance  with  the  mysteries  and  sym- 
bols of  the  Institution."  ( On  the  Masonic 
Tests  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  Golden  Re- 
mains, vol.  iv.,  p.  16.)  These  tests  were 
sometimes,  at  first,  distinct  from  the  lec- 
tures, and  sometimes,  at  a  later  period,  in- 
corporated with  them.  A  specimen  is  the 
answer  to  the  question,  "  How  blows  the 
wind  ?  "  which  was,  "  Due  east  and  west." 

The  "  Examination  of  a  German  Stone- 
mason," which  is  given  by  Findel  in  the 
appendix  to  his  History,  was  most  probably 
in  use  in  the  fourteenth  century.  Dr. 
Oliver  was  in  possession  of  what  purports 
to  be  a  formula,  which  he  supposes  to  have 
been  used  during  the  Grand  Mastership  of 
Archbishop  Chichely,  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
VI.,  and  from  which  {Rev.  of  a  Sq.,  p.  11,) 
he  makes  the  following  extracts : 

"  Q.  Peace  be  here?  A.  I  hope  there  is. 
Q.  What  o'clock  is  it?  A.  It  is  going  to 
six,  or  going  to  twelve.  Q.  Are  you  very 
busy?  A.  No.  Q.  Will  you  give  or  take ? 
A.  Both ;  or  which  you  please.  Q.  How  go 
squares  ?  A.  Straight.  Q.  Are  you  rich  or 
poor?  A.  Neither.  Q.  Change  me  that? 
A.  I  will.  Q.  In  the  name  of  the  King  and 
the  Holy  Church,  are  you  a  Mason  ?  A.I 
am  so  taken  to  be.  Q.  What  is  a  Mason  ? 
A.  A  man  begot  by  a  man,  born  of  a  wo- 
man, brother  to  a  king.  Q.  What  is  a  fel- 
low?   A.  A  companion  of  a  prince,  etc." 

There  are  other  questions  and  answers  of 
a  similar  nature,  conveying  no  instruction, 
and  intended  apparently  to  be  used  only  as 
tests.  Dr.  Oliver  attributes,  it  will  be  seen, 
the  date  of  these  questions  to  the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  century ;  but  I  doubt  the  correct- 
ness of  this  assumption.  They  have  no  inter- 
nal evidence  in  style  of  having  been  the  inven- 
tion of  so  early  a  period  of  the  English  tongue. 

The  earliest  form  of  catechism  that  we 
have  on  record  is  that  contained  in  the 
Sloane  MS.,  No.  3329,  contained  in  the 
British  Museum,  and  for  the  publication 
of  which  we  are  indebted  to  that  laborious 
exhumer  of  old  documents,  W.  J.  Hughan. 
One  familiar  with  the  catechisms  of  the 
eighteenth  century  will  detect  the  origin  of 
much  that  they  contain  in  this  early  speci- 
men. It  is  termed  in  the  manuscript  the 
Mason's  "private  discourse  by  way  of  ques- 
tion and  answer,"  and  is  in  these  words : 

"  Q.  Are  you  a  mason?  A.  Yes,  I  am  a 
Freemason.  Q.  How  shall  I  know  that  ?  A. 
By  perfect  signes  and  tokens  and  the  first 
poynts  of  my  Ent'rance.  Q.  Which  is  the 
first  signe  or  token,  shew  me  the  first  and  I 
will  shew  you  the  second  ?  A.  The  first  is 
heal  and  conceal  or  conceal  and  keep  se- 
3G  29 


crett  by  no  less  paine  than  cutting  my  tongue 
from  my  throat.  Q.  Where  were  you  made 
a  mason?  A.  In  a  just  and  perfect  or  just 
and  lawfull  lodge.  Q.  What  is  a  just  and 
perfect  or  just  and  lawfull  lodge?  A.  A  just 
and  perfect  lodge  is  two  Interprintices  two 
fellow  craftes  and  two  Mast'rs,  more  or  fewer 
the  more  the  merrier  the  fewer  the  better 
chear  but  if  need  require  five  will  serve  that 
is,  two  Interprintices,  two  fellow  craftes  and 
one  Mast'r  on  the  highest  hill  or  lowest  valley 
of  the  world  without  the  crow  of  a  cock  or 
the  bark  of  a  dogg.  Q.  From  whom  do 
you  derive  your  principalis?  A.  From  a 
great'r  than  you.  Q.  Who  is  that  on  earth 
that  is  great'r  than  a  freemason  ?  A.  He 
y't  was  caryed  to  y'e  highest  pinnicall  of 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Q.  Whith'r  is 
your  lodge  shut  or  open?  A.  It  is  shut. 
Q.  Where  lyes  the  keys  of  the  lodge  doore? 
A.  They  ley  in  a  bound  case  or  under  a 
three  cornered  pavem't  about  a  foot  and 
halfe  from  the  lodge  door.  Q.  What  is 
the  key  of  your  lodge  doore  made  of?  A. 
It  is  not  made  of  wood  stone  iron  or  steel 
or  any  sort  of  mettle  but  the  tongue  of 
good  report  behind  a  Broth'rs  back  as  well 
as  before  his  face.  Q.  How  many  jewels 
belong  to  your  lodge?  A.  There  are  three 
the  square  pavem't  the  blazing  star  and  the 
Danty  tassley.  Q.  How  long  is  the  cable 
rope  of  your  lodge?  A.  As  long  as  from 
the  top  of  the  liver  to  the  root  of  the  tongue. 
Q.  How  many  lights  are  in  your  lodge? 
A.  Three  the  sun  the  mast'r  and  the  square. 
Q.  How  high  is  your  lodge?  A.  Without 
foots  yards  or  Inches,  it  reaches  to  heaven. 
Q.  How  stood  your  lodge?  A.  East  and 
west  as  all  holly  Temples  stand.  Q.  W'ch 
is  the  mast'rs  place  in  the  lodge?  A.  The 
east  place  is  the  mast'rs  place  in  the  lodge 
and  the  Jewell  resteth  on  him  first  and  he 
sitteth  men  to  worke  w't  the  m'rs  have  in 
the  forenoon  the  wardens  reap  in  the 
afternoon.  Q.  Where  was  the  word  first 
given?  A.  At  the  tower  of  Babylon. 
Q.  Where  did  they  first  call  their  lodge? 
A.  At  the  holy  chapell  of  St.  John.  Q. 
How  stood  your  lodge?  A.  As  the  said 
holy  chapell  and  all  other  holy  Temples 
stand  (viz.)  east  and  west.  Q.  How  many 
lights  are  in  your  lodge  ?  A.  Two  one  to 
see  to  go  in  and  another  to  see  to  work. 
Q.  What  were  you  sworne  by  ?  A.  By  God 
and  the  square.  Q.  Whither  above  the 
cloathes  or  und'r  the  cloathes?  A.  Und'r  the 
cloathes.  Q.  Und'r  what  arme?  A.  Und'r 
the  right  arme.  God  is  gratfull  to  all  Wor- 
shipfull  Mast'rs  and  fellows  in  that  worship- 
full  lodge  from  whence  me  last  came  and  to 
you  good  fellow  w't  is  your  name.  A.  I  or 
B  then  giving  the  grip  of  the  hand  he  will 
say  Broth'r  John  greet  you  well  you.  A. 
Goes  good  greeting  to  you  dear  Broth'r." 


450 


LECTURES 


LECTURES 


But  when  we  speak  of  the  lectures,  in  the 
modern  sense,  as  containing  an  exposition 
of  the  symbolism  of  the  Order,  we  may  con- 
sider it  as  an  established  historical  fact,  that 
the  Fraternity  were  without  any  such  sys- 
tem until  after  the  revival  in  1717.  Pre- 
vious to  that  time,  brief  extemporary  ad- 
dresses and  charges  in  addition  to  these 
test  catechisms  were  used  by  the  Masters 
of  Lodges,  which,  of  course,  varied  in  ex- 
cellence with  the  varied  attainments  and 
talents  of  the  presiding  officer.  We  know, 
however,  that  a  series  of  charges  were  in 
use  about  the  middle  and  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  which  were  ordered  "to 
be  read  at  the  making  of  a  Freemason." 
These  "  Charges  and  Covenants,"  as  they 
were  called,  contained  no  instructions  on 
the  symbolism  and  ceremonies  of  the  Order, 
but  were  confined  to  an  explanation  of  the 
duties  of  Masons  to  each  other.  They  were 
altogether  exoteric  in  their  character,  and 
have  accordingly  been  repeatedly  printed 
in  the  authorized  publications  of  the  Fra- 
ternity. 

Dr.  Oliver,  who  had  ampler  opportuni- 
ties than  any  other  Masonic  writer  of  in- 
vestigating this  subject,  says  that  the  ear- 
liest authorized  lectures  with  which  he  has 
met  were  those  of  1720.  They  were  ar- 
ranged by  Drs.  Anderson  and  Desaguliers, 
perhaps,  at  the  same  time  that  they  were 
compiling  the  Charges  and  Regulations 
from  the  ancient  Constitutions.  They 
were  written  in  a  catechetical  form,  which 
form  has  ever  since  been  retained  in  all 
subsequent  Masonic  lectures.  Oliver  says 
that  the  questions  and  answers  are  short 
and  comprehensive,  and  contain  a  brief  di- 
gest of  the  general  principles  of  the  Craft 
as  it  was  understood  at  that  period."  The 
"digest"  must,  indeed,  have  been  brief, 
since  the  lecture  of  the  third  degree,  or 
what  was  called  "the  Master's  Part,"  con- 
tained only  thirty-one  questions,  many  of 
which  are  simply  tests  of  recognition.  Dr. 
Oliver  says  the  number  of  questions  was 
only  seven ;  but  I  have  very  carefully  col- 
lated what  purports  to  be  a  copy  of  them, 
and  can  only  explain  his  statement  by  the 
probable  supposition  that  he  refers  to  the 
seven  tests  which  conclude  the  lecture. 
There  are,  however,  twenty-four  other  ques- 
tions that  precede  these. 

A  comparison  of  these  —  the  primitive 
lectures,  as  they  may  be  called — with  those 
in  use  in  America  at  the  present  day,  de- 
monstrate that  a  great  many  changes  have 
taken  place.  There  are  not  only  omissions 
of  some  things,  and  additions  of  others, 
but  sometimes  the  explanations  of  the  same 
points  are  entirely  different  in  the  two  sys- 
tems. Thus  the  Andersonian  lectures  de- 
scribe the  "  furniture  "  of  a  Lodge  as  being 


the  "Mosaic  pavement,  blazing  star,  and 
indented  tassel,"  emblems  which  are  now 
more  properly,  I  think,  designated  as 
"  ornaments."  But  the  present  furniture 
of  a  Lodge  is  also  added  to  the  pavement, 
star,  and  tassel,  under  the  name  of  "  other 
furniture."  The  "  greater  lights  "  of  Ma- 
sonry are  entirely  omitted,  or,  if  we  are  to 
suppose  them  to  be  meant  by  the  expres- 
sion "  fixed  lights,"  then  these  are  referred, 
differently  from  our  system,  to  the  three 
windows  of  the  Lodge. 

In  the  first  degree  I  notice,  among  others, 
the  following  points  in  the  Andersonian 
lectures  which  are  omitted  in  the  Ameri- 
can system :  the  place  and  duty  of  the 
Senior  and  Junior  Entered  Apprentices, 
the  punishment  of  cowans,  the  bone  bone- 
box,  and  all  that  refers  to  it ;  the  clothing 
of  the  Master,  the  age  of  an  Apprentice, 
the  uses  of  the  day  and  night,  and  the  direc- 
tion of  the  wind.  These  latter,  however, 
are,  strictly  speaking,  what  the  Masons  of 
that  time  denominated  "tests."  In  the 
same  degree,  the  following,  besides  many 
other  important  points  in  the  present  sys- 
tem, are  altogether  omitted  in  the  old  lec- 
tures of  Anderson :  the  place  where  Masons 
anciently  met,  the  theological  ladder,  and 
the  lines  parallel.  Important  changes 
have  been  made  in  several  particulars ;  as, 
for  instance,  in  the  "  points  of  entrance," 
the  ancient  lecture  giving  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent interpretation  of  the  expression,  and 
designating  what  are  now  called  "points 
of  entrance  "  by  the  term  "  principal  signs ; " 
the  distinctions  between  Operative  and 
Speculative  Masonry,  which  are  now  re- 
ferred to  the  second  degree,  are  there  given 
in  the  first ;  and  the  dedication  of  the  Bible, 
compass,  and  square  is  differently  explained. 

In  the  second  degree,  the  variations  of 
the  old  from  the  modern  lectures  are  still 
greater.  The  old  lecture  is,  in  the  first  place, 
very  brief,  and  much  instruction  deemed 
important  at  the  present  day  was  then  al- 
together omitted.  There  is  no  reference  to 
the  distinctions  between  Operative  and 
Speculative  Masonry,  (but,  as  I  have  al- 
ready observed,  this  topic  is  adverted  to  in 
the  former  lecture ;)  the  approaches  to  the 
middle  chamber  are  very  differently  ar- 
ranged ;  and  not  a  single  word  is  said  of  the 
fords  of  the  river  Jordan.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  ancient  lecture  of  the  Fel- 
low-Craft is  immeasurably  inferior  to  that 
contained  in  the  modern  system,  and  espe- 
cially in  that  of  Webb. 

The  Andersonian  lecture  of  the  third 
degree  is  brief,  and  therefore  imperfect. 
The  legend  is,  of  course,  referred  to.  and  its 
explanation  occupies  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  lecture ;  but  the  details  are  meagre,  and 
many  important  facts  are  omitted,  while 


LECTURES 


LECTURES 


451 


there  are  in  other  points  striking  differences 
between  the  ancient  and  the  present  system. 

But,  after  all,  there  is  a  general  feature  of 
similarity  —  a  substratum  of  identity  —  per- 
vading the  two  systems  of  lectures — the  an- 
cient and  the  modern  —  which  shows  that 
the  one  derives  its  parentage  from  the  other. 
In  fact,  some  of  the  answers  given  in  the  year 
1730  are,  word  for  word,  the  same  as  those 
used  in  America  at  the  present  time. 

Yet  it  was  not  long  before  the  develop- 
ments of  Masonic  science,  and  the  increas- 
ing intelligence  of  its  disciples,  made  it 
necessary  to  prepare  an  improved  system. 
The  lectures  of  Anderson  and  Desaguliers 
were  the  production  of  the  infantile  age  of 
lecture-making.  They  were  imperfect  and 
unsatisfactory ;  and  it  was  determined  that 
a  new  course  should  be  arranged.  Accord- 
ingly, in  1732,  Martin  Clare,  A.  M.,  was 
commissioned  by  the  Grand  Lodge  to  pre- 
pare a  system  oi  lectures,  which  should  be 
"  adapted  to  the  existing  state  of  the  Order, 
without  infringing  on  the  ancient  land- 
marks." 

Martin  Clare,  to  whom  this  important 
trust  was  confided,  appears  to  have  been  a 
man  of  learning,  or  at  least  of  literary 
habits,  as  he  is  recorded  as  a  Master  of 
Arts,  and  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society. 
He  is  first  mentioned  in  Masonic  history  as 
one  of  the  Grand  Stewards,  in  1735.  In 
the  same  year  he  was  appointed  Junior 
Grand  Warden,  and  delivered  an  address 
before  the  Quarterly  Communication  of  the 
Grand  Lodge.  In  1741,  he  received  from 
the  Earl  of  Morton  the  appointment  of 
Deputy  Grand  Master.  Oliver  says,  that 
his  version  of  the  lectures  was  so  judiciously 
drawn  up,  that  its  practice  was  enjoined  on 
all  the  Lodges. 

The  Clare  lectures  were,  of  course,  (for 
that  was  the  object  of  their  compilation,) 
an  amplification  and  improvement  of 
those  of  Anderson.  In  them  the  symbol 
of  the  point  within  the  circle  was  for  the 
first  time  mentioned,  and  the  numbers 
Three,  Five,  and  Seven  were  introduced,  and 
referred  to  the  Christian  Trinity,  the  hu- 
man senses,  and  the  institution  of  the  Sab- 
bath. Subsequently,  but  at  what  period 
we  are  not  informed,  these  references  were 
changed  to  the  three  divisions  of  the  Tem- 
ple, the  five  most  sacred  treasures  of  the 
Sanctum  Sanctorum,  and  the  seven  years 
occupied  in  the  construction  of  the  Temple. 
Dr.  Oliver  says  that  this  change  was  made 
by  the  Jewish  Masons.  I  doubt  it,  for  the 
Jewish  Masons  were  never  in  sufficient 
preponderance  in  the  Order  in  England  to 
effect  so  important  an  alteration.  It  was 
made,  I  rather  apprehend,  by  those  sensible 
brethren  who  were  unwilling  to  see  the  cos- 
mopolitan character  of  the  Institution  im- 


paired by  any  sectarian  references  in  reli- 
gion. But  it  must  be  confessed  that,  from 
the  time  of  these  lectures  to  the  last  ar- 
rangement by  Hemming,  there  has  always 
been  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  a 
disposition  to  Christianize  Masonry.  The 
system  completed  by  Anderson  was  com- 
paratively free  from  this  defect;  and  we 
will  find  in  the  lectures  in  use  in  1730 
very  few  allusions  that  can  be  tortured  into 
a  religious  meaning  beyond  the  universal 
religion  recognized  in  the  charges  of  1722. 
Anderson,  in  speaking  of  the  winding  stairs, 
had  mentioned,  as  I  have  already  said,  only 
the  number  seven,  which  he  explained  by 
referring  to  the  fact  that  "seven  or  more 
made  a  just  and  perfect  Lodge."  As  to  the 
point  within  the  circle,  now  one  of  the 
most  important  symbols,  he  had  only  al- 
luded to  it,  almost  parenthetically,  when,  in 
describing  the  Point,  Line,  Superficies,  and 
Solid  as  the  "  four  principles  of  Masonry," 
he  explains  the  point  as  being  "the  centre 
round  which  the  Master  cannot  err."  It 
will  be  readily  seen  how,  since  his  day,  this 
slight  idea  has  been  amplified  by  modern 
lecture- makers,  beginning  with  Martin 
Clare  and  ending  with  Thomas  Smith 
Webb. 

But  lecture-making  seems  to  have  been 
a  popular  fancy  at  that  early  period  of  what 
may  be  called  the  Masonic  renaissance. 
The  Clare  lectures  did  not  very  long  occupy 
their  authoritative  position  in  the  Order. 
Though  longer  and  more  elevated  than 
those  of  Anderson,  they  were,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years,  found  to  be  neither  long 
enough,  nor  sufficiently  elevated,  for  the  in- 
creasing demands  of  Masonic  progress. 

Accordingly,  some  time  about  the  year 
1770,  (I  am  unable  precisely  to  fix  the  date,) 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  authorized 
Thomas  Dunckerley,  Esq.,  to  prepare  a  new 
course  of  lectures,  which  were  to  take  the 
place  of  those  of  Martin  Clare. 

Dunckerley  was  a  brother  of  much  dis- 
tinction in  those  days.  Preston  calls  him 
"  that  truly  Masonic  luminary; "  and  Oliver 
says  that  "  he  was  the  oracle  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  the  accredited  interpreter  of  its 
Constitutions."  He  held  the  position  of  a 
Provincial  Grand  Master,  and,  for  his  emi- 
nent services  to  the  Craft,  had  been  honored 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  with  the  titular  rank 
of  a  Past  Senior  Grand  Warden. 

Dunckerley's  lectures  are  said  to  have 
been  a  very  considerable  amplification  of 
those  of  Clare.  To  him  is  ascribed  the 
adoption  of  the  "  lines  parallel,"  as  sym- 
bolic of  the  two  Saints  John ;  and  he  also 
introduced  the  theological  ladder,  with  its 
three  principal  rounds, — a  beautiful  and 
instructive  symbol,  that  has  been  retained 
to  the  present  day,   but   imperfectly   ex- 


452 


LECTURES 


LECTURES 


plained.  Webb,  it  is  true,  referred  to  its 
"  three  principal  rounds,"  leaving  room,  by 
implication,  for  the  addition  of  others. 
But  Cross,  who  was  wholly  unacquainted 
with  ancient  symbolism,  drew  a  picture, 
(for  which,  by  the  by,  he  takes  great  credit,) 
in  which  he  absolutely  made  the  rounds 
three  in  number,  and  no  more;  thus  fix- 
ing an  incorrect  theory  on  the  Masonic 
mind.  The  Masonic  ladder,  like  its  pro- 
totype in  all  the  mysteries,  consists  of 
seven  rounds. 

But  by  far  the  most  important  change 
made  by  Dunckerley  was  in  respect  to  the 
Master's  word.  It  is  known  that,  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  Masonic  studies,  he  at  one 
time  frequented  the  Ancient  or  Athol 
Lodges,  whose  greatest  point  of  difference 
from  the  Moderns  was,  that  they  had  dis- 
severed the  third  degree,  and  established  a 
portion  of  it  as  their  fourth,  or  Royal  Arch. 
Dunckerley  was  pleased  with  this  arrange- 
ment, and,  inimitation  of  it,  reconstructed 
Dermott's  Royal  Arch,  and  introduced  it 
into  the  legal  Grand  Lodge.  This  of  course 
led  to  the  necessity  of  transferring  the 
word  formerly  used  in  the  third  to  the 
fourth  degree,  and  confining  the  former  to 
the  substitute.  This  was  undoubtedly  an 
innovation,  and  was  at  first  received  with 
disapprobation  by  many  brethren ;  but  in 
time  they  became  reconciled  to  the  change, 
which  perhaps  no  one  with  less  influence 
than  Dunckerley  could  have  ventured  to 
propose. 

But  even  Dunckerley,  with  all  the  influ- 
ence of  his  talents,  and  his  virtues,  and  his 
social  position,  was  at  length  forced  to  suc- 
cumb at  the  approach  of  greater  lights  in 
Masonry.  At  the  very  time  that  Duncker- 
ley was  establishing  his  course  of  lectures 
in  the  London  and  adjacent  Lodges, 
William  Hutchinson,  as  the  Master  of 
Bernard  Castle  Lodge,  in  the  county  of 
Durham,  in  the  north  of  England,  was 
preparing  and  using  a  system  of  his  own, 
which,  on  account  of  its  excellence,  was 
readily  adopted  by  many  Lodges  in  his 
vicinity.  What  was  the  precise  form  of 
the  Hutchinsonian  lectures  I  am  unable  to 
say,  as  no  ritual  of  his  is  perhaps  existing; 
but  their  general  spirit  may  well  be  con- 
jectured from  the  admirable  treatise  which 
he  published  in  1775,  and  which  was  the 
most,  if  not  the  first,  scientific  work  on 
Masonry  that  up  to  that  period  had  ap- 
peared in  England.  From  the  contents  of 
this  book  we  may  collect  the  ideas  which 
were  entertained  by  the  author  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Institution,  and  which  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe  he  incorporated 
into  the  lectures  with  which  he  instructed 
the  Lodge  over  which  he  presided.  The 
treatise  on  the  Spirit  of  Masonry  we  may 


therefore  suppose  to  be  a  commentary  on 
his  lectures.  If  so,  they  introduced  for  the 
first  time  a  scientific  element  into  Masonic 
lectures  —  an  element  unknown  to  those 
compiled  by  Anderson  and  Clare  and 
Dunckerley.  Above  all,  we  are  indebted 
to  Hutchinson  for  restoring  the  ancient 
symbolism  of  the  third  degree,  and  for 
showing  that,  in  all  past  times,  its  legend 
was  but  typical  of  a  resurrection  from  the 
grave;  a  thought  that  does  not  seem  to 
have  attracted  the  early  lecturers,  although 
always  existing  in  the  Masonic  system. 
Even  Webb,  twenty- five  years  after  Hutch- 
inson's book  appeared,  could  only  find  in 
the  legend  of  the  third  degree  "  an  instance 
of  virtue,  fortitude,  and  integrity  seldom 
equalled  and  never  excelled  in  the  history 
of  man."  And  to  teach  this  lesson  only 
was  the  Institution  preserved  for  centuries. 

Alas  1  for  such  lectures. 

Eminently  philosophical  must  have  been 
the  lectures  of  Hutchinson,  and  far  su- 
perior to  the  meagre  details  with  which  the 
Craft  had  been  previously  content.  Their 
influence  is  undoubtedly  still  felt  in  the  In- 
stitution ;  if  not  in  its  catechetical  lec- 
tures, at  all  events  in  the  general  notions 
of  symbolism  which  are  now  entertained 
by  the  Craft. 

But  while  Hutchinson  was  laboring  in 
the  north  of  England,  another  light,  ot  al- 
most equal  splendor,  appeared  in  the  south ; 
and  a  system  of  lectures  was  prepared  by 
William  Preston,  which  soon  superseded 
all  those  that  had  previously  been  in  use. 
It  is  supposed  that  Hutchinson  and  Preston 
at  length  united  in  this  undertaking,  and 
that  the  Prestonian  lectures,  which  were 
afterwards  universally  adopted,  were  the 
result  of  the  combined  labors  of  the  two. 
If  such  was  the  case —  and  Oliver  suggests 
it,  though  I  know  not  on  what  authority — 
it  will  rationally  account  for  the  fact  that 
the  lectures  of  Hutchinson  no  longer  exist. 
They  were  merged  in  those  of  Preston. 

The  Prestonian  lectures,  which  were  ar- 
ranged by  that  distinguished  writer  in 
the  last  quarter  of  the  last  century,  con- 
tinued to  be  used  authoritatively  in  Eng- 
land until  the  union  of  the  two  Grand 
Lodges  in  1813,  nor  are  they  yet  entirely 
abandoned  in  that  country.  Though  not 
generally  accessible  to  the  Craft,  they  have, 
it  is  said,  been  preserved  in  their  integrity, 
and  the  "  Prestonian  lectures  "  are  annually 
delivered  in  London,  although  now  more 
as  a  matter  of  curiosity  than  of  instruction, 
by  a  competent  brother,  who  is  appointed 
for  that  purpose  by  the  Grand  Master  of 
England. 

Preston  divided  the  lecture  on  the  first 
degree  into  six  sections,  the  second  into 
four,  and  the  third  into  twelve.  But  of  the 


LECTURES 


LECTURES 


453 


twelve  sections  of  the  third  lecture,  seven 
only  strictly  appertain  to  the  Master's  de- 
gree, the  remaining  five  referring  to  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Order,  which,  in  the 
American  system,  are  contained  in  the  Past 
Master's  lecture.  Preston  has  recapitulated 
the  subjects  of  these  several  lectures  in  his 
Illustrations  of  Masonry ;  and  if  the  book 
were  not  now  so  readily  accessible,  it  would 
be  worth  while  to  copy  his  remarks.  It  is 
sufficient,  however,  to  say  that  he  has  pre- 
sented us  with  a  philosophical  system  of 
Masonry,  which,  coming  immediately  after 
the  unscientific  and  scanty  details  which 
up  to  his  time  had  been  the  subjects  of 
Lodge  instructions,  must  have  been  like 
the  bursting  forth  of  a  sun  from  the  midst 
of  midnight  darkness.  There  was  no  twi- 
light or  dawn  to  warn  the  unexpectant  Fra- 
ternity of  the  light  that  was  about  to  shine 
upon  them.  But  at  once,  without  prepara- 
tion—  without  any  gradual  progress  or 
growth  from  almost  nothing  to  superfluity 
—  the  Prestonian  lectures  were  given  to 
the  Order  in  all  their  fulness  of  illustra- 
tion and  richness  of  symbolism  and  science, 
as  a  substitute  for  the  plain  and  almost  un- 
meaning systems  that  had  previously  pre- 
vailed. Byron  I  think  it  was  who  said  that 
he  awoke  one  morning  and  found  himself 
famous.  Personifying  Freemasonry,  she 
too  might  have  said,  on  the  day  that  Pres- 
ton propounded  his  system,  that  she  had 
been  awakened  from  the  sleep  of  half  a  cen- 
tury to  find  herself  a  science.  Not  that 
Freemasonry  had  not  always  been  a  science, 
but  that  for  all  that  time,  and  longer,  her 
science  had  been  dormant  —  had  been  in 
abeyance.  From  1717  the  Craft  had  been 
engaged  in  something  less  profitable,  but 
more  congenial  than  the  cultivation  of 
Masonic  science.  The  pleasant  suppers, 
the  modicums  of  punch,  the  harmony  of 
song,  the  miserable  puns,  which  would  have 
provoked  the  ire  of  Johnson  beyond  any- 
thing that  Boswell  has  recorded,  left  no 
time  for  inquiry  into  abstruser  matters. 
The  revelations  of  Dr.  Oliver's  square  fur- 
nish us  abundant  positive  evidence  of  the 
low  state  of  Masonic  literature  in  those 
days;  and  if  we  need  negative  proof,  we 
will  find  it  in  the  entire  absence  of  any 
readable  book  on  Scientific  Masonry,  until 
the  appearance  of  Hutchinson's  and  Pres- 
ton's works.  Preston's  lectures  were,  there- 
fore, undoubtedly  the  inauguration  of  a 
new  era  in  the  esoteric  system  of  Freema- 
sonry. 

These  lectures  continued  for  nearly  half 
a  century  to  be  the  authoritative  text  of  the 
Order  in  England.  But  in  1813  the  two 
Grand  Lodges  —  the  "  Moderns  "  and  the 
"Ancients,"  as  they  were  called  —  after 
years  of  antagonism,  were  happily  united, 


and  then,  as  the  first  exercise  of  this  newly- 
combined  authority,  it  was  determined  "  to 
revise  "  the  system  of  lectures. 

This  duty  was  intrusted  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Hemming,  the  Senior  Grand  Warden,  and 
the  result  was  the  Union  or  Hemming  lec- 
tures, which  are  now  the  authoritative 
standard  of  English  Masonry.  In  these 
lectures  many  alterations  of  the  Prestonian 
system  were  made,  and  some  of  the  most 
cherished  symbols  of  the  Fraternity  were 
abandoned,  as,  for  instance,  the  twelve  grand 
points,  the  initiation  of  the  free  born,  and  the 
lines  parallel.  Preston's  lectures  were  re- 
jected in  consequence,  it  is  said,  of  their 
Christian  references;  and  Dr.  Hemming, 
in  attempting  to  avoid  this  error,  fell  into 
a  greater  one,  of  omitting  in  his  new  course 
some  of  the  important  ritualistic  landmarks 
of  the  Order.  Hence  it  is  that  many 
Lodges  still  prefer  the  Prestonian  to  the 
Hemming  lectures,  and  that  the  Grand 
Master  still  appoints  annually  a  skilful 
brother  to  deliver  the  Prestonian  lectures, 
although  the  Lodges  no  longer  work  under 
their  directions. 

I  have  thus  rapidly  run  through  the  his- 
tory of  the  changes  in  the  lectures  in  Eng- 
land from  1717  to  1813.  But  all  this  time 
there  was  an  undercurrent  working  with 
silent  influence,  of  which  it  is  necessary  to 
take  some  notice.  In  1739  a  schism  oc- 
curred in  England,  and  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Ancient  York  Masons  was  established  in 
opposition  to  the  old  Grand  Lodge.  The 
latter  was  reproachfully  denominated  the 
"  Moderns,"  while  the  former  assumed  the 
name  of  the  "  Ancients."  The  assump- 
tion made  by  the  latter  body  (whether  cor- 
rectly or  not,  this  is  not  the  place  to  inquire) 
was,  that  the  Moderns  had  lost,  changed,  or 
never  knew  the  true  work,  especially  in  the 
third  degree.  Of  course,  under  this  con- 
viction, the  "  Ancients  "  were  compelled, 
for  the  sake  of  consistency  at  least,  to  ar- 
range a  set  of  lectures  peculiar  to  them- 
selves. Of  the  history  of  lecture  making 
in  the  schismatic  body  we  have  no  partic- 
ulars, as  the  records  of  that  body  were  not 
published,  as  were  those  of  the  Moderns  by 
Preston,  Smith,  Anderson,  and  his  succes- 
sors. But  we  know  that  Laurence  Dermott 
was  the  Coryphaeus  of  that  band  of  schis- 
matics, and  to  him,  as  a  man  of  talents 
and  Masonic  intelligence,  —  a  man,  too,  of 
great  zeal  and  energy,  (for,  say  what  we  will 
of  him,  we  cannot  deny  him  that  praise,) 
—  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  task  of 
preparing  the  Ancient  lectures  must  have 
been  intrusted.  So,  then,  while  the 
"  Moderns  "  were  practising  the  systems  of 
Anderson  and  Clare  and  Dunckerley,  the 
"Ancients"  were  contenting  themselves 
with  that  of  Dermott,  and  did  so  content 


454 


LECTURES 


LECTURES 


themselve3,  as  we  have  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve, until  the  union  in  1813,  when,  per- 
haps, we  are  truly  to  look  for  the  origin  of 
the  Hemming  lectures  in  the  fact  that  they 
were  a  compromise  between  the  two  sys- 
tems of  the  Ancients  and  the  Moderns. 

But  there  is  something  more  that 
"hangs"  upon  this  history,  which  it  is 
important  for  us  to  know.  It  has  already 
been  seen  that  Dunckerley  visited  the 
Ancient  Lodges,  and  that  he  derived  from 
them  the  idea  of  dissevering  the  Royal 
Arch  from  the  Master's  degree  —  an  inno- 
vation which  he  successfully  introduced 
into  the  Modern  Grand  Lodge.  Now,  to 
enable  him  to  do  this,  it  was  necessary  that 
he  should  incorporate  something  of  the 
Ancient  lectures  into  his  own.  We  know 
this  only  from  logical  deduction  —  our 
proof  is  ex  necessitate  rei  —  he  could  not 
have  done  otherwise.  Adopting  Dermott's 
Royal  Arch,  he  must  have  adopted  Der- 
mott's illustrations  of  it,  if  not  in  exact 
words,  at  least  substantially  and  in  spirit. 
Here  was  the  first  influence  exerted  on  the 
lectures  of  the  Modern  Grand  Lodge  by 
the  system  of  the  Ancients. 

But  again:  we  know  that  Preston  was 
initiated  in  a  Dermott  or  Ancient  Lodge, 
and  was  afterwards  induced  to  withdraw 
from  that  body  and  unite  with  the  Moderns. 
But  we  have  every  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  influences  of  his  early  Masonic  educa- 
tion were  not  altogether  forgotten,  and  that, 
like  a  wise  man,  as  he  was,  in  arranging 
his  new  system,  he  "  borrowed  sweets  from 
every  flower,"  and  incorporated  the  best 

f>arts  of  the  Ancient  system,  so  far  as  he 
egally  could,  into  his  own.  Here,  then,  was 
a  second  instance  of  the  influence  exerted 
by  the  one  society  upon  the  other,  all  of 
which  must  have  rendered  the  compromise 
in  1813  a  matter  of  still  easier  accomplish- 
ment. 

This  episode  in  the  history  of  the  lec- 
tures of  the  regular  system  was  necessary 
to  enable  us  to  lay  a  conjectural  foundation 
for  the  same  history  in  America.  I  say  a 
"  conjectural  foundation ; "  for  in  the  treat- 
ment of  an  esoteric  subject  like  this,  where 
the  greatest  pains  have  necessarily  been 
taken  to  preserve  secrecy,  and  where  there 
are  no  books  of  authority,  and  few  manu- 
scripts to  reward  our  researches,  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  much  must  be  left  to 
conjecture.  But  this  conjecture  must  be 
within  the  bounds  of  analogical  reason. 
When  we  conjecture  a  fact,  and  assign  a 
reason  for  the  conjecture,  we  are  to  be 
governed  by  the  rules  of  circumstantial 
evidence.  The  reason  we  assign  must  not 
only  account  in  every  way  for  the  fact,  but 
it  must  be  the  only  reason  that  will. 

I  am  unable  to  say  definitely  what  lec- 


tures were  generally  used  in  the  United 
States  during  the  last  century ;  but  there  is 
every  reason  for  believing  that  the  full 
Prestonian  lecture  was  not  adopted.  In 
fact,  a  number  of  the  Lodges  in  America 
derived  their  charters  from  the  Athol 
Grand  Lodge,  or  from  Grand  Lodges  in 
correspondence  and  union  with  it.  Der- 
mott's Ahiman  Rezon  was  a  more  popular 
work  among  the  American  Masons  than 
Anderson's  Constitutions.  The  Royal 
Arch  was  dissevered  from  the  Master,  and 
given  as  a  distinct  degree.  And  hence  we 
may  well  suppose  that  the  Dermott  lectures 
were  more  in  use  than  the  Prestonian. 
This  is,  however,  mere  conjecture;  for 
manuscripts  anterior  to  1800  are  rare  — 
perhaps  do  not  exist;  and  we  have  no 
Prichards,  or  Finches,  or  Brownes  to  give 
us  an  inkling  of  the  Lodge  work  in  those 
days.  Neither  had  we  any  lecture  makers 
among  us ;  and  whatever  was  first  received 
was  retained  without  other  change  than 
that  which  might  have  resulted  from  the 
infirmity  of  memory  in  Masters  and  lec- 
turers. 

But  in  the  last  decennium  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  a  lecture  maker  did  arise 
among  the  American  Masons;  and  to 
Thomas  Smith  Webb  we  are  indebted  for 
our  present  system  of  Lodge  lectures. 

Webb  was  a  man  of  some  talent — not 
equal,  it  is  true,  to  Hutchinson  or  Preston ; 
but  one  who  had  paid  more  attention  to 
Masonry,  and  knew  more  about  it,  than  any 
man  of  his  times  in  this  country.  It  is 
said,  upon  what  authority  I  know  not,  but 
I  think  the  fact  is  credible,  that  he  visited 
England,  and  obtained  instructions  from 
Preston  himself.  At  the  same  time,  such 
a  man  would  not  have  undertaken  such  a 
voyage  without  making  himself  acquainted 
with  the  other  systems  prevailing  in  Eng- 
land, and  his  subsequent  course  shows  that 
he  extended  his  investigations  to  the  con- 
tinental science  of  Masonry  as  developed 
in  the  "hautes  grades."  On  his  return 
home,  he  availed  himself  of  all  these  va- 
ried advantages  to  compile  and  arrange 
that  system,  not  only  of  lectures,  but  of 
degrees,  which  has  ever  since  been  prac- 
tised in  this  country. 

The  lectures  of  Webb  contained  much  that 
was  almost  a  verbal  copy  of  parts  of  Preston  ; 
but  the  whole  system  was  briefer,  and  the 
paragraphs  were  framed  with  an  evident 
view  to  facility  in  committing  them  to 
memory.  It  is  an  herculean  task  to  ac- 
quire the  whole  system  of  Prestonian  lec- 
tures, while  that  of  Webb  may  be  mastered 
in  a  comparatively  short  time,  and  by  much 
inferior  intellects.  There  have,  in  conse- 
quence, in  former  years,  been  many  "  bright 
Masons"  and  "skilful   lecturers"    whose 


LEFRANC 


LEGATE 


455 


brightness  and  skill  consisted  only  in  the 
easy  repetition  from  memory  of  the  set 
form  of  phrases  established  by  Webb,  and 
who  were  otherwise  ignorant  of  all  the 
science,  the  philosophy,  and  the  history  of 
Masonry.  But  in  the  later  years,  a  perfect 
verbal  knowledge  of  the  lectures  has  not 
been  esteemed  so  highly  in  this  country  as 
in  England,  and  our  most  erudite  Masons 
have  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of 
those  illustrations  and  that  symbolism  of 
the  Order  which  lie  outside  of  the  lectures. 
Book  Masonry — that  is,  the  study  of  the 
principles  of  the  Institution  as  any  other 
science  is  studied,  by  means  of  the  various 
treatises  which  have  been  written  on  these 
subjects  —  has  been,  from  year  to  year,  get- 
ting more  popular  with  us  ;  and  the  Ameri- 
can Masonic  public  is  becoming  emphati- 
cally a  reading  people. 

This  is  not  in  any  way  to  be  regretted. 
Nay,  it  is  something  upon  which  we  may 
congratulate  ourselves,  that  a  library  is  be- 
coming as  indispensable  to  a  Masonic  stu- 
dent as  a  tool-chest  to  a  mechanic.  But, 
at  the  same  time,  it  is  desirable  that  the 
lectures,  too,  which  contain,  or  ought  to 
contain,  the  elements  of  the  science,  should 
be  made  the  subject  of  special  study.  And 
it  is,  above  all,  to  be  wished  that  our  lec- 
tures were  more  scientific  —  that  Webb  had 
made  them  a  little  more  Prestonian  in  their 
character,  and  that  they  contained  some- 
thing elevated  enough  to  entice  and  gratify 
intellectual  Masons. 

The  lecture  on  the  third  degree  is,  it  is 
true,  less  objection al  on  this  ground  than 
the  others.  It  is  eminently  Hutchinsonian 
in  its  character,  and  contains  the  bud 
from  which,  by  a  little  cultivation,  we 
might  bring  forth  a  gorgeous  blossom  of 
symbolism.  Hence,  the  third  degree  has 
always  been  the  favorite  of  American  Ma- 
sons. But  the  lectures  of  the  first  and 
second  degrees,  the  latter  particularly,  are 
meagre  and  unsatisfactory.  The  explana- 
tions, for  instance,  of  the  form  and  extent 
of  the  Lodge,  of  its  covering,  of  the  theo- 
logical ladder,  and  especially  of  the  point 
within  the  circle,  will  disappoint  any  intel- 
lectual student  who  is  seeking,  in  a  sym- 
bolical science,  for  some  rational  explana- 
tion of  its  symbols  that  promises  to  be 
worthy  of  his  investigations. 

Lefranc.  The  Abb6  Lefranc,  Su- 
perior of  the  House  of  the  Eudistes  at  Caen, 
was  a  very  bitter  enemy  of  Freemasonry, 
and  the  author  of  two  libellous  works 
against  Freemasonry,  both  published  in 
Paris;  the  first  and  best  known,  entitled 
"  Le  Voile  lev6  pour  les  curieux,  ou  le 
secret  des  revolutions,  r6vele  a  l'aide  de  la 
Franc- Maqonnerie,"  1791,  (republished  at 
Liege  in  1827,)  and  the  other,  "  Conjura- 


tion contre  la  religion  Catholique  et  les 
souverains,  dont  le  projet,  conqu  eu  France, 
doit  s'executer  dans  l'univers  entier,"  1792. 
In  these  scandalous  books,  and  especially 
in  the  former,  Lefranc  has,  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  Thory,  "  vomited  the  most  unde- 
served abuse  of  the  Order."  Of  the  Veil 
Lifted,  the  two  great  detractors  of  Masonry, 
Robison  and  Barruel,  entertained  different 
opinions.  Robison  made  great  use  of  it  in 
his  Proof 8  of  a  Conspiracy ;  but  Barruel, 
while  speaking  highly  of  the  Abbe's  vir- 
tues, doubts  his  accuracy  and  declines  to 
trust  to  his  authority.  Lefranc  was  slain 
in  the  massacre  of  September  2,  at  the 
Convent  of  the  Carmelites,  in  Paris,  with 
one  hundred  and  ninety-one  other  priests. 
Thory  {Act,  Lat.,  i.  192,)  says  that  M.  Led- 
hui,  a  Freemason,  who  was  present  at  the 
sanguinary  scene,  attempted  to  save  the  life 
of  Lefranc,  and  lost  his  own  in  the  effort. 
The  Abbe'  says  that,  on  the  death  of  a 
friend,  who  was  a  zealous  Mason  and  Mas- 
ter of  a  Lodge,  he  found  among  his  papers 
a  collection  of  Masonic  writings  contain- 
ing the  rituals  of  a  great  many  degrees, 
and  from  these  he  obtained  the  information 
on  which  he  has  based  his  attacks  upon  the 
Order.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  his 
accuracy  and  credibility,  from  the  fact  that 
he  asserts  that  Faustus  Socinus,  the  Father 
of  Modern  Unitarianism,  was  the  contriver 
and  inventor  of  the  Masonic  system  —  a 
theory  so  absurd  that  even  Robison  and 
Barruel  both  reject  it. 

Left  Hand.  Among  the  ancients  the 
left  hand  was  a  symbol  of  equity  and  jus- 
tice. Thus,  Apuleius,  (Met.,  1.  xi.,)  when 
describing  the  procession  in  honor  of  Isis, 
says  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  sacred  rites 
"  bore  the  symbol  of  equity,  a  left  hand, 
fashioned  with  the  palm  extended ;  which 
seems  to  be  more  adapted  to  administering 
equity  than  the  right,  from  its  natural  in- 
ertness, and  its  being  endowed  with  no 
craft  and  no  subtlety. 

Left  Side.  In  the  symbolism  of  Ma- 
sonry, the  first  degree  is  represented  by  the 
left  side,  which  is  to  indicate  that  as  the 
left  is  the  weaker  part  of  the  body,  so  is 
the  Entered  Apprentice's  degree  the  weak- 
est part  of  Masonry.  This  doctrine,  that 
the  left  is  the  weaker  side  of  the  body,  is 
very  ancient.  Plato  says  it  arises  from  the 
fact  that  the  right  is  more  used ;  but  Aris- 
totle contends  that  the  organs  of  the  right 
side  are  by  nature  more  powerful  than 
those  of  the  left. 

Legally  Constituted.  See  Con- 
stituted, Legally. 

Legate.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  a  legate, 
or  legatus,  was  one  who  was,  says  Du 
Cange,  (Olossar.,)  "in  provincias  k  Prin- 
cipe ad  exercendas  judicias  mittebalur," 


456 


LEGEND 


LEGEND 


sent  by  a  prince  into  the  provinces  to  ex- 
ercise judicial  functions.  The  word  is  now 
applied  by  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  to 
designate  certain  persons  who  are  sent 
into  unoccupied  territory  to  propagate 
the  Rite.  The  word  is,  however,  of  recent 
origin,  not  having  been  used  before  1866. 
A  legate  should  be  in  possession  of  at  least 
the  thirty-second  degree. 

Legend.  Strictly  speaking,  a  legend, 
from  the  Latin,  legendus,  "to  be  read," 
should  be  restricted  to  a  story  that  has 
been  committed  to  writing;  but  by  good 
usage  the  word  has  been  applied  more 
extensively,  and  now  properly  means  a 
narrative,  whether  true  or  false,  that  has 
been  traditionally  preserved  from  the  time 
of  its  first  oral  communication.  Such  is 
the  definition  of  a  Masonic  legend.  The 
authors  of  the  Conversations- Lexicon,  refer- 
ring to  the  monkish  lives  of  the  saints 
which  originated  in  the  twelfth  and  thir- 
teenth centuries,  say  that  the  title  legend 
was  given  to  all  fictions  which  made  pre- 
tensions to  truth.  Such  a  remark,  however 
correct  it  may  be  in  reference  to  these 
monkish  narratives,  which  were  often  in- 
vented as  ecclesiastical  exercises,  is  by  no 
means  applicable  to  the  legends  of  Free- 
masonry. These  are  not  necessarily  fic- 
titious, but  are  either  based  on  actual  and 
historical  facts  which  have  been  but  slightly 
modified,  or  they  are  the  offspring  and  ex- 

{>ansion  of  some  symbolic  idea  ;  in  which 
atter  respect  they  differ  entirely  from  the 
monastic  legends,  which  often  have  only 
the  fertile  imagination  of  some  studious 
monk  for  the  basis  of  their  construction. 

The  instructions  of  Freemasonry  are 
given  to  us  in  two  modes:  by  the  symbol 
and  by  the  legend.  The  symbol  is  a  mate- 
rial, and  the  legend  a  mental,  representa- 
tion of  a  truth.  The  sources  of  neither  can 
be  in  every  case  authentically  traced. 
Many  of  them  come  to  us,  undoubtedly, 
from  the  old  Operative  Masons  of  the  medi- 
aeval gilds.  But  whence  they  got  them  is 
a  question  that  naturally  arises,  and  which 
still  remains  unanswered.  Others  have 
sprung  from  a  far  earlier  source ;  perhaps, 
as  Creuzer  has  suggested  in  his  Symbolik, 
from  an  effort  to  engraft  higher  and  purer 
knowledge  on  an  imperfect  religious  idea. 
If  so,  then  the  myths  of  the  Ancient  Mys- 
teries, and  the  legends  or  traditions  of 
Freemasonry,  would  have  the  same  remote 
and  the  same  final  cause.  They  would  dif- 
fer in  construction,  but  they  would  agree  in 
design.  For  instance,  the  myth  of  Adonis  in 
the  Syrian  mysteries,  and  the  legend  of 
Hiram  Abif  in  the  third  degree,  would  dif- 
fer very  widely  in  their  details ;  but  the  ob- 
ject of  each  would  be  the  same,  namely,  to 


teach  the  doctrine  of  the  restoration  from 
death  to  eternal  life. 

The  legends  of  Freemasonry  constitute 
a  considerable  and  a  very  important  part 
of  its  ritual.  Without  them,  its  most  valu- 
able portions  as  a  scientific  system  would 
cease  to  exist.  It  is,  in  fact,  in  the  tradi- 
tions and  legends  of  Freemasonry,  more, 
even,  than  in  its  material  symbols,  that  we 
are  to  find  the  deep  religious  instructions 
which  the  Institution  is  intended  to  incul- 
cate. It  must  be  remembered  that  Free- 
masonry has  been  defined  to  be  "  a  system 
of  morality,  veiled  in  allegory  and  illus- 
trated by  symbols."  Symbols,  then,  alone, 
do  not  constitute  the  whole  of  the  system  : 
allegory  comes  in  for  its  share;  and  this 
allegory,  which  veils  the  divine  truths  of 
Masonry,  is  presented  to  the  neophyte  in 
the  various  legends  which  have  been  tradi- 
tionally preserved  in  the  Order. 

They  may  be  divided  into  three  classes : 
1.  The  Mythical  legend.  2.  The  Philo- 
sophical legend.  3.  The  Historical  legend. 
And  these  three  classes  may  be  defined  as 
follows : 

1.  The  myth  may  be  engaged  in  the  trans- 
mission of  a  narrative  of  early  deeds  and 
events  having  a  foundation  in  truth,  which 
truth,  however,  has  been  greatly  distorted 
and  perverted  by  the  omission  or  introduc- 
tion of  circumstances  and  personages,  and 
then  it  constitutes  the  mythical  legend. 

2.  Or  it  may  have  been  invented  and 
adopted  as  the  medium  of  enunciating  a 
particular  thought,  or  of  inculcating  a  cer- 
tain doctrine,  when  it  becomes  a  philosophi- 
cal legend. 

3.  Or,  lastly,  the  truthful  elements  of  act- 
ual history  may  greatly  predominate  over 
the  fictitious  and  invented  materials  of  the 
myth;  and  the  narrative  may  be,  in  the 
main,  made  up  of  facts,  with  a  slight  color- 
ing of  imagination,  when  it  forms  a  histori- 
cal legend. 

Legend  of  Enoch.    See  Enoch. 

Legend  of  Euclid.    See  Euclid. 

Legend  of  the  Craft.  The  Old 
Records  of  the  Fraternity  of  Operative 
Freemasons,  under  the  general  name  of 
"  Old  Constitutions"  or  "  Constitutions  of 
Masonry,"  were  written  in  the  fourteenth, 
fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies. The  loss  of  many  of  these  by  the 
indiscretion  of  over-zealous  brethren  was 
deplored  by  Anderson ;  but  a  few  of  them 
have  been  long  known  to  us,  and  many 
more  have  been  recently  recovered,  by  the 
labors  of  such  men  as  Hughan,  from  the 
archives  of  old  Lodges  and  from  manu- 
script collections  in  the  British  Museum. 
In  these  is  to  be  found  a  history  of  Free- 
masonry ;  full,  it  is  true,  of  absurdities  and 
anachronisms,  and  yet  exceedingly  inter- 


LEGEND 


LEGEND 


457 


esting,  as  giving  us  the  belief  of  our  an- 
cient brethren  on  the  subject  of  the  origin 
of  the  Order.  This  history  has  been  called 
by  Masonic  writers  the  "  Legend  of  the 
Craft,"  because  it  is  really  a  legendary 
narrative,  having  little  or  no  historic  au- 
thenticity. In  all  these  "Old  Constitu- 
tions," the  legend  is  substantially  the  same  ; 
showing,  evidently,  a  common  origin ;  most 
probably  an  oral  teaching  which  prevailed 
in  the  earliest  ages  of  the  confraternity.  In 
giving  it,  I  have  selected  that  contained  in 
what  is  called  the  Dowland  Manuscript,  be- 
cause it  is  believed  to  be  a  copy  of  an  older 
one  of  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, and  because  its  rather  modernized 
spelling  makes  it  more  intelligible  to  the 
general  reader. 

THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  CRAFT. 

"  Before  Noyes  floode  there  was  a  man 
called  Lameche  as  it  is  written  in  the  Byble, 
in  the  iiij"1  chapter  of  Genesis ;  and  this 
Lameche  had  two  wives,  and  the  one  height 
Ada  and  the  other  height  Sella ;  by  his  first 
wife  Ada  he  gott  two  sonns,  and  that  one 
Jabell,  and  thother  Tuball.  And  by  that 
other  wife  Sella  he  gott  a  son  and  a  daugh- 
ter. All  these  four  children  founden  the 
begining  of  all  the  sciences  in  the  world. 
And  this  elder  son  Jabell  found  the  science 
of  Geometrie,  and  he  departed  flocks  of 
sheepe  and  lambs  in  the  field,  and  first 
wrought  house  of  stone  and  tree,  as  is 
noted  in  the  chapter  above  said.  And  his 
brother  Tuball  found  the  science  of  Mu- 
sicke,  songe  of  tonge,  harpe,  and  orgaine. 
And  the  third  brother  Tuball  Cain  found 
Smithcraft  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  and 
Steele;  and  the  daughter  found  the  craft  of 
Weavinge.  And  these  children  knew  well 
that  God  would  take  vengeance  for  synn, 
either  by  fire  or  by  water ;  wherefore  they 
writt  their  science  that  they  had  found  in 
two  pillars  of  stone,  that  they  might  be 
found  after  Noyes  flood.  And  that  one 
stone  was  marble,  for  that  would  not  bren 
with  fire.  And  that  other  stone  was  clep- 
ped  laterns,  and  would  not  drown  in  noe 
water. 

"  Our  intent  is  to  tell  you  trulie  how  and 
in  what  manner  these  stones  were  found, 
that  thise  science  were  written  in.  The 
great  Hermarynes  that  was  Cubys  son,  the 
which  Cub  was  Sem's  sonn,  that  was  Noy's 
son.  This  Hermarynes,  afterwards  was 
called  Harmes  the  father  of  wise  men :  he 
found  one  of  the  two  pillars  of  stone,  and 
found  the  science  written  there,  and  he 
taught  it  to  other  men.  And  at  the  making 
of  the  Tower  of  Babylon  there  was  Ma- 
sonrye  first  made  much  of.  And  the  Kinge 
of  Babylon  that  height  Nemrothe,  was  a 
mason  himselfe ;  and  loved  well  the  science, 
3H 


and  it  is  said  with  masters  of  histories. 
And  when  the  City  of  Nyneve,  and  other 
cities  of  the  East  should  be  made,  Nem- 
rothe, the  King  of  Babylon,  sent  thither 
threescore  Masons  at  the  rogation  of  the 
King  of  Nyneve  his  cosen.  And  when  he 
sent  them  forth,  he  gave  them  a  charge  on 
this  manner:  That  they  should  be  true 
each  of  them  to  other,  and  that  they  should 
love  truly  together,  and  that  they  should 
serve  their  lord  truly  for  their  pay;  soe 
that  the  master  may  have  worshipp,  and 
that  long  to  him.  And  other  moe  charges 
he  gave  them.  And  this  was  the  first  tyme 
that  ever  Mason  had  any  charge  of  his 
science. 

"  Moreover,  when  Abraham  and  Sara  his 
wife  went  into  Egipt,  there  he  taught  the 
Seaven  Sciences  to  the  Egiptians;  and  he 
had  a  worthy  Scoller  that  height  Ewclyde, 
and  he  learned  right  well,  and  was  a  master 
of  all  the  vij  Sciences  liberall.  And  in  his 
dayes  it  befell  that  the  lord  and  the  estates 
of  the  realme  had  soe  many  sonns  that 
they  had  gotten  some  by  their  wifes  and 
some  by  other  laydes  of  the  realme;  for 
that  land  is  a  hott  land  and  a  plentious  of 
generacion.  And  they  had  not  competent 
livehode  to  find  with  their  children;  where- 
for  they  made  much  care.  And  then  the 
King  of  the  land  made  a  great  counsell  and 
a  parliament,  to  witt,  how  they  might  find 
their  children  honestly  as  gentlemen.  And 
they  could  find  no  manner  of  good  way.  And 
then  they  did  crye  through  all  the  realme, 
if  there  were  any  man  that  could  enforme 
them,  that  he  should  come  to  them,  and 
he  should  be  soe  rewarded  for  his  travail, 
that  he  should  hold  him  pleased. 

"  After  that  this  cry  was  made,  then  came 
this  worthy  clarke  Ewclyde,  and  said  to  the 
King  and  to  all  his  great  lords :  '  If  yee 
will,  take  me  your  children  to  governe, 
and  to  teache  them  one  of  the  Seaven  Sci- 
ences, wherewith  they  may  live  honestly  as 
gentlemen  should,  under  a  condicion  that 
yee  will  grant  me  and  them  a  commission 
that  I  may  have  power  to  rule  them  after 
the  manner  that  the  science  ought  to  be 
ruled.'  And  that  the  King  and  all  his 
counsell  granted  to  him  anone,  and  sealed 
their  commission.  And  then  this  worthy 
tooke  to  him  these  lords'  sonns,  and  taught 
them  the  science  of  Geometrie  in  practice, 
for  to  work  in  stones  all  manner  of  worthy 
worke  that  belongeth  to  buildinge  churches, 
temples,  castells,  towres,  and  mannors,  and 
all  other  manner  of  buildings ;  and  he  gave 
them  a  charge  on  this  manner : 

"  The  first  was,  that  they  should  be  true 
to  the  Kinge,  and  to  the  lord  that  they  owe. 
And  that  they  should  love  well  together, 
and  be  true  each  one  to  other.  And  that 
they  should  call  each  other  his  felloe,  or 


458 


LEGEND 


LEGEND 


else  brother,  and  not  by  servant,  nor  his 
knave,  nor  none  other  foule  name.     And 
that  truly  they  should  deserve  their  paie  of 
the  lord,  or  of  the  master  that  they  serve. 
And  that  they  should  ordaine  the  wisest  of 
them  to   be  master  of  the  worke;    and 
neither  for  love  nor  great  lynneadge,  ne 
riches  ne  for  no  favour  to  lett  another  that 
hath  little  conning  for  to  be  master  of  the 
lord's  worke,  wherethrough  the  lord  should 
be  evill  served  and  they  ashamed.    And 
also  that  they  should  call  the  governors  of 
the  worke,  Master,  in  the  time  that  they 
worke  with  him.     And  other  many  moe 
charges  that  longe  to  tell.    And  to  all  these 
charges  he  made  them  to  sweare  a  great  oath 
that  men  used  in  that  time;  and  ordayned 
them  for  reasonable  wages,  that  they  might 
live  honestly  by.     And  also  that  they  should 
come  and  semble  together  every  yeare  once, 
how  they  might  worke  best  to  serve  the 
lord  for  his  profitt,  and  to  their  owne  wor- 
shipp;    and  to  correct  within  themselves 
him  that  had  trespassed  against  the  sci- 
ence.   And  thus  was  the  science  grounded 
there;  and  that  worthy  Master  Ewclyde 
gave  it  the  name  of  Geometrie.    And  now 
it  is  called  through  all  this  land  Masonrye. 
"  Sythen  longe  after,  when  the  Children 
of  Israeli  were  coming  into  the  Land  of 
Beheast,  that  is  now  called  amongst  us  the 
Country  of  Jhrlm,  Kinge  David  began  the 
Temple  that  they  called  Templum  D'ni  and 
it  is  named  with  us  the  Temple  of  Jerusa- 
lem.    And  the  same  King  David  loved 
Masons  well  and  cherished  them  much,  and 
gave  them  good  paie.    And  he  gave  the 
charges  and  the  manners  he  had  learned  of 
Egipt  given  by  Ewclyde,  and  other  moe 
charges,  that    ye  shall    heare    afterward. 
And  after  the  decease  of  Kinge  David,  Sal- 
amon,  that  was  David's  sonn,  performed 
out  the  Temple  that  his  father  begonne; 
and  sent  after  Masons  into   divers  coun- 
tries and  of  divers  lands;   and  gathered 
them  together,  so  that  he  had  fourscore 
thousand  workers  of  stone,  and  were  all 
named  Masons.    And  he  chose  out  of  them 
three  thousand  that  were  ordayned  to  be 
Maisters  and  governors  of  his  worke.    And 
furthermore,  there  was  a  Kinge  of  another 
region  that  men  called  Iram,  and  he  loved 
well  Kinge  Solomon,  and  he  gave   him 
tymber  to  his  worke.    And  he  had  a  son 
that  height  Anyon,  and  he  was  a  Master 
of  Geometrie,  and  was  chief  Master  of  all 
his  Masons,  and  was   Master   of  all    his 
gravings  and  carvinge,  and  of  all  other 
manner  of  Masonrye   that  longed  to   the 
Temple;    and    this    is    witnessed  by  the 
Bible,  in  libro  Begum  the  third  chapter. 
And  this  Solomon  confirmed  both  charges 
and  the  manners  that  his  father  had  given 
to  Masons.  And  thus  was  that  worthy  sci- 


ence of  Masonrye  confirmed  in  the  country 
of  Jerusalem,  and  in  many  other  kingdomes. 
"Curious  craftsmen  walked  about  full 
wide  into  divers  countryes,  some  because 
of  learning  more  craft  and  cunninge,  and 
some  to  teach  them  that  had  but  little 
cunynge.  And  soe  it  befell  that  there  was 
one  curious  Mason  that  height  Maymus 
Grecus,  that  had  beene  at  the  making  of 
Solomon's  Temple,  and  he  came  into 
Fraunce,  and  there  he  taught  the  science 
of  Masonrye  to  men  of  Fraunce.  And 
there  was  one  of  the  Regal  lyne  of  Fraunce, 
that  height  Charles  Martell ;  and  he  was  a 
man  that  loved  well  such  a  science,  and 
drew  to  this  Maymus  Grecus  that  is  above- 
said,  and  learned  of  him  the  science,  and 
tooke  upon  him  the  charges  and  manners ; 
and  afterwards,  by  the  grace  of  God,  he 
was  elect  to  be  Kinge  of  Fraunce.  And 
when  he  was  in  his  estate  he  tooke  Ma- 
sons, and  did  helpe  to  make  men  Masons 
that  were  none;  and  set  them  to  worke, 
and  gave  them  both  the  charge  and  the 
manners  and  good  paie,  as  he  had  learned 
of  other  Masons;  and  confirmed  them  a 
Charter  from  yeare  to  yeare,  to  hold  their 
cemble  wher  they  would;  and  cherished 
them  right  much;  And  thus  came  the 
science  into  Fraunce. 

"  England  in  all  this  season  stood  voyd  as 
for  any  charge  of  Masonrye  unto  St.  Al- 
bones  tyme.  And  in  his  days  the  King  of 
England  that  was  a  Pagan,  he  did  wall  the 
towne  about  that  is  called  Sainct  Albones. 
And  Sainct  Albones  was  a  worthy  knight, 
and  steward  with  the  Kinge  of  his  House- 
hold, and  had  governance  of  the  realme, 
and  also  of  the  making  of  the  town  walls ; 
and  loved  well  Masons  and  cherished  them 
much.  And  he  made  their  paie  right  good, 
standinge  as  the  realm  did,  for  he  gave 
them  ijs.  vjrf.  a  weeke,  and  iijc?.  to  their 
nonesynches.  And  before  that  time, 
through  all  this  land,  a  Mason  took  but 
a  penny  a  day  and  his  meate,  till  Sainct 
Albones  amanded  it,  and  gave  them  a 
chartour  of  the  Kinge  and  his  counsell  for 
to  hold  a  general  councell,  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  Assemble;  and  thereat  he  was 
himselfe,  and  helped  to  make  Masons,  and 
gave  them  charges  as  yee  shall  heare  after- 
ward. 

"  Right  soone  after  the  decease  of  Sainct 
Albone,  there  came  divers  wars  into  the 
realme  of  England  of  divers  Nations,  soe 
that  the  good  rule  of  Masonrye  was  de- 
stroyed unto  the  tyme  of  Kinge  Athel- 
stone's  days  that  was  a  worthy  Kinge  of 
England  and  brought  this  land  into  good 
rest  and  peace;  and  builded  many  great 
works  of  Abbyes  and  Towres,  and  other 
many  divers  buildings;  and  loved  well 
Masons.    And  he  had  a  son  that  height 


LEGEND 


LEGEND 


4o9 


Edwinne,  and  he  loved  Masons  much  more 
than  his  father  did.  And  he  was  a  great 
practiser  in  Geometry ;  and  he  drew  much 
to  talke  and  to  commune  with  Masons, 
and  to  learn  of  them  science ;  and  after- 
wards, for  love  that  he  had  to  Masons,  and 
to  the  science,  he  was  made  a  Mason,  and 
he  gatt  of  the  Kinge  his  father  a  chartour 
and  commission  to  hold  every  yeare  once 
an  Assemble,  wher  they  ever  would  within 
the  realme  of  England;  and  to  correct 
within  themselves  defaults  and  trespasses 
that  were  done  within  the  science.  And  he 
held  himself  an  Assemble  at  Yorke,  and 
there  he  made  Masons,  and  gave  them 
charges,  and  taught  them  the  manners, 
and  commanded  that  rule  to  be  kept 
ever  after,  and  tooke  then  the  chartour  and 
commission  to  keepe,  and  made  ordinance 
that  it  should  be  renewed  from  kinge  to 
kinge. 

"  And  when  the  assemble  was  gathered 
he  made  a  cry  that  all  old  Masons  and 
young  that  had  any  writeinge  or  under- 
standing of  the  charges  and  the  manners 
that  were  made  before  in  this  land  or  in 
any  other,  that  they  should  show  them 
forth.  And  when  it  was  proved,  there  were 
founden  some  in  Frenche,  and  some  in 
Greek,  and  some  in  English,  and  some  in 
other  languages ;  and  the  intent  of  them 
all  was  founden  all  one.  And  he  did  make 
a  booke  thereof,  and  how  the  science  was 
founded.  And  he  himselfe  had  and  com- 
manded that  it  should  be  readd  or  tould, 
when  that  any  Mason  should  be  made,  for 
to  give  him  his  charge.  And  fro  that  day 
unto  this  tyme  manners  of  Masons  have 
been  kept  in  that  form  as  well  as  men 
might  governe  it.  And  furthermore  divers 
Assembles  have  beene  put  and  ordayned 
certaine  charges  by  the  best  advice  of  Mas- 
ters and  fellowes." 

If  any  one  carefully  examines  this  le- 
gend, he  will  find  that  it  is  really  a  history 
of  the  rise  and  progress  of  architecture,  with 
which  is  mixed  allusions  to  the  ancient 
gilds  of  the  Operative  Masons.  Geometry 
also,  as  a  science  essentially  necessary  to 
the  proper  cultivation  of  architecture,  re- 
ceives a  due  share  of  attention.  In  thus 
confounding  architecture,  geometry,  and 
Freemasonry,  the  workmen  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  but  obeying  a  natural  instinct 
which  leads  every  man  to  seek  to  elevate 
the  character  of  his  profession,  and  to  give 
to  it  an  authentic  claim  to  antiquity.  It  is 
this  instinct  which  has  given  rise  to  so 
much  of  the  mythical  element  in  the  mod- 
ern history  of  Masonry.  Anderson  has 
thus  written  his  records  in  the  very  spirit 
of  the  legend  of  the  Craft,  and  Preston  and 
Oliver  have  followed  his  example.  Hence 
this  legend  derives  its  great  importance 


from  the  fact  that  it  has  given  a  complexion 
to  all  subsequent  Masonic  history.  In  dis- 
secting it  with  critical  hands,  we  shall  be 
enabled  to  dissever  its  historical  from  its 
mythical  portions,  and  assign  to  it  its  true 
value  as  an  exponent  of  the  Masonic  senti- 
ment of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Legend  of  the  Gild.  A  title  by 
which  the  Legend  of  the  Craft  is  some- 
times designated  in  reference  to  the  Gild 
of  Operative  Masons. 

Legend  of  the  Royal  Areh  De- 
gree. Much  of  this  legend  is  a  myth, 
having  very  little  foundation,  and  some  of 
it  none,  in  historical  accuracy.  But  under- 
neath it  all  there  lies  a  profound  stratum  of 
philosophical  symbolism.  The  destruction 
and  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  by  the 
efforts  of  Zerubbabel  and  his  compatriots, 
the  captivity  and  the  return  of  the  captives, 
are  matters  of  sacred  history ;  but  many  of 
the  details  have  been  invented  and  intro- 
duced for  the  purpose  of  giving  form  to  a 
symbolic  idea.  And  this  idea,  expressed 
in  the  symbolism  of  the  Royal  Arch,  is  the 
very  highest  form  of  that  which  the  ancient 
Mystagogues  called  the  eurem,  or  the  dis- 
covery. There  are  some  portions  of  the 
legend  which  do  not  bear  directly  on 
the  symbolism  of  the  second  Temple  as 
a  type  of  the  second  life,  but  which  still 
have  an  indirect  bearing  on  the  general 
idea.  Thus  the  particular  legend  of  the 
three  weary  sojournens  is  undoubtedly  a  mere 
myth,  there  being  no  known  historical  tes- 
timony for  its  support ;  but  it  is  evidently 
the  enunciation  symbolically  of  the  reli- 
gious and  philosophical  idea  that  divine 
truth  may  be  sought  and  won  only  by  suc- 
cessful perseverance  through  all  the  dan- 
gers, trials,  and  tribulatious  of  life,  and  that 
it  is  not  in  this,  but  in  the  next  life,  that  it 
is  fully  attained. 

The  legend  of  the  English  and  the 
American  systems  is  identical ;  that  of  the 
Irish  is  very  different  as  to  the  time  and 
events;  and  the  legend  of  the  Royal  Arch 
of  the  Scottish  Rite  is  more  usually  called 
the  legend  of  Enoch. 

Legend  of  the  Third  Degree. 
The  most  important  and  significant  of  the 
legendary  symbols  of  Freemasonry  is,  un- 
doubtedly, that  which  relates  to  the  fate  of 
Hiram  Abif,  commonly  called,  "  by  way  of 
excellence,"  the  Legend  of  the  Third  De- 
gree. 

The  first  written  record  that  I  have  been 
able  to  find  of  this  legend  is  contained  in 
the  second  edition  of  Anderson's  Constitu- 
tions, published  in  1738,  and  is  in  these 
words: 

"It  (the  Temple)  was  finished  in  the 
short  space  of  seven  years  and  six  months, 
to  the  amazement  of  all  the  world ;  when 


460 


LEGEND 


LEGEND 


the  capestone  was  celebrated  by  the  Fra- 
ternity with  great  joy.  But  their  joy  was 
soon  interrupted  by  the  sudden  death  of 
their  dear  master,  Hiram  Abif,  whom  they 
decently  interred  in  the  Lodge  near  the 
Temple,  according  to  ancient  usage." 

In  the  next  edition  of  the  same  work, 
published  in  1754,  a  few  additional  circum- 
stances are  related,  such  as  the  participa- 
tion of  King  Solomon  in  the  general  grief, 
and  the  fact  that  the  King  of  Israel  or- 
dered his  obsequies  to  be  conducted  with 
great  solemnity  and  decency."  With  these 
exceptions,  and  the  citations  of  the  same 
passages,  made  by  subsequent  authors,  the 
narrative  has  always  remained  unwritten, 
and  descended,  from  age  to  age,  through 
the  means  of  oral  tradition. 

The  legend  has  been  considered  of  so 
much  importance  that  it  has  been  preserved 
in  the  symbolism  of  every  Masonic  rite.  No 
matter  what  modifications  or  alterations 
the  general  system  may  have  undergone  — 
no  matter  how  much  the  ingenuity  or  the 
imagination  of  the  founders  of  rites  may 
have  perverted  or  corrupted  other  symbols, 
abolishing  the  old  and  substituting  new 
ones  —  the  legend  of  the  Temple  Builder 
has  ever  been  left  untouched,  to  present 
itself  in  all  the  integrity  of  its  ancient 
mythical  form. 

What,  then,  is  the  signification  of  this 
symbol  so  important  and  so  extensively 
diffused  ?  What  interpretation  can  we  give 
to  it  that  will  account  for  its  universal 
adoption  ?  How  is  it  that  it  has  thus  be- 
come so  intimately  interwoven  with  Free- 
masonry as  to  make,  to  all  appearances,  a 
part  of  its  very  essence,  and  to  have  been 
always  deemed  inseparable  from  it? 

To  answer  these  questions  satisfactorily, 
it  is  necessary  to  trace,  in  a  brief  investiga- 
tion, the  remote  origin  of  the  institution  of 
Freemasonry  and  its  connection  with  the 
ancient  systems  of  initiation. 

It  was,  then,  the  object  of  all  the  rites 
and  mysteries  of  antiquity  to  teach  the  doc- 
trine of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  This 
dogma,  shining  as  an  almost  solitary  beacon- 
light  in  the  surrounding  gloom  of  Pagan 
darkness,  had  undoubtedly  been  received 
from  that  ancient  people  or  priesthood, 
among  whom  it  probably  existed  only  in 
the  form  of  an  abstract  proposition  or  a 
simple  and  unembellished  tradition.  But 
in  the  more  sensual  minds  of  the  Pagan 
philosophers  and  mystics,  the  idea,  when 
presented  to  the  initiates  in  their  mysteries, 
was  always  conveyed  in  the  form  of  a  scenic 
representation.  The  influence,  too,  of  the 
early  Sabian  worship  of  the  sun  and  heav- 
enly bodies,  in  which  the  solar  orb  was 
adored  on  its  resurrection,  each  morning, 
from  the  apparent  death  of  its  evening  set- 


ting, caused  this  rising  sun  to  be  adopted 
in  the  more  ancient  mysteries  as  a  symbol 
of  the  regeneration  of  the  soul. 

Thus,  in  the  Egyptian  mysteries  we  find 
a  representation  of  the  death  and  subse- 
quent regeneration  of  Osiris ;  in  the  Phoe- 
nician, of  Adonis ;  in  the  Syrian,  of  Dio- 
nysus ;  in  all  of  which  the  scenic  apparatus 
of  initiation  was  intended  to  indoctrinate 
the  candidate  into  the  dogma  of  a  future  life. 

It  will  be  sufficient  here  to  refer  to  the 
theory  of  Oliver,  that  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  Tyrian  workmen  at  the 
Temple  of  King  Solomon,  what  he  calls  the 
spurious  and  pure  branches  of  the  Masonic 
system  were  united  at  Jerusalem,  and  that 
the  same  method  of  scenic  representation 
was  adopted  by  the  latter  from  the  former, 
and  the  narrative  of  the  Temple  Builder 
substituted  for  that  of  Dionysus, .  which 
was  the  myth  peculiar  to  the  mysteries 
practised  by  the  Tyrian  workmen. 

The  idea,  therefore,  proposed  to  be  com- 
municated in  the  myth  of  the  ancient  mys- 
teries was  the  same  as  that  which  is  now 
conveyed  in  the  Masonic  legend  of  the 
third  degree. 

Hence,  then,  Hiram  Abif  is,  in  the  Ma- 
sonic system,  the  symbol  of  human  nature, 
as  developed  in  the  life  here  and  the  life  to 
come;  and  so,  while  the  Temple  was  the 
visible  symbol  of  the  world,  its  builder  be- 
came the  mythical  symbol  of  man,  the 
dweller  and  worker  in  that  world. 

Man,  setting  forth  on  the  voyage  of  life, 
with  faculties  and  powers  fitting  him  for 
the  due  exercise  of  the  high  duties  to 
whose  performance  he  has  been  called, 
holds,  if  he  be  "a  curious  and  cunning 
workman,"  skilled  in  all  moral  and  in- 
tellectual purposes,  (and  it  is  only  of  such 
men  that  the  Temple  Builder  can  be  the 
symbol,)  within  the  grasp  of  his  attainment, 
the  knowledge  of  all  that  divine  truth  im- 
parted to  him  as  the  heir-loom  of  his  race — 
that  race  to  whom  it  has  been  granted  to  look, 
with  exalted  countenance,  on  high  ;  which 
divine  truth  is  symbolized  by  the  word. 

Thus  provided,  with  the  word  of  life,  he 
occupies  his  time  in  the  construction  of  a 
spiritual  temple,  and  travels  onward  in  the 
faithful  discharge  of  all  his  duties,  laying 
down  his  designs  upon  the  trestle- board  of 
the  future,  and  invoking  the  assistance  and 
direction  of  God. 

But  is  his  path  always  over  flowery 
meads  and  through  pleasant  groves?  Is 
there  no  hidden  foe  to  obstruct  his  progress? 
Is  all  before  him  clear  and  calm,  with  joy- 
ous sunshine  and  refreshing  zephyrs?  Alas ! 
not  so.  "Man  is  born  to  trouble,  as  the 
sparks  fly  upward."  At  every  "gate  of 
life" — as  the  Orientalists  have  beautifully 
called  the  different  ages  — he  is  beset  by 


LEGEND 


LEGEND 


461 


peril.  Temptations  allure  his  youth ;  mis- 
fortunes darken  the  pathway  of  his  man- 
hood, and  his  old  age  is  encumbered  with 
infirmity  and  disease.  But  clothed  in  the 
armor  of  virtue  he  may  resist  the  tempta- 
tion; he  may  cast  misfortunes  aside  and 
rise  triumphantly  above  them ;  but  to  the 
last  —  the  direst,  the  most  inexorable  foe 
of  his  race  —  he  must  eventually  yield,  and, 
stricken  down  by  death,  he  sinks  prostrate 
into  the  grave,  and  is  buried  in  the  rubbish 
of  his  sin  and  human  frailty. 

Here  then,  in  Masonry,  is  what  was 
called  the  aphanism,  concealment  or  disap- 
pearance in  the  Ancient  Mysteries.  The 
bitter,  but  necessary  lesson  of  death  has 
been  imparted.  The  living  soul,  with  the 
lifeless  body  which  encased  it,  has  disap- 
peared, and  can  nowhere  be  found.  All  is 
darkness  —  confusion  —  despair.  Divine 
truth  —  the  word  —  for  a  time  is  lost,  and 
the  Master  Mason  may  now  say,  in  the 
language  of  Hutchinson  "  I  prepare  my 
sepulchre.  I  make  my  grave  in  the  pollu- 
tion of  the  earth.  I  am  under  the  shadow 
of  death." 

But  if  the  mythic  symbolism  ended  here, 
with  this  lesson  of  death,  then  were  the 
lesson  incomplete.  That  teaching  would 
be  vain  and  idle  —  nay  more,  it  would  be 
corrupt  and  pernicious  —  which  should 
stop  short  of  the  conscious  and  innate  in- 
stinct for  another  existence.  And  hence 
the  succeeding  portions  of  the  legend  are 
intended  to  convey  the  sublime  symbolism 
of  a  resurrection  from  the  grave  and  a  new 
birth  into  a  future  life.  The  discovery  of 
the  body,  which,  in  the  initiations  of  the 
ancient  mysteries,  was  called  the  euresis  ; 
and  its  removal,  from  the  polluted  grave 
into  which  it  had  been  cast,  to  an  honored 
and  sacred  place  within  the  precincts  of  the 
temple,  are  all  profoundly  and  beautifully 
symbolic  of  that  great  truth,  the  discovery 
of  which  was  the  object  of  all  the  ancient 
initiations,  as  it  is  almost  the  whole  design 
of  Freemasonry,  namely,  that  when  man 
shall  have  passed  the  gates  of  life  and  have 
yielded  to  the  inexorable  fiat  of  death,  he 
shall  then  (not  in  the  pictured  ritual  of 
an  earthly  Lodge,  but  in  the  realities  of 
that  eternal  one,  of  which  the  former  is 
but  an  antitype,)  be  raised,  at  the  omnific 
word  of  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Universe, 
from  time  to  eternity  —  from  the  tomb  of 
corruption  to  the  chambers  of  hope — from 
the  darkness  of  death  to  the  celestial  beams 
of  life  —  and  that  his  disembodied  spirit 
shall  be  conveyed  as  near  to  the  holy  of 
holies  of  the  divine  presence  as  humanity 
can  ever  approach  to  deity. 

Such  I  conceive  to  be  the  true  interpre- 
tation of  the  symbolism  of  the  legend  of 
the  third  degree. 


I  have  said  that  this  mythical  history  of  the 
Temple  Builder  was  universal  in  all  nations 
and  all  rites,  and  that  in  no  place  and  at 
no  time  had  it,  by  alteration,  diminution, 
or  addition,  acquired  any  essentially  new  or 
different  form:  the  myth  has  always  re- 
mained the  same. 

But  it  is  not  so  with  its  interpretation. 
That  which  I  have  just  given,  and  which  I 
conceive  to  be  the  correct  one,  has  been 
very  generally  adopted  by  the  Masons  of 
this  country.  But  elsewhere,  and  by  va- 
rious writers,  other  interpretations  have 
been  made,  very  different  in  their  charac- 
ter, although  always  agreeing  in  retaining 
the  general  idea  of  a  resurrection  or  regen- 
eration, or  a  restoration  of  something  from 
an  inferior  to  a  higher  sphere  or  function. 

Thus,  some  of  the  earlier  continental 
writers  have  supposed  the  myth  to  have 
been  a  symbol  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Order  of  the  Templars,  looking  upon  its 
restoration  to  its  original  wealth  and  dig- 
nities as  being  prophetically  symbolized. 

In  some  of  the  high  philosophical  de- 
grees it  is  taught  that  the  whole  legend  re- 
fers to  the  sufferings  and  death,  with  the 
subsequent  resurrection  of  Christ. 

Hutchinson,  who  has  the  honor  of  being 
the  earliest  philosophical  writer  on  Free- 
masonry in  England,  supposes  it  to  have 
been  intended  to  embody  the  idea  of  the 
decadence  of  the  Jewish  religion  and  the 
substitution  of  the  Christian  in  its  place 
and  on  its  ruins. 

Dr.  Oliver  thinks  that  it  is  typical  of  the 
murder  of  Abel  and  Cain,  and  that  it  sym- 
bolically refers  to  the  universal  death  of 
our  race  through  Adam  and  its  restoration 
to  life  in  the  Redeemer,  according  to  the 
expression  of  the  Apostle,  "  as  in  Adam  we 
all  died,  so  in  Christ  we  all  live." 

Ragon  makes  Hiram  a  symbol  of  the  sun 
shorn  of  its  vivifying  rays  and  fructifying 
power  by  the  three  winter  months,  and  its 
restoration  to  prolific  heat  by  the  season  of 
spring. 

And,  finally,  Des  Etangs,  adopting,  in 
part,  the  interpretation  of  Ragon,  adds  to 
it  another  which  he  calls  the  moral  sym- 
bolism of  the  legend,  and  supposes  that 
Hiram  is  no  other  than  eternal  reason, 
whose  enemies  are  the  vices  that  deprave 
and  destroy  humanity. 

To  each  of  these  interpretations  it  seems 
to  me  that  there  are  important  objections, 
though  perhaps  to  some  less  so  than  to 
others. 

As  to  those  who  seek  for  an  astronomical 
interpretation  of  the  legend,  in  which  the 
annual  changes  of  the  sun  are  symbolized, 
while  the  ingenuity  with  which  they  press 
their  argument  cannot  but  be  admired,  it 
is  evident  that,  by  such  an  interpretation, 


462 


LEGISLATION 


LELAND 


they  yield  all  that  Masonry  has  gained  of 
religious  development  in  past  ages,  and  fall 
back  upon  that  corruption  and  perversion 
of  Sabaistn  from  which  it  was  the  object, 
even  of  the  Spurious  Freemasonry  of  anti- 
quity, to  rescue  its  disciples. 

The  Templar  interpretation  of  the  myth 
must  at  once  be  discarded  if  we  would 
avoid  the  difficulties  of  anachronism,  unless 
we  deny  that  the  legend  existed  before  the 
abolition  of  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars, 
and  such  denial  would  be  fatal  to  the  anti- 
quity of  Freemasonry. 

And  as  to  the  adoption  of  the  Christian 
reference,  Hutchinson  and,  after  him,  Oli- 
ver, profoundly  philosophical  as  are  the  Ma- 
sonic speculations  of  both,  have,  I  am  con- 
strained to  believe,  fallen  into  a  great  error 
in  calling  the  Master  Mason's  degree  a 
Christian  institution.  It  is  true  that  it 
embraces  within  its  scheme  the  great 
truths  of  Christianity  upon  the  subject  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body ;  but  this  was  to  be  pre- 
sumed, because  Freemasonry  is  truth,  and 
Christianity  is  truth,  and  all  truth  must  be 
identical.  But  the  origin  of  each  is  differ- 
ent; their  historias  are  dissimilar.  The 
creed  of  Freemasonry  is  the  primitive  one 
of  Noah  and  his  immediate  descendants. 
If  Masonry  were  simply  a  Christian  insti- 
tution, the  Jew  and  the  Moslem,  the  Brah- 
man and  the  Buddhist,  could  not  conscien- 
tiously partake  of  it3  illumination ;  but  its 
universality  is  its  boast.  In  its  language, 
citizens  of  every  nation  may  converse ;  at 
its  altar  men  of  all  religions  may  kneel ; 
to  its  creed,  disciples  of  every  faith  may 
subscribe. 

But  the  true  ancient  interpretation  of 
the  legend  —  the  universal,  Masonic  one  — 
for  all  countries  and  all  ages  undoubtedly 
was  that  the  fate  of  the  Temple  Builder  is 
but  figurative  of  the  pilgrimage  of  man 
on  earth,  through  trials  and  temptations, 
through  sin  and  sorrow,  until  his  eventual 
fall  beneath  the  blow  of  death  and  his  final 
and  glorious  resurrection  to  another  and 
an  eternal  life. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  a  word  of  histor- 
ical criticism  may  not  be  misplaced.  It  is 
not  at  all  essential  to  the  value  of  the  sym- 
bolism that  the  legend  shall  be  proved  to  be 
historical.  Whether  considered  as  a  truth- 
ful narrative  of  an  event  that  actually 
transpired  during  the  building  of  the  Tem- 
ple, or  simply  as  a  myth  embodying  the 
utterance  of  a  religious  sentiment,  the 
symbolic  lesson  of  life  and  death  and  im- 
mortality is  still  contained  in  its  teachings, 
and  commands  our  earnest  attention. 

Legislation.  On  the  subject  of  that 
crying  sin  of  the  Order, —  over-legislation 
by  Grand  Lodges,  —  Gov.  Thomas  Brown, 


formerly  Grand  Master  of  Florida,  has 
wisely  said :  "  Too  much  legislation  is  the 
vice  of  the  present  day,  as  well  in  Masonio 
as  in  civil  government.  The  same  thirst 
for  change  and  innovation  which  has 
prompted  tyros  and  demagogues  to  legislate 
upon  constitutional  law,  and  write  exposi- 
tions of  the  common  law,  has  prompted  un- 
informed and  unscrupulous  Masons  to  leg- 
islate upon  the  landmarks  of  Masonry." 

Lelirling.  German  for  an  Entered 
Apprentice. 

Iceland,  John.  An  eminent  Eng- 
lish antiquary,  the  chaplain  of  King 
Henry  VIII.,  who  appointed  him  "King's 
Antiquary,"  a  title  which  he  was  the  first 
and  last  to  bear.  The  king  also  directed 
him  to  search  after  the  antiquities  of  Eng- 
land, "  and  peruse  the  libraries  of  all  cathe- 
drals, abbies,  priories,  colleges,  etc.,  as  also 
all  places  wherein  records,  writings,  and 
secrets  of  antiquity  were  deposited."  Le- 
land,  accordingly,  travelled  over  England 
for  several  years,  and  made  many  collections 
of  manuscripts,  which  were  afterwards  de- 
posited in  the  Bodleian  Library.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  learning  and  industry.  He 
was  born  in  London  in  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  (the  exact  year  is 
uncertain,)  and  died  on  the  18th  of  April, 
1552.  Anthony  Wood  says  that  he  was 
by  far  the  most  eminent  historian  and  anti- 
quary ever  born  in  England.  His  connec- 
tion with  Freemasonry  arises  from  the 
manuscript  containing  the  questions  of 
King  Henry  VI.,  which  he  is  said  to  have 
copied  from  the  original.  See  Leland  Man- 
uscript. 

Leland  Manuscript.  There  is  no 
one  of  the  old  Records  of  Freemasonry,  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  the  Charter  of  Cologne,  that 
has  given  rise  to  more  controversy  among 
the  critics  than  the  one  generally  known  as 
the  "  Leland  Manuscript."  It  derives  this 
name  from  the  statement  made  in  its  title, 
which  is:  "Certayne  questyons  with  an- 
sweres  to  the  same,  concernynge  the  mys- 
tery of  maconrye ;  wryttene  by  the  hande 
of  Kynge  Henry  the  Sixthe  of  the  name, 
and  faythfullye  copied  by  me,  Johan  Ley- 
lande  Antiquarius,  by  the  commaunde  of 
His  Highnesse."  It  first  appeared  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1753,  (p.  417,) 
where  it  purports  to  be  a  reprint  of  a  pam- 
phlet published  five  years  before  at  Frank- 
fort. The  title  of  the  paper  in  the  Gentle- 
man's Magazine  is :  "  Copy  of  a  small  pam- 
phlet, consisting  of  twelve  pages  in  8vo, 
printed  in  Germany  in  1748,  entitled  '  Ein 
Brief  von  dem  bertlhmten  Heren  Heren 
Johann  Locke  betreffend  die  Frey-Maure- 
rein.  So  auf  einem  Schreib-Tisch  eines 
verstorbnen  Bruders  ist  gefunden  worden.' " 
That  is,  "  A  Letter  of  the  famous  Mr.  John 


LELAND 


LELAND 


463 


Locke  relating  to  Freemasonry.  As  found 
in  the  writing-desk  of  a  deceased  brother." 
Hearne  copied  it  in  his  Life  of  Leland,  (p. 
67,)  prefacing  it  with  the  remark  that  "it 
also  appears  that  an  ancient  manuscript  o£. 
Leland's  has  long  remained  in  the  Bod- 
leian Library,  unnoticed  in  any  account  of 
our  author  yet  published."  Hearne  speaks 
of  it  thus : 

"The  original  is  said  to  be  in  the  hand- 
writing of  King  Henry  VI.,  and  copied  by 
Leland  by  order  of  His  Highness  (King 
Henry  VIII.).  If  the  authenticity  of  this 
ancient  monument  of  literature  remains 
unquestioned,  it  demands  particular  notice 
in  the  present  publication,  on  account  of 
the  singularity  of  the  subject,  and  no  less 
from  a  due  regard  to  the  royal  writer,  and 
our  author,  his  transcriber,  indefatigable 
in  every  part  of  literature :  it  will  also  be 
admitted  acknowledgment  is  due  to  the 
learned  Mr.  Locke,  who,  amidst  the  closest 
studies  and  the  most  strict  attention  to  hu- 
man understanding,  could  unbend  his  mind 
in  search  of  this  ancient  treatise,  which  he 
first  brought  from  obscurity  in  the  year 
1696." 

The  Manuscript  purports  to  be  a  series  of 
questions  proposed  by  Henry  VI.  and  an- 
swers given  by  the  Masons.  It  is  accom- 
panied by  an  introductory  letter  and  a 
commentary  by  Mr.  Locke,  together  with 
a  glossary  of  the  archaic  words.  The  best 
account  of  the  Manuscript  is  contained  in 
the  letter  of  Locke  to  a  nobleman,  said  to 
be  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  dated  May  6th, 
1696,  in  which,  after  stating  that  he  had 

Erocured  a  copy  of  it  from  the  Bodleian 
library,  he  adds : 

"  The  Manuscript  of  which  this  is  a  copy 
appears  to  be  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
years  old ;  yet  (as  your  Lordship  will  ob- 
serve by  the  title)  it  is  itself  a  copy  of  one 
yet  more  ancient  by  about  one  hundred 
years.  For  the  original  is  said  to  have 
been  in  the  handwriting  of  King  Henry 
the  VI.  Where  that  prince  had  it  is  an 
uncertainty;  but  it  seems  to  me  to  be  an 
examination  (taken,  perhaps,  before  the 
King)  of  some  one  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Masons,  among  whom  he  entered  himself, 
as  'tis  said,  when  he  came  out  of  his  mi- 
nority, and  thenceforth  put  a  stop  to  a  per- 
secution that  had  been  raised  against 
them?" 

After  its  appearance  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine,  which  first  introduced  the  knowl- 
edge of  it  to  the  world,  and  in  Hearne's  Life 
of  Leland,  who  evidently  copied  it  from 
the  Magazine,  it  next  appeared,  in  1764,  in 
the  Pocket  Companion,  and  in  1769  in  Cal- 
cott's  Candid  Disquisition.  In  1775,  Hutch- 
inson introduced  it  into  his  Spirit  of  Ma- 
sonry.   Dermott  published  it  in  his  Ahiman 


Rezon,  and  Preston  in  his  Illustrations. 
Noorthouck,  in  1784,  embodied  it  in  his 
edition  of  the  Constitutions;  and  it  has 
since  been  repeatedly  published  in  England 
and  America,  so  that  the  Craft  have  had 
every  opportunity  of  becoming  familiar 
with  its  contents.  Translations  of  it  have 
also  been  given  in  French  by  Thory,  in  his 
Acta  Latomorum;  in  German  by  Lenning, 
in  his  Encyclopddie ;  by  Krause,  in  his 
Kunsturkunden,  and  also  by  Fessler  and 
several  other  French  and  German  writers. 

This  document — so  important,  if  true,  as 
a  record  of  the  condition  of  Freemasonry 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century — 
has  been  from  an  early  period  attacked 
and  defended  with  equal  vehemence  by 
those  who  have  denied  and  those  who  have 
maintained  its  authenticity.  As  early  as 
1787,  the  Baron  de  Chefdebien,  in  a  dis- 
course entitled  Recherches  Maconniques  a 
V usage  des  Freres  de  Regime  primif  de  Nar- 
bonne,  read  before  the  Congress  of  the 
Philalethans,  attacked  the  authenticity  of 
the  document.  Thory  also,  although  ac- 
knowledging that  he  wished  that  the  Man- 
uscript was  true,  presented  his  objections 
to  its  authenticity  in  a  memoir  read  in 
1806  before  the  Tribunal  of  the  Philo- 
sophic Rite.  His  objections  are  eight  in 
number,  and  are  to  this  effect.  1.  That  it 
was  not  published  in  any  of  the  early  edi- 
tions of  the  works  of  Locke.  2.  That  it  was 
printed  for  the  first  time  at  Frankfort,  in 
1748.  3.  That  it  was  not  known  in  Eng- 
land until  1753.  4.  That  Anderson  makes 
no  mention  of  it.  5.  That  it  is  not  in  any 
of  the  editions  of  Leland's  works  printed 
before  1772.  6.  That  Dr.  Plot  contends 
that  Henry  VI.  was  never  made  a  Mason. 

7.  That  the  Manuscript  says  that  Masonry 
was  brought  from  the  East  by  the  Venetians. 

8.  That  the  troubles  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
VI.,  and  his  incapacity,  render  it  improba- 
ble that  he  would  have  occupied  his  mind 
with  the  subject  of  Freemasonry.  The 
sixth  and  eighth  of  these  objections  merely 
beg  the  question ;  and  the  seventh  is  pue- 
rile, founded  on  ignorance  of  the  meaning 
of  the  word  "  Venetian."  But  the  other 
objections  have  much  weight.  Soane,  in 
his  New  Curiosities  of  Literature,  (1849,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  80,)  attacks  the  document  with  the 
bitterness  which  he  usually  displays  wher- 
ever Freemasonry  is  concerned. 

Halliwell,  in  his  Early  History  of  Free- 
masonry in  England,  (p.  40,)  has  advanced 
the  following  arguments  against  its  authen- 
ticity : 

"  It  is  singular  that  the  circumstances  at- 
tending its  publication  should  have  led  no 
one  to  suspect  its  authenticity.  I  was  at 
the  pains  of  making  a  long  search  in  the 
Bodleian  Library  last  summer,  in  the  hopes 


464 


LELAND 


LENOIR 


of  finding  the  original,  but  without  success. 
In  fact,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that 
this  celebrated  and  well-known  document 
is  a  forgery ! 

"In  the  first  place,  why  should  such 
a  document  have  been  printed  abroad? 
Was  it  likely  that  it  should  have  found  its 
way  to  Frankfort,  nearly  half  a  century 
afterwards,  and  been  published  without 
any  explanation  of  the  source  whence  it 
was  obtained?  Again,  the  orthography  is 
most  grotesque,  and  too  gross  ever  to  have 
been  penned  either  by  Henry  VI.  or  Le- 
land,  or  both  combined.  For  instance,  we 
have  Peter  Gower,  a  Grecian,  explained 
in  a  note  by  the  fabricator — for  who  else 
could  have  solved  it?  —  to  be  Pythagoras! 
As  a  whole,  it  is  but  a  clumsy  attempt  at 
deception,  and  is  quite  a  parallel  to  the  re- 
cently discovered  one  of  the  first  Englishe 
Mercurie." 

Among  the  German  opponents  of  the 
Manuscript  are  Lessing,  Keller,  and  Fin- 
del  ;  and  more  recently,  the  iconoclasts  of 
England,  who  have  been  attacking  so  many 
of  the  ancient  records  of  the  Craft,  have 
not  left  this  one  unspared. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  ranked  among 
its  advocates  some  of  the  most  learned 
Masons  of  England,  Germany,  and  France, 
of  whom  may  be  named  Krause,  Fessler, 
Lenning,  Eeghellini,  Preston,  Hutchin- 
son, Calcott,  (these  three,  perhaps,  without 
critical  examination,)  and  Oliver.  Of  these 
the  language  of  the  last  may  be  cited  as  a 
specimen  of  the  arguments  adduced  in  its 
favor. 

"  This  famous  Manuscript,"  says  Dr.  Oli- 
ver, {Freemason's  Quart.  Rev.,  1840,  p.  10,) 
"  possesses  the  reputation  of  having  con- 
verted the  learned  Locke,  who  was  initi- 
ated after  carefully  perusing  and  analyzing 
it.  Before  any  faith  can  be  placed  on  this 
invaluable  document,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  say  a  word  respecting  its  authenticity.  I 
admit  that  there  is  some  degree  of  mystery 
about  it,  and  doubts  have  been  entertained 
whether  it  be  not  a  forgery.  We  have  the 
strongest  presumptive  proofs  that  it  was 
in  existence  about  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  because  the  utmost  publicity  was 
given  to  it ;  and  as  at  that  time  Freema- 
sonry was  beginning  to  excite  a  considera- 
ble share  of  public  attention,  the  deception, 
had  it  been  such,  would  have  been  publicly 
exposed  by  its  opponents,  who  appear  to 
have  used  the  lash  of  ridicule  very  freely, 
as  witness  Hogarth's  picture  of  Night, 
where  the  principal  figures  represent  some 
brethren,  decorated  with  aprons  and  jewels, 
returning  from  the  Lodge  in  a  state  of  in- 
toxication ;  the  broad  sheet  of  the  Scald 
Miserables,  and  other  prints  and  publica- 
tions in  which  Freemasonry  is  burlesqued. 


But  no  attempt  was  ever  made  to  invalidate 
its  claim  to  be  a  genuine  document." 

After  enumerating  the  several  books  in 
which  it  had  been  published,  he  resumes 
his  argument,  as  follows : 

"  Being  thus  universally  diffused,  had  it 
been  a  suspected  document,  its  exposure 
would  certainly  have  been  attempted ;  par- 
ticularly about  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
when  the  progress  of  Masonry  was  sensibly 
checked  by  the  publication  of  works  which 
charged  it  with  being  the  depository  of 
principles  fatal  equally  to  the  peace  and 
religion  of  civil  society ;  and  if  a  forgery, 
it  would  have  been  unable  to  have  endured 
the  test  of  a  critical  examination.  But  no 
such  attempt  was  made ;  and  the  presump- 
tion therefore  is  that  the  document  is  au- 
thentic. 

"  I  should  be  inclined  to  pronounce,  from 
internal  evidence  only,  that  the  '  Letter 
and  Annotations '  were  written  by  Locke ; 
but  there  are  corroborating  facts  which 
appear  conclusive ;  for  this  great  philoso- 
pher was  actually  residing  at  Oates,  the 
country-seat  of  Sir  Francis  Masham,  at  the 
time  when  the  paper  is  dated ;  and  shortly 
afterwards  he  went  up  to  town,  where  he 
was  initiated  into  Masonry.  These  facts 
are  fully  proved  by  Locke's  Letters  to  Mr. 
Molyneaux,  dated  March  30  and  July  2, 
1696.  For  these  reasons  I  entertain  no 
doubt  of  the  genuineness  and  authenticity 
of  this  valuable  Manuscript." 

If  my  own  opinion  is  worth  giving  on  this 
subject,  I  should  say  with  much  reluctance, 
and  against  my  own  wishes,  that  there  is 
neither  internal  nor  external  evidence  of 
the  authenticity  of  this  document  to  make 
it  a  sufficient  foundation  for  historical  evi- 
dence. 

liCiiianceaii.  A  zealous  French  Ma- 
son, and  the  possessor  of  a  fine  collection 
of  degrees,  the  nomenclature  of  which  is 
preserved  by  Thory  in  his  Acta  Latomorum. 
The  most  important  are  referred  to  in  the 
present  work. 

Length  of  the  Lodge.  See  Extent 
of  the  Lodge. 

Lenoir,  Alexandre.  A  celebrated 
archselogist,  who  was  born  at  Paris  in  1761. 
Having  studied  at  the  Mazarin  College,  he 
entered  the  studio  of  Doyeu,  and  successfully 
cultivated  painting.  In  1790,  the  National 
Assembly  having  decreed  that  the  treas- 
ures of  art  in  the  suppressed  churches 
and  convents  should  be  collected  at  the 
Petits-Augustins,  he  was  appointed  the 
Conservator  of  the  depot,  which  was  sub- 
sequently called  the  Museum,  of  which  he 
was  then  made  the  Director.  He  there  col- 
lected more  than  five  hundred  monuments 
rescued  from  destruction,  and  classified  them 
with  great  care.    On  the  conversion  of  the 


LEPAGE 


LESSONS 


465 


garden  of  Moasseaux  into  a  Museum  of 
Monuments,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
administrators,  and  subsequently  the  ad- 
ministrator of  the  monuments  of  the  Church 
of  St.  Denis.  In  all  these  appointments, 
Lenoir  exhibited  his  taste  and  judgment  as 
an  archaeologist.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  of  France,  to  whose 
Transactions  he  contributed  several  memoirs. 

The  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France 
had,  from  the  year  1777,  annually  held 
philosophical  conventions,  at  which  lec- 
tures on  Masonic  subjects  were  delivered 
by  such  men  as  Court  de  Gebelin.  In 
1789  these  conventions  were  discontinued 
in  consequence  of  the  political  troubles  of 
the  times,  but  they  were  renewed  in  1812 
by  M.  Lenoir,  who  delivered  before  the 
Chapter  a  course  of  eight  lectures  on  the 
relations  which  exist  between  the  ancient 
mysteries  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  Greeks 
and  those  of  Freemasonry.  In  1814,  he 
published  the  substance  of  these  lectures  in 
a  work  entitled  La  Franche-Magonnerie  ven- 
due a  sa  veritable  origine,  ou  VAntiquite  de  la 
Franche-Magonnerie  prouvte  par  V Explica- 
tion des  Mysteres  Anciens  et  Modernes,  (Paris, 
4to,  pp.  304.)  The  theory  of  the  author 
being  that  the  mysteries  of  Freemasonry 
are  only  a  repetition  of  those  of  antiquity, 
he  attempts  to  support  it  by  investigations 
into  the  ancient  initiations  that  are  marked 
with  profound  learning,  although  the  work 
was  severely  criticised  in  the  Journal  de 
DSats.  He  had  previously  published,  in 
1809,  a  work  in  three  volumes,  entitled 
Nouvelle  Explication  des  Hieroglyphes  ou 
Anciens  Allegories  sacre'es  des  Egiptiennes. 
He  died  at  Paris,  June  12,  1839. 

Lepage.  One  of  those  French  Ma- 
sons who  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury occupied  themselves  in  the  accumula- 
tion of  cahiers  or  rituals  of  Masonic  de- 
grees. Most  of  the  degrees  in  his  collec- 
tion, which  is  said  to  have  been  a  valuable 
one,  are  referred  to  by  Thory  in  the  no- 
menclature contained  in  his  Acta  Lato- 
morum. 

Leroiige,  Andre'  Joseph  Eti- 
enne.  A  man  of  letters  and  zealous  Ma- 
son of  Paris,  born  at  Commercy,  April  25, 
1766.  He  made  a  large  and  valuable  col- 
lection of  manuscript  and  printed  degrees. 
He  died  in  1834,  and  on  the  7th  of  January, 
1835,  his  collection  was  sold  at  public  auc- 
tion. Thory  has  made  use  of  it  in  his 
Nomenclature  des  Grades.  Lerouge  was 
the  author  of  several  didactic  writings  on 
Masonic  subjects,  all  of  which,  however, 
have  had  but  an  ephemeral  existence.  He 
was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  French  Ma- 
sonic journal  Hermes,  published  in  1819,  and 
of  the  Melanges  de  Philosophic,  d'Histoire 
et  de  Literature  Maconnique.  He  was  a  man 
31  30 


of  much  learning,  and  is  said  to  have  sup- 
plied several  of  his  Masonic  contemporaries 
with  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  their 
works. 

Lesser  Lights.  In  the  lecture  of  the 
first  degree  we  are  told  that  a  Lodge  has 
three  symbolic  lesser  lights;  one  of  these  is 
in  the  East,  one  in  the  West,  and  one  in  the 
South.  There  is  no  light  in  the  North,  be- 
cause King  Solomon's  Temple,  of  which 
every  Lodge  is  a  representation,  was  placed 
so  far  north  of  the  ecliptic  that  the  sun 
and  moon,  at  their  meridian  height,  could 
dart  no  rays  into  the  northern  part  thereof. 
The  north  we  therefore  Masonically  call  a 
place  of  darkness. 

This  symbolic  use  of  the  three  lesser 
lights  is  very  old,  being  found  in  the  earli- 
est lectures  of  the  last  century. 

The  three  lights,  like  the  three  principal 
officers  and  the  three  principal  supports,  re- 
fer, undoubtedly,  to  the  three  stations  of 
the  sun  —  its  rising  in  the  east,  its  meridian 
in  the  south,  and  its  setting  in  the  west; 
and  thus  the  symbolism  of  the  Lodge,  as 
typical  of  the  world,  continues  to  be  pre- 
served. 

The  use  of  lights  in  all  religious  ceremo- 
nies is  an  ancient  custom.  There  was  a 
seven-branched  candlestick  in  the  taber- 
nacle, and  in  the  Temple  "  were  the  golden 
candlesticks,  five  on  the  right  hand  and 
five  on  the  left."  They  were  always  typical 
of  moral,  spiritual,  or  intellectual  light. 

Lessing,  Gottfried  Ephraim.  A 
learned  litterateur  of  Germany,  who  was 
born  at  Kaumitz,  in  the  Neiderlausetz,  22d 
January,  1729,  and  died  on  the  15th  Feb- 
ruary, 1781,  at  Woefenbutal,  where  he  was 
librarian  to  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  Les- 
sing was  initiated  in  a  Lodge  at  Hamburg, 
and  took  great  interest  in  the  Institution. 
His  theory,  that  it  sprang  out  of  a  secret  as- 
sociation of  Templars  who  had  long  existed 
in  London,  and  was  modified  in  form  by  Sir 
Christopher  Wren,  has  long  been  rejected,  if 
it  was  ever  admitted  by  any;  but  in  his  two 
works  Ernst  und  Falk  and  Nathan  der  Weise, 
he  has  given  profound  and  comprehensive 
views  on  the  genius  and  spirit  of  Free- 
masonry. Lessing  was  the  most  eminent 
litterateur  of  his  age,  and  has  been  styled 
"  the  man  who  was  the  forerunner  of  the 
philosophers,  and  whose  criticisms  supplied 
the  place  of  poetry."    See  Ernest  and  Falk. 

Lessons.  The  passages  of  Scripture 
recited  by  the  Prelate  in  the  ceremony  of 
inducting  a  candidate  into  the  Masonic 
Order  of  Knights  Templars.  It  is  an  eccle- 
siastical term,  and  is  used  by  the  Templars 
because  these  passages  are  intended  to  in- 
struct the  candidate  in  reference  to  the  in- 
cidents of  our  Saviour's  life  which  are  re- 
ferred to  in  the  ritual. 


466 


LETTER 


LEWIS 


Letter    of    Application.      More 
properly  called  a  Petition,  which  see. 
Letters  Patent.    See  Patents. 

Lettuce.  A  sacred  plant  used  in  the 
mysteries  of  Adonis,  and  therefore  the 
analogue  of  the  Acacia  in  the  mysteries  of 
Freemasonry. 

Lencbt.  A  Masonic  charlatan  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  better  known  by  his 
assumed  name  of  Johnson,  which  see. 

Level.  In  Freemasonry,  the  level  is 
a  symbol  of  equality;  not  of  that  social 
equality  which  would  destroy  all  distinc- 
tions of  rank  and  position,  and  beget  con- 
fusion, insubordination,  and  anarchy ;  but 
of  that  fraternal  equality  which,  recog- 
nizing the  fatherhood  of  God,  admits  as  a 
necessary  corollary  the  brotherhood  of 
man.  It,  therefore,  teaches  us  that,  in  the 
sight  of  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  Uni- 
verse, his  creatures,  who  are  at  an  im- 
measurable distance  from  him,  move  upon 
the  same  plane  ;  as  the  far-moving  stars, 
which  though  millions  of  miles  apart,  yet 
seem  to  shine  upon  the  same  canopy  of  the 
sky.  In  this  view,  the  level  teaches  us 
that  all  men  are  equal,  subject  to  the  same 
infirmities,  hastening  to  the  same  goal, 
and  preparing  to  be  judged  by  the  same 
immutable  law. 

The  level  is  deemed,  like  the  square  and 
the  plumb,  of  so  much  importance  as  a 
symbol,  that  it  is  repeated  in  many  dif- 
ferent relations.  First,  it  is  one  of  the 
jewels  of  the  Lodge;  in  the  English  system 
a  movable,  in  the  American  an  immovable 
one.  This  leads  to  its  being  adopted  as  the 
proper  official  ensign  of  the  Senior  Warden, 
because  the  Craft  when  at  labor,  at  which 
time  he  presides  over  them,  are  on  a 
common  level  of  subordination.  And  then 
it  is  one  of  the  working-tools  of  a  Fellow 
Craft,  still  retaining  its  symbolism  of 
equality. 

Levi,  Eliplias.  The  pseudonym  of 
Louis  Alphonse  Constance,  a  prolific  writer 
on  Magical  Masonry,  or  of  works  in  which 
he  seeks  to  connect  the  symbols  of  Masonry 
with  the  dogmas  of  the  High  Magic.  His 
principal  works,  which  abound  in  dreamy 
speculations,  are  Dogme  et  Rituel  de  la  Haute 
Magie,  Paris,  1860 ;  Histoire  de  la  Magie, 
same  place  and  year;  and  Le  Clef  des  Grand 
Mysteres,  published  a  year  afterwards. 

Levite,  Knight.  The  Knight  Le- 
vite  was  the  fourth  section  of  the  seventh 
degree  of  the  Rite  of  Clerks  of  Strict  Ob- 
servance. 

Levite  of  the  External  Guard. 
The  lowest  of  the  nine  Orders  of  the 
Priesthood,  or  highest  of  the  Masonic  de- 
grees in  the  Order  of  the  Temple  as  modi- 
fied by  Fabre-Palaprat.  It  was  equivalent 
to  Kadosh. 


Levites.  Those  descendants  of  Levi 
who  were  employed  in  the  lowest  minis- 
terial duties  of  the  Temple,  and  were  thus 
subordinate  to  the  priests,  who  were  the 
lineal  descendants  of  Aaron.  They  are 
represented  in  some  of  the  high  degrees. 

Levite,  Sacriflcer.  A  degree  in  the 
collection  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Levitikon.  There  is  a  spurious  Gos- 
pel of  St.  John,  supposed  to  have  been 
forged  in  the  fifteenth  century,  which 
contradicts  the  genuine  Gospel  in  many 
particulars.  It  contains  an  introduction 
and  a  commentary,  said  to  have  been 
written  by  Nicephorus,  a  Greek  monk  of 
Athens.  This  commentary  is  called  the 
"  Levitikon."  Out  of  this  gospel  and  its 
commentary,  Fabre-Palaprat,  about  the 
year  1814,  composed  a  liturgy  for  the  sect 
of  Johannites,  which  he  had  established  and 
attached  to  the  Order  of  the  Temple  at  Paris. 

Levy.  A  collection  of  men  raised  for 
a  particular  purpose.  The  lectures  tell  us 
that  the  timbers  for  building  the  Temple 
at  Jerusalem  were  felled  in  the  forests  of 
Lebanon,  where  a  levy  of  thirty  thousand 
men  of  Jerusalem  were  employed  by 
monthly  courses  of  ten  thousand.  Adoni- 
ram  was  placed  over  this  levy.  The  facts 
are  derived  from  the  statement  in  1  Kings 
v.  13,  14 :  "  And  King  Solomon  raised  a 
levy  out  of  all  Israel;  and  the  levy  was 
thirty  thousand  men.  And  he  sent  them 
to  Lebanon  ten  thousand  a  month  by 
courses;  a  month  they  were  in  Lebanon 
and  two  months  at  home :  and  Adoniram 
was  over  the  levy."  These  wood-cutters 
were  not  Tyrians,  but  all  Israelites. 

Lewis.  1.  An  instrument  in  Opera- 
tive Masonry.  It  is  an  iron  cramp  which 
is  inserted  in  a  cavity  prepared  for  that 
purpose  in  any  large  stone,  so  as  to  give 
attachment  to  a  pulley  and  hook  whereby 
the  stone  may  be  conveniently  raised  to 
any  height  and  deposited  in  its  proper 
position.  It  is  well  described  by  Mr.  Gib- 
son, in  the  British  Archceologia,  (vol.  x.,  p. 
127 ;)  but  he  is  in  error  in  attributing  its 
invention  to  a  French  architect  in  the 
time  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  its  name  to  that 
monarch.  The  contrivance  was  known  to 
the  Romans,  and  several  taken  from  old 
ruins  are  now  in  the  Vatican.  In  the 
ruins  of  Whitby  Abbey,  in  England,  which 
was  founded  by  Oswy,  king  of  Northum- 
berland, in  658,  large  stones  were  dis- 
covered, with  the  necessary  excavation  for 
the  insertion  of  a  lewis.  The  word  is  most 
probably  derived  from  the  old  French  levis, 
any  contrivance  for  lifting.  The  modern 
French  call  the  instrument  a  louve. 

2.  In  the  English  system,  the  lewis  is 
found  on  the  tracing-board  of  the  Entered 


LEWIS 


LIBAVIUS 


467 


Apprentice,  where  it  is  used  as  a  symbol 
of  strength,  because,  by  its  assistance,  the 
Operative  Mason  is  enabled  to  lift  the 
heaviest  stones  with  a  comparatively  tri- 
fling exertion  of  physical  power.  It  has 
not  been  adopted  as  a  symbol  by  the 
American  Masons,  except  in  Pennsylvania, 
where,  of  course,  it  receives  the  English 
interpretation. 

3.  The  son  of  a  Mason  is,  in  England, 
called  a  lewis,  because  it  is  his  duty  to  sup- 
port the  sinking  powers  and  aid  the  failing 
strength  of  his  father ;  or,  as  Oliver  has  ex- 
pressed it,  "  to  bear  the  burden  and  heat 
of  the  day,  that  his  parents  may  rest  in 
their  old  age ;  thus  rendering  the  evening 
of  their  lives  peaceful  and  happy."  In  the 
rituals  of  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
he  was  called  a  louffton.  From  this  the 
French  derived  their  word  lufton,  which 
they  apply  in  the  same  way.  They  also 
employ  the  word  louvcteau,  and  call  the 
daughter  of  a  Mason  louvetine.  Louveteau 
is  probably  derived  directly  from  the  louve, 
the  French  name  of  the  implement ;  but  it 
is  a  singular  coincidence  that  louveteau 
also  means  a  young  wolf,  and  that  in  the 
Egyptian  mysteries  of  Isis  the  candidate 
was  made  to  wear  the  mask  of  a  wolfs 
head.  Hence,  a  wolf  and  a  candidate  in 
these  mysteries  were  often  used  as  sy- 
nonymous terms.  Macrobius,  in  his  Sat- 
urnalia, says,  in  reference  to  this  custom, 
that  the  ancients  perceived  a  relationship 
between  the  sun,  the  great  symbol  in  these 
mysteries,  and  a  wolf,  which  the  candidate 
represented  at  his  initiation.  For,  he  re- 
marks, as  the  flocks  of  sheep  and  cattle  fly 
and  disperse  at  the  sight  of  the  wolf,  so  the 
flocks  of  stars  disappear  at  the  approach 
of  the  sun's  light.  The  learned  reader  will 
also  recollect  that  in  the  Greek  language 
lukos  signifies  both  the  sun  and  a  wolf. 
Hence  some  etymologists  have  sought  to 
derive  louveteau,  the  son  of  a  Mason,  from 
louveteau,  a  young  wolf.  But  I  prefer  the 
more  direct  derivation  from  louve,  the 
operative  instrument. 

Im  Browne's  Master  Key,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  Prestonian  lecture, 
we  find  the  following  definition : 

"  What  do  we  call  the  son  of  a  Freema- 
son? 

"  A  lewis. 

"  What  does  that  denote  ? 

"Strength. 

"  How  is  a  lewis  depicted  in  a  Mason's 
Lodge? 

"  As  a  cramp  of  metal,  by  which,  when 
fixed  into  a  stone,  great  and  ponderous 
weights  are  raised  to  a  certain  height  and 
fixed  upon  their  proper  basis,  without 
which  Operative  Masons  could  not  so  con- 
veniently do. 


"  What  is  the  duty  of  a  lewis,  the  son 
of  a  Mason,  to  his  aged  parents  ? 

"  To  bear  the  heavy  burden  in  the  heat 
of  the  day  and  help  them  in  time  of  need, 
which,  by  reason  of  their  great  age,  they 
ought  to  be  exempted  from,  so  as  to  render 
the  close  of  their  days  happy  and  comfort- 
able. 

"  His  privilege  for  so  doing? 

"  To  be  made  a  Mason  before  any  other 
person,  however  dignified  by  birth,  rank, 
or  riches,  unless  he,  through  complaisance, 
waves  this  privilege." 

The  lecture  does  not  state,  in  exact 
terms,  the  whole  nature  of  the  privileges 
of  a  lewis.  Not  only  has  he,  in  an  initia- 
tion, the  precedence  of  all  other  candidates, 
but  in  England  and  France  the  right  to  be 
initiated  at  an  earlier  age.  For  while  the 
general  law  in  both  these  countries  requires 
a  candidate  to  have  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  a  lewis  can  be  received  when 
only  eighteen.  No  such  regulation  is,  it  is 
true,  tobe  found  in  the  English  Constitution ; 
but,  as  Oliver  says,  it  is  "  a  traditional  cus- 
tom ;  "  and  a  provision  seems  to  have  been 
made  for  it  by  allowing  the  prerogative  of 
dispensing  with  the  usual  requirement  of 
age  in  certain  cases.  In  this  country, 
where  the  symbolism  of  the  lewis  is  un- 
known, no  such  right  is  now  recognized. 
It  is,  however,  probable  that  the  custom 
formerly  existed,  derived  from  England; 
and  it  has  been  thus  attempted,  I  think 
reasonably  enough,  to  explain  the  fact  that 
Washington  was  initiated  when  he  was  only 
twenty  years  and  eight  months  old. 

Lexington,  Congress  of.  This 
Congress  was  convoked  in  1853,  at  Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky,  for  the  purpose  of  attempt- 
ing to  form  a  General  Grand  Lodge.  A 
plan  of  constitution  was  proposed,  but  a 
sufficient  number  of  Grand  Lodges  did  not 
accede  to  the  proposition  to  give  it  efficacy. 

Iiibanus.  The  Latin  name  of  Leb- 
anon, which  see. 

Libation.  Among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  the  libation  was  a  religious  cere- 
mony, consisting  of  the  pouring  of  wine  or 
other  liquid  upon  the  ground,  or,  in  a  sacri- 
fice, upon  the  head  of  the  victim  after  it 
had  been  first  tasted  by  the  priest  and  by 
those  who  stood  next  to  him.  The  liba- 
tions were  usually  of  unmixed  wine,  but 
were  sometimes  of  mingled  wine  and  water. 
Libations  are  used  in  some  of  the  chivalric 
and  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry. 

Iabavius,  Andreas.  A  learned 
German  physician,  who  was  born  at  Halle, 
in  Saxony,  and  died  at  Coburg,  where  he 
was  rector  of  the  Gymnasium  in  1616.  He 
was  a  vehement  opponent  of  Paracelsus  and 
of  the  Rosicrucians.  In  1613  he  published 
at  Frankfort  his  Syntagma  selectorum  al- 


468 


LIBERAL 


LIBERTINE 


chimia  arcanorum,  in  two  folio  volumes,  and 
two  years  after,  an  Appendix,  in  which  he 
attacks  the  Society  of  the  Rosicrucians,  and 
analyzes  the  Gonfessio  of  Valentine  Andrea." 
De  Quincey  has  used  the  works  of  Libavius 
in  his  article  on  Secret  Societies. 

Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences.  We 
are  indebted  to  the  Scholastic  philoso- 
phers of  the  Middle  Ages  for  the  nomen- 
clature by  wbich  they  distinguished  the 
seven  sciences  then  best  known  to  them. 
With  the  metaphorical  spirit  of  the  age  in 
which  they  lived,  they  called  the  two  classes 
into  which  they  divided  them  the  trivium,  or 
meeting  of  three  roads,  and  the  quadrivium, 
or  meeting  of  four  roads  ;  calling  grammar, 
logic,  and  rhetoric  the  trivium,  and  arith- 
metic, geometry,  music,  and  astronomy  the 
quadrivium.  These  they  styled  the  seven 
liberal  arts  and  sciences,  to  separate  them 
from  the  mechanical  arts  which  were  prac- 
tised by  the  handicraftsmen.  The  liberal 
man,  liberalis  homo,  meant,  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  man  who  was  his  own  master  — 
free,  independent,  and  often  a  nobleman. 

Mosheim,  speaking  of  the  state  of  litera- 
ture in  the  eleventh  century,  uses  the  fol- 
lowing language :  "  The  seven  liberal  arts, 
as  they  were  now  styled,  were  taught  in 
the  greatest  part  of  the  schools  that  were 
erected  in  this  century  for  the  education 
of  youth.  The  first  stage  of  these  sciences 
was  grammar,  which  was  followed  succes- 
sively by  rhetoric  and  logic.  When  the 
disciple,  having  learned  these  branches, 
which  were  generally  known  by  the 
name  of  trivium,  extended  his  ambition 
further,  and  was  desirous  of  new  improve- 
ment in  the  sciences,  he  was  conducted 
slowly  through  the  quadrivium  (arithmetic, 
music,  geometry,  and  astronomy)  to  the 
very  summit  of  literary  fame." 

The  Freemasons  of  the  Middle  Ages,  al- 
ways anxious  to  elevate  their  profession 
above  the  position  of  a  mere  operative  art, 
readily  assumed  these  liberal  arts  and  sci- 
ences as  a  part  of  their  course  of  knowledge, 
thus  seeking  to  assimilate  themselves  rather 
to  the  scholars  who  were  above  them  than  to 
the  workmen  who  were  below  them.  Hence 
in  all  the  Old  Constitutions  we  find  these 
liberal  arts  and  sciences  introduced  at  the 
beginning  as  forming  an  essential  part  of 
the  body  of  Masonry.  Thus,  in  the  Lands- 
downe  MS.,  whose  date  is  about  1560,  (and 
it  may  be  taken  aa  a  fair  specimen  of  all 
the  others,)  these  sciences  are  thus  referred 
to: 

"  We  minde  to  shew  you  the  charge  that 
belongs  to  every  treu  Mason  to  keep,  for  in 
good  Faith  if  you  take  good  heed  it  is  well 
worthy  to  be  kept  for  A  worthy  Craft  and 
curious  science,  —  Sirs,  there  be  Seaven 
Liberall  Sciences  of  the  which  the  Noble 


Craft  of  Masonry  is  one."  And  then  the 
writer  proceeds  to  define  them  in  the  order 
which  they  still  retain.  It  is  noteworthy, 
however,  that  that  order  must  have  been 
changed;  for  in  what  is  probably  the  earliest 
of  the  manuscripts — the  one  edited  by  Mr. 
Halliwell  —  geometry  appears  as  the  last, 
instead  of  the  fifth  of  the  sciences,  and 
arithmetic  as  the  sixth. 

It  is  not  therefore  surprising  that,  on  the 
revival  of  Masonry  in  1717,  these  seven 
liberal  arts  and  sciences  were  made  a  part 
of  the  system  of  instruction.  At  first,  of 
course,  they  were  placed  in  the  Entered 
Apprentice's  degree,  that  being  the  most 
important  degree  of  the  period,  and  they 
were  made  to  refer  to  the  seven  Masons  who 
composed  a  Lodge.  Afterwards,  on  the 
more  methodical  division  of  the  degrees, 
they  were  transferred  to  the  Fellow  Craft, 
because  that  was  the  degree  symbolic  of 
science,  and  were  made  to  refer  to  seven  of 
the  steps  of  the  winding  stairs,  that  being 
itself,  when  properly  interpreted,  a  symbol 
of  the  progress  of  knowledge.  And  there 
they  still  remain. 

JLibertas.  Latin.  Liberty.  A  signifi- 
cant word  in  the  Bed  Cross  degree.  It 
refers  to  the  "  liberty  of  passage"  gained  by 
the  returning  Jews  over  their  opponents  at 
the  river  Euphrates,  as  described  in  the 
Scottish  Rite  degree  of  Knight  of  the  East, 
where  the  old  French  rituals  have  "  libert6 
du  passer." 

Libertine.  The  Charges  of  1722  com- 
mence by  saying  that  "  a  Mason  is  obliged 
by  his  tenure  to  obey  the  moral  law ;  and 
if  he  rightly  understands  the  art,  he  will 
never  be  a  stupid  Atheist,  nor  an  irreli- 
gious libertine."  The  word  "  libertine  "  there 
used  conveyed  a  meaning  different  from 
that  which  it  now  bears.  In  the  present 
usage  of  language  it  signifies  a  profligate 
and  licentious  person,  but  originally  it 
meant  a  freethinker,  or  Deist.  Derived 
from  the  Latin  "  libertinus,"  a  man  that 
was  once  a  bondsman  but  who  has  been 
made  free,  it  was  metaphorically  used  to 
designate  one  who  had  been  released,  or 
who  had  released  himself  from  the  bonds 
of  religious  belief,  and  become  in  matters 
of  faith  a  doubter  or  denier.  Hence  "a 
stupid  Atheist"  denoted,  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Psalmist,  "  the  fool  who  has 
said  in  his  heart  there  is  no  God,"  while  an 
"  irreligious  libertine  "  designated  the  man 
who,  with  a  degree  less  of  unbelief,  denies 
the  distinctive  doctrines  of  revealed  religion. 
And  this  meaning  of  the  expression  con- 
nects itself  very  appropriately  with  the 
succeeding  paragraph  of  the  Charge.  "  But 
though  in  ancient  times,  Masons  were 
charged  in  every  country  to  be  of  the  reli- 
gion of  that  country  or  nation,  whatever  it 


LIBERTY 


LIGHT 


469 


was,  yet  it  is  now  thought  more  expe- 
dient only  to  oblige  them  to  that  religion 
in  which  all  men  agree,  leaving  their  par- 
ticular opinions  to  themselves." 

The  expression  "irreligious  libertine," 
alluding,  as  it  does,  to  a  scoffer  at  religious 
truths,  is  eminently  suggestive  of  the  reli- 
gious character  of  our  Institution,  which, 
founded  as  it  is  on  the  great  doctrines  of 
religion,  cannot  be  properly  appreciated  by 
any  one  who  doubts  or  denies  their  truth. 

Liberty  of  Passage.  A  significant 
phrase  in  the  high  degrees.  See  Libertas. 
The  French  rituals  designate  it  by  the  letters 
L.\  D.\  P.".  as  the  initials  of  liberie  de 
passer,  or  liberty  of  passage.  But  Brother 
Pike  proposes  to  interpret  these  letters  as 
liberie  de  penser,  liberty  of  thought ;  the  pre- 
rogative of  a  freeman  and  a  Freemason. 

.Library.  It  is  the  duty  as  well  as  the 
interest  of  Lodges  to  facilitate  the  efforts  of 
the  members  in  the  acquisition  of  Masonic 
knowledge,  and  I  know  of  no  method  more 
appropriate  than  the  formation  of  Masonic 
libraries.  The  establishment  of  a  Grand 
Lodge  library  is  of  course  not  objection- 
able, but  it  is  of  far  less  value  and  impor- 
tance than  a  Lodge  library.  The  original 
outlay  of  a  few  dollars  in  the  beginning  for 
its  establishment,  and  of  a  few  more  an- 
nually for  its  maintenance  and  increase, 
would  secure  to  every  Lodge  in  the  land  a 
rich  treasury  of  Masonic  reading  for  the  in- 
formation and  improvement  of  its  mem- 
bers. The  very  fact  that  Masonic  books 
were  within  their  reach,  showing  them- 
selves on  the  well-filled  shelves  at  every 
meeting,  and  ready  at  their  hands  for  the 
mere  asking  or  the  trouble  of  taking  them 
down,  would  induce  many  brethren  to  read 
who  never  yet  have  read  a  page  or  even  a 
line  upon  the  subject  of  Masonic  history 
and  science. 

Considering  the  immense  number  of 
books  that  have  been  published  on  the 
subject  of  Speculative  Masonry,  many  of 
which  would  be  rendered  accessible  to 
every  one  by  the  establishment  of  Lodge 
libraries,  the  Mason  who  would  then  be 
ignorant  of  the  true  genius  of  his  art 
would  be  worthy  of  all  shame  and  reproach. 

As  thoughtful  municipalities  place  pub- 
lic fountains  in  their  parks  and  at  the  cor- 
ners of  streets,  that  the  famished  wayfarer 
may  allay  his  thirst  and  receive  physical 
refreshment,  so  should  Masonic  Lodges 
place  such  intellectual  fountains  in  reach 
of  their  members,  that  they  might  enjoy 
mental  refreshment.  Such  fountains  are 
libraries ;  and  the  Lodge  which  spends  fifty 
dollars,  more  or  less,  upon  a  banquet,  and 
yet  does  without  a  library,  commits  a  grave 
Masonic  offence;  for  it  refuses,  or  at  least 
neglects,  to  diffuse  that  light  among  its 


children  which  its  obligation  requires  it 
to  do. 

Of  two  Lodges  —  the  one  without  and 
the  other  with  a  library  —  the  difference  is 
this,  that  the  one  will  have  more  igno- 
rance in  it  than  the  other.  If  a  Lodge 
takes  delight  in  an  ignorant  membership, 
let  it  forego  a  library.  If  it  thinks  there 
is  honor  and  reputation  and  pleasure  in 
having  its  members  well  informed,  it  will 
give  them  means  of  instruction. 

Lieutenant  Grand  Com- 
mander. The  title  of  the  second  and 
third  officers  of  a  Grand  Consistory  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  and 
the  second  officer  in  a  Supreme  Council. 

Life.  The  three  stages  of  human  life 
are  said  in  the  lectures  to  be  symbolized 
by  the  three  degrees  of  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry, and  the  doctrine  is  illustrated  in  the 
third  degree  by  the  emblem  of  the  Three 
Steps  on  the  Master's  Carpet,  which  see. 

Life,  Eternal.    See  Eternal  Life. 

Life  Member.  It  is  the  custom  in 
some  Lodges  to  permit  a  member  to  become 
a  life  member  by  the  immediate  payment 
of  a  sum  of  money,  after  which  he  is  released 
from  any  subsequent  payment  of  quarterly 
dues.  Such  a  system  is  of  advantage  in  a 
pecuniary  sense  to  the  Lodge,  if  the  money 
paid  for  life  membership  is  invested  in 
profitable  stock,  because  the  interest  con- 
tinues to  accrue  to  the  Lodge  even  after 
the  death  of  a  member.  A  Lodge  consist- 
ing entirely  of  life  members  would  be  a 
Lodge  the  number  of  whose  members 
might  increase,  but  could  never  decrease. 
Life  members  are  subject  to  all  the  disci- 
pline of  the  Lodge,  such  as  suspension  or 
expulsion,  just  as  the  other  members. 

Light.  Light  is  an  important  word  in 
the  Masonic  system.  It  conveys  a  far  more 
recondite  meaning  than  it  is  believed  to 
possess  by  the  generality  of  readers.  It  is 
in  fact  the  first  of  all  the  symbols  presented 
to  the  neophyte,  and  continues  to  be  pre- 
sented to  him  in  various  modifications 
throughout  all  his  future  progress  in  his 
Masonic  career.  It  does  not  simply  mean, 
as  might  be  supposed,  truth  or  wisdom,  but 
it  contains  within  itself  a  far  more  ab- 
struse allusion  to  the  very  essence  of  Spec- 
ulative Masonry,  and  embraces  within  its 
capacious  signification  all  the  other  sym- 
bols of  the  Order.  Freemasons  are  em- 
phatically called  the  "  sons  of  light,"  be- 
cause they  are,  or  at  least  are  entitled  to 
be,  in  possession  of  the  true  meaning  of 
the  symbol ;  while  the  profane  or  uninitiated 
who  have  not  received  this  knowledge  are, 
by  a  parity  of  expression,  said  to  be  in 
darkness. 

The  connection  of  material  light  with 
this  emblematic  and  mental  illumination, 


470 


LIGHT 


LIGHT 


•was  prominently  exhibited  in  all  the  an- 
cient systems  of  religion  and  esoteric  mys- 
teries. 

Among  the  Egyptians,  the  hare  was  the 
hieroglyphic  of  eyes  that  are  open,  because 
that  animal  was  supposed  to  have  his  eyes 
always  open.  The  priests  afterwards  adopt- 
ed the  hare  as  the  symbol  of  the  moral  illu- 
mination revealed  to  the  neophytes  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  divine  truth,  and 
hence,  according  to  Champollion,  it  was 
also  the  symbol  of  Osiris,  their  principal 
divinity,  and  the  chief  object  of  their  mys- 
tic rites,  — thus  showing  the  intimate  con- 
nection that  they  maintained  in  their  sym- 
bolic language  between  the  process  of  ini- 
tiation and  the  contemplation  of  divinity. 
On  this  subject  a  remarkable  coincidence 
has  been  pointed  out  by  M.  Portal  (Symb. 
des  Egypt,  69,)  in  the  Hebrew  language. 
There  the  word  for  "hare"  is  arnebet,  which 
seems  to  be  compounded  of  aur,  "light," 
and  nabat,  "  to  see; "  so  that  the  word  which 
among  the  Egyptians  was  used  to  designate 
an  initiation,  among  the  Hebrews  meant 
to  see  the  light. 

If  we  proceed  to  an  examination  of  the 
other  systems  of  religion  which  were  prac- 
tised by  the  nations  of  antiquity,  we  shall 
find  that  light  always  constituted  a  princi- 
pal object  of  adoration,  as  the  primordial 
source  of  knowledge  and  goodness,  and  that 
darkness  was  with  them  synonymous  with 
ignorance  and  evil.  Dr.  Beard  (Encyc. 
Bib.  Lit.)  attributes  this  view  of  the  divine 
origin  of  light  among  the  Eastern  nations, 
to  the  fact  that  "  light  in  the  East  has  a 
clearness  and  brilliancy,  is  accompanied  by 
an  intensity  of  heat,  and  is  followed  in  its 
influence  by  a  largeness  of  good,  of  which 
the  inhabitants  of  less  genial  climates  have 
no  conception.  Light  easily  and  naturally 
became,  in  consequence,  with  Orientals,  a 
representative  of  the  highest  human  good. 
All  the  more  joyous  emotions  of  the  mind, 
all  the  pleasing  sensations  of  the  frame,  all 
the  happy  hours  of  domestic  intercourse, 
were  described  under  imagery  derived  from 
light.  The  transition  was  natural,  —  from 
earthly  to  heavenly,  from  corporeal  to 
spiritual  things;  and  so  light  came  to 
typify  true  religion  and  the  felicity  which 
it  imparts.  But  as  light  not  only  came 
from  God,  but  also  makes  man's  way  clear 
before  him,  so  it  was  employed  to  signify 
moral  truth,  and  pre-eminently  that  divine 
system  of  truth  which  is  set  forth  in  the 
Bible,  from  its  earliest  gleamings  onward  to 
the  perfect  day  of  the  Great  Sun  of  Eight- 
eousness." 

As  light  was  thus  adored  as  the  source 
of  goodness,  darkness,  which  is  the  nega- 
tion of  light,  was  abhorred  aa  the  cause  of 
evil,  and  hence  arose  that  doctrine  which 


prevailed  among  the  ancients,  that  there 
were  two  antagonistic  principles  continu- 
ally contending  for  the  government  of  the 
world. 

"Light,"  says  Duncan,  {Relig.  of  Prof . 
Ant.,  187,)  "is  a  source  of  positive  happiness: 
without  it  man  could  barely  exist.  And 
since  all  religious  opinion  is  based  on  the 
ideas  of  pleasure  and  pain,  and  the  corre- 
sponding sensations  of  hope  and  fear,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  if  the  heathen  rever- 
enced light.  Darkness,  on  the  contrary,  by 
replunging  nature,  as  it  were,  into  a  state 
of  nothingness,  and  depriving  man  of  the 
pleasurable  emotions  conveyed  through  the 
organ  of  sight,  was  ever  held  in  abhor- 
rence, as  a  source  of  misery  and  fear.  The 
two  opposite  conditions  in  which  man  thus 
found  himself  placed,  occasioned  by  the  en- 
joyment or  the  banishment  of  light,  in- 
duced him  to  imagine  the  existence  of  two 
antagonistic  principles  in  nature,  to  whose 
dominion  he  was  alternately  subjected." 

Such  was  the  dogma  of  Zoroaster,  the 
great  Persian  philosopher,  who,  under  the 
names  of  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman,  symbol- 
ized these  two  principles  of  light  and  dark- 
ness. 

Such  was  also  the  doctrine,  though  some- 
what modified,  of  Manes,  the  founder  of 
the  sect  of  Manichees,  who  describes  God 
the  Father  as  ruling  over  the  kingdom  of 
light  and  contending  with  the  powers  of 
darkness. 

Pythagoras  also  maintained  this  doctrine 
of  two  antagonistic  principles.  He  called 
the  one,  unity,  light,  the  right  hand,  equal- 
ity, stability,  and  a  straight  line ;  the  other 
he  named  binary,  darkness,  the  left  hand, 
inequality,  instability,  and  a  curved  line. 
Of  the  colors,  he  attributed  white  to  the 
good  principle,  and  black  to  the  evil  one. 

The  Jewish  Kabbalists  believed  that,  be- 
fore the  creation  of  the  world,  all  space 
was  filled  with  the  Infinite  Intellectual 
Light,  which  afterwards  withdrew  itself  to 
an  equal  distance  from  a  central  point  iu 
space,  and  afterwards  by  its  emanation  pro- 
duced future  worlds.  The  first  emanation 
of  this  surrounding  light  into  the  abyss 
of  darkness  produced  what  they  called  the 
"Adam  Kadmon,"  the  first  man,  or  the 
first  production  of  the  divine  energy. 

In  the  Bhagvat  Geeta,  (one  of  the  reli- 
gious books  of  the  Brahmans,)  it  is  said: 
"  Light  and  darkness  are  esteemed  the 
world's  eternal  ways ;  he  who  walketh  in 
the  former  path  returneth  not, — that  is,  he 
goeth  immediately  to  bliss ;  whilst  he  who 
walketh  in  the  latter  cometh  back  again 
upon  the  earth." 

In  fact,  in  all  the  ancient  systems,  this 
reverence  for  light,  as  an  emblematic  rep- 
resentation of  the  Eternal  Principle  of 


LIGHTS 


LINGAM 


471 


Good,  is  predominant.  In  the  mysteries, 
the  candidate  passed,  during  his  initiation, 
through  scenes  of  utter  darkness,  and  at 
length  terminated  his  trials  by  an  admis- 
sion to  the  splendidly  illuminated  sacel- 
lum,  where  he  was  said  to  have  attained 
pure  and  perfect  light,  and  where  he  re- 
ceived the  necessary  instructions  which 
were  to  invest  him  with  that  knowledge  of 
the  divine  truth  which  had  been  the  ob- 
ject of  all  his  labors. 

Lights,  Fixed.  According  to  the  old 
rituals  of  the  last  century,  every  Lodge 
room  was  furnished,  or  supposed  to  be  fur- 
nished, with  three  windows,  situated  in  the 
east,  west,  and  south.  They  were  called  the 
Fixed  Lights,  and  their  uses  were  said  to 
be  "  to  light  the  men  to,  at,  and  from  their 
work."  The  symbolic  lights  of  modern 
Masonry  were  not  substituted  for  them,  be- 
cause both  were  used  at  the  same  time ;  but 
the  explanation  now  given  as  to  the  absence 
of  a  light  in  the  north,  which  is  now  applied 
to  the  symbolic  lights,  was  formerly  referred 
to  the  fixed  lights. 

Light,  to  Bring  to.  A  technical 
expression  in  Masonry  meaning  to  initiate ; 
as,  "He  was  brought  to  light  in  such  a 
Lodge,"  that  is,  he  was  initiated  in  it. 

Ligure.  DtfS.  The  first  stone  in  the 
third  row  of  the  high  priest's  breastplate. 
Commentators  have  been  divided  in  opinion 
as  to  the  nature  of  this  stone ;  but  it  is  now 
supposed  by  the  best  authorities  to  have 
been  the  rubellite,  which  is  a  red  variety  of 
the  tourmaline.  The  ligure  in  the  breast- 
plate was  referred  to  the  tribe  of  Dan. 

Lily.  The  plant  so  frequently  men- 
tioned in  the  Old  Testament  under  the 
name  of  lily,  as  an  emblem  of  purity  and 

feace,  was  the  lotus  lily  of  Egypt  and  India. 
t  occupied  a  conspicuous  place  among  the 
ornaments  of  the  Temple  furniture.  The 
brim  of  the  molten  sea  was  wrought  with 
flowers  of  the  lotus ;  the  chapiters  on  the 
tops  of  the  pillars  at  the  porch,  and  the 
tops  of  the  pillars  themselves,  were  adorned 
with  the  same  plant.  Sir  Robert  Ker 
Porter,  describing  a  piece  of  sculpture 
which  he  found  at  Persepolis,  says,  "  Al- 
most every  one  in  this  procession  holds  in 
his  hand  a  figure  like  the  lotus.  This 
flower  was  full  of  meaning  among  the 
ancients,  and  occurs  all  over  the  East. 
Egypt,  Persia,  Palestine,  and  India  pre- 
sent it  everywhere  over  their  architecture, 
in  the  hands  and  on  the  heads  of  their 
sculptured  figures,  whether  in  statue  or  in 
bass-relief.  We  also  find  it  in  the  sacred 
vestments  and  architecture  of  the  taber- 
nacle and  Temple  of  the  Israelites.  The 
lily  which  is  mentioned  by  our  Saviour,  as 
an  image  of  peculiar  beauty  and  glory, 
when  comparing  the  works  of  nature  with 


the  decorations  of  art,  was  a  different  flower; 
probably  a  species  of  lilium.  This  is  also 
represented  in  all  pictures  of  the  salutation 
of  Gabriel  to  the  Virgin  Mary;  and,  in 
fact,  has  been  held  in  mysterious  venera- 
tion by  people  of  all  nations  and  times. 
'  It  is  the  symbol  of  divinity,  of  purity, 
and  abundance,  and  of  a  love  most  com- 
plete in  perfection,  charity,  and  benediction ; 
as  in  Holy  Scripture,  that  mirror  of  purity, 
Susanna  is  denned  Susa,  which  signified 
the  lily  flower,  the  chief  city  of  the  Per- 
sians, bearing  that  name  for  excellency. 
Hence,  the  lily's  three  leaves  in  the  arms 
of  France  meaneth  Piety,  Justice,  and 
Charity.'  So  far,  the  general  impression 
of  a  peculiar  regard  to  this  beautiful  and 
flagrant  flower ;  but  the  early  Persians  at- 
tached to  it  a  peculiar  sanctity."  We  must 
not,  however,  forget  the  difference  between 
the  lotus  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  lily 
of  the  New.  The  former  is  a  Masonic  plant ; 
the  latter  is  scarcely  referred  to.  Never- 
theless, through  the  ignorance  of  the  early 
translators  as  to  sacred  plants,  the  lotus  is 
constantly  used  for  the  lily ;  and  hence  the 
same  error  has  crept  into  the  Masonic 
rituals.     See  Lotus. 

Lily  Work.  The  lily  work  which  is 
described  as  a  part  of  the  ornamentation 
of  the  two  pillars  in  the  porch  of  Solomon's 
Temple  is  said  to  be,  from  the  whiteness  of 
the  plant,  symbolic  of  purity  and  peace. 
Properly,  it  is  lotus  work.  See  Lily,  Lotus, 
and  Pillars  of  the  Porch. 

Limbs.     See  Qualifications,  Physical. 

Lindner,  Friederieh  Wilbelm. 
A  professor  of  philosophy  in  Leipsic,  who 
published  in  1818-1819  an  attack  on  Free- 
masonry under  the  title  of  Mac  Benac;  Er 
lebet  im  Sohne ;  oder  das  Positive  der  Frei- 
maurerei.  This  work  contains  some  good 
ideas,  although  taken  from  an  adverse 
point  of  view ;  but,  as  Lenning  has  observed, 
these  bear  little  fruit  because  of  the  fanati- 
cal spirit  of  knight  errantry  with  which  he 
attacks  the  Institution. 

Line.  One  of  the  working-tools  of  a 
Past  Master,  and  presented  to  the  Master 
of  a  Lodge  at  his  installation.  See  Plumb 
Line. 

Linear  Triad.  Oliver  says  that  the 
Linear  Triad  is  a  figure  which  appears  in 
some  old  Eoyal  Arch  floor-cloths.  It  bore 
a  reference  to  the  sojourners,  who  repre- 
sented the  three  stones  on  which  prayers 
and  thanksgivings  were  offered  on  the  dis- 
covery of  the  lost  Word;  thereby  affording 
an  example  that  it  is  our  duty  in  every 
undertaking  to  offer  up  our  prayers  and 
thanksgivings  to  the  God  of  our  salvation. 

Lines,  Parallel.  See  Parallel  Lines. 

Lingam.  The  lingam  and  the  youi 
of  the  Indian  mysteries  were  the  same  as 


472 


LINK 


LODGE 


the  phallus  and  cteis  of  the  Grecian.  See 
Phallus. 

Link.  A  degree  formerly  conferred  in 
England,  in  connection  with  the  Mark  de- 
gree, under  the  title  of  the  "  Mark  and  Link 
or  Wrestle."     It  is  now  obsolete. 

Linnecar,  Richard.  The  author 
of  the  celebrated  Masonic  anthem  beginning 

"  Let  there  be  Light !  th'  Almighty  spoke ; 
Refulgent  beams  from  chaos  broke, 
T'  illume  the  rising  earth." 

Little  is  known  of  his  personal  history  ex- 
cept that  he  was  the  Coroner  of  Wakefield, 
England,  and  for  many  years  the  Master 
of  the  Lodge  of  Unanimity,  No.  238,  in  that 
town.  He  was  a  zealous  and  studious  Ma- 
son. In  1789  he  published,  at  Leeds,  a 
volume  of  plays,  poems,  and  miscellaneous 
writings,  among  which  was  an  essay  enti- 
tled Strictures  on  Freemasonry,  and  the  an- 
them already  referred  to.  He  appears  to 
have  been  a  man  of  respectable  abilities. 

Lion's  Paw.  A  mode  of  recognition 
so  called  because  of  the  rude  resemblance 
made  by  the  hand  and  fingers  to  a  lion's 

Jaw.  It  refers  to  the  "  Lion  of  the  tribe  of 
udah." 

Literature  of  Masonry.  Freema- 
sonry has  its  literature,  which  has  been 
rapidly  developed  in  the  last  few  decades 
of  the  present  century,  far  more  than  in 
any  precedings  ones.  This  literature  is 
not  to  be  found  in  the  working  of  its  de- 
grees, in  the  institution  of  its  Lodges,  in 
the  diffusion  of  its  charities,  or  in  the  ex- 
tension of  its  fraternal  ties.  Of  all  these, 
although  necessary  and  important  ingre- 
dients of  the  Order,  its  literature  is  wholly 
independent.  This  is  connected  with  its 
ethics  as  a  science  of  moral,  social,  and  re- 
ligious philosophy;  with  its  history  and 
archaeology,  as  springing  up  out  of  the  past 
times ;  with  its  biography  as  the  field  in 
which  men  of  intellect  have  delighted  to 
labor;  and  with  its  bibliography  as  the 
record  of  the  results  of  that  labor.  It  is 
connected,  too,  incidentally,  with  many 
other  arts  and  sciences.  Mythology  affords 
an  ample  field  for  discussion  in  the  effort 
to  collate  the  analogies  of  classic  myths 
and  symbols  with  its  own.  Philology  sub- 
mits its  laws  for  application  to  the  origin 
of  its  mystic  words,  all  of  which  are  con- 
nected with  its  history.  It  has,  in  fine,  its 
science  and  its  philosophy,  its  poetry  and 
romance.  No  one  who  has  not  studied  the 
literature  of  Masonry  can  even  dream  of 
its  beauty  and  extent;  no  one  who  has 
studied  it  can  have  failed  to  receive  the  re- 
ward that  it  bestows. 

Litigation.    See  Lawsuits. 

LiTery.  The  word  livery  is  supposed 
to  be  derived  from  the  clothing  delivered 


by  masters  to  their  servants.  The  trading 
companies  or  gilds  of  England  began  about 
the  time  of  Edward  I.  to  wear  a  suit  of  cloth- 
ing of  a  form,  color,  and  material  peculiar 
to  each  company,  which  was  called  its 
livery,  and  also  its  clothing.  To  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  membership  and  privileges 
of  the  company  was  called  "  to  have  the 
clothing."  The  Grocers'  Company,  for  in- 
stance, were  ordered  "  to  be  clothed  once  a 
year  in  a  suit  of  livery ; "  and  there  is  an 
order  in  the  reign  of  Henry  V.  to  purchase 
cloth  "  for  the  clothing  of  the  brethren  of 
the  brewers'  craft."  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  usage  of  speaking  of  a  Mason's 
clothing,  or  of  his  being  clothed,  is  de- 
rived from  the  custom  of  the  gilds.  A 
Mason's  clothing,  "  black  dress  and  white 
gloves  and  apron,"  is,  in  fact,  his  livery. 
See  Clothing. 

Livre  d'Or.  French.  The  Book  of 
Gold,  which  see. 

Local  Laws.    See  Laws  of  Masonry. 

Locke's  Letter.  The  letter  of  John 
Locke  which  is  said  to  have  accompanied 
the  Leland  MS.,  and  which  contains  his 
comments  on  it.    See  Leland  Manuscript. 

Lodge.  There  are  three  definitions 
which,  in  the  technical  language  of  Ma- 
sonry, apply  to  the  word  Lodge. 

1.  It  is  a  place  in  which  Freemasons  meet. 
In  this  sense  the  words  more  generally  used 
are  Lodge  Room,  which  see. 

2.  It  is  the  assembly  or  organized  body 
of  Freemasons  duly  congregated  for  labor 
or  for  business.  These  two  distinctions  are 
precisely  the  same  as  those  to  be  found  in 
the  word  "church,"  which  is  expressive 
both  of  the  building  in  which  a  congrega- 
tion meets  to  worship  and  the  congregation 
of  worshippers  themselves.  This  second 
definition  is  what  distinguishes  a  meeting 
of  symbolic  Masons,  who  constitute  a  Lodge, 
from  one  of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  whose 
meeting  would  be  called  a  Chapter,  or  of 
Cryptic  Masons,  whose  assembly  would  be 
a  Council. 

The  word  appears  in  French  as  loge ; 
German,  loge  ;  Spanish,  logia  ;  Portuguese, 
loja;  and  Italian,  loggia.  This  is  irrefra- 
gible  evidence  that  the  word  was,  with  the 
Institution,  derived  by  the  continent  of 
Europe  from  England. 

The  derivation  of  the  word  is,  I  think, 
plain.  Ragon  says  that  it  comes  from  the 
Sanscrit  loga,  signifying  the  world.  There 
would,  at  first  sight,  seem  to  be  a  connec- 
tion between  this  etymology  and  the  sym- 
bolic meaning  of  a  Lodge,  which  repre- 
sents the  world;  but  yet  it  is  evidently 
far-fetched,  since  we  have  a  much  simpler 
root  immediately  at  hand.  Mr.  Hope  says, 
speaking  of  the  Freemasons  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  (and  Wren  had  previously  said  the 


LODGE 


LODGE 


473 


same  thing,)  that  wherever  they  were  en- 
gaged to  work,  they  "set  themselves  to 
Building  temporary  huts,  for  their  habita- 
tion, around  the  spot  where  the  work  was  to 
be  carried  on."  These  huts  the  German 
Masons  called  hutten;  the  English,  lodges, 
which  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon,  logian,  to 
dwell.  Lodge,  therefore,  meant  the  dwell- 
ing-place or  lodging  of  the  Masons;  and 
this  is  undoubtedly  the  origin  of  the  mod- 
ern use  of  the  word.  To  corroborate  this, 
we  find  Du  Cange  (Oloss.)  defining  the 
Mediaeval  Latin,  logia  or  logium,  as  "a 
house  or  habitation."  He  refers  to  the 
Italian,  loggia,  and  quotes  Lambertus  Ar- 
densis  as  saying  that  "  logia  is  a  place  next 
to  the  house,  where  persons  were  accustomed 
to  hold  pleasant  conversation."  Hence 
Lambertus  thinks  that  it  comes  from  the 
Greek,  logos,  a  discourse.  Du  Cange  asserts 
that  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  Middle 
Ages  logia  or  logium  was  commonly  used 
for  an  apartment  or  dwelling  connected 
with  the  main  building.  Thus,  the  small- 
est apartments  occupied  by  the  cardinals 
when  meeting  in  conclave  were  called  logix 
or  Lodges.  All  of  which  sustains  the  idea 
that  the  Lodges  of  the  old  Operative  Ma- 
sons were  small  dwellings  attached,  or  at 
least  contiguous,  to  the  main  edifice  on 
which  they  were  at  work. 

In  the  Old  Constitutions,  the  word  is  not 
generally  met  with.  The  meeting  of  the 
Craft  is  there  usually  called  the  Assembly. 
But  there  are  instances  of  its  employment 
in  those  documents.  Thus  in  the  Lodge  of 
Antiquity  MS.  whose  date  is  1786,  and  still 
earlier  in  the  York  MS.  No.  1,  dated  about 
1600,  it  is  said,  "no  Fellow  within  the 
Lodge  or  without  shall  misanswer,"  etc. 
There  is  also  abundant  documentary  evi- 
dence to  show  that  the  word  Lodge  was, 
long  before  the  eighteenth  century,  applied 
to  their  meeting  by  the  Freemasons  of 
England  and  Scotland. 

Before  the  restoration  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  in  1717,  Preston  tells 
us  that  any  number  of  brethren  might  as- 
semble at  any  place  for  the  performance 
of  work,  and,  when  so  assembled,  were  au- 
thorized to  receive  into  the  Order  brothers 
and  fellows,  and  to  practise  the  rites  of 
Masonry.  The  ancient  charges  were  the 
only  standard  for  the  regulation  of  their 
conduct.  The  Master  of  the  Lodge  was 
elected  pro  tempore,  and  his  authority  ter- 
minated with  the  dissolution  of  the  meet- 
ing over  which  he  had  presided,  unless  the 
Lodge  was  permanently  established  at  any 
particular  place.  To  the  general  assembly 
of  the  Craft,  held  once  or  twice  a  year,  all 
the  brethren  indiscriminately  were  amen- 
able, and  to  that  power  alone.  But  on  the 
formation  of  Grand  Lodges,  this  inherent 
3K 


right  of  assembling  was  voluntarily  sur- 
rendered by  the  brethren  and  the  Lodges, 
and  vested  in  the  Grand  Lodge.  And  from 
this  time  Warrants  of  Constitution  date 
their  existence.  The  first  Warrant  granted 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  after  its 
reorganization,  is  dated  1718. 

The  mode  of  bringing  a  Lodge  into  ex- 
istence under  the  present  system  in  Amer- 
ica is  as  follows :  Seven  Master  Masons, 
being  desirous  of  establishing  a  Lodge, 
apply  by  petition  to  the  Grand  Master, 
who  will,  if  he  thinks  proper,  issue  his  dis- 
pensation authorizing  them  to  congregate 
as  Masons  in  a  Lodge,  and  therein  to  con- 
fer the  three  degrees  of  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry.  This  instrument  is  of  force  dur- 
ing the  pleasure  of  the  Grand  Master.  At 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge  it  ex- 
pires, and  is  surrendered  to  the  Grand  Lodge, 
which,  if  there  be  no  objection,  will  issue 
a  Charter,  technically  called  a  Warrant  of 
Constitution,  whereby  the  body  is  perma- 
nently established  as  a  Lodge,  and  as  one 
of  the  constituents  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

The  power  of  granting  Warrants  of  Con- 
stitution is  vested  in  the  Grand  Lodges  of 
Scotland,  Ireland,  Germany,  and  France, 
as  it  is  in  America ;  but  in  England  the 
rule  is  different,  and  there  the  prerogative 
is  vested  in  the  Grand  Master. 

A  Lodge  thus  constituted  consists,  in  the 
American  system,  of  the  following  officers. 
Worshipful  Master,  Senior  and  Junior 
Wardens,  Treasurer,  Secretary,  Senior  and 
Junior  Deacons,  two  Stewards,  and  a  Tiler. 

In  the  York  Rite,  as  practised  in  Eng- 
land, the  officers  are,  in  addition  to  these,  a 
Director  of  Ceremonies,  a  Chaplain,  and  an 
Inner  Guard. 

In  a  Lodge  of  the  French  Rite,  the 
officers  are  still  more  numerous.  They  are 
Le  Venerable  or  Worshipful  Master,  Pre- 
mier and  Second  Surveillants  or  Senior 
and  Junior  Wardens,  Orator,  Treasurer, 
Secretary,  Hospitaller  or  collector  of  alms, 
the  Expert,  combining  the  duties  of  the 
Senior  Deacon  and  an  examining  com- 
mittee, Master  of  Ceremonies,  Architecte, 
who  attends  to  the  decoration  of  the  Lodge, 
and  superintends  the  financial  department, 
Archiviste  or  Librarian,  Keeper  of  the 
Seal,  Master  of  the  Banquets  or  Steward, 
and  Guardian  of  the  Temple  or  Tiler. 

The  officers  in  a  Lodge  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  are  a  Master, 
two  Wardens,  Orator,  Treasurer,  Secretary, 
Almoner,  Expert,  Assistant  Expert,  Master 
of  Ceremonies,  Almoner  Steward,  Tiler, 
and  sometimes  a  few  others  as  Pursuivant, 
and  Keeper  of  the  Seals. 

In  other  Rites  and  countries  the  officers 
vary  to  a  slight  extent,  but  everywhere 
there  are  three  officers  who  always  are 


474 


LODGE 


LODGE 


found,  and  who  may  therefore  he  considered 
as  indispensable,  namely,  the  Master,  two 
Wardens,  and  Tiler. 

A  Lodge  thus  constituted  is  a  Lodge  of 
Master  Masons.  Strictly  and  legally  speak- 
ing, such  a  body  as  a  Lodge  of  Entered 
Apprentices  or  of  Fellow  Crafts  is  not 
known  under  the  present  Masonic  system. 
No  Warrant  is  ever  granted  for  an  Appren- 
tices' or  Fellow  Crafts'  Lodge,  and  with- 
out a  Warrant  a  Lodge  cannot  exist.  The 
Warrant  granted  is  always  for  a  Masters' 
Lodge,  and  the  members  composing  it  are 
all  Master  Masons.  The  Lodges  mentioned 
by  Wren  and  Hope,  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made,  and  which  were  congre- 
gated, in  the  Middle  Ages,  around  the  edi- 
fices which  the  Masons  were  constructing, 
were  properly  Fellow  Crafts'  Lodge,  be- 
cause all  the  members  were  Fellow  Crafts ; 
even  the  Master  being  merely  a  gradation  of 
rank,  not  a  degree  of  knowledge.  So  at  the 
revival  of  Masonry  in  1717,  the  Lodges  were 
Entered  Apprentices'  Lodges,  because  in 
them  nothing  but  the  first  degree  was  con- 
ferred, and  nearly  all  the  members  were 
Entered  Apprentices.  But  when  the  Grand 
Lodge,  where  only  at  first  the  Fellow  Craft 
and  Master's  degree  were  conferred,  per- 
mitted them  to  be  conferred  in  the  subor- 
dinate Lodges,  then  the  degree  of  Master 
Mason  was  sought  for  by  all  the  Craft,  and 
became  the  object  of  every  Mason's  ambi- 
tion. From  that  time  the  Craft  became 
Master  Masons,  and  the  first  and  second 
degrees  were  considered  only  as  preliminary 
steps.  So  it  has  remained  to  this  day ;  and 
all  modern  Lodges,  wherever  Masonry  has 
extended,  are  Masters'  Lodge,  and  nothing 
less. 

Sometimes  secretaries,  ignorant  of  these 
facts,  will  record  in  their  minutes  that  "  the 
Lodge  of  Master  Masons  was  closed  and  a 
Lodge  of  Entered  Apprentices  was  opened." 
Neither  written  nor  unwritten  law  sanc- 
tions any  such  phraseology.  If  the  Lodge 
of  Master  Masons  is  closed,  there  is  an  end 
of  the  Masonic  congregation.  Where  is 
the  Warrant  under  which  a  Lodge  of  En- 
tered Apprentices  is  opened,  and  how  can 
a  Lodge,  in  which  there  is  not,  probably,  a 
single  Apprentice,  but  where  all  the  officers 
and  all  the  members  are  Master  Masons,  be 
called  a  Lodge  of  Apprentices  ?  The  ritual 
has  wisely  provided  for  the  avoidance  of 
such  an  anomaly,  and,  seeing  that  the  War- 
rant says  that  the  Lodge  of  Master  Masons 
is  empowered  to  make  Apprentices  and 
Fellow  Crafts,  it  says  "the  Lodge  was 
opened  on  the  first  degree."  That  is  to  say, 
the  Lodge  of  Masters  still  retaining  its 
character  as  a  Masters'  Lodge,  without 
which  it  would  lose  its  legality,  and  not 
venturing  to  open  a  kind  of  Lodge  for 


which  its  members  had  no  Warrant  nor 
authority,  simply  placed  itself  on  the 
points  of  a  degree  in  which  it  was  about  to 
give  instruction. 

Some  of  the  rituals  speak,  it  is  true,  of 
Lodges  composed  in  ancient  times  of  Mas- 
ters and  Fellow  Crafts  or  Masters  and  Ap- 
prentices; and  the  Webb  lectures  tell  us 
that  at  the  Temple  of  Solomon  the  Lodges 
of  Entered  Apprentices  consisted  of  one 
Master  and  six  Apprentices,  and  the 
Lodges  of  Fellow  Crafts  of  two  Masters 
and  three  Fellow  Crafts.  But  all  this  is 
purely  symbolic,  and  has  no  real  existence 
in  the  practical  working  of  the  Order.  No 
one  in  these  days  has  seen  a  Lodge  of  one 
Master  Mason  and  six  Apprentices.  The 
Masons  working  in  the  first  degree  are  as 
much  Master  Masons  as  the  same  Masons 
are  when  they  are  working  in  the  third. 
The  Lodge  legally  is  the  same,  though  it 
may  vary  the  subjects  of  its  instruction  so 
as  to  have  them  in  the  first,  second,  or  third 
degree. 

So  important  a  feature  in  Masonry  as  a 
Lodge,  the  congregations  of  Masons  for 
work  or  worship,  cannot  be  without  its  ap- 
propriate symbolism.  Hence  a  Lodge 
when  duly  opened  becomes  a  symbol  of 
the  world.  Its  covering  is  like  the  world's, 
a  sky  or  clouded  canopy,  to  reach  which,  as 
the  abode  of  those  who  do  the  will  of  the 
Grand  Architect,  it  is  furnished  with  the 
theological  ladder,  which  reaches  from 
earth  to  heaven ;  and  it  is  illuminated  as  is 
the  world,  by  the  refulgent  rays  of  the  sun, 
symbolically  represented  in  his  rising  in 
the  east,  his  meridian  height  in  the  south, 
and  his  setting  in  the  west ;  and  lastly,  its 
very  form,  a  long  quadrangle  or  oblong 
square,  is  in  reference  to  the  early  tradition 
that  such  was  the  shape  of  the  inhabited 
world. 

3.  The  Lodge,  technically  speaking,  is  a 
piece  of  furniture  made  in  imitation  of  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant,  which  was  constructed 
by  Bazaleel,  according  to  the  form  pre- 
scribed by  God  himself,  and  which,  after 
the  erection  of  the  Temple,  was  kept  in  the 
Holy  of  Holies.  As  that  contained  the  ta- 
ble of  the  laws,  the  Lodge  contains  the 
Book  of  Constitutions  and  the  Warrant  of 
Constitution  granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge. 
It  is  used  only  in  certain  ceremonies,  such 
as  the  constitution  and  consecration  of  new 
Lodges. 

IiOdge,  Chartered.  See  Chartered 
Lodge. 

Lodge,  Clandestine.  See  Clandes- 
tine Lodge. 

Lodge,  Constituted.  ^^Constituted 
Legally. 

Lodge,  Dormant.  See  Dormant 
Lodge. 


LODGE 


LODGE 


475 


Lodge,  Emergent.  See  Emergent 
Lodge. 

Lodge,  Extinct.    See  Extinct  Lodge. 

Lodge,  Holy.     See  Holy  Lodge. 

Lodge  Hours.  Dermott  says  (Ahim. 
Rez.,  p.  xxiii.,)  "  that  Lodge  hours,  that  is, 
the  time  in  which  it  is  lawful  for  a  Lodge 
to  work  or  do  business,  are  from  March 
25th  to  September  25th,  between  the  hours 
of  seven  and  ten ;  and  from  September  25th 
to  March  25th,  between  the  hours  of  six 
and  nine."  I  know  not  whence  he  derived 
the  law ;  but  it  is  certain  that  it  has  never 
been  rigidly  observed  even  by  the  "  ancient 
Lodges,"  for  whom  his  Ahiman  Rezon  was 
written. 

Lodge,  Just.    See  Just  Lodge. 

Lodge  Master,  English.  (Mditre 
de  Lodge  Anglais.)  A  degree  in  the  nomen- 
clature of  Thory,  inserted  on  the  authority 
of  Lemanceau. 

Lodge  Master,  French.  {Maitre 
de  Loge  Erangais.)  The  twenty-sixth  de- 
gree of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan 
Chapter  of  France. 

Lodge,  Occasional.  See  Occasional 
Lodge. 

Lodge  of  Instruction.  These  are 
assemblies  of  brethren  congregated  with- 
out a  Warrant  of  Constitution,  under  the 
direction  of  a  lecturer  or  skilful  brother,  for 
the  purpose  of  improvement  in  Masonry, 
which  is  accomplished  by  the  frequent  re- 
hearsal of  the  work  and  lectures  of  each 
degree.  These  bodies  should  consist  exclu- 
sively of  Master  Masons ;  and  though  they 
possess  no  Masonic  power,  it  is  evident  to 
every  Mason  that  they  are  extremely  use- 
ful as  schools  of  preparation  for  the  duties 
that  are  afterwards  to  be  performed  in  the 
regular  Lodge.  In  England,  these  Lodges 
of  Instruction  are  attached  to  regularly 
Warranted  Lodges,  or  are  specially  licensed 
by  the  Grand  Master.  But  they  have  an 
independent  set  of  officers,  who  are  elected 
at  no  stated  periods — sometimes  for  a  year, 
sometimes  for  six  or  three  months,  and 
sometimes  changed  at  every  night  of  meet- 
ing. They  of  course  have  no  power  of 
initiation,  but  simply  meet  for  purposes  of 
practice  in  the  ritual.  They  are,  however, 
bound  to  keep  a  record  of  their  transac- 
tions, subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  su- 
perior powers. 

Lodge  of  St.  John.  The  Masonic 
tradition  is  that  the  primitive  or  mother 
Lodge  was  held  at  Jerusalem,  and  dedi- 
cated to  St.  John,  first  the  Baptist,  then 
the  Evangelist,  and  finally  to  both.  Hence 
this  Lodge  was  called  "  The  Lodge  of  the 
Holy  St.  John  of  Jerusalem."  From  this 
Lodge  all  other  Lodges  are  supposed  figura- 
tively to  descend,  and  they  therefore  receive 
the  same  general  name,  accompanied  by 


another  local  and  distinctive  one.  In  all 
Masonic  documents  the  words  ran  formerly 
as  follows :  "  From  the  Lodge  of  the  holy 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  under  the  distinct- 
ive appellation  of  Solomon's  Lodge,  No.  1," 
or  whatever  might  be  the  local  name. 
In  this  style  foreign  documents  still  run ; 
and  it  is  but  a  few  years  since  it  has  been 
at  all  disused  in  this  country.  Hence  we 
say  that  every  Mason  hails  from  such  a 
Lodge,  that  is  to  say,  from  a  just  and  le- 
gally constituted  Lodge.  In  the  earliest 
catechisms  of  the  eighteenth  century  we 
find  this  formula.  "Q.  What  Lodge  are 
you  of?  A.  The  Lodge  of  St.  John."  And 
another  question  is,  "  How  many  angles  in 
St.  John's  Lodge?"  In  one  of  the  high 
degrees  it  is  stated  that  Lodges  receive  this 
title  "  because,  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades, 
the  Perfect  Masons  communicated  a  knowl- 
edge of  their  Mysteries  to  the  Knights  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem,"  and  as  both  were 
thus  under  the  same  law,  the  Lodges  were 
called  St.  John's  Lodges.  But  this  was 
only  one  of  the  attempts  to  connect  Free- 
masonry with  the  Templar  system. 

Lodge,  Perfect.    See  Perfect  Lodge. 

Lodge,  Regular.  See  Regular 
Lodge. 

Lodge  Room.  The  Masons  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  have  a  prescribed  form 
or  ritual  of  building,  according  to  whose 
directions  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that 
every  hall  for  Masonic  purposes  shall  be 
erected.  No  such  regulation  exists  among 
the  Fraternity  of  this  country  or  Great 
Britain..  Still,  the  usages  of  the  Craft,  and 
the  objects  of  convenience  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  our  rites,  require  that  certain 
general  rules  should  be  followed  in  the 
construction  of  a  Lodge  room.  These  rules, 
as  generally  observed  in  this  country,  are  as 
follows : 

A  Lodge  room  should  always,  if  possible, 
be  situated  due  east  and  west.  This  posi- 
tion is  not  absolutely  necessary ;  and  yet  it 
is  so  far  so  as  to  demand  that  some  sacri- 
fices should  be  made,  if  possible,  to  obtain 
so  desirable  a  position.  It  should  also  be 
isolated,  where  it  is  practicable,  from  all 
surrounding  buildings,  and  should  always 
be  placed  in  an  upper  story.  No  Lodge 
should  ever  be  held  on  the  ground 
floor. 

The  form  of  a  Lodge  room  should  be 
that  of  a  parallelogram  or  oblong  square, 
at  least  one-third  larger  from  east  to  west 
than  it  is  from  north  to  south.  The  ceiling 
should  be  lofty,  to  give  dignity  to  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  hall,  as  well  as  for  the  pur- 
poses of  health,  by  compensating,  in  some 
degree,  for  the  inconvenience  of  closed 
windows,  which  necessarily  will  deteriorate 
the  quality  of  the  air  in  a  very  short  time 


476 


LODGE 


LOST 


in  a  low  room.  The  approaches  to  the 
Lodge  room  from  without  should  be  angu- 
lar, for,  as  Oliver  says,  "A  straight  en- 
trance is  unmasonic,  and  cannot  be  toler- 
ated." There  should  be  two  entrances  to 
the  room,  which  should  be  situated  in  the 
west,  and  on  each  side  of  the  Senior  War- 
den's station.  The  one  on  his  right  hand 
is  for  the  introduction  of  visitors  and  mem- 
bers, and  leading  from  the  Tiler's  room,  is 
called  the  Tiler's,  or  the  outer  door;  the 
other,  on  his  left,  leading  from  the  prepa- 
ration room,  is  known  as  the  "  inner  door," 
and  sometimes  called  the  "  north-west  door." 
The  situation  of  these  two  doors,  as  well  as 
the  rooms  with  which  they  are  connected, 
and  which  are  essentially  necessary  in  a 
well-constructed  Lodge  room,  may  be  seen 
from  the  diagram  annexed  to  this  article, 
which  also  exhibits  the  seats  of  the  officers 
and  the  arrangement  of  the  altar  and  lights. 
For  further  observations,  see  Halls,  Ma- 
sonic. 

East. 


Platform 
for 


m 


or  Dais 
Past  Masters. 


Senior  Deacon. 
*  Treasurer. 


Secretary. 


Light. 


Light  * 


Altar. 


Light. 


Steward.  * 

Junior  Warden.  * 
Steward.  * 


5  o 

'3  g 


Inner 
door. 


Preparation 
Koom. 


Door. 


Outer 
door. 

Tiler's 
Room. 


West. 


•Door- 


Lodge,  Royal.     See  Royal  Lodge. 

Lodge,  Sacred.     See  Sacred  Lodge. 

Lodge,  Symbol  of  the.  The  mod- 
ern symbol  or  hieroglyphic  of  the  word 
Lodge  is  the  figure  CD,  which  undoubtedly 
refers  to  the  form  of  the  Lodge  as  an  "  ob- 
long square."  But  in  the  old  rituals  of 
A  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  we 
find  this  symbol:  The  cross  here, 
as  Krause  {Kunsturk,  i.  37,)  sug- 
J^  gests,  refers  to  the  "  four  angles"  of 
^[^  the    Lodge,     as    in    the    question : 

^^  "  How  many  angles  in  St.  John's 
Lodge?  A.  Four,  bordering  on  squares;" 
and  the  delta  is  the  Pythagorean  symbol 
of  Divine  Providence  watching  over  the 
Lodge.  This  symbol  has  long  since  be- 
come obsolete. 

Loge.    The  French  word  for  Lodge. 

Logic.  The  art  of  reasoning,  and  one 
of  the  seven  liberal  arts  and  sciences, 
whose  uses  are  inculcated  in  the  second  de- 
gree. The  power  of  right  reasoning,  which 
distinguishes  the  man  of  sane  mind  from 
the  madman  and  the  idiot,  is  deemed  essen- 
tial to  the  Mason,  that  he  may  comprehend 
both  his  rights  and  his  duties.  And  hence 
the  unfortunate  beings  just  named,  who  are 
without  this  necessary  mental  quality,  are 
denied  admission  into  the  Order.  The  Old 
Constitutions  define  logic  to  be  the  art 
"  that  teacheth  to  discern  truth  from  false- 
hood." 

Lombardy.  At  the  close  of  the  dark 
ages,  Lombardy  and  the  adjacent  Italian 
states  were  the  first  which  awakened  to  in- 
dustry. New  cities  arose,  and  the  kings, 
lords,  and  municipalities  began  to  encour- 
age the  artificers  of  different  professions. 
Among  the  arts  exercised  and  improved  in 
Lombardy,  the  art  of  building  held  a  pre- 
eminent rank,  and  from  that  kingdom,  as 
from  a  centre,  Masons  were  dispersed  over 
all  Europe.     See  Travelling  Freemasons. 

London.  With  the  city  of  London, 
the  modern  history  of  Freemasonry  is  in- 
timately connected.  A  congress  of  Masons, 
as  it  may  properly  be  called,  was  convened 
there  by  the  four  old  Lodges,  at  the  Apple- 
Tree  Tavern,  in  February,  1717.  Its  results 
were  the  formation  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  and  a  modification  of  the  Ma- 
sonic system,  whence  the  Freemasonry  of 
the  present  day  has  descended.  Anderson, 
in  his  second  edition  of  the  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions, (1738,)  gives  the  account  of  this, 
as  it  is  now  called,  Revival  of  Masonry, 
which  see. 

Lost  Word.  The  mythical  history  of 
Freemasonry  informs  us  that  there  once 
existed  a  WORD  of  surpassing  value,  and 
claiming  a  profound  veneration ;  that  this 
Word  was  known  to  but  few  ;  that  it  was 
at  length  lost ;  and  that  a  temporary  sub- 


LOTUS 


LOWEN 


477 


stitute  for  it  was  adopted.  But  as  the  very- 
philosophy  of  Masonry  teaches  us  that 
there  can  be  no  death  without  a  resurrec- 
tion, —  no  decay  without  a  subsequent  res- 
toration, —  on  the  same  principle  it  follows 
that  the  loss  of  the  Word  must  suppose  its 
eventual  recovery. 

Now,  this  it  is,  precisely,  that  constitutes 
the  myth  of  the  Lost  Word  and  the  search 
for  it.  No  matter  what  was  the  word,  no 
matter  how  it  was  lost,  nor  why  a  substi- 
tute was  provided,  nor  when  nor  where  it 
was  recovered.  These  are  all  points  of  sub- 
sidiary importance,  necessary,  it  is  true,  for 
knowing  the  legendary  history,  but  not 
necessary  for  understanding  the  symbolism. 
The  only  term  of  the  myth  that  is  to  be 
regarded  in  the  study  of  its  interpretation, 
is  the  abstract  idea  of  a  word  lost  and  after- 
wards recovered. 

The  WORD,  therefore,  I  conceive  to  be 
the  symbol  of  Divine  Truth;  and  all  its 
modifications  —  the  loss,  the  substitution, 
and  the  recovery  —  are  but  component 
parts  of  the  mythical  symbol  which  repre- 
sents a  search  after  truth.  In  a  general 
sense,  the  Word  itself  being  then  the  sym- 
bol of  Divine  Truth,  the  narrative  of  its 
loss  and  the  search  for  its  recovery  becomes 
a  mythical  symbol  of  the  decay  and  loss  of 
the  true  religion  among  the  ancient  nations, 
at  and  after  the  dispersion  on  the  plains  of 
Shinar,  and  of  the  attempts  of  the  wise 
men,  the  philosophers,  and  priests,  to  find 
and  retain  it  in  their  secret  mysteries  and 
initiations,  which  have  hence  been  desig- 
nated as  the  Spurious  Freemasonry  of 
Antiquity. 

But  there  is  a  special  or  individual,  as 
well  as  a  general  interpretation,  and  in  this 
special  or  individual  interpretation  the 
Word,  with  its  accompanying  myth  of  a 
loss,  a  substitute,  and  a  recovery,  becomes 
a  symbol  of  the  personal  progress  of  a  can- 
didate from  his  first  initiation  to  the  com- 
pletion of  his  course,  when  he  receives  a 
full  development  of  the  mysteries. 

Lotus.  The  lotus  plant,  so  celebrated 
in  the  religions  of  Egypt  and  Asia,  is  a  spe- 
cies of  Nymphsea,  or  water-lily,  which  grows 
abundantly  on  the  banks  of  streams  in  warm 
climates.  Although  more  familiarly  known 
as  the  lotus  of  the  Nile,  it  was  not  indigenous 
to  Egypt,  but  was  probably  introduced  into 
that  country  from  the  East,  among  whose 
people  it  was  everywhere  consecrated  as  a 
sacred  symbol.  The  Brahmanical  deities 
were  almost  always  represented  as  either 
decorated  with  its  flowers,  or  holding  it  as  a 
sceptre,  or  seated  on  it  as  a  throne.  Coleman 
says,  [Mythol.  Hindus,  p.  388,)  that  to  the 
Hindu  poets  the  lotus  was  what  the  rose  was 
to  the  Persians.  Floating  on  the  water  it  is 
the  emblem  of  the  world,  and  the  type  also 


of  the  mountain  Meru,  the  residence  of  the 
gods.  Among  the  Egyptians,  the  lotus  was 
the  symbol  of  Osiris  and  Isis.  It  was 
esteemed  a  sacred  ornament  by  the  priests, 
and  was  placed  as  a  coronet  upon  the  heads 
of  many  of  the  gods.  It  was  also  much 
used  in  the  sacred  architecture  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, being  placed  as  an  entablature  upon 
the  columns  of  their  temples.  Thence  it 
was  introduced  by  Solomon  into  Jewish 
architecture,  being  found,  under  the  name 
of  "  lily  work,"  as  a  part  of  the  ornaments 
of  the  two  pillars  at  the  porch  of  the  Tem- 
ple.   See  Lily  and  Pillars  of  the  Porch. 

Louisiana.  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  Louisiana  in  1793  by  the  organization 
of  Perfect  Union  Lodge,  under  a  Charter 
issued  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  South  Caro- 
lina. A  second  Lodge  was  established  by 
the  Mother  Lodge  of  Marseilles,  in  France ; 
and  three  others  were  subsequently  char- 
tered by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania. 
These  five  Lodges  instituted  a  Grand  Lodge 
on  July  11,  1812,  and  Francis  du  Bourg 
was  elected  the  first  Grand  Master.  A  dif- 
ference of  nationality  and  of  Masonic  rites 
have  been  a  fertile  source  of  controversy  in 
Louisiana,  the  results  of  which  it  would  be 
tedious  to  follow  in  detail.  In  1848,  there 
were  two  Grand  Lodges,  which  were  united 
in  1850  to  constitute  the  present  Grand 
Lodge. 

The  Grand  Chapter  of  Louisiana  was  in- 
stituted on  5th  March,  1813 ;  a  Grand  Coun- 
cil of  Royal  and  Select  Masters  on  16th 
February,  1856 ;  and  a  Grand  Commandery 
of  Knights  Templars  on  4th  February,  1864. 
The  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
has  always  held  a  prominent  position  in 
the  Masonry  of  Louisiana,  and  it  has  a 
Grand  Consistory  and  many  subordinate 
bodies  of  the  Rite  in  active  and  successful 
operation.  The  obedience  of  the  Grand 
Consistory  is  to  the  Supreme  Council  for 
the  Southern  Jurisdiction. 

l<ouveteau.    See  Lewis. 

L.owen.  In  the  Landsdowne  Manu- 
script we  meet  with  this  charge :  "  that  a 
Master  or  Fellow  make  not  a  mouldstone 
square,  nor  rule  to  no  Loiven,  nor  sett  no 
Lowen  worke  within  the  Lodge."  The  Lon- 
don Freemason's  Magazine,  and  Brother 
Hughan,  also,  say,  "  this  no  doubt  is  a  mis- 
take for  ' Cowan.' "  I  was  at  one  time  in- 
clined to  think  so  myself.  But  subsequent 
investigations  have  led  me  to  ehange  my 
opinion.  I  can  find  Cowan  only  in  one 
manuscript,  namely,  the  Scottish  one  of 
William  Schaw.  In  the  MS.  Constitutions 
from  the  York  Archives,  first  published  by 
Brother  Hughan,  we  have  in  the  parallel 
passage  "Rough  Mason."  This  gives  us  the 
idea  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  word, 
whatever  it  was.    It  pointed  to  a  handi- 


478 


LOW 


LUX 


craftsman  of  an  inferior  character  and 
standing.  For  "  Rough  Mason,"  we  have 
in  the  Alnwick  MS.  "Layer"  and  "  Rough 
Layer."  In  the  Harleian  and  Edinburgh- 
Kilwinning  MSS.  we  find  "  Layer;  "  in  the 
Sloane  MS.  it  is  "  Lyer ;  "  and  in  the  Dow- 
land  MS.,  which  I  have  already  said  seems 
almost  identical  in  origin  with  the  Lands- 
downe,  in  the  exactly  parallel  passage  we 
have"  Layer"  twice,  just  as  "Lowen"  is  twice 
used  here.  Layer  is  as  easily  corrupted 
into  Lowen  as  Cowan  would  be,  in  copying 
the  abbreviated  writing  of  these  Old  Rec- 
ords,  and  indeed  more  easily,  since  it  is 
more  likely  that  small  letters  should  be 
mistaken  and  changed  than  capitals. 

Ii<»w  Twelve.  In  Masonic  language 
midnight  is  so  called.  The  reference  is  to 
the  sun,  which  is  then  below  the  earth. 
Low  twelve  in  Masonic  symbolism  is  an 
unpropitious  hour. 

Loyalty.  Notwithstanding  the  calum- 
nies of  Barruel,  Ro  bison,  and  a  host  of  other 
anti-Masonic  writers  who  assert  that  Ma- 
sonry is  ever  engaged  in  efforts  to  uproot 
the  governments  within  which  it  may 
exist,  there  is  nothing  more  evident  than 
that  Freemasonry  is  a  loyal  institution, 
and  that  it  inculcates,  in  all  its  public  in- 
structions, obedience  to  government.  Thus, 
in  the  Prestonian  charge  given  in  the  last 
century  to  the  Entered  Apprentice,  and 
continued  to  this  day  in  the  same  words  in 
English  Lodges,  we  find  the  following 
words : 

"  In  the  State,  you  are  to  be  a  quiet  and 
peaceable  subject,  true  to  your  sovereign, 
and  just  to  your  country;  you  are  not 
to  countenance  disloyalty  or  rebellion,  but 
patiently  submit  to  legal  authority,  and 
conform  with  cheerfulness  to  the  govern- 
ment under  which  you  live,  yielding  obe- 
dience to  the  laws  which  afford  you  protec- 
tion, but  never  forgetting  the  attachment 
you  owe  to  the  place  of  your  nativity,  or 
the  allegiance  due  to  the  sovereign  or  pro- 
tectors of  that  spot." 

The  charge  given  in  American  Lodges  is 
of  the  same  import,  and  varies  but  slightly 
in  its  language. 

"  In  the  State,  you  are  to  be  a  quiet  and 
peaceful  subject,  true  to  your  government, 
and  just  to  your  country;  you  are  not  to 
countenance  disloyalty  or  rebellion,  but  pa- 
tiently submit  to  legal  authority,  and  con- 
form with  cheerfulness  to  the  government 
of  the  country  in  which  you  live." 

The  charge  given  in  French  Lodges, 
though  somewhat  differing  in  form  from 
both  of  these,  is  couched  in  the  same  spirit 
and  teaches  the  same  lesson.  It  is  to  this 
effect : 

"  Obedience  to  the  laws  and  submission 
to  the  authorities  are  among  the  most  im- 


perious duties  of  the  Mason,  and  he  is  for- 
bidden at  all  times  from  engaging  in  plots 
and  conspiracies." 

Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  true  Mason 
must  be  a  true  patriot. 

Luehet,  Jean  Pierre  Louis, 
Marquis  de.  A  French  historical 
writer,  born  at  Saintes  in  1740,  and  died  in 
1791.  He  was  the  writer  of  many  works 
of  but  little  reputation,  but  is  principally 
distinguished  in  Masonic  literature  as  the 
author  of  an  attack  upon  Illuminism  under 
the  title  of  Essai  sur  la  Secte  des  Lllumints. 
It  first  appeared  anonymously  in  1789. 
Four  editions  of  it  were  published.  The 
third  and  fourth  with  augmentations  and 
revisions,  which  were  attributed  to  Mira- 
beau,  were  printed  with  the  outer  title  of 
Histoire  secret  de  la  Cour  de  Berlin  {par  Mira- 
beau.)  This  work  was  published,  it  is 
known,  without  his  consent,  and  was 
burned  by  the  common  executioner  in  con- 
sequence of  its  libellous  character.  Lu- 
chet's  essay  has  become  very  scarce,  and  is 
now  valued  rather  on  account  of  its  rarity 
than  for  its  intrinsic  excellence. 

Luminaries.  The  first  five  officers 
in  a  French  Lodge,  namely,  the  Master,  two 
Wardens,  Orator,  and  Secretary,  are  called 
luminaires  or  luminaries,  because  it  is  by 
them  that  light  is  dispensed  to  the  Lodge. 

Lustration.  A  religious  rite  prac- 
tised by  the  ancients,  and  which  was  per- 
formed before  any  act  of  devotion.  It  con- 
sisted in  washing  the  hands,  and  sometimes 
the  whole  body,  in  lustral  or  consecrated 
water.  It  was  intended  as  a  symbol  of  the 
internal  purification  of  the  heart.  It  was 
a  ceremony  preparatory  to  initiation  in  all 
the  Ancient  Mysteries.  The  ceremony  is 
practised  with  the  same  symbolic  import  in 
some  of  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry.  So 
strong  was  the  idea  of  a  connection  between 
lustration  and  initiation,  that  in  the  low 
Latin  of  the  Middle  Ages  lustrare  meant  to 
initiate.  Thus  Du  Cange  ( Glossarium)  cites 
the  expression  "  lustrare  religione  Christi- 
anorum  "  as  signifying  "  to  initiate  into  the 
Christian  religion." 

Lux.  Latin  for  light,  which  see.  Free- 
masonry anciently  received,  among  other 
names,  that  of  "  Lux,"  because  it  is  that 
sublime  doctrine  of  truth  by  which  the 
pathway  of  him  who  has  attained  it  is  to 
be  illumined  in  the  pilgrimage  of  life. 
Among  the  Rosicrucians,  light  was  the 
knowledge  of  the  philosopher's  stone ;  and 
Mosheim  says  that  in  chemical  language 
the  cross  was  an  emblem  of  light,  because 
it  contains  within  its  figure  the  forms  of 
the  three  figures  of  which  LVX,  or  light, 
is  composed. 

Lux  e  tenebris.  Light  out  of  dark- 
ness.   A  motto  very  commonly  used  in  the 


LUX 


MAC 


479 


caption  of  Masonic  documents  as  expres- 
sive of  the  object  of  Masonry,  and  of  what 
the  true  Mason  supposes  himself  to  have 
attained.  It  has  a  recondite  meaning. 
In  the  primeval  ages  and  in  the  early  my- 
thology, darkness  preceded  light.  "  In  the 
thought,"  says  Cox,  "  of  these  early  ages, 
the  sun  was  the  child  of  night  or  dark- 
ness," (Aryan  Myth.,  i.  43.)  So  lux  being 
truth  or  Masonry,  and  tenebrce,  or  darkness, 
the  symbol  of  initiation,  lux  e  tenebris  is 
Masonic  truth  proceeding  from  initiation. 

tux  Fiat  et  Iaix  Fit.  Latin.  "Let 
there  be  light,  and  there  was  light."  A  motto 
sometimes  prefixed  to  Masonic  documents. 

Ii.  V.  C  Letters  inscribed  on  the  rings 
of  profession,  worn  by  the  Knights  of  Ba- 
ron von  Hund's  Templar  system.  They 
are  the  initials  of  the  sentence  Labor  Viris 
Convenit.  Labor  is  suitable  for  men.  It 
was  also  engraved  on  their  seals. 


liyons.  Congress  of.  A  Masonic 
congress  was  convoked  in  1778,  at  the  city 
of  Lyons,  France,  by  the  Lodge  of  Chev- 
aliers Bienfaisants.  It  was  opened  on  the 
26th  November,  and  continued  in  session  un- 
til the  27th  December,  under  the  presidency 
of  M.  Villermoz.  Its  ostensible  object  was 
to  procure  a  reformation  in  Masonry  by 
the  abjuration  of  the  Templar  theory ;  but 
it  wasted  its  time  in  the  correction  of  rituals 
and  in  Masonic  intrigues,  and  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  either  sagacious  in  its 
methods,  or  successful  in  its  results.  Even 
its  abjuration  of  the  Strict  Observance  doc- 
trine that  Templarism  was  the  true  origin 
of  Freemasonry,  is  said  to  have  been  in- 
sincere, and  forced  upon  it  by  the  injunc- 
tions of  the  political  authorities,  who  were 
opposed  to  the  propagation  of  any  system 
which  might  tend  to  restore  the  Order  of 
Knights  Templars. 


M. 


Maacha.  In  the  tenth  degree  of  the 
Scottish  Rite  we  are  informed  that  certain 
traitors  fled  to  "  Maacha  king  of  Cheth," 
by  whom  they  were  delivered  up  to  King 
Solomon  on  his  sending  for  them.  In  1 
Kings  ii.  39,  we  find  it  recorded  that  two 
of  the  servants  of  Shimei  fled  from  Jeru- 
salem to  "  Achish,  son  of  Maacha  king  of 
Gath."  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
carelessness  of  the  early  copyists  of  the 
ritual  led  to  the  double  error  of  putting 
Cheth  for  Gath  and  of  supposing  that  Ma- 
acha was  its  king  instead  of  its  king's 
father.  The  manuscripts  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  too  often 
copied  by  unlearned  persons,  show  many 
such  corruptions  of  Hebrew  names,  which 
modern  researches  must  eventually  correct. 
Delaunay,  in  his  Thuileur,  makes  him  King 
of  Tyre,  and  calls  him  Mahakah. 

mac.  Masonic  writers  have  generally 
given  to  this  word  the  meaning  of  "is 
smitten,"  deriving  it  probably  from  the 
Hebrew  verb  HDJ,  nacha,  to  smite.  Others, 
again,  think  it  is  the  word  pD,  mak,  rotten- 
ness, and  suppose  that  it  means  "  he  is 
rotten"  Both  derivations  are,  I  think,  in- 
correct. 

Mac  is  a  constituent  part  of  the  word 
macbenac,  which  is  the  substitute  Master's 
word  in  the  French  Rite,  and  which  is  in- 
terpreted by  the  French  ritualists  as  mean- 
ing "he  lives  in  the  son."     But  such  a 


derivation  can  find  no  support  in  any 
known  Hebrew  root.  Another  interpreta- 
tion must  be  sought.  I  think  there  is 
evidence,  circumstantial  at  least,  to  show 
that  the  word  was,  if  not  an  invention  of 
the  Ancient  or  Dermott  Masons,  at  least 
adopted  by  them  in  distinction  from  the 
one  used  by  the  Moderns,  and  which  latter 
is  the  word,  now  in  use  in  this  country.  I 
am  disposed  to  attribute  the  introduction 
of  the  word  into  Masonry  to  the  adherents 
of  the  house  of  Stuart,  who  sought  in 
every  way  to  make  the  institution  of  Free- 
masonry a  political  instrument  in  their 
schemes  for  the  restoration  of  their  exiled 
monarch.  Thus  the  old  phrase,  "the 
widow's  son,"  was  applied  by  them  to 
James  the  Second,  who  was  the  son  of 
Henrietta  Maria,  the  widow  of  Charles  the 
First.  So,  instead  of  the  old  Master's  word 
which  had  hitherto  been  used,  they  in- 
vented macbenac  out  of  the  Gaelic,  which 
to  them  was,  on  account  of  their  Highland 
supporters,  almost  a  sacred  language  in  the 
place  of  Hebrew.  Now,  in  Gaelic,  Mac  isjsow, 
and  benach  is  blessed,  from  the  active  verb 
beannaich,  to  bless.  The  latest  dictionary 
published  by  the  Highland  Society  gives 
this  example :  "  Benach  De  Righ  Albane, 
Alexander,  Mac  Alexander,"  etc.,  i.  e.,  Bless 
the  King  of  Scotland,  Alexander,  son  of 
Alexander,  etc.  Therefore  we  find,  with- 
out any  of  those  distortions  to  which  ety- 


480 


MACBENAC 


MAGIC 


mologists  so  often  recur,  that  macbenac 
means  in  Gaelic  "the  blessed  son:'  This 
word  the  Stuart  Masons  applied  to  their 
idol,  the  Pretender,  the  son  of  Charles  I. 

Macbenac.  1.  A  significant  word  in 
the  third  degree  according  to  the  French 
Rite  and  some  other  rituals.    See  Mac. 

2.  In  the  Order  of  Beneficent  Knights 
of  the  Holy  City,  the  recipiendary,  or  nov- 
ice, is  called  Macbenac. 

Maccabees.  A  heroic  family,  whose 
patriotism  and  valor  form  bright  pictures 
in  the  Jewish  annals.  The  name  is  gen- 
erally supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  let- 
ters *.  ^.  3.  f2->  M-  c-  B-  !•>  —  which  were 
inscribed  upon  their  banners,  —  being  the 
initials  of  the  Hebrew  sentence,  "  Mi  Ca- 
mocha,  Baalim,  Iehovah,"  Who  is  like  unto 
thee  among  the  gods,  0  Jehovah.  The  He- 
brew sentence  has  been  appropriated  in 
some  of  the  high  Scottish  degrees  as  a  sig- 
nificant word. 

Macerio.  Du  Cange  gives  this  as  one 
of  the  Middle  Age  Latin  words  for  mason, 
deriving  it  from  maceria,  a  wall ;  but  ma- 
ceria  was  a  corruption  of  materia,  materials 
for  building.  The  word  is  now  never  em- 
ployed. 

Macio.  Du  Cange  (Oloss.)  defines  Ma- 
cio,  Mattio,  or  Machio,  on  the  authority  of 
Isidore,  as  Maqon,  latomus,  a  mason,  a  con- 
structor of  walls,  from  machinis,  the  ma- 
chines on  which  they  stood  to  work  on 
account  of  the  height  of  the  walls.  He 
gives  Maco  also. 

Macon.  The  French  for  Mason,  sup- 
posed to  be  derived  from  maison,  a  house. 

Maconetus.  Low  Latin,  signifying  a 
mason,  and  found  in  documents  of  the 
fourteenth  century. 

Macomie.  A  French  word  signifying 
a  female  Mason,  that  is  to  say,  the  degrees 
of  the  Rite  of  Adoption.  It  is  a  very  con- 
venient word.  The  formation  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  would  permit  the  use  of  the 
equivalent  word  Masoness,  if  custom  would 
sanction  it. 

Macon  ne  Egyptienne.  The  third 
degree  in  Cagliostro's  Rite  of  Adoption. 

Macomicr.  Du  Cange  gives  citations 
from  documents  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
where  this  word  is  used  as  signifying  to 
build. 

Maczo.  Latin  of  the  Middle  Ages  for 
a  mason.  Du  Cange  quotes  a  Computum 
of  the  year  1324,  in  which  it  is  said  that 
the  work  was  done  "per  manum  Petri, 
maczonis  de  Lagnicio." 

Made.  A  technical  word  signifying 
initiated  into  Masonry.    See  Make. 

Madman.  Madmen  are  specially  des- 
ignated in  the  oral  law  as  disqualified  for 
initiation.    See  Qualifications. 

Magazine.  The  earliest  Masonic  mag- 
azine was  published  in  Germany.     It  was 


the  Freimaurerzeitung,  issued  for  a  short 
time  at  Berlin,  in  1783.  But  the  Journal 
fur  Freimaurer,  which  appeared  the  next 
year  at  Vienna,  had  a  more  protracted  ex- 
istence. In  England,  the  first  work  of  this 
kind  was  The  Freemason's  Magazine  or  Gen- 
eral and  Complete  Library,  begun  in  1793, 
and  continued  for  several  years.  In  France, 
the  earliest  Masonic  magazine  of  which  I 
can  find  any  notice  was  Hermes,  the  first 
number  of  which  appeared  in  1808.  Of 
American  Masonic  magazines  the  earliest 
is  the  Freemason's  Magazine  and  General 
Miscellany,  published  at  Philadelphia  in 
1811.  Since  then  more  than  sixty  Masonic 
journals  have  been  established  in  the  United 
States,  of  which  about  twenty  still  exist. 
The  oldest  living  periodical  devoted  to  Ma- 
sonry is  the  Freemason's  Monthly  Magazine, 
published  by  Charles  W.  Moore,  at  Boston. 
It  was  established  in  the  year  1842. 

Magi.  The  ancient  Greek  historians 
so  term  the  hereditary  priests  among  the 
Persians  and  Medians.  The  word  is  de- 
rived from  mog  or  mag,  signifying  priest  in 
the  Pehlevi  language.  The  Illuminati  first 
introduced  the  word  into  Masonry,  and  em- 
ployed it  in  the  nomenclature  of  their  de- 
grees to  signify  men  of  superior  wisdom. 

Magic.  The  idea  that  any  connection 
exists  between  Freemasonry  and  magic  is 
to  be  attributed  to  the  French  writers,  es- 
pecially to  Ragon,  who  gives  many  pages 
of  his  Masonic  Orthodoxy  to  the  subject 
of  Masonic  magic;  and  still  more  to  Louis 
Constance,  who  has  written  three  large  vol- 
umes on  the  History  of  Magic,  on  the 
Ritual  and  Dogma  of  the  Higher  Magic, 
and  on  the  Key  of  the  Grand  Mysteries,  in 
all  of  which  he  seeks  to  trace  an  intimate 
connection  between  the  Masonic  mysteries 
and  the  science  of  magic.  Ragon  desig- 
nates this  sort  of  Masonry  by  the  name  of 
"Occult  Masonry."  But  he  loosely  con- 
founds magic  with  the  magism  of  the  an- 
cient Persians,  the  mediaeval  philosophy 
and  modern  magnetism,  all  of  which,  as 
identical  sciences,  were  engaged  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  nature  of  man,  the  mech- 
anism of  his  thoughts,  the  faculties  of 
his  soul,  his  power  over  nature,  and  the  es- 
sence of  the  occult  virtues  of  all  things. 
Magism,  he  says,  is  to  be  found  in  the  sen- 
tences of  Zoroaster,  in  the  hymns  of  Or- 
pheus, in  the  invocations  of  the  Hiero- 
phants,  and  in  the  symbols  of  Pythagoras ; 
and  it  is  reproduced  in  the  philosophy  of 
Agrippa  and  of  Cardan,  and  is  recognized 
under  the  name  of  Magic  in  the  marvellous 
results  of  magnetism.  Cagliostro,  it  is 
well  known,  mingled  with  his  Spurious 
Freemasonry  the  Superstitions  of  Magic 
and  the  Operations  of  Animal  Magnetism. 
But  the  writers  who  have  sought  to  estab- 
lish a  scheme  of  Magical  Masonry  refer 


MAGICIANS 


MAGNANIMOUS 


481 


almost  altogether  to  the  supposed  power  of 
mystical  names  or  words,  which  they  say  is 
common  to  both  Masonry  and  magic.  It 
is  certain  that  onomatology,  or  the  science 
of  names,  forms  a  very  interesting  part  of 
the  investigations  of  the  higher  Masonry, 
and  it  is  only  in  this  way  that  any  connec- 
tion can  be  created  between  the  two  sciences. 
Much  light,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  thrown 
on  many  of  the  mystical  names  in  the 
higher  degrees  by  the  dogmas  of  magic; 
and  hence  magic  furnishes  a  curious  and 
interesting  study  for  the  Freemason. 

Magicians,  Society  of  the.  A 
society  founded  at  Florence,  which  became 
a  division  of  the  Brothers  of  Rose  Croix. 
They  wore  in  their  Chapters  the  habit  of 
members  of  the  Inquisition. 

Magic  Squares.  A  magic  square  is 
a  series  of  numbers  arranged  in  an  equal 
number  of  cells  constituting  a  square  fig- 
ure, the  enumeration  of  all  of  whose  col- 
umns, vertically,  horizontally,  and  diagon- 
ally, will  give  the  same  sum.  The  Oriental 
philosophers,  and  especially  the  Jewish 
Talmudists,  have  indulged  in  many  fanciful 
speculations  in  reference  to  these  magic 
squares,  many  of  which  were  considered 
as  talismans.  The  following  figure  of  nine 
squares,  containing  the  nine  digits  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  make  fifteen  when  counted  in 
every  way,  was  of  peculiar  import  : 


4  9  2 

3  5  7 

8  16 


There  was  no  talisman  more  sacred  than 
this  among  the  Orientalists,  when  arranged 
in  the  following  figure : 


Thus  arranged,  they  called  it  by  the 
name  of  the  planet  Saturn,  ZaHaL,  because 
the  sum  of  the  9  digits  in  the  square  was 
equal  to  46,  (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9,) 
which  is  the  numerical  value  of  the  letters 
in  the  word  ZaHaL,  in  the  Arabic  alphabet. 
The  Talmudists  also  esteemed  it  as  a  sacred 
talisman,  because  15  is  the  numerical  value 
of  the  letters  of  the  word  ."p,  JaH,  which 
is  one  of  the  forms  of  the  Tetragrammaton. 

The  Hermetic  philosophers  called  these 
magic  squares  "tables  of  the  planets," 
and  attributed  to  them  many  occult  vir- 
tues. The  table  of  Saturn  consisted  of  9 
squares,  and  has  just  been  given.  The 
table  of  Jupiter  consisted  of  16  squares  of 
numbers,  whose  total  value  is  136,  and  the 
sum  of  them  added,  horizontally,  perpen- 
dicularly, and  diagonally,  is  always  34; 
thus : 


4 

14 

15 

1 

5 

7 

6 

12 

9 

11 

10 

8 

16 

2 

3 

13 

So  the  table  of  Mars  consists  of  25 
squares,  of  the  Sun  of  36,  of  Venus  of  49, 
of  Mercury  of  64,  and  of  the  Moon  of  81. 
These  magic  squares  and  their  values  have 
been  used  in  the  symbolism  of  numbers  in 
some  of  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry. 

Magister  Ceenientariorum.  A 
title  applied  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  one  who 
presided  over  the  building  of  edifices  = 
Master  of  the  Masons. 

Magister  Hospitalis.  See  Master 
of  the  Hospital.  ' 

Magister  Lapidifm.  Du  Cange  de- 
fines this  as  Master  Mason ;  and  he  cites 
the  statutes  of  Marseilles  as  saying :  "  Tres 
Magistros  Lapidis  bonos  et  legales,"  i.  e., 
three  good  and  lawful  Master  Masons 
"shall  be  selected  to  decide  on  all  ques- 
tions about  water  in  the  city." 

Magister  Militia*  Christ!.  See 
Master  of  the  Chivalry  of  Christ. 

Magister  Perrerius.  A  name 
given  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  a  Mason ;  lit- 
erally, a  Master  of  Stones,  from  the  French 
pierre,  a  stone. 

Magister  Templi.  See  Master  of 
the  Temple. 

Magistri  Coinacini.    See  Como. 

Magnanimous.  The  title  applied 
in  modern  usage  to  the  Order  of  Knights 
Templars. 


482 


MAGNETIC 


MAJORITY 


Magnetic  Masonry.  This  is  a  form 
of  Freemasonry  which,  although  long  ago 

f>ractised  by  Cagliostro  as  a  species  of  char- 
atanism,  was  first  introduced  to  notice  as  a 
philosophic  system  by  Ragon  in  his  treatise 
on  Maconnerie  Occulte.  "The  occult  sci- 
ences,'' says  this  writer,  "  reveal  to  man  the 
mysteries  of  his  nature,  the  secrets  of  his 
organization,  the  means  of  attaining  per- 
fection and  happiness ;  and,  in  short,  the 
decree  of  his  destiny.  Their  study  was 
that  of  the  high  initiations  of  the  Egyp- 
tians ;  it  is  time  that  they  should  become 
the  study  of  modern  Masons."  And  again 
he  says :  "  A  Masonic  society  which  should 
establish  in  its  bosom  a  magnetic  academy 
would  soon  find  the  reward  of  its  labors  in 
the  good  that  it  would  do,  and  the  happi- 
ness which  it  would  create."  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  Masonic  investigator 
has  a  right  to  search  everywhere  for  the 
means  of  moral,  intellectual,  and  religious 
perfection ;  and  if  he  can  find  anything  in 
magnetism  which  would  aid  him  in  the 
search,  it  is  his  duty  and  wisest  policy  to 
avail  himself  of  it.  But,  nevertheless,  Mag- 
netic Masonry,  as  a  special  regime,vfi\i  hardly 
ever  be  adopted  by  the  Fraternity. 

Magus.  1.  The  fourteenth  degree,  and 
the  first  of  the  Greater  Mysteries  of  the 
system  of  llluminism.  2.  The  ninth  and 
last  degree  of  the  German  Rose  Croix.  It 
is  the  singular  of  Magi,  which  see. 

Mali.  The  Hebrew  interrogative  pro- 
noun ,-JO>  signifying  what?  It  is  a  com- 
ponent part  of  a  significant  word  in  Ma- 
sonry. The  combination  mahhah,  literally 
"  what  1  the,"  is  equivalent,  according  to 
the  Hebrew  method  of  ellipsis,  to  the  ques- 
tion, "  What !  is  this  the ?  " 

Mataer  -  S  h  a  I  a  1  -Hash  -  Baz.  He- 
brew, p  t?n  hhv?  "\TV2-  Four  Hebrew 
words  which  the  prophet  Isaiah  was  or- 
dered to  write  upon  a  tablet,  and  which 
were  afterwards  to  be  the  name  of  his  son. 
They  signify,  "  make  haste  to  the  prey, 
fall  upon  the  spoil,"  and  were  prognostic 
of  the  sudden  attack  of  the  Assyrians. 
They  may  be  said,  in  their  Masonic  use,  to 
be  symbolic  of  the  readiness  for  action 
which  should  distinguish  a  warrior,  and 
are  therefore  of  significant  use  in  the  sys- 
tem of  Masonic  Templarism. 

Maicr,  Michael.  A  celebrated  Rosi- 
crucian  and  interpreter  and  defender  of 
Rosicrucianism.  He  was  born  at  Resins- 
burg,  in  Holstein,  in  1568,  and  died  at 
Magdeburg  in  1620.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  to  introduce  Rosicrucianism 
into  England.  He  wrote  many  works  on 
the  system,  among  which  the  most  noted 
are  Atlanta  Fugiens,  1618  ;  Septimana  Pliil- 
osophica,  1620 ;  De  Fraternitate  Rosod  Cru- 
ris, 1618;  and   Lusus  iSerius,  1617.    Some 


of  his  contemporaries  having  denied  the 
existence  of  the  Rosicrucian  Order,  Maier 
in  his  writings  has  refuted  the  calumny 
and  warmly  defended  the  society,  of  which, 
in  one  of  his  works,  he  speaks  thus :  "  Like 
the  Pythagoreans  and  Egyptians,  the  Rosi- 
crucians  exact  vows  of  silence  and  se- 
crecy. Ignorant  men  have  treated  the 
whole  as  a  fiction ;  but  this  has  arisen 
from  the  five  years'  probation  to  which 
they  subject  even  well -qualified  novices 
before  they  are  admitted  to  the  higher 
mysteries,  and  within  this  period  they  are 
to  learn  how  to  govern  their  own  tongues." 

Maine.  Until  the  year  1820,  the  Dis- 
trict of  Maine  composed  a  part,  of  the 
political  territory  of  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  its  Lodges  were  under  the  obedi- 
ence of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts. 
In  that  year,  a  political  division  having 
taken  place,  and  Maine  having  been 
erected  into  an  independent  State,  the 
Masons  of  Maine  took  the  preliminary 
steps  towards  an  independent  Masonic  or- 
ganization, in  obedience  to  the  universally 
recognized  law  that  political  territory 
makes  Masonic  territory,  and  that  changes 
of  political  jurisdiction  are  followed  by 
corresponding  changes  of  Masonic  jurisdic- 
tion. A  memorial  was  addressed  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts  praying  for 
its  consent  to  the  organization  of  an  inde- 
pendent Grand  Lodge  and  a  just  division 
of  the  charity  and  other  funds.  A  favor- 
able response  having  been  received,  a  con- 
vention was  held  at  Portland  on  June  1, 
1820,  consisting  of  delegates  from  twenty- 
four  Lodges,  when  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Maine  was  organized,  and  William  King 
elected  Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  was  or- 
ganized in  1821,  the  Grand  Council  of 
Royal  Arch  Masons  in  1855,  and  the 
Grand  Commandery  in  1852. 

Maitre  Macon.  The  name  of  the 
third  degree  in  French. 

Maitresse  Agissante.  Acting  Mis- 
tress. The  title  of  the  presiding  officer  of 
a  female  Lodge  in  the  Egyptian  Rite  of  Cag- 
liostro. 

Maitresse  Macon.  The  third  de- 
gree of  the  French  Rite  of  Adoption.  We 
have  no  equivalent  word  in  English.  It 
signifies  a  Mistress  in  Masonry. 

Maitrise.  This  expressive  word  wants 
an  equivalent  in  English.  The  French  use 
la  Maitrise  to  designate  the  third  or  Mas- 
ter's degree. 

Major.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  Ger- 
man Rose  Croix. 

Major  Illuminate.  {Illuminatus  Ma- 
jor.) The  eighth  degree  of  the  Illuminati 
of  Bavaria. 

Majority.      Elections    in    Masonic 


MAKE 


MANNINGHAM 


483 


bodies  are  as  a  general  rule  decided  by  a 
majority  of  the  votes  cast.  A  plurality 
vote  is  not  admissible  unless  it  has  been 
provided  for  by  a  special  by-law. 

Make.  "To  make  Masons"  is  a  very 
ancient  term;  used  in  the  oldest  charges 
extant  as  synonymous  with  the  verb  to  ini- 
tiate or  receive  into  the  Fraternity.  It  is 
found  in  the  Landsdowne  MS.,  whose  date 
is  1560.  "  These  be  all  the  charges  .... 
read  at  the  making  of  a  Mason." 

Malaeh.  ybn.  An  angel.  A  signifi- 
cant word  in  the  high  degrees.  Lenning 
gives  it  improperly  as  Meleac. 

Malaclii  or  Malachias.  The  last  of 
the  prophets.  A  significant  word  in  the 
thirty-second  degree  of  the  Scottish  Kite. 

Mallet.  One  of  the  working-tools  of 
a  Mark  Master,  having  the  same  emblem- 
atic meaning  as  the  common  gavel  in  the 
Entered  Apprentice's  degree.  It  teaches 
us  to  correct  the  irregularities  of  temper, 
and,  like  enlightened  reason,  to  curb  the 
aspirations  of  unbridled  ambition,  to  depress 
the  malignity  of  envy,  and  to  moderate  the 
ebullition  of  anger.  It  removes  from  the 
mind  all  the  excrescences  of  vice,  and  fits  it, 
as  a  well-wrought  stone,  for  that  exalted 
station  in  the  great  temple  of  nature  to 
which,  as  an  emanation  of  the  Deity,  it  is 
entitled. 

The  mallet  or  setting  maul  is  also  an  em- 
blem of  the  third  degree,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  the  implement  by  which  the  stones 
were  set  up  at  the  Temple.  It  is  often 
improperly  confounded  with  the  common 


The  French  Masons,  to  whom  the  word 
gavel  is  unknown,  uniformly  use  maillet,  or 
mallet,  in  its  stead,  and  confound  its  sym- 
bolic use,  as  the  implement  of  the  presiding 
officer,  with  the  mallet  of  the  English  and 
American  Mark  Master. 

Malta.  Anciently,  Melita.  A  small 
island  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  which, 
although  occupying  only  about  170  sq. 
miles,  possessed  for  several  centuries  a 
greater  degree  of  celebrity  than  was  at- 
tached to  any  other  territory  of  so  little  ex- 
tent. It  is  now  a  possession  of  the  British 
government,  but  was  occupied  from  1530 
to  1798  by  the  Knights  Hospitallers,  then 
called  Knights  of  Malta,  upon  whom  it  was 
conferred  in  the  former  year  by  Charles  the 
Fifth. 

Malta,  Cross  of.   See  Gross  of  Malta. 

Malta,  Knight  of.  See  Knight 
of  Malta. 

Maltese  Cross.    See  Cross  of  Malta. 

Man.  1.  Man  has  been  called  the 
microcosm,  or  little  world,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  macrocosm,  or  great  world,  by 
some  fanciful  writers  on  metaphysics,  by 
reason  of  a  supposed  correspondence  be- 


tween the  different  parts  and  qualities  of 
his  nature  and  those  of  the  universe.  But 
in  Masonic  symbolism  the  idea  is  borrowed 
from  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  who  repeat- 
edly refer  to  man  as  a  symbol  of  the  Tem- 
ple. 

2.  A  man  was  inscribed  on  the  standard 
of  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  and  is  borne  on  the 
Royal  Arch  banners  as  appropriate  to  the 
Grand  Master  of  the  second  veil.  It  was 
also  the  charge  in  the  third  quarter  of  the 
arms  of  the  Athol  Grand  Lodge. 

3.  Der  Mann,  or  the  man,  is  the  second 
degree  of  the  German  Union. 

4.  To  be  "a  man,  not  a  woman,"  is  one 
of  the  qualifications  for  Masonic  initiation. 
It  is  the  first,  and  therefore  the  most  im- 
portant, qualification  mentioned  in  the 
ritual. 

Mandate.  That  which  is  commanded. 
The  Benedictine  editors  of  Du  Cange  define 
mandatum  as  "  breve  aut  edictum  regium," 
i.  e.,  a  royal  brief  or  edict,  and  mandamentum 
as  "  literae  quibus  magistratus  aliquid  mau- 
dat,"  L  «.,  letters  in  which  a  magistrate 
commands  anything.  Hence  the  orders 
and  decrees  of  a  Grand  Master  or  a  Grand 
Lodge  are  called  mandates,  and  implicit 
obedience  to  them  is  of  Masonic  obligation. 
There  is  an  appeal,  yet  not  a  suspensive 
one,  from  the  mandate  of  a  Grand  Master 
to  the  Grand  Lodge,  but  there  is  none  from 
the  latter. 

Mangourit,  Miehel  Ange  Ber- 
nard de.  A  distinguished  member  of 
the  Grand  Orient  of  France.  He  founded 
in  1776,  at  Rennes,  the  Rite  of  Sublimes  Elus 
de  la  Ve'rite,  or  Sublime  Elects  of  Truth, 
and  at  Paris  the  androgynous  society  of 
Dames  of  Mount  Thabor.  He  also  created 
the  Masonic  Literary  Society  of  Free 
Thinkers,  which  existed  for  three  years. 
He  delivered  lectures  which  were  subse- 
quently published  under  the  title  of  Coursde 
Philosophie  Maconnique,  in  500  pp.,  4to.  He 
also  delivered  a  great  many  lectures  and 
discourses  before  different  Lodges,  several 
of  which  were  published.  He  died,  after  a 
long  and  severe  illness,  February  17,  1829. 

Manna,  Pot  of.  Among  the  articles 
laid  up  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant  by  Aaron 
was  a  pot  of  manna.  In  the  substitute  ark, 
commemorated  in  the  Royal  Arch  degree, 
there  was,  of  course,  a  representation  of  it. 
Manna  has  been  considered  as  a  symbol  of 
life;  not  the  transitory,  but  the  enduring 
one  of  a  future  world.  Hence  the  Pot  of 
Manna,  Aaron's  rod  that  budded  anew,  and 
the  Book  of  the  Law,  which  teaches  Divine 
Truth,  all  found  together,  are  appropriately 
considered  as  the  symbols  of  that  eternal  life 
which  it  is  the  design  of  the  Royal  Arch 
degree  to  teach. 

Manningham,     Thomas.    *  Dr. 


484 


MANTLE 


MANUSCRIPTS 


Thomas  Manningham  was  a  physician, 
of  London,  of  much  repute  in  the  last  cen- 
tury. He  took  an  active  interest  in  the 
concerns  of  Freemasonry,  having  been  ap- 
pointed Deputy  Grand  Master,  in  the  year 
1752,  by  Lord  Carysfort.  He  was  the  au- 
thor of  the  prayer  now  so  well  known  to 
the  Fraternity,  which  was  presented  by  him 
to  the  Grand  Lodge,  and  adopted  as  a  form 
of  prayer  to  be  used  at  the  initiation  of  a  can- 
didate. Before  that  period,  no  prayer  was 
used  on  such  occasions,  and  the  one  com- 
posed by  Manningham  (Oliver  says  with 
the  assistance  of  Anderson,  which  I  doubt, 
as  Anderson  died  in  1746,)  is  here  given  as 
a  document  of  the  time.  It  will  be  seen 
that  in  our  day  it  has  been  somewhat  modi- 
fied, Preston  making  the  first  change ;  and 
that,  originally  used  as  one  prayer,  it  has 
since  been  divided,  in  this  country  at  least, 
into  two,  the  first  part  being  used  as  a 
prayer  at  the  opening  of  a  Lodge,  and  the 
latter  at  the  initiation  of  a  candidate. 

"Most  Holy  and  Glorious  Lord  God, 
thou  Architect  of  heaven  and  earth,  who 
art  the  giver  of  all  good  gifts  and  graces ; 
and  hath  promised  that  where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  in  thy  name,  thou 
wilt  be  in  the  midst  of  them ;  in  thy  Name 
we  assemble  and  meet  together,  most  hum- 
bly beseeching  thee  to  bless  us  in  all  our 
undertakings :  to  give  us  thy  Holy  Spirit, 
to  enlighten  our  minds  with  wisdom  and 
understanding;  that  we  may  know  and 
serve  thee  aright,  that  all  our  doings  may 
tend  to  thy  glory  and  the  salvation  of  our 
souls.  And  we  beseech  thee,  O  Lord  God, 
to  bless  this  our  present  undertaking,  and 
to  grant  that  this  our  Brother  may  dedicate 
his  life  to  thy  service,  and  be  a  true  and 
faithful  Brother  amongst  us.  Endue  him 
with  Divine  wisdom,  that  he  may,  with  the 
secrets  of  Masonry,  be  able  to  unfold  the 
mysteries  of  godliness  and  Christianity. 
This  we  humbly  beg,  in  the  name  and  for 
the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  Amen." 

Dr.  Manningham  rendered  other  im- 
portant services  to  Masonry  by  his  advo- 
cacy of  healthy  reforms  and  his  determined 
opposition  to  the  schismatic  efforts  of  the 
"  Ancient  Masons."  He  died  February  3, 
1794.  The  fourth  edition  of  the  Book  of 
Constitutions  speaks  of  him  in  exalted 
terms  as  "distinguished  for  his  affection 
and  zeal  for  Masonry." 

Mantle.  A  dress  placed  over  all  the 
others.  It  is  of  very  ancient  date,  being  a 
part  of  the  costume  of  the  Hebrews,  Greeks, 
and  Romans.  Among  the  Anglo-Saxons  it 
was  the  decisive  mark  of  military  rank, 
being  confined  to  the  cavalry.  In  the 
Mediaeval  ages,  and  on  the  institution  of 
chivalry,  the  long,  trailing  mantle  was  espe- 


cially reserved  as  an  insignia  of  knight- 
hood, and  was  worn  by  the  knight  as  the 
most  august  and  noble  decoration  that  he 
could  have,  when  he  was  not  dressed  in  his 
armor.  The  general  color  of  the  mantle, 
in  imitation  of  that  of  the  Roman  soldiers, 
was  scarlet,  which  was  lined  with  ermine 
or  other  precious  furs.  But  some  of  the 
Orders  wore  mantles  of  other  colors.  Thus 
the  Knights  Templars  were  clothed  with  a 
white  mantle  having  a  red  cross  on  the 
breast,  and  the  Knights  Hospitallers  a  black 
mantle  with  a  white  cross.  The  mantle  is 
still  worn  in  England  and  other  countries 
of  Europe  as  a  mark  of  rank  on  state  oc- 
casions by  peers,  and  by  some  magistrates 
as  a  token  of  official  rank. 

Mantle  of  Honor.  The  mantle  worn 
by  a  knight  was  called  the  Mantle  of 
Honor.  This  mantle  was  presented  to  a 
knight  whenever  he  was  made  by  the  king. 

Manual.  Relating  to  the  hand,  from 
the  Latin  manus,  a  hand.  See  the  Masonic 
use  of  the  word  in  the  next  two  articles. 

Manual  Point  of  Entrance. 
Masons  are,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  re- 
minded, by  the  hand,  of  the  necessity  of  a 
prudent  and  careful  observance  of  all  their 
pledges  and  duties,  and  hence  this  organ 
suggests  certain  symbolic  instructions  in 
relation  to  the  virtue  of  prudence. 

Manual  Sign.  In  the  early  English 
lectures  this  term  is  applied  to  what  is  now 
called  the  Manual  Point  of  Entrance. 

Manuscripts.  Anderson  tells  us,  in 
the  second  edition  of  his  Constitutions, 
that  in  the  year  1717  Grand  Master  Payne 
"desired  any  brethren  to  bring  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  any  old  writings  and  records 
concerning  Masons  and  Masonry,  in  order 
to  show  the  usages  of  ancient  times,  and 
several  old  copies  of  the  Gothic  Constitu- 
tions were  produced  and  collated;"  but 
in  consequence  of  a  jealous  supposition 
that  it  would  be  wrong  to  commit  anything 
to  print  which  related  to  Masonry,  an  act 
of  Masonic  vandalism  was  perpetrated. 
For  Anderson  further  informs  us  that  in 
1720,  "at  some  private  Lodges,  several 
very  valuable  manuscripts  (for  they  had 
nothing  yet  in  print),  concerning  the  Fra- 
ternity, their  Lodges,  Regulations,  Charges, 
Secrets,  and  Usages,  (particularly  one  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  Nicholas  Stone,  the  Warden  of 
Inigo  Jones,)  were  too  hastily  burnt  by 
some  scrupulous  Brothers,  that  those  pa- 
pers might  not  fall  into  strange  hands." 

The  recent  labors  of  Masonic  scholars 
in  England,  among  whom  William  James 
Hughan,  of  Truro,  Cornwall,  deserves  espe- 
cial notice,  have  succeeded  in  rescuing 
many  of  the  old  Masonic  manuscripts  from 
oblivion,  and  we  are  now  actually  in  pos- 
session of  more  of  these  heretofore  unpub- 


MARCHESHVAN 


MARK 


485 


lished  treasures  of  the  Craft  than  were 
probably  accessible  to  Anderson  and  his 
contemporaries.     See  Records,  Old. 

Marclieshvan.  porno.  The  second 
month  of  the  Jewish  civil  year.  It  begins 
with  the  new  moon  in  November,  and  cor- 
responds, therefore,  to  a  part  of  that  month 
and  of  December. 

Mark.  The  appropriate  jewel  of  a 
Mark  Master.  It  is  made  of  gold  or  silver, 
usually  of  the  former  metal,  and  must  be 
in  the  form  of  a  keystone.  On  the  obverse 
or  front  surface,  the  device  or  "  mark  "  se- 
lected by  the  owner  must  be  engraved 
within  a  circle  composed  of  the  following 
letters:  H.  T.  W.  S.  S.  T.  K.  S.  On  the 
reverse  or  posterior  surface,  the  name  of 
the  owner,  the  name  of  his  chapter,  and 
the  date  of  his  advancement,  may  be  in- 
scribed, although  this  is  not  absolutely 
necessary.  The  "  mark "  consists  of  the 
device  and  surrounding  inscription  on  the 
obverse.  The  Mark  jewel,  as  prescribed  by 
the  Supreme  Grand  Chapter  of  Scotland, 
is  of  mother-of-pearl.  The  circle  on  one 
side  is  inscribed  with  the  Hebrew  letters 
C'DN^SOVn,  and  the  circle  on  the 
other  side  with  letters  containing  the  same 
meaning  in  the  vernacular  tongue  of  the 
country  in  which  the  chapter  is  situated, 
and  the  wearer's  mark  in  the  centre.  The 
Hebrew  letters  are  the  initials  of  a  Hebrew 
sentence  equivalent  to  the  English  one 
familiar  to  Mark  Masons.  It  is  but  a 
translation  into  Hebrew  of  the  English 
mystical  sentence. 

It  is  not  requisite  that  the  device  or 
mark  should  be  of  a  strictly  Masonic  char- 
acter, although  Masonic  emblems  are  fre- 
quently selected  in  preference  to  other 
subjects.  As  soon  as  adopted  it  should  be 
drawn  or  described  in  a  book  kept  by  the 
Chapter  for  that  purpose,  and  it  is  then 
said  to  be  "recorded  in  the  Book  of 
Marks,"  after  which  time  it  can  never  be 
changed  by  the  possessor  for  any  other,  or 
altered  in  the  slightest  degree,  but  remains 
as  his  "  mark  "  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

This  mark  is  not  a  mere  ornamental  ap- 
pendage of  the  degree,  but  is  a  sacred 
token  of  the  rites  of  friendship  and 
brotherly  love,  and  its  presentation  at  any 
time  by  the  owner  to  another  Mark  Master, 
would  claim,  from  the  latter,  certain  acts 
of  friendship  which  are  of  solemn  obliga- 
tion among  the  Fraternity.  A  mark  thus 
presented,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a 
favor,  is  said  to  be  pledged;  though  re- 
maining in  the  possession  of  the  owner,  it 
ceases,  for  any  actual  purposes  of  advan- 
tage, to  be  his  property;  nor  can  it  be 
again  used  by  him  until,  either  by  the  re- 
turn of  the  favor,  or  the  consent  of  the 
benefactor,  it  has  been  redeemed ;  for  it  is 


a  positive  law  of  the  Order,  that  no  Mark 
Master  shall  "  pledge  his  mark  a  second 
time  until  he  has  redeemed  it  from  its  pre- 
vious pledge."  By  this  wise  provision,  the 
unworthy  are  prevented  from  making  an 
improper  use  of  this  valuable  token,  or 
from  levying  contributions  on  their  hospi- 
table brethren.  Marks  or  pledges  of  this 
kind  were  of  frequent  use  among  the  an- 
cients, under  the  name  of  tessera  hospitalis 
and  "arrhabo."  The  nature  of  the  tes- 
sera hospitalis,  or,  as  the  Greeks  called  it, 
ovfifioAov,  cannot  be  better  described  than 
in  the  words  of  the  Scholiast  on  the  Media 
of  Euripides,  v.  613,  where  Jason  promises 
Medea,  on  her  parting  from  him,  to  send 
her  the  symbols  of  hospitality  which  should 
procure  her  a  kind  reception  in  foreign 
countries.  It  was  the  custom,  says  the 
Scholiast,  when  a  guest  had  been  enter- 
tained, to  break  a  die  in  two  parts,  one  of 
which  parts  was  retained  by  the  guest,  so 
that  if,  at  any  future  period  he  required 
assistance,  on  exhibiting  the  broken  pieces 
of  the  die  to  each  other,  the  friendship  was 
renewed.  Plautus,  in  one  of  his  comedies, 
gives  us  an  exemplification  of  the  manner 
in  which  these  tessera;  or  pledges  of  friend- 
ship were  used  at  Rome,  whence  it  appears 
that  the  privileges  of  this  friendship  were 
extended  to  the  descendants  of  the  con- 
tracting parties.  Poenulus  is  introduced, 
inquiring  for  Agorastocles,  with  whose 
family  he  had  formerly  exchanged  the 
tessera. 

Ag.    Siquidem  Antidiinarchi  quaaris  adopta- 
titium. 
Ego  sum  ipsus  quem  tu  quaeris. 

Paen.    Hem  !  quid  ego  audio  ? 

Ag.    Antidamae  me  gnatuni  esse. 

Pcen.    Si  ita  est,  tesseram 
Conferre  si  vis  hospitalem,  eccam,  attuli. 

Ag.  Agedum  hue  ostende;  est  par  probe; 
nam  habeo  domum. 

Pcen.  O  mi  hospes,  salve  multum ;  nam  mihi 
tuus  pater, 

Pater  tuus  ergo  hospes,  Antidamas  fuit : 
Haec  mihi  hospitalis  tessera  cum  illo  fuit. 

Pcenul.,  act.  v.,  s'.  c.  2,  ver.  85. 

Ag.    Antidimarchus'  adopted  son, 
If  you  do  seek,  I  am  the  very  man. 

Pcen.     How  !  do  I  hear  aright  ? 

Ag.    I  am  the  son 
Of  old  Antidamus. 

Pcen.    If  so,  I  pray  you 
Compare  with  me  the  hospitable  die 
I'  ve  brought  this  with  me. 

Ag.  Prithee,  let  me  see  it. 
It  is,  indeed,  the  very  counterpart 
Of  mine  at  home. 

Paen.    All  hail,  my  welcome  guest, 
Your  father  was  my  guest,  Antidamus. 
Your  father  was  my  honored  guest,  and  then 
This  hospitable  die  with  me  he  parted. 

These  tesseroz,  thus  used,  like  the  Mark 
Master's  mark,  for  the  purposes  of  perpetu- 
ating friendship  and  rendering  its  union 


486 


MARK 


MARK 


more  sacred,  were  constructed  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner :  they  took  a  small  piece  of 
bone,  ivory,  or  stone,  generally  of  a  square 
or  cubical  form,  and  dividing  it  into  equal 
parts,  each  wrote  his  own  name,  or  some 
other  inscription,  upon  one  of  the  pieces ; 
they  then  made  a  mutual  exchange,  and, 
lest  falling  into  other  hands  it  should  give 
occasion  to  imposture,  the  pledge  was  pre- 
served with  the  greatest  secrecy,  and  no 
one  knew  the  name  inscribed  upon  it  ex- 
cept the  possessor. 

The  primitive  Christians  seem  to  have 
adopted  a  similar  practice,  and  the  tessera 
was  carried  by  them  in  their  travels,  as  a 
means  of  introduction  to  their  fellow  Chris- 
tians. A  favorite  inscription  with  them 
were  the  letters  II.  T.  A.  n.,  being  the  ini- 
tials of  HaTTjp,  Tiog,  Ayiov  Tlvev/ia,  or  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  The  use  of  these 
tesserae,  iu  the  place  of  written  certificates, 
continued,  says  Dr.  Harris,  (Diss,  on  the 
Tess.  Hosp.,)  until  the  eleventh  century, 
at  which  time  they  are  mentioned  by  Bur- 
chardus,  Archbishop  of  Worms,  in  a  visita- 
tion charge.  — 

The  "arrhabo"  was  a  similar  keepsake, 
formed  by  breaking  a  piece  of  money  in 
two.  The  etymology  of  this  word  shows 
distinctly  that  the  Romans  borrowed  the 
custom  of  these  pledges  from  the  ancient 
Israelites.  For  it  is  derived  from  the  He- 
brew arabon,  a  pledge. 

With  this  detail  of  the  customs  of  the 
ancients  before  us,  we  can  easily  explain 
the  well-known  passage  in  Revelation  ii. 
17.  "  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give 
a  white  stone,  and  in  it  a  new  name  writ- 
ten, which  no  man  knoweth  saving  he  that 
receiveth  it."  That  is,  to  borrow  the  inter- 
pretation of  Harris,  "  To  him  that  over- 
cometh will  I  give  a  pledge  of  my  affection, 
which  shall  constitute  him  my  friend,  and 
entitle  him  to  privileges  and  honors  of 
which  none  else  can  know  the  value  or  the 
extent." 

Mark  Man.  According  to  Masonic 
tradition,  the  Mark  Men  were  the  War- 
dens, as  the  Mark  Masters  were  the  Mas- 
ters of  the  Fellow  Craft  Lodges,  at  the 
building  of  the  Temple.  They  distributed 
the  marks  to  the  workmen,  and  made  the 
first  inspection  of  the  work,  which  was 
afterwards  to  be  approved  by  the  overseers. 
As  a  degree,  the  Mark  Man  is  not  recog- 
nized in  the  United  States.  In  England 
it  is  sometimes,  but  not  generally,  worked 
as  preparatory  to  the  degree  of  Mark  Master. 
In  Scotland,  in  1778,  it  was  given  to  Fel- 
low Crafts,  while  the  Mark  Master  was  re- 
stricted to  Master  Masons.  It  is  not  recog- 
nized in  the  present  regulations  of  the  Su- 
preme Grand  Chapter  of  Scotland.  Much 
of  the  esoteric  ritual  of  the  Mark  Man  has 


been  incorporated  into  the  Mark  Master  of 
the  American  System. 

Mark  Master.  The  fourth  degree 
of  the  American  Rite.  The  traditions  of 
the  degree  make  it  of  great  historical  im- 
portance, since  by  them  we  are  informed 
that  by  its  influence  each  Operative  Mason 
at  the  building  of  the  Temple  was  known 
and  distinguished,  and  the  disorder  and 
confusion  which  might  otherwise  have  at- 
tended so  immense  an  undertaking  was 
completely  prevented.  Not  less  useful  is  it 
in  its  symbolic  signification.  As  illustra- 
tive of  the  Fellow  Craft,  the  fourth  degree 
is  particularly  directed  to  the  inculcation 
of  order,  regularity,  and  discipline.  It 
teaches  us  that  we  should  discharge  all  the 
duties  of  our  several  stations  with  preci- 
sion and  punctuality  ;  that  the  work  of 
our  hands  and  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts 
should  be  good  and  true  —  not  unfinished 
and  imperfect,  not  sinful  and  defective  — 
but  such  as  the  Great  Overseer  and  Judge 
of  heaven  and  earth,  will  see  fit  to  approve 
as  a  worthy  oblation  from  his  creatures. 
If  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree  is  devoted  to 
the  inculcation  of  learning,  that  of  the 
Mark  Master  is  intended  to  instruct  us  how 
that  learning  can  most  usefully  and  judi- 
ciously be  employed  for  our  own  honor  and 
the  profit  of  others.  And  it  holds  forth  to 
the  desponding  the  encouraging  thought, 
that  although  our  motives  may  sometimes 
be  misinterpreted  by  our  erring  fellow  mor- 
tals, our  attainments  be  underrated,  and 
our  reputations  be  traduced  by  the  envious 
and  malicious,  there  is  one,  at  least,  who 
sees  not  with  the  eyes  of  man,  but  may  yet 
make  that  stone  which  the  builders  rejected, 
the  head  of  the  corner.  The  intimate  con- 
nection then,  between  the  second  and  fourth 
degrees  of  Masonry,  is  this,  that  while  one 
inculcates  the  necessary  exercise  of  all  the 
duties  of  life,  the  other  teaches  the  impor- 
tance of  performing  them  with  systematic 
regularity.  The  true  Mark  Master  is  a 
type  of  that  man  mentioned  in  the  sacred 
parable  who  received  from  his  master  this 
approving  language  —  "Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been  faith- 
ful over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler 
over  many  things :  enter  thou  into  the  joys 
of  thy  Lord." 

In  this  country,  the  Mark  Master's  is  the 
first  degree  given  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter. 
Its  officers  are  a  Right  Worshipful  Master, 
Senior  and  Junior  Wardens,  Secretary, 
Treasurer,  Senior  and  Junior  Deacons, 
Master,  Senior  and  Junior  Overseers.  The 
degree  cannot  be  conferred  when  less  than 
six  are  present,  who,  in  that  case,  must  be 
the  first  and  last  three  officers  above  named. 
The  working-tools  are  the  Mallet  and  In- 
denting Chisel,  (which  see.)    The  symbolic 


MARK 


MARKS 


487 


color  is  purple.  The  Mark  Master's  degree 
is  now  given  in  England  under  the  author- 
ity of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Mark  Master, 
which  was  established  in  June,  1856,  and 
is  a  jurisdiction  independent  of  the  Grand 
Lodge.  The  officers  are  the  same  as  in 
America,  with  the  addition  of  a  Chaplain, 
Director  of  Ceremonies,  Assistant  Director, 
Registrar  of  Marks,  Inner  Guard  or  Time 
Keeper,  and  two  Stewards.  Master  Ma- 
sons are  eligible  for  initiation.  Bro.  Hu- 
ghan  says  that  the  degree  is  virtually  the 
same  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland. 
It  differs,  however,  in  some  respects  from 
the  American  degree. 

Mark  of  the  Craft,  Regular.  In 
the  Mark  degree  there  is  a  certain  stone 
which  is  said,  in  the  ritual,  not  to  have 
upon  it  the  regular  mark  of  the  Craft.  This 
expression  is  derived  from  the  following 
tradition  of  the  degree.  At  the  building 
of  the  Temple,  each  workman  placed  his 
own  mark  upon  his  own  materials,  so  that 
the  workmanship  of  every  mason  might  be 
readily  distinguished,  and  praise  or  blame 
be  justly  awarded.  These  marks,  accord- 
ing to  the  lectures,  consisted  of  mathemati- 
cal figures,  squares,  angles,  lines,  and  per- 
pendiculars, and  hence  any  figure  of  a 
different  kind,  such  as  a  circle,  would  not 
be  deemed  "  the  regular  mark  of  the  Craft." 
Of  the  three  stones  used  in  the  Mark  de- 
gree, one  is  inscribed  with  a  square  and 
another  with  a  plumb  or  perpendicular, 
because  these  were  marks  familiar  to  the 
Craft;  but  the  third,  which  is  inscribed 
with  a  circle  and  certain  hieroglyphics,  was 
not  known,  and  was  not,  therefore,  called 
"  regular." 

Marks  of  the  Craft.  In  former 
times,  Operative  Masons,  the  "Steinmetzen" 
of  Germany,  were  accustomed  to  place  some 
mark  or  sign  of  their  own  invention, 
which,  like  the  monogram  of  the  painters, 
would  seem  to  identify  the  work  of  each. 
They  are  to  be  found  upon  the  cathedrals, 
churches,  castles,  and  other  stately  build- 
ings erected  since  the  twelfth  century,  or  a 
little  earlier,  in  Germany,  France,  Eng- 
land, and  Scotland.  As  Mr.  Godwin  has 
observed  in  his  History  in  Ruins,  it  is 
curious  to  see  that  these  marks  are  of  the 
same  character,  in  form,  in  all  these  dif- 
ferent countries.  They  were  principally 
crosses,  triangles,  and  other  mathematical 
figures,  and  many  of  them  were  religious 
symbols.  Specimens  taken  from  different 
buildings  supply  such  forms  as  follow. 

The  last  of  these  is  the  well-known 
vesica  piscis,  the  symbol  of  Christ  among  the 
primitive  Christians,  and  the  last  but  one 
is  the  Pythagorean  pentalpha.  A  writer 
in  the  London  Times  (August  13th,  1835,) 
is  incorrect  in  stating  that  these  marks  are 


confined  to  Germany,  and  are  to  be  found 
only  since  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  cen- 
turies.   More  recent  researches  have  shown 


V  AX  + 


+  m  J* 

H     -&X3 


that  they  existed  in  many  other  countries, 
especially  in  Scotland,  and  that  they  were 
practised  by  the  builders  of  ancient  times. 
Thus  Ainsworth,  in  his  Travels,  (ii.  167,) 
tells  us,  in  his  description  of  the  ruins  of 
Al-Hadhv  in  Mesopotamia,  that  "  every 
stone,  not  only  in  the  chief  building,  but 
in  the  walls  and  bastions  and  other  public 
monuments,  when  not  defaced  by  time,  is 
marked  with  a  character  which  is  for  the 
most  part  either  a  Chaldean  letter  or  nu- 
meral." M.  Didron,  who  reported  a  series 
of  observations  on  the  subject  of  these  Ma- 
sons' marks  to  the  Comite  Historique  des 
Arts  et  Monuraens,  of  Paris,  believes  that  he 
can  discover  in  them  references  to  distinct 
schools  or  Lodges  of  Masons.  He  divides 
them  into  two  classes :  those  of  the  over- 
seers, and  those  of  the  men  who  worked  the 
stones.  The  marks  of  the  first  class  con- 
sist of  monogrammatic  characters ;  those  of 
the  second,  are  of  the  nature  of  symbols, 
such  as  shoes,  trowels,  mallets,  etc. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Freemason's 
Quarterly  Review  states  that  similar  marks 
are  to  be  found  on  the  stones  which  com- 
pose the  walls  of  the  fortress  of  Allahabad, 
which  was  erected  in  1542,  in  the  East  In- 
dies. "  The  walls,"  says  this  writer,  "  are 
composed  of  large  oblong  blocks  of  red 
granite,  and  are  almost  everywhere  covered 
by  Masonic  emblems,  which  evince  some- 
thing more  than  mere  ornament.  They 
are  not  confined  to  one  particular  spot,  but 
are  scattered  over  the  walls  of  the  fortress, 
in  many  places  as  high  as  thirty  or  forty 
feet  from  the  ground.  It  is  quite  certain 
that  thousands  of  stones  on  the  walls,  bear- 
ing these  Masonic  symbols,  were  carved, 
marked,  and  numbered  in  the  quarry  pre- 
vious to  the  erection  of  the  building." 

In  the  ancient  buildings  of  England  and 
France,  these  marks  are  to  be  found  in 
great  abundance.  In  a  communication, 
on  this  subject,  to  the  London  Society  of 


488 


MARROW 


MARYLAND 


Antiquaries,  Mr.  Godwin  states,  "that,  in  his 
opinion,  these  marks,  if  collected  and  com- 
pared, might  assist  in  connecting  the  vari- 
ous bands  of  operatives,  who,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Church  —  mystically  united 
—  spread  themselves  over  Europe  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  are  known  as  Free- 
masons." Mr.  Godwin  describes  these 
marks  as  varying  in  length  from  two  to 
seven  inches,  and  as  formed  by  a  single 
line,  slightly  indented,  consisting  chiefly 
of  crosses,  known  Masonic  symbols,  em- 
blems of  the  Trinity  and  of  eternity,  the 
double  triangle,  trowel,  square,  etc. 

The  same  writer  observes  that,  in  a  con- 
versation, in  September,  1844,  with  a  Ma- 
son at  work  on  the  Canterbury  Cathedral, 
he  "found  that  many  Masons  (all  who 
were  Freemasons)  had  their  mystic  marks 
handed  down  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion ;  this  man  had  his  mark  from  his 
father,  and  he  received  it  from  his  grand- 
father." 

Marrow  in  the  Bone.  An  absurd 
corruption  of  a  Jewish  word,  and  still  more 
absurdly  said  to  be  its  translation.  It  has 
no  appropriate  signification  in  the  place  to 
which  it  is  applied,  but  was  once  religiously 
believed  in  by  many  Masons,  who,  being  ig- 
norant of  the  Hebrew  language,  accepted  it 
as  a  true  interpretation.  It  is  now  univer- 
sally rejected  by  the  intelligent  portion  of 
the  Craft. 

Marseilles,  Mother  Lodge  of.  A 
Lodge  was  established  in  1748,  at  Marseilles, 
in  France,  Thory  says,  by  a  travelling  Ma- 
son, under  the  name  of  St.  Jean  d'Ecosse. 
It  afterwards  assumed  the  name  of  Mother 
Lodge  of  Marseilles,  and  still  later  the 
name  of  Scottish  Mother  Lodge  of  France. 
It  granted  Warrants  of  its  own  authority 
for  Lodges  in  France  and  in  the  colonies ; 
among  others  for  one  at  New  Orleans,  in 
Louisiana. 

Marshal.  An  officer  common  to 
several  Masonic  bodies,  whose  duty  is  to 
regulate  processions  and  other  public  solem- 
nities. In  Grand  bodies  he  is  called  a 
Grand  Marshal.  In  the  American  Royal 
Arch  System,  the  Captain  of  the  Host  acts 
on  public  occasions  as  the  Marshal.  The 
Marshal's  ensign  of  office  is  a  baton  or 
Bhort  rod.  The  office  of  Marshal  in  State 
affairs  is  very  ancient.  It  was  found  in  the 
court  of  the  Byzantine  emperors,  and  was 
introduced  into  England  from  France  at  the 
period  of  the  conquest.  His  badge  of  office 
was  at  first  a  rod  or  verge,  which  was  after- 
wards abbreviated  to  the  baton,  for,  as  an 
old  writer  has  observed,  (Thinne,)  "the 
verge  or  rod  was  the  ensign  of  him  who 
had  authority  to  reform  evil  in  warre  and  in 
peace,  and  to  see  quiet  and  order  observed 
among  the  people." 


Martel.  Charles  Martel,  who  died  in 
741,  although  not  actually  king,  reigned 
over  France  under  the  title  of  Mayor  of  the 
Palace.  Rebold  (Hist.  Gen.,  p.  69,)  says 
that  "  at  the  request  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
kings,  he  sent  workmen  and  Masters  into 
England."  The  Operative  Masons  of  the 
Middle  Ages  considered  him  as  one  of  their 
patrons,  and  give  the  following  account  of 
him  in  their  Legend  of  the  Craft.  "  There 
was  one  of  the  Royal  line  of  France  called 
Charles  Marshall,  and  he  was  a  man  that 
loved  well  the  said  Craft  and  took  upon 
him  the  Rules  and  Manners,  and  after  that 
By  the  Grace  of  God  he  was  elect  to  be 
the  King  of  France,  and  when  he  was  in  his 
Estate,  he  helped  to  make  those  Masons 
that  were  now,  and  sett  them  on  Work  and 
gave  them  Charges  and  Manners  and  good 
pay  as  he  had  learned  of  other  Masons,  and 
confirmed  them  a  Charter  from  yeare  to 
yeare  to  hold  their  Assembly  when  they 
would,  and  Cherished  them  right  well,  and 
thus  came  this  Noble  Craft  into  France." 

Martha.  The  fourth  degree  of  the 
Eastern  Star ;  a  Rite  of  American  Adop- 
tive Masonry. 

Martinism.  The  Rite  of  Martinism, 
called  also  the  Rectified  Rite,  was  instituted 
at  Lyons,  by  the  Marquis  de  St.  Martin,  a 
disciple  of  Martinez  Paschalis,  of  whose  Rite 
it  was  pretended  to  be  a  reform.  Martin- 
ism was  divided  into  two  classes,  called  Tem- 
ples, in  which  were  the  following  degrees. 

/.  Temple.  1.  Apprentice.  2.  Fellow 
Craft.  3.  Master  Mason.  4.  Past  Master. 
5.  Elect.  6.  Grand  Architect.  7.  Mason 
of  the  Secret. 

II.  Temple.  8.  Prince  of  Jerusalem.  9. 
Knight  of  Palestine.     10.  Kadosh. 

The  degrees  of  Martinism  abounded  in 
the  reveries  of  the  Mystics.  See  Saint 
Martin. 

Martin,  Louis  Claude  de  St. 
See  Saint  Martin. 

Martyr.  A  title  bestowed  by  the 
Templars  on  their  last  Grand  Master,  James 
de  Molay.  If,  as  Du  Cange  says,  the 
Church  sometimes  gives  the  title  of  martyr 
to  men  of  illustrious  sanctity,  who  have 
suffered  death  not  for  the  confession  of  the 
name  of  Christ,  but  for  some  other  cause, 
being  slain  by  impious  men,  then  De  Molay, 
as  the  innocent  victim  of  the  malignant 
schemes  of  an  atrocious  pope  and  king, 
was  clearly  entitled  to  the  appellation. 

Martyrs,  Four  Crowned.  See 
Four  Crowned  Martyrs. 

Maryland.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  Maryland,  in  1750,  by  the  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts, 
which  issued  a  Charter  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Lodge  at  Annapolis.  Five  other 
Lodges  were  subsequently  chartered  by  the 


MASON 


MASON 


489 


Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  one  in  1765,  at  Joppa,  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England.  On  the  31st  of  July, 
1783,  these  five  Lodges  held  a  convention 
at  Talbot  Court-House,  and  informally  or- 
ganized a  Grand  Lodge.  But  as  the  Lodge 
at  Annapolis  had  taken  no  part  in  this 
movement,  another  convention  of  all  the 
Lodges  was  held  at  Baltimore  on  the  17th 
of  April,  1787,  and  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Maryland  was  duly  organized,  John  Coates 
being  elected  the  Grand  Master.  The 
Grand  Chapter  was  established  in  1812. 

Mason  Crowned.  {Macon  Couronne.) 
A  degree  in  the  nomenclature  of  Fus- 
tier. 

Mason,  Derivation  of  the 
Word.  The  search  for  the  etymology 
or  derivation  of  the  word  Mason  has  given 
rise  to  numerous  theories,  some  of  them 
ingenious,  but  many  of  them  very  absurd. 
Thus,  a  writer  in  the  European  Magazine, 
for  February,  1792,  who  signs  his  name  as 
"George  Drake,"  lieutenant  of  marines, 
attempts  to  trace  the  Masons  to  the  Druids, 
and  derives  Mason  from  May's  on,  May's 
being  in  reference  to  May-day,  the  great  fes- 
tival of  the  Druids,  and  on  meaning  men,  as 
in  the  French  on  dit,  for  homme  dit.  Ac- 
cording to  this,  May's  on  therefore  means 
the  Men  of  May.  But  this  idea  is  not 
r  original  with  Drake,  since  the  same  deriva- 
tion was  urged  in  1766  by  Cleland,  in  his 
essays  on  The  Way  to  Things  in  Words,  and 
on  The  Real  Secret  of  Freemasons. 

Hutchinson,  in  his  search  for  a  deriva- 
tion, seems  to  have  been  perplexed  with 
the  variety  of  roots  that  presented  them- 
selves, and,  being  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  name  of  Mason  "  has  its  derivation  from 
a  language  in  which  it  implies  some  strong 
indication  or  distinction  of  the  nature  of 
the  society,  and  that  it  has  no  relation  to 
architects,"  looks  for  the  root  in  the  Greek 
tongue.  Thus  he  thinks  that  Mason  may 
come  from  Maw  Saov,  Mao  Soon,  "I  seek 
salvation,"  or  from  Mtvrw,  Mystes,  "  an  ini- 
tiate ; "  and  that  Masonry  is  only  a  corrup- 
tion of  Meaovpaveu,  Mesouraneo,  "  I  am  in 
the  midst  of  heaven ; "  or  from  Mafrpovd, 
Mazourouth,  a  constellation  mentioned  by 
Job,  or  from  Mvorripiov,  Mysterion,  "  a  mys- 
tery." 

Lessing  says,  in  his  Ernst  und  Falh,  that 
Masa  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  signifies  a  table, 
and  that  Masonry,  consequently,  is  a  society 
of  the  table. 

Nicolai  thinks  he  finds  the  root  in  the 
Low  Latin  word  of  the  Middle  Ages  Mas- 
sonya,  or  Masonia,  which  signifies  an  ex- 
clusive society  or  club,  such  as  that  of  the 
round-table. 

Coming  down  to  later  times,  we  find  Bro. 
C.  W.  Moore,  in  his  Boston  Magazine,  of 
3M 


May,  1844,  deriving  Mason  from  AiOoTo/uog, 
Lithotomos,  "  a  Stone-cutter."  But  although 
fully  aware  of  the  elasticity  of  etymologi- 
cal rules,  it  surpasses  our  ingenuity  to  get 
Mason  etymologically  out  of  Lithotomos. 

Bro.  Giles  F.  Yates  sought  for  the  deri- 
vation of  Mason  in  the  Greek  word  Mafrvec, 
Mazones,  a  festival  of  Dionysus,  and  he 
thought  that  this  was  another  proof  of  the 
lineal  descent  of  the  Masonic  order  from 
the  Dionysiac  Artificers. 

The  late  William  S.  Rockwell,  who  was 
accustomed  to  find  all  his  Masonry  in  the 
Egyptian  mysteries,  and  who  was  a  thor- 
ough student  of  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic 
system,  derives  the  word  Mason  from  a  com- 
bination of  two  phonetic  signs,  the  one 
being  MAI,  and  signifying  "  to  love,"  and 
the  other  being  SON,  which  means  "a 
brother."  Hence,  he  says,  "  this  combina- 
tion, MAISON,  expresses  exactly  in  sound 
our  word  MASON,  and  signifies  literally 
loving  brother,  that  is,  philadelphus,  brother 
of  an  association,  and  thus  corresponds  also 
in  sense." 

But  all  of  these  fanciful  etymologies, 
which  would  have  terrified  Bopp,  Grimm, 
or  M idler,  or  any  other  student  of  linguis- 
tic relations,  forcibly  remind  us  of  the 
French  epigrammatist,  who  admitted  that 
alphina  came  from  equus,  but  that,  in  so 
coming,  it  had  very  considerably  changed 
its  route. 

What,  then,  is  the  true  derivation  of  the 
word  Mason  ?  Let  us  see  what  the  orthce- 
pists,  who  had  no  Masonic  theories,  have 
said  upon  the  subject. 

Webster,  seeing  that  in  Spanish  masa 
means  mortar,  is  inclined  to  derive  Mason, 
as  denoting  one  that  works  in  mortar,  from 
the  root  of  mass,  which  of  course  gave 
birth  to  the  Spanish  word. 

In  Low  or  Mediaeval  Latin,  Mason  was 
machio  or  macio,  and  this  Du  Cange  derives 
from  the  Latin  maceria,  "a  long  wall." 
Others  find  a  derivation  in  machinoz,  be- 
cause the  builders  stood  upon  machines  to 
raise  their  walls.  But  Richardson  takes  a 
common  sense  view  of  the  subject.  He 
says,  "  It  appears  to  be  obviously  the  same 
word  as  maison,  a  house  or  mansion,  ap- 
plied to  the  person  who  builds,  instead  of 
the  thing  built.  The  French  Maissoner  is 
to  build  houses ;  Masonner,  to  build  of 
stone.  The  word  Mason  is  applied  by  usage 
to  a  builder  in  stone,  and  Masonry  to  work 
in  stone." 

Carpenter  gives  Massom,  used  in  1225, 
for  a  building  of  stone,  and  Massonus,  used 
in  1304,  for  a  Mason ;  and  the  Benedictine 
editors  of  Du  Cange  define  Massoneria  "  a 
building,  the  French  Maqonnerie,  and  Mas- 
sonerius,"  as  Latomus  or  a  Mason,  both 
words  in  manuscripts  of  1385. 


490 


MASONEY 


MASSACHUSETTS 


As  a  practical  question,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  reject  all  those  fanciful  deriva- 
tions which  connect  the  Masons  etymologi- 
cally  and  historically  with  the  Greeks,  the 
Egyptians,  or  the  Druids,  and  to  take  the 
word  Mason  iu  its  ordinary  signification  of  a 
worker  in  stone,  and  thus  indicate  the  ori- 
gin of  the  Order  from  a  society  or  associa- 
tion of  practical  and  operative  builders. 
We  need  no  better  root  than  the  Mediaeval 
Latin  Magonner,  to  build,  or  Magonetus,  a 
builder. 

Masoney.  Lessing,  in  his  Ernst  und 
Falk,  gives  this  word  as  signifying  in  Eng- 
lish Masonry.  He  is  in  error.  There  is  no 
such  English  word. 

Mason  Hermetic.  {Magon  HermA- 
tique.)  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Mother  Lodge  of  the  Eclectic  Philosophic 
Rite. 
Masonic  Hall.  See  Hall,  Masonic. 
Mason,  Illustrious  and  Sub- 
lime Grand  Master.  {Macon  Illustre 
et  Sublime  Grand  Maltre. )  A  degree  in  the 
manuscript  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Mason  of  the  Secret.  {Macon  du 
Secret.)  1.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Tschoudy.  2.  The  seventh  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Saint  Martin. 

Mason,  Operative.  See  Operative 
Mason. 

Mason,  Perfect.  {Macon  Par/ait.) 
The  twenty-seventh  degree  of  the  collection 
of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Mason  Philosopher.  {Macon  Phi- 
losophe.)  A  degree  in  the  manuscript  col- 
lection of  Peuvret. 

Mason,  Practical.  The  French  so 
call  an  Operative  Mason, Macon  de  Pratique. 
Masonry.  Although  Masonry  is  of 
two  kinds,  Operative  and  Speculative,  yet 
Masonic  writers  frequently  employ  the  word 
Masonry  as  synonymous  with  Freemasonry. 
Masonry,  Operative.  See  Opera- 
tive Masonry. 

Masonry,  Origin  of.  See  Origin 
of  Masonry. 

Masonry,  Speculative.  See  Spec- 
ulative Masonry. 

Masons,  Company  of.  One  of  the 
ninety-one  livery  companies  of  London,  but 
not  one  of  the  twelve  greater  ones.  Their 
arms  are  azure,  on  a  chevron,  between  three 
castles  argent,  a  pair  of  compasses  some- 
what extended  of  the  1st ;  -crest,  a  castle  of 
the  2d ;  and  motto,  "  The  Lord  is  all  our 
trust."  These  were  granted  by  Clarencieux, 
King  of  arms,  in  1477,  but  they  were  not 
incorporated  until  Charles  II.  gave  them  a 
charter  in  1677.  They  are  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  Fraternity  of  Freemasons, 
but  originally  there  was  some  connection 
between  the  two.  At  their  hall  in  Basing- 
hall  Street,  Ashmole  says  that  in  1682  he 


was  "  admitted  into  the  fellowship  of  Free- 
masons." 

Mason,  Scottish  Master.  {Magon 
Ecossais  Maltre.)  Also  called  Perfect  Elect, 
Elu  par/ait.  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of 
the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scot- 
tish Rite. 

Masons,  Emperor  of  all  the. 
{Magons,  Empereur  de  tons  les. )  A  degree 
cited  in  the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Mason,  Speculative.  See  Specula- 
tive Mason. 

Mason,  Stone.    See  Stonemasons. 

Mason  Sublime.  {Magon  subHme.) 
A  degree  in  the  manuscript  collection  of 
Peuvret. 

Mason,  Suh lime  Operative. 
{Magon  Sublime  Pratique.)  A  degree  in  the 
manuscript  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Mason's  Wile  and  Daughter. 
A  degree  frequently  conferred  in  the  United 
States  on  the  wives,  daughters,  sisters,  and 
mothers  of  Masons,  to  secure  to  them,  by 
investing  them  with  a  peculiar  mode  of 
recognition,the  aid  and  assistance  of  the  Fra- 
ternity. It  may  be  conferred  by  any  Master 
Mason,  and  the  requirement  is  that  the  recip- 
ient shall  be  the  wife,  unmarried  daughter, 
unmarried  sister,  or  widowed  mother  of  a 
Master  Mason.  It  is  sometimes  called  the 
Holy  Virgin,  and  has  been  by  some  deemed 
of  so  much  importance  that  a  Manual  of  it, 
with  the  title  of  The  Ladies'  Masonry,  or 
Hieroglyphic  Monitor,  was  published  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1851,  by  Past 
Grand  Master  William  Leigh,  of  Alabama. 

Mason,  True.  {Magon  Vrai.)  A  de- 
gree composed  by  Pernetty.  It  is  the  only 
one  of  the  high  hermetic  degrees  of  the 
Rite  of  Avignon,  and  it  became  the  first 
degree  of  the  same  system  after  it  was 
transplanted  to  Montpellier.  See  Academy 
of  True  Masons. 

Masoretic  Points.  The  Hebrew 
alphabet  is  without  vowels,  which  were  tra- 
ditionally supplied  by  the  reader  from  oral 
instruction,  and  hence  the  true  ancient 
sounds  of  thewords  have  been  lost.  But  about 
the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries  a  school  of 
Rabbins,  called  Masorites,  invented  vowel 
points,  to  be  placed  above  or  below  the  con- 
sonants, so  as  to  give  them  a  determined 
pronunciation.  These  Masoretic  points  are 
never  used  by  the  Jews  in  their  rolls  of  the 
law,  and  in  all  investigations  into  the  deri- 
vation and  meaning  of  Hebrew  names, 
Masonic  scholars  and  other  etymologists 
always  reject  them. 

Massachusetts.  Freemasonry  was 
introduced  into  Massachusetts,  in  1733,  by 
a  Deputation  granted  to  Henry  Price  as 
Grand  Master  of  North  America,  dated 
April  30tb,  1733.  Price,  on  July  30th  of 
the  same  year,  organized  the  "St.  John's 


MASSONUS 


MASTER 


491 


Grand  Lodge,'*  which  immediately  granted 
a  Warrant  to  "St.  John's  Lodge"  in  Boston. 
On  Nov.  30th,  1752,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland  granted  a  Warrant  to  "St.  An- 
drew's Lodge ; "  and  thus  the  dissensions 
of  the  Ancients  and  Moderns  began  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. On  Dec.  27th,  1769,  St.  An- 
drew's Lodge,  with  the  assistance  of  three 
travelling  Lodges  in  the  British  army,  or- 
ganized the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts, 
and  elected  Joseph  Warren  Grand  Master. 
In  1792,  the  two  Grand  Lodges  united  and 
formed  the  "  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Most  An- 
cient and  Honorable  Society  of  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons  for  the  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts,"  and  elected  John  Cutler 
Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Chapter  of  Massachusetts  was 
organized  June  12th,  1798,  and  the  Grand 
Council  of  Royal  and  Select  Masters  in 
1826.  The  Grand  Commandery,  which 
exercises  jurisdiction  over  both  Massachu- 
setts and  Rhode  Island,  was  established 
May  6th,  1805.  In  1807  it  extended  its 
jurisdiction,  and  called  itself  "The  United 
States  Grand  Encampment."  In  1816,  it 
united  with  other  Encampments  at  a  con- 
vention in  Philadelphia,  where  a  General 
Grand  Encampment  of  the  United  States 
was  formed ;  and  in  1819,  at  the  meeting 
of  that  body,  the  representatives  of  the 
"Grand  Encampment  of  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island "  are  recorded  as  being 
present.  And  from  that  time  it  has  re- 
tained that  title,  only  changing  it,  in  1859, 
to  "  Grand  Commandery,"  in  compliance 
with  the  new  Constitution  of  the  Grand 
Encampment  of  the  United  States. 

Massonus.  Used  in  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries,  according  to  Car- 
penter, (Gloss.,)  for  Mason. 

Master,  Absolute  Sovereign 
Grand.  (Souverain  Grand  Maitre  absolu.) 
The  ninetieth  and  last  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  Mizraim. 

Master  ad  Vitam.  In  the  French 
Masonry  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, the  Masters  of  Lodges  were  not  elected 
annually,  but  held  their  office  for  life. 
Hence  they  were  called  Masters  ad  Vitam, 
or  Masters  for  life. 

Master,  Aneient.  (Maitre  Ancien.) 
The  fourth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Martinism. 
This  would  more  properly  be  translated 
Past  Master,  for  it  has  the  same  position  in 
the  regime  of  St.  Martin  that  the  Past  Mas- 
ter has  in  the  English  system. 

Master  Architect,  Grand.  See 
Grand  Master  Architect. 

Master  Architect,  Perfect.  {Mai- 
tre Architecte  Par/ait.)  A  degree  in  the 
Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Phil- 
osophic Scottish  Rite,  and  in  some  other 
collections. 


Master  Architect,  Prussian. 

(Maitre  Architecte  Prussien.)  A  degree  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Master,  Blue.  A  name  sometimes 
given,  in  the  Scottish  Rite,  to  Master  Ma- 
sons of  the  third  degree,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  some  of  the  higher  degrees,  and  in 
reference  to  the  color  of  their  collar. 

Master  Builder.  Taking  the  word 
master  in  the  sense  of  one  possessed  of  the 
highest  degree  of  skill  and  knowledge,  the 
epithet  "  Master  Builder "  is  sometimes 
used  by  Masons  as  an  epithet  of  the  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe.  Urquhart  (Pil- 
lars of  Hercules,  ii.  67,)  derives  it  from  the 
ancient  Hebrews,  who,  he  says,  "used  alga- 
bil,  the  Master  Builder,  as  an  epithet  of 
God." 

Master,  Cohen.  (Maitre  Coen.)  A 
degree  in  the  collection  of  the  Mother 
Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Master,  Crowned.  (Maitre  Cou- 
ronne.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of  the 
Lodge  of  Saint  Louis  des  Amis-Reunis  at 
Calais. 

Master,  Egyptian.  (Maitre  Egyp- 
tien.)  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish 
Rite. 

Master,  Elect.    See  Elect  Master. 

Master,  English.  ( Maitre  A  nglais. ) 
The  eighth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Master,  English  Perfect.  (Maitre 
Par/ait  Anglais.)  A  degree  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Le  Rouge. 

Master,  Four  Times  Venerable. 
(Maitre  quatre  fois  Venerable.)  A  degree 
introduced  into  Berlin  by  the  Marquis  de 
Bernez. 

Master,  Grand.    See  Grand  Master. 

Master  Hermetic.  (Maitre  Herme- 
tique.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of  Le- 
manceau. 

Master,  Illustrious.  ( Maitre  Ulus- 
tre.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of  Leman- 
ceau. 

Master,  Illustrious  Symbolic. 
(Maitre  Symbolique  lllustre.)  A  degree  in 
the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Master  in  Israel.  See  Intendant  of 
the  Building. 

Master  in  Perfect  Architecture. 
(Maitre  en  la  Parfaite  Architecture.)  A  de- 
gree in  the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Master  in  the  Chair.  (Meisterim 
Stuhl.)  The  name  given  in  Germany  to 
the  presiding  officer  of  a  Lodge.  It  is  the 
same  as  the  Worshipful  Master  in  Eng- 
lish. 

Master,  Irish.  (Maitre  Irlandais.) 
The  seventh  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. Ramsay  gave  this  name  at  first  to 
the  degree  which  he  subsequently  called 


492 


MASTER 


MASTER 


Maitre  Ecossais  or  Scottish  Master.  It  is  still 

the  seventh  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Master,     Kabbalistic.       {Maitre 

Cabalistique.)  A  degree  in  the  collection 
of  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic 
Scottish  Rite. 

Master,  Little  Elect.  ( Petit  Maitre 
du.)  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish 
Rite. 

Master  Mason.  In  all  the  Rites  of 
Masonry,  no  matter  how  variant  may  be 
their  organization  in  the  high  degrees,  the 
Master  Mason  constitutes  the  third  degree. 
In  form  this  degree  is  also  everywhere  sub- 
stantially the  same,  because  its  legend  is  an 
essential  part  of  it ;  and,  as  on  that  legend 
the  degree  must  be  founded,  there  can  no- 
where be  any  important  variation,  because 
the  tradition  has  at  all  times  been  the  same. 

The  Master  Mason's  degree  was  originally 
called  the  summit  of  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry ;  and  so  it  must  have  been  before  the 
disseverance  from  it  of  the  Royal  Arch,  by 
which  I  mean  not  the  ritual,  but  the  sym- 
bolism of  Arch  Masonry.  But  under  its 
present  organization  the  degree  is  actually 
incomplete,  because  it  needs  a  complement 
that  is  only  to  be  supplied  in  a  higher  one. 
Hence  its  symbolism  is  necessarily  re- 
stricted, in  it3  mutilated  form,  to  the  first 
Temple  and  the  present  life,  although  it 
gives  the  assurance  of  a  future  one. 

As  the  whole  system  of  Craft  Masonry  is 
intended  to  present  the  symbolic  idea  of 
man  passing  through  the  pilgrimage  of  life, 
each  degree  is  appropriated  to  a  certain 
portion  of  that  pilgrimage.  If,  then,  the 
first  degree  is  a  representation  of  youth,  the 
time  to  learn,  and  the  second  of  manhood 
or  the  time  to  work,  the  third  is  symbolic 
of  old  age,  with  its  trials,  its  sufferings,  and 
its  final  termination  in  death.  The  time 
for  toiling  is  now  over — the  opportunity 
to  learn  has  passed  away  —  the  spiritual 
temple  that  we  all  have  been  striving  to 
erect  in  our  hearts,  is  now  nearly  completed, 
and  the  wearied  workman  awaits  only  the 
word  of  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Universe, 
to  call  him  from  the  labors  of  earth  to  the 
eternal  refreshments  of  heaven.  Hence, 
this  is,  by  far,  the  most  solemn  and  sacred  of 
the  degrees  of  Masonry ;  and  it  has,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  profound  truths  which  it 
inculcates,  been  distinguished  by  the  Craft 
as  the  sublime  degree.  As  an  Entered  Ap- 
prentice, the  Mason  was  taught  those  ele- 
mentary instructions  which  were  to  fit  him 
for  further  advancement  in  his  profession, 
just  as  the  youth  is  supplied  with  that  ru- 
dimentary education  which  is  to  prepare 
him  for  entering  on  the  active  duties  of  life ; 
as  a  Fellow  Craft,  he  is  directed  to  continue 
his  investigations  in  the  science  of  the  Insti- 


tution, and  to  labor  diligently  in  the  tasks  it 
prescribes,  just  as  the  man  is  required  to 
enlarge  his  mind  by  the  acquisition  of  new 
ideas,  and  to  extend  his  usefulness  to  his 
fellow-creatures ;  but,  as  a  Master  Mason, 
he  is  taught  the  last,  the  most  important, 
and  the  most  necessary  of  truths,  that  hav- 
ing been  faithful  to  ail  his  trusts,  he  is  at 
last  to  die,  and  to  receive  the  reward  of  his 
fidelity. 

It  was  the  single  object  of  all  the  ancient 
rites  and  mysteries  practised  in  the  very 
bosom  of  Pagan  darkness,  shining  as  a  soli- 
tary beacon  in  all  that  surrounding  gloom, 
and  cheering  the  philosopher  in  his  weary 
pilgrimage  of  life,  to  teach  the  immortality 
of  the  soul.  This  is  still  the  great  design  of 
the  third  degree  of  Masonry.  This  is  the 
scope  and  aim  of  its  ritual.  The  Master  Ma- 
son represents  man,  when  youth,  manhood, 
old  age,  and  life  itself,  have  passed  away  as 
fleeting  shadows,  yet  raised  from  the  grave 
of  iniquity,  and  quickened  into  another  and 
a  better  existence.  By  its  legend  and  all  its 
ritual,  it  is  implied  that  we  have  been  re- 
deemed from  the  death  of  sin  and  the  sep- 
ulchre of  pollution.  "  The  ceremonies  and 
the  lecture,"  says  Dr.  Crucefix,  "beauti- 
fully illustrate  this  all-engrossing  subject ; 
and  the  conclusion  we  arrive  at  is,  that 
youth,  properly  directed,  leads  us  to  honor- 
able and  virtuous  maturity,  and  that  the 
life  of  man,  regulated  by  morality,  faith, 
and  justice,  will  be  rewarded  at  its  closing 
hour,  by  the  prospect  of  eternal  bliss." 

Masonic  historians  have  found  much  dif- 
ficulty in  settling  the  question  as  to  the 
time  of  the  invention  and  composition  of 
the  degree.  The  theory  that  at  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  the  Craft 
were  divided  into  three  or  even  more  de- 
grees, being  only  a  symbolic  myth,  must  be 
discarded  in  any  historical  discussion  of 
the  subject.  The  real  question  at  issue  is 
whether  the  Master  Mason's  degree,  as  a 
degree,  was  in  existence  among  the  Opera- 
tive Freemasons  before  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, or  whether  we  owe  it  to  the  Revivalists 
of  1717.  Bro.  Wm,  J.  Hughan,  in  a  very 
able  article  on  this  subject,  published  in 
1873,  in  the  Voice  of  Masonry,  says  that "  so 
far  the  evidence  respecting  its  history  goes 
no  farther  back  than  the  early  part  of  the 
last  century."  The  evidence,  however,  is 
all  of  a  negative  character.  There  is  none 
that  the  degree  existed  in  the  seventeenth 
century  or  earlier,  and  there  is  none  that 
it  did  not.  All  the  old  manuscripts  speak 
of  Masters  and  Fellows,  but  these  might 
have  been  and  probably  were  onlv  titles  of 
rank.  The  Sloane  MS.,  No.  3329,  speaks, 
it  is  true,  of  modes  of  recognition  peculiar 
to  Masters  and  Fellows,  and  also  of  a  Lodge 
consisting  of  Masters,  Fellows,  and  Appren- 


MASTER 


MASTER 


493 


tices.  But  even  if  we  give  to  this  MS.  its 
earliest  date,  that  which  is  assigned  to  it 
by  Findel,  near  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  it  will  not  necessarily  follow  that 
these  Masters,  Fellows,  and  Apprentices 
had  each  a  separate  and  distinct  degree. 
Indeed,  it  refers  only  to  one  Lodge,  which 
was,  however,  constituted  by  three  different 
ranks ;  and  it  records  but  one  oath,  so  that 
it  is  possible  that  there  was  only  one  com- 
mon form  of  initiation. 

The  first  positive  historical  evidence  that 
we  have  of  the  existence  of  a  Master's  de- 
gree is  to  be  found  in  the  General  Regula- 
tions compiled  by  Payne  in  1720.  It  ia 
there  declared  that  Apprentices  must  be 
admitted  Masters  and  Fellow  Crafts  only 
in  the  Grand  Lodge.  The  degree  was  then 
in  existence.  But  this  record  would  not 
militate  against  the  theory  advanced  by 
some  that  Desaguliers  was  its  author  in 
1717.  Dermott  asserts  that  the  degree,  as 
we  now  have  it,  was  the  work  of  Desaguliers 
and  seven  others,  who,  being  Fellow  Crafts, 
but  not  knowing  the  Master's  part,  boldly 
invented  it,  that  they  might  organize  a 
Grand  Lodge.  He  intimates  that  the  true 
Master's  degree  existed  before  that  time, 
and  was  in  possession  of  the  Ancients.  But 
Dermott's  testimony  is  absolutely  worth 
nothing,  because  he  was  a  violent  partisan, 
and  because  his  statements  are  irreconcila- 
ble with  other  facts.  If  the  Ancients  were 
in  possession  of  the  degree  which  had 
existed  before  1717,  and  the  Moderns  were 
not,  where  did  the  former  get  it,  since  they 
sprang  out  of  the  latter  ? 

Documentary  evidence  is  yet  wanting  to 
settle  the  precise  time  of  the  composition  of 
the  third  degree  as  we  now  have  it.  But  it 
would  not  be  prudent  to  oppose  too  posi- 
tively the  theory  that  it  must  be  traced  to 
the  second  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  proofs,  as  they  arise  day  by  day,  from 
the  resurrection  of  old  manuscripts,  seem 
to  incline  that  way. 

But  the  legend,  I  think,  is  of  much  older 
date.  It  may  have  made  a  part  of  the 
general  initiation ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that, 
like  the  similar  one  of  the  Compagnons  de 
la  Tour  in  France,  it  existed  among  the 
Operative  Gilds  of  the  Middle  Ages  as  an 
esoteric  narrative.  Such  a  legend  all  the 
histories  of  the  Ancient  Mysteries  prove  to 
us  belongs  to  the  spirit  of  initiation. 
There  would  have  been  no  initiation  worth 
preservation  without  it. 

Master,  Most  High  and  Puis- 
sant. {Maitre  Ires  haut  et  tre's  puissant.) 
The  sixty-second  degree  of  the  Bite  of 
Mizraim. 

Master,  Most  Wise.  The  title  of 
a  presiding  officer  of  a  Chapter  of  Rose 
Croix,  usually  abbreviated  as  Most  Wise. 


Master,  Mystic.  {Mat Ire  Mystique.) 
A  degree  in  the  collection  of  Pyron. 

Master  of  all  Symbolic  Lodges, 
Orand.  See  Grand  Master  of  all  Sym- 
bolic Lodges. 

Master  of  a  Lodge.  See  Worship- 
ful Master. 

Master  of  Cavalry.  An  officer  in 
a  Council  of  Knights  of  the  Red  Cross, 
whose  duties  are,  in  some  respects,  similar 
to  those  of  a  Junior  Deacon  in  a  symbolic 
Lodge.  The  two  offices  of  Master  of  Cav- 
alry and  Master  of  Infantry  were  first  ap- 
pointed by  Constantine  the  Great. 

Master  of  Ceremonies.  An  officer 
found  in  many  of  the  Lodges  of  England 
and  the  Continent.  In  English  Lodges  the 
office  is  almost  a  nominal  one,  without  any 
duties,  but  in  the  continental  Lodges  he 
acts  as  the  conductor  of  the  candidate. 
Oliver  says  that  the  title  should  be  proper- 
ly, Director  of  Ceremonies,  and  he  objects 
to  Master  of  Ceremonies  as  "  unmasonic." 

Master  of  Dispatches.  The  Sec- 
retary of  a  Council  of  Knights  of  the  Red 
Cross.  The  Magister  Epistolarum  was  the 
officer  under  the  Empire  who  conducted  the 
correspondence  of  the  Emperor. 

Master  of  Finances.  The  Treas- 
urer of  a  Council  of  Knights  of  the  Red 
Cross. 

Master  of  Hamburg,  Perfect. 
{Maitre  parf ait  de  Hamburg.)  A  degree  in 
the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Master  of  Infantry.  The  Treas- 
urer of  a  Council  of  Knights  of  the  Red 
Cross.    See  Master  of  Cavalry. 

Master  of  Lodges.  {Maitre  desLoges.) 
The  sixty-first  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. 

Master  of  Masters,  Grand. 
{Grand  Maitre  des  Maitres.)  The  fifty-ninth 
degree  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France. 

Master  of  Paracelsns.  {Maitre 
de  Paracelse.)  A  degree  in  the  collection 
of  Pyron. 

Master  of  Secrets,  Perfect.  {Mai- 
tre parf  ait  des  Secrets.)  A  degree  in  the 
manuscript  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Master  of  St.  Andrew.  The  fifth 
degree  of  the  Swedish  Rite;  the  same  as 
the  Grand  Elu  Ecossais  of  the  Clermont 
system. 

Master  of  the  Chivalry  of 
Christ.  So  St.  Bernard  addresses  Hugh 
de  Payens,  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars. 
"  Hugoni  Militi  Christi  et  Magistro  Mili- 
tise  Christi,  Bernardus  Clercevallus,"  etc. 

Master  of  the  Hermetic  Se- 
crets, Orand.  ( Maitre  des  Secrets  Her- 
mdique,  Grand.)  A  degree  in  the  manu- 
script collection  of  Peuvret. 

Master  of  the  Hospital.    "  Sacri 


494 


MASTER 


MATERIALS 


Domus  Hospitalis  Sancto  Joannis  Hieroso- 
lymitaui  Magister,"  or  Master  of  the  Sa- 
cred House  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem,  was  the  official  title  of  the 
chief  of  the  Order  of  Knights  of  Malta; 
more  briefly,  "Magister  Hospitalis,"  or 
Master  of  the  Hospital.  Late  in  their  his- 
tory, the  more  imposing  title  of  *'  Magnus 
Magister,"  or  Grand  Master,  was  some- 
times assumed;  but  the  humbler  designa- 
tion was  still  maintained.  On  the  tomb 
of  Zacosta,  who  died  in  1467,  we  find 
"Magnus  Magister;"  but  twenty-three 
years  after,  D'Aubusson  signs  himself 
"Magister  Hospitalis  Hierosolymitani." 

Master  of  the  Key  to  Masonry, 
Grand.  ( Grand  Maltre  de  la  Clef  de  la 
Maconnerie.)  The  twenty-first  degree  of 
the  Chapter  of  the  Emperors  of  the  East 
and  West. 

Master  of  the  Legitimate  Lodges, 
Grand.  {Maltre  des  Loges  legitimes.)  A 
degree  in  the  Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge 
of  the  Eclectic  Philosophic  Rite. 

Master  of  the  Palace.  An  officer 
in  a  Council  of  Knights  of  the  Red  Cross, 
whose  duties  are  peculiar  to  the  degree. 

Master  of  the  Sages.  The  fourth 
degree  of  the  Initiated  Knights  and  Brothers 
of  Asia. 

Master  of  the  Seven  Kabbalis- 
tic  Secrets,  Illustrious.  {Maltre  II- 
lustre  des  sept  Secrets  Cabalistiques. )  A  degree 
in  the  manuscript  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Master  of  the  Temple.  Origi- 
nally the  official  title  of  the  Grand  Master 
of  the  Templars.  After  the  dissolution  of 
the  Order  in  England,  the  same  title  was 
incorrectly  given  to  the  custos  or  guardian 
of  the  Temple  Church  at  London,  and  the 
error  is  continued  to  the  present  day. 

Master  of  the  Work.  The  chief 
builder  or  architect  of  a  cathedral  or  other 
important  edifice  in  the  Middle  Ages  was 
called  the  Master  of  the  work;  thus,  Jost 
Dotzinger  was,  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
called  the  Master  of  the  work  at  the  cathe- 
dral of  Strasburg.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
the  "  Magister  operis "  was  one  to  whom 
the  public  works  was  intrusted.  Such  an 
officer  existed  in  the  monasteries.  He  was 
also  called  operarius  and  magister  operarum. 
Du  Cange  says  that  kings  had  their  operarii, 
magistri  operarum  or  masters  of  the  works. 
It  is  these  Masters  of  the  works  whom 
Anderson  has  constantly  called  Grand 
Masters.  Thus,  when  he  says  (second  edit. 
69,)  that  "  King  John  made  Peter  de  Cole- 
Church  Grand  Master  of  the  Masons  in  re- 
building London  bridge,"  he  should  have 
said  that  he  was  appointed  operarius  or 
Master  of  the  works.  The  use  of  the  cor- 
rect title  would  have  made  Anderson's  his- 
tory more  valuable. 


Master,  Past.     See  Past  Master. 
Master,  Perfect.     See  Perfect  Mas- 
ter. 
Master,  Perfect  Architect.    The 

twenty-seventh  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim. 

Master,  Perfect  Irish.  See  Per- 
fect Irish  Master. 

Master  Philosopher  by  the 
dumber  3.  {Maltre  philosophe  par  le 
Nombre  3.)  A  degree  in  the  manuscript 
collection  of  Peuvret. 

Master  Philosopher  by  the 
X umber  9.  {Maltre  philosophe  par  le 
Nombre  9.)  A  degree  in  the  manuscript 
collection  of  Peuvret. 

Master  Philosopher  Hermetic. 
[Maltre  philosophe  Hermetique.)  A  degree 
in  the  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Master,  Private.  {Maltre  Particu- 
lier.)  The  nineteenth  degree  of  the  Metro- 
politan Chapter  of  France. 

Master  Provost  and  Judge. 
( Mai  tre  Prevot  et  Juge. )  The  eighth  degree 
of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Master,  Puissant  Irish.  See 
Ptiissant  Irish  Master. 

Master,  Pythagorean.  {Maltre 
Pythagoricien.)  Thory  says  that  this  is  the 
third  and  last  degree  of  the  Masonic  system 
instituted  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Py- 
thagoras. 

Master,  Royal.    See  Royal  Master. 

Master,  Secret.     See  Secret  Master. 

Master,  Select.    See  Select  Master. 

Master,  Supreme  Elect.  {Maltre 
supreme  Elu.)  A  degree  in  the  Archives  of 
the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Master  Theosophist.  {Maltre  The- 
osophie.)  The  third  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Swedenborg. 

Master  through  Curiosity.  {Mal- 
tre par  Curiosite.)  1.  The  sixth  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  Mizraim  ;  2.  The  sixth  degree 
of  the  collection  of  the  Metropolitan  Chap- 
ter of  France.  It  is  a  modification  of  the 
Intimate  Secretary  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Master  to  the  Xumber  15.  {Mal- 
tre au  Nombre  15.)  A  degree  in  the  manu- 
script collection  of  Peuvret. 

Master,  True.  ( Vrai  Maltre.)  A 
degree  of  the  Chapter  of  Clermont. 

Master,  Worshipful.  See  Wor- 
shipful Master. 

Materials  of  the  Temple.  Ma- 
sonic tradition  tells  us  that  the  trees  out  of 
which  the  timbers  were  made  for  the  Tem- 
ple were  felled  and  prepared  in  the  forest 
of  Lebanon,  and  that  the  stones  were  hewn, 
cut,  and  squared  in  the  quarries  of  Tyre. 
But  both  the  Book  of  Kings  and  Josephus 
concur  in  the  statement  that  Hiram  of  Tyre 
furnished  only  cedar  and  fir-trees  for  the 
Temple.     The  stones  were  most  probably 


MATERS 


MELCHIZEDEK 


495 


(and  the  explorations  of  modern  travellers 
confirm  the  opinion)  taken  from  the  quar- 
ries which  abound  in  and  around  Jerusa- 
lem. The  tradition,  therefore,  which  de- 
rives these  stones  from  the  quarries  of  Tyre, 
is  incorrect. 

Maters.  In  the  Cooke  MS.,  (line  825,) 
—  and  it  is  the  only  Old  Constitution  in 
which  it  occurs,  —  we  find  the  word  maters  ; 
"Hit  is  seyd  in  y*  art  of  Masonry  y'  no 
man  scholde  make  ende  so  well  of  worke 
begonne  bi  another  to  y*  profite  of  his  lorde 
as  he  began  hit  for  to  end  hit  bi  his  maters 
or  to  whom  he  scheweth  his  maters,"  where, 
evidently,  maters  is  a  corruption  of  the  Latin 
matrix,  a  mould ;  this  latter  being  the  word 
used  in  all  the  other  Old  Constitutions  in 
the  same  connection.     See  Mould  Stone. 

Matriculation  Book.  In  the  Rite 
of  Strict  Observance,  the  register  which 
contained  the  lists  of  the  Provinces,  Lodges, 
and  members  of  the  Rite  was  called  the 
Matriculation  Book.  The  term  was  bor- 
rowed from  the  usage  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
where  matricula  meant  "  a  catalogue."  It 
was  applied  by  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of 
that  period  to  lists  of  the  clergy,  and  also 
of  the  poor,  who  were  to  be  provided  for 
by  the  churches,  whence  we  have  matricula 
clericorum  and  matricula  pauperum. 

Mature  Age.  The  Charges  of  1722 
prescribe  that  a  candidate  for  initiation 
must  be  of  "mature  and  discreet  age;"  but 
the  usage  of  the  Craft  has  differed  in  various 
countries  as  to  the  time  when  maturity  of 
age  is  supposed  to  have  arrived.  In  the  Reg- 
ulations of  1663,  it  is  set  down  at  twenty-one 
years ;  and  this  continues  to  be  the  construc- 
tion of  maturity  in  all  English  Lodges  both 
in  Great  Britain  and  this  country.  France 
and  Switzerland  have  adopted  the  same 
period.  At  Frankfort-on-the-Main  it  is 
fixed  at  twenty,  and  in  Prussia  and  Hano- 
ver at  twenty-five.  The  Grand  Lodge  of 
Hamburg  has  decreed  that  the  age  of  Ma- 
sonic maturity  shall  be  that  which  is  deter- 
mined by  the  laws  of  the  land  to  be  the 
age  of  legal  majority 

Maul.     See  Setting  Maul. 

Medals.  A  medal  is  defined  to  be  a 
piece  of  metal  in  the  shape  of  a  coin,  bear- 
ing figures  or  devices  and  mottoes,  struck 
and  distributed  in  memory  of  some  person 
or  event.  When  Freemasonry  was  in  its 
operative  stage,  no  medals  were  issued. 
The  medals  of  the  Operative  Masons  were 
the  monuments  which  they  erected  in  the 
form  of  massive  buildings,  adorned  with 
all  the  beauties  of  architectural  art.  But 
it  was  not  long  after  its  transformation  into 
a  Speculative  Order  before  it  began  to  issue 
medals.  The  earliest  Masonic  medal  of 
which  we  have  an  authentic  account  is 
that  known  as  the  "  Freemason's  ducat," 


which  was  struck  at  Brunswick  in  1743. 
The  number  have  since  so  greatly  increased, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  even  a 
catalogue  of  them.  They  are  struck  every 
year  by  Lodges  to  commemorate  some  dis- 
tinguished member  or  some  remarkable 
event  in  the  annals  of  the  Lodge.  Many 
Lodges  in  Europe  have  cabinets  of  medals, 
of  which  the  Lodge  Minerva  of  the  Three 
Palms  at  Leipsic  is  especially  valuable. 
In  America  no  Lodge  has  made  such  a  col- 
lection, except  Pythagoras  Lodge  at  New 
York. 

Mediterranean  Pass.  A  side  de- 
gree sometimes  conferred  in  this  country 
on  Royal  Arch  Masons.  It  has  no  lecture 
or  legend,  and  should  not  be  confounded, 
as  it  sometimes  is,  with  the  very  different 
degree  of  Knight  of  the  Mediterranean 
Pass.     It  is,  however,  now  nearly  obsolete. 

Meeting  of  a  Chapter.  See  Con- 
vocation. 

Meeting  of  a  Lodge.  See  Communi- 
cation. 

Meet  on  the  Level.  In  the  Presto- 
nian  lectures  as  practised  in  the  beginning 
of  this  century,  it  was  said  that  Masons 
met  on  the  square  and  hoped  to  part  on  the 
level.  In  the  American  system  of  Webb 
a  change  was  made,  and  we  were  instructed 
that  they  meet  on  the  level  and  part  on  the 
square.  And  in  1842  the  Baltimore  Con- 
vention made  a  still  further  change,  by 
adding  that  they  act  by  the  plumb;  and  this 
formula  is  now,  although  quite  modern, 
generally  adopted  by  the  Lodges  in  this 
country. 

Meister.    The  German  for  Master. 

Meister  ini  Slulil.  [Master  in  the 
Chair.)  The  Germans  so  call  the  Master 
of  a  Lodge. 

Melancthon,  Philip.  The  name 
of  this  celebrated  reformer  is  signed  to  the 
Charter  of  Cologne  as  the  representative 
of  Dantzic.  The  evidence  of  his  connec- 
tion with  Freemasonry  depends  entirely  on 
the  authenticity  of  that  document. 

Melchizedek.  King  of  Salem,  and 
a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  of  whom 
all  that  we  know  is  to  be  found  in  the  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  read  at  the  conferring  of 
the  degree  of  High  Priesthood.  Some  theo- 
logians have  supposed  him  to  have  been 
Shem,  the  son  of  Noah.  The  sacrifice  of 
offering  bread  and  wine  is  first  attributed 
to  Melchizedek ;  and  hence,  looking  to  the 
similar  Mithraic  sacrifice,  Higgins  is  in- 
clined to  believe  that  he  professed  the  re- 
ligion of  Mithras.  He  abandoned  the 
sacrifice  of  slaughtered  animals,  and,  to 
quote  the  words  of  St.  Jerome,  "  offered 
bread  and  wine  as  a  type  of  Christ." 
Hence,  in  the  New  Testament,  Christ  is 
represented  as  a  priest  after  the  order  of 


496 


MELCHIZEDEK 


MEMPHIS 


Melchizedek.  In  Masonry,  Melchizedek  is 
connected  with  the  order  or  degree  of  High 
Priesthood,  and  some  of  the  high  degrees. 

Melchizedek,  Degree  of.  The 
sixth  degree  of  the  Order  of  Brothers  of 
Asia. 

Melech.  Properly,  Malach,  a  mes- 
senger, and  hence  an  angel,  because  the 
angels  were  supposed  to  be  the  messengers 
of  God.  In  the  ritual  of  one  of  the  high 
degrees  we  meet  with  the  sentence  hamelech 
Gebalim,  which  has  been  variously  trans- 
lated. The  French  ritualists  handle  He- 
brew words  with  but  little  attention  to  He- 
brew grammar,  and  hence  they  translate 
this  sentence  as  "Jabulum  est  un  bon 
Macon."  The  former  American  ritualists 
gave  it  as  meaning  "  Guibulum  is  a  good 
man."  Guibulum  is  undoubtedly  used  as 
a  proper  name,  and  is  a  corrupt  deriva- 
tion from  the  Hebrew  Masonic  Giblim, 
which  means  stone-squarers  or  masons,  and 
melach  for  malach  means  a  messenger,  one 
sent  to  accomplish  a  certain  task.  Bros. 
Pike  and  Rockwell  make  the  first  word 
hamalek,  the  king  or  chief.  If  the  words 
were  reversed,  we  should  have  the  Hebrew 
vocative,  "  O !  Gibulum  the  messenger."  As 
it  is,  Bro.  Pike  makes  it  vocative,  and  inter- 

frets  it,  "  Oh !  thou  glory  of  the  Builders." 
am  inclined  to  think  that  the  inventor  of 
the  degree  meant  simply  to  say  that  Gibu- 
lum was  a  messenger,  or  one  who  had  been 
sent  to  make  a  discovery,  but  that  he  did 
not  perfectly  express  the  idea  according  to 
the  Hebrew  idiom,  or  that  his  expression 
has  since  been  corrupted  by  the  copyists. 

Melesino,  Rite  of.  This  is  a  Rite 
scarcely  known  out  of  Russia,  where  it  was 
founded  about  the  year  1765,  by  Melesino, 
a  very  learned  man  and  Mason,  a  Greek  by 
birth,  but  high  in  the  military  service  of 
Russia.  It  consisted  of  seven  degrees,  viz. : 
1.  Apprentice.  2.  Fellow  Craft.  3.  Master 
Mason.  4.  The  Mystic  Arch.  5.  Scottish 
Master  and  Knight.  6.  The  Philosopher. 
7.  The  Priest  or  High  Priest  of  the  Tem- 
plars. The  four  higher  degrees  abounded 
in  novel  traditions  and  myths  unknown  to 
any  of  the  other  Rites,  and  undoubtedly  in- 
vented by  the  founder.  The  whole  Rite  was 
a  mixture  of  Kabbalism,  magic,  gnosticism, 
and  the  hermetic  philosophy  mixed  in  al- 
most inextricable  confusion.  The  seventh 
or  final  degree  was  distinctly  Rosicrucian, 
and  the  religion  of  the  Rite  was  Christian, 
recognizing  and  teaching  the  belief  in  the 
Messiah  and  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity. 

Melita.  The  ancient  name  of  the 
hland  of  Malta. 

Member,  Honorary.  See  Hono- 
rary Member. 

Member,  Life.    See  Life  Member. 

Member  of  a  Lodge.    As  soon  as 


permanent  Lodges  became  a  part  of  the 
Masonic  organization,  it  seems  to  have  been 
required  that  every  Mason  should  belong 
to  one,  and  this  is  explicitly  stated  in  the 
charges  approved  in  1722.     See  Affiliation. 

Membership,  Right  of.  The  first 
right  which  a  Mason  acquires,  after  the  re- 
ception of  the  third  degree,  is  that  of  claim- 
ing membership  in  the  Lodge  in  which  he 
has  been  initiated.  The  very  fact  of  his 
having  received  that  degree  makes  him  at 
once  an  inchoate  member  of  the  Lodge  — 
that  is  to  say,  no  further  application  is  ne- 
cessary, and  no  new  ballot  is  required ;  but 
the  candidate,  having  now  become  a  Master 
Mason,  upon  signifying  his  submission  to 
the  regulations  of  the  Society,  by  affixing 
his  signature  to  the  book  of  by-laws,  is 
constituted,  by  virtue  of  that  act,  a  full 
member  of  the  Lodge,  and  entitled  to  all 
the  rights  and  prerogatives  accruing  to  that 
position. 

Memphis,  Rite  of.  In  1839,  two 
French  Masons,  named  respectively  Mar- 
conis  and  Moullet,  but  of  whom  the  former 
was  undoubtedly  the  leader,  instituted,  first 
at  Paris,  then  at  Marseilles,  and  afterwards 
at  Brussels,  a  new  Rite  which  they  called 
the  "  Rite  of  Memphis,"  and  which  con- 
sisted of  ninety-one  degrees.  Subsequently, 
another  degree  was  added  to  this  already 
too  long  list.  The  Rite,  however,  has  re- 
peatedly undergone  modifications.  The 
Rite  of  Memphis  was  undoubtedly  founded 
on  the  extinct  Rite  of  Mizraim ;  for,  as  Ra- 
gon  says,  the  Egyptian  Rite  seems  to  have 
inspired  Marconis  and  Moullet  in  the  or- 
ganization of  their  new  Rite.  It  is  said  by 
Ragon,  who  has  written  copiously  on  the 
Rite,  that  the  first  series  of  degrees,  extend- 
ing to  the  thirty-fifth  degree,  is  an  assump- 
tion of  the  thirty-three  degrees  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Rite,  with  scarcely  a 
change  of  name.  The  remaining  degrees 
of  the  Rite  are  borrowed,  according  to  the 
same  authority,  from  other  well-known 
systems,  and  some,  perhaps,  the  invention 
of  their  founders. 

The  Rite  of  Memphis  was  not  at  first  re- 
cognized by  the  Grand  Orient  of  France, 
and  consequently  formed  no  part  of  legal 
French  Masonry.  So  about  1852  its  Lodges 
were  closed  by  the  civil  authority,  and  the 
Rite,  to  use  a  French  Masonic  phrase, 
"  went  to  sleep." 

In  the  year  1862,  Marconis,  still  faithful 
to  the  system  which  he  had  invented,  ap- 
plied to  the  Grand  Master  of  France  to 
give  to  it  a  new  life.  The  Grand  College 
of  Rites  was  consulted  on  the  subject,  and 
the  Council  of  the  Order  having  made  a 
favorable  decree,  the  Rite  of  Memphis  was 
admitted,  in  November,  1862,  among  those 
Masonic  systems  which  acknowledge  obe- 


MEMPHIS 


MEMPHIS 


497 


dience  to  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  and 
perform  their  functions  within  its  bosom. 
To  obtain  this  position,  however,  the  only 
one  which,  in  France,  preserves  a  Masonic 
system  from  the  reputation  of  being  clan- 
destine, it  was  necessary  that  Marconis, 
who  was  then  the  Grand  Hierophant, 
should,  as  a  step  preliminary  to  any  favor- 
able action  on  the  part  of  the  Grand  Orient, 
take  an  obligation  by  which  he  forever 
after  divested  himself  of  all  authority,  of 
any  kind  whatsoever,  over  the  Rite.  It 
passed  entirely  out  of  his  hands,  and,  go- 
ing into  "obedience"  to  the  Grand  Orient, 
that  body  has  taken  complete  and  undi- 
vided possession  of  it,  and  laid  its  high  de- 
grees upon  the  shelf,  as  Masonic  curiosities, 
since  the  Grand  Orient  only  recognizes,  in 
practice,  the  thirty-three  degrees  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Rite. 

This,  then,  is  the  present  position  of  the 
Rite  of  Memphis  in  France.  Its  original 
possessors  have  disclaimed  all  further  con- 
trol or  direction  of  it.  It  has  been  ad- 
mitted by  the  Grand  Orient  among  the 
eight  systems  of  Rites  which  are  placed 
"under  its  obedience; "  that  is  to  say,  it  ad- 
mits its  existence,  but  it  does  not  suffer  it 
to  be  worked.  Like  all  Masonic  Rites  that 
have  ever  been  invented,  the  organization 
of  the  Rite  of  Memphis  is  founded  on  the 
first  three  degrees  of  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry. These  three  degrees,  of  course,  are 
given  in  symbolic  Lodges.  In  1862,  when 
Marconis  surrendered  the  Rite  into  the 
hands  of  the  ruling  powers  of  French  Ma- 
sonry, many  of  these  Lodges  existed  in 
various  parts  of  France,  although  in  a  dor- 
mant condition,  because,  as  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  ten  years  before  they  had  been 
closed  by  the  civil  authority.  Had  they 
been  in  active  operation,  they  would  not 
have  been  recognized  by  the  French  Ma- 
sons ;  they  would  have  been  looked  upon 
as  clandestine,  and  there  would  have  been 
no  affiliation  with  them,  because  the  Grand 
Orient  recognizes  no  Masonic  bodies  as 
legal  which  do  not  in  return  recognize  it  as 
the  head  of  French  Masonry. 

But  when  Marconis  surrendered  his 
powers  as  Grand  Hierophant  of  the  Rite 
of  Memphis  to  the  Grand  Orient,  that 
body  permitted  these  Lodges  to  be  -resusci- 
tated and  reopened  only  on  the  conditions 
that  they  would  acknowledge  their  subor- 
dination to  the  Grand  Orient;  that  they 
would  work  only  in  the  first  three  degrees 
and  never  confer  any  degree  higher  than 
that  of  Master  Mason;  the  members  of 
these  Lodges,  however  high  might  be  their 
dignities  in  the  Rite  of  Memphis,  were  to 
be  recognized  only  as  Master  Masons ;  every 
Mason  of  the  Rite  of  Memphis  was  to  de- 
posit his  Masonic  titles  with  the  Grand 
3N  32 


Secretary  of  the  Grand  Orient ;  these  titles 
were  then  to  be  vixe  or  approved  and  reg- 
ularized, but  only  as  far  as  the  degree  of 
Master  Mason ;  no  Mason  of  the  Rite  of 
Memphis  was  to  be  permitted  to  claim  any 
higher  degree,  and  if  he  attempted  to  as- 
sume any  such  title  of  a  higher  degree 
which  was  not  approved  by  the  Grand 
Master,  he  was  to  be  considered  as  irregu- 
lar, and  was  not  to  be  affiliated  with  by  the 
members  of  any  of  the  regular  Lodges. 

Such  is  now  the  condition  of  the  Rite 
of  Memphis  in  France.  It  has  been  ab- 
sorbed into  the  Grand  Orient;  Marconis, 
its  founder  and  head,  has  surrendered  all 
claim  to  any  jurisdiction  over  it;  there  are 
Lodges  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Grand 
Orient  which  originally  belonged  to  the 
Rite  of  Memphis,  ana  they  practise  its 
ritual,  but  only  so  far  as  to  give  the  de- 
grees of  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and 
Master  Mason.  Its  "  Sages  of  the  Pyra- 
mids," its  "  Grand  Architects  of  the  Mys- 
terious City,"  its  "Sovereign  Princes  of 
the  Magi  of  the  Sanctuary  of  Memphis," 
with  its  "  Sanctuary,"  its  "  Mystical  Tem- 
ple," its  "  Liturgical  College,"  its  "  Grand 
Consistory,"  and  its  "Supreme  Tribunal," 
exist  no  longer  except  in  the  diplomas  and 
charters  which  have  been  quietly  laid  away 
on  the  shelves  of  the  Secretariat  of  the 
Grand  Orient.  To  attempt  to  propagate 
the  Rite  is  now  in  France  a  high  Masonic 
offence.  The  Grand  Orient  alone  has  the 
power,  and  there  is  no  likelihood  that  it 
will  ever  exercise  it.  Some  circumstances 
which  have  recently  occurred  in  the  Grand 
Orient  of  France  very  clearly  show  the 
true  condition  of  the  Rite  of  Memphis.  A 
meeting  was  holden  in  Paris  on  the  26th 
of  August  last,  by  the  Council  of  the 
Order,  a  body  which,  something  like  the 
Committee  of  General  Purposes  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  does  all  the  pre- 
liminary business  for  the  Grand  Orient, 
but  which  is  possessed  of  rather  extensive 
legislative  and  administrative  powers,  as  it 
directs  the  Order  during  the  recess  of  the 
Grand  Orient.  At  that  meeting,  a  com- 
munication was  received  from  a  Lodge  in 
Moldavia,  called  "The  Disciples  of  Truth," 
which  Lodge  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  having  been 
chartered  by  that  body.  This  communica- 
tion stated  that  certain  brethren  of  that 
Lodge  had  been  invested  by  one  Carence' 
with  the  degree  of  Rose  Croix  in  the  Rite 
of  Memphis,  and  that  the  diplomas  had 
been  dated  at  the  "Grand  Orient  of 
Egypt,"  and  signed  by  Bro.  Marconis  as 
Grand  Hierophant.  The  commission  of 
the  Council  of  the  Order,  to  whom  the  sub- 
ject was  referred,  reported  that  the  con- 
ferring of  these  degrees  was  null  and  void ; 


498 


MEMPHIS 


MEMPHIS 


that  neither  Carence  nor  Marconis  had 
any  commission,  authority,  or  power  to 
confer  degrees  of  the  Memphis  Kite  or  to 
organize  bodies;  and  that  Marconis  had, 
by  oath,  solemnly  divested  himself  of  all 
right  to  claim  the  title  of  Grand  Hiero- 
phant  of  the  Rite ;  which  oath,  originally 
taken  in  May,  1862,  had  at  several  subse- 
quent times,  namely,  in  September,  1863, 
March,  1864,  September,  1865,  and  March, 
1866,  been  renewed.  As  a  matter  of  clem- 
ency, the  Council  determined  not,  for  the 
E resent  at  least,  to  prefer  charges  against 
[arconis  and  Carence  before  the  Grand 
Orient,  but  to  warn  them  of  the  error  they 
committed  in  making  a  traffic  of  Masonic 
degrees.  It  also  ordered  the  report  to  be 
published  and  widely  diffused,  so  that  the 
Fraternity  might  be  apprised  that  there 
was  no  power  outside  of  the  Grand  Orient 
which  could  confer  the  high  degrees  of  any 
Rite. 

An  attempt  having  been  made,  in  1872, 
to  establish  the  Rite  in  England,  Bro.  Mon- 
tague, the  Secretary  General  of  the  Supreme 
Council,  wrote  to  Bro.  Thevenot,  the  Grand 
Secretary  of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France, 
for  information  as  to  its  validity.  From 
him  he  received  a  letter  containing  the  fol- 
lowing statements,  from  which  official  au- 
thority we  gather  the  fact  that  the  Rite  of 
Memphis  is  a  dead  Rite,  and  that  no  one 
has  authority  in  any  country  to  propa- 
gate it. 

"  Neither  in  1866,  nor  at  any  other  pe- 
riod, has  the  Grand  Orient  of  France  recog- 
nized '  the  Ancient  and  Primitive  Rite  of 
Masonry,'  concerning  which  you  inquire, 
and  which  has  been  recently  introduced  in 
Lancashire. 

"  At  a  particular  time,  and  with  the  in- 
tention of*  causing  the  plurality  of  Rites  to 
disappear,  the  Grand  Orient  of  France  an- 
nexed and  absorbed  the  Rite  of  Memphis, 
under  the  express  condition  that  the  Lodges 
of  that  Rite,  which  were  received  under  its 
jurisdiction,  should  confer  only  the  three 
symbolic  degrees  of  Apprentice,  Fellow 
Craft,  and  Master,  according  to  its  special 
rituals,  and  refused  to  recognize  any  other 
degree,  or  any  other  title,  belonging  to  such 
Rite. 

"At  the  period  when  this  treaty  was 
negotiated  with  the  Supreme  Chief  of  this 
Rite  by  Bro.  Marconis  de  N£gre,  Bro.  H.  J. 
Seymour  was  at  Paris,  and  seen  by  us,  but  no 
power  was  conferred  on  him  by  the  Grand 
Orient  of  France  concerning  this  Rite ;  and, 
what  is  more,  the  Grand  Orient  of  France 
does  not  give,  and  has  never  given,  to  any 
single  person  the  right  to  make  Masons  or 
to  create  Lodges. 

"  Afterwards,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
bad  faith  of  Bro.  Marconis  de  Negre,  who 


pretended  he  had  ceded  his  Rite  to  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France  for  France  alone, 
Bro.  Harry  J.  Seymour  assumed  the  title 
of  Grand  Master  of  the  Rite  of  Memphis 
in  America,  and  founded  in  New  York  a 
Sovereign  Sanctuary  of  this  Rite.  A  cor- 
respondence ensued  between  this  new  power 
and  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  and  even 
the  name  of  this  Sovereign  Sanctuary  ap- 
peared in  our  Calendar  for  1867.  But  when 
the  Grand  Orient  of  France  learned  that 
this  power  went  beyond  the  three  symbolic 
degrees,  and  that  its  confidence  had  been 
deceived,  the  Grand  Orient  broke  off  all 
connection  with  this  power,  and  personally 
with  Bro.  Harry  J.  Seymour;  and,  in  fact, 
since  that  period,  neither  the  name  of  Bro. 
Harry  J.  Seymour,  as  Grand  Master,  nor 
the  Masonic  power  which  he  founded,  have 
any  longer  appeared  in  the  Masonic  Calen- 
dar of  the  Grand  Orient. 

"Your  letter  leads  me  to  believe  that 
Bro.  Harry  J.  Seymour  is  endeavoring,  I 
do  not  know  with  what  object,  to  introduce 
a  new  Rite  into  England,  in  that  country 
of  the  primitive  and  only  true  Masonry, 
one  of  the  most  respectable  that  I  know  of. 
I  consider  this  event  as  a  misfortune. 

"  The  Grand  Orient  of  France  has  made 
the  strongest  efforts  to  destroy  the  Rite  of 
Memphis;  it  has  succeeded.  The  Lodges 
of  the  Rite,  which  it  at  first  received 
within  its  jurisdiction,  have  all  abandoned 
the  Rite  of  Memphis  to  work  according  to 
the  French  Rite.  I  sincerely  desire  that 
it  may  be  the  same  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
and  you  will  ever  find  me  ready  to  second 
your  efforts. 

"Referring  to  this  letter,  I  have,  very 
illustrious  brother,  but  one  word  to  add, 
and  that  is,  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France  interdicts  its  found- 
ing Lodges  in  countries  where  a  regular 
Masonic  power  already  exists;  and  if  it 
cannot  found  Lodges  a  fortiori,  it  cannot 
grant  charters  to  establish  Grand  Masonic 
Powers :  in  other  terms,  the  Grand  Orient 
of  France  never  has  given  to  Bro.  Harry 
J.  Seymour,  nor  to  any  other  person,  pow- 
ers to  constitute  a  Lodge,  or  to  create  a 
Rite,  or  to  make  Masons.  Bro.  HarryJ. 
Seymour  may  perfectly  well  have  the  sig- 
natures of  the  Grand  Master  and  of  the 
Chief  of  the  Secretary's  office  of  the  Grand 
Orient  of  France  on  a  diploma,  as  a  fra- 
ternal vise";  but  certainly  he  has  neither  a 
charter  nor  a  power.  I  also  beg  you  to  make 
every  effort  to  obtain  the  textual  copy  of 
the  documents  of  which  Bro.  Harry  J.  Sey- 
mour takes  advantage.  It  is  by  the  inspec- 
tion of  this  document  it  will  be  necessary 
to  judge  the  question,  and  I  await  new 
communications  on  this  subject  from  your 
fraternal  kindness." 


MENATZCHIM 


METAL 


499 


Menatzchim.  In  2  Chron.  ii.  18,  it 
is  said  that  at  the  building  of  the  Temple 
there  were  "three  thousand  and  six  hundred 
overseers  to  set  the  people  awork."  The 
word  translated  "  overseers "  is,  in  the  ori- 
ginal, D'flVJD.  MeNaTZCHIM.  Ander- 
son, in  his  catalogue  of  workmen  at  the 
Temple,  calls  these  Menatzchim  "expert 
Master  Masons ; "  and  so  they  have  been 
considered  in  all  subsequent  rituals. 

Mental  Qualifications.  See  Qual- 
ifications. 

Menu.  In  the  Indian  mythology,  Menu 
is  the  son  of  Brahma,  and  the  founder  of 
the  Hindu  religion.  Thirteen  other  Menus 
are  said  to  exist,  seven  of  whom  have  al- 
ready reigned  on  earth.  But  it  is  the  first 
one  whose  instructions  constitute  the  whole 
civil  and  religious  polity  of  the  Hindus. 
The  code  attributed  to  him  by  the  Brah- 
mans  has  been  translated  by  Sir  William 
Jones,  with  the  title  of  The  Institutes  of 
Menu. 

Mercy.  The  point  of  a  Knight  Tem- 
plar's sword  is  said  to  be  characterized  by 
the  quality  of  "  mercy  unrestrained ;"  which 
reminds  us  of  the  Shakspearian  expression 
— "  the  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained." 
In  the  days  of  chivalry,  mercy  to  the  con- 
quered foe  was  an  indispensable  quality  of 
a  knight.  An  act  of  cruelty  in  battle  was 
considered  infamous,  for  whatever  was  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  generous  warfare  was 
also  contrary  to  the  laws  of  chivalry. 

Mercy,  Prince  of.  See  Prince  of 
Mercy. 

Mercy -Seat.  The  lid  or  cover  of  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  was  called  the  Mercy- 
seat  or  the  Propitiatory,  because  on  the  day 
of  the  atonement  the  High  Priest  poured 
on  it  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  the  people. 

Meridian  Sun.  The  sun  in  the 
south  is  represented  in  Masonry  by  the 
Junior  Warden,  for  this  reason  ;  when  the 
sun  has  arrived  at  the  zenith,  at  which 
time  he  is  in  the  south,  the  splendor  of  his 
beams  entitle  him  to  the  appellation  which 
he  receives  in  the  ritual  as  "  the  beauty  and 
glory  of  the  day."  Hence,  as  the  Pillar  of 
Beauty  which  supports  the  Lodge  is  re- 
ferred to  the  Junior  Warden,  that  officer  is 
said  to  represent  "  the  sun  in  the  south  at 
High  Twelve,"  at  which  hour  the  Craft  are 
called  by  him  to  refreshment,  and  therefore 
is  he  also  placed  in  the  South  that  he  may 
the  better  observe  the  time  and  mark  the 
progress  of  the  shadow  over  the  dial-plate 
as  it  crosses  the  meridian  line. 

Merit.  The  Old  Charges  say,  "all 
preferment  among  Masons  is  grounded 
upon  real  worth  and  personal  merit  only ; 
that  so  the  Lords  may  be  well  served,  the 
Brethren  not  put  to  shame,  nor  the  Royal 


Craft  despised.    Therefore   no  Master  or 
Warden  is  chosen  by  seniority,  but  for  his 
merit."     See  Preferment. 
Mesmer,  Friedrich  Anton.     A 

German  physician  who  was  born  in  Suabia, 
1734,  and,  after  a  life  a  part  of  which  was 
passed  in  notoriety  and  the  closing  years  in 
obscurity,  died  in  1815.  He  was  the  founder 
of  the  doctrine  of  animal  magnetism,  called 
after  him  Mesmerism.  He  visited  Paris, 
and  became  there  in  some  degree  inter- 
mixed with  the  Masonic  charlatanism  of 
Cagliostro,  who  used  the  magnetic  opera- 
tions of  Mesmer's  new  science  in  his  initia- 
tions.   See  Mesmeric  Masonry. 

Mesmeric  Masonry.  In  the  year 
1782,  Mesmer  established  in  Paris  a  society 
which  he  called  "  the  Order  of  Universal 
Harmony."  It  was  based  on  the  principles 
of  animal  magnetism  or  mesmerism,  and 
had  a  form  of  initiation  by  which  the 
founder  claimed  that  its  adepts  were  puri- 
fied and  rendered  more  fit  to  propagate  the 
doctrines  of  his  science.  French  writers 
have,  I  scarcely  known  why,  dignified  this 
Order  by  the  title  of  "  Mesmeric  Masonry." 

Mesopolyte.  The  fourth  degree  of 
the  German  Union  of  XXII. 

Mesouraneo.  A  Greek  word,  fieoov- 
paveu,  signifying,  lam  in  the  centre  of  heaven. 
Hutchinson  fancifully  derives  from  it  the 
word  Masonry,  which  he  says  is  a  corrup- 
tion of  the  Greek,  and  refers  to  the  constel- 
lation Magaroth  mentioned  by  Job;  but  he 
fails  to  give  a  satisfactory  reason  for  his 
etymology.     Nevertheless,  Oliver  favors  it. 

Metals.  In  the  divestiture  of  metals  as 
a  preliminary  to  initiation,  we  are  symbol- 
ically taught  that  Masonry  regards  no  man 
on  account  of  his  wealth.  The  Talmudical 
treatise  "  Beracoth,"  with  a  like  spirit  of 
symbolism,  directs  in  the  Temple  service 
that  no  man  shall  go  into  the  mountain  of 
the  house,  that  is,  into  the  Holy  Temple, 
"  with  money  tied  up  in  his  purse." 

Metal  Tools.  We  are  told  in  Scrip- 
ture that  the  Temple  was  "  built  of  stone 
made  ready  before  it  was  brought  thither : 
so  that  there  was  neither  hammer,  nor  axe, 
nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the  house 
while  it  was  in  building."  (1  Kings  vi.  7.) 
Masonry  has  adopted  this  as  a  symbol  of 
the  peace  and  harmony  which  should  reign 
in  a  Lodge,  itself  a  type  of  the  world.  But 
Clarke,  in  his  commentary  on  the  place, 
suggests  that  it  was  intended  to  teach  us 
that  the  Temple  was  a  type  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  that  the  souls  of  men  are  to 
be  prepared  here  for  that  place  of  blessed- 
ness. There  is  no  repentance,  tears,  nor 
prayers :  the  stones  must  be  all  squared,  and 
fitted  here  for  their  place  in  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem; and,  being  living  stones,  must  be  built 
up  a  holy  temple  for  the  habitation  of  God. 


500 


METROPOLITAN 


MIDDLE 


Metropolitan  Chapter  of 
France.  There  existed  in  France,  towards 
the  end  of  the  last  century,  a  body  calling  it- 
self the  Grand  Chapter  General  of  France. 
It  was  formed  out  of  the  debris  of  the 
Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West, 
and  the  Council  of  Knights  of  the  East, 
which  had  been  founded  by  Pirlet.  In 
1786,  it  united  with  the  schismatic  Grand 
Orient,  and  then  received  the  title  of  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France.  It  pos- 
sessed in  its  archives  a  large  collection  of 
manuscript  cahiers  of  degrees,  most  of  them 
being  mere  Masonic  curiosities. 

Mexico.  The  precise  date  of  the  first 
appearance  of  organized  Masonry  in  Mex- 
ico is  unknown,  but  there  is  evidence  that 
it  existed  there  prior  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Republic  in  1824.  It  was  intro- 
duced by  the  civil  and  military  officers  of 
the  monarchy,  and  was  principally  confined 
to  Europeans  and  their  immediate  descend- 
ants. The  working  was  in  the  Scottish 
Rite,  which  was  propagated  with  much  cir- 
cumspection and  reserve.  In  1825,  Joel  R. 
Poinsett,  who  had  been  sent  to  Mexico  aa 
resident  Minister  by  the  United  States, 
disseminated  among  the  Mexicans  who  were 
his  friends  an  attachment  for  York  Mason- 
ry ;  so  that  in  the  same  year  authority  was 
obtained  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  New 
York  for  the  establishment  of  three  Lodges 
in  the  city  of  Mexico.  The  Grand  Lodge 
was  organized,  and  Jose  Ignacio  Esteva 
elected  the  first  Grand  Master. 

Soon  afterwards  a  Grand  Chapter  was 
established,  and  Masonry  extended  with 
such  rapidity  that,  by  the  end  of  the  year 
1826,  there  were  more  than  twenty-five 
Lodges  in  the  country,  there  being  one  at 
least  in  the  capital  of  each  of  the  States 
which  composed  the  federation.  Politics 
seem,  however,  from  the  first,  to  have  in- 
truded into  the  Masonic  temples,  and  this 
at  length  excited  the  suspicions  of  the 
government,  by  whom  all  secret  societies 
were  prescribed.  Masonry  continued  to 
be  practised  for  a  few  years  in  secret,  but 
gradually  disappeared. 

But  Masonry  is  again  in  a  prosperous 
condition,  and  between  twenty  and  thirty 
Lodges  are  now  in  operation  under  the 
obedience  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  Mex- 
ico, which  was  established  in  1860,  by  au- 
thority of  the  Supreme  Council  at  Charles- 
ton, S.  C. 

Michael.  SxD'D-  Who  w  like  unto 
God.  The  chief  of  the  seven  archangels. 
He  is  the  leader  of  the  celestial  host,  as 
Lucifer  is  of  the  infernal  spirits,  and  the 
especial  protector  of  Israel.  He  is  promi- 
nently referred  to  in  the  twenty-eighth  de- 
gree of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  or  Knight  of  the  Sun. 


Michigan.  On  September  7th,  1794, 
Thomas  Ainslie,  Deputy  Grand  Master  of 
the  Athol  Grand  Lodge  of  Canada,  granted 
a  Warrant  for  the  organization  of  Zion 
Lodge,  No.  10,  at  Detroit ;  and  this  appears 
to  have  been  the  date  of  the  introduction 
of  Masonry  into  that  province.  This 
Lodge  probably  ceased  to  exist  about  1805, 
and  a  dispensation  for  its  revival  was 
issued  in  1807  by  De  Witt  Clinton,  Grand 
Master  of  New  York.  Other  Lodges  were 
subsequently  established,  and  on  July  31st, 
1826,  a  Grand  Lodge  was  organized  by 
them  and  Lewis  Cass  elected  Grand  Master. 
In  consequence  of  the  political  pressure  of 
the  anti-Masonic  party  at  that  time,  the 
Grand  Lodge  suspended  its  labors  in  1829, 
and  remained  in  a  dormant  condition  until 
1840,  when,  at  a  general  meeting  of  the 
Masons  of  the  State,  it  was  resolved  that 
the  old  Grand  officers  who  were  still  alive 
should,  on  the  principle  that  their  preroga- 
tives had  never  ceased  but  only  been  in 
abeyance,  grant  dispensations  for  the  revi- 
val of  the  Lodges  and  the  renewal  of  labor. 
But  this  course  having  been  objected  to  as 
irregular  by  most  of  the  Grand  Lodges  of 
the  United  States,  a  constitutional  number 
of  Lodges  met  in  June,  1841,  and  organized 
the  Grand  Lodge,  electing  Gen.  Lewis  Cass 
Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Chapter  was  organized  in 
1848,  the  Grand  Council  in  1858,  and  the 
Grand  Commandery  in  1857. 

Microcosm.    See  Man. 

Middle  Ages.  These  are  supposed 
by  the  best  historians  to  extend  from  the 
year  400  B.  c.  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  last  important  event  being  the 
doubling  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  1497. 
This  period  of  twelve  centuries  is  one  of 
great  importance  to  the  Masonic  student, 
because  it  embraces  within  its  scope  events 
intimately  connected  with  the  history  of 
the  Order,  such  as  the  diffusion  throughout 
Europe  of  the  Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers, 
the  establishment  of  the  architectural 
school  of  Como,  the  rise  of  the  gilds,  the 
organizations  of  the  building  corporations 
of  Germany,  and  the  company  of  Free- 
masons of  England,  as  well  as  many  cus- 
toms and  usages  which  have  descended 
with  more  or  less  modification  to  the 
modern  Institution. 

Middle  Chamber.  There  were  three 
stories  of  side  chambers  built  around  the 
Temple  on  three  sides ;  what,  therefore,  is 
called  in  the  authorized  version  a  middle 
chamber  was  really  the  middle  story  of  those 
three.  The  Hebrew  word  is  V¥y?  yatsang. 
They  are  thus  described  in  1  Kings  vi.  5, 
6,  8.  "  And  against  the  wall  of  the  house 
he  built  chambers  round  about,  against  the 
walls  of  the  house  round  about,  both  of  the 


MILES 


MINUTES 


501 


temple  and  of  the  oracle:  and  he  made 
chambers  round  about.  The  nethermost 
chamber  was  five  cubits  broad,  and  the 
middle  was  six  cubits  broad,  and  the  third 
was  seven  cubits  broad :  for  without  in  the 
wall  of  the  house  he  made  narrowed  rests 
round  about,  that  the  beams  should  not  be 
fastened  in  the  walls  of  the  house.  The 
door  for  the  middle  chamber  was  in  the  right 
side  of  the  house :  and  they  went  up  with 
winding  stairs  into  the  middle  chamber,  and 
out  of  the  middle  into  the  third." 

These  chambers,  after  the  Temple  was 
completed,  served  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  priests  when  upon  duty ;  in  them 
they  deposited  their  vestments  and  the  sa- 
cred vessels.  But  the  knowledge  of  the 
purpose  to  which  the  middle  chamber  was 
appropriated  while  the  Temple  was  in  the 
course  of  construction,  is  only  preserved  in 
Masonic  tradition.  This  tradition  is,  how- 
ever, altogether  mythical  and  symbolical  in 
its  character,  and  belongs  to  the  symbolism 
of  the  Winding  Stairs,  which  see. 

Miles.  1.  In  pure  Latin,  miles  means 
a  soldier;  but  in  Mediaeval  Latin  the 
word  was  used  to  designate  the  military 
knights  whose  institution  began  at  that 
period.  Thus  a  Knight  Templar  was  called 
Miles  Templarius,  and  a  Knight  Banneret, 
Miles  Bannerettus.  The  pure  Latin  word 
eques,  which  signified  a  knight  in  Rome,  was 
never  used  in  that  sense  in  the  Middle 
Ages.    See  Knighthood. 

2.  The  seventh  degree  of  the  Bite  of  Af- 
rican Architects. 

Military  Lodges.  Lodges  estab- 
lished in  an  army.  They  are  of  an  early 
date,  having  long  existed  in  the  British 
army.  In  America,  the  first  Lodge  of  this 
kind  of  which  we  have  any  record  was  one 
the  Warrant  for  which  was  granted  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  in  1738,  to 
Abraham  Savage,  to  be  used  in  the  expedi- 
tion against  Canada.  A  similar  one  was 
granted  by  the  same  authority,  in  1756,  to 
Richard  Gridley,  for  the  expedition  against 
Crown  Point.  In  both  of  these  instances 
the  Warrants  were  of  a  general  character, 
and  might  rather  be  considered  as  deputa- 
tions, as  they  authorized  Savage  and  Grid- 
ley  to  congregate  Masons  into  one  or  more 
Lodges.  In  1779,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Pennsylvania  granted  a  Warrant  to  Col. 
Proctor,  of  the  artillery,  to  open  a  Military 
Lodge,  which  in  the  Warrant  is  called  a 
"  Movable  Lodge."  In  the  civil  war  in 
the  United  States  between  1861  and  1865, 
many  Military  Lodges  were  established  on 
both  sides;  but  it  is  questionable  whether 
they  had  a  good  effect.  They  met,  cer- 
tainly, with  much  opposition  in  many  ju- 
risdictions. In  England,  the  system  of  Mil- 
itary Lodges  is  regulated  by  special  provi- 


sions of  the  Grand  Lodge  Constitution. 
They  are  strictly  limited  to  the  purposes  for 
which  the  Warrants  were  granted,  and  no 
new  Lodge  can  be  established  in  a  regiment 
without  the  concurrence  of  the  command- 
ing officer.  They  cannot  make  Masons  of 
any  but  military  men  who  have  attained 
some  rank  in  the  army  above  that  of  a  pri- 
vate soldier,  although  the  latter  may  by 
dispensation  be  admitted  as  Serving  Breth- 
ren ;  and  they  are  strictly  enjoined  not  to 
interfere  with  the  Masonic  jurisdiction  of 
any  country  in  which  they  may  be  stationed. 
Military  Lodges  also  exist  on  the  continent 
of  Europe.  We  find  one  at  Berlin,  in 
Prussia,  as  far  back  as  1775,  under  the 
name  of  the  "  Military  Lodge  of  the  Blaz- 
ing Star,"  of  which  Wadzeck,  the  Masonic 
writer,  was  the  orator. 

Militia.  In  Mediaeval  Latin,  this  word 
signifies  chivalry  or  the  body  of  knight- 
hood. Hence  Militia  Templi,  a  title  some- 
times given  to  Knights  Templars,  does  not 
signify,  as  it  has  sometimes  been  improperly 
translated,  the  army  of  the  Temple,  but  the 
chivalry  of  the  Temple. 

Minerval.  The  third  degree  of  the 
111 uni inati  of  Bavaria. 

Minister  of  State.  An  officer  in  the 
Supreme  Councils,  Grand  Consistories,  and 
some  of  the  high  degrees  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Minnesota.  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  this  State  in  1849  by  the  constitution  in 
the  city  of  St.  Paul  of  a  Lodge  under  a 
Warrant  issued  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Ohio.  Two  other  Lodges  were  subse- 
quently constituted  by  the  Grand  Lodges 
of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois.  A  convention 
of  delegates  from  these  Lodges  was  held  at 
St.  Paul,  and  a  Grand  Lodge  organ- 
ized on  Feb.  12,  1853.  A.  E.  Ames  was 
elected  Grand  Master.  The  Grand  Chap- 
ter was  organized  Dec.  17,  1859,  and  the 
Grand  Commandery  was  organized  in 
1866. 

Minor.  The  fifth  degree  of  the  Ger- 
man Rose  Croix. 

Minor,  Illuminate.  {Muminatw 
Minor.)  The  fourth  degree  of  the  Illumi- 
nati  of  Bavaria. 

Minute  Book.  The  records  of  a 
Lodge  are  kept  by  the  Secretary  in  a 
journal,  which  is  called  the  Minute  Book. 
The  French  call  it  Planche  trace'e,  and  the 
Minutes  a  Morceau  d' Architecture. 

Minutes.  The  records  of  a  Lodge  are 
called  its  minutes.  The  minutes  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Lodge  should  always  be 
read  just  before  closing,  that  any  altera- 
tions or  amendments  may  be  proposed  by 
the  brethren ;  and  again  immediately  after 
opening  at  the  next  communication,  that 
they  may  be  confirmed.     But  the  minutes 


502 


MISCONDUCT 


MITHRAS 


of  a  regular  communication  are  not  to  be  read 
at  a  succeeding  extra  one.  because,  as  the 
proceedings  ot  a  regular  communication 
cannot  be  discussed  at  an  extra,  it  would 
be  unnecessary  to  read  them,  for,  if  incor- 
rect, they  could  not  be  amended  until  the 
next  regular  communication. 

Misconduct.  The  Constitution  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  provides  that 
"  if  any  brother  behave  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  disturb  the  harmony  of  the  Lodge,  he 
shall  be  thrice  formally  admonished  by  the 
Master ;  and  if  he  persist  in  his  irregular 
conduct,  he  shall  be  punished  according  to 
the  by-laws  of  that  particular  Lodge,  or 
the  case  may  be  reported  to  higher  Ma- 
sonic authority."  A  similar  rule  prevails 
wherever  Masonry  exists.  Every  Lodge 
,  may  exercise  instant  discipline  over  any 
member  or  visitor  who  violates  the  rules 
of  order  and  propriety,  or  disturbs  the 
harmony  of  the  Lodge,  by  extrusion  from 
the  room. 

Miserable  Scald  Masons.  See 
Scald  Miserable*. 

Mishna.    See  Talmud. 

Mississippi.  Masonry  was  intro- 
duced into  this  State  at  least  as  far  back 
as  1801,  in  which  year  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Kentucky  chartered  a  Lodge  at  Natchez, 
which  became  extinct  in  1814.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  Kentucky  subsequently  granted 
charters  to  two  other  Lodges  in  1812  and 
1815.  Two  Lodges  were  also  constituted 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee.  The 
delegates  of  three  of  these  Lodges  met  in 
convention  at  the  city  of  Natchez  in  July 
and  August,  1818,  and  on  the  25th  of  the 
latter  month  organized  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Mississippi,  Henry  Tooley  being  elected 
Grand  Master.  The  Grand  Chapter  was 
organized  at  Vicksburg,  May  18,  1846  ;  the 
Grand  Council  of  R.  and  S.  Master  Jan. 
19, 1856;  and  the  Grand  Commandery  Jan. 
22, 1857.  Scottish  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  the  State  in  1815  by  the  establishment 
of  a  Grand  Council  of  Princes  of  Jerusalem 
under  the  obedience  of  the  Southern  Su- 
preme Council. 

Missouri.  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  this  State  in  1807  by  the  constitution 
of  a  Lodge  in  the  town  of  St.  Genevieve, 
under  a  charter  granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Pennsylvania,  which  body  granted  a 
charter  for  another  Lodge  in  1809.  Sev- 
eral charters  were  subsequently  granted  by 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee.  In  1821 
there  appear  to  have  been  but  three 
Lodges  in  the  State.  Delegates  from  these 
organized,  April  23,  1821,  a  Grand  Lodge 
at  St.  Louis  and  elected  Thomas  F.  Rid- 
dick  Grand  Master.  The  Grand  Chapter 
was  organized  May  18,  1846,  and  the 
Grand  Commandery  May  22, 1860. 


Mistletoe.  A  sacred  plant  among  the 
Druids.  It  was  to  them  a  symbol  of  im- 
mortality, and  hence  an  analogue  of  the 
Masonic  Acacia.  "The  mistletoe,"  says 
Vallancey,  in  his  Grammar  of  the  Irish 
Language,  "  was  sacred  to  the  Druids,  be- 
cause not  only  its  berries  but  its  leaves  also 
grow  in  clusters  of  three  united  to  one 
stock.  The  Christian  Irish  hold  the  sham- 
rock (clover,  trefoil)  sacred,  in  like  man- 
ner, because  of  the  three  leaves  united  to 
one  stalk." 

Mithras,  Mysteries  of.  There  are 
none  of  the  Ancient  Mysteries  which  afford 
a  more  interesting  subject  of  investigation 
to  the  Masonic  scholar  than  those  of  the 
Persian  god  Mithras.  Instituted,  as  it  is 
supposed,  by  Zeradusht  or  Zoroaster,  as  an 
initiation  into  the  principles  of  the  religion 
which  he  had  founded  among  the  ancient 
Persians,  they  in  time  extended  into 
Europe,  and  lasted  so  long  that  traces  of 
them  have  been  found  in  the  fourth  century. 
"With  their  penances,"  says  Mr.  King, 
(Gnostics,  p.  47,)  "and  tests  of  the  courage 
of  the  candidate  for  admission, -they  have 
been  maintained  by  a  constant  tradition 
through  the  secret  societies  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  the  Rosicrucians  down  to  the 
modern  faint  reflex  of  the  latter — the  Free- 
masons." 

Of  the  identity  of  Mithras  with  other 
deities  there  have  been  various  opinions. 
Herodotus  says  he  was  the  Assyrian  Venus 
and  the  Arabian  Alitta ;  Porphyry  calls 
him  the  Demiurgos,  and  Lord  of  Genera- 
tion; the  Greeks  identified  him  with  Phoe- 
bus ;  and  Higgins  supposed  that  he  was 
generally  considered  the  same  as  Osiris. 
But  to  the  Persians,  who  first  practised  his 
mysteries,  he  was  a  sun  god,  and  worshipped 
as  the  god  of  Light.  He  was  represented 
as  a  young  man  covered  with  a  Phrygian 
turban,  and  clothed  in  a  mantle  and  tunic. 
He  presses  with  his  knee  upon  a  bull,  one 
of  whose  horns  he  holds  in  his  right  hand, 
while  with  the  right  he  plunges  a  dagger 
into  his  neck,  while  a  dog  standing  near 
laps  up  the  dripping  blood. 

This  symbol  has  been  thus  interpreted. 
His  piercing  the  throat  with  his  dagger 
signifies  the  penetration  of  the  solar  rays 
into  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  by  which 
action  all  nature  is  nourished ;  the  last  idea 
being  expressed  by  the  dog  licking  up  the 
blood  as  it  flows  from  the  wound.  But  it 
will  be  seen  hereafter  that  this  last  symbol 
admits  of  another  interpretation. 

The  mysteries  of  Mithras  were  always 
celebrated  in  caves.  They  were  divided 
into  seven  stages  or  degrees,  (Suidas  says 
twelve,)  and  consisted  of  the  most  rigorous 
proofs  of  fortitude  and  courage.  Nonnus 
the  Greek  poet  says,  in  his  Dionysiaca,  that 


MITHRAS 


MITHRAS 


503 


theae  proofs  were  eighty  in  number,  gradu- 
ally increasing  in  severity.  No  one,  says 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  could  be  initiated  into 
the  mysteries  of  Mithras   unless  he  had 

Eassed  through  all  the  trials,  and  proved 
imself  passionless  and  pure.  The  aspi- 
rant at  first  underwent  the  purifications  by 
water,  by  fire,  and  by  fasting ;  after  which 
he  was  introduced  into  a  cavern  represent- 
ing the  world,  on  whose  walls  and  roof 
were  inscribed  the  celestial  signs.  Here 
he  submitted  to  a.  species  of  baptism,  and 
received  a  mark  on  his  forehead.  He  was 
presented  with  a  crown  on  the  point  of  a 
sword,  which  he  was  to  refuse,  declaring 
at  the  same  time,  "Mithras  alone  is  my 
crown."  He  was  prepared,  by  anointing 
him  with  oil,  crowning  him  with  olive,  and 
clothing  him  in  enchanted  armor,  for  the 
seven  stages  of  initiation  through  which 
he  was  about  to  pass.  These  commenced 
in  the  following  manner :  In  the  first  cavern 
he  heard  the  howling  of  wild  beasts,  and 
was  enveloped  in  total  darkness,  except 
when  the  cave  was  illuminated  by  the  fitful 
glare  of  terrific  flashes  of  lightning.  He 
was  hurried  to  the  spot  whence  the  sounds 
proceeded,  and  was  suddenly  thrust  by  his 
silent  guide  through  a  door  into  a  den  of 
wild  beasts,  where  he  was  attacked  by  the 
initiated  in  the  disguise  of  lions,  tigers, 
hyenas,  and  other  ravenous  beasts.  Hurried 
through  this  apartment,  in  the  second 
cavern  he  was  again  shrouded  in  darkness, 
and  for  a  time  in  fearful  silence,  until  it 
was  broken  by  awful  peals  of  thunder, 
whose  repeated  reverberations  shook  the 
very  walls  of  the  cavern,  and  could  not 
fail  to  inspire  the  aspirant  with  terror.  He 
was  conducted  through  four  other  caverns, 
in  which  the  methods  of  exciting  astonish- 
ment and  fear  were  ingeniously  varied. 
He  was  made  to  swim  over  a  raging  flood ; 
was  subjected  to  a  rigorous  fast ;  exposed 
to  all  the  horrors  of  a  dreary  desert ;  and 
finally,  if  we  may  trust  the  authority  of 
Nicaetas,  after  being  severely  beaten  with 
rods,  was  buried  for  many  days  up  to  the 
neck  in  snow.  In  the  seventh  cavern  or 
Sacellum,  the  darkness  was  changed  to 
light,  and  the  candidate  was  introduced 
into  the  presence  ©f  the  Archimagus,  or 
chief  priest,  seated  on  a  splendid  throne, 
and  surrounded  by  the  assistant  dispensers 
of  the  mysteries.  Here  the  obligation 
of  secrecy  was  administered,  and  he  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  sacred  words. 
He  received  also  the  appropriate  investi- 
ture, which,  says  Maurice,  (Ind.  Antiq.,  V., 
ch.  i.,)  consisted  of  the  Kara  or  conical  cap, 
and  candys  or  loose  tunic  of  Mithras,  on 
which  was  depicted  the  celestial  constella- 
tions, the  zone,  or  belt,  containing  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  figures  of  the  zodiac,  the 


pastoral  staff  or  crozier,  alluding  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  sun  in  the  labors  of  agricul- 
ture, and  the  golden  serpent,  which  was 
placed  in  his  bosom  as  an  emblem  of  his 
having  been  regenerated  and  made  a  dis- 
ciple of  Mithras,  because  the  serpent,  by 
casting  its  skin  annually,  was  considered  in 
these  mysteries  as  a  symbol  of  regeneration. 

He  was  instructed  in  the  secret  doctrines 
of  the  rites  of  Mithras,  of  which  the  his- 
tory of  the  creation,  already  recited,  formed 
a  part.  The  mysteries  of  Mithras  passed 
from  Persia  into  Europe,  and  were  intro- 
duced into  Rome  in  the  time  of  Pompey. 
Here  they  flourished,  with  various  success, 
until  the  year  378,  when  they  were  pro- 
scribed by  a  decree  of  the  Senate,  and  the 
sacred  cave,  in  which  they  had  been  cele- 
brated, was  destroyed  by  the  Praetorian 
prefect. 

The  Mithraic  monuments  that  are  still 
extant  in  the  museums  of  Europe  evidently 
show  that  the  immortality  of  the  soul  was 
one  of  the  doctrines  taught  in  the  Mithraic 
initiation.  The  candidate  was  at  one  time 
made  to  personate  a  corpse,  whose  restora- 
tion to  life  dramatically  represented  the 
resurrection.  Figures  of  this  corpse  are 
found  in  several  of  the  monuments  and 
talismans.  There  is  circumstantial  evi- 
dence that  there  was  a  Mithraic  death  in 
the  initiation,  just  as  there  was  a  Carbiric 
death  in  the  mysteries  of  Samothrace,  and 
a  Dionysiac  in  those  of  Eleusis.  Commo- 
dus,  the  Roman  emperor,  had  been  initiated 
into  the  Mithraic  mysteries  at  Rome,  and 
is  said  to  have  taken  great  pleasure  in  the 
ceremonies.  Lampridius,  in  his  Lives  of 
the  Emperors,  records,  as  one  of  the  mad 
freaks  of  Commodus,  that  during  the  Mi- 
thraic ceremonies,  where  "  a  certain  thing 
was  to  be  done  for  the  sake  of  inspiring 
terror,  he  polluted  the  rites  by  a  real  mur- 
der ;"  an  expression  which  evidently  shows 
that  a  scenic  representation  of  a  fictitious 
murder  formed  a  part  of  the  ceremony  of 
initiation.  The  dog  swallowing  the  blood 
of  the  bull  was  also  considered  as  a  symbol 
of  the  resurrection. 

It  is  in  the  still  existing  talismans  and 
gems  that  we  find  the  most  interesting  me- 
morials of  the  old  Mithraic  initiation.  One 
of  these  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  C.  W. 
King,  in  his  valuable  work  on  the  Gnostics 
and  their  Remains,  (London,  1864:) 

"  There  is  a  talisman  which,  from  its  fre- 
quent repetition,  would  seem  to  be  a  badge 
of  some  particular  degree  amongst  the  ini- 
tiated, perhaps  of  the  first  admission.  A 
man  blindfolded,  with  hands  tied  behind 
his  back,  is  bound  to  a  pillar,  on  which 
stands  a  gryphon  holding  a  wheel ;  the  lat- 
ter a  most  ancient  emblem  of  the  sun. 
Probably  it  was  in  this  manner  that  the 


504 


MITRE 


MIZRAIM 


candidate  was  tested  by  the  appearance  of 
imminent  death  when  the  bandage  was  sud- 
denly removed  from  his  eyes." 

As  Mithras  was  considered  as  synony- 
mous with  the  sun,  a  great  deal  of  solar 
symbolism  clustered  around  his  name, 
his  doctrines,  and  his  initiation.  Thus, 
MEI9PA2  was  found,  by  the  numerical 
value  of  the  letters  in  the  Greek  alphabet, 
to  be  equal  to  365,  the  number  of  days  in  a 
solar  year;  and  the  decrease  of  tbe  solar 
influence  in  the  winter,  and  its  revivifica- 
tion in  the  summer,  was  made  a  symbol  of 
the  resurrection  from  death  to  life. 

Mitre.  The  head  covering  of  the  high 
priest  of  the  Jews  was  called  Jlfij^'D* 
metznephet,  which,  coming  from  the  verb 
NAPHAT,  to  roll  around,  signified  some- 
thing rolled  around  the  head,  a  turban ;  and 
this  was  really  the  form  of  the  Jewish  mi- 
tre. It  is  described  by 
<jfr,  ^^^  Leusden,  in  his  Philolo- 
i '  gus  Hebroso-Mixtus,  as  be- 
ing made  of  dark  linen 
twisted  in  many  folds 
around  the  head.  Many 
writers  contend  that  the 
mitre  was  peculiar  to  the  high  priest ;  but 
Josephus  and  the  Mishna  assert  that  it  was 
worn  by  all  the  priests,  that  of  the  high 
priest  being  distinguished  from  the  rest  by 
the  golden  band,  or  holy  crown,  which  was 
attached  to  its  lower  rim  and  fastened 
around  the  forehead,  and  on  which  was 
inscribed  the  words  mrrS  W*p,  KADOSH 
L'YEHOVAH,  Holiness  to  Jehovah,  or,  as 
it  is  commonly  translated,  Holiness  to  the 
Lord.  The  mitre  is  worn  by  the  High 
Priest  of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  because  he 
represents  the  Jewish  high  priest ;  but  the 
form  is  inaccurate.  The  vestment,  as  usu- 
ally made,  is  a  representation  rather  of  the 
modern  Episcopal  than  of  the  Jewish  mitre. 
The  modern  mitre — which  is  but  an  imi- 
tation of  the  Phrygian  cap,  and  peculiar  to 
bishops  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  which 
should  therefore  be  worn  by  the 
Prelate  of  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  hold  Episcopal  rank — 
differs  in  form  from  the  Jewish 
vestment.  It  is  a  conical  cap, 
divided  in  the  middle  so  as  to 
come  to  two  points  or  horns, 
one  in  front  and  one  behind, 
which,  Durandus  says,  are 
symbolic  of  the  two  laws  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament. 

Mizraim.  Often  by  Masonic  writers 
improperly  spelled  Misraim.  It  is  the  an- 
cient Hebrew  name  of  Egypt,  and  was 
adopted  as  the  name  of  a  Rite  to  indicate 
the  hypothesis  that  it  was  derived  from 
the  old  Egyptian  initiation. 


Mizraim,  Rite  of.  This  Rite  origi- 
nated, says  Clavel,  at  Milan,  in  the  year 
1805,  in  consequence  of  several  brethren 
having  been  refused  admission  into  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite,  which  had  just  been  established  in 
that  city.  One  Lechangeur  has  the  credit 
of  organizing  the  Rite  and  selecting  the 
statutes  by  which  it  was  to  be  governed. 
It  consisted  at  first  of  only  eighty-seven  de- 
grees, to  which  three  others  were  subse- 
quently added.  Sixty-six  of  the  ninety  de- 
grees thus  formed  are  said  to  have  been 
taken  from  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite, 
while  the  remaining  twenty-four  were  either 
borrowed  from  other  systems  or  were  the 
invention  of  Lechangeur  and  his  colleagues, 
Joly  and  Bedarride.  The  system  of  Miz- 
raim spread  over  Italy,  and  in  1814  was  in- 
troduced into  France.  Dissensions  in  the 
Rite  soon  took  place,  and  an  attempt  was 
unsuccessfully  made  to  obtain  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France.  This 
having  been  refused,  the  Supreme  Council 
was  dissolved  in  1817 ;  but  the  Lodges  of  the 
Rite  still  continued  to  confer  the  degrees, 
although,  according  to  the  constitution  of 
French  Masonry,  their  non-recognition  by 
the  Grand  Orient  had  the  effect  of  making 
them  illegal.  But  eventually  the  Rite 
ceased  altogether  to  exist  as  an  active  and 
independent  system,  and  its  place  in  Ma- 
sonic history  seems  only  to  be  preserved  by 
two  massive  volumes  on  the  subject,  writ- 
ten by  Mark  Bedarride,  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  indefatigable  of  its  founders,  who 
published  at  Paris,  in  1835,  a  history  of  the 
Rite,  under  the  title  of  "De  l'Ordre  de 
Misraim." 

The  Rite  of  Mizraim  consisted  of  90  de- 
grees, divided  into  4  series  and  17  classes. 
Some  of  these  degrees  are  entirely  original, 
but  many  of  them  are  borrowed  from  the 
Scottish  Rite. 

For  the  gratification  of  the  curious  in- 
spector, the  following  list  of  these  degrees 
is  subjoined.  The  titles  are  translated  as 
literally  as  possible  from  the  French. 

I.  Sekies  —  Symbolic. 

1st  Class :  1,  Apprentice ;  2,  Fellow  Craft ; 
3,  Master.  2d  Class:  4,  Secret  Master;  5, 
Perfect  Master;  6,  Master  through  Curios- 
ity ;  7,  Provost  and  Judge  or  Irish  Master  ; 
8,  English  Master.  Sd  Class:  9,  Elect  of 
Nine ;  10,  Elect  of  the  Unknown ;  11,  Elect 
of  Fifteen  ;  12,  Perfect  Elect;  13,  Illustrious 
Elect.  4th.  Class:  14, Scottish  Trinitarian; 
15,  Scottish  Fellow  Craft ;  16,  Scottish  Mas- 
ter; 17,  Scottish  panisiere;  18,  Master 
Ecossais;  19,  Ecossais  of  the  three  J.  J.  J. ; 
20,  Ecossais  of  the  Sacred  Vault  of  James 
VI. ;  21,  Ecossais  of  St.  Andrew.  5th  Class  : 
22,  Little  Architect;  23,  Grand  Architect; 


MIZRAIM 


MOLART 


505 


24,  Architecture;  25,  Apprentice  Perfect 
Architect ;  26,  Fellow  Craft  Perfect  Archi- 
tect ;  27,  Master  Perfect  Architect ;  28,  Per- 
fect Architect;  29,  Sublime  Ecossais;  30, 
Sublime  Ecossais  of  Heroden.  6th  Class  : 
31,  Grand  Royal  Arch ;  32,  Grand  Axe ;  33, 
Sublime  Knight  of  Election,  chief  of  the 
first  symbolic  series. 

II.  Series — Philosophic. 

1th  Class:  34,  Knight  of  the  Sublime 
Election ;  35,  Prussian  Knight ;  36,  Knight 
of  the  Temple;  37,  Knight  of  the  Eagle; 
38,  Knight  of  the  Black  Eagle;  39,  Knight 
of  the  Red  Eagle ;  40,  White  Knight  of  the 
East ;  41,  Knight  of  the  East.  8th  Class : 
42,  Commander  of  the  East;  43,  Grand 
Commander  of  the  East ;  44,  Architecture 
of  the  Sovereign  Commanders  of  the  Tem- 
ple ;  45,  Prince  of  Jerusalem.  9th  Class  : 
46,  Sovereign  Prince  Rose  Croix  of  Kilwin- 
ning and  Heroden ;  47,  Knight  of  the  West ; 
48,  Sublime  Philosopher;  49,  Chaoa,  the 
first,  discreet;  50,  Chaos  the  second,  wise; 
51,  Knight  of  the  Sun.     10th  Class  :  52,  Su- 

f>reme  Commander  of  the  Stars ;  53,  Sub- 
ime  Philosopher ;  54,  First  degree  of  the 
Key  of  Masonry,  Minor  ;  55,  Second  degree, 
Washer;  56,  Third  degree,  Bellows-blower; 
57,  Fourth  degree,  Caster;  58,  True  Mason 
Adept ;  59,  Sovereign  Elect ;  60,  Sovereign 
of  Sovereigns;  61,  Grand  Master  of  Sym- 
bolic Lodges ;  62,  Most  High  and  Most 
Powerful  Grand  Priest  Sacrificec;  63, 
Knight  of  Palestine;  64,  Grand  Knight  of 
the  White  and  Black  Eagle;  65,  Grand 
Elect  Knight  Kadosh  ;  66,  Grand  Inquiring 
Commander,  Chief  of  the  Second  Series. 

III.  Series  —  Mystical. 

11th  Class:  67,  Benevolent  Knight;  68, 
Knight  of  the  Rainbow ;  69,  Knight  Cha- 
nuka,  called  Hynaroth  ;  70,  Most  Wise  Is- 
raelitish  Prince.  12th  Class :  71,  Sovereign 
Princes  Talmudim ;  72,  Sovereign  Prince 
Zadkim ;  73,  Grand  Haram.  13th  Class  : 
74,  Sovereign  Princes  Haram ;  75,  Sovereign 
Princes  Hasidim ;  77,  Grand  Inspector  In- 
tendant,  Regulator  General  of  the  Order, 
Chief  of  the  Third  Series. 

IV.  Series  —  Kabbalistic. 

15/A  and  16th  Classes  :  78,  79,  80,  81,  82, 
83,  84, 85,  86,  degrees  whose  names  are  con- 
cealed from  all  but  the  possessors.  17th 
Class :  87,  Sovereign  Grand  Princes,  con- 
stituted Grand  Masters,  and  legitimate 
representatives  of  the  order  for  the  First 
Series ;  88,  Ditto  for  the  Second  Series ;  89, 
Ditto  for  the  Third  Series;  90,  Absolute 
Sovereign  Grand  Master,  Supreme  Power 
of  the  Order,  and  Chief  of  the  Fourth 
Series. 

30 


The  chiefs  of  this  Rite  demanded  the 
privilege — which,  of  course,  was  never  con- 
ceded to  them — of  directing  and  controlling 
all  the  other  Rites  of  Freemasonry,  as 
their  common  source.  Its  friends  claimed 
for  it  an  eminently  philosophical  character. 
The  organization  of  the  Rite  is,  however, 
too  complicated  and  diffuse  to  have  ever 
been  practically  convenient.  Many  of  its 
degrees  were  founded  upon,  or  borrowed 
from,  the  Egyptian  rites,  and  its  ritual  is 
a  very  close  imitation  of  the  ancient  system 
of  initiation. 

The  legend  of  the  third  degree  in  this 
Rite  is  abolished.  HAB  is  said  to  have  re- 
turned to  his  family,  after  the  completion 
of  the  Temple,  and  to  have  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days  in  peace  and  opulence. 
The  legend,  substituted  by  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raim  for  that  admitted  by  all  the  other 
rites,  is  carried  back  to  the  days  of  La- 
mech,  whose  son  Jubal,  under  the  name  of 
Hario-Jubal-Abi,  is  reported  to  have  been 
slain  by  three  traitors  Hagava,  Hakina, 
and  Haremda. 

Lenning  calls  the  Rite  of  Mizraim  "  one 
of  the  latest  of  the  monstrous  visionary 
schemes  introduced  into  Freemasonry ; "  and 
Ragon  characterizes  it  as  a  "  fantastical  con- 
nection of  various  rites  and  degrees." 

Moabon.  This  word  is  found  in  some 
of  the  high  degrees  according  to  the  French 
ritual,  where  it  is  explained  as  expressing 
"  the  satisfaction  we  feel  in  seeing  the  crime 
and  the  criminal  punished."  There  is  no 
such  word  in  Hebrew,  and  the  explanation 
is  a  fanciful  one.  The  word  is  undoubtedly 
a  Gallic  corruption,  first  in  sound  and  then 
in  letters,  of  the  Master's  Word. 

Mock  Masons.  A  name  given,  says 
Noorthouck,  to  the  unfaithful  brethren  and 
profanes  who,  in  1747,  got  up  a  procession 
in  ridicule  of  that  made  at  the  Grand  Feast. 
See  Scald  Miserable. 

Modern  Bite.  (Rite  Moderne.)  See 
French  Rite. 

Moderns.  The  Masons  who  seceded 
in  1738  from  the  legal  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  which  had  been  organized  in 
1717,  called  the  Masons  who  remained 
faithful  in  their  allegiance  to  that  body 
Moderns,  while  for  themselves  they  assumed 
the  title  of  Ancients.     See  Ancients. 

Molart,  William.  In  Preston's  R- 
luslrations  (p.  151)  is  the  following  state- 
ment: "The  Latin  Register  of  William 
Molart,  prior  of  Canterbury,  in  manuscript, 
p.  88,  entitled  Liberatio  generalis  Domini 
Oulielmi  Prioris  Ecclesioz  Christi  Cantu- 
ariensis,  erga  Festum  Natalis  Domini  1429, 
informs  us  that  in  the  year  1429,  during 
the  minority  of  this  prince,  [Henry  VI.,] 
a  respectable  Lodge  was  held  at  Canterbury, 
under  the  patronage  of  Henry  Chicheley, 


506 


MOLAY 


MONTANA 


the  archbishop;  at  which  were  present 
Thomas  Stapylton,  the  Master ;  John  Mor- 
ris, with  fifteen  fellow-crafts,  and  three  en- 
tered apprentices ;  all  of  whom  are  partic- 
ularly named." 

The  fact  of  the  existence  of  such  a  Reg- 
ister rests  entirely  upon  the  testimony  of 
Preston.  If  authentic,  it  supplies  an  im- 
portant point  of  Masonic  history  in  refer- 
ence to  the  organization  of  the  Craft  at 
that  period. 

Molay,  James  de.  The  twenty-sec- 
ond and  last  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars 
at  the  destruction  of  the  Order  in  the  four- 
teenth century.  He  was  born  about  the 
year  1240,  at  Besan<jon,  in  Burgundy,  being 
descended  from  a  noble  family.  He  was 
received  into  the  Order  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars in  1265,  by  Imbert  de  Peraudo,  Pre- 
ceptor of  France,  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Tem- 
ple at  Beaune.  He  immediately  proceeded 
to  Palestine,  and  greatly  distinguished  him- 
self in  the  wars  against  the  infidels,  under 
the  Grand  Mastership  of  William  de  Beau- 
jeu.  In  1298,  while  absent  from  the  Holy 
Land,  he  was  unanimously  elected  Grand 
Master  upon  the  death  of  Theobald  Gaudi- 
nius.  In  1305,  he  was  summoned  to  France 
by  Pope  Clement  V.,  upon  the  pretence 
of  a  desire,  on  the  part  of  the  Pontiff,  to 
effect  a  coalition  between  the  Templars  and 
the  Hospitallers.  He  was  received  by 
Philip  the  Fair,  the  treacherous  King  of 
France,  with  the  most  distinguished  honors, 
and  even  selected  by  him  as  the  god-father 
of  one  of  his  children.  In  April,  1307,  he 
repaired,  accompanied  by  three  of  his 
knights,  to  Poitiers,  where  the  Pope  was 
then  residing,  and  as  he  supposed  satisfac- 
torily exculpated  the  Order  from  the  charges 
which  had  been  preferred  against  it.  But 
both  pope  and  king  were  guilty  of  the  most 
infamous  deceit. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  1307,  the 
order  was  issued  for  the  arrest  of  the  Tem- 
plars, and  De  Molay  endured  an  imprison- 
ment for  five  years  and  a  half,  during  which 
period  he  was  subjected  to  the  utmost  in- 
dignities and  sufferings  for  the  purpose  of 
extorting  from  him  a  confession  of  the 
guilt  of  his  Order.  But  he  was  firm  and 
loyal,  and  on  the  11th  of  March,  1314,  he 
was  publicly  burnt  in  front  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  N5tre  Dame,  in  Paris.  When 
about  to  die,  he  solemnly  affirmed  the  in- 
nocence of  the  Order,  and,  it  is  said,  sum- 
moned Pope  Clement  to  appear  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  God  in  forty  days  and 
the  King  of  France  within  a  year,  and 
both,  it  is  well  known,  died  within  the 
periods  specified. 

Monad.  The  monad  in  the  Pythago- 
rean system  of  numbers  was  unity  or  the 
number  one.    See  Numbers  and  One. 


Monitor.  Those  manuals  published 
for  the  convenience  of  Lodges,  and  con- 
taining the  charges,  general  regulations, 
emblems,  and  account  of  the  public  cere- 
monies of  the  Order,  are  called  Monitors. 
The  amount  of  ritualistic  information  con- 
tained in  these  works  has  gradually  in- 
creased: thus  the  monitorial  instructions 
in  Preston's  Illustrations,  the  earliest  Moni- 
tor in  the  English  language,  are  far  more 
scanty  than  those  contained  in  Monitors  of 
the  present  day.  As  a  general  rule,  it  may 
be  said  that  American  works  of  this  class 
give  more  instruction  than  English  ones, 
but  that  the  French  and  German  manuals 
are  more  communicative  than  either. 

Of  the  English  and  American  manuals 
published  for  monitorial  instruction,  the 
first  was  by  Preston,  in  1772.  This  has 
been  succeeded  by  the  following  authors: 
Webb,  1797;  Dalcho,  1807;  Cole,  1817; 
Hardie,  1818;  Cross,  1819;  Tannehill, 
1824;  Parmele,  1825;  Charles  W.  Moore, 
184fr;  Cornelius  Moore,  1846 ;  Dove,  1847 ; 
Davis,  1849;  Stewart,  1851;  Mack ey,  1852; 
Macoy,  1853 ;  Sickels,  1866. 

Monitorial  Instruction.  The  in- 
struction contained  in  Monitors  is  called 
monitorial,  to  distinguish  it  from  esoteric 
instruction,  which  is  not  permitted  to  be 
written,  and  can  be  obtained  only  in  the 
precincts  of  the  Lodge. 

Monitorial  Sign.  A  sign  given  in 
the  English  system,  but  not  recognized  in 
this  country.  Oliver  says  of  it  that  it  "re- 
minds us  of  the  weakness  of  human  nature, 
unable  of  itself  to  resist  the  power  of  Dark- 
ness, unless  aided  by  that  Light  which  is 
from  above." 

Monitor,  Secret.    See  Secret  Monitor. 

Monogram.  An  abbreviation  of  a 
name  by  means  of  a  cipher  composed  of 
_^  two  or  more  letters  intertwined 
J  with  each  other.  The  Constan- 
^J^f  tinian  monogram  of  Christ  is 
^1^  often  used  by  Knights  Templars. 
^T^  The  Triple  Tau,  or  Royal  Arch 
badge,  is  also  a  monogram;  al- 
though there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  its  real  meaning,  some  suppos- 

Ring  that  it  is  a  monogram  of 
Templum  Hierosolymae  or  the 
Temple  of  Jerusalem,  others  of 
Hiram  of  Tyre,  and  others,  again, 
bestowing  on  it  different  significations. 

Montana.  April  27,  1863,  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Nebraska  granted  a  Warrant  for 
a  Lodge  at  Bannack,  in  Montana;  but  in 
consequence  of  the  removal  of  the  petition- 
ers, the  Lodge  was  never  organized.  Three 
other  Lodges  were  subsequently  established 
by  Warrants  from  the  Grand  Lodges  of 
Kansas  and  Colorado.  On  January  24, 
1866,  three  Lodges  met  in  convention  at 


MONTFAUgON 


MOON 


507 


Virginia  City,  and  organized  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Montana,  John  J.  Hull  being 
elected  Grand  Master. 

Royal  Arch  Masonry  and  Templarism 
were  introduced,  the  one  by  the  General 
Grand  Chapter,  and  the  other  by  the  Grand 
Encampment  of  the  United  States. 

Montfaucon,  Prior  of.  One  of 
the  two  traitors  on  whose  false  accusations 
was  based  the  persecution  of  the  Templars. 
See  Squin  de  Flexian. 

Months,  Hebrew.  Masons  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  use  in 
their  documents  the  Hebrew  months  of  the 
civil  year.  Hebrew  months  commence  with 
the  full  moon ;  and  as  the  civil  year  began 
about  the  time  of  the  autumnal  equinox, 
the  first  Hebrew  month  must  have  begun 
with  the  new  moon  in  September,  which  is 
also  used  by  Scottish  Masons  as  the  begin- 
ning of  their  year.  Annexed  is  a  table  of 
the  Hebrew  months,  and  their  correspond- 
ence with  our  own  calendar. 


JDU 
fVD 

nan 

Wit 


Tisri,  Sept.  and  Oct. 

Khesvan,  Oct.  and  Nov. 


Kisleu, 

Tebeth, 

Schebet, 

Adar, 

Nisan, 

Ijar, 
Sivan, 

Tamuz, 

Ab, 

Elul, 


Nov.  and  Dec. 
Dec.  and  Jan. 
Jan.  and  Feb. 
Feb.  and  March. 
March  and  April. 

April  and  May. 
May  and  June. 

June  and  July. 

July  and  Aug. 

August  and  Sept. 


As  the  Jews  computed  time  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  moon,  it  is  evident  that 
there  soon  would  be  a  confusion  as  to  the 
keeping  of  these  feasts,  if  some  method 
had  not  been  taken  to  correct  it ;  since  the 
lunar  year  is  only  354  days,  8  hours,  and  48 
minutes,  and  the  solar  year  is  365  days,  6 
hours,  15  minutes,  and  20  seconds.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  intercalated  a  month  after 
their  12th  month,  Adar,  whenever  they 
found  that  the  15th  day  of  the  following 
month,  Abib,  would  fall  before  the  vernal 
equinox.  This  intercalated  month  was 
named  "1*1X1,  Ve-adar,  or  "the  second 
Adar,"  and  was  inserted  every  second  or 
third  year,  as  they  saw  occasion;  so  that 
the  difference  between  the  lunar  and  solar 
year  could  never,  in  this  way,  be  more 
than  a  month. 

Months,  Masonic.  In  the  French 
Rite  the  old  calendar  is  retained,  and  the 
year  begins  with  the  month  of  March,  the 
months  being  designated  numerically  and 
not  by  their  usual  names.    Thus  we  find  in 


French  Masonic  documents  such  dates  as 
this:  "Le  lOme  jour  du  3me  mois  Ma- 
connique,"  that  is,  the  10th  day  of  the  3d 
Masonic  month,  or  the  10th  of  May. 

Montpellier,  Hermetic  Rite  of. 
The  Hermetic  Rite  of  Pernetty,  which  had 
been  established  at  Avignon  in  1770,  was 
in  1778  transported  to  Montpellier,  in 
France,  by  a  Past  Master,  and  some  of  the 
members  of  the  Lodge  of  Persecuted  Virtue 
in  the  former  place,  who  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Academy  of  True  Masons, 
(which  see.)  Hence  the  degrees  given  in 
that  Academy  constituted  what  is  known 
as  the  Hermetic  Rite  of  Montpellier. 

Monument.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
exactly  at  what  period  the  idea  of  a  monu- 
ment in  the  third  degree  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  symbolism  of  Freemasonry. 
The  early  expositions  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  although  they  refer  to  a  funeral, 
make  no  allusion  to  a  monument.  The 
monument  adopted  in  the  American  sys- 
tem, and  for  which  we  are  indebted,  it  is 
said,  to  the  inventive  genius  of  Cross,  con- 
sists of  a  weeping  virgin,  holding  in  one 
hand  a  sprig  of  acacia  and  in  the  other  an 
urn;  before  her  is  a  broken  column,  on 
which  rests  a  copy  of  the  Book  of  Consti- 
tutions, while  Time  behind  her  is  attempt- 
ing to  disentangle  the  ringlets  of  her  hair. 
The  explanation  of  these  symbols  will  be 
found  in  their  proper  places  in  this  work. 
Oliver,  in  his  Landmarks,  (ii.  146,)  cites 
this  monument  without  any  reference  to 
its  American  origin.  Early  in  the  last 
century  the  Master's  monument  was  intro- 
duced into  the  French  system,  but  its  form 
was  entirely  different  from  the  one  adopted 
in  this  cou  ntry.  It  is  described  as  an  obelisk, 
on  which  is  inscribed  a  golden  triangle,  in 
the  centre  of  which  the  Tetragrammaton  is 
engraved.  On  the  top  of  the  obelisk  is 
sometimes  seen  an  urn  pierced  by  a  sword. 
In  the  Scottish  Rite  an  entire  degree  has 
been  consecrated  to  the  subject  of  the  Hi- 
ramic  monument.  Altogether,  the  monu- 
ment is  simply  the  symbolic  expression  of 
the  idea  that  veneration  should  always  be 
paid  to  the  memory  of  departed  worth. 

Moon.  The  adoption  of  the  moon  in 
the  Masonic  system  as  a  symbol  is  analo- 
gous to,  but  could  hardly  be  derived  from, 
the  employment  of  the  same  symbol  in  the 
ancient  religions.  In  Egypt,  Osiris  was 
the  sun,  and  Isis  the  moon ;  in  Syria, 
Adonis  was  the  sun,  and  Ashtoroth  the 
moon;  the  Greeks  adored  her  as  Diana, 
and  Hecate;  in  the  mysteries  of  Ceres, 
while  the  hierophant  or  chief  priest  repre- 
sented the  Creator,  and  the  torch-bearer 
the  sun,  the  ho  epi  bomos,  or  officer  nearest 
the  altar,  represented  the  moon.  In  short, 
moon-worship  was  as  widely  disseminated 


508 


MOORE 


MORIAH 


as  sun-worship.  Masons  retain  her  image 
in  their  Rites,  because  the  Lodge  is  a 
representation  of  the  universe,  where,  as 
the  sun  rules  over  the  day,  the  moon  pre- 
sides over  the  night;  as  the  one  regulates 
the  year,  so  does  the  other  the  months,  and 
as  the  former  is  the  king  of  the  starry  hosts 
of  heaven,  so  is  the  latter  their  queen ;  but 
both  deriving  their  heat,  and  light,  and 
power  from  him,  who,  as  the  third  and  the 
greatest  light,  the  master  of  heaven  and 
earth,  controls  them  both. 

Moore,  James.  He  was,  in  1808, 
the  Senior  Grand  Warden  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Kentucky,  and  in  conjunction 
with  Carey  L.  Clarke  compiled,  by  order 
of  that  body,  the  Masonic  Constitutions  or 
I/lustrations  of  Masonry,  Lexington,  1808, 
pp.  191,  12mo.  This  was  the  first  Masonic 
work  published  in  the  Western  States. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  Grand  Lodge,  it  is  little  more  than  a 
compilation  taken  from  Anderson,  Preston, 
and  Webb.  It  was  adopted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Kentucky  as  its  official  Book  of 
Constitutions. 

Mopses.  In  1736  Pope  Clement  XII. 
issued  a  bull,  condemning  and  forbidding 
the  practice  of  the  rites  of  Freemasonry. 
Several  brethren  in  the  Catholic  States  of 
Germany,  unwilling  to  renounce  the  Or- 
der, and  yet  fearful  of  offending  the  eccle- 
siastical authority,  formed  at  Vienna,  Sep- 
tember 22,  1738,  under  the  name  of  Mopses, 
what  was  pretended  to  be  a  new  associa- 
tion, but  which  was  in  truth  nothing  else 
than  an  imitation  of  Freemasonry  under  a 
less  offensive  appellation.  It  was  patron- 
ized by  the  most  illustrious  persons  of  Ger- 
many, and  many  Princes  of  the  Empire 
were  its  Grand  Masters ;  the  Duke  of  Bava- 
ria especially  took  it  under  his  protection. 
The  title  is  derived  from  the  German  word 
mops,  signifying  a  young  mastiff,  and  was 
indicative  of  the  mutual  fidelity  and  at- 
tachment of  the  brethren,  these  virtues 
being  characteristic  of  that  noble  animal. 
The  alarm  made  for  entrance  was  to  imi- 
tate the  barking  of  a  dog. 

In  1776,  the  Mopses  became  an  andro- 
gynous Order,  and  admitted  females  to  all 
the  offices,  except  that  of  Grand  Master, 
which  was  held  for  life.  There  was,  how- 
ever, a  Grand  Mistress,  and  the  male  and 
female  heads  of  the  Order  alternately  as- 
sumed, for  six  months  each,  the  supreme 
authority.  With  the  revival  of  the  spirit 
of  Masonry,  which  had  been  in  some  de- 
gree paralyzed  by  the  attacks  of  the  church, 
the  society  of  Mopses  ceased  to  exist. 

Morality.  In  the  American  system  it 
is  one  of  the  three  precious  jewels  of  a 
Master  Mason. 

Morality  of  Freemasonry.    No 


one  who  reads  our  ancient  Charges  can  fail 
to  see  that  Freemasonry  is  a  strictly  moral 
Institution,  and  that  the  principles  which 
it  inculcates  inevitably  tend  to  make  the 
brother  who  obeys  their  dictates  a  more 
virtuous  man.  Hence  the  English  lectures 
very  properly  define  Freemasonry  to  be  "a 
science  of  morality." 

Moral  Law.  "A  Mason,"  say  the 
old  Charges  of  1722,  "  is  obliged  by  his 
tenure  to  obey  the  moral  law."  Now,  this 
moral  law  is  not  to  be  considered  as  con- 
fined to  the  decalogue  of  Moses,  within 
which  narrow  limits  the  ecclesiastical 
writers  technically  restrain  it,  but  rather  as 
alluding  to  what  is  called  the  lex  naturae, 
or  the  law  of  nature.  This  law  of  nature 
has  been  defined,  by  an  able  but  not  recent 
writer  on  this  subject,  to  be  "the  will  of 
God,  relating  to  human  actions,  grounded 
on  the  moral  differences  of  things  ;  and  be- 
cause discoverable  by  natural  light,  obli- 
gatory upon  all  mankind."  (Grove :  Sys- 
tem of  Moral  Philosophy,  vol.  ii.,  p.  122. 
London,  1749.)  This  is  the  "  moral  law," 
to  which  the  old  Charge  already  cited  refers, 
and  which  it  declares  to  be  the  law  of 
Masonry.  And  this  was  wisely  done,  for 
it  is  evident  that  no  law  less  universal 
could  have  been  appropriately  selected  for 
the  government  of  an  Institution  whose 
prominent  characteristic  is  its  universality. 

Moravian  Brethren.  The  reli- 
gious sect  of  Moravian  Brethren,  which  was 
founded  in  Upper  Lusatia,  about  1722,  by 
Count  Zinzendorf,  is  said  at  one  time  to 
have  formed  a  society  of  religious  Free- 
masons. For  an  account  of  which,  see 
Mustard  Seed,  Order  of. 

Morgan,  William.  Born  in  Cul- 
pepper County,  in  Virginia,  in  1775.  He 
published  in  1826  a  pretended  Exposition 
of  Masonry,  which  attracted  at  the  time 
more  attention  than  it  deserved.  Morgan 
soon  after  disappeared,  and  the  Masons 
were  charged  by  some  enemies  of  the  Order 
with  having  removed  him  by  foul  means. 
What  was  the  real  fate  of  Morgan  has 
never  been  ascertained.  There  are  various 
myths  of  his  disappearance,  and  subsequent 
residence  in  other  countries.  They  may  or 
may  not  be  true,  but  it  is  certain  that  there 
is  no  evidence  of  his  death  that  would  be 
admitted  in  a  Court  of  Probate.  He  was 
a  man  of  questionable  character  and  disso- 
lute habits,  and  his  enmity  to  Masonry  is 
said  to  have  originated  from  the  refusal  of 
the  Masons  of  Le  Roy  to  admit  him  to 
membership  in  their  Lodge  and  Chapter. 

Moriah,  Mount.  An  eminence  sit- 
uated in  the  south-eastern  part  of  Jerusa- 
lem. In  the  time  of  David  it  must  have 
been  cultivated,  for  it  is  called  "  the  thresh- 
ing-floor of  Oman  the  Jebusite,"  from  whom 


MORIN 


MORTALITY 


509 


that  monarch  purchased  it  for  the  purpose 
of  placing  there  an  altar.  Solomon  subse- 
quently erected  there  his  magnificent  Tem- 
ple. Mount  Moriah  was  always  profoundly 
venerated  by  the  Jews,  among  whom  there 
is  an  early  tradition  that  on  it  Abraham 
was  directed  to  offer  up  his  son.  The  truth 
of  this  tradition  has,  it  is  true,  been  recent- 
ly denied  by  some  Biblical  writers,  but  it 
has  been  as  strenuously  maintained  by 
others.  The  Masons,  however,  have  always 
accepted  it,  and  to  them,  a3  the  site  of  the 
Temple,  it  is  especially  sacred,  and,  com- 
bining with  this  the  Abrahamic  legend, 
they  have  given  to  Mount  Moriah  the  ap- 
pellation of  the  ground-floor  of  the  Lodge, 
and  assign  it  as  the  place  where  what  are 
called  '°the  three  grand  offerings  were 
made." 

Mori u,  Stephen.  The  founder  of 
the  Scottish  Kite  in  America.  On  the  27th 
of  August,  1761,  the  "  Deputies  General  of 
the  Royal  Art,  Grand  Wardens,  and  officers 
of  the  Grand  and  Sovereign  Lodge  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem  established  at  Paris," 
(so  reads  the  document  itself)  granted  a 
Patent  to  Stephen  Morin,  by  which  he  was 
empowered  "  to  multiply  the  sublime  de- 
grees of  High  Perfection,  and  to  create  In- 
spectors in  all  places  where  the  sublime 
degrees  are  not  established."  This  Patent 
was  granted,  Thory,  Ragon,  Clavel,  and 
Lenning  say,  by  the  Grand  Council  of  Em- 
perors of  the  East  and  West.  Others  say  by 
the  Grand  Lodge.  Dalcho  says  by  the 
Grand  Consistory  of  Princes  of  the  Royal 
Secret  at  Paris.  Brother  Albert  Pike,  who 
has  very  elaborately  investigated  the  ques- 
tion says  that  the  authority  of  Morin  was 
"  a  joint  authority  "  of  the  two  then  con- 
tending Grand  Lodges  of  France  and  the 
Grand  Council,  which  is,  I  suppose,  what 
Dalcho  and  the  Supreme  Council  of  Charles- 
ton call  the  Grand  Consistory.  From  the 
Grand  Lodge  he  received  the  power  to 
establish  a  symbolic  Lodge,  and  from  the 
Grand  Council  or  Consistory  the  power  to 
confer  the  higher  degrees. 

Not  long  after  receiving  these  powers, 
Morin  sailed  for  America,  and  established 
Bodies  of  the  Scottish  Rite  in  St.  Do- 
mingo and  Jamaica.  He  also  appointed 
M.  M.  Hayes  a  Deputy  Inspector  General 
for  North  America.  Hayes,  subsequently, 
appointed  Isaac  da  Costa  a  Deputy  for 
South  Carolina,  and  through  him  the  Sub- 
lime degrees  were  disseminated  among  the 
Masons  of  the  United  States.  (See  Scottish 
Rite.)  After  appointing  several  Deputies 
and  establishing  some  Bodies  in  the  West 
India  Islands,  Morin  is  lost  sight  of.  We 
know  not  anything  of  his  subsequent  his- 
tory, or  of  the  time  or  place  of  his  death. 
Ragon,  Thory,  and  Clavel  say  that  Morin 


was  a  Jew ;  but  as  these  writers  have  juda- 
ized  all  the  founders  of  the  Scottish  Rite  in 
America,  we  have  no  right  to  place  any 
confidence  in  their  statements.  The  name 
of  Morin  has  been  borne  by  many  French 
Christians  of  literary  reputation,  from 
Peter  Morin,  a  learned  ecclesiastical  writer 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  to  Stephen  Morin, 
an  antiquary  and  Protestant  clergyman, 
who  died  in  1700,  and  his  son  Henry,  who 
became  a  Catholic,  and  died  in  1728. 

Moritz,  Carl  Philipp.  A  Privy 
Councillor,  Professor,  and  Member  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  in  Berlin,  was  born 
at  Hameln  on  the  15th  of  September,  1757, 
and  died  26th  of  June,  1793.  Gadicke  says 
that  he  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  au- 
thors of  his  age,  and  distinguished  by  his 
works  on  the  German  language.  He  was 
the  author  of  several  Masonic  works,  among 
which  are  his  Contributions  to  the  Philosophy 
of  Life  and  the  Diary  of  a  Freemason,  Berlin, 
1793,  and  a  Book  of  Masonic  Songs. 

Morphey.  The  name  of  one  of  the 
twelve  Inspectors  in  the  eleventh  degree  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
This  name,  like  the  others  in  the  same  cata- 
logue, bids  defiance  to  any  Hebraic  deriva- 
tion. They  are  all  either  French  corrup- 
tions, worse  even  than  Jakinai  for  Shekinah, 
or  they  have  some  allusion  to  names  or 
events  connected  with  the  political  intrigues 
of  the  exiled  house  of  Stuart,  which  had, 
it  is  known,  a  connection  with  some  of  the 
higher  degrees  sprung  up  at  Arras,  and 
other  places  where  Masonry  was  patron- 
ized by  the  Pretender.  This  word  Mor- 
Shey  may,  for  instance,  be  a  corruption  of 
[urray.  James  Murray,  the  second  son 
of  Lord  Stormont,  escaped  to  the  court  of 
the  Stuarts  in  1715.  He  was  a  devoted  ad- 
herent of  the  exiled  family,  and  became  the 
governor  of  the  young  prince  and  the  chief 
minister  of  his  father,  who  conferred  upon 
him  the  empty  title  of  Earl  of  Dunbar. 
He  died  at  Avignon  in  1770.  But  almost 
every  etymology  of  this  kind  must  be  en- 
tirely conjectural. 

Mortality,  Symbol  of.  The  ancient 
Egyptians  introduced  a  skeleton  at  their 
feasts,  to  impress  the  idea  of  the  evanes- 
cence of  all  earthly  enjoyments;  but  the 
skeletons  or  deaths'  heads  did  not  make 
their  appearance  in  Grecian  art,  as  symbols 
of  mortality,  until  later  times,  and  on 
monuments  of  no  artistic  importance.  In 
the  earliest  periods  of  ancient  art,  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  employed  more  pleas- 
ing representations,  such  as  the  flower 
plucked  from  its  stem,  or  the  inverted 
torch.  The  moderns  have,  however,  had 
recourse  to  more  offensive  symbolization. 
In  their  hatchments  or  funeral  achieve- 
ments the  heralds  employ  a  death's  head  and 


510 


MORTAR 


MOSAIC 


crossed  bones,  to  denote  that  the  deceased 
person  is  the  last  of  his  family.  The  Ma- 
sons have  adopted  the  same  symbol,  and  in 
all  the  degrees  where  it  is  necessary  to  im- 
press the  idea  of  mortality,  a  skull,  or  a 
skull  and  crossed  bones,  are  used  for  that 
purpose. 

Mortar,  Untempered.  See  Un- 
tempered  Mortar. 

Mosaic  Pavement.  Mosaic  work 
consists  properly  of  many  little  stones  of 
different  colors  united  together  in  patterns 
to  imitate  a  painting.  It  was  much  prac- 
tised among  the  Romans,  who  called  it 
musivum  opus,  whence  the  Italians  get  their 
musaico,  the  French  their  mosaique,  and 
we  our  mosaic.  The  idea  that  the  work  is 
derived  from  the  fact  that  Moses  used  a 
pavement  of  colored  stones  in  the  taber- 
nacle has  been  long  since  exploded  by  ety- 
mologists. The  Masonic  tradition  is  that 
the  floor  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon  was 
decorated  with  a  Mosaic  pavement  of 
black  and  white  stones.  There  is  no  his- 
torical evidence  to  substantiate  this  state- 
ment. Samuel  Lee,  however,  in  his  dia- 
gram of  the  Temple,  represents  not  only 
the  floors  of  the  building,  but  of  all  the 
outer  courts,  as  covered  with  such  a  pave- 
ment. The  Masonic  idea  was  perhaps  first 
suggested  by  this  passage  in  the  Gospel  of 
St.  John,  (xix.  13,)  "  when  Pilate,  there- 
fore, heard  that  saying,  he  brought  Jesus 
forth,  and  sat  him  down  in  the  judgment- 
seat  in  a  place  that  is  called  the  Pavement, 
but  in  the  Hebrew,  Gabbatha."  The  word 
here  translated  Pavement  is  in  the  original 
lAthostroton,  the  very  word  used  by  Pliny 
to  denote  a  Mosaic  pavement.  The  Greek 
word,  as  well  as  its  Latin  equivalent,  is 
used  to  denote  a  pavement  formed  of  orna- 
mental stones  of  various  colors,  precisely 
what  is  meant  by  a  Mosaic  pavement. 

There  was,  therefore,  a  part  of  the  Tem- 
ple which  was  decorated  with  a  Mosaic 
pavement.  The  Talmud  informs  us  that 
there  was  such  a  pavement  in  the  conclave 
where  the  Grand  Sanhedri  m  held  its  sessions. 

By  a  little  torsion  of  historical  accuracy, 
the  Masons  have  asserted  that  the  ground- 
floor  of  the  Temple  was  a  Mosaic  pavement, 
and  hence,  as  the  Lodge  is  a  representation 
of  the  Temple,  that  the  floor  of  the  Lodge 
should  also  be  of  the  same  pattern. 

The  Mosaic  pavement  is  an  old  symbol 
of  the  Order.  It  is  met  with  in  the  earliest 
rituals  of  the  last  century.  It  is  classed 
among  the  ornaments  of  the  Lodge  in  com- 
bination with  the  indented  tessel  and  the 
blazing  star.  Its  party-colored  stones  of 
black  and  white  have  been  readily  and  ap- 
propriately interpreted  as  symbols  of  the 
evil  and  good  of  human  life. 

Mosaic  Symbolism.    In  the  reli- 


gion of  Moses,  more  than  in  any  other 
which  preceded  or  followed  it,  is  symbolism 
the  predominating  idea.  From  the  taber- 
nacle, which  may  be  considered  as  the  cen- 
tral point  of  the  whole  system,  down  to  the 
vestments  which  clothed  the  servants  at 
the  altar,  there  will  be  found  an  underlying 
principle  of  symbolism.  Long  before  the 
days  of  Pythagoras  the  mystical  nature  of 
numbers  had  been  inculcated  by  the  Jew- 
ish lawgiver,  and  the  very  name  of  God 
was  constructed  in  a  symbolical  form,  to 
indicate  his  eternal  nature.  Much  of  the 
Jewish  ritual  of  worship,  delineated  in  the 
Pentateuch  with  so  much  precision  as  to 
its  minutest  details,  would  almost  seem 
puerile  were  it  not  for  the  symbolic  idea 
that  is  conveyed.  So  the  fringes  of  the 
garments  are  patiently  described,  not  as 
decorations,  but  that  by  them  the  people, 
in  looking  upon  the  fringe,  might  "  remem- 
ber all  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  and 
do  them."  Well,  therefore,  has  a  modern 
writer  remarked,  that  in  the  symbolism  of 
the  Mosaic  worship  it  is  only  ignorance 
that  can  find  the  details  trifling  or  the  pre- 
scriptions minute;  for  if  we  recognize  the 
worth  and  beauty  of  symbolism,  we  shall 
in  vain  seek  in  the  Mosaic  symbols  for  one 
superfluous  enactment  or  one  superstitious 
idea.  To  the  Mason  the  Mosaic  symbolism 
is  very  significant,  because  from  it  Freema- 
sonry has  derived  and  transmitted  for  its 
own  uses  many  of  the  most  precious  treas- 
ures of  its  own  symbolical  art.  Indeed, 
except  in  some  of  the  higher,  and  therefore 
more  modern  degrees,  the  symbolism  of 
Freemasonry  is  almost  entirely  deduced 
from  the  symbolism  of  Mosaism.  Thus  the 
symbol  of  the  Temple,  which  persistently 
pervades  the  whole  of  the  ancient  Masonic 
system,  comes  to  us  directly  from  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  Jewish  tabernacle.  If  Solo- 
mon is  revered  by  the  Masons  as  their  tra- 
ditional Grand  Master,  it  is  because  the 
Temple  constructed  by  him  was  the  symbol 
of  the  divine  life  to  be  cultivated  in  every 
heart.  And  this  symbol  was  borrowed  from 
the  Mosaic  tabernacle ;  and  the  Jewish 
thought,  that  every  Hebrew  was  to  be  a 
tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  has  been  trans- 
mitted to  the  Masonic  system,  which  teaches 
that  every  Mason  is  to  be  a  temple  of  the 
Grand  Architect.  The  Papal  Church,  from 
which  we  get  all  ecclesiastical  symbolism, 
borrowed  its  symbology  from  the  ancient 
Romans.  Hence  most  of  the  high  degrees 
of  Masonry  which  partake  of  a  Christian 
character  are  marked  by  Roman  symbol- 
ism transmuted  into  Christian.  But  Craft 
Masonry,  more  ancient  and  more  universal, 
finds  its  symbolic  teachings  almost  exclu- 
sively in  the  Mosaic  symbolism  instituted 
in  the  wilderness. 


MOSES 


MOTHER 


511 


If  we  inquire  whence  the  Jewish  law- 
giver derived  the  symbolic  system  which 
he  introduced  into  his  religion,  the  history 
of  his  life  will  readily  answer  the  question. 
Philo-Judaeus  says  that  "Moses  was  in- 
structed by  the  Egyptian  priests  in  the 
philosophy  of  symbols  and  hieroglyphics 
as  well  as  in  the  mysteries  of  the  sacred 
animals."  The  sacred  historian  tells  us 
that  he  was  "  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians;"  and  Manetho  and  other 
traditionary  writers  tell  us  that  he  was 
educated  at  Heliopolis  as  a  priest,  under 
his  Egyptian  name  of  Osarsiph,  and  that 
there  he  was  taught  the  whole  range  of 
literature  and  science,  which  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  impart  to  the  priesthood  of 
Egypt.  When,  then,  at  the  head  of  his 
people,  he  passed  away  from  the  servitude 
of  Egyptian  taskmasters,  and  began  in  the 
wilderness  to  establish  his  new  religion,  it 
is  not  strange  that  he  should  have  given  a 
holy  use  to  the  symbols  whose  meaning  he 
had  learned  in  his  ecclesiastical  education 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 

Thus  is  it  that  we  find  in  the  Mosaic 
symbolism  so  many  identities  with  the 
Egyptian  ritual.  Thus  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant,  the  Breast-plate  of  the  High 
Priest,  the  Mitre,  and  many  other  of  the 
Jewish  symbols,  will  find  their  analogies 
in  the  ritualistic  ceremonies  of  the  Egyp- 
tians. Reghellini,  who  has  written  an 
elaborate  work  on  "  Masonry  considered  as 
the  result  of  the  Egyptian,  Jewish,  and 
Christian  Religions,"  says  on  the  subject : 
"Moses,  in  his  mysteries,  and  after  him 
Solomon,  adopted  a  great  part  of  the  Egyp- 
tian symbols,  which,  after  them,  we  Ma- 
sons have  preserved  in  our  own." 

Moses,  ni&D,  which  means  drawn 
out;  but  the  true  derivation  is  from  two 
Egyptian  words,  /xo,  mo,  and  ovke,  oushes,  sig- 
nifying saved  from  the  water.  The  lawgiver 
of  the  Jews,  and  referred  to  in  some  of  the 
higher  degrees,  especially  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  degree,  or  Knight  of  the  Brazen  Ser- 
pent in  the  Scottish  Rite,  where  he  is  repre- 
sented as  the  presiding  officer.  He  plays 
also  an  important  part  in  the  Royal  Arch 
of  the  York  and  American  Rites,  all  of 
whose  ritual  is  framed  on  the  Mosaic  sym- 
bolism. 

Mossdorf,  Friedrich.  An  eminent 
German  Mason,  who  was  born  March  2, 
1757,  at  Eckartsberge,  and  died  about 
1830.  He  resided  in  Dresden,  and  took 
an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  Masonry. 
He  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Fessler's  Ma- 
sonic reforms,  and  made  several  contribu- 
tions to  the  Freyberg  Freimaurerischen 
Taschenbuche  in  defence  of  Fessler's  sys- 
tem. He  became  intimately  connected  with 
the  learned  Krause,  the  author  of   The 


Three  Most  Ancient  Records  of  the  Masonic 
Fraternity,  and  wrote  and  published  in 
1809  a  critical  review  of  the  work,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  Grand  Lodge  com- 
manded him  to  absent  himself  for  an  in- 
definite period  from  the  Lodge.  Mossdorf 
then  withdrew  from  any  further  connec- 
tion with  the  Fraternity.  His  most  valua- 
ble contributions  to  Masonic  literature  are 
his  additions  and  emendations  to  Lenning's 
Encyclopadie  der  Freimaurerei.  He  is  the 
author  also  of  several  other  works  of  great 
value. 

Most  Excellent.  The  title  given  to 
a  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  and  to  its  presiding 
officer,  the  High  Priest;  also  to  the  presid- 
ing officer  of  a  Lodge  of  Most  Excellent 
Masters. 

Most  Excellent  Master.  The 
sixth  degree  in  the  York  Rite.  Its  history 
refers  to  the  dedication  of  the  Temple  by 
King  Solomon,  who  is  represented  by  its 
presiding  officer  under  the  title  of  Most 
Excellent.  Its  officers  are  the  same  as  those 
in  a  symbolic  Lodge.  I  have,  however, 
seen  some  rituals  in  which  the  Junior 
Warden  is  omitted.  This  degree  is  pecu- 
liarly American,  it  being  practised  in  no 
other  country.  It  was  the  invention  of 
Webb,  who  organized  the  capitular  system 
of  Masonry  as  it  exists  in  this  country,  and 
established  the  system  of  lectures  which 
is  the  foundation  of  all  subsequent  sys- 
tems taught  in  America. 

Most  Puissant.  The  title  of  the 
presiding  officer  of  a  Grand  Council  of 
Royal  and  Select  Masters. 

Most  Worshipful.  The  title  given 
to  a  Grand  Lodge  and  to  its  presiding 
officer  the  Grand  Master. 

Mot  de  Seniestre.  Half  yearly 
word.  Every  six  months  the  Grand  Orient 
of  France  sends  to  each  of  the  Lodges  of 
its  obedience  a  password,  to  be  used  by  its 
members  as  an  additional  means  of  gain- 
ing admission  into  a  Lodge.  Each  Mason 
obtains  this  word  only  from  the  Venerable 
of  his  own  Lodge.  It  was  instituted  Oc- 
tober 28th,  1773,  when  the  Duke  of  Char- 
tres  was  elected  Grand  Master. 

Mother  Council.  The  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite  for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  which  was 
organized  in  1801,  at  Charleston,  is  called 
the  "Mother  Council  of  the  World,"  be- 
cause from  it  have  issued  directly  or  in- 
directly all  the  other  Supreme  Councils  of 
the  Rite  which  are  now  in  existence,  or 
have  existed  since  its  organization. 

Mother  Lodge.  In  the  last  century 
certain  Lodges  in  France  and  Germany  as- 
sumed an  independent  position,  and  issued 
Charters  for  the  constitution  of  Daughter 


512 


MOTION 


MUNKHOUSE 


Lodges  claiming  the  prerogatives  of  Grand 
Lodges.  Thus  we  find  the  Mother  Lodge 
of  Marseilles,  in  France,  which  constituted 
many  Lodges.  In  Scotland  the  Lodge  of 
Kilwinning  took  the  title  of  Mother  Lodge, 
and  issued  Charters  until  it  was  merged  in 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland.  The  system 
is  altogether  irregular,  and  has  no  sanction 
in  the  present  laws  of  the  Fraternity. 

Motion.  A  motion  when  made  by  a 
member  cannot  be  brought  before  the 
Lodge  for  deliberation  unless  it  is  seconded 
by  another  member.  Motions  are  of  two 
kinds,  principal  and  subsidiary;  a  principal 
motion  is  one  that  presents  an  indepen- 
dent proposition  for  discussion.  Subsidiary 
motions  are  those  which  are  intended  to  af- 
fect the  principal  motion — such  as  to  amend 
it,  to  lay  it  on  the  table,  to  postpone  it  defi- 
nitely or  indefinitely,  or  to  reconsider  it,  all 
of  which  are  governed  by  the  parliament- 
ary law  under  certain  modifications  to  suit 
the  spirit  and  genius  of  the  Masonic  or- 
ganization. See  the  author's  Treatise  on 
Parliamentary  Law  as  applied  to  Masonic 
Bodies. 

Motto.  In  imitation  of  the  senteuces 
appended  to  the  coats  of  arms  and  seals  of 
the  gilds  and  other  societies,  the  Masons 
have  for  the  different  branches  of  their 
Order  mottoes,  which  are  placed  on  their 
banners  or  put  at  the  head  of  their  docu- 
ments, which  are  expressive  of  the  character 
and  design,  either  of  the  whole  Order  or 
of  the  particular  branch  to  which  the 
motto  belongs.  Thus,  in  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry  we  have  as  mottoes  the  sentences, 
Ordo  ab  Ghao,  and  Lux  e  tenebris;  in  Capit- 
ular Masonry,  Holiness  to  the  Lord;  in 
Templar  Masonry,  In  hoc  signo  vinces ;  in 
Scottish  Masonry,  Ne  plus  ultra  is  the 
motto  of  the  thirtieth  degree,  and  Spes  meo 
in  deo  est  of  the  thirty-second ;  while  the 
thirty-third  has  for  its  motto  Deus  meum- 
que  Jus.  All  of  these  will  be  found  with 
their  signification  and  origin  in  their  ap- 
propriate places. 

Mould.  This  word  is  very  common  in 
the  Old  Constitutions,  where  it  is  forbidden 
that  a  Freemason  should  give  a  mould  to 
a  rough  Mason,  whereby,  of  course,  he  would 
be  imparting  to  him  the  secrets  of  the  Craft. 
Thus,  in  the  Harleian  MS. :  "  Alsoe  that  no 
Mason  shall  make  any  mould,  square,  or 
rule  to  any  Kough  Mason ;  alsoe  that  no 
Mason,  within  the  Lodge  or  without,  sett 
or  lay  any  mould  stones  without  moulds  of 
his  own  making."  We  find  the  word  in 
Piers  Ploughman's  Vision  : 

"  If  eny  Mason  there  do  makede  a  molde 
With  alle  here  wyse  castes." 

Parker  ( Gloss.  Architect.,  p.  313,)  thus  de- 
fines it:  "The  model  or  pattern  used  by 


workmen,  especially  by  Masons,  as  a  guide 
in  working  mouldings  and  ornaments.  It 
consists  of  a  thin  board  or  plate  of  metal, 
cut  to  represent  the  exact  section  of  the 
mouldings  to  be  worked  from  it."  In  the 
Cooke  MS.  the  word  maters  is  used,  which 
is  evidently  a  corruption  of  the  lj&tinmatrix. 

Mould  Stone.  In  the  quotation  frcm 
the  Harleian  MS.  in  the  preceding  article, 
the  expression  mould  stones  occurs,  as  it 
does  in  other  Constitutions  and  in  many 
old  contracts.  It  means,  probably,  large 
and  peaked  stones  for  those  parts  of  the 
building  which  were  to  have  mouldings  cut 
upon  them,  as  window  and  door-jambs. 

Mount  Calvary.    See  Calvary. 

Mount  Moriah.    See  Moriah. 

Mount  Sinai.    See  Sinai. 

Mourning.  The  mourning  color  has 
been  various  in  different  times  and  coun- 
tries. Thus,  the  Chinese  mourn  in  white ; 
the  Turks  in  blue  or  in  violet ;  the  Egyptians 
in  yellow;  .the  Ethiopians  in  gray.  In  all 
the  degrees  and  rites  of  Masonry,  with  a 
single  exception,  black  is  the  symbol  of 
grief,  and  therefore  the  mourning  color. 
But  in  the  highest  degrees  of  the  Scottish 
Kite  the  mourning  color,  like  that  used  by 
the  former  kings  of  France,  is  violet. 

Mouth  to  Ear.  The  Mason  is  taught, 
by  an  expressive  symbol,  to  whisper  good 
counsel  in  his  brother's  ear,  and  to  warn 
him  of  approaching  danger.  "  It  is  a  rare 
thing,"  says  Bacon,  "  except  it  be  from  a 
perfect  and  entire  friend,  to  have  counsel 
given  that  is  not  bowed  and  crooked  to 
some  ends  which  he  hath  that  giveth  it." 
And  hence  it  is  an  admirable  lesson,  which 
Masonry  here  teaches  us,  to  use  the  lips 
and  the  tongue  only  in  the  service  of  a 
brother. 

Movable  Jewels.  See  Jewels  of  a 
Lodge. 

Muenter,  Friederieh.  Born  in 
1761,  and  died  in  1830.  He  was  Professor 
of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Copen- 
hagen, and  afterwards  Bishop  of  Seeland. 
He  was  the  author  of  a  treatise  On  the  Sym- 
bols and  Art  Representations  of  the  Early 
Christians.  In  1794  he  published  his  Stat- 
ute Book  of  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars, 
"  Statutenbuch  des  Ordens  der  Temple- 
herren ; "  a  work  which  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  contributions  that  we  have  to  the 
history  of  Templarism. 

Munkhouse,  I>.  D.,  Rev.  Rich- 
ard. The  author  of  A  Discourse  in  Praise 
of  Freemasonry,  8vo,  Lond.,  1805 ;  An  Exhor- 
tation to  the  Practice  of  those  Specific  Virtues 
which  ought  to  prevail  in  the  Masonic  Char- 
acter, with  Historical  Notes,  8vo,  Lond.,  1805 ; 
and  Occasional  Discourses  on  Various  Sub- 
jects, with  Copious  Annotations,  3  vols.,  8vo, 
Lond.,  1805.    This  last  work  contains  many 


MURR 


MYSTERIES 


513 


discourses  on  Masonic  subjects.  Dr.  Munk- 
house  was  an  ardent  admirer  and  defender 
of  Freemasonry,  into  which  he  was  initi- 
ated in  the  Phoenix  Lodge  of  Sunderland. 
On  his  removal  to  Wakefield,  where  he  was 
rector  of  St.  John  the  Baptist's  Church,  he 
united  with  the  Lodge  of  Unanimity,  under 
the  Mastership  of  Richard  Linnecar,  to 
whose  virtues  and  Masonic  knowledge  he 
has  paid  a  high  tribute.  Dr.  Munkhouse 
died  in  the  early  part  of  this  century. 

Mnrr,  Christoph  Gottlieb  Ton. 
A  distinguished  historical  and  archaeologi- 
cal writer,  who  was  born  at  Nuremberg,  in 
1733,  and  died  April  8,  1811.  In  1760  he 
published  an  Essay  on  the  History  of  the 
Cheek  Tragic  Poets;  in  1777-82,  six  volumes 
of  Antiquities  of  Herculanamm,  and  several 
other  historical  works.  In  1803  he  pub- 
lished an  essay  On  the  Trite  Origin  of  the 
Orders  of  Rosicrucianism  and  Freemasonry, 
with  an  Appendix  on  the  History  of  the  Or- 
der of  Templars.  In  this  work,  Murr  at- 
tempts to  trace  Freemasonry  to  the  times 
of  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  maintains  that  it 
and  Rosicrucianism  had  an  identical  origin, 
and  the  same  history  until  the  year  1633, 
when  they  separated. 

Muscus  Domus.  In  the  early  rit- 
uals of  the  last  century,  the  tradition  is 
given,  that  certain  Fellow  Crafts,  while 
pursuing  their  search,  discovered  a  grave 
covered  with  green  moss  and  turf,  when 
they  exclaimed,  Muscus  Domus,  Deo  gratias, 
which  was  interpreted,  "  Thanks  be  to 
God,  our  Master  has  a  mossy  house." 
Whence  a  Mason's  grave  came  to  be  called 
Muscus  Domus.  But  both  the  tradition 
and  its  application  have  become  obsolete 
in  the  modern  rituals. 

Music.  One  of  the  seven  liberal  arts 
and  sciences,  whose  beauties  are  inculcated 
in  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree.  Music  is 
recommended  to  the  attention  of  Masons, 
because  as  the  "  concord  of  sweet  sounds  " 
elevates  the  generous  sentiments  of  the 
soul,  so  should  the  concord  of  good  feeling 
reign  among  the  brethren,  that  by  the 
union  of  friendship  and  brotherly  love  the 
boisterous  passions  may  be  lulled,  and 
harmony  exist  throughout  the  Craft. 

Mustard  Seed,  Order  of.  (Der 
Orden  vom  iSenfkorn.)  This  association, 
whose  members  also  called  themselves 
"  The  Fraternity  of  Moravian  Brothers  of 
the  Order  of  Religious  Freemasons,"  was 
one  of  the  first  innovations  introduced  into 
German  Freemasonry.  It  was  instituted  in 
the  year  1739.  Its  mysteries  were  founded 
on  that  passage  in  the  fourth  chapter  of 
St.  Mark's  Gospel  in  which  Christ  com- 
pares the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  a  mustard 
seed.  The  brethren  wore  a  ring,  on  which 
was  inscribed  Keiner  von  uns  lebt  ihm  sel- 


3  P 


33 


her,  i.  e.,  "No  one  of  us  lives  for  himself." 
The  jewel  of  the  Order  was  a  cross  of  gold 
surmounted  by  a  mustard  plant  in  full 
bloom,  with  the  motto,  Quod  fuit  ante 
nihil,  i.  e.,  "What  was  before  nothing." 
It  was  suspended  from  a  green  ribbon. 
The  professed  object  of  the  association 
was,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Free- 
masonry, to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
over  the  world.    It  has  long  been  obsolete. 

Myrtle.  The  sacred  plant  of  the  Eleu- 
sinian  mysteries,  and  analogous  in  its  sym- 
bolism to  the  acacia  of  the  Masons. 

Mystagogue.  The  one  who  presided 
at  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  and  explained 
the  sacred  things  to  the  candidate.  He 
was  also  called  the  hierophant.  The  word, 
which  is  Greek,  signifies  literally  one  who 
makes  or  conducts  an  initiate. 

Mysteries,  Ancient.  Each  of  the 
Pagan  gods,  says  Warburton,  (Div.  Leg., 
I.,  ii.  4,)  had,  besides  the  public  and  open,  a 
secret  worship  paid  to  him,  to  which  none 
were  admitted  but  those  who  had  been 
selected  by  preparatory  ceremonies  called 
Initiation.  This  secret  worship  was  termed 
the  Mysteries.  And  this  is  supported  by 
Strabo,  (lib.  x.,  cap.  3,)  who  says  that  it 
was  common,  both  to  the  Greeks  and  the 
Barbarians,  to  perform  their  religious  cere- 
monies with  the  observance  of  a  festival, 
and  that  they  are  sometimes  celebrated 
publicly  and  sometimes  in  mysterious  pri- 
vacy. Noel  (Diet,  de  la  Fable)  thus  defines 
them :  Secret  ceremonies  which  were  prac- 
tised in  honor  of  certain  gods,  and  whose 
secret  was  known  to  the  initiates  alone, 
who  were  admitted  only  after  long  and 
painful  trials,  which  it  was  more  than  their 
life  was  worth  to  reveal. 

As  to  their  origin,  Warburton  is  proba- 
bly not  wrong  in  his  statement  that  the 
first  of  which  we  have  any  account  are 
those  of  Isis  and  Osiris  in  Egypt;  for 
although  those  of  Mithras  came  into  Eu- 
rope from  Persia,  they  were,  it  is  supposed, 
carried  from  Egypt  by  Zoroaster. 

The  most  important  of  these  mysteries 
were  the  Osiric  in  Egypt,  the  Mithraic  in 
Persia,  the  Cabiric  in  Thrace,  the  Adoni- 
sian  in  Syria,  the  Dionysiac  and  Eleu- 
sinian  in  Greece,  the  Scandinavian  among 
the  Gothic  nations,  and  the  Druidical 
among  the  Celts. 

In  all  these  mysteries  we  find  a  singular 
unity  of  design,  clearly  indicating  a  com- 
mon origin,  and  a  purity  of  doctrine  as 
evidently  proving  that  this  common  origin 
was  not  to  be  sought  for  in  the  popular 
theology  of  the  Pagan  world.  The  cere- 
monies of  initiation  were  all  funereal  in 
their  character.  They  celebrated  the  death 
and  the  resurrection  of  some  cherished  be- 
ing, either  the  object  of  esteem  as  a  hero, 


514 


MYSTERIES 


MYSTERIES 


or  of  devotion  as  a  god.  Subordination  of 
degrees  was  instituted,  and  the  candidate 
was  subjected  to  probations  varying  in 
their  character  and  severity;  the  rites 
were  practised  in  the  darkness  of  night, 
and  often  amid  the  gloom  of  impenetrable 
forests  or  subterranean  caverns;  and  the 
full  fruition  of  knowledge,  for  which  so 
much  labor  was  endured,  and  so  much 
danger  incurred,  was  not  attained  until  the 
aspirant,  well  tried  and  thoroughly  puri- 
fied, had  reached  the  place  of  wisdom  and 
of  light. 

These  mysteries  undoubtedly  owed  their 
origin  to  the  desire  to  establish  esoteric 
philosophy,  in  which  should  be  withheld 
from  popular  approach  those  sublime  truths 
which  it  was  supposed  could  only  be  intrusted 
to  those  who  had  been  previously  prepared 
for  their  reception.  Whence  these  doc- 
trines were  originally  derived  it  would  be 
impossible  to  say ;  but  I  am  disposed  to  ac- 
cept Creuzer's  hypothesis  of  an  ancient  and 
highly  instructed  body  of  priests,  having 
their  origin  either  in  Egypt  or  in  the  East, 
from  whom  was  derived  religious,  physical, 
and  historical  knowledge,  under  the  veil  of 
symbols. 

By  this  confinement  of  these  doctrines  to 
a  system  of  secret  knowledge,  guarded  by 
the  most  rigid  rites,  could  they  only  expect 
to  preserve  them  from  the  superstitions,  in- 
novations, and  corruptions  of  the  world  as 
it  then  existed.  "  The  distinguished  few," 
says  Oliver,  (Hist.  Inii.,  p.  2,)  "who  re- 
tained their  fidelity,  uncontaminated  by 
the  contagion  of  evil  example,  would  soon 
be  able  to  estimate  the  superior  benefits  of 
an  isolated  institution,  which  afforded  the 
advantage  of  a  select  society,  and  kept  at 
an  unapproachable  distance  the  profane 
scoffer,  whose  presence  might  pollute  their 
pure  devotions  and  social  converse,  by  con- 
tumelious language  or  unholy  mirth."  And 
doubtless  the  prevention  of  this  intrusion, 
and  the  preservation  of  these  sublime  truths, 
was  the  original  object  of  the  institution 
of  the  ceremonies  of  initiation,  and  the 
adoption  of  other  means  by  which  the  ini- 
tiated could  be  recognized,  and  the  unini- 
tiated excluded.  Such  was  the  opinion  of 
Warburton,  who  says  that  "  the  mysteries 
were  at  first  the  retreats  of  sense  and  virtue, 
till  time  corrupted  them  in  most  of  the 
gods." 

The  Abbe  Robin  in  a  learned  work  on 
this  subject  entitled  Richerches  sur  les  Ini- 
tiations Anciens  et  Modernes,  (Paris,  1870,) 
places  the  origin  of  the  initiations  at  that 
remote  period  when  crimes  first  began  to 
appear  upon  earth.  The  vicious,  he  re- 
marks, were  urged  by  the  terror  of  guilt  to 
seek  among  the  virtuous  for  intercessors 
with  the  deity.    The  latter,  retiring  into 


solitude  to  avoid  the  contagion  of  growing 
corruption,  devoted  themselves  to  a  lite 
of  contemplation  and  the  cultivation  of 
several  of  the  useful  sciences.  The  period- 
ical return  of  the  seasons,  the  revolution 
of  the  stars,  the  productions  of  the  earth, 
and  the  various  phenomena  of  nature, 
studied  with  attention,  rendered  them  use- 
ful guides  to  men,  both  in  their  pursuits  of 
industry  and  in  their  social  duties.  These 
recluse  students  invented  certain  signs  to 
recall  to  the  remembrance  of  the  people 
the  times  of  their  festivals  and  of  their 
rural  labors,  and  hence  the  origin  of  the 
symbols  and  hieroglyphics  that  were  in  use 
among  the  priests  of  all  nations.  Having 
now  become  guides  and  leaders  of  the  peo- 
ple, these  sages,  in  order  to  select  as  asso- 
ciates of  their  learned  labors  and  sacred 
functions  only  such  as  had  sufficient  merit 
and  capacity,  appointed  strict  courses  of 
trial  and  examination,  and  this,  our  author 
thinks,  must  have  been  the  source  of  the 
initiations  of  antiquity.  The  Magi,  Brah- 
mans,  Gymnosophists,  Druids,  and  priests 
of  Egypt,  lived  thus  in  sequestered  habita- 
tions and  subterranean  caves,  and  obtained 
great  reputation  by  their  discoveries  in  as- 
tronomy, chemistry,  and  mechanics,  by 
their  purity  of  morals,  and  by  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  science  of  legislation.  It  was 
in  these  schools,  says  M.  Robin,  that  the 
first  sages  and  legislators  of  antiquity  were 
formed,  and  in  them  he  supposes  the  doc- 
trines taught  to  have  been  the  unity  of  God 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul;  and  it 
was  from  these  mysteries,  and  their  symbols 
and  hieroglyphics,  that  the  exuberant  fancy 
of  the  Greeks  drew  much  of  their  my- 
thology. 

Warburton  deduces  from  the  ancient 
writers  —  from  Cicero  and  Porphyry,  from 
Origen  and  Celsus,  and  from  others  —  what 
was  the  true  object  of  the  mysteries.  They 
taught  the  dogma  of  the  unity  of  God  in 
opposition  to  the  polytheistic  notions  of  the 
people,  and  in  connection  with  this  the 
doctrine  of  a  future  life,  and  that  the  ini- 
tiated should  be  happier  in  that  state  than 
all  other  mortals ;  that  while  the  souls  of 
the  profane,  at  their  leaving  the  body, 
stuck  fast  in  mire  and  filth  and  remained 
in  darkness,  the  souls  of  the  initiated  winged 
their  flight  directly  to  the  happy  islands 
and  the  nabitations  of  the  gods.  "Thrice 
happy  they,"  says  Sophocles,  "who  de- 
scended to  the  shades  below  after  having 
beheld  these  rites ;  for  they  alone  have  life 
in  Hades,  while  all  others  suffer  there  every 
kind  of  evil."  And  Isocrates  declares  that 
"  those  who  have  been  initiated  in  the  mys- 
teries, entertain  better  hopes  both  as  to  the 
end  of  life  and  the  whole  of  futurity." 

Others  of  the  ancients  have  given  us  the 


MYSTERIES 


MYSTERIES 


515 


same  testimony  as  to  their  esoteric  char- 
acter." "All  the  mysteries,"  says  Plu- 
tarch, "refer  to  a  future  life  and  to  the 
state  of  the  soul  after  death."     In  another 

Elace,  addressing  his  wife,  he  says,  "We 
ave  been  instructed,  in  the  religious  rites 
of  Dionysus,  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  and 
that  there  is  a  future  state  of  existence." 
Cicero  tells  us  that,  in  the  mysteries  of 
Ceres  at  Eleusis,  the  initiated  were  taught 
to  live  happily  and  to  die  in  the  hope  of  a 
blessed  futurity.  And,  finally,  Plato  in- 
forms us  that  the  hymns  of  Musseus,  which 
were  sung  in  the  mysteries,  celebrated  the 
rewards  and  pleasures  of  the  virtuous  in 
another  life,  and  the  punishments  which 
awaited  the  wicked. 

These  sentiments,  so  different  from  the 
debased  polytheism  which  prevailed  among 
the  uninitiated,  are  the  most  certain  evi- 
dence that  the  mysteries  arose  from  a  purer 
source  than  that  which  gave  birth  to  the 
religion  of  the  vulgar. 

I  must  not  pass  unnoticed  Faber's  notion 
of  their  arkite  origin.  Finding,  as  he  did, 
a  prototype  for  every  ancient  cultus  in  the 
ark  of  Noah,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he 
should  apply  his  theory  to  the  mysteries. 
"The  initiations,"  he  says,  (Orig.  Pag. 
Idol.,  II.,  iv.  5,)  "into  the  mysteries  sceni- 
cally  represented  the  mythic  descent  into 
Hades  and  the  return  from  thence  to  the 
light  of  day,  by  which  was  meant  the  en- 
trance into  the  ark  and  the  subsequent  lib- 
eration from  its  dark  enclosure.  They  all 
equally  related  to  the  allegorical  disappear- 
ance, or  death,  or  descent  of  the  great 
father,  at  their  commencement;  and  his 
invention,  or  revival,  or  return  from  Hades, 
at  their  conclusion." 

Dollinger  (Gent,  and  Jew.,  i.  126,)  says, 
speaking  of  the  mysteries,  "  the  whole  was 
a  drama,  the  prelude  to  which  consisted  in 
purifications,  sacrifices,  and  injunctions 
with  regard  to  the  behavior  to  be  observed. 
The  adventures  of  certain  deities,  their 
sufferings  and  joys,  their  appearance  on 
earth,  and  relations  to  mankind,  their 
death,  or  descent  to  the  nether  world,  their 
return,  or  their  rising  again  —  all  these,  as 
symbolizing  the  life  of  nature,  were  repre- 
sented in  a  connected  series  of  theatrical 
scenes.  These  representations,  tacked  on 
to  a  nocturnal  solemnity,  brilliantly  got  up, 
particularly  at  Athens,  with  all  the  re- 
sources of  art  and  sensual  beauty,  and  ac- 
companied with  dancing  and  song,  were 
eminently  calculated  to  take  a  powerful 
hold  on  the  imagination  and  the  heart, 
and  to  excite  in  the  spectators  alter- 
nately conflicting  sentiments  of  terror, 
and  calm,  sorrow,  and  fear,  and  hope. 
They  worked  upon  them,  now  by  agitating, 
now  by  soothing,  and  meanwhile  had  a 


strong  bearing  upon  susceptibilities  and 
capacities  of  individuals,  according  as  their 
several  dispositions  inclined  them  more  to 
reflection  and  observation,  or  to  a  resigned 
credulity." 

Bunsen  ( God  in  History,  II.,  B.  iv.,  ch.  6,) 
gives  the  most  recent  and  the  most  philo- 
sophic idea  of  the  character  of  the  mysteries. 
They  did,  he  says, "  indeed  exhibit  to  the  ini- 
tiated coarse  physical  symbols  of  the  gene- 
rative powers  of  Nature,  and  of  the  univer- 
sal Nature  herself,  eternally,  self-sustaining 
through  all  transformations ;  but  the  reli- 
gious element  of  the  mysteries  consisted  in 
the  relations  of  the  universe  to  the  soul, 
more  especially  after  death.  Thus,  even 
without  philosophic  proof,  we  are  justified 
in  assuming  that  the  Nature  symbolism  re- 
ferring to  the  Zodiac  formed  a  mere  frame- 
work for  the  doctrines  relating  to  the  soul 
and  to  the  ethical  theory  of  the  universe. 
So,  likewise,  in  the  Samothracian  worship 
of  the  Kabiri,  the  contest  waged  by  the 
orb  of  day  was  represented  by  the  story 
of  the  three  brothers  (the  seasons  of  the 
year),  one  of  whom  is  continually  slain  by 
the  other  two,  but  ever  and  anon  arises  to 
life  again.  But  here,  too,  the  beginning 
and  end  of  the  worship  were  ethical.  A 
sort  of  confession  was  demanded  of  the 
candidates  before  admission,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  service  the  victorious  God 
(Dionysus)  was  displayed  as  the  Lord  of 
the  spirit.  Still  less,  however,  did  theo- 
rems of  natural  philosophy  form  the  sub- 
ject-matter of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  of 
which,  on  the  contrary,  psychical  concep- 
tions were  the  beginning  and  the  end.  The 
predominating  idea  of  these  conceptions 
was  that  of  the  soul  as  a  divine,  vital  force, 
held  captive  here  on  earth  and  sorely  tired; 
but  the  initiated  were  further  taught  to 
look  forward  to  a  final  redemption  and 
blessedness  for  the  good  and  pious,  and 
eternal  torments  after  death  for  the  wicked 
and  unjust." 

The  esoteric  character  of  the  mysteries  was 
preserved  by  the  most  powerful  sanctions. 
An  oath  of  secrecy  was  administered  in  the 
most  solemn  form  to  the  initiate,  and  to 
violate  it  was  considered  a  sacrilegious 
crime,  the  prescribed  punishment  for  which 
was  immediate  death,  and  we  have  at  least 
one  instance  in  Livy  of  the  infliction  of 
the  penalty.  The  ancient  writers  were  there- 
fore extremely  reluctant  to  approach  the 
subject,  and  Lobeck gives  in  hisAglaophamw 
(vol.  i.,  app.  131,  151 ;  ii.  12,  87,)  several 
examples  of  the  cautious  manner  in  which 
they  shrunk  from  divulging  or  discussing 
any  explanation  of  a  symbol  which  had 
been  interpreted  to  them  in  the  course  of 
initiation.  I  would  forbid,  says  Horace, 
(L.  iii.,  Od.  2,)  that  man  who  would  divulge 


516 


MYSTERIES 


MYSTERIES 


the  sacred  rites  of  mysterious  Ceres  from 
being  under  the  same  roof  with  me,  or 
from  setting  sail  with  me  in  the  same  pre- 
carious bark. 

On  the  subject  of  their  relation  to  the 
rites  of  Freemasonry,  to  which  they  bear 
in  many  respects  so  remarkable  a  resem- 
blance, that  some  connection  seems  neces- 
sarily implied,  there  are  five  principal  the- 
ories. The  first  is  that  embraced  and 
taught  by  Dr.  Oliver,  namely,  that  they  are 
but  deviations  from  that  common  source, 
both  of  them  and  of  Freemasonry,  the 
patriarchal  mode  of  worship  established 
by  God  himself.  With  this  pure  system  of 
truth,  he  supposes  the  science  of  Freema- 
sonry to  have  been  coeval  and  identified. 
But  the  truths  thus  revealed  by  divinity 
came  at  length  to  be  doubted  or  rejected 
through  the  imperfection  of  human  reason, 
and  though  the  visible  symbols  were  re- 
tained in  the  mysteries  of  the  Pagan  world, 
their  true  interpretation  was  lost. 

There  is  a  second  theory  which,  leaving 
the  origin  of  the  mysteries  to  be  sought  in 
the  patriarchal  doctrines,  where  Oliver  has 
placed  it,  finds  the  connection  between 
them  and  Freemasonry  commencing  at  the 
building  of  King  Solomon's  Temple.  Over 
the  construction  of  this  building,  Hiram, 
the  Architect  of  Tyre,  presided.  At  Tyre 
the  mysteries  of  Bacchus  had  been  intro- 
duced by  the  Dionysian  Artificers,  and  into 
their  fraternity  Hiram,  in  all  probability, 
had,  it  is  necessarily  suggested,  been  ad- 
mitted. Freemasonry,  whose  tenets  had 
always  existed  in  purity  among  the  imme- 
diate descendants  of  the  patriarchs,  added 
now  to  its  doctrines  the  guard  of  secrecy, 
which,  as  Dr.  Oliver  himself  remarks,  was 
necessary  to  preserve  them  from  perversion 
or  pollution. 

A  third  theory  has  been  advanced  by  the 
Abb£  Robin,  in  which  he  connects  Free- 
masonry indirectly  with  the  mysteries, 
through  the  intervention  of  the  Crusaders. 
In  the  work  already  cited,  he  attempts  to 
deduce,  from  the  ancient  initiations,  the 
orders  of  chivalry,  whose  branches,  he 
says,  produced  the  institution  of  Freema- 
sonry. 

A  fourth  theory,  and  this  has  been  re- 
cently advanced  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  King  in 
his  treatise  On  the  Gnostics,  is  that  as  some 
of  them,  especially  those  of  Mithras,  were 
extended  beyond  the  advent  of  Christianity, 
and  even  to  the  very  commencement  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  they  were  seized  upon  by  the 
secret  societies  of  that  period  as  a  model 
for  their  organization,  and  that  through 
these  latter  they  are  to  be  traced  to  Free- 
masonry. 

But  perhaps,  after  all,  the  truest  theory 
is  that  which  would  discard  all  successive 


links  in  a  supposed  chain  of  descent  from 
the  mysteries  to  Freemasonry,  and  would 
attribute  their  close  resemblance  to  a  nat- 
ural coincidence  of  human  thought.  The 
legend  of  the  third  degree,  and  the  legends 
of  the  Eleusinian,  the  Cabiric,  the  Diony- 
sian, the  Adonic,  and  all  the  other  mys- 
teries, are  identical  in  their  object  to  teach 
the  reality  of  a  future  life ;  and  this  lesson 
is  taught  in  all  by  the  use  of  the  same  sym- 
bolism, and,  substantially,  the  same  scenic 
representation.  And  this  is  not  because 
the  Masonic  rites  are  a  lineal  succession 
from  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  but  because 
there  has  been  at  all  times  a  proneness  of 
the  human  heart  to  nourish  this  belief  in  a 
future  life,  and  the  proneness  of  the  human 
mind  to  clothe  this  belief  in  a  symbolic 
dress.  And  if  there  is  any  other  more 
direct  connection  between  them  it  must  be 
sought  for  in  the  Roman  Colleges  of  Artifi- 
cers, who  did,  most  probably,  exercise  some 
influence  over  the  rising  Freemasons  of 
the  early  ages,  and  who,  as  the  contempo- 
raries of  the  mysteries,  were,  we  may  well 
suppose,  imbued  with  something  of  their 
organization. 

I  conclude  with  a  notice  of  their  ultimate 
fate.  They  continued  to  flourish  until  long 
after  the  Christian  era ;  but  they  at  length 
degenerated.  In  the  fourth  century,  Chris- 
tianity had  begun  to  triumph.  The  Pagans, 
desirous  of  making  converts,  threw  open 
the  hitherto  inaccessible  portals  of  their 
mysterious  rites.  The  strict  scrutiny  of 
the  candidate's  past  life,  and  the  demand 
for  proofs  of  irreproachable  conduct,  were 
no  longer  deemed  indispensable.  The  vile 
and  the  vicious  were  indiscriminately,  and 
even  with  avidity,  admitted  to  participate 
in  privileges  which  were  once  granted  only 
to  the  noble  and  the  virtuous.  The  sun  of 
Paganism  was  setting,  and  its  rites  had  be- 
come contemptible  and  corrupt.  Their 
character  was  entirely  changed,  and  the 
initiations  were  indiscriminately  sold  by 
peddling  priests,  who  wandered  through 
the  country,  to  every  applicant  who  was 
willing  to  pay  a  trifling  fee  for  that  which 
had  once  been  refused  to  the  entreaties  of 
a  monarch.  At  length  these  abominations 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  emperors,  and 
Constantine  and  Gratian  forbade  their  cel- 
ebration by  night,  excepting,  however,  from 
these  edicts,  the  initiations  at  Eleusis.  But 
finally  Theodosius,  by  a  general  edict  of 
proscription,  ordered  the  whole  of  the  Pagan 
mysteries  to  be  abolished,  in  the  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eighth  year  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  and  eighteen  hundred  years  after 
their  first  establishment  in  Greece. 

Clavel,  however,  says  that  they  did  not 
entirely  cease  until  the  era  of  the  restora- 
tion of  learning,  and  that  during  a  part  of 


MYSTERY 


MYTH 


517 


the  Middle  Ages  the  mysteries  of  Diana, 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Courses  of  Diana," 
and  those  of  Pan,  under  that  of  the  "  Sab- 
bats,"  were  practised  in  country  places. 
But  these  were  really  only  certain  super- 
stitious rites  connected  with  the  belief  in 
witchcraft.  The  mysteries  of  Mithras, 
which,  continually  attacked  by  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church,  lived  until  the  beginning  of 
the  fifth  century,  were,  I  think,  the  last  of 
the  old  mysteries  which  had  once  exercised 
so  much  influence  over  the  Pagan  world 
and  the  Pagan  religions. 

Mystery.  From  the  Greek  fivorypiov, 
a  secret,  something  to  be  concealed.  The 
gilds  or  companies  of  the  Middle  Ages,  out 
of  which  we  trace  the  Masonic  organiza- 
tion, were  called  mysteries,  because  they  had 
trade-secrets,  the  preservation  of  which  was 
a  primary  ordination  of  these  fraternities. 
"  Mystery  "  and  "  Craft "  came  thus  to  be 
synonymous  words.  In  this  secondary  sense 
we  speak  of  the  "  Mystery  of  the  Stonema- 
sons "  as  equivalent  to  the  "  Craft  of  the 
Stonemasons."  But  the  Mystery  of  Free- 
masonry refers  rather  to  the  primary  mean- 
ing of  the  word  as  immediately  derived 
from  the  Greek. 

Mystes.  (From  the  Greek  fivu,  to  shut 
the  eyes. )  One  who  had  been  initiated  into 
the  Lesser  Mysteries  of  Paganism.  He  was 
now  blind ;  but  when  he  was  initiated  into 
the  Greater  Mysteries,  he  was  called  an 
Epopt,  or  one  who  saw. 

The  Mystes  was  permitted  to  proceed  no 
farther  than  the  vestibule  or  porch  of  the 
temple.  To  the  Epopts  only  was  accorded 
the  privilege  of  admission  to  the  adytum  or 
sanctuary.  A  female  initiate  was  called  a 
Mystis. 

Mystical.  A  word  applied  to  any  lan- 
guage, symbol,  or  ritual  which  is  under- 
stood only  by  the  initiated.  The  word  was 
first  used  by  the  priests  to  describe  their 
mysterious  rites,  and  then  borrowed  by  the 
philosophers  to  be  applied  to  the  inner, 
esoteric  doctrines  of  their  schools.  In  this 
sense  we  speak  of  the  mystical  doctrines 
of  Speculative  Masonry.  Suidas  derives 
the  word  from  the  Greek  pw,  to  close,  and 
especially  to  close  the  lips.  Hence  the  mys- 
tical is  that  about  which  the  mouth  should 
be  closed. 

Mysticism.  A  word  applied  in  reli- 
gious phraseology  to  any  views  or  tenden- 
cies which  aspire  to  more  direct  communi- 
cation between  God  and  man  by  the  in- 
ward perception  of  the  mind  than  can  be 
obtained  through  revelation.  "  Mysticism," 
says  Vaughan,  (Hours  with  the  Mystics,  i. 
19,)  "presents  itself  in  all  its  phases  as 
more  or  less  the  religion  of  internal  as  op- 
posed to  external  revelation  —  of  heated 
feeling,  sickly  sentiment,  or  lawless  imagi- 


nation, as  opposed  to  that  reasonable  belief 
in  which  the  intellect  and  the  heart,  the 
inward  witness  and  the  outward,  are  alike 
engaged."  The  Pantheism  of  some  of  the 
ancient  philosophers  and  of  the  modern 
Spinozaists,  the  Speculations  of  the  Neo- 
platonists,  the  Anabaptism  of  Munster,  the 
system  of  Jacob  Behmen,  the  Quietism  of 
Madame  Guyon,  the  doctrines  of  the  Ba- 
varian Illuminati,  and  the  reveries  of  Swe- 
denborg,  all  partake  more  or  less  of  the 
spirit  of  mysticism.  The  Germans  have 
two  words,  mystik  and  mysticismus,  —  the 
former  of  which  they  use  in  a  favorable,  the 
latter  in  an  unfavorable  sense.  Mysticism 
is  with  them  only  another  word  for  Pan- 
theism, between  which  and  Atheism  there 
is  but  little  difference.  Hence  a  belief  in 
mysticism  is  with  the  German  Freemasons 
a  disqualification  for  initiation  into  the 
Masonic  rites.  Thus  the  second  article  of 
the  Statutes  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Hano- 
ver prescribes  that  "  ein  Freimaurer  muss 
vom  Mysticismus  und  Atheismus  gleich 
weit  entfernt  stehen,"  i.  e.,  "a  Freemason 
must  be  equally  distant  from  Mysticism 
and  Atheism."  Gadicke  (Freimaurer- Lexi- 
con) thus  expresses  the  German  sentiment: 
"  Etwas  mystisch  sollte  wohl  jeder  Mensch 
seyn,  aber  man  hlite  sich  vor  grobem  Mys- 
ticismus," i.  e.,  "  Every  man  ought  to  be 
somewhat  mt/sfo'ea/,  but  should  guard  against 
coarse  mysticism." 

Mystic  Tie.  That  sacred  and  invio- 
lable bond  which  unites  men  of  the  most 
discordant  opinions  into  one  band  of 
brothers,  which  gives  but  one  language  to 
men  of  all  nations  and  one  altar  to  men 
of  all  religions,  is  properly,  from  the  mys- 
terious influence  it  exerts,  denominated  the 
mystic  tie  ;  and  Freemasons,  because  they 
alone  are  under  its  influence,  or  enjoy  its 
benefits,  are  called  "  Brethren  of  the  mystic 
tie." 

Myth.  The  word  myth,  from  the  Greek 
uvdog,  a  story,  in  its  original  acceptation, 
signified  simply  a  statement  or  narrative 
of  an  event,  without  any  necessary  implica- 
tion of  truth  or  falsehood ;  but,  as  the  word 
is  now  used,  it  conveys  the  idea  of  a  per- 
sonal narrative  of  remote  date,  which,  al- 
though not  necessarily  untrue,  is  certified 
only  by  the  internal  evidence  of  the  tradi- 
tion itself.  This  definition,  which  is  sub- 
stantially derived  from  Mr.  Grote,  (Hi<it.  of 
Greece,  vol.  i.,  ch.  xvi.,  p.  479,)  may  be  ap- 
plied without  modification  to  the  myths  of 
Freemasonry,  although  intended  by  the 
author  only  for  the  myths  of  the  ancient 
Greek  religion. 

The  myth,  then,  is  a  narrative  of  remote 
date,  not  necessarily  true  or  false,  but  whose 
truth  can  only  be  certified  by  internal  evi- 
dence.   The  word  was  first  applied  to  those 


518 


MYTH 


MYTH 


fables  of  the  Pagan  gods  which  have  de- 
scended from  the  remotest  antiquity,  and 
in  all  of  which  there  prevails  a  symbolic 
idea,  not  always,  however,  capable  of  a 
positive  interpretation.  As  applied  to  Free- 
masonry, the  words  myth  and  legend  are 
synonymous. 

From  this  definition  it  will  appear  that 
the  myth  is  really  only  the  interpretation 
of  an  idea.  But  how  we  are  to  read  these 
myths  will  best  appear  from  these  noble 
words  of  Max  Muller,  [Science  of  Lang.,  2d 
Ser.,  p.  578 :)  "Everything  is  true,  natural, 
significant,  if  we  enter  with  a  reverent 
spirit  into  the  meaning  of  ancient  art  and 
ancient  language.  Everything  becomes 
false,  miraculous,  and  unmeaning,  if  we 
interpret  the  deep  and  mighty  words  of 
the  seers  of  old  in  the  shallow  and  feeble 
sense  of  modern  chroniclers." 

A  fertile  source  of  instruction  in  Masonry 
is  to  be  found  in  its  traditions  and  mythi- 
cal legends ;  not  only  those  which  are  in- 
corporated into  its  ritual  and  are  exempli- 
fied in  its  ceremonies,  but  those  also  which, 
although  forming  no  part  of  the  Lodge  lec- 
tures, have  been  orally  transmitted  as  por- 
tions of  its  history,  and  which,  only  within 
a  comparatively  recent  period,  have  been 
committed  to  writing:  But  for  the  proper 
appreciation  of  these  traditions  some  pre- 
paratory knowledge  of  the  general  charac- 
ter of  Masonic  myths  is  necessary.  If  all 
the  details  of  these  traditions  be  considered 
as  asserted  historical  facts,  seeking  to  con- 
vey nothing  more  nor  less  than  historical 
information,  then  the  improbabilities  and 
anachronisms,  and  other  violations  of  his- 
torical truth  which  distinguish  many  of 
them,  must  cause  them  to  be  rejected  by 
the  scholar  as  absurd  impostures.  But 
there  is  another  and  a  more  advantageous 
view  in  which  these  traditions  are  to  be 
considered.  Freemasonry  is  a  symbolic  in- 
stitution—  everything  in  and  about  it  is 
symbolic  —  and  nothing  more  eminently  so 
than  its  traditions.  Although  some  of 
them  —  as,  for  instance,  the  legend  of  the 
third  degree  —  have  in  all  probability  a 
deep  substratum  of  truth  lying  beneath, 
over  this  there  is  superposed  a  beautiful 
structure  of  symbolism.  History  has,  per- 
haps, first  suggested  the  tradition ;  but  then 


the  legend,  like  the  myths  of  the  ancient 
poets,  becomes  a  symbol,  which  is  to  enun- 
ciate some  sublime  philosophical  or  reli- 
gious truth.  Read  in  this  way,  and  in  this 
way  only,  the  myths  or  legends  and  tradi- 
tions of  Freemasonry  will  become  interest- 
ing and  instructive.    See  Legend. 

Myth,  Historical.  A  historical 
myth  is  a  myth  that  has  a  known  and  re- 
cognized foundation  in  historical  truth,  but 
with  the  admixture  of  a  preponderating 
amount  of  fiction  in  the  introduction  of 
personages  and  circumstances.  Between 
the  historical  myth  and  the  mythical  his- 
tory, the  distinction  cannot  always  be  pre- 
served, because  we  are  not  always  able  to 
determine  whether  there  is  a  preponderance 
of  truth  or  of  fiction  in  the  legend  or  nar- 
rative under  examination. 

Mythical  History.  A  myth  or  le- 
gend, in  which  the  historical  and  truthful 
greatly  preponderate  over  the  inventions 
of  fiction,  may  be  called  a  mythical  history. 
Certain  portions  of  the  legend  of  the  third 
degree  have  such  a  foundation  in  fact  that 
they  constitute  a  mythical  history,  while 
other  portions,  added  evidently  for  the  pur- 
poses of  symbolism,  are  simply  a  historical 
myth. 

Mythology.  Literally,  the  science  of 
myths ;  and  this  is  a  very  appropriate  defi- 
nition, for  mythology  is  the  science  which 
treats  of  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Pagans, 
which  was  almost  altogether  founded  on 
myths,  or  popular  traditions  and  legendary 
tales;  and  hence  Keightly  (Mythol.  of  An- 
cient Greece  and  Italy,  p.  2,)  says  that  "my- 
thology may  be  regarded  as  the  repository 
of  the  early  religion  of  the  people."  Its 
interest  to  a  Masonic  student  arises  from 
the  constant  antagonism  that  existed  be- 
tween its  doctrines  and  those  of  the  Primi- 
tive Freemasonry  of  antiquity  and  the  light 
that  the  mythological  mysteries  throw  upon 
the  ancient  organization  of  Speculative 
Masonry. 

Myth  Philosophical.  This  is  a 
myth  or  legend  that  is  almost  wholly  un- 
historical,  and  which  has  been  invented 
only  for  the  purpose  of  enunciating  and  il- 
lustrating a  particular  thought  or  dogma. 
The  legend  of  Euclid  is  clearly  a  philo- 
sophical myth. 


NAAMAH 


NAME 


519 


N. 


Naainah.  The  daughter  of  Lamech. 
To  her  the  "Legend  of  the  Craft"  attri- 
butes the  invention  of  the  art  of  weaving, 
and  she  is  united  with  her  three  brothers, 
by  the  same  legend,  in  the  task  of  inscrib- 
ing the  several  sciences  on  two  pillars,  that 
the  knowledge  of  them  might  be  preserved 
after  the  flood. 

Nabaiin.    See  Schools  of  the  Prophets. 

Naked.  In  Scriptural  symbology, 
nakedness  denoted  sin,  and  clothing,  protec- 
tion. But  the  symbolism  of  Masonry  on 
this  subject  is  different.  There,  to  be 
"  neither  naked  nor  clothed  "  is  to  make  no 
claim  through  worldly  wealth  or  honors  to 
preferment  in  Masonry,  where  nothing  but 
internal  merit,  which  is  unaffected  by  the 
outward  appearance  of  the  body,  is  received 
as  a  recommendation  for  admission. 

Name  of*  God.  A  reverential  allu- 
sion to  the  name  of  God,  in  some  especial 
and  peculiar  form,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
doctrines  and  ceremonies  of  almost  all  na- 
tions. This  unutterable  name  was  respected 
by  the  Jews  under  the  sacred  form  of  the  word 
Jehovah.  Among  the  Druids,  the  three  let- 
ters I.  O.  W.  constituted  the  name  of  Deity. 
They  were  never  pronounced,  says  Giraldus 
Cambrensis,  but  another  and  less  sacred 
name  was  substituted  for  them.  Each 
letter  was  a  name  in  itself.  The  first  is 
the  Word,  at  the  utterance  of  which  in  the 
beginning  the  world  burst  into  existence ; 
the  second  is  the  Word,  whose  sound  still 
continues,  and  by  which  all  things  remain 
in  existence ;  the  third  is  the  Word,  by  the 
utterance  of  which  all  things  will  be  con- 
summated in  happiness,  forever  approach- 
ing to  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
Deity.  The  analogy  between  this  and  the 
past,  present,  and  future  significations  con- 
tained in  the  Jewish  Tetragrammaton,  will 
be  evident. 

Among  the  Mohammedans  there  is  a 
science  called  ISM  ALLAH,  or  the  science 
of  the  name  of  God.  "They  pretend," 
says  Niebuhr,  "  that  God  is  the  lock  of  this 
science,  and  Mohammed  the  key;  that, 
consequently,  none  but  Mohammedans  can 
attain  it ;  that  it  discovers  what  passes  in 
different  countries;  that  it  familiarizes  the 
possessors  with  the  genii,  who  are  at  the 
command  of  the  initiated,  and  who  in- 
struct them ;  that  it  places  the  winds  and 
the  seasons  at  their  disposal,  and  heals  the 
bites  of  serpents,  the  lame,  the  maimed, 
and  the  blind." 

In  the  chapter  of  the  Koran  entitled 
Araaf,  it  is  written :  "  God  has  many  ex- 
cellent names.  Invoke  him  by  these  names, 
and  separate  yourselves  from  them  who 


give  him  false  names."  The  Mohamme- 
dans believe  that  God  has  ninety -nine 
names,  which,  with  that  of  Allah,  make 
one  hundred ;  and,  therefore,  their  chaplets 
or  rosaries  are  composed  of  one  hundred 
beads,  at  each  of  which  they  invoke  one  of 
these  names ;  and  there  is  a  tradition,  that 
whoever  frequently  makes  this  invocation 
will  find  the  gates  of  Paradise  open  to 
him.  With  them  ALLAH  is  the  Ism  al 
adhem,  the  Great  Name,  and  they  bestow 
upon  it  all  the  miraculous  virtues  which 
the  Jews  give  to  the  Tetragrammaton. 
This,  they  say,  is  the  name  that  was  en- 
graven on  the  stone  which  Japheth  gave  to 
his  children  to  bring  down  rain  from 
heaven ;  and  it  was  by  virtue  of  this  name 
that  Noah  made  the  ark  float  on  the  waters, 
and  governed  it  at  will,  without  the  aid  of 
oars  or  rudder. 

Among  the  Hindus  there  was  the  same 
veneration  of  the  name  of  God,  as  is  evinced 
in  their  treatment  of  the  mystical  name 
AUM.  The  "  Institutes  of  Menu  "  con- 
tinually refer  to  the  peculiar  efficacy  of 
this  word,  of  which  it  is  said,  "  All  rites 
ordained  in  the  Veda,  oblations  to  fire,  and 
solemn  sacrifices  pass  away;  but  that  which 
passes  not  away  is  the  syllable  AUM,  thence 
called  aishara,  since  it  is  a  symbol  of  God, 
the  Lord  of  created  beings." 

There  was  in  every  ancient  nation  a 
sacred  name  given  to  the  highest  god  of  its 
religious  faith,  besides  the  epithets  of  the 
other  and  subordinate  deities.  The  old 
Aryans,  the  founders  of  our  race,  called 
their  chief  god  DYAUS,  and  in  the  Vedas 
we  have  the  invocation  to  Dyaus  Pitar, 
which  is  the  same  as  the  Greek  lev  narrip, 
and  the  Latin,  Jupiter,  all  meaning  the 
Heaven-Father,  and  at  once  reminding  us 
of  the  Christian  invocation  to  "  Our  Fa- 
ther which  art  in  heaven." 

There  is  one  incident  in  the  Hindu  my- 
thology which  shows  how  much  the  old 
Indian  heart  yearned  after  this  expression 
of  the  nature  of  Deity  by  a  name.  There 
was  a  nameless  god,  to  whom,  as  the  "source 
of  golden  light,"  there  was  a  worship. 
This  is  expressed  in  one  of  the  Veda 
hymns,  where  the  invocation  in  every 
stanza  closes  with  the  exclamation,  "  Who 
is  the  god  to  whom  we  shall  offer  our  sac- 
rifice?" Now,  says  Bunsen,  {God  in  His- 
tory, i.  302,)  "the  Brahmanic  expositors 
must  needs  find  in  every  hymn  the  name 
of  a  god  who  is  invoked  in  it,  and  so,  in  this 
case,  they  have  actually  invented  a  gram- 
matical divinity,  the  god  Who."  What 
more  pregnant  testimony  could  we  have  of 
the  tendency  of  man  to  seek  a  knowledge 


520 


NAME 


NAME 


of  the  Divine  nature  in  the  expression  of  a 
name? 

The  Assyrians  worshipped  Assur,  or  Asa- 
rac,  as  their  chief  god.  On  an  obelisk, 
taken  from  the  palace  of  Nimrod,  we  find 
the  inscription,  "to  Asarac,  the  Great 
Lord,  the  King  of  all  the  great  gods." 

Of  the  veneration  of  the  Egyptians  for 
the  name  of  their  supreme  god,  we  have  a 
striking  evidence  in  the  writings  of  Herod- 
otus, the  Father  of  History,  as  he  has 
been  called,  who  during  a  visit  to  Egypt 
was  initiated  into  the  Osirian  mysteries. 
Speaking  of  these  initiations,  he  says,  (B. 
ii.,  c.  171,)  "the  Egyptians  represent  by 
night  his  sufferings,  whose  name  I  refrain 
from  mentioning."  It  was  no  more  lawful 
among  the  Egyptians  than  it  was  among 
the  Jews,  to  give  utterance  aloud  to  that 
Holy  Name. 

At  Byblos  the  Phoenicians  worshipped 
Eliun,  the  Most  High  God.  From  him 
was  descended  El,  whom  Philo  identifies 
with  Saturn,  and  to  whom  he  traces  the 
Hebrew  Elohim.  Of  this  EL,  Max  Muller 
says  that  there  was  undeniably  a  primitive 
religion  of  the  whole  Semitic  race,  and  that 
the  Strong  One  in  Heaven  was  invoked 
under  this  name  by  the  ancestors  of  the 
Semitic  races,  before  there  were  Babyloni- 
ans in  Babylonia,  Phoenicians  in  Sidon  and 
Tyre,  or  Jews  in  Mesopotamia  and  Jeru- 
salem. If  so,  then  the  Mosaic  adoption 
of  Jehovah,  with  its  more  precise  teaching 
of  the  Divine  essence,  was  a  step  in  the 
progress  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Divine 
Truth. 

In  China  there  is  an  infinite  variety  of 
names  of  elemental  powers,  and  even  of 
ancestral  spirits,  who  are  worshipped  as 
subordinate  deities;  but  the  ineffable  name 
is  TIEN,  compounded  of  the  two  signs  for 
great  and  one,  and  which  the  Imperial  Dic- 
tionary tells  us  signifies  "the  Great  One  — 
He  that  dwells  on  high,  and  regulates  all 
below." 

Drummond  ( Origines)  says  that  ABAUR 
was  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Deity  among 
the  ancient  Chaldeans.  It  is  evidently 
the  Hebrew  nitf  3K,  and  signifies  "  The 
Father  of  Light." 

The  Scandinavians  had  twelve  subordin- 
ate gods,  but  their  chief  or  supreme  deity 
was  Al-Fathr,  or  the  All  Father. 

Even  among  the  red  men  of  America 
we  find  the  idea  of  an  invisible  deity, 
whose  name  was  to  be  venerated.  Garcil- 
asso  de  la  Vega  tells  us  that  while  the 
Peruvians  paid  public  worship  to  the  sun, 
it  was  but  as  a  symbol  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  whom  they  called  Pachacamac,  a 
word  meaning  "  the  soul  of  the  world,"  and 
which  was  so  sacred  that  it  was  spoken 
only  with  extreme  dread. 


The  Jews  had,  besides  the  Tetragramma- 
ton  or  four-lettered  name,  two  others :  one 
consisting  of  twelve  and  the  other  of  forty- 
two  letters.  But  Maimonides,  in  his  More 
Nevochim,  (p.  i.,  clxii.,)  remarks  that  it  is 
impossible  to  suppose  that  either  of  these 
constituted  a  single  name,  but  that  each 
must  have  been  composed  of  several  words, 
which  must,  however,  have  been  significant 
in  making  man  approximate  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  true  essence  of  God.  The  Kab- 
balistical  book  called  the  Sohar  confirms 
this  when  it  tells  us  that  there  are  ten 
names  of  God  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and 
that  when  these  ten  names  are  combined 
into  one  word,  the  number  of  the  letters 
amounts  to  forty- two.  But  the  Talmudists, 
although  they  did  not  throw  around  the 
forty-two-lettered  name  the  sanctity  of  the 
Tetragrammaton,  prescribed  that  it  should 
be  communicated  only  to  men  of  middle 
age  and  of  virtuous  habits,  and  that  its 
knowledge  would  confirm  them  as  heirs  of 
the  future  as  well  as  the  present  life.  The 
twelve-lettered  name,  although  once  com- 
mon, became  afterwards  occult;  and  when, 
on  the  death  of  Simon  the  First,  the  priests 
ceased  to  use  the  Tetragrammaton,  they 
were  accustomed  to  bless  the  people  with 
the  name  of  twelve  letters.  Maimonides 
very  wisely  rejects  the  idea,  that  any  power 
was  derived  from  these  letters  or  their  pro- 
nunciation, and  claims  that  the  only  virtue 
of  the  names  consisted  in  the  holy  ideas 
expressed  by  the  words  of  which  they  were 
composed. 

The  following  are  the  ten  Kabbalistic 
names  of  God,  corresponding  to  the  ten 
Sephiroth:  1.  Eheyeh;  2.  Jah;  3.  Jeho- 
vah; 4.  El;  5.  Eloah;  6.  Elohim;  7.  Je- 
hovah Sabaoth;  8.  Elohim  Sabaoth;  9. 
Elhi;  10.  Adonai. 

Lanzi  extends  his  list  of  divine  names  to 
twenty-six,  which,  with  their  signification, 
are  as  follows : 

1.  At.  The  Aleph  and  Tau,  that  is, 
Alpha  and  Omega.  A  name  figurative  of 
the  Tetragrammaton. 

2.  Ihoh.  The  eternal,  absolute  principle 
of  creation,  and 

3.  Hohi,  destruction,  the  male  and  fe- 
male principle,  the  author  and  regulator 
of  time  and  motion. 

4.  Jah.    The  Lord  and  Remunerator. 

5.  Oh.    The  severe  and  punisher. 

6.  Jao.    The  author  of  life. 

7.  Azazel.    The  author  of  death. 

8.  Jao-Sabaoth.  God  of  the  co-ordina- 
tions of  loves  and  hatreds.  Lord  of  the 
solstices  and  the  equinoxes. 

9.  Ehie.    The  Being ;  the  Ens. 

10.  El.  The  first  cause.  The  principle 
or  beginning  of  all  things. 

11.  Elo-hi.    The  good  principle. 


NAMES 


NAMES 


521 


12.  Elo-ho.    The  evil  principle. 

13.  El-raccum.    The  succoring  principle. 

14.  El-cannum.  The  abhorring  principle. 

15.  Ell,    The  most  luminous. 

16.  II.    The  omnipotent. 

17.  Ellohim.  The  omnipotent  and  benefi- 
cent. 

18.  Elohim.    The  most  beneficent. 

19.  Elo.    The  Sovereign,  the  Excelsus. 

20.  Adon.    The  Lord,  the  dominator. 

21.  Eloi.  The  illuminator,  the  most  ef- 
fulgent. 

22.  Adonai.    The  most  firm,  the  strongest. 

23.  Elton.    The  most  high. 

24.  Shaddai.    The  most  victorious. 

25.  Yeshurun.    The  most  generous. 

26.  Noil.    The  most  sublime. 

Like  the  Mohammedan  Ism  Allah,  Free- 
masonry presents  us  as  its  most  important 
feature  with  this  science  of  the  names  of 
God.  But  here  it  elevates  itself  above  Tal- 
mudical  and  Rabbinical  reveries,  and  be- 
comes a  symbol  of  Divine  Truth.  The 
names  of  God  were  undoubtedly  intended 
originally  to  be  a  means  of  communicating 
the  knowledge  of  God  himself.  The  name 
was,  from  its  construction  and  its  literal 
powers,  used  to  give  some  idea,  however 
scanty,  in  early  times,  of  the  true  nature 
and  essence  of  the  Deity.  The  ineffable 
name  was  the  symbol  of  the  unutterable 
sublimity  and  perfection  of  truth  which 
emanate  from  the  Supreme  God,  while  the 
subordinate  names  were  symbols  of  the 
subordinate  manifestations  of  truth.  Free- 
masonry has  availed  itself  of  this  system, 
and,  in  its  reverence  for  the  Divine  Name, 
indicates  its  desire  to  attain  to  that  truth 
as  the  ultimate  object  of  all  its  labor.  The 
significant  words  of  the  Masonic  system, 
which  describe  the  names  of  God  wherever 
they  are  found,  are  not  intended  merely  as 
words  of  recognition,  but  as  indices,  point- 
ing—  like  the  symbolic  ladder  of  Jacob  of 
the  first  degree,  or  the  winding  stairs  of 
the  second,  or  the  three  gates  of  the  third 
—  the  way  of  progress  from  darkness  to 
light,  from  ignorance  to  knowledge,  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest  conceptions  of  Di- 
vine Truth.  And  this  is,  after  all,  the  real 
object  of  all  Masonic  science. 

Names  of  Lodges.  The  precedency 
of  Lodges  does  not  depend  on  their  names, 
but  on  their  numbers.  The  rule  declaring 
that  "  the  precedency  of  Lodges  is  grounded 
on  the  seniority  of  their  Constitution"  was 
adopted  on  the  27th  of  December,  1727. 
The  number  of  the  Lodge,  therefore,  by 
which  its  precedency  is  established,  is  al- 
ways to  be  given  by  the  Grand  Lodge. 

In  England,  Lodges  do  not  appear  to  have 

received  distinctive  names  before  the  latter 

part  of  the  last  century.     Up  to  that  period 

the  Lodges  were  distinguished  simply  by 

3Q 


their  numbers.  Thus,  in  the  first  edition 
of  the  Book  of  Constitutions,  published  in 
1723,  we  find  a  list  of  twenty  Lodges,  reg- 
istered by  their  numbers,  from  "  No.  1 "  to 
"No.  20,"  inclusive.  Subsequently,  they 
were  further  designated  by  the  name 
of  the  tavern  at  which  they  held  their 
meetings.  Thus,  in  the  second  edition  of 
the  same  work,  published  in  1738,  we  meet 
with  a  list  of  one  hundred  and  six  Lodges, 
designated  sometimes,  singularly  enough, 
as  Lodge  No.  6,  at  the  Rummer  Tavern,  in 
Queen  Street ;  No.  84,  at  the  Black  Dog,  in 
Castle  Street;  or  No.  98,  at  the  Bacchus 
Tavern,  in  Little  Bush  Lane.  With  such 
names  and  localities,  we  are  not  to  wonder 
that  the  "  three  small  glasses  of  punch,"  of 
which  Dr.  Oliver  so  feelingly  speaks  in  his 
Book  of  the  Lodge,  were  duly  appreciated  ; 
nor,  as  he  admits,  that  "  there  were  some 
brethren  who  displayed  an  anxiety  to  have 
the  allowance  increased." 

In  1766  we  read  of  four  Lodges  that  were 
erased  from  the  Register,  under  the  similar 
designations  of  the  Globe,  Fleet  Street ; 
the  lied  Gross  Inn,  Southwark ;  No.  85,  at 
the  George,  Ironmongers'  Lane;  and  the 
Mercers'  Arms,  Mercers'  Street.  To  only 
one  of  these,  it  will  be  perceived,  was  a 
number  annexed.  The  name  and  locality 
of  the  tavern  was  presumed  to  be  a  suffi- 
cient distinction.  It  was  not  until  about 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  as  has 
been  already  observed,  that  we  find  dis- 
tinctive names  beginning  to  be  given  to  the 
Lodges ;  for  in  1793  we  hear  of  the  Shak- 
speare  Lodge,  at  Stratford-on-Avon  ;  the 
Royal  Brunswick,  at  Sheffield ;  and  the 
Lodge  of  Apollo,  at  Alcester.  From  that 
time  it  became  a  usage  among  our  English 
brethren,  from  which  they  have  never  since 
departed. 

But  a  better  taste  began  to  prevail  at  a 
much  earlier  period  in  Scotland,  as  well  as 
in  the  continental  and  colonial  Lodges.  In 
Scotland,  especially,  distinctive  names  ap- 
pear to  have  been  used  from  a  very  early 
period,  for  in  the  very  old  charter  granting 
the  office  of  Hereditary  Grand  Masters  to 
the  Barons  of  Rosslyn,  and  whose  date  can- 
not be  more  recent  than  1600,  we  find 
among  the  signatures  the  names  of  the 
officers  of  the  Lodge  of  Dunfermline  and  the 
Lodge  of  St.  Andrew's.  Among  the  names 
in  the  list  of  the  Scotch  Lodges  in  1736 
are  those  of  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Kilwinning, 
Aberdeen,  etc.  These  names  were  undoubt- 
edly borrowed  from  localities ;  but  in  1763, 
while  the  English  Lodges  were  still  content 
with  their  numerical  arrangement  only, 
we  find  in  Edinburgh  such  designations 
as  St.  Luke's,  Saint  Giles's,  and  St.  David's 
Lodges. 

The  Lodges  on  the  continent,  it  is  true, 


522 


NAMES 


NAMES 


at  first  adopted  the  English  method  of 
borrowing  a  tavern  sign  for  their  appella- 
tion ;  whence  we  find  the  Lodge  at  the 
Golden  Lion,  in  Holland,  in  1734,  and  be- 
fore that  the  Lodge  at  Hure's  Tavern,  in 
Paris,  in  1725.  But  they  soon  abandoned 
this  inefficient  and  inelegant  mode  of  no- 
menclature; and  accordingly,  in  1739,  a 
Lodge  was  organized  in  Switzerland  under 
the  appropriate  name  of  Stranger's  Perfect 
Union.  Tasteful  names,  more  or  less  sig- 
nificant, began  thenceforth  to  be  adopted 
by  the  continental  Lodges.  Among  them 
we  may  meet  with  the  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Globes,  at  Berlin,  in  1740;  the  Minerva 
Lodge,  at  Leipsic,  in  1741 ;  Absalom  Lodge, 
at  Hamburg,  in  1742;  St.  George's  Lodge, 
at  the  same  place,  in  1743 ;  the  Lodge  of 
the  Crowned  Column,  at  Brunswick,  in 
1745  ;  and  an  abundance  of  others,  all  with 
distinctive  names,  selected  sometimes  with 
much  and  sometimes  with  but  little  taste. 
But  the  worst  of  them  was  undoubtedly 
better  than  the  Lodge  at  the  Goose  and  Grid- 
iron, which  met  in  London  in  1717. 

In  America,  from  the  very  introduction 
of  Masonry  into  the  continent,  significant 
names  were  selected  for  the  Lodges ;  and 
hence  we  have,  in  1734,  St.  John's  Lodge,  at 
Boston ;  a  Solomon's  Lodge,  in  1735,  at  both 
Charleston  and  Savannah ;  and  a  Union  Kil- 
winning, in  1754,  at  the  former  place. 

This  brief  historical  digression  will  serve 
as  an  examination  of  the  rules  which  should 
govern  all  founders  in  the  choice  of  Lodge 
names.  The  first  and  most  important  rule 
is  that  the  name  of  a  Lodge  should  be 
technically  significant ;  that  is,  it  must  al- 
lude to  some  Masonic  fact  or  characteristic ; 
in  other  words,  there  must  be  something 
Masonic  about  it.  Under  this  rule,  all 
names  derived  from  obscure  or  unmasonic 
localities  should  be  rejected  as  unmeaning 
and  inappropriate.  Dr.  Oliver,  it  is  true, 
thinks  otherwise,  and  says  that  "  the  name 
of  a  hundred,  or  wahpentake,  in  which  the 
Lodge  is  situated,  or  of  a  navigable  river, 
which  confers  wealth  and  dignity  on  the 
town,  are  proper  titles  for  a  Lodge."  But 
a  name  should  always  convey  an  idea,  and 
there  can  be  conceived  no  idea  worth  treas- 
uring in  a  Mason's  mind  to  be  deduced 
from  bestowing  such  names  as  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  or  Baltimore,  on  a  Lodge. 
The  selection  of  such  a  name  shows  but 
little  originality  in  the  chooser;  and,  be- 
sides, if  there  be  two  Lodges  in  a  town, 
each  is  equally  entitled  to  the  appellation  ; 
and  if  there  be  but  one,  the  appropriation 
of  it  would  seem  to  indicate  an  intention 
to  have  no  competition  in  the  future. 

Yet,  barren  of  Masonic  meaning  as  are 
such  geographical  names,  the  adoption  of 
them  is  one  of  the  most  common  faults  in 


American  Masonic  nomenclature.  The  ex- 
amination of  a  very  few  Registers,  taken  at 
random,  will  readily  evince  this  fact.  Thus, 
eighty-eight,  out  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
Lodges  in  Wisconsin,  are  named  after  towns 
or  counties;  of  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  Lodges  in  Indiana,  two  hundred  and 
fifty-one  have  names  derived  from  the 
same  source ;  geographical  names  are  found 
in  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  out  of  four 
hundred  and  three  Lodges  in  Ohio,  and  in 
twenty  out  of  thirty-eight  in  Oregon.  But, 
to  compensate  for  this,  we  have  seventy-one 
Lodges  in  New  Hampshire,  and  only  two 
local  geographical  appellations  in  the  list. 

There  are,  however,  some  geographical 
names  which  are  admissible,  and,  indeed, 
highly  appropriate.  These  are  the  names 
of  places  celebrated  in  Masonic  history. 
Such  titles  for  Lodges  as  Jerusalem,  Tyre, 
Lebanon,  and  Joppa  are  unexceptionable. 
Patmos,  which  is  the  name  of  a  Lodge  in 
Maryland,  seems,  as  the  long  residence  of 
one  of  the  patrons  of  the  Order,  to  be  un- 
objectionable. So,  too,  Bethel,  because  it 
signifies  "  the  house  of  God  ;  "  Mount  Mo- 
riah,  the  site  of  the  ancient  Temple ;  Cal- 
vary, the  small  hill  on  which  the  sprig  of 
acacia  was  found ;  Mount  Ararat,  where  the 
ark  of  our  father  Noah  rested ;  Ophir, 
whence  Solomon  brought  the  gold  and  pre- 
cious stones  with  which  he  adorned  the 
Temple;  Tadmor,  because  it  was  a  city 
built  by  King  Solomon;  and  Salem  and 
Jebus,  because  they  are  synonyms  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  because  the  latter  is  especially 
concerned  with  Oman  the  Jebusite,  on 
whose  "threshing-floor"  the  Temple  was 
subsequently  built,  —  are  all  excellent  and 
appropriate  names  for  Lodges.  But  all 
Scriptural  names  are  not  equally  admissi- 
ble. Cabul,  for  instance,  must  be  rejected, 
because  it  was  the  subject  of  contention 
between  Solomon  and  Hiram  of  Tyre ;  and 
Babylon,  because  it  was  the  place  where 
"  language  was  confounded  and  Masonry 
lost,"  and  the  scene  of  the  subsequent  cap- 
tivity of  our  ancient  brethren ;  Jericho,  be- 
cause it  was  under  a  curse ;  and  Misgab  and 
Tophet,  because  they  were  places  of  idol 
worship.  In  short,  it  may  be  adopted  as  a 
rule,  that  no  name  should  be  adopted  whose 
antecedents  are  in  opposition  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  Masonry. 

The  ancient  patrons  and  worthies  of 
Freemasonry  furnish  a  very  fertile  source 
of  Masonic  nomenclature,  and  have  been 
very  liberally  used  in  the  selection  of 
names  of  Lodges.  Among  the  most  im- 
portant may  be  mentioned  St.  John,  Solo- 
mon, Hiram,  King  David,  Adoniram,  Enoch, 
Archimedes,  and  Pythagoras.  The  Widow's 
Son  Lodge,  of  which  there  are  several  in- 
stances in  the  United  States,  is  an  affecting 


NAMES 


and  significant  title,  which  can  hardly  be 
too  often  used. 

Recourse  is  also  to  be  had  to  the  names 
of  modern  distinguished  men  who  have 
honored  the  Institution  by  their  adherence 
to  it,  or  who,  by  their  learning  in  Masonry, 
and  by  their  services  to  the  Order,  have 
merited  some  marks  of  approbation.  And 
hence  we  meet,  in  England,  as  the  names 
of  Lodges,  with  Sussex,  Moira,  Frederick, 
Zetland,  and  Robert  Burns;  and  in  this 
country  with  Washington,  Lafayette,  Clin- 
ton, Franklin,  and  Clay.  Care  must,  how- 
ever, be  taken  that  no  name  be  selected 
except  of  one  who  was  both  a  Mason  and 
had  distinguished  himself,  either  by  ser- 
vices to  his  country,  to  the  world,  or  to  the 
Order.  Oliver  says  that  ft  the  most  appro- 
priate titles  are  those  which  are  assumed 
from  the  name  of  some  ancient  benefactor 
or  meritorious  individual  who  was  a  native 
of  the  place  where  the  Lodge  is  held ;  as,  in 
a  city,  the  builder  of  the  cathedral  church." 
In  this  country  we  are,  it  is  true,  precluded 
from  a  selection  from  such  a  source ;  but 
there  are  to  be  found  some  of  those  old  ben- 
efactors of  Freemasonry,  who,  like  Shak- 
speare  and  Milton,  or  Homer  and  Virgil, 
have  ceased  to  belong  to  any  particular 
country,  and  have  now  become  the  common 
property  of  the  world-wide  Craft.  There 
are,  for  instance,  Carausius,  the  first  royal 
patron  of  Masonry  in  England;  and  St. 
Alban,  the  first  Grand  Master ;  and  Athel- 
stan  and  Prince  Edwin,  both  active  encour- 
agers  of  the  art  in  the  same  kingdom. 
There  are  Wykeham,  Ghindulph,  Giffard, 
Lang  ham,  Yevele,  (called,  in  the  old  records, 
the  King's  Freemason,)  and  Chicheley,  Jer- 
myn,  and  Wren,  all  illustrious  Grand  Mas- 
ters of  England,  each  of  whom  would  be 
well  entitled  to  the  honor  of  giving  name 
to  a  Lodge,  and  any  one  of  whom  would  be 
better,  more  euphonious,  and  more  spirit- 
stirring  than  the  unmeaning,  and  often- 
times crabbed,  name  of  some  obscure  vil- 
lage or  post-office,  from  which  too  many 
of  our  Lodges  derive  their  titles. 

And  then,  again,  among  the  great  bene- 
factors to  Masonic  literature  and  laborers 
in  Masonic  science  there  are  such  names  as 
Anderson,  Dunckerley,  Preston,  Hutchinson, 
Town,  Webb,  and  a  host  of  others,  who, 
though  dead,  still  live  by  their  writings  in 
our  memories. 

The  virtues  and  tenets  —  the  inculcation 
and  practice  of  which  constitute  an  import- 
ant part  of  the  Masonic  system  —  form 
very  excellent  and  appropriate  names  for 
Lodges,  and  have  always  been  popular 
among  correct  Masonic  nomenclators. 
Thus  we  everywhere  find  such  names  as 
Charity,  Concord,  Equality,  Faith,  Fellow- 
ship, Harmony,  Hope,  Humility,  Mystic  Tie, 


NAMES 


523 


Relief,  Truth,  Union,  and  Virtue.  Fre- 
quently, by  a  transposition  of  the  word 
"  Lodge "  and  the  distinctive  appellation, 
with  the  interposition  of  the  preposition 
"  of,"  a  more  sonorous  and  emphatic  name 
is  given  by  our  English  and  European 
brethren,  although  the  custom  is  but  rarely 
followed  in  this  country.  Thus  we  have 
by  this  method  the  Lodge  of  Regularity,  the 
Lodge  of  Fidelity,  the  Lodge  of  Industry,  and 
the  Lodge  of  Prudent  Brethren,  in  England ; 
and  in  France,  the  Lodge  of  Benevolent 
Friends,  the  Lodge  of  Perfect  Union,  the 
Lodge  of  the  Friends  of  Peace,  and  the  cele- 
brated Lodge  of  the  Nine  Sisters. 

As  the  names  of  illustrious  men  will 
sometimes  stimulate  the  members  of  the 
Lodges  which  bear  them  to  an  emulation 
of  their  characters,  so  the  names  of  the  Ma- 
sonic virtues  may  serve  to  incite  the  breth- 
ren to  their  practice,  lest  the  inconsistency 
of  their  names  and  their  conduct  should 
excite  the  ridicule  of  the  world. 

Another  fertile  and  appropriate  source 
of  names  for  Lodges  is  to  be  found  in  the 
symbols  and  implements  of  the  Order. 
Hence,  we  frequently  meet  with  such  titles 
as  Level,  Trowel,  Rising  Star,  Rising  Sun, 
Olive  Branch,  Evergreen,  Doric,  Corinthian, 
Delta,  and  Comer-Stone  Lodges.  Acacia  is 
one  of  the  most  common,  and  at  the  same 
time  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  of  these  sym- 
bolic names;  but,  unfortunately,  through 
gross  ignorance,  it  is  often  corrupted  into 
Cassia  —  an  insignificant  plant,  which  has 
no  Masonic  or  symbolic  meaning. 

An  important  rule  in  the  nomenclature 
of  Lodges,  and  one  which  must  at  once 
recommend  itself  to  every  person  of  taste, 
is  that  the  name  should  be  euphonious. 
This  principle  of  euphony  has  been  too  lit- 
tle attended  to  in  the  selection  of  even  geo- 
graphical names  in  this  country,  where 
names  with  impracticable  sounds,  or  with 
ludicrous  associations,  are  often  affixed  to 
our  towns  and  rivers.  Speaking  of  a  cer- 
tain island,  with  the  unpronounceable  name 
of  "  Srh,"  Lieber  says,  "  If  Homer  himself 
were  born  on  such  an  island,  it  could  not 
become  immortal,  for  the  best -disposed 
scholar  would  be  unable  to  remember  the 
name ; "  and  he  thinks  that  it  was  no  tri- 
fling obstacle  to  the  fame  of  many  Polish 
heroes  in  the  revolution  of  that  country, 
that  they  had  names  which  left  upon  the 
mind  of  foreigners  no  effect  but  that  of  ut- 
ter confusion.  An  error  like  this  must  al- 
ways be  avoided  in  bestowing  a  name  upon 
a  Lodge.  The  word  selected  should  be  soft, 
vocal  —  not  too  long  nor  too  short  —  and, 
above  all,  be  accompanied  in  its  sound  or 
meaning  by  no  low,  indecorous,  or  ludi- 
crous association.  For  this  reason  such 
names  of  Lodges  should  be  rejected  as  She- 


524 


NAMES 


NAMES 


boygan  and  Oconomowoc  from  the  registry 
of  Wisconsin,  because  of  the  uncouthness 
of  the  sound  ;•  and  Bough  and  Beady  and 
Indian  Diggings  from  that  of  California,  on 
account  of  the  ludicrous  associations  which 
these  names  convey.  Again,  Pythagoras 
Lodge  is  preferable  to  Pythagorean,  and 
Archimedes  is  better  than  Archimedean,  be- 
cause the  noun  is  more  euphonious  and 
more  easily  pronounced  than  the  adjective. 
But  this  rule  is  difficult  to  illustrate  or  en- 
force; for,  after  all,  this  thing  of  euphony 
is  a  mere  matter  of  taste,  and  we  all  know 
the  adage,  "  de  gustibus." 

A  few  negative  rules,  which  are,  however, 
easily  deduced  from  the  affirmative  ones 
already  given,  will  complete  the  topic. 

No  name  of  a  Lodge  should  be  adopted 
which  is  not,  in  some  reputable  way,  con- 
nected with  Masonry.  Everybody  will  ac- 
knowledge that  Morgan  Lodge  would  be  an 
anomaly,  and  that  Cowan  Lodge  would,  if 
possible,  be  worse.  But  there  are  some 
names  which,  although  not  quite  as  bad  as 
these,  are  on  principle  equally  as  objection- 
able. Why  should  any  of  our  Lodges,  for 
instance,  assume,  as  many  of  them  have, 
the  names  of  Madison,  Jefferson,  or  Taylor, 
since  none  of  these  distinguished  men  were 
Masons  or  patrons  of  the  Craft  ? 

The  indiscriminate  use  of  the  names  of 
saints  unconnected  with  Masonry  is  for  a 
similar  reason  objectionable.  Besides  our 
patrons  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  but  three  other  saints  can 
lay  any  claims  to  Masonic  honors,  and  these 
are  St.  Alban,  who  introduced,  or  is  said  to 
have  introduced,  the  Order  into  England, 
and  has  been  liberally  complimented  in  the 
nomenclature  of  Lodges  ;  and  St.  Swithin, 
who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Craft  in  the 
reign  of  Ethelwolf ;  and  St.  Benedict,  who 
was  the  founder  of  the  Masonic  fraternity 
of  Bridge  Builders.  But  St.  Mark,  St. 
Luke,  St.  Andrew,  all  of  whom  have  given 
names  to  numerous  Lodges,  can  have  no 
pretensions  to  assist  as  sponsors  in  these 
Masonic  baptisms,  since  they  were  not  at 
all  connected  with  the  Craft. 

To  the  Indian  names  of  Lodges  there  is 
a  radical  objection.  It  is  true  that  their 
names  are  often  very  euphonious  and  al- 
ways significant,  for  the  red  men  of  our 
continent  are  tasteful  and  ingenious  in  their 
selection  of  names  —  much  more  so,  indeed, 
than  the  whites,  who  borrow  from  them; 
but  their  significance  has  nothing  to  do 
with  Masonry.  "The  Father  of  the 
Waters"  is  a  profoundly  poetic  name  in 
the  original  Indian  tongue,  now  represented 
by  the  word  "  Mississippi,"  and  beautifully 
expresses  the  name  of  that  majestic  river, 
which  pursues  its  long  course  of  three 
thousand  miles  from  beyond  the  lakes  to 


the  Gulf,  receiving  in  its  stately  progress, 
all  its  mighty  children  to  its  bosom ;  but 
the  same  name  has  no  significance  what- 
ever when  applied  to  a  Lodge.  Mississippi, 
as  the  name  of  a  river,  has  a  meaning, and 
an  appropriate  one,  too ;  as  the  name  of  a 
Lodge  it  has  none,  or  a  wholly  inappropri- 
ate one.  Such  names,  therefore,  as  Tula- 
homa,  Tohepeka,  Tuscarawas,  or  Keozanqua, 
mellifluous  as  some  of  them  are  in  sound, 
should  be  rejected,  because,  if  they  have  an 
appropriate  meaning,  scarcely  any  one 
knows  what  it  is;  and  it  is  much  more 
probable  that  they  have  no  appropriate 
meaning  at  all.  The  Indian  names  of 
rivers,  mountains,  and  towns  should  be 
preserved,  because  they  are  the  memorials 
of  the  original  owners  of  the  soil ;  but  the 
Indians  have  no  such  claims  upon  Masonry. 

There  is,  in  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York, 
a  Manhattan  Lodge ;  now  it  is  said  that, 
in  the  aboriginal  language,  Manhattan 
means  "  the  place  where  we  all  got  drunk," 
and  the  island  was  so  called  because  it  was 
there  that  the  savages  first  met  the  white 
men,  and  tasted  to  excess  their  "  fire  water." 
It  is  not  difficult  to  decide  whether  a  name 
with  such  a  meaning  is  appropriate  for  a 
Lodge,  one  of  whose  cardinal  principles  is 
temperance  —  a  principle  which  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  that  the  worthy  members 
of  Manhattan  Lodge  duly  observe.  There 
is,  besides  all  this,  an  incongruity  in  borrow- 
ing the  appellations  of  a  great  religious 
and  scientific  association  from  the  language 
of  savage  and  idolatrous  tribes. 

The  same  incongruity  forbids  the  name 
of  the  heathen  deities.  The  authors  of  the 
"Helvetian  Code"  condemn  the  use  of 
such  names  as  the  Apollo,  the  Minerva,  or 
the  Vesta,  "  as  being  heathen,  and  furnish- 
ing ideas  of  idolatry  and  superstition." 
From  this  rule  should,  however,  be  excepted 
a  few  names  of  Pagan  divinities,  which 
have  in'philosophical  language  become  the 
symbols  of  ideas  appropriate  to  the  Ma- 
sonic system.  Thus  Hermes,  as  the  symbol 
of  science,  or  Vesta,  as  denoting  the  fire  of 
Masonry,  which  burns  undimmed  upon  its 
altars,  may  be  tolerated ;  but  such  titles  as 
Venus  and  Mars,  both  of  which  are  to  be 
found  in  old  lists  of  Russian  Lodges,  are 
clearly  inadmissible. 

These  rules  and  the  principles  on  which 
they  are  founded  are  by  no  means  unim* 
portant.  If  the  old  Latin  adage  be  true  — 
bonum  nomen,  bonum  omen "  —  if,  in 
every  circumstance  of  life,  a  good  name  is 
found  to  be  more  propitious  than  a  bad 
one,  then  it  is  essential  that  a  new  Lodge, 
making  choice  of  a  name  by  which  it  shall 
forever  thereafter  be  known,  should  rather 
select  one  that  is  appropriate,  euphonious, 
and  expressive,  than  one  that  is  unfitting, 


NAMUR 


NAYMUS 


525 


uncouth,  and  meaningless.  And  it  is  use- 
ful that  some  rules  should  be  established 
by  which  the  members  may  be  enabled 
without  difficulty  to  make  this  selection. 
It  is  not  meant  to  exaggerate  the  impor- 
tance of  names;  but,  while  it  is  admitted 
that  a  good  Lodge  with  a  bad  name  is 
better  than  a  bad  Lodge  with  a  good  one, 
it  is  certain  that  a  good  Lodge  with  a  good 
name  is  better  than  either. 

What  has  been  said  of  Lodges  may  with 
equal  propriety  be  said,  mutatis  mutandis, 
oi  Chapters,  Councils,  and  Commanderies. 

Xa in iir.  A  city  of  Belgium,  where  the 
Primitive  Scottish  Rite  was  first  established ; 
hence  sometimes  called  the  Rite  of  Namur. 

Naphtall.  The  territory  of  the  tribe 
of  Naphtali  adjoined,  on  its  western  border, 
to  Phoenicia,  and  there  must,  therefore, 
have  been  frequent  and  easy  communication 
between  the  Phoenicians  and  the  Naphtal- 
ites,  resulting  sometimes  in  intermarriage. 
This  will  explain  the  fact  that  Hiram  the 
Builder  was  the  son  of  a  widow  of  Naphtali 
and  a  man  of  Tyre. 

Naples.  Freemasonry  must  have  been 
practised  in  Naples  before  1751,  for  in  that 
year  King  Charles  issued  an  edict  forbid- 
ding it  in  his  dominions.  The  author  of 
Anti-Saint  Nicaise  says  that  there  was  a 
Grand  Lodge  at  Naples,  in  1756,  which  was 
in  correspondence  with  the  Lodges  of  Ger- 
many. But  its  meetings  were  suspended 
by  a  royal  edict  in  Sept.,  1775.  In  1777 
this  edict  was  repealed  at  the  instigation 
of  the  Queen,  and  Masonry  was  again  toler- 
ated. This  toleration  lasted,  however,  only 
for  a  brief  period.  In  1781  Ferdinand  IV. 
renewed  the  edict  of  suppression,  and  from 
that  time  until  the  end  of  the  century 
Freemasonry  was  subjected  in  Italy  to  the 
combined  persecutions  of  the  Church  and 
State,  and  the  Masons  of  Naples  met  only 
in  secret.  In  1793,  after  the  French  Revo- 
lution, many  Lodges  were  openly  organized. 
A  Supreme  Council  of  the  Scottish  Rite 
was  established  on  the  11th  of  June,  1809, 
of  which  King  Joachim  was  elected  Grand 
Master,  and  the  Grand  Orient  of  Naples  on 
the  24th  of  the  same  month.  The  fact  that 
the  Grand  Orient  worked  according  to  the 
French  Rite,  and  the  Supreme  Council  ac- 
cording to  the  Scottish,  caused  dissensions 
between  the  two  bodies,  which,  however, 
were  finally  healed.  And  on  the  23d  of 
May,  1811,  a  Concordat  was  established 
between  the  Supreme  Council  and  the 
Grand  Orient,  by  which  the  latter  took  the 
supervision  of  the  degrees  up  to  the  eigh- 
teenth, and  the  former  of  those  from  the 
eighteenth  to  the  thirty-third.  In  October, 
1812,  King  Joachim  accepted  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Supreme  Council  as  its  Grand 
Commander.    Both  bodies  became  extinct 


in  18l5,  on  the  accession  of  the  Bour- 
bons. 

Napoleonic  Masonry.  An  Order 
under  this  name,  called  also  the  French 
Order  of  Noachites,  was  established  at 
Paris,  in  1816,  by  some  of  the  adherents  of 
the  Emperor  Napoleon.  It  was  divided 
into  three  degrees:  1.  Knight;  2.  Com- 
mander ;  3.  Grand  Elect.  The  last  degree 
was  subdivided  into  three  points  :  i.  Secret 
Judge ;  ii.  Perfect  Initiate ;  iii.  Knight  of 
the  Crown  of  Oak.  The  mystical  ladder 
in  this  Rite  consisted  of  eight  steps  or 
stages,  whose  names  were  Adam,  Eve, 
Noah,  Lamech,  Naamah,  Peleg,  Oubal, 
and  Orient.  The  initials  of  these  words, 
properly  transposed,  compose  the  word  Na- 
poleon, and  this  is  enough  to  show  the 
character  of  the  system.  General  Ber- 
trand  was  elected  Grand  Master,  but,  as  he 
was  then  in  the  island  of  St.  Helena,  the 
Order  was  directed  by  a  Supreme  Com- 
mander and  two  Lieutenants.  It  was  Ma- 
sonic in  form  only,  and  lasted  but  for  a  few 
years. 

National  Grand  Lodge  of  Ger- 
many. The  Royal  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Three  Globes,  which  had  been  established 
at  Berlin  in  1740,  and  recognized  as  a 
Grand  Lodge  by  Frederick  the  Great  in 
1744,  renounced  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observ- 
ance in  1771,  and,  declaring  itself  free  and 
independent,  assumed  the  title  of  "The 
Grand  National  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Globes,"  by  which  appellation  it  is  still 
known. 

The  Grand  Orient  of  France,  among  its 
first  acts,  established,  as  an  integral  part 
of  itself,  a  National  Grand  Lodge  of  France, 
which  was  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  Grand 
Lodge,  which,  it  declared,  had  ceased  to 
exist.  But  the  year  after,  in  1773,  the  Na- 
tional Grand  Lodge  was  suppressed  by  the 
power  which  had  given  it  birth  ;  and  no  such 
power  is  now  recognized  in  French  Masonry. 

Naymus  Grecus.  The  Sloane  MS. 
contains  the  following  passage :  "  Y'  befell 
that  their  was  a  curious  Masson  that  height 
[was  called]  Naymus  Grecus  that  had  byn 
at  the  making  of  Sallomon's  Temple,  and 
he  came  into  France,  and  there  he  taught 
the  science  of  Massonrey  to  men  of  France." 
Who  was  this  "Naymus  Grecus"?  The 
writers  of  these  old  records  of  Masonry  are 
notorious  for  the  way  in  which  they  mangle 
all  names  and  words  that  are  in  a  foreign 
tongue.  Hence  it  is  impossible  to  say  who 
or  what  is  meant  by  this  word.  It  is  dif- 
ferently spelled  in  the  various  manuscripts : 
JVamas  Grecious  in  the  Landsdowne,  Naymus 
Grcecus  in  the  Sloane,  Grecus  alone  in  the 
Edinburgh-Kilwinning,  and  Maynus  Grecuz 
in  the  Dowland.  Anderson,  in  the  second 
edition  of  his  Constitutions,  (1738,)  calls 


526 


NAZARETH 


NEGRO 


him  Mimus  Orecm.  Now,  it  would  not  be 
an  altogether  wild  conjecture  to  suppose 
that  some  confused  idea  of  Magna  Graecia 
was  floating  in  the  minds  of  these  unlettered 
Masons,  especially  since  the  Leland  Manu- 
script records  that  in  Magna  Graecia  Pythag- 
oras established  his  school,  and  then  sent 
Masons  into  France.  Between  Magna  Grce- 
cia  and  Maynus  Grecus  the  bridge  is  a  short 
one,  not  greater  than  between  Tubal  -coin 
and  Wackan,  which  we  find  in  a  German 
Middle  Age  document.  The  one  being  the 
name  of  a  place  and  the  other  of  a  person 
would  be  no  obstacle  to  these  accommodat- 
ing record  writers;  nor  must  we  flinch 
at  the  anachronism  of  placing  one  of  the 
disciples  of  Pythagoras  at  the  building  of 
the  Solomonic  Temple,  when  we  remember 
that  the  same  writers  make  Euclid  and 
Abraham  contemporaries. 

Nazareth.  A  city  of  Galilee,  in  which 
our  Saviour  spent  his  childhood  and  much 
of  his  life,  and  whence  he  is  often  called, 
in  the  New  Testament,  the  Nazarene,  or 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Jesus  Nazarenus  was  a 
portion  of  the  inscription  on  the  cross. 
(See  /.  N.  R.  I.)  In  the  Rose  Croix,  Naz- 
areth is  a  significant  word,  and  Jesus  is 
designated  as  "  our  Master  of  Nazareth," 
to  indicate  the  origin  and  nature  of  the  new 
dogmas  on  which  the  Order  of  the  Rosy 
Cross  was  instituted. 

Nebraska.  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  Nebraska  in  Oct.,  1855,  by  a'  Charter 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois  to  Ne- 
braska Lodge.  Two  other  Lodges  were  sub- 
sequently chartered  by  the  Grand  Lodges 
of  Missouri  and  Iowa.  In  Sept.,  1857,  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Nebraska  was  organized 
by  a  convention  of  delegates  from  these 
three  Lodges,  and  R.  C.  Jordan  was  elected 
Grand  Master.  The  Grand  Chapter  was 
organized  March  19,  1867.  The  Grand 
Commandery  of  Nebraska  was  instituted 
at  Omaha,  December  28, 1871. 

Nebuchadnezzar.  About  630  years 
B.  c.  the  empire  and  city  of  Babylon  were 
conquered  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  king  of 
the  Chaldeans,  a  nomadic  race,  who,  de- 
scending from  their  homes  in  the  Cauca- 
sian mountains,  had  overwhelmed  the 
countries  of  Southern  Asia.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar was  engaged  during  his  whole  reign 
in  wars  of  conquest.  Among  other  nations 
who  fell  beneath  his  victorious  arms  was 
Judea,  whose  king,  Jehoiakim,  was  slain 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  his  son,  Jehoia- 
chin,  ascended  the  Jewish  throne.  After 
a  reign  of  three  years,  he  was  deposed  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  and  his  kingdom  given 
to  his  uncle,  Zedekiah,  a  monarch  distin- 
guished for  his  vices.  Having  repeatedly 
rebelled  against  the  Babylonian  king,  Nebu- 
chadnezzar repaired  to  Jerusalem,  and,  after 


a  siege  of  eighteen  months,  reduced  it. 
The  city  was  levelled  with  the  ground,  the 
Temple  pillaged  and  burned,  and  the  in- 
habitants carried  captive  to  Babylon.  These 
events  are  commemorated  in  the  first  section 
of  the  English  and  American  Royal  Arch 
system. 

Nebuzaradan.  A  captain,  or,  as  we 
would  now  call  him,  a  general  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, who  commanded  the  Chaldean 
army  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  who 
executed  the  orders  of  his  sovereign  by 
the  destruction  of  the  city  and  Temple,  and 
by  carrying  the  inhabitants,  except  a  few 
husbandmen,  as  captives  to  Babylon. 

Negro  Lodges.  The  subject  of 
Lodges  of  colored  persons,  commonly  called 
"  Negro  Lodges,"  was  for  many  years  a 
source  of  agitation  in  the  United  States, 
not  on  account,  generally,  of  the  color  of 
the  members  of  these  Lodgos,  but  on  ac- 
count of  the  supposed  illegality  of  their 
charters.  The  history  of  their  organization 
was  thoroughly  investigated,  many  years 
ago,  by  Bro.  Philip  S.  Tucker,  of  Vermont, 
and  Charles  W.  Moore,  of  Massachusetts, 
and  the  result  is  here  given,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  certain  facts  derived  from  a  state- 
ment made  by  the  officers  of  the  Lodge  in 
1827. 

On  the  20th  of  Sept.,  1784,  a  Charter  for 
a  Master's  Lodge  was  granted,  although  not 
received  until  1787,  to  Prince  Hall  and 
others,  all  colored  men,  under  the  authority 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  The 
Lodge  bore  the  name  of  "  African  Lodge, 
No.  429,"  and  was  situated  in  the  city  of 
Boston.  This  Lodge  ceased  its  connection 
with  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  for  many 
years,  and  about  the  beginning  of  the  pres- 
ent century  its  registration  was  stricken 
from  the  rolls  of  that  Grand  Lodge,  its  legal 
existence,  in  the  meantime,  never  having 
been  recognized  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Massachusetts,  to  which  body  it  had  always 
refused  to  acknowledge  allegiance. 

After  the  death  of  Hall  and  his  col- 
leagues, to  whom  the  Charter  had  been 
granted,  the  Lodge,  for  want  of  some  one 
to  conduct  its  affairs,  fell  into  abeyance,  or, 
to  use  the  technical  phrase,  became  dor- 
mant. After  some  years  it  was  revived,  but 
by  whom,  or  under  what  process  of  Ma- 
sonic law,  is  not  stated,  and  information  of 
the  revival  given  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  but  no  reply  or  recognition  was 
received  from  that  body.  After  some  hesi- 
tation as  to  what  would  be  the  proper 
course  to  pursue,  they  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion, as  they  have  themselves  stated,  "  that, 
with  what  knowledge  they  possessed  of  Ma- 
sonry, and  as  people  of  color  by  themselves, 
they  were,  and  ought  by  rights  to  be,  free 
and  independent  of  other  Lodges."    Ac- 


NEIGHBOR 


NETHERLANDS 


527 


cordingly,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1827,  they 
issued  a  protocol,  in  which  they  said :  "  We 
publicly  declare  ourselves  free  and  inde- 
pendent of  any  Lodge  from  this  day,  and 
we  will  not  be  tributary  or  governed  by  any 
Lodge  but  that  of  our  own."  They  soon 
after  assumed  the  name  of  the  "Prince 
Hall  Grand  Lodge,"  and  issued  charters 
for  the  constitution  of  subordinates,  and 
from  it  have  proceeded  all  the  Lodges  of 
colored  persons  now  existing  in  the  United 
States. 

Admitting  even  the  legality  of  the  Eng- 
lish charter  of  1784, — which,  however,  is 
questionable,  as  there  was  already  a  Ma- 
sonic authority  in  Massachusetts  upon 
whose  prerogatives  of  jurisdiction  such 
charter  was  an  invasion, — it  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  the  unrecognized  self-revival  of 
1827,  and  the  subsequent  assumption  of 
Grand  Lodge  powers,  were  illegal,  and  ren- 
dered both  the  Prince  Hall  Grand  Lodge 
and  all  the  Lodges  which  emanated  from 
it  clandestine.  And  this  has  been  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  all  Masonic  jurists  in 
this  country. 

Neighbor.  All  the  Old  Constitutions 
have  the  charge  that  "  every  Mason  shall 
keep  true  counsel  of  Lodge  and  Chamber," 
(Sloane  MS.)  This  is  enlarged  in  the  An- 
dersonian  Charges  of  1722  thus :  "  You  are 
not  to  let  your  family,  friends,  and  neighbors 
know  the  concerns  of  the  Lodge."  How- 
ever loquacious  a  Mason  may  be  in  the 
natural  confidence  of  neighborhood  inter- 
course, he  must  be  reserved  in  all  that  re- 
lates to  the  esoteric  concerns  of  Masonry. 

Nekain.  DpJ.  But  properly,  accord- 
ing to  the  Masoretic  pointing,  NAKAM.  A 
Hebrew  word  signifying  Vengeance,  and  a 
significant  word  in  the  nigh  degrees.  See 
Vengeance. 

Nekamah.  nDpJ.  Hebrew,  signify- 
ing Vengeance,  and,  like  Nakam,  a  signifi- 
cant word  in  the  high  degrees. 

Nembroth.  A  corruption  of  Nimrod, 
frequently  used  in  the  Old  Records. 

Neophyte.  Greek,  ve<xj>vtos,  newly 
planted.  In  the  primitive  church,  it  signi- 
fied one  who  had  recently  abandoned  Juda- 
ism or  Paganism  and  embraced  Christian- 
ity; and  in  the  Roman  Church  those  re- 
cently admitted  into  its  communion  are 
still  so  called.  Hence  it  has  also  been  ap- 
plied to  the  young  disciple  of  any  art  or 
science.  Thus  Ben  Jonson  calls  a  young 
actor,  at  his  first  entrance  "  on  the  boards," 
a  neophyte  player.  In  Freemasonry  the 
newly  initiated  and  uninstructed  candidate 
is  sometimes  so  designated. 

Neoplatonisni.  A  philosophical 
school,  founded  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt, 
which  added  to  the  theosophic  theories  of 
Plato  many  mystical  doctrines  borrowed 


from  the  East.  The  principal  disciples  of 
this  school  were  Philo,  Judseus,  Plotinus, 
Porphyry,  Jamblichus,  Proclus,  and  Julian 
the  Apostate.  Much  of  the  symbolic  teach- 
ing of  the  higher  degrees  of  Masonry  has 
been  derived  from  the  school  of  the  Neo- 

Slatonists,  especially  from  the  writings  of 
amblichus  and  Philo  Judseus. 
Ne  pins  ultra.  Latin.  Nothing  more 
beyond.  The  motto  adopted  for  the  degree 
of  Kadosh  by  its  founders,  when  it  was 
supposed  to  be  the  summit  of  Masonry,  be- 
yond which  there  was  nothing  more  to  be 
sought.  And,  although  higher  degrees 
have  been  since  added,  the  motto  is  still 
retained. 

Netherlands.  Speculative  Masonry 
was  first  introduced  in  the  Netherlands  by 
the  opening  at  the  Hague,  in  1731,  of  an  occa- 
sional Lodge  under  a  Deputation  granted  by 
Lord  LoveT,  G.  M.  of  England,  of  which  Dr. 
Desaguliers  was  Master,  for  the  purpose  of 
conferring  thefirstand  second  degrees  on  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine,  afterwards  the  Emperor 
Francis  I.  He  received  the  third  degree 
subsequently  in  England.  But  it  was  not 
until  September  80th,  1734,  that  a  regular 
Lodge  was  opened  by  Brother  Vincent  de 
la  Chapelle,  as  Grand  Master  of  the  United 
Provinces,  who  may  therefore  be  regarded 
as  the  originator  of  Masonry  in  the  Nether- 
lands. In  1735,  this  Lodge  received  a 
Patent  or  Deputation  from  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  John  Cornelius  Rademaker, 
being  appointed  Provincial  Grand  Master, 
and  several  daughter  Lodges  were  es- 
tablished by  it.  In  the  same  year  the 
States  General  prohibited  all  Masonic 
meetings  by  an  edict  issued  Nov.  30th,  1735. 
The  Roman  clergy  actively  persecuted  the 
Masons,  which  seems  to  have  produced  a  re- 
action, for  in  1737  the  magistrates  repealed 
the  edict  of  suppression,  and  forbade  the 
clergy  from  any  interference  with  the 
Order,  after  which  Masonry  flourished  in 
the  United  Provinces.  The  Masonic  inno- 
vations and  controversies  that  had  affected 
the  rest  of  the  continent  never  successfully 
obtruded  on  the  Dutch  Masons,  who  prac- 
tised with  great  fidelity  the  simple  rite  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  although 
an  attempt  had  been  made  in  1757  to  in- 
troduce them.  In  1798,  the  Grand  Lodge 
adopted  a  Book  of  Statutes,  by  which  it  ac- 
cepted the  three  symbolic  degrees,  and  re- 
ferred the  four  high  degrees  of  the  French 
Rite  to  a  Grand  Chapter.  In  1816,  Prince 
Frederick  attempted  a  reform  in  the  de- 
grees, which  was,  however,  only  partially 
successful.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
Netherlands,  whose  Orient  is  at  the  Hague, 
tolerates  the  high  degrees  without  actually 
recognizing  them.  Most  of  the  Lodges 
confine  themselves  to  the  symbolic  degrees 


528 


NET-WORK 


NICOLAI 


of  St.  John's  Masonry,  while  a  few  prac- 
tise the  reformed  system  of  Prince  Fred- 
erick. 

Net- Work.  One  of  the  decorations 
of  the  pillars  at  the  porch  of  the  Temple. 
See  Pillars  of  the  Porch. 

Nevada.  Nevada  was  originally  a 
part  of  California,  and  when  separated 
from  it  in  1865,  there  were  eight  Lodges 
in  it  working  under  Charters  from  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  California.  These  Lodges 
in  that  year  held  a  convention  at  Virginia, 
and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Nevada. 

Ne  Varietur.  Latin.  Lest  it  should 
be  chanyed.  These  words  refer  to  the  Ma- 
sonic usage  of  requiring  a  brother,  when  he 
receives  a  certificate  from  a  Lodge,  to  affix 
his  name,  in  his  own  handwriting,  in  the 
margin,  as  a  precautionary  measure,  which 
enables  distant  brethren,  by  a  comparison 
of  the  handwriting,  to  recognize  the  true 
and  original  owner  of  the  certificate,  and 
to  detect  any  impostor  who  may  surrepti- 
tiously have  obtained  one. 

Jfew  Brunswick..  Freemasonry  was 
introduced  into  this  province  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  by  both  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  Scotland  and  England, 
and  afterwards  by  that  of  Ireland.  The 
former  two  bodies  appointed,  at  a  later 
period,  Provincial  Grand  Masters,  and  in 
1844  the  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  was  organized 
on  the  registry  of  Scotland.  The  province 
of  New  Brunswick  becoming  an  indepen- 
dent portion  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  a 
Grand  Lodge  was  established  in  Septem- 
ber, 1867,  by  a  majority  of  the  Lodges  of 
the  territory,  and  B.  Lester  Peters  was 
elected  Grand  Master.  Capitular,  Cryptic, 
and  Templar  Masonry  each  have  bodies  in 
the  province. 

New  Hampshire.  Freemasonry 
was  introduced  into  New  Hampshire  in 
June,  1734,  by  the  constitution  of  St. 
John's  Lodge  at  Portsmouth,  under  a 
Charter  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Several  other  Lodges  were  sub- 
sequently constituted  by  the  same  au- 
thority. In  1789  a  convention  of  these 
Lodges  was  held  at  Dartmouth,  and  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  New  Hampshire  organ- 
ized, and  John  Sullivan,  the  President  of 
the  State,  was  elected  Grand  Master.  A 
Grand  Chapter  was  organized  in  1819,  and  a 
Grand  Commandery  in  1860. 

New  Jersey.  We  do  not  know  at 
what  precise  period  Freemasonry  was  in- 
troduced into  New  Jersey.  Preston  says 
that  in  1729,  during  the  Grand  Mastership 
of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  Mr.  Daniel  Coxe 
was  appointed  Provincial  Grand  Master 
for  New  Jersey.  I  have  not  been  able  to 
obtain  any  evidence  that  he  exercised  his 


prerogative  by  the  establishment  of  Lodges 
in  that  province,  but  presume  that  he  did. 
On  Dec.  18,  1786,  a  convention  was  held 
at  New  Brunswick,  and  a  Grand  Lodge  or- 
ganized, the  Hon.  David  Brearley,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  State,  being  elected  Grand 
Master.  The  Grand  Chapter  was  organ- 
ized at  Burlington,  Dec.  30,  1856;  the 
Grand  Council,  Nov.  26,  1860;  and  the 
Grand  Commandery,  Feb.  14,  1860. 

New  York.  If  we  exclude  the  Depu- 
tation of  David  Coxe  for  New  Jersey, 
which  included  New  York  and  several 
other  provinces,  the  first  Deputation  for 
New  York  was  that  granted  in  1737,  dur- 
ing the  Grand  Mastership  of  the  Earl  of 
Darnley,  to  Richard  Riggs  as  Provincial 
Grand  Master;  but  there  is  no  record  of 
his  having  established  any  Lodges.  In 
1747  another  Deputation  was  issued,  during 
the  Grand  Mastership  of  Lord  Byron,  to 
Francis  Goulet.  In  1753,  Lord  Carysfort 
being  Grand  Master  of  England,  a  Deputa- 
tion was  issued  to  George  Harrison.  As 
Provincial  Grand  Master,  he  organized 
several  Lodges.  In  1760,  Sir  John  John- 
son was  appointed  Provincial  Grand  Mas- 
ter, and  he  held  the  office  until  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
During  that  war  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
Lodges  suspended  labor.  On  Sept.  5, 1781, 
a  Warrant  was  obtained  from  the  Athol 
Grand  Lodge,  and  a  Provincial  Grand 
Lodge  was  opened  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  After  the  close  of  the  war,  this 
body  abandoned  its  provincial  character,  and 
assumed  the  title  of  the  "  Grand  Lodge  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons  of  the  State  of 
New  York,"  and  under  that  title  it  con- 
tinues to  exist.  Dissensions  and  schisms 
have,  from  time  to  time,  arisen,  but  for 
many  years  past  there  has  been  uninter- 
rupted harmony  and  union.  The  Grand 
Chapter  was  organized  March  4, 1798 ;  the 
Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select  Mas- 
ters in  1807 ;  and  the  Grand  Commandery, 
June  18, 1814.  The  Scottish  Rite  was  first 
legally  introduced  as  a  governing  body  in 
1813,  by  the  formation,  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  of  a  Supreme  Council  for  the  North- 
ern Jurisdiction  by  the  Mother  Council  at 
Charleston.  A  Lodge  of  Perfection  had, 
however,  long  before  existed  at  Albany. 

Nicolai,  Ckristopk  Friedrich. 
Christopher  Frederick  Nicolai,  author  of 
a  very  interesting  essay  on  the  origin  of 
the  Society  of  Freemasons,  was  a  book- 
seller of  Berlin,  and  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  the  German  savans  of  that 
Augustan  age  of  German  literature  in  which 
he  lived.  He  was  born  at  Berlin  on  the 
18th  of  March,  1733,  and  died  in  the  same 
city  on  the  8th  of  January,  1811.  He  was  the 
editor  of,  and  an  industrious  contributor  to, 


NICOLAI 


NIGHT 


529 


two  German  periodicals  of  high  literary  char- 
acter, a  learned  writer  on  various  subjects 
of  science  and  philosophy,  and  the  intimate 
friend  of  Lessing,  whose  works  he  edited, 
and  of  the  illustrious  Mendelssohn. 

In  1782-3,  he  published  a  work  with  the 
following  title:  Versuch  iiber  die  Besschuldi- 
gungen  welcke  dem  Tempelherrnorden  gemacht 
worden  und  iiber  dessen  Geheimniss ;  nebst 
einem  Anhange  iiber  das  Enstehen  der  Frei- 
maurergesellschaft ;  i.  e.,  "  An  Essay  on  the 
accusations  made  against  the  Order  of 
Knights  Templars  and  their  mystery;  with 
an  Appendix  on  the  origin  of  the  Frater- 
nity of  Freemasons."  In  this  work  Nicolai 
advanced  his  peculiar  theory  on  the  origin 
of  Freemasonry,  which  is  substantially  as 
follows : 

Lord  Bacon,  taking  certain  hints  from 
the  writings  of  Andrea,  the  founder  of 
Rosicrucianism  and  his  English  disciple, 
Fludd,  on  the  subject  of  the  regeneration 
of  the  world,  proposed  to  accomplish  the 
same  object,  but  by  a  different  and  entirely 
opposite  method.  For,  whereas,  they  ex- 
plained everything  esoterically,  Bacon's 
plan  was  to  abolish  all  distinction  between 
the  esoteric  and  the  exoteric,  and  to  de- 
monstrate everything  by  proofs  from  na- 
ture. This  idea  he  first  promulgated  in  his 
Instauratio  Magna,  but  afterwards  more 
fully  developed  in  his  New  Atlantis.  In 
this  latter  work,  he  introduced  his  beauti- 
ful apologue,  abounding  in  Masonic  ideas, 
in  which  he  described  the  unknown  island 
of  Bensalem,  where  a  king  had  built  a 
large  edifice,  called  after  himself,  Solomon's 
House.  Charles  I.,  it  is  said,  had  been 
much  attracted  by  this  idea,  and  had  in- 
tended to  found  something  of  the  kind 
upon  the  plan  of  Solomon's  Temple,  but 
the  occurrence  of  the  civil  war  prevented 
the  execution  of  the  project. 

The  idea  lay  for  some  time  dormant,  but 
was  subsequently  revived,  in  1646,  by  Wal- 
lis,  Wilkins,  and  several  other  learned  men, 
who  established  the  Royal  Society  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  out  Bacon's  plan  of 
communicating  to  the  world  scientific  and 
philosophical  truths.  About  the  same  time 
another  society  was  formed  by  other  learned 
men,  who  sought  to  arrive  at  truth  by  the  in- 
vestigations of  alchemy  and  astrology.  To 
this  society  such  men  as  Ashmole  and 
Lily  were  attached,  and  they  resolved  to 
construct  a  House  of  Solomon  in  the  island 
of  Bensalem,  where  they  might  communi- 
cate their  instructions  by  means  of  secret 
symbols.  To  cover  their  mysterious  de- 
signs, they  got  themselves  admitted  into 
the  Mason's  Company,  and  held  their  meet- 
ings at  Masons'  Hall,  in  Masons'  Alley, 
Basinghall  Street.  As  freemen  of  London, 
they  took  the  name  of  Freemasons,  and 
3  R  84 


naturally  adopted  the  Masonic  implements 
as  symbols.  Although  this  association,  like 
the  Royal  Society,  sought,  but  by  a  different 
method,  to  inculcate  the  principles  of  natu- 
ral science  and  philosophy,  it  subsequently 
took  a  political  direction.  Most  of  its 
members  were  strongly  opposed  to  the 
puritanism  of  the  dominant  party  and  were 
in  favor  of  the  royal  cause,  and  hence  their 
meetings,  ostensibly  held  for  the  purpose 
of  scientific  investigation,  were  really  used 
to  conceal  their  secret  political  efforts  to 
restore  the  exiled  house  of  Stuart.  From 
this  society,  which  subsequently  underwent 
a  decadence,  sprang  out  the  revival  in 
1717,  which  culminated  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England. 

Such  was  the  theory  of  Nicolai.  Few 
will  be  found  at  the  present  day  to  concur 
in  all  his  views,  yet  none  can  refuse  to 
award  to  him  the  praise  of  independence  of 
opinion,  originality  of  thought,  and  an  en- 
tire avoidance  of  the  beaten  paths  of  hear- 
say testimony  and  unsupported  tradition. 
His  results  may  be  rejected,  but  his  method 
of  attaining  them  must  be  commended. 

Wight.  Lodges,  all  over  the  world, 
meet,  except  on  special  occasions,  at  night. 
In  this  selection  of  the  hours  of  night  and 
darkness  for  initiation,  the  usual  coinci- 
dence will  be  found  between  the  ceremonies 
of  Freemasonry  and  those  of  the  Ancient 
Mysteries,  showing  their  evident  derivation 
from  a  common  origin.  Justin  says  that 
at  Eleusis,  Triptolemus  invented  the  art  of 
sowing  corn,  and  that,  in  honor  of  this  in- 
vention, the  nights  were  consecrated  to 
initiation.  The  application  is,  however, 
rather  abstruse. 

In  the  Bacckxs  of  Euripides,  that  au- 
thor introduces  the  god  Bacchus,  the  sup- 
posed inventor  of  the  Dionysian  mysteries, 
as  replying  to  the  question  of  King  Pen- 
theus  in  the  following  words : 

IIEN.     Ta  i'lcpd  vimtp,  f)  pcP  $pipav  rtXti? ; 
A 01,     Hvktup  ra  noXld  at^varnr'  8xu  bkoto(. 
Eurip.  Bacch.  Act  II.,  1.  485. 

"  Pentheus. — By  night  or  day,  these  sacred  rites 
perform'st  thou  ? 
Bacchus. — Mostly  by  night,  for  venerable  is 
darkness ; " 

and  in  all  the  other  mysteries  the  same  reason 
was  assigned  for  nocturnal  celebrations,  since 
night  and  darkness  have  something  solemn 
and  august  in  them  which  is  disposed  to  fill 
the  mind  with  sacred  awe.  And  hence 
black,  as  an  emblem  of  darkness  and  night, 
was  considered  as  the  color  appropriate  to 
the  mysteries. 

In  the  mysteries  of  Hindustan,  the  can- 
didate for  initiation,  having  been  duly  pre- 
pared by  previous  purifications,  was  led  at 


530 


NILE 


NINE 


the  dead  of  night  to  the  gloomy  cavern,  in 
which  the  mystic  rites  were  performed. 

The  same  period  of  darkness  was  adopted 
for  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries  of  Mi- 
thras, in  Persia.  Among  the  Druids  of 
Britain  and  Gaul,  the  principal  annual  ini- 
tiation commenced  at  "  low  twelve,"  or 
midnight  of  the  eve  of  May- day.  In  short, 
it  is  indisputable  that  the  initiations  in  all 
the  Ancient  Mysteries  were  nocturnal  in 
their  character. 

The  reason  given  by  the  ancients  for  this 
selection  of  night  as  the  time  for  initiation, 
is  equally  applicable  to  the  system  of  Free- 
masonry. "  Darkness,"  says  Oliver,  "  was 
an  emblem  of  death,  and  death  was  a  pre- 
lude to  resurrection.  It  will  be  at  once 
seen,  therefore,  in  what  manner  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  was  inculcated  and  ex- 
emplified in  these  remarkable  institutions." 

Death  and  the  resurrection  were  the  doc- 
trines taught  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries ;  and 
night  and  darkness  were  necessary  to  add  to 
the  sacred  awe  and  reverence  which  these 
doctrines  ought  always  to  inspire  in  the  ra- 
tional and  contemplative  mind.  The  same 
doctrines  form  the  very  groundwork  of 
Freemasonry ;  and  as  the  Master  Mason,  to 
use  the  language  of  Hutchinson,  "  repre- 
sents a  man  saved  from  the  grave  of  iniquity 
and  raised  to  the  faith  of  salvation,"  dark- 
ness and  night  are  the  appropriate  accom- 
paniments to  the  solemn  ceremonies  which 
demonstrate  this  profession. 

Nile.  There  is  a  tradition  in  the  old 
Masonic  Records  that  the  inundations  of 
the  river  Nile,  in  Egypt,  continually  destroy- 
ing the  perishable  landmarks  by  which  one 
man  could  distinguish  his  possessions  from 
those  of  another,  Euclid  instructed  the 
people  in  the  art  of  geometry,  by  which 
they  might  measure  their  lands ;  and  then 
taught  them  to  bound  them  with  walls  and 
ditches,  so  that  after  an  inundation  each 
man  could  identify  his  own  boundaries. 

The  tradition  is  given  in  the  Cooke  MS. 
thus :  "  Euclyde  was  one  of  the  first  founders 
of  Geometry,  and  he  gave  hit  name,  for  in 
his  tyme  there  was  a  water  in  that  lond  of 
Egypt  that  is  called  Nilo,  and  hit  flowid  so 
ferre  into  the  londe  that  men  myght  not 
dwelle  therein.  Then  this  worthi  clerke 
Enclide  taught  hem  to  make  grete  wallys 
and  diches  to  holde  owt  the  watyr,  and  he 
by  Gemetria  mesured  the  londe  and  de- 
partyd  hit  in  divers  partys,  and  made  every 
man  to  close  his  owne  parte  with  walles 
and  diches."  This  legend  of  the  origin  of 
the  art  of  geometry  was  borrowed  by  the 
old  Operative  Masons  from  the  Origines  of 
St.  Isidore  of  Seville,  where  a  similar  story 
is  told. 

Nil  nisi  olaviH.  Latin.  Nothing 
but  the  key  is  wanting.    A  motto  or  device 


often  attached  to  the  double  triangle  of 
Royal  Arch  Masonry.  It  is  inscribed  on 
the  Royal  Arch  badge  or  jewel  of  the 
Grand  Chapter  of  Scotland,  the  other  de- 
vices being  a  double  triangle  and  a  triple 
tau. 

Nimrod.  The  legend  of  the  Craft  in 
the  Old  Constitutions  refers  to  Nimrod  as 
one  of  the  founders  of  Masonry.  Thus  in 
the  York  Manuscript  we  read:  "At  y* 
makeing  of  ye  Toure  of  Babell  there  was 
Masonrie  first  much  esteemed  of,  and  the 
King  of  Babilon  y*  was  called  Nimrod  was 
A  mason  himselfe  and  loved  well  Masons." 
And  the  Cooke  Manuscript  thus  repeats  the 
story:  "And  this  same  Nembroth  began 
the  towre  of  babilon  and  he  taught  to  his 
werkemen  the  craft  of  Masonrie,  and  he 
had  with  him  many  Masons  more  than 
forty  thousand.  And  he  loved  and  cherished 
them  well."  The  idea  no  doubt  sprang  out 
of  the  Scriptural  teaching  that  Nimrod 
was  the  architect  of  many  cities ;  a  state- 
ment not  so  well  expressed  in  the  author- 
ized version,  as  it  is  in  the  improved  one 
of  Bochart,  which  says :  "  From  that  land 
Nimrod  went  forth  to  Asshur,  and  builded 
Nineveh,  and  Rehoboth  city,  and  Calah, 
and  Resen  between  Nineveh  and  Calah,  that 
is  the  great  city." 

Nine.  If  the  number  three  was  cele- 
brated among  the  ancient  sages,  that  of 
three  times  three  had  no  less  celebrity ;  be- 
cause, according  to  them,  each  of  the  three 
elements  which  constitute  our  bodies  is 
ternary:  the  water  containing  earth  and 
fire ;  the  earth  containing  igneous  and  aque- 
ous particles ;  and  the  fire  being  tempered 
by  globules  of  water  and  terrestrial  corpus- 
cles which  serve  to  feed  it.  No  one  of  the 
three  elements  being  entirely  separated 
from  the  others,  all  material  beings  com- 
posed of  these  three  elements,  whereof  each 
is  triple,  may  be  designated  by  the  figura- 
tive number  of  three  times  three,  which  has 
become  the  symbol  of  all  formations  of 
bodies.  Hence  the  name  of  ninth  envelop 
given  to  matter.  Every  materi  al  extension, 
every  circular  line,  has  for  its  representative 
sign  the  number  nine  among  the  Pythag- 
oreans, who  had  observed  the  property 
which  this  number  possesses  of  reproducing 
itself  incessantly  and  entire  in  every  mul- 
tiplication ;  thus  offering  to  the  mind  a  very 
striking  emblem  of  matter,  which  is  inces- 
santly composed  before  our  eyes,  after  hav- 
ing undergone  a  thousand  decompositions. 

The  number  nine  was  consecrated  to  the 
Spheres  and  the  Muses.  It  is  the  sign  of 
every  circumference;  because  a  circle  or 
360  degrees  is  equal  to  9,  that  is  to  say,  3  -f- 
6  +  0  =  9.  Nevertheless,  the  ancients  re- 
garded this  number  with  a  sort  of  terror : 
they  considered  it  a  bad  presage;  as  the 


NINEVEH 


NOACHITE 


531 


symbol  of  versatility,  of  change,  and  the 
emblem  of  the  frailty  of  human  affairs. 
Wherefore  they  avoided  all  numbers  where 
nine  appears,  and  chiefly  81,  the  produce 
of  9  multiplied  by  itself,  and  the  addition 
whereof,  8+1,  again  presents  the  number  9. 

As  the  figure  of  the  number  6  was  the 
symbol  of  the  terrestrial  globe,  animated 
by  a  divine  spirit,  the  figure  of  the  number 
9  symbolized  the  earth,  under  the  influence 
of  the  Evil  Principle;  and  thence  the 
terror  it  inspired.  Nevertheless,  according 
to  the  Kabbalists,  the  cipher  9  symbolizes 
the  generative  egg,  or  the  image  of  a  little 
globular  being,  from  whose  lower  side  seems 
to  flow  its  spirit  of  life. 

The  Ennead,  signifying  an  aggregate  of 
nine  things  or  persons,  is  the  first  square  of 
unequal  numbers. 

Every  one  is  aware  of  the  singular  prop- 
erties of  the  number  9,  which,  multiplied 
by  itself  or  any  other  number  whatever, 
gives  a  result  whose  final  sum  is  always  9, 
or  always  divisible  by  9. 

9,  multiplied  by  each  of  the  ordinary 
numbers,  produces  an  arithmetical  pro- 
gression, each  member  whereof,  composed 
of  two  figures,  presents  a  remarkable  fact ; 
for  example : 

1.  2.  3.  4  .  5.  6.  7.8.  9.  10 
9  .  18  .  27  .  36  .  45  .  54  .  63  .  72  .  81 .  90 

The  first  line  of  figures  gives  the  regular 
series,  from  1  to  10. 

The  second  reproduces  this  line  doubly ; 
first  ascending  from  the  first  figure  of  18, 
and  then  returning  from  the  second  figure 
of  81. 

In  Freemasonry,  9  derives  its  value  from 
its  being  the  product  of  3  multiplied  into 
itself,  and  consequently  in  Masonic  lan- 
guage the  number  9  is  always  denoted  by 
the  expression  3  times  3.  For  a  similar 
reason,  27,  which  is  3  times  9,  and  81,  which 
is  9  times  9,  are  esteemed  as  sacred  numbers 
in  the  higher  degrees. 

WineYeh.  The  capital  of  the  ancient 
kingdom  of  Assyria,  and  built  by  Nimrod. 
The  traditions  of  its  greatness  and  the  mag- 
nificence of  its  buildings  were  familiar  to 
the  Arabs,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans. 
The  modern  discoveries  of  Rich,  of  Botta, 
and  other  explorers,  have  thrown  much 
light  upon  its  ancient  condition,  and  have 
shown  that  it  was  the  seat  of  much  archi- 
tectural splendor  and  of  a  profoundly  sym- 
bolical religion,  which  had  something  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  Mithraic  worship. 
In  the  mythical  relations  of  the  Old  Con- 
stitutions, which  make  up  the  legend  of 
the  Craft,  it  is  spoken  of  as  the  ancient 
birthplace  of  Masonry,  where  Nimrod,  who 
was  its  builder,  and  "  was  a  Mason  and 


loved  well  the  Craft,"  employed  60,000  Ma- 
sons to  build  it,  and  gave  them  a  charge 
"  that  they  should  be  true,"  and  this,  says 
the  Harleian  Manuscript,  was  the  first  time 
that  any  Mason  had  any  charge  of  Craft. 

]Visan.  JD'O.  The  seventh  month  of 
the  Hebrew  civil  year,  and  corresponding 
to  the  months  of  March  and  April,  com- 
mencing with  the  new  moon  of  the  former. 

Noachidre.  The  descendants  of  Noah. 
A  term  applied  to  Freemasons  on  the  the- 
ory, derived  from  the  "  legend  of  the  Craft," 
that  Noah  was  the  father  and  founder  of 
the  Masonic  system  of  theology.  And 
hence  the  Freemasons  claim  to  be  his  de- 
scendants, because  in  times  past  they  pre- 
served the  pure  principles  of  his  religion 
amid  the  corruptions  of  surrounding  faiths. 

Dr.  Anderson  first  used  the  word  in  this 
sense  in  the  second  edition  of  the  Book  of 
Constitutions :  "  A  Mason  is  obliged  by  his 
tenure  to  observe  the  moral  law  as  a  true 
Noachida."  But  he  was  not  the  inventor 
of  the  term,  which,  as  indicating  a  Mason, 
was  derived  by  Anderson,  most  probably, 
from  the  Chevalier  Ramsay. 

Noacnite,  or  Prussian  Knight. 
(Noachite  ou  Chevalier  Prussian.)  1.  The 
twenty-first  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite.  The  history  as  well 
as  the  character  of  this  degree  is  a  very  sin- 
gular one.  It  is  totally  unconnected  with 
the  series  of  Masonic  degrees  which  are 
founded  upon  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  and 
is  traced  to  the  tower  of"  Babel.  Hence  the 
Prussian  Knights  call  themselves  Noachites, 
or  Disciples  of  Noah,  while  they  designate 
all  other  Masons  as  Hiramites,  or  Disciples 
of  Hiram.  The  early  French  rituals  state 
that  the  degree  was  translated  in  1757  from 
the  German  by  M.  de  Beraye,  Knight  of 
Eloquence  in  the  Lodge  of  the  Count  St. 
Gelaire,  Inspector  General  of  Prussian 
Lodges  in  France.  Lenning  gives  no  credit 
to  this  statement,  but  admits  that  the  ori- 
gin of  the  degree  must  be  attributed  to  the 
year  above  named.  The  destruction  of  the 
tower  of  Babel  constitutes  the  legend  of  the 
degree,  whose  mythical  founder  is  said  to 
have  been  Peleg,  the  chief  builder  of  that 
edifice.  A  singular  regulation  is  that  there 
shall  be  no  artificial  light  in  the  Lodge 
room,  and  that  the  meetings  shall  be  held 
on  the  night  of  the  full  moon  of  each  month. 

The  degree  was  adopted  by  the  Council 
of  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West,  and  in 
that  way  became  subsequently  a  part  of  the 
system  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  But  it  is  mis- 
placed in  any  series  of  degrees  supposed  to 
emanate  from  the  Solomonic  Temple.  It 
is,  as  an  unfitting  link,  an  unsightly  inter- 
ruption of  the  chain  of  legendary  symbol- 
ism substituting  Noah  for  Solomon,  and 
Peleg   for    Hiram    Abif.    The    Supreme 


532 


NOACHITES 


NOAH 


Council  for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  has 
abandoned  the  original  ritual  and  made 
the  degree  a  representation  of  the  Vehmge- 
richt  or  Westphalian  Franc  Judges.  But 
this  by  no  means  relieves  the  degree  of  the 
objection  of  Masonic  incompatibility.  That 
it  was  ever  adopted  into  the  Masonic  sys- 
tem is  only  to  be  attributed  to  the  passion 
for  high  degrees  which  prevailed  in  France 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 

In  the  modern  ritual  the  meetings  are 
called  Grand  Chapters.  The  officers  are  a 
Lieutenant  Commander,  two  Wardens,  au 
Orator,  Treasurer,  Secretary,  Master  of 
Ceremonies,  Warder,  and  Standard  Bearer. 
The  apron  is  yellow,  inscribed  with  an  arm 
holding  a  sword  and  the  Egyptian  figure 
of  silence.  The  order  is  black,  and  the 
jewel  a  full  moon  or  a  triangle  traversed 
by  an  arrow.  In  the  original  ritual  there 
is  a  coat  of  arms  belonging  to  the  degree, 
which  is  thus  emblazoned :  Party  per  less ; 
in  chief,  azure,  sem6  of  stars,  or  a  full  moon, 
argent ;  in  base,  sable,  an  equilateral  trian- 
gle, having  an  arrow  suspended  from  its 
upper  point,  barb  downwards,  or. 

The  legend  of  the  degree  describes  the 
travels  of  Peleg  from  Babel  to  the  north 
of  Europe,  and  ends  with  the  following 
narrative :  "  In  trenching  the  rubbish  of  the 
salt-mines  of  Prussia  was  found  in  A.  d. 
553,  at  a  depth  of  fifteen  cubits,  the  appear- 
ance of  a  triangular  building  in  which  was 
a  column  of  white  marble,  on  which  was 
written  in  Hebrew  the  whole  history  of 
the  Noachites.  At  the  side  of  this  column 
was  a  tomb  of  freestone  on  which  was  a 
piece  of  agate  inscribed  with  the  following 
epitaph :  Here  rest  the  ashes  of  Peleg,  our 
Grand  Architect  of  the  tower  of  Babel. 
The  Almighty  had  pity  on  him  because  he 
became  humble." 

This  legend,  although  wholly  untenable 
on  historic  grounds,  is  not  absolutely  pue- 
rile. The  .dispersion  of  the  human  race 
in  the  time  of  Peleg  had  always  been  a 
topic  of  discussion  among  the  learned. 
Long  dissertations  had  been  written  to 
show  that  all  the  nations  of  the  world, 
even  America,  had  been  peopled  by  the 
three  sons  of  Noah  and  their  descendants. 
The  object  of  the  legend  seems,  then,  to  have 
been  to  impress  the  idea  of  the  thorough 
dispersion.  The  fundamental  idea  of  the 
degree  is,  under  the  symbol  of  Peleg,  to 
teach  the  crime  of  assumption  and  the  vir- 
tue of  humility. 

2.  The  degree  was  also  adopted  into  the 
Rite  of  Mizraim,  where  it  is  the  thirty-fifth. 

Xoaohites.  The  same  as  Noachidoz, 
which  see. 

Noachite,  Sovereign.  {Noachite 
Souverain.)  A  degree  contained  in  the  no- 
menclature of  Fustier. 


\oali.  In  all  the  old  Masonic  manu- 
script Constitutions  that  are  extant,  Noah 
and  the  flood  play  an  important  part  of 
the  "  Legend  of  the  Craft."  Hence,  as  the 
Masonic  system  became  developed,  the 
Patriarch  was  looked  upon  as  what  was 
called  a  patron  of  Masonry.  And  this  con- 
nection of  Noah  with  the  mythic  history 
of  the  Order  was  rendered  still  closer  by 
the  influence  of  many  symbols  borrowed 
from  the  Arkite  worship,  one  of  the  most 
predominant  of  the  ancient  faiths.  So  in- 
timately were  incorporated  the  legends  of 
Noah  with  the  legends  of  Masonry  that 
Freemasons  began,  at  length,  to  be  called, 
and  are  still  called,  "Noachidse,"  or  the 
descendants  of  Noah,  a  term  first  applied 
by  Anderson,  and  very  frequently  used  at 
the  present  day. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  every 
scholar  who  desires  to  investigate  the  le- 
gendary symbolism  of  Freemasonry  should 
make  himself  acquainted  with  the  Noachic 
myths  upon  which  much  of  it  is  founded. 
Dr.  Oliver,  it  is  true,  accepted  them  all  with 
a  child-like  faith;  but  it  is  not  likely  that 
the  sceptical  inquirers  of  the  present  day 
will  attribute  to  them  any  character  of  au- 
thenticity. Yet  they  are  interesting,  be- 
cause they  show  us  the  growth  of  legends 
out  of  symbols,  and  they  are  instructive 
because  they  are  for  the  most  part  sym- 
bolic. 

The  "  Legend  of  the  Craft"  tells  us  that 
the  three  sons  of  Lamech  and  his  daughter, 
Naamah,  "  did  know  that  God  would  take 
vengeance  for  sin,  either  by  fire  or  water ; 
wherefore  they  wrote  these  sciences  which 
they  had  found  in  two  pillars  of  stone,  that 
they  might  be  found  after  the  flood."  Sub- 
sequently, this  legend  took  a  different  form, 
and  to  Enoch  was  attributed  the  precaution 
of  burying  the  stone  of  foundation  in  the 
bosom  of  Mount  Moriah,  and  of  erecting 
the  two  pillars  above  it. 

The  first  Masonic  myth  referring  to  Noah 
that  presents  itself  is  one  which  tells  us 
that,  while  he  was  piously  engaged  in  the 
task  of  exhorting  his  contemporaries  to 
repentance,  his  attention  had  often  been 
directed  to  the  pillars  which  Enoch  had 
erected  on  Mount  Moriah.  By  diligent 
search  he  at  length  detected  the  entrance 
to  the  subterranean  vault,  and,  on  pursuing 
his  inquiries,  discovered  the  stone  of  foun- 
dation, although  he  was  unable  to  compre- 
hend the  mystical  characters  there  depos- 
ited, Leaving  these,  therefore,  where  he 
had  found  them,  he  simply  took  away  the 
stone  of  foundation  on  which  they  had 
been  deposited,  and  placed  it  in  the  ark  as 
a  convenient  altar. 

Another  myth,  preserved  in  one  of  the 
ineffable  degrees,  informs  us  that  the  ark 


NOAH 


NOAH 


533 


was  built  of  cedars  which  grew  upon 
Mount  Lebanon,  and  that  Noah  employed 
the  Sidonians  to  cut  them  down,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Japheth.  The  succes- 
sors of  these  Sidonians,  in  after  times, 
according  to  the  same  tradition,  were  em- 
ployed by  King  Solomon  to  fell  and  pre- 
pare cedars  on  the  same  mountain  for  his 
stupendous  Temple. 

The  record  of  Genesis  lays  the  founda- 
tion for  another  series  of  symbolic  myths 
connected  with  the  dove,  which  has  thus 
been  introduced  into  Masonry. 

After  forty  days,  when  Noah  opened  the 
window  of  the  ark  that  he  might  learn  if 
the  waters  had  subsided,  he  despatched  a 
raven,  which,  returning,  gave  him  no  sat- 
isfactory information.  He  then  sent  forth 
a  dove  three  several  times,  at  an  interval 
of  seven  days  between  each  excursion.  The 
first  time,  the  dove,  finding  no  resting-place, 
quickly  returned;  the  second  time  she  came 
back  in  the  evening,  bringing  in  her  mouth 
an  olive-leaf,  which  showed  that  the  waters 
must  have  sufficiently  abated  to  have  ex- 
posed the  tops  of  the  trees;  but  on  the 
third  departure,  the  dry  land  being  entirely 
uncovered,  she  returned  no  more. 

In  the  Arkite  rites,  which  arose  after 
the  dispersion  of  Babel,  the  dove  was  al- 
ways considered  as  a  sacred  bird,  in  com- 
memoration of  its  having  been  the  first 
discoverer  of  land.  Its  name,  which  in 
Hebrew  is  ionah,  was  given  to  one  of  the 
earliest  nations  of  the  earth ;  and,  as  the 
emblem  of  peace  and  good  fortune,  it  be- 
came the  bird  of  Venus.  Modern  Masons 
have  commemorated  the  messenger  of 
Noah  in  the  honorary  degree  of  "  Ark  and 
Dove,"  which  is  sometimes  conferred  on 
Royal  Arch  Masons. 

On  the  27th  day  of  the  second  month, 
equivalent  to  the  12th  of  November,  in  the 
year  of  the  world  1657,  Noah,  with  his 
family,  left  the  ark.  It  was  exactly  one 
year  of  365  days,  or  just  one  revolution  of 
the  sun,  that  the  patriarch  was  enclosed  in 
the  ark.  This  was  not  unobserved  by  the 
descendants  of  Noah,  and  hence,  in  conse- 
quence of  Enoch's  life  of  365  days,  and 
Noah's  residence  in  the  ark  for  the  same 
apparently  mystic  period,  the  Noachites 
confounded  the  worship  of  the  solar  orb 
with  the  idolatrous  adoration  which  they 
paid  to  the  patriarchs  who  were  saved 
from  the  deluge.  They  were  led  to  this, 
too,  from  an  additional  reason,  that  Noah, 
as  the  restorer  of  the  human  race,  seemed, 
in  some  sort,  to  be  a  type  of  the  regenerat- 
ing powers  of  the  sun. 

So  important  an  event  as  the  deluge, 
must  have  produced  a  most  impressive 
effect  upon  the  religious  dogmas  and  rites 
of  the  nations  which  succeeded  it.     Conse- 


quently, we  shall  find  some  allusion  to  it 
in  the  annals  of  every  people  and  some 
memorial  of  the  principal  circumstances 
connected  with  it,  in  their  religious  observ- 
ances. At  first,  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  a 
veneration  for  the  character  of  the  second 

{>arent  of  the  human  race  must  have  been 
ong  preserved  by  his  descendants.  Nor 
would  they  have  been  unmindful  of  the 
proper  reverence  due  to  that  sacred  vessel 
— sacred  in  their  eyes  —  which  had  pre- 
served their  great  progenitor  from  the  fury 
of  the  waters.  "They  would  long  cher- 
ish," says  Alwood,  (Lit.  Antiq.  of  Greece,  p. 
182,)  "the  memory  of  those  worthies  who 
were  rescued  from  the  common  lot  of  utter 
ruin;  they  would  call  to  mind,  with  an 
extravagance  of  admiration,  the  means 
adopted  for  their  preservation ;  they  would 
adore  the  wisdom  which  contrived,  and  the 
goodness  which  prompted  to,  the  execution 
of  such  a  plan."  So  pious  a  feeling  would 
exist,  and  be  circumscribed  within  its 
proper  limits  of  reverential  gratitude,  while 
the  legends  of  the  deluge  continued  to  be 
preserved  in  their  purity,  and  while  the 
divine  preserver  of  Noah  was  remembered 
as  the  one  god  of  his  posterity.  But  when, 
by  the  confusion  and  dispersion  at  Babel, 
the  true  teachings  of  Enoch  and  Noah 
were  lost,  and  idolatry  or  polytheism  was 
substituted  for  the  ancient  faith,  then 
Noah  became  a  god,  worshipped  under 
different  names  in  different  countries,  and 
the  ark  was  transformed  into  the  temple 
of  the  Deity.  Hence  arose  those  peculiar 
systems  of  initiations  which,  known  under 
the  name  of  the  "  Arkite  rites,"  formed  a 
part  of  the  worship  of  the  ancient  world, 
and  traces  of  which  are  to  be  found  in 
almost  all  the  old  systems  of  religion. 

It  was  in  the  six  hundredth  year  of  his 
age,  that  Noah,  with  his  family,  was  re- 
leased from  the  ark.  Grateful  for  his 
preservation,  he  erected  an  altar  and  pre- 

Eared  a  sacrifice  of  thank-offerings  to  the 
>eity.  A  Masonic  tradition  says,  that  for 
this  purpose  he  made  use  of  that  stone  of 
foundation  which  he  had  discovered  in  the 
subterranean  vault  of  Enoch,  and  which 
he  had  carried  with  him  into  the  ark.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  God  made  his  cove- 
nant with  Noah,  and  promised  him  that 
the  earth  should  never  again  be  destroyed 
by  a  flood.  Here,  too,  he  received  those 
commandments  for  the  government  of 
himself  and  his  posterity  which  have 
been  called  "the  seven  precepts  of  the 
Noachidse." 

It  is  to  be  supposed  that  Noah  and  his 
immediate  descendants  continued  to  live 
for  many  years  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
mountain  upon  which  the  ark  had  been 
thrown  by  the  subsidence  of  the  waters. 


534 


NOAH 


NOMINATION 


There  is  indeed  no  evidence  that  the  patri- 
arch ever  removed  from  it.  In  the  nine 
hundred  and  fiftieth  year  of  his  age  he 
died,  and,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the 
Orientalists,  was  buried  in  the  land  of 
Mesopotamia.  During  that  period  of  his 
life  which  was  subsequent  to  the  deluge, 
he  continued  to  instruct  his  children  in  the 
great  truths  of  religion.  Hence,  Masons 
are  sometimes  called  Noachidae,  or  the  sons 
of  Noah,  to  designate  them,  in  a  peculiar 
manner,  as  the  preservers  of  the  sacred 
deposit  of  Masonic  truth  bequeathed  to 
them  by  their  great  ancestor;  and  cir- 
cumstances intimately  connected  with  the 
transactions  of  the  immediate  descendants 
of  the  patriarch  are  recorded  in  a  degree 
which  has  been  adopted  by  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  under  the 
name  of  "  Patriarch  Noachite." 

The  primitive  teachings  of  the  patriarch, 
which  were  simple  but  comprehensive,  con- 
tinued to  be  preserved  in  the  line  of  the 
patriarchs  ana  the  prophets  to  the  days  of 
Solomon,  but  were  soon  lost  to  the  other 
descendants  of  Noah,  by  a  circumstance  to 
which  we  must  now  refer.  After  the  death  of 
Noah,  his  sons  removed  from  the  region  of 
Mount  Ararat,  where,  until  then,  they  had 
resided,  and  "travelling  from  the  East, 
found  a  plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar,  and 
dwelt  there."  Here  they  commenced  the 
building  of  a  lofty  tower.  This  act  seems 
to  have  been  displeasing  to  God,  for  in 
consequence  of  it,  he  confounded  their 
language,  so  that  one  could  not  understand 
what  another  said ;  the  result  of  which  was 
that  they  separated  and  dispersed  over  the 
face  of  the  earth  in  search  of  different 
dwelling-places.  With  the  loss  of  the 
original  language,  the  great  truths  which 
that  language  had  conveyed,  disappeared 
from  their  minds.  The  worship  of  the  one 
true  God  was  abandoned.  A  multitude  of 
deities  began  to  be  adored.  Idolatry  took 
the  place  of  pure  theism.  And  then  arose 
the  Arkite  rites,  or  the  worship  of  Noah 
and  the  Ark,  Sabaism,  or  the  adoration  of 
the  stars,  and  other  superstitious  observ- 
ances, in  all  of  which,  however,  the  priest- 
hood, by  their  mysteries  or  initiations  into 
a  kind  of  Spurious  Freemasonry,  preserved, 
among  a  multitude  of  errors,  some  faint 
allusions  to  the  truth,  and  retained  just  so 
much  light  as  to  make  their  "darkness 
visible." 

Such  are  the  Noachic  traditions  of  Ma- 
sonry, which,  though  if  considered  as  ma- 
terials of  history,  would  be  worth  but  little, 
yet  have  furnished  valuable  sources  of  sym- 
bolism, and  in  that  way  are  full  of  wise 
instruction. 

Noah,  Precepts  of.  The  precepts 
of  the  patriarch  Noah,  which  were  pre- 


served as  the  Constitutions  of  our  ancient 
brethren,  are  seven  in  number,  and  are  as 
follows : 

1.  Renounce  all  idols. 

2.  Worship  the  only  true  God. 

3.  Commit  no  murder. 

4.  Be  not  defiled  by  incest. 

5.  Do  not  steal. 

6.  Be  just. 

7.  Eat  no  flesh  with  blood  in  it. 

The  "proselytes  of  the  gate,"  as  the 
Jews  termed  those  who  lived  among  them 
without  undergoing  circumcision  or  ob- 
serving the  ceremonial  law,  were  boirnd  to 
obey  the  seven  precepts  of  Noah.  The 
Talmud  says  that  the  first  six  of  these  pre- 
cepts were  given  originally  by  God  to 
Adam,  and  the  seventh  afterwards  to  Noah. 
These  precepts  were  designed  to  be  obliga- 
tory on  all  the  Noachidae,  or  descendants  of 
Noah,  and  consequently,  from  the  time  of 
Moses,  the  Jews  would  not  suffer  a  stranger 
to  live  among  them  unless  he  observed 
these  precepts,  and  never  gave  quarter  in 
battle  to  an  enemy  who  was  ignorant  of 
them. 

Xoflodei.  The  name  of  this  person  is 
differently  spelled  by  different  writers.  Vil- 
lani,  and  after  him  Burnes,  call  him  Noffo 
Dei,  Reghellini  Neffodei,  and  Addison  Nosso 
de  Florentin;  but  the  more  usual  spelling  is 
Noffodei.  He  and  Squin  de  Flexian  were 
the  first  to  make  those  false  accusations 
against  the  Knights  Templars  which  led  to 
the  downfall  of  the  Order.  Naffodei,  who 
was  a  Florentine,  is  asserted  by  some  writers 
to  have  been  an  apostate  Templar,  who 
had  been  condemned  by  the  Preceptor  and 
Chapter  of  France  to  perpetual  imprison- 
ment for  impiety  and  crime.  But  Dupui 
denies  this,  and  says  that  he  never  was  a 
Templar,  but  that,  having  been  banished 
from  his  native  country,  he  had  been  con- 
demned to  rigorous  penalties  by  the  Pre- 
vost  of  Paris  for  his  crimes.  For  a  history 
of  his  treachery  to  the  Templars,  see  Squin 
de  Flexian. 

Nomenclature.  There  are  several 
Masonic  works,  printed  or  in  manuscript, 
which  contain  lists  of  the  names  of  degrees 
in  Masonry.  Such  a  list  is  called  by  the 
French  writers  a  nomenclature.  The  most 
important  of  these  nomenclatures  are  those 
of  Peuvret,  Fustier,  Pyron,  and  Lemanceau. 
Ragon  has  a  nomenclature  of  degrees  in  his 
Tuileur  Generate.  And  Thory  has  an  ex- 
haustive and  descriptive  one  in  his  Acta 
Latomorum.  Oliver  also  gives  a  nomencla- 
ture, but  an  imperfect  one,  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  degrees  in  his  Historical  Land- 
marks. 

Nomination.  It  is  the  custom  in 
some  Grand  Lodges  and  Lodges  to  nomi- 
nate candidates  for  election  to  office,  and  in 


NON-AFFILIATION 


NORTH 


535 


others  this  custom  is  not  adopted.  But  the 
practice  of  nomination  has  the  sanction  of 
ancient  usage.  Thus  the  records  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  under  date  of 
June  24,  1717,  tell  us  that  "  before  dinner 
the  oldest  Master  Mason  ...  in  the  chair 
proposed  a  list  of  candidates,  and  the  breth- 
ren, by  a  majority  of  hands,  elected  Mr. 
Anthony  Sayre,  Gent.,  Grand  Master  of 
Masons."  And  the  present  Constitution 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  requires 
that  the  Grand  Master  shall  be  nominated 
in  December,  but  that  the  election  shall  not 
take  place  until  the  following  March. 
Nominations  appear,  therefore,  to  be  the 
correct  Masonic  practice ;  yet,  if  a  member 
be  elected  to  any  office  to  which  he  had  not 
previously  been  nominated,  the  election  will 
be  valid,  for  a  nomination  is  not  essential. 

Non- Affiliation.  The  state  of  being 
unconnected  by  membership  with  a  Lodge. 
See  Unaffiliated  Masons. 

Nonesynches.  In  the  Old  Constitu- 
tions known  as  the  Dowland  MS.  is  found 
the  following  passage:  "St.  Albann  loved 
well  Masons  and  cherished  them  much. 
And  he  made  their  paie  right  good,  .... 
for  he  gave  them  ijs.  a  weeke,  and  iijd.  to 
their  nonesynches."  This  word,  which  can- 
not, in  this  precise  form,  be  found  in  any 
archaic  dictionary,  evidently  means  food  or 
refreshment,  for  in  the  parallel  passage  iu 
other  Constitutions  the  word  used  is  cheer, 
which  has  the  same  meaning.  The  old 
English  word  from  which  we  get  our 
luncheon  is  noonshun,  which  is  defined  to  be 
the  refreshment  taken  at  noon,  when  labor- 
ers desist  from  work  to  shwi  the  heat.  Of 
this  nonesynches  is  a  corrupt  form.  St.  Al- 
ban  gave  his  Masons  two  shillings  a  week, 
and  three  pence  for  their  noonshuns  or  food. 

Non  nobis.  It  is  prescribed  that  the 
motto  beneath  the  Passion  Cross  on  the 
Grand  Standard  of  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars  shall  be  "Non  nobis 
Domine!  non  nobis,  sed  nomini  tuo  da 
Gloriam."  That  is,  Not  unto  us,  0  Lord  J 
not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  name  give  Glory. 
It  is  the  commencement  of  the  115th  Psalm, 
which  is  sung  in  the  Christian  Church  on 
occasions  of  thanksgiving.  It  was  the  an- 
cient Templar's  shout  of  victory. 

Non-resident.  The  members  of  a 
Lodge  who  do  not  reside  in  the  locality  of 
a  Lodge,  but  live  at  a  great  distance  from 
it  in  another  State,  or,  perhaps,  country, 
but  still  continue  members  of  it,  and  con- 
tribute to  its  support  by  the  payment  of 
Lodge  dues,  are  called  "  non-resident  mem- 
bers." Many  Lodges,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  such  members  enjoy  none  of  the  local 
privileges  of  their  Lodges,  require  from 
them  a  less  amount  of  annual  arrears  than 
they  do  from  their  resident  members. 


Noorthouck,  John.  The  editor  of 
the  fifth,  and  by  far  the  best,  edition  of 
the  Book  of  Constitutions,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1784.  He  was  the  son  of  Her- 
man Noorthouck,  a  bookseller,  and  was 
born  in  London  in  1745.  Oliver  describes 
him  as  "  a  clever  and  intelligent  man,  and 
an  expert  Mason."  His  literary  pretensions 
were,  however,  greater  than  this  modest 
encomium  would  indicate.  He  was  pat- 
ronized by  the  celebrated  printer,  Wm. 
Strahan,  and  passed  nearly  the  whole  of 
his  life  in  the  occupations  of  an  author, 
an  index  maker,  and  a  corrector  of  the 
press.  He  was,  besides  his  edition  of  the 
Book  of  Constitutions,  the  writer  of  a  His- 
tory of  London,  4to,  published  in  1775,  and 
a  Historical  and  Classical  Dictionary,  2  vols., 
8vo,  published  in  1776.  To  him  also,  as 
well  as  to  some  others,  has  been  attributed 
the  authorship  of  a  once  popular  book  en- 
titled, The  Man  after  God's  own  Heart.  In 
1852,  J.  E.  Smith,  a  bookseller  of  London, 
advertised  for  sale  "  the  original  autograph 
manuscript  of  the  life  of  John  Noorthouck." 
He  calls  this  "a  very  interesting  piece  of 
autobiography,  containing  many  curious 
literary  anecdotes  of  the  last  century,  and 
deserving  to  be  printed."  I  think  it  never 
has  been.  Noorthouck  died  in  1816,  aged 
70  years. 

North.  The  north  is  Masonically 
called  a  place  of  darkness.  The  sun  in  his 
progress  through  the  ecliptic  never  reaches 
farther  than  23°  28'  north  of  the  equator.  A 
wall  being  erected  on  any  part  of  the  earth 
farther  north  than  that,  will  therefore,  at 
meridian,  receive  the  rays  of  the  sun  only 
on  its  south  side,  while  the  north  will  be 
entirely  in  shadow  at  the  hour  of  meridian. 
The  use  of  the  north  as  a  symbol  of  dark- 
ness is  found,  with  the  present  interpreta- 
tion, in  the  early  rituals  of  the  last  century. 
It  is  a  portion  of  the  old  sun  worship,  of 
which  we  find  so  many  relics  in  Gnosti- 
cism, in  Hermetic  philosophy,  and  in  Free- 
masonry. The  east  was  the  place  of  the 
sun's  daily  birth,  and  hence  highly  revered; 
the  north  the  place  of  his  annual  death,  to 
which  he  approached  only  to  lose  his  vivi- 
fic  heat,  and  to  clothe  the  earth  in  the 
darkness  of  long  nights  and  the  dreariness 
of  winter. 

North  Carolina.  The  early  history 
of  Masonry  in  no  State  is  more  uncertain 
than  in  that  of  North  Carolina,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  carelessness  of  the  authorities 
who  have  attempted  to  write  its  early  an- 
nals. Thus,  Bobert  Williams,  the  Grand 
Secretary,  in  a  letter  written  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Kentucky  in  1808,  said  that  "  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  North  Carolina  was  con- 
stituted by  Charter  issued  from  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland  in  the  year  1761,  signed 


536 


NORTH 


NOVA 


by  Henry  Somerset,  Duke  of  Beaufort . . . 
as  Grand  Master  ;  and  attested  by  George 
JohnSpencer,  Earl  of  Spencer  .  .  .  as  Grand 
Secretary."  Now  this  statement  contains 
on  its  face  the  evidences  of  flagrant  error. 
1.  The  Duke  of  Beaufort  never  was  Grand 
Master  of  Scotland.  2.  The  Grand  Master 
of  Scotland  in  1761  was  the  Earl  of  Elgin. 
3.  The  Earl  of  Spencer  never  was  Grand 
Secretary  either  of  England  or  Scotland, 
but  Samuel  Spencer  was  Grand  Secretary 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  from  1757 
to  1767,  and  died  in  1768.  4.  The  Duke  of 
Beaufort  was  not  Grand  Master  of  England 
in  1761,  but  held  that  office  from  1767  to 
1771.  There  is  no  mention  in  the  printed 
records  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  of 
a  Charter  at  any  time  granted  for  a  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Lodge  in  North  Carolina. 
But  in  two  lists  of  Lodges  chartered  by 
that  body,  I  find  that  on  August  21st,  1767, 
a  Warrant  was  granted  for  the  establish- 
ment of  "  Royal  White  Hart  Lodge,"  at 
Halifax  in  North  Carolina.  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  that  this  is  the  true  date  of  the 
introduction  of  Masonry  into  that  State. 
A  record  in  the  transactions  of  the  St. 
John's  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts  says 
that  on  October  2d,  1767,  that  body  grant- 
ed a  deputation  to  Thomas  Cooper,  Master 
of  Pitt  County  Lodge,  as  Deputy  Grand 
Master  of  the  province;  but  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  he  ever  exercised  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  office.  Judge  Martin,  in  a  dis- 
course delivered  on  June  24th,  1789,  says 
that  Joseph  Montford  was  appointed,  to- 
wards the  year  1769,  as  Provincial  Grand 
Master  by  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  and  that 
in  1771  he  constituted  St.  John's  Lodge  at 
Newbern.  This  was  probably  the  true  date 
of  the  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of  North 
Carolina,  for  in  1787  we  find  nine  Lodges 
in  the  territory,  five  of  which,  at  least, 
had  the  provincial  numbers  2,  3,  4,  5,  and 
8,  while  the  Royal  Hart  Lodge  retained  its 
number  on  the  English  Register  as  403,  a 
number  which  agrees  with  that  of  the  Eng- 
lish lists  in  my  possession.  On  December 
9th,  1787,  a  convention  of  Lodges  met  at 
Tarborough  and  organized  the  "  Grand 
Lodgeof  the  Stateof  North  Carolina,"  elect- 
ing Hon.  Samuel  Johnston  Grand  Master. 

There  was  a  Grand  Chapter  in  North 
Carolina  at  an  early  period  in  the  present 
century,  which  ceased  to  exist  about  the 
year  1827 ;  but  Royal  Arch  Masonry  was 
cultivated  by  four  Chapters  instituted  by 
the  General  Grand  Chapter.  On  June  28, 
1847,  the  Grand  Chapter  was  reorganized. 

The  Grand  Council  was  organized  in 
June,  1860,  by  Councils  which  had  been  es- 
tablished by  the  author  of  this  work,  under 
the  authority  of  the  Supreme  Council  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 


North-east  Corner.  In  the  "Insti- 
tutes of  Menu,"  the  sacred  book  of  the 
Brahmans,  it  is  said :  "  If  any  one  has  an 
incurable  disease,  let  him  advance  in  a 
straight  path  towards  the  invincible  north- 
east point,  feeding  on  water  and  air  till  his 
mortal  frame  totally  decays,  and  his  soul 
becomes  united  with  the  supreme." 

It  is  at  the  same  north-east  point  that 
those  first  instructions  begin  in  Masonry 
which  enable  the  true  Mason  to  commence 
the  erection  of  that  spiritual  temple  in 
which,  after  the  decay  of  his  mortal  frame, 
"his  soul  becomes  united  with  the  su- 
preme." 

In  the  important  ceremony  which  refers 
to  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Lodge,  the 
candidate  becomes  as  one  who  is,  to  all 
outward  appearance,  a  perfect  and  upright 
man  and  Mason,  the  representative  of  a 
spiritual  corner-stone,  on  which  he  is  to 
erect  his  future  moral  and  Masonic  edifice. 

This  symbolic  reference  of  the  corner- 
stone of  a  material  edifice  to  a  Mason 
when,  at  his  first  initiation,  he  commences 
the  moral  and  intellectual  task  of  erecting 
a  spiritual  temple  in  his  heart,  is  beauti- 
fully sustained  when  we  look  at  all  the 
qualities  that  are  required  to  constitute  a 
"well-tried,  true,  and  trusty"  corner-stone. 
The  squareness  of  its  surface,  emblematic 
of  morality  —  its  cubical  form,  emblematic 
of  firmness  and  stability  of  character — and 
the  peculiar  finish  and  fineness  of  the  ma- 
terial, emblematic  of  virtue  and  holiness  — 
show  that  the  ceremony  of  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  Lodge  was  undoubtedly  in- 
tended to  portray,  in  the  consecrated  lan- 
guage of  symbolism,  the  necessity  of  integ- 
rity and  stability  of  conduct,  of  truthfulness 
and  uprightness  of  character,  and  of  purity 
and  holiness  of  life,  which,  just  at  that 
time  and  in  that  place,  the  candidate  is 
most  impressively  charged  to  maintain. 

Xoluma.  A  significant  word  in  some 
of  the  high  degrees  of  the  Templar  system. 
It  is  the  anagram  of  Aumont,  who  is  said 
to  have  been  the  first  Grand  Master  of  the 
Templars  in  Scotland,  and  the  restorer  of 
the  Order  after  the  death  of  De  Molay. 

NoYa  Scotia.  Freemasonry  was  in- 
troduced into  Nova  Scotia,  at  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  by  the  constitution  of  a 
Lodge  at  Halifax,  in  1749,  under  the  regis- 
try of  England.  For  the  next  hundred 
years,  Lodges  were  instituted  and  Provin- 
cial Masters  appointed  by  England  and 
Scotland,  and   Lodges   alone  without  su- 

Serior  provincial  authority  by  Ireland.  In 
une,  1866,  an  independent  Grand  Lodge 
was  instituted  and  recognized  by  most  of 
the  Masonic  powers  of  the  United  States. 
But  as  none  of  the  Lodges  holding  War- 
rants from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland 


NOVICE 


NUMBERS 


537 


would  recognize  it,  a  subsequent  and  more 
satisfactory  arrangement  took  place,  and 
June  24,  1869,  a  Grand  Lodge  was  organ- 
ized by  the  union  of  all  the  subordinate 
Lodges,  and  Alexander  Keith  was  elected 
Grand  Master. 

Novice.  1.  The  second  degree  of  the 
Illuminati  of  Bavaria.  2.  The  fifth  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance. 

Novice  Macon  ne.  That  is  to  say, 
a  female  Mason  who  is  a  Novice.  It  is 
the  first  degree  of  the  Moral  Order  of  the 
Dames  of  Mount  Tabor. 

Novice,  Mythological.  {Novice 
Mythologique.)  The  first  degree  of  the 
Historical  Order  of  the  Dames  of  Mount 
Tabor. 

Novice,  Scottish.  {Novice  JEcos- 
saise.)  The  first  degree  of  initiation  in  the 
Order  of  Mount  Tabor. 

Numbers.  The  symbolism  which  is 
derived  from  numbers  was  common  to  the 
Pythagoreans,  the  Kabbalists,  the  Gnostics, 
and  all  mystical  associations.  Of  all  su- 
perstitions, it  is  the  oldest  and  the  most 
generally  diffused.  Allusions  are  to  be 
found  to  it  in  all  systems  of  religion ;  the 
Jewish  Scriptures,  for  instance,  abound  in 
it,  and  the  Christian  show  a  share  of  its 
influence.  It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising 
that  the  most  predominant  of  all  symbol- 
ism in  Freemasonry  is  that  of  numbers. 

The  doctrine  of  numbers  as  symbols  is 
most  familiar  to  us  because  it  formed  the 
fundamental  idea  of  the  philosophy  of 
Pythagoras.  Yet  it  was  not  original  with 
him,  since  he  brought  his  theories  from 
Egypt  and  the  East,  where  this  numerical 
symbolism  had  always  prevailed.  Jambli- 
chus  tells  us  (  Vit.  Pyth.,  c.  28,)  that  Pythag- 
oras himself  admitted  that  he  had  received 
the  doctrine  of  numbers  from  Orpheus, 
who  taught  that  numbers  were  the  most 
provident  beginning  of  all  things  in  heav- 
en, earth,  and  the  intermediate  space,  and 
the  root  of  the  perpetuity  of  divine  beings, 
of  the  gods  and  of  demons.  From  the 
disciples  of  Pythagoras  we  learn  (for  he 
himself  taught  only  orally,  and  left  no 
writings,)  that  his  theory  was  that  num- 
bers contain  the  elements  of  all  things,  and 
even  of  the  sciences.  Numbers  are  the  in- 
visible covering  of  beings  as  the  body  is  the 
visible  one.  They  are  the  primary  causes 
upon  which  the  whole  system  of  the  uni- 
verse rests  ;  and  he  who  knows  these  num- 
bers knows  at  the  same  time  the  laws 
through  which  nature  exists.  The  Pythag- 
oreans, said  Aristotle,  (Metaph.,  xii.  8,) 
make  all  things  proceed  from  numbers. 
Dacier,  (  Vie  de  Pyth.,)  it  is  true,  denies  that 
this  was  the  doctrine  of  Pythagoras,  and 
contends  that  it  was  only  a  corruption  of 
his  disciples.  It  is  an  immaterial  point. 
3S 


We  know  that  the  symbolism  of  numbers 
was  the  basis  of  what  is  called  the  Pythag- 
orean philosophy.  But  it  would  be  wrong 
to  suppose  that  from  it  the  Masons  derived 
their  system,  since  the  two  are  in  some 
points  antagonistic;  the  Masons,  for  in- 
stance, revere  the  nine  as  a  sacred  number 
of  peculiar  significance,  while  the  Pythago- 
reans looked  upon  it  with  detestation.  In 
the  system  of  the  Pythagoreans,  ten  was,  of 
all  numbers,  the  most  perfect,  because  it 
symbolizes  the  completion  of  things ;  but  in 
Masonic  symbolism  the  number  ten  is  un- 
known. Four  is  not,  in  Masonry,  a  num- 
ber of  much  representative  importance;  but 
it  was  sacredly  revered  by  the  Pythago- 
reans as  the  tetractys,  or  figure  derived 
from  the  Jewish  Tetragrammaton,  by  which 
they  swore. 

Plato  also  indulged  in  a  theory  of  sym- 
bolic numbers,  and  calls  him  happy  who 
understands  spiritual  numbers  and  per- 
ceives their  mighty  influences.  Numbers, 
according  to  him,  are  the  cause  of  univer- 
sal harmony,  and  of  the  production  of  all 
things.  The  Neoplatonists  extended  and 
developed  this  theory,  and  from  them  it 
passed  over  to  the  Gnostics;  from  them 
probably  to  the  Rosicrucians,  to  the  Her- 
metic philosophers,  and  to  the  Freemasons. 

Cornelius  Agrippa  has  descanted  at  great 
length,  in  his  Occult  Philosophy,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  numbers.  "That  there  lies,"  he 
says,  "wonderful  efficacy  and  virtue  in 
numbers,  as  well  for  good  as  for  evil,  not 
only  the  most  eminent  philosophers  teach, 
but  also  the  Catholic  Doctors."  And  he 
quotes  St.  Hilary  as  saying  that  the  seventy 
Elders  brought  the  Psalms  into  order  by  the 
efficacy  of  numbers. 

Of  the  prevalence  of  what  are  called 
representative  numbers  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  there  is  abundant  evi- 
dence. "  However  we  may  explain  it,"  says 
Dr.  Mahan,  (Palmoni,  p.  67,)  certain  nu- 
merals in  the  Scriptures  occur  so  often  in 
connection  with  certain  classes  of  ideas,  that 
we  are  naturally  led  to  associate  the  one 
with  the  other.  This  is  more  or  less  ad- 
mitted with  regard  to  the  numbers  Seven, 
Twelve,  Forty,  Seventy,  and  it  may  be  a  few 
more.  The  Fathers  were  disposed  to  admit 
it  with  regard  to  many  others,  and  to  see  in 
it  the  marks  of  a  supernatural  design." 

Among  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  there 
was  a  superstitious  veneration  for  certain 
numbers.  The  same  practice  is  found  among 
all  the  Eastern  nations ;  it  entered  more  or 
less  into  all  the  ancient  systems  of  philoso- 
phy ;  constituted  a  part  of  all  the  old  reli- 
gions ;  was  accepted  to  a  great  extent  by 
the  early  Christian  Fathers ;  constituted  an 
important  part  of  the  Kabbala ;  was  adopted 
by  the  Gnostics,  the  Rosicrucians,  and  all 


538 


NUMERATION 


OATH 


the  mystical  societies  of  the  Middle  Ages ; 
and  finally  has  carried  its  influence  into 
Freemasonry. 

The  respect  paid  by  Freemasons  to  certain 
numbers,  all  of  which  are  odd,  is  founded 
not  on  the  belief  of  any  magical  virtue, 
but  because  they  are  assumed  to  be  the 
types  or  representatives  of  certain  ideas. 
That  is  to  say,  a  number  is  in  Masonry  a 
symbol,  and  no  more.  It  is  venerated,  not 
because  it  has  any  supernatural  efficacy,  as 
thought  the  Pythagoreans  and  others,  but 
because  it  has  concealed  within  some  allu- 
sion to  a  sacred  object  or  holy  thought, 
which  it  symbolizes.  The  number  three, 
for  instance,  like  the  triangle,  is  a  symbol ; 
the  number  nine,  like  the  triple  triangle, 
another.  The  Masonic  doctrine  of  sacred 
numbers  must  not,  therefore,  be  confounded 
with  the  doctrine  of  numbers  which  pre- 
vailed in  other  systems. 

The  most  important  symbolic  or  sacred 
numbers  in  Masonry  are  three,  five,  seven, 
nine,  twenty-seven,  and  eighty-one.  Their 
interpretation  will  be  found  under  their 
respective  titles. 

Numeration  by  Letters.  There 
is  a  Kabbalistical  process  especially  used  in 
the  Hebrew  language,  but  sometimes  ap- 
plied to  other  languages,  for  instance,  to  the 
Greek,  by  which  a  mystical  meaning  of  a 
word  is  deduced  from  the  numerical  value 
of  the  words  of  which  it  is  composed,  each 
letter  of  the  alphabet  being  equivalent  to  a 
number.  Thus  in  Hebrew  the  name  of 
God,  j-f*>  JAH,  is  equivalent  to  15,  because 
♦  =  10  and  p|  =  5,  and  15  thus  becomes  a 
sacred  number.  In  Greek,  the  Kabbalistic 
word  Abraxas,  or  aftpaZag,  is  made  to  sym- 


bolize the  solar  year  of  365  days,  because  the 
sum  of  the  value  of  the  letters  of  the  word 
is  365 ;  thus,  a  =  1,  p  =  2,  p  =  100,  a  =  1, 
fa  60,  a  =1,  and  c  =  200.  To  facilitate  these 
Kabbalistic  operations,  which  are  sometimes 
used  in  the  high  and  especially  the  hermet- 
ical  Masonry,  the  numerical  value  of  the 
Hebrew  and  Greek  letters  is  here  given. 


Hebrew. 


Greek. 


N 

i 

A,  o 

1 

3 

2 

B,/J 

2 

} 

3 

r,y 

3 

1 

4 

A,d 

4 

n 

5 

E,  e 

5 

i 

6 

z,  ? 

6 

r 

7 

U,V 

8 

n 

8 

e,6 

9 

B 

9 

h* 

10 

♦ 

10 

K,  K 

20 

D 

20 

A,  A 

30 

S 

30 

Mifi 

40 

D,D 

40 

N,  v 

50 

*l 

50 

*,f 

60 

D 

60 

0,  o 

70 

8 

70 

n,  7T 

80 

80 

p,p 

100 

s 

90 

s> a,  f» 

200 

p 

100 

T,r 

300 

H 

200 

T.v 

400 

V 

300 

*,t 

500 

n 

400 

x,x 

600 

■%i 

700 

Q,  o) 

800 

Nursery.  The  first  of  the  three  classes 
into  which  Weishaupt  divided  his  Order 
of  Illuminati,  coinprising  three  degrees. 
See  Illuminati. 


o. 


Oath.  In  the  year  1738,  Clement  XII., 
at  that  time  Pope  of  Rome,  issued  a  bull 
of  excommunication  against  the  Free- 
masons, and  assigned,  as  the  reason  of  his 
condemnation,  that  the  Institution  confed- 
erated persons  of  all  religions  and  sects  in 
a  mysterious  bond  of  union,  and  compelled 
them  to  secrecy  by  an  oath  taken  on  the 
Bible,  accompanied  by  certain  ceremonies, 
and  the  imprecation  of  heavy  punishments. 

This  persecution  of  the  Freemasons,  on 
account  of  their  having  an  obligatory 
promise  of  secrecy  among  their  ceremo- 
nies, has  not  been  confined  to  the  Papal  see. 
We  shall  find  it  existing  in  a  sect  which 


we  should  suppose,  of  all  others,  the  least 
likely  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  a  Ro- 
man pontiff.  In  1757,  the  Associate  Synod 
of  Seceders  of  Scotland  adopted  an  act, 
concerning  what  they  called  "the  Mason 
oath,"  in  which  it  is  declared  that  all 
persons  who  shall  refuse  to  make  such  rev- 
elations as  the  Kirk  Sessions  may  require, 
and  to  promise  to  abstain  from  all  future 
connection  with  the  Order,  "shall  be  re- 
puted under  scandal  and  incapable  of  ad- 
mission to  sealing  ordinances,"  or,  as  Pope 
Clement  expressed  it,  be  "ipso  facto  ex- 
communicated." 
In  the  preamble  to  the  act,  the  Synod 


OATH 


OATH 


539 


assign  the  reasons  for  their  objections  to 
this  oath,  and  for  their  ecclesiastical  censure 
of  all  who  contract  it.  These  reasons  are : 
"  That  there  were  very  strong  presumptions, 
that,  among  Masons,  an  oath  of  secrecy 
is  administered  to  entrants  into  their  so- 
ciety, even  under  a  capital  penalty,  and 
before  any  of  those  things,  which  they 
swear  to  keep  secret,  be  revealed  to  them ; 
and  that  they  pretend  to  take  some  of  these 
secrets  from  the  Bible ;  besides  other  things 
which  are  ground  of  scruple  in  the  manner 
of  swearing  the  said  oath." 

These  have,  from  that  day  to  this,  consti- 
tuted the  sum  and  substance  of  the  objec- 
tions to  the  obligation  of  Masonic  secrecy, 
and,  for  the  purpose  of  brief  examination, 
they  may  be  classed  under  the  following 
heads : 

First.     It  is  an  oath. 

Secondly.  It  is  administered  before  the 
secrets  are  communicated. 

Thirdly.  It  is  accompanied  by  certain 
superstitious  ceremonies. 

Fourthly.     It  is  attended  by  a  penalty. 

Fifthly.  It  is  considered,  by  Masons,  as 
paramount  to  the  obligations  of  the  laws 
of  the  land. 

In  replying  to  these  statements,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  conscientious  Freemason 
labors  under  great  disadvantage.  He  is  at 
every  step  restrained  by  his  honor  from 
either  the  denial  or  admission  of  his  adver- 
saries in  relation  to  the  mysteries  of  the 
Craft.  But  it  may  be  granted,  for  the  sake 
of  argument,  that  every  one  of  the  first 
four  charges  is  true,  and  then  the  inquiry 
will  be  in  what  respect  they  are  offensive  or 
immoral. 

First.  The  oath  or  promise  cannot,  in 
itself,  be  sinful,  unless-  there  is  something 
immoral  in  the  obligation  it  imposes.  Sim- 
ply to  promise  secrecy,  or  the  performance 
of  any  good  action,  and  to  strengthen  this 
promise  by  the  solemnity  of  an  oath,  is 
not,  in  itself,  forbidden  by  any  divine  or 
human  law.  Indeed,  the  infirmity  of  hu- 
man nature  demands,  in  many  instances, 
the  sacred  sanction  of  such  an  attestation ; 
and  it  is  continually  exacted  in  the  transac- 
tions of  man  with  man,  without  any  notion 
of  sinfulness.  Where  the  time,  and  place, 
and  circumstances  are  unconnected  with 
levity,  or  profanity,  or  crime,  the  adminis- 
tration of  an  obligation  binding  to  secrecy, 
or  obedience,  or  veracity,  or  any  other  vir- 
tue, and  the  invocation  of  Deity  to  wit- 
ness, and  to  strengthen  that  obligation,  or 
to  punish  its  violation,  is  incapable,  by  any 
perversion  of  Scripture,  of  being  considered 
a  criminal  act. 

Secondly.  The  objection  that  the  oath 
is  administered  before  the  secrets  are  made 
known,  is  sufficiently  absurd  to  provoke  a 


smile.  The  purposes  of  such  an  oath  would 
be  completely  frustrated,  by  revealing  the 
thing  to  be  concealed  before  the  promise 
of  concealment  was  made.  In  that  case,  it 
would  be  optional  with  the  candidate  to 
give  the  obligation,  or  to  withhold  it,  as 
best  suited  his  inclinations.  If  it  be  con- 
ceded that  the  exaction  of  a  solemn  promise 
of  secrecy  is  not,  in  itself,  improper,  then 
certainly  the  time  of  exacting  it  is  before 
and  not  after  the  revelation. 

Dr.  Harris  (Masonic  Discourses,  Disc. 
IX.,  p.  184,)  has  met  this  objection  in  the 
following  language : 

"  What  the  ignorant  call  '  the  oath,'  is 
simply  an  obligation,  covenant,  and  prom- 
ise, exacted  previously  to  the  divulging  of 
the  specialties  of  the  Order,  and  our  means 
of  recognizing  each  other ;  that  they  shall 
be  kept  from  the  knowledge  of  the  world, 
lest  their  original  intent  should  be  thwarted, 
and  their  benevolent  purport  prevented. 
Now,  pray,  what  harm  is  there  in  this  ?  Do 
you  not  all,  when  you  have  anything  of  a 
private  nature  which  you  are  willing  to 
confide  in  a  particular  friend,  before  you  tell 
him  what  it  is,  demand  a  solemn  promise  of 
secrecy.  And  is  there  not  the  utmost  pro- 
priety in  knowing  whether  your  friend  is  de- 
termined to  conceal  your  secret,  before  you 
presume  to  reveal  it?  Your •  answer  con- 
futes your  cavil." 

Thirdly.  The  objection  that  the  oath  is 
accompanied  by  certain  superstitious  cere- 
monies does  not  seem  to  be  entitled  to  much 
weight.  Oaths,  in  all  countries  and  at  all 
times,  have  been  accompanied  by  peculiar 
rites,  intended  to  increase  the  solemnity 
and  reverence  of  the  act.  The  ancient 
Hebrews,  when  they  took  an  oath,  placed 
the  hand  beneath  the  thigh  of  the  person 
to  whom  they  swore.  Sometimes  the  an- 
cients took  hold  of  the  horns  of  the  altar, 
and  touched  the  sacrificial  fire,  as  in  the 
league  between  Latinus  and  iEneas,  where 
the  ceremony  is  thus  described  by  Virgil : 

"Tango    aras;    mediosque   ignes,    et   numina, 
tester." 

Sometimes  they  extended  the  right  hand  to 
heaven,  and  swore  by  earth,  sea,  and  stars. 
Sometimes,  as  among  the  Romans  in  pri- 
vate contracts,  the  person  swearing  laid  his 
hand  upon  the  hand  of  the  party  to  whom 
he  swore.  In  all  solemn  covenants  the  oath 
was  accompanied  by  a  sacrifice ;  and  some 
of  the  hair  being  cut  from  the  victim's 
head,  a  part  of  it  was  given  to  all  present, 
that  each  one  might  take  a  share  in  the 
oath,  and  be  subject  to  the  imputation. 
Other  ceremonies  were  practised  at  various 
times  and  in  different  countries,  for  the 
purpose  of  throwing  around  the  act  of  at- 
testation an  increased  amount  of  awe  and 


540 


OATH 


OATH 


respect.  The  oath  is  equally  obligatory 
without  them ;  but  they  have  their  signifi- 
cance, and  there  can  be  no  reason  why  the 
Freemasons  should  not  be  allowed  to  adopt 
the  mode  most  pleasing  to  themselves  of 
exacting  their  promises  or  confirming  their 
covenants. 

Fourthly.  It  is  objected  that  the  oath  is 
attended  with  a  penalty  of  a  serious  or 
capital  nature.  If  this  be  the  case,  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  expression  of  a  penalty 
of  any  nature  whatever  can  affect  the  pur- 
port or  augment  the  solemnity  of  an  oath, 
which  is,  in  fact,  an  attestation  of  God  to 
the  truth  of  a  declaration,  as  a  witness  and 
avenger ;  and  hence  every  oath  includes  in 
itself,  and  as  its  very  essence,  the  covenant 
of  God's  wrath,  the  heaviest  of  all  penal- 
ties, as  the  necessary  consequence  of  its  vio- 
lation. A  writer,  in  reply  to  the  Synod  of 
Scotland,  (Scot's  Mag.,  Oct.  1757,)  quotes  the 
opinion  of  an  eminent  jurist  to  this  effect: 
"  It  seems  to  be  certain  that  every  prom- 
issory oath,  in  whatever  form  it  may  be 
conceived,  whether  explicitly  or  implicitly, 
virtually  contains  both  an  attestation  and 
an  obsecration ;  for  in  an  oath  the  execra- 
tion supposes  an  attestation  as  a  precedent, 
and  the  attestation  infers  an  execration  as 
a  necessary  consequence. 

"  Hence,  then,  to  the  believer  in  a  super- 
intending Providence,  every  oath  is  an 
affirmation,  negation,  or  promise,  corrobo- 
rated by  the  attestation  of  the  Divine  Be- 
ing." This  attestation  includes  an  obse- 
cration of  divine  punishment  in  case  of  a 
violation,  and  it  is,  therefore,  a  matter  of 
no  moment  whether  this  obsecration  or 
penalty  be  expressed  in  words  or  only  im- 
plied ;  its  presence  or  absence  does  not,  in 
any  degree,  alter  the  nature  of  the  obliga- 
tion. If  in  any  promise  or  vow  made  by 
Masons,  such  a  penalty  is  inserted,  it  may 
probably  be  supposed  that  it  is  used  only 
with  a  metaphorical  and  paraph rastical 
signification,  and  for  the  purpose  of  sym- 
bolic or  historical  allusion.  Any  other  in- 
terpretation but  this  would  be  entirely  at 
variance  with  the  opinions  of  the  most  in- 
telligent Masons,  who,  it  is  to  be  presumed, 
best  know  the  intent  and  meaning  of  their 
own  ceremonies. 

Fifthly.  The  last,  and,  indeed,  the  most 
important  objection  urged  is,  that  these 
oaths  are  construed  by  Masons  as  being  of 
higher  obligation  than  the  law  of  the  land. 
It  is  vain  that  this  charge  has  been  repeat- 
edly and  indignantly  denied;  it  is  in  vain 
that  Masons  point  to  the  integrity  of  char- 
acter of  thousands  of  eminent  men  who 
have  been  members  of  the  Fraternity ;  it 
is  in  vain  that  they  recapitulate  the  order- 
loving  and  law-fearing  regulations  of  the 
Institution;  the  charge  is  renewed  with 


untiring  pertinacity,  and  believed  with  a 
credulity  that  owes  its  birth  to  rancorous 
prejudice  alone.  To  repeat  the  denial  is 
but  to  provoke  a  repetition  of  the  charge. 
The  answer  is,  however,  made  by  one  who, 
once  a  Mason,  was  afterwards  an  opponent 
and  an  avowed  enemy  of  the  Institution, 
W.  L.  Stone  (Letters  on  Masonry  and  Anti- 
Masonry,  Let.  VII.,  p.  69,)  uses  the  follow- 
ing language : 

Is  it,  then,  to  be  believed  that  men  of 
acknowledged  talents  and  worth  in  public 
stations,  and  of  virtuous  and,  frequently, 
religious  habits,  in  the  walks  of  private 
life,  with  the  Holy  Bible  in  their  hands,  — 
which  they  are  solemnly  pledged  to  re- 
ceive as  the  rule  and  guide  of  their  faith 
and  practice,  —  and  under  the  grave  and 
positive  charge  from  the  officer  administer- 
ing the  obligation,  that  it  is  to  be  taken  in 
strict  subordination  to  the  civil  laws,  —  can 
understand  that  obligation,  whatever  may 
be  the  peculiarities  of  its  phraseology,  as 
requiring  them  to  countenance  vice  and 
criminality  even  by  silence  ?  Can  it  for  a 
moment  be  supposed  that  the  hundreds  of 
eminent  men,  whose  patriotism  is  unques- 
tioned, and  the  exercise  of  whose  talents 
and  virtues  has  shed  a  lustre  upon  the 
church  history  of  our  country,  and  who,  by 
their  walk  and  conversation,  have,  in  their 
own  lives,  illustrated  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness? Is  it  to  be  credited  that  the  tens  of 
thousands  of  those  persons,  ranking  among 
the  most  intelligent  and  virtuous  citizens 
of  the  most  moral  and  enlightened  people 
on  earth,  —  is  it,  I  ask,  possible  that  any 
portion  of  this  community  can,  on  calm 
reflection,  believe  that  such  men  have  oaths 
upon  their  consciences  binding  them  to 
eternal  silence  in  regard  to  the  guilt  of  any 
man  because  he  happens  to  be  a  Freema- 
son, no  matter  what  be  the  grade  of  offence, 
whether  it  be  the  picking  of  a  pocket  or 
the  shedding  of  blood?  It  does  really  seem 
to  me  impossible  that  such  an  opinion 
could,  at  any  moment,  have  prevailed,  to 
any  considerable  extent,  amongst  reflecting 
and  intelligent  citizens." 

Oath,  Corporal.  The  modern  form 
of  taking  an  oath  is  by  placing  the  hands 
on  the  Gospels  or  on  the  Bible.  The  cor- 
porate, or  corporal  cloth,  is  the  name  of  the 
linen  cloth  on  which,  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church,  the  sacred  elements  conse- 
crated as  "the  body  of  our  Lord"  are 
placed.  Hence  the  expression  corporal  oath 
originated  in  the  ancient  custom  of  swear- 
ing while  touching  the  corporal  cloth. 
Relics  were  sometimes  made  use  of.  The 
laws  of  the  Allemanni  (cap.  657)  direct 
that  he  who  swears  shall  place  his  hand 
upon  the  coffer  containing  the  relics.  The 
idea  being  that  something  sacred  must  be 


OATH 


OBEDIENCE 


541 


touched  by  the  hand  of  the  jurator  to  give 
validity  to  the  oath,  in  time  the  custom  was 
adopted  of  substituting  the  holy  Gospels  for 
the  corporal  cloth  or  the  relics,  though  the 
same  title  was  retained.  Haydn  {Diet,  of 
Dates)  says  that  the  practice  of  swearing 
on  the  Gospels  prevailed  in  England  so 
early  as  A.  D.  528.  The  laws  of  the  Lom- 
bards repeatedly  mention  the  custom  of 
swearing  on  the  Gospels.  The  sanction  of 
the  church  was  given  at  an  early  period  to 
the  usage.  Thus,  in  the  history  of  the 
Council  of  Constantinople,  (Anno  381,)  it 
is  stated  that  "George,  the  well-beloved 
of  God,  a  deacon  and  keeper  of  the  records, 
having  touched  the  Holy  Gospels  of  God, 
swore  in  this  manner,"  etc.     And  a  similar 

Sractice  was  adopted  at  the  Council  of 
fice,  fifty-six  years  before.  The  custom 
of  swearing  on  the  book,  thereby  meaning 
the  Gospels,  was  adopted  by  the  mediaeval 
gild  of  Freemasons,  and  allusions  to  it  are 
found  in  all  the  Old  Constitutions.  Thus 
in  the  York  Manuscript,  about  the  year 
1600,  it  is  said,  "These  charges  .  .  .  you 
shall  well  and  truly  keep  to  your  power ;  so 
help  you  God  and  the  contents  of  that 
book."  And  in  the  Grand  Lodge  Manu- 
script in  1632  we  find  this :  "  These  charges 
ye  shall  keepe,  so  healpe  you  God,  and  your 
haly  dome  and  by  this  booke  in  your  hands." 
The  form  of  the  ceremony  required  that  the 
corporal  oath  should  be  taken  with  both 
hands  on  the  book,  or  with  one  hand,  and 
then  always  the  right  hand. 

Oath  of  the  Gild.  The  oath  that  was 
administered  in  the  English  Freemasons' 
gild  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  first  met  with 
in  the  Harleian  Manuscript,  written  about 
the  year  1676.  The  31st  article  prescribes : 
"  That  noe  person  shall  bee  accepted  a  Free 
Mason,  or  know  the  secrets  of  the  said 
Society,  until  hee  hath  first  taken  the  oath 
of  secrecy  hereafter  following : 

"  I,  A.  B.  Doe,  in  the  presence  of  Al- 
mighty God  and  my  Fellowes  and  Brethren 
here  present,  promise  and  declare  that  I 
will  not  at  any  time  hereafter,  by  any  act 
or  circumstance  whatsoever,  directly  or  in- 
directly, publish,  discover,  reveale,  or  make 
knowne  any  of  the  secrets,  priviledges  or 
counsells  of  the  Fraternity  or  fellowship  of 
Free  Masonry,  which  at  this  time,  or  any 
time  hereafter,  shall  be  made  knowne  unto 
mee;  soe  helpe  mee  God  and  the  holy  con- 
tents of  this  booke."  In  the  Roberts'  Con- 
stitutions, published  in  1722,  this  oath, 
substantially  in  the  same  words,  is  for  the 
first  time  printed  with  the  amendment  of 
"  privities  "  for  "  priviledges." 

Oath,  Tiler's.  Before  any  strange 
and  unknown  visitor  can  gain  admission 
into  a  Masonic  Lodge,  he  is  required  to 
take  the  following  oath : 


"I,  A.  B.,  do  hereby  and  hereon  solemn- 
ly and  sincerely  swear  that  I  have  been 
regularly  initiated,  passed,  and  raised  to 
the  sublime  degree  of  a  Master  Mason  in 
a  just  and  legally  constituted  Lodge  of  such ; 
that  I  do  not  now  stand  suspended  or  ex- 
pelled; and  know  of  no  reason  why  I 
should  not  hold  Masonic  communication 
with  my  brethren." 

It  is  called  the  "  Tiler's  oath,"  because  it 
is  usually  taken  in  the  Tiler's  room,  and 
was  formerly  administered  by  that  offi- 
cer, whose  duty  it  is  to  protect  the  Lodge 
from  the  approach  of  unauthorized  visitors. 
It  is  now  administered  by  the  committee 
of  examination,  and  not  only  he  to  whom 
it  is  administered,  but  he  who  administers 
it,  and  all  who  are  present,  must  take  it  at 
the  same  time.  It  is  a  process  of  purga- 
tion, and  each  one  present,  the  visitor  as 
well  as  the  members  of  the  Lodge,  is  enti- 
tled to  know  that  all  the  others  are  legally 
qualified  to  be  present  at  the  esoteric  ex- 
amination which  is  about  to  take  place. 

OB.  A  Masonic  abbreviation  of  the 
word  Obligation,  sometimes  written  O.  B. 

Obedience.  The  doctrine  of  obe- 
dience to  constituted  authority  is  strongly 
inculcated  in  all  the  Old  Constitutions  as 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  associ- 
ation. In  them  it  is  directed  that  "  every 
Mason  shall  prefer  his  elder  and  put  him 
to  worship."  Thus  the  Master  Mason  obeys 
the  order  of  his  Lodge,  the  Lodge  obeys 
the  mandates  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  and  the 
Grand  Lodge  submits  to  the  landmarks  and 
the  old  regulations.  The  doctrine  of  pas- 
sive obedience  and  non-resistance  in  poli- 
tics, however  much  it  may  be  supposed  to 
be  inimical  to  the  progress  of  free  institu- 
tions, constitutes  undoubtedly  the  great 
principle  of  Masonic  government.  Such  a 
principle  would  undoubtedly  lead  to  an  un- 
bearable despotism,  were  it  not  admirably 
modified  and  controlled  by  the  compensa- 
ting principle  of  appeal.  The  first  duty  of 
every  Mason  is  to  obey  the  mandate  of  the 
Master.  But  if  that  mandate  should  have 
been  unlawful  or  oppressive,  he  will  find 
his  redress  in  the  Grand  Lodge,  which  will 
review  the  case  and  render  justice.  This 
spirit  of  instant  obedience  and  submission 
to  authority  constitutes  the  great  safe- 
guard of  the  Institution.  Freemasonry 
more  resembles  a  military  than  a  political 
organization.  The  order  must  at  once  be 
obeyed ;  its  character  and  its  consequences 
may  be  matters  of  subsequent  inquiry.  The 
Masonic  rule  of  obedience  is  like  the  nau- 
tical, imperative:  "Obey  orders,  even  if 
you  break  owners." 

Obedience  of  a  Grand  Body. 
Obedience,  used  in  the  sense  of  being  under 
the  jurisdiction,  is  a  technicality  borrowed 


642 


OBELISK 


OBVERSE 


only  recently  by  Masonic  authorities  from 
the  French,  where  it  has  always  been 
regularly  used.  Thus  "  the  Grand  Lodge 
has  addressed  a  letter  to  all  the  Lodges  of 
its  obedience "  means  "  to  all  the  Lodges 
under  its  jurisdiction."  In  French,  "  a 
toutes  les  Loges  de  sou  obedience."  It 
comes  originally  from  the  usage  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  in  the  low  Latin  of  which  obedi- 
entia  meant  the  homage  which  a  vassal 
owed  to  his  lord.    In  the  ecclesiastical  lan- 

fuage  of  the  same  period,  the  word  signi- 
ed  the  duty  or  office  of  a  monk  towards 
his  superior. 

Obelisk.  The  obelisk  is  a  quadrangu- 
lar, monolithic  column,  diminishing  up- 
wards, with  the  sides  gently  inclined,  but 
not  so  as  to  terminate  in  a  pointed  apex, 
but  to  form  at  the  top  a  flattish,  pyramidal 
figure,  by  which  the  whole  is  finished  off 
and  brought  to  a  point.  It  was  the  most  com- 
mon species  of  monument  in  ancient  Egypt, 
where  they  are  still  to  be  found  in  great 
numbers,  the  sides  being  covered  with  hiero- 
glyphic inscriptions.  Obelisks  were,  it  is 
supposed,  originally  erected  in  honor  of  the 
sun  god.  Pliny  says  (Holland's  trans.), 
"  The  kings  of  Egypt  in  times  past  made 
of  this  stone  certain  long  beams,  which  they 
called  obelisks,  and  consecrated  them  unto 
the  sun,  whom  they  honored  as  a  god ;  and, 
indeed,  some  resemblance  they  carry  of  sun- 
beams." In  continental  Masonry  the  mon- 
ument in  the  Master's  degree  is  often  made 
in  the  form  of  an  obelisk,  with  the  letters 
M.  B.  inscribed  upon  it.  And  this  form 
is  appropriate,  because  in  Masonic,  as  in 
Christian,  iconography  the  obelisk  is  a 
symbol  of  the  resurrection. 

Objections  to  Freemasonry.  The 
principal  objections  that  have  been  urged 
by  its  opponents  to  the  institution  of  Free- 
masonry may  be  arranged  under  six  heads. 
1.  Its  secrecy;  2.  The  exclusiveness  of  its  char- 
ity ;  3.  Its  admission  of  unworthy  members ; 
4.  Its  claim  to  be  a  religion  ;  5.  Its  admin- 
istration of  unlawful  oaths;  and  6.  Its 
puerility  as  a  system  of  instruction.  Each 
of  these  objections  is  replied  to  in  this 
work  under  the  respective  heads  of  the 
words  which  are  italicized  above. 

Obligated.  To  be  obligated,  in  Ma- 
sonic language,  is  to  be  admitted  into  the 
covenant  of  Masonry.  "  An  obligated  Ma- 
son "  is  tautological,  because  there  can  be 
no  Mason  who  is  not  an  obligated  one. 

Obligation.  The  solemn  promise 
made  by  a  Mason  on  his  admission  into 
any  degree  is  technically  called  his  obliga- 
tion. In  a  legal  sense,  obligation  is  sy- 
nonymous with  duty.  Its  derivation  shows 
its  true  meaning,  for  the  Latin  word  obli- 
gatio  literally  signifies  a  tying  or  binding. 
The  obligation  is  that  which  binds  a  man 


to  do  some  act,  the  doing  of  which  thus 
becomes  his  duty.  By  his  obligation,  a 
Mason  is  bound  or  tied  to  his  Order. 
Hence  the  Romans  called  the  military 
oath  which  was  taken  by  the  soldier  his 
obligation,  and  hence,  too,  it  is  said  that  it  is 
the  obligation  that  makes  the  Mason.  Be- 
fore that  ceremony,  there  is  no  tie  that 
binds  the  candidate  to  the  Order  so  as  to 
make  him  a  part  of  it ;  after  the  ceremony, 
the  tie  has  been  completed,  and  the  candi- 
date becomes  at  once  a  Mason,  entitled  to 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  and  subject  to 
all  the  duties  and  responsibilities  that  en- 
ure in  that  character.  The  jurists  have 
divided  obligations  into  imperfect  and  per- 
fect, or  natural  and  civil.  In  Masonry 
there  is  no  such  distinction.  The  Ma- 
sonic obligation  is  that  moral  one  which, 
although  it  cannot  be  enforced  by  the 
courts  of  law,  is  binding  on  the  party  who 
makes  it,  in  conscience  and  according  to 
moral  justice.  It  varies  in  each  degree, 
but  in  each  is  perfect.  Its  different  clauses, 
in  which  different  duties  are  prescribed, 
are  called  its  points,  which  are  either  af- 
firmative or  negative,  a  division  like  that 
of  the  precepts  of  the  Jewish  law.  The 
affirmative  points  are  those  which  require 
certain  acts  to  be  performed ;  the  negative 
points  are  those  which  forbid  certain  other 
acts  to  be  done.  The  whole  of  them  is 
preceded  by  a  general  point  of  secrecy, 
common  to  all  the  degrees,  and  this  point 
is  called  the  tie. 

Oblong  Square.  A  parallelogram, 
or  four-sided  figure,  all  of  whose  angles  are 
equal,  but  two  of  whose  sides  are  longer 
than  the  others. 

This  is  the  symbolic  form  of  a  Masonic 
Lodge,  and  it  finds  its  prototype  in  many 
of  the  structures  of  our  ancient  brethren. 
The  ark  of  Noah,  the  camp  of  the  Israel- 
ites, the  ark  of  the  Covenant,  the  Taber- 
nacle, and,  lastly,  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
were  all  oblong  squares.  See  Ground- 
Floor  of  the  Lodge. 

Observance,  Clerks  of  Strict. 
See  Clerks  of  Strict  Observance. 

Observance,  Lax.  See  Lax  Observ- 
ance. 

Observance,  Relaxed.  [Observ- 
ance Relachee.)  This  is  the  term  by  which 
Ragon  translates  the  lata  observantia  or 
lax  observance  applied  by  the  disciples 
of  Von  Hund  to  the  other  Lodges  of  Ger- 
many. Ragon  (Orth.  Macon.,  p.  236,)  calls 
it  incorrectly  a  Rite,  and  confounds  it  with 
the  Clerks  of  Strict  Observance.  See  Lax 
Observance. 

Observance,  Strict.  See  Strict  Ob- 
servance. 

Obverse.  In  numismatics  that  side 
of  a  coin  or  medal  which   contains   the 


OCCASIONAL 


OHIO 


543 


principal  figure,  generally  a  face  in  profile 
or  a  full  or  half-length  figure,  is  called  the 
obverse. 

Occasional  Lodge.  A  temporary 
Lodge  convoked  by  a  Grand  Master  for 
the  purpose  of  making  Masons,  after  which 
the  Lodge  is  dissolved.  The  phrase  was 
first  used  by  Anderson  in  the  second  edition 
of  the  Book  of  Constitutions,  and  is  repeated 
by  subsequent  editors.  To  make  a  Mason 
in  an  Occasional  Lodge  is  equivalent  to 
making  him  "  at  sight."  But  any  Lodge, 
called  temporarily  by  the  Grand  Master 
for  a  specific  purpose  and  immediately  after- 
wards dissolved,  is  an  Occasional  Lodge. 
Its  organization  as  to  officers,  and  its  regu- 
lations as  to  ritual,  must  be  the  same  as  in 
a  permanent  and  properly  warranted  Lodge. 
See  Sight,  Making  Masons  at. 

Occult  Masonry.  Ragon,  in  his  Or- 
thodoxie  Maconnique,  proposes  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Masonic  system,  which  he 
calls  "Occult  Masonry."  It  consists  of 
three  degrees,  which  are  the  same  as  those 
of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  only  that  all  the 
symbols  are  interpreted  after  alchemical 
principles.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  application 
of  Masonic  symbolism  to  hermetic  symbol- 
ism— two  things  that  never  did,  according 
to  Hitchcock,  materially  differ. 

Occult  Sciences.  This  name  is  given 
to  the  sciences  of  alchemy,  magic,  and  as- 
trology, which  existed  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Many  of  the  speculations  of  these  so-called 
sciences  were  in  the  eighteenth  century 
made  use  of  in  the  construction  of  the  high 
degrees.  We  have  even  a  "  Hermetic  Rite" 
which  is  based  on  the  dogmas  of  alchemy. 
Occupied  Territory.  A  state  or 
kingdom  where  there  is  a  Grand  Lodge  or- 
ganization and  subordinate  Lodges  work- 
ing under  it  is  said  to  be  occupied  territory, 
and,  by  the  American  and  English  law,  all 
other  Grand  Lodges  are  precluded  from  en- 
tering in  it  and  exercising  jurisdiction. 
See  Jurisdiction  of  a  Grand  Lodge. 

Octagon.  The  regular  octagon  is  a 
geometrical  figure  of  eight  equal  sides  and 
angles.  It  is  a  favorite  form  in  Christian 
ecclesiology,  and  most  of  the  Chapter- 
Houses  of  the  cathedrals  in  England  are 
eight  sided.  It  is  sometimes  used  in  rituals 
of  Knights  of  Malta,  and  then,  like  the 
eight-pointed  cross  of  the  same  Order,  is 
referred  symbolically  to  the  eight  beatitudes 
of  our  Saviour. 

Odd  \  u  in  Iters.  In  the  numerical 
philosophy  of  the  Pythagoreans,  odd  num- 
bers were  male  and  even  numbers  female. 
It  is  wrong,  however,  to  say,  as  Oliver  and 
some  others  after  him  have,  that  odd  num- 
bers were  perfect  and  even  numbers  imper- 
fect. The  combination  of  two  odd  num- 
bers would  make  an  even  number,  which 


was  the  most  perfect.  Hence,  in  the  Py- 
thagorean system,  4,  made  by  the  combina- 
tion of  1  and  3,  and  10,  by  the  combination 
of  3  and  7,  are  the  most  perfect  of  all 
numbers.  Herein  the  Pythagorean  differs 
from  the  Masonic  system  of  numerals.  In 
this  latter  all  the  sacred  numbers  are  odd, 
such  as  3,  5,  7,  9,  27,  and  81.  Thus  it  is 
evident  that  the  Masonic  theory  of  sacred 
numbers  was  derived,  not,  as  it  has  been 
supposed,  from  the  school  of  Pythagoras, 
but  from  a  much  older  system. 

Offences,  Masonic.  See  Crimes, 
Masonic. 

Offerings,  The  Three  Grand. 
See  Ground-Floor  of  the  Lodge. 

Officers.  The  officers  of  a  Grand 
Lodge,  Grand  Chapter,  or  other  Supreme 
body  in  Masonry,  are  divided  into  Grand 
and  Subordinate ;  the  former,  who  are  the 
Grand  and  Deputy  Grand  Master,  the 
Grand  Wardens  and  Grand  Treasurer,  Sec- 
retary, and  Chaplain,  are  also  sometimes 
called  the  Dignitaries.  The  officers  of  a 
Lodge  or  Chapter  are  divided  into  the 
Elected  and  the  Appointed,  the  former  in 
this  country  being  the  Master,  Wardens, 
Treasurer,  and  Secretary. 

Officers'  Jewels.  See  Jewels,  Offi- 
cial. 

Office,  Tenure  of.  In  Masonry  the 
tenure  of  every  office  is  not  only  for  the 
time  for  which  the  incumbent  was  elected 
or  appointed,  but  extends  to  the  day  on 
which  his  successor  is  installed.  During 
the  period  which  elapses  from  the  election 
of  that  successor  until  his  installation,  the 
old  officer  is  technically  said  to  "  hold 
over." 

Oheh  Eloah.  mSx  2HX.  Love  of  God. 
This  and  Oheb  Karobo,  Love  of  our 
Neighbor,  are  the  names  of  the  two  supports 
of  the  Ladder  of  Kadosh.  Collectively,  they 
allude  to  that  divine  passage,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment. And  the  second  is  like  unto 
it,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 
On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the 
law  and  the  prophets."  Hence  the  Ladder 
of  Kadosh  is  supported  by  these  two  Chris- 
tian commandments. 
Oheb  Karobo.  See  Oheb  Eloah. 
Ohio.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  Ohio  early  in  the  present  century. 
On  January  4,  1808,  a  convention  of  dele- 
gates from  the  five  Lodges  then  in  the 
State  met  at  Chillicothe,  and  on  January 
7  organized  a  Grand  Lodge,  electing  Ru- 
fus  Putnam  first  Grand  Master.  The 
Grand  Chapter  of  Ohio  was  organized  in 
1816,  the  Grand  Council  in  1829,  and  the 
Grand  Commandery  in  1843. 


544 


OIL 


OLIVER 


Oil.  The  Hebrews  anointed  their  kings, 
prophets,  and  high  priests  with  oil  mingled 
with  the  richest  spices.  They  also  anointed 
themselves  with  oil  on  all  festive  occasions, 
whence  the  expression  in  Psalm  xlv.  7, 
"God  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of 
gladness."    See  Corn. 

Old  Man.  Old  men  in  their  dotage 
are  by  the  laws  of  Masonry  disqualified  for 
initiation.  For  the  reason  of  this  law,  see 
Dotage. 

Old  Regulations.  The  regulations 
for  the  government  of  the  Craft,  which  were 
first  compiled  by  Grand  Master  Payne  in 

1720,  and  approved  by  the  Grand  Lodge  in 

1721,  were  published  by  Anderson  in  1723, 
in  the  first  edition  of  the  Book  of  Constitu- 
tions, under  the  name  of  General  Regula- 
tions. In  1738  Anderson  published  a  second 
edition  of  the  Book  of  Constitutions,  and 
inserted  these  regulations  under  the  name 
of  Old  Regulations,  placing  in  an  opposite 
column  the  alterations  which  had  been  made 
in  them  by  the  Grand  Lodge  at  different 
times  between  1723  and  1737,  and  called 
these  New  Regulations.  When  Dermott  pub- 
lished his  Ahiman  Rezon,  or  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions of  the  schismatic  Grand  Lodge, 
he  adopted  Anderson's  plan,  publishing  in 
two  columns  the  Old  and  the  New  Regula- 
tions. But  he  made  some  important  changes 
in  the  latter  to  accommodate  the  policy  of 
his  own  Grand  Lodge.  The  Old  Regula- 
tions, more  properly  known  as  the  "  General 
Regulations  of  1722,"  are  recognized  as  the 
better  authority  in  questions  of  Masonic 
law. 

OliTe.  In  a  secondary  sense,  the  olive 
plant  is  a  symbol  of  peace  and  victory ;  but 
in  its  primary  sense,  like  all  the  other  sa- 
cred plants  of  antiquity,  it  was  a  symbol  of 
resurrection  and  immortality.  Hence  in 
the  Ancient  Mysteries  it  was  the  analogue 
of  the  Acacia  of"  Freemasonry. 

OI  i  ve- Branch  in  the  East,  Bro- 
therhood of  the.  A  new  Order,  which 
was  proposed  at  Bombay,  in  1845,  by  Dr. 
James  Burnes,  the  author  of  a  History  of  the 
Knights  Templars,  who  was  then  the  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Master  of  England  for  Scot- 
land. It  was  intended  to  provide  a  sub- 
stitute to  native  Masons  for  the  chivalric 
degrees,  from  which,  on  account  of  their 
religious  faith,  they  were  excluded.  It 
consisted  of  three  classes,  Novice,  Com- 
panion, and  Officer.  For  the  first,  it  was 
requisite  that  the  candidate  should  have 
been  initiated  into  Masonry ;  for  the  second, 
that  he  should  be  a  Master  Mason ;  and  for 
the  third  it  was  recommended,  but  not  im- 
peratively required,  that  he  should  have 
attained  the  Royal  Arch  degree.  The 
badge  of  the  Order  was  a  dove  descending 
with  a  green  olive-branch  in  its  mouth. 


The  new  Order  was  received  with  much 
enthusiasm  by  the  most  distinguished  Ma- 
sons of  India,  but  it  did  not  secure  a  per- 
manent existence. 

Oliver,  George.  The  Rev.  George 
Oliver,  D.D.,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
and  learned  of  English  Masons,  was  de- 
scended from  an  ancient  Scottish  family  of 
that  name,  some  of  whom  came  into  Eng- 
land in  the  time  of  James  I.,  and  settled 
at  Clipstone  Park,  Nottinghamshire.  He 
was  the  eldest  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Oliver,  rector  of  Lambley,  Nottingham- 
shire, and  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  George 
Whitehead,  Esq.  He  was  born  at  Pepple- 
wick,  November  5th,  1782,  and  received  a 
liberal  education  at  Nottingham.  In  1803, 
when  but  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was 
elected  second  master  of  the  grammar- 
school  at  Caiston,  Lincoln.  In  1809  he 
was  appointed  to  the  head-mastership  of 
King  Edward's  Grammar-School  at  Great 
Grimsby.  In  1813  he  entered  holy  orders 
in  the  Church  of  England,  and  was  ordained 
a  deacon.  The  subsequent  year  he  was 
made  a  priest.  In  the  spring  of  1815, 
Bishop  Tomline  collated  him  to  the  living 
of  Clee,  his  name  being  at  the  time  placed 
on  the  boards  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, as  a  ten-year  man  by  Dr.  Bayley, 
Sub-dean  of  Lincoln  and  examining  Chap- 
lain to  the  Bishop.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  admitted  as  Surrogate  and  a  Steward 
of  the  Clerical  Fund.  In  1831,  Bishop 
Kaye  gave  him  the  living  of  Scopwick, 
which  he  held  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  graduated  as  Doctor  of  Divinity  in 
1836,  being  then  rector  of  Wolverhampton, 
and  a  prebendary  of  the  collegiate  church 
at  that  place,  both  of  which  positions  had 
been  presented  to  him  by  Dr.  Hobart,  Dean 
of  Westminster.  In  1846,  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor conferred  on  him  the  rectory  of 
South  Hykeham,  which  vacated  the  incum- 
bency of  Wolverhampton.  At  the  age  of 
seventy-two  Dr.  Oliver's  physical  powers 
began  to  fail,  and  he  was  obliged  to  confine 
the  charge  of  his  parishes  to  the  care  of 
curates,  and  he  passed  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life  in  retirement  at  Lincoln.  In 
1805  he  had  married  Mary  Ann,  the 
youngest  daughter  of  Thomas  Beverley, 
Esq.,  by  whom  he  left  five  children.  He 
died  March  3d,  1867,  at  Eastgate,  Lincoln. 

To  the  literary  world  Dr.  Oliver  was 
well  known  as  a  laborious  antiquary,  and 
his  works  on  ecclesiastical  antiquities  dur- 
ing fifty.years  of  his  life,  from  1811  to  1866, 
earned  for  him  a  high  reputation.  Of 
these  works  the  most  important  were, 
"  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Collegiate 
Church  of  Beverley,"  "History  and  An- 
tiquities of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Wol- 
verhampton," "  History  of  the  Conventual 


OLIVER 


OLIVER 


545 


Church  of  Grimsby,"  "  Monumental  Anti- 
quities of  Grimsby,"  "  History  of  the  Gild 
of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Sleaford,"  "  Letters 
on  the  Druidical  Remains  near  Lincoln," 
"  Guide  to  the  Druidical  Temple  at  Not- 
tingham," and  "  Remains  of  Ancient  Brit- 
ons between  Lincoln  and  Sleaford." 

But  it  is  as  the  most  learned  Mason  and 
the  most  indefatigable  and  copious  Masonic 
author  of  his  age  that  Dr.  Oliver  princi- 

Eally  claims  our  attention.  He  had  in- 
erited  a  love  of  Freemasonry  from  his 
father,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Oliver,  who  was  an 
expert  Master  of  the  work,  the  Chaplain  of 
his  Lodge,  and  contributed  during  a  whole 
year,  from  1797  to  1798,  an  original  Masonic 
song  to  be  sung  on  every  Lodge  night.  His 
son  has  repeatedly  acknowledged  his  in- 
debtedness to  him  for  valuable  information 
in  relation  to  Masonic  usages. 

Dr.  Oliver  was  initiated  by  his  father,  in 
the  year  1801,  in  St.  Peter's  Lodge,  in  the 
city  of  Peterborough.  He  was  at  that  time 
but  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  was  admitted 
by  dispensation  during  his  minority,  ac- 
cording to  the  practice  then  prevailing,  as 
a  lewis,  or  the  son  of  a  Mason. 

Under  the  tuition  of  his  father,  he  made 
much  progress  in  the  rites  and  ceremonies 
then  in  use  among  the  Lodges.  He  read 
with  great  attention  every  Masonic  book 
within  his  reach,  and  began  to  collect  that 
store  of  knowledge  which  he  afterwards 
used  with  so  much  advantage  to  the  Craft. 

Soon  after  his  appointment  as  head  mas- 
ter of  King  Edward's  Grammar-School  at 
Grimsby,  he  established  a  Lodge  in  the 
borough,  the  chair  of  which  he  occupied 
for  fourteen  years.  So  strenuous  were  his 
exertions  for  the  advancement  of  Masonry, 
that  in  1812  he  was  enabled  to  lay  the  first 
stone  of  a  Masonic  hall  in  the  town,  where, 
three  years  before,  there  had  been  scarcely 
a  Mason  residing. 

About  this  time  he  was  exalted  as  a 
Royal  Arch  Mason  in  the  Chapter  attached 
to  the  Rodney  Lodge  at  Kingston-on-Hull. 
In  Chapters  and  Consistories  connected 
with  the  same  Lodge  he  also  received  the 
high  degrees  and  those  of  Masonic  Knight- 
hood. In  1813,  he  was  appointed  a 
Provincial  Grand  Steward;  in  1816,  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Chaplain ;  and  in  1832, 
Provincial  Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the 
Province  of  Lincolnshire.  These  are  all 
the  official  honors  that  he  received,  except 
that  of  Past  Deputy  Grand  Master,  con- 
ferred, as  an  honorary  title,  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Massachusetts.  In  the  year  1840, 
Dr.  Crucefix  had  undeservedly  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  Grand  Master,  the 
Duke  of  Sussex.  Dr.  Oliver,  between  whom 
and  Dr.  Crucefix  there  had  always  been  a 
warm  personal  friendship,  assisted  in  a  pub- 
3  T  35 


lie  demonstration  of  the  Fraternity  in  honor 
of  his  friend  and  brother.  This  involved 
him  in  the  odium,  and  caused  the  Provin- 
cial Grand  Master  of  Lincolnshire,  Brother 
Charles  Tennyson  D'Eyncourt,  to  request 
the  resignation  of  Dr.  Oliver  as  his  Deputy. 
He  complied  with  the  resignation,  and 
after  that  time  withdrew  from  all  active 
participation  in  the  labors  of  the  Lodge. 
The  transaction  was  not  considered  by  any 
means  as  creditable  to  the  independence 
of  character  or  sense  of  justice  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Master,  and  the  Craft  very 
generally  expressed  their  indignation  of 
the  course  which  he  had  pursued,  and  their 
warm  appreciation  of  the  Masonic  services 
of  Dr.  Oliver.  In  1844,  this  appreciation 
was  marked  by  the  presentation  of  an  offer- 
ing of  plate,  which  had  been  very  generally 
subscribed  for  by  the  Craft  throughout  the 
kingdom. 

Dr.  Oliver's  first  contribution  to  the  lit- 
erature of  Freemasonry,  except  a  few  Ma- 
sonic sermons,  was  a  work  entitled  "  The 
Antiquities  of  Freemasonry,  comprising 
illustrations  of  the  five  Grand  Periods  of 
Masonry,  from  the  Creation  of  the  Worfd 
to  the  Dedication  of  King  Solomon's  Tem- 
ple," which  was  published  in  1823.  His 
next  production  was  a  little  work  entitled 
"  The  Star  in  the  East,"  intended  to  show, 
from  the  testimony  of  Masonic  writers,  the 
connection  between  Freemasonry  and  reli- 
gion. In  1841  he  published  twelve  lectures 
on  the  "Signs  and  Symbols"  of  Freema- 
sonry, in  which  he  went  into  a  learned  detail 
of  the  history  and  signification  of  all  the 
recognized  symbols  ofthe  Order.  His  next 
important  contribution  to  Freemasonry  was 
"  The  History  of  Initiation,  in  twelve  lec- 
tures ;  comprising  a  detailed  account  of 
the  Rites  and  Ceremonies,  Doctrines  and 
Discipline,  of  all  the  Secret  and  Mysterious 
Institutions  of  the  Ancient  World,"  pub- 
lished in  1840.  The  professed  object  of  the 
author  was  to  show  the  resemblances  be- 
tween these  ancient  systems  of  initiation 
and  the  Masonic,  and  to  trace  them  to  a 
common  origin ;  a  theory  which,  under 
some  modification,  has  been  very  generally 
accepted  by  Masonic  scholars. 

Following  this  was  "  The  Theocratic  Phil- 
osophy of  Freemasonry,"  a  highly  interest- 
ing work,  in  which  he  discusses  the  specula- 
tive character  ofthe  Institution.  "A  History 
of  Freemasonry  from  1829  to  1840"  has 
proved  a  valuable  appendix  to  the  work  of 
Preston,  an  edition  of  which  he  had  edited 
in  the  former  year.  His  next  and  his 
most  important,  most  interesting,  and  most 
learned  production  was  his  "Historical 
Landmarks  and  other  Evidences  of  Freema- 
sonry Explained."  No  work  with  such  an 
amount  of  facts  in  reference  to  the  Masonic 


546 


OLIVER 


ON 


system  had  ever  before  been  published  by 
any  author.  It  will  forever  remain  as  a 
monument  of  his  vast  research  and  his  ex- 
tensive reading.  But  it  would  be  no  brief 
task  to  enumerate  merely  the  titles  of  the 
many  works  which  he  produced  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  Craft.  A  few  of  them  must 
suffice.  These  are  the  "Revelations  of  a 
Square,"  a  sort  of  Masonic  romance,  detail- 
ing, in  a  fictitious  form,  many  of  the  usages 
of  the  last  centuries,  with  anecdotes  of  the 
principal  Masons  of  that  period;  "The 
Golden  Remains  of  the  Early  Masonic 
Writers,"  in  5  volumes,  each  of  which  con- 
tains an  interesting  introduction  by  the 
editor;  "The  Book  of  the  Lodge,"  a  useful 
manual,  intended  as  a  guide  to  the  ceremo- 
nies of  the  Order ;  "  The  Symbol  of  Glory," 
intended  to  show  the  object  and  end  of 
Freemasonry ;  "A  Mirror  for  the  Johannite 
Masons,"  in  which  he  discusses  the  ques- 
tion of  the  dedication  of  Lodges  to  the 
two  Saints  John;  "  The  Origin  and  Insig- 
nia of  the  Royal  Arch  Degree,"  a  title 
which  explains  itself;  "A  Dictionary  of 
Symbolic  Masonry,"  by  no  means  the  best 
of  his  works.  Almost  his  last  contribution 
to  Masonry  was  his  "  Institutes  of  Masonic 
Jurisprudence,"  a  book  in  which  he  ex- 
pressed views  of  law  that  did  not  meet  with 
the  universal  concurrence  of  his  English 
readers.  Besides  these  elaborate  works,  Dr. 
Oliver  was  a  constant  contributor  to  the 
early  volumes  of  the  London  Freemasons1 
Quarterly  Review,  and  published  a  valu- 
able article,  "  On  the  Gothic  Constitutions," 
in  the  American  Quarterly  Review  of  Free- 
masonry. 

The  great  error  of  Dr.  Oliver,  as  a  Ma- 
sonic teacher,  was  a  too  easy  credulity  or  a 
too  great  warmth  of  imagination,  which 
led  him  to  accept  without  hesitation  the 
crude  theories  of  previous  writers,  and  to 
recognize  documents  and  legends  as  un- 
questionably authentic  whose  truthfulness 
subsequent  researches  have  led  most  Ma- 
sonic scholars  to  doubt  or  to  deny.  His 
statements,  therefore,  as  to  the  origin  or 
the  history  of  the  Order,  have  to  be  received 
with  many  grains  of  allowance.  Yet  it  must 
be  acknowledged  that  no  writer  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  has  ever  done  so  much  to  ele- 
vate the  scientific  character  of  Freemasonry. 

Dr.  Oliver  was  in  fact  the  founder  of 
what  may  be  called  the  literary  school  of 
Masonry.  Bringing  to  the  study  of  the 
Institution  an  amount  of  archaeological 
learning  but  seldom  surpassed,  an  inex- 
haustible fund  of  multifarious  reading, 
and  all  the  laborious  researches  of  a  genu- 
ine scholar,  he  gave  to  Freemasonry  a  lit- 
erary and  philosophic  character  which  has 
induced  many  succeeding  scholars  to  de- 
vote themselves  to  those  studies  which  he 


had  made  so  attractive.  While  his  errone- 
ous theories  and  his  fanciful  speculations 
will  be  rejected,  the  form  and  direction  that 
he  has  given  to  Masonic  speculations  will 
remain,  and  to  him  must  be  accredited  the 
enviable  title  of  the  Father  of  Anglo-Saxon 
Masonic  literature. 

In  reference  to  the  personal  character 
of  Dr.  Oliver,  a  contemporary  journalist 
{Stanford  Mercury)  has  said  that  he  was 
of  a  kind  and  genial  disposition,  charita- 
ble in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  cour- 
teous, affable,  self-denying,  and  beneficent; 
humble,  unassuming,  and  unaffected ;  ever 
ready  to  oblige,  easy  of  approach,  and 
amiable,  yet  firm  in  the  right. 

Dr.  Oliver's  theory  of  the  system  of 
Freemasonry  may  be  briefly  stated  in  these 
words.  He  believed  that  the  Order  was  to 
be  found  in  the  earliest  periods  of  recorded 
history.  It  was  taught  by  Seth  to  his  de- 
scendants, and  practised  by  them  under  the 
name  of  Primitive  or  Pure  Freemasonry. 
It  passed  over  to  Noah,  and  at  the  disper- 
sion of  mankind  suffered  a  division  into 
Pure  and  Spurious.  Pure  Freemasonry 
descended  through  the  Patriarchs  to  Sol- 
omon, and  thence  on  to  the  present  day. 
The  Pagans,  although  they  had  slight 
glimmerings  of  the  Masonic  truths  which 
had  been  taught  by  Noah,  greatly  corrupted 
them,  and  presented  in  their  mysteries  a 
system  of  initiation  to  which  he  gave  the 
name  of  the  Spurious  Freemasonry  of  An- 
tiquity. These  views  he  had  developed 
and  enlarged  and  adorned  out  of  the  simi- 
lar but  less  definitely  expressed  teachings 
of  Hutchinson.  Like  that  writer  also, 
while  freely  admitting  the  principle  of  reli- 
gious tolerance,  he  contended  for  the  strictly 
Christian  character  of  the  Institution,  and 
that,  too,  in  the  narrowest  sectarian  view, 
since  he  believed  that  the  earliest  symbols 
taught  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity,  and  that 
Christ  was  meant  by  the  Masonic  refer- 
ence to  the  Deity  under  the  title  of  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe. 

Omega.     See  Alpha  and  Omega. 

Omnific  Word.  The  Tetragramma- 
ton  is  so  called  because  of  the  omnific 
powers  attributed  by  the  Kabbalists  to  its 
possession  and  true  pronunciation.  (See 
Tetragrammaton.)  The  term  is  also  applied 
to  the  most  significant  word  in  the  Royal 
Arch  system. 

On.  This  is  a  significant  word  in 
Royal  Arch  Masonry,  and  has  been  gener- 
ally explained  as  being  the  name  by  which 
Jehovah  was  worshipped  among  the  Egyp- 
tians. As  this  has  been  recently  denied, 
and  the  word  asserted  to  be  only  the  name 
of  a  city  in  Egypt,  it  is  proper  that  some 
inquiry  should  be  made  into  the  authorities 
on  the  subject.    The  first  mention  of  On  in 


ON 


OPENING 


547 


the  Bible  is  in  the  history  of  Joseph,  to 
whom  Pharaoh  gave  "  to  wife  Asenath,  the 
daughter  of  Poti-pherah,  priest  of  On." 
The  city  of  On  was  in  Lower  Egypt,  be- 
tween the  Nile  and  the  Red  Sea,  and 
"  adorned,"  says  Philippson, "  by  a  gorgeous 
temple  of  the  sun,  in  which  a  numerous 
priesthood  officiated." 

The  investigations  of  modern  Egyptolo- 
gists have  shown  that  this  is  an  error.  On 
was  the  name  of  a  city  where  the  sun-god 
was  worshipped,  but  On  was  not  the  name 
of  that  god. 

Champollion,  in  his  Dictionnaire  Egyp- 
tien,  gives  the  phonetic  char- 
acters, with  the  figurative  sym- 
bols of  a  serpent  and  disk,  and 
a  seated  figure,  as  the  name  of  the  sun-god. 
Now,  of  these  two  characters,  the  upper  one 
has  the  power  of  R,  and  the  lower  of  A, 
and  hence  the  name  of  the  god  is  Ra.  And 
this  is  the  concurrent  testimony  of  Bunsen, 
Lepsius,  Gliddon,  and  all  recent  authorities. 

But  although  On  was  really  the  name  of 
a  city,  the  founders  of  the  Royal  Arch  had, 
with  the  lights  then  before  them,  assumed 
that  it  was  the  name  of  a  god,  and  had  so 
incorporated  it  with  their  system.  With 
better  light  than  theirs,  we  can  no  longer 
accept  their  definition ;  yet  the  word  may 
still  be  retained  as  a  symbol  of  the  Egyp- 
tian god.  I  know  not  who  has  power  to 
reject  it ;  and  if  scholars  preserve,  outside 
of  the  symbolism,  the  true  interpretation, 
no  harm  will  be  done.  It  is  not  the  only 
significant  word  in  Masonry  whose  old 
and  received  meaning  has  been  shown  to 
be  incorrect,  and  sometimes  even  absurd. 
And  yet  the  word  is  still  retained  as  the 
expression  of  an  old  idea. 

Wilkinson  says  of  it :  "  This  city  was  in 
all  ages  a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  metropolis 
of  Lower  Egypt  —  the  prime  seat  of  the 
sacred  mysteries  and  higher  science  of  the 
country,  and  was,  as  such,  the  fountain 
from  which  the  Greek  philosophers  and 
historians  were  allowed  to  draw  the  scanty 
information  which  they  have  transmitted 
to  us."  The  sun,  which  was  there  wor- 
shipped, was  in  the  Egyptian,  as  in  other 
idolatrous  systems,  one  of  the  chief  deities. 
In  another  place  in  the  Bible,  (Jer.  xliii. 
13,)  the  city  of  On  is  called  Bethshemesh, 
the  city  of  the  sun  ;  and  the  Greeks  called 
it  Heliopolis,  which  had  precisely  the  same 
meaning.  Now,  what  was  actually  the 
signification  of  the  word  ON  ?  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  hieroglyphics,  the  sun,  it  is 
true,  is  called  RA ;  but  St.  Cyril,  who,  as 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  should  have  known 
something  of  this  subject,  says  that  On  sig- 
nified, among  the  Egyptians,  the  sun,  ("Qv  M 
eari  /car*  avrolg  6  rj^ioq.)  Higgins  {Celt. 
Druids,  171,)  quotes  an  Irish  commentator 


as  showing  that  the  name  AIN  or  ON  was 
the  name  of  a  triad  of  gods  in  the  Irish 
language.  "All  etymologists,"  Higgins 
continues,  "  have  supposed  the  word  On  to 
mean  the  sun ;  but  how  the  name  arose  has 
not  before  been  explained."  In  another 
work,  (Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.,  p.  109,)  Higgins 
makes  the  following  important  remarks: 
"  Various  definitions  are  given  of  the  word 
ON  ;  but  they  are  all  unsatisfactory.  It  is 
written  in  the  Old  Testament  in  two  ways, 
jlft,  aun,  and  y$,  an.  It  is  usually 
rendered  in  English  by  the  word  On.  This 
word  is  supposed  to  mean  the  sun,  and  the 
Greeks  translated  it  by  the  word  tjltoq,  or 
Sol.  But  I  think  it  only  stood  for  the  sun, 
as  the  emblem  of  the  procreative  power  of 
nature."  Bryan  says,  {Ant.  Mythol.,  i.  19,) 
when  speaking  of  this  word:  "  On,  Eon  or 
Aon,  was  another  title  of  the  sun  among 
the  Amonians.  The  Seventy,  where  the 
word  occurs  in  the  Scriptures,  interpret  it  the 
sun,  and  call  the  city  of  On,  Heliopolis ;  and 
the  Coptic  Pentateuch  renders  the  city  On 
by  the  city  of  the  sun."  Plato,  in  his 
Timceus,  says :  "  Tell  me  of  the  god  ON, 
which  is,  and  never  knew  beginning." 
And  although  Plato  may  have  been  here 
thinking  of  the  Greek  word  ON,  which 
means  Being,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he 
may  have  referred  to  the  god  worshipped 
at  On,  or  Heliopolis,  as  it  was  thence  that 
the  Greeks  derived  so  much  of  their  learn- 
ing. It  would  be  vain  to  attempt  to  make 
an  analogy  between  the  Hindu  sacred  word 
AUM  and  the  Egyptian  ON.  The  fact 
that  the  M  in  the  former  word  is  the  initial 
of  some  secret  word,  renders  the  conver- 
sion of  it  into  M  impossible,  because  it 
would  thereby  lose  its  signification. 

The  old  Masons,  misled  by  the  authority 
of  St.  Cyril,  and  by  the  translation  of  the 
name  of  the  city  into  "  City  of  the  Sun  " 
by  the  Hebrews  and  the  Greeks,  very 
naturally  supposed  that  On  was  the  Egyp- 
tian sun-god,  their  supreme  deity,  as  the 
sun  always  was,  wherever  he  was  wor- 
shipped. Hence,  they  appropriated  that 
name  as  a  sacred  word  explanatory  of  the 
Jewish  Tetragrammaton. 

Onyx,  Ont^-  (Shohem.)  The  second 
stone  in  the  fourth  row  of  the  high  priest's 
breastplate.  It  is  of  a  bluish-black  color, 
and  represented  the  tribe  of  Joseph. 

Opening  of  the  Lodge.  The  ne- 
cessity of  some  preparatory  ceremonies,  of 
a  more  or  less  formal  character,  before  pro- 
ceeding to  the  despatch  of  the  ordinary 
business  of  any  association,  has  always 
been  recognized.  Decorum  and  the  dig- 
nity of  the  meeting  alike  suggest,  even  in 
popular  assemblies  called  only  for  a  tem- 
porary purpose,  that  a  presiding  officer 
shall,  with  some  formality,  be  inducted 


548 


OPENING 


OPENING 


into  the  chair,  and  he  then,  to  use  the  or- 
dinary phrase,  "  opens  "  the  meeting  with 
the  appointment  of  his  necessary  assistants, 
and  with  the  announcement,  in  an  address 
to  the  audience,  explanatory  of  the  objects 
that  have  called  them  together. 

If  secular  associations  have  found  it  ex- 
pedient, by  the  adoption  of  some  prepara- 
tory forms,  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  an 
unseeming  abruptness  in  proceeding  to 
business,  it  may  well  be  supposed  that  re- 
ligious societies  have  been  still  more  ob- 
servant of  the  custom,  and  that,  as  their 
pursuits  are  more  elevated,  the  ceremonies 
of  their  preparation  for  the  object  of  their 
meeting  should  be  still  more  impressive. 

In  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  (those  sacred 
rites  which  have  furnished  so  many  models 
for  Masonic  symbolism,)  the  opening  cere- 
monies were  of  the  most  solemn  character. 
The  sacred  herald  commenced  the  cere- 
monies of  opening  the  greater  initiations 
by  the  solemn  formula  of  "  Depart  hence, 
ye  profane  I "  to  which  was  added  a  proc- 
lamation which  forbade  the  use  of  any 
language  which  might  be  deemed  of  un- 
favorable augury  to  the  approaching  rites. 

In  like  manner  a  Lodge  of  Masons  is 
opened  with  the  employment  of  certain 
ceremonies  in  which,  that  attention  may 
be  given  to  their  symbolic  as  well  as  prac- 
tical importance,  every  member  present  is 
expected  to  take  a  part. 

These  ceremonies,  which  slightly  differ 
in  each  of  the  degrees  —  but  differ  so 
slightly  as  not  to  affect  their  general  char- 
acter—  may  be  considered,  in  reference  to 
the  several  purposes  which  they  are  de- 
signed to  effect,  to  be  divided  into  eight 
successive  steps  or  parts. 

1.  The  Master  having  signified  his  in- 
tention to  proceed  to  the  labors  of  the 
Lodge,  every  brother  is  expected  to  assume 
his  necessary  Masonic  clothing  and,  if  an 
ofiicer,  the  insignia  of  his  office,  and  si- 
lently and  decorously  to  repair  to  his  ap- 
propriate station. 

2.  The  next  step  in  the  ceremony  is, 
with  the  usual  precautions,  to  ascertain 
the  right  of  each  one  to  be  present.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that,  in  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty,  the  officers  who  are 
charged  with  it  should  allow  no  one  to 
remain  who  is  not  either  well  known  to 
themselves  or  properly  vouched  for  by 
some  discreet  and  experienced  brother. 

3.  Attention  is  next  directed  to  the  ex- 
ternal avenues  of  the  Lodge,  and  the  officers 
within  and  without  who  are  intrusted  with 
the  performance  of  this  important  duty,  are 
expected  to  execute  it  with  care  and  fidel- 
ity. 

4.  By  a  wise  provision,  it  is  no  sooner  in- 
timated to  the  Master  that  he  may  safely 


proceed,  than  he  directs  his  attention  to  an 
inquiry  into  the  knowledge  possessed  by 
his  officers  of  the  duties  that  they  will  be 
respectively  called  upon  to  perform. 

5.  Satisfied  upon  this  point,  the  Master 
then  announces,  by  formal  proclamation, 
his  intention  to  proceed  to  business;  and, 
mindful  of  the  peaceful  character  of  our 
Institution,  he  strictly  forbids  all  immoral 
or  unmasonic  conduct  whereby  the  har- 
mony of  the  Lodge  may  be  impeded, 
under  no  less  a  penalty  than  the  by-laws 
may  impose,  or  a  majority  of  the  brethren 
present  may  see  fit  to  inflict.  Nor,  after 
this,  is  any  brother  permitted  to  leave  the 
Lodge  during  Lodge  hours  (that  is,  from 
the  time  of  opening  to  that  of  closing,) 
without  having  first  obtained  the  Worship- 
ful Master's  permission. 

6.  Certain  mystic  rites,  which  can  here 
be  only  alluded  to,  are  then  employed,  by 
which  each  brother  present  signifies  his 
concurrence  in  the  ceremonies  which  have 
beeu  performed,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
degree  in  which  the  Lodge  is  about  to  be 
opened. 

7.  It  is  a  lesson  which  every  Mason  is 
taught,  as  one  of  the  earliest  points  of  his 
initiation,  that  he  should  commence  no  im- 
portant undertaking  without  first  invoking 
the  blessing  of  Deity.  Hence  the  next  step 
in  the  progress  of  the  opening  ceremonies 
is  to  address  a  prayer  to  the  Supreme  Ar- 
chitect of  the  Universe.  This  prayer,  al- 
though offered  by  the  Master,  is  to  be  par- 
ticipated in  by  every  brother,  and,  at  its 
conclusion,  the  audible  response  of  "So 
mote  it  be :  Amen,"  should  be  made  by  all 
present. 

•8.  The  Lodge  is  then  declared,  in  the 
name  of  God  and  the  Holy  Saints  John,  to 
be  opened  in  due  form  on  the  first,  second, 
or  third  degree  of  Masonry,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

A  Lodge  is  said  to  be  opened  in  the  name 
of  God  and  the  Holy  Saints  John,  as  a  dec- 
laration of  the  sacred  and  religious  pur- 
poses of  the  meeting,  of  profound  reverence 
for  that  Divine  Being  whose  name  and 
attributes  should  be  the  constant  themes 
of  contemplation,  and  of  respect  for  those 
ancient  patrons  whom  the  traditions  of 
Masonry  have  so  intimately  connected  with 
the  history  of  the  Institution. 

It  is  said  to  be  opened  in  due  form,  to  in- 
timate that  all  that  is  necessary,  appropri- 
ate, and  usual  in  the  ceremonies,  all  that 
the  law  requires  or  ancient  usage  renders 
indispensable,  have  been  observed. 

And  it  is-said  to  be  opened  on,  and  not  in, 
a  certain  degree  (which  latter  expression  is 
often  incorrectly  used),  in  reference  rather 
to  the  speculative  than  to  the  legal  char- 
acter of  the  meeting,  to  indicate,  not  that 


OPERATIVE 


ORAL 


549 


the  members  are  to  be  circumscribed  in  the 
limits  of  a  particular  degree,  but  that  they 
are  met  together  to  unite  in  contemplation 
on  the  symbolic  teachings  and  divine  les- 
sons, to  inculcate  which  is  the  peculiar  ob- 
ject of  that  degree. 

The  manner  of  opening  in  each  degree 
slightly  varies.  In  the  English  system,  the 
Lodge  is  opened  in  the  first  degree  "  in  the 
name  of  God  and  Universal  Benevolence ;" 
in  the  second,  "  on  the  square,  in  the  name 
of  the  Great  Geometrician  of  the  Universe ; " 
and  in  the  third,  "  on  the  centre,  in  the 
name  of  the  Most  High." 

It  is  prescribed  as  a  ritual  regulation  that 
the  Master  shall  never  open  or  close  his 
Lodge  without  a  lecture  or  part  of  a 
lecture.  Hence,  in  each  of  the  degrees  a 
portion  of  a  part  of  the  lecture  of  that  de- 
gree is  incorporated  into  the  opening  and 
closing  ceremonies. 

There  is  in  every  degree  of  Masonry, 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  an  opening 
ceremony  peculiar  to  the  degree.  This 
ceremony  has  always  more  or  less  reference 
to  the  symbolic  lesson  which  it  is  the 
design  of  the  degree  to  teach,  and  hence 
the  varieties  of  openings  are  as  many  as  the 
degrees  themselves. 

Operative  Art.  Masonry  is  divided 
by  Masonic  writers  into  two  branches,  an 
operative  art  and  a  speculative  science. 
The  operative  art  is  that  which  was  prac- 
tised by  the  Free  Stonemasons  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  The  speculative  science  is  that 
which  is  practised  by  the  Freemasons  of 
the  present  day.  The  technicalities  and 
usages  of  the  former  have  been  incorpo- 
rated into  and  modified  by  the  latter. 
Hence,  Freemasonry  is  sometimes  defined 
as  a  speculative  science  founded  on  an 
operative  art. 

Operative  Masonry.  Freemason- 
ry, in  its  character  as  an  operative  art,  is 
familiar  to  every  one.  As  such,  it  is  en- 
gaged in  the  application  of  the  rules  and 
principles  of  architecture  to  the  construc- 
tion of  edifices  for  private  and  public  use, 
houses  for  the  dwelling-place  of  man,  and 
temples  for  the  worship  of  the  Deity.  It 
abounds,  like  every  other  art,  in  the  use  of 
technical  terms,  and  employs,  in  practice, 
an  abundance  of  implements  and  materials 
which  are  peculiar  to  itself. 

This  operative  art  has  been  the  founda- 
tion on  which  has  been  built  the  specula- 
tive science  of  Freemasonry.  See  Specu- 
lative Masonry. 

Operative  Masons.  Workers  in 
stone,  who  construct  material  edifices,  in 
contradistinction  to  Speculative  Masons, 
who  construct  only  spiritual  edifices. 

Option.  When  a  Masonic  obligation 
leaves  to  the  person  who  assumes  it  the 


option  to  perform  or  omit  any  part  of  it,  it  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  such  option  is  to 
be  only  his  arbitrary  will  or  unreasonable 
choice.  On  the  contrary,  in  exercising  it, 
he  must  be  governed  and  restrained  by  the 
principles  of  right  and  duty,  and  be  con- 
trolled by  the  circumstances  which  sur- 
round the  case,  so  that  this  option,  which 
at  first  would  seem  to  be  a  favor,  really  in- 
volves a  great  and  responsible  duty,  that 
of  exercising  a  just  judgment  in  the  prem- 
ises. That  which  at  one  time  would  be 
proper  to  perform,  at  another  time  and  in 
different  circumstances  it  would  be  equally 
proper  to  omit. 

Oral  Instruction.  Much  of  the 
instruction  which  is  communicated  in 
Freemasonry,  and,  indeed,  all  that  is  eso- 
teric, is  given  orally ;  and  there  is  a  law  of 
the  Institution  that  forbids  such  instruction 
to  be  written.  There  is  in  this  usage  and 
regulation  a  striking  analogy  to  what  pre- 
vailed on  the  same  subject  in  all  the  secret 
institutions  of  antiquity. 

In  all  the  ancient  mysteries,  the  same 
reluctance  to  commit  the  esoteric  instruc- 
tions of  the  hierophants  to  writing  is  appa- 
rent; and  hence  the  secret  knowledge 
taught  in  their  initiations  was  preserved  in 
symbols,  the  true  meaning  of  which  was 
closely  concealed  from  the  profane. 

The  Druids  had  a  similar  regulation ; 
and  Caesar  informs  us  that,  although  they 
made  use  of  the  letters  of  the  Greek  alpha- 
bet to  record  their  ordinary  or  public  trans- 
actions, yet  it  was  not  considered  lawful  to 
intrust  their  sacred  verses  to  writing,  but 
these  were  always  committed  to  memory  by 
their  disciples. 

The  secret  doctrine  of  the  Kabbala,  or 
the  mystical  philosophy  of  the  Hebrews, 
was  also  communicated  in  an  oral  form, 
and  could  be  revealed  only  through  the 
medium  of  allegory  and  similitude.  The 
Kabbalistic  knowledge,  traditionally  re- 
ceived, was,  says  Maurice,  (Ind.  Antiq.,  iv. 
548,)  "transmitted  verbally  down  to  all  the 
great  characters  celebrated  in  Jewish  an- 
tiquity, among  whom  both  David  and  Sol- 
omon were  deeply  conversant  in  its  most 
hidden  mysteries.  Nobody,  however,  had 
ventured  to  commit  anything  of  this  kind 
to  paper." 

The  Christian  Church  also,  in  the  age 
immediately  succeeding  the  apostolic,  ob- 
served the  same  custom  of  oral  instruction. 
The  early  Fathers  were  eminently  cautious 
not  to  commit  certain  of  the  mysterious 
dogmas  of  their  religion  to  writing,  lest 
the  surrounding  Pagans  should  be  made 
acquainted  with  what  they  could  neither 
understand  nor  appreciate.  St.  Basil,  (De 
Spiritu  Sancto,)  treating  of  this  subject  in 
the  fourth  century,  says :  "  We  receive  the 


550 


ORAL 


ORAL 


dogmas  transmitted  to  us  by  writing,  and 
those  which  have  descended  to  us  from  the 
apostles,  beneath  the  mystery  of  oral  tra- 
dition ;  for  several  things  have  been  handed 
to  us  without  writing,  lest  the  vulgar,  too 
familiar  with  our  dogmas,  should  lose  a 
due  respect  for  them."  And  he  further 
asks,  "  How  should  it  ever  be  becoming  to 
write  and  circulate  among  the  people  an 
account  of  those  things  which  the  uniniti- 
ated are  not  permitted  to  contemplate?" 

A  custom,  so  ancient  as  this,  of  keeping 
the  landmarks  unwritten,  and  one  so  in- 
variably observed  by  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
it  may  very  naturally  be  presumed,  must 
have  been  originally  established  with  the 
wisest  intentions;  and,  as  the  usage  was 
adopted  by  many  other  institutions  whose 
organization  was  similar  to  that  of  Free- 
masonry, it  may  also  be  supposed  that  it 
was  connected,  in  some  way,  with  the  char- 
acter of  an  esoteric  instruction. 

Two  reasons,  it  seems  to  me,  may  be  as- 
signed for  the  adoption  of  the  usage  among 
Freemasons. 

In  the  first  place,  by  confining  our  secret 
doctrines  and  landmarks  to  the  care  of 
tradition,  all  danger  of  controversies  and 
schisms  among  Masons  and  in  Lodges  is 
effectually  avoided.  Of  these  traditions, 
the  Grand  Lodge  in  each  jurisdiction  is  the 
interpreter,  and  to  its  authoritative  inter- 
pretation every  Mason  and  every  Lodge  in 
the  jurisdiction  is  bound  to  submit.  There 
is  no  book,  to  which  every  brother  may 
refer,  whose  language  each  one  may  inter- 
pret according  to  his  own  views,  and  whose 
expressions  —  sometimes,  perhaps,  equivo- 
cal, and  sometimes  obscure  —  might  afford 
ample  sources  of  wordy  contest  and  verbal 
criticism.  The  doctrines  themselves,  as 
well  as  their  interpretation,  are  contained 
in  the  memories  of  the  Craft;  and  the 
Grand  Lodges,  as  the  lawful  representatives 
of  the  Fraternity,  are  alone  competent  to 
decide  whether  the  tradition  has  been  cor- 
rectly preserved,  and  what  is  its  true  inter- 
pretation. And  hence  it  is  that  there  is  no 
institution  in  which  there  have  been  so  few 
and  such  unimportantcontroversies  with  re- 
spect to  essential  and  fundamental  doctrines. 

In  illustration  of  this  argument,  Dr.  Oli- 
ver, while  speaking  of  what  he  calls  the 
antediluvian  system  of  Freemasonry,  —  a 
part  of  which  must  necessarily  have  been 
traditional,  and  transmitted  from  father  to 
son,  and  a  part  intrusted  to  symbols,  — 
makes  the  following  observations : 

"  Such  of  the  legends  as  were  communi- 
cated orally  would  be  entitled  to  the  great- 
est degree  of  credence,  while  those  that 
were  committed  to  the  custody  of  symbols, 
which,  it  is  probable,  many  of  the  collat- 
eral legends  would  be,  were  in  great  danger 


of  perversion,  because  the  truth  could  only 
be  ascertained  by  those  persons  who  were 
intrusted  with  the  secret  of  their  interpre- 
tation. And  if  the  symbols  were  of  doubt- 
ful character,  and  carried  a  double  mean- 
ing, as  many  of  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics 
of  a  subsequent  age  actually  did,  the  legends 
which  they  embodied  might  sustain  very 
considerable  alteration  in  sixteen  or  sev- 
enteen hundred  years,  although  passing 
through  very  few  hands." 

Maimonides  [More  Nevochim  c.  lxxi.)  as- 
signs a  similar  reason  for  the  unwritten 
preservation  of  the  Oral  Law.  "This,"  he 
says,  "  was  the  perfection  of  wisdom  in  our 
law,  that  by  this  means  those  evils  were 
avoided  into  which  it  fell  in  succeeding 
times,  namely,  the  variety  and  perplexity 
of  sentiments  and  opinions,  and  the  doubts 
which  so  commonly  arise  from  written  doc- 
trines contained  in  books,  besides  the  errors 
which  are  easily  committed  by  writers  and 
copyists,  whence,  afterwards,  spring  up  con- 
troversies, schisms,  and  confusion  of  par- 
ties." 

A  second  reason  that  may  be  assigned  for 
the  unwritten  ritual  of  Masonry  is,  that  by 
compelling  the  craftsman  who  desires  to 
make  any  progress  in  his  profession,  to 
commit  its  doctrines  to  memory,  there  is  a 
greater  probability  of  their  being  thoroughly 
studied  and  understood.  In  confirmation 
of  this  opinion,  it  will,  I  think,  be  readily 
acknowledged  by  any  one  whose  experi- 
ence is  at  all  extensive,  that,  as  a  general 
rule,  those  skilful  brethren  who  are  techni- 
cally called  "bright  Masons,"  are  better 
acquainted  with  the  esoteric  and  unwritten 
portion  of  the  lectures,  which  they  were 
compelled  to  acquire  under  a  competent 
instructor,  and  by  oral  information,  than 
with  that  which  is  published  in  the  Moni- 
tors, and,  therefore,  always  at  hand  to  be  read. 

Caesar  (Bell.  Gall.,  vi.  14,)  thought  that 
this  was  the  cause  of  the  custom  among 
the  Druids,  for,  after  mentioning  that  they 
did  not  suffer  their  doctrines  to  be  com- 
mitted to  writing,  he  adds :  "  They  seem  to 
me  to  have  adopted  this  method  for  two 
reasons:  that  their  mysteries  might  be 
hidden  from  the  common  people,  and  to 
exercise  the  memory  of  their  disciples, 
which  would  be  neglected  if  they  had 
books  on  which  they  might  rely,  as,  we 
find,  is  often  the  case." 

A  third  reason  for  this  unwritten  doc- 
trine of  Masonry,  and  one,  perhaps,  most 
familiar  to  the  Craft,  is  also  alluded  to  by 
Csesar  in  the  case  of  the  Druids,  "  because 
they  did  not  wish  their  doctrines  to  be  di- 
vulged to  the  common  people."  Maimo- 
nides, in  the  conclusion  of  the  passage 
which  we  have  already  quoted,  makes  a 
similar  remark  with  respect  to  the  oral  law 


ORAL 


ORDER 


551 


of  the  Jews.  "  But  if,"  says  he,  "  so  much 
care  was  exercised  that  the  oral  law  should 
not  be  written  in  a  book  and  laid  open  to 
all  persons,  lest,  peradventure,  it  should 
become  corrupted  and  depraved,  how  much 
more  caution  was  required  that  the  secret 
interpretations  of  that  law  should  not  be 
divulged  to  every  person,  and  pearls  be 
thus  thrown  to  swine."  "  Wherefore,"  he 
adds,  "  they  were  intrusted  to  certain  pri- 
vate persons,  and  by  them  were  transmitted 
to  other  educated  men  of  excellent  and  ex- 
traordinary gifts."  And  for  this  regula- 
tion he  quotes  the  Rabbins,  who  say  that 
the  secrets  of  the  law  are  not  delivered  to 
any  person  except  a  man  of  prudence  and 
wisdom. 

It  is,  then,  for  these  excellent  reasons, — 
to  avoid  idle  controversies  and  endless  dis- 
putes ;  to  preserve  the  secrets  of  our  Order 
from  decay;  and,  by  increasing  the  diffi- 
culties by  which  they  are  to  be  obtained, 
to  diminish  the  probability  of  their  being 
forgotten ;  and,  finally,  to  secure  them  from 
the  unhallowed  gaze  of  the  profane, — that 
the  oral  instruction  of  Masonry  was  first 
instituted,  and  still  continues  to  be  reli- 
giously observed.  Its  secret  doctrines  are 
the  precious  jewels  of  the  Order,  and  the 
memories  of  Masons  are  the  well-guarded 
caskets  in  which  those  jewels  are  to  be  pre- 
served with  unsullied  purity.  And  hence 
it  is  appropriately  said  in  our  ritual,  that 
"  the  attentive  ear  receives  the  sound  from 
the  instructive  tongue,  and  the  secrets  of 
Freemasonry  are  safely  lodged  in  the  de- 
positary of  faithful  breasts." 

Oral  L.SIW.  The  Oral  Law  is  the  name 
given  by  the  Jews  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  written  code,  and  which  is  said  to  have 
been  delivered  to  Moses  at  the  same  time, 
accompanied  by  the  Divine  command: 
"  Thou  shalt  not  divulge  the  words  which 
I  have  said  to  thee  out  of  my  mouth."  The 
Oral  Law  was,  therefore,  never  intrusted  to 
books ;  but,  being  preserved  in  the  memo- 
ries of  the  judges,  prophets,  priests,  and 
other  wise  men,  was  handed  down,  from 
one  to  the  other,  through  a  long  succession 
of  ages. 

Maimonides  has  described,  according  to 
the  Rabbinical  traditions,  the  mode  adopted 
by  Moses  to  impress  the  principles  of  this 
Oral  Law  upon  the  people.  As  an  example 
of  perseverance  in  the  acquirement  of  in- 
formation by  oral  instruction,  it  may  be 
worthy  of  the  consideration  and  imitation 
of  all  those  Masons  who  wish  to  perfect 
themselves  in  the  esoteric  lessons  of  their 
Institution. 

When  Moses  had  descended  from  Mount 
Sinai,  and  had  spoken  to  the  people,  he  re- 
tired to  his  tent.  Here  he  was  visited  by 
Aaron,  to  whom,  sitting  at  his  feet,  he  re- 


cited the  law  and  its  explanation,  as  he 
had  received  it  from  God.  Aaron  then 
rose  and  seated  himself  on  the  right  hand 
of  Moses.  Eleazar  and  Ithamar,  the  sons 
of  Aaron,  now  entered  the  tent,  and  Moses 
repeated  to  them  all  that  he  had  communi- 
cated to  their  father ;  after  which,  they 
seated  themselves,  one  on  the  left  hand  of 
Moses  and  the  other  on  the  right  hand  of 
Aaron.  Then  went  in  the  seventy  elders, 
and  Moses  taught  them,  in  the  same 
manner  as  he  had  taught  Aaron  and  his 
sons.  Afterwards,  all  of  the  congregation 
who  desired  to  know  the  Divine  will  came 
in ;  and  to  them,  also,  Moses  recited  the 
law  and  its  interpretation,  in  the  same 
manner  as  before.  The  law,  thus  orally 
delivered  by  Moses,  had  now  been  heard 
four  times  by  Aaron,  three  times  by  his 
sons,  twice  by  the  seventy  elders,  and  once 
by  the  rest  of  the  people.  After  this, 
Moses  withdrawing,  Aaron  repeated  all 
that  he  had  heard  from  Moses,  and  retired; 
then  Eleazar  and  Ithamar  repeated  it,  and 
also  withdrew  ;  and,  finally,  the  same  thing 
was  done  by  the  seventy  elders ;  so  that  each 
of  them  having  heard  the  law  repeated 
four  times,  it  was  thus,  finally,  fixed  in 
their  memories. 

The  written  law,  divided  by  the  Jewish 
lawgivers  into  613  precepts,  is  contained  in 
the  Pentateuch.  But  the  Oral  law,  trans- 
mitted by  Moses  to  Joshua,  by  him  to  the 
elders,  and  from  them  conveyed  by  tradi- 
tionary relation  to  the  time  of  Judah  the 
Holy,  was  by  him,  to  preserve  it  from  being 
forgotten  and  lost,  committed  to  writing 
in  the  work  known  as  the  Mishna.  And 
now,  no  longer  an  Oral  Law,  its  pre- 
cepts are  to  be  found  in  that  book,  with 
the  subsidiary  aid  of  the  Constitutions  of 
the  prophets  and  wise  men,  the  Decrees  of 
the  Sanhedrim,  the  decisions  of  the  Judges, 
and  the  Expositions  of  the  Doctors. 

Orator.  An  officer  in  a  Lodge  whose 
duty  it  is  to  explain  to  a  candidate  after 
his  initiation  the  mysteries  of  the  degree 
into  which  he  has  just  been  admitted.  The 
office  is  therefore,  in  many  respects,  simi- 
lar to  that  of  a  lecturer.  The  office  was 
created  in  the  French  Lodges  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  soon  after  the  intro- 
duction of  Masonry  into  France.  A  writer 
in  the  London  Freemasons'  Magazine  for 
1859  attributes  its  origin  to  the  constitu- 
tional deficiency  of  the  French  in  readi- 
ness of  public  speaking.  From  the  French 
it  passed  to  the  other  continental  Lodges, 
and  was  adopted  by  the  Scottish  Rite.  The 
office  is  not  recognized  in  the  English  and 
American  system,  where  its  duties  are  per- 
formed by  the  Worshipful  Master. 

Order.  An  Order  may  be  defined  to 
be  a  brotherhood,  fellowship,  or  associa- 


552 


ORDER 


ORDER 


tion  of  certain  persons,  united  by  laws  and 
statutes  peculiar  to  the  society,  engaged  in  a 
common  object  or  design,  and  distinguished 
by  particular  habits,  ensigns,  badges  or 
symbols. 

Johnson's  definition  is  that  an  Order  is 
"  a  regular  government,  a  society  of  digni- 
fied persons  distinguished  by  marks  of 
honor,  and  a  religious  fraternity."  In  all 
of  these  senses  Freemasonry  may  be  styled 
an  Order.  Its  government  is  of  the  most 
regular  and  systematic  character ;  men  the 
most  eminent  for  dignity  and  reputation 
have  been  its  members;  and  if  it  does  not 
constitute  a  religion  in  itself,  it  is  at  least 
religion's  handmaid. 

The  ecclesiastical  writers  define  an  Order 
to  be  a  congregation  or  society  of  religious 
persons,  governed  by  particular  rules,  liv- 
ing under  the  same  superior,  in  the  same 
manner,  and  wearing  the  same  habit;  a 
definition  equally  applicable  to  the  society 
of  Freemasons.  These  ecclesiastical  Orders 
are  divided  into  three  classes :  1.  Monastic, 
such  as  the  Benedictines  and  the  Augus- 
tinians.  2.  The  Mendicant,  as  the  Domin- 
icans and  the  Franciscans.  3.  The  Mil- 
itary, as  the  Hospitallers,  the  Templars, 
and  the  Teutonic  Knights.  Only  the  first 
and  the  third  have  any  connection  with  Free- 
masonry ;  the  first  because  it  was  by  them 
that  architecture  was  fostered,  and  the  Ma- 
sonic gilds  patronized  in  the  Middle  Ages ; 
and  the  third  because  it  was  in  the  bosom 
of  Freemasonry  that  the  Templars  found  a 
refuge  after  the  dissolution  of  their  Order. 

Order  Name.  The  name  or  designa- 
tion assumed  by  the  Illuminati,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  and 
of  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland,  was  called 
the  Order  Name,  or  the  Characteristic 
Name.    See  Eques. 

The  Illuminati  selected  classical  names, 
of  which  the  following  are  specimens : 


"Weishaupt 

Knigge 

Bode 

Nicolai 

Westenreider 

Constanza 

Zwack 

Count  Savioli 

Busche 

Ecker 


i  Spartacus. 
Philo. 
Amelius. 
Lucian. 
Pythagoras. 
Diomedes. 
Cato. 
Brutus. 
Bayard. 
Saladin. 


The  members  of  the  Strict  Observance 
formed  their  Order  Names  in  a  different 
way.  Following  the  custom  of  the  com- 
batants in  the  old  tournaments,  each  called 
himself  an  eques,  or  knight  of  some  particu- 
lar object;  as,  Knight  of  the  Sword,  Knight 
of  the  Star,  etc.  Where  one  belonged  both 
to  this  Rite  and  to  that  of  Illuminism,  his 


Order  Name  in  each  was  different.  Thus 
Bode,  as  an  Illuminatus,  was,  we  have  seen, 
called  "  Amelius,"  but  as  a  Strict  Observ- 
ant, he  was  known  as  "  Eques  a  lilio  con- 
vallium,"  or  Knight  of  the  Lily  of  the 
Valleys.  The  following  examples  may 
suffice.  A  full  list  will  be  found  in  Thory's 
Acta  Latomorum. 
Hund  was  Eques  ab  ense  =  Knight  of  the 

Sword. 
Jacobi  was  Eques  a  stelia  =  Knight  of  the 

Star. 
Count  Bruhl  was  Eques  a  gladio  ancipiti  = 

Knight  of  the  Double-edged  Sword. 
Bode  was  Eques  a  lilio  convallium  =  Knight 

of  the  Lily  of  the  Valleys. 
Beyerle  was  Eques  a  fascia  =  Knight  of  the 

Girdle. 
Berend  was  Eques  a  septem  stellis  =  Knight 

of  the  Seven  Stars. 
Decker  was  Eques  a  plagula  =  Knight  of 

the  Curtain. 
Lavaterwas  Eques  ab  iEsculapio  =  Knight 

of  Esculapius. 
Seckendorf   was    Eques    a    capricorno  = 

Knight  of  Capricorn. 
Prince  Charles  Edward  was  Eques  a  sole 

aureo  =  Knight  of  the  Golden  Sun. 
Zinnendorf  was   Eques  a  lapide  nigro  = 

Knight  of  the  Black  Stone. 

Order  of  Business.  In  every  Ma- 
sonic body,  the  by-laws  should  prescribe 
an  "  Order  of  Business,"  and  in  proportion 
as  that  order  is  rigorously  observed  will  be 
the  harmony  and  celerity  with  which  the 
business  of  the  Lodge  will  be  despatched. 

In  Lodges  whose  by-laws  have  prescribed 
no  settled  order,  the  arrangement  of  business 
is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  presiding 
officer,  who,  however,  must  be  governed, 
to  some  extent,  by  certain  general  rules 
founded  on  the  principles  of  parliamentary 
law,  or  on  the  suggestions  of  common  sense. 

The  order  of  business  may,  for  conven- 
ience of  reference,  be  placed  in  the  following 
tabular  form : 

1.  Opening  of  the  Lodge. 

2.  Reading  and  confirmation  of  the 
minutes. 

3.  Reports  on  petitions. 

4.  Balloting  for  candidates. 

5.  Reports  of  special  committees. 

6.  Reports  of  standing  committees. 

7.  Consideration  of  motions  made  at  a 
former  meeting,  if  called  up  by  a  member. 

8.  New  business. 

9.  Initiations. 

10.  Reading  of  the  minutes  for  informa- 
tion and  correction. 

11.  Closing  of  the  Lodge. 

Order  of  Christ.  See  Christ,  Order 
of. 

Order  of  the  Temple.  See  Tem- 
ple, Order  of  the. 


ORDER 


ORDERS 


553 


Order,  Rules  of.  Every  permanent 
deliberative  body  adopts  a  code  of  rules  of 
order  to  suit  itself;  but  there  are  certain 
rules  derived  from  what  may  be  called  the 
common  law  of  Parliament,  the  wisdom  of 
which  having  been  proven  by  long  experi- 
ence, that  have  been  deemed  of  force  at  all 
times  and  places,  and  are,  with  a  few  neces- 
sary exceptions,  as  applicable  to  Lodges  as 
to  other  societies. 

The  rules  of  order,  sanctioned  by  unin- 
terrupted usage  and  approved  by  all  au- 
thorities, may  be  enumerated  under  the 
following  distinct  heads,  as  applied  to  a 
Masonic  body: 

1.  Two  independent  original  propositions 
cannot  be  presented  at  the  same  time  to 
the  meeting. 

2.  A  subsidiary  motion  cannot  be  offered 
out  of  its  rank  of  precedence. 

3.  When  a  brother  intends  to  speak,  he 
is  required  to  stand  up  in  his  place,  and 
to  address  himself  always  to  the  presiding 
officer. 

4.  When  two  or  more  brethren  rise 
nearly  at  the  same  time,  the  presiding 
officer  will  indicate,  by  mentioning  his 
name,  the  one  who,  in  his  opinion,  is  en- 
titled to  the  floor. 

5.  A  brother  is  not  to  be  interrupted  by 
any  other  member,  except  for  the  purpose 
of  calling  him  to  order. 

6.  No  brother  can  speak  oftener  than  the 
rules  permit;  but  this  rule  may  be  dis- 
pensed with  by  the  Master. 

7.  No  one  is  to  disturb  the  speaker  by 
hissing,  unnecessary  coughing,  loud  whis- 

Eering,  or  other  unseemly  noise,  nor  should 
e  pass  between  the  speaker  and  the  pre- 
siding officer. 

8.  No  personality,  abusive  remarks,  or 
other  improper  language  should  be  used  by 
any  brother  in  debate. 

9.  If  the  presiding  officer  rises  to  speak 
while  a  brother  is  on  the  floor,  that  brother 
should  immediately  sit  down,  that  the  pre- 
siding officer  may  be  heard. 

10.  Every  one  who  speaks  should  speak 
to  the  question. 

11.  As  a  sequence  to  this,  it  follows  that 
there  can  be  no  speaking  unless  there  be 
a  question  before  the  Lodge.  There  must 
always  be  a  motion  of  some  kind  to  au- 
thorize a  debate. 

Orders  of  Architecture.  An  order 
in  architecture  is  a  system  or  assemblage 
of  parts  subject  to  certain  uniform  estab- 
lished proportions  regulated  by  the  office 
which  such  part  has  to  perform,  so  that  the 
disposition,  in  a  peculiar  form,  of  the  mem- 
bers and  ornaments,  and  the  proportion  of 
the  columns  and  pilasters,  is  called  an  order. 
There  are  five  orders  of  architecture,  the 
Doric,  Ionic,  Corinthian,  Tuscan,  and  Oom- 
3U 


posite —  the  first  three  being  of  Greek  and 
the  last  two  of  Italian  origin.  See  each 
under  its  respective  title. 

Considering  that  the  orders  of  architec- 
ture must  have  constituted  one  of  the  most 
important  subjects  of  contemplation  to  the 
Operative  Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
that  they  afforded  a  fertile  source  for  their 
symbolism,  it  is  strange  that  so  little  allu- 
sion is  made  to  them  in  the  primitive  lec- 
tures and  in  the  earliest  catechisms  of  the 
last  century.  In  the  earliest  catechism  ex- 
tant, they  are  simply  enumerated,  and  said 
to  answer  "  to  the  base,  perpendicular,  di- 
ameter, circumference,  and  square; "  but  no 
explanation  is  given  of  this  reference.  Nor 
are  they  referred  to  in  the  "  Legend  of  the 
Craft,"  or  in  any  of  the  Old  Constitutions. 
Preston,  however,  introduced  them  into  his 
system  of  lectures,  and  designated  the  three 
most  ancient  orders — the  Ionic,  Doric,  and 
Corinthian — as  symbols  of  wisdom,  strength, 
and  beauty,  and  referred  them  to  the  three 
original  Grand  Masters.  This  symbolism 
has  ever  since  been  retained ;  and,  notwith- 
standing the  reticence  of  the  earlier  ritual- 
ists, there  is  abundant  evidence,  in  the 
architectural  remains  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
that  it  was  known  to  the  old  Operative  Free- 
masons. 

Orders  of  Architecture,  Egyp- 
tian. The  Egyptians  had  a  system  of 
architecture  peculiar  to  themselves,  which, 
says  Barlow,  (Essays  on  Symbolism,  p.  30,) 
"would  indicate  a  people  of  grand  ideas, 
and  of  confirmed  religious  convictions."  It 
was  massive,  and  without  the  airy  propor- 
tions of  the  Greek  orders.  It  was,  too,  emi- 
nently symbolic,  and  among  its  ornaments 
the  lotus  leaf  and  plant  predominated  as  a 
symbol  of  regeneration.  Among  the  pecu- 
liar forms  of  the  Egyptian  architecture 
were  the  fluted  column,  which  suggested  the 
Ionic  order  to  the  Greeks,  and  the  basket 
capital  adorned  with  the  lotus,  which  after- 
wards became  the  Corinthian.  To  the  Ma- 
sonic student,  the  Egyptian  style  of  archi- 
tecture becomes  interesting,  because  it  was 
undoubtedly  followed  by  King  Solomon  in 
his  construction  of  the  Temple.  The  great 
similarity  between  the  pillars  of  the  porch 
and  the  columns  in  front  of  Egyptian 
temples  is  very  apparent.  Our  translators 
have,  however,  unfortunately  substituted 
the  lily  for  the  lotus  in  their  version. 

Orders  of  Knighthood.  An  order 
of  knighthood  is  a  confraternity  of  knights 
bound  by  the  same  rules.  Of  these  there 
are  many  in  every  kingdom  of  Europe,  be- 
stowed by  sovereigns  on  their  subjects  as 
marks  of  honor  and  rewards  of  merit.  Such, 
for  instance,  are  in  England  the  Knights 
of  the  Garter;  in  Scotland  the  Knights  of 
Saint  Andrew ;  and  in  Ireland  the  Knights 


554 


ORDERS 


ORIENT 


of  Saint  Patrick.  But  the  only  Orders  of 
Knighthood  that  have  had  any  historical 
relation  to  Masonry,  except  the  Order  of 
Charles  XII.  in  Sweden,  are  the  three  great 
religious  and  military  Orders  which  were 
established  in  the  Middle  Ages.  These  are 
the  Knights  Templars,  the  Knights  Hospi- 
tallers or  Knights  of  Malta,  and  the  Teu- 
tonic Knights,  each  of  which  may  be  seen 
under  its  respective  title.  Of  these  three, 
the  Masons  can  really  claim  a  connection 
only  with  the  Templars.  They  alone 
had  a  secret  initiation,  and  with  them 
there  is  at  least  traditional  evidence  of  a 
fusion.  The  Knights  of  Malta  and  the 
Teutonic  Knights  have  always  held  them- 
selves aloof  from  the  Masonic  Order. 
They  never  had  a  secret  form  of  initiation ; 
their  reception  was  open  and  public ;  and 
the  former  Order,  indeed,  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  became  the 
willing  instruments  of  the  Church  in  the 
persecution  of  the  Masons  who  were  at 
that  time  in  the  island  of  Malta.  There 
is,  indeed,  a  Masonic  degree  called  Knight 
of  Malta,  but  the  existing  remnant  of  the 
historical  order  has  always  repudiated  it. 
"With  the  Teutonic  Knights,  the  Free- 
masons have  no  other  connection  than  this, 
that  in  some  of  the  high  degrees  their 
peculiar  cross  has  been  adopted.  An  at- 
tempt has  been  made,  but  I  think  without 
reason,  to  identify  the  Teutonic  Knights 
with  the  Prussian  Knights,  or  Noachites. 

Orders  of  the  Day.  In  parliamen- 
tary law,  propositions  which  are  appointed 
for  consideration  at  a  particular  hour  and 
day  are  called  the  orders  of  the  day. 
When  the  day  arrives  for  their  discussion, 
they  take  precedence  of  all  other  matters, 
unless  passed  over  by  mutual  consent  or 
postponed  to  another  day.  The  same  rules 
in  reference  to  these  orders  prevail  in  Ma- 
sonic as  in  other  assemblies.  The  parlia- 
mentary law  is  here  applicable  without 
modification  to  Masonic  bodies. 

Ordinaeio.  The  Old  Constitutions 
known  as  the  Halliwell  MS.  (14th  cent.) 
speak  of  an  ordinaeio  in  the  sense  of  a  law. 
"  Alia  ordinaeio  artes  geometric."  It  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  Roman  law,  where  ordinatio 
signified  an  imperial  edict.  In  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  word  was  used  in  the  sense  of  a 
statute,  or  the  decision  of  a  judge. 

Ordination.  At  the  close  of  the  re- 
ception of  a  neophyte  into  the  order  of 
Elect  Cohens,  the  Master,  while  communi- 
cating to  him  the  mysterious  words,  touched 
him  with  the  thumb,  index,  and  middle 
fingers  (the  other  two  being  closed)  on  the 
forehead,  heart,  and  side  of  the  head,  thus 
making  the  figure  of  a  triangle.  This 
ceremony  was  called  the  ordination. 

Ordo  ab  Chao.     Order  out  of  Chaos: 


A  motto  of  the  33d  degree,  and  having  the 
same  allusion  as  lux  e  tenebris,  which  see. 
The  invention  of  this  motto  is  to  be  at- 
tributed to  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  at 
Charleston,  and  it  is  first  met  with  in  the 
Patent  of  Count  de  Grasse,  dated  February 
1, 1802.  When  De  Grasse  afterwards  carried 
the  Rite  over  to  France  and  established  a 
Supreme  Council  there,  he  changed  the 
motto,  and,  according  to  Lenning,  Ordo  ab 
hoc  was  used  by  him  and  his  Council  in  all 
the  documents  issued  by  them.  If  so,  it 
was  simply  a  blunder. 

Oregon.  The  first  Lodges  instituted 
in  Oregon  were  under  Warrants  from  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  California,  in  the  year 
1849.  On  August  16th,  1851,  a  convention 
of  three  Lodges  was  held  in  Oregon  City, 
and  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Oregon  was  there 
organized,  Berryman  Jennings  being  elected 
Grand  Master.  The  Grand  Chapter  was 
organized  at  Salem,  September  18th,  1860. 
Templarism  was  introduced  by  the  organ- 
ization of  Oregon  Commandery,  No.  1,  at 
Oregon  City,  on  July  24th,  1860. 

Organist,  Grand.  An  officer  in  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland  whose  duty  it  is  to  superintend  the 
musical  exercises  on  private  and  public 
occasions.  He  must  be  a  Master  Mason, 
and  is  required  to  attend  the  Quarterly 
and  other  communications  of  the  Grand 
Lodge.  His  jewel  is  an  antique  lyre. 
Grand  Lodges  in  this  country  do  not  recog- 
nize such  an  officer.  But  an  organist  has 
been  recently  employed  since  the  introduc- 
tion of  musical  services  into  Lodge  cere- 
monies by  some  Lodges. 

Organization  of  Grand  Lodges. 
See  Grand  Lodge. 

Orient.  The  East.  The  place  where 
a  Lodge  is  situated  is  sometimes  called  its 
"  Orient,"  but  more  properly  its  "  East." 
The  seat  of  a  Grand  Lodge  has  also  some- 
times been  called  its  "Grand  Orient;"  but 
here  "Grand  East"  would,  I  think,  be 
better.  The  term  "  Grand  Orient "  has  been 
used  to  designate  certain  of  the  Supreme 
Bodies  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and 
also  in  South  America;  as,  the  Grand  Orient 
of  France,  the  Grand  Orient  of  Portugal, 
the  Grand  Orient  of  Brazil,  the  Grand 
Orient  of  New  Grenada,  etc.  The  title 
always  has  reference  to  the  East  as  the 
place  of  honor  in  Masonry.  See  East, 
Grand. 

Orient,  Grand.    See  Grand  Orient. 

Orient,  Grand  Commander  of 
the.  {Grand  Commandeur  d' Orient.) 
The  forty-third  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Mizraim. 

Orient,  Interior.  A  name  some- 
times used    in    Germany  to  designate  a 


ORIENT 


ORIGINAL 


555 


Grand  Chapter  or  superintending  body  of 
the  higher  degrees. 
Orient  of  France,  Grand.    See 

France. 

Orient,  Order  of  the.  (Ordre 
d'  Orient.)  An  Order  founded,  says  Thory, 
[Act.  Lot.,  i.  330,)  at  Paris,  in  1806,  on  the 
system  of  the  Templars,  to  whom  it  traced 
its  origin. 

Oriental  Chair  of  Solomon.  The 
seat  of  the  Master  in  a  symbolic  Lodge, 
and  so  called  because  the  Master  is  sup- 
posed symbolically  to  fill  the  place  over  the 
Craft  once  occupied  by  King  Solomon.  For 
the  same  reason,  the  seat  of  the  Grand 
Master  in  the  Grand  Lodge  receives  the 
same  appellation.  In  England  it  is  called 
the  throne. 

Oriental  Philosophy.  A  peculiar 
system  of  doctrines  concerning  the  Divine 
Nature  which  is  said  to  have  originated  in 
Persia,  its  founder  being  Zoroaster,  whence 
it  passed  through  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and 
Egypt,  and  was  finally  introduced  among 
the  Greeks,  whose  philosophical  systems 
it  at  time9  modified.  Pliny  calls  it  "a 
magical  philosophy,"  and  says  that  Democ- 
ritus,  having  travelled  into  the  East  for 
the  purpose  of  learning  it,  and  returning 
home,  taught  it  in  his  mysteries.  It  gave 
birth  to  the  sect  of  Gnostics,  and  most  of 
it  being  adopted  by  the  school  of  Alexan- 
dria, it  was  taught  by  Philo,  Jamblichus, 
and  other  disciples  of  that  school.  Its  es- 
sential feature  was  the  theory  of  emana- 
tions, (which  see.)  It  is  evident  from  his 
Travels  of  Gyrus,  that  the  Chevalier  Ram- 
say was  not  only  well  acquainted  with 
this  philosophy,  but  held  it  in  high  esteem ; 
and  it  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  it 
influenced  him  in  the  high  degrees  of  Ma- 
sonry which  he  established,  and  from  which 
all  the  other  higher  Masonry  has  been  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  derived.  And  so  it 
happens  that  the  Oriental  Philosophy  per- 
meates, sometimes  to  a  very  palpable  ex- 
tent, Ineffable,  Philosophic,  and  Hermetic 
Masonry,  being  mixed  up  and  intertwined 
with  the  Jewish  and  Kabbalistic  Philoso- 
phy. A  knowledge  of  the  Oriental  Philos- 
ophy is  therefore  essential  to  the  proper 
understanding  of  these  high  degrees. 

Oriental  Rite.  The  title  first  as- 
sumed by  the  Rite  of  Memphis. 

Orientation.  The  orientation  of  a 
Lodge  is  its  situation  due  east  and  west. 
The  word  is  derived  from  the  technical 
language  of  architecture,  where  it  is  ap- 
plied, in  the  expression  "orientation  of 
churches,"  to  designate  a  similar  direction 
in  building.  Although  Masonic  Lodges 
are  still,  when  circumstances  will  permit, 
built  in  an  east  and  west  direction,  the  ex- 
planation of  the  usage,  contained  in  the 


old  lectures  of  the  last  century,  that  it 
was  "  because  all  chapels  and  churches  are, 
or  ought  to  be  so,"  has  become  obsolete, 
and  other  symbolic  reasons  are  assigned. 
Yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  was 
really  the  origin  of  the  usage.  The  orien- 
tation of  churches  was  a  principle  of  ec- 
clesiastical architecture  very  generally  ob- 
served by  builders,  in  accordance  with 
ecclesiastical  law  from  the  earliest  times 
after  the  apostolic  age.  Thus  in  the  Apos- 
tolic Constitutions,  which,  although  falsely 
attributed  to  St.  Clement,  are  yet  of  great 
antiquity,  we  find  the  express  direction, 
"  sit  sedes  oblonga  ad  orientem  versus," — 
let  the  church  be  of  an  oblong  form,  directed 
to  the  east,  —  a  direction  which  would  be 
strictly  applicable  in  the  building  of  a 
Lodge  room.  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  in  his 
Instructiones  Fabrics  Ecclesiastical,  is  still 
more  precise,  and  directs  that  the  rear  or 
altar  part  of  the  church  shall  look  directly 
to  the  east,  "  in  orientem  versus  recta  spec- 
tat,"  and  that  it  shall  be  not  "  ad  solstiti- 
alem  sed  ad  sequinoctialem  orientem," — 
not  to  the  solstitial  east,  which  varies  by 
the  deflection  of  the  sun's  rising,  but  to  the 
equinoctial  east,  where  the  sun  rises  at  the 
equinoxes,  that  is  to  say,  due  east.  But,  as 
Bingham  (Antiq.,  B.  viii.,  c.  iii.,)  admits, 
although  the  usage  was  very  general  to 
erect  churches  towards  the  east,  yet  "  it 
admitted  of  exceptions,  as  necessity  or  ex- 
pediency;" and  the  same  exception  pre- 
vails in  the  construction  of  Lodges,  which, 
although  always  erected  due  east  and  west, 
where  circumstances  will  permit,  are  some- 
times from  necessity  built  in  a  different 
direction.  But  whatever  may  be  externally 
the  situation  of  the  Lodge  with  reference 
to  the  points  of  the  compass,  it  is  always 
considered  internally  that  the  Master's 
seat  is  in  the  east,  and  therefore  that  the 
Lodge  is  "  situated  due  east  and  west." 

As  to  the  original  interpretation  of  the 
usage,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Masonic 
was  derived  from  the  ecclesiastical,  that  is, 
that  Lodges  were  at  first  built  east  and 
west  because  churches  were;  nor  can  we 
help  believing  that  the  church  borrowed 
and  Christianized  its  symbol  from  the  Pa- 
gan reverence  for  the  place  of  sunrising. 
The  admitted  reverence  in  Masonry  for  the 
east  as  the  place  of  light,  gives  to  the  usage 
the  modern  Masonic  interpretation  of  the 
symbol  of  orientation. 

Original  Points.  The  old  lectures 
of  the  last  century,  which  are  now  obsolete, 
contained  the  following  instruction  :  "  There 
are  in  Freemasonry  twelve  original  points, 
which  form  the  basis  of  the  system  and 
comprehend  the  whole  ceremony  of  initia- 
tion. Without  the  existence  of  these  points, 
no  man  ever  was,  or  can  be,  legally  and 


556 


ORIGIN 


ORPHAN 


essentially  received  into  the  Order.  Every 
person  who  is  made  a  Mason  must  go 
through  all  these  twelve  forms  and  cere- 
monies, not  only  in  the  first  degree,  but  in 
every  subsequent  one." 

Origin  of  Freemasonry.  The 
origin  and  source  whence  first  sprang  the 
institution  of  Freemasonry,  such  as  we 
now  have  it,  has  given  rise  to  more  differ- 
ence of  opinion  and  discussion  among  Ma- 
sonic scholars  than  any  other  topic  in  the 
literature  of  the  Institution.  Writers  on 
the  history  of  Freemasonry  have,  at  differ- 
ent times,  attributed  its  origin  to  the  fol- 
lowing sources.  1.  To  the  Patriarchal 
religion.  2.  To  the  Ancient  Pagan  Mys- 
teries. 3.  To  the  Temple  of  King  Solo- 
mon. 4.  To  the  Crusaders.  5.  To  the 
Knights  Templars.  6.  To  the  Roman  Col- 
leges of  Artificers.  7.  To  the  Operative 
Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages.  8.  To  the 
Rosicrucians  of  the  sixteenth  century.  9. 
To  Oliver  Cromwell,  for  the  advancement 
of  his  political  schemes.  10.  To  the  Pre- 
tender, for  the  restoration  of  the  House  of 
Stuart  to  the  British  throne.  11.  To  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  at  the  building  of  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral.  12.  To  Dr.  Desaguliers 
and  his  associates  in  the  year  1717.  Each 
of  these  twelve  theories  has  been  from 
time  to  time,  and  the  twelfth  within  a  re- 
cent period,  sustained  with  much  zeal,  if 
not  always  with  much  judgment,  by  their 
advocates.  A  few  of  them,  however,  have 
long  since  been  abandoned,  but  the  others 
still  attract  attention  and  find  defenders. 
My  own  views  on  the  subject  are  expressed 
in  the  article  Antiquity  of  Freemasonry,  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred. 

Orleans,  Duke  of.  Louis  Philippe 
Joseph,  Duke  of  Orleans,  better  known  in 
history  by  his  revolutionary  name  of  Ega- 
lite, was  the  fifth  Grand  Master  of  the  Ma- 
sonic Order  in  France.  As  Duke  of  Char- 
tres,  the  title  which  he  held  during  the  life 
of  his  father,  he  was  elected  Grand  Master 
in  the  year  1771,  upon  the  death  of  the 
Count  de  Clermont.  Having  appointed 
the  Duke  of  Luxemburg  his  Substitute, 
he  did  not  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  until  1777,  but  had  in  the  meantime 
paid  much  attention  to  the  interests  of  Ma- 
sonry, visiting  many  of  the  Lodges,  and 
laying  the  foundation-stone  of  a  Masonic 
Hall  at  Bordeaux. 

His  abandonment  of  his  family  and  his 
adhesion  to  the  Jacobins  during  the  revo- 
lution, when  he  repudiated  his  hereditary 
title  of  Duke  of  Orleans  and  assumed  the 
republican  one  of  Egalite,  forms  a  part  of 
the  history  of  the  times.  On  the  22d  Feb- 
ruary, 1793,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Milsent, 
the  editor,  over  the  signature  of  "  Citoyen 
Egalite,"  which  was  published  in  the  Jour- 


nal de  Paris,  and  which  contains  the  fol- 
lowing passages ; 

"This  is  my  Masonic  history.  At  one 
time,  when  certainly  no  one  could  have 
foreseen  our  revolution,  I  was  in  favor  of 
Freemasonry,  which  presented  to  me  a  sort 
of  image  of  equality,  as  I  was  in  favor  of 
the  parliament,  which  presented  a  sort  of 
image  of  liberty.  I  have  since  quitted  the  phan- 
tom for  the  reality.  In  the  month  of  De- 
cember last,  the  secretary  of  the  Grand 
Orient  having  addressed  himself  to  the 
person  who  discharged  the  functions,  near 
me,  of  secretary  of  the  Grand  Master,  to 
obtain  my  opinion  on  a  question  re- 
lating to  the  affairs  of  that  society,  I  re- 
plied to  him  on  the  5th  of  January  as 
follows :  'As  I  do  not  know  how  the 
Grand  Orient  is  composed,  and  as,  besides, 
I  think  that  there  should  be  no  mystery 
nor  secret  assembly  in  a  republic,  especially 
at  the  commencement  of  its  establishment, 
I  desire  no  longer  to  mingle  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Grand  Orient,  nor  in  the  meetings 
of  the  Freemasons.' " 

In  consequence  of  the  publication  of 
this  letter,  the  Grand  Orient  on  May  13th, 
1793,  declared  the  Grand  Mastership  va- 
cant, thus  virtually  deposing  their  recreant 
chief.  He  soon  reaped  the  reward  of  his 
treachery  and  political  debasement.  On 
the  6th  of  November  in  the  same  year  he 
suffered  death  on  the  guillotine. 

Ormus  or  Ormesius.  See  Rose 
Croix,  Golden. 

Ormuzd  and  Ahriman.  Ormuzd 
was  the  principle  of  good  and  the  symbol 
of  light,  and  Ahriman  the  principle  of  evil 
and  the  symbol  of  darkness,  in  the  old  Per- 
sian religion.     See  Zoroaster. 

Ornaments  of  a  Lodge.  The  lec- 
tures describe  the  ornaments  of  a  Lodge  as 
consisting  of  the  Mosaic  Pavement,  the  In- 
dented Tessel,  and  the  Blazing  Star.  They 
are  called  ornaments  because  they  are  really 
the  decorations  with  which  a'  properly  fur- 
nished Lodge  is  adorned.  See  these  re- 
spective words. 

Oman  the  Jebusite.  He  was  an  in- 
habitant of  Jerusalem,  at  the  time  that  that 
city  was  called  Jebus,  from  the  son  of  Ca- 
naan, whose  descendants  peopled  it.  He 
was  the  owner  of  the  threshing-floor  situ- 
ated on  Mount  Moriah,  in  the  same  spot 
on  which  the  Temple  was  afterwards  built. 
This  threshing-floor  David  bought  to  erect 
on  it  an  altar  to  God.  (2  Chron.  xxi.  18- 
25.)  On  the  same  spot  Solomon  afterwards 
built  the  Temple.  Hence,  in  Masonic  lan- 
guage; the  Temple  of  Solomon  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  "the  threshing-floor  of  Oman 
the  Jeuasite."     See  Threshing-Floor. 

Orphan.  The  obligation  that  Masons 
should  care  for  the  children  of  their  de- 


-Jv 


ORPHEUS 


of 

CALIFOJ 


OSIRIS 


557 


ceased  brethren  has  been  well  observed  in 
the  Institution  by  many  Grand  Lodges, 
independent  associations  of  Masons,  and 
of  asylums  for  the  support  and  educa- 
tion of  Masonic  orphans.  Among  these, 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  noteworthy,  is 
the  orphan  asylum  founded  at  Stock- 
holm, in  1753,  by  the  contributions  of 
the  Swedish  Masons,  and  which,  by  subse- 
quent bequests  and  endowments,  has  be- 
come one  of  the  richest  private  institutions 
of  the  kind  in  the  world. 

Orpheus.  There  are  no  less  than  four 
persons  to  whom  the  ancients  gave  the 
name  of  Orpheus,  but  of  these  only  one  is 
worthy  of  notice  as  the  inventor  of  the 
mysteries,  or,  at  least,  as  the  introducer  of 
them  into  Greece.  The  genuine  Orpheus 
is  said  to  have  been  a  Thracian,  and  a  dis- 
ciple of  Linus,  who  nourished  when  the 
kingdom  of  the  Athenians  was  dissolved. 
From  him  the  Thracian  or  Orphic  myste- 
ries derived  their  name,  because  he  first  in- 
troduced the  sacred  rites  of  initiation  and 
mystical  doctrines  into  Greece.  He  was, 
according  to  fabulous  tradition,  torn  to 
pieces  by  Ciconian  women,  and  after  his 
death  he  was  deified  by  the  Greeks.  The 
story,  that  by  the  power  of  his  harmony  he 
drew  wild  beasts  and  trees  to  him,  has 
been  symbolically  interpreted,  that  by  his 
sacred  doctrines  he  tamed  men  of  rustic  and 
savage  disposition.  An  abundance  of  fa- 
bles has  clustered  around  the  name  of  Or- 
pheus ;  but  it  is  at  least  generally  admitted 
by  the  learned,  that  he  was  the  founder  of 
the  system  of  initiation  into  the  sacred 
mysteries  as  practised  in  Greece.  The 
Grecian  theology,  says  Thomas  Taylor,  — 
himself  the  most  Grecian  of  all  moderns,  — 
originated  from  Orpheus,  and  was  promul- 
gated by  him,  by  Pythagoras,  and  by  Plato ; 
by  the  first,  mystically  and  symbolically ; 
by  the  second,  enigmatically  and  through 
images ;  and  by  the  last,  scientifically.  The 
mysticism  of  Orpheus  should  certainly  have 
given  him  as  high  a  place  in  the  esteem  of 
the  founders  of  the  present  system  of  Spec- 
ulative Masonry  as  has  been  bestowed  upon 
Pythagoras.  But  it  is  strange  that,  while 
they  delighted  to  call  Pythagoras  an  "  an- 
cient friend  and  brother,"  they  have  been 
utterly  silent  as  to  Orpheus. 

Orphic  Mysteries.  These  rites 
were  practised  in  Greece,  and  were  a  modi- 
fication of  the  mysteries  of  Bacchus  or 
Dionysus,  and  they  were  so  called  because 
their  institution  was  falsely  attributed  to 
Orpheus.  They  were,  however,  established 
at  a  much  later  period  than  his  era.  In- 
deed, M.  Freret,  who  has  investigated  this 
subject  with  much  learning  in  the  Memoires 
de  I'Academie  des  Inscriptions,  (torn,  xxiii.,) 
regards  the  Orphics  as  a  degenerate  branch 


of  the  school  of  Pythagoras,  formed,  after 
the  destruction  of  that  school,  by  some  of 
its  disciples,  who,  seeking  to  establish  a  re- 
ligious association,  devoted  themselves  to 
the  worship  of  Bacchus,  with  which  they 
mingled  certain  Egyptian  practices,  and 
out  of  this  mixture  made  up  a  species  of 
life  which  they  called  the  Orphic  life,  and 
the  origin  of  which,  to  secure  greater  con- 
sideration, they  attributed  to  Orpheus,  pub- 
lishing under  his  name  many  apocryphal 
works. 

The  Orphic  rites  differed  from  the  other 
Pagan  rites,  in  not  being  connected  with 
the  priesthood,  but  in  being  practised  by  a 
fraternity  who  did  not  possess  the  sacer- 
dotal functions.  The  initiated  commemo- 
rated in  their  ceremonies,  which  were  per- 
formed at  night,  the  murder  of  Bacchus  by 
the  Titans,  and  his  final  restoration  to  the 
supreme  government  of  the  universe,  under 
the  name  of  Phanes. 

Demosthenes,  while  reproaching  Eschi- 
nes  for  having  engaged  with  his  mother 
in  these  mysteries,  gives  us  some  notion  of 
their  nature. 

In  the  day,  the  initiates  were  crowned 
with  fennel  and  poplar,  and  carried  ser- 
pents in  their  hands,  or  twined  them 
around  their  heads,  crying  with  a  loud 
voice,  enos,  sabos,  and  danced  to  the  sound 
of  the  mystic  words,  hyes,  attes,  attes,  hyes. 
At  night  the  mystes  was  bathed  in  the  lus- 
tral  water,  and  having  been  rubbed  over 
with  clay  and  bran,  he  was  clothed  in  the 
skin  of  a  fawn,  and  having  risen  from  the 
bath,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  have  departed  from 
evil  and  have  found  the  good." 

The  Orphic  poems  made  Bacchus  identi- 
cal with  Osiris,  and  celebrated  the  mutila- 
tion and  palingenesis  of  that  deity  as  a 
symbol  teaching  the  resurrection  to  eternal 
life,  so  that  their  design  was  similar  to  that 
of  the  other  Pagan  mysteries. 

The  Orphic  initiation,  because  it  was  not 
sacerdotal  in  its  character,  was  not  so  cele- 
brated among  the  ancients  as  the  other 
mysteries.  Plato,  even,  calls  its  disciples 
charlatans.  It  nevertheless  existed  until 
the  first  ages  of  the  Christian  religion,  be- 
ing at  that  time  adopted  by  the  philoso- 
phers as  a  means  of  opposing  the  progress 
of  the  new  revelation.  It  fell,  however,  at 
last,  with  the  other  rites  of  paganism,  a 
victim  to  the  rapid  and  triumphant  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel. 

Osiris.  He  was  the  chief  god  of  the 
old  Egyptian  mythology,  the  husband  of 
Isis,  and  the  father  of  Horus.  Jabloniski 
says  that  Osiris  represented  the  sun  only ; 
but  Plutarch,  whose  opportunity  of  know- 
ing was  better,  asserts  that,  while  generally 
considered  as  a  symbol  of  the  solar  orb, 
some  of  the  Egyptian  philosophers  regarded 


558 


OSIRIS 


OZEE 


him  as  a  river  god,  and  called  him  Nilus. 
But  the  truth  is,  that  Osiris  represented  the 
male,  active  or  generative,  powers  of  nature ; 
while  Isis  represented  its  female,  passive 
or  prolific,  powers.  Thus,  when  Osiris  was 
the  sun,  Isis  was  the  earth,  to  be  vivified 
by  his  rays ;  when  he  was  the  Nile,  Isis  was 
the  land  of  Egypt,  fertilized  by  his  over- 
flow. Such  is  the  mythological  or  mystical 
sense  in  which  Osiris  was  received. 

Historically,  he  is  said  to  have  been  a 
great  and  powerful  king,  who,  leaving 
Egypt,  traversed  the  world,  leading  a  host 
of  fauns  or  satyrs,  and  other  fabulous  be- 
ings in  his  train,  actually  an  army  of  fol- 
lowers. He  civilized  the  whole  earth,  and 
taught  mankind  to  fertilize  the  soil  and  to 

Eerform  the  works  of  agriculture.  We  see 
ere  the  idea  which  was  subsequently  ex- 
pressed by  the  Greeks  in  their  travels  of 
I)ionysus,  and  the  wanderings  of  Ceres;  and 
it  is  not  improbable  that  the  old  Masons 
had  some  dim  perception  of  this  story, 
which  they  have  incorporated,  under  the 
figure  of  Euclid,  in  their  "  Legend  of  the 
Craft." 

Osiris,  Mysteries  of.  The  Osirian 
mysteries  consisted  in  a  scenic  representa- 
tion of  the  murder  of  Osiris  by  Typhon, 
the  subsequent  recovery  of  his  mutilated 
body  by  Isis,  and  his  deification,  or  resto- 
ration to  immortal  life.  Julius  Firmicus, 
in  his  treatise  On  the  Falsity  of  the  Pagan 
Religions,  thus  describes  the  object  of  the 
Osirian  mysteries :  "  But  in  those  funerals 
and  lamentations  which  are  annually  cele- 
brated in  honor  of  Osiris,  the  defenders 
of  the  Pagan  rites  pretend  a  physical 
reason.  They  call  the  seeds  of  fruit,  Osi- 
ris ;  the  earth,  Isis ;  the  natural  heat,  Ty- 
phon; and  because  the  fruits  are  ripened 
by  the  natural  heat  and  collected  for  the 
life  of  man,  and  are  separated  from  their 
natural  tie  to  the  earth,  and  are  sown  again 
when  winter  approaches,  this  they  consider 
is  the  death  of  Osiris ;  but  when  the  fruits, 
by  the  genial  fostering  of  the  earth,  be- 
gin again  to  be  generated  by  a  new  procre- 
ation, this  is  the  finding  of  Osiris."  This 
explanation  does  not  essentially  differ  from 
that  already  given  in  the  article  Egyptian 
Mysteries.  The  symbolism  is  indeed  precisely 
the  same — that  of  a  restoration  or  resur- 
rection from  death  to  life.  See  Egyptian 
Mysteries. 

Oterfnt.  The  name  of  the  assassin  at 
the  west  gate  in  the  legend  of  the  third  de- 

free,  according  to  some  of  the  high  degrees, 
have  vainly  sought  the  true  meaning  or 


derivation  of  this  word,  which  is  most 
probably  an  anagram  of  a  name.  It  was, 
I  think,  invented  by  the  Stuart  Masons,  and 
refers  to  some  person  who  was  inimical  to 
that  party. 

Otreb.  The  pseudonyme  of  the  cele- 
brated Rosicrucian  Michel  Mayer,  under 
which  he  wrote  his  book  on  Death  and  the 
Resurrection.     See  Mayer. 

Out  of  the  Lodge.  The  charges  of 
a  Freemason,  compiled  by  Anderson  from 
the  Ancient  Records,  contain  the  regula- 
tions for  the  behavior  of  Masons  out  of  the 
Lodge  under  several  heads;  as,  behavior 
after  the  Lodge  is  over,  when  brethren 
meet  without  strangers,  in  the  presence  of 
strangers,  at  home,  and  towards  a  strange 
brother.  Gadicke  gives  the  same  directions 
in  the  following  words : 

"A  brother  Freemason  shall  not  only 
conduct  himself  in  the  Lodge,  but  also  out 
of  the  Lodge,  as  a  brother  towards  his 
brethren ;  and  happy  are  they  who  are 
convinced  that  they  have  in  this  respect 
ever  obeyed  the  laws  of  the  Order." 

Oval  Temples.  The  temple  in  the 
Druidical  mysteries  was  often  of  an  oval 
form.  As  the  oblong  temple  was  a  represen- 
tation of  the  inhabited  world,  whence  is  de- 
rived the  form  of  the  Lodge;  so  the  oval 
temple  was  a  representation  of  the  mun- 
dane egg,  which  was  also  a  symbol  of  the 
world.  The  symbolic  idea  in  both  was  the 
same. 

Overseer.  The  title  of  three  officers 
in  a  Mark  Lodge,  who  are  distinguished  as 
the  Master,  Senior,  and  Junior  Overseer. 
The  jewel  of  their  office  is  a  square.  In 
Mark  Lodges  attached  to  Chapters,  the 
duties  of  these  officers  are  performed  by 
the  three  Grand  Masters  of  the  Veils. 

Ox.  The  ox  was  the  device  on  the 
banner  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim.  The  ox 
on  a  scarlet  field  is  one  of  the  Royal  Arch 
banners,  and  is  borne  by  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  the  Third  Veil. 

Oyres  de  Ornellas,  Pracao.  A 
Portuguese  gentleman,  who  was  arrested 
as  a  Freemason,  at  Lisbon,  in  1776,  and 
thrown  into  a  dungeon,  where  he  remained 
fourteen  months.     See  Alincourt. 

Ozee.  Sometimes  Osee.  The  accla- 
mation of  the  Scottish  Rite  is  so  spelled  in 
many  French  Cahiers.  Properly  Hoschea, 
which  Delaunay  (Thuileur,  p.  141,)  derives 
from  the  Hebrew  }?&)?},  hossheah,  deliver- 
ance, safety,  or,  as  he  says,  a  saviour.  But 
see  Hoschea,  where  another  derivation  is 
suggested. 


PAGANIS 


PALLADIUM 


559 


P. 


Paganis,  Hugo  de.  The  Latinized 
form  of  the  name  of  Hugh  de  Payens,  the 
first  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars.  See 
Payens. 

Paganism.  A  general  appellation 
for  the  religious  worship  of  the  whole 
human  race,  except  of  that  portion  which 
has  embraced  Christianity,  Judaism,  or 
Mohammedanism.  Its  interest  to  the  Ma- 
sonic student  arises  from  the  fact  that  its 
principal  development  was  the  ancient  my- 
thology, in  whose  traditions  and  mysteries 
are  to  be  found  many  interesting  analogies 
with  the  Masonic  system.  See  Dispensa- 
tions of  Religion  and  Mythology. 

Paine,  Thomas.  A  political  writer 
of  eminence  during  the  Revolutionary 
War  in  America.  He  greatly  injured  his 
reputation  by  his  attacks  on  the  Christian 
religion.  He  was  not  a  Mason,  but  wrote 
An  Essay  on  the  Origin  of  Freemasonry, 
with  no  other  knowledge  of  the  Institution 
than  that  derived  from  the  writings  of  Smith 
and  Dodd,  and  the  very  questionable  au- 
thority of  Prichard's  Masonry  Dissected.  He 
sought  to  trace  Freemasonry  to  the  Celtic 
Druids.  For  one  so  little  acquainted  with 
his  subject,  he  has  treated  it  with  consider- 
able ingenuity.  Paine  was  born  in  Eng- 
land, 1737,  and  died  in  New  York,  in  1809. 

Palestine,  called  also  the  Holy 
Land  on  account  of  the  sacred  character  of 
the  events  that  have  occurred  there,  is  situ- 
ated on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean, 
stretching  from  Lebanon  south  to  the 
borders  of  Egypt,  and  from  the  thirty- 
fourth  to  the  thirty-ninth  degrees  of  lon- 
gitude. It  was  conquered  from  the  Canaan- 
ites  by  the  Hebrews  under  Joshua  1450 
years  B.  c.  They  divided  it  into  twelve 
confederate  states  according  to  the  tribes. 
Saul  united  it  into  one  kingdom,  and 
David  enlarged  its  territories.  In  975  B.  c. 
it  was  divided  into  the  two  kingdoms 
of  Israel  and  Judea,  the  latter  consisting 
of  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and 
the  former  of  the  rest  of  the  tribes.  About 
740  B.  c,  both  kingdoms  were  subdued  by 
the  Persians  and  Babylonians,  and  after 
the  captivity  only  the  two  tribes  of  Judah 
and  Benjamin  returned  to  rebuild  the 
Temple.  With  Palestine,  or  the  Holy 
Land,  the  mythical,  if  not  the  authentic, 
history  of  Freemasonry  has  been  closely 
connected.  There  stood,  at  one  time,  the 
Temple  of  Solomon,  to  which  some  writers 
have  traced  the  origin  of  the  Masonic 
Order ;  there  fought  the  Crusaders,  among 
whom  other  writers  have  sought,  with 
equal  boldness,  to  find  the  cradle  of  the 
Fraternity ;  there  certainly  the   Order  of 


the  Templars  was  instituted,  whose  subse- 
quent history  has  been  closely  mingled 
with  that  of  Freemasonry ;  and  there  oc- 
curred nearly  all  the  events  of  sacred  his- 
tory that,  with  the  places  where  they  were 
enacted,  have  been  adopted  as  important 
Masonic  symbols. 

Palestine,  Explorations  in.  The 
desire  to  obtain  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  archseology  of  Palestine,  gave  rise  in 

1866  to  an  association,  which  was  perma- 
nently organized  in  London,  as  the  "  Pales- 
tine Exploration  Fund,"  with  the  Queen 
as  the  chief  patron,  and  a  long  list  of  the 
nobility  and  the  most  distinguished  gentle- 
men in  the  kingdom,  added  to  which  fol- 
lowed the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  and 
forty-two  subordinate  and  provincial  Grand 
Lodges  and  Chapters.     Early  in  the  year 

1867  the  committee  began  the  work  of  ex- 
amination, by  mining  in  and  about  the  va- 
rious points  which  had  been  determined 
upon  by  a  former  survey  as  essential  to  a 
proper  understanding  of  the  ancient  city, 
which  had  been  covered  up  by  debris  from 
age  to  age,  so  that  the  present  profiles  of 
the  ground,  in  every  direction,  were  totally 
different  from  what  they  were  in  the  days 
of  David  and  Solomon,  or  even  the  time 
of  Christ. 

Lieutenant  Charles  Warren,  R.  E.,  was 
sent  out  with  authority  to  act  as  circum- 
stances might  demand,  and  as  the  delicacy 
and  the  importance  of  the  enterprise  re- 
quired. He  arrived  in  Jerusalem  February 
17th,  1867,  and  continued  his  labors  in  ex- 
cavating in  many  parts  of  the  city,  with 
some  interruptions,  until  1871,  when  he  re- 
turned to  England.  During  his  operations, 
he  kept  the  society  in  London  constantly 
informed  of  the  progress  of  the  work  in 
which  he  and  his  associates  were  so  zealous- 
ly engaged,  in  a  majority  of  cases  at  the 
imminent  risk  of  their  lives  and  always 
that  of  their  health.  The  result  of  these 
labors  has  been  a  vast  accumulation  of  facts 
in  relation  to  the  topography  of  the  holy 
city  which  throw  much  light  on  its  archse- 
ology. A  branch  of  the  society  has  been 
established  in  this  country,  and  it  is  still 
in  successful  operation. 

Palestine,  Knight  of.  See  Knight 
of  Palestine. 

Palestine,  Knight  of  St.  John 
Of.     See  Knight  of  St.  John  of  Palestine. 

Palladie  Masonry.  The  title  given 
to  the  Order  of  the  Seven  Sages  and  the 
Order  of  the  Palladium.  See  Palladium, 
Order  of  the. 

Palladium,  Order  of  the.  An 
androgynous  society  of  Masonic  adoption, 


560 


PALMER 


PARIS 


established,  says  Kagon,  at  Paris  in  1737. 
It  made  great  pretensions  to  high  antiquity, 
claiming  that  it  had  its  origin  in  the  in- 
structions brought  by  Pythagoras  from 
Egypt  into  Greece,  and  having  fallen  into 
decay  after  the  decline  of  the  Roman  Em- 
peror, it  was  revived  in  1637  by  Fenelon, 
Archbishop  of  Canbray;  all  of  which  is  al- 
together mythical.  Fenelon  was  not  born 
until  1651.  It  was  a  very  moral  society, 
consisting  of  two  degrees  :  1.  Adelph ;  2. 
Companion  of  Ulysses.  When  a  female 
took  the  second  degree,  she  was  called  a 
Companion  of  Penelope. 

Palmer.  From  the  Latin,  palmifer,  a 
palm-bearer.  A  name  given  in  the  time  of 
the  Crusades  to  a  pilgrim,  who,  coming  back 
from  the  holy  war  after  having  accom- 
plished his  vow  of  pilgrimage,  exhibited 
upon  his  return  home  a  branch  of  palm 
bound  round  his  staff  in  token  of  it. 

Pantacle.  The  pentalpha  of  Pythag- 
oras is  so  called  in  the  symbolism  of  High 
Magic  and  the  Hermetic  Philosophy.  See 
Pentalpha. 

Papworth  Manuscript.  A  man- 
uscript in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Wyatt 
Papworth,  of  London,  who  purchased  it 
from  a  bookseller  of  that  city  in  1860.  As 
some  of  the  water-marks  of  the  paper  on 
which  it  is  written  bear  the  initials  G.  P., 
with  a  crown  as  a  water-mark,  it  is  evident 
that  the  manuscript  cannot  be  older  than 
1714,  that  being  the  year  in  which  the  first 
of  the  Georges  ascended  the  throne.  It  is 
most  probably  of  a  still  more  recent  date, 
perhaps  1715  or  1716.  The  Rev.  A.  F.  A. 
Woodford  has  thus  described  its  appear- 
ance: "The  scroll  was  written  originally 
on  pages  of  foolscap  size,  which  were  then 
joined  into  a  continuous  roll,  and  after- 
wards, probably  for  greater  convenience, 
the  pages  were  again  separated  by  cutting 
them,  and  it  now  forms  a  book,  containing 
twenty-four  folios,  sewed  together  in  a 
light-brown  paper  cover.  The  text  is  of  a 
bold  character,  but  written  so  irregularly 
that  there  are  few  consecutive  pages  which 
have  the  same  number  of  lines,  the  aver- 
age being  about  seventeen  to  the  page." 
The  manuscript  is  not  complete,  three  or 
four  of  the  concluding  charges  being  omit- 
ted, although  some  one  has  written,  in  a 
hand  different  from  that  of  the  text,  the 
word  Finis  at  the  bottom  of  the  last  page. 
The  manuscript  appears  to  have  been  simply 
a  copy,  in  a  little  less  antiquated  language,  of 
some  older  Constitution.  It  has  been  pub- 
lished by  Bro.  Hughan  in  his  Old  Charges 
of  the  British  Freemasons. 

Paracelsus.  Philippus  Aureolus 
Theophrastus  Bombastus  Paracelsus  de 
Hohenheim,  as  he  styled  himself,  was  born 
in  Germany  in  1493,  and  died  in  1541.    He 


devoted  his  youth  to  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  astrology,  alchemy,  and  magic,  and 
passed  many  years  of  his  life  in  travelling 
over  Europe  and  acquiring  information  in 
medicine,  of  which  he  proclaimed  himself 
to  be  the  monarch.  He  was,  perhaps,  the 
most  distinguished  charlatan  whoever  made 
a  figure  in  the  world.  The  followers  of  his 
school  were  called  Paracelsists,  and  they 
continued  for  more  than  a  century  after  the 
death  of  their  master  to  influence  the 
schools  of  Germany.  Much  of  the  Kabba- 
listic  and  mystical  science  of  Paracelsus 
was  incorporated  into  Hermetic  Masonry 
by  the  founders  of  the  high  degrees. 

Paracelsus,  Sublime.  A  degree  to 
be  found  in  the  manuscript  collections  of 
Peuvret. 

Parallel  Lines.  In  every  well- 
regulated  Lodge  there  is  found  a  point 
within  a  circle,  which  circle  is  imbordered 
by  two  perpendicular  parallel  lines.  These 
lines  are  representatives  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  the 
two  great  patrons  of  Masonry  to  whom  our 
Lodges  are  dedicated,  and  who  are  said  to 
have  been  "perfect  parallels  in  Christianity 
as  well  as  Masonry."  In  those  English 
Lodges  which  have  adopted  the  "Union 
System  "  established  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England  in  1813,  and  where  the  dedication 
is  "to  God  and  his  service,"  the  lines 
parallel  represent  Moses  and  Solomon.  As 
a  symbol,  the  parallel  lines  are  not  to  be 
found  in  the  earlier  rituals  of  Masonry. 
Although  Oliver  defines  the  symbol  on  the 
authority  of  what  he  calls  the  "  Old  Lec- 
tures," I  have  been  unable  to  find  it  in  any 
anterior  to  Preston,  and  even  he  only  re- 
fers to  the  parallelism  of  the  two  Sts.  John. 
The  fact  is,  that  the  symbol  of  the  parallel 
lines,  with  that  of  the  point  within  a  circle, 
was  first  introduced  by  Dunckerley  in  the 
last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.  See 
Dedication. 

Paris,  Congresses  of.  Three  im- 
portant Masonic  Congresses  have  been  held 
in  the  city  of  Paris.  The  first  was  con- 
vened by  the  Rite  of  Philalethes  in  1785, 
that  by  a  concourse  of  intelligent  Masons 
of  all  rites  and  countries,  and  by  a  com- 
parison of  oral  and  written  traditions,  light 
might  be  educed  on  the  most  essential  sub- 
jects of  Masonic  science,  and  on  the  nature, 
origin,  and  historic  application  as  well  as 
the  actual  state  of  the  Institution.  Sava- 
lette  de  Lauges  was  elected  President.  It 
closed  after  a  protracted  session  of  three 
months,  without  producing  any  practical 
result.  The  second  was  called  in  1787,  as 
a  continuation  of  the  former,  and  closed 
with  precisely  the  same  negative  result. 
The  third  was  assembled  in  1855,  by  Prince 
Murat,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  various 


PARLIAMENTARY 


PASCHALIS 


561 


reforms  in  the  Masonic  system.  At  this 
Congress,  ten  propositions,  some  of  them 
highly  important,  were  introduced,  and 
their  adoption  recommended  to  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  the  world.  But  the  influence  of 
this  Congress  has  not  been  more  successful 
than  that  of  its  predecessors. 

Parliamentary  Law.  Parliamen- 
tary Law,  or  the  Lex  Parliamentaria,  is  that 
code  originally  framed  for  the  government 
of  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  in  the 
transaction  of  its  business,  and  subse- 
quently adopted,  with  necessary  modifica- 
tions, by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

But  what  was  found  requisite  for  the 
regulation  of  public  bodies,  that  order 
might  be  secured  and  the  rights  of  all  be 
respected,  has  been  found  equally  necessary 
in  private  societies.  Indeed,  no  associa- 
tion of  men  could  meet  together  for  the 
discussion  of  any  subject,  with  the  slightest 
probability  of  ever  coming  to  a  conclusion, 
unless  its  debates  were  regulated  by  certain 
and  acknowledged  rules. 

The  rules  thus  adopted  for  its  govern- 
ment are  called  its  parliamentary  law, 
and  they  are  selected  from  the  parliamen- 
tary law  of  the  national  assembly,  because 
that  code  has  been  instituted  by  the  wis- 
dom of  past  ages,  and  modified  and  per- 
fected by  the  experience  of  subsequent 
ones,  so  that  it  is  now  universally  acknowl- 
edged that  there  is  no  better  system  of 
government  for  deliberative  societies  than 
the  code  which  has  so  long  been  in  opera- 
tion under  the  name  of  parliamentary  law. 

Not  only,  then,  is  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  parliamentary  law  necessary  for  the 
presiding  officer  of  a  Masonic  body,  if  he 
would  discharge  the  duties  of  the  chair 
with  credit  to  himself  and  comfort  to  the 
members,  but  he  must  be  possessed  of  the 
additional  information  as  to  what  parts  of 
that  law  are  applicable  to  Masonry,  and 
what  parts  are  not ;  as  to  where  and  when 
he  must  refer  to  it  for  the  decision  of  a 
question,  and  where  and  when  he  must  lay 
it  aside,  and  rely  for  his  government  upon 
the  organic  law  and  the  ancient  usages  of 
the  Institution. 

Parrot  Masons.  One  who  commits 
to  memory  the  questions  and  answers  of 
the  catechetical  lectures,  and  the  formulas 
of  the  ritual,  but  pays  no  attention  to  the 
history  and  philosophy  of  the  Institution, 
is  commonly  called  a  Parrot  Mason,  be- 
cause he  is  supposed  to  repeat  what  he  has 
learned  without  any  conception  of  its  true 
meaning.  In  former  times,  such  super- 
ficial Masons  were  held  by  many  in  high 
repute,  because  of  the  facility  with  which 
they  passed  through  the  ceremonies  of  a 
reception,  and  they  were  generally  desig- 
nated as  "  Bright  Masons."  But  the  pro- 
3  V  36 


gress  of  Masonry  as  a  science  now  requires 
something  more  than  a  mere  knowledge 
of  the  lectures  to  constitute  a  Masonic 
scholar. 

Parsees.  The  descendants  of  the  ori- 
ginal fire-worshippers  of  Persia,  or  the  dis- 
ciples of  Zoroaster,  who  emigrated  to  India 
about  the  end  of  the  eighth  century.  There 
they  now  constitute  a  body  very  little  short 
of  a  million  of  industrious  and  moral  citi- 
zens, adhering  with  great  tenacity  to  the 
principles  and  practices  of  their  ancient  re- 
ligion. Many  of  the  higher  classes  have 
become  worthy  members  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  it  was  for  their  sake  prin- 
cipally that  Dr.  Burnes  attempted  some 
years  ago  to  institute  his  new  Order,  enti- 
tled the  Brotherhood  of  the  Olive-Branch, 
as  a  substitute  for  the  Christian  degrees  of 
Knighthood,  from  which,  by  reason  of  their 
religion,  they  were  excluded. 

Particular  Lodges.  In  the  Regu- 
lations  of  1721,  it  is  said  that  the  Grand 
Lodge  consists  of  the  representatives  of  all 
the  particular  Lodges  on  record.  In  the 
modern  Constitutions  of  England,  the  term 
used  is  private  Lodges.  In  America,  they 
are  called  subordinate  Lodges. 

Parts.  In  the  old  obligations,  which 
may  be  still  used  in  some  portions  of  the 
country,  there  was  a  provision  which  for- 
bade the  revelation  of  any  of  the  arts,  parts, 
or  points  of  Masonry.  Oliver  explains  the 
meaning  of  the  word  parts  by  telling  us 
that  it  was  "  an  old  word  for  degrees  or 
lectures."    See  Points. 

Parvis.  In  the  French  system,  the 
room  immediately  preceding  a  Masonic 
Lodge  is  so  called.  It  is  equivalent  to  the 
Preparation  Room  of  the  American  and 
English  systems. 

Paschal  Feast.  Celebrated  by  the 
Jews  in  commemoration  of  the  Passover, 
by  the  Christians  in  commemoration  of  the 
resurrection  of  our  Lord.  The  Paschal 
Feast,  called  also  the  Mystic  Banquet,  is  kept 
by  all  Princes  of  the  Rose  Croix.  Where 
two  are  together  on  Maundy  Thursday,  it  is 
of  obligation  that  they  should  partake  of  a 
portion  of  roasted  lamb.  This  banquet  is 
symbolic  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 

Paschal  is,  Martinez.  The  founder 
of  a  new  Rite  or  modification  of  Masonry, 
called  by  him  the  Rite  of  Elected  Cohens  or 
Priests.  It  was  divided  into  two  classes,  in 
the  first  of  which  was  represented  the  fall 
of  man  from  virtue  and  happiness,  and  in 
the  second,  his  final  restoration.  It  con- 
sisted of  nine  degrees,  namely:  1.  Appren- 
tice ;  2.  Fellow  Craft ;  3.  Master ;  4.  Grand 
Elect;  5.  Apprentice  Cohen;  6.  Fellow 
Craft  Cohen ;  7.  Master  Cohen ;  8.  Grand 
Architect;  9.  Knight  Commander.  Pas- 
chalis first  introduced  this  Rite  into  some 


562 


PASCHAL 


PAST 


of  the  Lodges  of  Marseilles,  Toulouse,  and 
Bordeaux,  and  afterwards,  in  1767,  he  ex- 
tended it  to  Paris,  where,  for  a  short  time, 
it  was  rather  popular,  ranking  some  of  the 
Parisian  literati  among  its  disciples.  It 
has  now  ceased  to  exist. 

Paschalis  was  a  German,  born  about  the 
year  1700,  of  poor  but  respectable  parentage. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  acquired  a  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Latin.  He  then  trav- 
elled through  Turkey,  Arabia,  and  Palestine, 
where  he  made  himself  acquainted  with  the 
Kabbalistic  learning  of  the  Jews.  He  sub- 
sequently repaired  to  Paris,  where  he  es- 
tablished his  Kite. 

Paschalis  was  the  Master  of  St.  Martin, 
who  afterwards  reformed  his  Rite.  After 
living  for  some  years  at  Paris,  he  went  to 
St.  Domingo,  where  he  died  in  1779. 
Thory,  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Fondation  du 
Grand  Orient  de  France,  (pp.  239-253,)  has 
given  very  full  details  of  this  Rite  and  of 
its  receptions. 

Paschal  Lamb.  See  Lamb,  Paschal. 

Pas  perdus.  The  French  call  the 
room  appropriated  to  visitors  the  Salle  des 
pas  perdus.  It  is  the  same  as  the  Tiler's 
Room  in  the  English  and  American  Lodges. 

Passages  of  the  Jordan.  See 
Fords  of  the  Jordan. 

Passed.  A  candidate,  on  receiving 
the  second  degree,  is  said  to  be  "  passed  as 
a  Fellow  Craft."  It  alludes  to  his  having 
passed  through  the  porch  to  the  middle 
chamber  of  the  Temple,  the  place  in  which 
Fellow  Crafts  received  their  wages.  In 
this  country  "  crafted"  is  often  improperly 
used  in  its  stead. 

Passing  of  Cony  ng.  That  is,  sur- 
passing in  skill.  The  expression  occurs  in 
the  Cooke  MS.,  (line  676,)  '^The  forsayde 
Maister  Euglet  ordeynet  thei  were  passing 
of  conyng  schold  be  passing  honoured;" 
i.  e.,  The  aforesaid  Master,  Euclid,  ordained 
that  they  that  were  surpassing  in  skill 
should  be  exceedingly  honored.  It  is  a 
fundamental  principle  of  Masonry  to  pay 
all  honor  to  knowledge. 

Password.  A  word  intended,  like 
the  military  countersign,  to  prove  the 
friendly  nature  of  him  who  gives  it,  and  is 
a  test  of  his  right  to  pass  or  be  admitted 
into  a  certain  place.  Between  a  Word  and 
a  Password  there  seems  to  me  to  be  this 
difference  :  the  former  is  given  for  instruc- 
tion, as  it  always  contains  a  symbolic 
meaning ;  the  latter,  for  recognition  only. 
Thus,  the  author  of  the  life  of  the  celebrat- 
ed Elias  Ashmole  says,  "Freemasons  are 
known  to  one  another  all  over  the  world  by 
certain  passwords  known  to  them  alone; 
they  have  Lodges  in  different  countries, 
where  they  are  relieved  by  the  brotherhood 
if  they  are  in  distress."    See  Sign. 


Past.  An  epithet  applied  in  Masonry 
to  an  officer  who  has  held  an  office  for  the 
prescribed  period  for  which  he  was  elected, 
and  has  then  retired.  Thus,  a  Past  Master 
is  one  who  has  presided  for  twelve  months 
over  a  Lodge,  and  the  Past  High  Priest 
one  who,  for  the  same  period,  has  presided 
over  a  Chapter.  The  French  use  the  word 
passe  in  the  same  sense,  but  they  have  also 
the  word  ancien,  with  a  similar  meaning. 
Thus,  while  they  would  employ  Maitre 
passe  to  designate  the  degree  of  Past  Mas- 
ter, they  would  call  the  official  Past  Master, 
who  had  retired  from  the  chair  at  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  service,  an  Ancien 
Venerable,  or  Ancien  Maitre. 

Past  Master.  An  honorary  degree 
conferred  on  the  Master  of  a  Lodge  at  his 
installation  into  office.  In  this  degree  the 
necessary  instructions  are  conferred  re- 
specting the  various  ceremonies  of  the 
Order,  such  as  installations,  processions, 
the  laying  of  corner-stones,  etc. 

When  a  brother,  who  has  never  before 
presided,  has  been  elected  the  Master  of 
a  Lodge,  an  emergent  Lodge  of  Past  Mas- 
ters, consisting  of  not  less  than  three,  is 
convened,  and  all  but  Past  Masters  retir- 
ing, the  degree  is  conferred  upon  the  newly 
elected  officer. 

Some  form  of  ceremony  at  the  installa- 
tion of  a  new  Master  seems  to  have  been 
adopted  at  an  early  period  after  the  re- 
vival. In  the  "manner  of  constituting  a 
new  Lodge,"  as  practised  by  the  Duke  of 
Wharton,  who  was  Grand  Master  in  1723, 
the  language  used  by  the  Grand  Master 
when  placing  the  candidate  in  the  chair  is 
given,  and  he  is  said  to  use  "  some  other 
expressions  that  are  proper  and  usual  on 
that  occasion,  but  not  proper  to  be  written." 
Whence  we  conclude  that  there  was  an  eso- 
teric ceremony.  Often  the  rituals  tell  us 
that  this  ceremony  consisted  only  in  the 
outgoing  Master  communicating  certain 
modes  of  recognition  to  his  successor.  And 
this  actually,  even  at  this  day,  constitutes 
the  essential  ingredient  of  the  Past  Mas- 
ter's degree. 

The  degree  is  also  conferred  in  Royal 
Arch  Chapters,  where,  it  succeeds  the  Mark 
Master's  degree.  The  conferring  of  this 
degree,  which  has  no  historical  connection 
with  the  rest  of  the  degrees,  in  a  Chapter, 
arises  from  the  following  circumstance. 
Originally,  when  Chapters  of  Royal  Arch 
Masonry  were  under  the  government  of 
Lodges  in  which  the  degree  was  then  al- 
ways conferred,  it  was  a  part  of  the  regula- 
tions that  no  one  could  receive  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  unless  he  had  previously  pre- 
sided in  the  Lodge  as  Master.  When  the 
Chapters  became  independent,  the  regula- 
tion could  not  be  abolished,  for  that  would 


PASTOPHORI 


PATRIARCHAL 


563 


have  been  an  innovation;  the  difficulty 
has,  therefore,  been  obviated,  by  making 
every  candidate  for  the  degree  of  Royal 
Arch  a  Past  Master  before  his  exaltation. 

Some  extraneous  ceremonies,  by  no 
means  creditable  to  their  inventor,  were 
at  an  early  period  introduced  into  this 
country.  In  1856,  the  General  Grand 
Chapter,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  ordered  these 
ceremonies  to  be  discontinued,  and  the 
simpler  mode  of  investiture  to  be  used ;  but 
the  order  has  only  been  partially  obeyed, 
and  many  Chapters  still  continue  what  one 
can  scarcely  help  calling  the  indecorous 
form  of  initiation  into  the  degree. 

For  several  years  past  the  question  has 
been  agitated  in  some  of  the  Grand  Lodges 
of  the  United  States,  whether  this  degree 
is  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Symbolic  or  of 
Royal  Arch  Masonry.  The  explanation  of 
its  introduction  into  Chapters,  just  given, 
manifestly  demonstrates  that  the  jurisdic- 
tion over  it  by  Chapters  is  altogether  an 
assumed  one.  The  Past  Master  of  a  Chap- 
ter is  only  a  quasi  Past  Master;  the  true 
and  legitimate  Past  Master  is  the  one  who 
has  presided  over  a  symbolic  Lodge. 

Past  Masters  are  admitted  to  membership 
in  many  Grand  Lodges,  and  by  some  the 
inherent  right  has  been  claimed  to  sit  in 
those  bodies.  But  the  most  eminent  Ma- 
sonic authorities  have  made  a  contrary  de- 
cision, and  the  general,  and,  indeed,  almost 
universal  opinion  now  is  that  Past  Masters 
obtain  their  seats  in  Grand  Lodges  by 
courtesy,  and  in  consequence  of  local  regu- 
lations, and  not  by  inherent  right. 

The  jewel  of  a  Past  Master  in  the  United 
States  is  a  pair  of  compasses  extended  to 
sixty  degrees  on  the  fourth  part  of  a  circle, 
with  a  sun  in  the  centre.  In  England  it 
was  formerly  the  square  on  a  quadrant,  but 
is  at  present  the  square  with  the  forty- 
seventh  problem  of  Euclid  engraved  on 
a  silver  plate  suspended  within  it. 

The  French  have  two  titles  to  express 
this  degree.  They  apply  Maltre  passe  to 
the  Past  Master  of  the  English  and  Amer- 
ican system,  and  they  call  in  their  own 
system  one  who  has  formerly  presided  over 
a  Lodge  an  Ancien  Maltre,  The  indiscrim- 
inate use  of  these  titles  sometimes  leads  to 
confusion  in  the  translation  of  their  rituals 
and  treatises. 

Pastophori.  Couch  or  shrine  bear- 
ers. The  company  of  Pastophori  consti- 
tuted a  sacred  college  of  priests  in  Egypt, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  carry  in  processions 
the  image  of  the  god.  Their  chief,  accord- 
ing to  Apuleius,  {Met.  xi.,)  was  called  a 
Scribe.  Besides  acting  as  mendicants  in 
soliciting  charitable  donations  from  the 
populace,  they  took  an  important  part  in 
the  mysteries. 


Past os.  (Greek,  naarog,  a  couch.)  The 
pastos  was  a  chest  or  close  cell,  in  the 
Pagan  mysteries,  (among  the  Druids,  an 
excavated  stone,)  in  which  the  aspirant 
was  for  some  time  placed,  to  commemorate 
the  mystical  death  of  the  god.  This  con- 
stituted the  symbolic  death  which  was 
common  to  all  the  mysteries.  In  the  Ark- 
ite  rites,  the  pastos  represented  the  ark  in 
which  Noah  was  confined.  It  is  represented 
among  Masonic  symbols  by  the  coffin. 

Patents.  Diplomas  or  certificates  of 
the  higher  degrees  in  the  Scottish  Rite  are 
called  Patents.  The  term  is  also  sometimes 
applied  to  commissions  granted  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  high  Masonic  authority.  Litercepat- 
entes  or  apertas,  that  is,  letters  patent  or  open 
letters,  was  a  term  used  in  the  Middle  Ages 
in  contradistinction  to  literae  clausce,  or  closed 
letters,  to  designate  those  documents  which 
were  spread  out  on  the  whole  length  of  the 
parchment,  and  sealed  with  the  public  seal 
of  the  sovereign  ;  while  the  secret  or  pri- 
vate seal  only  was  attached  to  the  closed 
patents.  The  former  were  sealed  with  green 
wax,  the  latter  with  white.  There  was  also 
a  difference  in  their  heading;  letters  patent 
were  directed  "  universis  turn  praesentibus 
quara  futuris,"  i.  e.,  to  all  present  or  to  come; 
while  closed  letters  were  directed  "  univer- 
sis praesentibus  literas  inspecturis,"  i.  e.,  to 
all  present  who  shall  inspect  these  letters. 
Masonic  diplomas  are  therefore  properly 
called  letters  patent,  or,  more  briefly,  patents. 

Patience.  In  the  ritual  of  the  third 
degree  according  to  the  American  Rite,  it 
is  said  that  "  time,  patience,  and  persever- 
ance will  enable  us  to  accomplish  all  things, 
and  perhaps  at  last  to  find  the  true  Master's 
Word."  The  idea  is  similar  to  one  express- 
ed by  the  Hermetic  philosophers.  Thus 
Pernetty  tells  us  (Diet.  Mythol.  Herm.)  that 
the  alchemists  said :  "  The  work  of  the  phi- 
losopher's stone  is  a  work  of  patience,  on 
account  of  the  length  of  time  and  of  labor 
that  is  required  to  conduct  it  to  perfection  ; 
and  Geber  says  that  many  adepts  have 
abandoned  it  in  weariness,  and  others,  wish- 
ing to  precipitate  it,  have  never  succeeded." 
With  the  alchemists,  in  their  esoteric  teach- 
ing, the  philosopher's  stone  had  the  same 
symbolism  as  the  WORD  has  in  Free- 
masonry. 

Patriarchal  Masonry.  The  the- 
ory of  Dr.  Oliver  on  this  subject  has,  I 
think,  been  misinterpreted.  He  does  not 
maintain,  as  has  been  falsely  supposed,  that 
the  Freemasonry  of  the  present  day  is  but 
a  continuation  of  that  which  was  practised 
by  the  patriarchs,  but  simply  that,  in  the 
simplicity  of  the  patriarchal  worship,  un- 
incumbered as  it  was  with  dogmatic  creeds, 
we  may  find  the  true  model  after  which  the 
religious  system  of  Speculative  Masonry 


564 


PATRIARCH 


PEACE 


has  been  constructed.  Thus  he 
"  Nor  does  it  (Freemasonry)  exclude  a  sur 
vey  of  the  patriarchal  mode  of  devotion, 
which  indeed  forms  the  primitive  model 
of  Freemasonry.  The  events  that  occurred 
in  these  ages  of  simplicity  of  manners  and 
purity  of  faith,  when  it  pleased  God  to 
communicate  with  his  favored  creatures, 
necessarily,  therefore,  form  subjects  of  in- 
teresting illustration  in  our  Lodges,  and 
constitute  legitimate  topics  on  which  the 
Master  in  the  chair  may  expatiate  and  ex- 
emplify, for  the  edification  of  the  brethren 
and  their  improvement  in  morality  and  the 
love  and  fear  of  God."  (Hist.  Landm.,  i. 
207.)  I  see  here  no  attempt  to  trace  a  his- 
torical connection,  but  simply  to  claim  an 
identity  of  purpose  and  character  in  the 
two  religious  systems,  the  Patriarchal  and 
the  Masonic. 

Patriarch,  Grand.  The  twentieth 
degree  of  the  Council  of  Emperors  of  the 
East  and  West.  The  same  as  the  twentieth 
degree,  or  Noachite,  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite. 

Patriarch  of  the  Crusades.  One 
of  the  names  formerly  given  to  the  de- 
gree of  Grand  Scottish  Knight  of  St.  An- 
drew, the  twenty-ninth  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  The  legend  of 
that  degree  connects  it  with  the  Crusades, 
and  hence  the  name;  which,  however,  is 
never  used  officially,  and  is  retained  by  reg- 
ular Supreme  Councils  only  as  a  synonym. 

Patriarch  of  the  Grand  Lumi- 
nary. A  degree  contained  in  the  nomen- 
clature of  Le  Page. 

Patron.  In  the  year  1812,  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  becoming  Regent  of  the  king- 
dom, was  constrained  by  reasons  of  state 
to  resign  the  Grand  Mastership  of  Eng- 
land, but  immediately  afterwards  accepted 
the  title  of  Grand  Patron  of  the  Order  in 
England,  and  this  was  the  first  time  that 
the  title  was  officially  recognized.  George 
IV.  held  it  during  his  life,  and  on  his 
death,  William  IV.,  in  1830,  officially  ac- 
cepted the  title  of  "  Patron  of  the  United 
Grand  Lodge."  On  the  accession  of  Vic- 
toria, the  title  fell  into  abeyance,  because  it 
was  understood  that  it  could  only  be  as- 
sumed by  a  sovereign  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Craft.  The  office  is  not  known  in 
other  countries. 

Patrons  of  Masonry.  St.  John 
the  Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 
At  an  early  period  we  find  that  the  Chris- 
tian church  adopted  the  usage  of  selecting 
for  every  trade  and  occupation  its  own 
patron  saint,  who  is  supposed  to  have  taken 
it  under  his  especial  charge.  And  the  se- 
lection was  generally  made  in  reference  to 
some  circumstance  in  the  life  of  the  saint, 
which  traditionally  connected  him  with  the 


profession  of  which  he  was  appointed  the 
patron.  Thus  St.  Crispin,  because  he  was 
a  shoemaker,  is  the  patron  saint  of  the 
"gentle  craft,"  and  St.  Dunstan,  who  was 
a  blacksmith,  is  the  patron  of  blacksmiths. 
The  reason  why  the  two  Saints  John  were 
selected  as  the  patron  saints  of  Freema- 
sonry will  be  seen  under  the  head  of  Dedi- 
cation of  Lodges. 

Paul,  Confraternity  of  Saint. 
In  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
there  was  a  secret  community  at  Trapani, 
in  Sicily,  which  called  itself  La  Conjrater- 
nitd  di  San  Paolo.  These  people,  when 
assembled,  passed  sentence  on  their  fellow- 
citizens;  and  if  any  one  was  condemned, 
the  waylaying  and  putting  him  to  death 
was  allotted  to  one  of  the  members,  which 
office  he  was  obliged,  without  murmuring, 
to  execute,  (Stolberg's  Travels,  vol.  iii.,  p. 
472.)  In  the  travels  of  Brocquire  to  and 
from  Palestine  in  1432,  (p.  328,)  an  in- 
stance is  given  of  the  power  of  the  associa- 
tion over  its  members.  In  the  German 
romance  of  Hermann  of  Unna,  of  which 
there  are  an  English  and  French  transla- 
tion, this  tribunal  plays  an  important  part. 

Paul  I.  This  emperor  of  Russia  was 
induced  by  the  machinations  of  the  Jesuits, 
whom  he  had  recalled  from  banishment,  to 
prohibit  in  his  domains  all  secret  socie- 
ties, and  especially  the  Freemasons.  This 
prohibition  lasted  from  1797  to  1803,  when 
it  was  repealed  by  his  successor.  Paul  had 
always  expressed  himself  an  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  the  Knights  of  Malta;  in  1797, 
had  assumed  the  title  of  Protector  of  the 
Order,  and  in  1798  accepted  the  Grand 
Mastership.  This  is  another  evidence,  if 
one  was  needed,  that  there  was  no  sympa- 
thy between  the  Order  of  Malta  and  the 
Freemasons. 

Pavement,  Mosaic.  See  Mosaic 
Pavement. 

Payens,  Hugh  de.  In  Latin, 
Hugo  de  Paganis.  The  founder  and  the 
first  Grand  Master  of  the  Order  of  Knights 
Templars.  He  was  born  at  Troyes,  in  the' 
kingdom  of  Naples.  Having,  with  eight 
others,  established  the  Order  at  Jerusalem, 
in  1118  he  visited  Europe,  where,  through  his 
representations,  its  reputation  and  wealth 
and  the  number  of  its  followers  were  greatly 
increased.  In  1129  he  returned  to  Jerusa- 
lem, where  he  was  received  with  great  dis- 
tinction, but  shortly  afterwards  died,  and 
was  succeeded  in  the  Grand  Mastership  by 
Robert  de  Craon,  surnamed  the  Burgundian. 

P.  D.  E.  P.  Letters  placed  on  the 
ring  of  profession  of  the  Order  of  the  Tem- 
ple, being  the  initials  of  the  Latin  sen- 
tence, Pro  Deo  et  Patria,  i.  e.,  For  God  and 
my  country. 

Peace.    The  spirit  of  Freemasonry  is 


PECTORAL 


PELICAN 


565 


antagonistic  to  war.  Its  tendency  is  to 
unite  all  men  in  one  brotherhood,  whose 
ties  must  necessarily  be  weakened  by  all 
dissension.  Hence,  as  Brother  Albert  Pike 
says,  "  Masonry  is  the  great  peace  society 
of  the  world.  Wherever  it  exists,  it  strug- 
gles to  prevent  international  difficulties 
and  disputes,  and  to  bind  republics,  king- 
doms, and  empires  together  in  one  great 
band  of  peace  and  amity." 

Pectoral.  Belonging  to  the  breast; 
from  the  Latin  pectus,  the  breast.  The 
heart  has  always  been  considered  the  seat 
of  fortitude  and  courage,  and  hence  by  this 
word  is  suggested  to  the  Mason  certain 
symbolic  instructions  in  relation  to  the 
virtue  of  fortitude.  In  the  earliest  lectures 
of  the  last  century  it  was  called  one  of  the 
"principal  signs,"  and  had  this  hiero- 
glyphic, X ;  but  in  the  modern  rituals  the 
hieroglyphic  has  become  obsolete,  and  the 
word  is  appropriated  to  one  of  the  perfect 
points  of  entrance. 

Pectoral  of  the  High  Priest. 
The  breastplate  worn  by  the  high  priest  of 
the  Jews  was  so  called  frompectus,  the  breast, 
upon  which  it  rested.    See  Breastplate. 

Pedal.  Belonging  to  the  feet,  from 
the  Latin  pedes,  the  feet.  The  just  man  is 
he  who,  firmly  planting  his  feet  on  the 
principles  of  right,  is  as  immovable  as  a 
rock,  and  can  be  thrust  from  his  upright 
position  neither  by  the  allurements  of 
flattery,  nor  the  frowns  of  arbitrary  power. 
And  hence  by  this  word  is  suggested  to  the 
Mason  certain  symbolic  instructions  in  re- 
lation to  the  virtue  of  justice.  Like  "  Pec- 
toral," this  word  was  assigned,  in  the  oldest 
rituals,  to  the  principal  signs  of  a  Mason, 
having  <  for  its  hieroglyphic;  but  in  the 
modern  lectures  it  is  one  of  the  perfect 
points  of  entrance,  and  the  hieroglyphic  is 
no  longer  used. 

Pedestal.  The  pedestal  is  the  lowest 
part  or  base  of  a  column  on  which  the 
shaft  is  placed.  In  a  Lodge,  there  are  sup- 
posed to  be  three  columns,  the  column  of 
Wisdom  in  the  east,  the  column  of  Strength 
in  the  west,  and  the  column  of  Beauty 
in  the  south.  These  columns  are  not  gen- 
erally erected  in  the  Lodge,  but  their  ped- 
estals always  are,  and  at  each  pedestal  sits 
one  of  the  three  superior  officers  of  the 
Lodge.  Hence  we  often  hear  such  expres- 
sions as  these,  advancing  to  the  pedestal,  or 
standing  before  the  pedestal,  to  signify  ad- 
vancing to  or  standing  before  the  seat  of 
the  Worshipful  Master.  The  custom  in 
some  Lodges  of  placing  tables  or  desks  be- 
fore the  three  principal  officers  is,  of  course, 
incorrect.  They  should,  for  the  reason 
above  assigned,  be  representations  of  the 
pedestals  of  columns,  and  should  be  painted 
to  represent  marble  or  stone. 


Pedum.  Literally,  a  shepherd's  crook, 
and  hence  sometimes  used  in  ecclesiology 
for  the  bishop's  crozier.  In  the  statutes  of  the 
Order  of  the  Temple  at  Paris,  it  is  prescribed 
that  the  Grand  Master  shall  carry  a  "pedum 
magistrate  seu  patriarchale."  But  the  better 
word  for  the  staff"  of  the  Grand  Master  of 
the  Templars  is  baculus,  which  see. 

Pelasgian  Religion.  The  Pelas- 
gians  were  the  oldest,  if  not  the  aboriginal, 
inhabitants  of  Greece.  Their  religion  dif- 
fered from  that  of  the  Hellenes,  who  suc- 
ceeded them,  in  being  less  poetical,  less 
mythical,  and  more  abstract.  We  know 
little  of  their  religious  worship  except  by 
conjecture;  but  we  may  suppose  it  re- 
sembled in  some  respects  the  doctrines  of 
what  Dr.  Oliver  calls  the  Primitive  Free- 
masonry. Creuzer  thinks  that  the  Pelas- 
gians  were  either  a  nation  of  priests  or  a 
nation  ruled  by  priests. 

Peleg.  £12,  Division.  AsonofEber. 
In  his  day  the  world  was  divided.  A  sig- 
nificant word  in  the  high  degrees.  In  the 
Noachite,  or  twentieth  degree  of  the  Scot- 
tish Rite,  there  is  a  singular  legend  of  Peleg, 
which  of  course  is  altogether  mythical,  in 
which  he  is  represented  as  the  architect  of 
the  Tower  of  Babel. 

Pelican.  The  pelican  feeding  her 
young  with  her  blood  is  a  prominent  symbol 
of  the  eighteenth  or  Rose  Croix  degree  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite, 
and  was  adopted  as  such  from  the  fact  that 
the  pelican,  in  ancient  Christian  art,  was 
considered  as  an  emblem  of  the  Saviour. 
Now  this  symbolism  of  the  pelican,  as  a 
representative  of  the  Saviour,  is  almost 
universally  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the 
common  belief  that  the  pelican  feeds  her 
young  with  her  blood,  as  the  Saviour  shed 
his  blood  for  mankind  ;  and  hence  the  bird 
is  always  represented  as  sitting  on  her  nest, 
and  surrounded  by  her  brood  of  young  ones, 
who  are  dipping  their  bills  into  a  wound  in 
their  mother's  breast.  But  this  is  not  the 
exact  idea  of  the  symbolism,  which  really 
refers  to  the  resurrection,  and  is,  in  this 
point  of  view,  more  applicable  to  our  Lord, 
as  well  as  to  the  Masonic  degree  of  which 
the  resurrection  is  a  doctrine. 

In  an  ancient  Bestiarium,  or  Natural 
History,  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Brussels, 
cited  by  Larwood  and  Hotten  in  a  recent 
work  on  The  History  of  Sign- Boards,  this 
statement  is  made:  "The  pelican  is  very 
fond  of  his  young  ones,  and  when  they  are 
born  and  begin  to  grow,  they  rebel  in  their 
nest  against  their  parent,  and  strike  him 
with  their  wings,  flying  about  him,  and 
beat  him  so  much  till  they  wound  him  in 
his  eyes.  Then  the  father  strikes  and  kills 
them.  And  the  mother  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  she  comes  back  to  the  nest  on  the  third 


566 


PELICAN 


PENALTY 


day,  and  sits  down  upon  her  dead  young 
ones,  and  opens  her  side  with  her  bill  and 
pours  her  blood  over  them,  and  so  resusci- 
tates them  from  death  ;  for  the  young  ones, 
by  their  instinct,  receive  the  blood  as  soon 
as  it  comes  out  of  the  mother,  and  drink  it." 
The  Ortus  Vocabulorum,  compiled  early 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  gives  the  fable 
more  briefly :  "  It  is  said,  if  it  be  true,  that 
the  pelican  kills  its  young,  and  grieves  for 
them  for  three  days.  Then  she  wounds 
herself,  and  with  the  aspersione  of  her  blood 
resuscitates  her  children."  And  the  writer 
cites,  in  explanation,  the  verses, 

"  Ut  pelicanus  fit  matris  sanguine  sanus, 
Sic  Sancti  sumus  nos  omnes  sanguine  nati." 

i.  e.,  "  As  the  Pelican  is  restored  bv  the  blood 
of  its  mother,  so  are  we  all  born  by  the  blood  of 
the  Holy  One,"  that  is,  of  Christ. 

St.  Jerome  gives  the  same  story,  as  an 
illustration  of  the  destruction  of  man  by  the 
old  serpent,  and  his  salvation  by  the  blood 
of  Christ.  And  Shelton,  in  an  old  work  en- 
titled the  Arrnorie  of  Birds,  expresses  the 
same  sentiment  in  the  following  words : 

"  Then  said  the  pelican, 
When  my  birds  be  slain, 
With  my  blood  I  them  revive ; 

Scripture  doth  record 

The  same  did  our  Lord, 
And  rose  from  death  to  life." 

This  romantic  story  was  religiously  be- 
lieved as  a  fact  of  natural  history  in  the 
earliest  ages  of  the  church.  Hence  the 
pelican  was  very  naturally  adopted  as  a 
symbol  of  the  resurrection  and,  by  conse- 
quence, of  him  whose  resurrection  is,  as 
Cruden  terms  it,  "  the  cause,  pattern,  and 
argument  of  ours." 

But  in  the  course  of  time  the  original 
legend  was,  to  some  extent,  corrupted,  and 
a  simpler  one  was  adopted,  namely,  that 
the  pelican  fed  her  young  with  her  own 
blood  merely  as  a  means  of  sustenance,  and 
the  act  of  maternal  love  was  then  referred 
to  Christ  as  shedding  his  blood  for  the  sins 
of  the  world.  In  this  view  of  the  symbol- 
ism, Pugin  has  said  that  the  pelican  is 
"  an  emblem  of  our  Blessed  Lord  shedding 
his  blood  for  mankind,  and  therefore  a 
most  appropriate  symbol  to  be  introduced 
on  all  vessels  or  ornaments  connected  with 
the  Blessed  Sacrament."  And  in  the  An- 
tiquities of  Durham  Abbey,  we  learn  that 
"over  the  high  altar  of  Durham  Abbey 
hung  a  rich  and  most  sumptuous  canopy 
for  the  Blessed  Sacrament  to  hang  within 
it,  whereon  stood  a  pelican,  all  of  silver, 
upon  the  height  of  the  said  canopy,  very 
finely  gilt,  giving  her  blood  to  her  young 
ones,  in  token  that  Christ  gave  his  blood 
for  the  sins  of  the  world." 


But  I  think  the  true  theory  of  the  peli- 
can is,  that  by  restoring  her  young  ones  to 
life  by  her  blood,  she  symbolizes  the  resur- 
rection. The  old  symbologists  said,  after 
Jerome,  that  the  male  pelican,  who  de- 
stroyed his  young,  represents  the  serpent,  or 
evil  principle,  which  brought  death  into 
the  world ;  while  the  mother,  who  resusci- 
tates them,  is  the  representative  of  that 
Son  of  Man  of  whom  it  is  declared,  "  ex- 
cept ye  drink  of  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life 
in  you." 

And  hence  the  pelican  is  very  appropri- 
ately assumed  as  a  symbol  in  Masonry, 
whose  great  object  is  to  teach  by  symbol- 
ism the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and 
especially  in  that  sublime  degree  of  the 
Scottish  Bite  wherein,  the  old  Temple  be- 
ing destroyed  and  the  old  Word  being  lost, 
a  new  temple  and  a  new  word  spring  forth 
—  all  of  which  is  but  the  great  allegory  of 
the  destruction  by  death  and  the  resurrec- 
tion to  eternal  life. 

Pellegrini,  Marquis  of.  One  of 
the  pseudonyms  assumed  by  Joseph  Bal- 
sam o,  better  known  as  Count  Cagliostro. 

Penal  Sign.  That  which  refers  to  a 
penalty. 

Penalty.  The  adversaries  of  Free- 
masonry have  found,  or  rather  invented, 
abundant  reasons  for  denouncing  the  Insti- 
tution ;  but  on  nothing  have  they  more 
strenuously  and  fondly  lingered  than  on 
the  accusation  that  it  makes,  by  horrid  and 
impious  ceremonies,  all  its  members  the 
willing  or  unwilling  executioners  of  those 
who  prove  recreant  to  their  vows  and  vio- 
late the  laws  which  they  are  stringently 
bound  to  observe.  Even  a  few  timid  and 
uninstructed  Masons  have  been  found  who 
were  disposed  to  believe  that  there  was 
some  weight  in  this  objection.  The  fate  of 
Morgan,  apocryphal  as  it  undoubtedly  was, 
has  been  quoted  as  an  instance  of  Masonic 
punishment  inflicted  by  the  regulations  of 
the  Order;  and,  notwithstanding  the  solemn 
asseverations  of  the  most  intelligent  Ma- 
sons to  the  contrary,  men  have  been  found, 
and  still  are  to  be  found,  who  seriously  en- 
tertain the  opinion  that  every  member  of 
the  Fraternity  becomes,  by  the  ceremonies 
of  his  initiation  and  by  the  nature  of  the 
vows  which  he  has  taken,  an  active  Neme- 
sis of  the  Order,  bound  by  some  unholy 
promise  to  avenge  the  Institution  upon 
any  treacherous  or  unfaithful  brother.  All 
of  this  arises  from  a  total  misapprehension, 
in  the  minds  of  those  who  are  thus  led 
astray,  of  the  true  character  and  design  of 
vows  or  oaths  which  are  accompanied  by 
an  imprecation.  It  is  well,  therefore,  for 
the  information  both  of  our  adversaries  — 
who  may  thus  be  deprived  of  any  further 
excuse  for  slander,  and  of  our  friends — who 


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PENALTY 


567 


will  be  relieved  of  any  continued  burden 
on  their  consciences,  that  we  should  show 
that,  however  solemn  may  be  the  promises 
of  secrecy,  of  obedience,  and  of  charity 
which  are  required  from  our  initiates,  and 
however  they  may  be  guarded  by  the  sanc- 
tions of  punishment  upon  their  offenders, 
they  never  were  intended  to  impose  upon 
any  brother  the  painful  and  —  so  far  as  the 
laws  of  the  country  are  concerned  —  the 
illegal  task  of  vindicating  the  outrage  com- 
mitted by  the  violator.  The  only  Masonic 
penalty  inflicted  by  the  Order  upon  a 
traitor,  is  the  scorn  and  detestation  of  the 
Craft  whom  he  has  sought  to  betray. 

But  that  this  subject  may  be  thoroughly 
understood,  it  is  necessary  that  some  con- 
sideration should  be  given  to  oaths  gener- 
ally, and  to  tbe  character  of  the  impreca- 
tions by  which  they  are  accompanied 

The  obsecration,  or  imprecation,  is  that 
part  of  every  oath  which,  constitutes  its 
sanction,  and  which  consists  in  calling 
some  superior  power  to  witness  the  decla- 
ration or  promise  made,  and  invoking  his 
protection  for  or  anger  against  the  person 
making  it,  according  as  the  said  declaration 
or  promise  is  observed  or  violated.  This 
obsecration  has,  from  the  earliest  times, 
constituted  a  part  of  the  oath  —  and  an 
important  part,  too  —  among  every  people, 
varying,  of  course,  according  to  the  varie- 
ties of  religious  beliefs  and  modes  of  adora- 
tion. Thus,  among  the  Jews,  we  find  such 
obsecrations  as  these :  Co  yagnasheh  li  Elo- 
him,  "So  may  God  do  to  me."  A  very 
common  obsecration  among  the  Greeks 
was,  isto  Zeus  or  theon  marturomai,  "  May 
Jove  stand  by  me,"  or  "  I  call  God  to  wit- 
ness." And  the  Romans,  among  an  abun- 
dance of  other  obsecrations,  often  said,  dii 
me  perdant,  "  May  tbe  gods  destroy  me,"  or 
ne  vivan,  "  May  I  die." 

These  modes  of  obsecration  were  ac- 
companied, to  make  them  more  solemn  and 
sacred,  by  certain  symbolic  forms.  Thus  the 
Jews  caused  the  person  who  swore  to  hold 
up  his  right  hand  towards  heaven,  by  which 
action  he  was  supposed  to  signify  that  he 
appealed  to  God  to  witness  the  truth  of 
what  he  had  averred  or  the  sincerity  of  his 
intention  to  fulfil  the  promise  that  he  had 
made.  So  Abraham  said  to  the  king  of 
Sodom,  "  I  have  lift  up  my  hand  unto  the 
Lord,  .  .  .  that  I  will  not  take  anything 
that  is  thine."  Sometimes,  in  taking  an 
oath  of  fealty,  the  inferior  placed  his  hand 
under  the  thigh  of  his  lord,  as  in  the  case 
of  Eliezer  and  Abraham,  related  in  the 
24th  chapter  of  Genesis.  Among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  the  person  swearing 
placed  his  hands,  or  sometimes  only  the 
right  hand,  upon  the  altar,  or  upon  the 
victims  when,  as  was  not  unusual,  the  oath 


was  accompanied  by  a  sacrifice,  or  upon 
some  other  sacred  thing.  In  the  military 
oath,  for  instance,  the  soldiers  placed  their 
hands  upon  the  signa,  or  standards. 

The  obsecration,  with  an  accompanying 
form  of  solemnity,  was  indeed  essential  to 
the  oath  among  the  ancients,  because  the 
crime  of  perjury  was  not  generally  looked 
upon  by  them  in  the  same  light  in  which  it 
is  viewed  by  the  moderns.  It  was,  it  is 
true,  considered  as  a  heinous  crime,  but  a 
crime  not  so  much  against  society  as  against 
the  gods,  and  its  punishment  was  supposed 
to  be  left  to  the  deity  whose  sanctity  had 
been  violated  by  the  adjuration  of  his  name 
to  a  false  oath  or  broken  vow.  Hence, 
Cicero  says  that  "death  was  the  divine 
punishment  of  perjury,  but  only  dishonor 
was  its  human  penalty."  And  therefore 
the  crime  of  giving  false  testimony  under 
oath  was  not  punished  in  any  higher  de- 
gree than  it  would  have  been  had  it  been 
given  without  the  solemnity  of  an  oath. 
Swearing  was  entirely  a  matter  of  con- 
science, and  the  person  who  was  guilty  of 
false  swearing,  where  his  testimony  did  not 
affect  the  rights  or  interests  of  others,  was 
considered  as  responsible  to  the  deity  alone 
for  his  perjury. 

The  explicit  invocation  of  God  as  a  wit- 
ness to  the  truth  of  the  thing  said,  or,  in 
promissory  oaths,  to  the  faithful  observance 
of  the  act  promised,  the  obsecration  of  di- 
vine punishment  upon  the  jurator  if  what 
he  swore  to  be  true  should  prove  to  be  false, 
or  if  the  vow  made  should  be  thereafter 
violated,  and  the  solemn  form  of  lifting  up 
the  hand  to  heaven  or  placing  it  upon  the 
altar  or  the  sacred  victims,  must  necessarily 
have  given  confidence  to  the  truth  of  the 
attestation,  and  must  have  been  required 
by  the  hearers  as  some  sort  of  safeguard 
or  security  for  the  confidence  they  were 
called  upon  to  exercise.  This  seems  to 
have  been  the  true  reason  for  the  ancient 
practice  of  solemn  obsecration  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  oaths. 

Among  modern  nations,  the  practice  has 
been  continued,  and  from  the  ancient  usage 
of  invoking  the  names  of  the  gods  and  of 
placing  the  hands  of  the  person  swearing 
upon  their  altars,  we  derive  the  present 
method  of  sanctifying  every  oath  by  the 
attestation  contained  in  the  phrase  "  So 
help  me  God,"  and  the  concluding  form  of 
kissing  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

And  now  the  question  naturally  occurs 
as  to  what  is  the  true  intent  of  this  obse- 
cration, and  what  practical  operation  is  ex- 
pected to  result  from  it.  In  other  words, 
what  is  the  nature  of  a  penalty  attached  to 
an  oath,  and  how  is  it  to  be  enforced  ? 
When  the  ancient  Roman,  in  attesting  with 
the  solemnity  of  an  oath  to  the  truth  of 


568 


PENCIL 


PENNSYLVANIA 


what  he  had  just  said  or  was  about  to  say, 
concluded  with  the  formula,  "  May  the 
gods  destroy  me,"  it  is  evident  that  he 
simply  meant  to  say  that  he  was  so  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  what  he  had  said 
that  he  was  entirely  willing  that  his  de- 
struction by  the  gods  whom  he  had  invoked 
should  be  the  condition  consequent  upon 
his  falsehood.  He  had  no  notion  that  he 
was  to  become  outlawed  among  his  fellow- 
creatures,  and  that  it  should  be  not  only  the 
right,  but  the  duty,  of  any  man  to  destroy 
him.  His  crime  would  have  been  one 
against  the  divine  law,  and  subject  only  to 
a  divine  punishment. 

In  modern  times,  perjury  is  made  a  pe- 
nal offence  against  human  laws,  and  its 
punishment  is  inflicted  by  human  tribunals. 
But  here  the  punishment  of  the  crime  is 
entirely  different  from  that  inferred  by  the 
obsecration  which  terminates  the  oath. 
The  words  "  So  help  me  God,"  refer  ex- 
clusively to  the  withdrawal  of  divine  aid 
and  assistance  from  the  jurator  in  the  case 
of  his  proving  false,  and  not  to  the  human 
punishment  which  society  would  inflict. 

In  like  manner,  we  may  say  of  what  are 
called  Masonic  penalties,  that  they  refer  in 
no  case  to  any  kind  of  human  punishment; 
that  is  to  say,  to  any  kind  of  punishment 
which  is  to  be  inflicted  by  human  hand  or 
instrumentality.  The  true  punishments  of 
Masonry  affect  neither  life  nor  limb.  They 
are  expulsion  and  suspension  only.  But 
those  persons  are  wrong,  be  they  mistaken 
friends  or  malignant  enemies,  who  suppose 
or  assert  that  there  is  any  other  sort  of 
penalty  which  a  Mason  recreant  to  his 
vows  is  subjected  to  by  the  laws  of  the 
Order,  or  that  it  is  either  the  right  or  duty 
of  any  Mason  to  inflict  such  penalty  on  an 
offending  brother.  The  obsecration  of  a 
Mason  simply  means  that  if  he  violates  his 
vows  or  betrays  his  trust  he  is  worthy  of 
such  penalty,  and  that  if  such  penalty  were 
inflicted  on  him  it  would  be  but  just  and 
proper.     "  May  I  die,"  said  the  ancient, 

if  this  be  not  true,  or  if  I  keep  not  this 
vow."  Not  may  any  man  put  me  to  death, 
nor  is  any  man  required  to  put  me  to  death, 
but  only,  if  I  so  act,  then  would  I  be 
worthy  of  death.  The  ritual  penalties  of 
Masonry,  supposing  such  to  be,  are  in  the 
hands  not  of  man,  but  of  God,  and  are  to 
be  inflicted  by  God,  and  not  by  man. 

Pencil.  In  the  English  system  this  is 
one  of  the  working-tools  of  a  Master  Ma- 
son, and  is  intended  symbolically  to  re- 
mind us  that  our  words  and  actions  are 
observed  and  recorded  by  the  Almighty 
Architect,  to  whom  we  must  give  an  ac- 
count of  our  conduct  through  life.  In  the 
American  system  the  pencil  is  not  specifi- 
cally recognized.    The  other  English  work- 


ing-tools of  a  Master  Mason  are  the  skirrit 
and  compasses. 

In  the  French  Rite  "  to  hold  the  pencil," 
tener  le  crayon,  is  to  discharge  the  functions 
of  a  secretary  during  the  communication 
of  a  Lodge. 

Penitential  Sign.  Called  also  the 
Supplicatory  Sign.  It  is  the  third  sign  in 
the  English  Royal  Arch  system.  It  de- 
notes that  frame  of  heart  and  mind  without 
which  our  prayers  and  oblations  will  not 
obtain  acceptance ;  in  other  words,  it  is  a 
symbol  of  humility. 

Pennsylvania.  The  first  Lodge  in 
Pennsylvania  was  established  in  Philadel- 
phia in  1734,  by  a  Warrant  from  the  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  and 
of  this  Lodge  Benjamin  Franklin  waB  the 
first  Master.  A  second  was  established  in 
1758,  by  the  Athol  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land, which  also  granted  a  Warrant  for  a 
Provincial  Grand  Lodge  in  1766,  under  the 
Provincial  Grand  Mastership  of  William 
Ball.  This  Grand  Lodge  continued  in 
operation  until  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolutionary  War, when  it  was  temporarily 
suspended,  but  was  revived  in  1779.  On 
September  26,  1786,  the  Provincial  Grand 
Lodge  was  abolished,  and  the  present 
Grand  Lodge  organized  by  the  delegates 
of  thirteen  Lodges  in  a  Convention  held  at 
Philadelphia. 

The  Grand  Chapter  of  Pennsylvania  was 
established  in  1795,  being  the  first  Grand 
Chapter  instituted  in  the  United  States, 
and  two  years  before  the  organization  of 
the  Grand  Chapter  of  the  six  New  England 
States,  which  afterwards  became  the  Gen- 
eral Grand  Chapter.  The  Grand  Chapter 
was  at  first  only  an  integral  part  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  but  in  1824  it  became  an 
independent  body,  except  so  far  as  that 
members  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  who  were 
Royal  Arch  Masons,  were  declared  to  be 
members  of  the  Grand  Chapter. 

The  Royal  and  Select  degrees  were  for- 
merly conferred  in  Pennsylvania  by  the 
Chapters,  but  on  October  16, 1847,  a  Grand 
Council  was  organized. 

A  Grand  Encampment,  independent  of 
the  General  Grand  Encampment  of  the 
United  States,  was  organized  on  February 
16,  1814.  On  April  14,  1854,  a  Grand 
Commandery  was  organized  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the 
United  States,  and  in  February,  1857,  both 
of  these  bodies  united  to  form  the  present 
Grand  Commandery  of  Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania  Work.  The  method 
of  Entering,  Passing,  and  Raising  candi- 
dates in  the  Lodges  of  Pennsylvania  dif- 
fers so  materially  from  that  practised  in  the 
other  States  of  the  Union,  that  it  cannot  be 
considered  as  a  part  of  the  American  Rite 


PENNY 


PENTALPHA 


569 


as  first  taught  by  Webb,  but  rather  as  an 
independent,  Pennsylvania  modification  of 
the  York  Rite  of  England.  Indeed,  the 
Pennsylvania  system  of  work  much  more 
resembles  the  English  than  the  American. 
Its  ritual  is  simple  and  didactic,  like  the 
former,  and  is  almost  entirely  without  the 
impressive  dramatization  of  the  latter.  Bro. 
Vaux,  a  Past  Grand  Master  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, thus  speaks  of  the  Masonic  work  of 
his  State  with  pardonable,  although  not 
with  impartial,  commendations:  "The 
Pennsylvania  work  is  sublime  from  its  sim- 
plicity. That  it  is  the  ancient  work  is 
best  shown  conclusively,  however,  from 
this  single  fact,  it  is  so  simple,  so  free  from 
those  displays  of  modern  inventions  to  at- 
tract the  attention,  without  enlightening, 
improving,  or  cultivating  the  mind.  In 
this  work  every  word  has  its  significance. 
Its  types  and  symbols  are  but  the  language 
in  which  truth  is  conveyed.  These  are  to 
be  studied  to  be  understood.  In  the  spoken 
language  no  synonyms  are  permitted.  In 
the  ceremonial  no  innovations  are  toler- 
ated. In  the  ritual  no  modern  verbiage 
is  allowed. " 

Penny.  In  the  parable  read  in  the 
Mark  degree  a  penny  is  the  amount  given 
to  each  of  the  laborers  in  the  vineyard  for 
his  day's  labor.     Hence,  in  the  ritual,  a 

Senny  a  day  is  said  to  be  the  wages  of  a 
[ark  Master.  In  several  passages  of  the 
authorized  version  of  the  New  Testament, 
penny  occu  rs  as  a  translation  of  the  Greek, 
tirrvapiov,  which  was  intended  as  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  Roman  denarius.  This  was  the 
chief  silver  coin  of  the  Romans  from  the 
beginning  of  the  coinage  of  the  city  to  the 
early  part  of  the  third  century.  Indeed, 
the  name  continued  to  be  employed  in  the 
coinage  of  the  continental  States,  who 
imitated  that  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  and 
was  adopted  by  the  Anglo-Saxons.  The 
specific  value  of  each  of  so  many  coins, 
going  under  the  same  name,  cannot  be  as- 
certained with  any  precision.  In  its  Ma- 
sonic use,  the  penny  is  simply  a  symbol  of 
the  reward  of  faithful  labor.  The  small- 
ness  of  the  sum,  whatever  may  have  been 
its  exact  value,  to  our  modern  impressions 
is  apt  to  give  a  false  idea  of  the  liberality 
of  the  owner.  Dr.  Lightfoot,  in  his  essay 
on  a  Fresh  Revision  of  the  Nev>  Testament, 
remarks :  "  It  is  unnecessary  to  ask  what 
impression  the  mention  of  this  sum  will 
leave  on  the  minds  of  an  uneducated  peas- 
ant or  shopkeeper  of  the  present  day. 
Even  at  the  time  when  our  version  was 
made,  and  when  wages  were  lower,  it  must 
have  seemed  wholly  inadequate."  How- 
ever improper  the  translation  is,  it  can 
have  no  importance  in  the  Masonic  appli- 
3W 


cation  of  the  parable,  where  the  "penny" 
is,  as  has  already  been  said,  only  a  symbol, 
meaning  any  reward  or  compensation. 

Pentagon.  A  geometrical  figure  of 
five  sides  and  five  angles.  It  is  the  third 
figure  from  the  exterior,  in  the  camp  of  the 
Sublime  Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret,  or 
thirty-second  degree  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 
In  the  Egyptian  Rite  of  Cagliostro,  he 
constructed,  with  much  formality,  an  im- 
plement called  the  "  sacred  pentagon,"  and 
which,  being  distributed  to  his  disciples, 
gave,  as  he  affirmed,  to  each  one  the  power 
of  holding  spiritual  intercourse. 

Pentagram.  From  the  Greek  pente, 
five,  and  gramma,  a  letter.  In  the  science 
of  magic  the  pentalpha  is  called  the  holy 
and  mysterious  pentagram.  Eliphas  Levi 
says  {Dog.  et  Rituel  de  la  Haute  Magie,  ii. 
55,)  that  the  pentagram  is  the  star  of  the 
Magians ;  it  is  the  sign  of  the  word  made 
flesh  ;  and  according  to  the  direction  of  its 
rays,  that  is,  as  it  points  upwards  with  one 
point  or  with  two,  it  represents  the  good  or 
the  evil  principle,  order  or  disorder;  the 
blessed  lamb  of  Ormuzd  and  of  St.  John, 
or  the  accursed  god  of  Mendes  ;  initiation 
or  profanation ;  Lucifer  or  Vesper ;  the 
morning  or  the  evening  star;  Mary  or 
Lilith ;  victory  or  death ;  light  or  darkness. 
See  Pentalpha. 

Pentalpha.  The  triple  triangle,  or 
the  pentalpha  of  Pythagoras,  is  so  called 
from  the  Greek  nevTe,pente,  five,  and  ak<pa, 
alpha,  the  letter  A,  because  in  ite  con- 
figuration it  presents  the  form 
of  that  letter  in  five  different 
positions.  It  was  a  doctrine  of 
Pythagoras,  that  all  things  pro- 
ceeded from  numbers,  and  the 
number  five,  as  being  formed  by  the  union 
of  the  first  odd  and  the  first  even,  was  deemed 
of  peculiar  value;  and  hence  Cornelius 
Agnppa  says  (Philos.  Occult.)  of  this  figure, 
that,  "  by  virtue  of  the  number  five,  it  has 
great  command  over  evil  spirits  because  of 
its  five  double  triangles  and  its  five  acute 
angles  within  and  its  five  obtuse  angles 
without,  so  that  this  interior  pen  tangle 
contains  in  it  many  great  mysteries."  The 
disciples  of  Pythagoras,  who  were  indeed 
its  real  inventors,  placed  within  each  of  its 
interior  angles  one  of  the  letters  of  the 
Greek  word  TrEIA,  or  the  Latin  one 
SALUS,  both  of  which  signify  health;  and 
thus  it  was  made  the  talisman  of  health. 
They  placed  it  at  the  beginning  of  their 
epistles  as  a  greeting  to  invoke  a  secure 
health  to  their  correspondent.  But  its  use 
was  not  confined  to  the  disciples  of  Pythag- 
oras. As  a  talisman,  it  was  employed  all 
over  the  East  as  a  charm  to  resist  evil 
spirits.     Mone  says  that  it  has  been  found 


570 


PERAU 


PERFECTION 


in  Egypt  on  the  statue  of  the  god  Anubis. 
Lord  Brougham  says,  in  his  Italy,  that  it 
was  used  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  a 
writer  in  Notes  and  Queries  (3  Ser.,  ix.,  511,) 
says  that  he  has  found  it  on  the  coins  of 
Lysimmachus.  On  old  British  and  Gaul- 
ish coins  it  is  often  seen  beneath  the  feet 
of  the  sacred  aud  mythical  horse,  which 
was  the  ensign  of  the  ancient  Saxons.  The 
Druids  wore  it  on  their  sandals  as  a  sym- 
bol of  Deity,  and  hence  the  Germans  call 
the  figure  "  Druttenfuss,"  a  word  originally 
signifying  Druid's  foot,  but  which,  in  the 
gradual  corruptions  of  language,  is  now 
made  to  mean  Witche's  foot  Even  at  the 
present  day  it  retains  its  hold  upon  the 
minds  of  the  common  people  of  Germany, 
and  is  drawn  on  or  affixed  to  cradles, 
thresholds  of  houses,  and  stable-doors,  to 
keep  off  witches  and  elves. 

The  early  Christians  referred  it  to  the 
five  wounds  of  the  Saviour,  because,  when 
properly  inscribed  upon  the  representation 
of  a  human  body,  the  five  points  will  re- 
spectively extend  to  and  touch  the  side, 
the  two  hands,  and  the  two  feet. 

The  Mediaeval  Masons  considered  it  a 
symbol  of  deep  wisdom,  and  it  is  found 
among  the  architectural  ornaments  of  most 
of  the  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  the  Middle 
Ages. 

But  as  a  Masonic  symbol  it  peculiarly 
claims  attention  from  the  fact  that  it  forms 
the  outlines  of  the  five-pointed  star,  which 
is  typical  of  the  bond  of  brotherly  love 
that  unites  the  whole  Fraternity.  It  is  in 
this  view  that  the  pentalpha  or  triple  tri- 
angle is  referred  to  in  Masonic  symbolism 
as  representing  the  intimate  union  which 
existed  between  our  three  ancient  Grand 
Masters,  and  which  is  commemorated  by 
the  living  pentalpha  at  the  closing  of  every 
Royal  Arch  Chapter. 

Many  writers  have  confounded  the  pen- 
talpha with  the  seal  of  Solomon,  or  shield 
of  David.  This  error  is  almost  inexcusa- 
ble in  Oliver,  who  constantly  commits  it, 
because  his  Masonic  and  archaeological  re- 
searches should  have  taught  him  the  differ- 
ence, Solomon's  seal  being  a  double,  inter- 
laced triangle,  whose  form  gives  the  outline 
of  a  star  of  six  points. 

Perau,  Gabriel  Louis  Calabre. 
A  man  of  letters,  an  Abbe,  and  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  was 
born  at  Semur,  in  Auxois,  in  1700,  and  died 
at  Paris,  March  31st,  1767.  De  Feller 
(Biog.  Univ.)  speaks  of  his  uprightness 
and  probity,  his  frankness,  and  sweetness 
of  disposition  which  endeared  many  friends 
to  him.  Certainly,  the  only  work  which 
gives  him  a  place  in  Masonic  history  in- 
dicates a  gentleness  and  moderation  of 
character  with  which  we  can  find  no  fault. 


In  general  literature,  he  was  distinguished 
as  the  continuator  of  d'Avrigny's  Vies  des 
Hommes  illustres  de  la  France;  which,  how- 
ever, a  loss  of  sight  prevented  him  from 
completing.  In  1742,  he  published  at  Gen- 
eva a  work  entitled  Les  Secret  des  Franc- 
Macons.  This  work  at  its  first  appearance 
attracted  much  attention  and  went  through 
many  editions,  the  title  being  sometimes 
changed  to  a  more  attractive  one  by  book- 
sellers. The  Abb6  Larudan  attempted  to 
palm  off  his  libellous  and  malignant  work 
on  the  Abb6  Perau,  but  without  success; 
for  while  the  work  of  Larudan  is  marked 
with  the  bitterest  malignity  to  the  Order 
of  Freemasonry,  that  of  Perau  is  simply  a 
detail  of  the  ceremonies  and  ritual  of  Ma- 
sonry as  then  practised,  under  the  guise, 
which,  I  think,  was  not  simulated,  of  friend- 
ship. 

Perfect  Ashlar.    See  Ashlar. 

Perfect  Initiates,  Rite  of.  A 
name  given  to  the  Egyptian  Rite  when 
first  established  at  Lyons  by  Cagliostro. 

Perfection.  The  ninth  and  last  de- 
gree of  Fessler's  Rite.     See  Fessler's  Bite. 

Perfectionists.  The  name  by  which 
Weishaupt  first  designated  the  Order  which 
he  founded  in  Bavaria,  and  which  he  sub- 
sequently changed  for  that  of  the  Illumi- 
nati. 

Perfection,  Lodge  of.  The  Lodge 
in  which  the  fourteenth  degree  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  is  con- 
ferred. In  England  and  America  this  de- 
gree is  called  Grand  Elect  Perfect  and  Sub- 
lime Mason,  but  the  French  designate  it 
Grand  Scottish  Mason  of  the  Sacred  Vault 
of  James  VI.,  or  Grand  Zcossais  de  la  Voute 
Sacree  du  Jacques  VI.  This  is  one  of  the 
evidences  —  and  a  very  pregnant  one  —  of 
the  influence  exercised  by  the  exiled  Stuarts 
and  their  adherents  on  the  Masonry  of  that 
time  in  making  it  an  instrument  for  the 
restoration  of  James  II.,  and  then  of  his 
son,  to  the  throne  of  England. 

This  degree,  as  concluding  all  reference 
to  the  first  Temple,  has  been  called  the  ul- 
timate degree  of  ancient  Masonry.  It  is 
the  last  of  what  is  technically  styled  the  In- 
effable degrees,  because  their  instructions 
relate  to  the  Ineffable  word. 

Its  place  of  meeting  is  called  the  Sacred 
Vault.  Its  principal  officers  are  a  Thrice 
Puissant  Grand  Master,  two  Grand  War- 
dens, a  Grand  Treasurer,  and  Grand  Secre- 
tary. In  the  first  organization  of  the  Rite 
in  this  country,  the  Lodges  of  Perfection 
were  called  "  Sublime  Grand  Lodges,"  and, 
hence,  the  word  "  Grand  "  is  still  affixed  to 
the  title  of  the  officers. 

The  following  mythical  history  is  con- 
nected with  and  related  in  this  degree. 

When  the  Temple  was  finished, the  Masons 


PERFECTION 


PERFECTION 


571 


who  had  heen  employed  in  constructing  it 
acquired  immortal  honor.  Their  Order  be- 
came more  uniformly  established  and  regu- 
lated than  it  had  been  before.  Their  cau- 
tion and  reserve  in  admitting  new  members 
produced  respect,  and  merit  alone  was  re- 
quired of  the  candidate.  With  these 
principles  instilled  into  their  minds,  many 
of  the  Grand  Elect  left  the  Temple  after 
its  dedication,  and,  dispersing  themselves 
among  the  neighboring  nations,  instructed 
all  who  applied  and  were  found  worthy  in 
the  sublime  degrees  of  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry. 

The  Temple  was  completed  in  the  year 
of  the  world  3000.  Thus  far,  the  wise 
King  of  Israel  had  behaved  worthy  of  him- 
self, and  gained  universal  admiration;  but 
in  process  of  time,  when  he  had  advanced 
in  years,  his  understanding  became  im- 
paired ;  he  grew  deaf  to  the  voice  of  the 
Lord,  and  was  strangely  irregular  in  his 
conduct.  Proud  of  having  erected  an  edi- 
fice to  his  Maker,  and  intoxicated  with  his 
great  power,  he  plunged  into  all  manner 
of  licentiousness  and  debauchery,  and  pro- 
faned the  Temple,  by  offering  to  the  idol 
Moloch  that  incense  which  should  have 
been  offered  only  to  the  living  God. 

The  Grand  Elect  and  Perfect  Masons 
saw  this,  and  were  sorely  grieved,  afraid 
that  his  apostasy  would  end  in  some  dread- 
ful consequences,  and  bring  upon  them 
those  enemies  whom  Solomon  had  vain- 
gloriously  and  wantonly  defied.  The  people, 
copying  the  vices  and  follies  of  their  king, 
became  proud  and  idolatrous,  and  neglected 
the  worship  of  the  true  God  for  that  of 
idols. 

As  an  adequate  punishment  for  this  de- 
fection, God  inspired  the  heart  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, King  of  Babylon,  to  take  ven- 
geance on  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  This 
prince  sent  an  army  with  Nebuzaradan, 
Captain  of  the  Guards,  who  entered  Judah 
with  fire  and  sword,  took  and  sacked  the 
city  of  Jerusalem,  razed  its  walls,  and  de- 
stroyed the  Temple.  The  people  were  car- 
ried captive  to  Babylon,  and  the  conquerors 
took  with  them  all  the  vessels  of  silver  and 
gold.  This  happened  four  hundred  and 
seventy  years,  six  months,  and  ten  days 
after  its  dedication. 

When,  in  after  times,  the  princes  of 
Christendom  entered  into  a  league  to  free 
the  Holy  Land  from  the  oppression  of  the 
infidels,  the  good  and  virtuous  Masons, 
anxious  for  the  success  of  so  pious  an  un- 
dertaking, voluntarily  offered  their  services 
to  the  confederates,  on  condition  that  they 
should  be  permitted  a  chief  of  their  own 
election,  which  was  granted ;  they  accord- 
ingly rallied  under  their  standard  and  de- 
parted. 


The  valor  and  fortitude  of  these  elected 
knights  was  such,  that  they  wereadmired  by, 
and  took  the  lead  of,  all  the  princes  of  Jeru- 
salem, who,  believing  that  their  mysteries 
inspired  them  with  courage  and  fidelity  in 
the  cause  of  virtue  and  religion,  became 
desirous  of  being  initiated.  Upon  being 
found  worthy,  their  desires  were  compiled 
with ;  and  thus  the  royal  art,  meeting  the 
approbation  of  great  and  good  men,  be- 
came popular  and  honorable,  was  diffused 
through  their  various  dominions,  and  has 
continued  to  spread  through  a  succession 
of  ages  to  the  present  day. 

The  symbolic  order  of  this  degree  is  red 
— emblematic  of  fervor,  constancy,  and  assi- 
duity. Hence,  the  Masonry  of  this  degree 
was  formerly  called  red  Masonry  on  the 
continent  of  Europe. 

The  jewel  of  the  degree  is  a  pair  of  com- 
passes extended  on  an  arc  of  ninety  degrees, 
surmounted  by  a  crown,  and  with  a  sun  in 
the  centre.  In  the  Southern  Jurisdiction 
the  sun  is  on  one  side  and  a  five-pointed 
star  on  the  other. 

The  apron  is  white  with  red  flames, 
bordered  with  blue,  and  having  the  jewel 
painted  on  the  centre  and  the  stone  of 
foundation  on  the  flap. 

Perfection,  Rite  of.  In  1754,  the 
Chevalier  de  Bonneville  established  a  Chap- 
ter of  the  high  degrees  at  Paris,  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Jesuits  of  Clermont,  hence  called 
the  Chapter  of  Clermont.  The  system  of 
Masonry  he  there  practised  received  the 
name  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection,  or  Rite  of 
Heredom.  The  College  of  Clermont  was, 
says  Rebold,  {Hist,  de  3  O.  L.,  46,)  the 
asylum  of  the  adherents  of  the  house  of 
Stuart,  and  hence  the  Rite  is  to  some  ex- 
tent tinctured  with  Stuart  Masonry.  It 
consisted  of  twenty-five  degrees,  as  follows : 
1.  Apprentice;  2.  Fellow  Craft;  3.  Master; 
4.  Secret  Master ;  5.  Perfect  Master ;  6.  In- 
timate Secretary;  7.  Intendant  of  the 
Building;  8.  Provost  and  Judge;  9.  Elect 
of  nine ;  10.  Elect  of  fifteen  ;  11.  Illustrious 
elect,  Chief  of  the  twelve  tribes ;  12.  Grand 
Master  Architect ;  13.  Royal  Arch ;  14. 
Grand,  Elect,  Ancient,  Perfect  Master ;  15. 
Knight  of  the  Sword ;  16.  Prince  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  17.  Knight  of  the  East  and  West ; 
18.  Rose  Croix  Knight ;  19.  Grand  Pontiff; 
20.  Grand  Patriarch  ;  21.  Grand  Master  of 
the  Key  of  Masonry ;  22.  Prince  of  Liba- 
nus;  23.  Sovereign  Prince  Adept  Chief 
of  the  Grand  Consistory;  24.  Illustrious 
Knight,  Commander  of  the  Black  and 
White  Eagle ;  25.  Most  Illustrious  Sover- 
eign Prince  of  Masonry,  Grand  Knight, 
Sublime  Commander  of  the  Royal  Secret. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  degrees  of  this  Rite 
are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Council  of 
Emperors  of  the  East  and  West,  which  was 


572 


PERFECT 


PERJURY 


established  four  years  later,  and  to  which 
the  Chapter  of  Clermont  gave  way.  Of 
course,  they  are  therefore  the  same,  so  far 
as  they  go,  as  those  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite,  which  succeeded  the 
Council  of  Emperors. 

The  distinguishing  principle  of  this  Rite 
is,  that  Freemasonry  was  derived  from 
Templarism,  and  that  consequently  every 
Freemason  was  a  Knight  Templar.  It  was 
there  that  the  Baron  Von  Hund  was  ini- 
tiated, and  from  it,  through  him,  proceeded 
the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance;  although  he 
discarded  the  degrees  and  retained  only  the 
Templar  theory. 

Perfect  Irish  Master.  {Par/ait 
Maltre  Irlandais.)  One  of  the  degrees  given 
in  the  Irish  Colleges  instituted  by  Ramsay. 

Perfect  Lodge.    See  Just  Lodge. 

Perfect  Master.  (Maltre  Par/ait.) 
The  fifth  degree  in  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite.  The  ceremonies  of 
this  degree  were  originally  established  as 
a  grateful  tribute  of  respect  to  a  worthy 
departed  brother.  The  officers  of  the  Lodge 
are  a  Master,  who  represents  Adoniram, 
the  Inspector  of  the  works  at  Mount  Leba- 
non, and  one  Warden.  The  symbolic  color 
of  the  degree  is  green,  to  remind  the 
Perfect  Master  that,  being  dead  in  vice,  he 
must  hope  to  revive  in  virtue.  His  jewel 
is  a  compass  extended  sixty  degrees,  to 
teach  him  that  he  should  act  within  meas- 
ure, and  ever  pay  due  regard  to  justice  and 
equity. 

The  apron  is  white,  with  a  green  flap ; 
and  in  the  middle  of  the  apron  must  be  em- 
broidered or  painted,  within  three  circles,  a 
cubical  stone,  in  the  centre  of  which  the 
letter  J  is  inscribed,  according  to  the  old 
rituals ;  but  the  Samaritan  yod  and  he, 
according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Southern 
Jurisdiction. 

Delaunay,  in  his  Tliuileur  de  T  Ecossisme, 
gives  the  Tetragrammaton  in  this  degree, 
and  says  the  degree  should  more  properly 
be  called  Past  Master,  Ancien  Maltre,  be- 
cause the  Tetragrammaton  makes  itin  some 
sort  the  complement  of  the  Master's  degree. 
But  the  Tetragrammaton  is  not  found  in 
any  of  the  approved  rituals,  and  Delaunay's 
theory  falls  therefore  to  the  ground.  But 
besides,  to  complete  the  Master's  with  this 
degree  would  be  to  confuse  all  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  Ineffable  degrees,  which  really 
conclude  with  the  fourteenth. 

Perfect  Prussian.  [Par/ait  Prus- 
sien. )  A  degree  invented  at  Geneva,  in  1770, 
as  a  second  part  of  the  Order  of  Noachites. 

Perfect  Union,  Lodge  of.  A 
Lodge  at  Ren nes, in  France,  where  the  Rite 
of  Elect  of  Truth  was  instituted.  See 
Elect  of  Truth. 

Perignan.     When  the  Elu  degrees 


were  first  invented,  the  legend  referred  to 
an  unknown  person,  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  to 
whom  King  Solomon  was  indebted  for  the 
information  which  led  to  the  discovery  of 
the  craftsmen  who  had  committed  the 
crime  recorded  in  the  third  degree.  This 
unknown  person,  at  first  designated  as 
"  l'inconnu,"  afterwards  received  the  name 
of  Perignan,  and  a  degree  between  the  elu 
of  nine  and  the  elu  of  fifteen  was  instituted, 
which  was  called  the  "  Elu  of  Perignan," 
and  which  became  the  sixth  degree  of  the 
Adonhiramite  Rite.  I  am  utterly  at  a  loss 
as  to  the  derivation  or  radical  meaning 
of  the  word,  but  am  inclined  to  the  theory 
which  gives  to  this,  as  well  as  to  many 
other  words  in  the  high  degrees,  a  refer- 
ence to  the  adherents,  or  to  the  enemies,  of 
the  exiled  house  of  Stuart,  for  whose  sake 
several  of  these  degrees  were  established. 
See  Elect  of  Perignan. 

Periods  of  the  Grand  Archi- 
tect.   See  Six  Periods. 

Perjury.  In  the  municipal  law  per- 
jury is  defined  to  be  a  wilful  false  swear- 
ing to  a  material  matter,  when  an  oath  has 
been  administered  by  lawful  authority. 
The  violation  of  vows  or  promissory  oaths 
taken  before  one  who  is  not  legally  author- 
ized to  administer  them,  that  is  to  say,  one 
who  is  not  a  magistrate,  does  not  in  law 
involve  the  crime  of  perjury.  Such  is  the 
technical  definition  of  the  law;  but  the 
moral  sense  of  mankind  does  not  assent  to 
such  a  doctrine,  and  considers  perjury,  as 
the  root  of  the  word  indicates,  the  doing 
of  that  which  one  has  sworn  not  to  do,  or 
the  omitting  to  do  that  which  he  has  sworn 
to  do.  The  old  Romans  seem  to  have 
taken  a  sensible  view  of  the  crime  of  per- 
jury. Among  them  oaths  were  not  often 
administered,  and,  in  general,  a  promise 
made   under  oath  had  no   more  binding 

Eower  in  a  court  of  justice  than  it  would 
ave  had  without  the  oath.  False  swear- 
ing was  with  them  a  matter  of  conscience, 
and  the  person  who  was  guilty  of  it  was 
responsible  to  the  Deity  alone.  The  viola- 
tion of  a  promise  under  oath  and  of  one 
not  under  such  a  form  was  considered 
alike,  and  neither  was  more  liable  to  hu- 
man punishment  than  the  other.  But 
perjury  was  not  deemed  to  be  without  any 
kind  of  punishment.  Cicero  expressed  the 
Roman  sentiment  when  he  said  "  perjurii 
poena  divina  exitium  ;  humana  dedecus  — 
the  divine  punishment  of  perjury  is  destruc- 
tion/ the  human,  infamy."  Hence  every 
oath  was  accompanied  by  an  execration,  or 
an  appeal  to  God  to  punish  the  swearer 
should  he  falsify  his  oath.  "  In  the  case 
of  other  sins,"  says  Archbishop  Sharp, 
"  there  may  be  an  appeal  made  to  God's 
mercy,  yet  in  the  case  of  perjury  there  is 


PERNETTY 


PERSECUTIONS 


573 


none;  for  he  that  is  perjured  hath  pre- 
cluded himself  of  this  benefit,  because  he 
hath  braved  God  Almighty,  and  hath  in 
effect  told  him  to  his  face  that  if  he  was 
foresworn  he  should  desire  no  mercy." 

It  is  not  right  thus  to  seek  to  restrict 
God's  mercy,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  settlement  of  the  crime  lies  more 
with  him  than  with  man.  Freemasons 
look  in  this  light  on  what  is  called  the 
penalty ;  it  is  an  invocation  of  God's  ven- 
geance on  him  who  takes  the  vow,  should 
he  ever  violate  it ;  men's  vengeance  is  con- 
fined to  the  contempt  and  infamy  which 
the  foreswearer  incurs. 

Pernetty,  Antoine  Joseph.  Born 
at  Roanne,  in  France,  in  1716.  At  an  early 
age  he  joined  the  Benedictines,  but  in  1765 
applied,  with  twenty-eight  others,  for  a 
dispensation  of  his  vows.  A  short  time 
after,  becoming  disgusted  with  the  Order, 
he  repaired  to  Berlin,  where  Frederick  the 
Great  made  him  his  librarian.  In  a  short 
time  he  returned  to  Paris,  where  the  arch- 
bishop strove  in  vain  to  induce  him  to  re- 
enter his  monastery.  The  parliament  sup- 
ported him  in  his  refusal,  and  Pernetty 
continued  in  the  world.  Not  long  after,  Per- 
netty became  infected  with  the  mystical 
theories  of  Swedenborg,  and  published  a 
translation  of  his  Wonders  of  Heaven  and 
Hell.  He  then  repaired  to  Avignon,  where, 
under  the  influence  of  his  Swedenborgian 
views,  he  established  an  academy  of  Illu- 
minati,  based  on  the  three  primitive  grades 
of  Masonry,  to  which  he  added  a  mystical 
one,  which  he  called  the  True  Mason.  This 
Rite  was  subsequently  transferred  to  Mont- 
pellier  by  some  of  his  disciples,  and  modi- 
fied in  form  under  the  name  of  the  "  Acad- 
emy of  True  Masons."  Pernetty,  besides 
his  Masonic  labors  at  Avignon,  invented 
several  other  Masonic  degrees,  and  to  him 
is  attributed  the  authorship  of  the  degree 
of  Knight  of  the  Sun,  now  occupying  the 
twenty-eighth  place  in  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite.  He  was  a  very  learned 
man  and  a  voluminous  writer  of  versatile 
talents,  and  published  numerous  works  on 
mythology,  the  fine  arts,  theology,  geogra- 
phy, philosophy,  and  the  mathematical  sci- 
ences, besides  some  translations  from  the 
Latin.  He  died  at  Valence,  in  Dauphiny, 
in  the  year  1800. 

Perpendicular.  In  a  geometrical 
sense,  that  which  is  upright  and  erect, 
leaning  neither  one  way  nor  another.  In 
a  figurative  and  symbolic  sense,  it  conveys 
the  signification  of  Justice,  Fortitude, 
Prudence,  and  Temperance.  Justice,  that 
leans  to  no  side  but  that  of  Truth ;  Forti- 
tude, that  yields  to  no  adverse  attack; 
Prudence,  that  ever  pursues  the  straight 
path  of  integrity;  and  Temperance,  that 
swerves  not  for  appetite  nor  passion. 


Persecutions.  Freemasonry,  like 
every  other  good  and  true  thing,  has  been 
subjected  at  times  to  suspicion,  to  mis- 
interpretation, and  to  actual  persecution. 
Like  the  church,  it  has  had  its  martyrs, 
who,  by  their  devotion  and  their  suffer- 
ings, have  vindicated  its  truth  and  its 
purity. 

With  the  exception  of  the  United  States, 
where  the  attacks  on  the  Institution  can 
hardly  be  called  persecutions,  —  not  because 
there  was  not  the  will,  but  because  the 
power  to  persecute  was  wanting,  —  all  the 
persecutions  of  Freemasonry  have,  for  the 
most  part,  originated  with  the  Roman 
Church.  "Notwithstanding,"  says  a  writer 
in  the  Freemasons'  Quarterly  Magazine, 
(1851,  p.  141,)  "the  greatest  architectural 
monuments  of  antiquity  were  reared  by  the 
labors  of  Masonic  gilds,  and  the  Church  of 
Rome  owes  the  structure  of  her  magnificent 
cathedrals,  her  exquisite  shrines,  and  her 
most  splendid  palaces,  to  the  skill  of  the 
wise  master-builders  of  former  ages,  she 
has  been  for  four  centuries  in  antago- 
nism to  the  principles  inculcated  by  the 
Craft." 

Leaving  unnoticed  the  struggles  of  the 
corporations  of  Freemasons  in  the  fifteenth, 
sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries,  we 
may  begin  the  record  with  the  persecutions 
to  which  the  Order  has  been  subjected  since 
the  revival  in  1717. 

One  of  the  first  persecutions  to  which 
Masonry,  in  its  present  organization,  was 
subjected,  occurred  in  the  year  1735,  in 
Holland.  On  the  16th  of  October  of  that 
year,  a  crowd  of  ignorant  fanatics,  whose 
zeal  had  been  enkindled  by  the  denuncia- 
tions of  some  of  the  clergy,  broke  into  a 
house  in  Amsterdam,  where  a  Lodge  was 
accustomed  to  be  held,  and  destroyed  all 
the  furniture  and  ornaments  of  the  Lodge. 
The  States  General,  yielding  to  the  popular 
excitement,  or  rather  desirous  of  giving  no 
occasion  for  its  action,  prohibited  the  future 
meetings  of  the  Lodges.  One,  however, 
continuing,  regardless  of  the  edict,  to  meet 
at  a  private  house,  the  members  were  ar- 
rested and  brought  before  the  Court  of  Jus- 
tice. Here,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole 
city,  the  Masters  and  Wardens  defended 
themselves  with  great  dexterity ;  and  while 
acknowledging  their  inability  to  prove  the 
innocence  of  their  Institution  by  a  public 
exposure  of  their  secret  doctrines,  they 
freely  offered  to  receive  and  initiate  any 
person  in  the  confidence  of  the  magistrates, 
and  who  could  then  give  them  information 
upon  which  they  might  depend,  relative  to 
the  true  designs  of  the  Institution.  The 
proposal  was  acceded  to,  and  the  town 
clerk  was  chosen.  He  was  immediately  ini- 
tiated, and  his  report  so  pleased  his  supe- 
riors, that  all  the  magistrates  and  principal 


574 


PERSECUTIONS 


PERSECUTIONS 


persons  of  the  city  became  members  and 
zealous  patrons  of  the  Order. 

In  France,  the  fear  of  the  authorities 
that  the  Freemasons  concealed,  within  the 
recesses  of  their  Lodges,  designs  hostile  to 
the  government,  gave  occasion  to  an  attempt, 
in  1737,  on  the  part  of  the  police,  to  pro- 
hibit the  meeting  of  the  Lodges.  But  this 
unfavorable  disposition  did  not  long  con- 
tinue, and  the  last  instance  of  the  inter- 
ference of  the  government  with  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Masonic  body  was  in  June, 
1745,  when  the  members  of  a  Lodge,  meet- 
ing at  the  Hotel  de  Soissons,  were  dispersed, 
their  furniture  and  jewels  seized,  and  the 
landlord  amerced  in  a  penalty  of  three  thou- 
sand livres. 

The  persecutions  in  Germany  were  owing 
to  a  singular  cause.  The  malice  of  a  few 
females  had  been  excited  by  their  disap- 
pointed curiosity.  A  portion  of  this  dis- 
position they  succeeded  in  communicating 
to  the  Empress,  Maria  Theresa,  who  issued 
an  order  for  apprehending  all  the  Masons 
in  Vienna,  when  assembled  in  their  Lodges. 
The  measure  was,  however,  frustrated  by 
the  good  sense  of  the  Emperor,  Joseph  I., 
who  was  himself  a  Mason,  and  exerted  his 
power  in  protecting  his  brethren. 

The  persecutions  of  the  church  in  Italy, 
and  other  Catholic  countries,  have  been 
the  most  extensive  and  most  permanent. 
On  the  28th  of  April,  1738,  Pope  Clement 
XII.  issued  the  famous  bull  against  Free- 
masons whose  authority  is  still  in  exist- 
ence. In  this  bull,  the  Roman  Pontiff  says, 
"  We  have  learned,  and  public  rumor  does 
not  permit  us  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  re- 
port, that  a  certain  society  has  been  formed, 
under  the  name  of  Freemasons,  into  which 
persons  of  all  religions  and  all  sects  are  in- 
discriminately admitted,  and  whose  mem- 
bers have  established  certain  laws  which 
bind  themselves  to  each  other,  and  which, 
in  particular,  compel  their  members,  under 
the  severest  penalties,  by  virtue  of  an  oath 
taken  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  to  preserve 
an  inviolable  secrecy  in  relation  to  every 
thing  that  passes  in  their  meetings."  The 
bull  goes  on  to  declare,  that  these  societies 
have  become  suspected  by  the  faithful,  and 
that  they  are  hurtful  to  the  tranquillity  of 
the  state  and  to  the  safety  of  the  soul ;  and 
after  making  use  of  the  now  threadbare 
argument,  that  if  the  actions  of  Free- 
masons were  irreproachable,  they  would 
not  so  carefully  conceal  them  from  the 
light,  it  proceeds  to  enjoin  all  bishops,  su- 
periors, and  ordinaries  to  punish  the  Free- 
masons "  with  the  penalties  which  they  de- 
serve, as  people  greatly  suspected  of  heresy, 
having  recourse,  if  necessary,  to  the  secular 
arm.'-' 

What  this  delivery  to  the  secular  arm 


means,  we  are  at  no  loss  to  discover,  from 
the  interpretation  given  to  the  bull  by  Car- 
dinal Firrao  in  his  edict  of  publication  in 
the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  name- 
ly, "  that  no  person  shall  dare  to  assemble 
at  any  Lodge  of  the  said  society,  nor  be 
present  at  any  of  their  meetings,  under  pain 
of  death  and  confiscation  of  goods,  the  said 
penalty  to  be  without  hope  of  pardon." 

The  bull  of  Clement  met  in  France  with 
no  congenial  spirits  to  obey  it.  On  the 
contrary,  it  was  the  subject  of  universal 
condemnation  as  arbitrary  and  unjust,  and 
the  parliament  of  Paris  positively  refused 
to  enroll  it.  But  in  other  Catholic  coun- 
tries it  was  better  respected.  In  Tuscany 
the  persecutions  were  unremitting.  A  man 
named  Crudeli  was  arrested  at  Florence, 
thrown  into  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, subjected  to  torture,  and  finally  sen- 
tenced to  a  long  imprisonment,  on  the 
charge  of  having  furnished  an  asylum  to  a 
Masonic  Lodge.  The  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  upon  learning  the  circumstances, 
obtained  his  enlargement,  and  sent  him  pe- 
cuniary assistance.  Francis  de  Lorraine, 
who  had  been  initiated  at  the  Hague  in 
1731,  soon  after  ascended  the  grand  ducal 
throne,  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  his 
reign  was  to  liberate  all  the  Masons  who 
had  been  incarcerated  by  the  Inquisition ; 
and  still  further  to  evince  his  respect  for 
the  Order,  he  personally  assisted  in  the  con- 
stitution of  several  Lodges  at  Florence,  and 
in  other  cities  of  his  dominions. 

The  other  sovereigns  of  Italy  were,  how- 
ever, more  obedient  to  the  behests  of  the 
holy  father,  and  persecutions  continued  to 
rage  throughout  the  peninsula.  Neverthe- 
less, Masonry  continued  to  flourish,  and  in 
1751,  thirteen  years  after  the  emission  of 
the  bull  of  prohibition,  Lodges  were  open- 
ly in  existence  in  Tuscany,  at  Naples,  and 
even  in  the  "  eternal  city  "  itself. 

The  priesthood,  whose  vigilance  had 
abated  under  the  influence  of  time,  became 
once  more  alarmed,  and  an  edict  was  issued 
in  1751  by  Benedict  XIV.,  who  then  occu- 
pied the  papal  chair,  renewing  and  enforc- 
ing the  bull  which  had  been  fulminated  by 
Clement. 

This,  of  course,  renewed  the  spirit  of 
persecution.  In  Spain,  one  Tournon,  a 
Frenchman,  was  convicted  of  practising 
the  rites  of  Masonry,  and  after  a  tedious 
confinement  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, he  was  finally  banished  from  the 
kingdom. 

In  Portugal,  at  Lisbon,  John  Coustos, 
a  native  of  Switzerland,  was  still  more 
severely  treated.  He  was  subjected  to  the 
torture,  and  suffered  so  much  that  he  was 
unable  to  move  his  limbs  for  three  months. 
Coustos,  with  two  companions  of  his  re- 


PERSEVERANCE 


PERSIA 


575 


Euted  crime,  was  sentenced  to  the  galleys, 
ut  was  finally  released  by  the  interposi- 
tion of  the  English  ambassador. 

In  1745,  the  Council  of  Berne,  in  Swit- 
zerland, issued  a  decree  prohibiting,  under 
the  severest  penalties,  the  assemblages  of 
Freemasons.  In  1757,  in  Scotland,  the 
Synod  of  Sterling  adopted  a  resolution  de- 
barring all  adhering  Freemasons  from  the 
ordinances  of  religion.  And,  as  if  to  prove 
that  fanaticism  is  everywhere  the  same,  in 
1748  the  Divan  at  Constantinople  caused  a 
Masonic  Lodge  to  be  demolished,  its  jewels 
and  furniture  seized,  and  its  members  ar- 
rested. They  were  discharged  upon  the 
interposition  of  the  English  minister;  but 
the  government  prohibited  the  introduction 
of  the  Order  into  Turkey. 

Our  own  country  has  not  been  free  from 
the  blighting  influence  of  this  demon  of 
fanaticism.  But  the  exciting  scenes  of 
anti-Masonry  are  too  recent  to  be  treated 
by  the  historian  with  coolness  or  imparti- 
ality. The  political  party  to  which  this 
spirit  of  persecution  gave  birth  was  the 
most  abject  in  its  principles,  and  the  most 
unsuccessful  in  its  efforts,  of  any  that  our 
times  have  seen.  It  has  passed  away ;  the 
clouds  of  anti-Masonry  have  been,  we  trust, 
forever  dispersed,  and  the  bright  sun  of 
Masonry,  once  more  emerging  from  its 
temporary  eclipse,  is  beginning  to  bless 
our  land  with  the  invigorating  heat  and 
light  of  its  meridian  rays. 

Perseverance.  A  virtue  inculcated, 
by  a  peculiar  symbol  in  the  third  degree, 
in  reference  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge, 
and  especially  the  knowledge  of  the  True 
Word.    See  Patience. 

Perseverance,  Order  of.  An 
Adoptive  Order  established  at  Paris,  in 
1771,  by  several  nobles  and  ladies.  It  had 
but  little  of  the  Masonic  character  about  it; 
and,  although  at  the  time  of  its  creation  it 
excited  considerable  sensation,  it  existed 
but  for  a  brief  period.  It  was  instituted 
for  the  purpose  of  rendering  services  to 
humanity.  Ragon  says  (Tuileur  Gen.,  p. 
92,)  that  there  was  kept  in  the  archives  of 
the  Order  a  quarto  volume  of  four  hundred 
leaves,  in  which  was  registered  all  the  good 
deeds  of  the  brethren  and  sisters.  This 
volume  is  entitled  Livre  d' Honneur  de  V  Ordre 
de  la  Perseverance.  Ragon  intimates  that 
this  document  is  still  in  existence.  Thory 
(Fondation  O.  0.,  p.  383,)  says  that  there 
was  much  mystification  about  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Order  in  Paris.  Its  institutors 
contended  that  it  originated  from  time  im- 
memorial in  Poland,  a  pretension  to  which 
the  King  of  Poland  lent  his  sanction. 
Many  persons  of  distinction,  and  among 
them  Madame  de  Genlis,  were  deceived  and 
became  its  members. 


Persia.  Neither  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  nor  any  other  of  the  European 
Powers,  seem  ever  to  have  organized 
Lodges  in  the  kingdom  of  Persia;  yet  very 
strange  and  somewhat  incomprehensible 
stories  are  told  by  credible  authorities  of 
the  existence  either  of  the  Masonic  insti- 
tution, or  something  very  much  like  it,  in 
that  country.  In  1808,  on  November  24, 
Askeri  Khan,  the  Ambassador  of  Persia 
near  the  court  of  France,  was  received  into 
the  Order  at  Paris  by  the  Mother  Lodge  of 
the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite,  on  which 
occasion  the  distinguished  neophyte  pre- 
sented his  sword,  a  pure  Damascus  blade, 
to  the  Lodge,  with  these  remarks:  "I 
promise  you,  gentlemen,  friendship,  fidel- 
ity, and  esteem.  I  have  been  tola,  and  I 
cannot  doubt  it,  that  Freemasons  were  vir- 
tuous, charitable,  and  full  of  love  and  at- 
tachment for  their  sovereigns.  Permit  me 
to  make  you  a  present  worthy  of  true 
Frenchmen.  Receive  this  sabre,  which  has 
served  me  in  twenty-seven  battles.  May 
this  act  of  homage  convince  you  of  the  sen- 
timents with  which  you  have  inspired  me, 
and  of  the  gratification  that  I  feel  in  be- 
longing to  your  Order."  The  Ambassador 
subsequently  seems  to  have  taken  a  great 
interest  in  Freemasonry  while  he  remained 
in  France,  and  consulted  with  the  Venera- 
ble of  the  Lodge  on  the  subject  of  estab- 
lishing a  Lodge  at  Ispahan.  This  is  the 
first  account  that  we  have  of  the  connection 
of  any  inhabitant  of  Persia  with  the  Order. 
Thory,  who  gives  this  account,  (Act.  Lot., 
i.  237,)  does  not  tell  us  whether  the  project 
of  an  Ispahan  Lodge  was  ever  executed. 
But  it  is  probable  that  on  his  return  home 
the  Ambassador  introduced  among  his 
friends  some  knowledge  of  the  Institution, 
aud  impressed  them  with  a  favorable  opin- 
ion of  it.  At  all  events,  the  Persians  in 
later  times  do  not  seem  to  have  been  igno- 
rant of  its  existence. 

Mr.  Holmes,  in  his  Sketches  on  the  Shores 
of  the  Caspian,  gives  the  following  as  the 
Persian  idea  of  Freemasonry : 

"  In  the  morning  we  received  a  visit 
from  the  Governor,  who  seemed  rather  a 
dull  person,  though  very  polite  and  civil. 
He  asked  a  great  many  questions  regarding 
the  Feramoosh  Khoneh,  as  they  called  the 
Freemasons'  Hall  in  London ;  which  is  a 
complete  mystery  to  all  the  Persians  who 
have  heard  of  it.  Very  often,  the  first 
question  we  have  been  asked  is,  '  What  do 
they  do  at  the  Feramoosh  Khoneh  ?  What 
is  it?'  They  generally  believe  it  to  be  a 
most  wonderful  place,  where  a  man  may 
acquire  in  one  day  the  wisdom  of  a  thousand 
years  of  study  ;  but  every  one  has  his  own 
peculiar  conjectures  concerning  it.  Some 
of  the  Persians  who  went  to  England  be- 


576 


PERSIAN 


PETITION 


came  Freemasons ;  and  their  friends  com- 
plain that  they  will  not  tell  what  they  saw 
at  the  Hall,  and  cannot  conceive  why  they 
should  all  be  so  uncommunicative." 

And  now  we  have,  from  the  London  Free- 
mason, (June  28, 1873,)  this  further  account; 
but  the  conjecture  as  to  the  time  of  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Order  unfortunately  wants 
confirmation : 

"  Of  the  Persian  officers  who  are  present 
in  Berlin  pursuing  military  studies  and 
making  themselves  acquainted  with  Prus- 
sian military  organization  and  arrange- 
ments, one  belongs  to  the  Masonic  Order. 
He  is  a  Mussulman.  He  seems  to  have 
spontaneously  sought  recognition  as  a 
member  of  the  Craft  at  a  Berlin  Lodge,  and 
his  claim  was  allowed  only  after  such  an 
examination  as  satisfied  the  brethren  that 
he  was  one  of  the  brethren.  From  the 
statement  of  this  Persian  Mason  it  appears 
that  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  Persian 
Court  belong  to  the  mystic  Order,  even  as 
German  Masonry  enjoys  the  honor  of 
counting  the  emperor  and  crown  prince 
among  its  adherents.  The  appearance  of 
this  Mohammedan  Mason  in  Berlin  seems 
to  have  excited  a  little  surprise  among 
some  of  the  brethren  there,  and  the  sur- 
prise would  be  natural  enough  to  persons 
not  aware  of  the  extent  to  which  Masonry 
has  been  diffused  over  the  earth.  Account 
for  it  as  one  may,  the  truth  is  certain  that 
the  mysterious  Order  was  established  in 
the  Orient  many  ages  ago.  Nearly  all  of 
the  old  Mohammedan  buildings  in  India, 
such  as  tombs,  mosques,  etc.,  are  marked 
with  the  Masonic  symbols,  and  many  of 
these  structures,  still  perfect,  were  built  in 
the  time  of  the  Mogul  Emperor  Akbar, 
who  died  in  1605.  Thus  Masonry  must 
have  been  introduced  into  India  from  Mid- 
dle Asia  by  the  Mohammedans  hundreds 
of  years  ago." 

Since  then  there  was  an  initiation  of  a 
Persian  in  the  Lodge  Clemente  Amitie  at 
Paris.  There  is  a  Lodge  at  Teheran,  of 
which  many  native  Persians  are  members. 

Persian  Philosophical  Rite. 
A  Rite  which  its  founders  asserted  was 
established  in  1818,  at  Erzerum,  in  Persia, 
and  which  was  introduced  into  France  in 
the  year  1819.  It  consisted  of  seven  de- 
grees, as  follows :  1.  Listening  Apprentice ; 
2.  Fellow  Craft,  Adept,  Esquire  of  Benevo- 
lence; 3.  Master,  Knight  of  the  Sun;  4. 
Architect  of  all  Rites,  Knight  of  the  Phil- 
osophy of  the  Heart ;  5.  Knight  of  Eclecti- 
cism and  of  Truth  ;  6.  Master  Good  Shep- 
herd ;  7.  Venerable  Grand  Elect.  This 
Rite  never  contained  many  members,  and 
has  been  long  extinct. 

Personal  Merit.  All  preferment 
among   Masons    is   grounded    upon    real 


worth  and  personal  merit  only,  that  so  the 
Lords  may  be  well  served,  the  Brethren  not 
put  to  shame,  nor  the  Royal  Craft  despised. 
Therefore  no  Master  or  Warden  is  chosen 
by  seniority,  but  for  his  merit.  Charqes  of 
1723. 

Pern.  Freemasonry  was  first  intro- 
duced into  Peru  about  the  year  1807,  dur- 
ing the  French  invasion,  and  several 
Lodges  worked  until  the  resumption  of  the 
Spanish  authority  and  the  Papal  influence, 
in  1813,  when  their  existence  terminated. 
In  1825,  when  the  independence  of  the  re- 
public, declared  some  years  before,  was 
completely  achieved,  several  Scottish  Rite 
Lodges  were  established,  first  at  Lima  and 
then  at  other  points,  by  the  Grand  Orient 
of  Colombia.  A  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite  was  instituted 
in  1830.  In  1831  an  independent  Grand 
Lodge,  afterwards  styled  the  Grand  Orient 
of  Peru,  was  organized  by  the  symbolic 
Lodges  in  the  republic.  Political  agita- 
tions have,  from  time  to  time,  occasioned 
a  cessation  of  Masonic  labor,  but  both  the 
Supreme  Council  and  the  Grand  Orient  are 
now  in  successful  operation.  The  Royal 
Arch  degree  was  introduced  in  1852  by  the 
establishment  of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  at 
Callao,  under  a  Warrant  granted  by  the 
Supreme  Chapter  of  Scotland. 

Petition  for  a  Charter.  The  next 
step  in  the  process  of  organizing  a  Lodge, 
after  the  Dispensation  has  been  granted  by 
the  Grand  Master,  is  an  application  for  a 
Charter  or  Warrant  of  Constitution.  The 
application  may  be,  but  not  necessarily, 
in  the  form  of  a  petition.  On  the  report 
of  the  Grand  Master,  that  he  had  granted 
a  Dispensation,  the  Grand  Lodge,  if  the 
new  Lodge  is  recommended  by  some  other, 
generally  the  nearest  Lodge,  will  confirm 
the  Grand  Master's  action  and  grant  a 
Charter;  although  it  may  refuse  to  do  so, 
and  then  the  Lodge  will  cease  to  exist. 
Charters  or  Warrants  for  Lodges  are 
granted  only  by  the  Grand  Lodge  in 
America,  Ireland,  and  Scotland.  In  Eng- 
land this  great  power  is  vested  in  the 
Grand  Master.  The  Constitutions  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  say  that  "every 
application  for  a  Warrant  to  hold  a  new 
Lodge  must  be,  by  petition  to  the  Grand 
Master,  signed  by  at  least  seven  regularly 
registered  Masons."  Although,  in  the 
United  States,  it  is  the  general  usage  that 
a  Warrant  must  be  preceded  by  a  Dispen- 
sation. I  know  of  no  general  law  which 
would  forbid  the  Grand  Lodge  to  issue  a 
Charter  in  the  first  place,  no  Dispensation 
having  been  previously  granted. 

The  rule  for  issuing  Charters  to  Lodges 
prevails,  with  no  modification  in  relation  to 
granting  them  by  Grand  Chapters,  Grand 


PETITION 


PHALLIC 


577 


Councils,  or  Grand  Commanderies  for  the 
bodies  subordinate  to  them. 
Petition   for   a   Dispensation. 

When  it  is  desired  to  establish  a  new 
Lodge,  application  by  petition  must  be 
made  to  the  Grand  Master.  This  petition 
ought  to  be  signed  by  at  least  seven  Master 
Masons,  and  be  recommended  by  the  near- 
est Lodge;  and  it  should  contain  the  pro- 
posed name  of  the  Lodge  and  the  names  of 
the  three  principal  officers.  This  is  the 
usage  of  this  country  ;  but  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  Grand  Master's  pre- 
rogative of  granting  Dispensations  cannot 
be  rightfully  restricted  by  any  law.  Only, 
should  the  Grand  Master  grant  a  Dispen- 
sation for  a  Lodge  which,  in  its  petition, 
had  not  complied  with  these  prerequisites, 
it  is  not  probable  that,  on  subsequent  appli- 
cation to  the  Grand  Lodge,  a  Warrant  of 
Constitution  would  be  issued. 

Petition  for  Initiation.  Any  per- 
son who  is  desirous  of  initiation  into  the 
mysteries  of  Masonry  must  apply  to  the 
Lodge  nearest  to  his  place  of  residence,  by 
means  of  a  petition  signed  by  himself,  and 
recommended  by  at  least  two  members  of 
the  Lodge  to  which  he  applies.  The  ap- 
plication of  a  Mason  to  a  Chapter,  Council, 
or  Commandery  for  advancement  to  higher 
degrees,  or  of  an  unaffiliated  Mason  for 
membership  in  a  Lodge,  is  also  called  a  pe- 
tition. For  the  rules  that  govern  the  dis- 
position of  these  petitions,  see  the  author's 
Text  Book  of  Masonic  Jurisprudence,  Book 
L,  ch.  ii. 

Peuvret,  Jean  Eustache.  An 
usher  of  the  parliament  of  Paris,  and  Past 
Master  of  the  Lodge  of  St.  Pierre  in  Mar- 
tinico,  and  afterwards  a  dignitary  of  the 
Grand  Orient  at  France.  Peuvret  was  de- 
voted to  Hermetic  Masonry,  and  acquired 
some  reputation  by  numerous  compila- 
tions on  Masonic  subjects.  During  his  life 
he  amassed  a  valuable  library  of  mystical, 
alchemical,  and  Masonic  books,  and  a  man- 
uscript collection  of  eighty-one  degrees  of 
Hermetic  Masonry  in  six  quarto  volumes. 
He  asserts  in  this  work  that  the  degrees 
were  brought  from  England  and  Scotland ; 
but  this  Thory  [Act.  Lat.,  i.  205,)  denies,  and 
says  that  they  were  manufactured  in  Paris. 
Peuvret's  exceeding  zeal  without  knowl- 
edge made  him  the  victim  of  every  char- 
latan who  approached  him.  He  died  at 
Paris  in  1800. 

Phai'noteletian  Society.  (Soci- 
ete  Phainote'lete.)  A  society  founded  at 
Paris,  in  1840,  by  Louis  Theodore  Juge,  the 
editor  of  the  Globe,  composed  of  members 
of  all  rites  and  degrees,  for  the  investiga- 
tion of  all  non-political  secret  associations 
of  ancient  and  modern  times.  The  title  is 
taken  from  the  Greek,  and  signifies  literally 
3X  37 


the  society  of  the  explainers  of  the  mys- 
teries of  initiation. 

Phallic  Worship.  The  Phallus  was 
a  sculptured  representation  of  the  mem- 
brum  virile,  or  male  organ  of  generation  ; 
and  the  worship  of  it  is  said  to  have  origi- 
nated in  Egypt,  where,  after  the  murder  of 
Osiris  by  Typhon,  which  is  symbolically  to 
be  explained  as  the  destruction  or  depriva- 
tion of  the  sun's  light  by  night,  Isis,  his 
wife,  or  the  symbol  of  nature,  in  the  search 
for  his  mutilated  body,  is  said  to  have  found 
all  the  parts  except  the  organs  of  genera- 
tion, which  myth  is  simply  symbolic  of  the 
fact  that  the  sun  having  set,  its  fecunda- 
ting and  invigorating  power  had  ceased. 
The  Phallus,  therefore,  as  the  symbol  of 
the  male  generative  principle,  was  very 
universally  venerated  among  the  ancients, 
and  that  too  as  a  religious  rite,  without  the 
slightest  reference  to  any  impure  or  lasciv- 
ious application. 

As  a  symbol  of  the  generative  principle 
of  nature,  the  worship  of  the  Phallus  ap- 
pears to  have  been  very  nearly  universal. 
In  the  mysteries  it  was  carried  in  solemn 
procession.  •  The  Jews,  in  their  numerous 
deflections  into  idolatry,  fell  readily  into 
that  of  this  symbol.  And  they  did  this  at 
a  very  early  period  of  their  history,  for  we 
are  told  that  even  in  the  time  of  the  Judges 
(Jud.  iii.  7,)  they  "served  Baalim  and  the 
groves."  Now  the  word  translated,  here 
and  elsewhere,  as  groves,  is  in  the  original 
Asherah,  and  is  by  all  modern  interpreters 
supposed  to  mean  a  species  of  Phallus. 
Thus  Movers  (Phoniz.,  p.  56,)  says  that 
Asherah  is  a  sort  of  Phallus  erected  to  the 
telluric  goddess  Baaltes,  and  the  learned 
Holloway  (Originals,  i.  18,)  had  long  be- 
fore come  to  the  same  conclusion. 

But  the  Phallus,  or,  as  it  was  called 
among  the  Orientalists,  the  Lingam,  was  a 
representation  of  the  male  principle  only. 
To  perfect  the  circle  of  generation,  it  is  nec- 
essary to  advance  one  step  farther.  Ac- 
cordingly we  find  in  the  Cteis  of  the  Greeks, 
and  the  Yoni  of  the  Indians,  a  symbol  of 
the  female  generative  principle  of  co-ex- 
tensive prevalence  with  the  Phallus.  The 
Cteis  was  a  circular  and  concave  pedestal, 
or  receptacle,  on  which  the  Phallus  or  col- 
umn rested,  and  from  the  centre  of  which 
it  sprang. 

The  union  of  these  two,  as  the  generative 
and  the  producing  principles  of  nature,  in 
one  compound  figure,  was  the  most  usual 
mode  of  representation.  And  here,  I  think, 
we  undoubtedly  find  the  remote  origin  of 
the  point  within  a  circle,  an  ancient  symbol 
which  was  first  adopted  by  the  old  sun 
worshippers,  and  then  by  the  ancient  as- 
tronomers, as  a  symbol  of  the  sun  sur- 
rounded by  the  earth  or  the  universe, — the 


578 


PHALLUS 


PHILALETHES 


sun  as  the  generator  and  the  earth  as  the 
producer, — and  afterwards  modified  in  its 
signification  and  incorporated  into  the  sym- 
bolism of  Freemasonry.  See  Point  within 
a  Circle. 

Phallus.  Donegan  says  from  an  Egyp- 
tian or  Indian  root.  See  Phallic  Worship. 

Pharaxal.  A  significant  word  in  the 
high  degrees,  and  there  said,  in  the  old 
rituals,  to  signify  "  we  shall  all  be  united." 
Delaunay  gives  it  as  pharos  hoi,  and  says 
it  means  "  all  is  explained."  If  it  is  de- 
rived from  £^H£,  and  the  adverbial  7p,  kol, 
"  altogether,"  it  certainly  means  not  to  be 
united,  but  to  be  separated,  and  has  the 
same  meaning  as  its  cognate  polkal.  This 
incongruity  in  the  words  and  their  accepted 
explanation  has  led  Bro.  Pike  to  reject 
them  both  from  the  degree  in  which  they 
are  originally  found.  And  it  is  certain 
that  the  radical  pal  and  phar  both  have 
everywhere  in  Hebrew  the  idea  of  separa- 
tion. But  my  reading  of  the  old  rituals 
compels  me  to  believe  that  the  degree  in 
which  these  words  are  found  always  con- 
tained an  idea  of  separation  and  subsequent 
reunion.  It  is  evident  that  the»e  was  either 
a  blunder  in  the  original  adoption  of  the 
word  pharaxal,  or  more  probably  a  corrup- 
tion by  subsequent  copyists.  I  am  satis- 
fied that  the  ideas  of  division,  disunion,  or 
separation,  and  of  subsequent  reunion,  are 
correct ;  but  I  am  equally  satisfied  that  the 
Hebrew  form  of  this  word  is  wrong. 

Pharisees.  A  school  among  the 
Jews  at  the  time  of  Christ,  so  called  from 
the  Aramaic  Perushim,  Separated,  because 
they  held  themselves  apart  from  the  rest  of 
the  nation.  They  claimed  to  have  a  mys- 
terious knowledge  unknown  to  the  mass  of 
the  people,  and  pretended  to  the  exclusive 
possession  of  the  true  meaning  of  the 
Scriptures,  by  virtue  of  the  oral  law  and 
the  secret  traditions  which,  having  been 
received  by  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai,  had 
been  transmitted  to  successive  generations 
of  initiates.  They  are  supposed  to  have 
been  essentially  the  same  as  the  Assideans 
or  Chasidim.  The  character  of  their  organ- 
ization is  interesting  to  the  Masonic  stu- 
dent. They  held  a  secret  doctrine,  of 
which  the  dogma  of  the  resurrection  was 
an  important  feature ;  they  met  in  sodali- 
ties or  societies,  the  members  of  which 
called  themselves  chabirim,  fellows  or  asso- 
iates ;  and  they  styled  all  who  were  out- 
side of  their  mystical  association,  yom  ha- 
harelz,  or  people  of  the  land. 

Phenieia.  The  Latinized  form  of  the 
Greek  Phoinikia,  from  <poivi^,  a  palm,  be- 
cause of  the  number  of  palms  anciently, 
but  not  now,  found  in  the  country.  A 
tract  of  country  on  the  north  of  Palestine, 
along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  of 


which  Tyre  and  Sidon  were  the  principal 
cities.  The  researches  of  Gesenius  and 
other  modern  philologers  have  confirmed 
the  assertions  of  Jerome  and  Augustine, 
that  the  language  spoken  by  the  Jews  and 
the  Phenicians  was  almost  identical ;  a 
statement  interesting  to  the  Masonic  stu- 
dent as  giving  another  reason  for  the  bond 
which  existed  between  Solomon  and  Hi- 
ram, and  between  the  Jewish  workmen  and 
their  fellow-laborers  of  Tyre,  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  Temple.    See  Tyre. 

Philadelphia.  Placed  on  the  im- 
print of  some  Masonic  works  of  the  last 
century  as  a  pseudonym  of  Paris. 

Philadelphians,  Rite  of  the. 
See  Primitive  Rite. 

Philadelphes,  Lodge  of  the.  The 
name  of  a  Lodge  at  Narbonne,  in  France, 
in  which  the  Primitive  Rite  was  first  insti- 
tuted; whence  it  is  sometimes  called  the 
"  Rite  of  the  Philadelphians."  See  Primi- 
tive Rite. 

Philalethes,  Rite  of  the.  Called 
also  the  Seekers  of  Truth,  although  the 
word  literally  means  Friends  of  Truth.  It 
was  a  Rite  founded  in  1773  at  Paris,  in  the 
Lodge  of  Amis  R6unis,  by  Savalette  de 
Langes,  keeper  of  the  Royal  Treasury, 
with  whom  were  associated  the  Vicomte 
de  Tavannes,  Court  de  Gebelin,  M.  de 
Sainte-Jamos,  the  President  d'  Hericourt, 
and  the  Prince  of  Hesse.  The  Rite,  which 
was  principally  founded  on  the  system  of 
Martinism,  did  not  confine  itself  to  any 
particular  mode  of  instruction,  but  in  its  re- 
unions, called  "  convents,"  the  members  de- 
voted themselves  to  the  study  of  all  kinds 
of  knowledge  that  were  connected  with  the 
occult  sciences,  and  thus  they  welcomed  to 
their  association  all  who  had  made  them- 
selves remarkable  by  the  singularity  or  the 
novelty  of  their  opinions,  such  as  Caglios- 
tro,  Mesmer,  and  Saint  Martin.  It  was 
divided  into  twelve  classes  or  chambers  of 
instruction.  The  names  of  these  classes  or 
degrees  were  as  follows:  1.  Apprentice; 
2.  Fellow  Craft;  3.  Master;  4.  Elect;  5. 
Scottish  Master ;  6.  Knight  of  the  East ;  7. 
Rose  Croix ;  8.  Knight  of  the  Temple ;  9. 
Unknown  Philosopher ;  10.  Sublime  Phil- 
osopher; 11.  Initiate;  12.  Philalethes,  or 
Searcher  after  Truth.  The  first  six  de- 
grees were  called  Petty,  and  the  last  Bix 
High  Masonry.  The  Rite  did  not  in- 
crease very  rapidly;  nine  years  after  its 
institution,  it  counted  only  twenty  Lodges 
in  France  and  in  foreign  countries  which 
were  of  its  obedience.  In  1785  it  attempted 
a  radical  reform  in  Masonry,  and  for  this 

Surpose  invited  the  most  distinguished 
[asons  of  all  countries  to  a  congress  at 
Paris.  But  the  project  failed,  and  Savalette 
de  Langes  dying  in  1788,  the  Rite,  of  which 


PHILIP 


PHILOSOPHIC 


579 


he  alone  was  the  soul,  ceased  to  exist,  and 
the  Lodge  of  Amis  Reunis  was  dissolved. 

Philip  IV.  Surnamed  "  le  Bel,"  or 
"  the  Fair,"  who  ascended  the  throne  of 
France  in  1285.  He  is  principally  dis- 
tinguished in  history  on  account  of  his 
persecution  of  the  Knights  Templars.  With 
the  aid  of  his  willing  instrument,  Pope 
Clement  V.,  he  succeeded  in  accomplishing 
the  overthrow  of  the  Order.  He  died  in 
1314,  execrated  by  his  subjects,  whose 
hearts  he  had  alienated  by  the  cruelty, 
avarice,  and  despotism  of  his  administra- 
tion. 

Philippian  Order.  Finch  gives 
this  as  the  name  of  a  secret  Order  insti- 
tuted by  King  Philip  "  for  the  use  only  of 
his  first  nobility  and  principal  officers,  who 
thus  formed  a  select  and  secret  council  in 
which  he  could  implicitly  confide."  It  has 
attracted  the  attention  of  no  other  Masonic 
writer,  and  was  probably  no  more  than  a 
coinage  of  a  charlatan's  brain. 

Philocoreites,  Order  of.  An  an- 
drogynous secret  society  established  in  the 
French  army  in  Spain,  in  1808.  The  mem- 
bers were  called  Knights  and  Ladies  Philo- 
coreites,  or  Lovers  of  Pleasure.  It  was  not 
Masonic  in  character.  But  Thory  has  thought 
it  worth  a  long  description  in  his  History  of 
the  Foundation  of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France. 

Pliilo  Juckeus.  A  Jewish  philoso- 
pher of  the  school  of  Alexandria,  who  was 
born  about  thirty  years  before  Christ. 
Philo  adopted  to  their  full  extent  the  mys- 
tical doctrines  of  his  school,  and  taught 
that  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  contained,  in  a 
system  of  allegories,  the  real  source  of  all 
religious  and  philosophical  knowledge,  the 
true  meaning  of  which  was  to  be  excluded 
from  the  vulgar,  to  whom  the  literal  signifi- 
cation alone  was  to  be  made  known.  Who- 
ever, says  he,  has  meditated  on  philosophy, 
has  purified  himself  by  virtue,  and  elevated 
himself  by  a  contemplative  life  to  God  and 
the  intellectual  world,  receiving  their  in- 
spiration, thus  pierces  the  gross  envelop 
of  the  letter,  and  is  initiated  into  mysteries 
of  which  the  literal  instruction  is  but  a 
faint  image.  A  fact,  a  figure,  a  word,  a 
rite  or  custom,  veils  the  profoundest  truths, 
to  be  interpreted  only  by  him  who  has  the 
true  key  of  science.  Such  symbolic  views 
were  eagerly  seized  by  the  early  inventors 
of  the  high,  philosophical  degrees  of  Ma- 
sonry, who  have  made  frequent  use  of  the 
esoteric  philosophy  of  Philo  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  Masonic  system. 

Philosopher.  Christian.  (Phi- 
losophe  Chre'tien.)  The  fourth  degree  of  the 
Order  of  African  Architects. 

Philosopher,  Grand  and  Sub- 
lime Her  in  e  tie.  (Grand  et  Sublime 
Fhilosophe  Hermetique.)     A  degree  in  the 


manuscript  collection  of  Peuvret.  Twelve 
other  degrees  of  Philosopher  were  con- 
tained in  the  same  collection,  namely,  Grand 
Neapolitan  Philosopher,  Grand  Practical 
Philosopher,  Kabbalistic  Philosopher,  Kab- 
balistic  Philosopher  to  the  Number  5,  Per- 
fect Mason  Philosopher,  Perfect  Master 
Philosopher,  Petty  Neapolitan  Philoso- 
pher, Petty  Practical  Philosopher,  Sub- 
lime Philosopher,  Sublime  Philosopher  to 
the  Number  9,  and  Sublime  Practical  Phil- 
osopher. They  are  probably  all  Kabba- 
listic or  Hermetic  degrees. 

Philosopher  of  Hermes.  (Fhi- 
losophe d' Hermes.)  A  degree  contained  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Lodge  of  Saint  Louis 
des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais. 

Philosopher,  Sublime.  (Sublime 
Fhilosophe.)  1.  The  fifty-third  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  2.  The  tenth  class 
of  the  Rite  of  the  Philalethes. 

Philosopher,  Sublime  Un- 
known. {Sublime  Fhilosophe  Inconnu.) 
The  seventy-ninth  degree  of  the  Metropol- 
itan Chapter  of  France. 

Philosopher,  the  Little.  (Le  pe- 
tit Philosophy.)  A  degree  in  the  collection 
of  Pyron. 

Philosopher,  Unknown.  (Philo- 
sophe  Inconnu.)  The  ninth  class  of  the  Rite 
of  the  Philalethes.  It  was  so  called  in 
reference  to  St.  Martin,  who  had  adopted 
that  title  as  his  pseudonym,  and  was  uni- 
versally known  by  it  among  his  disciples. 

Philosopher's  Stone.  It  was  the 
doctrine  of  the  alchemists,  that  there  was  a 
certain  mineral,  the  discovery  of  which  was 
the  object  of  their  art,  because,  being  mixed 
with  the  baser  metals,  it  would  transmute 
these  into  gold.  This  mineral,  known  only 
to  the  adepts,  they  called  lapis philosophorum, 
or  the  philosopher's  stone.  Hitchcock,  who 
wrote  a  book  in  1857,  (Alchemy  and  the  Al- 
chemists,) to  maintain  the  proposition  that 
alchemy  was  a  symbolic  science,  that  its 
subject  was  Man,  and  its  object  the  per- 
fection of  men,  asserts  that  the  philos- 
opher's stone  was  a  symbol  of  man.  He 
quotes  the  old  Hermetic  philosopher,  Isaac 
Holland,  as  saying  that  "  though  a  man  be 

f>oor,  yet  may  he  very  well  attain  unto  it 
the  work  of  perfection,]  and  may  be  em- 
ployed in  making  the  philosopher's  stone." 
And  Hitchcock,  (p.  76,)  in  commenting  on 
this,  says:  "That  is,  every  man,  no  matter 
how  humble  his  vocation,  may  do  the  best 
he  can  in  his  place  —  may  '  love  mercy,  do 
justly,  and  walk  humbly  with  God  ; '  and 
what  more  doth  God  require  of  any  man?" 
If  this  interpretation  be  correct,  then  the 
philosopher's  stone  of  the  alchemists,  and 
the  spiritual  temple  of  the  Freemasons  are 
identical  symbols. 
Philosophic  Degrees.  All  the  de- 


580 


PHILOSOPHIC 


PHYSICAL 


grees  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite  above  the  eighteenth  and  below  the 
thirty-third,  are  called  philosophical  de- 
grees, because,  abandoning  the  symbolism 
based  on  the  Temple,  they  seek  to  develop  a 
system  of  pure  theosophy.  Some  writers 
have  contended  that  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  degrees  should  be  classed  with 
the  philosophic  degrees.  But  I  cannot  agree 
with  them,  since  both  of  those  degrees  have 
preserved  the  idea  of  the  Temple  system. 
They  ought  rather  to  be  called  apocalyptic 
degrees,  the  seventeenth  especially,  because 
they  do  not  teach  the  ancient  philosophies, 
but  are  connected  in  their  symbolism  with 
the  spiritual  temple  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

Philosophic  Scottish  Rite.  This 
Rite  consists  of  twelve  degrees,  as  follows : 
1.  2.  3.  Knight  of  the  Black  Eagle  or 
Rose  Croix  of  Heredom,  divided  into  three 
parts;  4.  Knight  of  the  Phoenix  ;  5.  Knight 
of  the  Sun ;  6.  Knight  of  the  Rainbow ; 
7.  True  Mason;  8.  Knight  of  the  Argo- 
naut; 9.  Knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece;  10. 
Perfectly  Initiated  Grand  Inspector;  11. 
Grand  Scottish  Inspector;  12.  Sublime 
Master  of  the  Luminous  Ring.1, 

The  three  degrees  of  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry form  the  necessary  basis  of  this  sys- 
tem, although  they  do  not  constitute  a  part 
of  the  Rite.  In  its  formation  it  expressly 
renounced  the  power  to  constitute  symbolic 
Lodges,  but  reserved  the  faculty  of  affi Hat- 
ing regularly  constituted  Lodges  into  its 
high  degrees.  Thory  (Fond,  du  G.  0.,  p. 
162,)  seems  desirous  of  tracing  the  origin 
of  the  Rite  to  the  Rosicrucians  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  But  the  reasons  which 
he  assigns  for  this  belief  are  by  no  means 
satisfactory.  The  truth  is,  that  the  Rite  was 
founded  in  1775,  in  the  celebrated  Lodge 
of  the  Social  Contract,  (Contrat  Social,)  and 
that  its  principal  founder  was  M.  Boileau, 
a  physician  of  Paris,  and  who  had  been 
a  disciple  of  Pernetty,  the  originator  of  the 
Hermetic  Rite  at  Avignon,  whose  Hermetic 
principles  he  introduced  into  the  Philo- 
sophic Scottish  Rite.  Some  notion  may  be 
formed  of  the  nature  of  the  system  which 
was  taught  in  this  Rite,  from  the  name  of 
the  degree  which  is  at  its  summit.  The 
Luminous  Ring  is  a  Pythagorean  degree. 
In  1780,  an  Academy  of  the  Sublime  Mas- 
ters of  the  Luminous  Ring  was  established 
in  France,  in  which  the  doctrine  was 
taught  that  Freemasonry  was  originally 
founded  by  Pythagoras,  and  in  which  the 
most  important  portion  of  the  lectures  was 
engaged  in  an  explanation  of  the  peculiar 
dogmas  of  the  sage  of  Samos. 

The  chief  seat  of  the  Rite  had  always 
been  in  the  Lodge  of  Social  Contract  until 
1792,  when,  in  common  with  all  the  other 
Masonic  bodies  of  France,  it  suspended  its 


labors.  It  was  resuscitated  at  the  termi- 
nation of  the  Revolution,  and  in  1805  the 
Lodge  of  the  Social  Contract,  and  that  of 
St.  Alexander  of  Scotland,  assumed  the 
title  of  the  "  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Phil- 
osophic Scottish  Rite  in  France."  This 
body  was  eminently  literary  in  its  char- 
acter, and  in  1811  and  1812  possessed  a 
mass  of  valuable  archives,  among  which 
were  a  number  of  old  charters,  manuscript 
rituals,  and  Masonic  works  of  great  interest, 
in  all  languages. 

Philosophy  Sublime.  [Philoso- 
phic Sublime.)  The  forty-eighth  degree  of 
the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Phoenix.  The  old  mythological  le- 
gend of  the  phoenix  is  a  familiar  one.  The 
bird  was  described  as  of  the  size  of  an  eagle, 
with  a  head  finely  crested,  a  body  covered 
with  beautiful  plumage,  and  eyes  sparkling 
like  stars.  She  was  said  to  live  six  hundred 
years  in  the  wilderness,  when  she  built  for 
herself  a  funereal  pile  of  aromatic  woods, 
which  she  ignited  with  the  fanning  of  her 
wings,  and  emerged  from  the  flames  with  a 
new  life.  Hence  the  phoenix  has  been 
adopted  universally  as  a  symbol  of  im- 
mortality. Higgins  (Anacalypsis,  ii.  441,) 
says  that  the  phoenix  is  the  symbol  of  an 
ever-revolving  solar  cycle  of  six  hundred 
and  eight  years,  and  refers  to  the  Pheni- 
cian  word  phen,  which  signifies  a  cycle. 
Aumont,  the  first  Grand  Master  of  the 
Templars  after  the  martyrdom  of  De  Mo- 
lay,  and  called  the  "  Restorer  of  the  Order," 
took,  it  is  said,  for  his  seal,  a  phoenix  brood- 
ing on  the  flames,  with  the  motto,  "  Ardet 
ut  vivat" — She  burns  that  she  may  live. 
The  phoenix  was  adopted  at  a  very  early 
period  as  a  Christian  symbol,  and  several 
representations  of  it  have  been  found  in  the 
catacombs.  Its  ancient  legend,  doubtless, 
caused  it  to  be  accepted  as  a  symbol  of  the 
resurrection. 

Physical  Qualifications.  The 
physical  qualifications  of  a  candidate  for 
initiation  into  Masonry  may  be  considered 
under  the  three  heads  of  Sex,  Age,  and 
Bodily  Conformation.  1.  As  to  Sex.  It 
is  a  landmark  that  the  candidate  shall  be 
a  man.  This,  of  course,  prohibits  the  ini- 
tiation of  a  woman.  2.  As  to  Age.  The 
candidate  must,  say  the  Old  Regulations,  be 
of  "  mature  and  discreet  age."  The  ritual 
forbids  the  initiation  of  an  "  old  man  in  his 
dotage,  or  a  young  man  under  age."  The 
man  who  has  lost  his  faculties  by  an  accu- 
mulation of  years,  or  not  yet  acquired  them 
in  their  full  extent  by  immaturity  of  age, 
is  equally  incapable  of  initiation.  (See 
Dotage  and  Mature  Age.)  3.  As  to  Bodily 
Conformation.  The  Gothic  Constitutions 
of  926,  or  what  is  accepted  as  that  docu- 
ment, prescribe  that  the  candidate  "  must 


PICART'S 


PILGRIM 


581 


be  without  blemish,  and  have  the  full  and 
proper  use  of  his  limbs ;"  and  the  Charges 
of  1722  say  "  that  he  must  have  no  maim 
or  defect  in  his  body  that  may  render  him 
incapable  of  learning  the  art,  of  serving  his 
Master's  lord,  and  being  made  a  brother." 
And  although  a  few  jurists  have  been  dis- 
posed to  interpret  this  law  with  unauthor- 
ized laxity,  the  general  spirit  of  the  Insti- 
tution, and  of  all  its  authorities,  is  to  ob- 
serve it  rigidly.  See  the  subject  fully  dis- 
cussed in  the  author's  Text  Book  of  Ma- 
sonic Jurisprudence,  pp.  100-113. 

Picart's  Ceremonies.  Bernard 
Picart  was  a  celebrated  engraver  of  Am- 
sterdam, and  the  author  of  a  voluminous 
work,  which  was  begun  in  1723,  and  con- 
tinued after  his  death,  until  1737,  by  J.  F. 
Bernard,  entitled  Ceremonies  Religieuses  de 
tous  les  peuple  du  monde.  A  second  edition 
was  published  at  Paris,  in  1741,  by  the 
Abbes  Banier  and  Le  Mascrier,  who  entire- 
ly remodelled  the  work;  and  a  third  in 
1783  by  a  set  of  free-thinkers,  who  dis- 
figured, and  still  further  altered  the  text 
to  suit  their  own  views.  Editions,  profess- 
ing to  be  reprints  of  the  original  one,  have 
been  subsequently  published  in  1807-9  and 
1816.  The  book  has  been  recently  deemed 
of  some  importance  by  the  investigators 
of  the  Masonic  history  of  the  last  century, 
because  it  contains  an  engraved  list  in  two 
pages  of  the  English  Lodges  which  were  in 
existence  in  1735.  The  plate  is,  however, 
of  no  value  as  an  original  authority,  since 
it  is  merely  a  copy  of  the  Engraved  List  of 
Lodges,  published  by  J.  Pine  in  1735. 

Pickaxe.  An  instrument  used  to 
loosen  the  soil  and  prepare  it  for  digging. 
It  is  one  of  the  working-tools  of  a  Royal 
Arch  Mason,  and  symbolically  teaches  him 
to  loosen  from  his  heart  the  hold  of  evil 
habits. 

Piece  of  Architecture.  ( Morceau 
d  Architecture.)  The  French  so  call  a  dis- 
course, poem,  or  other  production  on  the 
subject  of  Freemasonry.  The  definition 
previously  given  in  this  work  under  the 
title  Architecture,  in  being  confined  to  the 
minutes  of  the  Lodge,  is  not  sufficiently 
comprehensive. 

Pilgrim.  A  pilgrim  (from  the  Italian 
pelegrino,  and  that  from  the  Latin  peregri- 
nus,  signifying  a  traveller,)  denotes  one 
who  visits  holy  places  from  a  principle 
of  devotion.  Dante  ( Vita  Nuova)  distin- 
guishes pilgrims  from  palmers  thus :  palm- 
ers were  those  who  went  beyond  the  sea  to 
the  East,  and  often  brought  back  staves  of 
palm-wood ;  while  pilgrims  went  only  to 
the  shrine  of  St.  Jago,  in  Spain.  But  Sir 
Walter  Scott  says  that  the  palmers  were 
in  the  habit  of  passing  from  shrine  to 
shrine,    living  on   charity;  but  pilgrims 


made  the  journey  to  any  shrine  only  once ; 
and  this  is  the  more  usually  accepted  dis- 
tinction of  the  two  classes. 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  Europe  was  filled 
with  pilgrims  repairing  to  Palestine  to  pay 
their  veneration  to  the  numerous  spots  con- 
secrated in  the  annals  of  Holy  Writ,  more 
especially  to  the  sepulchre  of  our  Lord. 

"It  is  natural,"  says  Robertson,  {Hist. 
ch.  v.,  i.  19,)  "  to  the  human  mind,  to  view 
those  places  which  have  been  distinguished 
by  being  the  residence  of  any  illustrious 
personage,  or  the  scene  of  any  great  trans- 
action, with  some  degree  of  delight  and 
veneration.  From  this  principle  flowed  the 
superstitious  devotion  with  which  Chris- 
tians, from  the  earliest  ages  of  the  church, 
were  accustomed  to  visit  that  country 
which  the  Almighty  had  selected  as  the  in- 
heritance of  his  favorite  people,  and  in 
which  the  Son  of  God  had  accomplished 
the  redemption  of  mankind.  As  this  dis- 
tant pilgrimage  could  not  be  performed 
without  considerable  expense,  fatigue,  and 
danger,  it  appeared  the  more  meritorious, 
and  came  to  be  considered  as  an  expiation 
for  almost  every  crime." 

Hence,  by  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land  or  to  the  shrine  of  some  blessed 
martyr,  the  thunders  of  the  church,  and 
the  more  quiet,  but  not  less  alarming,  re- 
proaches of  conscience  were  often  averted. 
And  as  this  was  an  act  of  penance,  some- 
times voluntarily  assumed,  but  oftener  im- 
posed by  the  command  of  a  religious  su- 
perior, the  person  performing  it  was  called  a 
"  Pilgrim  Penitent." 

While  the  Caliphs  of  the  East,  a  race  of 
monarchs  equally  tolerant  and  sagacious, 
retained  the  sovereignty  of  Palestine,  the 
penitents  were  undisturbed  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  pious  pilgrimages.  In  fact, 
their  visits  to  Jerusalem  were  rather  en- 
couraged by  these  sovereigns  as  a  commerce 
which,  in  the  language  of  the  author  al- 
ready quoted,  "brought  into  their  domin- 
ions gold  and  silver,  and  carried  nothing 
out  of  them  but  relics  and  consecrated  trin- 
kets." 

But  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  Turks, 
whose  bigoted  devotion  to  their  own  creed 
was  only  equalled  by  their  hatred  of  every 
other  form  of  faith,  but  more  especially  of 
Christianity,  having  obtained  possession  of 
Syria,  the  pilgrim  no  longer  found  safety 
or  protection  in  his  pious  journey.  He 
who  would  then  visit  the  sepulchre  of  his 
Lord  must  be  prepared  to  encounter  the 
hostile  attacks  of  ferocious  Saracens,  and 
the  "  Pilgrim  Penitent,"  laying  aside  his 
peaceful  garb,  his  staff  and  russet  cloak, 
was  compelled  to  assume  the  sword  and 
coat  of  mail  and  become  a  "  Pilgrim  War- 
rior." 


582 


PILGRIM 


PILLAR 


Having  at  length,  through  all  the  perils 
of  a  distant  journey,  accomplished  the 
great  object  of  his  pilgrimage,  and  partly 
begged  his  way  amid  poor  or  inhospitable 
regions,  where  a  crust  of  bread  and  a  draught 
of  water  were  often  the  only  alms  that  he 
received,  and  partly  fought  it  amid  the 
gleaming  scimitars  of  warlike  Turks,  the 
Pilgrim  Penitent  and  Pilgrim  Warrior 
was  enabled  to  kneel  at  the  sepulchre  of 
Christ,  and  offer  up  his  devotions  on  that 
sacred  spot  consecrated  in  his  pious  mind 
by  so  many  religious  associations. 

But  the  experience  which  he  had  so 
dearly  bought  was  productive  of  a  noble 
and  agenerous  result.  The  Order  of  Knights 
Templars  was  established  by  some  of  those 
devoted  heroes,  who  were  determined  to 
protect  the  pilgrims  who  followed  them 
from  the  dangers  and  difficulties  through 
which  they  themselves  had  passed,  at  times 
with  such  remote  prospects  of  success. 
Many  of  the  pilgrims  having  performed 
their  vow  of  visiting  the  holy  shrine,  re- 
turned home,  to  live  upon  the  capital  of 
Eiety  which  their  penitential  pilgrimage 
ad  gained  for  them  ;  but  others,  imitating 
the  example  of  the  defenders  of  the  sepul- 
chre, doffed  their  pilgrim's  garb  and  united 
themselves  with  the  knights  who  were 
contending  with  their  infidel  foes,  and  thus 
the  Pilgrim  Penitent,  having  by  force  of 
necessity  become  a  Pilgrim  Warrior,  ended 
his  warlike  pilgrimage  by  assuming  the 
vows  of  a  Knight  Templar. 

In  this  brief  synopsis,  the  modern  and 
Masonic  Knight  Templar  will  find  a 
rational  explanation  of  the  ceremonies  of 
that  degree. 

Pilgrim  Penitent.  A  term  in  the 
ritual  of  Masonic  Templarism.  It  refers  to 
the  pilgrimage,  made  as  a  penance  for  sin, 
to  thesepulchre  of  the  Lord ;  for  the  church 
promised  the  remission  of  sins  and  various 
spiritual  advantages  as  the  reward  of  the 
pious  and  faithful  pilgrim.    See  Pilgrim. 

Pilgrim's  Shell.    See  Scallop  Shell. 

Pilgrim's  Weeds.  The  costume  of 
a  pilgrim  was  thus  called.  It  may  be  de- 
scribed as  follows :  In  the  first  place,  he 
wore  a  sclavina,  or  long  gown,  made  of  the 
darkest  colors  and  the  coarsest  materials, 
bound  by  a  leathern  girdle,  as  an  emblem 
of  his  humility  and  an  evidence  of  his 
poverty ;  a  bourdon,  or  staff,  in  the  form  of 
a  long  walking  stick,  with  two  knobs  at  the 
top,  supported  his  weary  steps  ;  the  rosary 
and  cross,  suspended  from  his  neck,  denoted 
the  religious  character  he  had  assumed ;  a 
scrip,  or  bag,  held  his  scanty  supply  of  pro- 
visions ;  a  pair  of  sandals  on  his  feet,  and 
a  coarse  round  hat  turned  before,  in  the 
front  of  which  was  fastened  a  scallop  shell, 
completed  the  rude  toilet  of  the  pilgrim  of 


the  Middle  Ages.  Spenser's  description, 
in  the  Fairie  Queen,  (B.  I.,  c.  vi.,  st.  35,)  of  a 
pilgrim's  weeds,  does  not  much  differ  from 
this: 

"  A  silly  man  in  simple  weeds  foreworn, 

And  soiled  with  oust  of  the  long  dried  way; 
His  sandals  were  with  toilsome  travel  tome, 
And  face  all  tann'd  with  scorching  sunny 
ray; 
As  he  had  travell'd  many  a  summer's  day, 

Through  boiling  sands  of  Araby  and  Inde ; 
And  in  his  hand  a  Jacob's  staff  to  stay 
His  weary  limbs  upon ;  and  eke  behind 
His  scrip  did  hang,  in  which  his  needments 
he  did  bind." 

Pilgrim  Templar.  The  part  of  the 
pilgrim  represented  in  the  ritual  of  the 
Masonic  Knights  Templars'  degree  is  a 
symbolic  reference  to  the  career  of  the  pil- 
grim of  the  Middle  Ages  in  his  journey  to 
the  sepulchre  in  the  Holy  Land.  See  Pil- 
grim. 

Pilgrim  Warrior.  A  term  in  the 
ritual  of  Masonic  Templarism.  It  refers 
to  the  pilgrimage  of  the  knights  to  secure 
possession  of  the  holy  places.  This  was 
considered  a  pious  duty.  "  Whoever  goes 
to  Jerusalem,"  says  one  of  the  canons  of 
the  Council  of  Clermont,  "  for  the  libera- 
tion of  the  Church  of  God,  in  a  spirit  of 
devotion  only,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  glory 
or  of  gain,  that  journey  shall  be  esteemed 
a  substitute  for  every  kind  of  penance." 
The  difference  between  the  pilgrim  peni- 
tent and  the  pilgrim  warrior  was  this : 
that  the  former  bore  only  his  staff,  but  the 
latter  wielded  his  sword. 

Pilier.  The  title  given  to  each  of  the 
conventual  bailiffs  or  heads  of  the  eight 
languages  of  the  Order  of  Malta,  and  by 
which  they  were  designated  in  all  official 
records.  It  signifies  a  pillar  or  support  of 
an  edifice,  and  was  metaphorically  applied 
to  these  dignitaries  as  if  they  were  the 
supports  of  the  Order. 

Pillar.  In  the  earliest  times  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  perpetuate  remarkable  events,  or 
exhibit  gratitude  for  providential  favors, 
by  the  erection  of  pillars,  which  by  the 
idolatrous  races  were  dedicated  to  their 
spurious  gods.  Thus  Sanconiatho  tells  us 
that  Hypsourianos  and  Ousous,  who  lived 
before  the  flood,  dedicated  two  pillars  to 
the  elements  fire  and  air.  Among  the 
Egyptians  the  pillars  were,  in  general,  in 
the  form  of  obelisks  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred feet  high,  and  exceedingly  slender  in 
proportion.  Upon  their  four  sides  hiero- 
glyphics were  often  engraved.  According 
to  Herodotus,  they  were  first  raised  in 
honor  of  the  sun,  and  their  pointed  form 
was  intended  to  represent  his  rays.  Many 
of  these  monuments  still  remain. 

In  the  antediluvian  ages,  the  posterity  of 


PILLAR 


PILLARS 


583 


Seth  erected  pillars ;  "  for,"  says  the  Jewish 
historian,  "  that  their  inventions  might  not 
be  lost  before  they  were  sufficiently  known, 
upon  Adam's  prediction,  that  the  world 
was  to  be  destroyed  at  one  time  by  the  force 
of  fire,  and  at  another  time  by  the  violence 
of  water,  they  made  two  pillars,  the  one  of 
brick,  the  other  of  stone;  they  inscribed 
their  discoveries  on  them  both,  that  in  case 
the  pillar  of  brick  should  be  destroyed  by 
the  flood,  the  pillar  of  stone  might  remain, 
and  exhibit  those  discoveries  to  mankind, 
and  also  inform  them  that  there  was  another 
pillar  of  brick  erected  by  them."  Jacob 
erected  a  pillar  at  Bethel,  to  commemorate 
his  remarkable  vision  of  the  ladder,  and 
afterwards  another  one  at  Galeed  as  a  me- 
morial of  his  alliance  with  Laban.  Joshua 
erected  one  at  Gilgal  to  perpetuate  the  re- 
membrance of  his  miraculous  crossing  of 
the  Jordan.  Samuel  set  up  a  pillar  be- 
tween Mizpeh  and  Shen,  on  account  of  a 
defeat  of  the  Philistines,  and  Absalom 
erected  another  in  honor  of  himself. 

The  doctrine  of  gravitation  was  unknown 
to  the  people  of  the  primitive  ages,  and 
they  were  unable  to  refer  the  support  of 
the  earth  in  its  place  to  this  principle. 
Hence  they  looked  to  some  other  cause, 
and  none  appeared  to  their  simple  and  un- 
philosophic  minds  more  plausible  than  that 
it  was  sustained  by  pillars.  The  Old  Tes- 
tament abounds  with  reference  to  this  idea. 
Hannah,  in  her  song  of  thanksgiving,  ex- 
claims: "The  pillars  of  the  earth  are  the 
Lord's,  and  he  hath  set  the  world  .  upon 
them."  (1  Sam.  ii.  8.)  The  Psalmist  sig- 
nifles  the  same  doctrine  in  the  following 
text:  "The  earth  and  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof  are  dissolved;  I  bear  up  the 
pillars  of  it."  (Ps.  lxxv.  3.)  And  Job 
says :  "  He  shaketh  the  earth  out  of  her 
places,  and  the  pillars  thereof  tremble." 
(xxvi.  7.)  All  the  old  religions  taught  the 
same  doctrine;  and  hence  pillars  being  re- 
garded as  the  supporters  of  the  earth,  they 
were  adopted  as  the  symbol  of  strength  and 
firmness.  To  this,  Dudley  (Naology,  123,) 
attributes  the  origin  of  pillar  worship, 
which  prevailed  so  extensively  among  the 
idolatrous  nations  of  antiquity.  "  The  rev- 
erence," says  he,  "shown  to  columns,  as 
symbols  of  the  power  of  the  Deity,  was 
readily  converted  into  worship  paid  to 
them  as  idols  of  the  real  presence."  But 
here  I  think  he  has  fallen  into  a  mistake. 
The  double  pillars  or  columns,  acting  as 
an  architectural  support,  were,  it  is  true, 
symbols  derived  from  a  natural  cause  of 
strength  and  permanent  firmness.  But 
there  was  another  more  prevailing  sym- 
bology.  The  monolith,  or  circular  piilar, 
standing  alone,  was,  to  the  ancient  mind,  a 
representation  of  the  Phallus,  the  symbol 


of  the  creative  and  generative  energy  of 
Deity,  and  it  is  in  these  Phallic  pillars 
that  we  are  to  find  the  true  origin  of  pillar 
worship,  which  was  only  one  form  of 
Phallic  worship,  the  most  predominant  of 
all  the  cults  to  which  the  ancients  were 
addicted. 

Pillars  of  Cloud  and  Fire.  The 
pillar  of  cloud  that  went  before  the  Israel- 
ites by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  that  pre- 
ceded them  by  night,  in  their  journey 
through  the  wilderness,  are  supposed  to  be 
alluded  to  by  the  pillars  of  Jachin  and 
Boaz  at  the  porch  of  Solomon's  Temple. 
We  find  this  symbolism  at  a  very  early 
period  in  the  last  century,  having  been  in- 
corporated into  the  lecture  of  the  second 
degree,  where  it  still  remains.  "  The  pillar 
on  the  right  hand,"  says  Caleott.  (Cand. 
Disq.,  66,)  "represented  the  pillar  of  the 
cloud,  and  that  on  the  left  the  pillar  of  fire." 
If  this  symbolism  be  correct,  the  pillars 
of  the  porch,  like  those  of  the  wilderness, 
would  refer  to  the  superintending  and  pro- 
tecting power  of  Deity. 

Pillars  of  Enoch.  Two  pillars 
erected  by  Enoch,  for  the  preservation  of 
the  antediluvian  inventions,  and  which  are 
repeatedly  referred  to  in  the  "  Legend  of  the 
Craft,"  contained  in  the  Old  Constitutions, 
and  in  the  high  degrees  of  modern  times. 
See  Enoch. 

Pillars  of  the  Poreh.  The  pillars 
most  remarkable  in  Scripture  history  were 
the  two  erected  by  Solomon  at  the  porch  of 
the  Temple,  and  which  Josephus  (Antiq., 
lib.  i.,  cap.  ii.,)  thus  describes :  "Moreover, 
this  Hiram  made  two  hollow  pillars,  whose 
outsides  were  of  brass,  and  the  thickness 
of  the  brass  was  four  fingers'  breadth,  and 
the  height  of  the  pillars  was  eighteen 
cubits,  (27  feet,)  and  the  circumference 
twelve  cubits,  (18  feet;)  but  there  was  cast 
with  each  of  their  chapiters  lily-work,  that 
stood  upon  the  pillar,  and  it  was  elevated 
five  cubits,  (7£  feet,)  round  about  which 
there  was  net-work  interwoven  with  small 
palms  made  of  brass,  and  covered  the  lily- 
work.  To  this  also  were  hung  two  hundred 
pomegranates,  in  two  rows.  The  one  of 
these  pillars  he  set  at  the  entrance  of  the 
porch  on  the  right  hand,  (or  south,)  and 
called  it  Jachin,  and  the  other  at  the  left 
hand,  [or  north,)  and  called  it  Boaz." 

It  has  been  supposed  that  Solomon,  in 
erecting  these  pillars,  had  reference  to  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  the  pillar  of  fire  which 
went  before  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness, 
and  that  the  right  hand  or  south  pillar  rep- 
resented the  pillar  of  cloud,  and  the  left 
hand  or  north  pillar  represented  that  of 
fire.  Solomon  did  not  simply  erect  them 
as  ornaments  to  the  Temple,  but  as  me- 
morials of  God's  repeated  promises  of  sup- 


584 


PILLARS 


PILLARS 


port  to  his  people  of  Israel.  For  the  pillar 
yy  (Jachin),  derived  from  the  words  |"J* 
(Jah),  "  Jehovah,"  and  |\Dn  (achin),  "  to  es- 
tablish," signifies  that  "God  will  establish 
his  house  of  Israel ;  "  while  the  pillar  jy^ 
(Boaz),  compounded  of  *J  (b),  "in"  and 
ty  {oaz),  "strength,"  signifies  that  "in 
strength  shall  it  be  established."  And  thus 
were  the  Jews,  in  passing  through  the 
porch  to  the  Temple,  daily  reminded  of 
the  abundant  promises  of  God,  and  in- 
spired with  confidence  in  his  protection 
and  gratitude  for  his  many  acts  of  kind- 
ness to  his  chosen  people. 

The  construction  of  these  pillars. — There 
is  no  part  of  the  architecture  of  the  ancient 
Temple  which  is  so  difficult  to  be  under- 
stood in  its  details  as  the  scriptural  ac- 
count of  these  memorable  pillars.  Free- 
masons, in  general,  intimately  as  their 
symbolical  signification  is  connected  with 
some  of  the  most  beautiful  portions  of  their 
ritual,  appear  to  have  but  a  confused  no- 
tion of  their  construction  and  of  the  true 
disposition  of  the  various  parts  of  which 
they  are  composed.  Mr.  Ferguson  says 
{Smith,  Diet.  Bib.,)  that  there  are  no  fea- 
tures connected  with  the  Temple  which 
have  given  rise  to  so  much  controversy,  or 
been  so  difficult  to  explain,  as  the  form  of 
these  two  pillars. 

Their  situation,  according  to  Lightfoot, 
was  within  the  porch,  at  its  very  entrance, 
and  on  each  side  of  the  gate.  They  were 
therefore  seen,  one  on  the  right  and  the 
other  on  the  left,  as  soon  as  the  visitor 
stepped  within  the  porch.  And  this,  it 
will  be  remembered,  in  confirmation,  is  the 
very  spot  in  which  Ezekiel  (xi.  49,)  places 
the  pillars  that  he  saw  in  his  vision  of  the 
Temple.  "  The  length  of  the  porch  was 
twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  eleven  cubits ; 
and  he  brought  me  by  the  steps  whereby 
they  went  up  to  it,  and  there  were  pillars 
by  the  posts,  one  on  this  side,  and  another 
on  that  side."  The  assertion  made  by 
some  writers,  that  they  were  not  columns 
intended  to  support  the  roof,  but  simply 
obelisks  for  ornament,  is  not  sustained  by 
sufficient  authority ;  and  as  Ferguson  very 
justly  says,  not  only  would  the  high  roof 
look  painfully  weak,  but  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  construct  it,  with  the 
imperfect  science  of  those  days,  without 
some  such  Support. 

These  pillars,  we  are  told,  were  of  brass, 
as  well  as  the  chapiters  that  surmounted 
them,  and  were  cast  hollow.  The  thickness 
of  the  brass  of  each  pillar  was  "  four  fingers, 
or  a  hand's  breadth,"  which  is  equal  to 
three  inches.  According  to  the  accounts 
in  1  Kings  viii.  15,  and  in  Jeremiah  lii.  21, 
the  circumference  of  each  pillar  was  twelve 
cubits.     Now,  according   to   the   Jewish 


computation,  the  cubit  used  in  the  meas- 
urement of  the  Temple  buildings  was  six 
hands'  breadth,  or  eighteen  inches.  Accord- 
ing to  the  tables  of  Bishop  Cumberland, 
the  cubit  was  rather  more,  he  making  it 
about  twenty-two  inches  ;  but  I  adhere  to 
the  measure  laid  down  by  the  Jewish  wri- 
ters as  probably  more  correct,  and  certain- 
ly more  simple  for  calculation.  The  cir- 
cumference of  each  pillar,  reduced  by  this 
scale  to  English  measure,  would  be  eighteen 
feet,  and  its  diameter  about  six. 

The  reader  of  the  scriptural  accounts  of 
these  pillars  will  be  not  a  little  puzzled 
with  the  apparent  discrepancies  that  are 
found  in  the  estimates  of  their  height  as 
given  in  the  Books  of  Kings  and  Chron- 
icles. In  the  former  book,  it  is  said  that 
their  height  was  eighteen  cubits,  and  in 
the  latter  it  was  thirty-five,  which  latter 
height  Whiston  observes  would  be  contrary 
to  all  the  rules  of  architecture.  But  the 
discrepancy  is  easily  reconciled  by  suppos- 
ing— which,  indeed,  must  have  been  the 
case — that  in  the  Book  of  Kings  the  pillars 
are  spoken  of  separately,  and  that  in 
Chronicles  their  aggregate  height  is  cal- 
culated ;  and  the  reason  why,  in  this  latter 
book,  their  united  height  is  placed  at  thirty- 
five  cubits  instead  of  thirty-six,  which 
would  be  the  double  of  eighteen,  is  because 
they  are  there  measured  as  they  appeared 
with  the  chapiters  upon  them.  Now  half 
a  cubit  of  each  pillar  was  concealed  in 
what  Lightfoot  calls  "the  whole  of  the 
chapiter,"  that  is,  half  a  cubit's  depth  of 
the  lower  edge  of  the  chapiter  covered  the 
top  of  the  pillar,  making  each  pillar,  ap- 
parently, only  seventeen  and  a  half  cubits' 
high,  or  the  two  thirty-five  cubits  as  laid 
down  in  the  Book  of  Chronicles. 

This  is  a  much  better  method  of  recon- 
ciling the  discrepancy  than  that  adopted 
by  Calcott,  who  supposes  that  the  pedestals 
of  the  pillars  were  seventeen  cubits  high — 
a  violation  of  every  rule  of  architectural 
proportion  with  which  we  would  be  reluc- 
tant to  charge  the  memory  of  so  "cunning 
a  workman  "  as  Hiram  the  Builder.  The 
account  in  Jeremiah  agrees  with  that  in  the 
Book  of  Kings.  The  height,  therefore,  of 
each  of  these  pillars  was,  in  English  meas- 
ure, twenty-seven  feet.  The  chapiter  or 
pomel  was  five  cubits,  or  seven  and  a  half 
feet  more ;  but  as  half  a  cubit,  or  nine 
inches,  was  common  to  both  pillar  and 
chapiter,  the  whole  height  from  the  ground 
to  the  top  of  the  chapiter  was  twenty-two 
cubits  and  a  half,  or  thirty-three  feet  and 
nine  inches. 

Mr.  Ferguson  has  come  to  a  different 
conclusion.  He  says  in  the  article  Temple, 
in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  that "  ac- 
cording to  1  Kings  vii.  15,  the  pillars  were 


PILLARS 


PILLARS 


585 


eighteen  cubits  high  and  twelve  in  circum- 
ference, with  capitals  five  cubits  in  height. 
Above  this  was  (ver.  19)  another  member, 
called  also  chapiter  of  lily-work,  four  cubits 
in  height,  but  which,  from  the  second  men- 
tion of  it  in  ver.  22,  seems  more  probably 
to  have  been  an  entablature,  which  is  ne- 
cessary to  complete  the  order.  As  these 
members  make  out  twenty-seven  cubits, 
leaving  three  cubits,  or  4J  feet,  for  the  slope 
of  the  roof,  the  whole  design  seems  reason- 
able and  proper."  He  calculates,  of  course, 
on  the  authority  of  the  Book  of  Kings, 
that  the  height  of  the  roof  of  the  porch 
was  thirty  cubits,  and  assumes  that  these 
pillars  were  columns  by  which  it  was  sup- 

{>orted,  and  connected  with  it  by  an  entab- 
ature. 

Each  of  these  pillars  was  surmounted  by 
a  chapiter,  which  was  five  cubits,  or  seven 
and  a  half  feet  in  height.  The  shape  and 
construction  of  this  chapiter  require  some 
consideration.  The  Hebrew  word  which 
is  used  in  this  place  is  niHIDi  (koteret.) 
Its  root  is  to  be  found  in  the  word  "irO> 
(keter,)  which  signified  M  a  crown,"  and  is 
so  used  in  Esther  vi.  8,  to  designate  the 
royal  diadem  of  the  king  of  Persia.  The 
Chaldaic  version  expressly  calls  the  chapi- 
ter "  a  crown  ;"  but  Rabbi  Solomon,  in  his 
commentary,  uses  the  word  S'Dlfl,  {pomel,) 
signifying  "a  globe  or  spherical  body," 
and  Rabbi  Gershom  describes  it  as  "like 
two  crowns  joined  together."  Lightfoot 
says,  "it  was  a  huge,  great  oval,  five  cubits 
high,  and  did  not  only  sit  upon  the  head 
of  the  pillars,  but  also  flowered  or  spread 
them,  being  larger  about,  a  great  deal,  than 
the  pillars  themselves."  The  Jewish  com- 
mentators say  that  the  two  lower  cubits  of 
its  surface  were  entirely  plain,  but  that 
the  three  upper  were  richly  ornamented. 
To  this  ornamental  part  we  now  come. 

In  the  First  Book  of  Kings,  ch.  vii.,  verses 
17,  20,  22,  the  ornaments  of  the  chapiters 
are  thus  described : 

"  And  nets  of  checker- work  and  wreaths 
of  chain-work,  for  the  chapiters  which 
were  upon  the  tops  of  the  pillars ;  seven 
for  the  one  chapiter,  and  seven  for  the 
other  chapiter. 

"And  he  made  the  pillars,  and  two  rows 
round  about  upon  the  one  net-work,  to 
cover  the  chapiters  that  were  upon  the  top, 
with  pomegranates ;  and  so  did  he  for  the 
other  chapiter. 

"  And  the  chapiters  that  were  upon  the 
top  of  the  pillars  were  of  lily-work  in  the 
porch,  four  cubits. 

"And  the  chapiters  upon  the  two  pillars 
had  pomegranates  also  above,  over  against 
the  belly,  which  was  by  the  net-work ;  and 
the  pomegranates  were  two  hundred  in 
rows,  round  about  upon  the  other  chapiter. 
3Y 


"  And  upon  the  top  of  the  pillars  was 
lily-work ;  so  was  the  work  of  the  pillars 
finished." 

Let  us  endeavor  to  render  this  descrip- 
tion, which  appears  somewhat  confused 
and  unintelligible,  plainer  and  more  com- 
prehensible. 

The  "  nets  of  checker-work"  is  the  first 
ornament  mentioned.  The  words  thus 
translated  are  in  the  original  DODtT 
PODC  HC^E*  which  Lightfoot  prefers 
rendering  "  thickets  of  branch  work ; "  and 
he  thinks  that  the  true  meaning  of  the 
passage  is,  that  "  the  chapiters  were  curi- 
ously wrought  with  branch  work,  seven 
goodly  branches  standing  up  from  the 
belly  of  the  oval,  and  their  boughs  and 
leaves  curiously  and  lovelily  intermingled 
and  interwoven  one  with  another."  He 
derives  his  reason  for  this  version  from 
the  fact  that  the  same  word,  rODK'j  *3 
translated,  "thicket"  in  the  passage  in 
Genesis  (xxii.  13,)  where  the  ram  is  de- 
scribed as  being  "  caught  in  a  thicket  by 
his  horns ;"  and  in  various  other  passages 
the  word  is  to  be  similarly  translated. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  it  used  in 
the  Book  of  Job,  where  it  evidently  signi- 
fies a  net  made  of  meshes:  " For  he  is  cast 
into  a  net  by  his  own  feet  and  he  walketh 
upon  a  snare."  (Job  xvii.  8.)  In  2  Kings 
i.  2,  the  same  word  is  used,  where  our 
translators  have  rendered  it  a  lattice; 
"  Ahaziah  fell  down  through  a  lattice  in 
his  upper  chamber."  I  am,  therefore,  not 
inclined  to  adopt  the  emendation  of  Light- 
foot, but  rather  coincide  with  the  received 
version,  as  well  as  the  Masonic  tradition, 
that  this  ornament  was  a  simple  net-work 
or  fabric  consisting  of  reticulated  lines  — 
in  other  words,  a  lattice-work. 

The  "  wreaths  of  chain-work "  that  are 
next  spoken  of  are  less  difficult  to  be 
understood.  The  word  here  translated 
"  wreath  "  is  O'VlJ,  and  is  to  be  found  in 
Deuteronomy  xxii.  12,  where  it  distinctly 
means  fringes  :  "  Thou  shalt  make  thee 
fringes  upon  the  four  quarters  of  thy  ves- 
ture." Fringes  it  should  also  be  translated 
here.  "  The  fringes  of  chain-work,"  I  sup- 
pose, were  therefore  attached  to,  and  hung 
down  from,  the  net-work  spoken  of  above, 
and  were  probably  in  this  case,  as  when 
used  upon  the  garments  of  the  Jewish  high 
priest,  intended  as  a  "memorial  of  the 
law." 

The  "lily-work"  is  the  last  ornament 
that  demands  our  attention.  And  here  the 
description  of  Lightfoot  is  so  clear  and  evi- 
dently correct,  that  I  shall  not  hesitate  to 
quote  it  at  length.  "  At  the  head  of  the 
pillar,  even  at  the  setting  on  of  the  chapi- 
ter, there  was  a  curious  and  a  large  border 
or  circle  of  lily-work,  which  stood  out  four 


586 


PILLARS 


PILLARS 


cubits  under  the  chapiter,  and  then  turned 
down,  every  lily  or  long  tongue  of  brass, 
with  a  neat  bending,  and  so  seemed  as  a 
flowered  crown  to  the  head  of  the  pillar, 
and  as  a  curious  garland  whereon  the 
chapiter  had  its  seat." 

There  is  a  very  common  error  among 
Masons,  which  has  been  fostered  by  the 
plates  in  our  Monitors,  that  there  were 
on  the  pillars  chapiters,  and  that  these 
chapiters  were  again  surmounted  by  globes. 
The  truth,  however,  is  that  the  chapiters 
themselves  were  "  the  pomels  or  globes," 
to  which  our  lecture,  in  the  Fellow  Craft's 
degree,  alludes.  This  is  evident  from  what 
has  already  been  said  in  the  first  part  of 
the  preceding  description.  The  lily  here 
spoken  of  is  not  at  all  related,  as  might  be 
supposed,  to  the  common  lily — that  one 
spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament.  It  was 
a  species  of  the  lotus,  the  Nymphsea  lotos, 
or  lotus  of  the  Nile.  This  was  among  the 
Egyptians  a  sacred  plant,  found  every- 
where on  their  monuments,  and  used  in 
their  architectural  decorations.  It  is  evi- 
dent, from  their  description  in  Kings,  that 
the  pillars  of  the  porch  of  King  Solomon's 
Temple  were  copied  from  the  pillars  of  the 
Egyptian  temples.  The  maps  of  the  earth 
and  the  charts  of  the  celestial  constella- 
tions which  are  sometimes  said  to  have 
been  engraved  upon  these  globes,  must  be 
referred  to  the  pillars,  where,  according  to 
Oliver,  a  Masonic  tradition  places  them  — 
an  ancient  custom,  instances  of  which  we 
find  in  profane  history.  This  is,  however, 
by  no  means  of  any  importance,  as  the 
symbolic  allusion  is  perfectly  well  pre- 
served in  the  shapes  of  the  chapiters,  with- 
out the  necessity  of  any  such  geographical 
or  astronomical  engraving  upon  them. 
For  being  globular,  or  nearly  so,  they  may 
be  justly  said  to  have  represented  the  celes- 
tial and  terrestrial  spheres. 

The  true  description,  then,  of  these 
memorable  pillars,  is  simply  this.  Imme- 
diately within  the  porch  of  the  Temple, 
and  on  each  side  of  the  door,  were  placed 
two  hollow  brazen  pillars.  The  height  of 
each  was  twenty-seven  feet,  the  diameter 
about  six  feet,  and  the  thickness  of  the 
brass  three  inches.  Above  the  pillar,  and 
covering  its  upper  part  to  the  depth  of 
nine  inches,  was  an  oval  body  or  chapiter 
seven  feet  and  a  half  in  height.  Springing 
out  from  the  pillar,  at  the  junction  of  the 
chapiter  with  it,  was  a  row  of  lotus  petals, 
which,  first  spreading  around  the  chapiter, 
afterwards  gently  curved  downwards  to- 
wards the  pillar,  something  like  the  Acan- 
thus leaves  on  the  capital  of  a  Corinthian 
column.  About  two-fifths  of  the  distance 
from  the  bottom  of  the  chapiter,  or  just 
below  its  most  bulging  part,  a  tissue  of 


net-work  was  carved,  which  extended  over 
its  whole  upper  surface.  To  the  bottom  of 
this  net-work  was  suspended  a  series  of 
fringes,  and  on  these  again  were  carved  two 
rows  of  pomegranates,  one  hundred  being 
in  each  row. 

This  description,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the 
only  one  that  can  be  reconciled  with  the 
various  passages  in  the  Books  of  Kings, 
Chronicles,  and  Josephus,  which  relate  to 
these  pillars,  and  the  only  one  that  can 
give  the  Masonic  student  a  correct  concep- 
tion of  the  architecture  of  these  important 
symbols. 

And  now  as  to  the  Masonic  symbolism 
of  these  two  pillars.  As  symbols  they 
have  been  very  universally  diffused  and  are 
to  be  found  in  all  rites.  Nor  are  they  of  a 
very  recent  date,  for  they  are  depicted  on 
the  earliest  tracing-boards,  and  are  alluded 
to  in  the  catechisms  before  the  middle  of 
the  last  century.  Nor  is  this  surprising; 
for  as  the  symbolism  of  Freemasonry  is 
founded  on  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  it  was 
to  be  expected  that  these  important  parts 
of  the  Temple  would  be  naturally  included 
in  the  system.  But  at  first  the  pillars  ap- 
pear to  have  been  introduced  into  the  lec- 
tures rather  as  parts  of  a  historical  detail 
than  as  significant  symbols  —  an  idea  which 
seems  gradually  to  have  grown  up.  The 
catechism  of  1731  describes  their  name, 
their  size,  and  their  material,  but  says 
nothing  of  their  symbolic  import.  Yet 
this  had  been  alluded  to  in  the  scriptural 
account  of  them,  which  says  that  the  names 
bestowed  upon  them  were  significant. 

What  was  the  original  or  scriptural  sym- 
bolism of  the  pillars  has  been  very  well  ex- 
plained by  Dudley,  in  his  Naology.  He 
says,  (p.  121,)  that  "  the  pillars  represented 
the  sustaining  power  of  the  great  God. 
The  flower  of  the  lotus  or  water-lily  rises 
from  a  root  growing  at  the  bottom  of  the 
water,  and  maintains  its  position  on  the 
surface  by  its  columnar  stalk,  which  be- 
comes more  or  less  straight  as  occasion  re- 
quires ;  it  is  therefore  aptly  symbolical  of 
the  power  of  the  Almighty  constantly  em- 
ployed to  secure  the  safety  of  all  the  world. 
The  chapiter  is  the  body  or  mass  of  the 
earth ;  the  pomegranates,  fruits  remark- 
able for  the  number  of  their  seeds,  are 
symbols  of  fertility;  the  wreaths,  drawn 
variously  over  the  surface  of  the  chapiter 
or  globe,  indicate  the  courses  of  the  heav- 
enly bodies  in  the  heavens  around  the 
earth,  and  the  variety  of  the  seasons.  The 
pillars  were  properly  placed  in  the  porch 
or  portico  of  the  Temple,  for  they  suggested 
just  ideas  of  the  power  of  the  Almighty,  of 
the  entire  dependence  of  man  upon  him, 
the  Creator ;  and  doing  this,  they  exhorted 
all  to  fear,  to  love,  and  obey  him." 


PINCEAU 


PLOT 


587 


It  was,  however,  Hutchinson  who  first 
introduced  the  symbolic  idea  of  the  pillars 
into  the  Masonic  system.  He  says :  "  The 
pillars  erected  at  the  porch  of  the  Temple 
were  not  only  ornamental,  but  also  carried 
with  them  an  emblematical  import  in  their 
names :  Boaz  being,  in  its  literal  translation, 
in  thee  is  strength  ;  and  Jachin,  it  shall  be  es- 
tablished, which,  by  a  very  natural  transpo- 
sition, may  be  put  thus :  O  Lord,  thou  art 
mighty,  and  thy  power  is  established  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting." 

Preston  subsequently  introduced  the 
symbolism,  considerably  enlarged,  into  his 
system  of  lectures.  He  adopted  the  refer- 
ence to  the  pillars  of  fire  and  cloud,  which 
is  still  retained. 

The  Masonic  symbolism  of  the  two  pil- 
lars may  be  considered,  without  going  into 
minute  details,  as  being  twofold.  First, 
in  reference  to  the  names  of  the  pillars, 
they  are  symbols  of  the  strength  and  sta- 
bility of  the  Institution  ;  and  then  in  refer- 
ence to  the  ancient  pillars  of  fire  and  cloud, 
they  are  symbolic  of  our  dependence  on  the 
superintending  guidance  of  the  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe,  by  which  alone 
that  strength  and  stability  are  secured. 

Pinceau.  French,  a  pencil/  but  in 
the  technical  language  of  French  Masonry 
it  is  a  pen.  Hence,  in  the  minutes  of 
French  Lodges,  tenir  le  pinceau  means  to  act 
as  Secretary. 

Pine  Cone.  The  tops  or  points  of  the 
rods  of  deacons  are  often  surmounted  by  a 
pine  cone  or  pineapple.  This  is  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Thyrsus,  or  sacred  staff  of  Bac- 
chus, which  was  a  lance  or  rod  enveloped 
in  leaves  of  ivy,  and  having  on  the  top 
a  cone  or  apple  of  the  pine.  To  it  sur- 
prising virtues  were  attributed,  and  it  was 
introduced  into  the  Dionysiac  mysteries  as 
a  sacred  symbol. 

Pirlet.  The  name  of  a  tailor  of  Paris, 
who,  in  1762,  organized  a  body  called 
"  Council  of  Knights  of  the  East,"  in  op- 
position to  the  Council  of  Emperors  of  the 
East  and  West. 

Pins  VII.  On  the  13th  August,  1814, 
Pope  Pius  VII.  issued  an  edict  forbidding 
the  meetings  of  all  secret  societies,  and  es- 
pecially the  Freemasons  and  Carbonari, 
under  heavy  corporal  penalties,  to  which 
were  to  be  added,  according  to  the  malig- 
nity of  the  cases,  partial  or  entire  confisca- 
tion of  goods,  or  a  pecuniary  fine.  The 
edict  also  renewed  the  bull  of  Clement  XII., 
by  which  the  punishment  of  death  was 
incurred  by  those  who  obstinately  per- 
sisted in  attending  the  meetings  of  Free- 
masons. 

Place.  In  strict  Masonic  ritualism 
the  positions  occupied  by  the  Master  and 
Wardens  are  called  stations ;  those  of  the 


other  officers,  places.  This  distinction  is 
not  observed  in  the  higher  degrees.  See 
Stations. 

Planche  Tracee.  The  name  by 
which  the  minutes  are  designated  in  French 
Lodges.  Literally,  planche  is  a  board,  and 
tracee,  delineated.  The  planche  tracee  is 
therefore  the  board  on  which  the  plans  of 
the  Lodge  have  been  delineated. 

Plans  and  Designs.  The  plans 
and  designs  on  the  Trestle-Board  of  the 
Master,  by  which  the  building  is  erected, 
are,  in  Speculative  Masonry,  symbolically 
referred  to  the  moral  plans  and  designs  of 
life  by  which  we  are  to  construct  our  spirit- 
ual temple,  and  in  the  direction  of  which 
we  are  to  be  instructed  by  some  recognized 
Divine  authority.    See  Trestle-Board. 

Platonic  Academy.  See  Academy, 
Platonic. 

Plenty.  The  ear  of  corn,  or  sheaf  of 
wheat,  is,  in  the  Masonic  system,  the  sym- 
bol of  plenty.  In  ancient  iconography, 
the  goddess  Plenty  was  represented  by  a 
young  nymph  crowned  with  flowers,  and 
holding  in  the  right  hand  the  horn  of 
Amalthea,  the  goat  that  suckled  Jupiter, 
and  in  her  left  a  bundle  of  sheaves  of 
wheat,  from  which  the  ripe  grain  is  falling 
profusely  to  the  ground.  There  have  been 
some  differences  in  the  representation  of 
the  goddess  on  various  medals;  but,  as 
Montfaucon  shows,  the  ears  of  corn  are  an 
indispensable  part  of  the  symbolism.  See 
Shibboleth. 

Plot  Manuscript.  Dr.  Plot,  in  his 
History  of  Staffordshire,  speaks  of  "  a  scrole 
or  parchment  volume,"  in  the  possession 
of  the  Masons  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
in  which  it  is  stated  that  the  "  charges  and 
manners  were  after  perused  and  approved 
by  King  Henry  VI."  Dr.  Oliver  {Golden 
Remains,  iii.  35,)  thinks  that  Plot  here  re- 
ferred to  what  is  known  as  the  Leland  MS., 
which,  if  true,  would  be  a  proof  of  the  au- 
thenticity of  that  document.  But  Oliver 
gives  no  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  his 
assumption.  It  is  more  probable  that  the 
manuscript  which  Dr.  Plot  loosely  quotes 
has  not  yet  been  recovered. 

Plot.  M.D.,  Robert.  Born  in  1651, 
and  died  in  1696.  He  was  a  Professor  of 
Chemistry  at  Oxford,  and  Keeper  of  the 
Ashmolean  Museum,  to  which  position  he 
had  been  appointed  by  Elias  Ashmole,  to 
whom,  however,  he  showed  but  little  grat- 
itude. Dr.  Plot  published,  in  1686,  The 
Natural  History  of  Staffordshire,  a  work 
in  which  he  went  out  of  his  way  to  attack 
the  Masonic  institution.  An  able  defence 
against  this  attack  will  be  found  in  the 
third  volume  of  Oliver's  Golden  Remains 
of  the  Early  Masonic  Writers.  The  work 
of  Dr.  Plot  is  both  interesting  and  valu- 


588 


PLOT 


PLUMB 


able  to  the  Masonic  student,  as  it  exhibits 
the  condition  of  Freemasonry  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  certainly, 
if  not  at  a  somewhat  earlier  period,  and 
is  an  anticipated  answer  to  the  assertions 
of  the  iconoclasts  who  would  give  Freema- 
sonry its  birth  in  1717.  For  this  purpose, 
I  insert  so  much  of  his  account  as  refers  to 
the  customs  of  the  society  in  1686. 

"  They  have  a  custom  in  Staffordshire, 
of  admitting  men  into  the  Society  of  Free- 
masons, that  in  the  Morelands  of  this 
country  seems  to  be  of  greater  request 
than  anywhere  else,  though  I  find  that  the 
custom  spread  more  or  less  all  over  the 
nation ;  for  here  I  found  persons  of  the 
most  eminent  quality  that  did  not  disdain 
to  be  of  this  fellowship ;  nor,  indeed,  need 
they,  were  it  of  that  antiquity  and  honor, 
that  is  pretended  in  a  large  parchment 
volume  they  have  amongst  them,  contain- 
ing the  history  and  rules  of  the  Craft  of 
Masonry,  which  is  there  deduced  not  only 
from  sacred  writ,  but  profane  story ;  par- 
ticularly that  it  was  brought  into  England 
by  St.  Amphibalus,  and  first  communi- 
cated to  St.  Alban,  who  set  down  the 
charges  of  Masonry,  and  was  made  pay- 
master and  governor  of  the  king's  works, 
and  gave  them  charges  and  manners  as  St. 
Amphibalus  had  taught  him,  which  were 
after  confirmed  by  King  Athelstan,  whose 
youngest  son  Edwyn  loved  well  Masonry, 
took  upon  him  the  charges,  and  learned  the 
manners,  and  obtained  for  them  of  his 
father  a  free  charter.  Whereupon  he 
caused  them  to  assemble  at  York,  and  to 
bring  all  the  old  books  of  their  Craft,  and 
out  of  them  ordained  such  charges  and 
manners  as  they  then  thought  fit ;  which 
charges  in  the  said  scrole,  or  parchment 
volume,  are  in  part  declared  ;  and  thus  was 
the  Craft  of  Masonry  grounded  and  con- 
firmed in  England.  It  is  also  there  de- 
clared that  these  charges  and  manners 
were  after  perused  and  approved  by  King 
Henry  VI.  and  his  council,  both  as  to 
Masters  and  fellows  of  this  Right  Wor- 
shipful Craft. 

"Into  which  Society,  when  they  are  ad- 
mitted, they  call  a  meeting  (or  Lodge,  as 
they  term  it  in  some  places),  which  must 
consist  at  least  of  five  or  six  of  the  ancients 
of  the  Order,  whom  the  candidates  present 
with  gloves,  and  so  likewise  to  their  wives, 
and  entertain  with  a  collation,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  place :  this  ended,  they 
proceed  to  the  admission  of  them,  which 
chiefly  consists  in  the  communication  of 
certain  secret  signs,  whereby  they  are 
known  to  one  another  all  over  the  nation, 
by  which  means  they  have  maintenance 
whither  ever  they  travel,  for  if  any  man 
appear,  though  altogether  unknown,  that 


can  show  any  of  these  signs  to  a  fellow  of 
the  Society,  whom  they  otherwise  call  an 
Accepted  Mason,  he  is  obliged  presently  to 
come  to  him,  from  what  company  or  place 
soever  he  be  in  ;  nay,  though  from  the  top 
of  a  steeple,  what  hazard  or  inconvenience 
soever  he  run,  to  know  his  pleasure  and 
assist  him ;  viz.,  if  he  want  work,  he  is 
bound  to  find  him  some ;  or  if  he  cannot 
do  that,  to  give  him  money,  or  otherwise 
support  him  till  work  can  be  had,  which  is 
one  of  their  articles ;  and  it  is  another,  that 
they  advise  the  masters  they  work  for  ac- 
cording to  the  best  of  their  skill,  acquaint- 
ing them  with  the  goodness  or  badness  of 
their  materials,  and  if  they  be  any  way 
out  in  the  contrivance  of  the  buildings, 
modestly  rectify  them  in  it,  that  Masonry 
be  not  dishonored;  and  many  such  like 
that  are  commonly  known ;  but  some  others 
they  have  (to  which  they  are  sworn  after 
their  fashion)  that  none  know  but  them- 
selves." (Nat.  Hist,  of  Staffordshire,  ch.  viii., 
p.  316.) 

Plumb.  An  instrument  used  by  Oper- 
ative Masons  to  erect  perpendicular  lines, 
and  adopted  in  Speculative  Masonry  as 
one  of  the  working-tools  of  a  Fellow  Craft. 
It  is  a  symbol  of  rectitude  of  conduct,  and 
inculcates  that  integrity  of  life  and  unde- 
viating  course  of  moral  uprightness  which 
can  alone  distinguish  the  good  and  just 
man.  As  the  operative  workman  erects  his 
temporal  building  with  strict  observance 
of  that  plumb-line,  which  will  not  permit 
him  to  deviate  a  hair's  breadth  to  the  right 
or  to  the  left,  so  the  speculative  Mason, 
guided  by  the  unerring  principles  of  right 
and  truth  inculcated  in  the  symbolic  teach- 
ings of  the  same  implement,  is  steadfast  in 
the  pursuit  of  truth,  neither  bending  be- 
neath the  frowns  of  adversity  nor  yielding 
to  the  seductions  of  prosperity. 

To  the  man  thus  just  and  upright,  the 
Scriptures  attribute,  as  necessary  parts  of 
his  character,  kindness  and  liberality,  tem- 
perance and  moderation, truth  and  wisdom; 
and  the  Pagan  poet  Horace  (lib.  iii.,  od.  3,) 
pays,  in  one  of  his  most  admired  odes,  an 
eloquent  tribute  to  the  stern  immutability 
of  the  man  who  is  upright  and  tenacious 
of  purpose. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that,  in  most  lan- 
guages, the  word  which  is  used  in  a  direct 
sense  to  indicate  straightness  of  course  or 
perpendicularity  of  position,  is  also  em- 
ployed in  a  figurative  sense  to  express  up- 
rightness of  conduct.  Such  are  the  Latin 
"rectum,"  which  signifies  at  the  same  time 
a  right  line  and  honesty  or  integrity;  the 
Greek  bp-96<; ,  which  means  straight,  standing 
upright,  and  also  equitable,  just,  true ;  and 
the  Hebrew  tscdek,  which  in  a  physical 
sense  denotes  Tightness,  straightness,  and  in 


PLUMB-LINE 


POINTS 


589 


a  moral,  what  is  right  and  just.  Our  own 
word  RIGHT  partakes  of  this  peculiar- 
ity, right  being  not  wrong,  as  well  as  not 
crooked. 

As  to  the  name,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
plumb  is  the  word  used  in  Speculative 
Masonry.  Webster  says  that  as  a  noun 
the  word  is  seldom  used  except  in  compo- 
sition. Its  constant  use,  therefore,  in  Ma- 
sonry, is  a  peculiarity. 

Plumb-Line.  A  line  to  which  a 
piece  of  lead  is  attached  so  as  to  make 
it  hang  perpendicularly.  The  plumb-line, 
sometimes  called  simply  the  line,  is  one  of 
the  working-tools  of  the  Past  Mas- 
ter. According  to  Preston,  it  was 
one  of  the  instruments  of  Masonry 
which  was  presented  to  the  Master 
of  a  Lodge  at  his  installation,  and 
he  defines  its  symbolism  as  follows: 
"  The  line  teaches  the  criterion  of 
rectitude,  to  avoid  dissimulation  in 
conversation  and  action,  and  to  di- 
rect our  steps  in  the  path  which 
leads  to  immortality."  This  idea 
of  the  immortal  life  was  always 
connected  in  symbology  with  that  of  the 
perpendicular  —  something  that  rose  di- 
rectly upwards.  Thus  in  the  primitive 
church,  the  worshipping  Christians  stood  up 
at  prayer  on  Sunday,  as  a  reference  to  the 
Lord's  resurrection  on  that  day.  This  sym- 
bolism is  not,  however,  preserved  in  the 
verse  of  the  prophet  Amos,  (vii.  7,)  which 
is  read  in  this  country  as  the  Scripture 
passage  of  the  second  degree,  where  it 
seems  rather  to  refer  to  the  strict  justice 
which  God  will  apply  to  the  people  of  Is- 
rael. It  there  coincides  with  the  first 
Masonic  definition  that  the  line 
teaches  the  criterion  of  moral  recti- 
tude. 

Plumb-Rule.  A  narrow  board, 
having  a  plumb-line  suspended  from 
its  top  and  a  perpendicular  mark 
through  its  middle.  It  is  one  of  the  || 
working-tools  of  a  Fellow  Craft,  but 
in  Masonic  language  is  called  the 
Plumb,  which  see. 

Plurality  of  Totes.     See  Majority. 

Poetry  of  Masonry.  Although 
Freemasonry  has  been  distinguished  more 
than  any  other  single  institution  for  the 
number  of  verses  to  which  it  has  given 
birth,  it  has  not  produced  any  poetry  of  a 
very  high  order,  except  a  few  lyrical  effu- 
sions. Rhyme,  although  not  always  of 
transcendent  merit,  has  been  a  favorite 
form  of  conveying  its  instructions.  The 
oldest  of  the  Constitutions,  that  known 
as  the  Halliwell  MS.,  is  written  in  verse ; 
and  almost  all  the  early  catechisms  of  the 
degrees  were  in  the  form  of  rhyme,  which, 
although  often  doggerel  in  character,  served 


as  a  convenient  method  of  assisting  the 
memory.  But  the  imagination,  which  might 
have  been  occupied  in  the  higher  walks  of 
poetry,  seems  in  Freemasonry  to  have  been 
expended  in  the  construction  of  its  sym- 
bolism, which  may,  however,  be  considered 
often  as  the  results  of  true  poetic  genius. 
There  are,  besides  the  songs,  of  which  the 
number  in  all  languages  is  very  great,  an 
abundance  of  prologues  and  epilogues, 
of  odes  and  anthems,  some  of  which  are  not 
discreditable  to  their  authors  or  to  the  In- 
stitution. But  I  know  of  very  few  poems 
on  Masonic  subjects  of  any  length.  The 
French  have  indulged  more  than  any  other 
nation  in  this  sort  of  composition,  and  the 
earliest  Masonic  poem  with  which  I  am  ac- 
quainted is  one  published  at  Frankfort, 
1756,  with  the  title  of  Noblesse  des  Franc- 
Macons  ou  Institution  de  leur  Soeiete  avant  le 
deluge  universel  et  de  son  renouvellement  apres 
le  Deluge. 

It  was  printed  anonymously,  but  the  au- 
thorship of  it  is  attributed  to  M.  Jartigue. 
It  is  a  transfer  to  verse  of  all  the  Masonic 
myths  contained  in  the  "  Legend  of  the 
Craft"  and  the  traditional  history  of  Ander- 
son. Neither  the  material  nor  the  execution 
exempt  the  author  from  Horace's  denuncia- 
tion of  poetic  mediocrity. 

Points.  In  the  Old  Constitutions 
known  as  the  Halliwell  MS.,  there  are  fif- 
teen regulations  which  are  called  points. 
The  fifteen  articles  which  precede  are  said 
to  have  been  in  existence  before  the  meet- 
ing at  York,  and  then  only  collected  after 
search,  while  the  fifteen  points  were  then 
enacted.    Thus  we  are  told  — 

Fifteen  artyculus  they  there  sougton,  {sought, 

found  out,) 
And    fifteen    poyntys    there     they     wrogton, 

(wrought,  enacted.) 

The  points  referred  to  in  the  ritualistic 
phrase,  "  arts,  parts,  and  points  of  the  hid- 
den mysteries  of  Masonry,"  are  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  the  Institution.  Phillips' 
New  World  of  Words  (edit.  1706)  defines 
point  as  "  an  head  or  chief  matter."  It  is 
in  this  sense  that  we  speak  of  the  "points 
of  Masonry." 

Points  of  Entrance,  Perfect. 
In  the  earliest  lectures  of  the  last  century 
these  were  called  "  Principal  Points."  The 
designation  of  them  as  "Perfect  Points  of 
Entrance  "  was  of  a  later  date.  They  are 
described  both  in  the  English  and  the 
American  systems.  Their  specific  names, 
and  their  allusion  to  the  four  cardinal  vir- 
tues, are  the  same  in  both  ;  but  the  verbal 
explanations  differ,  although  not  substan- 
tially. They  are  so  called  because  they  refer 
to  four  important  points  of  the  initiation. 
The  Guttural  refers  to  the  entrance  upon 


590 


POINTS 


POINT 


the  penal  responsibilities ;  the  Pectoral,  to 
the  entrance  into  the  Lodge ;  the  Manual, 
to  the  entrance  on  the  covenant ;  and  the 
Pedal,  to  the  entrance  on  the  instructions 
in  the  north-east. 

Points  of  Fellowship,  Five. 
There  are  duties  owing  by  every  Mason  to 
his  brethren,  and  which,  from  their  sym- 
bolic allusion  to  certain  points  of  the  body, 
and  from  the  lesson  of  brotherly  love  which 
they  teach,  are  called  the  "  Five  Points  of 
Fellowship."  They  are  symbolically  illus- 
trated in  the  third  degree,  and  have  been 
summed  up  by  Oliver  as  "assisting  a 
brother  in  his  distress,  supporting  him  in 
his  virtuous  undertakings,  praying  for  his 
welfare,  keeping  inviolate  his  secrets,  and 
vindicating  his  reputation  as  well  in  his  ab- 
sence as  in  his  presence."    (Landm.,  i.  185.) 

Cole,  in  the  Freemasons'  Library,  (p. 
190,)  gives  the  same  ideas  in  diffuser  lan- 
guage, as  follows : 

"First.  When  the  necessities  of  a 
brother  call  for  my  aid  and  support,  I  will 
be  ever  ready  to  lend  him  such  assistance, 
to  save  him  from  sinking,  as  may  not  be 
detrimental  to  myself  or  connections,  if  I 
find  him  worthy  thereof. 

"  Second.  Indolence  shall  not  cause  my 
footsteps  to  halt,  nor  wrath  turn  them  aside  ; 
but  forgetting  every  selfish  consideration,  I 
will  be  ever  swift  of  foot  to  serve,  help,  and 
execute  benevolence  to  a  fellow-creature  in 
distress,  and  more  particularly  to  a  brother 
Mason. 

"  Third.  When  I  offer  up  my  ejaculations 
to  Almighty  God,  a  brother's  welfare  I  will 
remember  as  my  own ;  for  as  the  voices  of 
babes  and  sucklings  ascend  to  the  Throne  of 
Grace,  so  most  assuredly  will  the  breath- 
ings of  a  fervent  heart  arise  to  the  man- 
sions of  bliss,  as  our  prayers  are  certainly 
required  of  each  other. 

"  Fourth.  A  brother's  secrets,  delivered 
to  me  as  such,  I  will  keep  as  I  would  my 
own ;  as  betraying  that  trust  might  be 
doing  him  the  greatest  injury  he  could  sus- 
tain in  this  mortal  life ;  nay,  it  would  be 
like  the  villany  of  an  assassin,  who  lurks 
in  darkness  to  stab  his  adversary,  when 
unarmed  and  least  prepared  to  meet  an 
enemy. 

"  Fifth.  A  brother's  character  I  will  sup- 
port in  his  absence  as  I  would  in  his  pres- 
ence: I  will  not  wrongfully  revile  him 
myself,  nor  will  I  suffer  it  to  be  done  by 
others,  if  in  my  power  to  prevent  it." 

The  enumeration  of  these  Points  by  some 
other  more  recent  authorities  differs  from 
Cole's,  apparently,  only  in  the  order  in 
which  the  Points  are  placed.  The  latter 
order  is  given  as  follows  in  Mackey's  Lexi- 
con of  Freemasonry  : 

"  First.  Indolence  should  not  cause  our 


footsteps  to  halt,  or  wrath  turn  them  aside ; 
but  with  eager  alacrity  and  swiftness  of 
foot,  we  should  press  forward  in  the  exer- 
cise of  charity  and  kindness  to  a  distressed 
fellow-creature. 

"  Secondly.  In  our  devotions  to  Almighty 
God,  we  should  remember  a  brother's  wel- 
fare as  our  own ;  for  the  prayers  of  a  fer- 
vent and  sincere  heart  will  find  no  less 
favor  in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  because  the 
petition  for  self  is  mingled  with  aspirations 
of  benevolence  for  a  friend. 

"Thirdly.  When  a  brother  intrusts  to 
our  keeping  the  secret  thoughts  of  his 
bosom,  prudence  and  fidelity  should  place 
a  sacred  seal  upon  our  lips,  lest,  in  an  un- 
guarded moment,  we  betray  the  solemn 
trust  confided  to  our  honor. 

"Fourthly.  When  adversity  has  visited 
our  brother,  and  his  calamities  call  for  our 
aid,  we  should  cheerfully  and  liberally 
stretch  forth  the  hand  of  kindness,  to  save 
him  from  sinking,  and  to  relieve  his  neces- 
sities. 

"  Fifthly.  While  with  candor  and  kind- 
ness we  should  admonish  a  brother  of  his 
faults,  we  should  never  revile  his  character 
behind  his  back,  but  rather,  when  attacked 
by  others,  support  and  defend  it." 

I  have  said  that  the  difference  here  is  ap- 
parently only  in  the  order  of  enumeration, 
but  really  there  is  an  important  difference 
in  the  symbols  on  which  the  instructions 
are  founded.  In  the  old  system,  the  sym- 
bols are  the  hand,  the  foot,  the  knee,  the 
breast,  and  the  back.  In  the  new  system, 
the  first  symbol  or  the  hand  is  omitted,  and 
the  mouth  and  the  ear  substituted.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  this  omission  of  the  first  and 
insertion  of  the  last  are  innovations,  which 
sprung  up  in  1842  at  the  Baltimore  Con- 
vention, and  the  enumeration  given  by 
Cole  is  the  old  and  genuine  one,  which  was 
originally  taught  in  England  by  Preston, 
and  in  this  country  by  Webb. 

Points,  Twelve  Grand.  See  Twelve 
Grand  Points. 

Point  within  a  Circle.  This  is  a 
symbol  of  great  interest  and  importance, 
and  brings  us  into  close  connection  with 
the  early  symbolism  of  the  solar  orb  and 
the  universe,  which  was  predominant  in 
the  ancient  sun-worship.  The  lectures  of 
Freemasonry  give  what  modern  Monitors 
have  made  an  exoteric  explanation  of  the 
symbol,  in  telling  us  that  the  point  repre- 
sents an  individual  brother,  the  circle  the 
boundary  line  of  his  duty  to  God  and  man, 
and  the  two  perpendicular  parallel  lines 
the  patron  saints  of  the  Order  —  St.  John 
the  Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 

But  that  this  was  not  always  its  symbolic 
signification,  we  may  collect  from  the  true 
history  of  its  connection  with  the  phallus 


POINT 


POLAND 


591 


of  the  Ancient  Mysteries.  The  phallus,  as 
I  have  already  shown  under  the  word,  was 
among  the  Egyptians  the  symbol  of  fecun- 
dity, expressed  by  the  male  generative 
principle.  It  was  communicated  from  the 
rites  of  Osiris  to  the  religious  festivals 
of  Greece.  Among  the  Asiatics  the  same 
emblem,  under  the  name  of  lingam,  was,  in 
connection  with  the  female  principle,  wor- 
shipped as  the  symbols  of  the  Great  Father 
and  Mother,  or  producing  causes  of  the  hu- 
man race,  after  their  destruction  by  the 
deluge.  On  this  subject,  Captain  Wilford 
(Asiat.  Res.,)  remarks  "  that  it  was  believed 
in  India,  that,  at  the  general  deluge,  every- 
thing was  involved  in  the  common  destruc- 
tion except  the  male  and  female  principles, 
or  organs  of  generation,  which  were  des- 
tined to  produce  a  new  race,  and  to  repeo- 
ple  the  earth  when  the  waters  had  subsided 
from  its  surface.  The  female  principle, 
symbolized  by  the  moon,  assumed  the  form 
of  a  lunette  or  crescent;  while  the  male 
principle,  symbolized  by  the  sun,  assuming 
the  form  of  the  lingam,  placed  himself  erect 
in  the  centre  of  the  lunette,  like  the  mast 
of  a  ship.  The  two  principles,  in  this 
united  form,  floated  on  the  surface  of  the 
waters  during  the  period  of  their  prevalence 
on  the  earth ;  and  thus  became  the  pro- 
genitors of  a  new  race  of  men."  Here,  then, 
was  the  first  outline  of  the  point  within  a 
circle,  representing  the  principle  of  fecun- 
dity, and  doubtless  the  symbol,  connected 
with  a  different  history,  that,  namely,  of 
Osiris,  was  transmitted  by  the  Indian  phil- 
osophers to  Egypt,  and  to  the  other  na- 
tions, who  derived,  as  I  have  elsewhere 
shown,  all  their  rites  from  the  East. 

It  was  in  deference  to  this  symbolism 
that,  as  Higgins  remarks  (Anacal.,  ii.  306,) 
circular  temples  were  in  the  very  earliest 
ages  universally  erected  in  cyclar  numbers 
to  do  honor  to  the  Deity. 

In  India,  stone  circles,  or  rather  their 
ruins,  are  everywhere  found;  among  the 
oldest  of  which,  according  to  Moore,  (Panih. 
242,)  is  that  of  Dipaldiana,  and  whose  exe- 
cution will  compete  with  that  of  the  Greeks. 
In  the  oldest  monuments  of  the  Druids  we 
find,  as  at  Stonehenge  and  Abury,  the  cir- 
cle of  stones.  In  fact,  all  the  temples  of 
the  Druids  were  circular,  with  a  single 
stone  erected  in  the  centre.  A  Druidical 
monument  in  Pembrokeshire,  called  Y 
Cromlech,  is  described  as  consisting  of 
several  rude  stones  pitched  on  end  in  a  cir- 
cular order,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  circle  a 
vast  stone  placed  on  several  pillars.  Near 
Keswick,  in  Cumberland,  says  Oliver,  {Signs 
and  Symbols,  174,)  is  another  specimen  of 
this  Druidical  symbol.  On  a  hill  stands  a 
circle  of  forty  stones  placed  perpendicularly, 
of  about  five  feet  and  a  half  in  height,  and 


one  stone  in  the  centre  of  greater  alti- 
tude. 

Among  the  Scandinavians,  the  hall  of 
Odin  contained  twelve  seats,  disposed  in 
the  form  of  a  circle,  for  the  principal  gods, 
with  an  elevated  seat  in  the  centre  for  Odin. 
Scandinavian  monuments  of  this  form  are 
still  to  be  found  in  Scania,  Zealand,  and 
Jutland. 

But  it  is  useless  to  multiply  examples  of 
the  prevalence  of  this  symbol  among  the 
ancients.  And  now  let  us  apply  this  knowl- 
edge to  the  Masonic  symbol. 

We  have  seen  that  the  phallus  and  the 
point  within  a  circle  come  from  the  same 
source,  and  must  have  been  identical  in 
signification.  But  the  phallus  was  the 
symbol  of  fecundity,  or  the  male  generative 
principle,  which  by  the  ancients  was  sup- 
posed to  be  the  sun,  (they  looking  to  the 
creature  and  not  to  the  Creator,)  because  by 
the  sun's  heat  and  light  the  earth  is  made 
prolific,  and  its  productions  are  brought  to 
maturity.  The  point  within  the  circle  was 
then  originally  the  symbol  of  the  sun;  and 
as  the  lingam  of  India  stood  in  the  centre 
of  the  lunette,  so  it  stands  within  the  centre 
of  the  Universe,  typified  by  the  circle,  im- 
pregnating and  vivifying  it  with  its  heat. 
And  thus  the  astronomers  have  been  led  to 
adopt  the  same  figure  O  as  their  symbol 
of  the  sun. 

Now  it  is  admitted  that  the  Lodge  repre- 
sents the  world  or  the  universe,  and  the 
Master  and  Wardens  within  it  represent 
the  sun  in  three  positions.  Thus  we  arrive 
at  the  true  interpretation  of  the  Masonic 
symbolism  of  the  point  within  the  circle. 
It  is  the  same  thing,  but  under  a  different 
form,  as  the  Master  and  Wardens  of  a 
Lodge.  The  Master  and  Wardens  are  sym- 
bols of  the  sun,  the  Lodge  of  the  universe, 
or  world,  just  as  the  point  is  the  symbol  of 
the  same  sun,  and  the  surrounding  circle 
of  the  universe. 

Poland.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  Poland,  in  1736,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England ;  but  in  1739  the  Lodges  were  closed 
in  consequence  of  the  edict  of  King  Augus- 
tus II.,  who  enforced  the  bull  of  Pope 
Clement  XII.  From  1742  to  1749  Masonry 
was  revived  and  several  Lodges  erected, 
which  flourished  for  a  time,  but  afterwards 
fell  into  decay.  In  1766  Count  Mosrynski 
sought  to  put  it  on  a  better  footing,  and  in 
1769  a  Grand  Lodge  was  formed,  of  which 
he  was  chosen  Grand  Master.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  recognized  this  body  as 
a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge.  On  the  first 
division  of  Poland,  the  labors  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  were  suspended ;  but  they  were  re- 
vived in  1773  by  Count  Bruhl,  who  intro- 
duced the  ritual  of  the  Strict  Observance, 
established  several  new  Lodges,  and  ac- 


592 


POLITICS 


POMEGRANATE 


knowledged  the  supremacy  of  the  United 
Lodges  of  Germany.  There  was  a  Lodge 
in  Warsaw,  working  in  the  French  Rite, 
under  the  authority  of  the  Grand  Orient 
of  France,  and  another  under  the  English 
system.  These  differences  of  Rites  created 
many  dissensions,  but  in  August,  1781,  the 
Lodge  Catherine  of  the  North  Star  received 
a  Warrant  as  a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge, 
and  on  December  27  of  the  same  year  the 
body  was  organized,  and  Ignatius  Pococki 
elected  Grand  Master  of  all  Polish  and 
Lithuanian  Lodges,  the  English  system 
being  provisionally  adopted.  In  1794,  with 
the  dissolution  of  the  kingdom,  the  Lodges 
in  the  Russian  and  Austrian  portions  of 
the  partition  were  suppressed,  and  those 
only  in  Prussian  Poland  continued  their 
existence.  Upon  the  creation,  by  Napoleon, 
of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Warsaw,  a  Grand 
Orient  of  Poland  was  immediately  estab- 
lished. This  body  continued  in  operation 
until  1823,  with  more  than  forty  Lodges 
under  its  obedience.  In  November  of  that 
year  the  Order  was  interdicted  in  conse- 
quence of  the  ukase  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander prohibiting  all  secret  societies,  and 
all  the  Lodges  were  thereon  closed.  Dur- 
ing the  revolt  of  1830  a  few  Lodges  arose, 
but  they  lasted  only  until  the  insurrection 
was  suppressed. 

Politics.  There  is  no  charge  more 
frequently  made  against  Freemasonry  than 
that  of  its  tendency  to  revolution,  and 
conspiracy,  and  to  political  organizations 
which  may  affect  the  peace  of  society  or 
interfere  with  the  rights  of  governments. 
It  was  the  substance  of  all  Barruel's  and 
Robison's  accusations,  that  the  Jacobinism 
of  France  and  Germany  was  nurtured  in 
the  Lodges  of  those  countries ;  it  was  the 
theme  of  all  the  denunciations  of  the  anti- 
Masons  of  our  own  land,  that  the  Order 
was  seeking  a  political  ascendancy  and  an 
undue  influence  over  the  government ;  it 
has  been  the  unjust  accusation  of  every 
enemy  of  the  Institution  in  all  times  past, 
that  its  object  and  aim  is  the  possession  of 

?ower  and  control  in  the  affairs  of  state, 
t  is  in  vain  that  history  records  no  in- 
stance of  this  unlawful  connection  between 
Freemasonry  and  politics;  it  is  in  vain 
that  the  libeller  is  directed  to  the  Ancient 
Constitutions  of  the  Order,  which  expressly 
forbid  such  connection;  the  libel  is  still 
written,  and  Masonry  is  again  and  again 
condemned  as  a  political  club. 

Polkal.  A  significant  word  in  the 
high  degrees,  which  means  altogether  sepa- 
rated, in  allusion  to  the  disunited  condition 
of  the  Masonic  Order  at  the  time,  divided 
as  it  was  into  various  and  conflicting  rites. 
The  word  is  corrupted  from  palcol,  and  is 
derived  from  the  radical  bs,pal,  which,  as 


Gesenius  says,  everywhere  implies  separa- 
tion, and  the  adverbial  bj,  kol,  wholly, 
altogether. 

Polycronicon.  Ranulf  Higden,  a 
monk  of  Chester,  who  died  in  1560,  wrote 
under  this  title  a  Latin  chronicle,  which 
was  afterwards  translated  into  English  by 
John  Trevisa,  and  published  by  William 
Caxton,  in  1482,  as  The  Polycronicon; 
"  conteynyng  the  Berynges  and  Dedes  of 
many  Tymes."  Another  edition  was  pub- 
lished (though,  perhaps,  it  was  the  same 
book  with  a  new  title)  by  Wynkyn  de 
Woorde,  in  1485,  as  Policronicon,  in  which 
booke  ben  comprysed  bryefly  many  wonderful 
hystoryes,  Englished  by  one  Trevisa,  vicarye 
of  Barkley,  etc.,  a  copy  of  which  sold  in 
1857  for  £37.  There  was  another  trans- 
lation in  the  same  century  by  an  unknown 
author.  The  two  translations  made  the 
book  familiar  to  the  English  public,  with 
whom  it  was  at  one  time  a  favorite  work. 
It  was  much  used  by  the  compiler  or  com- 
pilers of  the  Old  Constitutions  now  known 
as  the  Cooke  Manuscript.  Indeed,  I  have 
very  little  doubt  that  the  writers  of  the  old 
Masonic  records  borrowed  from  the  Poly- 
cronicon many  of  their  early  legends  of 
Masonry.  In  1865  there  was  published  at 
London,  under  the  authority  of'  the  Master 
of  the  Rolls,  an  edition  of  the  original  Latin 
chronicle,  with  both  the  English  transla- 
tions, that  of  Trevisa  and  that  of  the  un- 
known writer. 

Pomegranate.  The  pomegranate, 
as  a  symbol,  was  known  to  and  highly  es- 
teemed by  the  nations  of  antiquity.  In 
the  description  of  the  pillars  which  stood 
at  the  porch  of  the  Temple,  (see  1  Kings 
vii.  15,)  it  is  said  that  the  artificer  "made 
two  chapiters  of  molten  brass  to  set  upon 
the  tops  of  the  pillars."  Now  the  Hebrew 
word  caphtorim,  which  has  been  translated 
"  chapiters,"  and  for  which,  in  Amos  ix.  1, 
the  word  "  lintel "  has  been  incorrectly  sub- 
stituted, (though  the  marginal  reading  cor- 
rects the  error,)  signifies  an  artificial  large 
pomegranate,  or  globe.  The  original  mean- 
ing is  not  preserved  in  the  Septuagint, 
which  has  o<patpur?/p,  nor  in  the  Vulgate, 
which  uses  "sphserula,"  both  meaning 
simply  "  a  round  ball."  But  Josephus,  in 
his  Antiquities,  has  kept  to  the  literal  He- 
brew. It  was  customary  to  place  such 
ornaments  upon  the  tops  or  heads  of 
columns,  ana  in  other  situations.  The 
skirt  of  Aaron's  robe  was  ordered  to  be 
decorated  with  golden  bells  and  pome- 
granates, and  they  were  among  the  orna- 
ments fixed  upon  the  golden  candelabra. 
There  seems,  therefore,  to  have  been  at- 
tached to  this  fruit  some  mystic  significa- 
tion, to  which  it  is  indebted  for  the  veuera- 
tion  thus  paid  to  it.    If  so,  this  mystic 


POMEGRANATE 


PONTIFF 


593 


meaning  should  be  traced  into  spurious 
Freemasonry;  for  there,  after  all,  if  there 
be  any  antiquity  in  our  Order,  we  shall  find 
the  parallel  of  all  its  rites  and  ceremonies. 
The  Syrians  at  Damascus  worshipped  an 
idol  which  they  called  Rimmon.  This  was 
the  same  idol  that  was  worshipped  by  Naa- 
man  before  his  conversion,  as  recorded  in 
the  Second  Book  of  Kings.  The  learned 
have  not  been  able  to  agree  as  to  the  nature 
of  this  idol,  whether  he  was  a  representa- 
tion of  Helios  or  the  Sun,  the  god  of  the 
Phenicians,  or  of  Venus,  or  according  to 
Grotius,  in  his  commentary  on  the  passage 
in  Kings,  of  Saturn,  or  what,  according  to 
Statius,  seems  more  probable,  of  Jupiter 
Cassius.     But  it  is  sufficient  for  the  present 

Eurpose  to  know  that  Rimmon  is  the  He- 
rew  and  Syriac  for  pomegranate. 
Cumberland,  the  learned  Bishop  of 
Peterborough,  (Orig.  Gent.  Ant.,  p.  60,) 
quotes  Achilles  Statius,  a  converted  Pagan, 
and  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  as  saying  that 
on  Mount  Cassius  (which  Bochart  places 
between  Canaan  and  Egypt)  there  was  a 
temple  wherein  Jupiter's  image  held  a 
pomegranate  in  his  hand,  which  Statius 
goes  on  to  say,  "  had  a  mystical  meaning." 
Sanconiathon  thinks  this  temple  was  built 
by  the  descendants  of  the  Cabiri.  Cum- 
berland attempts  to  explain  this  mystery 
thus :  "  Agreeably  hereunto  I  guess  that 
the  pomegranate  in  the  hand  of  Jupiter  or 
Juno,  (because,  when  it  is  opened,  it  dis- 
closes a  great  number  of  seeds,)  signified 
only,  that  those  deities  were,  being  long- 
lived,  the  parents  of  a  great  many  children, 
and  families  that  soon  grew  into  nations, 
which  they  planted  in  large  possessions, 
when  the  world  was  newly  begun  to  be 
peopled,  by  giving  them  laws  and  other  use- 
ful inventions  to  make  their  lives  com- 
fortable." 

Pausanias  (Oorinthiaca,  p.  59,)  says  he 
saw,  not  far  from  the  ruins  of  Mycenae,  an 
image  of  Juno  holding  in  one  hand  a  scep- 
tre, and  in  the  other  a  pomegranate;  but 
he  likewise  declines  assigning  any  explana- 
tion of  the  emblem,  merely  declaring  that 
it  was  anopprjTOTepoq  Koyog  —  "a  forbidden 
mystery."  That  is,  one  which  was  forbid- 
den by  the  Cabiri  to  be  divulged. 

In  the  festival  of  the  Thesmophoria,  ob- 
served in  honor  of  the  goddess  Ceres,  it  was 
held  unlawful  for  the  celebrants  (who  were 
women)  to  eat  the  pomegranate.  Clemens 
Alexandrinus  assigns  as  a  reason,  that  it 
was  supposed  that  this  fruit  sprang  from 
the  blood  of  Bacchus. 

Bryant  (Anc.  Myth.,  iii.  237,)  says  that 
the  Ark  was  looked  upon  as  the  mother 
of  mankind,  and  on  this  account  it  was 
figured  under  the  semblance  of  a  pome- 
granate ;  for  as  this  fruit  abounds  with  seeds, 
3Z  38 


it  was  thought  no  improper  emblem  of  the 
Ark,  which  contained  the  rudiments  of  the 
future  world.  In  fact,  few  plants  had  among 
the  ancients  a  more  mythical  history  than 
the  pomegranate. 

From  the  Hebrews,  who  used  it  mysti- 
cally at  the  Temple,  it  passed  over  to  the 
Masons,  who  adopted  it  as  the  symbol  of 
plenty,  for  which  it  is  well  adapted  by  its 
swelling  and  seed-abounding  fruit. 

Pommel.  A  round  knob ;  a  term  ap- 
plied to  the  globes  or  balls  on  the  top  of 
the  pillars  which  stood  at  the  porch  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple.  It  was  introduced  into  the 
Masonic  lectures  from  scriptural  language. 
The  two  pommels  of  the  chapiters  is  in  2 
Chron.  iv.  13.  It  is,  however,  an  architec- 
tural term,  thus  defined  by  Parker,  ( Gloss. 
Arch.,  p.  365:)  "Pommel  denotes  gener- 
ally any  ornament  of  a  globular  form." 

Pontiles  Freres.  See  Bridge  Build- 
ers. 

Pontifex.     See  Bridge  Builders. 

Pontiff.  In  addition  to  what  has  been 
said  of  this  word  in  the  article  on  the 
"  Bridge  Builders  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  the 
following  from  Athanase  Coquerel,  fils,  in 
a  recent  essay  entitled  The  Rise  and  Decline 
of  the  Romish  Church,  will  be  interest- 
ing. 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  'pontiff'? 
'  Pontiff'  means  bridge  maker,  bridge 
builder.  Why  are  they  called  in  that  way  ? 
Here  is  the  explanation  of  the  fact :  In  the 
very  first  years  of  the  existence  of  Rome, 
at  a  time  of  which  we  have  a  very  fabulous 
history  and  but  few  existing  monuments, 
the  little  town  of  Rome,  not  built  on  seven 
hills,  as  is  generally  supposed  —  there  are 
eleven  of  them  now  ;  then  there  were  with- 
in the  town  less  than  seven,  even  —  that 
little  town  had  a  great  deal  to  fear  from  an 
enemy  which  should  take  one  of  the  hills 
that  were  out  of  town  —  the  Janiculum  — 
because  the  Janiculum  is  higher  than  the 
others,  and  from  that  hill  an  enemy  could 
very  easily  throw  stones,  fire,  or  any  means 
of  destruction  into  the  town.  The  Janic- 
ulum was  separated  from  the  town  by  the 
Tiber.  Then  the  first  necessity  for  the  de- 
fence of  that  little  town  of  Rome  was  to 
have  a  bridge.  They  had  built  a  wooden 
bridge  over  the  Tiber,  and  a  great  point  of 
interest  to  the  town  was,  that  this  bridge 
should  be  kept  always  in  good  order,  so 
that  at  any  moment  troops  could  pass  over. 
Then,  with  the  special  genius  of  the  Ro- 
mans, of  which  we  have  other  instances, 
they  ordained,  curiously  enough,  that  the 
men,  who  were  a  corporation,  to  take  care 
of  that  bridge  should  be  sacred  ;  that  their 
function,  necessary  to  the  defence  of  the 
town,  should  be  considered  holy  ;  that  they 
should  be  priests ;  and  the  highest  of  them 


594 


PONTIFF 


PKAYER 


was  called  'the  high  bridge  maker.'  So 
it  happened  that  there  was  in  Rome  a  cor- 
poration of  bridge  makers  —  pontifices  — 
of  whom  the  head  was  the  most  sacred  of 
all  Romans ;  because  in  those  days  his  life 
and  the  life  of  his  companions  was  deemed 
necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  town." 

And  thus  it  is  that  the  title  of  Pontifex 
Maximus,  assumed  by  the  Pope  of  Rome, 
literally  means  the  Grand  Bridge  Builder. 

Pontiff,  Grand.    See  Grand  Pontiff. 

Poor  Fellow-Soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ.  (Pauperes  commilitones  Jesu 
Christi.)  This  was  the  title  first  assumed 
by  the  Knights  Templars. 

Poppy.  In  the  mysteries  of  the  an- 
cients, the  poppy  was  the  symbol  of  regen- 
eration. The  somniferous  qualities  of  the 
plant  expressed  the  idea  of  quiescence; 
but  the  seeds  of  a  new  existence  which  it 
contained  were  thought  to  show  that  nature, 
though  her  powers  were  suspended,  yet 
possessed  the  capability  of  being  called 
into  a  renewed  existence.  Thus  the  poppy 
planted  near  a  grave  symbolized  the  idea 
of  a  resurrection.  Hence,  it  conveyed  the 
same  symbolism  as  the  evergreen  or  sprig 
of  acacia  does  in  the  Masonic  mysteries. 

Porch  of  the  Temple.  See  Temple 
of  Solomon. 

Porta,  Gamhattista.  A  physicist 
of  Naples,  who  was  born  in  1545  and  died 
in  1615.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Se- 
greti,  or  "  Academy  of  Secrets,"  (which 
see.)  He  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of 
the  occult  sciences,  was  the  inventor  of  the 
camera  obscura,  and  the  author  of  several 
treatises  on  Magic,  Physiognomy,  and 
Secret  Writing.  De  Feller  (Piog.  Univ.) 
classes  him  with  Cornelius  Agrippa,  Car- 
dan, Paracelsus,  and  other  disciples  of  oc- 
cult philosophy. 

Portugal.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  Portugal  in  1736,  when  a  Lodge 
was  instituted  at  Lisbon,  under  a  Deputa- 
tion to  George  Gordon  from  Lord  Wey- 
mouth, Grand  Master  of  England.  An  at- 
tempt was  made  by  John  Coustos  to  estab- 
lish a  second  in  1743,  but  he  and  his  com- 
panions were  arrested  by  the  Inquisition, 
and  the  Lodge  suppressed.  Freemasonry 
must,  however,  have  continued  to  exist, 
although  secretly  practised,  for  in  1776 
other  arrests  of  Freemasons  were  made  by 
the  Holy  Office.  But  through  the  whole 
of  the  eighteenth  century  the  history  of 
Masonry  in  Portugal  was  the  history  of  an 
uninterrupted  persecution  by  the  Church 
and  the  State.  In  1805  a  Grand  Lodge 
was  established  at  Lisbon,  and  Egaz-Moritz 
was  elected  Grand  Master.  John  VI., 
during  his  exile,  issued  from  Santa  Cruz, 
in  1818,  a  decree  against  the  Masons,  which 
declared  that  every  Mason  who  should  be 


arrested  should  suffer  death,  and  his  prop- 
erty be  confiscated  to  the  State ;  and  this  law 
was  extended  to  foreigners  residing  in  Por- 
tugal, as  well  as  to  natives.  This  bigoted 
sovereign,  on  his  restoration  to  the  throne, 
promulgated  in  1823  another  decree  against 
the  Order,  and  Freemasonry  fell  into  abey- 
ance; but  in  1834  the  Lodges  were  again 
revived.  But  dissensions  in  reference  to 
Masonic  authority  unfortunately  arose 
among  the  Fraternity  of  Portugal,  which 
involved  the  history  of  the  Order  in  that 
country  in  much  confusion.  There  were 
in  a  few  years  no  less  than  four  bodies 
claiming  Masonic  jurisdiction,  namely,  a 
Grande  Oriente  Lusitano,  which  had  existed 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
which,  in  1846,  received  Letters-Patent 
from  the  Supreme  Council  of  Brazil  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Supreme  Council ;  a 
Provincial  Grand  Lodge,  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ireland, 
with  a  Chapter  of  Rose  Croix  working 
under  the  authority  of  the  Grand  Council 
of  Rites  of  Ireland;  and  two  Grand  Orients 
working  under  contending  Grand  Masters. 
Many  attempts  were  made  to  reconcile  these 
opposing  bodies,  but  without  success ;  and, 
to  add  to  the  difficulty,  we  find,  about  1862, 
another  body  calling  itself  the  Orient  of 
the  Masonic  Confederation.  But  all  em- 
barrassments were  at  length  removed  by 
the  alliance,  in  1871,  of  the  United  Grand 
Orient  with  the  Supreme  Council,  and  the 
Masonic  interests  of  Portugal  are  now  pros- 
perously conducted  by  the  "  Grande  Oriente 
Lusitano  Unido,  Supremo  Conselho  de 
Maeonaria  Portugueza." 

Postulant.  The  title  given  to  the 
candidate  in  the  degree  of  Knight  Kadosh. 
From  the  Latin  postulans,  asking  for,  wish- 
ing to  have. 

Pot  of  Incense.  As  a  symbol  of 
the  sacrifice  which  should  be  offered  up  to 
Deity,  it  has  been  adopted  in  the  third 
degree.     See  Incense. 

Pot  of  Manna.    See  Manna,  Pot  of. 

Poursuivant.  More  correctly,  Pur- 
suivant, which  see. 

Practicns.  The  third  degree  of  the 
German  Rose  Croix.  ^/ 

Prayer.  Freemasonry  is  a  religious 
institution,  and  hence  its  regulations  incul- 
cate the  use  of  prayer  "as  a  proper  tribute 
of  gratitude,"  to  borrow  the  language  of 
Preston,  "  to  the  beneficent  Author  of  Life." 
Hence  it  is  of  indispensable  obligation 
that  a  Lodge,  a  Chapter,  or  any  other  Ma- 
sonic body,  should  be  both  opened  and 
closed  with  prayer;  and  in  the  Lodges 
working  in  the  English  and  American  sys- 
tems the  obligation  is  strictly  observed. 
The  prayers  used  at  opening  and  closing 
in  this  country  differ  in  language  from  the 


PRAYER 


PREFERMENT 


595 


early  formulas  found  in  the  second  edition 
of  Preston,  and  for  the  alterations  we  are 
prohably  indebted  to  Webb.  The  prayers 
used  in  the  middle  and  perhaps  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  eighteenth  century  are  to  be 
found  in  Preston  (ed.  1775,)  and  are  as 
follows : 

At  Opening.  — "  May  the  favor  of 
Heaven  be  upon  this  our  happy  meeting ; 
may  it  be  begun,  carried  on,  and  ended  in 
order,  harmony,  and  brotherly  love :  Amen." 

At  Closing.  —  "  May  the  blessing  of 
Heaven  be  with  us  and  all  regular  Masons, 
to  beautify  and  cement  us  with  every 
moral  and  social  virtue :  Amen." 

There  is  also  a  prayer  at  the  initiation  of 
a  candidate,  which  has,  at  the  present  day, 
been  very  slightly  varied  from  the  original 
form.  This  prayer,  but  in  a  very  different 
form,  is  much  older  than  Preston,  who 
changed  and  altered  the  much  longer  for- 
mula which  had  been  used  previous  to  his 
day.  It  was  asserted  by  Dermott  that  the 
prayer  at  initiation  was  a  ceremony  only 
in  use  among  the  "Ancients"  or  Athol 
Masons,  and  that  it  was  omitted  by  the 
"  Moderns."  But  this  cannot  be  so,  as  is 
proved  by  the  insertion  of  it  in  the  earliest 
editions  of  Preston.  We  have  moreover  a 
form  of  prayer  "to  be  used  at  the  admis- 
sion of  a  brother,"  contained  in  the 
Pocket  Companion,  published  in  1754,  by 
John  Scott,  an  adherent  of  the  "  Mod- 
erns," which  proves  that  they  as  well  as 
the  "Ancients"  observed  the  usage  of 
prayer  at  an  initiation.  There  is  a  still 
more  ancient  formula  of  "  Prayer  to  be 
used  of  Christian  Masons  at  the  empoint- 
ing  of  a  brother,"  said  to  have  been  used 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  from  1461  to 
1483,  and  which  is  as  follows : 

"The  might  of  God,  the  Father  of 
Heaven,  with  the  wisdom  of  his  glorious 
Son  through  the  goodness  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  hath  been  three  persons  in  one 
Godhead,  be  with  us  at  our  beginning,  give 
us  grace  to  govern  in  our  living  here,  that 
we  may  only  come  to  his  bliss  that  shall 
never  have  an  end." 

The  custom  of  commencing  and  ending 
labor  with  prayer  was  adopted  at  an  early 

f>eriod  by  the  Operative  Freemasons  of  Eng- 
and.  Findel says  {Hist.,  p.  78,)  that "  their 
Lodges  were  opened  at  sunrise,  the  Master 
taking  his  station  in  the  East  and  the 
brethren  forming  a  half  circle  around  him.' 
After  prayer,  each  craftsman  had  his  daily 
work  pointed  out  to  him,  and  received  his 
instructions.  At  sunset  they  again  as- 
sembled after  labor,  prayer  was  offered,  and 
their  wages  paid  to  them."  We  cannot 
doubt  that  the  German  Stonemasons,  who 
were  even  more  religiously  demonstrative 


than  their  English  brethren,  must  have  ob- 
served the  same  custom. 

As  to  the  posture  to  be  observed  in  Ma- 
sonic prayer,  it  may  be  remarked  that  in 
the  lower  degrees  the  usual  posture  is 
standing.  At  an  initiation  the  candidate 
kneels,  but  the  brethren  stand.  In  the 
higher  degrees  the  usual  posture  is  to  kneel 
on  the  right  knee.  These  are  at  least  the 
usages  which  are  generally  practised  in 
this  country. 

Preadamite.  A  degree  contained 
in  the  Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of 
the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Precaution.  In  opening  and  closing 
the  Lodge,  in  the  admission  of  visitors,  in 
conversation  with  or  in  the  presence  of 
strangers,  the  Mason  is  charged  to  use  the 
necessary  precaution,  lest  that  should  be 
communicated  to  the  profane  which  should 
only  be  known  to  the  initiated. 

Precedency  of  Lodge*.  The  pre- 
cedency of  Lodges  is  always  derived  from 
the  date  of  their  Warrants  of  Constitution, 
the  oldest  Lodge  ranking  as  No.  1.  As 
this  precedency  confers  certain  privileges, 
the  number  of  the  Lodge  is  always  deter- 
mined by  the  Grand  Lodge,  while  the  name 
is  left  to  the  selection  of  the  members. 

Preceptor.  Grand  Preceptor,  or 
Grand  Prior,  or  Preceptor,  or  Prior,  was 
the  title  indifferently  given  by  the  Knights 
Templars  to  the  officer  who  presided  over 
a  province  or  kingdom,  as  the  Grand  Prior 
or  Grand  Preceptor  of  England,  who  was 
called  in  the  East  the  Prior  or  Preceptor 
of  England.  The  principal  of  these  Grand 
Preceptors  were  those  of  Jerusalem,  Tripo- 
lis,  and  Antioch. 

Preeeptory.  The  houses  or  resi- 
dences of  the  Knights  Templars  were  called 
Preceptories,  and  the  superior  of  such  a 
residence  was  called  the  Preceptor.  Some 
of  the  residences  were  also  called  Command- 
eries.  The  latter  name  has  been  adopted 
by  the  Masonic  Templars  of  this  country. 
An  attempt  was  made  in  1856,  at  the  adop- 
tion of  a  new  Constitution  by  the  Grand 
Encampment  of  the  United  States,  which 
met  at  Hartford,  to  abolish  the  title  "  Com- 
manderies,"  and  adopt  that  of  "  Precepto- 
ries," for  the  Templar  organizations;  a 
change  which  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  more  in  accordance  with  history,  but 
unfortunately  the  effort  to  effect  the  change 
was  not  successful. 

Precious  Jewels.  See  Jewels,  Pre- 
cious. 

Preferment.  In  all  the  Old  Consti- 
tutions we  find  a  reference  made  to  ability 
and  skill  as  the  only  claims  for  preferment 
or  promotion.  Thus  in  one  of  them,  the 
Landsdowne   Manuscript,  whose  date    is 


596 


PKELATE 


PREPARING 


about  1560,  it  is  said  that  Nimrod  gave  a 
charge  to  the  Masons  that  "they  should 
ordaine  the  most  wise  and  cunninge  man 
to  be  Master  of  the  King  or  Lord's  worke 
that  was  amongs  them,  and  neither  for  love, 
riches,  nor  favor,  to  sett  another  that  had 
little  cunninge  to  be  Master  of  that  worke, 
whereby  the  Lord  should  bee  ill  served  and 
the  science  ill  defamed."  And  again,  in 
another  part  of  the  same  Manuscript,  it  is 
ordered,  "  that  noe  Mason  take  on  him  noe 
Lord's  worke  nor  other  man's  but  if  he 
know  himselfe  well  able  to  performe  the 
worke,  so  that  the  Craft  have  noe  slander." 
Charges  to  the  same  effect,  almost,  indeed, 
in  the  same  words,  are  to  be  found  in  all 
the  Old  Constitutions.  So  Anderson,  when 
he  compiled  The  Charges  of  a  Freemason, 
which  he  says  were  "extracted  from  the 
ancient  records,"  and  which  he  published 
in  1723,  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Book  of 
Constitutions,  lays  down  the  rule  of  prefer- 
ment in  the  same  spirit,  and  in  these 
words : 

"All  preferment  among  Masons  is 
grounded  upon  real  worth  and  personal 
merit  only;  that  so  the  Lords  may  be  well 
served,  the  brethren  not  put  to  shame,  nor 
the  royal  Craft  despised ;  therefore  no  Mas- 
ter or  Warden  is  chosen  by  seniority,  but 
for  his  merit." 

And  then  he  goes  on  to  show  how  the 
skilful  and  qualified  Apprentice  may  in  due 
time  become  a  Fellow  Craft,  and,  "when 
otherwise  qualified,  arrive  to  the  honor  of 
being  the  Warden,  and  then  the  Master  of 
the  Lodge,  the  Grand  Warden,  and  at  length 
the  Grand  Master  of  all  the  Lodges,  according 
to  his  merit."  This  ought  to  be  now,  as  it 
has  always  been,  the  true  law  of  Masonry ; 
and  when  ambitious  men  are  seen  grasping 
for  offices,  and  seeking  for  positions  whose 
duties  they  are  not  qualified  to  discharge, 
one  is  inclined  to  regret  that  the  Old 
Charges  are  not  more  strictly  obeyed. 

Prelate.  The  fourth  officer  in  a  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars  and  in  a 
Council  of  Red  Cross  Knights.  His  duties 
are  to  conduct  the  religious  ceremonies  of 
the  organization.  His  jewel  is  a  triple  tri- 
angle, the  symbol  of  Deity,  and  within  each 
of  the  triangles  is  suspended  a  cross,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  Christian  character  of  the  chiv- 
alric  institution  of  which  he  is  an  officer. 
The  corresponding  officer  in  a  Grand  Com- 
mandery  and  in  the  Grand  Encampment 
is  called  a  Grand  Prelate. 

Prelate  of  Lebanon.  {Pr'elat  du 
IAban.)  A  mystical  degree  in  the  collection 
of  Pyron. 

Prentice.  An  archaism,  or  rather  a 
vulgarism  for  Apprentice,  constantly  found 
in  the  Old  Records.    It  is  now  never  used. 

Prentice  Pillar.    In  the  southeast 


part  of  the  chapel  of  Roslyn  Castle,  in 
Scotland,  is  the  celebrated  column  which 
goes  by  this  name,  and  with  which  a  Ma- 
sonic legend  is  connected.  The  pillar  is  a 
plain  fluted  shaft,  having  a  floral  garland 
twined  around  it,  all  carved  out  of  the 
solid  stone.  The  legend  is,  that  when  the 
plans  of  the  chapel  were  sent  from  Rome, 
the  master  builder  did  not  clearly  under- 
stand about  this  pillar,  or,  as  another  ac- 
count states,  had  lost  this  particular  portion 
of  the  plans,  and,  in  consequence,  had  to  go 
to  Rome  for  further  instructions  or  to  procure 
a  fresh  copy.  During  his  absence,  a  clever 
apprentice,  the  only  son  of  a  widow,  either 
from  memory  or  from  his  own  invention, 
carved  and  completed  the  beautiful  pillar. 
When  the  master  returned  and  found  the 
work  completed,  furious  with  jealous  rage, 
he  killed  the  apprentice,  by  striking  him  a 
frightful  blow  on  the  forehead  with  a 
heavy  setting-maul.  In  testimony  of  the 
truth  of  the  legend,  the  visitor  is  shown 
three  heads  in  the  west  part  of  the  chapel  — 
the  master's,  the  apprentice's,  (with  the 
gash  on  his  forehead,)  and  the  widow's. 
There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  this  le- 
gend referred  to  that  of  the  third  degree, 
which  is  thus  shown  to  have  existed,  at 
least  substantially,  at  that  early  period. 

Preparation  of  the  Candidate. 
Great  care  was  taken  of  the  personal  con- 
dition of  every  Israelite  who  entered  the 
Temple  for  divine  worship.  The  Talmudic 
treatise  entitled  Baracoth,  which  contains 
instructions  as  to  the  ritual  worship  among 
the  Jews,  lays  down  the  following  rules  for 
the  preparation  of  all  who  visit  the  Tem- 
ple :  "  No  man  shall  go  into  the  Temple 
with  his  staff",  nor  with  shoes  on  his  feet, 
nor  with  his  outer  garment,  nor  with 
money  tied  up  in  his  purse."  There  are 
certain  ceremonial  usages  in  Freemasonry 
which  furnish  what  may  be  called  at  least 
very  remarkable  coincidences  with  this  old 
Jewish  custom. 

The  preparation  of  the  candidate  for  in- 
itiation in  Masonry  is  entirely  symbolic. 
It  varies  in  the  different  degrees,  and  there- 
fore the  symbolism  varies  with  it.  Not 
being  arbitrary  and  unmeaning,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  conventional  and  full  of  significa- 
tion, it  cannot  be  altered,  abridged,  or 
added  to  in  any  of  its  details,  without  af- 
fecting its  esoteric  design.  To  it,  in  its 
fullest  extent,  every  candidate  must,  with- 
out exception,  submit. 

Preparing  Brother.  The  brother 
who  prepares  the  candidate  for  initiation. 
In  English,  he  has  no  distinctive  title.  In 
French  Lodges  he  is  called  "Frere  terrible," 
and  in  German  he  is  called  "  Vorbereiten- 
der  Bruder,"  or  "  Furchterlicher  Bruder." 
His  duties  require  him  to  have  a  compe- 


PRESIDENT 


PRESTON 


597 


tent  knowledge  of  the  ritual  of  reception, 
and  therefore  an  experienced  member  of 
the  Lodge  is  generally  selected  to  discharge 
the  functions  of  this  office. 

President.  The  presiding  officer  in 
a  convention  of  High  Priests,  according  to 
the  American  system,  is  so  called.  The 
second  officer  is  styled  Vice  President.  On 
September  6th,  1871,  the  Grand  Orient 
of  France,  in  violation  of  the  landmarks, 
abolished  the  office  of  Grand  Master,  and 
conferred  his  powers  on  a  Council  of  the 
Order.  The  President  of  the  Council  is 
now  the  official  representative  of  the  Grand 
Orient  and  the  Craft,  and  exercises  several 
of  the  prerogatives  hitherto  administered 
by  the  Grand  Master. 

Presiding  Officer.  Whoever  acts, 
although  temporarily  and  pro  hoc  vice,  as 
the  presiding  officer  of  a  MasOnic  body,  as- 
sumes for  the  time  all  the  powers  and  func- 
tions of  the  officer  whom  he  represents. 
Thus,  in  the  absence  of  the  Worshipful 
Master,  the  Senior  Warden  presides  over 
the  Lodge,  and  for  the  time  is  invested  with 
all  the  prerogatives  that  pertain  to  the 
Master  of  a  Lodge,  and  can,  while  he  is 
in  the  chair,  perform  any  act  that  it  would 
be  competent  for  the  Master  to  perform 
were  he  present. 

Prestonian  Lecture.  In  1819, 
Bro.  Preston,  the  author  of  the  Illustrations 
of  Masonry,  bequeathed  £300  in  the  con- 
sols, the  interest  of  which  was  to  provide 
for  the  annual  delivery  of  a  lecture  accord- 
ing to  the  system  which  he  had  elaborated. 
The  appointment  of  the  Lecturer  was  left 
to  the  Grand  Master  for  the  time  being. 
Stephen  Jones,  a  Past  Master  of  the  Lodge 
of  Antiquity,  and  an  intimate  friend  of 
Preston,  received  the  first  appointment; 
and  it  was  subsequently  given  to  Bro.  Lau- 
rence Thompson,  the  only  surviving  pupil 
of  Preston.  He  held  it  until  his  death, 
after  which  no  appointment  of  a  Lecturer 
was  made  until  1857.  Since  that  time  the 
lecture  has  been  regularly  delivered  in 
London  before  some  one  of  the  Lodges. 
In  the  delivery  of  this  lecture,  which  is  in- 
tended to  keep  in  remembrance  the  sys- 
tem which  was  taught  by  Preston,  great 
care  has  been  taken  to  observe  not  only 
the  Prestonian  arrangement,  but  the  very 
words,  so  far  as  they  can  be  ascertained. 
The  original  form  of  question  and  answer 
is  not,  however,  maintained ;  but  the  lecture 
being  uninterrupted  by  interrogations,  the 
prescribed  answers  are  turned  into  a  con- 
tinuous course. 

Prestonian  lectures.  About  the 
year  1772,  Preston  submitted  his  course  of 
lectures  on  the  first  three  degrees  to  the 
Craft  of  England.  These  lectures  were  a 
revision  of  those  which  had  been  practised, 


with  various  modifications,  since  the  re- 
vival of  1717,  and  were  intended  to  confer 
a  higher  literary  character  on  the  Masonic 
ritual.  Preston  had  devoted  much  time 
and  labor  to  the  compilation  of  these  lec- 
tures, a  syllabus  of  which  will  be  found  in 
his  Illustrations.  They  were  adopted  eagerly 
by  the  English  Fraternity,  and  continued  to 
be  the  authoritative  system  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  until  the  union  in  1813, 
when,  for  the  sake  of  securing  uniformity, 
the  new  and  inferior  system  of  Dr.  Hem- 
ming was  adopted.  But  the  Prestonian 
lectures  and  ritual  are  still  used  by  many 
Lodges  in  England.  In  America  they 
were  greatly  altered  by  Webb,  and  are  no 
longer  practised  here. 

Preston,  William.  This  distin- 
guished Mason  was  born  at  Edinburgh  on 
the  7th  August,  1742.  The  usual  state- 
ment, that  he  was  born  on  the  28th  July, 
refers  to  Old  Style,  and  requires  therefore  to 
be  amended.  He  was  the  son  of  William 
Preston,  Esq.,  a  writer  of  the  Signet,  and 
Helena  Cumming.  The  elder  Preston  was 
a  man  of  much  intellectual  culture  and 
abilities,  and  in  easy  circumstances,  and 
took  therefore  pains  to  bestow  upon  his  son 
an  adequate  education.  He  was  sent  to 
school  at  a  very  early  age,  and  having 
completed  his  preliminary  education  in 
English  under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Stirling, 
a  celebrated  teacher  in  Edinburgh,  he  en- 
tered the  High  School  before  he  was  six 
years  old,  and  made  considerable  progress 
in  the  Latin  tongue.  From  the  High 
School  he  went  to  college,  where  he  ac- 
quired a  knowledge  of  the  rudiments  of 
Greek. 

After  the  death  of  his  father  he  retired 
from  college,  and  became  the  amanuensis 
of  that  celebrated  linguist,  Thomas  Buddi- 
man,  to  whose  friendship  his  father  had 
consigned  him.  Mr..  Buddiman  having 
greatly  impaired  and  finally  lost  his  sight 
by  his  intense  application  to  his  classical 
studies,  Preston  remained  with  him  as  his 
secretary  until  his  decease.  His  patron 
had,  however,  previously  bound  young 
Preston  to  his  brother,  Walter  Buddiman, 
a  printer,  but  on  the  increasing  failure  of 
his  sight,  Mr.  Thomas  Buddiman  withdrew 
Preston  from  the  printing-office,  and  occu- 
pied him  in  reading  to  him  and  translating 
such  of  his  works  as  were  not  completed, 
and  in  correcting  the  proofs  of  those  that 
were  in  the  press.  Subsequently  Preston 
compiled  a  catalogue  of  Buddiman's  books, 
under  the  title  of  Bibliotheca  Huddimana, 
which  is  said  to  have  exhibited  much  lite- 
rary ability. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Buddiman,  Pres- 
ton returned  to  the  printing-office,  where  he 
remained  for  about  a  year;  but  his  inclina- 


598 


PRESTON 


PRESTON 


tions  leading  him  to  literary  pursuits,  he, 
with  the  consent  of  his  master,  repaired  to 
London  in  1760,  having  been  furnished  with 
several  letters  of  introduction  by  his  friends 
in  Scotland.  Among  them  was  one  to  Wil- 
liam Strahan,  the  king's  printer,  in  whose 
service,  and  that  of  his  son  and  successor, 
he  remained  for  the  best  years  of  his  life 
as  a  corrector  of  the  press,  devoting  him- 
self, at  the  same  time,  to  other  literary 
vocations,  editing  for  many  years  the  Lon- 
don Chronicle,  and  furnishing  materials  for 
various  periodical  publications. 

Mr.  Preston's  critical  skill  as  a  corrector 
of  the  press  led  the  literary  men  of  that 
day  to  submit  to  his  suggestions  as  to  style 
and  language ;  and  many  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished authors  who  were  contemporary 
with  him  honored  him  with  their  friend- 
ship. As  an  evidence  of  this,  there  were 
found  in  his  library,  at  his  death,  presenta- 
tion copies  of  their  works,  with  their  auto- 
graphs, from  Gibbon,  Hume,  Robertson, 
Blair,  and  many  others. 

It  is,  however,  as  a  distinguished  teacher 
of  the  Masonic  ritual,  and  as  the  founder 
of  a  system  of  lectures  which  still  retain 
their  influence,  that  William  Preston  more 
especially  claims  our  attention. 

Stephen  Jones,  the  disciple  and  intimate 
friend  of  Preston,  published  in  1795,  in  the 
Freemasons'  Magazine,  a  sketch  of  Pres- 
ton's life  and  labors ;  and  as  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  from  the  relations  of  the  author 
and  the  subject,  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
facts  related,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  use  the 
language  of  this  contemporary  sketch,  in- 
terpolating such  explanatory  remarks  as  I 
may  deem  necessary. 

Soon  after  Preston's  arrival  in  London, 
a  number  of  brethren  from  Edinburgh  re- 
solved to  institute  a  Freemason's  Lodge  in 
that  city,  under  the  sanction  of  a  Constitu- 
tion from  Scotland;  but  not  having  suc- 
ceeded in  their  application,  they  were  re- 
commended by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scot- 
land to  the  ancient  Lodge  in  London,  who 
immediately  granted  them  a  Dispensation 
to  form  a  Lodge  and  to  make  Masons. 
They  accordingly  met  at  the  White  Hart  in 
the  Strand,  and  Mr.  Preston  was  the  second 
person  initiated  under  that  Dispensation. 
This  was  in  1762.  Lawrie  records  the  ap- 
plication as  having  been  in  that  year  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland.  It  thus  appears 
that  Preston  was  made  a  Mason  under  the 
Dermott  system.  It  will  be  seen,  however, 
that  he  subsequently  went  over  to  the  legiti- 
mate Grand  Lodge. 

The  Lodge  was  soon  after  regularly  con- 
stituted by  the  officers  of  the  ancient  Grand 
Lodge  in  person.  Having  increased  con- 
siderably in  numbers,  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  remove  to  the  Horn  Tavern  in  Fleet 


Street,  where  it  continued  some  time,  till, 
that  house  being  unable  to  furnish  proper 
accommodations,  it  was  removed  to  Scots' 
Hall,  Blackfriars.  Here  it  continued  to 
flourish  about  two  years,  when  the  decayed 
state  of  that  building  obliged  it  to  remove 
to  the  Half  Moon  Tavern,  Cheapside, 
where  it  continued  to  meet  for  a  consider- 
able time. 

At  length  Mr.  Preston  and  some  others 
of  the  members  having  joined  the  Lodge, 
under  the  regular  English  Constitution,  at 
the  Talbot  Inn,  in  the  Strand,  they  pre- 
vailed on  the  rest  of  the  Lodge  at  the  Half 
Moon  Tavern  to  petition  for  a  Constitution. 
Lord  Blaney,  at  that  time  Grand  Master, 
readily  acquiesced  with  the  desire  of  the 
brethren,  and  the  Lodge  was  soon  after 
constituted  a  second  time,  in  ample  form, 
by  the  name  of  "  The  Caledonian  Lodge." 
The  ceremonies  observed,  and  the  numer- 
ous assembly  of  respectable  brethren  who 
attended  the  Grand  officers  on  that  occa- 
sion, were  long  remembered  to  the  honor 
of  the  Lodge. 

This  circumstance,  added  to  the  absence 
of  a  very  skilful  Mason,  to  whom  Mr.  Pres- 
ton was  attached,  and  who  had  departed  for 
Scotland  on  account  of  his  health,  induced 
him  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  Masonic 
lectures ;  and  to  arrive  at  the  depths  of  the 
science,  short  of  which  he  did  not  mean  to 
stop,  he  spared  neither  pains  nor  expense. 

Preston's  own  remarks  on  this  subject,  in 
the  introduction  to  his  Illustrations  of  Ma- 
sonry, are  well  worth  the  perusal  of  every 
brother  who  intends  to  take  office.  "When," 
says  he,  "I  first  had  the  honor  to  be  elected 
Master  of  a  Lodge,  I  thought  it  proper  to 
inform  myself  fully  of  the  general  rules  of 
the  society,  that  I  might  be  able  to  fulfil 
my  own  duty,  and  officially  enforce  obedi- 
ence in  others.  The  methods  which  I 
adopted,  with  this  view,  excited  in  some  of 
superficial  knowledge  an  absolute  dislike 
of  what  they  considered  as  innovations ; 
and  in  others,  who  were  better  informed,  a 
jealousy  of  pre-eminence,  which  the  prin- 
ciples of  Masonry  ought  to  have  checked. 
Notwithstanding  these  discouragements, 
however,  I  persevered  in  my  intention  of 
supporting  the  dignity  of  the  society,  and 
of  discharging  with  fidelity  the  trust  re- 
posed in  me."  Masonry  has  not  changed. 
We  still  too  often  find  the  same  mistaking 
of  research  for  innovation,  and  the  same 
ungenerous  jealousy  of  pre-eminence  of 
which  Preston  complains. 

Wherever  instruction  could  be  acquired, 
thither  Preston  directed  his  course ;  and 
with  the  advantage  of  a  retentive  memory, 
and  an  extensive  Masonic  connection,  added 
to  a  diligent  literary  research,  he  so  far  suc- 
ceeded in  his  purpose  as  to  become  a  com- 


PRESTON 


PRESTON 


599 


petent  master  of  the  subject.  To  increase 
the  knowledge  he  had  acquired,  he  solicited 
the  company  and  conversation  of  the  most 
experienced  Masons  from  foreign  countries ; 
and,  in  the  course  of  a  literary  correspond- 
ence with  the  Fraternity  at  home  andabroad, 
made  such  progress  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
art  as  to  become  very  useful  in  the  connec- 
tions he  had  formed.  He  was  frequently 
heard  to  say,  that  in  the  ardor  of  his 
inquiries  he  had  explored  the  abodes  of 
poverty  and  wretchedness,  and,  where  it 
might  have  been  least  expected,  acquired 
very  valuable  scraps  of  information.  The 
poor  brother  in  return,  we  are  assured,  had 
no  cause  to  think  his  time  or  talents  ill  be- 
stowed. He  was  also  accustomed  to  con- 
vene his  friends  once  or  twice  a  week,  in 
order  to  illustrate  the  lectures ;  on  which 
occasion  objections  were  started,  and  ex- 
planations given,  for  the  purpose  of  mutual 
improvement.  At  last,  with  the  assistance 
of  some  zealous  friends,  he  was  enabled  to 
arrange  and  digest  the  whole  of  the  first 
lecture.  To  establish  its  validity,  he  re- 
solved to  submit  to  the  society  at  large  the 
progress  he  had  made ;  and  for  that  pur- 
pose he  instituted,  at  a  very  considerable  ex- 
pense, a  grand  gala  at  the  Crown  and  An- 
chor Tavern,  in  the  Strand,  on  Thursday, 
May  21,  1772,  which  was  honored  with  the 
presence  of  the  then  Grand  officers,  and 
many  other  eminent  and  respectable  breth- 
ren. On  this  occasion  he  delivered  an  ora- 
tion on  the  Institution,  which,  having  met 
with  general  approbation,  was  afterwards 
printed  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Illustra- 
tions of  Masonry,  published  by  him  the 
same  year. 

Having  thus  far  succeeded  in  his  design, 
Mr.  Preston  determined  to  prosecute  the 
plan  he  had  formed,  and  to  complete  the 
lectures.  He  employed,  therefore,  a  num- 
ber of  skilful  brethren,  at  his  own  expense, 
to  visit  different  town  and  country  Lodges, 
for  the  purpose  of  gaining  information ; 
and  these  brethren  communicated  the  re- 
sult of  their  visits  at  a  weekly  meeting. 

When  by  study  and  application  he  had 
arranged  his  system,  he  issued  proposals 
for  a  regular  course  of  lectures  on  all  the 
degrees  of  Masonry,  and  these  were  publicly 
delivered  by  him  at  the  Mitre  Tavern,  in 
Fleet  Street,  in  1774. 

For  some  years  afterwards,  Mr.  Preston 
indulged  his  friends  by  attending  several 
schools  of  instruction,  and  other  stated 
meetings,  to  propagate  the  knowledge  of 
the  science,  which  had  spread  far  beyond 
his  expectations,  and  considerably  enhanced 
the  reputation  of  the  society.  Having  ob- 
tained the  sanction  of  the  Grand  Lodge, 
he  continued  to  be  a  zealous  encourager 
and  supporter  of  all  the  measures  of  that 


assembly  which  tended  to  add  dignity  to 
the  Craft,  and  in  all  the  Lodges  in  which 
his  name  was  enrolled,  which  were  very 
numerous,  he  enforced  a  due  obedience  to 
the  laws  and  regulations  of  that  body.  By 
these  means  the  subscriptions  to  the  charity 
became  much  more  considerable ;  and  daily 
acquisitions  to  the  society  were  made  of 
some  of  the  most  eminent  and  distinguished 
characters.  At  last  he  was  invited  by  his 
friends  to  visit  the  Lodge  of  Antiquity, 
No.  1,  then  held  at  the  Mitre  Tavern,  in 
Fleet  Street,  when  the  brethren  of  that 
Lodge  were  pleased  to  admit  him  a  mem- 
ber, and,  what  was  very  unusual,  elected 
him  at  the  same  meeting. 

He  had  been  Master  of  the  Philanthropic 
Lodge  at  the  Queen's  Head,  Gray's-inn- 
gate,  Holborn,  above  six  years,  and  of 
several  other  Lodges  before  that  time.  But 
he  was  now  taught  to  consider  the  impor- 
tance of  the  first  Master  under  the  English 
Constitution  ;  and  he  seemed  to  regret  that 
some  eminent  character  in  the  walks  of 
life  had  not  been  selected  to  support  so 
distinguished  a  station.  Indeed,  this  too 
small  consideration  of  his  own  importance 
pervaded  his  conduct  on  all  occasions; 
and  he  was  frequently  seen  voluntarily 
to  assume  the  subordinate  offices  of  an  as- 
sembly, over  which  he  had  long  presided, 
on  occasions  where,  from  the  absence  of  the 
proper  persons,  he  had  conceived  that  his 
services  would  promote  the  purposes  of  the 
meeting. 

To  the  Lodge  of  Antiquity  he  now  began 
chiefly  to  confine  his  attention,  and  during 
his  Mastership,  which  continued  for  some 
years,  the  Lodge  increased  in  numbers  and 
improved  in  its  finances. 

That  he  might  obtain  a  complete  knowl- 
edge of  the  state  of  the  society  under  the 
English  Constitution,  he  became  an  active 
member  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  was  admit- 
ted a  member  of  the  hall  committee,  and 
during  the  secretaryship  of  Mr.  Thomas 
French,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Duke  of 
Beaufort,  then  Grand  Master,  had  become 
a  useful  assistant  in  arranging  the  general 
regulations  of  the  society,  and  reviving  the 
foreign  and  country  correspondence.  Hav- 
ing been  appointed  to  the  office  of  Deputy 
Grand  Secretary  under  James  Heseltiue, 
Esq.,  he  compiled,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
charity,  the  History  of  Remarkable  Occur- 
rences, inserted  in  the  first  two  publications 
of  the  Freemasons'  Calendar;  prepared  for 
the  press  an  Appendix  to  the  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions, and  attended  so  much  to  the  cor- 
respondence with  the  different  Lodges  as  to 
merit  the  approbation  of  his  patron.  This 
enabled  him,  from  the  various  memoranda 
he  had  made,  to  form  the  History  of  Ma- 
sonry, which  was  afterwards  printed  in  his 


600 


PRESTON 


PRESTON 


Illustrations.  The  office  of  Deputy  Grand 
Secretary  he  afterwards  resigned. 

An  unfortunate  dispute  having  arisen  in 
the  society  in  1779,  between  the  Grand 
Lodge  and  the  Lodge  of  Antiquity,  in  which 
Mr.  Preston  took  the  part  of  the  Lodge  and 
his  private  friends,  his  name  was  ordered 
to  be  erased  from  the  hall  committee ;  and 
he  was  afterwards,  with  a  number  of  gen- 
tlemen, members  of  that  Lodge,  expelled. 

The  treatment  he  and  his  friends  received 
at  that  time  was  circumstantially  narrated 
in  a  well-written  pamphlet,  printed  by 
Mr.  Preston  at  his  own  expense,  and  cir- 
culated among  his  friends,  but  never  pub- 
lished, and  the  leading  circumstances  were 
recorded  in  some  of  the  later  editions  of 
the  Illustrations  of  Masonry.  Ten  years 
afterwards,  however,  on  a  reinvestigation 
of  the  subject  in  dispute,  the  Grand  Lodge 
was  pleased  to  reinstate  Mr.  Preston,  with 
all  the  other  members  of  the  Lodge  of  An- 
tiquity, and  that  in  the  most  handsome 
manner,  at  the  grand  feast  in  1790,  to  the 
general  satisfaction  of  the  Fraternity. 

During  Mr.  Preston's  exclusion,  he  sel- 
dom or  never  attended  any  of  the  Lodges, 
though  he  was  actually  an  enrolled  mem- 
ber of  a  great  many  Lodges  at  home  and 
abroad,  all  of  which  he  politely  resigned 
at  the  time  of  his  suspension,  and  di- 
rected his  attention  to  his  other  literary 
pursuits,  which  may  fairly  be  supposed  to 
have  contributed  more  to  the  advantage  of 
his  fortune. 

So  much  of  the  life  of  Preston  we  get 
from  the  interesting  sketch  of  Stephen 
Jones.  To  other  sources  we  must  look  for 
a  further  elucidation  of  some  of  the  circum- 
stances which  he  has  so  concisely  related. 

The  expulsion  of  such  a  man  as  Preston 
from  the  Order  was  a  disgrace  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  which  inflicted  it.  It  was,  to  use 
the  language  of  Oliver,  who  himself,  in 
aftertimes,  had  undergone  a  similar  act 
of  injustice,  "  a  very  ungrateful  and  inade- 
quate return  for  his  services." 

The  story  was  briefly  this :  It  had  been 
determined  by  the  brethren  of  the  Lodge  of 
Antiquity,  held  on  December  17, 1777,  that 
at  the  annual  festival  on  St.  John's  day,  a 
procession  should  be  formed  to  St.  Dun- 
stan's  Church,  a  few  steps  only  from  the 
tavern  where  the  Lodge  was  held ;  a  protest 
of  a  few  of  the  members  was  entered  against 
it  on  the  day  of  the  festival.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  only  ten  members  attended, 
who,  having  clothed  themselves  as  Masons 
in  the  vestry  room,  sat  in  the  same  pew  and 
heard  a  sermon,  after  which  they  crossed 
the  street  in  their  gloves  and  aprons  to  re- 
turn to  the  Lodge  room.  At  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Lodge,  a  motion  was  made  to  re- 
pudiate this  act;  and  while  speaking  against 


it,  Mr.  Preston  asserted  the  inherent  privi- 
leges of  the  Lodge  of  Antiquity,  which,  not 
working  under  a  Warrant  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  was,  in  his  opinion,  not  subject  in 
the  matter  of  processions  to  the  regulations 
of  the  Grand  Lodge.  It  was  for  maintain- 
ing this  opinion,  which,  whether  right  or 
wrong,  was  after  all  only  an  opinion,  Pres- 
ton was,  under  circumstances  which  exhib- 
ited neither  magnanimity  nor  dignity  on 
the  part  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  expelled  from 
the  Order.  One  of  the  unhappy  results  of 
this  act  of  oppression  was  that  the  Lodge 
of  Antiquity  severed  itself  from  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  united  with  the  Grand  Lodge 
at  York,  and  Preston  withdrew  from  all 
share  in  the  concerns  of  Masonry. 

But  ten  years  afterwards,  in  1787,  the 
Grand  Lodge  saw  the  error  it  had  com- 
mitted, and  Preston  was  restored  with  all 
his  honors  and  dignities.  And  now,  while 
the  name  of  Preston  is  known  and  revered 
by  all  who  value  Masonic  learning,  the 
names  of  all  his  bitter  enemies,  with  the 
exception  of  Noorthouck,  have  sunk  into  a 
well-deserved  oblivion. 

Preston  had  no  sooner  been  restored  to 
his  Masonic  rights  than  he  resumed  his  la- 
bors for  the  advancement  of  the  Order.  In 
1787  he  organized  the  Order  of  Harodim,  a 
society  in  which  it  was  intended  to  thor- 
oughly teach  the  lectures  which  he  had  pre- 
pared. Of  this  Order  some  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished Masons  of  the  day  became  mem- 
bers, and  it  is  said  to  have  produced  great 
benefits  by  its  well-devised  plan  of  Masonic 
instruction. 

But  William  Preston  is  best  known  to 
us  by  his  invaluable  work  entitled  Illustra- 
tions of  Masonry.  The  first  edition  of  this 
work  was  published  in  1772.  Although  it 
is  spoken  of  in  some  resolutions  of  a  Lodge, 
published  in  the  second  edition,  as  "a  very 
ingenious  and  elegant  pamphlet,"  it  was 
really  a  work  of  some  size,  consisting,  in  its 
introduction  and  text,  of  288  pages.  It  con- 
tained an  account  of  the  "  grand  gala,"  or 
banquet,  given  by  the  author  to  the  Frater- 
nity in  May,  1772,  when  he  first  proposed 
his  system  of  lectures.  This  account  was 
omitted  in  the  second  and  all  subsequent 
editions  "to  make  room  for  more  useful 
matter."  The  second  edition,  enlarged  to 
324  pages,  was  published  in  1775,  and  this 
was  followed  by  others  1776, 1781, 1788, 1792, 
1799, 1801,  and  1812.  There  must  have  been 
three  other  editions,  of  which  I  can  find  no 
account  in  the  bibliographies,  for  Wilkie 
calls  his  1801  edition  the  tenth,  and  the 
edition  of  1812,  the  last  published  by  the 
author,  is  called  the  twelfth.  The  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  editions  were  published  after 
the  author's  death,  with  additions  —  the 
former  by  Stephen  Jones  in  1821,  and  the 


PRETENDER 


PRICE 


601 


latter  by  Dr.  Oliver  in  1829.  Other  Eng- 
lish editions  have  been  subsequently  pub- 
lished. The  work  was  translated  into  Ger- 
man, and  two  editions  published,  one  in 
1776  and  the  other  in  1780.  In  America, 
two  editions  were  published  in  1804,  one  at 
Alexandria,  in  Virginia,  and  the  other, 
with  numerous  important  additions,  by 
George  Richards,  at  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire.  Both  claim,  on  the  title-page, 
to  be  the  "first  American  edition;"  and  it 
is  probable  that  both  works  were  pub- 
lished by  their  respective  editors  about 
the  same  time,  and  while  neither  had  any 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  a  rival  copy. 

Preston  died,  after  a  long  illness,  in  Dean 
Street,  Fetter  Lane,  London,  on  April  1st, 
1818,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  and  was 
buried  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  In  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  he  seems  to  have  taken 
no  active  public  part  in  Masonry,  for  in 
the  very  full  account  of  the  proceedings  at 
the  union  in  1813  of  the  two  Grand  Lodges, 
his  name  does  not  appear  as  one  of  the 
actors,  and  his  system  was  then  ruthlessly 
surrendered  to  the  newer  but  not  better 
one  of  Dr.  Hemming.  But  he  had  not  lost 
his  interest  in  the  Institution  which  he  had 
served  so  well  and  so  long,  and  by  which 
he  had  been  so  illy  requited.  For  he  be- 
queathed at  his  death  £300  in  the  consols, 
the  interest  of  which  was  to  provide  for 
the  annual  delivery  of  a  lecture  according 
to  his  system.  He  also  left  £500  to  the 
Royal  Freemasons'  Charity,  for  female 
children,  and  a  like  sum  to  the  General 
Charity  Fund  of  the  Grand  Lodge.  He 
was  never  married,  and  left  behind  him 
only  his  name  as  a  great  Masonic  teacher 
and  the  memory  of  his  services  to  the 
Craft.  Jones'  edition  of  his  Illustrations 
contains  an  excellently  engraved  likeness 
of  him  by  Ridley,  from  an  original  portrait 
said  to  be  by  S.  Drummond,  Royal  Acade- 
mician. There  is  an  earlier  engraved  like- 
ness of  him  in  the  Freemasons'  Magazine 
for  1795,  from  a  painting  known  to  be  by 
Drummond,  and  taken  in  1794.  They  pre- 
sent the  differences  of  features  which  may 
naturally  be  ascribed  to  a  lapse  of  twenty- 
six  years.  The  latter  print  is  said,  by 
those  who  personally  knew  him,  to  be  an 
excellent  likeness. 

Pretender.  James  Stuart,  the  son 
of  James  II.,  who  abdicated  the  throne  of 
Great  Britain,  and  Charles  Edward,  his 
son,  are  known  in  history  as  the  Old  and  the 
Young  Pretender.  Their  intrigues  with 
Masonry,  which  they  are  accused  of  at- 
tempting to  use  as  an  instrument  to  aid  in 
a  restoration  to  the  throne,  constitute  a 
very  interesting  episode  in  the  histqry  of 
the  Order.     See  Stuart  Masonry. 

Previous  Question.  A  parliamen- 
4A 


tary  motion  intended  to  suppress  debate. 
It  is  utterly  unknown  in  the  parliamentary 
law  of  Masonry,  and  it  would  be  always 
out  of  order  to  move  it  in  a  Masonic  body. 

Priehard,  Samuel.  "  An  unprin- 
cipled and  needy  brother,"  as  Oliver  calls 
him,  who  published  at  London,  in  1730,  a 
book  with  the  folllowing  title  :  "  Masonry 
Dissected;  being  a  Universal  and  Genuine 
Description  of  all  its  Branches,  from  the 
Original  to  this  Present  Time :  as  it  is  deliv- 
ered in  the  constituted,  regular  Lodges, 
both  in  City  and  Country,  according  to  the 
several  Degrees  of  Admission ;  giving  an 
impartial  account  of  their  regular  Proceed- 
ings in  initiating  their  New  Members  in 
the  whole  Three  Degrees  of  Masonry,  viz., 
I.  Entered  Prentice;  II.  Fellow  Craft;  III. 
Master.  To  which  is  added,  The  Author's 
Vindication  of  Himself,  by  Samuel  Priehard, 
Late  Member  of  a  constituted  Lodge."  This 
work,  which  contained  a  great  deal  of  plau- 
sible matter,  mingled  with  some  truth  as 
well  as  falsehood,  passed  through  a  great 
many  editions,  was  translated  into  the 
French,  German,  and  Dutch  languages,  and 
became  the  basis  or  model  on  which  all  the 
subsequent  so-called  expositions,  such  as 
Tubal- Cain,  Jachin  and  Boaz,  etc.,  were 
framed.  In  the  same  year  of  the  appear- 
ance of  Prichard's  book,  Dr.  Anderson  pub- 
lished a  Defence  of  Masonry,  as  a  reply 
to  the  Masonry  Dissected.  This  pamphlet 
was  the  first  work  of  any  value  that  had  ap- 
peared from  the  Masonic  press,  and  does 
infinitely  more  credit  to  Anderson's  genius 
and  learning  than  the  Constitutions,  which 
he  had  published  seven  years  before.  It 
is  not,  however,  a  reply  to  Priehard,  but 
rather  an  attempt  to  interpret  the  ceremo- 
nies which  are  described  in  the  Masonry  Dis- 
sected in  their  symbolic  import,  and  this  it 
is  that  gives  to  the  Defence  a  value  which 
ought  to  have  made  it  a  more  popular  work 
among  the  Fraternity  than  it  is.  Priehard 
died,  as  I  suppose  he  had  lived,  in  ob- 
scurity ;  but  the  Abb6  Larudan,  in  his  Franc- 
Macons  ecrases,  (p.  135),  has  manufactured 
a  wild  tale  about  his  death  ;  stating  that  he 
was  carried  by  force  at  night  into  the 
Grand  Lodge  at  London,  put  to  death,  his 
body  burned  to  ashes,  and  all  the  Lodges 
in  the  world  informed  of  the  execution. 
The  Abb6  is  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  this 
wondrous  narrative  because  he  had  heard 
it  told  in  Holland  and  in  Germany,  all  of 
which  only  proves  that  the  French  calum- 
niator of  Masonry  abounded  either  in  an 
inventive  faculty  or  in  a  trusting  faith. 

Price,  Henry.  He  received  a  Depu- 
tation as  Provincial  Grand  Master  of  New 
England,  which  was  issued  on  April  30, 
1733,  by  Viscount  Montague,  Grand  Master 
of  England.    On  the  30th  of  the  following 


602 


PRIEST 


PRIMITIVE 


July,  Price  organized  a  Provincial  Grand 
Lodge ;  and  he  may  thus  be  considered  as 
the  founder  of  Masonry  in  New  England. 
He  was  born  in  England  about  the  year 
1697,  and  died  in  Massachusetts  in  1780. 
A  very  able  memoir  of  Price,  by  Bro.  Wil- 
liam Sewell  Gardner,  will  be  found  in  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massa- 
chusetts for  the  year  1871. 

Priest.  In  the  primitive  ages  of  the 
world  every  father  was  the  priest  of  his 
family,  and  offered  prayer  and  sacrifice  for 
his  household.  So,  too,  the  patriarchs  ex- 
ercised the  same  function.  Melchizedek 
is  called  "the  priest  of  the  most  high 
God;"  and  everywhere  in  Scripture  we  find 
the  patriarchs  performing  the  duties  of 
prayer  and  sacrifice.  But  when  political 
society  was  organized,  a  necessity  was 
found,  in  the  religious  wants  of  the  people, 
for  a  separate  class,  who  should  become,  as 
they  have  been  described,  the  mediators 
between  men  and  God,  and  the  interpreters 
of  the  will  of  the  gods  to  men.  Hence 
arose  the  sacerdotal  class — the  cohen  among 
the  Hebrews,  the  hiereus  among  the  Greeks, 
and  the  sacerdos  among  the  Romans.  There- 
after prayer  and  sacrifice  were  intrusted  to 
these,  and  the  people  paid  them  reverence 
for  the  sake  of  the  deities  whom  they 
served.  Ever  since,  in  all  countries,  the 
distinction  has  existed  between  the  priest 
and  the  layman,  as  representatives  of  two 
distinct  classes. 

But  Masonry  has  preserved  in  its  reli- 
gious ceremonies,  as  in  many  of  its  other 
usages,  the  patriarchal  spirit.  Hence  the 
Master  of  the  Lodge,  like  the  father  of  a 
primitive  family,  on  all  occasions  offers 
up  prayer  and  serves  at  the  altar.  A  chap- 
lain is  sometimes,  through  courtesy,  invited 
to  perform  the  former  duty,  but  the  Master 
is  really  the  priest  of  the  Lodge. 

Having  then  such  solemn  duties  to  dis- 
charge, and  sometimes,  as  on  funereal  occa- 
sions, in  public,  it  becomes  every  Master 
so  to  conduct  his  life  and  conversation  as 
not,  by  contrast,  to  make  his  ministration 
of  a  sacred  office  repulsive  to  those  who  see 
and  hear  him,  and  especially  to  profanes. 
It  is  not  absolutely  required  that  he  should 
be  a  religious  man,  resembling  the  clergy- 
man in  seriousness  of  deportment ;  but  in 
his  behavior  he  should  be  an  example  of 
respect  for  religion.  He  who  at  one  time 
drinks  to  intoxication,  or  indulges  in  pro- 
fane swearing,  or  obscene  and  vulgar  lan- 
guage, is  unfit  at  any  other  time  to  conduct 
the  religious  services  of  a  society.  Such  a 
Master  could  inspire  the  members  of  his 
Lodge  with  no  respect  for  the  ceremonies 
he  was  conducting;  and  if  the  occasion 
was  a  public  one,  as  at  the  burial  of  a 
brother,  the  circumstance  would  subject  the 


Order  which  could  tolerate  such  an  incon- 
gruous exhibition  to  contempt  and  ridi- 
cule. 

Priest,  Grand  High.  See  Grand 
High  Priest. 

Priest,  High.    See  High  Priest. 

Priesthood,  Order  of  High.  See 
High  Priesthood,  Order  of. 

Priestly  Order.  A  Rite  which  Bro. 
John  Yarker,  of  Manchester,  says  (Myst.  of 
Antiq.,  p.  126,)  was  formerly  practised  in 
Ireland,  and  formed  the  system  of  the  York 
Grand  Lodge.  It  consisted  of  seven  de- 
grees, as  follows :  1.  2.  3.  Symbolic  degrees ; 
4.  Past  Master;  5.  Royal  Arch  ;  6.  Knight 
Templar;  7.  Knight  Templar  Priest,  or 
Holy  Wisdom.  The  last  degree  was  called 
a  Tabernacle,  and  was  governed  by  seven 
"  Pillars."  Bro.  Hughan  {Hist,  of  Freem. 
in  York,  p.  32,)  doubts  the  York  origin  of 
the  Priestly  Order,  as  well  as  the  claim  it 
made  to  have  been  revived  in  1786.  It  is 
now  obsolete. 

Priest,  Royal.  The  fifth  degree  of 
the  Initiated  Brothers  of  Asia. 

Priest  Theosophist.  Thory  says 
that  it  is  the  sixth  degree  of  the  Kabbalistic 
Rite. 

Primitive  Freemasonry.  The 
Primitive  Freemasonry  of  the  antedilu- 
vians is  a  term  for  which  we  are  indebted 
to  Oliver,  although  the  theory  was  broached 
by  earlier  writers,  and  among  them  by  the 
Chevalier  Ramsay.  The  theory  is,  that 
the  principles  and  doctrines  of"  Freema- 
sonry existed  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
world,  and  were  believed  and  practised  by 
a  primitive  people,  or  priesthood,  under 
the  name  of  Pure  or  Primitive  Freema- 
sonry ;  and  that  this  Freemasonry,  that  is  to 
say,  the  religious  doctrine  inculcated  by  it, 
was,  after  the  flood,  corrupted  by  the  Pagan 
philosophers  and  priests,  and,  receiving  the 
title  of  Spurious  Freemasonry,  was  exhibited 
in  the  Ancient  Mysteries.  The  Noachidae, 
however,  preserved  the  principles  of  the 
Primitive  Freemasonry,  and  transmitted 
them  to  succeeding  ages,  when  at  length 
they  assumed  the  name  of  Speculative  Ma- 
sonry. The  Primitive  Freemasonry  was 
probably  without  ritual  or  symbolism,  and 
consisted  only  of  a  series  of  abstract  proposi- 
tions derived  from  antediluvian  traditions. 
Its  dogmas  were  the  unity  of  God  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  Dr.  Oliver,  who 
gave  this  system  its  name,  describes  it 
(Hist.  Landm.,  i.,  p.  61,)  in  the  following 
language.  "  It  included  a  code  of  simple 
morals.  It  assured  men  that  they  who 
did  well  would  be  approved  of  God ;  and 
if  they  followed  evil  courses,  sin  would  be 
imputed  to  them,  and  they  would  thus  be- 
come subject  to  punishment.  It  detailed 
the  reasons  why  the  seventh  day  was  con- 


PRIMITIVE 


PRIMITIVE 


603 


secrated  and  set  apart  as  a  Sabbath,  or  day 
of  rest ;  and  showed  why  the  bitter  conse- 
quences of  sin  were  visited  upon  our  first 
parents,  as  a  practical  lesson  that  it  ought 
to  be  avoided.  But  the  great  object  of  this 
Primitive  Freemasonry  was  to  preserve 
and  cherish  the  promise  of  a  Redeemer, 
who  should  provide  a  remedy  for  the  evil 
that  their  transgression  had  introduced 
into  the  world,  when  the  appointed  time 
should  come." 

In  his  History  of  Initiation  he  makes  the 
supposition  that  the  ceremonies  of  this 
Primitive  Freemasonry  would  be  few  and 
unostentatious,  and  consist,  perhaps,  like 
that  of  admission  into  Christianity,  of  a 
simple  lustration,  conferred  alike  on  all,  in 
the  hope  that  they  would  practise  the 
social  duties  of  benevolence  and  good-will 
to  man,  and  unsophisticated  devotion  to 
God. 

He  does  not,  however,  admit  that  the 
system  of  Primitive  Freemasonry  consisted 
only  of  those  tenets  which  are  to  be  found 
in  the  first  chapters  of  Genesis,  or  that  he 
intends,  in  his  definition  of  this  science,  to 
embrace  so  general  and  indefinite  a  scope 
of  all  the  principles  of  truth  and  light,  as 
Preston  has  done  in  his  declaration,  that 
"from  the  commencement  of  the  world,  we 
may  trace  the  foundation  of  Masonry." 
On  the  contrary,  Oliver  supposes  that  this 
Primitive  Freemasonry  included  a  partic- 
ular and  definite  system,  made  up  of  le- 
gends and  symbols,  and  confined  to  those 
who  were  initiated  into  its  mysteries.  The 
knowledge  of  these  mysteries  was  of  course 
communicated  by  God  himself  to  Adam, 
and  from  him  traditionally  received  by  his 
descendants,  throughout  the  patriarchal  line. 

This  view  of  Oliver  is  substantiated  by 
the  remarks  of  Rosenberg,  a  learned  French 
Mason,  in  an  article  in  the  Freemasons' 
Quarterly  Review,  on  the  Book  of  Raziel,  an 
ancient  Kabbalistic  work,  whose  subject  is 
these  divine  mysteries.  "  This  book,"  says 
Rosenberg,  "  informs  us  that  Adam  was  the 
first  to  receive  these  mysteries.  Afterwards, 
when  driven  out  of  Paradise,  he  communi- 
cated them  to  his  son  Seth  ;  Seth  communi- 
cated them  to  Enoch ;  Enoch  to  Methuselah; 
Methuselah  to  Lamech  ;  Lamech  to  Noah  ; 
Noah  to  Shem ;  Shem  to  Abraham ;  Abra- 
ham to  Isaac ;  Isaac  to  Jacob ;  Jacob  to 
Levi ;  Levi  to  Kelhoth ;  Kelhoth  to  Amram ; 
Amram  to  Moses ;  Moses  to  Joshua ;  Joshua 
to  the  Elders ;  the  Elders  to  the  Prophets ; 
the  Prophets  to  the  Wise  Men ;  and  then 
from  one  to  another  down  to  Solomon." 

Such,  then,  was  the  Pure  or  Primitive 
Freemasonry,  the  first  system  of  mysteries 
which,  according  to  modern  Masonic  writ- 
ers of  the  school  of  Oliver,  has  descended, 
of  course  with  various  modifications,  from 


age  to  age,  in  a  direct  and  uninterrupted 
line,  to  the  Freemasons  of  the  present  day. 

The  theory  is  an  attractive  one,  and  may 
be  qualifiediy  adopted,  if  we  may  accept 
what  appears  to  have  been  the  doctrine  of 
Anderson,  of  Hutchinson,  of  Preston,  and 
of  Oliver,  that  the  purer  theosophic  tenets 
of  "the  chosen  people  of  God"  were  simi- 
lar to  those  subsequently  inculcated  in  Ma- 
sonry, and  distinguished  from  the  corrupted 
teaching  of  the  Pagan  religions  as  devel- 
oped in  the  mysteries.  But  if  we  attempt 
to  contend  that  there  was  among  the  Pa- 
triarchs any  esoteric  organization  at  all  re- 
sembling the  modern  system  of  Freema- 
sonry, we  shall  find  no  historical  data  on 
which  we  may  rely  for  support. 

Primitive  Rite.  This  Rite  was 
founded  at  Narbonne,  in  France,  on  April 
19,  1780,  by  the  pretended  "  Superiors  of 
the  Order  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons." 
It  was  attached  to  the  Lodge  of  the  Phila- 
delphes,  under  the  title  of  the  "  First  Lodge 
of  St.  John  united  to  the  Primitive  Rite 
for  the  country  of  France."  Hence  it  is 
sometimes  called  the  Primitive  Rite  of  Nar- 
bonne, and  sometimes  the  Rite  of  the  Phila- 
delphes.  It  was  divided  into  three  classes, 
which  comprised  ten  degrees  of  instruction. 
These  were  not,  in  the  usual  sense,  degrees, 
but  rather  collections  of  grades,  out  of 
which  it  was  sought  to  develop  all  the  in- 
structions of  which  they  were  capable. 
These  classes  and  degrees  were  as  follows  : 

First  Class.  1.  Apprentice.  2.  Fellow 
Craft.  3.  Master  Mason.  These  were  con- 
formable to  the  same  degrees  in  all  the 
other  Rites. 

Second  Class.  4th  degree,  comprising 
Perfect  Master,  Elu,  and  Architect.  5th 
degree,  comprising  the  Sublime  Ecossais. 
6th  degree,  comprising  the  Knight  of  the 
Sword,  Knight  of  the  East,  and  Prince  of 
i^nisjil  pin 

Third  Class.  7.  The  First  Chapter  of 
Rose  Croix,  comprising  ritual  instructions. 
8.  The  Second  Chapter  of  Rose  Croix.  It 
is  the  depository  of  historical  documents 
of  rare  value.  9.  The  Third  Chapter  of 
Rose  Croix,  comprising  physical  and  philo- 
sophical instructions.  10.  The  Fourth  and 
last  Chapter  of  Rose  Croix,  or  Rose  Croix 
Brethren  of  the  Grand  Rosary,  engaged  in 
researches  into  the  occult  sciences,  the  ob- 
ject being  the  rehabilitation  and  reintegra- 
tion of  man  in  his  primitive  rank  and  pre- 
rogatives. The  Primitive  Rite  was  united 
to  the  Grand  Orient  in  1786,  although  some 
of  its  Lodges,  objecting  to  the  union,  main- 
tained their  independence.  It  secured,  at 
one  time,  a  high  consideration  among 
French  Masons,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
objects  in  which  it  was  engaged,  but  on  ac- 
count also  of  the  talents  and  position  of 


604 


PRIMITIVE 


PRINCE 


many  of  its  members.  But  it  is  no  longer 
practised. 

Primitive  Scottish  Rite.  This 
Rite  claims  to  have  been  established  in 
1770,  at  Namur,  in  Belgium,  by  a  body 
called  the  Metropolitan  Grand  Lodge  of 
Edinburgh.  But  the  truth,  according  to 
Clavel,  {Hist.  Pitt.,  p.  220,)  is  that  it  was 
the  invention  of  one  Marchot,  an  advocate 
of  Nivelles,  who  organized  it  in  1818,  at 
Namur,  beyond  which  city,  and  the  Lodge 
of  "Bonne  Amitie,"  it  scarcely  ever  ex- 
tended. It  consists  of  thirty-three  degrees, 
as  follows:  1.  Apprentice;  2.  Fellow  Craft; 
3.  Master ;  4.  Perfect  Master ;  5.  Irish  Mas- 
ter ;  6.  Elect  of  Nine ;  7.  Elect  of  the  Un- 
known; 8.  Elect  of  Fifteen;  9.  Illustrious 
Master;  10.  Perfect  Elect;  11.  Minor  Archi- 
tect; 12.  Grand  Architect;  13.  Sublime 
Architect ;  14.  Master  in  Perfect  Architec- 
ture ;  15.  Royal  Arch ;  16.  Prussian  Knight ; 
17.  Knight  of  the  East;  18.  Prince  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  19.  Master  of  All  Lodges ;  20.  Knight 
of  the  West;  21.  Knight  of  Palestine  ;  22. 
Sovereign  Prince  of  Rose  Croix;  23.  Sub- 
lime Scottish  Mason;  24.  Knight  of  the 
Sun ;  25.  Grand  Scottish  Mason  of  St.  An- 
drew ;  26.  Master  of  the  Secret ;  27.  Knight 

of  the  Black  Eagle ;  28.  Knight  of  K H ; 

29.  Grand  Elect  of  Truth ;  30.  Novice  of  the 
Interior;  31.  Knight  of  the  Interior;  32. 
Prefect  of  the  Interior ;  33.  Commander  of 
the  Interior.  The  Primitive  Scottish  Rite 
appears  to  have  been  founded  upon  the 
Rite  of  Perfection,  with  an  intermixture 
of  the  Strict  Observance  of  Hund,  the 
Adonhiramite,  and  some  other  Rites. 

Prince.  The  word  Prince  is  not  at- 
tached as  a  title  to  any  Masonic  office,  but 
is  prefixed  as  a  part  of  the  name  to  several 
degrees,  as  Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret, 
Prince  of  Rose  Croix,  and  Prince  of  Jeru- 
salem. In  all  of  these  instances  it  seems 
to  convey  some  idea  of  sovereignty  inher- 
ent in  the  character  of  the  degree.  Thus 
the  Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret  was  the  ul- 
timate, and,  of  course,  controlling  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  Perfection,  whence,  shorn, 
however,  of  its  sovereignty,  it  has  been 
transferred  to  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite.  The  Prince  of  Rose  Croix,  al- 
though holding  in  some  Rites  a  subordinate 
position,  was  originally  an  independent  de- 
gree, and  the  representative  of  Rosicrucian 
Masonry.  It  is  still  at  the  head  of  the 
French  Rite.  The  Princes  of  Jerusalem, 
according  to  the  Old  Constitutions  of  the 
Rite  of  Perfection,  were  invested  with 
power  of  jurisdiction  over  all  degrees  below 
the  sixteenth,  a  prerogative  which  they  ex- 
ercised long  after  the  promulgation  of  the 
Constitutions  of  1786 ;  and  even  now  they 
are  called,  in  the  ritual  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite,  "Chiefs  in  Masonry,"  a 


term  borrowed  from  the  Constitutions  of 
1762.  But  there  are  several  other  Prince 
degrees  which  do  not  seem,  at  least  now,  to 
claim  any  character  of  sovereignty  —  such 
are  the  Prince  of  Lebanon,  Prince  of  the 
Tabernacle,  and  Prince  of  Mercy,  all  of 
which  are  now  subordinate  degrees  in  the 
Scottish  Rite. 

Prince  Adept.    See  Adept,  Prince. 

Prince  Depositor,  Grand. 
(Grand  Prince  Depositaire.)  A  degree  in 
the  collection  of  Pyron. 

Prince  Mason.  A  term  applied  in 
the  Old  Scottish  Rite  Constitutions  to  the 
possessors  of  the  high  degrees  above  the 
fourteenth.  It  was  first  assumed  by  the 
Council  of  the  Emperors  of  the  East  and 
West. 

Prince  of  Jerusalem.  (Prince  de 
Jerusalem.)  This  was  the  sixteenth  degree 
of  the  Rite  of  Perfection,  whence  it  was 
transferred  to  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite,  where  it  occupies  the  same 
numerical  position.  Its  legend  is  founded 
on  certain  incidents  which  took  place  dur- 
ing the  rebuilding  of  the  second  Temple, 
when  the  Jews  were  so  much  incommoded 
by  the  attacks  of  the  Samaritans  and  other 
neighboring  nations,  that  an  embassy  was 
sent  to  King  Darius  to  implore  his  favor 
and  protection,  which  was  accordingly  ob- 
tained. This  legend,  as  developed  in  the 
degree,  is  contained  neither  in  Ezra  nor  in 
the  apocryphal  books  of  Esdras.  It  is 
found  only  in  the  Antiquities  of  Josephus, 
(lib.  xi.,  cap.  iv.,  sec.  9,)  and  thence  there 
is  the  strongest  internal  evidence  to  show 
that  it  was  derived  by  the  inventor  of  the 
degree.  Who  that  inventor  was  we  can 
only  conjecture.  But  as  we  have  the  state- 
ments of  both  Ragon  and  Kloss  that  the 
Baron  de  Tschoudy  composed  the  degree 
of  Knight  of  the  East,  and  as  that  degree 
is  the  first  section  of  the  system  of  which 
the  Prince  of  Jerusalem  is  the  second,  we 
may  reasonably  suppose  that  the  latter  was 
also  composed  by  him.  The  degree  being 
one  of  those  adopted  by  the  Emperors  of 
the  East  and  West  in  their  system,  which 
Stephen  Morin  was  authorized  to  propa- 
gate in  America,  it  was  introduced  into 
America  long  before  the  establishment  of 
the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 
A  Council  was  established  by  Henry  A. 
Francken,  about  1767,  at  Albany,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  a  Grand  Council 
organized  by  Myers,  in  1788,  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina.  This  body  exercised  sov- 
ereign powers  even  after  the  establishment 
of  the  Supreme  Council,  which  was  May 
31,  1801,  for,  in  1802,  it  granted  a  Warrant 
for  the  establishment  of  a  Mark  Lodge  in 
Charleston,  and  another  in  the  same  year, 
for  a  Lodge  of  Perfection,  in  Savannah, 


PRINCE 


PRINCE 


605 


Georgia.  But  under  the  present  regula- 
tions of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  this  prerogative  has  been  abolished, 
and  Grand  Councils  of  Princes  of  Jerusa- 
lem no  longer  exist.  The  old  regulation, 
that  the  Master  of  a  Lodge  of  Perfection 
must  be  at  least  a  Prince  of  Jerusalem, 
which  was  contained  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  Grand  Council,  has  also  been  re- 
pealed, together  with  most  of  the  privileges 
which  formerly  appertained  to  the  degree. 
A  decision  of  the  Supreme  Council,  in  1870, 
has  even  obliterated  Councils  of  the  Princes 
of  Jerusalem  as  a  separate  organization, 
authorized  to  confer  the  preliminary  degree 
of  Knights  of  the  East,  and  placed  such 
Councils  within  the  bosom  of  Rose  Croix 
Chapters,  a  provision  of  which,  as  a  mani- 
fest innovation  on  the  ancient  system,  the 
expediency,  or  at  least  the  propriety,  may 
be  greatly  doubted. 

Bodies  of  this  degree  are  called  Councils. 
According  to  the  old  rituals,  the  officers 
were  a  Most  Equitable,  a  Senior  and  Junior 
Most  Enlightened,  a  Grand  Treasurer,  and 
Grand  Secretary.  The  more  recent  ritual 
of  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  has  substituted  for  these  a  Most 
Illustrious  Tarshatha,  a  Most  Venerable 
High  Priest,  a  Most  Excellent  Scribe,  two 
Most  Enlightened  Wardens,  and  other 
officers.  Yellow  is  the  symbolic  color  of 
the  degree,  and  the  apron  is  crimson,  (for- 
merly white,)  lined  and  bordered  with  yel- 
low. The  jewel  is  a  medal  of  gold,  on  one 
side  of  which  is  inscribed  a  hand  holding 
an  equally  poised  balance,  and  on  the  other 
a  double-edged,  cross-hilted  sword  erect, 
between  three  stars  around  the  point,  and 
the  letters  D  and  Z  on  each  side. 

The  Prince  of  Jerusalem  is  also  the  fifty- 
third  degree  of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter 
of  France,  and  the  forty-fifth  of  the  Rite 
of  Mizraim. 

Prince  of  Lebanon.  See  Knight 
of  the  Royal  Axe. 

Prince  of  Libanus.  Another  title 
for  Prince  of  Lebanon. 

Prince  of  Mercy.  {Prince  du  Merci.) 
The  twenty-sixth  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  called  also 
Scottish  Trinitarian  or  Ecossais  Trinitaire.  It 
is  one  of  the  eight  degrees  which  were 
added  on  the  organization  of  the  Scottish 
Rite  to  the  original  twenty-five  of  the  Rite 
of  Perfection. 

It  is  a  Christian  degree  in  its  construc- 
tion, and  treats  of  the  triple  covenant  of 
mercy  which  God  made  with  man;  first 
with  Abraham  by  circumcision ;  next, 
with  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness,  by 
the  intermediation  of  Moses;  and  lastly, 
with  all  mankind,  by  the  death  and  suffer- 
ings of  Jesus  Christ.     It  is  in  allusion  to 


these  three  acts  of  mercy,  that  the  degree  de- 
rives its  two  names  of  Scottish  Trinitarian 
and  Prince  of  Mercy,  and  not,  as  Ragon 
supposes,  from  any  reference  to  the  Fathers 
of  Mercy,  a  religious  society  formerly  en- 
gaged in  the  ransoming  of  Christian  cap- 
tives at  Algiers.  Chemin  Dupontes  {Mem. 
Sur  VEco8S,  p.  373,)  says  that  the  Scottish 
rituals  of  the  degree  are  too  full  of  the 
Hermetic  philosophy,  an  error  from  which 
the  French  Cahiers  are  exempt;  and  he  con- 
demns much  of  its  doctrines  as  "  hyper- 
bolique  plaisanterie."  But  the  modern 
rituals  as  now  practised  are  obnoxious  to 
no  such  objection.  The  symbolic  develop- 
ment of  the  number  three  of  course  consti- 
tutes a  large  part  of  its  lecture ;  but  the  real 
dogma  of  the  degree  is  the  importance  of 
Truth,  and  to  this  all  its  ceremonies  are 
directed. 

Bodies  of  the  degree  are  called  Chapters. 
The  presiding  officer  is  called  Most  Excel- 
lent Chief  Prince,  the  Wardens  are  styled 
Excellent.  In  the  old  rituals  these  officers 
represented  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Eleazar; 
but  the  abandonment  of  these  personations 
in  the  modern  rituals  is,  I  think,  an  im- 
provement. The  apron  is  red  bordered 
with  white,  and  the  jewel,  an  equilateral 
triangle,  within  which  is  a  heart.  This 
was  formerly  inscribed  with  the  Hebrew 
letter  tau,  now  with  the  letters  I.  H.  S. ; 
and,  to  add  to  the  Christianization  which 
these  letters  give  to  the  degree,  the  Ameri- 
can Councils  have  adopted  a  tessera  in  the 
form  of  a  small  fish  of  ivory  or  mother  of 
pearl,  in  allusion  to  the  well-known  usage 
of  the  primitive  Christians. 

Prince  of  Rose  Croix.  See  Rose 
Croix,  Prince  of. 

Prince  of  tbe  Captivity.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Talmudists,  the  Jews,  while 
in  captivity  at  Babylon,  kept  a  genealogi- 
cal table  of  the  line  of  their  kings,  and  he 
who  was  the  rightful  heir  of  the  throne  of 
Israel  was  called  the  Head  or  Prince  of  the 
Captivity.  At  the  time  of  the  restoration, 
Zerubbabel,  being  the  lineal  descendant  of 
Solomon,  was  the  Prince  of  the  Captivity. 

Prince  of  tbe  East,  Grand. 
{Grand  Prince  d' Orient.)  A  degree  in  the 
collection  of  Le  Page. 

Prince  of  the  ]Levites.  {Prince 
des  Levites.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of 
the  Lodge  of  Saint  Louis  des  Amis  Reunis 
at  Calais. 

Prince  of  tbe  Royal  Secret. 
See  Sublime  Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret. 

Prince  of  tbe  Seven  Planets, 
Illustrious  Grand.  {Illustre  Grand 
Prince  des  sept  Planetes.)  A  degree  in  the 
manuscript  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Prince  of  tbe  Tabernacle. 
( Prince  du  Tabernacle. )     The  twenty-fourth 


606 


PRINCESS 


PRINTED 


degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite.  In  the  old  rituals  the  degree 
was  intended  to  illustrate  the  directions 
given  for  the  building  of  the  tabernacle, 
the  particulars  of  which  are  recorded  in 
the  twenty- fifth  chapter  of  Exodus.  The 
Lodge  is  called  a  Hierarchy,  and  its  officers 
are  a  Most  Powerful  Chief  Prince,  repre- 
senting Moses,  and  three  Wardens,  whose 
style  is  Powerful,  and  who  respectively  rep- 
resent Aaron,  Bezaleel,  and  Aholiab.  In 
the  modern  rituals  of  the  United  States, 
the  three  principal  officers  are  called  the 
Leader,  the  High  Priest,  and  the  Priest, 
and  respectively  represent  Moses,  Aaron, 
and  Ithamar,  his  son.  The  ritual  is  greatly 
enlarged ;  and  while  the  main  idea  of  the 
degree  is  retained,  the  ceremonies  represent 
the  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  the 
Mosaic  tabernacle. 

The  jewel  is  the  letter  A,  in  gold,  sus- 
pended from  a  broad  crimson  ribbon.  The 
apron  is  white,  lined  with  scarlet  and  bor- 
dered with  green.  The  flap  is  sky-blue. 
On  the  apron  is  depicted  a  representation 
of  the  tabernacle. 

This  degree  appears  to  be  peculiar  to  the 
Scottish  Rite  and  its  modifications.  I 
have  not  met  with  it  in  any  of  the  other 
Rites. 

Princess  of  the  Crown.  (Prin- 
cesse  de  la  Couronne.)  The  tenth  and  last 
degree  of  the  Masonry  of  Adoption  accord- 
ing to  the  French  regime.  The  degree, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  composed  in 
Saxony,  in  1770,  represents  the  reception 
of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  by  King  Solomon. 
The  Grand  Master  and  Grand  Mistress  per- 
sonate Solomon  and  his  wife,  (which  one, 
the  Cahier  does  not  say,)  and  the  recipien- 
dary  plays  the  part  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba. 
The  degree,  says  Ragon,  ( Tail.  Gen.,  p.  78,) 
is  not  initiatory,  but  simply  honorary. 

Principal  Officers.  The  number 
three,  as  a  sacred  number  in  the  Masonic 
system,  is,  among  many  other  ways,  devel- 
oped in  the  fact  that  in  all  Masonic  bodies 
there,  are  three  principal  officers. 

Principals.  The  three  presiding  offi- 
cers in  a  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons, 
according  to  the  system  practised  in  Eng- 
land, are  called  the  Three  Principals,  or 
King,  Prophet,  and  Priest,  and,  under  the 
titles  of  Z.,  H.,  and  J.,  represent  Zerubba- 
bel,  Haggai,  and  Joshua.  No  person  is 
eligible  to  the  First  Principal's  chair  unless 
he  has  served  twelve  months  in  each  of 
the  others;  and  he  must  also  be  the  Master 
or  Past  Master  of  a  Lodge,  and  have  served 
in  the  Chapter  the  office  of  Scribe,  So- 
journer, or  Assistant  Sojourner.  At  his 
installation,  each  of  the  Principals  receives 
an  installing  degree  like  that  of  the  Master 
of  a  Blue  Lodge.    There  is,  however,  no 


resemblance  between  any  of  these  degrees 
and  the  order  of  High  Priesthood  which 
is  conferred  in  this  country. 

The  presiding  officers  of  the  Grand  Chap- 
ter are  called  Grand  Principals,  and  repre- 
sent the  same  personages. 

The  official  jewel  of  Z  is  a  crown ;  of  H, 
an  All -seeing  eye ;  and  of  J,  a  book,  each 
surrounded  by  a  nimbus,  or  rays  of  glory, 
and  placed  within  an  equilateral  triangle. 

Principal  Sojourner.  The  He- 
brew word  *"|J,  ger,  which  we  translate  "  a 
sojourner,"  signifies  a  man  living  out  of  his 
own  country,  and  is  used  in  this  sense 
throughout  the  Old  Testament.  The  chil- 
dren of  Israel  were,  therefore,  during  the 
captivity,  sojourners  in  Babylon,  and  the 
person  who  is  represented  by  this  officer, 
performed,  as  the  incidents  of  the  degree 
relate,  an  important  part  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Israelites  to  Jerusalem.  He  was 
the  spokesman  and  leader  of  a  party  of 
three  sojourners,  and  is,  therefore,  emphat- 
ically called  the  chief,  or  principal  so- 
journer. 

In  the  English  Royal  Arch  system  there 
are  three  officers  called  Sojourners.  But  in 
the  American  system  the  three  historical 
sojourners  are  represented  by  the  candi- 
dates, while  only  the  supposed  chief  of 
them  is  represented  by  an  officer  called  the 
Principal  Sojourner.  His  duties  are  those 
of  a  conductor,  and  resemble,  in  some  re- 
spects, those  of  a  Senior  Deacon  in  a  Sym- 
bolic Lodge;  which  office,  indeed,  he  occu- 
pies when  the  Chapter  is  open  on  any  of 
the  preliminary  degrees. 

Printed  Proceedings.  In  1741, 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  adopted  a 
regulation,  which  Entick  (Const.,  p.  236,) 
is  careful  to  tell  us,  "was  unanimously 
agreed  to,"  forbidding  any  brother  "to 
print,  or  cause  to  be  printed,  the  proceed- 
ings of  any  Lodge  or  any  part  thereof,  or 
the  names  of  the  persons  present  at  such 
Lodge,  but  by  the  direction  of  the  Grand 
Master  or  his  deputy,  under  pain  of  being 
disowned  for  a  brother,  and  not  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  any  Quarterly  Communication 
or  Grand  Lodge,  or  any  Lodge  whatsoever, 
and  of  being  rendered  incapable  of  bearing 
any  office  in  the  Craft."  The  law  has 
never  been  repealed,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
its  unfortunate  spirit  of  unnecessary  reti- 
cence has  been  extended,  so  that  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  never  publishes  any  rec- 
ord of  its  transactions ;  and  the  Craft  would 
be  left  in  ignorance  of  everything  in  which 
it  is  so  much  interested,  as  the  legislation 
of  the  Order,  and  the  discussions  in  its 
parliament,  were  it  not  for  the  enterprise 
of  unofficial  reporters.  The  Grand  Lodges 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland  have  followed  the 
same  course.    A  different  one  is  jpursued 


PRIOR 


PROCESSIONS 


607 


by  most  of  the  Grand  Lodges  of  the  world. 
Bulletins  are  published  at  stated  intervals 
by  the  Grand  Orients  of  France,  Italy,  and 
Portugal,  and  by  nearly  all  those  of  South 
America.  In  the  United  States,  every 
Grand  Lodge  publishes  annually  the  jour- 
nal of  its  proceedings,  and  many  subordi- 
nate Lodges  print  the  account  of  any 
special  meeting  held  on  an  important  or 
interesting  occasion. 

Prior.  1.  The  superiors  of  the  differ- 
ent nations  or  provinces  into  which  the 
Order  of  the  Templar  was  divided,  were 
at  first  called  Priors  or  Grand  Priors,  and 
afterwards  Preceptors  or  Grand  Preceptors. 

2.  Each  of  the  languages  of  the  Order 
of  Malta  was  divided  into  Grand  Priories, 
of  which  there  were  twenty-six,  over  which 
a  Grand  Prior  presided.  Under  him  were 
several  Commanderies. 

3.  The  second  officer  in  a  Council  of  Ka- 
dosh,  under  the  Supreme  Council  for  the 
Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

4.  The  Grand  Prior  is  the  third  officer 
in  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite  for  the  Southern 
Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

Prior,  Grand.    See  Grand  Prior. 

Priory.  The  jurisdiction  of  a  Grand 
Prior  in  the  Order  of  Malta  or  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem. 

Prison.  A  Lodge  having  been  held 
in  1782,  in  the  King's  Bench  prison,  Lon- 
don, the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  passed 
a  resolution  declaring  that  "  it  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  principles  of  Masonry 
for  any  Freemason's  Lodge  to  be  held  for 
the  purposes  of  making,  passing,  or  raising 
Masons  in  any  prison  or  place  of  confine- 
ment." The  resolution  is  founded  on  the 
principle  that  there  must  be  perfect  freedom 
of  action  in  all  that  relates  to  the  admis- 
sion of  candidates,  and  that  this  freedom 
is  not  consistent  with  the  necessary  re- 
straints of  a  prison. 

Private  Committee.  See  Commit- 
tee, Private. 

Privileged  Questions.  In  parlia- 
mentary law,  privileged  questions  are  de- 
fined to  be  those  to  which  precedence  is 
given  over  all  other  questions.  They  are 
of  four  kinds:  1.  Those  which  relate  to  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  assembly  or  any 
of  its  members.  2.  Motions  for  adjourn- 
ment. 3.  Motions  for  reconsideration.  4. 
Special  orders  of  the  day.  The  first,  third, 
and  fourth  only  are  applicable  to  Masonic 
parliamentary  law. 

Privilege,  Questions  of.  In  all 
parliamentary  or  legislative  bodies,  there 
occur  certain  questions  which  relate  to 
matters  affecting  the  dignity  of  the  assem- 
bly or  the  rights  and  privileges  of  some  of 
its  members,  and  these  are  hence  called 


"  questions  of  privilege; "  such,  for  instance, 
are  motions  arising  out  of  or  having  rela- 
tion to  a  quarrel  between  two  of  the  mem- 
bers, an  assault  upon  any  member,  charges 
affecting  the  integrity  of  the  assembly  or 
any  of  its  members,  or  any  other  matters 
of  a  similar  character.  Questions  referring 
to  any  of  these  matters  take  precedence  of 
all  other  business,  and  hence  are  always  in 
order.  These  questions  of  privilege  are 
not  to  be  confounded  with  privileged  ques- 
tions ;  for,  although  all  questions  of  privi- 
lege are  privileged  questions,  all  privileged 
questions  are  not  questions  of  privilege. 
Strictly  speaking,  questions  of  privilege  re- 
late to  the  house  or  its  members,  and 
Erivileged  questions  relate  to  matters  of 
usiness.  See  the  author's  Parliamentary 
Law,  as  applied  to  the  Government  of  Ma- 
sonic Bodies,  ch.  xxiv.,  xxv. 

Probation.  The  interval  between  the 
reception  of  one  degree  and  the  succeed- 
ing one  is  called  the  probation  of  the  can- 
didate, because  it  is  during  this  period  that 
he  is  to  prove  his  qualification  for  advance- 
ment. In  England  and  in  this  country  the 
time  of  probation  between  the  reception  of 
degrees  is  four  weeks,  to  which  is  generally 
added  the  further  safeguard  of  an  open 
examination  in  the  preceding  degree.  In 
France  and  Germany  the  probation  is  ex- 
tended to  one  year.  The  time  is  greatly 
extended  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite.  The  statutes  of  the  Southern 
Supreme  Council  require  an  interval  of  two 
years  to  be  passed  between  the  reception  of 
the  fourteenth  and  the  thirty-second  de- 
grees. An  extraordinary  rule  prevailed 
in  the  Constitutions  of  1762,  by  which  the 
Rite  of  Perfection  was  governed.  Accord- 
ing to  this  rule,  a  candidate  was  required 
to  pass  a  probation,  from  the  time  of  his 
application  as  an  Entered  Apprentice  until 
his  reception  of  the  twenty-fifth  or  ulti- 
mate degree  of  the  Rite,  of  no  less  than  six 
years  and  nine  months.  But  as  all  the 
separate  times  of  probation  depended  on 
symbolic  numbers,  it  is  not  to  be  presumed 
that  this  regulation  was  ever  practically 
enforced. 

Problem,  Forty  -  Seventh.  See 
Forty-Seventh  Problem. 

Processions.  Public  processions  of 
the  Order,  although  not  as  popular  as  they 
were  some  years  ago,  still  have  the  warrant 
of  early  and  long  usage.  The  first  proces- 
sion, after  the  revival,  of  which  we  nave  a 
record,  took  place  June  24,  1721,  when,  as 
Anderson  tells  us,  (2d  ed.,  p.  112,)  "  Payne, 
the  Grand  Master,  with  his  Wardens,  the 
former  Grand  officers,  and  the  Masters  and 
Wardens  of  twelve  Lodges,  met  the  Grand 
Master  elect  in  a  Grand  Lodge  at  the 
King's  Arms  Tavern,  St.  Paul's  Church- 


608 


PROCESSIONS 


PROCLAMATION 


yard,  in  the  morning,  ....  and  from 
thence  they  marched  on  foot  to  the  Hall  in 
proper  clothing  and  due  form."  Anderson 
and  Entick  continue  to  record  the  annual 
processions  of  the  Grand  Lodge  and  the 
Craft  on  the  feast  day,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, for  the  next  twenty -five  years ;  but 
after  this  first  pedestrian  procession  all  the 
subsequent  ones  were  made  in  carriages,  the 
unvaried  record  being,  "a  procession  of 
march  was  made  in  coaches  and  carriages." 
But  ridicule  being  thrown  by  the  enemies 
of  the  Order  upon  these  processions,  by  a 
mock  one  in  1747,  (see  Scald  Miserables,) 
in  that  vear  the  Grand  Lodge  unanimously 
resolved  to  discontinue  them,  nor  have  they 
since  been  renewed. 

In  this  country,  public  processions  of  the 
Craft  were  some  years  ago  very  common, 
nor  have  they  yet  been  altogether  aban- 
doned ;  although  now  practised  with  greater 
discretion  and  less  frequently,  being  in 
general  restricted  to  special  occasions  of 
importance,  such  as  funerals,  the  laying  of 
corner-stones,  or  the  dedication  of  public 
edifices. 

The  question  has  been  often  mooted, 
whether  public  processions,  with  the  open 
exhibition  of  its  regalia  and  furniture,  are 
or  are  not  of  advantage  to  the  Order.  In 
1747  it  was  thought  not  to  be  so,  at  least  in 
London,  but  the  custom  was  continued,  to 
a  great  extent,  in  the  provinces.  Dr.  Oli- 
ver was  in  favor  of  what  he  calls  {Symb.  of 
Glory,)  "the  good  old  custom,  so  strongly 
recommended  and  assiduously  practised  by 
the  Masonic  worthies  of  the  last  century, 
and  imitated  by  many  other  public  bodies 
of  men,  of  assembling  the  brethren  of  a 
province  annually  under  their  own  banner, 
and  marching  in  solemn  procession  to  the 
house  of  God,  to  offer  up  their  thanksgiving 
in  the  public  congregation  for  the  blessings 
of  the  preceding  year ;  to  pray  for  mercies 
in  prospect,  and  to  hear  from  the  pulpit  a 
disquisition  on  the  moral  and  religious  pur- 
poses of  the  Order." 

I  confess  that  I  should  share  the  regrets 
of  the  venerated  Oliver,  were  public  pro- 
cessions of  the  Order  in  this  country  to  be 
discontinued.  I  have  heard  no  arguments 
against  them  which  outweigh  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  from  the  impression 
made  on  the  minds  of  the  spectators,  and  the 
wholesome  influence  exerted  on  the  mem- 
bers of  the  brotherhood  who  thus  assemble 
to  pay  honor  to  their  Order. 

Processions  are  not  peculiar  to  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity.  The  custom  comes  to  us 
from  remote  antiquity.  In  the  initiations 
at  Eleusis,  the  celebration  of  the  Mysteries 
was  accompanied  each  day  by  a  solemn 
procession  of  the  initiates  from  Athens  to 
the  temple  of  initiation.  Apuleius  describes 


the  same  custom  as  prevailing  in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Mysteries  of  Isis.  Among 
the  early  Romans,  it  was  the  custom,  in 
times  of  public  triumph  or  distress,  to  have 
solemn  processions  to  the  temples,  either  to 
thank  the  gods  for  their  favor  or  to  invoke 
their  protection.  The  Jews  also  went  in 
procession  to  the  Temple  to  offer  up  their 
prayers.  So,  too,  the  primitive  Christians 
walked  in  procession  to  the  tombs  of  the 
martyrs.  Ecclesiastical  processions  were 
first  introduced  in  the  fourth  century. 
They  are  now  used  in  the  Catholic  Church 
on  various  occasions,  and  the  Pontificate 
Romanum  supplies  the  necessary  ritual  for 
their  observance.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
these  processions  were  often  carried  to  an 
absurd  extent.  Polydore  describes  them  as 
consisting  of  "  ridiculous  contrivances,  of  a 
figure  with  a  great  gaping  mouth,  and  other 
pieces  of  merriment."  But  these  displays 
were  abandoned  with  the  increasing  refine- 
ment of  the  age.  At  this  day,  processions 
are  common  in  all  countries,  not  only  of 
religious  confraternities,  but  of  political 
and  social  societies. 

There  are  processions  also  in  Masonry 
which  are  confined  to  the  internal  concerns 
of  the  Order,  and  are  not  therefore  of  a 
public  nature.  The  procession  "  round  the 
Hall,"  at  the  installation  of  the  Grand 
Master,  is  first  mentioned  in  1721.  Pre- 
vious to  that  year  there  is  no  allusion  to 
any  such  ceremony.  From  1717  to  1720 
we  are  simply  told  that  the  new  Grand 
Master  "  was  saluted,"  and  that  he  was 
"  homaged,"  or  that  "  his  health  was  drunk 
in  due  form."  But  in  1721  a  processional 
ceremony  seems  to  have  been  composed,  for 
in  that  year  we  are  informed  ( Const.  1738, 
p.  113,)  that  "Brother  Payne,  the  old 
Grand  Master,  made  the  first  procession 
round  the  Hall,  and  when  returned,  he  pro- 
claimed aloud  the  most  noble  prince  and 
our  brother."  This  procession  was  not 
abolished  with  the  public  processions  in 
1747,  but  continued  for  many  years  after- 
wards; although  I  think  not  now  used  in 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  In  this 
country  it  gave  rise  to  the  procession  at  the 
installation  of  Masters,  which,  although 
provided  for  by  the  ritual,  and  practised  by 
most  Lodges  until  very  recently,  has  been 
too  often  neglected  by  many.  The  form 
of  the  procession,  as  adopted  in  1724,  is 
given  by  Anderson,  (second  edition,  p. 
117,)  and  is  almost  precisely  the  same  as 
that  used  in  all  Masonic  processions  at  the 
present  day,  except  funeral  ones.  The  rule 
was  then  adopted,  which  has  ever  since  pre- 
vailed, that  in  all  processions  the  juniors 
in  degree  and  in  office  shall  go  first,  so  that 
the  place  of  honor  shall  be  the  rear. 

Proclamation.    At  the  installation 


PROCLAMATION 


PROFICIENCY 


609 


of  the  officers  of  a  Lodge,  or  any  other  Ma- 
sonic body,  and  especially  a  Grand  Lodge 
or  Grand  Chapter,  proclamation  is  made  in 
a  Lodge  or  Chapter  by  the  installing  officer, 
and  in  a  Grand  Lodge  or  Grand  Chapter 
by  the  Grand  Marshal.  Proclamation  is 
also  made  on  some  other  occasions,  and  on 
such  occasions  the  Grand  Marshal  per- 
forms the  duty. 

Proclamation  of  Cyrus.  A  cere- 
mony in  the  American  Royal  Arch.  We 
learn  from  Scripture  that  in  the  first  year 
of  Cyrus,  the  king  of  Persia,  the  captivity 
of  the  Jews  was  terminated.  Cyrus,  from 
his  conversations  with  Daniel  and  the 
other  Jewish  captives  of  learning  and  piety, 
as  well  as  from  his  perusal  of  their  sacred ' 
books,  more  especially  tho  prophecies  of 
Isaiah,  had  become  imbued  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  true  religion,  and  hence  had  even 
publicly  announced  to  his  subjects  his  be- 
lief in  the  God  "  which  the  nation  of  the 
Israelites  worshipped."  He  was  conse- 
quently impressed  with  an  earnest  desire 
to  fulfil  the  prophetic  declarations  of 
which  he  was  the  subject,  and  to  rebuild 
the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  Accordingly,  he 
issued  a  proclamation,  which  we  find  in 
Ezra,  as  follows : 

"  Thus  saith  Cyrus,  King  of  Persia,  The 
Lord  God  of  heaven  hath  given  me  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth ;  and  he  hath  charged 
me  to  build  him  a  house  at  Jerusalem, 
which  is  in  Judea.  Who  is  there  among 
you  of  all  his  people  ?  his  God  be  with  him, 
and  let  him  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  which  is 
in  Judea,  and  build  the  house  of  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  (he  is  the  God,)  which  is  in 
Jerusalem." 

With  the  publication  of  this  proclama- 
tion of  Cyrus  commences  what  may  be 
called  the  second  part  of  the  Royal  Arch 
degree. 

Profane.  There  is  no  word  whose 
technical  and  proper  meaning  diners  more 
than  this.  In  its  ordinary  use  profane  sig- 
nifies one  who  is  irreligious  and  irreverent, 
but  in  its  technical  adaptation  it  is  applied 
to  one  who  is  ignorant  of  sacred  rites.  The 
word  is  compounded  of  the  two  Latin  words 
pro  and  fanum,  and  literally  means  before 
or  outside  of  the  temple ;  and  hence  a  pro- 
fanus  among  the  ancients  was  one  who  was 
not  allowed  to  enter  the  temple  and  be- 
hold the  mysteries.  "  Those,"  says  Vos- 
sius,  "  were  called  profane  who  were  not 
initiated  in  the  sacred  rites,  but  to  whom 
it  was  allowed  only  to  stand  before  the 
temple — profano  —  not  to  enter  it  and 
take  part  in  the  solemnities."  The  Greek 
equivalent,  BiffyXof,  had  a  similar  reference; 
for  its  root  is  found  in  BqMg,  a  threshold, 
as  if  it  denoted  one  who  was  not  permitted 
to  pass  the  threshold  of  the  temple.  In 
4  B  39 


the  celebrated  hymn  of  Orpheus,  which  it 
is  said  was  sung  at  the  Mysteries  of  Eleusis, 
we  meet  with  this  phrase,  ^dey^o/iai  olg  Qe/uig 
earl  Qv/mg  d'tru  Qeaffe  Beflq/Mtg,  "  I  speak  to 
those  to  whom  it  is  lawful,  but  let  the  doors 
be  closed  against  the  profane."  When  the 
mysteries  were  about  to  begin,  the  Greeks 
used  the  solemn  formula,  kdf,  snag,  iart  Be- 
fir/M ;  and  the  Romans,  "  Procul,  O  procul 
este  profani,"  both  meaning,  "  Depart,  de- 
part, ye  profane ! "  Hence  the  original 
and  inoffensive  signification  of  profane  is 
that  of  being  uninitiated ;  and  it  is  in  this 
sense  that  it  is  used  in  Masonry,  simply  to 
designate  one  who  has  not  been  initiated 
as  a  Mason.  The  word  profane  is  not  re- 
cognized as  a  noun  substantive,  in  the  gen- 
eral usage  of  the  language,  but  it  has  been 
adopted  as  a  technical  term  in  the  dialect 
of  Freemasonry,  in  the  same  relative  sense 
in  which  the  word  layman  is  used  in  the 
professions  of  law  and  divinity. 

Proficiency.  The  necessity  that  any 
one  who  devotes  himself  to  the  acquisition 
of  a  science  should  become  a  proficient  in 
its  elementary  instructions  before  he  can 
expect  to  grasp  and  comprehend  its  higher 
branches,  is  so  almost  self-evident  as  to 
need  no  argument.  But  as  Speculative 
Masonry  is  a  science,  it  is  equally  necessary 
that  a  requisite  qualification  for  admission 
to  a  higher  degree  should  be  a  suitable  pro- 
ficiency in  the  preceding  one.  It  is  true, 
that  we  do  not  find  in  express  words  in  the 
Old  Constitutions  any  regulations  requir- 
ing proficiency  as  preliminary  to  advance- 
ment, but  their  whole  spirit  is  evidently  to 
that  effect;  and  hence  we  find  it  prescribed 
in  the  Old  Constitutions,  that  no  Master 
shall  take  an  apprentice  for  less  than  seven 
years,  because  it  was  expected  that  he 
should  acquire  a  competent  knowledge  of 
the  mystery  before  he  could  be  admitted  as 
a  Fellow.  The  modern  Constitution  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  provides  that  no 
Lodge  shall  confer  a  higher  degree  on  any 
brother  until  he  has  passed  an  examination 
in  open  Lodge  on  the  preceding  degrees, 
and  many,  perhaps  most,  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  this  country  have  adopted  a  sim- 
ilar regulation.  The  ritual  of  all  the  sym- 
bolic degrees,  and,  indeed,  of  the  higher 
degrees,  and  that  too  in  all  rites,  makes 
the  imperative  demand  of  every  candidate 
whether  he  has  made  suitable  proficiency 
in  the  preceding  degree,  an  affirmative  an- 
swer to  which  is  required  before  the  rites 
of  initiation  can  be  proceeded  with.  This 
answer  is,  according  to  the  ritual,  that  "  he 
has ; "  but  some  Masons  have  sought  to 
evade  the  consequence  of  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  ignorance  and  want  of  proficiency 
by  a  change  of  the  language  of  the  ritual 
into    "such   as    time    and    circumstances 


610 


PRO 


PROGRESSIVE 


would  permit."  But  this  is  an  innovation, 
unsanctioned  by  any  authority,  and  should 
be  repudiated.  If  the  candidate  has  not 
made  proper  proficiency,  the  ritual,  outside 
of  all  statutory  regulations,  refuses  him 
advancement. 

Anderson,  in  the  second  edition  of  his 
Constitutions,  (p.  71,)  cites  what  he  calls 
"an  old  record,"  which  says  that  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  the  Third  of  England  it 
was  ordained  "  that  such  as  were  to  be  ad- 
mitted Master  Masons,  or  Masters  of  work, 
should  be  examined  whether  they  be  able 
of  cunning  to  serve  their  respective  Lords, 
as  well  the  lowest  as  the  highest,  to  the 
honor  and  worship  of  the  aforesaid  art,  and 
to  the  profiW)f  their  Lords." 

Here,  then,  we  may  see  the  origin  of  that 
usage,  which  is  still  practised  in  every  well 
governed  Lodge,  not  only  of  demanding  a 
proper  degree  of  proficiency  in  the  candi- 
date, but  also  of  testing  that  proficiency  by 
an  examination. 

This  cautious  and  honest  fear  of  the  Fra- 
ternity lest  any  brother  should  assume  the 
duties  of  a  position  which  he  could  not 
faithfully  discharge,  and  which  is,  in  our 
time,  tantamount  to  a  candidate's  advanc- 
ing to  a  degree  for  which  he  is  not  pre- 
pared, is  again  exhibited  in  all  the  Old 
Constitutions.  Thus  in  the  Landsdowne 
Manuscript,  whose  date  is  referred  to  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  is 
charged  "  that  no  Mason  take  on  him  no 
Lord's  work,  nor  other  man's,  but  if  [un- 
less] he  know  himself  well  able  to  perform 
the  work,  so  that  the  Craft  have  no  slander." 
The  same  regulation,  and  almost  in  the 
same  language,  is  to  be  found  in  all  the 
subsequent  manuscripts. 

In  the  Charges  of  1722,  it  is  directed 
that  "  a  younger  brother  shall  be  instructed 
in  working,  to  prevent  spoiling  the  mate- 
rials for  want  of  judgment,  and  for  improv- 
ing and  continuing  of  brotherly  love."  It 
was,  with  the  same  view,  that  all  of  the 
Old  Constitutions  made  it  imperative  that 
no  Master  should  take  an  apprentice  for 
less  than  seven  years,  because  it  was  ex- 
pected that  he  should  acquire  a  competent 
knowledge  of  the  mystery  of  the  Craft  be- 
fore he  could  be  admitted  as  a  Fellow. 

Notwithstanding  these  charges  had  a 
more  particular  reference  to  the  operative 
part  of  the  art,  they  clearly  show  the  great 
stress  that  was  placed  by  our  ancient  breth- 
ren upon  the  necessity  of  skill  and  pro- 
ficiency ;  and  they  have  furnished  the  pre- 
cedents upon  which  are  based  all  the  simi- 
lar regulations  that  have  been  subsequently 
applied  to  Speculative  Masonry. 

Pro  Grand  Master.  An  officer 
known  only  to  the  English  system,  and 
adopted  for  the  first  time  in  1782,  when,  on 


the  election  of  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  to 
the  office  of  Grand  Master,  a  regulation 
was  adopted  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land, that  whenever  a  prince  of  the  blood 
accepted  the  office  of  Grand  Master,  he 
should  be  at  liberty  to  nominate  any  peer 
of  the  realm  to  be  the  Acting  Grand  Mas- 
ter, and  to  this  officer  is  given  the  title  of 
Pro  Grand  Master.  He  must  be  a  noble- 
man and  a  Past  Master.  His  collar,  jewel, 
and  authority  are  the  same  as  those  of  a 
Grand  Master,  and  in  the  case  of  a  vacancy 
he  actually  assumes  the  office  until  the 
next  annual  election.  There  has  been  no 
Pro  Grand  Master  in  England  since  the 
death  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  in  1843,  when 
the  Earl  of  Zetland,  who  was  then  the 
Pro  Grand  Master,  assumed  the  chair,  and 
at  the  next  annual  election  was  chosen 
Grand  Master. 

Progressive  Masonry.  Freema- 
sonry is  undoubtedly  a  progressive  science, 
and  yet  the  fundamental  principles  of  Free- 
masonry are  the  same  now  as  they  were  at 
the  very  beginning  of  the  Institution.  Its 
landmarks  are  unchangeable.  In  these 
there  can  be  no  alteration,  no  diminution, 
nor  addition.  When,  therefore,  we  say 
that  Freemasonry  is  progressive  in  its 
character,  we  of  course  do  not  mean  to 
allude  to  this  unalterable  part  of  its  con- 
stitution. But  there  is  a  progress  which 
every  science  must  undergo,  and  which 
many  of  them  have  already  undergone,  to 
which  the  science  of  Freemasonry  is  sub- 
ject. Thus  we  say  of  chemistry  that  it  is 
a  progressive  science.  Two  hundred  years 
ago,  all  its  principles,  so  far  as  they  were 
known,  were  directed  to  such  futile  in- 
quiries as  the  philosopher's  stone  and  the 
elixir  of  immortality.  Now  these  princi- 
ples have  become  more  thoroughly  under- 
stood, and  more  definitely  established,  and 
the  object  of  their  application  is  more 
noble  and  philosophic.  The  writings 
of  the  chemists  of  the  former  and  the 
present  period  sufficiently  indicate  this 
progress  of  the  science.  And  yet  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  chemistry  are  un- 
changeable. Its  truths  were  the  same  then 
as  they  are  now.  Some  of  them  were  at 
that  time  unknown,  because  no  mind  of 
sufficient  research  had  discovered  them ; 
but  they  existed  as  truths,  from  the  very 
creation  of  matter;  and  now  they  have 
only  been  developed,  not  invented. 

So  it  is  with  Freemasonry.  It  too  has 
had  its  progress.  Masons  are  now  expected 
to  be  more  learned  than  formerly  in  all 
that  relates  to  the  science  of  the  Order. 
Its  origin,  its  history,  its  objects,  are  now 
considered  worthy  of  the  attentive  con- 
sideration of  its  disciples.  The  rational 
explanation  of  its  ceremonies  and  symbols, 


PROMISE 


PROOFS 


611 


and  their  connection  with  ancient  systems 
of  religion  and  philosophy,  are  now  con- 
sidered as  necessary  topics  of  inquiry  for  all 
who  desire  to  distinguish  themselves  as  pro- 
ficients in  Masonic  science. 

In  all  these  things  we  see  a  great  differ- 
ence between  the  Masons  of  the  present 
and  of  former  days.  In  Europe,  a  century 
ago,  such  inquiries  were  considered  as 
legitimate  subjects  of  Masonic  study. 
Hutchinson  published  in  1760,  in  England, 
his  admirable  work  entitled  The  Spirit  of 
Freemasonry,  in  which  the  deep  philosophy 
of  the  Institution  was  fairly  developed  with 
much  learning  and  ingenuity.  Preston's 
Illustrations  of  Masonry,  printed  at  a  not 
much  later  period,  also  exhibit  the  system 
treated,  in  many  places,  in  a  philosophical 
manner.  Lawrie's  History  of  Freemasonry, 
published  in  Scotland  about  the  end  of 
the  last  century,  is  a  work  containing  much 
profound  historical  and  antiquarian  re- 
search. And  in  the  present  century,  the 
works  of  Oliver  alone  would  be  sufficient 
to  demonstrate  to  the  most  cursory  ob- 
server that  Freemasonry  has  a  claim  to  be 
ranked  among  the  learned  institutions  of 
the  day.  In  Germany  and  France,  the 
press  has  been  borne  down  with  the  weight 
of  abstruse  works  on  our  Order,  written  by 
men  of  the  highest  literary  pretensions. 

In  this  country,  notwithstanding  the 
really  excellent  work  of  Salem  Town  on 
Speculative  Masonry,  published  in  1818, 
and  the  learned  Discourses  of  Dr.  T.  M. 
Harris,  published  in  1801,  it  is  only  within 
a  few  years  that  Masonry  has  begun  to  as- 
sume the  exalted  position  of  a  literary  in- 
stitution, in  which  the  labors  of  our  trans- 
atlantic brethren  had  long  ago  placed  it. 

Promise.  In  entering  into  the  cov- 
enant of  Masonry,  the  candidate  makes  a 
promise  to  the  Order ;  for  his  covenant  is 
simply  a  promise  where  he  voluntarily 
places  himself  under  a  moral  obligation  to 
act  within  certain  conditions  in  a  particu- 
lar way.  The  law  of  promise  is,  therefore, 
strictly  applicable  to  this  covenant,  and  by 
that  law  the  validity  and  obligation  of  the 
promises  of  every  candidate  must  be  deter- 
mined. In  every  promise  there  are  two 
things  to  be  considered:  the  intention  and 
the  obligation.  As  to  the  intention:  of  all 
casuists,  the  Jesuits  alone  have  contended 
that  the  intention  may  be  concealed  within 
the  bosom  of  the  promiser.  Every  Chris- 
tian and  Pagan  writer  agree  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  words  expressed  must  convey 
their  ordinary  meaning  to  the  promisee. 
If  I  promise  to  do  a  certain  thing  to-mor- 
row, I  cannot,  when  the  morrow  comes, 
refuse  to  do  it  on  the  ground  that  I  only 
promised  to  do  it  if  it  suited  me  when  the 
time  of  performance  had  arrived.     The 


obligation  of  every  promiser  is,  then,  to 
fulfil  the  promise  that  he  has  made,  not  in 
any  way  that  he  may  have  secretly  in- 
tended, but  in  the  way  in  which  lie  sup- 
poses that  the  one  to  whom  he  made  it 
understood  it  at  the  time  that  it  was  made. 
Hence  all  Masonic  promises  are  accompa- 
nied by  the  declaration  that  they  are  given 
without  equivocation  or  mental  reservation 
of  any  kind  whatsoever. 

All  voluntary  promises  are  binding,  un- 
less there  be  some  paramount  consideration 
which  will  release  the  obligation  of  per- 
formance. -It  is  worth  while,  then,  to  in- 
quire if  there  be  any  such  considerations 
which  can  impair  the  validity  of  Masonic 
promises.  Dr.  Way  laud  (Elem.  of  Mor.  Sci- 
ence, p.  285,)  lays  down  five  conditions  in 
which  promises  are  not  binding:  1.  Where 
the  performance  is  impossible;  2.  Where 
the  promise  is  unlawful ;  3.  Where  no  ex- 
pectation is  voluntarily  excited  by  the 
promiser;  4.  Where  they  proceed  upon  a 
condition  which  the  promiser  subsequently 
finds  does  not  exist ;  and,  5.  Where  either 
of  the  parties  is  not  a  moral  agent. 

It  is  evident  that  no  one  of  these  condi- 
tions will  apply  to  Masonic  promises,  for, 
1.  Every  promise  made  at  the  altar  of 
Masonry  is  possible  to  be  performed ;  2. 
No  promise  is  exacted  that  is  unlawful  in 
its  nature;  for  the  candidate  is  expresslv 
told  that  no  promise  exacted  from  him  will 
interfere  with  the  duty  which  he  owes  to 
God  and  to  his  country ;  3.  An  expectation 
is  voluntarily  excited  by  the  promiser,  and 
that  expectation  is  that  he  will  faithfully 
fulfil  his  part  of  the  covenant;  4.  No  false 
condition  of  things  is  placed  before  the 
candidate,  either  as  to  the  character  of  the 
Institution  or  the  nature  of  the  duties 
which  would  be  required  of  him ;  and,  5. 
Both  parties  to  the  promise,  the  candidate 
who  makes  it  and  the  Craft  to  whom  it  is 
made,  are  moral  agents,  fully  capable  of 
entering  into  a  contract  or  covenant. 

This,  then,  is  the  proper  answer  to  those 
adversaries  of  Freemasonry  who  contend 
for  the  invalidity  of  Masonic  promises  on 
the  very  grounds  of  Wayland  and  other 
moralists.  Their  conclusions  would  be  cor- 
rect, were  it  not  that  every  one  of  their 
premises  is  false. 

Promotion.  Promotion  in  Masonry 
should  not  be  governed,  as  in  other  socie- 
ties, by  succession  of  office.  The  fact  that 
one  has  filled  a  lower  office  gives  him  no 
claim  to  a  higher,  unless  he  is  fitted,  by 
skill  and  capacity,  to  discharge  its  duties 
faithfully.  This  alone  should  be  the  true 
basis  of  promotion.     See  Preferment. 

Proofs.  What  the  German  Masons  call 
"proben  und  prlifungen,"  trials  and  proofs, 
and  the  French,  "  epreuves  Maconniques," 


612 


PROPERTY 


PROSELYTISM 


or  Masonic  proofs,  are  defined  by  Bazot 
(Manuel,  p.  141,)  to  be  "mysterious  methods 
of  discovering  the  character  and  disposi- 
tion of  a  recipiendary."  They  are,  in  fact, 
those  ritualistic  ceremonies  of  initiation 
which  are  intended  to  test  the  fortitude  and 
fidelity  of  the  candidate.  They  seem  to  be 
confined  to  continental  Masonry,  for  they 
are  not  known  to  any  extent  in  the  English 
or  American  systems,  where  all  the  ceremo- 
nies are  purely  symbolic.  Krause  (Kunst- 
urkund.,  i.  152,  n.  37,)  admits  that  no  trace 
of  them,  at  least  in  the  perilous  and  fearful 
forms  which  they  assume  in  the  continen- 
tal rituals,  are  to  be  found  in  the  oldest 
English  catechisms ;  and  he  admits  that,  as 
appealing  to  the  sentiments  of  fear  and 
hope,  and  adopting  a  dramatic  form,  they 
are  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Masonry,  and 
greatly  interfere  with  its  symbolism  and 
with  the  pure  and  peaceful  sentiments 
which  it  is  intended  to  impress  upon  the 
mind  of  the  neophyte. 

Property  of  a  Lodge.  As  a  Lodge 
owes  its  existence,  and  all  the  rights  and 

Ererogatives  that  it  exercises,  to  the  Grand 
lodge  from  which  it  derives  its  Charter  or 
Warrant  of  Constitution,  it  has  been  de- 
cided, as  a  principle  of  Masonic  law,  that 
when  such  Lodge  ceases  to  exist,  either  by 
a  withdrawal  or  a  surrender  of  its  Warrant, 
all  the  property  which  it  possessed  at  the 
time  of  its  dissolution  reverts  to  the  Grand 
Lodge.  But  should  the  Lodge  be  restored 
by  a  revival  of  its  Warrant,  its  property 
should  be  restored,  because  the  Grand 
Lodge  held  it  only  as  the  general  trustee 
or  guardian  of  the  Craft. 

Prophet.  Haggai,  who  in  the  Amer- 
ican system  of  the  Royal  Arch  is  called 
the  scribe,  in  the  English  system  receives 
the  title  of  prophet,  and  hence  in  the  order 
of  precedence  he  is  placed  above  the  high 
priest. 

Prophets,  Schools  of  the.  See 
Schools  of  the  Prophets. 

Proponent! a.  The  matters  contained 
in  the  •  notices  of  motions,"  which  are  re- 
quired by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  to 
be  submitted  to  the  members  previous  to 
the  Quarterly  Communication  when  they 
are  to  be  discussed,  are  sometimes  called 
the  proponenda,  or  subjects  to  be  proposed. 

Proposing  Candidates.  The  only 
method  recognized  in  this  country  of  pro- 
posing candidates  for  initiation  or  member- 
ship is  by  the  written  petition  of  the  ap- 
plicant, who  must  at  the  same  time  be  re- 
commended by  two  members  of  the  Lodge. 
In  England,  the  applicant  for  initiation 
must  previously  sign  the  declaration,  which 
in  America  is  only  made  after  his  election. 
He  is  then  proposed  by  one  brother,  and, 
the  proposition  being  seconded  by  another, 


he  is  ballotted  for  at  the  next  regular 
Lodge.  Applicants  for  membership  are 
also  proposed  without  petition,  but  the  cer- 
tificate of  the  former  Lodge  must  be  pro- 
duced, as  in  the  United  States  the  demit 
is  required.  Nor  can  any  candidate  for 
affiliation  be  ballotted  for  unless  previous 
notice  of  the  application  be  given  to  all 
the  members  of  the  Lodge. 

Proscription.  The  German  Masons 
employ  this  word  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  we  do  expulsion,  as  the  highest  Ma- 
sonic punishment  that  can  be  inflicted. 
They  also  use  the  word  verbannung,  banish- 
ment, for  the  same  purpose. 

Proselyte  of  Jerusalem.  (Prose- 
lyte de  Jerusalem.)  The  sixty-eighth  de- 
gree of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France. 

Proselytism.  Brahmanism  is,  per- 
haps, the  only  religion  which  is  opposed  to 
proselytism.  The  Brahman  seeks  no  con- 
vert to  his  faith,  but  is  content  with  that 
extension  of  his  worship  which  is  derived 
from  the  natural  increase  only  of  its  mem- 
bers. The  Jewish  Church,  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  exclusive,  and  which  has  always 
seemed  indifferent  to  progress,  yet  provided 
a  special  form  of  baptism  for  the  initiation 
of  its  proselytes  into  the  Mosaic  rites. 

Buddhism,  the  great  religion  of  the  East- 
ern world,  which,  notwithstanding  the  op- 
position of  the  leading  Brahmaus,  spread 
with  amazing  rapidity  over  the  Oriental 
nations,  so  that  now  it  seems  the  most 
popular  religion  of  the  world,  owes  its  ex- 
traordinary growth  to  the  energetic  prop- 
agandise of  Sakya-muni,  its  founder,  and 
to  the  same  proselyting  spirit  which  he  in- 
culcated upon  his  disciples. 

The  Christian  Church,  mindful  of  the 
precepts  of  its  divine  founder,  "  Go  ye  into 
all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature,"  has  always  considered  the 
work  of  missions  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant duties  of  the  Church,  and  owes  its 
rapid  increase,  in  its  earlier  years,  to  the 
proselyting  spirit  of  Paul,  and  Thomas, 
and  the  other  apostles. 

Mohammedanism,  springing  up  and  lin- 
gering for  a  long  time  in  a  single  family, 
at  length  acquired  rapid  growth  among  the 
Oriental  nations,  through  the  energetic 
proselytism  of  the  Prophet  and  his  adhe- 
rents. But  the  proselytism  of  the  religion 
of  the  New  Testament  and  that  of  the  Ko- 
ran differed  much  iu  character.  The  Chris- 
tian made  his  converts  by  persuasive  accents 
and  eloquent  appeals  ;  the  Mussulman  con- 
verted his  penitents  by  the  sharp  power  of 
the  sword.  Christianity  was  a  religion  of 
peace,  Mohammedanism  of  war ;  yet  each, 
though  pursuing  a  different  method,  was 
equally  energetic  in  securing  converts. 

In  respect  to  this  doctrine  of  proselytism, 


PROSELYTISM 


PROSELYTISM 


613 


Freemasonry  resembles  more  the  exclusive 
faith  of  Brahma  than  the  inviting  one  of 
Moses,  of  Buddha,  of  Christ,  or  of  Mo- 
hammed. 

In  plain  words,  Freemasonry  is  rigor- 
ously opposed  to  all  proselytism.  While 
its  members  do  not  hesitate,  at  all  proper 
times  and  on  all  fitting  occasions,  to  defend 
the  Institution  from  all  attacks  of  its  en- 
emies, it  never  seeks,  by  voluntary  lauda- 
tion of  its  virtues,  to  make  new  accessions 
of  friends,  or  to  add  to  the  number  of  its 
disciples. 

Nay,  it  boasts,  as  a  peculiar  beauty  of  its 
system,  that  it  is  a  voluntary  Institution. 
Not  only  does  it  forbid  its  members  to  use 
any  efforts  to  obtain  initiates,  but  actually 
requires  every  candidate  for  admission  into 
its  sacred  rites  to  seriously  declare,  as  a  pre- 

Earatory  step,  that  in  this  voluntary  offer  of 
imself  he  has  been  unbiased  by  theimproper 
solicitations  of  friends.  Without  this  decla- 
ration, the  candidate  would  be  unsuccessful 
in  his  application.  Although  it  is  required 
that  he  should  be  prompted  to  solicit  the 

Erivilege  by  the  favorable  opinion  which 
e  had  conceived  of  the  Institution,  yet  no 
provision  is  made  by  which  that  opinion 
can  be  inculcated  in  the  minds  of  the  pro- 
fane ;  for  were  a  Mason,  by  any  praises  of 
the  Order,  or  any  exhibitions  of  its  advan- 
tages, to  induce  any  one  under  such  repre- 
sentations to  seek  admission,  he  would  not 
only  himself  commit  a  grievous  fault,  but 
would  subject  the  candidate  to  serious  em- 
barrassment at  the  very  entrance  of  the 
Lodge. 

This  Brahmanical  spirit  of  anti-prosely- 
tism,  in  which  Masonry  differs  from  every 
other  association,  has  imprinted  upon  the 
Institution  certain  peculiar  features.  In 
the  first  place,  Freemasonry  thus  becomes, 
in  the  most  positive  form,  a  voluntary  as- 
sociation. Whoever  comes  within  its  mys- 
tic circle,  comes  there  of  his  "  own  free  will 
and  accord,  and  unbiased  by  the  influence 
of  friends."  These  are  the  terms  on  which 
he  is  received,  and  to  all  the  legitimate 
consequences  of  this  voluntary  connection 
he  must  submit.  Hence  comes  the  axiom, 
"  once  a  Mason,  always  a  Mason ; "  that  is 
to  say,  no  man,  having  once  been  initiated 
into  its  sacred  rites,  can,  at  his  own  pleas- 
ure or  caprice,  divest  himself  of  the  obli- 
gations and  duties  which,  as  a  Mason,  he 
has  assumed.  Coming  to  us  freely  and  wil- 
lingly, he  can  urge  no  claim  for  retirement 
on  the  plea  that  he  was  unduly  persuaded, 
or  that  the  character  of  the  Institution  had 
been  falsely  represented.  To  do  so,  would 
be  to  convict  himself  of  fraud  and  false- 
hood, in  the  declarations  made  by  him 
preliminary  to  his  admission.  And  if  these 
declarations  were  indeed  false,  he  at  least 
cannot,  under  the  legal  maxim,  take  ad- 


vantage of  his  own  wrong.  The  knot 
which  binds  him  to  the  Fraternity  has 
been  tied  by  himself,  and  is  indissoluble. 
The  renouncing  Mason  may,  indeed,  with- 
draw from  his  connection  with  a  Lodge, 
but  he  cannot  release  himself  from  his  ob- 
ligations to  the  regulation,  which  requires 
every  Mason  to  be  a  member  of  one.  He 
may  abstain  from  all  communication  with 
his  brethren,  and  cease  to  take  any  interest 
in  the  concerns  of  the  Fraternity  ;  but  he 
is  not  thus  absolved  from  the  performance 
of  any  of  the  duties  imposed  upon  him  by 
his  original  admission  into  the  brother- 
hood. A  proselyte,  persuaded  against  his 
will,  might  claim  his  right  to  withdraw ; 
but  the  voluntary  seeker  must  take  and 
hold  what  he  finds. 

Another  result  of  this  anti-proselyting 
spirit  of  the  Institution  is,  to  relieve  its 
members  from  all  undue  anxiety  to  in- 
crease its  members.  It  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  Masons  have  not  the  very 
natural  desire  to  see  the  growth  of  their 
Order.  Towards  this  end,  they  are  ever 
ready  to  defend  its  character  when  at- 
tacked, to  extol  its  virtues,  and  to  main- 
tain its  claims  to  the  confidence  and  ap- 
proval of  the  wise  and  good.  But  the 
growth  they  wish  is  not  that  abnormal  one, 
derived  from  sudden  revivals  or  ephemeral 
enthusiasm,  where  passion  too  often  takes 
the  place  of  judgment ;  but  that  slow  and 
steady,  and  therefore  healthy,  growth 
which  comes  from  the  adhesion  of  wise 
and  virtuous  and  thoughtful  men,  who  are 
willing  to  join  the  brotherhood,  that  they 
may  the  better  labor  for  the  good  of  their 
fellow-men. 

Thus  it  is  that  we  find  the  addresses  of 
our  Grand  Masters,  the  reports  of  our  com- 
mittees on  foreign  correspondence,  and  the 
speeches  of  our  anniversary  orators,  annu- 
ally denouncing  the  too  rapid  increase  of 
the  Order,  as  something  calculated  to  affect 
its  stability  and  usefulness. 

And  hence,  too,  the  black  ball,  that  an- 
tagonist of  proselytism,  has  been  long  and 
familiarly  called  the  bulwark  of  Masonry. 
Its  faithful  use  is  ever  being  inculcated  by 
the  fathers  of  the  Order  upon  its  younger 
members;  and  the  unanimous  ballot  is 
universally  admitted  to  be  the  most  effect- 
ual means  of  preserving  the  purity  of  the 
Institution. 

And  so,  this  spirit  of  anti-proselytism, 
impressed  upon  every  Mason  from  his 
earliest  initiation,  although  not  itself  a 
landmark,  has  come  to  be  invested  with  all 
the  sacredness  of  such  a  law,  and  Freema- 
sonry stands  out  alone,  distinct  from  every 
other  human  association,  and  proudly  pro- 
claims, "  Our  portals  are  open  to  all  the 
good  and  true,  but  we  ask  no  man  to 
enter." 


614 


PROTECTOR 


PRUDENCE 


Protector  of  Innocence.  (Pro- 
tecteur  de  I' Innocence.)  A  degree  in  the 
nomenclature  of  Fustier,  cited  by  him  from 
the  collection  of  Viany. 

Protocol.  In  French,  the  formulae 
or  technical  words  of  legal  instruments  ;  in 
Germany,  the  rough  draught  of  an  instru- 
ment or  transaction ;  in  diplomacy,  the 
original  copy  of  a  treaty.  Gadicke  says 
that,  in  Masonic  language,  the  protocol  is 
the  rough  minutes  of  a  Lodge.  The  word 
is  used  in  this  sense  in  Germany  only. 

Prototype.  The  same  as  archetype, 
which  see. 

Provincial  Grand  Lodge.  In 
each  of  the  counties  of  England  is  a  Grand 
Lodge  composed  of  the  various  Lodges 
within  that  district,  with  the  Provincial 
Grand  Master  at  their  head,  and  this  body 
is  called  a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge.  It 
derives  its  existence,  not  from  a  Warrant, 
but  from  the  Patent  granted  to  the  Provin- 
cial Grand  Master  by  the  Grand  Master, 
and  at  his  death,  resignation,  or  removal,  it 
becomes  extinct,  unless  the  Provincial 
Grand  Registrar  keeps  up  its  existence  by 
presiding  over  the  province  until  the  ap- 

S ointment  of  another  Provincial  Grand 
[aster.  Its  authority  is  confined  to  the 
framing  of  by-laws,  making  regulations, 
hearing  disputes,  etc.,  but  no  absolute  sen- 
tence can  be  promulgated  by  its  authority 
without  a  reference  to  the  Grand  Lodge. 
Hence  Oliver  (Jurisprud.,  272,)  says  that  a 
Provincial  Grand  Lodge  "  has  a  shadow  of 
power,  but  very  little  substance.  It  may 
talk,  but  it  cannot  act."  The  system  does 
not  exist  in  the  United  States.  In  Eng- 
land and  Ireland  the  Provincial  Grand 
Master  is  appointed  by  the  Grand  Master, 
but  in  Scotland  his  commission  emanates 
from  the  Grand  Lodge. 
Provincial  Grand  Master.    The 

£  residing  officer  of  a  Provincial  Grand 
lodge.  He  is  appointed  by  the  Grand 
Master,  during  whose  pleasure  he  holds  his 
office.  An  appeal  lies  from  his  decisions  to 
the  Grand  Lodge. 

Provincial  Grand  Officers.  The 
officers  of  a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  cor- 
respond in  title  to  those  of  the  Grand 
Lodge.  The  Provincial  Grand  Treasurer  is 
elected,  but  the  other  officers  are  nominated 
by  the  Provincial  Grand  Master.  They 
are  not  by  such  appointment  members  of 
the  Grand  Lodge,  nor  do  they  take  any  rank 
out  of  their  province.  They  must  all  be 
residents  of  the  province  and  subscribing 
members  to  some  Lodge  therein.  Provin- 
cial Grand  Wardens  must  be  Masters  or 
Past  Masters  of  a  Lodge,  and  Provincial 
Grand  Deacons,  Wardens,  or  Past  Wardens. 
Provincial  Master  of  the  Red 
Cross.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Clerks  of  Strict  Observance. 


Provost  and  Judge.  {Prevot  et 
Juge.)  The  seventh  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  The  history 
of  the  degree  relates  that  it  was  founded 
by  Solomon,  King  of  Israel,  for  the  purpose 
of  strengthening  his  means  of  preserving 
order  among  the  vast  number  of  craftsmen 
engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  Temple. 
Tito,  Prince  Harodim,  Adoniram,  and  Abda 
his  father,  were  first  created  Provosts  and 
Judges,  who  were  afterwards  directed  by 
Solomon  to  initiate  his  favorite  and  inti- 
mate secretary,  Joabert,  and  to  give  him 
the  keys  of  all  the  building.  In  the  old 
rituals,  the  Master  of  a  Lodge  of  Provosts 
and  Judges  represents  Tito,  Prince  Haro- 
dim, the  first  Grand  Warden  and  Inspector 
of  the  three  hundred  architects.  The  num- 
ber of  lights  is  six,  and  the  symbolic  color 
is  red.  In  the  more  recent  ritual  of  the 
Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
there  has  been  a  slight  change.  The  legend 
is  substantially  preserved,  but  the  presiding 
officer  represents  Azarias,  the  son  of  Na- 
than. 

The  jewel  is  a  golden  key,  having  the 
letter  A  within  a  triangle  engraved  on  the 
ward.  The  collar  is  red.  The  apron  is 
white,  lined  with  red,  and  is  furnished  with 
a  pocket. 

This  was  one  of  Ramsay's  degrees,  and 
was  originally  called  Maitre  Irlandais,  or 
Irish  Master. 

Proxy  Installation.  The  Regula- 
tions of  1721  provide  that,  if  the  new  Grand 
Master  be  absent  from  the  Grand  Feast,  he 
may  be  proclaimed  if  proper  assurance  be 
given  that  he  will  serve,  in  which  case  the 
old  Grand  Master  shall  act  as  his  proxy 
and  receive  the  usual  homage.  This  has 
led  to  a  custom,  once  very  common  in  this 
country,  but  now  getting  into  disuse,  of 
installing  an  absent  officer  by  proxy.  Such 
installations  are  called  proxy  installations. 
Their  propriety  is  very  questionable. 

Proxy  Master.  In  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Scotland,  a  Lodge  is  permitted  to  elect 
any  Master  Mason  who  holds  a  diploma  of 
the  Grand  Lodge,  although  he  may  not  be 
a  member  of  the  Lodge,  as  its  Proxy  Mas- 
ter. He  nominates  two  Proxy  Wardens, 
and  the  three  then  become  members  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  and  representatives  of  the 
Lodge.  Great  opposition  has  recently  been 
made  to  this  system,  because  by  it  a  Lodge 
is  often  represented  by  brethren  who  are  in 
no  way  connected  with  it,  who  never  were 
present  at  any  of  its  meetings,  and  who  are 
personally  unknown  to  any  of  its  members. 
A  similar  system  prevailed  in  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  South  Carolina,  but  was,  after  a 
hard  struggle,  abolished  in  1860,  at  the 
adoption  of  a  new  Constitution. 

Prudence.  This  is  one  of  the  four 
cardinal  virtues,  the  practice  of  which  is 


PRUSSIA 


PUBLICATIONS 


615 


inculcated  upon  the  Entered  Apprentice. 
Preston  first  introduced  it  into  the  degree 
as  referring  to  what  was  then,  and  long  be- 
fore had  been  called  the  four  principal 
signs,  but  which  are  now  known  as  the  per- 
fect points  of  entrance.  Preston's  eulo- 
gium  on  prudence  differs  from  that  used  in 
the  lectures  of  this  country,  which  was  com- 
posed by  Webb.  It  is  in  these  words: 
"  Prudence  is  the  true  guide  to  human  un- 
derstanding, and  consists  in  judging  and 
determining  with  propriety  what  is  to  be 
said  or  done  upon  all  our  occasions,  what 
dangers  we  should  endeavor  to  avoid,  and 
how  to  act  in  all  our  difficulties."  Webb's 
definition,  which  is  much  better,  may  be 
found  in  all  the  Monitors.  The  Masonic 
reference  of  prudence  to  the  manual  point 
reminds  us  of  the  classic  method  of  repre- 
senting her  statues  with  a  rule  or  measure 
in  her  hand. 

Prussia.  Frederick  William  I.  of 
Prussia  was  so  great  an  enemy  of  the  Ma- 
sonic institution,  that  until  lm  death  it  was 
scarcely  known  in  his  dominions,  and  the 
initiation,  in  1738,  of  his  son,  the  Crown 
Prince,  was  necessarily  kept  a  secret  from  his 
father.  But  in  1740  Frederick  II.  ascended 
the  throne,  and  Masonry  soon  felt  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  royal  patron.  The  Baron  de 
Bielefeld  says  [Lettres,  i.  157,)  that  in  that 
year  the  king  himself  opened  a  Lodge  at 
Charlottenburg,  and  initiated  his  brother, 
Prince  William,  the  Margrave  of  Branden- 
burg, and  the  Duke  of  Holstein-Beck. 
Bielefeld  and  the  Counsellor  Jordan,  in 
1740,  established  the  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Globes  at  Berlin,  which  soon  afterwards 
assumed  the  rank  of  a  Grand  Lodge. 
There  are  now  in  Prussia  three  Grand 
Lodges,  the  seats  of  all  of  them  being  at 
Berlin.  These  are  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
Three  Globes,  established  in  1740;  the 
Grand  Lodge  Royal  York  of  Friendship, 
established  in  1752;  and  the  National 
Grand  Lodge  of  Germany,  established  in 
1770.  There  is  no  country  in  the  world 
where  Freemasonry  is  more  profoundly 
studied  as  a  science  than  in  Prussia,  and 
much  of  the  abstruse  learning  of  the  Order, 
for  which  Germany  has  been  distinguished, 
is  to  be  found  among  the  members  of  the 
Prussian  Lodges.  Unfortunately,  they  have, 
for  a  long  time,  been  marked  with  an  in- 
tolerant spirit  towards  the  Jews,  whose  ini- 
tiation was  strictly  forbidden  until  very  re- 
cently, when  that  stain  was  removed,  and 
the  tolerant  principles  of  the  Order  were 
recognized  by  the  abrogation  of  the  offen- 
sive laws. 

Prussian  Knight.    See  Noachite. 

Pseudonym.  A  false  or  fictitious 
name.  Continental  writers  on  Freema- 
sonry in  the  last  century  often  assumed 
4C 


fictitious  names,  sometimes  from  affectation, 
and  sometimes  because  the  subjects  they 
treated  were  unpopular  with  the  govern- 
ment or  the  church.  Thus,  Carl  Rbssler 
wrote  under  the  pseudonym  of  Acerrellas, 
Arthuseus  under  that  of  Irenseus  Agnos- 
tus,  Guillemain  de  St.  Victor  under  that 
of  De  Gaminville  or  Querard,  Louis  Tra- 
venol  under  that  of  Leonard  Gabanon,  etc. 

The  Illuminati  also  introduced  the  cus- 
tom of  giving  pseudonyms  to  the  kingdoms 
and  cities  of  Europe ;  thus,  with  them,  Aus- 
tria was  Achaia;  Munich,  Athens;  Vienna, 
Rome ;  Ingolstadt,  Eleusis,  etc.  But  this 
practice  was  not  confined  to  the  Illuminati, 
for  we  find  many  books  published  at  Paris, 
Berlin,  etc.,  with  the  fictitious  imprint  of 
Jerusalem,  Cosmopolis,  Latomopolis,  Phila- 
delphia, Edessa,  etc.  This  practice  has 
long  since  been  abandoned. 

Publications,  Masonic.  The  fact 
that,  within  the  past  few  years,  Freema- 
sonry has  taken  its  place — and  an  imposing 
one,  too  —  in  the  literature  of  the  times; 
that  men  of  genius  and  learning  have  de- 
voted themselves  to  its  investigation ;  that 
its  principles  and  its  system  have  become 
matters  of  study  and  research ;  and  that  the 
results  of  this  labor  of  inquiry  have  been 
given,  and  still  continue  to  be  given,  to  the 
world  at  large,  in  the  form  of  treatises  on 
Masonic  science,  have  at  length  introduced 
the  new  question  among  the  Fraternity, 
whether  Masonic  books  are  of  good  or  of 
evil  tendency  to  the  Institution.  Many 
well-meaning  but  timid  members  of  the 
Fraternity  object  to  the  freedom  with  which 
Masonic  topics  are  discussed  in  printed 
works.  They  think  that  the  veil  is  too 
much  withdrawn  by  modern  Masonic 
writers,  and  that  all  doctrine  and  instruc- 
tion should  be  confined  to  oral  teaching, 
within  the  limits  of  the  Lodge  room. 
Hence,  to  them,  the  art  of  printing  be- 
comes useless  for  the  diffusion  of  Masonic 
knowledge ;  and  thus,  whatever  may  be  the 
attainments  of  a  Masonic  scholar,  the  fruits 
of  his  study  and  experience  would  be  con- 
fined to  the  narrow  limits  of  his  personal 
presence.  Such  objectors  draw  no  distinc- 
tion between  the  ritual  and  the  philosophy 
of  Masonry.  Like  the  old  priests  of 
Egypt,  they  would  have  everything  con- 
cealed under  hieroglyphics,  and  would  as 
soon  think  of  opening  a  Lodge  in  public  as 
they  would  of  discussing,  in  a  printed  book, 
the  principles  and  design  of  the  Institution. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  some 
years  ago,  adopted  a  regulation  which  de- 
clared it  penal  to  print  or  publish  any  part 
of  the  proceedings  of  a  Lodge,  or  the  names 
of  the  persons  present  at  such  a  Lodge, 
without  the  permission  of  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter.   The  rule,  however,  evidently  referred 


616 


PUBLICATIONS 


PUBLICATIONS 


to  local  proceedings  only,  and  had  no  rela- 
tion whatever  to  the  publication  of  Masonic 
authors  and  editors ;  for  the  English  Ma- 
sonic press,  since  the  days  of  Hutchinson, 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  has  been 
distinguished  for  the  freedom,  as  well  as 
learning,  with  which  the  most  abstruse 
principles  of  our  Order  have  been  dis- 
cussed. 

Fourteen  years  ago  the  Committee  of 
Foreign  Correspondence  of  a  prominent 
Grand  Lodge  affirmed  that  Masonic  litera- 
ture was  doing  more  "  harm  than  good  to 
the  Institution."  About  the  same  time  the 
committee  of  another  equally  prominent 
Grand  Lodge  were  not  ashamed  to  express 
their  regret  that  so  much  prominence  of 
notice  is,  "  in  several  Grand  Lodge  proceed- 
ings, given  to  Masonic  publications.  Ma- 
sonry existed  and  nourished,  was  harmo- 
nious and  happy,  in  their  absence." 

When  one  reads  such  diatribes  against 
Masonic  literature  and  Masonic  progress- 
such  blind  efforts  to  hide  under  the  bushel 
the  light  that  should  be  on  the  hill-top  — 
he  is  incontinently  reminded  of  a  similar 
iconoclast,  who,  more  than  four  centuries 
age,  made  a  like  onslaught  on  the  perni- 
cious effects  of  learning. 

The  immortal  Jack  Cade,  in  condemning 
Lord  Say  to  death  as  a  patron  of  learning, 
gave  vent  to  words  of  which  the  language 
of  these  enemies  of  Masonic  literature 
seems  to  be  but  the  echo  : 

"  Thou  hast  most  traitorously  corrupted 
the  youth  of  the  realm,  in  erecting  a  gram- 
mar-school ;  and  whereas,  before,  our  fore- 
fathers had  no  other  books  but  the  score 
and  the  tally,  thou  hast  caused  printing  to 
be  used ;  and  contrary  to  the  king,  his 
crown,  and  dignity,  thou  hast  built  a  paper- 
mill.  It  will  be  proved  to  thy  face  that 
thou  hast  men  about  thee  that  usually  talk 
of  a  noun  and  a  verb,  and  such  abominable 
words  as  no  Christian  ear  can  endure  to 
hear." 

I  belong  to  no  such  school.  On  the 
contrary,  I  believe  that  too  much  cannot 
be  written  and  printed  and  read  about  the 
philosophy  and  history,  the  science  and 
symbolism,  of  Freemasonry ;  provided  al- 
ways the  writing  is  confided  to  those  who 
rightly  understand  their  art.  In  Masonry, 
as  in  astronomy,  in  geology,  or  in  any  other 
of  the  arts  and  sciences,  a  new  book  by  an 
expert  must  always  be  esteemed  a  valuable 
contribution.  The  productions  of  silly  and 
untutored  minds  will  fall  of  themselves 
into  oblivion  without  the  aid  of  official 
persecution  ;  but  that  which  is  really  valu- 
able—  which  presents  new  facts,  or  fur- 
nishes suggestive  thoughts  —  will,  in  spite 
of  the  denunciations  of  the  Jack  Cades  of 


Masonry,  live  to  instruct  the  brethren,  and 
to  elevate  the  tone  and  standing  of  the  In- 
stitution. 

Dr.  Oliver,  who  has  written  more  on  Ma- 
sonry than  any  other  author,  says  on  this 
subject :  "  I  conceive  it  to  be  an  error  in 
judgment  to  discountenance  the  publica- 
tion of  philosophical  disquisitions  on  the 
subject  of  Freemasonry,  because  such  a 
proceeding  would  not  only  induce  the 
world  to  think  that  our  pretensions  are  in- 
capable of  enduring  the  test  of  inquiry,  but 
would  also  have  a  tendency  to  restore  the 
dark  ages  of  superstition,  when  even  the 
sacred  writings  were  prohibited,  under  an 
apprehension  that  their  contents  might 
be  misunderstood  or  perverted  to  the  prop- 
agation of  unsound  doctrines  and  per- 
nicious practices ;  and  thus  would  igno- 
rance be  transmitted,  as  a  legacy,  from  one 
generation  to  another." 

Still  further  pursuing  this  theme,  and 
passing  from  the  unfavorable  influence 
which  must  be  exerted  upon  the  world  by 
our  silence,  to  the  injury  that  must  accrue 
to  the  Craft,  the  same  learned  writer  goes 
on  to  say,  that  "  no  hypothesis  can  be  more 
untenable  than  that  which  forebodes  evil  to 
the  Masonic  institution  from  the  publica- 
tion of  Masonic  treatises  illustrative  of  its 
philosophical  and  moral  tendency."  And 
in  view  of  the  meagre  and  unsatisfactory 
nature  of  the  lectures,  in  the  form  in  which 
they  are  delivered  in  the  Lodges,  he  wisely 
suggests  that  "  if  strictures  on  the  science 
and  philosophy  of  the  Order  were  placed 
within  every  brother's  reach,  a  system  of 
examination  and  research  would  soon  be 
substituted  for  the  dull  and  uninteresting 
routine  which,  in  so  many  instances,  char- 
acterizes our  private  meetings.  The  breth- 
ren would  become  excited  by  the  inquiry, 
and  a  rich  series  of  new  beauties  and  ex- 
cellences would  be  their  reward." 

Of  such  a  result  I  have  no  doubt.  In 
consequence  of  the  increase  of  Masonic 
publications  in  this  country  within  a  few 
years,  Masonry  has  already  been  elevated 
to  a  high  position.  If  there  be  any  who 
still  deem  it  a  merely  social  institution, 
without  a  philosophy  or  literature;  if  there 
be  any  who  speak  of  it  with  less  admira- 
tion than  it  justly  deserves,  we  may  be  as- 
sured that  such  men  have  read  as  little  as 
they  have  thought  on  the  subject  of  its 
science  and  its  history.  A  few  moments  of 
conversation  with  a  Mason  will  show 
whether  he  is  one  of  those  contracted  crafts- 
men who  suppose  that  Masonic  "  brightness" 
consists  merely  in  a  knowledge  of  the  cor- 
rect mode  of  working  one's  way  into  a 
Lodge,  or  whether  he  is  one  who  has  read 
and  properly  appreciated  the  various  trea- 


PUBLICATIONS 


PUBLIC 


617 


tises  on  the  "royal  art,"  in  which  men  of 
genius  and  learning  have  developed  the 
true  spirit  and  design  of  the  Order. 

Such  is  the  effect  of  Masonic  publications 
upon  the  Fraternity;  and  the  result  of  all  nay 
experience  is,  that  enough  has  not  been  pub- 
lished. Cheap  books  on  all  Masonic  sub- 
jects, easily  accessible  to  the  masses  of  the 
Order,  are  necessaries  essential  to  the  ele- 
vation and  extension  of  the  Institution. 
Too  many  of  them  confine  their  acquire- 
ments to  a  knowledge  of  the  signs  and  the 
ceremonies  of  initiation.  There  they  cease 
their  researches.  They  make  no  study  of 
the  philosophy  and  the  antiquities  of  the 
Order.  They  do  not  seem  to  know  that 
the  modes  of  recognition  are  simply  in- 
tended as  means  of  security  against  imposi- 
tion, and  that  the  ceremonial  rites  are 
worth  nothing  without  the  symbolism  of 
which  they  are  only  the  external  expo- 
nents. Masonry  for  them  is  nerveless  — 
senseless  —  lifeless;  it  is  an  empty  voice 
without  meaning  —  a  tree  of  splendid  foli- 
age, but  without  a  single  fruit. 

The  monitorial  instructions  of  the  Order, 
as  they  are  technically  called,  contain 
many  things  which  probably,  at  one  time, 
it  would  have  been  deemed  improper  to 
print ;  and  there  are  some  Masons,  even  at 
this  day,  who  think  that  Webb  and  Cross 
were  too  free  in  their  publications.  And 
yet  we  have  never  heard  of  any  evil  effects 
arising  from  the  reading  of  our  Monitors, 
even  upon  those  who  have  not  been  initi- 
ated. On  the  contrary,  meagre  as  are  the 
explanations  given  in  those  works,  and  un- 
satisfactory as  they  must  be  to  one  seeking 
for  the  full  light  of  Masonry,  they  have 
been  the  means,  in  many  instances,  of  in- 
ducing the  profane,  who  have  read  them, 
to  admire  our  Institution,  and  to  knock  at 
the  "  door  of  Masonry  "  for  admission  — 
while  we  regret  to  say  that  they  sometimes 
comprise  the  whole  instruction  that  a  can- 
didate gets  from  an  ignorant  Master. 
Without  these  published  Monitors,  even 
that  little  beam  of  light  would  be  wanting 
to  illuminate  his  path. 

But  if  the  publication  and  general  dif- 
fusion of  our  elementary  text-books  have 
been  of  acknowledged  advantage  to  the 
character  of  the  Institution,  and  have,  by 
the  information,  little  as  it  is,  which  they 
communicate,  been  of  essential  benefit  to 
the  Fraternity,  we  cannot  see  why  a  more 
extensive  system  of  instruction  on  the 
legends,  traditions,  and  symbols  of  the 
Order  should  not  be  productive  of  still 
greater  good. 

Years  ago,  we  uttered  on  this  subject 
sentiments  which  we  now  take  occasion  to 
repeat. 

Without  an  adequate  course  of  reading, 


no  Mason  can  now  take  a  position  of  any 
distinction  in  the  ranks  of  the  Fraternity. 
Without  extending  his  studies  beyond 
what  is  taught  in  the  brief  lectures  of  the 
Lodge,  he  can  never  properly  appreciate 
the  end  and  nature  of  Freemasonry  as  a 
speculative  science.  The  lectures  consti- 
tute but  the  skeleton  of  Masonic  science. 
The  muscles  and  nerves  and  blood-vessels, 
which  are  to  give  vitality,  and  beauty,  and 
health,  and  vigor  to  that  lifeless  skeleton, 
must  be  found  in  the  commentaries  on 
them  which  the  learning  and  research  of 
Masonic  writers  have  given  to  the  Masonic 
student. 

The  objections  to  treatises  and  disquisi- 
tions on  Masonic  subjects,  that  there  is 
danger,  through  them,  of  giving  too  much 
light  to  the  world  without,  has  not  the 
slightest  support  from  experience.  In 
England,  in  France,  and  in  Germany, 
scarcely  any  restriction  has  been  observed 
by  Masonic  writers,  except  as  to  what  is 
emphatically  esoteric ;  and  yet  we  do  not 
believe  that  the  profane  world  is  wiser  in 
those  countries  than  in  our  own  in  respect 
to  the  secrets  of  Freemasonry.  In  the  face 
of  these  publications,  the  world  without 
has  remained  as  ignorant  of  the  aporrheta 
of  our  art,  as  if  no  work  had  ever  been 
written  on  the  subject;  while  the  world 
within  —  the  Craft  themselves  —  have  been 
enlightened  and  instructed,  and  their  views 
of  Masonry  (not  as  a  social  or  charitable 
society,  but  as  a  philosophy,  a  science,  a 
religion)  have  been  elevated  and  enlarged. 

The  truth  is,  that  men  who  are  not  Masons 
never  read  authentic  Masonic  works.  They 
have  no  interest  in  the  topics  discussed, 
and  could  not  understand  them,  from  a 
want  of  the  preparatory  education  which 
the  Lodge  alone  can  supply.  Therefore, 
were  a  writer  even  to  trench  a  little  on 
what  may  be  considered  as  being  really  the 
arcana  of  Masonry,  there  is  no  danger  of 
his  thus  making  an  improper  revelation  to 
improper  persons. 

Public  Ceremonies.  Most  of  the 
ceremonies  of  Masonry  are  strictly  private, 
and  can  be  conducted  only  in  the  presence 
of  the  initiated.  But  some  of  them,  from 
their  nature,  are  necessarily  performed  in 
public.  Such  are  the  burials  of  deceased 
brethren,  the  laying  of  corner-stones  of 
public  edifices,  and  the  dedications  of  Ma- 
sonic halls.  The  installation  of  the  officers 
of  a  Lodge,  or  Grand  Lodge,  are  also  some- 
times conducted  in  public  in  this  country. 
But  the  ceremonies  in  this  case  differ 
slightly  from  those  of  a  private  installation 
in  the  Lodge  room,  portions  of  the  cere- 
mony having  to  be  omitted.  The  reputa- 
tion of  the  Order  requires  that  these  cere- 
monies should  be  conducted  with  the  ut- 


618 


PUERILITY 


PUERILITY 


most  propriety,  and  the  Manuals  and  Moni- 
tors furnish  the  fullest  details  of  the  order 
of  exercises.  Preston,  in  his  Illustrations, 
was  the  first  writer  who  gave  a  printed  ac- 
count of  the  mode  of  conducting  these  pub- 
lic ceremonies,  and  to  him  we  are  most 
probably  indebted  for  their  ritual.  Ander- 
son, however,  gave  in  the  first  edition  of 
the  Constitutions  the  prescribed  form  for 
constituting  new  Lodges,  and  installing 
their  officers,  which  is  the  model  upon 
which  Preston,  and  other  writers,  have 
subsequently  framed  their  more  enlarged 
formula?. 

Puerility  of  Freemasonry.  "  The 
absurdities  and  puerilities  of  Freemasonry 
are  fit  only  for  children,  and  are  unwortby 
of  the  time  or  attention  of  wise  men." 
Such  is  the  language  of  its  adversaries,  and 
the  apothegm  is  delivered  with  all  that  self- 
sufficiency  which  shows  that  the  speaker  is 
well  satisfied  with  his  own  wisdom,  and  is 
very  ready  to  place  himself  in  the  category 
of  those  wise  men  whose  opinion  he  invokes. 
This  charge  of  a  puerility  of  design  and 
object  of  Freemasonry  is  worth  examina- 
tion. 

Is  it  then  possible,  that  those  scholars  of 
unquestioned  strength  of  intellect  and  depth 
of  science,  who  have  devoted  themselves  to 
the  study  of  Masonry,  and  who  have  in 
thousands  of  volumes  given  the  result  of 
their  researches,  have  been  altogether  mis- 
taken in  the  direction  of  their  labors,  and 
have  been  seeking  to  develop,  not  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  philosophy,  but  the  mechanism 
of  a  toy?  Or  is  the  assertion  that  such  is 
the  fact  a  mere  sophism,  such  as  ignorance 
is  every  day  uttering,  and  a  conclusion  to 
which  men  are  most  likely  to  arrive  when 
they  talk  of  that  of  which  they  know  noth- 
ing, like  the  critic  who  reviews  a  book  that 
he  has  never  read,  or  the  sceptic  who  at- 
tacks a  creed  that  he  does  not  comprehend? 
-  Such  claims  to  an  inspired  infallibility  are 
not  uncommon  among  men  of  unsound 
judgment.  Thus,  when  Gall  and  Spurz- 
heim  first  gave  to  the  world  their  wonder- 
ful discoveries  in  reference  to  the  organiza- 
tion and  the  functions  of  the  brain  —  dis- 
coveries which  have  since  wrought  a 
marked  revolution  in  the  sciences  of  anat- 
omy, physiology,  and  ethics  —  the  Edin- 
burgh reviewers  attempted  to  demolish  these 
philosophers  and  their  new  system,  but  suc- 
ceeded only  in  exposing  their  own  igno- 
rance of  the  science  they  were  discussing. 
Time,  which  is  continually  evolving  truth 
out  of  every  intellectual  conflict,  has  long 
since  shown  that  the  German  philosophers 
were  right  and  that  their  Scottish  critics 
were  wrong.  How  common  is  it,  even  at 
this  day,  to  hear  men  deriding  Alchemy  as 
a  system  of  folly  and  imposture,  cultivated 


only  by  madmen  and  knaves,  when  the  re- 
searches of  those  who  have  investigated  the 
subject  without  prejudice,  but  with  patient 
learning,  have  shown,  without  any  possibil- 
ity of  doubt,  that  these  old  alchemists,  so 
long  the  objects  of  derision  to  the  ignorant, 
were  religious  philosophers,  and  that  their 
science  had  really  nothing  to  do  with  the 
discovery  of  an  elixir  of  life  or  the  trans- 
mutation of  the  baser  metals  into  gold,  but 
that  they,  like  the  Freemasons,  with  whom 
they  have  a  strong  affinity,  concealed  under 
profound  symbols,  intelligible  only  to  them- 
selves, the  search  after  Divine  Truth  and 
the  doctrine  of  immortal  life.  Truth  was 
the  gold  which  they  eliminated  from  all 
mundane  things,  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  was  the  elixir  of  everlasting  life  which 
perpetually  renewed  youth,  and  took  away 
the  power  of  death. 

So  it  is  with  Freemasonry.  Those  who 
abuse  it  know  nothing  of  its  inner  spirit, 
of  its  profound  philosophy,  of  the  pure  re- 
ligious life  that  it  inculcates. 

To  one  who  is  at  all  acquainted  with  its 
organization,  Freemasonry  presents  itself 
under  two  different  aspects. 

First,  as  a  secret  society  distinguished  by 
a  peculiar  ritual : 

And  secondly,  as  a  society  having  a  phi- 
losophy on  which  it  is  founded,  and  which 
it  proposes  to  teach  to  its  disciples. 

These  by  way  of  distinction  may  be  called 
the  ritualistic  and  the  philosophical  elements 
of  Freemasonry. 

The  ritualistic  element  of  Freemasonry  is 
that  which  relates  to  the  due  performance 
of  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Order. 
Like  the  rubrics  of  the  church,  which  indi- 
cate when  the  priest  and  congregation  shall 
kneel  and  when  they  shall  stand,  it  refers 
to  questions  such  as  these:  What  words 
shall  be  used  in  such  a  place,  and  what 
ceremony  shall  be  observed  on  such  an  oc- 
casion? It  belongs  entirely  to  the  inner 
organization  of  the  Institution,  or  to  the 
manner  in  which  its  services  shall  be  con- 
ducted, and  is  interesting  or  important  only 
to  its  own  members.  The  language  of  its 
ritual  or  the  form  of  its  ceremonies  has 
nothing  more  to  do  with  the  philosophic 
designs  of  Freemasonry  than  the  rubrics  of 
a  church  have  to  do  with  the  religious 
creed  professed  by  that  church.  It  might 
at  any  time  be  changed  in  its  most  material 
points,  without  in  the  slightest  degree  af- 
fecting the  essential  character  of  the  Insti- 
tution. 

Of  course,  this  ritualistic  element  is  in 
one  sense  important  to  the  members  of  the 
society,  because,  by  a  due,  observance  of  the 
ritual,  a  general  uniformity  is  preserved. 
But  beyond  this,  the  Masonic  ritual  makes 
no  claim  to  the  consideration  of  scholars, 


PUERILITY 


PUERILITY 


619 


and  never  has  been  made,  and,  indeed, 
from  the  very  nature  of  its  secret  character, 
never  can  be  made,  a  topic  of  discussion 
with  those  who  are  outside  of  the  Frater- 
nity. 

But  the  other,  the  philosophical  element 
of  Freemasonry,  is  one  of  much  importance. 
For  it,  and  through  it,  I  do  make  the 
plea  that  the  Institution  is  entitled  to  the 
respect,  and  even  veneration,  of  all  good 
men,  and  is  well  worth  the  careful  consid- 
eration of  scholars. 

A  great  many  theories  have  been  ad- 
vanced by  Masonic  writers  as  to  the  real 
origin  of  the  Institution,  as  to  the  time 
when  and  the  place  where  it  first  took  its 
birth.  It  has  been  traced  to  the  mysteries 
of  the  ancient  Pagan  world,  to  the  Temple 
of  King  Solomon,  to  the  Roman  Colleges  of 
Artificers,  to  the  Crusades  for  the  recovery 
of  the  Holy  Land,  to  the  Gilds  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  to  the  Stonemasons  of  Strasburg 
and  Cologne,  and  even  to  the  revolutionary 
struggle  in  England  in  the  time  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  to  the  secret  efforts  of 
the  adherents  of  the  house  of  Stuart  to  re- 
cover the  throne.  But  whatever  theory 
may  be  selected,  and  wheresoever  and 
whensoever  it  may  be  supposed  to  have 
received  its  birth,  one  thing  is  certain, 
namely,  that  for  generations  past,  and  yet 
within  the  records  of  history,  it  has,  unlike 
other  mundane  things,  presented  to  the 
world  an  unchanged  organization.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  theory  which  traces  it 
back  to  one  of  the  most  recent  periods, 
that,  namely,  which  places  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Order  of  Freemasons  at  the 
building  of  the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg,  in 
the  year  1275.  During  all  the  time  that 
has  since  elapsed,  full  six  hundred  years,  how 
has  Freemasonry  presented  itself?  Why, 
as  a  brotherhood  organized  and  controlled 
by  a  secret  discipline,  engaged  in  impor- 
tant architectural  labors,  and  combining 
with  its  operative  tasks  speculations  of 
great  religious  import.  If  we  see  any  change, 
it  is  simply  this,  that  when  the  necessity 
no  longer  existed,  the  operative  element 
was  laid  aside,  and  the  speculative  only 
was  retained,  but  with  a  scrupulous  pre- 
servation (as  if  it  were  for  purposes  of  iden- 
tification) of  the  technical  language,  the 
rules  and  regulations,  the  working-tools, 
and  the  discipline  of  the  operative  art.  The 
material  only  on  which  they  wrought  was 
changed.  The  disciples  and  followers  of 
Erwin  of  Steinbach,  the  Master  Builder  of 
Strasburg,  were  engaged,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  a  profoundly  religious  sentiment, 
in  the  construction  of  a  material  edifice  to 
the  glory  of  God.  The  more  modern  work- 
ers in  Freemasonry  are  under  the  same  re- 
ligious influence,  engaged  in  the  construc- 


tion of  a  spiritual  temple.  Does  not  this 
long  continuance  of  a  brotherhood  em- 
ployed in  the  same  pursuit,  or  changing 
it  only  from  a  material  to  a  spiritual  char- 
acter, but  retaining  its  identity  of  organiza- 
tion, demand  for  itself  some  respect,  and, 
if  for  nothing  else,  at  least  for  its  antiquity, 
some  share  of  veneration  ? 

But  this  is  not  all.  This  society  or 
brotherhood,  or  confraternity  as  it  might 
more  appropriately  be  called,  is  distin- 
guished from  all  other  associations  by  the 
possession  of  certain  symbols,  myths,  and, 
above  all  else,  a  Golden  Legend,  all  of 
which  are  directed  to  the  purification  of 
the  heart,  to  the  elevation  of  the  mind,  to 
the  development  of  the  great  doctrine  of 
immortality. 

Now  the  question  where  and  when  these 
symbols,  myths,  and  legends  arose  is  one 
that  is  well  worth  the  investigation  of 
scholars,  because  it  is  intimately  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  human  intellect. 
Did  the  Stonemasons  and  building  cor- 
porations of  the  Middle  Ages  invent  them? 
Certainly  not,  for  they  are  found  in  organ- 
izations that  existed  ages  previously.  The 
Greeks  at  Eleusis  taught  the  same  dogma 
of  immortal  life  in  the  same  symbolic 
mode,  and  their  legend,  if  it  differed  from 
the  Masonic  in  its  accidents,  was  precisely 
identical  in  its  substance.  For  Hiram 
there  was  Dionysus,  for  the  acacia  the 
myrtle,  but  there  were  the  same  mourning, 
the  same  discovery,  the  same  rejoicing,  be- 
cause what  had  been  lost  was  found,  and 
then  the  same  ineffable  light,  and  the  same 
sacred  teaching  of  the  name  of  God  and 
the  soul's  immortality.  And  so  an  ancient 
orator,  who  had  passed  through  one  of 
these  old  Greek  Lodges,  —  for  such,  without 
much  violence  of  language,  they  may  well 
be  called, — declared  that  those  who  have  en- 
dured the  initiation  into  the  mysteries  en- 
tertain better  hopes  both  of  the  end  of  life 
and  of  the  eternal  future.  Is  not  this  the 
very  object  and  design  of  the  legend  of  the 
Master's  degree  ?  And  this  same  peculiar 
form  of  symbolic  initiation  is  to  be  found 
among  the  old  Egyptians  and  in  the  island 
of  Samothracia,  thousands  of  years  before 
the  light  of  Christianity  dawned  upon  the 
world  to  give  the  seal  of  its  Master  and 
Founder  to  the  divine  truth  of  the  resur- 
rection. 

This  will  not,  it  is  true,  prove  the  de- 
scent of  Freemasonry,  as  now  organized, 
from  the  religious  mysteries  of  antiquity ; 
although  this  is  one  of  the  theories  of  its 
origin  entertained  and  defended  by  scholars 
of  no  mean  pretension.  But  it  will  prove 
an  identity  of  design  in  the  moral  and  in- 
tellectual organization  of  all  these  institu- 
tions, and  it  will  give  the  Masonic  student 


620 


PUERILITY 


PURCHASE 


subjects  for  profound  study  when  he  asks 
the  interesting  questions  —  Whence  came 
these  symbols,  myths,  and  legends  ?  Who 
invented  them?  How  and  why  have  they 
been  preserved?  Looking  back  into  the 
remotest  days  of  recorded  history,  we  find  a 
priesthood  in  an  island  of  Greece  and  an- 
other on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  teaching 
the  existence  in  a  future  life  by  symbols 
and  legends,  which  convey  the  lesson  in  a 
peculiar  mode.  And  now,  after  thousands 
of  years  have  elapsed,  we  find  the  same 
symbolic  and  legendary  method  of  instruc- 
tion, for  the  same  purpose,  preserved  in 
the  depository  of  what  is  comparatively  a 
modern  institution.  And  between  these 
two  extremes  of  the  long  past  and  the 
present  now,  we  find  the  intervening  period 
occupied  by  similar  associations,  succeeding 
each  other  from  time  to  time,  and  spreading 
over  different  countries,  but  all  engaged  in 
the  same  symbolic  instruction,  with  sub- 
stantially the  same  symbols  and  the  same 
mythical  history. 

Does  not  all  this  present  a  problem  in 
moral  and  intellectual  philosophy,  and  in 
the  archaeology  of  ethics,  which  is  well 
worthy  of  an  attempted  solution?  How 
unutterably  puerile  seem  the  objections  and 
the  objurgations  of  a  few  contracted  minds, 
guided  only  by  prejudice,  when  we  con- 
sider the  vast  questions  of  deep  interest 
that  are  connected  with  Freemasonry  as  a 
part  of  those  great  brotherhoods  that  have 
filled  the  world  for  so  many  ages,  so  far 
back,  indeed,  that  some  philosophic  his- 
torians have  supposed  that  they  must 
have  derived  their  knowledge  of  the  doc- 
trines which  they  taught  in  their  mystic 
assemblies  from  direct  revelation  through 
an  ancient  priesthood  that  gives  no  other 
evidence  of  its  former  existence  but  the  re- 
sults which  it  produced. 

Man  needs  something  more  than  the 
gratification  of  his  animal  wants.  The 
mind  requires  food  as  well  as  the  body, 
and  nothing  can  better  give  that  mental 
nutriment  than  the  investigation  of  sub- 
jects which  relate  to  the  progress  of  the 
intellect  and  the  growth  of  the  religious 
sentiment. 

Again,  man  was  not  made  for  himself 
alone.  The  old  Stoic  lived  only  for  and 
within  himself.  But  modern  philosophy 
and  modern  religion  teach  no  such  selfish 
doctrine.  Man  is  but  part  of  the  great 
brotherhood  of  man,  and  each  one  must  be 
ready  to  exclaim  with  the  old  poet,  "  Homo 
sum;  humani  nihil  a  me  alienum  puto," 
I  am  a  man,  and  I  deem  nothing  relating  to 
mankind  to  be  foreign  to  my  feelings.  Men 
study  ancient  history  simply  that  they  may 
learn  what  their  brother  men  have  done  in 
former  times,  and  they  read  the  philoso- 


phers and  poets  of  Greece  and  Rome  that 
they  may  know  what  were  the  speculations 
of  those  old  thinkers,  and  they  strive  to  meas- 
ure the  intellect  of  man  as  it  was  then  and 
as  it  is  now,  because  the  study  of  the 
growth  of  intellectual  philosophy  and  the 
investigation  of  the  mental  and  moral 
powers  come  home  to  us  all  as  subjects  of 
common  interest. 

Looking,  then,  upon  Freemasonry  as  one 
of  those  associations  which  furnish  the  evi- 
dence and  the  example  of  the  progress  of 
man  in  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious 
development,  it  may  be  well  claimed  for  it 
that  its  design,  its  history,  and  its  philoso- 
phy, so  far  from  being  puerile,  are  well  en- 
titled to  the  respect  of  the  world,  and  are 
worth  the  careful  research  of  scholars. 

Puissant.  A  title  given  to  the  presid- 
ing officer  in  several  of  the  high  degrees. 

Puissant  Irish  Master.  The 
eighth  degree  of  Ramsay's  Irish  Colleges. 

Pu Isanti  Operietur.  Latin.  To 
him  who  knocks  it  shall  be  opened.  An 
inscription  sometimes  placed  over  the 
front  door  of  Masonic  temples  or  Lodge 
rooms. 

Punishments,  Masonic.  Punish- 
ment in  Masonry  is  inflicted  that  the  char- 
acter of  the  Institution  may  remain  unsul- 
lied, and  that  the  unpunished  crimes  of  its 
members  may  not  injuriously  reflect  upon 
the  reputation  of  the  whole  society.  The 
nature  of  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted  is 
restricted  by  the  peculiar  character  of  the 
Institution,  which  is  averse  to  some  forms 
of  penalty,  and  by  the  laws  of  the  land, 
which  do  not  give  to  private  corporations 
the  right  to  impose  certain  species  of  pun- 
ishment. 

The  infliction  of  fines  or  pecuniary  pen- 
alties has,  in  modern  times  at  least,  been 
considered  as  contrary  to  the  genius  of  Ma- 
sonry, because  the  sanctions  of  Masonic 
law  are  of  a  higher  nature  than  any  that 
could  be  furnished  by  a  pecuniary  penalty. 

Imprisonment  and  corporal  punishment 
are  equally  adverse  to  the  spirit  of  the  In- 
stitution, and  are  also  prohibited  by  the 
laws  of  the  land,  which  reserve  the  inflic- 
tion of  such  penalties  for  their  own  tribu- 
nals. 

Masonic  punishments  are  therefore  re- 
stricted to  an  expression  of  disapprobation 
or  the  deprivation  of  Masonic  rights,  and  are 
1.  Censure;  2.  Reprimand;  3.  Exclusion; 

4.  Suspension,  Definite  or  Indefinite ;  and 

5.  Expulsion  —  all  of  which  see  under  their 
respective  titles. 

Purchase.  Iu  the  Cooke  MS.  (line 
630)  it  is  said  that  the  son  of  Athelstan 
"  purchased  a  free  patent  of  the  kyng  that 
they  [the  Masons]  shulde  make  a  sembly." 
This  does  not  mean  that  he  bought  the  pat- 


PURE 


PYRON 


621 


ent,  but  that  he  obtained  or  procured  it. 
Such  was  the  use  of  purchase  in  old  Eng- 
lish. The  booty  of  a  thief  was  called  his 
purchase,  because  he  had  acquired  it. 
Colloquially,  the  word  is  still  used  to  desig- 
nate the  getting  a  hold  on  anything. 

Pure  Freemasonry.  See  Primitive 
Freemasonry. 

Purification.  As  the  aspirant  in 
the  Ancient  Mysteries  was  not  permitted  to 
pass  through  any  of  the  forms  of  initiation, 
or  to  enter  the  sacred  vestibule  of  the  tem- 
ple, until,  by  water  or  fire,  he  had  been 
symbolically  purified  from  the  corruptions 
of  the  world  which  he  was  about  to  leave 
behind,  so  in  Masonry  there  is  in  the 
first  degree  a  symbolical  purification  by  the 
presentation  to  the  candidate  of  the  com- 
mon gavel,  an  implement  whose  emblema- 
tic use  teaches  a  purification  of  the  heart. 
See  Lustration. 

Purity.  In  the  Ancient  Mysteries 
purity  of  heart  and  life  was  an  essential 
prerequisite  to  initiation,  because  by  initia- 
tion tne  aspirant  was  brought  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  God,  to  know  whom  was  not  per- 
mitted to  the  impure.  For,  says  Origen, 
(Gont.  Oel.,  vi.,)  "  a  defiled  heart  cannot  see 
God,  but  he  must  be  pure  who  desires  to 
obtain  a  proper  view  of  a  pure  Being." 
And  in  the  same  spirit  the  Divine  Master 
says :  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for 
they  shall  see  God."  But  "  to  see  God  "  is 
a  Hebraism,  signifying  to  possess  him,  to  be 
spiritually  in  communion  with  him,  to 
know  his  true  character.  Now  to  acquire 
this  knowledge  of  God,  symbolized  by  the 
knowledge  of  his  Name,  is  the  great  object 
of  Masonic,  as  it  was  of  all  ancient  initia- 
tion ;  and  hence  the  candidate  in  Masonry 
is  required  to  be  pure,  for  "  he  only  can 
stand  in  the  holy  place  who  hath  clean 
hands  and  a  pure  heart."     See  White. 

Purity,  Brothers  of.  An  associa- 
tion of  Arabic  philosophers,  founded  at 
Bosra,  in  Syria,  in  the  tenth  century.  Many 
of  their  writings,  which  were  much  studied 
by  the  Jews  of  Spain  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, were  mystical.  Steinschneider  (Jew. 
Lit,  174,  295,)  calls  them  "  the  Freemasons 
of  Bosra,"  and  says  that  they  were  "  a  cele- 
brated society  of  a  kind  of  Freemasons." 

Purple.  Purple  is  the  appropriate 
color  of  those  degrees  which,  in  the  Ameri- 
can Rite,  have  been  interpolated  between 
the  Boyal  Arch  and  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry, namely,  the  Mark,  Past,  and  Most 
Excellent  Masters.  It  is  in  Masonry  a 
symbol  of  fraternal  union,  because,  being 
compounded  of  blue,  the  color  of  the  An- 
cient Craft,  and  red,  which  is  that  of  the 
Royal  Arch,  it  is  intended  to  signify  the 
close  connection  and  harmony  which 
should  ever  exist  between  those  two  por- 


tions of  the  Masonic  system.  It  may  be 
observed  that  this  allusion  to  the  union  and 
harmony  between  blue  and  red  Masonry  is 
singularly  carried  out  in  the  Hebrew  word 
which  signifies  purple.  This  word,  which 
is  JOJ1X,  argaman,  is  derived  from  CDJ"), 
ragam  or  regem,  one  of  whose  significations 
is  "a  friend."  But  Portal  (Coul.  Symb., 
230,)  says  that  purple,  in  the  profane  lan- 
guage of  colors,  signifies  constancy  in  spirit- 
ual combats,  because  blue  denotes  fidelity, 
and  red,  war. 

In  the  religious  services  of  the  Jews  we 
find  purple  employed  on  various  occasions. 
It  was  one  of  the  colors  of  the  curtains  of 
the  tabernacle,  where,  Josephus  says,  it  was 
symbolic  of  the  element  of  water,  of  the 
veils,  and  of  the  curtain  over  the  great  en- 
trance ;  it  was  also  used  in  the  construction 
of  the  ephod  and  girdle  of  the  high  priest, 
and  the  cloths  for  divine  service. 

Among  the  Gentile  nations  of  antiquity 
purple  was  considered  rather  as  a  color  of 
dignity  than  of  veneration,  and  was  deemed 
an  emblem  of  exalted  office.  Hence  Homer 
mentions  it  as  peculiarly  appropriated  to 
royalty,  and  Virgil  speaks  of  purpura  re- 
gum,  or  "the  purple  of  kings."  Pliny  says 
it  was  the  color  of  the  vestments  worn  by 
the  early  kings  of  Rome ;  and  it  has  ever 
since,  even  to  the  present  time,  been  con- 
sidered as  the  becoming  insignia  of  regal 
or  supreme  authority. 

In  American  Masonry,  the  purple  color 
seems  to  be  confined  to  the  intermediate 
degrees  between  the  Master  and  the  Royal 
Arch,  except  that  it  is  sometimes  employed 
in  the  vestments  of  officers  representing 
either  kings  or  men  of  eminent  authority, 
—  such,  for  instance,  as  the  Scribe  in  a 
Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons. 

In  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  Grand 
Officers  and  Provincial  Grand  Officers  wear 
purple  collars  and  aprons.  As  the  symbolic 
color  of  the  Past  Master's  degree,  to  which 
all  Grand  Officers  should  have  attained,  it 
is  also  considered  in  this  country  as  the 
appropriate  color  for  the  collars  of  officers 
of  a  Grand  Lodge. 

Purple  Brethren.  In  English  Ma- 
sonry, the  Grand  Officers  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  and  the  Past  Grand  and  Deputy 
Grand  Masters  and  Past  and  Present  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Masters  are  called  "purple 
brethren,"  because  of  the  color  of  their 
decorations,  and  at  meetings  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  are  privileged  to  sit  on  the  dais. 

Purple  Lodges.  Grand  and  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Lodges  are  thus  designated 
by  Dr.  Oliver  in  his  Institutes  of  Masonic 
Jurisprudence.  The  term  is  not  used  in  this 
country. 

Pyron,  Jean  Baptiste  Pierre 
Julien.    A  distinguished  French  Mason 


622 


PYTHAGORAS 


PYTHAGORAS 


of  the  latter  part  of  the  last  and  beginning 
of  the  present  century,  who  died  at  Paris 
in  September,  1821.  He  was  the  author 
of  many  Masonic  discourses,  but  his  most 
important  work  was  a  profound  and  ex- 
haustive History  of  the  Organization  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite  in  France,  pub- 
lished in  1814.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Grand  Orient,  and  having  received 
the  thirty-third  degree  from  the  Count  de 
Grasse  Tilly,  he  afterwards  assisted  in  the 
organization  of  the  Supreme  Council  of 
Italy,  at  Milan,  and  the  Supreme  Council 
of  France.  In  1805,  his  name  was  struck 
from  the  register  of  the  Grand  Orient  in 
consequence  of  his  opposition  to  that  body, 
but  he  remained  the  Secretary-General  of 
the  Supreme  Council  until  his  death.  Ra- 
gon  calls  him  an  intriguer  and  bold  inno- 
vator, but  Thory  speaks  more  highly  of  his 
Masonic  character.  He  was  undoubtedly 
a  man  of  talent,  learning,  and  Masonic  re- 
search. He  made  a  manuscript  collection 
of  many  curious  degrees,  which  Thory  has 
liberally  used  in  his  Nomenclature  of  Rites 
and  Degrees. 

Pythagoras.  One  of  the  most  cele- 
brated of  the  Grecian  philosophers,  and  the 
founder  of  what  has  been  called  the  Italic 
school,  was  born  at  Samos  about  586  years 
B.  c.  Educated  as  an  athlete,  he  subse- 
quently abandoned  that  profession  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  study  of  philosophy. 
He  travelled  through  Egypt,  Chaldea,  and 
Asia  Minor,  and  is  said  to  have  submitted 
to  the  initiations  in  those  countries  for  the 
purpose  of  acquiring  knowledge.  On  his 
return  to  Europe,  he  established  his  cele- 
brated school  at  Crotona,  much  resembling 
that  subsequently  adopted  by  the  Freema- 
sons. His  school  soon  acquired  such  a  repu- 
tation that  disciples  nocked  to  him  from  all 
parts  of  Greece  and  Italy.  Pythagoras  taught 
as  the  principal  dogma  of  his  philosophy  the 
system  of  metempsychosis,  or  the  transmi- 
gration of  souls.  He  taught  the  mystical 
power  of  numbers,  and  much  of  the  symbol- 
ism on  that  subject  which  we  now  possess 
is  derived  from  what  has  been  left  to  us  by 
his  disciples  ;  for  of  his  own  writings  there 
is  nothing  extant.  He  was  also  a  geome- 
trician, and  is  regarded  as  having  been  the 
inventor  of  several  problems,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  is  that  now  known  as  the 
forty-seventh  problem  of  Euclid.  He  was 
also  a  proficient  in  music,  and  is  said  to 
have  demonstrated  the  mathematical  rela- 
tions of  musical  intervals,  and  to  have  in- 
vented a  number  of  musical  instruments. 
Disdaining  the  vanity  and  dogmatism  of 
the  ancient  sages,  he  contented  himself  with 
proclaiming  that  he  was  simply  a  seeker 
after  knowledge,  not  its  possessor,  and  to 
him  is  attributed  the  introduction  of  the 


word  philosopher,  or  lover  of  wisdom,  as  the 
only  title  which  he  would  assume.  After 
the  lawless  destruction  of  his  school  at  Cro- 
tona, he  fled  to  the  Locrians,  who  refused  to 
receive  him,  when  he  repaired  to  Metapon- 
tum,  and  soughtan  asylum  from  his  enemies 
in  the  temple  of  the  Muses,  where  tradition 
says  that  he  died  of  starvation  506  years 
B.  c,  when  eighty  years  old. 

Pythagoras,  School  of.  The 
schools  established  by  Pythagoras  at  Cro- 
tona, and  other  cities,  have  been  considered 
by  many  writers  as  the  models  after  which 
Masonic  Lodges  were  subsequently  con- 
structed. They  undoubtedly  served  the 
Christian  ascetics  of  the  first  century  as  a 
pattern  for  their  monastic  institutions,  with 
which  institutions  the  Freemasonry  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  in  its  operative  character,  was 
intimately  connected.  A  brief  description 
of  the  school  of  Crotona  will  not  therefore 
be  inappropriate.  The  disciples  of  this 
school  wore  the  simplest  kind  of  clothing, 
and  having  on  their  entrance  surrendered 
all  their  possessions  to  the  common  fund, 
they  submitted  for  three  years  to  voluntary 
poverty,  during  which  time  they  were  also 
compelled  to  a  rigorous  silence.  The  doctrines 
of  Pythagoras  were  always  delivered  as  in- 
fallible propositions  which  admitted  of  no 
argument,  and  hence  the  expression  avidg 
tyr),  lie  said  it,  was  considered  as  a  sufficient 
answer  to  any  one  who  demanded  a  reason. 
The  scholars  were  divided  into  Exoterics 
and  Esoterics.  This  distinction  was  bor- 
rowed by  Pythagoras  from  the  Egyptian 
priests,  who  practised  a  similar  mode  of 
instruction.  The  exoteric  scholars  were 
those  who  attended  the  public  assemblies, 
where  general  ethical  instructions  were  de- 
livered by  the  sage.  But  only  the  esoterics 
constituted  the  true  school,  and  these  alone 
Pythagoras  called,  says  Jamblichus,  his 
companions  and  friends.  Before  admission 
to  the  privileges  of  this  school,  the  previous 
life  and  character  of  the  candidate  were 
rigidly  scrutinized,  and  in  the  preparatory 
initiation  secrecy  was  enjoined  by  an  oath, 
and  he  was  made  to  submit  to  the  severest 
trials  of  his  fortitude  and  self-command. 
He  who  after  his  admission  was  alarmed 
at  the  obstacles  he  had  to  encounter,  was 
permitted  to  return  to  the  world,  and  the 
disciples,  considering  him  as  dead,  per- 
formed his  funeral  obsequies,  and  erected  a 
monument  to  his  memory. 

The  mode  of  living  in  the  school  of  Cro- 
tona was  like  that  of  the  modern  commu- 
nists. The  brethren,  about  six  hundred  in 
number,  with  their  wives  and  children,  re- 
sided in  one  large  building.  Every  morn- 
ing the  business  and  duties  of  the  day  were 
arranged,  and  at  night  an  account  was  ren- 
dered of  the  day's   transactions.      They 


PYTHAGORAS 


QUALIFICATIONS         623 


arose  before  day  to  pay  their  devotions  to 
the  sun,  and  recited  verses  from  Homer, 
Hesiod,  or  some  other  poet.  Several  hours 
were  spent  in  study,  after  which  there  was 
an  interval  before  dinner,  which  was  occu- 
pied in  walking  and  in  gymnastic  exercises. 
The  meals  consisted  principally  of  bread, 
honey,  and  water,  for  though  the  table  was 
often  covered  with  delicacies,  no  one  was 
permitted  to  partake  of  them.  It  was  in 
this  secret  school  that  Pythagoras  gave  his 
instructions  on  his  interior  doctrine,  and 
explained  the  hidden  meaning  of  his  sym- 
bols. There  were  three  degrees  :  the  first, 
or  Mathematici,  being  engaged  in  the  study 
of  the  exact  sciences ;  and  the  second,  or 
Theoretici,  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and 
the  future  state  of  man  ;  but  the  third,  or 
highest  degree,  was  communicated  only  to 
a  few  whose  intellects  were  capable  of 
grasping  the  full  fruition  of  the  Pythago- 
rean philosophy.  This  school,  after  exist- 
ing for  thirty  years,  was  finally  dissolved 
through  the  machinations  of  Kylo,  a 
wealthy  inhabitant  of  Crotona,  who,  having 
been  refused  admission,  in  revenge  excited 
the  citizens  against  it,  when  a  lawless  mob 
attacked  the  scholars  while  assembled  in 
the  house  of  Milo,  set  fire  to  the  building 
and  dispersed  the  disciples,  forty  of  them 
being  burned  to  death.  The  school  was 
never  resumed,  but  after  the  death  of  the 
philosopher  summaries  of  his  doctrines 
were  made  by  some  of  his  disciples.  Still 
many  of  his  symbols  and  his  esoteric  teach- 
ings have  to  this  day  remained  uninter- 
preted and  unexplained. 
After  this  account  of  the  Pythagorean 


school,  the  Mason  will  find  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  that  part  of  the  so-called 
Leland  Manuscript  which  is  said  so  much 
to  have  puzzled  the  great  metaphysician 
John  Locke. 

This  manuscript  —  the  question  of  its 
authenticity  is  not  here  entered  upon  — 
has  the  following  paragraphs  : 

"How  comede  ytt  [Freemasonry]  yn 
Engelonde  ? 

"  Peter  Gower,  a  Grecian,  journeyeded 
for  kunnynge  yn  Egypte  and  in  Syria,  and 
yn  everyche  londe  whereat  the  Venetians 
hadde  plauntedde  Maconrye,  and  wyn- 
nynge  entraunce  yn  al  Lodges  of  Ma- 
connes,  he  lerned  muche,  and  retournedde 
and  worked  yn  Grecia  Magna  wachsynge 
and  becommynge  a  myghtye  wysacre  and 
gratelyche  renowned,  and  here  he  framed 
a  grate  Lodge  at  Groton,  and  maked  many 
Maconnes,  some  whereoffe  dyd  journeye  yn 
Fraunce,  and  maked  manye  Maconnes 
wherefromme,  yn  process  of  tyme,  the  arte 
passed  yn  Engelonde." 

Locke  confesses  that  he  was  at  first  puz- 
zled with  those  strange  names,  Peter  Gower, 
Groton,  and  the  Venetians;  but  a  little 
thinking  taught  him  that  they  were  only 
corruptions  of  Pythagoras,  Crotona,  and  the 
Phoenicians. 

It  is  not  singular  that  the  old  Masons 
should  have  called  Pythagoras  their  "  an- 
cient friend  and  brother,"  and  should  have 
dedicated  to  him  one  of  their  geometrical 
symbols,  the  forty-seventh  problem  of  Eu- 
clid ;  an  epithet  and  a  custom  that  have, 
by  the  force  of  habit,  been  retained  in  all 
the  modern  rituals. 


Q. 


Qualifications  of  Candidates. 

Every  candidate  for  initiation  into  the 
mysteries  of  Freemasonry  must  be  qualified 
by  certain  essential  conditions.  These 
qualifications  are  of  two  kinds,  Internal  and 
External.  The  internal  qualifications  are 
those  which  lie  within  his  own  bosom,  the 
external  are  those  which  refer  to  his  out- 
ward and  apparent  fitness.  The  external 
qualifications  are  again  divided  into  Moral, 
Religious,  Physical,  Mental,  and  Political. 
I.  The  Internal  Qualifications  are : 
1.  That  the  applicant  must  come  of  his 
own  free  will  and  accord.  His  application 
must  be  purely  voluntary,  to  which  he  has 
not  been  induced  by  persuasion  of  friends. 


2.  That  he  must  not  be  influenced  by 
mercenary  motives. 

3.  That  he  must  be  prompted  to  make 
the  application  in  consequence  of  a  favora- 
ble opinion  that  he  entertains  of  the  In- 
stitution. 

4.  That  he  must  be  resolved  to  conform 
with  cheerfulness  to  the  established  usages 
and  customs  of  the  Fraternity. 

II.  The  External  Qualifications  are, 
as  has  already  been  said,  divided  into  four 
kinds. 

1.  The  Moral.  That  candidate  only  is 
qualified  for  initiation  who  faithfully  ob- 
serves the  precepts  of  the  moral  law,  and 
leads  a  virtuous  life,  so  conducting  himself 


624 


QUADRIVIUM 


QUARRIES 


as  to  receive  the  reward  of  his  own  con- 
science as  well  as  the  respect  and  approba- 
tion of  the  world. 

2.  The  Religious.  Freemasonry  is  ex- 
ceedingly tolerant  in  respect  to  creeds,  but 
it  does  require  that  every  candidate  for  ini- 
tiation shall  believe  in  the  existence  of  God  as 
a  superintending  and  protecting  power,  and 
in  a  future  life.  No  inquiry  will  be  made 
into  modifications  of  religious  belief,  pro- 
vided it  includes  these  two  tenets. 

3.  The  Physical.  These  refer  to  sex, 
age,  and  bodily  conformation.  The  candi- 
date must  be  a  man,  not  a  woman ;  of  ma- 
ture age,  that  is,  having  arrived  at  his 
majority,  and  not  so  old  as  to  have  sunk 
into  dotage ;  and  he  must  be  in  possession 
of  all  his  limbs,  not  maimed  or  dismem- 
bered, but,  to  use  the  language  of  one  of 
the  old  Charges,  "  have  his  right  limbs  as  a 
man  ought  to  have." 

4.  The  Mental.  This  division  excludes 
all  men  who  are  not  intellectually  qualified 
to  comprehend  the  character  of  the  Insti- 
tution, and  to  partake  of  its  responsibili- 
ties. Hence  fools  or  idiots  and  madmen 
are  excluded.  Although  the  landmarks  do 
not  make  illiteracy  a  disqualification,  and 
although  it-  is  undeniable  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Craft  in  olden  time  was  unedu- 
cated ;  yet  there  seems  to  be  a  general  opin- 
ion that  an  incapacity  to  read  and  write 
will,  in  this  day,  disqualify  a  candidate. 

5.  The  Political.  These  relate  to  the 
condition  of  the  candidate  in  society.  The 
old  rule  required  that  none  but  those  who 
were  free  born  could  be  initiated,  which, 
of  course,  excluded  slaves  and  those  born 
in  servituda ;  and  although  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  substituted  free  man  for 
free  born,  it  is  undeniable  that  that  action 
was  a  violation  of  a  landmark ;  and  the  old 
rule  still  exists,  at  least  in  this  country. 

Quadrivium.  In  classical  Latin  the 
word  quadrivium  meant  a  place  where  four 
roads  met,  and  trivium,  a  place  where  three 
roads  met.  The  scholastics  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  looking  to  the  metaphorical  meaning 
of  the  phrase,  the  paths  of  learning,  di- 
vided what  were  called  the  seven  liberal 
arts  and  sciences,  but  which  comprised  the 
whole  cycle  of  instruction  in  those  days, 
into  two  classes,  calling  grammar,  rhetoric, 
and  logic  the  trivium,  and  arithmetic,  ge- 
ometry, music,  and  astronomy  the  quadri- 
vium. These  two  roads  to  the  temple  of 
wisdom,  including  seven  distinct  sciences, 
were,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  supposed  to  in- 
clude universal  knowledge.  See  Liberal 
Arts  and  Sciences. 

Quakers.  The  question  of  the  admis- 
sibility of  a  Quaker's  affirmation  in  Masonry 
is  discussed  under  the  word  Affirmation, 
which  see. 


Quarrels.  Contention  or  quarrelling 
in  the  Lodge,  as  well  as  without,  is  dis- 
countenanced by  the  spirit  of  all  the  Old 
Constitutions  of  Masonry.  In  the  Charges 
compiled  from  them,  approved  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  in  1722,  and  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Anderson,  it  is  said,  "No 
private  piques  or  quarrels  must  be  brought 
within  the  door  of  the  Lodge,  far  less  any 
quarrels  about  religion,  or  nations,  or  State 
policy."     (vi.  2.) 

Quarries.  It  is  an  error  to  speak,  as 
Oliver  does,  misguided  by  some  Masonic 
traditions,  of  the  quarries  of  Tyre  in  con- 
nection with  the  Temple  of  Solomon. 
Modern  researches  have  shown  without 
question  that  the  stones  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  Temple  were  taken  out  of 
quarries  in  the  immediate  vicinity ;  and  the 
best  traditions,  as  well  as  Scripture,  claim 
only  that  the  wood  from  the  forests  of 
Lebanon  was  supplied  by  King  Hiram. 
The  great  quarries  of  Jerusalem  are  situ- 
ated in  the  north-east  portion  of  the  city, 
near  the  Damascus  gate.  The  entrance  to 
them  was  first  discovered  by  Barclay.  A 
writer,  quoted  by  Barclay,  thus  describes 
them,  (City  of  the  Great  King,  p.  466:) 
"  Here  were  blocks  of  stones  but  half  quar- 
ried, and  still  attached  by  one  side  to  the 
rock.  The  work  of  quarrying  was  appa- 
rently effected  by  an  instrument  resembling 
a  pickaxe,  with  a  broad  chisel-shaped  end, 
as  the  spaces  between  the  blocks  were  not 
more  than  four  inches  wide,  in  which  it 
would  be  impossible  for  a  man  to  work 
with  a  chisel  and  mallet.  The  spaces  were, 
many  of  them,  four  feet  deep  and  ten  feet  in 
height,  and  the  distance  between  them  was 
about  four  feet.  After  being  cut  away  at 
each  side  and  at  the  bottom,  a  lever  was  in- 
serted, and  the  combined  force  of  three  or 
four  men  could  easily  pry  the  block  away 
from  the  rock  behind.  The  stone  was  ex- 
tremely soft  and  friable,  nearly  white,  and 
very  easily  worked,  but,  like  the  stone  of 
Malta  and  Paris,  hardening  by  exposure. 
The  marks  of  the  cutting  instrument  were 
as  plain  and  well-defined  as  if  the  workman 
had  just  ceased  from  his  labor.  The  heaps 
of  chippings  which  were  found  in  these 
quarries  showed  that  the  stone  had  been 
dressed  there,  and  confirm  the  Bible  state- 
ment that  the  stone  of  which  the  Tem- 
ple was  built  was  made  ready  before  it 
was  brought  thither."  Barclay  remarks, 
[lb.,  p.  118,)  that  "those  extra  Cyclopean 
stones  in  the  south-east  and  south-west 
corners  of  the  Temple  wall  were  doubtless 
taken  from  this  great  quarry,  and  carried 
to  their  present  position  down  the  gently 
inclined  plain  on  rollers  —  a  conjecture 
which  at  once  solves  the  mystery  that  has 
greatly  puzzled  travellers  in  relation  to  the 


QUARTERLY 


QUORUM 


625 


difficulty  of  transporting  and  handling  such 
immense  masses  of  rock,  and  enables  us  to 
understand  why  they  were  called  'stones 
of  rolling'  by  Ezra."  Mr.  Prime  also 
visited  these  quarries,  and  in  his  Tent  Life 
in  the  Holy  Land,  (p.  114,)  speaks  of  them 
thus  :  "One  thing  to  me  is  very  manifest: 
there  has  been  solid  stone  taken  from  the 
excavation  sufficient  to  build  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  of  Solomon. 
The  size  of  many  of  the  stones  taken  from 
here  appears  to  be  very  great.  I  know  of 
no  place  to  which  the  stone  can  have  been 
carried  but  to  these  works,  and  I  know  no 
other  quarries  in  the  neighborhood  from 
which  the  great  stone  of  the  walls  would 
seem  to  have  come.  These  two  connected 
ideas  compelled  me  strongly  toward  the  be- 
lief that  this  was  the  ancient  quarry  whence 
the  city  was  built ;  and  when  the  magnitude 
of  the  excavation  between  the  two  oppos- 
ing hills  and  of  this  cavern  is  considered, 
it  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  a  difficult  ques- 
tion to  answer,  what  has  become  of  the 
stone  once  here,  on  any  other  theory  than 
that  I  have  suggested."  And  he  adds: 
"  Who  can  say  that  the  cavern  which  we 
explored  was  not  the  place  where  the  ham- 
mers rang  on  the  stone  which  were  forbid- 
den to  sound  in  the  silent  growth  of  the 
great  Temple  of  Solomon?" 

The  researches  of  subsequent  travellers, 
and  especially  the  labors  of  the  "Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,"  have  substantiated 
these  statements,  and  confirmed  the  fact  that 
the  quarries  where  the  workmen  labored  at 
the  buildingof  the  Solomonic  Temple  were 
notinthedominionsoftheKingofTyre,but 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Temple. 
In  1868,  Rob.  Morris  held  what  he  calls  a 
"Moot  Lodge"  in  these  quarries,  which 
event  he  describes  in  his  Freemasonry  in 
the  Holy  Land,  a  work  of  great  interest  to 
Masonic  scholars. 

Quarterly  Communication.  The 
Old  Records  of  the  Institution  state  that  the 
Fraternity  met  annually  in  their  General 
Assembly.  The  Halliwell  Manuscript, 
commonly  known  as  the  York  Constitu- 
tions, says  it  is  true  that  the  Assembly  may 
be  held  triennially,  "Eche  year  or  third 
year  it  should  be  hold;"  but  wherever 
spoken  of  in  subsequent  records,  it  is  al- 
ways as  an  Annual  Meeting.  It  is  not  until 
1717  that  we  find  anything  said  of  quar- 
terly communications;  and  the  first  allu- 
sion to  these  subordinate  meetings  in  any 
printed  work  to  which  we  now  have  access 
is  in  1738,  in  the  edition  of  the  Constitu- 
tions published  in  that  year.  The  expres- 
sion there  used  is  that  the  quarterly  com- 
munications were  "forthwith  revived." 
This  of  course  implies  that  they  had  pre- 
4D  40 


viously  existed  ;  but  as  no  mention  is  made 
of  them  in  the  Regulations  of  1663,  which, 
on  the  contrary,  speak  expressly  only  of  an 
"Annual  General  Assembly,"  I  feel  author- 
ized to  infer  that  quarterly  communications 
must  have  been  first  introduced  into  the 
Masonic  system  after  the  middle  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  They  have  not  the  au- 
thority of  antiquity,  and  have  been  very 
wisely  discarded  by  nearly  all  the  Grand 
Lodges  in  this  country.  They  are  still  re- 
tained by  the  Grand  Lodges  of  England  and 
Scotland,  but  in  the  United  States  only  by 
those  of  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania. 

Quaternion.  From  the  Latin  quater, 
the  number  Four,  which  see.  Oliver  calls 
it  the  quaternary,  but  quaternion  is  the  bet- 
ter usage. 

Quebec.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Quebec 
was  established  in  1869,  by  a  withdrawal  of 
most  of  the  Lodges  of  the  Province  from 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Canada,  on  the  Ameri- 
can principle  of  Masonic  law,  that  the 
jurisdiction  of  a  Grand  Lodge  was  cotermi- 
nous with  the  geographical  limits  of  the 
political  State.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Can- 
ada has  opposed  the  act  as  infringing  on  its 
territorial  rights ;  but  the  validity  and  legal- 
ity of  the  Constitution  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Quebec  have  been  recognized  by  nearly 
all  the  Grand  Lodges  of  America. 

Questions  of  Henry  VI.  Ques- 
tions said  to  have  been  proposed  by  King 
Henry  VI.  of  England  to  the  Masons  of 
the  kingdom,  which,  with  their  answers, 
are  contained  in  the  manuscript  known  as 
the  Leland  Manuscript,  which  see. 

Quorum.  The  parliamentary  law  pro- 
vides that  a  deliberative  body  shall  not  pro- 
ceed to  business  until  a  quorum  of  its  mem- 
bers is  present.  And  this  law  is  applicable 
to  Masonry,  except  that,  in  constituting  a 
quorum  for  opening  and  working  a  Lodge, 
it  is  not  necessary  that  the  quorum  shall  be 
made  up  of  actual  members  of  the  Lodge ; 
for  the  proper  officers  of  the  Lodge  being 
present,  the  quorum  may  be  completed  by 
any  brethren  of  the  Craft.  As  to  the  num- 
ber of  brethren  necessary  to  make  a  quo- 
rum for  the  transaction  of  business,  the  Old 
Constitutions  and  Regulations  are  silent, 
and  the  authorities  consequently  differ.  In 
reply  to  an  inquiry  directed  to  him  in  1857, 
the  editor  of  the  London  Freemasons'  Maga- 
zine affirmed  that  five  Masons  are  sufficient 
to  open  a  Lodge  and  carry  on  business  other 
than  initiation ;  for  which  latter  purpose 
seven  are  necessary.  This  opinion  appears 
be  the  general  English  one,  and  is  acqui- 
esced in  by  Dr.  Oliver ;  but  there  is  no  au- 
thority of  law  for  it.  And  when,  in  the 
year  1818,  the  suggestion  was  made  that 
some  regulation  was  necessary  relative  to 


626 


QUORUM 


RAGON 


the  number  of  brethren  requisite  to  consti- 
tute a  legal  Lodge,  with  competent  powers 
to  perform  the  rite  of  initiation,  and  trans- 
act all  other  business,  the  Board  of  General 
Purposes  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England, 
to  whom  the  suggestion  had  been  referred, 
replied,  with  something  like  Dogberrian 
astuteness,  "  that  it  is  a  matter  of  so  much 
delicacy  and  difficulty,  that  it  is  thought 
advisable  not  to  depart  from  the  silence  on 
the  subject  which  had  been  observed  in  all 
the  Books  of  Constitutions." 

In  the  absence,  then,  of  all  written  laws 
upon  the  subject,  and  without  any  constitu- 
tional provision  to  guide  us,  we  are  com- 
?elled  to  recur  to  the  ritual  for  authority, 
here  the  answer  to  the  question  in  each 
degree,  "How  many  compose  a  Lodge?" 
will  supply  us  with  the  rule  by  which  we 
are  to  establish  the  quorum  in  that  degree. 
For  whatever  number  composes  a  Lodge, 
that  is  the  number  which  will  authorize 


the  Lodge  to  proceed  to  business.  The 
ritual  has  thus  established  the  number 
which  constitutes  a  "  perfect  Lodge,"  and 
without  which  number  a  Lodge  could  not 
be  legally  opened,  and  therefore,  neces- 
sarily, could  not  proceed  to  work  or  busi- 
ness; for  there  is  no  distinction,  in  respect 
to  a  quorum,  between  a  Lodge  when  at 
work  or  when  engaged  in  business. 

According  to  the  ritualistic  rule  referred 
to,  seven  constitute  a  quorum,  for  work  or 
business,  in  an  Entered  Apprentice's  Lodge, 
five  in  a  Fellow  Craft's,  and  three  in  a  Mas- 
ter Mason's.  Without  this  requisite  num- 
ber no  Lodge  can  be  opened  in  either  of 
these  degrees.  In  a  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch 
Masons  nine  Companions  constitute  a 
quorum,  and  in  a  Commandery  of  Knights 
Templars  eleven  Knights ;  although,  under 
certain  circumstances  well  known  to  the 
Order,  three  Knights  are  competent  to 
transact  business. 


R. 


Rabbanaim.  p  *  JO  ^'D^V  Rabbini- 
cal Hebrew,  and  signifying  "  the  chief  of 
the  architects."  A  significant  word  in  the 
high  degrees. 

Rabbinism.  The  system  of  philos- 
ophy taught  by  the  Jewish  Rabbis  subse- 
quent to  the  dispersion,  and  which  is  en- 
gaged in  mystical  explanations  of  the  oral 
law.  With  the  reveries  of  the  Jewish 
teachers  was  mingled  the  Egyptian,  the 
Arabic,  and  the  Grecian  doctrines.  From 
the  Egyptians,  especially,  Rabbinism  de- 
rived its  allegorical  and  symbolic  mode  of 
instruction.  Out  of  it  sprung  the  Thera- 
peutists and  the  Essenians;  and  it  gave  rise 
to  the  composition  of  the  Talmud,  many 
of  whose  legends  have  been  incorporated 
into  the  mythical  philosophy  of  Speculative 
Masonry.  And  this  it  is  that  makes  Rab- 
binism an  interesting  subject  of  research  to 
the  Masonic  student. 

Rabboni.  ^"QT  Literally,  my  Master, 
equivalent  to  the  pure  Hebrew,  Adoni.  As 
a  significant  word  in  the  higher  degrees,  it 
has  been  translated  "  a  most  excellent  Master" 
and  its  usage  by  the  later  Jews  will  justify 
that  interpretation.  Buxtorf  [Lex.  Talmud.) 
tells  us  that  about  the  time  of  Christ  this 
title  arose  in  the  school  of  Hillel,  and  was 
given  to  only  seven  of  their  wise  men  who 
were  pre-eminent  for  their  learning.  Jahn 
[Arch.  Bib.,  §  106,)  says  that  Gamaliel,  the 


preceptor  of  St.  Paul,  was  one  of  these.  They 
styled  themselves  the  children  of  wisdom, 
which  is  an  expression  very  nearly  corres- 
ponding to  the  Greek  <pi?vooo(poi.  The  word 
occurs  once,  as  applied  to  Christ,  in  the  New 
Testament,  (John  xx.  16.)  "Jesus  said  unto 
her,  Mary.  She  turned  herself,  and  saith 
unto  him,  Rabboni,  which  is  to  say,  Master." 
The  Masonic  myth  in  the  "  Most  Excellent 
Master's  degree,"  that  it  was  the  title  ad- 
dressed by  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to  King 
Solomon  on  beholding  the  magnificence 
and  splendor  of  the  Temple,  wants  the 
element  of  plausibility,  inasmuch  as  the 
word. was  not  in  use  in  the  time  of  Solomon. 
Raeon,  J.  ME.  One  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished Masonic  writers  of  France.  His 
contemporaries  did  not  hesitate  to  call  him 
"  the  most  learned  Mason  of  the  nineteenth 
century."  He  was  born  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  most  probably 
at  Bruges,  in  Belgium,  where  in  1803  he 
was  initiated  in  the  Loge  Reunion  des 
Amis  du  Nord,  and  subsequently  assisted 
in  the  foundation  of  the  Lodge  and  Chapter 
of  Vrais  Amis  in  the  same  city.  On  his 
removal  to  Paris  he  continued  his  devotion 
to  Freemasonry,  and  was  the  founder  in 
1805  of  the  celebrated  Lodge  of  Les  Trino- 
sophes.  In  that  Lodge  he  delivered,  in 
1818,  a  course  of  lectures  on  ancient  and 
modern    initiations,   which    twenty  years 


RAGOTZKY 


RAMSAY 


627 


afterwards  were  repeated  at  the  request  of 
the  Lodge,  and  published  in  1841,  under 
the  title  of  (fours  Philosophique  et  Inter- 
pratif  des  Initiations  Anciennes  et  Modernes. 
This  work  was  printed  with  the  express  per- 
mission of  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  but 
three  years  after  that  body  denounced  its 
second  edition  for  containing  some  ad- 
ditional matter.  Heboid  charges  this  act  to 
the  petty  passions  of  the  day,  and  twenty- 
five  years  after  the  Grand  Orient  made 
ample  reparation  in  the  honor  that  it  paid 
to  the  memory  of  Ragon.  In  1818  and 
1819,  he  was  editor  in  chief  of  the  period- 
ical published  during  those  years  under  the 
title  of  Hermes,  ou  Archives  Maconniques. 
In  1853,  he  published  Orthodoxie  Maqon- 
nique,  a  work  abounding  in  historical  infor- 
mation, although  some  of  his  statements 
are  inaccurate.  In  1861,  he  published  the 
Tuileur  Qen&ral  de  la  Franc-  Maconnerie,  ou 
Manuel  de  Vlnitie';  a  book  not  merely  con- 
fined to  the  details  of  degrees,  but  which 
is  enriched  with  many  valuable  and  inter- 
esting notes.  Ragon  died  at  Paris  about 
the  year  1866.  In  the  preface  to  his  Ortho- 
doxie, he  had  announced  his  intention  to 
crown  his  Masonic  labors  by  writing  a 
work  to  be  entitled  Les  Fastes  Initiatiques, 
in  which  he  proposed  to  give  an  exhaustive 
view  of  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  of  the  Ro- 
man Colleges  of  Architects  and  their  suc- 
cessors, the  building  corporations  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  of  the  institution  of 
Modern  or  Philosophic  Masonry  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century.  This 
was  to  constitute  the  first  volume.  The 
three  following  volumes  were  to  embrace  a 
history  of  the  Order  and  of  all  its  Rites  in 
every  country.  The  fifth  volume  was  to  be 
appropriated  to  the  investigation  of  other 
secret  associations,  more  or  less  connected 
with  Freemasonry;  and  the  sixth  and  last 
volume  was  to  contain  a  General  Tiler  or 
manual  of  all  the  known  rites  and  degrees. 
Such  a  work  would  have  been  an  inesti- 
mable boon  to  the  Masonic  student,  but 
Ragon  unfortunately  began  it  too  late  in 
life.  He  did  not  live  to  complete  it,  and 
in  1868  the  unfinished  manuscript  was  pur- 
chased, by  the  Grand  Orient  of  France, 
from  his  heirs  for  a  thousand  francs.  It 
was  destined  to  be  quietly  deposited  in  the 
archives  of  that  body,  because,  as  it  was 
confessed,  no  Mason  could  be  found  in 
France  who  had  ability  enough  to  supply 
its  lacunae  and  prepare  it  for  the  press. 

Ragon's  theory  of  the  origin  of  Masonry 
was  that  its  primitive  idea  is  to  be  found 
in  the  initiations  of  the  Ancient  Mysteries, 
but  that  for  its  present  form  it  is  indebted 
to  Elias  Ashmole,  who  fabricated  it  in  the 
seventeenth  century. 

Ragotzky,  Carl  August.    A  Ger- 


man who  was  distinguished  for  his  labors 
in  Masonry,  and  for  the  production  of  seve- 
ral works  of  high  character,  the  principal 
of  which  were  Der  Freidenker  in  der  Mau- 
rerei  oder  Freimuthige  Brie/e  iiber  wiehtige 
Gegenstdnde  in  der  Frei- Maurerei,  i.  e., 
The  Freethinker  in  Masonry,  or  Candid 
Letters  on  important  subjects  in  Free- 
masonry, published  at  Berlin,  in  1793,  in 
an  octavo  volume  of  three  hundred  and 
eleven  pages,  of  which  a  second  edition  ap- 
peared in  1811 ;  and  a  smaller  work  en- 
titled Ueber  Maurerische  Freiheit,fur  eingei- 
veihte  und  uncingeweihte,  i.  e.,  An  Essay  on 
Masonic  Liberty,  for  initiated  and  unini- 
tiated readers,  published  in  1792.  He  died 
Jan.  5,  1823. 

Rains.  It  was  a  custom  among  the 
English  Masons  of  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  when  conversing  together  on  Ma- 
sonry, to  announce  the  appearance  of  a 
profane  by  the  warning  expression  "  it 
rains."  The  custom  was  adopted  by  the 
German  and  French  Masons,  with  the 
equivalent  expression,  es  regnet  and  ilpluie, 
Baron  Tschoudy,  who  condemns  the  usage, 
says  that  the  latter  refined  upon  it  by  de- 
signating the  approach  of  a  female  by  il 
neige,  it  snows.  Dr.  Oliver  says  (.Rev.  Sq., 
97,)  that  the  phrase  "  it  rains,"  to  indicate 
that  a  cowan  is  present  and  the  proceed- 
ings must  be  suspended,  is  derived  from  the 
ancient  punishment  of  an  eavesdropper, 
which  was  to  place  him  under  the  eaves  of  a 
house  in  rainy  weather,  and  to  retain  him 
there  till  the  droppings  of  water  ran  in  at 
the  collar  of  his  coat  and  out  at  his  shoes. 

Raised.  When  a  candidate  has  re- 
ceived the  third  degree,  he  is  said  to  have 
been  "raised"  to  the  sublime  degree  of  a 
Master  Mason.  The  expression  refers, 
materially,  to  a  portion  of  the  ceremony  of 
initiation,  but  symbolically,  to  the  resurrec- 
tion, which  it  is  the  object  of  the  degree  to 
exemplify. 

Ranisay ,  Andrew  Michael. 
Commonly  called  the  Chevalier  Ramsay. 
He  was  born  at  Ayr,  in  Scotland,  June  9, 
1668.  His  father  was  a  baker,  but  being  a 
possessor  of  considerable  property  was  en- 
abled to  give  his  son  a  liberal  education. 
He  was  accordingly  sent  to  school  in  his 
native  burgh,  and  afterwards  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  distin- 
guished for  his  abilities  and  diligence.  In 
1709  he  was  intrusted  with  the  education 
of  the  two  sons  of  the  Earl  of  Wemyss. 
Subsequently,  becoming  unsettled  in  his 
religious  opinions,  he  resigned  that  em- 
ployment and  went  to  Holland,  residing  for 
some  time  at  Leyden.  There  he  became 
acquainted  with  Pierre  Poiret,  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  teachers  of  the  mystic 
theology  which  then  prevailed  on  the  con- 


628 


RAMSAY 


RAMSAY 


tinent.  From  him  Ramsay  learned  the 
principal  tenets  of  that  system ;  and  it  is 
not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  he  was 
thus  indoctrinated  with  that  love  of  mysti- 
cal speculation  which  he  subsequently  de- 
veloped as  the  inventor  of  Masonic  degrees, 
and  as  the  founder  of  a  Masonic  Rite.  In 
1710  he  visited  the  celebrated  Fenelon, 
Archbishop  of  Cambray,  of  whose  mystical 
tendencies  he  had  heard,  and  met  with  a 
cordial  reception.  The  archbishop  invited 
Ramsay  to  become  his  guest,  and  in  six 
months  he  was  converted  to  the  Catholic 
faith.  Fenelon  procured  for  him  the  pre- 
ceptorship  of  the  Due  de  Chateau-Thierry 
and  the  Prince  de  Turenne.  As  a  reward 
for  his  services  in  that  capacity,  he  was 
made  a  knight  of  the  Order  of  St.  Lazarus, 
whence  he  received  the  title  of  "  Chevalier  " 
by  which  he  was  usually  known.  He  was 
subsequently  selected  by  James  III.,  the 
Pretender,  as  the  tutor  of  his  two  sons, 
Charles  Edward  and  Henry,  the  former  of 
whom  became  afterwards  the  Young  Pre- 
tender, and  the  latter  the  Cardinal  York. 
For  this  purpose  he  repaired,  in  1724,  to 
Rome.  But  the  political  and  religious  in- 
trigues of  that  court  became  distasteful  to 
him,  and  in  a  short  time  he  obtained  per- 
mission to  return  to  France.  In  1728  he 
visited  England,  and  became  an  inmate  of 
the  family  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  Cham- 
bers says  [Biog.  Diet.)  that  while  there  he 
wrote  his  Principles  of  Natural  and  Revealed 
Religion,  and  his  Travels  of  Cyrus.  This 
statement  is  evidently  incorrect.  The  for- 
mer did  not  appear  until  after  his  death, 
and  was  probably  one  of  the  last  produc- 
tions of  his  pen.  The  latter  had  already 
been  published  at  Paris  in  1727.  But  he 
had  already  acquired  so  great  a  literary 
reputation,  that  the  University  of  Oxford 
conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws.  He  then  returned  to  France,  and 
resided  for  many  years  at  Pointoise,  a  seat 
of  the  Prince  of  Turenne,  where  he  wrote 
his  Life  of  Fenelon,  and  a  History  of  the 
Viscount  Turenne.  During  the  remainder 
of  his  life  he  resided  as  Inteudant  in  the 
Prince's  family,  and  died  May  6,  1743,  in 
the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

No  one  played  a  more  important  part  in 
the  history  of  Freemasonry  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  than  the  Chevalier  Ramsay, 
and  the  influence  of  his  opinions  and  teach- 
ings is  still  felt  in  the  high  degrees  which 
have  been  adopted  by  the  various  Rites 
into  which  Masonry  is  now  divided. 

Ramsay,  although  born  of  humble  pa- 
rentage, was  by  subsequent  association  an 
aristocrat  in  disposition.  Hence,  in  pro- 
posing his  theory  of  the  origin  of  Freema- 
sonry, he  repudiated  its  connection  with  an 
operative  art,  and  sought  to  find  its  birth- 


place in  Palestine,  among  those  kings  and 
knights  who  had  gone  forth  to  battle  as 
Crusaders  for  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem. 
In  1740,  Ramsay,  as  Grand  Orator,  pro- 
nounced a  discourse  before  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  France,  in  which  he  set  forth  his 
theory  in  explicit  terms.  That  the  reader 
may  be  put  in  possession  of  that  theory  in 
Ramsay's  own  words,  I  have  translated 
from  the  discourse  the  following  passage: 

"  During  the  time  of  the  holy  wars  in 
Palestine,  several  principal  lords  and  citi- 
zens associated  themselves  together,  and 
entered  into  a  vow  to  re-establish  the  tem- 
ples of  the  Christians  in  the  Holy  Land ;  and 
engaged  themselves  by  an  oath  to  employ 
their  talents  and  their  fortunes  in  restoring 
architecture  to  its  primitive  institution. 
They  adopted  several  ancient  signs  and 
symbolic  words  drawn  from  religion,  by 
which  they  might  distinguish  themselves 
from  the  infidels  and  recognize  each  other 
in  the  midst  of  the  Saracens.  They  com- 
municated these  signs  and  words  only  to 
those  who  had  solemnly  sworn,  often  at 
the  foot  of  the  altar,  never  to  reveal  them. 
This  was  not  an  oath  of  execration,  but  a 
bond  uniting  men  of  all  nations  into  the 
same  confraternity.  Some  time  after  our 
Order  was  united  with  the  Knights  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem.  Hence  our  Lodges 
are  in  all  countries  called  Lodges  of  St. 
John.  This  union  was  made  in  imitation 
of  the  Israelites  when  they  rebuilt  the  sec- 
ond Temple,  during  which  time  with  one 
hand  they  managed  the  trowel  and  mor- 
tar, and  in  the  other  held  the  sword  and 
buckler. 

"  Our  Order  must  not,  therefore,  be  re- 
garded as  a  renewal  of  the  Bacchanals  and 
a  source  of  senseless  dissipation,  of  un- 
bridled libertinism  and  of  scandalous  in- 
temperance, but  as  a  moral  Order,  insti- 
tuted by  our  ancestors  in  the  Holy  Land 
to  recall  the  recollection  of  the  most  sub- 
lime truths  in  the  midst  of  the  innocent 
pleasures  of  society. 

"The  kings,  princes,  and  nobles,  when 
they  returned  from  Palestine  into  their 
native  dominions,  established  Lodges  there. 
At  the  time  of  the  last  Crusade  several 
Lodges  had  already  been  erected  in  Ger- 
many, Italy,  Spain,  France,  and,  from  the 
last,  in  Scotland,  on  account  of  the  intimate 
alliance  which  then  existed  between  those 
two  nations. 

"  James,  Lord  Steward  of  Scotland,  was 
the  Grand  Master  of  a  Lodge  established 
at  Kilwinning,  in  the  west  of  Scotland,  in 
the  year  1236,  a  short  time  after  the  death 
of  Alexander  III.,  king  of  Scotland,  and 
a  year  before  John  Baliol  ascended  the 
throne.  This  Scottish  lord  received  the 
Earls  of  Gloucester  and  Ulster,  English 


RAMSAY 


RAMSAY 


629 


and  Irish  noblemen,  as  Masons  in  his 
Lodge. 

"  By  degrees  our  Lodges,  our  festivals, 
and  our  solemnities  were  neglected  in  most 
of  the  countries  where  they  had  been  estab- 
lished. Hence  the  silence  of  the  historians 
of  all  nations,  except  Great  Britain,  on  the 
subject  of  the  Order.  It  was  preserved, 
however,  in  all  its  splendor  by  the  Scotch, 
to  whom  for  several  centuries  the  kings  of 
France  had  intrusted  the  guardianship  of 
their  sacred  persons. 

"  After  the  lamentable  reverses  of  the 
Crusades,  the  destruction  of  the  Christian 
armies,  and  the  triumph  of  Bendocdar, 
Sultan  of  Egypt,  in  1263,  duringthe  eighth 
and  ninth  Crusades,  the  great  rrince  Ed- 
ward, son  of  Henry  III.,  King  of  England, 
seeing  that  there  would  be  no  security  for 
the  brethren  in  the  Holy  Land  when  the 
Christian  troops  should  retire,  led  them 
away,  and  thus  this  colony  of  the  Frater- 
nity was  established  in  England.  As  this 
prince  was  endowed  with  all  the  qualities 
of  mind  and  heart  which  constitute  the 
hero,  he  loved  the  fine  arts,  and  declared 
himself  the  protector  of  our  Order.  He 
granted  it  several  privileges  and  franchises, 
and  ever  since  the  members  of  the  con- 
fraternity have  assumed  the  name  of  Free- 
masons. From  this  time  Great  Britain 
became  the  seat  of  our  sciences,  the  con- 
servatrix  of  our  laws,  and  the  depository 
of  our  secrets.  The  religious  dissensions 
which  so  fatally  pervaded  and  rent  all  Eu- 
rope during  the  sixteenth  century,  caused 
our  Order  to  degenerate  from  the  grandeur 
and  nobility  of  its  origin.  Several  of  our 
rites  and  usages,  which  were  opposed  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  times,  were  changed,  dis- 
guised, or  retrenched.  Thus  it  is  that  sev- 
eral of  our  brethren  have,  like  the  ancient 
Jews,  forgotten  the  spirit  of  our  laws,  and 
preserved  only  the  letter  and  the  outer  cov- 
ering. But  from  the  British  isles  the  an- 
cient science  is  now  beginning  to  pass  again 
into  France." 

Such  was  the  peculiar  theory  of  Bamsay, 
which,  long  before  the  delivery  of  this  dis- 
course, he  had  developed  in  his  Rite  of  six 
degrees.  Rejecting  all  reference  to  the 
Travelling  Architects  from  Como,  to  the 
Stonemasons  of  Germany,  and  the  Opera- 
tive Freemasons  of  England,  he  had 
sought  a  noble  and  chivalric  origin  for 
Freemasonry,  which  with  him  was  not  a 
confraternity  founded  on  a  system  of  archi- 
tecture, but  solely  on  the  military  prowess 
and  religious  enthusiasm  of  knighthood. 
The  theory  was  as  clearly  the  result  of  his 
own  inventive  genius  as  was  his  fable  of 
the  travels  of  Cyrus.  He  offered  no  docu- 
mentary or  historical  authority  to  support 
his  assertions,  but  gave  them  as  if  they  were 


already  admitted  facts.  The  theory  was, 
however,  readily  accepted  by  the  rich,  the 
fashionable,  and  the  noble,  because  it  ele- 
vated the  origin  and  the  social  position  of 
the  Order,  and  to  it  we  are  to  attribute  the 
sudden  rise  of  so  many  high  degrees,  which 
speedily  overshadowed  the  humbler  pre- 
tensions of  primitive  Craft  Masonry.  The 
Kadosh,  one  of  the  most  important  and 
most  extensively  diffused  of  all  the  high 
degrees,  owes  its  invention  or  its  composi- 
tion to  Ramsay. 

But  this  was  not  the  only  influence  that 
he  exerted  on  the  Masonic  system.  Ar- 
dently attached  to  the  exiled  house  of 
Stuart,  of  two  of  whose  princes  he  had  been 
the  tutor,  he  eagerly  met  the  advances  of 
those  who  had  already  begun  to  give  a 
political  importance  to  the  Order  and  to 
enlist  it  in  the  Pretender's  cause,  making  it 
an  instrument  for  effecting  his  restoration 
to  the  throne  of  England.  (See  Stuart  Ma- 
sonry.) Ramsay  incorporated  these  views 
into  his  system,  and  hence,  in  many  of  the 
high  degrees  which  remain  at  this  day,  al- 
though all  that  political  feeling  has  long 
been  dead,  we  still  find  traces  of  a  Stuart 
Masonry. 

To  Ramsay  is  also  attributed  the  inven- 
tion of  that  system  now  known  as  the  Royal 
Arch.  This,  too,  exerted  its  influence,  for 
from  the  degree  of  Ramsay  both  Dermott 
and  Dunckerley  derived  many  of  their  ideas 
used  in  constructing  the  two  Royal  Arch 
systems  which  were  respectively  adopted 
by  the  Ancient  and  the  Modern  Masons. 
Oliver,  although  in  his  essay  on  the  Origin 
of  the  English  Royal  Arch  (p.  24)  he  ad- 
mits the  influence  of  Ramsay's  degree, 
speaks  in  his  Historical  Landmarks  (p.  34, 
note,)  in  more  doubtful  language.  "It  is 
said  that  Ramsay  invented  the  Royal  Arch  " 
is  the  equivocal  phrase  that  he  uses.  He 
adds  that  "  it  cannot  have  been  any  of  the 
three  which  are  usually  so  styled,  viz.,  the 
R.  A.  of  Enoch,  of  Josiah,  or  of  Zerubbabel. 
Whatever  it  might  be,  it  is  now  obsolete." 
But  this  is  an  error  •  the  Royal  Arch  of 
Enoch  is  precisely  the  degree  which  was  in- 
vented by  Ramsay ;  and  it  is  not  obsolete, 
for  it  is  found  in  almost  all  the  continental 
Rites  under  various  names.  It  was  adopted 
from  Ramsay  by  the  Council  of  Emperors 
of  the  East  and  West,  when  that  body  was 
organized  in  1754,  and  subsequently  passed 
over  to  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  where  it  still  remains  as  the  thirteenth 
degree.  That  it  was  a  Stuart  degree  is  evi- 
dent, among  other  reasons,  from  the  fact 
that  the  fourteenth  degree,  which  is  its 
complement,  and  without  which  it  is  in- 
complete, originally  received  the  title  of 
"Grand  Scottish  Knight  of  the  Sacred 
Vault  of  James  VI." 


630 


RAMSAY 


RAWLINSON 


When  the  Chevalier  Ramsay  went  to  Eng- 
land in  1728,  he  carried  with  him  his  Ma- 
sonic system,  and  sought  to  secure  its  adop- 
tion by  the  English  Lodges.  But  in  this 
he  was  altogether  unsuccessful.  Yet  he  left 
a  latent  influence  behind  him  when  he  re- 
turned to  the  continent,  which  was  subse- 
quently felt  by  those  who  organized  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Ancients.  To  that  influ- 
ence, presented  in  the  example  of  his  high 
degrees,  are  we,  I  think,  to  attribute  the 
disseverance  of  the  Master's  Word  from 
the  third  degree,  and  the  consequent  inven- 
tion of  the  Royal  Arch.  Both  Dermott  and 
Dunckerley,  as  I  have  already  said,  derived 
some  fruit  from  Ramsay's  superior  intellect. 
All  writers  concur  in  giving  the  most 
favorable  opinions  of  Ramsay's  character. 
Chambers  asserts  that  he  was  generous  and 
kind  to  his  relatives,  and  that  on  his  tem- 
porary return  to  Great  Britain,  although  he 
did  not  visit  them  in  Scotland,  he  sent  them 
liberal  offers  of  money,  which,  however,  in- 
censed at  his  apostasy  from  the  national 
religion,  they  indignantly  refused  to  accept. 
Clavel  (Hist.  Pittor.,  p.  165,)  describes  him 
as  "  a  man  endowed  with  an  ardent  imagi- 
nation, and  a  large  amount  of  learning,  wit, 
and  urbanity."  And  Robison  (Proofs  of  a 
Consp.,  p.  39,)  says  he  was  "  as  eminent  for 
his  piety  as  he  was  for  his  enthusiasm,"  and 
speaks  of  his  "  eminent  learning,  his  elegant 
talents,  and  his  amiable  character." 

His  general  literary  reputation  is  secured 
by  his  Life  of  Fenelon,  his  Travels  of  Cyrus, 
and  the  elaborate  work,  published  after  his 
death,  entitled  The  Philosophical  Principles 
of  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion,  Unfolded 
in  a  Geometrical  Order,  In  Masonry  he 
wrote  but  little  save  the  rituals  of  the 
degrees  which  he  had  invented.  He  was, 
however,  the  author  of  an  Apologetic  and 
Historical  Relation  of  the  Society  of  Freema- 
sonry, which  was  published  in  1738,  and 
had  the  honor  to  be  burnt  the  next  year 
at  Rome  by  the  public  executioner,  on  the 
sentence  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the 
Inquisition. 

As  to  the  effect  of  Ramsay's  labors  on 
Freemasonry,  I  think  there  can  hardly  be 
two  opinions  in  candid  minds.  He  came 
to  the  study  of  the  Masonic  science  with  all 
the  advantages  of  a  thoroughly  classical 
education.  He  was  indeed  by  far  the  most 
learned  man  who,  up  to  that  time,  had 
taken  any  interest  in  the  Order.  Thus  his 
influence  was  directed  to  elevate  the  tone  of 
the  Institution,  and  to  show  to  the  world 
that  it  was  worthy  of  the  investigation  of 
cultivated  minds.  With  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry he  scarcely  interfered,  save  to  assign 
to  it  an  origin  and  a  history  different  from 
those  which  had  been  commonly  received. 
But  on  that  fundamental  system,  as  his 


basis,  he  erected  a  superstructure  of  high 
degrees,  in  which  he  sought  to  develop  a 
system  of  mystical  philosophy  which  has 
added  much  to  the  attractions  of  Masonic 
study.  That  his  high  degrees  were  after- 
wards expanded  to  a  disproportionate  ex- 
tent, and  often  by  inferior  minds,  was  not 
his  fault.  And  although,  if  we  look  at  his 
system  in  a  historical  point  of  view,  we 
may  feel  bound  to  reject  it  as  the  mere  re- 
sult of  a  fertile  invention,  yet,  viewed  sym- 
bolically, it  becomes  of  vast  importance. 
For  in  that  system  he  had  planted  the 
germs  of  a  science  of  Masonic  symbolism 
which  had  been  previously  unknown,  but 
which  has  grown,  and  budded,  and  blos- 
somed, and  given  the  ripeness  of  its  fruit 
to  succeeding  generations.  The  mine  of 
symbolism  which  he  first  opened  has  been 
effectively  worked  by  those  who  have  suc- 
ceeded him. 

Ramsay,  Rite  of.  This  Rite,  long 
since  exploded,  was  attempted  to  be  intro- 
duced in  London,  in  1728,  by  the  Cheva- 
lier Ramsay,  who  sought  to  found  it  on  his 
peculiar  system  of  the  Templar  origin  of 
Freemasonry.  It  consisted  of  six  degrees, 
as  follows :  1.  Apprentice ;  2.  Fellow  Craft ; 
3.  Master ;  4.  Scottish  Master ;  5.  Novice ; 
6.  Knight  of  the  Temple,  or  Templar.  It 
was  rejected  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land, but  was  received  in  France,  where  its 
degrees  were  afterwards  incorporated  into 
other  Rites.    See  Ramsay. 

Ratisbon.  A  city  of  Bavaria,  in 
which  two  Masonic  Congresses  have  been 
held.  The  first  was  convoked  in  1459,  by 
Jost  Dotzinger,  the  master  of  the  works  of 
the  Strasburg  cathedral.  It  established 
some  new  laws  for  the  government  of  the 
Fraternity  in  Germany,  The  second  was 
called  in  1464,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Strasburg,  principally  to  define  the  relative 
rights  of,  and  to  settle  existing  difficulties 
between,  the  Grand  Lodges  of  Strasburg, 
Cologne,  Vienna,  and  Bern. 

Rawlinson  Manuscript.  In  1855, 
the  Rev.  J.  S.  Sidebotham,  of  New  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  published  in  the  Freemasons' 
Monthly  Magazine  a  series  of  interesting 
extracts  from  a  manuscript  volume  which 
he  stated  was  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  and 
which  he  described  as  seeming  "to  be  a 
kind  of  Masonic  album,  or  commonplace 
book,  belonging  to  Brother  Richard  Raw- 
linson,  LL.D.  and  F.  R.  S.,  of  the  follow- 
ing Lodges:  Sash  and  Cocoa-tree,  Moor- 
fields,  37 ;  St.  Paul's  Head,  Ludgate  Street 
40;  Rose  Tavern,  Cheapside  and  Oxford 
Arms,  Ludgate  Street,  94 ;  in  which  he  in- 
serted anything  that  struck  him  either  as 
useful  or  particularly  amusing.  It  is  partly 
in  manuscript,  partly  in  print,  and  com- 
prises some  ancient  Masonic  Charges,  Con- 


EECEIVED 


RECOGNITION 


631 


stitutions,  forms  of  summons,  a  list  of  all 
the  Lodges  of  his  time  under  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  whether  in  London,  the 
country,  or  abroad ;  together  with  some  ex- 
tracts from  the  Grab  Street  Journal,  the 
General  Evening  Post,  and  other  journals 
of  the  day.  The  date  ranges  from  1724  to 
1740." 

Among  the  materials  thus  collected  is 
one  which  bears  the  following  title:  The 
Freemasons'  Constitutions,  Copied  from  an 
Old  MS.  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Rawlin- 
son.  This  copy  of  the  Old  Constitutions 
does  not  differ  materially  in  its  contents 
from  the  other  old  manuscripts,  but  its 
more  modern  spelling  and  phraseology 
would  seem  to  give  it  a  later  date,  which 
Hughan  thinks  is  about  1700.  In  a  note 
to  the  statement  that  King  Athelstan 
"  caused  a  roll  or  book  to  be  made,  which 
declared  how  this  science  was  first  invented, 
afterwards  preserved  and  augmented,  with 
the  utility  and  true  intent  thereof,  which 
roll  or  book  he  commanded  to  be  read  and 
plainly  recited  when  a  man  was  to  be  made 
a  Freemason,"  Dr.  Rawlinson  says :  "  One 
of  these  rolls  I  have  seen  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Baker,  a  carpenter  in  Moorfields." 
The  title  of  the  manuscript  in  the  scrap- 
book  of  Rawlinson  is  The  Freemasons'  Con- 
stitution, Copied  from  an  Old  MS.  in  the  pos- 
session of  Dr.  Eawlinson.  Recent  researches 
in  the  Bodleian  Library  have  not,  however, 
discovered  the  original  manuscript  from 
which  the  copy  was  made.  It  has  most 
probably  been  mislaid,  for  its  existence 
cannot  be  doubted. 

Richard  Rawlinson,  LL.D.,  was  a  cele- 
brated antiquary,  who  was  born  in  London 
about  1690,  and  died  April  6,  1755.  He 
was  the  author  of  a  Life  of  Anthony  Wood, 
published  in  1711,  and  of  The  English  To- 

fiographer,  published  in  1720.  Dr.  Raw- 
iuson  was  consecrated  a  bishop  of  the 
non-juring  communion  of  the  Church  of 
England,  March  25, 1728.  He  was  an  as- 
siduous collector  of  old  manuscripts,  inva- 
riably purchasing,  sometimes  at  high  prices, 
all  that  were  offered  him  for  sale.  In  his 
will,  dated  June  2,  1752,  he  bequeathed  the 
whole  collection  to  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford. The  manuscripts  were  placed  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  and  still  remain  there ; 
but  unfortunately  no  adequate  catalogue 
of  them  has  ever  been  made. 

Received  and  Acknowledged. 
A  term  applied  to  the  initiation  of  a  candi- 
date into  the  sixth  or  Most  Excellent  Mas- 
ter's degree  of  the  American  Rite.  See 
A  cknov>ledged. 

Reception.  The  ceremony  of  initia- 
tion into  a  degree  of  Masonry  is  called  a 
reception. 

Recipient.      The   French    call  the 


candidate  in  any  degree  of  Masonry  the 
Eecipiendaire,  or  Recipient. 

Recognition,  Modes  of.  Smith 
says  (  Use  and  Abuse,  p.  46,)  that  at  the  in- 
stitution of  the  Order,  in  each  of  the  de- 
grees, "  a  particular  distinguishing  test  was 
adopted,  which  test,  together  with  the  ex- 
plication, was  accordingly  settled  and  com- 
municated to  the  Fraternity  previous  to 
their  dispersion,  under  a  necessary  and 
solemn  injunction  to  secrecy;  and  they 
have  been  most  cautiously  preserved  and 
transmitted  down  to  posterity  by  faithful 
brethren  ever  since  their  emigration." 

Hence,  of  all  the  landmarks,  the  modes 
of  recognition  are  the  most  legitimate  and 
unquestioned.  They  should  admit  of  no 
variation,  for  in  their  universality  consist 
their  excellence  and  advantage.  And  yet 
such  variations  have  unfortunately  been 
admitted,  the  principal  of  which  origi- 
nated about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
and  were  intimately  connected  with  the 
schism  which  at  that  time  took  place  in 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  and  which 
divided  the  Fraternity  in  that  country  into 
the  two  conflicting  societies  of  the  "  An- 
cients "  and  the  "  Moderns ;"  and  although 
by  the  reconciliation  in  1813  uniformity 
was  restored  in  the  United  Grand  Lodge 
which  was  then  formed,  that  uniformity  did 
not  extend  to  the  subordinate  bodies  in 
other  countries  which  had  derived  their 
existence  and  their  different  modes  of 
recognition  from  the  two  separated  Grand 
Lodges;  and  this  was,  of  course,  equally 
applicable  to  the  high  degrees  which 
sprang  out  of  them.  Thus,  while  the 
modes  of  recognition  in  the  York  and 
Scottish  Rites  are  substantially  the  same, 
those  of  the  French  or  Modern  Rite  differ 
in  almost  everything.  In  this  there  is  a 
P.  W.  in  the  first  degree  unrecognized  by 
the  two  other  Rites,  and  all  afterwards  are 
different. 

Again,  there  are  important  differences  in 
the  York  and  American  Rites,  although 
there  is  sufficient  similarity  to'  relieve 
American  and  English  Masons  from  any 
embarrassment  in  mutual  recognition.  Al- 
though nearly  all  the  Lodges  in  the  United 
States,  before  the  Revolution  of  1776, 
derived  their  existence  from  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  England,  the  American  Masons 
do  not  use  the  multitude  of  signs  that  pre- 
vail in  the  English  system,  while  they 
have  introduced,  I  think,  through  the 
teachings  of  Webb,  the  D.  G.,  which  is 
totally  unknown  to  English  Masonry. 
Looking  to  these  differences,  the  Masonic 
Congress  of  Paris,  held  in  1856,  recom- 
mended, in  the  seventh  proposition,  that 
"  Masters  of  Lodges,  in  conferring  the  de- 
gree of  Master  Mason,  should  invest  tho 


632 


KECOGNITIOtf 


KECOMMENDATION 


candidate  with  the  words,  signs,  and  grips 
of  the  Scottish  and  Modern  Rites."  This 
proposition,  if  it  had  been  adopted,  would 
have  mitigated,  if  it  did  not  abolish,  the 
evil ;  but,  unfortunately,  it  did  not  receive 
the  general  concurrence  of  the  Craft. 

As  to  the  antiquity  of  modes  of  recogni- 
tion in  general,  it  may  be  said  that,  from 
the  very  nature  of  things,  there  was  always 
a  necessity  for  the  members  of  every  secret 
society  to  have  some  means  for  recognizing 
a  brother  that  should  escape  the  detec- 
tion of  the  uninitiated.  We  find  evidence 
in  several  of  the  classic  writings  showing 
that  such  a  custom  prevailed  among  the 
initiated  in  the  Pagan  mysteries.  Livy 
tells  us  (xxxi.  14)  of  two  Acarnanian 
youths  who  accidentally  entered  the  tem- 
ple of  Ceres  during  the  celebration  of  the 
mysteries,  and,  not  having  been  initiated, 
were  speedily  detected  as  intruders,  and 
put  to  death  by  the  managers  of  the  tem- 
ple. They  must,  of  course,  have  owed 
their  detection  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
not  in  possession  of  those  modes  of  recog- 
nition which  were  known  only  to  the  initi- 
ated. 

That  they  existed  in  the  Dionysiac  rites 
of  Bacchus  we  learn  from  Plautus,  who,  in 
his  Miles  Gloriosus,  (Act  IV.,  Sc.  ii.,)  makes 
Misphidippa  say  to  Pyrgopolonices,  "  Cedo 
signum  si  harunc  Baccharum  es,"  Give 
the  sign,  if  you  are  one  of  these  Bacchoe. 

Jamblichus  (  Vit.  Pyth.)  tells  the  story 
of  a  disciple  of  Pythagoras,  who,  having 
been  taken  sick,  on  a  long  journey,  at  an 
inn,  and  having  exhausted  his  funds,  gave, 
before  he  died,  to  the  landlord,  who  had 
been  very  kind  to  him,  a  paper,  on  which 
he  had  written  the  account  of  his  distress, 
and  signed  it  with  a  symbol  of  Pythagoras. 
This  the  landlord  affixed  to  the  gate  of  a 
neighboring  temple.  Months  afterwards 
another  Pythagorean,  passing  that  way, 
recognized  the  secret  symbol,  and,  inquir- 
ing into  the  tale,  reimbursed  the  landlord 
for  all  his  trouble  and  expenses. 

Apuleius,  who  was  initiated  into  the 
Osirian  and  Isiac  mysteries,  says,  in  his 
Defensio,  "  if  any  one  is  present  who  has 
been  initiated  into  the  same  secret  rites  as 
myself,  if  he  will  give  me  the  sign,  he 
shall  then  be  at  liberty  to  hear  what  it  is 
that  I  keep  with  such  care."  But  in  an- 
other place  he  is  less  cautious,  and  even 
gives  an  inkling  of  what  was  one  of  the 
signs  of  the  Osirian  initiation.  For  in  his 
Golden  Ass  (lib.  xi.)  he  says  that  in  a  dream 
he  beheld  one  of  the  disciples  of  Osiris, 
"who  walked  gently,  with  a  hesitating 
step,  the  ankle  of  his  left  foot  being 
slightly  bent,  in  order,  no  doubt,  that  he 
might  afford  me  some  sign  by  which  I 
could  recognize  him."    The  Osirian  initi- 


ates had  then,  it  seems,  like  the  Freema- 
sons, mystical  steps. 

That  the  Gnostics  had  modes  of  recogni- 
tion we  learn  from  St.  Epiphanius,  himself 
at  one  time  in  early  life  a  Gnostic,  who 
says  in  his  Panarium,  written  against  the 
Gnostics  and  other  heretics,  that  "  on  the 
arrival  of  any  stranger  belonging  to  the 
same  belief,  they  have  a  sign  given  by  one 
to  another.  In  holding  out  the  hand, 
under  pretence  of  saluting  each  other,  they 
feel  and  tickle  it  in  a  peculiar  manner 
underneath  the  palm,  and  so  discover  if 
the  new-comer  belongs  to  the  same  sect. 
Thereupon,  however  poor  they  may  be, 
they  serve  up  to  him  a  sumptuous  feast, 
with  abundance  of  meats  and  wine." 

I  do  not  refer  to  the  fanciful  theories  of 
Dr.  Oliver, — the  first  one  most  probably  a 
joke,  and  therefore  out  of  place  in  his  Sym- 
bolical Dictionary,  —  founded  on  passages 
of  Homer  and  Quintus  Curtius,  that  Achil- 
les and  Alexander  of  Macedon  recognized 
the  one  Priam  and  the  other  the  High 
Priest  by  a  sign.  But  there  are  abundant 
evidences  of  an  authentic  nature  that  a  sys- 
tem of  recognition  by  signs,  and  words, 
and  grips  has  existed  in  the  earliest  times, 
and,  therefore,  that  they  were  not  invented 
by  the  Masons,  who  borrowed  them,  as 
they  did  much  more  of  their  mystical  sys- 
tem, from  antiquity. 

Recommendation.  The  petition 
of  a  candidate  for  initiation  must  be  recom- 
mended by  at  least  two  members  of  the 
Lodge.  Preston  requires  the  signature  to 
be  witnessed  by  one  person,  (he  does  not 
say  whether  he  must  be  a  member  of  the 
Lodge  or  not,)  and  that  the  candidate  must 
be  proposed  in  open  Lodge  by  a  member. 
Webb  says  that  "  the  candidate  must  be 
proposed  in  form,  by  a  member  of  the 
Lodge,  and  the  proposition  seconded  by 
another  member."  Cross  says  that  the 
recommendation  "  is  to  be  signed  by  two 
members  of  the  Lodge,"  and  he  dispenses 
with  the  formal  proposition.  These  grad- 
ual changes,  none  of  them,  however,  sub- 
stantially affecting  the  principle,  have  at 
last  resulted  in  the  present  simpler  usage, 
which  is,  for  two  members  of  the  Lodge  to 
affix  their  names  to  the  petition,  as  recom- 
menders  of  the  applicant. 

The  petition  for  a  Dispensation  for  a  new 
Lodge,  as  preliminary  to  the  application  for 
a  Warrant  of  Constitution,  must  be  recom- 
mended by  the  nearest  Lodge.  Preston 
says  that  it  must  be  recommended  "  by  the 
Masters  of  three  regular  Lodges  adjacent  to 
the  place  where  the  new  Lodge  is  to  be 
held."  This  is  also  the  language  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ire- 
land. The  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  re- 
quires the  recommendation  to  be  signed 


RECONCILIATION 


v  Of  tmi 
VKIVER8ITY 

or       w 

JZaufq*^ 


RECORDS 


633 


"  by  the  Masters  and  officers  of  two  of  the 
nearest  Lodges."  The  modern  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  re- 
quires a  recommendation  "  by  the  officers 
of  some  regular  Lodge,"  without  saying 
anything  of  its  vicinity  to  the  new  Lodge. 
The  rule  now  universally  adopted  is,  that 
it  must  be  recommended  by  the  nearest 
Lodge. 

Reconciliation,  Lodge  of.  When 
the  two  contending  Grand  Lodges  of  Eng- 
land, known  as  the  "Ancients"  and  the 
"  Moderns,"  resolved,  in  1813,  under  the 
respective  Grand  Masterships  of  the  Dukes 
of  Kent  and  Sussex,  to  put  an  end  to  all 
differences,  and  to  form  a  United  Grand 
Lodge,  it  was  provided,  in  the  fifth  article 
of  union,  that  each  of  the  two  Grand 
Masters  should  appoint  nine  Master  Ma- 
sons to  meet  at  some  convenient  place ;  and 
each  party  having  opened  a  just  and  per- 
fect Lodge  in  a  separate  apartment,  they 
should  give  and  receive  mutually  and  re- 
ciprocally the  obligations  of  both  Fraterni- 
ties; and  being  thus  duly  and  equally  en- 
lightened in  both  forms,  they  should  be 
empowered  and  directed  to  hold  a  Lodge, 
under  the  Warrant  or  Dispensation  to  be 
intrusted  to  them,  and  to  be  entitled  "  The 
Lodge  of  Reconciliation."  The  duty  of 
this  Lodge  was  to  visit  the  several  Lodges 
under  both  Grand  Lodges,  and  to  instruct 
the  officers  and  members  of  the  same  in 
the  forms  of  initiation,  obligation,  etc.,  in 
both,  so  that  uniformity  of  working  might 
be  established.  The  Lodge  of  Reconciliation 
was  constituted  on  the  27th  December, 
1813,  the  day  on  which  the  union  was  per- 
fected. This  Lodge  was  only  a  temporary 
one,  and  the  duties  for  which  it  had  been 
organized  having  been  performed,  it  ceased 
to  exist  by  its  own  limitation. 

Reconsideration,  Motion  for. 
A  motion  for  reconsideration  can  only  be 
made  in  a  Grand  Lodge,  Grand  Chapter,  or 
other  Grand  Body,  on  the  same  day  or  the 
day  after  the  adoption  of  the  motion  which 
it  is  proposed  to  reconsider.  In  a  Lodge 
or  other  subordinate  body,  it  can  only  be 
made  at  the  same  meeting.  It  cannot  be 
moved  by  one  who  has  voted  in  the  minor- 
ity. It  cannot  be  made  when  the  matter 
to  be  reconsidered  has  passed  out  of  the 
control  of  the  body,  as  when  the  original 
motion  was  for  an  appropriation  which 
has  been  expended  since  the  motion  for  it 
was  passed.  A  motion  for  reconsideration 
is  not  debatable  if  the  question  proposed 
to  be  reconsidered  is  not.  It  cannot  always 
be  adopted  by  a  simple  majority  vote.  It 
may  be  postponed  or  laid  upon  the  table. 
If  postponed  to  a  time  definite,  and  when 
that  time  arrives  is  not  acted  upon,  it  can- 
not be  renewed.  If  laid  upon  the  table,  it 
4E 


cannot  be  taken  up  out  of-its  order,  and  no 
second  motion  for  reconsideration  can  be 
offered  while  it  lies  upon  the  table,  hence 
to  lay  a  motion  for  reconsideration  on  the 
table  is  considered  as  equivalent  to  reject- 
ing it.  When  a  motion  for  reconsideration 
is  adopted,  the  original  motion  comes  up 
immediately  for  consideration,  as  if  it  had 
been  for  the  first  time  brought  before  the 
body,  in  the  form  which  it  presented  when 
it  was  adopted. 

Reconsideration  of  the  Rallot. 
When  the  petition  of  a  candidate  for  ini- 
tiation has  been  rejected,  it  is  not  permis- 
sible for  any  member  to  move  for  a  recon- 
sideration of  the  ballot.  The  following 
four  principles  set  forth  in  a  summary  way 
the  doctrine  of  Masonic  parliamentary  law 
on  this  subject : 

1.  It  is  never  in  order  for  a  member  to 
move  for  the  reconsideration  of  a  ballot  on 
the  petition  of  a  candidate,  nor  for  a  pre- 
siding officer  to  entertain  such  a  motion.  2. 
The  Master  or  presiding  officer  alone  can, 
for  reasons  satisfactory  to  himself,  order 
such  a  reconsideration.  3.  The  presiding 
officer  cannot  order  a  reconsideration  on 
any  subsequent  night,  nor  on  the  same 
night,  after  any  member  who  was  present 
and  voted  has  departed.  4.  The  Grand 
Master  cannot  grant  a  Dispensation  for  a 
reconsideration,  nor  in  any  other  way  in- 
terfere with  the  ballot.  The  same  restric- 
tion applies  to  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Recorder.  In  some  of  the  high  de- 
grees, as  in  a  Council  of  Select  Masters  and 
a  Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  the 
title  of  Recorder  is  given  to  the  Secretary. 
The  recording  officer  of  the  Grand  Encamp- 
ment of  Knights  Templars  of  the  United 
States,  of  State  Grand  Commanderies,  and 
of  Grand  Councils  of  Royal  and  Select  Mas- 
ters, is  styled  a  Grand  Recorder. 

Records,  Old.  The  early  history  of 
Masonry,  as  written  by  Anderson,  Preston, 
Smith,  Calcott,  and  writers  of  that  genera- 
tion, was  little  more  than  a  collection  of 
fables,  so  absurd  as  to  excite  the  smile  of 
every  reader,  or  bare  statements  of  inci- 
dents, without  any  authority  to  substantiate 
their  genuineness. 

The  recent  writers  on  the  same  subject 
have  treated  it  in  a  very  different  manner, 
and  one  that  gives  to  the  investigation  of 
the  early  annals  of  Freemasonry  a  respecta- 
ble position  in  the  circle  of  historic  studies. 
Much  of  the  increased  value  that  is  given 
in  the  present  day  to  Masonic  history  is 
derivable  from  the  fact  that,  ceasing  to  re- 
peat the  gratuitous  statements  of  the  older 
writers,  some  of  whom  have  not  hesitated 
to  make  Adam  a  Grand  Master,  and  Eden 
the  site  of  a  Lodge,  our  students  of  this  day 
are  drawing  their  conclusions  from,  and  es- 


634 


RECORDS 


RED 


tablishing  their  theories  on,  the  old  records, 
which  Masonic  archaeology  is  in  this  gen- 
eration bringing  to  light.  Hence,  one  of 
these  students  (Bro.  Woodford,  of  England,) 
has  said  that,  when  we  begin  to  investigate 
the  real  facts  of  Masonic  history,  "  not  only 
have  we  to  discard  at  once  much  that  we 
have  held  tenaciously  and  taught  habit- 
ually, simply  resting  on  the  reiterated  as- 
sertions of  others,  but  we  shall  also  find 
that  we  have  to  get  rid  of  what,  I  fear,  we 
must  call  '  accumulated  rubbish,'  before  we 
can  see  clearly  how  the  great  edifice  of  Ma- 
sonic history,  raised  at  last  on  sure  and 
good  foundations,  stands  out  clearer  to  the 
sight,  and  even  more  honorable  to  the 
builders,  from  those  needful,  if  preparatory, 
labors." 

Anderson  tells  us  that  in  the  year  1719, 
at  some  of  the  private  Lodges,  "several 
very  valuable  manuscripts  concerning  the 
Fraternity,  their  Lodges,  Regulations, 
Charges,  Secrets,  and  Usages,  were  too 
hastily  burnt  by  some  scrupulous  brothers, 
that  those  papers  might  not  fall  into  strange 
hands." 

In  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  the  ar- 
chaeologists of  Masonry  have  labored  very 
diligently  and  successfully  to  disinter  from 
the  old  Lodges,  libraries,  and  museums 
many  of  these  ancient  manuscripts,  and 
much  light  has  thus  been  thrown  upon  the 
early  history  of  Freemasonry. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  these  old  records  which  the 
industry  of  Masonic  antiquaries  has  brought 
to  light.  They  are  generally  called  "  Manu- 
scripts," because  their  originals,  for  the 
most  part,  exist  in  manuscript  rolls,  or 
there  is  competent  evidence  that  the  origi- 
nal manuscripts,  although  now  lost,  once 
existed.  There  are,  however,  a  few  in- 
stances in  which  this  evidence  is  wanting, 
and  the  authenticity  of  the  manuscript  rests 
only  on  probability.  Each  of  them  is  noted 
in  this  work  under  its  respective  title. 

1.  Halliwell  Manuscript. 

2.  Book  of  the  Fraternity  of  Stonema- 
sons. 

3.  Paris  Regulations. 

4.  Strasburg  Constitutions. 

5.  Cooke's  Manuscript. 

6.  Landsdowne  Manuscript. 

7.  Schaw  Manuscript. 

8.  St.  Clair  Charters. 

9.  Eglinton  Manuscript. 

10.  York  Manuscripts,  (six  in  number.) 

11.  Grand  Lodge  Manuscript. 

12.  Sloane  Manuscripts,  (two  in  number.) 

13.  Aitche8on-Haven  Manuscript. 

14.  Kilwinning  Manuscript. 

15.  Harleian  Manuscript. 

16.  Hope  Manuscript. 

17.  Alnwick  Manuscript. 


18.  Papworth  Manuscript. 

19.  Roberts'  Manuscript. 

20.  Edward  III.  Manuscript. 

21.  St.  Albans'  Regulations. 

22.  Anderson  Manuscript. 

23.  Stone  Manuscripts. 

24.  Constitutions  of  Strasburg. 

25.  Constitutions  of  Torgan. 

26.  Dowland  Manuscript. 

27.  Wilson  Manuscript. 

28.  Spencer  Manuscript. 

29.  Cole  Manuscript. 

30.  Plott  Manuscript. 

31.  Dowland  Manuscript. 

32.  Rawlinson  Manuscript. 

33.  Woodford  Manuscript. 

34.  Krause  Manuscript. 

35.  Antiquity  Manuscript. 

36.  Leland  Manuscript,  sometimes  called 
the  Locke  Manuscript. 

37.  Charter  of  Cologne. 

There  may  be  some  other  manuscript 
records,  especially  in  France  and  Germany, 
not  here  noticed,  but  the  list  above  contains 
the  most  important  of  those  now  known  to 
the  Fraternity.  Many  of  them  have  never 
yet  been  published,  and  the  collection 
forms  a  mass  of  material  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  proper  investigation  of  Masonic 
history.  Every  Mason  who  desires  to 
know  the  true  condition  of  the  Fraternity 
during  the  last  three  or  four  centuries,  and 
who  would  learn  the  connection  between 
the  Stonemasons  of  the  Middle  Ages  and 
the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  of  the  pres- 
ent day,  so  as  perfectly  to  understand  the 
process  by  which  the  Institution  became 
changed  from  an  operative  art  to  a  specu- 
lative science,  should  attentively  read  and 
thoroughly  digest  these  ancient  records  of 
the  Brotherhood. 

Rectification.  The  German  Masons 
use  this  word  to  designate  that  process 
of  removing  an  irregularity  of  initiation 
which,  in  English  Masonry,  is  called  heal- 
ing, which  see. 

Rectified  Rite.  {Rite  Rectifii.)  See 
Martinism. 

Rectified  Rose  Croix,  Rite  of. 
See  Hose  Qroix,  Rectified. 

Recusant.  A  term  applied  in  Eng- 
lish history  to  one  who  refused  to  acknowl- 
edge the  supremacy  of  the  king  as  head  of 
the  church.  In  Masonic  law,  the  word  is 
sometimes  used  to  designate  a  Lodge  or 
a  Mason  that  refuses  to  obey  an  edict  of  the 
Grand  Lodge.  The  arrest  of  the  Charter, 
or  the  suspension  or  expulsion  of  the  of- 
fender, would  be  the  necessary  punishment 
of  such  an  offence. 

Red.  Red,  scarlet,  or  crimson,  for  it  is 
indifferently  called  by  each  of  these  names, 
is  the  appropriate  color  of  the  Royal  Arch 
degree,  and  is  said  symbolically  to  repre- 


RED 


RED 


635 


aent  the  ardor  and  zeal  which  should  actu- 
ate all  who  are  in  possession  of  that  sub- 
lime portion  of  Masonry.  Portal  (Couleurs 
Symb.,  p.  116,)  refers  the  color  red  to  fire, 
which  was  the  symbol  of  the  regeneration 
and  purification  of  souls.  Hence  there 
seems  to  be  a  congruity  in  adopting  it  as 
the  color  of  the  Royal  Arch,  which  refers 
historically  to  the  regeneration  or  rebuild- 
ing of  the  Temple,  and  symbolically  to  the 
regeneration  of  life. 

In  the  religious  services  of  the  Hebrews, 
red,  or  scarlet,  was  used  as  one  of  the  colors 
of  the  veils  of  the  tabernacle,  in  which,  ac- 
cording to  Josephus,  it  was  an  emblem  of 
the  element  of  fire;  it  was  also  used  in  the 
ephod  of  the  high  priest,  in  the  girdle,  and 
in  the  breastplate.  Red  was,  among  the 
Jews,  a  color  of  dignity,  appropriated  to  the 
most  opulent  or  honorable,  and  hence  the 
prophet  Jeremiah,  in  describing  the  rich 
men  of  his  country,  speaks  of  them  as  those 
who  "  were  brought  up  in  scarlet." 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  those  knights  who 
engaged  in  the  wars  of  the  Crusades,  and 
especially  the  Templars,  wore  a  red  cross, 
as  a  symbol  of  their  willingness  to  undergo 
martyrdom  for  the  sake  of  religion ;  and  the 
priests  of  the  Roman  Church  still  wear  red 
vestments  when  they  officiate  on  the  festi- 
vals of  those  saints  who  were  martyred. 

Red  is  in  the  higher  degrees  of  Masonry 
as  predominating  a  color  as  blue  is  in  the 
lower.  Its  symbolic  significations  differ, 
but  they  may  generally  be  considered  as 
alluding  either  to  the  virtue  of  fervency 
when  the  symbolism  is  moral,  or  to  the 
shedding  of  blood  when  it  is  historical. 
Thus  in  the  degree  of  Provost  and  Judge, 
it  is  historically  emblematic  of  the  violent 
death  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Institu- 
tion; while  in  the  degree  of  Perfection  it  is 
said  to  be  a  moral  symbol  of  zeal  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  for  our  own  advancement 
towards  perfection  in  Masonry  and  virtue. 

In  the  degree  of  Rose  Croix,  red  is  the 
predominating  color,  and  symbolizes  the 
ardent  zeal  which  should  inspire  all  who 
are  in  search  of  that  which  is  lost. 

Where  red  is  not  used  historically,  and 
adopted  as  a  memento  of  certain  tragical 
circumstances  in  the  history  of  Masonry, 
it  is  always,  under  some  modification,  a 
symbol  of  zeal  and  fervency. 

These  three  colors,  blue,  purple,  and  red, 
were  called  in  the  former  English  lectures 
"  the  old  colors  of  Masonry,"  and  were  said 
to  have  been  selected  "  because  they  are 
royal,  and  such  as  the  ancient  kings  and 
princes  used  to  wear;  and  sacred  history 
informs  us  that  the  veil  of  the  Temple  was 
composed  of  these  colors." 

Red  Cross  Knight.  When,  in  the 
tenth  century,  Pope  Urban  II.,  won  by  the 


enthusiasm  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  addressed 
the  people  who  had  assembled  at  the  city 
of  Clermont  during  the  sitting  of  the 
Council,  and  exhorted  them  to  join  in  the 
expedition  to  conquer  the  Holy  Land,  he 
said,  in  reply  to  their  cry  that  God  wills  it, 
Dieux  el  volt,  "  it  is  indeed  the  will  of  God  ; 
let  this  memorable  word,  the  inspiration, 
surely,  of  our  Holy  Spirit,  be  forever  adopt- 
ed as  your  cry  of  battle,  to  animate  the  de- 
votion and  courage  of  the  champions  of 
Christ.  His  cross  is  the  symbol  of  your 
salvation ;  wear  it,  a  red,  a  bloody  cross,  as 
an  external  mark  on  your  breasts  or  shoul- 
ders, as  a  pledge  of  your  sacred  and  irrevo- 
cable engagement."  The  proposal  was 
eagerly  accepted,  and  the  Bishop  of  Puy 
was  the  first  who  solicited  the  Pope  to  affix 
the  cross  in  red  cloth  on  his  shoulder.  The 
example  was  at  once  followed,  and  thence- 
forth the  red  cross  on  the  breast  was  recog- 
nized as  the  sign  of  him  who  was  engaged 
in  the  Holy  Wars,  and  Crusader  and  Red 
Cross  Knight  became  convertible  terms. 
Spenser,  in  the Fairie  Queen,  (Cant.  I.,)  thus 
describes  one  of  these  knights : 

"  And  on  his  breast  a  bloody  cross  he  bore, 

The  dear  remembrance  of  his  dying  Lord, 
For  whose  sweet  sake  that  glorious  badge  he 
wore, 
And  dead,  as  living,  ever  him  ador'd  : 
Upon  his  shield  the  like  was  also  scor'd." 

The  application  of  this  title,  as  is  some- 
times done  in  the  ritual  of  the  degree,  to  a 
Masonic  degree  of  Knight  of  the  Red  Cross, 
is  altogether  wrong.  A  Red  Cross  Knight 
and  a  Knight  of  the  Red  Cross  are  two  en- 
tirely different  things. 

Red  Cross,  Knight  of  the.  See 
Knight  of  the  Red  Cross. 

Red  Cross  Legend.  The  embassy 
of  Zerubbabel  to  the  court  of  Darius  con- 
stitutes what  has  been  called  the  Legend  of 
the  Red  Cross  degree.    See  Embassy. 

Red  Cross  of  Babylon.  See  Baby- 
lonish Pass. 

Red  Cross  of  Rome  and  Con- 
stantine.  A  degree  founded  on  the  cir- 
cumstance of  the  vision  of  a  cross,  with  the 
inscription  EN  TO  NIKA,  which  appeared 
in  the  heavens  to  the  Emperor  Coustantine. 
It  formed  originally  a  part  of  the  Rosaic 
Rite,  and  is  now  practised  in  England, 
Ireland,  Scotland,  and  some  of  the  English 
colonies,  as  a  distinct  Order ;  the  meetings 
being  called  "  Conclaves,"  and  the  presiding 
officer  of  the  Grand  Imperial  Council  of 
the  whole  Order,  "  Grand  Sovereign."  Its 
existence  in  England  as  a  Masonic  degree 
has  been  traced,  according  to  Bro.  R.  W. 
Little,  (Freemas.  Mag.,)  to  the  year  1780, 
when  it  was  given  by  Bro.  Charles  Shirreff. 
It  was  reorganized  in  1804  by  Walter  Rod- 


636 


RED 


REFRESHMENT 


well  Wright,  who  supplied  its  present 
ritual.  The  ritual  of  the  Order  contains 
the  following  legend : 

"After  the  memorable  battle  fought  at 
Saxa  Rubra,  on  the  28th  October,  A.  D. 
312,  the  emperor  sent  for  the  chiefs  of  the 
Christian  legion,  and  —  we  now  quote  the 
words  of  an  old  ritual — '  in  presence  of  his 
other  officers  constituted  them  into  an 
Order  of  Knighthood,  and  appointed  them 
to  wear  the  form  of  the  Cross  he  had  seen 
in  the  heavens  upon  their  shields,  with 
the  motto  In  hoc  signo  vinces  round  it,  sur- 
rounded with  clouds ;  and  peace  being  soon 
after  made,  he  became  the  Sovereign  Patron 
of  the  Christian  Order  of  the  Red  Cross.' 
It  is  also  said  that  this  Cross,  together  with 
a  device  called  the  Labarum,  was  ordered 
to  be  embroidered  upon  all  the  imperial 
standards.  The  Christian  warriors  were 
selected  to  compose  the  body-guard  of  Con- 
stantine,  and  the  command  of  these  privi- 
leged soldiers  was  confided  to  Eusebius, 
Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  who  was  thus  con- 
sidered the  second  officer  of  the  Order." 

Red  Cross  Sword  of  Babylon. 
A  degree  worked  in  the  Royal  Arch  Chap- 
ters of  Scotland,  and  also  in  some  parts  of 
England.  It  is  very  similar  to  the  Knight 
of  the  Red  Cross  conferred  in  the  United 
States. 

Red  tetters.  In  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  edicts,  summonses 
or  other  documents,  written  or  printed  in 
red  letters,  are  supposed  to  be  of  more 
binding  obligation,  and  to  require  more 
implicit  obedience,  than  any  others.  Hence, 
in  the  same  Rite,  to  publish  the  name  of 
one  who  has  been  expelled  in  red  letters  is 
considered  an  especial  mark  of  disgrace. 
It  is  derived  from  the  custom  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  when,  as  Muratori  shows,  {Antiq. 
Ital.  Med.,)  red  letters  were  used  to  give 
greater  weight  to  documents;  and  he  quotes 
an  old  Charter  of  1020,  which  is  said  to  be 
confirmed  "  per  literas  rubeas,"  or  by  red 
letters. 

Reflection,  Chamber  of.  See 
Chamber  of  Reflection. 

Reformed  Helvetic  Rite.  The 
Reformed  Rite  of  Wilhelrasbad  was  intro- 
duced into  Poland,  in  1784,  by  Brother 
Glayre,  of  Lausanne,  the  minister  of  King 
Stanislaus,  and  who  was  also  the  Provin- 
cial Grand  Master  of  this  Rite  in  the 
French  part  of  Switzerland.  But,  in  intro- 
ducing it  into  Poland,  he  subjected  it  to 
several  modifications,  and  called  it  the  Re- 
formed Helvetic  Rite.  The  system  was 
adopted  by  the  Grand  Orient  of  Poland. 

Reformed  Rite.  This  Rite  was 
established,  in  1872,  by  a  Congress  of  Free- 
masons assembled  at  Wilhelmsbad,  in  Ger- 
many, over  whose  deliberations  Ferdinand, 


Duke  of  Brunswick, presided  as  Grand  Mas- 
ter. It  was  at  this  Convention  that  the 
Reformed  Rite  was  first  established,  its 
members  assuming  the  title  of  the  "Benefi- 
cent Knights  of  the  Holy  City,"  because 
they  derived  their  system  from  "the  French 
Rite  of  that  name.  It  was  called  the  Re- 
formed Rite,  because  it  professed  to  be  a 
reformation  of  a  Rite  which  had  been  es- 
tablished in  Germany  about  a  quarter  of 
a  century  before  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Rite  of  Strict  Observance."  This  latter 
Rite  had  advanced  an  hypothesis  in  rela- 
tion to  the  connection  between  Freemasonry 
and  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars,  tracing 
the  origin  of  our  Institution  to  those 
Knights  at  the  Crusades.  This  hypothesis 
the  Convention  at  Wilhelmsbad  rejected 
as  unfounded  in  history  or  correct  tradi- 
tion. By  the  adoption  of  this  Rite,  the 
Congress  gave  a  death-blow  to  the  Rite  of 
Strict  Observance. 

The  Reformed  Rite  is  exceedingly  sim- 
ple in  its  organization,  consisting  only  of 
five  degrees,  namely : 

1.  Entered  Apprentice;  2.  Fellow  Craft; 
3.  Master  Mason ;  4.  Scottish  Master ;  5. 
Knight  of  the  Holy  City. 

The  last  degree  is,  however,  divided  into 
three  sections,  those  of  Novice,  Professed 
Brother,  and  Knight,  which  really  gives 
seven  degrees  to  the  Rite 

Refreshment.  In  Masonic  language, 
refreshment  is  opposed  in  a  peculiar  sense 
to  labor.  While  a  Lodge  is  in  activity  it 
must  be  either  at  labor  or  at  refreshment. 
If  a  Lodge  is  permanently  closed  until  its 
next  communication,  the  intervening  pe- 
riod is  one  of  abeyance,  its  activity  for  Ma- 
sonic duty  having  for  the  time  been  sus- 
pended ;  although  its  powers  and  privileges 
as  a  Lodge  still  exist,  and  may  be  at  any 
time  resumed.  But  where  it  is  only  tem- 
porarily closed,  with  the  intention  of  soon 
again  resuming  labor,  the  intermediate 
period  is  called  a  time  of  refreshment,  and 
the  Lodge  is  said  not  to  be  closed,  but  to 
be  called  from  labor  to  refreshment.  The 
phrase  is  an  old  one,  and  is  found  in  the 
earliest  rituals  of  the  last  century.  Calling 
from  labor  to  refreshment  differs  from 
closing  in  this,  that  the  ceremony  is  a  very 
brief  one,  and  that  the  Junior  Warden 
then  assumes  the  control  of  the  Craft,  in 
token  of  which  he  erects  his  column  on  his 
stand  or  pedestal,  while  the  Senior  War- 
den lays  his  down.  This  is  reversed  in 
^  calling  on,  in  which  the  ceremony  is  equally 
brief. 

The  word  refreshment  no  longer  bears  the 
meaning  among  Masons  that  it  formerly 
did.  It  signifies  not  necessarily  eating  and 
drinking,  but  simply  cessation  from  labor. 
A  Lodge  at  refreshment  may  thus  be  com- 


REGALIA 


REGHELLINI 


637 


pared  to  any  other  society  when  in  a  re- 
cess. During  the  whole  of  the  last  century, 
and  a  part  of  the  present,  a  different  mean- 
ing was  given  to  the  word,  arising  from  a 
now  obsolete  usage,  which  Dr.  Oliver 
(Mas.  Juris.,  p.  210,)  thus  describes: 

"  The  Lodges  in  ancient  times  were  not 
arranged  according  to  the  practice  in  use 
amongst  ourselves  at  the  present  day.  The 
Worshipful  Master,  indeed,  stood  in  the 
east,  but  both  the  Wardens  were  placed  in 
the  west.  The  south  was  occupied  by  the 
senior  Entered  Apprentice,  whose  business 
it  was  to  obey  the  instructions  of  the  Mas- 
ter, and  to  welcome  the  visiting  brethren, 
after  having  duly  ascertained  that  they 
were  Masons.  The  junior  Entered  Ap- 
prentice was  placed  in  the  north,  to  pre- 
vent the  intrusion  of  cowans  and  eaves- 
droppers ;  and  a  long  table,  and  sometimes 
two,  where  the  Lodge  was  numerous,  were 
extended  in  parallel  lines  from  the  pedes- 
tal to  the  place  where  the  Wardens  sat,  on 
which  appeared  not  only  the  emblems  of 
Masonry,  but  also  materials  for  refresh- 
ment ;  —  for  in  those  days  every  section  of 
the  lecture  had  its  peculiar  toast  or  senti- 
ment;— and  at  its  conclusion  the  Lodge  was 
called  from  labor  to  refreshment  by  certain 
ceremonies,  and  a  toast,  technically  called 
1  the  charge,'  was  drunk  in  a  bumper,  with 
the  honors,  and  not  unfrequently  accom- 
panied by  an  appropriate  song.  After 
which  the  Lodge  was  called  from  refresh- 
ment to  labor,  and  another  section  was  de- 
livered with  the  like  result." 

At  the  present  day,  the  banquets  of 
Lodges,  when  they  take  place,  are  always 
held  after  the  Lodge  is  closed;  although 
they  are  still  supposed  to  be  under  the 
charge  of  the  Junior  Warden.  When 
modern  Lodges  are  called  to  refreshment, 
it  is  either  as  a  part  of  the  ceremony  of 
the  third  degree,  or  for  a  brief  period;  some- 
times extending  to  more  than  a  day,  when 
labor,  which  had  not  been  finished,  is  to  be 
resumed  and  concluded. 

The  mythical  history  of  Masonry  tells  us 
that  high  twelve  or  noon  was  the  hour  at 
Solomon's  Temple  when  the  Craft  were 
permitted  to  suspend  their  labor,  which 
was  resumed  an  hour  after.  In  reference 
to  this  myth,  a  Lodge  is  at  all  times  sup- 
posed to  be  called  from  labor  to  refresh- 
ment at  "  high  twelve,"  and  to  be  called  on 
again  "one  hour  after  high  twelve." 

Regalia.  Strictly  speaking,  the  word 
regalia,  from  the  Latin,  regalia,  royal 
things,  signifies  the  ornaments  of  a  king  or 
queen,  and  is  applied  to  the  apparatus  used 
at  a  coronation,  such  as  the  crown,  scep- 
tre, cross,  mound,  etc.  But  it  has  in 
modern  times  been  loosely  employed  to  sig- 
nify almost  any  kind  of  ornaments.   Hence 


the  collar  and  jewel,  and  sometimes  even 
the  apron,  are  called  by  many  Masons  the 
regalia.  The  word  has  the  early  authority 
of  Preston.  In  the  second  edition  of  his 
Illustrations,  (1775,)  when  on  the  subject 
of  funerals,  he  uses  the  expression,  "the 
body,  with  the  regalia  placed  thereon,  and 
two  swords  crossed."  And  at  the  end  of 
the  service  he  directs  that  "  the  regalia 
and  ornaments  of  the  deceased,  if  an  officer 
of  a  Lodge,  are  returned  to  the  Master  in 
due  form,  and  with  the  usual  ceremonies." 
Regalia  cannot  here  mean  the  Bible  and 
Book  of  Constitutions,  for  there  is  a  place 
in  another  part  of  the  procession  appro- 
priated to  them.  I  should  have  supposed 
that,  by  regalia,  Preston  referred  to  some 
particular  decorations  of  the  Lodge,  had 
not  his  subsequent  editors,  Jones  and  Oliver, 
both  interpolated  the  word  "other"  before 
ornaments,  so  as  to  make  the  sentence 
read  "  regalia  and  other  ornaments,"  thus 
clearly  indicating  that  they  deemed  the 
regalia  a  part  of  the  ornaments  of  the  de- 
ceased. The  word  is  thus  used  in  one  of 
the  chapters  of  the  modern  Constitutions 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  But  in 
the  text  the  more  correct  words  "  clothing 
and  jewels  "  are  employed.  There  is,  how- 
ever, so  great  an  error  in  the  use  of  the 
word  regalia  to  denote  Masonic  clothing, 
that  it  would  be  better  to  avoid  it. 

Regeneration.  In  the  Ancient  Mys- 
teries the  doctrine  of  regeneration  was 
taught  by  symbols :  not  the  theological 
dogma  of  regeneration  peculiar  to  the 
Christian  church,  but  the  philosophical 
dogma  as  a  change  from  death  to  life  —  a 
new  birth  to  immortal  existence.  Hence 
the  last  day  of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries, 
when  the  initiation  was  completed,  was 
called,  says  Court  de  Gebelin,  [M.  P.,  iv. 
322,)  the  day  of  regeneration.  This  is  the 
doctrine  in  the  Masonic  mysteries,  and 
more  especially  in  the  symbolism  of  the 
third  degree.  We  must  not  say  that  the 
Mason  is  regenerated  when  he  is  initiated, 
but  that  he  has  been  indoctrinated  into  the 
philosophy  of  the  regeneration,  or  the  new 
birth  of  all  things  —  of  light  out  of  dark- 
ness, or  life  out  of  death,  of  eternal  life  out 
of  temporal  death. 

Regent.  The  fourth  degree  of  the 
Lesser  Mysteries  of  the  Illuminati. 

Reghellini,  M.  A  learned  Masonic 
writer,  who  was  born  of  Venetian  parents 
on  the  island  of  Scio,  whence  he  was  usually 
styled  Reghellini  de  Scio.  The  date  of 
1750,  at  which  his  birth  has  been  placed,  is 
certainly  an  error.  Michaud  supposes  that  it 
is  twenty  or  thirty  years  too  soon .  The  date  of 
the  publication  of  his  earliest  works  would 
indicate  that  he  could  not  have  been  born 
much  before  1780.    After  receiving  a  good 


638 


REGIMENTAL 


REGULAR 


education,  and  becoming  especially  a  profi- 
cient in  mathematics  and  chemistry,  he  set- 
tled at  Brussels,  where  he  appears  to  have 
spent  the  remaining  years  of  his  life,  and 
wrote  various  works,  which  indicate  exten- 
sive research  and  a  lively  and,  perhaps,  a 
rather  ill-directed  imagination.  In  1834  he 
published  a  work  entitled  Examen  du  Mosa- 
isme  el  du  Chrislianisme,  whose  bold  opin- 
ions were  not  considered  as  very  orthodox. 
He  had  previously  become  attached  to  the 
study  of  Masonic  antiquities,  and  in  1826 
published  a  work  in  one  volume,  entitled 
Esprit  du  doc/me  de  la  Franc- Maconnerie  : 
recherches  sur  son  origine  et  celle  de  ses  differ- 
ent* rites.  He  subsequently  still  further  de- 
veloped his  ideas  on  this  subject,  and  pub- 
lished at  Paris,  in  1833,  a  much  larger 
work,  in  three  volumes,  entitled,  La  Macon- 
nerie, considered  comme  le  resultat  des  Reli- 
gions Egyptienne,  Juive  et  Chretienne.  In 
this  work  he  seeks  to  trace  both  Freema- 
sonry and  the  Mosaic  religion  to  the  worship 
that  was  practised  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile 
in  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs.  Whatever 
may  be  thought  of  his  theory,  it  must  be 
confessed  that  he  has  collected  a  mass  of 
learned  and  interesting  facts  that  must  be 
attractive  to  the  Masonic  scholar.  From 
1822  to  1829  Reghellini  devoted  his  labors 
to  editing  the  Annates  Chronologiques,  Lit- 
teraires  et  Historiques  de  la  Maconnerie  des 
Pays-Bas,  a  work  that  contains  much  valu- 
able information. 

Outside  of  Masonry,  the  life  of  Reghel- 
lini is  not  well  known.  It  is  said  that  in 
1848  he  became  complicated  with  the  polit- 
ical troubles  which  broke  out  that  year  in 
Vienna,  and,  in  consequence,  experienced 
some  trouble.  His  great  age  at  the  time 
precluded  the  likelihood  that  the  statement 
is  true.  In  his  latter  days  he  was  reduced 
to  great  penury,  and  in  August,  1855,  was 
compelled  to  take  refuge  in  the  House  of 
Mendicity  at  Brussels,  where  he  shortly 
afterwards  died. 

Regimental  Lodge.  An  expres- 
sion used  by  Dr.  Oliver,  in  his  Jurispru- 
dence, to  designate  a  Lodge  attached  to 
a  regiment  in  the  British  army.  The  title 
is  not  recognized  in  the  English  Constitu- 
tions, where  such  a  Lodge  is  always  styled 
a  Military  Lodge,  which  see. 

Register.  A  list  of  the  officers  and 
members  of  a  Grand  or  subordinate 
Lodge.  The  registers  of  Grand  Lodges 
are  generally  published  in  this  country  an- 
nually attached  to  their  Proceedings.  The 
custom  of  publishing  annual  registers  of 
subordinate  Lodges  is  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  the  Masonry  of  the  continent 
of  Europe.  Sometimes  it  is  called  a  Regis- 
try. 

Registrar,  Grand.    1.  An  officer  of 


the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  whose  prin- 
cipal duty  it  is  to  take  charge  of  the  seal, 
and  attach  it,  or  cause  it  to  be  attached  by 
the  Grand  Secretary,  to  documents  issued 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  or  Grand  Master.  2. 
An  officer  in  a  Grand  Consistory  of  the 
Scottish  Rite,  whose  duties  are  those  of 
Grand  Secretary. 

Registration.  The  modern  Consti- 
tutions of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  re- 
quire that  every  Lodge  must  be  particu- 
larly careful  in  registering  the  names  of 
the  brethren  initiated  therein,  and  also  in 
making  the  returns  of  its  members;  as  no 
person  is  entitled  to  partake  of  the  general 
charity,  unless  his  name  be  duly  registered, 
and  he  shall  have  been  at  least  two  years  a 
contributing  member  of  a  Lodge,  except 
in  the  following  cases,  to  which  the  limita- 
tion of  two  years  is  not  meant  to  extend, 
viz.,  shipwreck,  or  capture  at  sea,  loss  by 
fire,  or  breaking  or  dislocating  a  limb,  fully 
attested  and  proved.  To  prevent  injury  to 
individuals,  by  their  being  excluded  the 
privileges  of  Masonry  through  the  neglect 
of  their  Lodges  in  not  registering  their 
names,  any  brother  so  circumstanced,  on 
producing  sufficient  proof  that  he  has  paid 
the  full  fees  to  his  Lodge,  including  the 
register  fee,  shall  be  capable  of  enjoying 
the  privileges  of  the  Craft.  But  the  offend- 
ing Lodge  shall  be  reported  to  the  Board 
of  General  Purposes,  and  rigorously  pro- 
ceeded against  for  detaining  moneys  which 
are  the  property  of  the  Grand  Lodge. 

An  unregistered  member  in  England  is 
therefore  equivalent,  so  far  as  the  exercise 
of  his  rights  is  concerned,  to  an  unaffiliated 
Mason.  In  this  country  the  same  rule  ex- 
ists of  registration  in  the  Lodge  books  and 
an  annual  return  of  the  same  to  the  Grand 
Lodge,  but  the  penalties  for  neglect  or  dis- 
obedience are  neither  so  severe  nor  so  well 
defined. 

Registry.  The  roll  or  list  of  Lodges 
and  their  members  under  the  obedienceof 
a  Grand  Lodge.  Such  registries  are  in 
general  published  annually  by  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  the  United  States  at  the  end  of 
their  printed  Proceedings. 

Regular.  A  Lodge  working  under 
the  legal  authority  of  a  Warrant  of  Consti- 
tution is  said  to  be  regular.  The  word  was 
first  used  in  1723,  in  the  first  edition  of 
Anderson's  Constitutions.  In  the  eighth 
General  Regulation  published  in  that  work 
it  is  said  :  "  If  any  set  or  number  of  Ma- 
sons shall  take  upon  themselves  to  form  a 
Lodge  without  the  Grand  Master's  War- 
rant, the  regular  Lodges  are  not  to  counte- 
nance them."  Ragon  says  (Orthod.  Mac., 
72,)  that  the  word  was  first  heard  of  in 
French  Masonry  in  1773,  when  an  edict 
of  the  Grand  Orient  thus  defined  it :   "A 


EEGULATIONS 


RELIGION 


regular  Lodge  is  a  Lodge  attached  to  the 
Grand  Orient,  and  a  regular  Mason  is  a 
member  of  a  regular  Lodge." 

Regulations.    See  Old  Regulations. 

Itch uni.  Called  by  Ezra  the  chan- 
cellor. He  was  probably  a  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of  the  province  of  Judea,  who,  with 
Shimshai  the  scribe,  wrote  to  Artaxerxes 
to  prevail  upon  him  to  stop  the  building 
of  the  second  Temple.  His  name  is  intro- 
duced into  some  of  the  high  degrees  that 
are  connected  in  their  ritual  with  the  sec- 
ond Temple. 

Reinhold,  Karl  Iieonhard.  A 
German  philosopher,  who  was  born  at  Vi- 
enna in  1758,  and  died  in  1823.  He  was 
associated  with  Wieland,  whose  daughter 
he  married,  in  the  editorship  of  the  Deutch- 
schen  Mercur.     He  afterwards  became    a 

f»rofessor  of  philosophy  at  Kiel,  and  pub- 
ished  Letters  on  the  Philosophy  of  Kant. 
He  was  much  interested  in  the  study  of 
Freemasonry,  and  published,  under  the 
pseudonym  of  Decius,  at  Leipsic,  in  1788, 
two  lectures  entitled  Die  Hebraischen 
Mysterien  oder  die  alteste  religiose  Freimau- 
rerei,  i.  e.,  The  Hebrew  Mysteries,  or  the 
Oldest  religious  Freemasonry.  The  funda- 
mental idea  of  this  work  is,  that  Moses  de- 
rived his  system  from  the  Egyptian  priest- 
hood. Eichhorn  attacked  his  theory  in  his 
Universal  Repository  of  Biblical  Literature. 
Reinhold  delivered  and  published,  in  1809, 
An  Address  on  the  Design  of  Freemasonry, 
and  another  in  1820,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
reopening  of  a  Lodge  at  Kiel.  This  was 
probably  his  last  Masonic  labor,  as  he  died 
in  1823,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  In 
1828  a  Life  of  him  was  published  by  his 
son,  a  professor  of  philosophy  at  Jena. 

Reinstatement.    See  Restoration. 

Rejection.  One  black  ball  will  re- 
ject a  candidate  for  initiation.  If  a  candi- 
date be  rejected,  he  can  apply  in  no  other 
Lodge  for  admission.  If  admitted  at  all,  it 
must  be  in  the  Lodge  where  he  first  ap- 
plied. But  the  time  when  a  new  applica- 
tion may  be  made  never  having  been  de- 
termined by  the  general  or  common  law  of 
Masonry,  the  rule  has  been  left  to  the  spe- 
cial enactment  of  Grand  Lodges,  some  of 
which  have  placed  it  at  six  months,  and 
some  at  from  one  to  two  years.  Where  the 
Constitution  of  a  Grand  Lodge  is  silent  on 
the  subject,  it  is  held  that  a  new  applica- 
tion has  never  been  specified,  so  that  it  is 
held  that  a  rejected  candidate  may  apply 
for  a  reconsideration  of  his  case  at  any 
time.  The  unfavorable  report  of  the  com- 
mittee to  whom  the  letter  was  referred,  or 
the  withdrawal  of  the  letter  by  the  candi- 
date or  his  friends,  is  considered  equivalent 
to  a  rejection.     See  Unanimity. 

Rejoicing.    The  initiation  of  the  An- 


cient Mysteries,  like  that  of  the  third  de- 
gree of  Masonry,  began  in  sorrow  and  ter- 
minated in  rejoicing.  The  sorrow  was  for 
the  death  of  the  hero-god,  which  was  repre- 
sented in  the  sacred  rites,  and  the  rejoicing 
was  for  his  resuscitation  to  eternal  life. 
"Thrice  happy,"  says  Sophocles,  "are 
those  who  descend  to  the  shades  below 
when  they  have  beheld  these  rites  of  initia- 
tion." The  lesson  there  taught  was,  says 
Pindar,  the  divine  origin  of  lite,  and  hence 
the  rejoicing  at  the  discovery  of  this  eternal 
truth. 

Relief.  One  of  the  three  principal 
tenets  of  a  Mason's  profession,  and  thus 
defined  in  the  lecture  of  the  first  degree. 

To  relieve  the  distressed  is  a  duty  incum- 
bent on  all  men,  but  particularly  on  Ma- 
sons, who  are  linked  together  by  an  indis- 
soluble chain  of  sincere  affection.  To 
soothe  the  unhappy,  to  sympathize  with 
their  misfortunes,  to  compassionate  their 
miseries,  and  to  restore  peace  to  their 
troubled  minds,  is  the  great  aim  we  have 
in  view.  On  this  basis  we  form  our  friend- 
ships and  establish  our  connections. 

Of  the  three  tenets  of  a  Mason's  profes- 
sion, which  are  Brotherly  Love,  Relief,  and 
Truth ,  it  may  be  said  that  Truth  is  the  column 
of  wisdom,  whose  rays  penetrate  and  en- 
lighten the  inmost  recesses  of  our  Lodge; 
Brotherly  Love,  the  column  of  strength, 
which  binds  us  as  one  family  in  the  indis- 
soluble bond  of  fraternal  affection ;  and 
Relief,  the  column  of  beauty,  whose  orna- 
ments, more  precious  than  the  lilies  and 
pomegranates  that  adorned  the  pillars  of 
the  porch,  are  the  widow's  tear  of  joy  and 
the  orphan's  prayer  of  gratitude. 

Relief,  Hoard  of.  The  liability  to 
imposition  on  the  charity  of  the  Order,  by 
the  applications  of  impostors,  has  led  to  the 
establishment  in  our  larger  cities  of  Boards 
of  Relief.  These  consist  of  representatives 
of  all  the  Lodges,  to  whom  all  applications 
for  temporary  relief  are  referred.  The 
members  of  the  Board,  by  frequent  consul- 
tations, are  better  enabled  to  distinguish  the 
worthy  from  the  unworthy,  and  to  detect 
attempts  at  imposition.  A  similar  organ- 
ization, but  under  a  different  name,  was 
long  ago  established  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  for  the  distribution  of  the  fund 
of  benevolence.  (See  Fund  of  Benevolence.) 
In  New  Orleans,  Louisiana,  the  Board  of 
Relief,  after  twenty-five  years  of  successful 
operation,  was  chartered  in  July,  1854,  by 
the  Grand  Lodge  as  "  Relief  Lodge  No.  1," 
to  be  composed  of  the  Masters  and  Wardens 
of  all  the  Lodges  who  were  united  in  the 
objects  of  the  Board. 

Religion  of  Masonry.  There  has 
been  a  needless  expenditure  of  ingenuity 
and  talent,  by  a  large  number  of  Masonic 


640 


RELIGION 


RELIGION 


orators  and  essayists,  in  the  endeavor  to 

Erove  that  Masonry  is  not  religion.  This 
as  undoubtedly  arisen  from  a  well  in- 
tended but  erroneous  view  that  has  been 
taken  of  the  connection  between  religion 
and  Masonry,  and  from  a  fear  that  if 
the  complete  disseverance  of  the  two  was 
not  made  manifest,  the  opponents  of  Ma- 
sonry would  be  enabled  successfully  to  es- 
tablish a  theory  which  they  have  been  fond 
of  advancing,  that  the  Masons  were  dis- 
posed to  substitute  the  teachings  of  their 
Order  for  the  truths  of  Christianity.  Now 
I  have  never  for  a  moment  believed  that 
any  such  unwarrantable  assumption,  as 
that  Masonry  is  intended  to  be  a  substitute 
for  Christianity,  could  ever  obtain  admis- 
sion into  any  well  regulated  mind,  and, 
therefore,  I  am  not  disposed  to  yield,  on 
the  subject  of  the  religious  character  of 
Masonry,  quite  so  much  as  has  been  yielded 
by  more  timid  brethren.  On  the  contrary, 
I  contend,  without  any  sort  of  hesitation, 
that  Masonry  is,  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
except  one,  and  that  its  least  philosophical, 
an  eminently  religious  institution  —  that  it 
is  indebted  solely  to  the  religious  element 
which  it  contains  for  its  origin  and  for  its 
continued  existence,  and  that  without  this 
religious  element  it  would  scarcely  be 
worthy  of  cultivation  by  the  wise  and  good. 
But,  that  I  may  be  truly  understood,  it 
will  be  well  first  to  agree  upon  the  true  def- 
inition of  religion.  There  is  nothing  more 
illogical  than  to  reason  upon  undefined 
terms.  Webster  has  given  four  distinct 
definitions  of  religion : 

1.  Religion,  in  a  comprehensive  sense, 
includes,  he  says,  a  belief  in  the  being  and 
perfections  of  God  —  in  the  revelation  of 
his  will  to  man — in  man's  obligation  to 
obey  his  commands  —  in  a  state  of  reward 
and  punishment,  and  in  man's  accountable- 
ness  to  God ;  and  also  true  godliness  or  piety 
of  life,  with  the  practice  of  all  moral  duties. 

2.  His  second  definition  is,  that  religion, 
as  distinct  from  theology,  is  godliness  or 
real  piety  in  practice,  consisting  in  the  per- 
formance of  all  known  duties  to  God  and 
our  fellow-men,  in  obedience  to  divine  com- 
mand, or  from  love  to  God  and  his  law. 

3.  Again,  he  says  that  religion,  as  dis- 
tinct from  virtue  or  morality,  consists  in 
the  performance  of  the  duties  we  owe  di- 
rectly to  God,  from  a  principle  of  obedi- 
ence to  his  will. 

4.  And  lastly,  he  defines  religion  to  be 
any  system  of  faith  or  worship ;  and  in  this 
sense,  he  says,  religion  comprehends  the 
belief  and  worship  of  Pagans  and  Moham- 
medans as  well  as  of  Christians  —  any  re- 
ligion consisting  in  the  belief  of  a  superior 
power,  or  powers,  governing  the  world,  and 
in  the  worship  of  such  power  or  powers. 


And  it  is  in  this  sense  that  we  speak  of  the 
Turkish  religion,  or  the  Jewish  religion,  as 
well  as  of  the  Christian. 

Now,  it  is  plain  that,  in  either  of  the  first 
three  senses  in  which  we  may  take  the  word 
religion  (and  they  do  not  very  materially 
differ  from  each  other),  Masonry  may  right- 
fully claim  to  be  called  a  religious  institu- 
tion. Closely  and  accurately  examined,  it 
will  be  found  to  answer  to  any  one  of  the 
requirements  of  either  of  these  three  defi- 
nitions. So  much  does  it  "  include  a  belief 
in  the  being  and  perfections  of  God,"  that 
the  public  profession  of  such  a  faith  is  es- 
sentially necessary  to  gain  admission  into 
the  Order.  No  disbeliever  in  the  existence 
of  a  God  can  be  made  a  Mason.  The  "  reve- 
lation of  his  will  to  man"  is  technically 
called  the  "  spiritual,  moral,  and  Masonic 
trestle-board  "  of  every  Mason,  according 
to  the  rules  and  designs  of  which  he  is  to 
erect  the  spiritual  edifice  of  his  eternal  life. 
A  "  state  of  reward  and  punishment "  is 
necessarily  included  in  the  very  idea  of  an 
obligation,  which,  without  the  belief  in 
such  a  state,  could  be  of  no  binding  force 
or  efficacy.  And  "  true  godliness  or  piety  of 
life "  is  inculcated  as  the  invariable  duty 
of  every  Mason,  from  the  inception  of  the 
first  to  the  end  of  the  very  last  degree  that 
he  takes.  So,  again,  in  reference  to  the 
second  and  third  definitions,  all  this  prac- 
tical piety  and  performance  of  the  duties 
we  owe  to  God  and  to  our  fellow-men  arise 
from  and  are  founded  on  a  principle  of 
obedience  to  the  divine  will.  Whence  else, 
or  from  what  other  will,  could  they  have 
arisen  ?  It  is  the  voice  of  the  G.  A.  O.  T. 
U.  symbolized  to  us  in  every  ceremony  of 
our  ritual  and  from  every  portion  of  the 
furniture  of  our  Lodge,  that  speaks  to  the 
true  Mason,  commanding  him  to  fear  God 
and  to  love  the  brethren.  It  is  idle  to  say 
that  the  Mason  does  good  simply  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  statutes  of  the  Order.  These 
very  statutes  owe  their  sanction  to  the  Ma- 
sonic idea  of  the  nature  and  perfections  of 
God,  which  idea  has  come  down  to  us 
from  the  earliest  history  of  the  Institution, 
and  the  promulgation  of  which  idea  was 
the  very  object  and  design  of  its  origin. 

But  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  fourth 
definition  does  not  appear  to  be  strictly  ap- 
plicable to  Masonry.  It  has  no  pretension 
to  assume  a  place  among  the  religions  of 
the  world  as  a  sectarian  "  system  of  faith 
and  worship,"  in  the  sense  in  which  we  dis- 
tinguish Christianity  from  Judaism,  or  Ju- 
daism from  Mohammedanism.  In  this 
meaning  of  the  word  we  do  not  and  can- 
not speak  of  the  Masonic  religion,  nor  say 
of  a  man  that  he  is  not  a  Christian,  but 
a  Mason.  Here  it  is  that  the  opponents 
of  Freemasonry  have  assumed  mistaken 


RELIGIOUS 


RENOUNCING 


641 


v 


y 


f;round,  in  confounding  the  idea  of  a  re- 
igious  institution  with  that  of  the  Christian 
religion  as  a  peculiar  form  of  worship,  and 
in  supposing,  because  Masonry  teaches  re- 
ligious truth,  that  it  is  offered  as  a  substi- 
tute for  Christian  truth  and  Christian  obli- 
gation. Its  warmest  and  most  enlightened 
friends  have  never  advanced  nor  supported 
such  a  claim.  Freemasonry  is  not  Christi- 
anity, nor  a  substitute  for  it.  It  is  not  in- 
tended to  supersede  it  nor  any  other  form 
of  worship  or  system  of  faith.  It  does  not 
meddle  with  sectarian  creeds  or  doctrines, 
but  teaches  fundamental  religious  truth  — 
not  enough  to  do  away  with  the  necessity 
of  the  Christian  scheme  of  salvation,  but 
more  than  enough  to  show,  to  demonstra- 
tion, that  it  is,  in  every  philosophical  sense 
of  the  word,  a  religious  institution,  and 
one,  too,  in  which  the  true  Christian  Mason 
will  find,  if  he  earnestly  seeks  for  them, 
abundant  types  and  shadows  of  his  own 
exalted  and  divinely  inspired  faith. 

The  tendency  of  all  true  Masonry  is  to- 
wards religion.  If  it  make  any  progress,  its 
progress  is  to  that  holy  end.  Look  at  its 
ancient  landmarks,  its  sublime  ceremonies, 
its  profound  symbols  and  allegories,  —  all 
inculcating  religious  doctrine,  commanding 
religious  observance,  and  teaching  religious 
truth,  and  who  can  deny  that  it  is  emi- 
nently a  religious  institution? 

But,  besides,  Masonry  is,  in  all  its  forms, 
thoroughly  tinctured  with  a  true  devotional 
spirit.    We  open  and  close  our  Lodges  with 

Srayer ;  we  invoke  the  blessing  of  the  Most 
[igh  upon  all  our  labors;  we  demand  of 
our  neophytes  a  profession  of  trusting  be- 
lief in  the  existence  and  the  superintending 
care  of  God;  and  we  teach  them  to  bow 
with  humility  and  reverence  at  his  awful 
name,  while  his  holy  law  is  widely  opened 
upon  our  altars.  Freemasonry  is  thus  iden- 
tified with  religion ;  and  although  a  man 
may  be  eminently  religious  without  being 
a  Mason,  it  is  impossible  that  a  Mason  can 
be  "  true  and  trusty  "  to  his  Order  unless 
he  is  a  respecter  of  religion  and  an  ob- 
server of  religious  principle. 

But  the  religion  of  Masonry  is  not  sec- 
tarian. It  admits  men  of  every  creed  within 
its  hospitable  bosom,  rejecting  none  and 
approving  none  for  his  peculiar  faith.  It 
is  not  Judaism,  though  there  is  nothing  in 
it  to  offend  a  Jew ;  it  is  not  Christianity, 
but  there  is  nothing  in  it  repugnant  to  the 
faith  of  a  Christian.  Its  religion  is  that 
general  one  of  nature  and  primitive  reve- 
lation,—  handed  down  to  us  from  some 
ancient  and  patriarchal  priesthood,  —  in 
which  all  men  may  agree  and  in  which  no 
men  can  differ.  It  inculcates  the  practice 
of  virtue,  but  it  supplies  no  scheme  of  re- 
demption for  sin.  It  points  its  disciples  to 
4F  41 


the  path  of  righteousness,  but  it  does  not 
claim  to  be  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 
life."  In  so  far,  therefore,  it  cannot  become 
a  substitute  for  Christianity,  but  its  ten- 
dency is  thitherward;  and,  as  the  hand- 
maid of  religion,  it  may,  and  often  does, 
act  as  the  porch  that  introduces  its  votaries 
into  the  temple  of  divine  truth. 

Masonry,  then,  is,  indeed,  a  religious 
institution  ;  and  on  this  ground  mainly,  if 
not  alone,  should  the  religious  Mason  de- 
fend it. 

Religions  Qualifications.  See 
Qualifications. 

Removal  of  Lodges.  On  Janu- 
ary, 25,  1738,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England 
adopted  a  regulation  that  no  Lodge  should 
be  removed  without  the  Master's  knowl- 
edge; that  no  motion  for  removing  it  should 
be  made  in  his  absence ;  and  that  if  he  was 
opposed  to  the  removal,  it  should  not  be 
removed  unless  two-thirds  of  the  members 
present  voted  in  the  affirmative.  But  as 
this  rule  was  adopted  subsequent  to  the 
General  Regulations  of  1722,  it  is  not  ob- 
ligatory as  a  law  of  Masonry  at  present. 
The  Grand  Lodges  of  England  and  of  New 
York  have  substantially  the  same  rule. 
But  unless  there  be  a  local  regulation  in 
the  Constitution  of  any  particular  Grand 
Lodge  to  that  effect,  I  know  of  no  princi- 

Ele  of  Masonic  law  set  forth  in  the  Ancient 
landmarks  or  Regulations  which  forbids  a 
Lodge,  upon  the  mere  vote  of  the  majority, 
from  removing  from  one  house  to  another 
in  the  same  town  or  city ;  and  unless  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  any  particular  jurisdiction 
has  adopted  a  regulation  forbidding  the 
removal  of  a  Lodge  from  one  house  to  an- 
other without  its  consent,  I  know  of  no  law 
in  Masonry  of  universal  force  which  would 
prohibit  such  a  removal  at  the  mere  option 
of  the  Lodge. 

This  refers,  of  course,  only  to  the  removal 
from  one  house  to  another;  but  as  the  town 
or  village  in  which  the  Lodge  is  situated  is 
designated  in  its  Warrant  of  Constitution, 
no  such  removal  can  be  made  except  with 
the  consent  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  or,  during 
the  recess  of  that  body,  by  the  Dispensation 
of  the  Grand  Master,  to  be  subsequently 
confirmed  by  the  Grand  Lodge. 

Renouncing  Masons.  During  the 
anti-Masonic  excitement  in  the  United 
States,  which  began  in  1828,  and  lasted  for 
a  few  years,  many  Masons  left  the  Order, 
actuated  by  various  motives,  (seldom  good 
ones,)  and  attached  themselves  to  the  anti- 
Masonic  party.  It  is  not  singular  that  these 
deserters,  who  called  themselves  "Renounc- 
ing Masons,"  were  the  bitterest  in  their 
hatred  and  the  loudest  in  their  vitupera- 
tions of  the  Order.  But,  as  may  be  seen 
in  the  article  Indelibility,  a  renunciation  of 


642 


KEPEAL 


REPRIMAND 


the  name  cannot  absolve  any  one  from  the 
obligations  of  a  Mason. 

Repeal.  As  a  Lodge  cannot  enact  a 
new  by-law  without  the  consent  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  neither  can  it  repeal  an  old 
one  without  the  same  consent;  nor  can  any- 
thing done  at  a  stated  meeting  be  repealed 
at  a  subsequent  extra  or  emergent  one. 

Report  of  a  Committee.  When 
a  committee,  to  which  a  subject  had  been 
referred,  has  completed  its  investigation 
and  come  to  an  opinion,  it  directs  its  chair- 
man, or  some  other  member,  to  prepare  an 
expression  of  its  views,  to  be  submitted  to 
the  Lodge.  The  paper  containing  this  ex- 
pression of  views  is  called  its  report,  which 
may  be  framed  in  three  different  forms :  It 
may  contain  only  an  expression  of  opinion 
on  the  subject  which  had  been  referred ;  or 
it  may  contain,  in  addition  to  this,  an  ex- 
press resolution  or  series  of  resolutions,  the 
adoption  of  which  by  the  assembly  is  re- 
commended ;  or,  lastly,  it  may  contain  one 
or  more  resolutions,  without  any  prelimi- 
nary expression  of  opinion. 

The  report,  when  prepared,  is  read  to 
the  members  of  the  committee,  and,  if  it 
meets  with  their  final  sanction,  the  chair- 
man, or  one  of  the  members,  is  directed  to 
present  it  to  the  Lodge. 

The  reading  of  the  report  is  its  recep- 
tion, and  the  next  question  will  be  on  its 
adoption.  If  it  contains  a  recommenda- 
tion of  resolutions,  the  adoption  of  the  re- 
port will  be  equivalent  to  an  adoption  of 
the  resolutions,  but  the  report  may,  on  the 
question  of  adoption,  be  otherwise  disposed 
of  by  being  laid  on  the  table,  postponed,  or 
recommitted.  See  the  subject  fully  dis- 
cussed in  the  author's  treatise  on  Parlia- 
mentary Law  as  applied  to  the  Government  of 
Masonic  Bodies,  ch.  xxxi. 

Reportorial  Corps.  A  name  re- 
cently given  in  the  United  States  to  that 
useful  and  intelligent  body  of  Masons  who 
write,  in  their  respective  Grand  Lodges, 
the  reports  on  Foreign  Correspondence. 
Through  the  exertions  of  Dr.  Corson,  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Cor- 
respondence of  New  Jersey,  a  convention 
of  this  body  was  held  at  Baltimore  in  1871, 
during  the  session  of  the  General  Grand 
Chapter,  and  measures  were  then  taken  to 
establish  a  triennial  convention.  Such  a 
convention  would  assume  no  legislative 
powers,  but  would  simply  meet  for  the  in- 
tercommunication of  ideas  and  the  inter- 
change of  fraternal  greetings. 

Representative  of  a  Grand 
Lodge.  A  brother  appointed  by  one 
Grand  Lodge  to  represent  its  interests  in 
another.  The  representative  is  generally, 
although  not  necessarily,  a  member  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  to  whom  he  is  accredited, 


and  receives  his  appointment  on  its  nomi- 
nation, but  he  wears  the  clothing  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  which  he  represents.  He 
is  required  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  to  which  he  is  accredited, 
and  to  communicate  to  his  constituents  an 
abstract  of  the  proceedings,  and  other  mat- 
ters of  Masonic  interest.  But  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  these  duties  are  generally  per- 
formed. The  office  of  representative  ap- 
pears to  be  rather  one  of  honor  than  of 
service.  In  the  French  system,  a  repre- 
sentative is  called  a  "  gage  d'amitie." 

Representatives  of  Lodges.  The 
twelfth  landmark  prescribes  that  every 
Mason  has  a  right  to  be  present  at  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Craft,  which  was 
annually  held.  And  even  as  late  as  1717, 
on  the  reorganization  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  we  are  informed  by  Preston 
that  the  Grand  Master  summoned  all  the 
brethren  to  meet  him  and  his  Wardens  in 
the  quarterly  communications.  But  soon 
after,  it  being  found,  I  presume,  that  a 
continuance  of  such  attendance  would  ren- 
der the  Grand  Lodge  an  unwieldy  body ; 
and  the  rights  of  the  Fraternity  having 
been  securely  guarded  by  the  adoption  of 
the  thirty-nine  Regulations,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  limit  the  appearance  of  the  breth- 
ren of  each  Lodge,  at  the  quarterly  com- 
munications, to  its  Master  and  Wardens  ; 
so  that  the  Grand  Lodge  became  thence- 
forth a  strictly  representative  body,  com- 
posed of  the  first  three  officers  of  the 
subordinate  Lodges.  The  inherent  right 
and  the  positive  duty  of  every  Mason  to  be 

E resent  at  the  General  Assembly  or  Grand 
.odge  was  relinquished,  and  a  representa- 
tion by  Masters  and  Wardens  was  substi- 
tuted in  its  place.  A  few  modern  Grand 
Lodges  have  disfranchised  the  Wardens 
also,  and  confined  the  representation  to  the 
Masters  only.  But  this  is  evidently  an  in- 
novation, having  no  color  of  authority  in 
the  Old  Regulations. 

Representative  System.  The 
system  of  appointing  representatives  of 
Grand  Lodges  originated  some  years  ago 
with  the  Grand  Lodge  of  New  York.  It  at 
first  met  with  much  opposition,but  has  grad- 
ually gained  favor,  and  there  are  now  but 
few  Grand  Lodges  in  Europe  or  America 
that  have  not  adopted  it.  Although  the  orig- 
inal plan  intended  by  the  founders  of  the 
system  does  not  appear  to  have  been  effect- 
ually carried  out  in  all  its  details,  it  has  at 
least  been  successful  as  a  means  of  more 
closely  cementing  the  bonds  of  union  be- 
tween the  bodies  mutually  represented. 

Reprimand.  A  reproof  formally 
communicated  to  the  offender  for  some  fault 
committed,  and  the  lowest  grade,  above 
censure,  of  Masonic  punishment.  It  can  be 


REPUTATION 


RESTORATION 


643 


inflicted  only  on  charges  made,  and  by  a 
majority  vote  of  the  Lodge.  It  may  be 
private  or  public.  Private  reprimand  is 
generally  communicated  to  the  offender 
by  a  letter  from  the  Master.  Public  repri- 
mand is  given  orally  in  the  Lodge  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  brethren.  A  reprimand 
does  not  affect  the  Masonic  standing  of  the 
person  reprimanded. 

Reputation.  In  the  technical  lan- 
guage of  Masonry,  a  man  of  good  reputation 
is  said  to  be  one  who  is  "  under  the  tongue 
of  good  report ;  "  and  this  constitutes  one  of 
the  indispensable  qualifications  of  a  candi- 
date for  initiation. 

Residence.  It  is  the  general  usage 
in  this  country,  and  may  be  considered  as 
the  Masonic  law  of  custom,  that  the  appli- 
cation of  a  candidate  for  initiation  must  be 
made  to  the  Lodge  nearest  his  place  of 
residence.  There  is,  however,  no  express 
law  upon  this  subject  either  in  the  ancient 
landmarks  or  the  Old  Constitutions,  and 
its  positive  sanction  as  a  law  in  any  juris- 
diction must  be  found  in  the  local  enact- 
ments of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  that  jurisdic- 
tion. Still  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  ex- 
pediency and  justice  to  the  Order  make 
such  a  regulation  necessary,  and  accordingly 
many  Grand  Lodges  have  incorporated 
such  a  regulation  in  their  Constitutions ; 
and  of  course,  whenever  this  has  been  done, 
it  becomes  a  positive  law  in  that  jurisdic- 
tion. 

It  has  also  been  contended  by  some 
American  Masonic  jurists  that  a  non-resi- 
dent of  a  State  is  not  entitled,  on  a  tempo- 
rary visit  to  that  State,  to  apply  for  initia- 
tion. There  is,  however,  no  landmark  nor 
written  law  in  the  ancient  Constitutions 
which  forbids  the  initiation  of  non-resi- 
dents. Still,  as  there  can  be  no  question 
that  the  conferring  of  the  degrees  of  Ma- 
sonry on  a  stranger  is  always  inexpedient, 
and  frequently  productive  of  injury  and  in- 
justice, by  foisting  on  the  Lodges  near  the 
candidate's  residence  unworthy  and  unac- 
ceptable persons,  there  has  been  a  very 
general  disposition  among  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  this  country  to  discountenance 
the  initiation  of  non-residents.  Many  of 
them  have  adopted  a  specific  regulation  to 
this  effect,  and  in  all  jurisdictions  where 
this  has  been  done,  the  law  becomes  im- 
perative ;  for,  as  the  landmarks  are  entirely 
silent  on  the  subject,  the  local  regulation  is 
left  to  the  discretion  of  each  jurisdiction. 
But  no  such  rule  has  ever  existed  among 
European  Lodges. 

Resignation  of  Membership. 
The  spirit  of  the  law  of  Masonry  does  not 
recognize  the  right  of  any  member  of  a 
Lodge  to  resign  his  membership,  unless  it 
be  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  with  another 


Lodge.  This  mode  of  resignation  is  called 
a  demission.    See  Demit. 

Resignation  of  Office.  Every  of- 
ficer of  a  Lodge,  or  rather  Masonic  organi- 
zation, being  required  at  the  time  of  his  in- 
stallation into  office  to  enter  into  an  obliga- 
tion that  he  will  perform  the  duties  of  that 
office  for  a  specified  time  and  until  his  suc- 
cessor is  installed,  it  has  been  repeatedly 
held  by  the  Masonic  jurists  of  this  country 
that  an  officer  once  elected  and  installed 
cannot  resign  his  office ;  and  this  may  be 
considered  as  a  well-established  law  of 
American  Masonry. 

Resolution.  In  parliamentary  law, 
a  proposition,  when  first  presented,  is  called 
a  motion ;  if  adopted,  it  becomes  a  resolu- 
tion. Many  Grand  Lodges  adopt,  from 
time  to  time,  in  addition  to  the  provisions 
of  their  Constitution,  certain  resolutions  on 
important  subjects,  which,  giving  them  an 
apparently  greater  weight  of  authority 
than  ordinary  enactments,  are  frequently 
appended  to  their  Constitution,  or  their 
transaction,  under  the  imposing  title  of 
"Standing  Regulations."  But  this  weight 
of  authority  is  only  apparent.  These  stand- 
ing resolutions  having  been  adopted,  like 
all  other  resolutions,  by  a  mere  majority 
vote,  are  subject,  like  them,  to  be  repealed 
or  rescinded  by  the  same  vote. 

Respectable.  A  title  given  by  the 
French,  as  Worshipful  is  by  the  English,  to 
a  Lodge.  Thus,  Im  Respectable  Loge  de  la 
Candeur  is  equivalent  to  "The  Worship- 
ful Lodge  of  Candor."  It  is  generally  ab- 
breviated as  R.\  L.\  or  R.\  I    ].'. 

Response.  In  the  liturgical  services 
of  the  church  an  answer  made  by  the  peo- 
ple speaking  alternately  with  the  clergy- 
man. In  the  ceremonial  observances  of 
Freemasonry  there  are  many  responses, 
the  Master  and  the  brethren  taking  alter- 
nate parts,  especially  in  the  funeral  service 
as  laid  down  first  by  Preston,  and  now  very 
generally  adopted.  In  all  Masonic  prayers 
the  proper  response,  never  to  be  omitted,  is, 
"  So  mote  it  be." 

Restoration.  The  restoration,  or,  as 
it  is  also  called,  the  reinstatement  of  a  Ma- 
son who  had  been  excluded,  suspended,  or 
expelled,  may  be  the  voluntary  act  of  the 
Lodge,  or  that  of  the  Grand  Lodge  on  ap- 
peal, when  the  sentence  of  the  Lodge  has 
been  reversed  on  account  of  illegality  in  the 
trial,  or  injustice,  or  undue  severity  in  the 
sentence.  It  may  also,  as  in  the  instance 
of  definite  suspension,  be  the  result  of  the 
termination  of  the  period  of  suspension, 
when  the  suspended  member  is,  ipso  facto, 
restored  without  any  further  action  of  the 
Lodge. 

The  restoration  from  indefinite  suspen- 
sion must  be  equivalent  to  a  reinstatement 


644 


RESURRECTION 


REVEREND 


in  membership,  because  the  suspension  be- 
ing removed,  the  offender  is  at  once  in- 
vested with  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
which  he  had  never  been  divested,  but  only 
temporarily  deprived. 

But  restoration  from  expulsion  may  be 
either  to  membership  in  the  Lodge  or  sim- 
ply to  the  privileges  of  the  Order. 

It  may  also  be  ex  gratia,  or  an  act  of 
mercy,  the  past  offence  being  condoned ;  or 
ex  debito  jmtitice,  by  a  reversal  of  the  sen- 
tence for  illegality  of  trial  or  injustice  in 
the  verdict. 

The  restoration  ex  gratia  may  be  either 
by  the  Lodge  or  the  Grand  Lodge  on  ap- 
peal. If  by  the  Lodge,  it  may  be  to  mem- 
bership, or  only  to  good  standing  in  the 
Order.  But  if  by  the  Grand  Lodge,  the 
restoration  can  only  be  to  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  Order.  The  Mason  hav- 
ing been  justly  and  legally  expelled  from 
the  Lodge,  the  Grand  Lodge  possesses  no 

Ererogative  by  which  it  could  enforce  a 
lodge  to  admit  one  legally  expelled  any 
more  than  it  could  a  profane  who  had 
never  been  initiated. 

But  if  the  restoration  be  ex  debito  justitiw, 
as  an  act  of  justice,  because  the  trial  or 
verdict  had  been  illegal,  then  the  brother, 
never  having  been  lawfully  expelled  from 
the  Lodge  or  the  Order,  but  being  at  the 
very  time  of  his  appeal  a  member  of  the 
Lodge,  unjustly  or  illegally  deprived  of  his 
rights,  the  restoration  in  this  case  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  must  be  to  membership  in  the 
Lodge.  Any  other  course,  such  as  to  restore 
him  to  the  Order  but  not  to  membership, 
would  be  manifestly  unjust.  The  Grand 
Lodge  having  reversed  the  trial  and  sen- 
tence of  the  subordinate  Lodge,  that  trial 
and  sentence  become  null  and  void,  and  the 
Mason  who  had  been  unjustly  expelled  is 
at  once  restored  to  his  original  status.  See 
this  subject  fully  discussed  in  the  author's 
Text  Book  of  Masonic  Jurisprudence,  Book 
VI.,  chap.  iii. 

Resurrection.  The  doctrine  of  a 
resurrection  to  a  future  and  eternal  life 
constitutes  an  indispensable  portion  of  the 
religious  faith  of  Masonry.  It  is  not  au- 
thoritatively inculcated  as  a  point  of  dog- 
matic creed,  but  is  impressively  taught  by 
the  symbolism  of  the  third  degree.  This 
dogma  has  existed  among  almost  all  na- 
tions from  a  very  early  period.  The  Egyp- 
tians, in  their  mysteries,  taught  a  final 
resurrection  of  the  soul.  Although  the 
Jews,  in  escaping  from  their  Egyptian 
thraldom,  did  not  carry  this  doctrine  with 
them  into  the  desert, — for  it  formed  no  part 
of  the  Mosaic  theology, —  yet  they  subse- 
quently, after  the  captivity,  borrowed  it 
from  the  Zoroastrians.  The  Brahmans  and 
Buddhists  of  the  East,  the  Etruscans  of  the 


South,  and  the  Druids  and  the  Scandinavian 
Skalds  of  the  West,  nursed  the  faith  of  a 
resurrection  to  future  life.  The  Greeks  and 
the  Romans  subscribed  to  it;  and  it  was 
one  of  the  great  objects  of  their  mysteries 
to  teach  it.  It  is,  as  we  all  know,  an  es- 
sential part  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  was 
exemplified,  in  his  own  resurrection,  by 
Christ  to  his  followers.  In  Freemasonry,  a 
particular  degree,  the  Master's,  has  been 
appropriated  to  teach  it  by  an  impressive 
symbolism.  "Thus,"  says  Hutchinson, 
(p.  101,)  "our  Order  is  a  positive  contra- 
diction to  Judaic  blindness  and  infidelity, 
and  testifies  our  faith  concerning  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body." 

We  may  deny  that  there  has  been  a  regu- 
lar descent  of  Freemasonry,  as  a  secret  or- 
ganization, from  the  mystical  association  of 
the  Eleusinians,  the  Samothracians,  or  the 
Dionysians.  No  one,  however,  who  care- 
fully examines  the  mode  in  which  the 
resurrection  or  restoration  to  life  was 
taught  by  a  symbol  and  a  ceremony  in  the 
Ancient  Mysteries,  and  how  the  same 
dogma  is  now  taught  in  the  Masonic  initia- 
tion, can,  without  absolutely  rejecting  the 
evident  concatenation  of  circumstances 
which  lies  patent  before  him,  refuse  his  as- 
sent to  the  proposition  that  the  latter  was 
derived  from  the  former.  The  resemblance 
between  the  Dionysiac  legend,  for  instance, 
and  the  Hiramic,  cannot  have  been  purely 
accidental.  The  chain  that  connects  them 
is  easily  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Pagan 
mysteries  lasted  until  the  fourth  century  of 
the  Christian  era,  and,  as  the  fathers  of  the 
church  lamented,  exercised  an  influence 
over  the  secret  societies  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Returns  of  Lodges.  Every  sub- 
ordinate Lodge  is  required  to  make  an- 
nually to  the  Grand  Lodge  a  statement  of 
the  names  of  its  members,  and  the  number 
of  admissions,  demissions,  and  expulsions 
or  rejections  that  have  taken  place  within 
the  year.  This  statement  is  called  a  return. 
A  neglect  to  make  the  annual  return 
causes  a  forfeiture  of  the  right  of  repre- 
sentation in  the  Grand  Lodge.  The  sum 
due  by  the  Lodge  is  based  on  the  return, 
as  a  tax  is  levied  for  each  member  and  each 
initiation.  The  Grand  Lodge  is  also,  by 
this  means,  made  acquainted  with  the  state 
of  its  subordinates  and  the  condition  of  the 
Order  in  its  jurisdiction. 

Reuben.  The  eldest  son  of  Jacob. 
Among  the  Royal  Arch  banners,  that  of 
Reuben  is  purple,  and  bears  a  man  as  the 
device.  It  is  appropriated  to  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Second  Veil. 

Revelations  of  Masonry.  See 
Expositions. 

Reverend.  A  title  sometimes  given 
to  the  chaplain  of  a  Masonic  body. 


REVERENTIAL 


REVIVAL 


645 


Reverential  Sign.  The  second  sign 
in  the  English  Royal  Arch  system,  and 
thus  explained.  We  are  taught  hy  the 
reverential  sign  to  bend  with  submission 
and  resignation  beneath  the  chastening 
hand  of  the  Almighty,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  engraft  his  law  in  our  hearts.  This 
expressive  form,  in  which  the  Father  of 
the  human  race  first  presented  himself  be- 
fore the  face  of  the  Most  High,  to  receive 
the  denunciation  and  terrible  judgment, 
was  adopted  by  our  Grand  Master  Moses, 
who,  when  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  in 
the  burning  bush  on  Mount  Horeb,  covered 
his  face  from  the  brightness  of  the  divine 
presence. 

Revival.  The  occurrences  which  took 
place  in  the  city  of  London,  in  the  year 
1717,  when  that  important  body,  which 
has  since  been  known  as  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  was  organized,  has  been  al- 
ways known  in  Masonic  history  as  the 
"  Revival  of  Masonry."  Anderson,  in  the 
first  edition  of  the  "  Constitutions,"  pub- 
lished in  1723,  speaks  of  the  brethren  hav- 
ing revived  the  drooping  Lodges  of  Lon- 
don ;  but  he  makes  no  other  reference  to 
the  transaction.  In  his  second  edition, 
published  in  1738,  he  is  more  diffuse,  and 
the  account  there  given  is  the  only  au- 
thority we  possess  of  the  organization  made 
in  1717 :  Preston  and  all  subsequent  writers 
have  of  course  derived  their  authority 
from  Anderson.  The  transactions  are  thus 
detailed  by  Preston,  (Elu&t.,  p.  191,)  whose 
account  is  preferred,  as  containing  in  a 
more  succinct  form  all  that  Anderson  has 
more  profusely  detailed. 

"  On  the  accession  of  George  I.,  the  Ma- 
sons in  London  and  its  environs,  finding 
themselves  deprived  of  Sir  Christopher 
Wren  and  their  annual  meetings  discon- 
tinued, resolved  to  cement  themselves 
under  a  new  Grand  Master,  and  to  revive 
the  communications  and  annual  festivals 
of  the  Society.  With  this  view,  the  Lodges 
at  the  Goose  and  Gridiron,  in  St.  Paul's 
Church-Yard ;  the  Crown,  in  Parker's  Lane, 
near  Drury  Lane ;  the  Apple-Tree  Tavern, 
in  Charles  Street,  Covent  Garden  ;  and  the 
Rummer  and  Grapes  Tavern,  in  Channel 
Row,  Westminster,  the  only  four  Lodges 
in  being  in  the  South  of  England  at  that 
time,  with  some  other  old  brethren,  met 
at  the  Apple-Tree  Tavern,  above  mentioned, 
in  February,  1717;  and,  having  voted  the 
oldest  Master  Mason  then  present  into 
the  chair,  constituted  themselves  a  Grand 
Lodge,  pro  tempore,  in  due  form.  At  this 
meeting  it  was  resolved  to  hold  Quarterly 
Communications  of  the  Fraternity,  and  to 
hold  the  next  annual  assembly  and  feast  on 
the  24th  of  June  at  the  Goose  and  Gridiron, 
in  St.  Paul's  Church- Yard,  (in  compliment 
to  the  oldest  Lodge,  which  then  met  there,) 


for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  Grand  Master 
among  themselves,  till  they  should  have  the 
honor  of  a  noble  brother  at  their  head.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  St.  John  the  Baptist's  day, 
1717,  in  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  King 
George  I.,  the  assembly  and  feast  were  held 
at  the  said  house ;  when  the  oldest  Master 
Mason  and  the  Master  of  a  Lodge  having 
taken  the  chair,  a  list  of  proper  candidates 
for  the  office  of  Grand  Master  was  pro- 
duced; and  the  names  being  separately 
proposed,  the  brethren,  by  a  great  majority 
of  hands,  elected  Mr.  Anthony  Sayer 
Grand  Master  of  Masons  for  the  ensuing 
year ;  who  was  forthwith  invested  by  the 
said  oldest  Master,  installed  by  the  Master 
of  the  oldest  Lodge,  and  duly  congratulated 
by  the  assembly,  who  paid  him  homage. 
The  Grand  Master  then  entered  on  the  du- 
ties of  his  office,  appointed  his  Wardens,  and 
commanded  the  brethren  of  the  four  Lodges 
to  meet  him  and  his  Wardens  quarterly  in 
communication;  enjoining  them  at  the  same 
time  to  recommend  to  all  the  Fraternity  a 
punctual  attendance  on  the  next  annual 
assembly  and  feast." 

Recently,  this  claim,  that  Masonry  was 
not  for  the  first  time  organized,  but  only 
revived  in  1717,  has  been  attacked  by  some 
of  those  modern  iconoclasts  who  refuse 
credence  to  anything  traditional,  or  even 
to  any  record  which  is  not  supported  by 
other  contemporary  authority.  Chief  among 
these  is  Bro.  W.  P.  Buchan,  of  England, 
who,  in  his  numerous  articles  in  the  Lon- 
don Freemason,  (1871  and  1872,)  has  at- 
tacked the  antiquity  of  Freemasonry,  and 
refuses  to  give  it  an  existence  anterior  to 
the  year  1717.  His  exact  theory  is  that 
"  our  system  of  degrees,  words,  grips,  signs, 
etc.,  was  not  in  existence  until  about  A.  D. 
1717."  He  admits,  however,  that  certain 
of  the  "  elements  or  groundwork  "  of  the 
degrees  existed  before  that  year,  but  not 
confined  to  the  Masons,  being  common  to 
all  the  gilds.  He  thinks  that  the  pres- 
ent system  was  indebted  to  the  inventive 
genius  of  Anderson  and  Desaguliers.  And 
he  supposes  that  it  was  simply  "  a  recon- 
struction of  an  ancient  society,  viz.,  of  some 
form  of  old  Pagan  philosophy."  Hence,  he 
contends  that  it  was  not  a  "  revival,"  but 
only  a  "  renaissance,"  and  he  explains  his 
meaning  in  the  following  language : 

"  Before  the  eighteenth  century  we  had 
a  renaissance  of  Pagan  architecture ;  then, 
to  follow  suit,  in  the  eighteenth  century  we 
had  a  renaissance  in  a  new  dress  of  Pagan 
mysticism ;  but  for  neither  are  we  indebted 
to  the  Operative  Masons,  although  the 
Operative  Masons  were  made  use  of  in 
both  cases."  {London  Freemason,  Septem- 
ber 23,  1871.) 

Buchan's  theory  has  been  attacked  by 
Bros.  William  J.  Hughan  and  Chalmers  I. 


646 


REVOKE 


RIGHT 


Patton.  That  he  is  right  in  his  theory, 
that  the  three  degrees  of  Master,  Fellow 
Craft,  and  Apprentice  were  unknown  to 
the  Masons  of  the  seventeenth  centnry,  and 
that  these  classes  existed  only  as  grada- 
tions of  rank,  will  be  very  generally  ad- 
mitted. But  there  is  unquestionable  evi- 
dence that  the  modes  of  recognition,  the 
method  of  government,  the  legends,  and 
much  of  the  ceremonial  of  initiation,  were 
in  existence  among  the  Operative  Masons 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  were  transmitted 
to  the  Speculative  Masons  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  The  work  of  Anderson, 
of  Desaguliers,  and  their  contemporaries, 
was  to  improve  and  to  enlarge,  but  not  to 
invent.  The  Masonic  system  of  the  pres- 
ent day  has  been  the  result  of  a  slow  but 
steady  growth.  Just  as  the  lectures  of 
Anderson,  known  to  us  from  their  publica- 
tion in  1725,  were  subsequently  modified 
and  enlarged  by  the  successive  labors  of 
Clare,  of  Dunckerley,  of  Preston,  and  of 
Hemming,  did  he  and  Desaguliers  submit 
the  simple  ceremonial,  which  they  found 
at  the  reorganization  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
in  1717,  to  a  similar  modification  and  en- 
largement. 

Revoke.  When  a  Dispensation  is  is- 
sued by  a  Grand  Master  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  Lodge,  it  is  granted  "  to  continue 
of  force  until  the  Grand  Lodge  shall  grant 
a  Warrant,  or  until  the  Dispensation  is  re- 
voked by  the  Grand  Master  or  the  Grand 
Lodge."  A  Dispensation  may  therefore 
be  revoked  at  any  time  by  the  authority 
which  issued  it,  or  by  a  higher  authority. 
Charters  are  arrested,  forfeited,  or  declared 
null  and  void;  Dispensations  are  revoked. 

Rhetoric.  The  art  of  embellishing 
language  with  the  ornaments  of  construc- 
tion, so  as  to  enable  the  speaker  to  persuade 
or  affect  his  hearers.  It  supposes  and  re- 
quires a  proper  acquaintance  with  the  rest 
of  the  liberal  arts ;  for  the  first  step  towards 
adorning  a  discourse  is  for  the  speaker  to 
become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  its  sub- 
ject, and  hence  the  ancient  rule  that  the 
orator  should  be  acquainted  with  all  the 
arts  and  sciences.  Its  importance  as  a 
branch  of  liberal  education  is  recommended 
to  the  Mason  in  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree. 
It  is  one  of  the  seven  liberal  arts  and  sci- 
ences, the  second  in  order,  and  is  described 
in  the  ancient  Constitutions  as  "  retoricke 
that  teacheth  a  man  to  speake  fine  and  in 
subtill  terme."  —  Harleian  MS. 

Rhode  Island.  Masonry  was  intro- 
duced into  Rhode  Island  in  1750  by  the 
establishment  of  a  Lodge  at  Newport,  the 
Charter  for  which  had  been  granted  by  the 
St.  John's  Grand  Lodge  of  Boston  on  Dec. 
27,  1749.  The  same  Grand  Lodge  estab- 
lished a  second  Lodge  at  Providence  on 


Jan.  18, 1757.  On  April  6, 1791,  these  two 
Lodges  organized  a  Grand  Lodge  at  Prov- 
idence, Christopher  Champlin  being  elected 
the  first  Grand  Master.  This  is  the  first 
instance  known  in  Masonic  history  of  the 
organization  of  a  Grand  Lodge  by  only  two 
subordinates.  The  act  was  irregular,  and 
the  precedent  has  never  subsequently  been 
followed.  It  was  not  until  1799  that  the 
new  Grand  Lodge  granted  its  first  Charter 
for  the  establishment  of  a  third  Lodge  at 
Warren.  The  Grand  Chapter  was  organ- 
ized in  March,  1798,  and  the  Grand  Coun- 
cil in  Oct.,  1860.  The  Grand  Commandery 
forms  a  part  of  a  common  body  known  as 
the  Grand  Commandery  of  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island.  It  was  formed  in  1805, 
and  the  celebrated  Thomas  Smith  Webb 
was  its  first  presiding  officer. 

Rhodes.  An  island  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  which,  although,  nominally 
under  the  government  of  the  Emperor  of 
Constantinople,  was  in  1308  in  the  pos- 
session of  Saracen  pirates.  In  that  year, 
Fulke  de  Villaret,  Grand  Master  of  the 
Knights  Hospitallers,  having  landed  with 
a  large  force,  drove  out  the  Saracens  and 
took  possession  of  the  island,  which  became 
the  seat  of  the  Order,  who  removed  to  it 
from  Cyprus  and  continued  to  occupy  it 
until  it  was  retaken  by  the  Saracens  in  1522, 
when  the  knights  were  transferred  to  the 
island  of  Malta.  Their  residence  for  over 
two  hundred  years  at  Rhodes  caused  them 
sometimes  to  receive  the  title  of  the  Knights 
of  Rhodes. 

Rhodes,  Knight  of.  See  Knight 
of  liliodes. 

Ribbon.  The  use  of  a  ribbon,  with 
the  official  jewel  suspended  and  attached  to 
a  button-hole  instead  of  the  collar,  recently 
adopted  by  a  few  American  Lodges,  is  a 
violation  of  the  ancient  customs  of  the 
Order.  The  collar  cut  in  a  triangular  shape, 
with  the  jewel  suspended  from  the  apex, 
dates  from  the  earliest  time  of  the  revival, 
and  is  perhaps  as  old  as  the  apron  itself. 
See  Collar. 

Ridel,  Cornelius  Johann  Ru- 
dolph. Born  at  Hamburg,  May  25, 1759, 
and  died  at  Weimar,  January  16, 1821.  He 
was  an  active  and  learned  Mason,  and  for 
many  years  the  Master  of  the  Lodge  Ama- 
lia  at  Weimar.  In  1817,  he  published  in 
four  volumes  an  elaborate  and  valuable 
work  entitled  Versuch  eines  Alphabetischen 
Verzeichnisses,  u.  s.  w.,  i.  e.,  "An  essay  to- 
wards an  Alphabetical  Catalogue  of  im- 
portant events,  for  the  knowledge  and  his- 
tory of  Freemasonry,  and  especially  for  a 
critical  examination  of  the  origin  and 
growth  of  the  various  rituals  and  systems 
from  1717  to  1817." 

Right  Angle.    A  right  angle  is  the 


RIGHT 


RIGHT 


647 


meeting  of  two  lines  in  an  angle  of  ninety 
degrees,  or  the  fourth  part  of  a  circle. 
Each  of  its  lines  is  perpendicular  to  the 
other ;  and  as  the  perpendicular  line  is 
a  symbol  of  uprightness  of  conduct,  the 
right  angle  has  been  adopted  by  Masons  as 
an  emblem  of  virtue,  ouch  was  also  its 
signification  among  the  Pythagoreans.  The 
right  angle  is  represented  in  the  Lodges  by 
the  square,  as  the  horizontal  is  by  the  level, 
and  the  perpendicular  by  the  plumb. 

Right  Eminent.  An  epithet  pre- 
fixed to  the  title  of  the  Deputy  Grand 
Master  of  the  Grand  Encampment  of 
Knights  Templars  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  that  of  the  Grand  Commander  of  a 
State  Grand  Commandery. 

Bight  Excellent.  The  epithet  pre- 
fixed to  the  title  of  all  superior  officers 
of  a  Grand  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry below  the  dignity  of  a  Grand  High 
Priest. 

Right  Hand.  The  right  hand  has 
in  all  ages  been  deemed  an  important  sym- 
bol to  represent  the  virtue  of  fidelity. 
Among  the  ancients,  the  right  hand  and 
fidelity  to  an  obligation  were  almost  deemed 
synonymous  terms.  Thus,  among  the  Ro- 
mans, the  expression  "  fallere  dextram," 
to  betray  the  right  hand,  also  signified  to  vio- 
late faith;  and  "jungere  dextras,"  to  join 
right  hands,  meant  to  give  a  mutual  pledge. 
Among  the  Hebrews,  {'0%  iamin,  the  right 
hand,  was  derived  from  }DX,  aman,  to  be 
faithful.  ' 

The  practice  of  the  ancients  was  con- 
formable to  these  peculiarities  of  idiom. 
Among  the  Jews,  to  give  the  right  hand 
was  considered  as  a  mark  of  friendship  and 
fidelity.  Thus  St.  Paul  says, "  when  James, 
Cephas,  and  John,  who  seemed  to  be  pillars, 
perceived  the  grace  that  was  given  unto 
me,  they  gave  to  me  and  Barnabas  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship,  that  we  should  go  unto 
the  heathen,  and  they  unto  the  circum- 
cision." (Gal.  ii.  6.)  The  same  expression, 
also,  occurs  in  Maccabees.  We  meet,  in- 
deed, continually  in  the  Scriptures  with 
allusions  to  the  right  hand  as  an  emblem  of 
truth  and  fidelity.  Thus  in  Psalm  cxliv. 
it  is  said,  "  their  right  hand  is  a  right  hand 
of  falsehood,"  that  is  to  say,  they  lift  up 
their  right  hand  to  swear  to  what  is  not 
true.  This  lifting  up  of  the  right  hand 
was,  in  fact,  the  universal  mode  adopted 
among  both  Jews  and  Pagans  in  taking  an 
oath.  The  custom  is  certainly  as  old  as  the 
days  of  Abraham,  who  said  to  the  King  of 
Salem,  "  I  have  lifted  up  my  hand  unto 
the  Lord,  the  most  high  God,  the  possessor 
of  heaven  and  earth,  that  I  will  not  take 
any  thing  that  is  thine."  ■  Sometimes 
among  the  Gentile  nations,  the  right  hand, 
in  taking  an  oath,  was  laid  upon  the  horns 


of  the  altar,  and  sometimes  upon  the  hand 
of  the  person  administering  the  obligation. 
But  in  all  cases  it  was  deemed  necessary,  to 
the  validity  and  solemnity  of  the  attesta- 
tion, that  the  right  hand  should  be  em- 
ployed. 

Since  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
the  use  of  the  right  hand  in  contracting 
an  oath  has  been  continued,  but  instead  of 
extending  it  to  heaven,  or  seizing  with  it  a 
horn  of  the  altar,  it  is  now  directed  to  be 
placed  upon  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  is 
the  universal  mode  at  this  day  in  all  Chris- 
tian countries.  The  antiquity  of  this  usage 
may  be  learned  from  the  fact,  that  in  the 
code  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  adopted 
about  the  year  438,  the  placing  of  the  right 
hand  on  the  Gospels  is  alluded  to;  and  in 
the  code  of  Justinian,  (lib.  ii.,  tit.  53,  lex. 
i.,)  whose  date  is  the  year  529,  the  cere- 
mony is  distinctly  laid  down  as  a  necessary 
part  of  the  formality  of  the  oath,  in  the 
words  "  tactis  sacrosanctis  Evangeliis,"  — 
the  Holy  Gospels  being  touched. 

This  constant  use  of  the  right  hand  in 
the  most  sacred  attestations  and  solemn 
compacts,  was  either  the  cause  or  the  con- 
sequence of  its  being  deemed  an  emblem 
of  fidelity.  Dr.  Potter  [Arch.  Qrcec,  p. 
229,)  thinks  it  was  the  cause,  and  he  sup- 
poses that  the  right  hand  was  naturally 
used  instead  of  the  left,  because  it  was 
more  honorable,  as  being  the  instrument 
by  which  superiors  give  commands  to  those 
below  them.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  well 
known  that  the  custom  existed  universally, 
and  that  there  are  abundant  allusions  in 
the  most  ancient  writers  to  the  junction  of 
right  hands  in  making  compacts. 

The  Romans  had  a  goddess  whose  name 
was  Fides,  or  Fidelity,  whose  temple  was 
first  consecrated  by  Noma.  Her  symbol 
was  two  right  hands  joined,  or  sometimes 
two  human  figures  holding  each  other 
by  the  right  hands,  whence,  in  all  agree- 
ments among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  it 
was  usual  for  the  parties  to  take  each  other 
by  the  right  hand,  in  token  of  their  inten- 
tion to  adhere  to  the  compact. 

By  a  strange  error  for  so  learned  a  man, 
Oliver  mistakes  the  name  of  this  goddess, 
and  calls  her  Faith.  "  The  spurious  Free- 
masonry," he  remarks,  "  had  a  goddess 
called  Faith."  No  such  thing.  Fides,  or, 
as  Horace  calls  her,  "  incorrupta  Fides," 
incorruptible  Fidelity,  is  very  different 
from  the  theological  virtue  of  faith. 

The  joining  of  the  right  hands  was  es- 
teemed among  the  Persians  and  Parthians 
as  conveying  a  most  inviolable  obligation 
of  fidelity.  Hence,  when  King  Artabanus 
desired  to  hold  a  conference  with  his  re- 
volted subject,  Asineus,  who  was  in  arms 
against  him,  he  despatched  a  messenger  to 


648 


RIGHT 


RING 


him  with  the  request,  who  said  to  Asineus, 
"  the  king  hath  sent  me  to  give  you  his 
right  hand  and  security,"  that  is,  a  prom- 
ise of  safety  in  going  and  coming.  And 
when  Asineus  sent  his  brother  Asileus  to 
the  proposed  conference,  the  king  met  him 
and  gave  him  his  right  hand,  upon  which 
Josephus  (Ant.  Jud.,  lib.  xviii.,  cap.  ix.,) 
remarks :  This  is  of  the  greatest  force  there 
with  all  these  barbarians,  and  affords  a  firm 
security  to  those  who  hold  intercourse  with 
them;  for  none  of  them  will  deceive,  when 
once  they  have  given  you  their  right  hands, 
nor  will  any  one  doubt  of  their  fidelity, 
when  that  is  once  given,  even  though  they 
were  before  suspected  of  injustice." 

Stephens  ( Travels  in  Yucatan,  vol.  ii.,  p. 
474,)  gives  the  following  account  of  the  use 
of  the  right  hand  as  a  symbol  among  the 
Indian  tribes. 

"  In  the  course  of  many  years'  residence 
on  the  frontiers,  including  various  journey- 
ings  among  the  tribes,  I  have  had  frequent 
occasion  to  remark  the  use  of  the  right 
hand  as  a  symbol ;  and  it  is  frequently  ap- 
plied to  the  naked  body  after  its  prepara- 
tion and  decoration  for  sacred  or  festive 
dances.  And  the  fact  deserves  further  con- 
sideration from  these  preparations  being 
generally  made  in  the  arcanum  of  the  se- 
cret Lodge,  or  some  other  private  place,  and 
with  all  the  skill  of  the  adept's  art.  The 
mode  of  applying  it  in  these  cases  is  by 
smearing  the  hand  of  the  operator  with 
white  or  colored  clay,  and  impressing  it  on 
the  breast,  the  shoulder,  or  other  part  of  the 
body.  The  idea  is  thus  conveyed  that  a 
secret  influence,  a  charm,  a  mystical  power 
is  given,  arising  from  his  sanctity,  or  his 
proficiency  in  the  occult  arts.  This  use  of 
the  hand  is  not  confined  to  a  single  tribe  or 
people.  I  have  noticed  it  alike  among  the 
Dacotahs,  the  Winnebagoes,  and  other 
Western  tribes,  as  among  the  numerous 
branches  of  the  red  race  still  located  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  above  the  latitude 
of  42  degrees,  who  speak  dialects  of  the  Al- 
gonquin language." 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  the  use  of  the 
right  hand  as  a  token  of  sincerity  and  a 
pledge  of  fidelity,  is  as  ancient  as  it  is  uni- 
versal ;  a  fact  which  will  account  for  the  im- 
portant station  which  it  occupies  among 
the  symbols  of  Freemasonry. 

Right  Side.  Among  the  Hebrews, 
as  well  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the 
right  side  was  considered  superior  to  the 
left ;  and  as  the  right  was  the  side  of  good, 
so  was  the  left  of  bad  omen.  Dexter,  or 
right,  signified  also  propitious,  and  sinister, 
or  left,  unlucky.  In  the  Scriptures  we  find 
frequent  allusions  to  this  superiority  of  the 
right.  Jacob,  for  instance,  called  his  young- 
est and  favorite  child,  Ben-jamin,  the  son 


of  his  right  hand,  and  Bathsheba,  as  the 
king's  mother,  was  placed  at  the  right  hand 
of  Solomon.    See  Left  Side. 

Right  Worshipful.  An  epithet  ap- 
plied in  most  jurisdictions  of  the  United 
States  to  all  Grand  officers  below  the  dig- 
nity of  a  Grand  Master. 

Ring,  Luminous.  See  Academy  of 
Sublime  Masters  of  the  Luminous  Ring. 

Ring.  Masonic.  The  ring,  as  a  sym- 
bol of  the  covenant  entered  into  with  the 
Order,  as  the  wedding  ring  is  the  symbol 
of  the  covenant  of  marriage,  is  worn  in 
some  of  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry.  It  is 
not  used  in  Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  In 
the  Order  of  the  Temple  the  "  ring  of  pro- 
fession," as  it  is  called,  is  of  gold,  having  on 
it  the  cross  of  the  Order  and  the  letters  P. 
D.  E.  P.,  being  the  initials  of  "  Pro  Deo  et 
Patria."  It  is  worn  on  the  index  finger 
of  the  right  hand.  The  Inspectors-General 
of  the  thirty-third  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Rite  wear  a  ring  on  the  little 
finger  of  the  right  hand.  Inside  is  the 
motto  of  the  Order,  "Deus  meum  que 
JU8."  In  the  fourteenth  degree  of  the 
same  Rite  a  ring  is  worn,  which  is  de- 
scribed as  "  a  plain  gold  ring,"  having  in- 
side the  motto,  "  Virtus  junxit,  mors  ?ion  se- 
parabit."  It  is  worn  in  the  Northern  Juris- 
diction on  the  fourth  or  ring  finger  of  the 
left  hand.  In  the  Southern  Jurisdiction 
it  is  worn  on  the  same  finger  of  the  right 
hand. 

The  use  of  the  ring  as  a  symbol  of  a  cov- 
enant may  be  traced  very  far  back  into  an- 
tiquity. The  Romans  had  a  marriage  ring, 
but  according  to  Swinburne,  the  great  can- 
onist, it  was  of  iron,  with  a  jewel  of  ada- 
mant, "  to  signify  the  durance  and  perpetu- 
ity of  the  contract." 

In  reference  to  the  rings  worn  in  the  high 
degrees  of  Masonry,  it  may  be  said  that 
they  partake  of  the  double  symbolism  of 

Eower  and  affection.  The  ring,  as  a  sym- 
ol  of  power  and  dignity,  was  worn  in  an- 
cient times  by  kings  and  men  of  elevated 
rank  and  office.  Thus  Pharaoh  bestowed 
a  ring  upon  Joseph  as  a  mark  or  token  of 
the  power  he  had  conferred  upon  him,  for 
which  reason  the  people  bowed  the  knee  to 
him.  It  is  in  this  light  that  the  ring  is 
worn  by  the  Inspectors  of  Scottish  Ma- 
sonry as  representing  the  sovereigns  of  the 
Rite.  But  those  who  receive  only  the  four- 
teenth degree,  in  the  same  Rite,  wear  the 
ring  as  a  symbol  of  the  covenant  of  affec- 
tion and  fidelity  into  which  they  have  en- 
tered. 

While  on  the  subject  of  the  ring  as  a  sym- 
bol of  Masonic  meaning,  it  will  not  be  ir- 
relevant to  .refer  to  the  magic  ring  of  King 
Solomon,  of  which  both  the  Jews  and  the 
Mohammedans  have  abundant  traditions. 


RISING 


RITE 


649 


The  latter,  indeed,  have  a  book  on  magic 
rings,  entitled  Scalcuthal,  in  which  they 
trace  the  ring  of  Solomon  from  Jared,  the 
father  of  Enoch.  It  was  by  means  of  this 
ring,  as  a  talisman  of  wisdom  and  power, 
that  Solomon  was,  they  say,  enabled  to  per- 
form those  wonderful  acts  and  accomplish 
those  vast  enterprises  that  have  made  his 
name  so  celebrated  as  the  wisest  monarch 
of  the  earth. 

Rising  Sun.  The  rising  sun  is  repre- 
sented by  the  Master,  because  as  the  sun 
by  his  rising  opens  and  governs  the  day,  so 
the  Master  is  taught  to  open  and  govern 
his  Lodge  with  equal  regularity  and  pre- 
cision. 

Rite.  The  Latin  word  ritus,  whence  we 
get  the  English  rite,  signifies  an  approved 
usage  or  custom,  or  an  external  observance. 
Vossius  derives  it  by  metathesis  from  the 
Greek  Tpifieiv,  whence  literally  it  signifies  a 
trodden  path,  and,  metaphorically,  a  long- 
followed  custom.  As  a  Masonic  term  its 
application  is  therefore  apparent.  It  signi- 
fies a  method  of  conferring  Masonic  light 
by  a  collection  and  distribution  of  degrees. 
It  is,  in  other  words,  the  method  and  order 
observed  in  the  government  of  a  Masonic 
system. 

The  original  system  of  Speculative  Ma- 
sonry consisted  of  only  the  three  symbolic 
degrees,  called,  therefore,  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry.  Such  was  the  condition  of  Free- 
masonry at  the  time  of  what  is  called  the 
revival  in  1717.  Hence,  this  was  the  origi- 
nal Rite  or  approved  usage,  and  so  it  con- 
tinued in  England  until  the  year  1813,  when 
at  the  union  of  the  two  Grand  Lodges  the 
"  Holy  Royal  Arch  "  was  declared  to  be  a 
part  of  the  system;  and  thus  the  English, 
or,  as  it  is  more  commonly  called,  the  York 
Rite  was  made  legitimately  to  consist  of 
four  degrees. 

But  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  the 
organization  of  new  systems  began  at  a 
much  earlier  period,  and  by  the  invention 
of  what  are  known  as  the  high  degrees  a 
multitude  of  Rites  was  established.  All  of 
these  agreed  in  one  important  essential. 
They  were  built  upon  the  three  symbolic 
degrees,  which,  in  every  instance,  consti- 
tuted the  fundamental  basis  upon  which 
they  were  erected.  They  were  intended  as 
an  expansion  and  development  of  the  Ma- 
sonic ideas  contained  in  these  degrees. 
The  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and  Master's 
degrees  were  the  porch  through  which 
every  initiate  was  required  to  pass  before 
he  could  gain  entrance  into  the  inner  tem- 
ple which  had  been  erected  by  the  founders 
of  the  Rite.  They  were  the  text,  and  the 
high  degrees  the  commentary.1 

Hence  arises  the  law,  that  whatever  may 
be  the  constitution  and  teachings  of  any 
4G 


Rite  as  to  the  higher  degrees  peculiar  to  it, 
the  three  symbolic  degrees  being  common 
to  all  the  Rites,  a  Master  Mason,  in  any 
one  of  the  Rites,  may  visit  and  labor  in  a 
Master's  Lodge  of  every  other  Rite.  It  is 
only  after  that  degree  is  passed  that  the 
exclusiveness  of  each  Rite  begins  to  ope- 
rate. 

I  have  said  that  there  has  been  a  multi- 
tude of  these  Rites.  Some  of  them  have 
lived  only  with  their  authors,  and  died 
when  their  parental  energy  in  fostering 
them  ceased  to  exert  itself.  Others  have 
had  a  more  permanent  existence,  and  still 
continue  to  divide  the  Masonic  family, 
furnishing,  however,  only  diverse  methods 
of  attaining  to  the  same  great  end,  the  ac- 
quisition of  Divine  Truth  by  Masonic  light. 
Ragon,  in  his  Tuilier  General,  supplies  us 
with  the  names  of  a  hundred  and  eight, 
under  the  different  titles  of  Rites,  Orders, 
and  Academies.  But  many  of  these  are 
unmasonic,  being  merely  of  a  political,  so- 
cial, or  literary  character.  The  following 
catalogue  embraces  the  most  important  of 
those  which  have  hitherto  or  still  continue 
to  arrest  the  attention  of  the  Masonic  stu- 
dent. 

1.  York  Rite. 

2.  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

3.  French  or  Modern  Rite. 

4.  American  Rite. 

5.  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

6.  Primitive  Scottish  Rite. 

7.  Reformed  Rite. 

8.  Reformed  Helvetic  Rite. 

9.  Fessler's  Rite. 

10.  Schroder's  Rite. 

11.  Rite  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Globes. 

12.  Rite  of  the  Elect  of  Truth. 

13.  Rite  of  the  Vielle  Bru. 

14.  Rite  of  the  Chapter  of  Clermont. 

15.  Pernetty's  Rite. 

16.  Rite  of  the  Blazing  Star. 

17.  Chastanier's  Rite. 

18.  Rite  of  the  Philalethes. 

19.  Primitive  Rite  of  the  Philadelphians. 

20.  Rite  of  Martinism. 

21.  Rite  of  Brother  Henoch. 

22.  RiteofMizraim. 

23.  Rite  of  Memphis. 

24.  Rite  of  Strict  Observance. 

25.  Rite  of  Lax  Observance. 

26.  Rite  of  African  Architects. 

27.  Rite  of  Brothers  of  Asia. 

28.  Rite  of  Perfection. 

29.  Rite  of  Elected  Cohens. 

30.  Rite  of  the  Emperors  of  the  East  and 
West. 

31.  Primitive  Rite  of  Narbonne. 

32.  Rite  of  the  Order  of  the  Temple. 

33.  Swedish  Rite. 

34.  Rite  of  Swedenborg. 


650 


HITTER 


ROBERTS 


35.  Rite  of  Zinnendorf. 

36.  Egyptian  Rite  of  Cagliostro. 

37.  Rite  of  the  Beneficent  Knights  of  the 
Holy  City. 

These  Rites  are  not  here  given  in  either 
the  order  of  date  or  of  importance.  The 
distinct  history  of  each  will  oe  found  under 
its  appropriate  title. 

Hitter.  German  for  knight,  as  "  Der 
Preussische  Ritter,"  the  Prussian  Knight. 
The  word  is  not,  however,  applied  to  a 
Knight  Templar,  who  is  more  usually 
called  "  Tempelherr ;"  although,  when 
spoken  of  as  a  Knight  of  the  Temple,  he 
would  be  styled  Ritter  vom  Tempel. 

Ritual.  The  mode  of  opening  and 
closing  a  Lodge,  of  conferring  the  degrees, 
of  installation,  and  other  duties,  constitute 
a  system  of  ceremonies  which  are  called 
the  Ritual.  Much  of  this  ritual  is  eso- 
teric, and,  not  being  permitted  to  be  com- 
mitted to  writing,  is  communicated  only 
by  oral  instruction.  In  each  Masonic  juris- 
diction it  is  required,  by  the  superintending 
authority,  that  the  ritual  shall  be  the  same ; 
but  it  more  or  less  differs  in  the  different 
Rites  and  jurisdictions.  But  this  does  not 
affect  the  universality  of  Masonry.  The 
ritual  is  only  the  external  and  extrinsic 
form.  The  doctrine  of  Freemasonry  is 
everywhere  the  same.  It  is  the  body 
which  is  unchangeable — remaining  always 
and  everywhere  the  same.  The  ritual  is 
but  the  outer  garment  which  covers  this 
body,  which  is  subject  to  continual  varia- 
tion. It  is  right  and  desirable  that  the 
ritual  should  be  made  perfect,  and  every- 
where alike.  But  if  this  be  impossible,  as 
it  is,  this  at  least  will  console  us,  that 
while  the  ceremonies,  or  ritual,  have  varied 
at  different  periods,  and  still  vary  in  differ- 
ent countries,  the  science  and  philosophy, 
the  symbolism  and  the  religion,  of  Freema- 
sonry continue,  and  will  continue,  to  be  the 
same  wherever  true  Masonry  is  practised. 

Robelot.  Formerly  an  advocate  of 
the  parliament  of  Dijon,  a  distinguished 
French  Mason,  and  the  author  of  several 
Masonic  discourses,  especially  of  one  de- 
livered before  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the 
Philosophic  Scottish  Rite,  of  which  he  was 
Grand  Orator,  December  8,  1808,  at  the  re- 
ception of  Askeri  Khan,  the  Persian  Am- 
bassador, as  a  Master  Mason.  This  address 
gave  so  much  satisfaction  to  the  Lodge, 
that  it  decreed  a  medal  to  M.  Robelot,  on 
one  side  of  which  was  a  bust  of  the  Grand 
Master,  and  on  the  other  an  inscription 
which  recounted  the  valuable  services  ren- 
dered to  the  society  by  M.  Robelot  as  its 
Orator,  and  as  a  Masonic  author.  Robelot 
held  the  theory  that  Freemasonry  owed  its 
origin  to  the  East,  and  was  the  invention  of 
Zoroaster. 


Robert  I.  Commonly  called  Robert 
Bruce.  He  was  crowned  King  of  Scotland 
in  1306,  and  died  in  1329.  After  the  tur- 
bulence of  the  early  years  of  his  reign  had 
ceased,  and  peace  had  been  restored,  he  de- 
voted himself  to  the  encouragement  of 
architecture  in  his  kingdom.  His  con- 
nection with  Masonry,  and  especially 
with  the  high  degrees,  is  thus  given  by 
Dr.  Oliver,  [Landm.,  ii.  12.)  "The  only 
high  degree  to  which  an  early  date  can  be 
safely  assigned  is  the  Royal  Order  of  H.  R. 
D.  M.,  founded  by  Robert  Bruce  in  1314. 
Its  history  in  brief  refers  to  the  dissolution 
of  the  Order  of  the  Temple.    Some  of  those 

{>ersecuted  individuals  took  refuge  in  Scot- 
and,  and  placed  themselves  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Robert  Bruce,  and  assisted  him 
at  the  battle  of  Bannockburn,  which  was 
fought  on  St.  John's  day,  1314.  After 
this  battle  the  Royal  Order  was  founded ; 
and  from  the  fact  of  the  Templars  having 
contributed  to  the  victory,  and  the  subse- 
quent grants  to  their  Order  by  King  Robert, 
for  which  they  were  formally  excommuni- 
cated by  the  church,  it  has,  by  some  persons, 
been  identified  with  that  ancient  military 
Order.  But  there  are  sound  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  two  systems  were  uncon- 
nected with  each  other."  Thory,  [Act.  Lot, 
i.  6,)  quoting  from  a  manuscript  ritual  in 
the  library  ot  the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philo- 
sophic Rite,  gives  the  following  statement : 
"  Robert  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland,  under 
the  name  of  Robert  ].,  created  on  the  24th 
June,  after  the  battle  of  Bannockburn,  the 
Order  of  St.  Andrew  of  the  Thistle,  to 
which  he  afterwards  united  that  of  H.  R. 
D.,  for  the  sake  of  the  Scottish  Masons  who 
made  a  part  of  the  thirty  thousand  men 
with  whom  he  had  fought  an  army  of  one 
hundred  thousand  English.  He  reserved 
forever  to  himself  and  his  successors  the 
title  of  Grand  Master.  He  founded  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  Royal  Order  of  H.  R. 
D.  at  Kilwinning,  and  "died,  covered  with 
glory  and  honor,  on  the  9th  July,  1329." 
Both  of  these  statements  or  legends  require 
for  all  their  details  authentication.  See 
Royal  Order  of  Scotland. 

Roberto  Manuscript.  This  is  the 
first  of  those  manuscripts  the  originals  of 
which  have  not  yet  been  recovered,  and 
which  are  known  to  us  only  in  a  printed 
copy.  The  Roberts  Manuscript,so  called  from 
the  name  of  the  printer,  J.  Roberts,  was  pub- 
lished by  him  at  London,  in  1722,  under 
the  title  of  "  The  Old  Constitutions  belong- 
ing to  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Society 
of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  Taken  from 
a  Manuscript  wrote  above  five  hundred 
years  since."  Of  this  work,  which  had 
passed  out  of  the  notice  and  knowledge  of 
I  the  Masonic  world,  Richard  Spencer,  of 


ROBES 


ROBISON 


651 


London,  being  in  possession  of  a  copy,  pub- 
lished a  second  edition  in  1870.  On  a  col- 
lation of  this  work  with  the  Harleian  MS., 
it  is  evident  that  either  both  were  derived 
from  one  and  the  same  older  manuscript, 
or  that  one  of  them  has  been  copied  from 
the  other;  although,  if  this  be  the  case,  there 
has  been  much  carelessness  on  the  part  of 
the  transcriber.  If  the  one  was  transcribed 
from  the  other,  there  is  internal  evidence 
that  the  Harleian  is  the  older  examplar. 
The  statement  on  the  title-page  of  Roberts' 
book,  that  it  was  "taken  from  a  manuscript 
wrote  over  five  hundred  years  since,"  i3 
contradicted  by  the  simple  fact  that,  like 
the  Harleian  MS.,  it  contains  the  regula- 
tions adopted  at  the  General  Assembly  held 
in  1663. 

Robes.  A  proposition  was  made  in 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  on  April  8, 
1778,  that  the  Grand  Master  and  his  offi- 
cers should  be  distinguished  in  future  at 
all  public  meetings  by  robes.  This  meas- 
ure, Preston  says,  was  at  first  favorably 
received ;  but  it  was,  on  investigation,  found 
to  be  so  diametrically  opposed  to  the  orig- 
inal plan  of  the  Institution,  that  it  was  very 
properly  laid  aside.  In  no  jurisdiction  are 
robes  used  in  Symbolic  Masonry.  In  many 
of  the  high  degrees,  however,  they  are  em- 
ployed. In  the  United  States  they  consti- 
tute an  important  part  of  the  paraphernalia 
of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter.  See  Royal  Arch 
Robes. 

Robins,  Abbe  Claude.  A  French 
litterateur,  and  curate  of  St.  Pierre  d'Angers. 
In  1776  he  advanced  his  views  on  the  ori- 
gin of  Freemasonry  in  a  lecture  before  the 
Lodge  of  Nine  Sisters  at  Paris.  This  he 
subsequently  enlarged,  and  his  interesting 
work  was  published  at  Paris  and  Amster- 
dam, in  1779,  under  the  title  of  Recherches 
sur  les  Initiations  Anciennes  et  Modernes.  A 
German  translation  of  it  appeared  in  1782, 
and  an  exhaustive  review,  or,  rather,  an 
extensive  synopsis  of  it,  was  made  by  Che- 
min  des  Pontes  in  the  first  volume  of  his 
Encyclopedic  Maconnique.  In  this  work  the 
Abbe'  deduces  from  the  ancient  initiations 
in  the  Pagan  Mysteries  the  orders  of 
chivalry,  whose  branches,  he  says,  pro- 
duced the  initiation  of  Freemasonry. 

Robison,  John.  He  was  Professor 
of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  University 
of  Edinburgh,  and  Secretary  of  the  Royal 
Society  in  that  city.  He  was  born  at  Bog- 
hall,  in  Scotland,  in  1739,  and  died  in  1805. 
He  was  the  author  of  a  Treatise  on  Me- 
chanical Philosophy,  which  possessed  some 
merit;  but  he  is  better  known  in  Masonic 
literature  by  his  anti-Masonic  labors.  He 
published  in  1797,  at  Edinburgh  and  Lon- 
don, a  work  entitled  Proofs  of  a  Conspiracy 
against  all  the  Religions  and  Governments  of 


Europe,  carried  on  in  the  Secret  Meetings  of 
the  Freemasons,  Illuminati,  and  Reading 
Societies,  collected  from  Good  Authorities. 
In  consequence  of  the  anti-Jacobin  senti- 
ment of  the  people  of  Great  Britain  at  that 
time,  the  work  on  its  first  appearance  pro- 
duced a  great  sensation.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, popular  with  all  readers.  A  contem- 
porary critic  {Month.  Rev.,  xxv.  315,)  said 
of  it,  in  a  very  unfavorable  review :  "  On 
the  present  occasion,  we  acknowledge  that 
we  have  felt  something  like  regret  that  a 
lecturer  on  natural  philosophy,  of  whom 
his  country  is  so  justly  proud,  should  pro- 
duce any  work  of  literature  by  which  his 
high  character  for  knowledge  and  for  judg- 
ment is  liable  to  be  at  all  depreciated."  It 
was  intended  for  a  heavy  blow  against  Ma- 
sonry ;  the  more  heavy  because  the  author 
himself  was  a  Mason,  having  been  initiated 
at  Liege  in  early  life,  and  for  some  time  a 
working  Mason.  The  work  is  chiefly  de- 
voted to  a  history  of  the  introduction  of 
Masonry  on  the  continent,  and  of  its  cor- 
ruptions, and  chiefly  to  a  violent  attack  on 
the  Illuminati.  But  while  recommending 
that  the  Lodges  in  England  should  be  sus- 
pended, he  makes  no  charge  of  corruption 
against  them,  but  admits  the  charities  of  the 
Order,  and  its  respectability  of  character. 
There  is  much  in  the  work  on  the  history  of 
Masonry  on  the  continent  that  is  interest- 
ing, but  many  of  his  statements  are  untrue 
and  his  arguments  illogical,  nor  was  his 
crusade  against  the  Institution  followed  by 
any  practical  results.  The  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  to  which  Robison  had  contrib- 
uted many  valuable  articles  on  science, 
says  of  his  Proofs  of  a  Conspiracy  that  "  it 
betrays  a  degree  of  credulity  extremely  re- 
markable in  a  person  used  to  calm  reason- 
ing and  philosophical  demonstration,"  giv- 
ing as  an  example  his  belief  in  the  story 
of  an  anonymous  German  writer,  that  the 
minister  Turgot  was  the  protector  of  a  so- 
ciety that  met  at  Baron  d'Holbach's  for  the 
purpose  of  examining  living  children  in 
order  to  discover  the  principle  of  vitality. 
What  Robison  has  said  of  Masonry  in  the 
531  pages  of  his  book  may  be  summed  up  in 
the  following  lines  (p.  522)  near  its  close. 
"While  the  Freemasonry  of  the  continent 
was  tricked  up  with  all  the  frippery  of  stars 
and  ribands,  or  was  perverted  to  the  most 
profligate  and  impious  purposes,  and  the 
Lodges  became  seminaries  of  foppery,  of  se- 
dition, and  impiety,  it  has  retained  in  Britain 
its  original  form,  simple  and  unadorned,  and 
the  Lodges  have  remained  the  scenes  of  in- 
nocent merriment  or  meetings  of  charity 
and  beneficence."  So  that,  after  all,  his 
charges  are  not  against  Freemasonry  in  its 
original  constitution,  but  against  its  corrup- 
tion in  a  time  of  great  political  excitement. 


652 


ROCKWELL 


ROD 


Rockwell,  William  Spencer.  A 

distinguished  Mason  of  the  United  States, 
who  was  born  at  Albany,  in  New  York,  in 
1804,  and  died  in  Maryland  in  1865.  He 
had  been  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Georgia,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  was  Lieutenant  Grand  Commander 
of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite  for  the  Southern  Jurisdic- 
tion of  the  United  States.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  learning,  having  a  familiar  ac- 
quaintance with  many  languages,  both  an- 
cient and  modern,  and  was  well  versed  in 
the  sciences.  He  was  an  able  lawyer,  and 
occupied  a  high  position  at  the  bar  of 
Georgia,  his  adopted  State.  Archaeology 
was  his  favorite  study.  In  1848  he  was  in- 
duced by  the  great  Egyptologist,  George  R. 
Gliddon,  to  direct  his  attention  particularly 
to  the  study  of  Egyptian  antiquities.  Al- 
ready well  acquainted  with  the  philosophy 
and  science  of  Masonry,  he  applied  his 
Egyptian  studies  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  Masonic  symbols  to  an  extent  that  led 
him  to  the  formation  of  erroneous  views. 
His  investigations,  however,  and  their  re- 
sults, were  often  interesting,  if  not  always 
correct.  Mr.  Rockwell  was  the  author  of 
an  Ahiman  Rezon  for  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Georgia,  published  in  1859,  which  displays 
abundant  evidences  of  his  learning  and 
research.  He  also  contributed  many  valu- 
able articles  to  various  Masonic  periodicals, 
and  was  one  of  the  colaborators  of  Mackey's 
Quarterly  Review  of  Freemasonry.  Before  his 
death  he  had  translated  Portal's  Treatise  on 
Hebrew  and  Egyptian  Symbols,  and  had  writ- 
ten an  Exposition  of  the  Pillars  of  the  Porch, 
and  an  Essay  on  the  Fellow  Graft's  Degree. 
The  manuscripts  of  these  works,  in  a  com- 
pleted form,  are  in  the  hands  of  his  friends, 
but  have  never  been  published. 

Rod.  The  rod  or  staff  is  an  emblem  of 
power  either  inherent,  as  with  a  king,  where 
it  is  called  a  sceptre,  or  with  an  inferior 
officer,  where  it  becomes  a  rod,  verge,  or 
staff.  The  Deacons,  Stewards,  and  Mar- 
shal of  a  Lodge  carry  rods.  The  rods  of 
the  Deacons,  who  are  the  messengers  of  the 
Master  and  Wardens,  as  Mercury  was  of 
the  gods,  may  be  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  caduceus,  which  was  the  insignia 
of  that  deity,  and  hence  the  Deacon's  rod 
is  often  surmounted  by  a  pine  cone.  The 
Steward's  rod  is  in  imitation  of  the  white 
staff  borne  by  the  Lord  High  Steward  of 
the  king's  household.  The  Grand  Treas- 
urer also  formerly  bore  a  white  staff  like 
that  of  the  Lord  High  Treasurer.  The 
Marshal's  baton  is  only  an  abbreviated  or 
short  rod.  It  is  in  matters  of  state  the  en- 
sign of  a  Marshal  of  the  army.  The  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  as  hereditary  Earl  Marshal  of 
England,  bears  two  batons  crossed  in  his 
arms.      Mr.  Thynne,  the  antiquary,  says 


(Antiq.  Disc,  ii.  113,)  that  the  rod  "did  in 
all  ages,  and  yet  doth  amongst  all  nations 
and  amongst  all  officers,  signify  correction 
and  peace ;  for  by  correction  follows  peace, 
wherefore  the  verge  or  rod  was  the  ensign 
of  him  which  had  authority  to  reform  evil 
in  war  and  in  peace,  and  to  see  quiet  and 
order  observed  amongst  the  people;  for 
therefore  beareth  the  king  his  sceptre. 
The  church  hath  her  pastoral  staff;  and 
other  magistrates  which  have  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  or  correction,  as  have  the 
judges  of  the  law  and  the  great  officers  of 
the  prince's  house,  have  also  a  verge  or 
staff  assigned  to  them."  We  thus  readily 
see  the  origin  of  the  official  rods  or  staves 
used  in  Masonry. 

Rod,  Deacon's.  The  proper  badge 
or  ensign  of  office  of  a  Deacon,  which  he 
should  always  carry  when  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  his  office,  is  a  blue  rod 
surmounted  by  a  pine  cone,  in  imitation 
of  the  caduceus,  or  rod  of  Mercury,  who 
was  the  messenger  of  the  gods  as  is  the 
Deacon  of  the  superior  officers  of  the  Lodge. 
In  the  beginning  of  this  century  columns 
were  prescribed  as  the  proper  badges  of 
these  officers,  and  we  find  the  fact  so  stated 
in  Webb's  Monitor,  which  was  published 
in  1797,  and  in  an  edition  of  Preston's  Il- 
lustrations, published  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H, 
in  the  year  1804.  In  the  installation  of 
the  Deacons,  it  is  said  "  these  columns,  as 
badges  of  your  office,  I  intrust  to  your  care." 
A  short  time  afterwards,  however,  the  col- 
umns were  transferred  to  the  Wardens  as 
their  appropriate  badges,  and  then  we  find 
that  in  the  hands  of  the  Deacon  they  were 
replaced  by  the  rods.  Thus  in  Dalcho's 
Ahiman  Rezon,  the  first  edition  of  which 
was  printed  in  1807,  the  words  of  the 
charge  are  altered  to  "those  staves  the 
badges  of  your  office."  In  the  Mason's 
Manual,  published  in  1822,  by  the  Lodge 
at  Easton,  Pennsylvania,  the  badges  are 
said  to  be  "  wands,"  and  in  Cole's  Library 
they  are  said  to  carry  "rods."  All  the 
subsequent  Monitors  agree  in  assigning  the 
rods  to  the  Deacons  as  insignia  of  their 
office,  while  the  columns  are  appropriated 
to  the  Wardens. 

In  Pennsylvania,  however,  as  far  back 
as  1778,  "  the  proper  pillars  "  were  carried 
in  procession  by  the  Wardens,  and  "  wands 
tipped  with  gold  "  were  borne  by  the  Dea- 
cons. This  appears  from  the  account  of  a 
procession  in  that  year,  which  is  appended 
to  Smith's  edition  of  the  Ahiman  Rezon  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  rod  is  now  universally 
recognized  in  this  country  as  the  Deacon's 
badge  of  office.  It  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  adopted  in  the  English  system. 

Rod,  Marshal's.    See  Baton. 

Rod  of  Iron.  The  Master  is  charged 
in  the  ritual  not  to  rule  his  Lodge  with  "  a 


ROD 


ROMAN 


653 


rod  of  iron,"  that  is  to  say,  not  with  cruelty 
or  oppression.  The  expression  is  scriptural. 
Thus  in  Psalm  ii.  9,  "Thou  shalt  break 
them  with  a  rod  of  iron,"  and  in  Revela- 
tion ii.  27,  "  He  shall  rule  them  with  a 
rod  of  iron." 

Rod,  Steward's.  The  badge  or  en- 
sign of  office  of  the  Stewards  of  a  Lodge,  or 
of  the  Grand  Stewards  of  a  Grand  Lodge, 
is  a  white  rod  or  staff  It  is  an  old  custom. 
In  the  first  formal  account  of  a  procession 
in  the  Book  of  Constitutions,  on  June  24, 
1724,  the  Stewards  are  described  as  walking 
"  two  and  two  abreast  with  white  rods." 
This  use  of  a  white  rod  comes  from  the  po- 
litical usages  of  England,  where  the  Stew- 
ard of  the  king's  household  was  appointed 
by  the  delivery  of  a  staff,  the  breaking  of 
which  dissolved  the  office.  Thus  an  old 
book  quoted  by  Thynne  says  that  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  IV.,  the  creation  of  the 
Steward  of  the  household  "  only  consisteth 
by  the  king's  delivering  to  him  the  house- 
hold staffe,  with  these  words,  Seneschall,  tenez 
le  bastone  de  notre  Maison."  When  the 
Lord  High  Steward  presides  over  the 
House  of  Lords  at  the  trial  of  a  Peer,  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  trial  he  breaks  the 
white  staff,  which  thus  terminates  his 
office. 

Rod,  Treasurer's.  See  Staff,  Treas- 
urer's. 

Roessler,  Carl.  A  German  Masonic 
writer,  who  translated  from  French  into 
German  the  work  of  Reghellini  on  Ma- 
sonry in  its  relations  to  the  Egyptian,  Jew- 
ish, and  Christian  religions,  and  published 
it  at  Leipsic  in  1834  and  1835,  under  the 
assumed  name  of  R.  S.  Acerrolles.  He 
was  the  author  of  some  other  less  impor- 
tant Masonic  works. 

Roll.  In  the  Prestonian  ritual  of 
the  funeral  service,  it  is  directed  that  the 
Master,  while  the  brethren  are  standing 
around  the  coffin,  shall  take  "the  sacred 
roll"  in  his  hand,  and,  after  an  invocation, 
shall  "  put  the  roll  into  the  coffin."  In 
the  subsequent  part  of  the  ceremony,  a 
procession  being  formed,  consisting  of  the 
members  of  visiting  Lodges  and  of  the 
Lodge  to  which  the  deceased  belonged,  it 
is  stated  that  all  the  Secretaries  of  the 
former  Lodges  carry  rolls,  while  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  latter  has  none,  because,  of 
course,  it  had  been  deposited  by  the  Master 
in  the  coffin.  From  the  use  of  the  words 
"sacred  roll,"  we  presume  that  the  rolls 
borne  by  the  Secretaries  in  funeral  proces- 
sions are  intended  to  represent  the  roll  of 
the  law,  that  being  the  form  still  used  by  the 
Jews  for  inscribing  the  Sacred  Books. 

Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers. 
It  was  the  German  writers  on  the  history 
of  the  Institution,  such  as  Krause,  Held- 


mann,  and  some  others  of  less  repute,  who 
first  discovered,  or  at  least  first  announced 
to  the  world,  the  connection  that  existed 
between  the  Roman  Colleges  of  Architects 
and  the  Society  of  Freemasons. 

The  theory  of  Krause  on  this  subject  is 
to  be  found  principally  in  his  well-known 
work  entitled  Die  drei  altesten  Kunsterkun- 
den.  He  there  advances  the  doctrine  that 
Freemasonry  as  it  now  exists  is  indebted 
for  all  its  characteristics,  religious  and 
social,  political  and  professional,  its  interior 
organization,  its  modes  of  thought  and 
action,  and  its  very  design  and  object,  to 
the  Collegia  Artificum  of  the  Romans,  pass- 
ing with  but  little  characteristic  changes 
through  the  Gorporationen  von  Baukunstlern, 
or  "Architectural  Gilds,"  of  the  Middle 
Ages  up  to  the  English  organization  of  the 
year  1717;  so  that  he  claims  an  almost  ab- 
solute identity  between  the  Roman  Colleges 
of  Nuraa,  seven  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
and  the  Lodges  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
We  need  not,  according  to  his  view,  go 
any  farther  back  in  history,  nor  look  to 
any  other  series  of  events,  nor  trouble  our- 
selves with  any  other  influences  for  the 
origin  and  the  character  of  Freemasonry. 

This  theory,  which  is  perhaps  the  most 
popular  one  on  the  subject,  requires  careful 
examination;  and  in  the  prosecution  of 
such  an  inquiry  the  first  thing  to  be  done 
will  be  to  investigate,  so  far  as  authentic 
history  affords  us  the  means,  the  true  char- 
acter and  condition  of  these  Roman  Col- 
leges. 

It  is  to  Numa,  the  second  king  of  Rome, 
that  historians,  following  after  Plutarch, 
ascribe  the  first  organization  of  the  Roman 
Colleges;  although,  as  Newman  reasonably 
conjectures,  it  is  probable  that  similar  or- 
ganizations previously  existed  among  the 
Alban  population,  and  embraced  the  resi- 
dent Tuscan  artificers.  But  it  is  admitted 
that  Numa  gave  to  them  that  form  which 
they  always  subsequently  maintained. 

Numa,  on  ascending  the  throne,  found 
the  citizens  divided  into  various  nationali- 
ties, derived  from  the  Romans,  the  Sabines 
and  the  inhabitants  of  neighboring  smaller 
and  weaker  towns,  who,  by  choice  or  by 
compulsion,  had  removed  their  residence  to 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber.  Hence  resulted  a 
disseverance  of  sentiment  and  feeling,  and 
a  constant  tendency  to  disunion.  Now  the 
object  of  Numa  was  to  obliterate  these 
contending  elements  and  to  establish  a  per- 
fect identity  of  national  feeling,  so  that,  to 
use  the  language  of  Plutarch,  "  the  distri- 
bution of  the  people  might  become  a  har- 
monious mingling  of  all  with  all." 

For  this  purpose  he  established  one 
common  religion,  and  divided  the  citizens 
into  curias  and  tribes,  each  curia  and  tribe 


654 


ROMAN 


ROMAN 


being  composed  of  an  admixture  indiffer- 
ently of  Romans,  Sabines,  and  tbe  other 
denizens  of  Rome. 

Directed  by  the  same  political  sagacity, 
he  distributed  the  artisans  into  various 
gilds  or  corporations,  under  the  name  of 
Collegia,  or  "  Colleges."  To  each  collegium 
was  assigned  the  artisans  of  a  particular 
profession,  and  each  had  its  own  regula- 
tions, both  secular  and  religious.  These 
colleges  grew  with  the  growth  of  the  re- 
public; and  although  Numa  had  originally 
established  but  nine,  namely,  the  College 
of  Musicians,  of  Goldsmiths,  of  Carpenters, 
of  Dyers,  of  Shoemakers,  of  Tanners,  of 
Smiths,  of  Potters,  and  a  ninth  composed 
of  all  artisans  not  embraced  under  either 
of  the  preceding  heads,  they  were  subse- 
quently greatly  increased  in  number. 
Eighty  years  before  the  Christian  era  they 
were,  it  is  true,  abolished,  or  sought  to  be 
abolished,  by  a  decree  of  the  Senate,  who 
looked  with  jealousy  on  their  political  in- 
fluence, but  twenty  years  afterwards  they 
were  revived,  and  new  ones  established  by  a 
law  of  the  tribune  Clodius,  which  repealed 
the  Senatus  Consultum.  They  continued 
to  exist  under  the  empire,  were  extended 
into  the  provinces,  and  even  outlasted  the 
decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  power. 

And  now  let  us  inquire  into  the  form 
and  organization  of  these  Colleges,  and,  in 
so  doing,  trace  the  analogy  between  them 
and  the  Masonic  Lodges,  if  any  such  anal- 
ogy exists. 

The  first  regulation,  which  was  an  indis- 
pensable one,  was  that  no  College  could 
consist  of  less  than  three  members.  So  in- 
dispensable was  this  rule  that  the  expres- 
sion tres  faciunt  collegium,  "  three  make  a 
college,"  became  a  maxim  of  the  civil  law. 
So  rigid  too  was  the  application  of  this 
rule,  that  the  body  of  Consuls,  although 
calling  each  other  "  colleagues,"  and  pos- 
sessing and  exercising  all  collegiate  rights, 
were,  because  they  consisted  only  of  two 
members,  never  legally  recognized  as  a  Col- 
lege. The  reader  will  very  readily  be 
struck  with  the  identity  of  this  regulation 
of  the  Colleges  and  that  of  Freemasonry, 
which  with  equal  rigor  requires  three 
Masons  to  constitute  a  Lodge.  The  College 
and  the  Lodge  each  demanded  three  mem- 
bers to  make  it  legal.  A  greater  number 
might  give  it  more  efficiency,  but  it  could 
not  render  it  more  legitimate.  This,  then, 
is  the  first  analogy  between  the  Lodges  of 
Freemasons  and  the  Roman  Colleges. 

These  Colleges  had  their  appropriate 
officers,  who  very  singularly  were  assimi- 
lated in  stations  and  duties  to  the  officers 
of  a  Masonic  Lodge.  Each  College  was 
presided  over  by  a  chief  or  president, 
whose  title  of  Magister  is  exactly  translated 


by  the  English  word  "  Master."  The  next 
officers  were  the  Decuriones.  They  were 
analogous  to  the  Masonic  "  Wardens,"  for 
each  Decurio  presided  over  a  section  or  di- 
vision of  the  College,  just  as  in  the  most 
ancient  English  and  in  the  present  conti- 
nental ritual  we  find  the  Lodge  divided 
into  two  sections  or  "  columns,"  over  each 
of  which  one  of  the  Wardens  presided, 
through  whom  the  commands  of  the  Master 
were  extended  to  "  the  brethren  of  his  col- 
umn." There  was  also  in  the  Colleges 
a  Scriba,  or  "secretary,"  who  recorded  its 
proceedings ;  a  Thesaurensis,  or  "  treasurer," 
who  had  charge  of  the  common  chest;  a 
Tabulariux,  or  keeper  of  the  archives,  equiv- 
alent to  the  modern  "Archivist;"  and 
lastly,  as  these  Colleges  combined  a  peculiar 
religious  worship  with  their  operative  la- 
bors, there  was  in  each  of  them  a  sacerdos, 
or  priest,  who  conducted  the  religious  cere- 
monies, and  was  thus  exactly  equivalent  to 
the  "  chaplain  "  of  a  Masonic  Lodge.  In 
all  this  we  find  another  analogy  between 
these  ancient  institutions  and  our  Masonic 
bodies. 

Another  analogy  will  be  found  in  the 
distribution  or  division  of  classes  in  the 
Roman  Colleges.  As  the  Masonic  Lodges 
have  their  Master  Masons,  their  Fellow 
Crafts,  and  their  Apprentices,  so  the  Col- 
leges had  their  Seniores,  "  Elders,"  or  chief 
men  of  the  trade,  and  their  journeymen 
and  apprentices.  The  members  did  not,  it 
is  true,  like  the  Freemasons,  call  themselves 
"  Brothers  "  because  this  term,  first  adopted 
in  the  gilds  or  corporations  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  is  the  offspring  of  a  Christian  senti- 
ment; but,  as  Krause  remarks,  these  Col- 
leges were,  in  general,  conducted  after  the 
pattern  or  model  of  a  family ;  and  hence 
the  appellation  of  brother  would  now  and 
then  be  found  among  the  family  appella- 
tions. 

The  partly  religious  character  of  the 
Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers  constitutes  a 
very  peculiar  analogy  between  them  and 
the'Masonic  Lodges.  The  history  of  these 
Colleges  shows  that  an  ecclesiastical  char- 
acter was  bestowed  upon  them  at  the  very 
time  of  their  organization  by  Numa.  Many 
of  the  workshops  of  these  artificers  were 
erected  in  the  vicinity  of  temples,  and  their 
curia,  or  place  of  meeting,  was  generally 
in  some  way  connected  with  a  temple.  The 
deity  to  whom  such  temple  was  consecrated 
was  peculiarly  worshipped  by  the  members 
of  the  adjacent  College,  and  becamethe 
patron  god  of  their  trade  or  art.  In  time, 
when  the  Pagan  religion  was  abolished  and 
the  religious  character  of  these  Colleges 
was  changed,  the  Pagan  gods  gave  way, 
through  the  influences  of  the  new  religion, 
to  Christian  saints,  one  of  whom  was  always 


ROMAN 


ROMAN 


655 


adopted  as  the  patron  of  the  modern  gilds, 
which,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  took  the  place 
of  the  Roman  Colleges;  and  hence  the 
Freemasons  derive  the  dedication  of  their 
Lodges  to  Saint  John  from  a  similar  custom 
among  the  Corporations  of  Builders. 

These  Colleges  held  secret  meetings,  in 
which  the  business  transacted  consisted  of 
the  initiations  of  neophytes  into  their  fra- 
ternity, and  of  mystical  and  esoteric  in- 
structions to  their  apprentices  and  journey- 
men. They  were,  in  this  respect,  secret 
societies  like  the  Masonic  Lodges. 

There  were  monthly  or  other  periodical 
contributions  by  the  members  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  College,  by  which  means  a 
common  fund  was  accumulated  for  the 
maintenance  of  indigent  members  or  the 
relief  of  destitute  strangers  belonging  to 
the  same  society. 

They  were  permitted  by  the  government 
to  frame  a  constitution  and  to  enact  laws 
and  regulations  for  their  own  government. 
These  privileges  were  gradually  enlarged 
and  their  provisions  extended,  so  that  in 
the  latter  days  of  the  empire  the  Colleges 
of  Architects  especially  were  invested  with 
extraordinary  powers  in  reference  to  the 
control  of  builders.  Even  the  distinction 
so  well  known  in  Masonic  jurisprudence 
between  "  legally  constituted "  and  "clan- 
destine Lodges,"  seems  to  find  a  similitude 
or  analogy  here;  for  the  Colleges  which 
had  been  established  by  lawful  authority, 
and  were,  therefore,  entitled  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  privileges  accorded  to  those 
institutions,  were  said  to  be  collegia  licita, 
or  "  lawful  colleges,"  while  those  which 
were  voluntary  associations,  not  authorized 
by  the  express  decree  of  the  senate  or  the 
emperor,  were  called  collegia  illicita,  or  "un- 
lawful colleges."  The  terms  licita  and 
illicita  were  exactly  equivalent  in  their 
import  to  the  legally  constituted  and  the 
clandestine  Lodges  of  Freemasonry. 

In  the  Colleges  the  candidates  for  admis- 
sion were  elected,  as  in  the  Masonic  Lodges, 
by  the  voice  of  the  members.  In  connection 
with  this  subject,  the  Latin  word  which 
was  used  to  express  the  art  of  admission 
or  reception  is  worthy  of  consideration. 
When  a  person  was  admitted  into  the  fra- 
ternity of  a  College,  he  was  said  to  be 
cooptatus  in  collegium.  Now,  the  verb  coop- 
tare,  almost  exclusively  employed  by  the 
Romans  to  signify  an  election  into  a  Col- 
lege, comes  from  the  Greek  optomai,  "to 
see,  to  behold."  This  same  word  gives 
origin,  in  Greek,  to  epoptes,  a  spectator  or 
beholder,  one  who  has  attained  to  the  last 
degree  in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries;  in  other 
words,  an  initiate.  So  that,  without  much 
stretch  of  etymological  ingenuity,  we  might 
say  that  cooptatus  in  collegium  meant  "  to  be 


initiated  into  a  College."  This  is,  at  least, 
singular.  But  the  more  general  interpre- 
tation of  cooptatus  is  "  admitted  or  accepted 
in  a  fraternity,"  and  so  "  made  free  of  all 
the  privileges  of  the  gild  or  corporation." 
And  hence  the  idea  is  the  same  as  that 
conveyed  among  the  Masons  by  the  title 
"Free  and  Accepted." 

Finally,  it  is  said  by  Krause  that  these 
Colleges  of  workmen  made  a  symbolic  use 
of  the  implements  of  their  art  or  profes- 
sion, in  other  words,  that  they  cultivated 
the  science  of  symbolism ;  and  in  this  re- 
spect, therefore,  more  than  in  any  other, 
is  there  a  striking  analogy  between  the 
Collegiate  and  the  Masonic  institutions. 
The  statement  cannot  be  doubted ;  for  as 
the  organization  of  the  Colleges  partook, 
as  has  already  been  shown,  of  a  religious 
character,  and,  as  it  is  admitted,  that  all 
the  religion  of  Paganism  was  eminently 
and  almost  entirely  symbolic,  it  must  fol- 
low that  any  association  which  was  based 
upon  or  cultivated  the  religious  or  mytho- 
logical sentiment,  must  cultivate  also  the 
principle  of  symbolism. 

I  have  thus  briefly  but  succinctly  shown 
that  in  the  form,  the  organization,  the  mode 
of  government,  and  the  usages  of  the  Ro- 
man Colleges,  there  is  an  analogy  between 
them  and  the  modern  Masonic  Lodges 
which  is  evidently  more  than  accidental. 
It  may  be  that  long  after  the  dissolution 
of  the  Colleges,  Freemasonry,  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  its  Lodges,  designedly  adopted 
the  collegiate  organization  as  a  model  after 
which  to  frame  its  own  system,  or  it  may  be 
that  the  resemblance  has  been  the  result  of  a 
slow  but  inevitable  growth  of  a  succession  of 
associations  arising  out  of  each  other,  at 
the  head  of  which  stands  the  Roman  Col- 
leges. 

This  problem  can  only  be  determined  by 
an  investigation  of  the  history  of  these 
Colleges,  and  of  the  other  similar  institu- 
tions which  finally  succeeded  them  in  the 
progress  of  architecture  in  Europe.  We 
shall  then  be  prepared  to  investigate  with 
understanding  the  theory  of  Krause,  and 
to  determine  whether  the  Lodges  are  in- 
debted to  the  Colleges  for  their  form  alone, 
or  for  both  form  and  substance. 

We  have  already  seen  that  in  the  time 
of  Numa  the  Roman  Colleges  amounted  to 
only  nine.  In  the  subsequent  years  of  the 
Republic  the  number  was  gradually  aug- 
mented, so  that  almost  every  trade  or  pro- 
fession had  its  peculiar  College.  With  the 
advance  of  the  empire,  their  numbers  were 
still  further  increased  and  their  privileges 
greatly  extended,  so  that  they  became  an 
important  element  in  the  body  politic. 
Leaving  untouched  the  other  Colleges,  I 
shall  confine  myself  to  the  Collegii  Artifi- 


656 


ROMAN 


ROMAN 


cum,  "  the  Colleges  of  Architects,"  as  the 
only  one  whose  condition  and  history  are 
relevant  to  the  subject  under  considera- 
tion. 

The  Romans  were  early  distinguished 
for  a  spirit  of  colonization.  Their  victo- 
rious arms  had  scarcely  subdued  a  peo- 
ple, before  a  portion  of  the  army  was  de- 
Euted  to  form  a  colony.  Here  the  bar- 
arism  and  ignorance  of  the  native  popu- 
lation were  replaced  by  the  civilization 
and  the  refinement  of  their  Roman  con- 
querors. 

The  Colleges  of  Architects,  occupied  in 
the  construction  of  secular  and  religious 
edifices,  spread  from  the  great  city  to  mu- 
nicipalities and  the  provinces.  Whenever 
a  new  city,  a  temple,  or  a  palace  was  to  be 
built,  the  members  of  these  corporations 
were  convoked  by  the  Emperor  from  the 
most  distant  points,  that  with  a  community 
of  labor  they  might  engage  in  the  construc- 
tion. Laborers  might  be  employed,  like 
the  "bearers  of  burdens"  of  the  Jewish 
Temple,  in  the  humbler  and  coarser  tasks, 
but  the  conduct  and  the  direction  of  the 
works  were  intrusted  only  to  the  "  accept- 
ed members" — the  cooptati — of  the  Col- 
leges. 

The  colonizations  of  the  Roman  Empire 
were  conducted  through  the  legionary 
soldiers  of  the  army.  Now,  to  each  le- 
gion there  was  attached  a  College  or  cor- 
poration of  artificers,  which  was  organized 
with  the  legion  at  Rome,  and  passed  with 
it  through  all  its  campaigns,  encamped 
with  it  where  it  encamped,  marched  with 
it  where  it  marched,  and  when  it  coloniz- 
ed, remained  in  the  colony  to  plant  the 
seeds  of  Roman  civilization,  and  to  teach 
the  principles  of  Roman  art.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  College  erected  fortifications 
for  the  legion  in  times  of  war,  and  in  times 
of  peace,  or  when  the  legion  became  sta- 
tionary, constructed  temples  and  dwelling- 
houses. 

When  England  was  subdued  by  the  Ro- 
man arms,  the  legions  which  went  there  to 
secure  and  to  extend  the  conquest,  carried 
with  them,  of  course,  their  Colleges  of 
Architects.  One  of  these  legions,  for  in- 
stance, under  Julius  Caesar,  advancing  into 
the  northern  limits  of  the  country,  estab- 
lished a  colony,  which,  under  the  name  of 
Eboracum,  gave  birth  to  the  city  of  York, 
afterwards  so  celebrated  in  the  history  of 
Masonry.  Existing  inscriptions  and  archi- 
tectural remains  attest  how  much  was  done 
in  the  island  of  Britain  by  these  associa- 
tions of  builders. 

Druidism  was  at  that  time  the  prevailing 
religion  of  the  ancient  Britons.  But  the 
toleration  of  Paganism  soon  led  to  an  har- 


monious admixture  of  the  religious  ideas 
of  the  Roman  builders  with  those  of  the 
Druid  priests.  Long  anterior  to  this 
Christianity  had  dawned  upon  the  British 
islands ;  for,  to  use  the  emphatic  language 
of  Tertullian,  "  Britain,  inaccessible  to  the 
Romans,  was  subdued  by  Christ."  The 
influences  of  the  new  faith  were  not  long 
in  being  felt  by  the  Colleges,  and  the  next 
phase  in  their  history  is  the  record  of  their 
assumption  of  the  Christian  life  and  doc- 
trine. 

But  the  incursions  of  the  northern  bar- 
barians into  Italy  demanded  the  entire  force 
of  the  Roman  armies  to  defend  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Empire  at  home.  Britain  was 
abandoned,  and  the  natives,  with  the  Ro- 
man colonists  who  had  settled  among  them, 
were  left  to  defend  themselves.  These 
were  soon  driven,  first  by  the  Picts,  their 
savage  neighbors,  and  then  by  the  Saxon 
sea  robbers,  whom  the  English  had  incau- 
tiously summoned  to  their  aid,  into  the 
mountains  of  Wales  and  the  islands  of  the 
Irish  Sea.  The  architects  who  were  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  and  who  had  re- 
mained when  the  legions  left  the  country, 
went  with  them,  and  having  lost  their  con- 
nection with  the  mother  institution,  they 
became  thenceforth  simply  corporations  or 
societies  of  builders,  the  organization  which 
had  always  worked  so  well  being  still  re- 
tained. 

Subsequently,  when  the  whole  of  Eng- 
land was  taken  possession  of  by  the  Saxon 
invaders,  the  Britons,  headed  by  the  monks 
and  priests,  and  accompanied  by  their  archi- 
tects, fled  into  Ireland  and  Scotland,  which 
countries  they  civilized  and  converted,  and 
whose  inhabitants  were  instructed  in  the 
art  of  building  by  the  corporations  of  archi- 
tects. 

Whenever  we  read  of  the  extension  in 
barbarous  or  Pagan  countries  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  conversion  of  their  inhabi- 
tants to  the  true  faith,  we  also  hear  of  the 
propagation  of  the  art  of  building  in  the 
same  places  by  the  corporations  of  archi- 
tects, the  immediate  successors  of  the 
legionary  Colleges,  for  the  new  religion  re- 
quired churches,  and  in  time  cathedrals  and 
monasteries,  and  the  ecclesiastical  archi- 
tecture speedily  suggested  improvements  in 
the  civil. 

In  time  all  the  religious  knowledge  and 
all  the  architectural  skill  of  the  northern 
part  of  Europe  were  concentrated  in  the 
remote  regions  of  Ireland  and  Scotland, 
whence  missionaries  were  sent  back  to 
England  to  convert  the  Pagan  Saxons. 
Thus  the  venerable  Bede  tells  us  (Eccl. 
Hist.,  lib.  iii.,  cap.  4,  7,)  that  West  Saxony 
was    converted    by   Agilbert,    an    Irish 


ROMAN 


ROMAN 


657 


bishop,  and  East  Anglia,  by  Fursey,  a 
Scotch  missionary.  From  England  these 
energetic  missionaries,  accompanied  by  their 
pious  architects,  passed  over  into  Europe, 
and  effectually  labored  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Scandinavian  nations,  introducing 
into  Germany,  Sweden,  Norway,  and  even 
Ireland,  the  blessings  of  Christianity  and 
the  refinements  of  civilized  life. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  all  the  early 
records  the  word  Scotland  is  very  gener- 
ally used  as  a  generic  term  to  indicate  both 
Scotland  and  Ireland.  This  error  arose 
most  probably  from  the  very  intimate  geo- 

§raphical  and  social  connections  of  the 
cotch  and  the  northern  Irish,  and  per- 
haps, also,  from  the  general  inaccuracy  of 
the  historians  of  that  period.  Thus  has 
arisen  the  very  common  opinion,  that  Scot- 
land was  the  germ  whence  sprang  all  the 
Christianity  of  the  northern  nations,  and 
that  the  same  country  was  the  cradle  of 
ecclesiastical  architecture  and  Operative 
Masonry. 

This  historical  error,  by  which  the  glory 
of  Ireland  has  been  merged  in  that  of  her 
sister  country,  Scotland,  has  been  preserved 
in  much  of  the  language  and  many  of  the 
traditions  of  modern  Freemasonry.  Hence 
the  story  of  the  Abbey  of  Kilwinning  as 
the  birthplace  of  Masonry,  a  story  which  is 
still  the  favorite  of  the  Freemasons  of  Scot- 
land. Hence  the  tradition  of  the  apocry- 
phal mountain  of  Heroden,  situated  in  the 
north-west  of  Scotland,  where  the  first  or 
metropolitan  Lodge  of  Europe  was  held; 
hence  the  high  degrees  of  Ecossais,  or  Scot- 
tish Master,  which  play  so  important  a  part 
in  modern  philosophical  Masonry;  and 
hence  the  title  of  "  Scottish  Masonry,"  ap- 
plied to  one  of  the  leading  Rites  of  Freema- 
sonry, which  has,  however,  no  other  con- 
nection with  Scotland  than  that  historical 
one,  through  the  corporations  of  builders, 
which  is  common  to  the  whole  Institution. 
It  is  not  worth  while  to  trace  the  reli- 
gious contests  between  the  original  Chris- 
tians of  Britain  and  the  Papal  power, 
which  after  years  of  controversy  terminated 
in  the  submission  of  the  British  Bishops  to 
the  Pope.  As  soon  as  the  Papal  authority 
was  firmly  established  over  Europe,  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  hierarchy  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  the  builders'  corporations,  and 
these,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Pope  and 
the  Bishops,  were  everywhere  engaged  as 
"travelling  freemasons,"  in  the  construc- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  and  regal  edifices. 

Henceforth  we  find  these  corporations  of 
builders  exercising  their  art  in  all  coun- 
tries, everywhere  proving,  as  Mr.  Hope 
says,  by  the  identity  of  their  designs,  that 
they  were  controlled  by  universally  ac- 
cepted principles,  and  showing  in  every 
411  42 


other  way  the  characteristics  of  a  corpora- 
tion or  gild.  So  far  the  chain  of  con- 
nection between  them  and  the  Collegia  Ar- 
tificum  at  Rome  has  not  been  broken. 

In  the  year  926  a  general  assembly  of 
these  builders  was  held  at  the  city  of  York, 
in  England. 

Four  years  after,  in  930,  according  to  Re- 
bold,  Henry  the  Fowler  broughtthese  build- 
ers, now  called  Masons,  from  England  into 
Germany,  and  employed  them  in  the  con- 
struction of  various  edifices,  such  as  the 
cathedrals  of  Magdeburg,  Meissen,  and 
Merseburg.  But  Krause,  who  is  better 
and  more  accurate  as  a  historian  than  Re- 
bold,  says  that,  as  respects  Germany,  the 
first  account  that  we  find  of  these  corpora- 
tions of  builders  is  at  the  epoch  when, 
under  the  direction  of  Edwin  of  Steinbach, 
the  most  distinguished  architects  had  con- 
gregated from  all  parts  at  Strasburg  for  the 
construction  of  the  cathedral  of  that  city. 
There  they  held  their  general  assembly, 
like  that  of  their  English  brethren  at  York, 
enacted  Constitutions,  and  established,  at 
length,  a  Grand  Lodge,  to  whose  decisions 
numerous  Lodges  or  hulten,  subsequently 
organized  in  Germany,  Bohemia,  Hungary, 
France,  and  other  countries,  yielded  obedi- 
ence. George  Kloss,  in  his  exhaustive 
work  entitled  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer 
wahren  Bedeutung,  has  supplied  us  with  a 
full  collation  of  the  statutes  and  regula- 
tions adopted  by  these  Strasburg  Masons. 

We  have  now  reached  recent  historical 
ground,  and  can  readily  trace  these  asso- 
ciations of  builders  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  at  London, 
in  1717,  when  the  Lodges  abandoned  their 
operative  charters  and  became  exclusively 
speculative.  The  record  of  the  continued 
existence  of  Lodges  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  from  that  day  to  this,  in  every 
civilized  country  of  the  world,  is  in  the 
hands  of  every  Masonic  student.  To  repeat 
it  would  be  a  tedious  work  of  supereroga- 
tion. 

Such  is  the  history,  and  now  what  is 
the  necessary  deduction.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  Krause  is  correct  in  his 
theory  that  the  incunabula  —  the  cradle 
or  birthplace  —  of  the  modern  Masonic 
Lodges  is  to  be  found  in  the  Roman  Col- 
leges of  Architects.  That  theory  is  cor- 
rect, if  we  look  only  to  the  outward  form 
and  mode  of  working  of  the  Lodges.  To 
the  Colleges  are  they  indebted  for  every- 
thing that  distinguished  them  as  a  gild  or 
corporation,  and  especially  are  they  in- 
debted to  the  architectural  character  of 
these  Colleges  for  the  fact,  so  singular  in 
Freemasonry,  that  its  religious  symbolism 
—  that  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from 
all  other  institutions  —  is  founded  on  the 


658 


ROMVEL 


ROSE 


elements,  the  working-tools,  and  the  tech- 
nical language  of  the  stonemasons'  art. 

But  when  we  view  Freemasonry  in  a 
higher  aspect,  when  we  look  at  it  as  a 
science  of  symbolism,  the  whole  of  which 
symbolism  is  directed  to  but  one  point, 
namely,  the  elucidation  of  the  great  doc- 
trine of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
the  teaching  of  the  two  lives,  the  present 
and  the  future,  we  must  go  beyond  the 
Colleges  of  Rome,  which  were  only  opera- 
tive associations,  to  that  older  type  to  be 
found  in  the  Ancient  Mysteries,  where  pre- 
cisely the  same  doctrine  was  taught  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  manner.  Krause  does 
not,  it  is  true,  altogether  omit  a  reference  to 
the  priests  of  Greece,  who,  he  thinks,  were 
in  some  way  the  original  whence  the  Ro- 
man Colleges  derived  their  existence ;  but 
he  has  not  pressed  the  point  with  the  per- 
tinacity which  its  importance  requires. 
He  gives  in  his  theory  a  pre-eminence  to 
the  Colleges  to  which  they  are  not  in  truth 
entitled. 

Bomvel.  In  the  Hiramic  legend  of 
some  of  the  high  degrees,  this  is  the  name 
given  to  one  of  the  assassins  of  the  third 
degree.  This  is,  I  think,  clearly  an  in- 
stance of  the  working  of  Stuart  Masonry, 
in  giving  names  of  infamy  in  the  legends 
of  the  Order  to  the  enemies  of  the  house 
of  Stuart.  For  I  cannot  doubt  the  correct- 
ness of  Bro.  Albert  Pike's  suggestion,  that 
this  is  a  manifest  corruption  of  Cromwell. 
If  with  them  Hiram  was  but  a  symbol  of 
Charles  I.,  then  the  assassin  of  Hiram  was 
properly  symbolized  by  Cromwell. 

Rosaic  System.  The  system  of  Ma- 
sonry taught  by  Rosa  in  the  Lodges  which 
he  established  in  Germany  and  Holland, 
and  which  were  hence  sometimes  called 
"  Rosaic  Lodges."  Although  he  professed 
that  it  was  the  system  of  the  Clermont 
Chapter,  for  the  propagation  of  which  he  had 
been  appointed  by  the  Baron  Von  Printzen, 
he  had  mixed  with  that  system  many  al- 
chemical and  theosophic  notions  of  his 
own.  The  system  was  at  first  popular,  but 
it  finally  succumbed  to  the  greater  attrac- 
tions of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance, 
which  had  been  introduced  into  Germany 
by  the  Baron  Von  Hund. 

Rosa,  Phllipp  Samuel.  Born  at 
"Ysenberg;  at  one  time  a  Lutheran  clergy- 
man, and  in  1757  rector  of  the  Cathedral 
of  St.  James  at  Berlin.  He  was  initiated 
into  Masonry  in  the  Lodge  of  the  Three 
Globes,  and  Von  Printzen  having  estab- 
lished a  Chapter  of  the  high  degrees  at 
Berlin  on  the  system  of  the  French  Chap- 
ter of  Clermont,  Rosa  was  appointed  his 
deputy,  and  sent  by  him  to  propagate  the 
system.  He  visited  various  places  in  Ger- 
many, Holland,  Denmark,  and   Sweden. 


In  Denmark  and  Sweden,  although  well 
received  personally  on  account  of  his  pleas- 
ing manners,  he  made  no  progress  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Rite;  but  his  success 
was  far  better  in  Germany  and  Holland, 
where  he  organized  many  Lodges  of  the 
high  degrees,  engrafting  them  on  the  Eng- 
lish system,  which  alone  had  been  there- 
tofore known  in  those  countries.  Rosa  was 
a  mystic  and  a  pretended  alchemist,  and  as 
a  Masonic  charlatan  accumulated  large 
sums  of  money  by  the  sale  of  degrees  and 
decorations.  Lenning  does  not  speak  well 
of  his  moral  conduct,  but  some  contempo- 
rary writers  describe  him  as  a  man  of  very 
attractive  manners,  to  which  indeed  may 
be  ascribed  his  popularity  as  a  Masonic 
leader.  While  residing  at  Halle,  he,  in 
1765,  issued  a  protestation  against  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Congress  of  Jena,  which 
had  been  convoked  in  that  year  by  the  im- 
postor Johnson.  But  it  met  with  no  suc- 
cess, and  thenceforth  Rosa  faded  away  from 
the  knowledge  of  the  Masonic  world.  We 
can  learn  nothing  of  his  subsequent  life, 
nor  of  the  time  or  place  of  his  death. 

Rose.  The  symbolism  of  the  rose 
among  the  ancients  was  twofold.  First,  as 
it  was  dedicated  to  Venus  as  the  goddess 
of  love,  it  became  the  symbol  of  secrecy, 
and  hence  came  the  expression  "  under  the 
rose,"  to  indicate  that  which  was  spoken  in 
confidence.  Again,  as  it  was  dedicated  to 
Venus  as  the  personification  of  the  genera- 
tive energy  of  nature,  it  became  the  symbol 
of  immortality.  In  this  latter  and  more 
recondite  sense  it  was,  in  Christian  sym- 
bology,  transferred  to  Christ,  through  whom 
"  life  and  immortality  were  brought  to 
light."  The  "rose  of  Sharon"  of  the 
Book  of  Canticles  is  always  applied  to 
Christ,  and  hence  Fuller  {Pisgah  Sight  of 
Palestine)  calls  him  "  that  prime  rose  and 
lily."  Thus  we  see  the  significance  of  the 
rose  on  the  cross  as  a  part  of  the  jewel  of 
the  Rose  Croix  degree.  Reghellini,  (vol.  i., 
p.  358,)  after  showing  that  anciently  the 
rose  was  the  symbol  of  secrecy,  and  the 
cross  of  immortality,  says  that  the  two 
united  symbols  of  a  rose  resting  on  a  cross 
always  indicate  the  secret  of  immortality. 
Ragon  agrees  with  him  in  opinion,  and  says 
that  it  is  the  simplest  mode  of  writing  that 
dogma.  But  he  subsequently  gives  a  dif- 
ferent explanation,  namely,  that  as  the 
rose  was  the  emblem  of  the  female  princi- 
ple, and  the  cross  or  triple  phallus  of  the 
male,  the  two  together,  like  the  Indian 
lingam,  symbolized  universal  generation. 
But  Ragon,  who  has  adopted  the  theory 
of  the  astronomical  origin  of  Freemasonry, 
like  all  theorists,  often  carries  his  specula- 
tions on  this  subject  to  an  extreme  point. 
A  simpler  allusion  will   better  suit  the 


ROSE 


ROSE 


659 


character  and  teachings  of  the  degree  in 
its  modern  organization.  The  rose  is  the 
symbol  of  Christ,  and  the  cross,  the  symbol 
of  his  death,  —  the  two  united,  the  rose  sus- 
pended on  the  cross, — signify  his  death  on 
the  cross,  whereby  the  secret  of  immortality 
was  taught  to  the  world.  In  a  word,  the 
rose  on  the  cross  is  Christ  crucified. 

Rose  and  Triple  Cross.  A  de- 
gree contained  in  the  Archives  of  the  Lodge 
of  Saint  Louis  des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais. 

Rose  Croix.  French.  Literally, 
Rose  Cross.  1.  The  seventh  degree  of  the 
French  Rite;  2.  The  seventh  degree  of 
the  Philalethes ;  3.  The  eighth  degree  of 
the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scot- 
tish Rite;  4.  The  twelfth  degree  of  the 
Elect  of  Truth ;  5.  The  eighteenth  degree 
of  the  Mother  Scottish  Lodge  of  Marseilles ; 
6.  The  eighteenth  degree  of  the  Rite  of 
Heredom,  or  of  Perfection. 

Rose  Croix,  Brethren  of  the. 
Thory  says  {Fondat.  du  G.  Or.,  p.  163,) 
that  the  Archives  of  the  Mother  Lodge  of 
the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite  at  Paris  con- 
tain the  manuscripts  and  books  of  a  secret 
society  which  existed  at  the  Hague  in  1622, 
where  it  was  known  under  the  title  of  the 
Freres  de  la  Rose  Croix,  which  pretended 
to  have  emanated  from  the  original  Rosi- 
crucian  organization  of  Christian  Rosen- 
kruz.  Hence  Thory  thinks  that  the  Philo- 
sophic Rite  was  only  a  continuation  of 
this  society  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Rose 
Croix. 

Rose  Croix,  Jaeobite.  The  origi- 
nal Rose  Croix  conferred  in  the  Chapter 
of  Arras,  whose  Charter  was  granted  by 
the  Pretender,  was  so  called  with  a  politi- 
cal allusion  to  King  James  III.,  whose  ad- 
herents were  known  as  Jacobites. 

Rose  Croix,  Knight.  {Chevalier 
Rose  Croix.)  The  eighteenth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Perfection.  It  is  the  same  as  the 
Prince  of  Rose  Croix  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite. 

Rose  Croix,  Magnetic.  The 
thirty-eighth  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Rose  Croix  of  Germany.  A 
hermetic  degree,  which  Ragon  says  belongs 
rather  to  the  class  of  Elus  than  to  that  of 
Rose  Croix. 

Rose  Croix  of  Gold,  Rretbren 
of  the.  {FrZres  de  la  Rose  Croix  d'  Or.)  An 
alchemical  and  hermetic  society,  which  was 
founded  in  Germany  in  1777.  It  promised 
to  its  disciples  the  secret  of  the  transmuta- 
tion of  metals,  and  the  panacea  or  art  of 
prolonging  life.  The  Baron  Gleichen,  who 
was  Secretary  for  the  German  language  of 
the  Philalethan  Congress  at  Paris  in  1785, 
gives  the  following  history  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  this  society : 

H  The  members  of  the  Rose  Croix  affirm 


that  they  are  the  legitimate  authors  and 
superiors  of  Freemasonry,  to  all  of  whose 
symbols  they  give  a  hermetical  interpreta- 
tion. The  Masons,  they  say,  came  into 
England  under  King  Arthur.  Raymond 
Lully  initiated  Henry  IV.  The  Grand 
Masters  were  formerly  designated,  as  now, 
by  the  titles  of  John  I.,  II.,  III.,  IV.,  etc. 

"  Their  jewel  is  a  golden  compass  at- 
tached to  a  blue  ribbon,  the  symbol  of 
purity  and  wisdom.  The  principal  em- 
blems on  the  ancient  tracing-board  were 
the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  double  triangle, 
having  in  its  centre  the  first  letter  of  the 
Hebrew  alphabet.  The  brethren  wore  a 
silver  ring,  on  which  were  the  letters  I.  A. 
A.  T.,  the  initials  of  Ignis,  Aer,  Aqua,  Terra. 

"The  Ancient  Rose  Croix  recognized 
only  three  degrees ;  the  third  degree,  as  we 
now  know  it,  has  been  substituted  for 
another  more  significant  one." 

The  Baron  de  Westerode,  in  a  letter 
dated  1784,  and  quoted  by  Thory,  (Act. 
Lot.,  i.  336,)  gives  another  mythical  ac- 
count.    He  says : 

"  The  disciples  of  the  Rose  Croix  came, 
in  1188,  from  the  East  into  Europe,  for 
the  propagation  of  Christianity  after  the 
troubles  in  Palestine.  Three  of  them 
founded  in  Scotland  the  Order  of  the 
Masons  of  the  East,  (Knights  of  the  East,) 
to  serve  as  a  seminary  for  instruction  in 
the  most  sublime  sciences.  This  Order  was 
in  existence  in  1196.  Edward,  the  son  of 
Henry  III.,  was  received  into  the  society 
of  the  Rose  Croix  by  Raymond  Lully.  At 
that  time  only  learned  men  and  persons  of 
high  rank  were  admitted. 

"  Their  founder  was  a  seraphic  priest  of 
Alexandria,  a  magus  of  Egypt  named  Or- 
mesius,  or  Ormus,  who  with  six  of  his  com- 
panions was  converted  in  the  year  96  by  St. 
Mark.  He  purified  the  doctrine  of  the 
Egyptians  according  to  the  precepts  of 
Christianity,  and  founded  the  society  of 
Ormus,  that  is  to  say,  the  Sages  of  Light, 
to  the  members  of  which  he  gave  a  red 
cross  as  a  decoration.  About  the  same 
time  the  Essenes  and  other  Jews  founded  a 
school  of  Solomonic  wisdom,  to  which  the 
disciples  of  Ormus  united  themselves. 
Then  the  society  was  divided  into  various 
Orders  known  as  the  Conservators  of  Mo- 
saic Secrets,  of  Hermetic  Secrets,  etc. 

"  Several  members  of  the  association 
having  yielded  to  the  temptations  of  pride, 
seven  Masters  united,  effected  a  reform, 
adopted  a  modern  constitution,  and  col- 
lected together  on  their  tracing-board  all 
the  allegories  of  the  hermetic  work." 

In  this  almost  altogether  fabulous  narra- 
tive we  find  an  inextricable  confusion  of 
the  Rose  Croix  Masons  and  the  Rosicru- 
cian  philosophers. 


660 


ROSE 


ROSE 


Rose  Croix  of  Heredom.    The 

first  degree  of  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland, 
the  eighteenth  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite,  the  eighteenth  of  the  Rite  of  Perfec- 
tion, the  ninetieth  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim, 
and  some  others  affix  to  the  title  of  Rose 
Croix  that  of  Heredom,  for  the  signification 
of  which  see  the  word. 

Rose  Croix  of  the  Dames.  {Rose 
Oroix  des  Dames.)  This  degree,  called  also 
the  Ladies  of  Beneficence,  ( Chevalieres  de  la 
Bienfaisance,)  is  the  sixth  capitular  or  ninth 
degree  of  the  French  Rite  of  Adoption.  It 
is  not  only  Christian,  but  Roman  Catholic 
in  its  character,  and  is  derived  from  the 
ancient  Jesuitical  system  as  first  promul- 
gated in  the  Rose  Croix  Chapter  of  Arras. 

Rose  Croix  of  the  Grand  Ro- 
sary. [Rose  Croix  du  Grand  Rosaire.)  The 
fourth  and  highest  Rose  Croix  Chapter  of 
the  Primitive  Rite. 

Rose  Croix,  Philosophic.  A  Ger- 
man hermetic  degree  found  in  the  collec- 
tion of  M.  Pyron,  and  in  the  Archives  of 
the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite.  It  is  prob- 
ably the  same  as  the  Brethren  of  the  Rose 
Croix,  of  whom  Thory  thinks  that  that  Rite 
is  only  a  continuation. 

Rose  Croix,  Prince  of.  French, 
Souverain  Prince  Rose  Oroix.  German, 
Prim  vom  Rosenkruz.  This  important  de- 
gree is,  of  all  the  high  grades,  the  most 
widely  diffused,  being  found  in  numerous 
Rites.  It  is  the  eighteenth  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  the  seventh 
of  the  French  or  Modern,  the  eighteenth 
of  the  Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East 
and  West,  the  third  of  the  Royal  Order  of 
Scotland,  the  twelfth  of  the  Elect  of  Truth, 
and  the  seventh  of  the  Philalethes.  It  was 
also  given,  formerly,  in  some  Encampments 
of  Knights  Templars,  and  was  the  sixth  of 
the  degrees  conferred  by  the  Encampment 
of  Baldwyn  at  Bristol,  in  England.  It 
must  not,  however,  be  confounded  with  the 
Rosicrucians,  who,  however,  similar  in 
•name,  were  only  a  hermetic  and  mystical 
Order. 

The  degree  is  known  by  various  names : 
sometimes  its  possessors  are  called  "  Sov- 
ereign Princes  of  Rose  Croix,"  sometimes 
"  Princes  of  Rose  Croix  de  Heroden,"  and 
sometimes  "  Knights  of  the  Eagle  and  Pel- 
ican." In  relation  to  its  origin,  Masonic 
writers  have  made  many  conflicting  state- 
ments, some  giving  it  a  much  higher  an- 
tiquity than  others;  but  all  agreeing  in 
supposing  it  to  be  one  of  the  earliest  of  the 
higher  degrees.  The  name  has,  undoubt- 
edly, been  the  cause  of  much  of  this  confu- 
sion in  relation  to  its  history;  and  the 
Masonic  degree  of  Rose  Croix  has,  perhaps, 
often  been  confounded  with  the  kabbalistical 
and  alchemical  sect  of  "  Rosicrucians,"  or 


"  Brothers  of  the  Rosy  Cross,"  among  whose 
adepts  the  names  of  such  men  as  Roger 
Bacon,  Paracelsus,  and  Elias  Ashmole  the 
celebrated  antiquary,  are  to  be  found.  Not- 
withstanding the  invidious  attempts  of 
Barruel  and  other  foes  of  Masonry  to  con- 
found the  two  Orders,  there  is  a  great  dis- 
tinction between  them.  Even  their  names, 
although  somewhat  similar  in  sound,  are 
totally  different  in  signification.  The  Rosi- 
crucians, who  were  alchemists,  did  not 
derive  their  name,  like  the  Rose  Croix 
Masons,  from  the  emblems  of  the  rose  and 
cross, — for  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
rose, — but  from  the  Latin  ros,  signifying 
dew,  which  was  supposed  to  be  of  all  natu- 
ral bodies  the  most  powerful  solvent  of 
gold,  and  crux,  the  cross,  a  chemical  hiero- 
glyphic of  light. 

Baron  Westerode,  who  wrote  in  1784,  in 
the  Acta  Latomorum  gives  the  earliest  ori- 
gin of  any  Masonic  writer  to  the  degree  of 
Rose  Croix.  He  supposes  that  it  was  insti- 
tuted among  the  Knights  Templars  in  Pal- 
estine, in  the  year  1188,  and  he  adds  that 
Prince  Edward,  the  son  of  Henry  III.  of 
England,  was  admitted  into  the  Order  by 
Raymond  Lully  in  1196.  Westerode  names 
Ormesius,  an  Egyptian  priest,  who  had  been 
converted  to  Christianity,  as  its  founder. 

Some  have  sought  to  find  its  origin  in 
the  labors  of  Valentine  Andrea,  the  reputed 
founder  of  the  Rosicrucian  fraternity.  But 
the  Rose  Croix  of  Masonry  and  the  her- 
metic Rosicrucianism  of  Andrea  were  two 
entirely  different  things ;  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  trace  any  connection  between 
them,  at  least  any  such  connection  as  would 
make  one  the  legitimate  successor  of  the 
other.  J.  G.  Buhle,  in  a  work,  published 
in  Gbttingen  in  1804,  under  the  title  of 
Ueber  den  Ursprung  und  die  vornehmsten 
Schicfcsale  der  Orden  der  Rosenkreutzer  und 
Freimaurer,  reverses  this  theory,  and  sup- 
poses the  Rosicrucians  to  be  a  branch  of 
the  Freemasons ;  and  Higgins,  in  his  Ana- 
calypsis,  (ii.  388,)  thinks  that  the  "modern 
Templars,  the  Rosicrucians,  and  the  Masons 
are  little  more  than  different  Lodges  of  one 
Order,"  all  of  which  is  only  a  confusion  of 
history  in  consequence  of  a  confounding 
of  names.  It  is  thus  that  Inge  has  written 
an  elaborate  essay  on  the  Origine  de  la  Rose 
Croix;  {Globe,  vol.  iii., )  but  as  he  has,  with 
true  Gallic  insousiance  of  names,  spoken 
indifferently  of  the  Rose  Croix  Masons  and 
the  Rosicrucians  Adepts,  his  statements 
supply  no  facts  available  for  history. 

The  Baron  de  Gleichen,  who  was,  in 
1785,  the  German  secretary  of  the  Philale- 
than  Congress  at  Paris,  says  that  the  Rose 
Croix  and  the  Masons  were  united  in  Eng- 
land under  King  Arthur.  But  he  has,  un- 
doubtedly, mixed  up  Rosicrucianism  with 


ROSE 


ROSE 


661 


the  Masonic  legends  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Round  Table,  and  his  assertions  must  go 
for  nothing. 

Others,  again,  have  looked  for  the  origin 
of  the  Rose  Croix  degree,  or,  at  least,  of 
its  emblems,  in  the  Symbola  divina  et  hu- 
rnana  pontificum,  imperatorum,  regum  of 
James  Typot,  or  Typotius,  the  historiogra- 
pher of  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II.,  a  work 
which  was  published  in  1601 ;  and  it  is 
particularly  in  that  part  of  it  which  is  de- 
voted to  the  "symbol  of  the  holy  cross" 
that  the  allusions  are  supposed  to  be  found 
which  would  seem  to  indicate  the  author's 
knowledge  of  this  degree.  But  Ragon  re- 
futes the  idea  of  any  connection  between 
the  symbols  of  Typotius  and  those  of  the 
Rose  Croix.  Robison  {Proofs,  p.  72,)  also 
charges  Von  Hund  with  borrowing  his 
symbols  from  the  same  work,  in  which, 
however,  he  declares  "  there  is  not  the  least 
trace  of  Masonry  or  Templars." 

Clavel,  with  his  usual  boldness  of  asser- 
tion, which  is  too  often  independent  of 
facts,  declares  that  the  degree  was  invented 
by  the  Jesuits  for  tbe  purpose  of  counter- 
mining the  insidious  attacks  of  the  free- 
thinkers upon  the  Roman  Catholic  religion, 
but  that  the  philosophers  parried  the  at- 
tempt by  seizing  upon  the  degree  and  giving 
to  all  its  symbols  an  astronomical  significa- 
tion. Clavel's  opinion  is  probably  derived 
from  one  of  those  sweeping  charges  of  Pro- 
fessor Robison,  in  which  that  systematic 
enemy  of  our  Institution  declares  that, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, the  Jesuits  interfered  considerably 
with  Masonry,  "  insinuating  themselves 
into  the  Lodges,  and  contributing  to  in- 
crease that  religious  mysticism  that  is  to  be 
observed  in  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  Order." 
But  there  is  no  better  evidence  than  these 
mere  vague  assertions  of  the  connection 
of  the  Jesuits  with  the  Rose  Croix  degree. 

Oliver  [Landm.,  ii.  81,)  says  that  the  ear- 
liest notice  that  he  finds  of  this  degree  is 
in  a  publication  of  1613,  entitled  La  Re- 
formation universelle  du  monde  entier  avec  la 
fama  fralernitatis  de  P  Ordre  respectable  de 
la  Rose  Croix.  But  he  adds,  that  "  it  was 
known  much  sooner,  although  not  probably 
as  a  degree  in  Masonry ;  for  it  existed  as  a 
kabbalistic  science  from  the  earliest  times 
in  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  as  well  as 
amongst  the  Jews  and  Moors  in  times  more 
recent." 

Oliver,  however,  undoubtedly,  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  this  paragraph,  confounds  the 
Masonic  Rose  Croix  with  the  alchemical 
Rosicrucians ;  and  the  former  is  singularly 
inconsistent  with  the  details  that  he  gives 
in  reference  to  the  Rosy  Cross  of  the  Royal 
Order  of  Scotland. 

There  is  a  tradition,  into  whose  authen- 


ticity I  shall  not  stop  to  inquire,  that  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  Order,  many  of  the 
knights  repaired  to  Scotland  and  placed 
themselves  under  the  protection  of  Robert 
Bruce;  and  that  after  the  battle  of  Bannock- 
burn,  which  took  place  on  St.  John  the 
Baptist's  day,  in  the  year  1314,  this  mon- 
arch instituted  the  Royal  Order  of  Here- 
dom  and  Knight  of  the  Rosy  Cross,  and 
established  the  chief  seat  of  the  Order  at 
Kilwinning.  From  that  Order,  it  seems  to 
us  by  no  means  improbable  that  the  pres- 
ent degree  of  Rose  Croix  de  Heroden  may 
have  taken  its  origin.  In  two  respects,  at 
least,  there  seems  to  be  a  very  close  con- 
nection between  the  two  systems:  they 
both  claim  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  and 
the  Abbey  of  Kilwinning  as  having  been 
at  one  time  their  chief  seat  of  government, 
and  they  both  seem  to  have  been  instituted 
to  give  a  Christian  explanation  to  Ancient 
Craft  Masonry.  There  is,  besides,  a  simi- 
larity in  the  names  of  the  degrees  of  "Rose 
Croix  de  Heroden,"  and  "  Heredom  and 
Rosy  Cross,"  amounting  almost  to  an  iden- 
tity, which  appears  to  indicate  a  very  inti- 
mate relation  of  one  to  the  other. 

The  subject,  however,  is  in  a  state  of  in- 
extricable confusion,  and  I  confess  that, 
after  all  my  researches,  I  am  still  unable 
distinctly  to  point  to  the  period  when,  and 
to  the  place  where,  the  present  degree  of 
Rose  Croix  received  its  organization  as  a 
Masonic  grade. 

We  have  this  much  of  history  to  guide 
us.  In  the  year  1747,  the  Pretender, 
Prince  Charles  Edward,  established  a  Chap- 
ter in  the  town  of  Arras,  in  France,  with 
the  title  of  the  "  Chapitre  Primordial  de 
Rose  Croix."  The  Charter  of  this  body  is 
now  extant  in  an  authenticated  copy  de- 
posited in  the  departmental  archives  of 
Arras.  In  it  the  Pretender  styles  himself 
"  King  of  England,  France,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland,  and,  by  virtue  of  this,  Sovereign 
Grand  Master  of  the  Chapter  of  H.  known 
under  the  title  of  the  Eagle  and  Pelican, 
and,  since  our  sorrows  and  misfortunes, 
under  that  of  Rose  Croix."  From  this  we 
may  infer  that  the  title  of  "Rose  Croix"  was 
first  known  in  1747 ;  that  the  degree  had 
been  formerly  known  as  "  Knight  of  the 
Eagle  and  Pelican,"  a  title  which  it  still 
retains;  that  it  was  at  that  date  introduced 
into  France  by  the  Pretender,  who  bor- 
rowed it  from  the  Rosy  Cross  of  the  Royal 
Order  of  Scotland,  of  which,  because  as 
the  King  of  Scotland  is  the  Hereditary 
Grand  Master,  he,  by  virtue  of  his  claim  to 
the  throne,  assumed  the  Grand  Mastership. 
Hence  it  is  probable  that  the  Rose  Croix 
degree  has  been  borrowed  from  the  Rosy 
Cross  of  the  Scottish  Royal  Order  of  Here- 
dom, but  in   passing  from    Scotland   to 


662 


ROSE 


ROSE 


France  it  greatly  changed  its  form  and 
organization,  as  it  resembles  in  no  respect 
its  archetype,  except  that  both  are  eminent- 
ly Christian  in  their  design.  But  in  its 
adoption  by  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Eite,  its  organization  has  been  so  changed 
that,  by  a  more  liberal  interpretation  of  its 
symbolism,  it  has  been  rendered  less  sec- 
tarian and  more  tolerant  in  its  design. 
For  while  the  Christian  reference  is  pre- 
served, no  peculiar  theological  dogma  is 
retained,  and  the  degree  is  made  cosmopolite 
in  its  character. 

It  was,  indeed,  on  its  first  inception,  an 
attempt  to  Christianize  Freemasonry;  to 
apply  the  rites,  and  symbols,  and  traditions 
of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry  to  the  last  and 
greatest  dispensation ;  to  add  to  the  first 
Temple  of  Solomon  and  the  second  of  Ze- 
rubbabel  a  third,  that  to  which  Christ  al- 
luded when  he  said,  "  Destroy  this  temple, 
and  in  three  days  will  I  raise  it  up."  The 
great  discovery  which  was  made  in  the 
Royal  Arch  ceases  to  be  of  value  in  this 
degree;  for  it  another  is  substituted  of 
more  Christian  application ;  the  Wisdom, 
Strength,  and  Beauty  which  supported  the 
ancient  Temple  are  replaced  by  the  Chris- 
tian pillars  of  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity ; 
the  great  lights,  of  course,  remain,  because 
they  are  of  the  very  essence  of  Masonry  ; 
but  the  three  lesser  give  way  to  the  thirty- 
three,  which  allude  to  the  years  of  the 
Messiah's  sojourning  on  earth.  Everything, 
in  short,  about  the  degree,  is  Christian ;  but, 
as  I  have  already  said,  the  Christian  teach- 
ings of  the  degree  have  been  applied  to  the 
sublime  principles  of  a  universal  system, 
and  an  interpretation  and  illustration  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  "Master  of  Nazareth," 
so  adapted  to  the  Masonic  dogma  of  toler- 
ance, that  men  of  every  faith  may  embrace 
and  respect  them.  It  thus  performs  a 
noble  mission.  It  obliterates,  alike,  the 
intolerance  of  those  Christians  who  sought 
to  erect  an  impassable  barrier  around  the 
sheepfold,  and  the  equal  intolerance  of 
those  of  other  religions  who  would  be 
ready  to  exclaim  "Can  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  " 

In  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  whence  the  Rose  Croix  Masons  of  the 
United  States  have  received  the  degree,  it  is 
placed  as  the  eighteenth  on  the  list.  It  is 
conferred  in  a  body  called  a  "Chapter," 
which  derives  its  authority  immediately 
from  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Thirty- 
third,  and  which  confers  with  it  only  one 
other  and  inferior  degree,  that  of  "  Knights 
of  the  East  and  West."  Its  principal  offi- 
cers are  a  Most  Wise  Master  and  two 
Wardens.  Maundy  Thursday  and  Easter 
Sunday  are  two  obligatory  days  of  meeting. 

The  aspirant  for  the  degree  makes  the 


usual  application  duly  recommended;  and 
if  accepted,  is  required,  before  initiation,  to 
make  certain  declarations  which  shall  show 
his  competency  for  the  honor  which  he 
seeks,  and  at  the  same  time  prove  the  high 
estimation  entertained  of  the  degree  by 
those  who  already  possess  it. 

The  jewel  of  the  Rose  Croix  is  a  golden 
compass,  extended  on  an  arc  to  the  six- 
teenth part  of  a  circle,  or  twenty-two  and  a 
half  degrees.  The  head  of  the  compass  is 
surmounted  by  a  triple  crown,  consisting 
of  three  series  of  points  arranged  by  three, 
five,  and  seven.  Between  the  legs  of  the 
compass  is  a  cross  resting  on  the  arc;  its 
centre  is  occupied  by  a  full-blown  rose, 
whose  stem  twines  around  the  lower  limb 
of  the  cross ;  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  on 
the  same  side  on  which  the  rose  is  exhib- 
ited, is  the  figure  of  a  pelican  wounding  its 
breast  to  feed  its  young  which  are  in  a  nest 
surrounding  it,  while  on  the  other  side  of 
the  jewel  is  the  figure  of  an  eagle  with 
wings  displayed.  On  the  arc  of  the  circle, 
the  P.".  W.\  of  the  degree  is  engraved  in 
the  cipher  of  the  Order. 

In  this  jewel  are  included  the  most  im- 
portant symbols  of  the  degree.  The  Oross, 
the  Rose,  the  Pelican,  and  the  Eagle  are  all 
important  symbols,  the  explanations  of 
which  will  go  far  to  a  comprehension  of 
what  is  the  true  design  of  the  Rose  Croix 
Order.  They  may  be  seen  in  this  work 
under  their  respective  titles. 

Rose  Croix,  Rectified.  The  name 
given  by  F.  J.  W.  Schroder  to  his  Rite  of 
seven  magical,  theosophical,  and  alchemi- 
cal degrees.  See  Schroeder,  Friederich  Joseph 
Wilhelm. 

Rose  Croix,  SoTereign  Prince 
of.  Because  of  its  great  importance  in  the 
Masonic  system,  and  of  the  many  privileges 
possessed  by  its  possessors,  the  epithet  of 
"Sovereign"  has  been  almost  universally 
bestowed  upon  the  degree  of  Prince  of  Rose 
Croix.  Recently,  however,  the  Mother 
Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite  at  Charleston  has  discarded  this 
title,  and  directed  that  the  word  "Sovereign" 
shall  only  be  applied  to  the  thirty-third 
degree  of  the  Rite;  and  this  is  now  the 
usage  in  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States. 

Rose,  Knights  and  !Ladies  of 
the.     See  Knight  of  the  Rose. 

Rose,  Order  of  the.  A  Masonic 
adventurer,  Franz  Rudolph  Van  Grossing, 
but  whose  proper  name,  Wadzeck  says, 
was  Franz  Matthaus  Grossinger,  estab- 
lished, as  a  financial  speculation,  at  Berlin, 
in  1778,  an  androgynous  society,  which  he 
called  Rosen-Order,  or  the  Order  of  the 
Rose.  It  consisted  of  two  degrees :  1.  Fe- 
male Friends,  and  2.  Confidants ;  and  the 


ROSENKREUZ 


ROSICRUCIANISM 


663 


meetings  of  the  society  were  designated  as 
"  holding  the  rose."  The  society  had  but 
a  brief  duration,  and  the  life  and  adven- 
tures of  the  founder  and  the  secrets  of  the 
Order  were  published  in  1789,  by  Friederich 
Wadzeck,  in  a  work  entitled  Leben  und 
Schicksale  des  beruchtigten  F.  R.  Von  Gross- 
ing. 

Rosenkreuz,  Christian.  An  as- 
sumed name,  invented,  it  is  supposed,  by 
John  Valentine  Andrea,  and  by  which  he 
designated  a  fictitious  person,  to  whom  he 
has  attributed  the  invention  of  Rosicru- 
cianism.     See  this  word. 

Itosi<  -riH'iniiisin.  Many  writers 
have  sought  to  discover  a  close  connection 
between  the  Rosicrucians  and  the  Freema- 
sons, and  some,  indeed,  have  advanced  the 
theory  that  the  latter  are  only  the  succes- 
sors of  the  former.  Whether  this  opinion 
be  correct  or  not,  there  are  sufficient  coin- 
cidences of  character  between  the  two  to 
render  the  history  of  Rosicrucianism  highly 
interesting  to  the  Masonic  student. 

There  appeared  at  Cassel,  in  the  year 
1614,  a  work  bearing  the  title  of  Allge- 
meine  und  General- Reformation  der  ganzen 
weiten  Welt.  Beneben  der  Fama  Fraternita- 
tis  des  Ldblichen  Ordens  des  Rosenzreuzes  an 
alle  GelehrteundJffdupter  Europdgeschrieben. 
A  second  edition  appeared  in  1615,  and 
several  subsequent  ones ;  and  in  1652  it  was 
introduced  to  the  English  public  in  a  trans- 
lation by  the  celebrated  adept,  Thomas 
Vaughan,  under  the  title  of  Fame  and  Con- 
fession of  Rosie-  Cross. 

This  work  has  been  attributed,  although 
not  without  question,  to  the  philosopher 
and  theologian,  John  Valentine  Andrea, 
who  is  reported,  on  the  authority  of  the 
preacher,  M.  C.  Hirschen,  to  have  confessed 
that  he,  with  thirty  others  in  Wurtemberg, 
had  sent  forth  the  Fama  Fraternitatis  ;  that 
under  this  veil  they  might  discover  who 
were  the  true  lovers  of  wisdom,  and  induce 
them  to  come  forward. 

In  this  work  Andrea  gives  an  account  of 
the  life  and  adventures  of  Christian  Rosen- 
kreuz,  a  fictitious  personage,  whom  he 
makes  the  founder  of  the  pretended  Society 
of  Rosicrucians. 

According  to  Andrea's  tale,  Rosenkreuz 
was  of  good  birth,  but,  being  poor,  was 
compelled  to  enter  a  monastery  at  a  very 
early  period  of  his  life.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen, he  started  with  one  of  the  monks  on  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  On 
their  arrival  at  the  island  ot  Cyprus,  the 
monk  was  taken  sick  and  died,  but  Rosen- 
kreuz proceeded  on  his  journey.  At  Da- 
mascus he  remained  for  three  years,  de- 
voting himself  to  the  study  of  the  occult 
sciences,  taught  by  the  sages  of  that  city. 
He  then  sailed  for  Egypt,  where  he  con- 


tinued his  studies;  and,  having  traversed 
the  Mediterranean,  he  at  length  arrived  at 
Fez,  in  Morocco,  as  he  had  been  directed 
by  his  masters  of  Damascus.  He  passed 
two  years  in  acquiring  further  information 
from  the  philosophers  of  Africa,  and  then 
crossed  over  into  Spain.  There,  however, 
he  met  with  an  unfavorable  reception,  and 
then  determined  to  return  to  Germany,  and 
give  to  his  own  countrymen  the  benefit  of 
his  studies  and  researches,  and  to  establish 
there  a  society  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
sciences  which  he  had  acquired  during  his 
travels.  Accordingly,  he  selected  three  of 
the  monks  of  the  old.  convent  in  which  he 
was  educated.  To  them  he  imparted  his 
knowledge,  under  a  solemn  vow  of  secrecy. 
He  imposed  on  them  the  duty  of  commit- 
ting his  instructions  to  writing,  and  form- 
ing a  magic  vocabulary  for  the  benefit  of 
future  students.  They  were  also  taught 
the  science  of  medicine,  and  prescribed 
gratuitously  for  all  the  sick  who  applied  to 
them.  But  the  number  of  their  patients 
soon  materially  interfering  witn  their 
other  labors,  and  the  new  edifice,  the 
House  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  being  now 
finished,  Father  Christian,  as  he  was  called, 
resolved  to  enlarge  his  society  by  the  ini- 
tiation of  four  new  members. 

The  eight  brethren  being  now  thoroughly 
instructed  in  the  mysteries,  they  agreed  to 
separate  —  two  to  remain  with  Father 
Christian,  and  the  others  to  travel,  but  to 
return  at  the  end  of  each  year,  and  mu- 
tually to  communicate  the  results  of  their 
experience.  The  two  who  had  remained 
at  home  were  then  relieved  by  two  of  the 
others,  and  they  again  separated  for  another 
year. 

The  society  thus  formed  was  governed 
by  a  code  of  laws,  by  which  they  agreed 
that  they  would  devote  themselves  to  no 
occupation  except  that  of  physic,  which 
they  were  to  practise  without  pecuniary 
reward;  that  they  would  not  distinguish 
themselves  from  the  rest  of  the  world  by 
any  peculiar  costume ;  that  each  one  should 
annually  present  himself  at  the  House  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  or  send  an  excuse  for  his 
absence;  that  each  one  should,  during  his 
life,  appoint  somebody  to  succeed  him  at 
his  death ;  that  the  letters  R.  C.  were  to  be 
their  title  and  watchword;  and  that  the 
brotherhood  should  be  kept  a  secret  for  one 
hundred  years. 

At  the  age  of  one  hundred  years  Father 
Christian  Rosenkreuz  died,  and  was  buried 
by  the  two  brethren  who  had  remained 
with  him;  but  the  place  of  his  burial  re- 
mained a  secret  to  all  of  the  rest — the  two 
carrying  the  mystery  with  them  to  the 
grave.  The  society,  however,  continued, 
notwithstanding  the  death  of  the  founder, 


664 


ROSICRUCIANISM 


ROSICRUCIANISM 


to  exist,  but  unknown  to  the  world,  always 
consisting  of  eight  members.  There  was  a 
tradition  among  them,  that  at  the  end  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  years  the  grave  of 
Father  Rosenkreuz  was  to  be  discovered, 
and  the  brotherhood  no  longer  remain  a 
secret.  About  that  time  the  brethren  began 
to  make  some  alterations  in  their  building, 
and  attempted  to  remove  to  a  more  fitting 
situation  the  memorial  table  on  which 
was  inscribed  the  names  of  those  who  had 
been  members  of  the  fraternity.  The  plate 
was  of  brass,  and  was  affixed  to  the  wall 
by  a  nail  driven  through  its  centre ;  but  so 
firmly  was  it  attached,  that  in  tearing  it 
away,  a  portion  of  the  plaster  came  off  and 
exposed  a  secret  door.  Upon  removing  the 
incrustation  on  the  door,  there  appeared 
written  in  large  letters,  "  Post  cxx,  An- 
NOS  Patebo  " — after  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years  I  will  appear.  Returning  the  next 
morning  to  renew  their  researches,  they 
opened  the  door  and  discovered  a  heptag- 
onal  vault,  each  of  its  seven  sides  being 
five  feet  wide,  and  in  height  eight  feet. 
The  light  was  received  from  an  artificial 
sun  in  the  roof,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
floor  there  stood,  instead  of  a  tomb,  a  circu- 
lar altar,  on  which  was  an  inscription,  im- 
porting that  this  apartment,  as  a  compen- 
dium of  the  universe,  had  been  erected  by 
Christian  Rosenkreuz.  Other  later  in- 
scriptions about  the  apartment  —  such  as 
Jesus  mihi  omnia  ;  Legis  jugum  ;  Libertas 
Evangelii :  Jesus  is  my  all ;  the  yoke  of  the 
law;  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel  —  indicated 
the  Christian  character  of  the  builder.  In 
each  of  the  sides  was  a  door  opening  into 
a  closet,  and  in  these  closets  they  found 
many  rare  and  valuable  articles,  such  as 
the  life  of  the  founder,  the  vocabulary  of 
Paracelsus,  and  the  secrets  of  the  Order, 
together  with  bells,  mirrors,  burning  lamps, 
and  other  curious  articles.  On  removing 
the  altar  and  a  brass  plate  beneath  it,  they 
came  upon  the  body  of  Rosenkreuz  in  a 
perfect  state  of  preservation. 

Such  is  the  sketch  of  the  history  of  the 
Rosicrucians  given  by  Andrea  in  his  Fama 
Fraternitatis.  It  is  evidently  a  romance; 
and  scholars  now  generally  assent  to  the 
theory  advanced  by  Nicolai,  that  Andrea, 
who,  at  the  time  of  the  appearance  of  his 
book,  was  a  young  man  full  of  excitement, 
seeing  the  defects  of  the  sciences,  the  the- 
ology, and  the  manners  of  his  time,  sought 
to  purify  them ;  and,  to  accomplish  this 
design,  imagined  the  union  into  one  body 
of  all  those  who,  like  himself,  were  the 
admirers  of  true  virtue;  in  other  words, 
that  he  wrote  this  account  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  Rosicrucianism  for  the  purpose 
of  advancing,  by  a  poetical  fiction,  his  pecu- 
liar views  of  morals  and  religion. 


But  the  fiction  was  readily  accepted  as  a 
truth  by  most  people,  and  the  invisible 
society  of  Rosenkreuz  was  sought  for  with 
avidity  by  many  who  wished  to  unite  with 
it.  The  sensation  produced  in  Germany 
by  the  appearance  of  Andrea's  book  was 
great ;  letters  poured  in  all  sides  from  those 
who  desired  to  become  members  of  the 
Order,  and  who,  as  proofs  of  their  qualifi- 
cations, presented  their  claims  to  skill  in 
Alchemy  and  Kabbalism.  No  answers,  of 
course,  having  been  received  to  these  peti- 
tions for  initiation,  most  of  the  applicants 
were  discouraged  and  retired;  but  some 
were  bold,  became  impostors,  and  pro- 
claimed that  they  had  been  admitted  into 
the  society,  and  exercised  their  fraud  upon 
those  who  were  credulous  enough  to  be- 
lieve them.  There  are  records  that  some 
of  these  charlatans,  who  extorted  money 
from  their  dupes,  were  punished  for  their 
offence  by  the  magistrates  of  Nuremberg, 
Augsburg,  and  some  other  German  cities. 
There  was,  too,  in  Holland,  in  the  year 
1722,  a  Society  of  Alchemists,  who  called 
themselves  Rosicrucians,  and  who  claimed 
that  Christian  Rosenkreuz  was  their 
founder,  and  that  they  had  affiliated  soci- 
eties in  many  of  the  German  cities.  But 
it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  this  was  a  self- 
created  society,  and  that  it  had  nothing  in 
common,  except  the  name,  with  the  imag- 
inary brotherhood  invented  by  Andrea. 
Des  Cartes,  indeed,  says  that  he  sought  in 
vain  for  a  Rosicrucian  Lodge  in  Germany. 

But  although  the  brotherhood  of  Rosen- 
kreuz, as  described  by  Andrea  in  his  Fama 
Fraternitatis,  his  Chemical  Nuptuals,  and 
other  works,  never  had  a  real  tangible  ex- 
istence as  an  organized  society,  the  opinions 
advanced  by  Andrea  took  root,  and  gave 
rise  to  the  philosophic  sect  of  the  Rosicru- 
cians, many  of  whom  were  to  be  found, 
during  the  seventeenth  century,  in  Ger- 
many, in  France,  and  in  England.  Among 
these  were  such  men  as  Michael  Maier, 
Richard  Fludd,  and  Elias  Ashmole.  Nico- 
lai even  thinks  that  he  has  found  some 
evidence  that  the  Fama  Fraternitatis  sug- 
gested to  Lord  Bacon  the  notion  of  his 
Instauratio  Magna.  But,  as  Vaughan  says, 
(Hours  toith  the  Mystics,  ii.  104,)  the  name 
Rosicrucian  became  by  degrees  a  generic 
term,  embracing  every  species  of  doubt, 
pretension,  arcana,  elexirs,  the  philoso- 
pher's stone,  theurgic  ritual,  symbols,  or 
initiations. 

Higgins,  Sloane,  Vaughan,  and  several 
other  writers  have  asserted  that  Freema- 
sonry sprang  out  of  Rosicrucianism  But 
this  is  a  great  error.  Between  the  two 
there  is  no  similarity  of  origin,  of  design, 
or  of  organization.  The  symbolism  of 
Rosicrucianism  is  derived  from  a  hermetic 


ROSICRUCIANISM 


ROSICRUCIANISM 


665 


philosophy ;  that  of  Freemasonry  from  an 
operative  art.  The  latter  had  its  cradle  in 
the  Stonemasons  of  Strasburg  and  the 
Masters  of  Como  long  before  the  former 
had  its  birth  in  the  inventive  brain  of  John 
Valentine  Andreii. 

It  is  true,  that  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  a  period  fertile  in  the 
invention  of  high  degrees,  a  Masonic  Rite 
was  established  which  assumed  the  name 
of  Rose  Croix  Masonry,  and  adopted  the 
symbol  of  the  Rose  and  Cross.  But  this 
was  a  coincidence,  and  not  a  consequence. 
There  was  nothing  in  common  between 
them  and  the  Rosicrucians,  except  the 
name,  the  symbol,  and  the  Christian  char- 
acter. Doubtless  the  symbol  was  suggested 
to  the  Masonic  Order  from  the  use  of  it  by 
the  philosophic  sect ;  but  the  Masons  modi- 
fied the  interpretation,  and  the  symbol,  of 
course,  gave  rise  to  the  name.  But  here 
the  connection  ends.  A -Rose  Croix  Ma- 
son and  a  Rosicrucian  are  two  entirely  dif- 
ferent persons. 

The  Rosicrucians  had  a  large  number  of 
symbols,  some  of  which  were  in  common 
with  those  of  the  Freemasons,  and  some 
peculiar  to  themselves.  The  principal  of 
these  were  the  globe,  the  circle,  the  com- 
passes, the  square,  (both  the  working-tool 
and  the  geometrical  figure,)  the  triangle, 
the  level,  and  the  plummet.  These  are, 
however,  interpreted,  not  like  the  Masonic, 
as  symbols  of  the  moral  virtues,  but  of 
the  properties  of  the  philosopher's  stone. 
Thus,  the  twenty-first  emblem  of  Michael 
Maier's  Atlanta  Fugiens  gives  the  fol- 
lowing collection  of  the  most  important 
symbols :  A  philosopher  is  measuring  with 
a  pair  of  compasses  a  circle  which  sur- 
mounts a  triangle.  The  triangle  encloses 
a  square,  within  which  is  another  circle,  and 
inside  of  the  circle  a  nude  man  and  woman, 
representing,  it  may  be  supposed,  the  first 
step  of  the  experiment.  Over  all  is  this  epi- 
graph :  "  Fac  ex  mare  et  femina  circulum, 
indequadrangulum,hinctriangulum,faccir- 
culum  et  habebis  lapidem  Philosophorum." 
That  is,  "  Make  of  man  and  woman  a  cir- 
cle; thence  a  square;  thence  a  triangle; 
form  a  circle,  and  you  will  have  the  Phil- 
osopher's stone."  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  Hitchcock,  and  some  other 
recent  writers,  have  very  satisfactorily 
proved  that  the  labors  of  the  real  hermetic 
philosophers  (outside  of  the  charlatans) 
were  rather  of  a  spiritual  than  a  material 
character;  and  that  their  "great  work" 
symbolized  not  the  acquisition  of  inex- 
haustible wealth  and  the  infinite  prolonga- 
tion of  life,  but  the  regeneration  of  man 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

As  to  the  etymology  of  the  word  Bosicru- 
cian,  several  derivations  have  been  given. 
4  I 


Peter  Gassendi  (Exam.  Phil.  Fludd,  sect. 
15,)  first,  and  then  Mosheim,  (Hist.  Eccles., 
iv.,  i.,)  deduce  it  from  the  two  words  ros, 
dew,  and  crux,  a  cross,  and  thus  define  it : 
Dew,  according  to  the  Alchemists,  was  the 
most  powerful  of  all  substances  to  dissolve 
gold;  and  the  cross,  in  the  language  of  the 
same  philosophers,  was  identical  with  light, 
or  LVX,  because  the  figure  of  a  cross  ex- 
hibits the  three  letters  of  that  word.  But 
the  word  lux  was  referred  to  the  seed  or 
menstruum  of  the  Red  Dragon,  which  was 
that  crude  and  material  light  which,  being 
properly  concocted  and  digested,  produces 
gold.  Hence,  says  Mosheim,  a  Rosicru- 
cian is  a  philosopher,  who  by  means  of  dew 
seeks  for  light,  that  is,  for  the  substance 
of  the  philosopher's  stone.  But  notwith- 
standing the  high  authority  for  this  ety- 
mology, I  think  it  untenable,  and  alto- 
gether at  variance  with  the  history  of  the 
origin  of  the  Order,  as  will  be  presently 
seen. 

Another  and  more  reasonable  derivation 
is  from  rose  and  cross.  This  was  undoubt- 
edly in  accordance  with  the  notions  of  An- 
drea, who  was  the  founder  of  the  Order, 
and  gave  it  its  name,  for  in  his  writings 
he  constantly  calls  it  the  "  Fraternitas 
Rosea?  Crucis,"  or  "  the  Fraternity  of  the 
Rosy  Cross."  If  the  idea  of  dew  had  been 
in  the  mind  of  Andrea  in  giving  a  name  to 
the  society,  he  would  have  called  it  the 
"  Fraternity  of  the  Dewy  Cross,"  not  that 
of  the  "  Rosy  Cross."  "Fraternitas  Roscidae 
Crucis,"  not  "  Roseae  Crucis."  This  ought 
to  settle  the  question.  The  man  who  in- 
vents a  thing  has  the  best  right  to  give  it  a 
name. 

The  origin  and  interpretation  of  the  sym- 
bol have  been  variously  given.  Some  have 
supposed  that  it  was  derived  from  the 
Christian  symbolism  of  the  rose  and  the 
cross.  This  is  the  interpretation  that  has 
been  assumed  by  the  Rose  Croix  Order  of 
the  Masonic  system ;  but  it  does  not  thence 
follow  that  the  same  interpretation  was 
adopted  by  the  Rosicrucians.  Others  say 
that  the  rose  meant  the  generative  princi- 
ple of  nature,  a  symbolism  borrowed  from 
the  Pagan  mythologers,  and  not  likely  to 
have  been  appropriated  by  Andrea.  Others, 
again,  contend  that  he  derived  the  symbol 
from  his  own  arms,  which  were  a  St.  An- 
drew's cross  between  four  roses,  and  that  he 
alluded  to  Luther's  well-known  lines : 

"Des  Christen  Herz  auf  Rosen  geht,  - 
Wenn's  mitten  unter'n  Kreutze  stent," 

i.  e.,  "  The  heart  of  the  Christian  goes  upon 
roses  when  it  stands  close  beneath  the 
cross."  But  whatever  may  have  been  the 
effect  of  Luther's  lines  in  begetting  an  idea, 


666 


ROSICRUCIAN 


ROYAL 


the  suggestion  of  Andrea's  arms  must  be 
rejected.  The  symbol  of  the  Rosicrucians 
was  a  single  rose  upon  a  passion  cross,  very 
different  from  four  roses  surrounding  a  St. 
Andrew's  cross. 

Another  derivation  may  be  suggested, 
namely :  That,  the  rose  being  a  symbol  of 
secrecy,  and  the  cross  of  light,  the  rose  and 
cross  were  intended  to  symbolize  the  secret 
of  the  true  light,  or  the  true  knowledge, 
which  the  Rosicrucian  brotherhood  were  to 
give  to  the  world  at  the  end  of  the  hundred 
years  of  their  silence,  and  for  which  pur- 
pose of  moral  and  religious  reform  Andrea 
wrote  his  books  and  sought  to  establish  his 
sect.  But  the  whole  subject  of  Rosicrucian 
etymology  is  involved  in  confusion. 

Rosicrucian  Society  of  Eng- 
land. A  society  whose  objects  are  of  a 
purely  literary  character,  and  connected 
with  the  sect  of  the  Rosicrucians  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  It  is  secret,  but  not  Masonic, 
in  its  organization ;  although  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  Masons  of  England  take 
great  interest  in  it,  and  are  active  members 
of  the  society. 

Rosy  Cross.  One  of  the  degrees  con- 
ferred in  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland,  which 
see. 

Rough  Ashlar.    See  Ashlar. 

Round  Table,  King  Arthur's. 
The  old  English  legends,  derived  from  the 
celebrated  chronicle  of  the  twelfth  century 
known  as  the  Brut  of  England,  say  that  the 
mythical  King  Arthur,  who  died  in  542,  of 
a  wound  received  in  battle,  instituted  a 
company  of  twenty-four  (or,  according  to 
some,  twelve,)  of  his  principal  knights, 
bound  to  appear  at  his  court  on  certain  sol- 
emn days,  and  meet  around  a  circular  ta- 
ble, whence  they  were  called  "  Knights  of 
the  Round  Table."  Arthur  is  said  to  have 
been  the  institutor  of  those  military  and  re- 
ligious orders  of  chivalry  which  afterwards 
became  so  common  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Into  the  Order  which  he  established  none 
were  admitted  but  those  who  had  given 
proofs  of  their  valor;  and  the  knights  were 
bound  to  defend  widows,  maidens,  and 
children  ;  to  relieve  the  distressed,  maintain 
the  Christian  religion,  contribute  to  the 
support  of  the  church,  protect  pilgrims, 
advance  honor,  and  suppress  vice.  They 
were  to  administer  to  the  care  of  soldiers 
wounded  in  the  service  of  their  country, 
and  bury  those  who  died,  to  ransom  cap- 
tives, deliver  prisoners,  and  record  all  no- 
ble enterprises  for  the  honor  and  renown 
of  the  noble  Order.  King  Arthur  and  his 
knights  have  been  very  generally  consid- 
ered by  scholars  as  mythical ;  notwithstand- 
ing that,  many  years  ago  Whittaker,  in  his 
History  of  Manchester,  attempted  to  estab- 


lish the  fact  of  his  existence,  and  to  sepa- 
rate the  true  from  the  fabulous  in  his  his- 
tory. The  legend  has  been  used  by  some 
of  the  fabricators  of  irregular  degrees  in 
Masonry. 

Round  Towers  of  Ireland.  Edi- 
fices, sixty-two  in  number,  varying  in 
height  from  80  to  120  feet,  which  are  found 
in  various  parts  of  Ireland.  They  are 
cylindrical  in  shape,  with  a  single  door 
eight  or  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  and  a 
small  aperture  near  the  top.  The  question 
of  their  origin  and  design  has  been  a  source 
of  much  perplexity  to  antiquaries.  They 
have  been  supposed  by  Montmorency  to 
have  been  intended  as  beacons;  by  Val- 
lancey,  as  receptacles  of  the  sacred  fire; 
by  O'Brien,  as  temples  for  the  worship  of 
the  sun  and  moon ;  and  more  recently,  by 
Petrie,  simply  as  bell-towers,  and  of  very 
modern  date.  This  last  theory  has  been 
adopted  by  many  ;  while  the  more  probable 
supposition  is  still  maintained  by  others, 
that,  whatever  was  their  later  appropria- 
tion, they  were,  in  their  origin,  of  a  phallic 
character,  in  common  with  the  towers  of 
similar  construction  in  the  East.  O'Brien's 
work  On  the  Mound  Towers  of  Ireland,  which 
was  somewhat  extravagant  in  its  arguments 
and  hypotheses,  led  some  Masons  to  adopt, 
forty  years  ago,  the  opinion  that  they  were 
originally  the  places  of  a  primitive  Ma- 
sonic initiation.  But  this  theory  is  no 
longer  maintained  as  tenable. 

Rowers.    See  Knight  Bower. 

Royal  and  Select  Masters.  See 
Council  of  Boyal  and  Select  Masters. 

Royal  Arch,  Ancient.  See  Knight 
of  the  Ninth  Arch. 

Royal  Arch  Apron.  At  the  trien- 
nial meeting  of  the  General  Grand  Chap- 
ter of  the  United  States  at  Chicago,  in 
1859,  a  Royal  Arch  apron  was  prescribed, 
consisting  of  a  lamb-skin,  (silk  or  satin 
being  strictly  prohibited,)  to  be  lined  and 
bound  with  scarlet,  on  the  flap  of  which 
should  be  placed  a  triple  tau  cross  within  a 
triangle,  and  all  within  a  circle. 


Royal  Arch  Radge.  The  triple 
tau,  consisting  of  three  tau  crosses  con- 
joined at  their  feet,  constitutes  the  Royal 
Arch  badge.    The  English  Masons  call  it 


ROYAL 


ROYAL 


667 


the  "emblem  of  all   emblems,"  and  the 
"  grand  emblem  of  Royal  Arch  Masonry." 
The  English  Royal  Arch  lecture 
thus  defines  it :  "  The  triple  tau  i  a 

forms  two  right  angles  on  each  III 
of  the  exterior  lines,  and  another  | 
at  the  centre,  by  their  union  ;  for 
the  three  angles  of  each  triangle  are  equal 
to  two  right  angles.  This,  being  triplined, 
illustrates  the  jewel  worn  by  the  compan- 
ions of  the  Royal  Arch,  which,  by  its  inter- 
section, forms'  a  given  number  of  angles 
that  may  be  taken  in  five  several  combina- 
tions." It  is  used  in  the  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry of  Scotland,  and  has,  for  the  last  ten 
or  fifteen  years,  been  adopted  officially  in 
the  United  States. 

Royal  Arch  Banners.  See  Ban- 
ners, Royal  Arch. 

Royal  Arch  Captain.  The  sixth 
officer  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  according 
to  the  American  system.  He  represents 
the  sar  hatabahim,  or  Captain  of  the  King's 
Guards.  He  sits  in  front  of  the  Council 
and  at  the  entrance  to  the  fourth  veil,  to 
guard  the  approaches  to  which  is  his  duty. 
He  wears  a  white  robe  and  cap,  is  armed 
with  a  sword,  and  bears  a  white  banner  on 
which  is  inscribed  a  lion,  the  emblem  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah.  His  jewel  is  a  triangu- 
lar plate  of  gold  inscribed  with  a  sword. 
In  the  preliminary  Lodges  of  the  Chapter 
he  acts  as  Junior  Deacon. 

Royal  Arch  Clothing.  The  cloth- 
ing or  regalia  of  a  Royal  Arch  Mason  in 
the  American  system  consists  of  an  apron, 
(already  described,)  a  scarf  of  scarlet  vel- 
vet or  silk,  on  which  is  embroidered  or 
painted,  on  a  blue  ground,  the  words, 
"  Holiness  to  the  Lord;"  and  if  an  officer, 
a  scarlet  collar,  to  which  is  attached  the 
jewel  of  his  office.  The  scarf,  once  uni- 
versally used,  has,  within  a  few  years  past, 
been  very  much  abandoned.  Every  Royal 
Arch  Mason  should  also  wear  at  his  button- 
hole, attached  by  a  scarlet  ribbon,  the  jewel 
of  the  Order. 

Royal  Arch  Colors.  The  peculiar 
color  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree  is  red  or 
scarlet,  which  is  symbolic  of  fervency  and 
zeal,  the  characteristics  of  the  degree.  The 
colors  also  used  symbolically  in  the  deco- 
rations of  a  Chapter  are  blue,  purple,  scar- 
let, and  white,  each  of  which  has  a  symbolic 
meaning.     See  Veils  of  the  Tabernacle. 

Royal  Arch  Degree.  If  we  except 
the  Master's,  there  is  no  other  degree  in 
Masonry  that  has  been  so  extensively  dif- 
fused, or  is  as  important  in  its  historical 
and  symbolical  import,  as  the  Royal  Arch, 
or,  as  it  has  been  called,  on  account  of  its 
sublime  significance,  the  "  Holy  Royal 
Arch."  Dermott  calls  it  "  the  root,  heart, 
and  marrow  of  Masonry,"  and  Oliver  says 


that  it  is  "indescribably  more  august, 
sublime,,  and  important  than  any  which 
precede  it,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  summit  and 
perfection  of  ancient  Masonry."  It  is 
found,  in  fact,  in  every  Rite,  in  some  modi- 
fied form,  and  sometimes  under  a  different 
name,  but  always  preserving  those  same 
symbolic  relations  to  the  Lost  Word  which 
constitute  its  essential  character. 

Whoever  carefully  studies  the  Master's 
degree  in  its  symbolic  signification  will  be 
convinced  that  it  is  in  a  mutilated  condi- 
tion, that  is,  that  it  is  imperfect  and  unfin- 
ished in  its  history,  and  that,  terminating 
abruptly  in  its  symbolism,  it  leaves  the 
mind  still  waiting  for  something  that  is 
necessary  to  its  completeness.  This  defi- 
ciency is  supplied  by  the  Royal  Arch  de- 
gree. Hence,  when  the  union  took  place 
in  England,  in  1813,  between  the  two  rival 
Grand  Lodges,  while  there  was  a  strong 
and  hereditary  disposition  on  the  part  of 
the  English  Masons  to  preserve  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  Old  York  Rite  by  confining 
Freemasonry  to  the  three  symbolical  de- 
grees, it  was  found  necessary  to  define  An- 
cient Craft  Masonry  as  consisting  of  three 
degrees,  "  including  the  Holy  Royal  Arch." 

There  was  a  time,  undoubtedly,  when  the 
Royal  Arch  did  not  exist  as  an  independent 
degree,  but  was  a  complementary  part  of 
the  Master's  degree,  to  which  it  gave  a 
necessary  completion.  Ramsay  introduced 
it  into  the  high  degrees  on  the  continent  ; 
Dermott  fabricated  it  for  the  use  of  his 
Grand  Lodge;  and  Dunckerley  is  said  to 
have  dissevered  it  from  the  third  degree  in 
the  legal  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  The 
precise  method  and  time  of  its  disseverance 
from  the  third  establishment,  as  an  inde- 
pendent degree  in  England  and  America, 
constitutes  an  important  and  interesting 
part  of  the  history  of  Masonry. 

It  is  evident  that  the  existence  of  the 
Royal  Arch  as  an  independent  and  distinct 
degree  dates  at  a  comparatively  modern 
period.  In  none  of  the  old  manuscript 
records  of  Masonry  is  there  the  slightest 
allusion  to  it,  and  Anderson  does  not  make 
any  reference  to  it  in  his  history  of  the 
Order.  The  true  word,  which  constitutes 
the  essential  character  of  the  Royal  Arch 
degree,  was  found  by  Dr.  Oliver  in  an  old 
Master  Mason's  tracing-board  of  the  date 
of  about  1725;  and  hence  he  concludes 
(Or.  of  the  Eng.  R.  A.,  p.  20,)  "that  the 
word,  at  that  time,  had  not  been  severed 
from  the  third  degree  and  transferred  to 
another,"  —  in  other  words,  that  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  had  not  then  been  fabricated. 
The  earliest  mention  of  it  in  England  that 
he  could  find  was  in  the  year  1740,  just  two 
years  after  the  schism  which  separated  the 
Ancient  from  the  Modern  Grand  Lodge,  — 


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I  use  the  usually  accepted  titles,  without 
any  reference  to  their  propriety,  —  and  he 
attributes  its  fabrication  to  the  former 
body.  Stone,  (Letters  on  Masonry,  p.  50,) 
with  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  Ma- 
sonic history,  attributes  its  origin  to  the 
Primordial  Chapter  of  Arras.  But  that  body 
was  established  by  the  young  Pretender 
in  1747,  and  Oliver,  as  is  seen,  recognized 
the  existence  of  the  degree  in  England 
seven  years  before.  The  truth,  however, 
is,  that  Ramsay  had  long  before  incorpo- 
rated a  Royal  Arch  degree  under  a  different 
title  in  his  high  degrees,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Dermott,  who  was  really  the 
inventor  of  the  English  system,  was  in- 
debted to  him  for  many  of  his  ideas,  as 
Dunckerley  subsequently  was  when  he 
composed  the  Royal  Arch  for  the  legal 
Grand  Lodge ;  but  the  system  of  Ramsay 
was  very  different  in  its  main  details  from 
that  of  either.  Ramsay,  about  the  time  of 
Dermott's  innovation,  had  visited  England, 
and  attempted  to  introduce  his  high  de- 
grees, which  were  rejected  by  the  legal 
Grand  Lodge ;  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  he  communicated  to  seceding 
Masons  a  portion  of  the  inventions  which 
he  had  engrafted  upon  the  Masonry  of  the 
continent. 

Oliver  says  of  the  Royal  Arch  that  was 
invented  by  the  seceders  that,  "  although  it 
contained  elements  of  the  greatest  sublim- 
ity, it  was  imperfect  in  its  construction 
and  unsatisfactory  in  its  result ;  which  will 
tend  to  show,  from  the  crude  and  imperfect 
state  in  which  it  then  appeared,  that  the 
degree  was  in  its  infancy.  The  anachro- 
nisms with  which  it  abounded,  and  the 
loose  manner  in  which  its  parts  were  fitted 
into  each  other,  betrayed  its  recent  origin. 
In  fact,  it  was  evidently  an  attempt  to  com- 
bine several  of  the  continental  degrees  of 
sublime  Masonry  into  one,  without  regard 
to  the  order  of  time,  propriety  of  arrange- 
ment, or  any  other  consistent  principle ; 
and  therefore  we  find  in  the  degree,  as  it 
wasoriginally  constructed,  jumbled  together 
in  a  state  of  inextricable  confusion,  the 
events  commemorated  in  Ramsay's  Royal 
Arch,  the  Knights  of  the  Ninth  Arch,  of 
the  Burning  Bush,  of  the  East  or  Sword, 
of  the  Red  Cross,  the  Scotch  Fellow  Craft, 
the  Select  Master,  the  Red  Cross  Sword  of 
Babylon,  the  Rose  Croix,  etc." 

As  late  as  the  year  1758,  the  Constitu- 
tional Grand  Lodge  had  no  Royal  Arch 
degree,  for  in  that  year  the  Grand  Secretary 
declared  that  "  our  society  is  neither  Arch, 
Royal  Arch,  nor  Ancient ; "  and  in  the  lecture 
ofthe  third  degree  prepared  byAnderson  and 
Desaguliers  it  is  said  "  that  which  was  lost 
is  now  found,"  meaning,  says  Oliver,  that 
the  Master  Mason's  word  was  delivered  to 


the  newly  raised  Master  in  the  latter  cere- 
monies of  the  third  degree,  which  would 
preclude  the  necessity  for  a  Royal  Arch 
degree. 

But  about  the  year  1770,  Thomas  Dunck- 
erley, who  had  been  authorized  by  the  Con- 
stitutional Grand  Lodge,  or  the  "Moderns," 
to  inaugurate  a  new  system  of  lectures, 
commenced  his  modifications  of  the  old 
system,  which  had  been  hitherto  practised 
by  dissevering  the  Master's  word  from  the 
third  degree.  This  involved  the  necessity 
of  anew  degree;  and  Dunckerley,  borrowing 
from  Ramsay,  from  Dermott,  and  from  his 
own  invention,  fabricated  the  degree  of 
Royal  Arch  for  the  Modern  Masons  ;  a  vio- 
lent innovation,  for  the  success  of  which  he 
was  indebted  only  to  his  own  great  popu- 
larity among  the  Craft  and  the  influence  of 
the  Grand  Master.  Oliver  thinks,  for  good 
reasons,  that  the  introduction  of  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  into  the  Modern  system  could 
not  have  been  earlier  than  the  dedication 
of  Freemasons'  Hall  in  1776.  Ten  years 
after  the  regulations  of  the  degree  were  first 
established,  and  at  the  union  of  the  two 
Grand  Lodges  in  1813,  the  Holy  Royal 
Arch  was  formally  and  officially  recognized 
as  a  part  of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  and 
so  it  has  ever  since  remained. 

The  result  of  our  investigations,  in  which 
we  have  mainly  relied  on  the  authority  of 
the  learned  Oliver,  is  that,  until  the  year 
1740,  the  essential  element  of  the  Royal 
Arch  constituted  a  component  part  of  the 
Master's  degree,  and  was  of  course  its  con- 
cluding portion ;  that  as  a  degree  it  was 
not  at  all  recognized,  being  but  the  com- 
plement of  one ;  that  about  that  time  it 
was  dissevered  from  its  original  connection 
and  elevated  to  the  position  and  invested 
with  the  form  of  a  distinct  degree  by  the 
body  which  called  itself  "  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England  according  to  the  Old  Constitu- 
tions," but  which  is  more  familiarly  known 
as  the  Dermott  or  the  Athol  Grand  Lodge, 
and  frequently  as  "  the  Ancients  ;"  that  in 
1776  a  similar  degree,  fabricated  by  Dunck- 
erley, was  adopted  by  the  Constitutional 
Grand  Lodge,  or  the  "  Moderns,"  and 
that  in  1813  it  was  formally  recognized  as 
a  part  of  the  York  Rite  by  the  United 
Grand  Lodge  of  England. 

In  America,  the  history  of  the  degree 
followed  that  of  the  English  system.  As 
most  ofthe  American  Lodges  derived  their 
Warrants  from  the  Athol  Grand  Lodge, 
the  Royal  Arch  must  have  been  introduced 
at  the  time  of  their  constitution.  The 
government  of  the  degree  was  for  a  long 
time  under  the  Master's  Lodges,  and  many 
years  elapsed  before  it  was  taken  thence 
and  placed  under  the  control  of  distinct 
bodies  called  Grand  Chapters.  In  America, 


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it  was  not  until  1798  that  a  Grand  Chapter 
was  formed,  and  many  Lodges  persisted  for 
some  years  after  in  conferring  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  under  the  authority  of  their 
Warrants  from  Grand  Lodges. 

Maintaining  everywhere  an  identity  in 
its  symbolic  signification,  the  Royal  Arch 
varies  in  different  countries  in  its  historical 
details. 

Ramsay's  degree,  from  which  all  the  con- 
tinental systems  originated,  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  that  practised  in  Great  Britain, 
in  Ireland,  and  in  the  United  States.  Its 
type  may  be  found  in  the  thirteenth  degree, 
or  Knight  of  the  Ninth  Arch  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

In  England,  Scotland,  and  the  United 
States,  the  circumstance  on  which  the  de- 
gree is  founded,  or,  in  technical  language, 
the  legend,  is  the  same;  but  the  preliminary 
organization  is  different  in  each  country. 

In  England,  in  1834,  considerable  changes 
were  made  in  the  ceremonies  of  exaltation, 
but  the  general  outline  of  the  system  was 
preserved.  The  degree  is  the  fourth  in  the 
Masonic  series,  and  a  Master  Mason  who 
has  been  so  for  twelve  months  is  eligible 
for  exaltation.  The  principal  officers  of 
an  English  Chapter  are :  three  Principals, 
Zerubbabel,  Haggai,  and  Joshua;  three 
Sojourners  and  two  Scribes,  Ezra  and  Ne- 
hemiah ;  a  Treasurer  and  a  Janitor. 

In  Scotland,  the  preliminary  degrees  are : 
Mark,  Past,  Excellent,  and  Super-Excel- 
lent Master,  and  the  principal  officers  are 
the  same  as  in  England. 

In  Ireland,  the  legend  was  formerly  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  England,  and  founded 
on  events  recorded  in  the  Second  Book  of 
Chronicles,  (xxxiv.  14,)  where  Hilkiah  is 
said  to  have  "  found  a  book  of  the  law  of 
the  Lord  given  by  Moses."  The  date  of 
this  degree  was,  therefore,  624  B.  c,  or  ninety 
years  after  ours.  The  preliminary  or  qual- 
ifying degrees  were:  Past,  Excellent,  and 
Super- Excellent.  But  the  Irish  system  was 
changed  some  years  ago,  and  a  new  ritual, 
somewhat  resembling  the  American,  was 
adopted.  The  officers  do  not  materially 
differ  from  those  of  English  and  Scottish 
Chapters. 

In  America,  the  legend  is  the  same  as  the 
English,  but  varying  in  some  of  its  details. 
The  preliminary  degrees  are :  Mark,  Past, 
and  Most  Excellent  Master ;  and  the  prin- 
cipal officers  are :  High  Priest,  King,  Scribe, 
Captain  of  the  Host,  Principal  Sojourner, 
Royal  Arch  Captain,  and  three  Grand 
Masters  of  the  Veils. 

I  have  said  that,  however  the  legend  or 
historical  basis  might  vary  in  the  different 
Rites,  in  all  of  them  the  symbolical  signifi- 
cation of  the  Royal  Arch  was  identical. 
Hence,  the  building  of  a  second  Temple,  so 


prominent  a  symbol  in  the  English  and 
American  systems,  and  so  entirely  unknown 
in  the  continental,  cannot  be  considered  as 
an  essential  point  in  the  symbolism  of  the 
degree.  It  is  important  in  the  systems  in 
which  it  occurs,  but  it  is  not  essential. 
The  true  symbolism  of  the  Royal  Arch 
system  is  founded  on  the  discovery  of  the 
Lost  Word. 

It  can  never  be  too  often  repeated  that 
the  WORD  is,  in  Masonry,  the  symbol  of 
TRUTH.  This  truth  is  the  great  object 
of  pursuit  in  Masonry  —  the  scope  and  ten- 
dency of  all  its  investigations  —  the  prom- 
ised reward  of  all  Masonic  labor.  Sought 
for  diligently  in  every  degree,  and  con- 
stantly approached,  but  never  thoroughly 
and  intimately  embraced,  at  length,  in  the 
Royal  Arch,  the  veils  which  concealed  the 
object  of  search  from  our  view  are  with- 
drawn, and  the  inestimable  prize  is  re- 
vealed. 

This  truth,  which  Masonry  makes  the 
great  object  of  its  investigations,  is  not  the 
mere  truth  of  science,  or  the  truth  of  his- 
tory, but  is  the  more  important  truth  which 
is  synonymous  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  God,  —  that  truth  which  is  em- 
braced in  the  sacred  Tetragrammaton,  or 
omnific  name,  including  in  its  signification 
his  eternal,  present,  past,  and  future  exist- 
ence, and  to  which  he  himself  alluded  when 
he  declared  to  Moses,  "  I  appeared  unto 
Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob  by 
the  name  of  God  Almighty;  but  by  my 
name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  unto 
them." 

The  discovery  of  this  truth  is,  then,  the 
essential  symbolism  of  the  Royal  Arch 
degree.  Wherever  it  is  practised,  —  and 
under  some  peculiar  name  the  degree  is 
found  in  every  Rite  of  Masonry, — this 
symbolism  is  preserved.  However  the  le- 
gend may  vary,  however  the  ceremonies 
of  reception  and  the  preliminary  steps  of 
initiation  may  differ,  the  consummation 
is  always  the  same  —  the  great  discovery 
which  represents  the  attainment  of  Truth. 

Royal  Arch,  Grand.  The  thirty- 
first  degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim.  It 
is  nearly  the  same  as  the  thirteenth  de- 
gree of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite. 

Royal  Arch  Jewel.  The  jewel 
which  every  Royal  Arch  Mason  is  per- 
mitted to  wear  as  a  token  of  his  connection 
with  the  Order.  It  is  usually  suspended 
by  a  scarlet  ribbon  to  the  button.  It  is  of 
gold,  and  consists  of  a  triple  tau  cross 
within  a  triangle,  the  whole  circumscribed 
by  a  circle.  This  jewel  is  eminently  sym- 
bolic. The  tau  being  the  mark  mentioned 
by  Ezekiel  (ix.  4,)  by  which  those  were  dis- 
tinguished who  were  to  be  saved  from  the 


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wicked  who  were  to  be  slain ;  the  triple  tau 
is  symbolic  of  the  peculiar  and  more  emi- 
nent separation  of  Royal  Arch  Masons 
from  the  profane  ;  the  triangle,  or  delta,  is  a 
symbol  of  the  sacred  name  of  God,  known 


only  to  those  who  are  thus  separated ;  and 
the  circle  is  a  symbol  of  the  eternal  life, 
which  is  the  great  dogma  taught  by  Royal 
Arch  Masonry.  Hence,  by  this  jewel,  the 
Royal  Arch  Mason  makes  the  profession 
of  his  separation  from  the  unholy  and  pro- 
fane, his  reverence  for  God,  and  his  belief 
in  the  future  and  eternal  life. 

Royal  Arch  Masonry.  That  di- 
vision of  Speculative  Masonry  which  is  en- 
gaged in  the  investigation  of  the  mysteries 
connected  with  the  Royal  Arch,  no  matter 
under  what  name  or  in  what  Rite.  Thus 
the  mysteries  of  the  Knight  of  the  Ninth 
Arch  constitute  the  Royal  Arch  Masonry 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
just  as  much  as  those  of  the  Royal  Arch  of 
Zerubbabel  do  the  Royal  Arch  of  the  York 
and  American  Rites. 

Royal  Arch  of  Enoch.  The  Royal 
Arch  system  which  is  founded  upon  the  le- 
gend of  Enoch.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
the  basis  of  Ramsay's  Royal  Arch.  See 
Enoch. 

Royal  Arch  of  Ramsay.  The 
system  of  Royal  Arch  Masonry  invented 
early  in  the  last  century  by  the  Chevalier 
Ramsay.  It  was  the  first  fabrication  of  the 
Royal  Arch  degree  in  an  independent  form, 
and,  although  rejected  by  the  English  Ma- 
sons, has  been  adopted  as  the  basis  of  the 
system  in  many  of  the  continental  Rites. 
The  thirteenth  degree  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite  is  probably  a  very 
fair  representation  of  it,  at  least  substanti- 
ally. It  exercised  some  influence  also 
upon  Dermott  and  Dunckerley  in  their 
composition  of  their  Royal  Arch  systems. 

Royal  Arch  of  Solomon.  One  of 
the  names  of  the  degree  of  Knight  of  the 
Ninth  Arch,  or  thirteenth  degree  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Royal  Arch  of  Zcriibbahel.  The 
Royal  Arch  degree  of  the  York  and  Ameri- 


can Rites  is  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  Royal  Arch  of  Solomon  in  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Royal  Arch  Robes.  In  the  work- 
ing of  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  in  the  United 
States  great  attention  is  paid  to  the  robes 
of  the  several  officers.  The  High  Priest 
wears,  in  imitation  of  the  high  priest  of 
the  Jews,  a  robe  of  blue,  purple,  scarlet, 
and  white  linen,  and  is  decorated  with  the 
breastplate  and  mitre.  The  King  wears  a 
scarlet  robe,  and  has  a  crown  and  sceptre. 
The  Scribe  wears  a  purple  robe  and  turban. 
The  Captain  of  the  Host  wears  a  white 
robe  and  cap,  and  is  armed  with  a  sword. 
The  Principal  Sojourner  wears  a  dark  robe, 
with  tessellated  border,  a  slouched  hat,  and 
pilgrim's  staff.  The  Royal  Arch  Captain 
wears  a  white  robe  and  cap,  and  is  armed 
with  a  sword.  The  three  Grand  Masters 
of  the  Veils  wear,  respectively,  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  third  veil  a  scarlet  robe  and 
cap,  of  the  second  veil  a  purple  robe  and 
cap,  of  the  first  veil  a  blue  robe  and  cap. 
Each  is  armed  with  a  sword.  The  Treas- 
urer, Secretary,  and  Sentinel  wear  no  robes 
nor  peculiar  dress.  All  of  these  robes 
have  either  a  historical  or  symbolical  allu- 
sion. 

Royal  Arch  Tracing-Board. 
The  oldest  Royal  Arch  tracing-board  ex- 
tant is  one  which  was  formerly  the  prop- 
erty of  a  Chapter  in  the  city  of  Chester,  and 
which  Dr.  Oliver  thinks  was  "  used  only  a 
very  few  years  after  the  degree  was  admit- 
ted into  the  system  of  constitutional  Ma- 
sonry." He  has  given  a  copy  of  it  in  his 
work  On  the  Origin  of  the  English  Royal 
Arch.  The  symbols  which  it  displays  are, 
in  the  centre  of  the  top  an  arch  scroll,  with 
the  words  in  Greek,  EN  APXH  HN  0  A0r02, 
i.  e.,  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word;  beneath, 
the  word  JEHOVAH  written  in  kabbalis- 
tic  letters;  on  the  right  side  an  arch  and 
keystone,  a  rope  falling  in  it,  and  a  sun 
darting  its  rays  obliquely ;  on  the  left  a 
pot  of  incense  beneath  a  rainbow ;  in  the 
centre  of  the  tracing-board,  two  interlaced 
triangles  and  a  sun  in  the  centre,  all  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle;  on  the  right  and  left 
of  this  the  seven-branched  candlestick  and 
the  table  of  show- bread.  Beneath  all,  on 
three  scrolls,  are  the  words,  "Solomon, 
King  of  Israel;  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre; 
Hiram,  the  Widow's  Son,"  in  Hebrew  and 
Latin.  Dr.  Oliver  finds  in  these  emblems 
a  proof  that  the  Royal  Arch  was  originally 
taken  from  the  Master's  degree,  because 
they  properly  belong  to  that  degree,  accord- 
ing to  the  English  lecture,  and  were  after- 
wards restored  to  it.  But  the  American 
Mason  will  find  in  this  board  how  little  his 
system  has  varied  from  the  primitive  one 
practised  at  Chester,  since  all  the  emblems, 


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671 


with  the  exception  of  the  last  three,  are 
still  recognized  as  Royal  Arch  symbols  ac- 
cording to  the  American  system. 

Royal  Arch  Word.  See  Tetragram- 
maton. 

Royal  Arch  Working-Tools. 
See  Working- Tools. 

Royal  Ark  Mariners.  A  side  de- 
gree in  England  and  Scotland  which  is 
conferred  on  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and 
worked  under  the  authority  of  the  Supreme 
Grand  Chapter  of  Scotland,  which  body 
recognizes  its  Lodges  in  its  General  Regula- 
tions, (p.  20.)  The  language  of  the  Order 
is  peculiar.  The  Supreme  body  is  called  a 
"Grand  Ark;"  subordinate  Lodges  are 
"vessels;"  organizing  a  Lodge  is  "launch- 
ing a  vessel ; "  to  open  a  Lodge  is  "  to  float 
an  ark ; "  to  close  the  Lodge  is  "  to  moor." 
All  its  references  are  nautical,  and  allude 
to  the  deluge  and  the  ark  of  Noah.  The 
degree  is  useless  for  any  light  that  it  sheds  on 
Masonry.  The  degree  seems  to  have  been 
invented  in  England  about  the  end  of  the 
last  century.  A  correspondent  of  the  Lon- 
don Monthly  Magazine  for  December,  1798, 
(vol.  vi.,  p.  424, )  calls  it  "  one  of  the  new 
degrees  in  Freemasonry,"  and  thus  de- 
scribes the  organization : 

"  They  profess  to  be  followers  of  Noah, 
and  therefore  calls  themselves  Noachidae,  or 
Sons  of  Noah.  Hence  their  President, 
who  at  present  is  Thomas  Boothby  Par- 
kins, Lord  RanclifFe,  is  dignified  with  the 
venerable  title  of  Grand  Noah,  and  the 
Lodge  where  they  assemble  is  called  the 
Royal  Ark  Vessel. 

"These  brother  mariners  wear  in  Lodge 
time  a  broad  sash  ribbon,  representing  a 
rainbow,  with  an  apron  fancifully  embel- 
lished with  an  ark,  dove,  etc. 

"  Among  other  rules  of  this  society  is 
one  that  no  brother  shall  be  permitted  to 
enter  as  a  mariner  on  board  a  Royal  Ark 
vessel  for  any  less  sum  than  ten  shillings 
and  sixpence,  of  which  sum  sixpence  shall 
be  paid  to  the  Grand  and  Royal  Ark  vessel 
for  his  registry,  and  the  residue  be  disposed  of 
at  the  discretion  of  the  officers  of  the  vessel." 

Their  principal  place  of  meeting  in  Lon- 
don was  at  the  Surry  Tavern,  Surry  Street, 
in  the  Strand. 

The  writer  gives  the  following  verse  from 
one  of  their  songs  written  by  Dr.  Ebenezer 
Sibley,  which  does  not  speak  much  for 
the  poetical  taste  of  the  Mariners  or  their 
laureate : 
"  They  entered  safe  —  lo !  the  deluge  came 

And  none  were  protected  but  Masons  and 
wives; 
The  crafty  and  knavish  came  floating  along, 
The  rich  and  the  beggar  of  profligate  lives : 
It  was  now  in  woe, 

For  mercy  they  call 
To  old  Father  Noah, 
And  loudly  did  bawl, 


But  Heaven  shut  the  door  and  the  ark  "was 

afloat, 
To  perish  they  must,  for  they  were  found  out." 

Royal  Art.  The  earliest  writers  speak 
of  Freemasonry  as  a" Royal  Art."  An- 
derson used  the  expression  in  1723,  and  in 
such  a  way  as  to  show  that  it  was  even 
then  no  new  epithet.  The  term  has  be- 
come common  in  all  languages  as  an  ap- 
pellative of  the  Institution,  and  yet  but 
few  perhaps  have  taken  occasion  to  ex- 
amine into  its  real  signification  or  have 
asked  what  would  seem  to  be  questions 
readily  suggested,  "Why  is  Freemasonry 
called  an  artf"  and  next,  "  Why  is  it  said 
to  be  a  Royal  Artf" 

The  answer  which  is  generally  supposed 
to  be  a  sufficient  one  for  the  latter  inquiry, 
is  that  it  is  so  called  because  many  mon- 
archs  have  been  its  disciples  and  its  pa- 
trons, and  some  writers  have  gone  so  far 
as  to  particularize,  and  to  say  that  Freema- 
sonry was  first  called  a  "  Royal  Art  "in 
1693,  when  William  III.,  of  England,  was 
initiated  into  its  rites ;  and  G'adicke,  in  his 
Freimaurer  Lexicon,  states  that  some  have 
derived  the  title  from  the  fact  that  in  the 
times  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  the 
members  of  the  English  Lodges  had  joined 
the  party  of  the  exiled  Stuarts,  and  labored 
for  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  to  the 
throne.  He  himself,  however,  seems  to 
think  that  Freemasonry  is  called  a  Royal 
Art  because  its  object  is  to  erect  stately 
edifices,  and  especially  palaces,  the  resi- 
dences of  kings. 

Such  an  answer  may  serve  for  the  pro- 
fane, who  can  have  no  appreciation  of  a 
better  reason,  but  it  will  hardly  meet  the 
demands  of  the  intelligent  initiate,  who 
wants  some  more  philosophic  explanation 
—  something  more  consistent  with  the 
moral  and  intellectual  character  of  the  In- 
stitution. 

Let  us  endeavor  to  solve  the  problem, 
and  to  determine  why  Freemasonry  is 
called  an  art  at  all ;  and  why,  above  all 
others,  it  is  dignified  with  the  appellation 
of  a  Royal  Art.  Our  first  business  will  be 
to  find  a  reply  to  the  former  question. 

An  art  is  distinguished  from  a  handi- 
craft in  this,  that  the  former  consists  of 
and  supplies  the  principles  which  govern 
and  direct  the  latter.  The  stonemason, 
for  instance,  is  guided  in  his  construction 
of  the  building  on  which  he  is  engaged  by 
the  principles  which  are  furnished  to  him 
by  the  architect.  Hence  stonemasonry  is 
a  trade,  a  handicraft,  or,  as  the  German 
significantly  expresses  it,  a  handwerk,  some- 
thing which  only  requires  the  skill  and 
labor  of  the  hands  to  accomplish.  But 
architecture  is  an  art,  because  it  is  engaged 
in  the  establishment  of  principles  and 
scientific  tenets  which   the  "handwork" 


672 


ROYAL 


ROYAL 


of  the  Mason  is  to  carry  into  practical 
effect. 

The  handicraftsman,  the  handworker,  of 
course  is  employed  in  manual  labor.  It 
is  the  work  of  his  hands  that  accomplishes 
the  purpose  of  his  trade.  But  the  artist 
uses  no  such  means.  He  deals  only  in 
principles,  and  his  work  is  of  the  head.  He 
prepares  his  designs  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  art,  and  the  workman  obeys 
and  executes  them,  often  without  under- 
standing their  ulterior  object. 

Now,  let  us  apply  this  distinction  to  Free- 
masonry. Eighteen  hundred  years  ago 
many  thousand  men  were  engaged  in  the 
construction  of  a  Temple  in  the  city  of 
Jerusalem.  They  felled  and  prepared  the 
timbers  in  the  forests  of  Lebanon,  and  they 
hewed  and  cut  and  squared  the  stones  in 
the  quarries  of  Judea ;  and  then  they  put 
them  together  under  the  direction  of  a 
skilful  architect,  and  formed  a  goodly  edi- 
fice, worthy  to  be  called,  as  the  Rabbins 
named  it,  the  chosen  house  of  the  Lord." 
For  there,  according  to  the  Jewish  ritual, 
in  preference  to  all  other  places,  was  the 
God  of  Hosts  to  be  worshipped  in  oriental 
splendor.  Something  like  this  has  been 
done  thousands  of  times  since.  But  the 
men  who  wrought  with  the  stone-hammer 
and  trowel  at  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  and 
the  men  who  afterwards  wrought  at  the 
temples  and  cathedrals  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  were  no  artists.  They  were  simply 
handicraftsmen,  —  men  raising  an  edifice 
by  the  labor  of  their  hands,  —  men  who,  in 
doing  their  work,  were  instructed  by  others 
skilful  in  art,  but  which  art  looked  only 
to  the  totality,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  operative  details.  The  Giblemites,  or 
stone-squarers,  gave  form  to  the  stones  and 
laid  them  in  their  proper  places.  But  in 
what  form  they  should  be  cut,  and  in  what 
spots  they  should  be  laid  so  that  the  build- 
ing might  assume  a  proposed  appearance, 
were  matters  left  entirely  to  the  superin- 
tending architect,  the  artist,  who,  in  giving 
his  instructions,  was  guided  by  the  princi- 
ples of  his  art. 

Hence  Operative  Masonry  is  not  an  art. 
But  after  these  handicraftsmen  came  other 
men,  who,  simulating,  or,  rather,  symbol- 
izing, their  labors,  converted  the  operative 
pursuit  into  a  speculative  system,  and  thus 
made  of  a  handicraft  an  art.  And  it  was 
in  this  wise  that  the  change  was  accom- 
plished. 

The  building  of  a  temple  is  the  result  of 
a  religious  sentiment.  Now,  the  Freema- 
sons intended  to  organize  a  religious  insti- 
tution. I  am  not  going  into  any  discus- 
sion, at  this  time,  of  its  history.  When 
Freemasonry  was  founded  is  immaterial  to 
the  theory,  provided  that  the  foundation  is 


made  posterior  to  the  time  of  the  building 
of  King  Solomon's  Temple.  It  is  sufficient 
that  it  be  admitted  that  in  its  foundation 
as  an  esoteric  institution  the  religious  idea 
prevailed,  and  that  the  development  of  this 
idea  was  the  predominating  object  of  its 
first  organizers. 

Borrowing,  then,  the  name  of  their  Insti- 
tution from  the  operative  masons  who  con- 
structed the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  by  a  very 
natural  process  they  borrowed  also  the 
technical  language  and  implements  of  the 
same  handicraftsmen.  But  these  they  did 
not  use  for  any  manual  purpose.  They 
did  not  erect  with  them  temples  of  stone, 
but  were  occupied  solely  in  developing  the 
religious  idea  which  the  construction  of 
the  material  temple  had  first  suggested; 
they  symbolized  this  language  and  these 
implements,  and  thus  established  an  art 
whose  province  and  object  it  was  to  elicit 
religious  thought,  and  to  teach  religious 
truth  by  a  system  of  symbolism.  And  this 
symbolism — just  as  peculiar  to  Freema- 
sonry as  the  doctrine  of  lines  and  surfaces 
is  to  geometry,  or  of  numbers  is  to  arith- 
metic —  constitutes  the  art  of  Freemasonry. 

If  I  were  to  define  Freemasonry  as  an 
art,  I  should  say  that  it  was  an  art  which 
taught  the  construction  of  a  spiritual  tem- 
ple, just  as  the  art  of  architecture  teaches 
the  construction  of  a  material  temple.  And 
I  should  illustrate  the  train  of  ideas  by 
which  the  Freemasons  were  led  to  symbol- 
ize the  Temple  of  Solomon  as  a  spiritual 
temple  of  man's  nature,  by  borrowing  the 
language  of  St.  Peter,  who  says  to  his 
Christian  initiates:  "Ye  also,  as  lively 
stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house." 
And  with  greater  emphasis,  and  as  still 
more  illustrative,  would  I  cite  the  language 
of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, — that  Apos- 
tle who,  of  all  others,  most  delighted  in 
symbolism,  and  who  says :  "  Know  ye  not 
that  ye  are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that 
the  spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  ?  " 

And  this  is  the  reason  why  Freemasonry 
is  called  an  art. 

Having  thus  determined  the  conditions 
under  which  Freemasonry  becomes  an  art, 
the  next  inquiry  will  be  why  it  has  been 
distinguished  from  all  other  arts  in  being 
designated,  par  excellence,  the  Royal  Art. 
And  here  we  must  abandon  all  thought 
that  this  title  comes  in  any  way  from  the 
connection  of  Freemasonry  with  earthly 
monarchs  —  from  the  patronage  or  the 
membership  of  kings.  Freemasonry  ob- 
tains no  addition  to  its  intrinsic  value  from 
a  connection  with  the  political  heads  of 
states.  Kings,  when  they  enter  within  its 
sacred  portals,  are  no  longer  kings,  but 
brethren.  In  the  Lodge  all  men  are  on  an 
equality,  and  there  can  be  no  distinction 


ROYAL 


ROYAL 


673 


or  preference,  except  that  which  is  derived 
from  virtue  and  intelligence.  Although  a 
great  king  once  said  that  Freemasons  made 
the  best  and  truest  subjects,  yet  in  the 
Lodge  is  there  no  subjection  save  to  the 
law  of  love,  —  that  law  which,  for  its  excel- 
lence above  all  other  laws,  has  been  called 
by  an  Apostle  the  "royal  law,"  just  as 
Freemasonry,  for  its  excellence  above  all 
other  arts,  has  been  called  the  "Royal 
Art." 

St.  James  says,  in  his  general  Epistle: 
"  If  ye  fulfil  the  royal  law  according  to  the 
Scripture,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,  ye  do  well."  Dr.  Adam  Clarke, 
in  his  commentary  on  this  passage,  —  which 
is  so  appropriate  to  the  subject  we  are  in- 
vestigating, and  so  thoroughly  explanatory 
of  this  expression  in  its  application  to 
Freemasonry,  that  it  is  well  worth  a  cita- 
tion,—  uses  the  following  language: 

Speaking  of  the  expression  of  St.  James, 
nomon  basilicon,  "  the  royal  law,"  he  says : 
"  This  epithet,  of  all  the  New  Testament 
writers,  is  peculiar  to  James;  but  it  is  fre- 
quent among  the  Greek  writers  in  the  sense 
in  which  it  appears  St.  James  uses  it.  Basili- 
kos,  royal,  is  used  to  signify  anything  that 
is  of  general  concern,  is  suitable  to  all,  and 
necessary  for  all,  as  brotherly  love  is.  This 
commandment,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself,  is  a  royal  law  ;  not  only  because 
it  is  ordained  of  God,  proceeds  from  his 
kingly  authority  over  men,  but  because  it  is 
so  useful,  suitable,  and  necessary  to  the 
present  state  of  man ;  and  as  it  was  given 
us  particularly  by  Christ  himself,  who  is 
our  king,  as  well  as  prophet  and  priest,  it 
should  ever  put  us  in  mind  of  his  authority 
over  us,  and  our  subjection  to  him.  As  the  re- 
gal state  is  the  most  excellent  for  secular 
dignity  and  civil  utility  that  exists  among 
men,  hence  we  give  the  epithet  royal  to 
whatever  is  excellent,  noble,  grand,  or 
useful." 

How  beautifully  and  appropriately  does 
all  this  definition  apply  to  Freemasonry  as 
a  Royal  Art  It  has  already  been  shown 
how  the  art  of  Freemasonry  consisted  in 
a  symbolization  of  the  technical  language 
and  implements  and  labors  of  an  operative 
society  to  a  moral  and  spiritual  purpose. 
The  Temple  which  was  constructed  by  the 
builders  at  Jerusalem  was  taken  as  the 
groundwork.  Out  of  this  the  Freemasons 
have  developed  an  admirable  science  of 
symbolism,  which  on  account  of  its  design, 
and  on  account  of  the  means  by  which  that 
design  is  accomplished,  is  well  entitled,  for 
its  "  excellence,  nobility,  grandeur,  and  util- 
ity," to  be  called  the  "  Royal  Art." 

The  stonemasons  at  Jerusalem  were  en- 
gaged in  the  construction  of  a  material 
temple.  But  the  Freemasons  who  succeed- 
4K  43 


ed  them  are  occupied  in  the  construction 
of  a  moral  and  spiritual  temple,  man  being 
considered,  through  the  process  of  the  act 
of  symbolism,  that  holy  house.  And  in 
this  symbolism  the  Freemasons  have  only 
developed  the  same  idea  that  was  present 
to  St.  Paul  when  he  said  to  the  Corinthians 
that  they  were  "  God's  building,"  of  which 
building  he,  "  as  a  wise  master-builder,  had 
laid  the  foundation ;  "  and  when,  still  fur- 
ther extending  the  metaphor,  he  told  the 
Ephesians  that  they  were  "  built  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone, in  whom  all  the  building  fitly  framed 
together,  groweth  unto  a  holy  temple  in 
the  Lord ;  in  whom  also  ye  are  builded 
together  for  a  habitation  of  God  through 
the  spirit." 

This,  then,  is  the  true  art  of  Freemason- 
ry. It  is  an  art  which  teaches  the  right 
method  of  symbolizing  the  technical  lan- 
guage and  the  material  labors  of  a  handi- 
craft, so  as  to  build  up  in  man  a  holy  house 
for  the  habitation  of  God's  spirit ;  to  give 
perfection  to  man's  nature ;  to  give  purity 
to  humanity,  and  to  unite  mankind  in  one 
common  bond. 

It  is  singular,  and  well  worthy  of  notice, 
how  this  symbolism  of  building  up  man's 
body  into  a  holy  temple,  so  common  with 
the  New  Testament  writers,  and  even  with 
Christ  himself,  —  for  he  speaks  of  man  as  a 
temple  which,  being  destroyed,  he  could 
raise  up  in  three  days;  in  which,  as  St. 
John  says,  "  he  spake  of  the  temple  of  his 
body,"— gave  rise  to  a  new  word  or  to  a  word 
with  a  new  meaning  in  all  the  languages 
over  which  Christianity  exercises  any  influ- 
ence. The  old  Greeks  had  from  the  two 
words  oikos,  "  a  house,"  and  domein,  "  to 
build,"  constructed  the  word  oikodomein, 
which  of  course  signified  "to  build  a 
house."  In  this  plain  and  exclusive  sense 
it  is  used  by  the  Attic  writers.  In  like  man- 
ner, the  Romans,  out  of  the  two  words 
cedes,  "  a  house,"  and  facere,  "  to  make," 
constructed  their  word  mdificare,  which  al- 
ways meant  simply  "to  build  a  house," 
and  in  this  plain  sense  it  is  used  by  Horace, 
Cicero,  and  all  the  old  writers.  But  when 
the  New  Testament  writers  began  to  sym- 
bolize man  as  a  temple  or  holy  house  for 
the  habitation  of  the  Lord,  and  when  they 
spoke  of  building  up  this  symbolic  house, 
although  it  was  a  moral  and  spiritual 
growth  to  which  they  alluded,  they  used 
the  Greek  word  oikodomein,  and  their  first 
translators,  the  Latin  word  cedificare  in  a 
new  sense,  meaning  "to  build  up  morally," 
that  is,  to  educate,  to  instruct.  And  as 
modern  nations  learned  the  faith  of  Chris- 
tianity, they  imbibed  this  symbolic  idea  of 
a  moral  building,  and  adapted  for  its  ex- 


674 


ROYAL 


EOYAL 


pression  a  new  word  or  gave  to  an  old  word 
a  new  meaning,  so  that  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  in  French  edifier,  in  Italian  edificare, 
in  Spanish  edificar,  in  German  erbauen,  and 
in  English  edify,  each  of  which  literally 
and  etymologically  means  "to  build  a 
house,"  has  also  the  other  signification,  "  to 
instruct,  to  improve,  to  educate."  And 
thus  we  speak  of  a  marble  building  as  a 
magnificent  edifice,  and  of  a  wholesome 
doctrine  as  something  that  will  edify  its 
hearers.  But  there  are  but  few  who,  when 
using  the  word  in  this  latter  sense,  think 
of  that  grand  science  of  symbolism  which 
gave  birth  to  this  new  meaning,  and  which 
constitutes  the  very  essence  of  the  Royal 
Art  of  Freemasonry. 

For  when  this  temple  is  built  up,  it  is  to 
be  held  together  only  by  the  cement  of  love. 
Brotherly  love,  the  love  of  our  neighbor  as 
ourself —  that  love  which  suffereth  long  and 
is  kind,  which  is  not  easily  provoked,  and 
thinketh  no  evil  —  that  love  pervades  the 
whole  system  of  Freemasonry,  not  only 
binding  all  the  moral  parts  of  man's  na- 
ture into  one  harmonious  whole,  the  build- 
ing being  thus,  in  the  language  of  St.  Paul, 
"fitly  framed  together,"  but  binding  man 
to  man,  and  man  to  God. 

And  hence  Freemasonry  is  called  a 
"  Royal  Art,"  because  it  is  of  all  arts  the 
most  noble ;  the  art  which  teaches  man  how 
to  perfect  his  temple  of  virtue  by  pursuing 
the  "  royal  law  "  of  universal  love,  and  not 
because  kings  have  been  its  patrons  and 
encouragers. 

A  similar  idea  is  advanced  in  a  Catechism 
published  by  the  celebrated  Lodge  "  Wah- 
reit  und  Einigkeit,"  at  Prague,  in  the  year 
1800,  where  the  following  questions  and 
answers  occur : 

Q.  "  What  do  Freemasons  build  ? 

A.  "An  invisible  temple,  of  which  King 
Solomon's  Temple  is  the  symbol. 

Q.  "  By  what  name  is*  the  instruction 
how  to  erect  this  mystic  building  called  ? 

A.  "  The  Royal  Art ;  because  it  teaches 
man  how  to  govern  himself." 

Appositely  may  these  thoughts  be  closed 
with  a  fine  expression  of  Ludwig  Bech- 
stein,  a  German  writer,  in  the  Astrcea. 

"  Every  king  will  be  a  Freemason,  even 
though  he  wears  no  Mason's  apron,  if  he 
shall  be  God-fearing,  sincere,  good,  and 
kind ;  if  he  shall  be  true  and  fearless,  obe- 
dient to  the  law,  his  heart  abounding  in 
reverence  for  religion  and  full  of  love  for 
mankind  ;  if  he  shall  be  a  ruler  of  himself, 
and  if  his  kingdom  be  founded  on  justice. 
And  every  Freemason  is  a  king,  in  whatso- 
ever condition  God  may  have  placed  him 
here,  with  rank  equal  to  that  of  a  king  and 
with  sentiments  that  become  a  king,  for  his 
kingdom  is  love,  the  love  of  his  fellow- 


man,  a  love  which  is  long-suffering  and 
kind,  which  beareth  all  things,  believeth 
all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all 
things." 

And  this  is  why  Freemasonry  is  an  art, 
and  of  all  arts,  being  the  most  noble,  is  well 
called  the  "  Royal  Art." 

Royal  Axe.  See  Knight  of  the  Royal 
Axe. 

Royal  Lodge.  The  Royal  Arch  lec- 
tures in  the  English  system  say  that  the 
Royal  Lodge  was  held  in  the*  city  of  Jeru- 
salem, on  the  return  of  the  Babylonish 
captives,  in  the  first  year  in  the  reign  of 
Cyrus;  over  it  presided  Zerubbabel  the 
prince  of  the  Jews,  Hiram  the  prophet, 
and  Joshua  the  high  priest. 

Royal  Master.  The  eighth  degree 
of  the  American  Rite,  and  the  first  of  the 
degrees  conferred  in  a  Council  of  Royal 
and  Select  Masters.  Its  officers  are  a 
Thrice  Illustrious  Grand  Master,  represent- 
ing King  Solomon  ;  Illustrious  Hiram  of 
Tyre,  Principal  Conductor  of  the  Works, 
representing  Hiram  Abif;  Master  of  the 
Exchequer,  Master  of  Finances,  Captain 
of  the  Guards,  Conductor  of  the  Council 
and  Steward.  The  place  of  meeting  is  called 
the  "  Couucil  Chamber,"  and  represents 
the  private  apartment  of  King  Solomon, 
in  which  he  is  said  to  have  met  for  consul- 
tation with  his  two  colleagues  during  the 
construction  of  the  Temple.  Candidates 
who  receive  this  degree  are  said  to  be 
"  honored  with  the  degree  of  Royal  Master." 
Its  symbolic  colors  are  black  and  red  —  the 
former  significant  of  grief,  and  the  latter 
of  martyrdom,  and  both  referring  to  the 
chief  builder  of  the  Temple. 

The  events  recorded  in  this  degree,  look- 
ing at  them  in  a  legendary  point  of  view, 
must  have  occurred  at  the  building  of  the 
first  Temple,  and  during  that  brief  period 
of  time  after  the  death  of  the  builder  which 
is  embraced  between  the  discovery  of  his 
body  and  its  "  Masonic  interment."  In  all 
the  initiations  into  the  mysteries  of  the 
ancient  world,  there  was,  as  it  is  well  known 
to  scholars,  a  legend  of  the  violent  death 
of  some  distinguished  personage,  to  whose 
memory  the  particular  mystery  was  conse- 
crated, of  the  concealment  of  the  body,  and 
of  its  subsequent  discovery.  That  part  of 
the  initiation  which  referred  to  the  con- 
cealment of  the  body  was  called  the  Apha- 
nism,  from  a  Greek  verb  which  signifies  "  to 
conceal,"  and  that  part  which  referred  to 
the  subsequent  finding  was  called  the  cure- 
sis,  from  another  Greek  verb  which  signi- 
fies "  to  discover."  It  is  impossible  to  avoid 
seeing  the  coincidences  between  the  system 
of  initiation  and  that  practised  in  the  Ma- 
sonry of  the  third  degree.  But  the  ancient 
initiation  was  not  terminated  by  the  euresis 


ROYAL 


ROYAL 


675 


or  discovery.  Up  to  that  point,  the  cere- 
monies had  been  funereal  and  lugubrious 
in  their  character.  But  now  they  were 
changed  from  wailing  to  rejoicing.  Other 
ceremonies  were  performed  by  which  the 
restoration  of  the  personage  to  life,  or  his 
apotheosis  or  change  to  immortality,  was 
represented,  and  then  came  the  autopsy  or 
illumination  of  the  neophyte,  when  he  was 
invested  with  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the 
religious  doctrines  which  it  was  the  object 
of  the  ancient  mysteries  to  teach  —  when, 
in  a  word,  he  was  instructed  in  divine 
truth. 

Now,  a  similar  course  is  pursued  in  Ma- 
sonry. Here  also  there  is  an  illumination, 
a  symbolic  teaching,  or,  as  we  call  it,  an  in- 
vestiture with  that  which  is  the  representa- 
tive of  divine  truth.  The  communication 
to  the  candidate,  in  the  Master's  degree,  of 
that  which  is  admitted  to  be  merely  a  rep- 
resentation of  or  a  substitution  for  that  sym- 
bol of  divine  truth,  (the  search  for  which, 
under  the  name  of  the  true  word,  makes 
so  important  a  part  of  the  degree,)  how  im- 
perfect it  may  be  in  comparison  with  that 
more  thorough  knowledge  which  only  future 
researches  can  enable  the  Master  Mason  to 
attain,  constitutes  the  autopsy  of  the  third 
degree.  Now,  the  principal  event  recorded 
in  the  legend  of  the  Royal  Master,  the  in- 
terview between  Adoniram  and  his  two 
Royal  Masters,  is  to  be  placed  precisely  at 
that  juncture  of  time  which  is  between  the 
euresis  or  discovery  in  the  Master  Mason's 
degree  and  the  autopsy,  or  investiture  with 
the  great  secret.  It  occurred  between  the 
discovery  by  means  of  the  sprig  of  acacia 
and  the  final  interment.  It  was  at  the 
time  when  Solomon  and  his  colleague,  Hi- 
ram of  Tyre,  were  in  profound  consultation 
as  to  the  mode  of  repairing  the  loss  which 
they  then  supposed  had  befallen  them. 

We  must  come  to  this  conclusion,  be- 
cause there  is  abundant  reference,  both  in 
the  organized  form  of  the  Council  and  in 
the  ritual  of  the  degree,  to  the  death  as 
an  event  that  had  already  occurred ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  while  it  is  evident  that 
Solomon  had  been  made  acquainted  with 
the  failure  to  recover,  on  the  person  of  the 
builder,  that  which  had  been  lost,  there  is 
no  reference  whatever  to  the  well-known 
substitution  which  was  made  at  the  time  of 
the  interment. 

If,  therefore,  as  is  admitted  by  all  Ma- 
sonic ritualists,  the  substitution  was  prece- 
dent and  preliminary  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Master  Mason's  degree,  it  is  evident 
that  at  the  time  that  the  degree  of  Royal 
Master  is  said  to  have  been  founded  in  the 
ancient  Temple,  by  our  "  first  Most  Excel- 
lent Grand  Master,"  all  persons  present, 
except  the  first  and  second  officers,  must 


have  been  merely  Fellow  Craft  Masons. 
In  compliance  with  this  tradition,  therefore, 
a  Royal  Master  is,  at  this  day,  supposed  to 
represent  a  Fellow  Craft  in  the  search,  and 
making  his  demand  for  that  reward  which 
was  to  elevate  him  to  the  rank  of  a  Master 
Mason. 

If  from  the  legendary  history  we  pro- 
ceed to  the  symbolism  of  the  degree,  we 
shall  find  that,  brief  and  simple  as  are  the 
ceremonies,  they  present  the  great  Masonic 
idea  of  the  laborer  seeking  for  his  reward. 
Throughout  all  the  symbolism  of  Masonry, 
from  the  first  to  the  last  degree,  the  search 
for  the  WORD  has  been  considered  but  as 
a  symbolic  expression  for  the  search  after 
TRUTH.  The  attainment  of  this  truth 
has  always  been  acknowledged  to  be  the 
great  object  and  design  of  all  Masonic  labor. 
Divine  truth  —  the  knowledge  of  God  — 
concealed  in  the  old  Kabbahstic  doctrine, 
under  the  symbol  of  his  ineffable  name  — 
and  typified  in  the  Masonic  system  under 
the  mystical  expression  of  the  True  Word, 
is  the  reward  proposed  to  every  Mason  who 
has  faithfully  wrought  his  task.  It  is,  in 
short,  the  "  Master's  wages." 

Now,  all  this  is  beautifully  symbolized 
in  the  degree  of  Royal  Master.  The  re- 
ward had  been  promised,  and  the  time  had 
now  come,  as  Adoniram  thought,  when  the 
promise  was  to  be  redeemed,  and  the  true 
word  —  divine  truth  —  was  to  be  imparted. 
Hence,  in  the  person  of  Adoniram,  or  the 
Royal  Master,  we  see  symbolized  the  Specu- 
lative Mason,  who,  having  labored  to  com- 
plete his  spiritual  temple,  comes  to  the 
Divine  Master  that  he  may  receive  his  re- 
ward, and  that  his  labor  may  be  consum- 
mated by  the  acquisition  of  truth.  But  the 
temple  that  he  had  been  building  is  the  tem- 
ple of  this  life ;  that  first  temple  which  must 
be  destroyed  by  death  that  the  second  tem- 
ple of  the  future  life  may  be  built  on  its 
foundations.  And  in  this  first  temple  the 
truth  cannot  be  found.  We  must  be  con- 
tented with  its  substitute. 

Royal  Order  of  Scotland.  This 
is  an  Order  of  Freemasonry  confined  ex- 
clusively to  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  and 
which,  formerly  conferred  on  Master  Ma- 
sons, is  now  restricted  to  those  who  have 
been  exalted  to  the  Royal  Arch  de- 
gree. It  consists  of  two  degrees,  namely, 
that  of  H.  R.  D.  M.  and  R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.,  or, 
in  full,  Heredom  and  Rosy  Cross.  The  first 
may  be  briefly  described  as  a  Christianized 
form  of  the  third  degree,  purified  from 
the  dross  of  Paganism,  and  even  of  Ju- 
daism, by  the  Culdees,  who  introduced 
Christianity  into  Scotland  in  the  early  cen- 
turies of  the  church.  The  second  degree 
is  an  Order  of  civil  knighthood,  supposed 
to  have  been   founded  by  Robert  Bruce 


676 


ROYAL 


ROYAL 


after  the  battle  of  Bannockburn,  and  con- 
ferred by  him  upon  certain  Masons  who  had 
assisted  him  on  that  memorable  occasion. 
He,  so  the  tradition  goes,  gave  power  to 
the  Grand  Master  of  the  Order  for  the 
time  being  to  confer  this  honor,  which  is 
not  inherent  in  the  general  body  itself,  but 
is  specially  given  by  the  Grand  Master  and 
his  Deputy,  and  can  be  conferred  only  by 
them,  or  Provincial  Grand  Masters  ap- 
pointed by  them.  The  number  of  knights 
is  limited,  and  formerly  only  sixty-three 
could  be  appointed,  and  they  Scotchmen ; 
now,  however,  that  number  has  been  much 
increased,  and  distinguished  Masons  of 
all  countries  are  admitted  to  its  ranks.  In 
1747  Prince  Charles  Edward  Stuart,  in  his 
celebrated  Charter  to  Arras,  claimed  to  be 
the  Sovereign  Grand  Master  of  the  Royal 
Order,  "Nous  Charles  Edouard  Stewart, 
Roi  d'Angleterre,  de  France,  de  l'Ecosse, 
et  d'Irlande,  et  en  cette  quality,  S.  G.  M. 
du  Chapitre  de  H."  Prince  Charles  goes 
on  to  say  that  H.  O.  or  H.  R.  M.  is  known 
as  the  "Pelican  and  Eagle."  "Connu 
sous  le  titre  de  Chevalier  de  l'Aigle  et  de 
Pelican,  et  depuis  nos  malheurs  et  nos  in- 
fortunes,  sous  celui  de  Rose  Croix."  Now, 
there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a  proof  that  the 
Rose  Croix,  says  Bro.  Reitam,  was  ever 
known  in  England  till  twenty  years  after 
1747 ;  and  in  Ireland  it  was  introduced  by 
a  French  chevalier,  M.  L'Aurent,  about 
1782  or  1783.  The  Chapter  at  Arras  was 
the  first  constituted  in  France —  "  Chapitre 
primordial  de  Rose  Croix ; "  and  from 
other  circumstances  (the  very  name  Rose 
Croix  being  a  translation  of  R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.) 
some  writers  have  been  led  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  degree  chartered  by  Prince 
Charles  Edward  Stuart  was,  if  not  the  ac- 
tual Royal  Order  in  both  points,  a  Masonic 
ceremony  founded  on  and  pirated  from  that 
most  ancient  and  venerable  Order. 

This,  however,  is  an  error ;  because,  ex- 
cept in  name,  there  does  not  appear  to  be 
the  slightest  connection  between  the  Rose 
Croix  and  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland.  In 
the  first  place,  the  whole  ceremonial  is  dif- 
ferent, and  different  in  essentials.  Most 
of  the  language  used  in  the  Royal  Order 
is  couched  in  quaint  old  rhyme,  modernized, 
no  doubt,  to  make  it  "  understanded  of  the 
vulgar,"  but  still  retaining  sufficient  about 
it  to  stamp  its  genuine  antiquity.  The 
Rose  Croix  degree  is  most  probably  the 
genuine  descendant  of  the  old  Rosicru- 
cians,  and  no  doubt  it  has  always  had  a 
more  or  less  close  connection  with  the 
Templars. 

Clavel  says  that  the  Royal  Order  of 
Heredom  of  Kilwinning  is  a  Rosicrucian 
degree,  having  many  different  gradations 
in   the    ceremony    of  consecration.    The 


kings  of  England  are  de  jure,  if  not  de  facto, 
Grand  Masters;  each  member  has  a  name 
given  him,  denoting  some  moral  attribute. 
In  the  initiation  the  sacrifice  of  the  Messiah 
is  had  in  remembrance,  who  shed  his  blood 
for  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  the  neo- 
phyte is  in  a  figure  sent  forth  to  seek  the 
lost  word.  The  ritual  states  that  the 
Order  was  first  established  at  Icomkill,  and 
afterwards  at  Kilwinning,  where  the  King 
of  Scotland,  Robert  Bruce,  took  the  chair 
in  person  ;  and  oral  tradition  affirms  that, 
in  1314,  this  monarch  again  reinstated  the 
Order,  admitting  into  it  the  Knights  Tem- 
plars who  were  still  left.  The  Royal 
Order,  according  to  this  ritual,  which*  is 
written  in  Anglo-Saxon  verse,  boasts  of 
great  antiquity. 

Findel  disbelieves  in  the  Royal  Order, 
as  he  does  in  all  the  Christian  degrees.  He 
remarks  that  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scot- 
land formerly  knew  nothing  at  all  about 
the  existence  of  this  Order  of  Heredom,  as 
a  proof  of  which  he  adduces  the  fact  that 
Laurie,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  History 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland,  has  not 
mentioned  it.  Oliver,  however,  as  it  will 
be  seen,  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  Order, 
and  expressed  no  doubt  of  its  antiquity. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  Order,  we  have 
abundant  authority  both  mythical  and  his- 
torical. 

Thory  (Act.  Lat.)  thus  traces  its  estab- 
lishment. 

"On  the  24th  of  June,  1314,  Robert 
Bruce,  king  of  Scotland,  instituted,  after 
the  battle  of  Bannockburn,  the  Order  of 
St.  Andrew  of  the  Thistle,  to  which  was 
afterward  united  that  of  H.  D.  M.,  for  the 
sake  of  the  Scottish  Masons  who  had  com- 
posed a  part  of  the  thirty  thousand  men 
with  whom  he  had  fought  the  English 
army,  consisting  of  one  hundred  thousand. 
He  formed  the  Royal  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
Order  of  H.  D.  M.  at  Kilwinning,  reserv- 
ing to  himself  and  his  successors  forever 
the  title  of  Grand  Masters." 

Oliver,  in  his  Historical  Landmarks,  de- 
fines the  Order  more  precisely,  thus : 

"The  Royal  Order  of  H.  R.  D.  M.  had 
formerly  its  chief  seat  at  Kilwinning,  and 
there  is  every  reason  to  think  that  it  and 
St.  John's  Masonry  were  then  governed  by 
the  same  Grand  Lodge.  But  during  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  Ma- 
sonry was  at  a  very  low  ebb  in  Scotland, 
and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
St.  John's  Masonry  was  preserved.  The 
Grand  Chapter  of  H.  R.  D.  M.  resumed  its 
functions  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury at  Edinburgh ;  and,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve a  marked  distinction  between  the 
Royal  Order  and  Craft  Masonry,  —  which 
had  formed  a  Grand  Lodge  there  in  1736, 


ROYAL 


ROYAL 


677 


— the  former  confined  itself  solely  to  the 
two  degrees  of  H.  R.  D.  M.  and  R.  S.  Y.  C.  S." 

Again,  in  the  history  of  the  Royal  Order, 
officially  printed  in  Scotland,  the  following 
details  are  found : 

"  It  is  composed  of  two  parts,  H.  R.  M. 
and  R.  8.  Y.  C.  S.  The  former  took  its 
rise  in  the  reign  of  David  I.,  king  of  Scot- 
land, and  the  latter  in  that  of  King  Robert 
the  Bruce.  The  last  is  believed  to  have 
been  originally  the  same  as  the  most  an- 
cient Order  of  the  Thistle,  and  to  contain 
the  ceremonial  of  admission  formerly  prac- 
tised in  it. 

"  The  Order  of  H.  R.  M.  had  formerly 
its  seat  at  Kilwinning,  and  there  is  reason 
to  suppose  that  it  and  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
St.  John's  Masonry  were  governed  by  the 
same  Grand  Master.  The  introduction  of 
this  Order  into  Kilwinning  appears  to  have 
taken  place  about  the  same  time,  or  nearly 
the  same  period,  as  the  introduction  of 
Freemasonry  into  Scotland.  The  Chal- 
dees,  as  is  well  known,  introduced  Chris- 
tianity into  Scotland ;  aud,  from  their 
known  habits,  there  are  good  grounds  for 
believing  that  they  preserved  among  them 
a  knowledge  of  the  ceremonies  and  precau- 
tions adopted  for  their  protection  in  Judea. 
In  establishing  the  degree  in  Scotland,  it 
is  more  than  probable  that  it  was  done  with 
the  view  to  explain,  in  a  correct  Christian 
manner,  the  symbols  and  rites  employed  by 
the  Christian  architects  and  builders;  and 
this  will  also  explain  how  the  Royal  Order 
is  purely  catholic, — not  Roman  Catholic, — 
but  adapted  to  all  who  acknowledge  the 
great  truths  of  Christianity,  in  the  same 
way  that  Craft  or  Symbolic  Masonry  is 
intended  for  all,  whether  Jew  or  Gentile, 
who  acknowledge  a  supreme  God.  The 
second  part,  or  R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.,  is  an  Order 
of  Knighthood,  and,  perhaps,  the  only  gen- 
uine one  in  connection  with  Masonry,  there 
being  in  it  an  intimate  connection  between 
the  trowel  and  the  sword,  which  others  try 
to  show.  The  lecture  consists  of  a  figura- 
tive description  of  the  ceremonial,  both  of 
H.  R.  M.  and  R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.,  in  simple 
rhyme,  modernized,  of  course,  by  oral  tra- 
dition, and  breathing  the  purest  spirit  of 
Christianity.  Those  two  degrees  consti- 
tute, as  has  already  been  said,  the  Royal 
Order  of  Scotland,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland.  Lodges  or  Chapters  cannot  le- 
gally meet  elsewhere,  unless  possessed  of  a 
Charter  from  it  or  the  Grand  Master,  or  his 
deputy.  The  office  of  Grand  Master  is 
vested,  in-  the  person  of  the  king  of  Scot- 
land, (now  of  Great  Britain,)  and  one  seat 
is  invariably  kept  vacant  for  him  in  what- 
ever country  a  Chapter  is  opened,  and  can- 
not be  occupied  by  any  other  member. 
Those  who  are  in  possession  of  this  degree, 


and  the  so-called  higher  degrees,  cannot 
fail  to  perceive  that  the  greater  part  of 
them  have  been  concocted  from  the  Royal 
Order,  to  satisfy  the  morbid  craving  for 
distinction  which  was  so  characteristic  of 
the  continent  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
last  century. 

"  There  is  a  tradition  among  the  Masons 
of  Scotland  that,  after  the  dissolution  of 
the  Templars,  many  of  the  Knights  re- 
paired to  Scotland  and  placed  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  Robert  Bruce,  and 
that,  after  the  battle  of  Bannockburn, 
which  took  place  on  St.  John  the  Baptist's 
day,  1314,  this  monarch  instituted  the 
Royal  Order  of  H.  R.  M.  and  Knights  of 
the  R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.,  and  established  the 
chief  seat  at  Kilwinning.  From  that  Or- 
der it  seems  by  no  means  improbable  that 
the  present  degree  of  Rose  Croix  de  Here- 
dom  may  have  taken  its  origin.  In  two 
respects,  at  least,  there  seems  to  be  a  very 
close  connection  between  the  two  systems. 
They  both  claim  the  kingdom  of  Scotland 
and  the  Abbey  of  Kilwinning  as  having 
been  at  one  time  the  chief  seat  of  govern- 
ment, and  they  both  seem  to  have  been  in- 
stituted to  give  a  Christian  explanation  to 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  There  is,  besides, 
a  similarity  in  the  name  of  the  degrees  of 
Rose  Croix  de  Heredom  and  H.  R.  M.  and 
R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.  amounting  almost  to  an 
identity,  which  appears  to  indicate  a  very 
intimate  relation  of  one  to  the  other." 

And  now  recently  there  comes  Bro.  Ran- 
dolph Hay,  of  Glasgow,  who,  in  a  late 
number  of  the  London  Freemason,  gives  us 
this  legend,  which  he  is  pleased  to  call "  the 
real  history  of  the  Royal  Order,"  and  which 
he,  at  least,  religiously  believes  to  be  true : 

"  Among  the  many  precious  things  which 
were  carefully  preserved  in  a  sacred  vault 
of  King  Solomon's  Temple  was  a  portrait 
of  the  monarch,  painted  by  Adoniram,  the 
son  of  Elkanah,  priest  of  the  second  court. 
This  vault  remained  undiscovered  till  the 
time  of  Herod,  although  the  secret  of  its 
existence  and  a  description  of  its  locality 
were  retained  by  the  descendants  of  El- 
kanah. During  the  war  of  the  Maccabees, 
certain  Jews,  fleeing  from  their  native 
country,  took  refuge,  first  in  Spain  and 
afterwards  in  Britain,  and  amongst  them 
was  one  Aholiab,  the  then  possessor  of  the 
document  necessary  to  find  the  hidden 
treasure.  As  is  well  known,  buildings 
were  then  in  progress  in  Edinburgh,  or 
Dun  Edwin,  as  the  city  was  then  called, 
and  thither  Aholiab  wended  his  way  to 
find  employment.  His  skill  in  architec- 
ture speedily  raised  him  to  a  prominent 
position  in  the  Craft,  but  his  premature 
death  prevented  his  realizing  the  dream  of 
his  life,  which  was  to  fetch  the  portrait 


678 


ROYAL 


RUFFIANS 


from  Jerusalem  and  bestow  it  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  Craft.  However,  prior  to  his 
dissolution,  he  confided  the  secret  to  cer- 
tain of  the  Fraternity  under  the  bond  of 
secrecy,  and  these  formed  a  class  known  as 
'The  Order  of  the  King,'  or  'The  Royal 
Order.'  Time  sped  on;  the  Romans  in- 
vaded Britain ;  and,  previous  to  the  cruci- 
fixion, certain  members  of  the  old  town 
guard  of  Edinburgh,  among  whom  were 
several  of  the  Royal  Order,  proceeded  to 
Rome  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the 
sovereign.  From  thence  they  proceeded  to 
Jerusalem,  and  were  present  at  the  dread- 
ful scene  of  the  crucifixion.  They  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  portrait,  and  also 
the  blue  veil  of  the  Temple  rent  upon  the 
terrible  occasion.  I  may  dismiss  these  two 
venerable  relics  in  a  few  words.  Wilson, 
in  his  Memorials  of  Edinburgh,  (2  vols., 
published  by  Hugh  Patton,)  in  a  note  to 
Masonic  Lodges,  writes  that  this  portrait 
was  then  in  the  possession  of  the  brethren 
of  the  Lodge  St.  David.  This  is  an  error, 
and  arose  from  the  fact  of  the  Royal  Order 
then  meeting  in  the  Lodge  St.  David's 
room  in  Hindford's  Close.  The  blue  veil 
was  converted  into  a  standard  for  the 
trades  of  Edinburgh,  and  became  cele- 
brated on  many  a  battle-field,  notably  in 
the  First  Crusade  as  '  The  Blue  Blanket.' 
From  the  presence  of  certain  of  their  num- 
ber in  Jerusalem  on  the  occasion  in  ques- 
tion, the  Edinburgh  City  Guard  were  often 
called  Pontius  Pilate's  Praetorians.  Now, 
these  are  facts  well  known  to  many  Edin- 
burghers  still  alive.  Let '  X.  Y.  Z.'  go  to 
Edinburgh  and  inquire  for  himself. 

"  The  brethren,  in  addition,  brought  with 
them  the  teachings  of  the  Christians,  and 
in  their  meetings  they  celebrated  the  death 
of  the  Captain  and  Builder  of  our  Salva- 
tion. The  oath  of  the  Order  seals  my  lips 
further  as  to  the  peculiar  mysteries  of  the 
brethren.  I  may,  however,  state  that  the 
Ritual,  in  verse,  as  in  present  use,  was 
composed  by  the  venerable  Abbot  of  In- 
chafFray,  the  same  who,  with  a  crucifix  in 
his  hand,  passed  along  the  Scots'  line,  bless- 
ing the  soldiers  and  the  cause  in  which 
they  were  engaged,  previous  to  the  battle 
of  Bannockburn.  Thus  the  Order  states 
justly  that  it  was  revived,  that  is,  a  pro- 
iounder  spirit  of  devotion  infused  into  it, 
by  King  Robert,  by  whose  directions  the 
Abbot  reorganized  it." 

In  this  account,  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  say  that  there  is  far  more  of  myth  than 
of  legitimate  history. 

The  King  of  Scotland  is  hereditary  Grand 
Master  of  the  Order,  and  at  all  assemblies 
a  chair  is  kept  vacant  for  him. 

Provincial  Grand  Lodges  are  held  at 
Glasgow,  Rouen  in  France,  in  Sardinia, 


Spam,  the  Netherlands,  Calcutta,  Bombay, 
China,  and  New  Brunswick.  The  provin- 
cial Grand  Lodge  of  London  was  estab- 
lished in  July,  1872,  and  there  the  mem- 
bership is  confined  to  those  who  have  pre- 
viously taken  the  Rose  Croix,  or  eighteenth 
degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite. 

Royal  Priest.  The  fifth  degree  of 
the  Initiated  Brothers  of  Asia,  also  called 
the  True  Rose  Croix. 

Royal  Secret,  Sublime  Prince 
of  the.  See  Sublime  Prince  of  the  Royal 
Secret. 

R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.  An  abbreviation  of 
Rosy  Cross  in  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland. 

Ruffians.  The  traitors  of  the  third 
degree  are  called  Assassins  in  continental 
Masonry  and  in  the  high  degrees.  The 
English  and  American  Masons  have  adopt- 
ed in  their  ritual  the  more  homely  appel- 
lation of  Ruffians.  The  fabricators  of  the 
high  degrees  adopted  a  variety  of  names  for 
these  Assassins,  (see  Assassins  of  the  third 
Degree,)  but  the  original  names  are  pre- 
served in  the  rituals  of  the  York  and  Amer- 
ican Rites.  There  is  no  question  that  has 
so  much  perplexed  Masonic  antiquaries  as 
the  true  derivation  and  meaning  of  these 
three  names.  In  their  present  form,  they 
are  confessedly  uncouth  and  without  appa- 
rent signification.  Yet  it  is  certain  that 
we  can  trace  them  in  that  form  to  the  ear- 
liest appearance  of  the  legend  of  the  third 
degree,  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  at  the 
time  of  their  adoption  some  meaning  must 
have  been  attached  to  them.  I  am  con- 
vinced that  this  must  have  been  a  very 
simple  one,  and  one  that  would  have  been 
easily  comprehended  by  the  whole  of  the 
Craft,  who  were  in  the  constant  use  of  them. 
Attempts,  it  is  true,  have  been  made  to  find 
the  root  of  these  three  names  in  some  recon- 
dite reference  to  the  Hebrew  names  of  God. 
But  there  is,  I  think,  no  valid  authority  for 
any  such  derivation.  In  the  first  place,  the 
character  and  conduct  of  the  supposed  pos- 
sessors of  these  names  preclude  the  idea  of 
any  congruity  and  appropriateness  between 
them  and  any  of  the  divine  names.  And 
again,  the  literary  condition  of  the  Craft  at 
the  time  of  the  invention  of  the  names 
equally  preclude  the  probability  that  any 
names  would  have  been  fabricated  of  a  re- 
condite signification,  and  which  could  not 
have  been  readily  understood  and  appre- 
ciated by  the  ordinary  class  of  Masons  who 
were  to  use  them.  The  names  must  natu- 
rally have  been  of  a  construction  that  would 
convey  a  familiar  idea,  would  be  suitable 
to  the  incidents  in  which  they  were  to  be 
employed,  and  would  be  congruous  with 
the  character  of  the  individuals  upon  whom 
they  were  to  be  bestowed.    Now  all  these 


RUFFIANS 


RULE 


679 


requisites  meet  in  a  word  which  was  entirely 
familiar  to  the  Craft  at  the  time  when 
these  names  were  probably  invented.  The 
Ohiblim  are  spoken  of  by  Anderson,  mean- 
ing Qiblim,  as  stone-cutters  or  Masons ;  and 
the  early  rituals  show  us  very  clearly  that 
the  Fraternity  in  that  day  considered  Qib- 
lim as  the  name  of  a  Mason ;  not  only  of  a 
Mason  generally,  but  especially  of  that 
class  of  Masons  who,  as  Drummond  says, 
"put  the  finishing  hand  to  King  Solo- 
mon's Temple,"  —  that  is  to  say,  the  Fellow 
Crafts.  Anderson  also  places  the  Ohiblim 
among  the  Fellow  Crafts ;  and  so,  very  natu- 
rally, the  early  Freemasons,  not  imbued 
with  any  amount  of  Hebrew  learning,  and 
not  making  a  distinction  between  the  sin- 
gular and  plural  forms  of  that  language, 
soon  got  to  calling  a  Fellow  Craft  a  Giblim. 
The  steps  of  corruption  between  Qiblim  and 
Jubelum  were  not  very  gradual ;  nor  can  any 
one  doubt  that  such  corruptions  of  spelling 
and  pronunciations  were  common  among 
these  illiterate  Masons,  when  he  reads  the 
Old  Manuscripts,  and  finds  such  verbal  dis- 
tortions as  Nembroch  for  Nimrod,  Euglet  for 
Euclid,  and  Aymon  for  Hiram.  Thus,  the 
first  corruption  was  from  Qiblim  to  Gibalim, 
which  brought  the  word  to  three  syllables, 
making  it  thus  nearer  to  its  eventual 
change.  Then  we  find  in  the  early  rituals 
another  transformation  into  Chibbelum. 
The  French  Masons  also  took  the  work  of 
corruption  in  hand,  and  from  Qiblim  they 
manufactured  Jiblime  and  Jibulum  and 
Jabulum.  Some  of  these  French  corrup- 
tions came  back  to  English  Masonry  about 
the  time  of  the  fabrication  of  the  high  de- 
grees, and  even  the  French  words  were  dis- 
torted. Thus  in  the  Leland  Manuscript, 
the  English  Masons  made  out  of  Pytagore, 
the  French  for  Pythagoras,  the  unknown 
name  Peter  Gower,  which  is  said  so  much 
to  have  puzzled  Mr.  Locke.  And  so  we 
may  through  these  mingled  English  and 
French  corruptions  trace  the  genealogy  of 
the  word  Jubelum;  thus,  Ghiblim,  Gib- 
lim, Gibalim,  Chibbelum,  Jiblime,  Jibe- 
lum,  Jabelum,  and,  finally,  Jubelum.  It 
meant  simply  a  Fellow  Craft,  and  was  ap- 
propriately given  as  a  common  name  to 
a  particular  Fellow  Craft  who  was  distin- 
guished for  his  treachery.  In  other  words, 
he  was  designated,  not  by  a  special  and  dis- 
tinctive name,  but  by  the  title  of  his  condi- 
tion and  rank  at  the  Temple.  He  was  the 
Fellow  Graft,  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  con- 
spiracy. As  for  the  names  of  the  other  two 
Ruffians,  they  were  readily  constructed  out 
of  that  of  the  greatest  one  by  a  simple 
change  of  the  termination  of  the  word  from 
um  to  a  in  one,  and  from  um  to  o  in  the 
other,  thus  preserving,  by  a  similarity  of 
names,  the  idea  of  their  relationship,  for 


the  old  rituals  said  that  they  were  brothers 
who  had  come  together  out  of  Tyre.  This 
derivation  seems  to  me  to  be  easy,  natural, 
and  comprehensible.  The  change  from 
Giblim,  or  rather  from  Gibalim  to  Jubelum, 
is  one  that  is  far  less  extraordinary  than 
that  which  one-half  of  the  Masonic  words 
have  undergone  in  their  transformation 
from  their  original  to  their  present  form. 

Rule.  An  instrument  with  which 
straight  lines  are  drawn,  and  therefore  used 
in  the  Past  Master's  degree  as  an  em- 
blem admonishing  the  Master  punctually 
to  observe  his  duty,  to  press  forward  in  the 
path  of  virtue,  and,  neither  inclining  to  the 
right  nor  the  left,  in  all  his  actions  to  have 
eternity  in  view.  The  twenty-four  inch 
gauge  is  often  used  in  giving  the  instruc- 
tion as  a  substitute  for  this  working-tool. 
But  they  are  entirely  different ;  the  twenty- 
four  inch  gauge  is  one  of  the  working-tools 
of  an  Entered  Apprentice,  and  requires  to 
have  the  twenty-four  inches  marked  upon 
its  surface ;  the  rule  is  one  of  the  working- 
tools  of  a  Past  Master,  and  is  without  the 
twenty-four  divisions.  The  rule  is  appro- 
priated to  the  Past  or  Present  Master,  be- 
cause, by  its  assistance,  he  is  enabled  to  lay 
down  on  the  trestle-board  the  designs  for 
the  Craft  to  work  by. 

Rule  of  the  Templars.  The  code 
of  regulations  for  the  government  of  the 
Knights  Templars,  called  their  "Rule," 
was  drawn  up  by  St.  Bernard,  and  by  him 
submitted  to  Pope  Honorius  II.  and  the 
Council  of  Troyes,  by  both  of  whom  it  was 
approved.  It  is  still  in  existence,  and  con- 
sists of  seventy -two  articles,  partly  monas- 
tic and  partly  military  in  character,  the 
former  being  formed  upon  the  Rule  of  the 
Benedictines.  The  first  articles  of  the  Rule 
are  ecclesiastical  in  design,  and  require 
from  the  Knighta  a  strict  adherence  to  their 
religious  duties.  Article  twenty  defines  the 
costume  to  be  worn  by  the  brotherhood. 
The  professed  soldiers  were  to  wear  a  white 
costume,  and  the  serving  brethren  were 
prohibited  from  wearing  anything  but  a 
black  or  brown  cassock.  The  Rule  is  very 
particular  iu  reference  to  the  fit  and  shape 
of  the  dress  of  the  Knights,  so  as  to  secure 
uniformity.  The  brethren  are  forbidden  to 
receive  and  open  letters  from  their  friends 
without  first  submitting  them  to  the  in- 
spection of  their  superiors.  The  pastime 
of  hawking  is  prohibited,  but  the  nobler 
sport  of  lion-hunting  is  permitted,  because 
the  lion,  like  the  devil,  goes  about  contin- 
ually roaring,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour. 
Article  fifty-five  relates  to  the  reception  of 
married  members,  who  are  required  to  be- 
queath the  greater  portion  of  their  property 
to  the  Order.  The  fifty-eighth  article  regu- 
lates the  reception  of  aspirants,  or  secular 


680 


RULERS 


SABBATH 


persons,  who  are  not  to  be  received  imme- 
diately on  their  application  into  the  society, 
but  are  required  first  to  submit  to  an  ex- 
amination as  to  sincerity  and  fitness.  The 
seventy-second  and  concluding  article  re- 
fers to  the  intercourse  of  the  Knights  with 
females.  No  brother  was  allowed  to  kiss 
a  woman,  though  she  were  his  mother  or 
sister.  "  Let  the  soldier  of  the  cross,"  says 
St.  Bernard,  "shun  all  ladies'  lips."  At 
first  this  rule  was  rigidly  enforced,  but  in 
time  it  was  greatly  relaxed,  and  the  picture 
of  the  interior  of  a  house  of  the  Temple,  as 
portrayed  by  the  Abbot  of  Clairvaulx,  would 
scarcely  have  been  appropriate  a  century 
or  two  later. 

Rulers.  Obedience  to  constituted  au- 
thority has  always  been  inculcated  by  the 
laws  of  Masonry.  Thus,  in  the  installa- 
tion charges  as  printed  by  Preston,  the 
incoming  Master  is  required  to  promise  "  to 
hold  in  veneration  the  original  rulers  and 
patrons  of  the  Order  of  Masonry,  and  their 
regular  :successors,  supreme  and  subordi- 
nate." 

Russia.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  Russia,  in  1731,  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  Lord  Lovel  having  appointed 
Captain  John  Philips  Provincial  Grand 
Master  of  Russia.  It  is  said  that  there 
was  a  Lodge  in  St.  Petersburg  as  early  as 
1732;  but  its  meetings  must  have  been 
private,  as  the  first  notice  that  we  have  of 
a  Lodge  openly  assembling  in  the  empire 
is  that  of  Silence,"  established  at  St.  Pe- 
tersburg, and  the  "North  Star"  at  Riga, 
both  in  the  year  1750.  Thory  says  that 
Masonry  made  but  little  progress  in  Rus- 
sia until  1763,  when  the  Empress  Cather- 
ine II.  declared  herself  the  Protectress  of 
the  Order. 

In  1765  the  Rite  of  Melesino,  a  Rite  un- 
known in  any  other  country,  was  intro- 
duced by  a  Greek  of  that  name;  and  there 
were  at  the  same  time  the  York,  Swedish, 
and  Strict  Observance  Rites  practised  by 


other  Lodges.  In  1783  twelve  of  these 
Lodges  united  and  formed  the  National 
Grand  Lodge,  which,  rejecting  the  other 
Rites,  adopted  the  Swedish  system.  For  a 
time  Masonry  flourished  with  unalloyed 
prosperity  and  popularity.  But  about  the 
year  1794,  the  Empress,  becoming  alarmed 
at  the  political  condition  of  France,  and 
being  persuaded  that  the  members  of  some 
of  the  Lodges  were  in  opposition  to  the 
government,  withdrew  her  protection  from 
the  Order.  She  did  not,  however,  direct 
the  Lodges  to  be  closed,  but  most  of  them, 
in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  sovereign, 
ceased  to  meet.  The  few  that  continued  to 
work  were  placed  under  the  surveillance 
of  the  police,  and  soon  languished,  holding 
their  communications  only  at  distant  inter- 
vals. In  1797,  Paul  I.,  instigated  by  the 
Jesuits,  whom  he  had  recalled,  interdicted 
the  meetings  of  all  secret  societies,  and  es- 
pecially the  Masonic  Lodges.  Alexander 
succeeded  Paul  in  1801,  and  renewed  the 
interdict  of  his  predecessor.  In  1803,  M. 
Boeber,  counsellor  of  state  and  director 
of  the  school  of  cadets  at  St.  Petersburg, 
obtained  an  audience  of  the  Emperor, 
and  succeeded  in  removing  his  prejudices 
against  Freemasonry.  In  that  year  the 
edict  was  revoked,  the  Emperor  himself  was 
initiated  in  one  of  the  revived  Lodges,  and 
the  Grand  Orient  of  all  the  Russias  was 
established,  of  which  M.  Boeber  was  de- 
servedly elected  Grand  Master.  Freema- 
sonry now  again  flourished,  although  in 
1817  there  were  two  Grand  Lodges,  that  of 
Astrea,  which  worked  on  the  system  of 
tolerating  all  Rites,  and  a  Provincial  Lodge, 
which  practised  the  Swedish  system. 

But  suddenly,  on  the  12th  August,  1822, 
the  Emperor  Alexander,  instigated,  it  is 
said,  by  the  political  condition  of  Poland, 
issued  a  decree  ordering  all  the  Lodges  to 
be  closed,  and  forbidding  the  erection  of 
any  new  ones.  The  order  was  quietly 
obeyed  by  the  Freemasons  of  Russia. 


s. 


Sabaism.  The  worship  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars,  the  D^Ot^H  tO¥> 
Tsaba  Hashmaim,  "  the  host  of  heaven." 
It  was  practised  in  Persia,  Chaldea,  India, 
and  other  Oriental  countries,  at  an  early 
period  of  the  world's  history,  See  Blazing 
Star  and  Sun  Worship, 

Sabaoth.      m$Oy    HUT,    Jehovah 


Tsabaoth,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  a  very  usual 
appellation  for  the  Most  High  in  the  pro- 
phetical books,  especially  in  Isaiah,  Jere- 
miah, Zechariah,  and  Malachi,  but  not 
found  in  the  Pentateuch. 

Sabbath.  In  the  lecture  of  the  second 
or  Fellow  Craft's  degree,  it  is  said,  In  six 
days    God  created  the   heavens  and  the 


SABIANISM 


SAINT 


681 


earth,  and  rested  upon  the  seventh  day; 
the  seventh,  therefore,  our  ancient  brethren 
consecrated  as  a  day  of  rest  from  their 
labors,  thereby  enjoying  frequent  opportu- 
nities to  contemplate  the  glorious  works  of 
creation,  and  .to  adore  their  great  Creator. 

Sabianism.    See  Sabaism. 

Sackcloth.  In  the  Rose  Croix  ritual, 
sackcloth  is  a  symbol  of  grief  and  humilia- 
tion for  the  loss  of  that  which  it  is  the  ob- 
ject of  the  degree  to  recover. 

Sacred  Asylum  of  High  Ma- 
sonry. In  the  Institutes,  Statutes,  and 
Regulations,  signed  by  Adington,  Chancel- 
lor, and  which  are  given  in  the  Recueil  des 
Acles  du  Supreme  Conseil  du  France,  as  a 
sequence  to  the  Constitutions  of  1762,  this 
title  is  given  to  anv  subordinate  body  of 
the  Scottish  Rite.  Thus  in  Article  XVI. : 
"At  the  time  of  the  installation  of  a  Sa- 
cred Asylum  of  High  Masonry,  the  mem- 
bers composing  it  shall  all  make  and  sign 
their  pledge  of  obedience  to  the  Institutes, 
Statutes,  and  General  Regulations  of  High 
Masonry."  In  this  document  the  Rite  is 
always  called  "  High  Masonry,"  and  any 
body,  whether  a  Lodge  of  Perfection,  a 
Chapter  of  Rose  Croix,  or  a  Council  of 
Kadosh,  is  styled  a  "  Sacred  Asylum." 

Sacred  Lodge.  In  the  lectures  ac- 
cording to  the  English  system,  we  find  this 
definition  of  the  "Sacred  Lodge."  The 
symbol  has  not  been  preserved  in  the 
American  ritual.  Over  the  Sacred  Lodge 
presided  Solomon,  the  greatest  of  kings, 
and  the  wisest  of  men;  Hiram,  the  great 
and  learned  king  of  Tyre;  and  Hiram 
Abif,  the  widow's  son,  of  the  tribe  of  Naph- 
tali.  It  was  held  in  the  bowels  of  the 
sacred  Mount  Moriah,  under  the  part 
whereon  was  erected  the  Holy  of  Holies. 
On  this  mount  it  was  where  Abraham  con- 
firmed his  faith  by  his  readiness  to  offer  up 
his  only  son,  Isaac.  Here  it  was  where 
David  offered  that  acceptable  sacrifice  on 
the  threshing-floor  of  Araunah  by  which 
the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  appeased,  and 
the  plague  stayed  from  his  people.  Here 
it  was  where  the  Lord  delivered  to  David, 
in  a  dream,  the  plan  of  the  glorious  Tem- 
ple, afterwards  erected  by  our  noble  Grand 
Master,  King  Solomon.  And  lastly,  here 
it  was  where  he  declared  he  would  establish 
his  sacred  name  and  word,  which  should 
never  pass  away ;  and  for  these  reasons 
this  was  justly  styled  the  Sacred  Lodge. 

Sacriflcant.  (Sacrifiant.)  A  degree 
in  the  Archives  of  the  Lodge  of  Saint  Louis 
des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais. 

Sacrifice,  Altar  of.    See  Altar. 

Sacrificer.     {Sacrificateur.)    1.  A  de- 

free  in  the  Archives  of  the  Lodge  of  Saint 
/ouis  des  Amis  Reunis  at  Calais.   2.  A  de- 
gree in  the  collection  of  Pyron. 
4L 


Saint  Adhahell.  Introduced  into 
the  Cooke  MS.,  where  the  allusion  evi- 
dently is  to  St.  Amphibalus,  which  see. 

Saint  Alban.  St.  Alban,  or  Albanus, 
the  proto-martyr  of  England,  was  born  in 
the  third  century,  at  Verulam,  now  St. 
Albans,  in  Hertfordshire.  In  his  youth  he 
visited  Rome,  and  served  seven  years  as  a 
soldier  under  the  Emperor  Diocletian. 
On  his  return  to  Britain  he  embraced 
Christianity,  and  was  the  first  who  suffered 
martyrdom  in  the  great  persecution  which 
raged  during  the  reign  of  that  emperor. 
The  Freemasons  of  England  have  claimed 
St.  Alban  as  being  intimately  connected 
with  the  early  history  of  the  Fraternity  in 
that  island.  Preston,  in  his  Illustrations, 
quotes  the  following  statement  from  an  old 
manuscript  which,  he  says,  had  been  in 
the  possession  of  Nicholas  Stone,  a  curious 
sculptor  under  the  celebrated  architect, 
Inigo  Jones : 

"  St.  Alban  loved  Masons  well  and  cher- 
ished them  much,  and  made  their  pay 
right  good ;  for  he  gave  them  two  shillings 
per  week  and  four  pence  to  their  cheer; 
whereas  before  that  time,  in  all  the  land,  a 
Mason  had  but  a  penny  a  day  and  his 
meat,  until  St.  Alban  mended  it.  And  he 
got  them  a  charter  from  the  king  and  his 
council  for  to  hold  a  general  council,  and 
gave  it  to  name  Assembly.  Thereat  he 
was  himself,  and  did  help  to  make  Masons 
and  gave  them  good  charges." 

We  have  another  tradition  on  the  same 
subject;  for  in  a  little  work  published  in 
1760-5,  at  London,  under  the  title  of  Multa 
Paucis  for  the  Lovers  of  Secrets,  we  find  the 
following  statement  in  reference  to  the 
Masonic  character  and  position  of  St.  Al- 
ban : 

"In  the  following  (the  third)  century, 
Gordian  sent  many  architects  over  [into 
England],  who  constituted  themselves  into 
Lodges,  and  instructed  the  Craftsmen  in 
the  true  principles  of  Freemasonry;  and  a 
few  years  later,  Carausius  was  made  empe- 
ror of  the  British  Isles,  and,  being  a  great 
lover  of  art  and  science,  appointed  Albanus 
Grand  Master  of  Masons,  who  employed 
the  Fraternity  in  building  the  palace  of 
Verulam,  or  St.  Albans." 

Both  of  these  statements  are  simply 
legends,  or  traditions  of  the  not  unusual 
character,  in  which  historical  facts  are 
destroyed  by  legendary  additions.  The 
fact  that  St.  Alban  lived  at  Verulam  may 
be  true — most  probably  is  so.  It  is  another 
fact  that  a  splendid  Episcopal  palace  was 
built  there,  whether  in  the  time  of  St.  Al- 
ban or  not  is  not  so  certain  ;  but  the  affirm- 
ative has  been  assumed;  and  hence  it  easily 
followed  that,  if  built  in  his  time,  he  must 
have  superintended  the  building  of  the 


682 


SAINT 


SAINT 


edifice.  He  would,  of  course,  employ  the 
workmen,  give  them  his  patronage,  and,  to 
some  extent,  by  his  superior  abilities,  direct 
their  labors.  Nothing  was  easier,  then, 
than  to  make  him,  after  all  this,  a  Grand 
Master.  The  assumption  that  St.  Alban 
built  the  palace  at  Verulam  was  very  nat- 
ural, because  when  the  true  builder's  name 
was  lost,  —  supposing  it  to  have  been  so,  — 
St.  Alban  was  there  ready  to  take  his  place, 
Verulam  having  been  his  birthplace. 

The  increase  of  pay  for  labor,  and  the 
annual  congregation  of  the  Masons  in  a 
General  Assembly,  having  been  subsequent 
events,  the  exact  date  of  whose  first  occur- 
rence had  been  lost,  by  a  process  common 
in  the  development  of  traditions,  they  were 
readily  transferred  to  the  same  era  as  the 
building  of  the  palace  at  Verulam.  It  is 
not  even  necessary  to  suppose,  by  way  of 
explanation,  as  Preston  does,  that  St.  Alban 
was  a  celebrated  architect,  and  a  real  encour- 
ager  of  able  workmen.  The  whole  of  the 
tradition  is  worked  out  of  these  simple 
facts :  that  architecture  began  to  be  encour- 
aged in  England  about  the  third  century ; 
that  St.  Alban  lived  at  that  time  at  Veru- 
lam ;  that  a  palace  was  erected  then,  or  at 
some  subsequent  period,  in  the  same  place ; 
and  in  the  lapse  of  time,  Verulam,  St. 
Alban,  and  the  Freemasons  became  min- 
gled together  in  one  tradition.  The  in- 
quiring student  of  history  will  neither  assert 
nor  deny  that  St.  Alban  built  the  palace  of 
Verulam.  He  will  be  content  with  taking 
him  as  the  representative  of  tbat  builder, 
if  he  was  not  the  builder  himself;  and  he 
will  thus  recognize  the  proto-martyr  as  the 
type  of  what  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
Masonry  of  his  age,  or,  perhaps,  only  of 
the  age  in  which  the  tradition  received  its 
form. 

Saint  Albans,  Karl  of.    Anderson 

i2d  edition,  101,)  says,  and,  after  him, 
'reston,  that  a  General  Assembly  of  the 
Craft  was  held  on  Dec.  27,  1663,  at  which 
Henry  Jermyn,  Earl  of  St.  Albans,  was 
elected  Grand  Master,  who  appointed  Sir 
John  Denham  his  Deputy,  and  Christopher 
Wren  and  John  Webb  his  Wardens.  Sev- 
eral useful  regulations  were  made  at  this 
assembly,  known  as  the  "  Regulations  of 
1663."  These  regulations  are  given  by 
Anderson  and  by  Preston,  and  also  in  the 
Roberts  MS.,  with  the  addition  of  the  oath 
of  secrecy.  The  Roberts  MS.  says  that  the 
assembly  was  held  on  the  8th  of  December. 
Saint  Amphibalus.  The  ecclesias- 
tical legend  is  that  St.  Amphibalus  came 
to  England,  and  converted  St.  Alban,  who 
was  the  great  patron  of  Masonry.  The 
Old  Constitutions  do  not  speak  of  him,  ex- 
cept the  Cooke  MS.,  which  has  the  follow- 
ing passage:  "And  sone  after  that  came 


Seynt  Adhabell  into  Englond,  and  he  con- 
vertyd  Seynt  Albon  to  Cristendome ; " 
where,  evidently,  St.  Adhabell  is  meant 
for  St.  Amphibalus.  But  amphibolus  is  the 
Latin  name  of  a  cloak  worn  by  priests  over 
their  other  garments ;  and  Higgins  ( Celtic 
Druids,  p.  201,)  has  shown  that  there  was 
no  such  saint,  but  that  the  "  Sanctus  Am- 
phibolus" was  merely  the  holy  cloak 
brought  by  St.  Augustine  to  England. 
His  connection  with  the  history  of  the 
origin  of  Masonry  in  England  is,  there- 
fore, altogether  apocryphal. 

Saint  Andrew,  Knight  of.  See 
Knight  of  St.  Andrew. 

Saint  Andrew's  Day.  The  30th 
of  November,  adopted  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Scotland  as  the  day  of  its  Annual  Com- 
munication. 

Saint  Augustine.  St.  Augustine,  or 
St.  Austin,  was  sent  with  forty  monks  into 
England,  about  the  end  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, to  evangelize  the  country.  Lenning 
says  that,  according  to  a  tradition,  he  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  corporations  of 
builders,  and  was  recognized  as  their  Grand 
Master.  I  can  find  no  such  tradition,  nor, 
indeed,  even  the  name  of  St.  Augustine,  in 
any  of  the  Old  Constitutions  which  con- 
tain the  "  Legend  of  the  Craft." 

Saint  Bernard.  Saint  Bernard  of 
Clairvaulx  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
names  of  the  church  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
In  1128,  he  was  present  at  the  Council  of 
Troyes,  where,  through  his  influence,  the 
Order  of  Knights  Templars  was  confirmed  ; 
and  he  himself  is  said  to  have  composed 
the  Rule  or  constitution  by  which  they 
were  afterwards  governed.  Throughout 
his  life  he  was  distinguished  for  his  warm 
attachment  to  the  Templars,  and  "  rarely," 
says  Burnes,  [Sketch  of  K.  T.,  p.  12),  "  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  Holy  Land,  in  which  he  did 
not  praise  them,  and  recommend  them  to 
the  favor  and  protection  of  the  great."  To 
his  influence,  untiringly  exerted  in  their 
behalf,  has  always  been  attributed  the  rapid 
increase  of  the  Order  in  wealth  and  popu- 
larity. 

Saint  Domingo.  One  of  the  prin- 
cipal islands  of  the  West  Indies.  Free- 
masonry was  introduced  there  at  an  early 
period  in  the  last  century.  Rebold  says  in 
1746.  It  must  certainly  have  been  in  an 
active  condition  there  at  a  time  not  long 
after,  for  in  1761  Stephen  Morin,  who  had 
been  deputed  by  the  Council  of  Emperors 
of  the  East  and  West  to  propagate  the 
high  degrees,  selected  St.  Domingo  for  the 
seat  of  his  Grand  East,  and  thence  dissem- 
inated the  system,  which  resulted  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.    The  French 


SAINTE 


or      „k. 


2) 


SAINT 


683 


revolution,  and  the  insurrection  of  the  slaves 
at  about  the  same  period,  was  for  a  time 
fatal  to  the  progress  of  Masonry  in  St.  Do- 
mingo. Subsequently,  the  island  was  di- 
vided into  two  independent  governments 
—  that  of  Dominica,  inhabited  by  whites, 
and  that  of  Hayti,  inhabited  by  blacks.  In 
each  of  these  a  Masonic  obedience  has  been 
organized.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Hayti  has 
been  charged  with  irregularity  in  its  for- 
mation, and  has  not  been  recognized  by  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  the  United  States.  It  has 
been,  however,  by  those  of  Europe  generally, 
and  a  representative  from  it  was  accredited 
at  the  Congress  of  Paris,  held  in  1855. 
Masonry  was  revived  in  Dominica,  Rebold 
says,  in  1822 ;  other  authorities  say  in  1855. 
A  Grand  Lodge  was  organized  at  the  city 
of  St.  Domingo,  December  11,  1858.  At 
the  present  time  Dominican  Masonry  is 
established  under  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite,  and  the  National  Grand 
Orient  of  the  Dominican  Republic  is  di- 
vided into  four  sections,  namely,  a  Grand 
Lodge,  Grand  Chapter  General,  Grand 
Consistory  General  and  Supreme  Council. 
The  last  body  has  not  been  recognized  by 
the  Mother  Council  at  Charleston,  since  its 
establishment  is  in  violation  of  the  Scot- 
tish Constitutions,  which  prescribe  one  Su- 
preme Council  only  for  all  the  West  India 
Islands. 

Saint*'  Croix,  Emanuel  Joseph 
Guilhem  de  Clermont  -  Lodeve 
de.  A  French  antiquary,  and  member  of 
the  Institute,  who  was  born  at  Mormoiron, 
in  1746,  and  died  in  1809.  His  work  pub- 
lished in  two  volumes  in  1784,  and  entitled, 
Recherches  Historiques  et  Critiques  sur  les 
Mysteres  du  Pagamsme,  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  and  instructive  essays  that  we 
have  in  any  language  on  the  ancient  mys- 
teries, —  those  religious  associations  whose 
history  aud  design  so  closely  connect  them 
with  Freemasonry.  The  later  editions  were 
enriched  by  the  valuable  notes  of  Silvestre 
de  Tracy. 

Saint  George's  Day.  The  twenty- 
third  of  April.  Being  the  patron  saint  of 
England,  his  festival  is  celebrated  by  the 
Grand  Lodge.  The  Constitution  requires 
that  "  there  shall  be  a  Masonic  festival  next 
following  St.  George's  Day,  which  shall  be 
dedicated  to  brotherly  love  and  refresh- 
ment." It  is  the  occasion  of  the  "  Grand 
Feast." 

Saint  Germain.  A  town  in  France, 
about  ten  miles  from  Paris,  where  James 
II.  established  his  court  after  his  expulsion 
from  England,  and  where  he  died.  Oliver 
says,  (Landm.,  ii.  28,)  and  the  statement  has 
been  repeatedly  made  by  others,  that  the 
followers  of  the  dethroned  monarch  who 
accompanied  him  in  his  exile,  carried  Free- 


masonry into  France,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  that  system  of  innovation  which 
subsequently  threw  the  Order  into  confu- 
sion by  the  establishment  of  a  new  degree, 
which  they  called  the  Chevalier  Macon 
Ecossais,  and  which  they  worked  in  the 
Lodge  of  St.  Germain.  But  Oliver  has 
here  antedated  history.  James  II.  died  in 
1701,  and  Freemasonry  was  not  introduced 
into  France  from  England  until  1725.  The 
exiled  house  of  Stuart  undoubtedly  made 
use  of  Masonry  as  an  instrument  to  aid  in 
their  attempted  restoration ;  but  their  con- 
nection with  the  Institution  must  have  been 
after  the  time  of  James  II.,  and  most  proba- 
bly under  the  auspices  of  his  grandson,  the 
Young  Pretender,  Charles  Edward. 

Saint  John,  Favorite  Brother 
of.  The  eighth  degree  of  the  Swedish 
Rite. 

Saint  John,  Lodge  of.  See  Lodge 
0/ St.  John. 

St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  Knight 
of.     See  Knight  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem. 

Saint  John's  Masonry.  The  Con- 
stitution of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland 
(chap,  ii.)  declares  that  that  body  "prac- 
tises and  recognizes  no  degrees  of  Masonry 
but  those  of  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and 
Master  Mason,  denominated  St.  Joh?i's  Ma- 
sonry." 

Saint  John's  Order.  In  a  system 
of  Masonry  which  Oliver  says  (Mirror  for 
the  Johannites,  p.  58,)  was  "used,  as  it  is 
confidently  affirmed,  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury," (but  I  doubt  if  it  could  be  traced 
farther  back  than  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth,)  this  appellation  occurs  in  the 
obligation : 

"  That  you  will  always  keep,  guard,  and  conceal, 
And  from  this  time  you  never  will  reveal, 
Either  to  M.  M.,  F.  C,  or  Apprentice, 
Of  St.  John's  OKDEK,what  our  grand  intent  is." 

The  same  title  of  "Joannis  Ordo"  is 
given  in  the  document  of  uncertain  date 
known  as  the  "  Charter  of  Cologne." 

St.  John  the  Almoner.   The  son  of 

the  King  of  Cyprus,  and  born  in  that  island 
in  the  sixth  century.  He  was  elected  Pa- 
triarch of  Alexandria,  and  has  been  can- 
onized by  both  the  Greek  and  Roman 
Churches,  his  festival  among  the  former 
occurring  on  the  11th  of  November,  and 
among  the  latter  on  the  23d  of  January. 
Bazot  (Man.  du  Franc- Macon.,  p.  144,)  thinks 
that  it  is  this  saint,  and  not  St.  John  the 
Evangelist  or  St.  John  the  Baptist,  who  is 
meant  as  the  true  patron  of  our  Order. 
"  He  quitted  his  country  and  the  hope  of  a 
throne,"  says  this  author,  "  to  go  to  Jeru- 
salem, that  he  might  generously  aid  and 
assist  the  knights  and  pilgrims.  He 
founded  a  hospital,  and  organized  a  frater- 


684 


SAINT 


SAINT 


nity  to  attend  upon  sick  and  wounded 
Christians,  and  to  bestow  pecuniary  aid 
upon  the  pilgrims  who  visited  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  St.  John,  who  was  worthy  to 
become  the  patron  of  a  society  whose  only 
object  is  charity,  exposed  his  life  a  thou- 
sand times  in  the  cause  of  virtue.  Neither 
war,  nor  pestilence,  nor  the  fury  of  the  in- 
fidels, could  deter  him  from  pursuits  of 
benevolence.  But  death,  at  length,  arrested 
him  in  the  midst  of  his  labors.  Yet  he  left 
the  example  of  his  virtues  to  the  brethren, 
who  have  made  it  their  duty  to  endeavor 
to  imitate  them.  Rome  canonized  him  un- 
der the  name  of  St.  John  the  Almoner, 
or  St.  John  of  Jerusalem ;  and  the  Masons 
—  whose  temples,  overthrown  by  the  barba- 
rians, he  had  caused  to  be  rebuilt  —  selected 
him  with  one  accord  as  their  patron."  Oli- 
ver, however,  {Mirror  for  the  Johannite  Ma- 
sons, p.  39,)  very  properly  shows  the  error 
of  appropriating  the  patronage  of  Masonry 
to  this  saint,  since  the  festivals  of  the  Ord«r 
are  June  24  and  December  27,  while  those 
of  St.  John  the  Almoner  are  January  23 
and  November  11.  He  has,  however,  been 
selected  as  the  patron  of  the  Masonic  Order 
of  the  Templars,  and  their  Commanderies 
are  dedicated  to  his  honor  on  account  of 
his  charity  to  the  poor,  whom  he  called  his 
"  Masters,"  because  he  owed  them  all  ser- 
vice, and  on  account  of  his  establishment 
of  hospitals  for  the  succor  of  pilgrims  in 
the  East. 

Saint  John  the  Baptist.  One  of 
the  patron  saints  of  Freemasonry,  and  at 
one  time,  indeed,  the  only  one,  the  name 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  having  been  in- 
troduced subsequent  to  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. His  festival  occurs  on  the  24th  of 
June,  and  is  very  generally  celebrated  by  the 
Masonic  fraternity.     Dalcho    (Ahim  Rez., 

g.  150,)  says  that  "the  stern  integrity  of 
t.  John  the  Baptist,  which  induced  him 
to  forego  every  minor  consideration  in  dis- 
charging the  obligations  he  owed  to  God  ; 
the  unshaken  firmness  with  which  he  met 
martyrdom  rather  than  betray  his  duty  to 
his  Master ;  his  steady  reproval  of  vice,  and 
continued  preaching  of  repentance  and 
virtue,  make  him  a  fit  patron  of  the  Ma- 
sonic institution." 

The  Charter  of  Cologne  says  :  "  We  cel- 
ebrate, annually,  the  memory  of  St.  John, 
the  Forerunner  of  Christ  and  the  Patron 
of  our  Community."  The  Knights  Hos- 
pitallers also  dedicated  their  Order  to  him ; 
and  the  ancient  expression  of  our  ritual, 
which  speaks  of  a  "  Lodge  of  the  Holy  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,"  probably  refers  to  the 
same  saint. 

Krause,  in  his  Kunsturhunden,  (p.  295- 
305,)  gives  abundant  historical  proofs  that 
the  earliest  Masons  adopted  St.  John  the 


Baptist,  and  not  St.  John  the  Evangelist, 
as  their  patron.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  was  revived 
on  St.  John  the  Baptist's  day,  1717,  and 
that  the  annual  feast  was  kept  on  that  day 
until  1727,  when  it  was  held  for  the  first 
time  on  the  festival  of  the  Evangelist. 
Lawrie  says  that  the  Scottish  Masons  al- 
ways kept  the  festival  of  the  Baptist  until 
1737,  when  the  Grand  Lodge  changed  the 
time  of  the  annual  election  to  St.  Andrew's 
day. 

Saint  John  the  Evangelist.  One 
of  the  patron  saints  of  Freemasonry,  whose 
festival  is  celebrated  on  the  27th  of  Decem- 
ber. His  constant  admonition,  in  his  Epis- 
tles, to  the  cultivation  of  brotherly  love, 
and  the  mystical  nature  of  his  Apocalyptic 
visions,  have  been,  perhaps,  the  principal 
reasons  for  the  veneration  paid  to  him  by 
the  Craft.  Notwithstanding  a  well-known 
tradition,  all  documentary  evidence  shows 
that  the  connection  of  the  name  of  the 
Evangelist  with  the  Masonic  Order  is  to  be 
dated  long  after  the  sixteenth  century,  be- 
fore which  time  St  John  the  Baptist  was 
exclusively  the  patron  saint  of  Masonry. 
The  two  are,  however,  now  always  united, 
for  reasons  set  forth  in  the  article  on  the 
Dedication  of  Lodges,  which  see. 

Saint  !Leger.    See  A  Idworth,  Mrs. 

Saint  Martin,  Louis  Claude.  A 
mystical  writer  and  Masonic  leader  of  con- 
siderable reputation  in  the  last  century, 
and  the  founder  of  the  Rite  of  Martinism. 
He  was  born  at  Amboise,  in  France,  on 
January  18,  1743,  being  descended  from  a 
family  distinguished  in  the  military  ser- 
vice of  the  kingdom.  Saint  Martin  when 
a  youth  made  great  progress  in  his  studies, 
and  became  the  master  of  several  ancient 
and  modern  languages.  After  leaving 
school,  he  entered  the  army,  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  his  family,  becoming  a 
member  of  the  regiment  of  Foix.  But  after 
six  years  of  service,  he  retired  from  a  pro- 
fession which  he  found  uncongenial  with 
his  fondness  for  metaphysical  pursuits. 
He  then  travelled  in  Switzerland,  Germany, 
England,  and  Italy,  and  finally  retired  to 
Lyons,  where  he  remained  for  three  years 
in  a  state  of  almost  absolute  seclusion, 
known  to  but  few  persons,  and  pursuing 
his  philosophic  studies.  He  then  repaired 
to  Paris,  where,  notwithstanding  the  tu- 
multuous scenes  of  the  revolution  which 
was  working  around,  he  remained  unmoved 
by  the  terrible  events  of  the  day,  and  intent 
only  on  the  prosecution  of  his  theosophic 
studies.  Attracted  by  the  mystical  systems 
of  Boehme  and  Swedenborg,  he  became 
himself  a  mystic  of  no  mean  pretensions, 
and  attracted  around  him  a  crowd  of  dis- 
ciples, who  were  content,  as  they  said,  to 


SAINT 


SAINTS 


685 


hear,  without  understanding,  the  teachings 
of  their  leader.  In  1775  appeared  his  first 
and  most  important  work,  entitled  Des 
Erreurs  et  de  la  Verite,  ou  les  Hommes  rap- 
peles  au  principe  universal  de  la  Science. 
This  work,  which  contained  an  exposition  of 
the  ideology  of  Saint  Martin,  acquired  for  its 
author,  by  its  unintelligible  transcendental- 
ism, the  title  of  the  "  Kant  of  Germany." 
Saint  Martin  had  published  this  work  under 
the  pseudonym  of  the  "Unknown  Philoso- 
pher," (le  Philosophe  inconnu;)  whence  he 
was  subsequently  known  by  this  name,which 
was  also  assumed  by  some  of  his  Masonic 
adherents;  and  even  a  degree  bearing  that 
title  was  invented  and  inserted  in  the  Rite 
of  Philalethes.  The  treatise  Des  Erreurs 
et  de  la  Verite  was  in  fact  made  a  sort  of 
text-book  by  the  Philalethans,  and  highly 
recommended  by  the  Order  of  the  Initiated 
Knights  and  Brothers  of  Asia,  whose  sys- 
tem was  in  fact  a  compound  of  theosophy 
and  mysticism.  It  was  so  popular,  that 
between  1775  and  1784  it  had  been  through 
five  editions. 

Saint  Martin,  in  the  commencement  of 
his  Masonic  career,  attached  himself  to 
Martinez  Paschalis,  of  whom  he  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  disciples.  But  he 
subsequently  attempted  a  reform  of  the  sys- 
tem of  Paschalis,  and  established  what  he 
called  a  Rectified  Rite,  but  which  is  better 
known  as  the  Rite  or  system  of  Martinism, 
which  consisted  of  ten  degrees.  It  was  itself 
subsequently  reformed,  and,  being  reduced 
to  seven  degrees,  was  introduced  into  some 
of  the  Lodges  of  Germany  under  the  name 
of  the  Reformed  Eccossism  of  Saint  Martin. 

The  theosophic  doctrines  of  Saint  Martin 
were  introduced  into  the  Masonic  Lodges 
of  Russia  by  Count  Gabrianko  and  Admi- 
ral PleshcheyefF,  and  soon  became  popular. 
Under  them  the  Martinist  Lodges  of  Rus- 
sia became  distinguished  not  only  for  their 
Masonic  and  religious  spirit, — although  too 
much  tinged  with  the  mysticism  of  Jacob 
Boehme  and  their  founder,  —  but  for  an 
active  zeal  in  practical  works  of  charity  of 
both  a  private  and  public  character. 

The  character  of  Saint  Martin  has,  I 
think,  been  much  mistaken,  especially  by 
Masonic  writers.  Those  who,  like  Voltaire, 
have  derided  his  metaphysical  theories, 
seem  to  have  forgotten  the  excellence  of 
his  private  character,  his  kindness  of  heart, 
his  amiable  manners,  and  his  varied  and 
extensive  erudition.  Nor  should  it  be  for- 
gotten that  the  true  object  of  all  his  Ma- 
sonic labors  was  to  introduce  into  the 
Lodges  of  France  a  spirit  of  pure  religion. 
His  theory  of  the  origin  of  Freemasonry 
was  not,  however,  based  on  any  historical 
research,  and  is  of  no  value,  for  he  believed 
that  it  was  an  emanation  of  the  Divinity, 


and  was  to  be  traced  to  the  very  beginning 
of  the  world. 

Saint  Nieaise.  A  considerable  sen- 
sation was  produced  in  Masonic  circles  by 
the  appearance  at  Frankfort,  in  1755,  of  a 
work  entitled  Saint  Nicaise,  odereine  Samm- 
lung  merkwurdiger  Maurerischer  Brief e,  fur 
Freimaurer  und  die  es  nicht.  A  second 
edition  was  issued  in  1786.  Its  title-page 
asserts  it  to  be  a  translation  from  the 
French,  but  it  was  really  written  by  Dr. 
Starck.  It  professes  to  contain  the  letters 
of  a  French  Freemason  who  was  travelling 
on  account  of  Freemasonry,  and  having 
learned  the  mode  of  work  in  England  and 
Germany,  had  become  dissatisfied  with 
both,  and  had  retired  into  a  cloister  in 
France.  It  was  really  intended,  although 
Starck  had  abandoned  Masonry,  to  defend 
his  system  of  Spiritual  Templarism,  in 
opposition  to  that  of  the  Baron  Von 
Hund.  Accordingly,  it  was  answered  in 
1786  by  Von  Sprengseisen,  who  was  an 
ardent  friend  and  admirer  of  Von  Hund,  in 
a  work  entitled  Anti  Saint  Nicaise,  which  was 
immediately  followed  by  two  other  essays 
by  the  same  author,  entitled  Archimedes, 
and  Scala  Algebraica  (Economica.  These 
three  works  have  become  exceedingly  rare. 

Saint  Paul's  Church.  As  St. 
Paul's,  the  Cathedral  Church  of  London, 
was  rebuilt  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren, — who 
is  called,  in  the  Book  of  Constitutions,  the 
Grand  Master  of  Masons,  —  some  writers 
have  advanced  the  theory  that  Freema- 
sonry took  its  origin  at  the  construction  of 
that  edifice.  In  the  fourth  degree  of  Fess- 
ler's  Rite, — which  is  occupied  in  the  crit- 
ical examination  of  the  various  theories  on 
the  origin  of  Freemasonry,  —  among  the 
seven  sources  that  are  considered,  the  build- 
ing of  St.  Paul's  Church  is  one.  Nicolai 
does  not  positively  assert  the  theory ;  but 
he  thinks  it  not  an  improbable  one,  and 
believes  that  a  new  system  of  symbols  was 
at  that  time  invented.  It  is  said  that  there 
was,  before  the  revival  in  1717,  an  old 
Lodge  of  St.  Paul's ;  and  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  Operative  Masons  en- 
gaged upon  the  building  were  united  with 
the  architects  and  men  of  other  professions 
in  the  formation  of  a  Lodge,  under  the 
regulation  which  no  longer  restricted  the 
Institution  to  Operative  Masonry.  But 
there  is  no  authentic  historical  evidence 
that  Freemasonry  first  took  its  rise  at  the 
building  of  St.  Paul's  Church. 

Saints  John.  The  "Holy  Saints 
John,"  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
ritual  of  Symbolic  Masonry,  are  St.  John 
the  Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist, 
(which  see.)  The  original  dedication  of 
Lodges  was  to  the  "  Holy  St.  John,"  mean- 
ing the  Baptist. 


686 


SAINTS 


SALUTE 


Saints  John,  Festivals  of.    See 

Festivals. 
Saint  Victor.  Louis  Onillemain 

de.  A  French  Masonic  writer,  who  pub- 
lished, in  1781,  a  work  in  Adonhiramite 
Masonry,  entitled  Receuil  Precieux  de  la 
Maconnerie  Adonhiramite.  This  volume 
contained  the  ritual  of  the  first  four  de- 
grees, and  was  followed,  in  1787,  by  an- 
other, which  contained  the  higher  degrees 
of  the  Rite.  If  St.  Victor  was  not  the 
inventor  of  this  Rite,  he  at  least  modified 
and  established  it  as  a  working  system, 
and,  by  his  writings  and  his  labors,  gave  to 
it  whatever  popularity  it  at  one  time  pos- 
sessed. Subsequent  to  the  publication  of 
his  Receuil  Precieux,  he  wrote  his  Origitie 
de  la  Maconnerie  Adonhiramite,  a  learned 
and  interesting  work,  in  which  he  seeks  to 
trace  the  source  of  the  Masonic  initiation 
to  the  mysteries  of  the  Egyptian  priest- 
hood. 

Sal fi.  Francesco.  An  Italian  phil- 
osopher and  litterateur,  who  was  born  at 
Cozenza,  in  Calabria,  Jan.  1,  1759,  and 
died  at  Passy,  near  Paris,  Sept.  1832.  He 
was  at  one  time  professor  of  history  and 
philosophy  at  Milan.  He  was  a  prolific 
writer,  and  the  author  of  many  works  on 
history  and  political  economy.  He  pub- 
lished, also,  several  poems  and  dramas,  and 
received,  in  1811,  the  prize  given  by  the 
Lodge  at  Leghorn  for  a  Masonic  essay,  en- 
titled, Delia  utiltd  della  Franca- Massoneria 
sotto  il  rapporto  filantropico  e  morale. 

Salix.  A  significant  word  in  the  high 
degrees,  invented,  most  probably,  at  first 
for  the  system  of  the  Council  of  Emperors 
of  the  East  and  West,  and  transferred  to 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 
It  is  derived,  say  the  old  French  rituals, 
from  the  initials  of  a  part  of  a  sentence, 
and  has,  therefore,  no  other  meaning. 

Salle  des  Pas  Perdue.  ( The  Hall 
of  the  Lost  Steps.)  The  French  thus  call 
the  anteroom  in  which  visitors  are  placed 
before  their  admission  into  the  Lodge. 
The  Germans  call  it  the  fore-court  ( Vor- 
hof),  and  sometimes,  like  the  French,  der 
Saal  der  verlornen  Schritte.  Lenning  says 
that  it  derives  its  name  from  the  fact  that 
every  step  taken  before  entrance  into  the 
Fraternity,  or  not  made  in  accordance  with 
the  precepts  of  the  Order,  is  considered  as 
lost. 

Salomonis  Sanetiflcatus  Illumi- 
natus.  Magnus  Jehova.  The  title 
of  the  reigning  Master  or  third  class  of  the 
Illuminated  Chapter  according  to  the  Swed- 
ish system. 

Salsette.  An  island  in  the  Bay  of  Bom- 
bay, celebrated  for  stupendous  caverns  exca- 
vated artificially  out  of  the  solid  rock,  with 
a  labor  which  must,  says  Mr.  Grose,  have 


been  equal  to  that  of  erecting  the  Pyramids, 
and  which  were  appropriated  to  the  initia- 
tions in  the  Ancient  Mysteries  of  India. 

Salt.  In  the  Helvetian  ritual  salt  is 
added  to  corn,  wine,  and  oil  as  one  of  the 
elements  of  consecration,  because  it  is  a 
symbol  of  the  wisdom  and  learning  which 
should  characterize  a  Mason's  Lodge.  When 
the  foundation-stone  of  a  Lodge  is  laid,  the 
Helvetian  ritual  directs  that  it  shall  be 
sprinkled  with  salt,  and  this  formula  be 
used:  "May  this  undertaking,  contrived 
by  wisdom,  be  executed  in  strength  and 
adorned  with  beauty,  so  that  it  may  be  a 
house  where  peace,  harmony,  and  broth- 
erly love  shall  perpetually  reign." 

Salutation.  Lenning  says,  that  in 
accordance  with  the  usage  of  the  Operative 
Masons,  it  was  formerly  the  custom  for  a 
strange  brother,  when  he  visited  a  Lodge, 
to  bring  to  it  such  a  salutation  as  this: 
"From  the  Right  Worshipful  Brethren 
and  Fellows  of  a  Right  Worshipful  and 
Holy  Lodge  of  St.  John."  The  English 
salutation,  at  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, was :  "  From  the  Right  Worshipful 
Brothers  and  Fellows  of  the  Right  Wor- 
shipful and  Holy  Lodge  of  St.  John,  from 
whence  I  come  and  greet  you  thrice  heartily 
well."  The  custom  has  become  obsolete, 
although  there  is  an  allusion  to  it  in  the  an- 
swer to  the  question,  "Whence  come  you?" 
in  the  modern  catechism  of  the  Entered 
Apprentice's  degree.  But  Lenning  is  incor- 
rect in  saying  that  the  salutation  went  out 
of  use  after  the  introduction  of  certificates. 
The  salutation  was,  as  has  been  seen,  in  use 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  certificates 
were  required  as  far  back  at  least  as  the 
year  1683. 

Sal  lit  cm.  {Lot.  Health.)  When  the 
Romans  wrote  friendly  letters,  they  pre- 
fixed the  letter  S  as  the  initial  of  Salutem, 
or  health,  and  thus  the  writer  expressed  a 
wish  for  the  health  of  his  correspondent. 
At  the  head  of  Masonic  documents  we 
often  find  this  initial  letter  thrice  repeated, 
thus:  S.\  S.\  S.\,  with  the  same  significa- 
tion of  Health,  Health,  Health.  It  is 
equivalent  to  the  English  expression, 
"  Thrice  Greeting." 

Salute  Mason.  Among  the  Stone- 
masons of  Germany,  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  most  probably  introduced  by  them  into 
England,  a  distinction  was  made  between 
the  Grussmaurer  or  Wortmaurer,  the  Salute 
Mason  or  Word  Mason,  and  the  Schrift- 
maurer  or  Letter  Mason.  The  Salute  Ma- 
sons had  signs,  words,  and  other  modes  of 
recognition  by  which  they  could  make 
themselves  known  to  each  other ;  while  the 
Letter  Masons,  who  were  also  called  Brief- 
tracer  or  Letter  Bearers,  had  no  mode, 
when  they  visited  strange  Lodges,  of  prov- 


SAMARIA 


SAN 


687 


ing  themselves,  except  by  the  certificates 
or  written  testimonials  which  they  brought 
with  them.  Thus,  in  the  "  examination  of 
a  German  Stonemason,"  which  has  been 
published  in  Fallow's  Myster'ien  der  Frei- 
maurerei,  (p.  25,)  and  copied  thence  by 
Findel,  we  find  these  questions  proposed  to 
a  visiting  brother,  and  the  answers  thereto : 

"  Warden.  Stranger,  are  you  a  Letter 
Mason  or  a  Salute  Mason  ? 

"  Stranger.   I  am  a  Salute  Mason. 

"  Warden.  How  shall  I  know  you  to  be 
such? 

"  Stranger.  By  my  salute  and  words  of 
my  mouth." 

Samaria.  A  city  situated  near  the 
centre  of  Palestine,  and  built  by  Omri, 
king  of  Israel,  about  925  B.  c.  It  was  the 
metropolis  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  or  of 
the  ten  tribes,  and  was,  during  the  exile, 
peopled  by  many  Pagan  foreigners  sent  to 
supply  the  place  of  the  deportated  inhabi- 
tants. Hence  it  became  a  seat  of  idolatry, 
and  was  frequently  denounced  by  the 
prophets.     See  Samaritans. 

Samaritan,  Good.  See  Good  Sama- 
ritan. 

Samaritans.  The  Samaritans  were 
originally  the  descendants  of  the  ten  revolt- 
ed tribes  who  had  chosen  Samaria  for  their 
metropolis.  Subsequently,  the  Samaritans 
were  conquered  by  the  Assyrians  under  Shal- 
maneser,  who  carried  the  greater  part  of 
the  inhabitants  into  captivity,  ana  intro- 
duced colonies  in  their  place  from  Babylon, 
Cultah,  Ava,  Hamath,  and  Sepharvaim. 
These  colonists,  who  assumed  the  name  of 
Samaritans,  brought  with  them  of  course 
the  idolatrous  creed  and  practices  of  the  re- 
gion from  which  they  emigrated.  The  Sa- 
maritans, therefore,  at  the  time  of  the  re- 
building of  the  second  Temple,  were  an 
idolatrous  race,  and  as  such  abhorrent  to 
the  Jews.  Hence,  when  they  asked  per- 
mission to  assist  in  the  pious  work  of  re- 
building the  Temple,  Zerubbabel,  with  the 
rest  of  the  leaders,  replied,  "Ye  have  nothing 
to  do  with  us  to  build  a  house  unto  our 
God ;  but  we  ourselves  together  will  build 
unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  as  King  Cy- 
rus, the  king  of  Persia,  has  commanded  us." 

Hence  it  was  that,  to  avoid  the  possi- 
bility of  these  idolatrous  Samaritans  pol- 
luting the  holy  work  by  their  co-operation, 
Zerubbabel  found  it  necessary  to  demand  of 
every  one  who  offered  himself  as  an  assistant 
in  the  undertaking  that  he  should  give  an 
accurate  account  of  his  lineage,  and  prove 
himself  to  have  been  a  descendant  (which 
no  Samaritan  could  be)  of  those  faithful 
Giblemites  who  worked  at  the  building  of 
the  first  Temple. 

There  were  many  points  of  religious  dif- 
ference between  the  Jews  and  the  Samari- 


tans. One  was,  that  they  denied  the  au- 
thority of  any  of  the  Scriptures  except  the 
Pentateuch ;  another  was  that  they  asserted 
that  it  was  on  Mount  Gerizim,  and  not 
on  Mount  Moriah,  that  Melchizedek  met 
Abraham  when  returning  from  the  slaugh- 
ter of  the  kings,  and  that  here  also  he  came 
to  sacrifice  Isaac,  whence  they  paid  no 
reverence  to  Moriah  as  the  site  of  the 
"  Holy  House  of  the  Lord."  A  few  of  the 
sect  still  remain  at  Nabulus.  They  do  not 
exceed  one  hundred  and  fifty.  They  have 
a  high  priest,  and  observe  all  the  feasts  of 
the  ancient  Jews,  and  especially  that  of  the 
Passover,  which  they  keep  on  Mount  Geri- 
zim with  all  the  formalities  of  the  ancient 
rites. 

Samothracian  Mysteries.  The 
Mysteries  of  the  Cabiri  are  sometimes  so 
called  because  the  principal  seat  of  their 
celebration  was  in  the  island  of  Samothrace. 
"I  ask,"  says  Voltaire,  (Diet.  Phil.,)  "who 
were  these  Hierophants,  these  sacred  Free- 
masons, who  celebrated  their  Ancient  Mys- 
teries of  Samothracia,  and  whence  came 
they  and  their  gods  Cabiri  ?"  See  Cabiri, 
Mysteries  of. 

Sanctuary.  The  Holy  of  Holies  in 
the  Temple  of  Solomon.   See  Holy  of  Holies. 

Sanctum  Sanctorum.  Latin  for 
Holy  of  Holies,  which  see. 

Sandwich  Islands.  Freemasonry 
was  first  introduced  into  those  far  islands 
of  the  Pacific  by  the  Grand  Orient  of 
France,  which  issued  a  Dispensation  for  the 
establishment  of  a  Lodge  about  1848,  or 
perhaps  earlier ;  but  it  was  not  prosperous, 
and  soon  became  dormant.  In  1852,  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  California  granted  a  War- 
rant to  Hawaiian  Lodge,  No.  21,  on  its 
register  at  Honolulu.  Royal  Arch  and 
Templar  Masonry  have  both  been  since  in- 
troduced. Honolulu  Chapter  was  estab- 
lished in  1859,  and  Honolulu  Commandery 
in  1871. 

San  Graal.  Derived,  probably,  from 
the  old  French,  sang  real,  the  true  blood; 
although  other  etymologies  have  been  pro- 
posed. The  San  Graal  is  represented,  in  le- 
gendary history,  as  being  an  emerald  dish 
in  which  our  Lord  had  partaken  of  the  last 
supper.  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  having  fur- 
ther sanctified  it  by  receiving  into  it  the 
blood  issuing  from  the  five  wounds,  after- 
wards carried  it  to  England.  Subsequently 
it  disappeared  in  consequence  of  the  sins  of 
the  land,  and  was  long  lost  sight  of.  When 
Merlin  established  the  Knights  of  the  Bound 
Table,  he  told  them  that  the  San  Graal 
should  be  discovered  by  one  of  them,  but 
that  he  only  could  see  it  who  was  without 
sin.  One  day,  when  Arthur  was  holding  a 
high  feast  with  his  Knights  of  the  Round 
Table,  the  San  Graal  suddenly  appeared  to 


633 


SANHEDRIM 


SASH 


him  and  to  all  his  chivalry,  and  then  as 
suddenly  disappeared.  The  consequence 
was  that  all  the  knights  took  upon  them 
a  solemn  vow  to  seek  the  Holy  Dish.  "  The 
quest  of  the  San  Graal  "  became  one  of  the 
most  prominent  myths  of  what  has  been 
called  the  Arthuric  cycle.  The  old  French 
romance  of  the  Morte  d' Arthur,  which  was 
published  by  Caxton  in  1485,  contains  the 
adventures  of  Sir  Galahad  in  search  of  the 
San  Graal.  There  are  several  other  ro- 
mances of  which  this  wonderful  vessel,  in- 
vested with  the  most  marvellous  properties, 
is  the  subject.  The  quest  of  the  San  Graal 
very  forcibly  reminds  us  of  the  search  for 
the  Lost  Word.  The  symbolism  is  precisely 
the  same,  —  the  loss  and  the  recovery  being 
but  the  lesson  of  death  and  eternal  life,  — 
so  that  the  San  Graal  in  the  Arthurian 
myth,  and  the  Lost  Word  in  the  Masonic 
legend,  seem  to  be  identical  in  object  and 
design.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  a 
French  writer,  M.  de  Caumont,  should  have 
said  {Bulletin  Monument,  p.  129,)  that  "  the 
poets  of  the  twelfth  and  fourteenth  centu- 
ries, who  composed  the  romances  of  the 
Bound  Table,  made  Joseph  of  Arimathea 
the  chief  of  a  military  and  religious  Free- 
masonry." 

Sanhedrim.  The  highest  judicial 
tribunal  among  the  Jews.  It  consisted  of 
seventy-two  persons  beside  the  high  priest. 
It  is  supposed  to  have  originated  with  Mo- 
ses, who  instituted  a  council  of  seventy  on 
the  occasion  of  a  rebellion  of  the  Israelites 
in  the  wilderness.  The  room  in  which  the 
Sanhedrim  met  was  a  rotunda,  half  of  which 
was  built  without  the  Temple  and  half 
within,  the  latter  part  being  that  in  which 
the  judges  sat.  The  Nasi,  or  prince,  who 
was  generally  the  high  priest,  sat  on  a 
throne  at  the  end  of  the  hall ;  his  deputy, 
called  Ab-beth-din,  at  his  right  hand ;  and 
the  sub-deputy,  or  Chacan,  at  his  left ; 
the  other  senators  being  ranged  in  order  on 
each  side.  Most  of  the  members  of  this 
council  were  priests  or  Levites,  though  men 
in  private  stations  of  life  were  not  excluded. 

According  to  the  English  system  of  the 
Koyal  Arch,  a  Chapter  of  Eoyal  Arch  Ma- 
sons represents  the  Sanhedrim,  and  there- 
fore it  is  a  rule  that  it  shall  never  consist 
of  more  than  seventy-two  members,  al- 
though a  smaller  number  is  competent  to 
transact  any  business.  This  theory  is  an 
erroneous  one,  for  in  the  time  of  Zerub- 
babel  there  was  no  Sanhedrim,  that  tribu- 
nal having  been  first  established  after  the 
Macedonian  conquest.  The  place  in  the 
Temple  where  the  Sanhedrim  met  was 
called  "  Gabbatha,"  or  the  "  Pavement ; "  it 
was  a  room  whose  floor  was  formed  of 
ornamental  square  stones,  and  it  is  from 
this  that  the  Masonic  idea  has  probably 


arisen  that  the  floor  of  the  Lodge  is  a  tes- 
sellated or  Mosaic  pavement. 

Sapicole,  The.  Thory  says  that  a 
degree  by  this  name  is  cited  in  the  nomen- 
clature of  Fustier,  and  is  also  found  in  the 
collection  of  Viany. 

Sapphire.  Hebrew,  "VQD-  The  sec- 
ond stone  in  the  second  row  of  the  high 
priest's  breastplate,  and  was  appropriated 
to  the  tribe  of  Naphtali.  The  chief  priest 
of  the  Egyptians  wore  round  his  neck  an 
image  of  truth  and  justice  made  of  sapphire. 

Saracens.  Although  originally  only 
an  Arab  tribe,  the  word  Saracens  was  after- 
wards applied  to  all  the  Arabs  who  em- 
braced the  tenets  of  Mohammed.  The 
Crusaders  especially  designated  as  Sara- 
cens those  Mohammedans  who  had  in- 
vaded Europe,  and  whose  possession  of  the 
Holy  Land  gave  rise  not  only  to  the  Cru- 
sades, but  to  the  organization  of  the  mili- 
tary and  religious  orders  of  Templars  and 
Hospitallers,  whose  continual  wars  with  the 
Saracens  constitute  the  most  important 
chapters  of  the  history  of  those  times. 

Sardins.  Hebrew,  OTN,  Odem.  The 
first  stone  in  the  first  row  of  the  high 
priest's  breastplate.  It  is  a  species  of  cor- 
nelian of  a  blood-red  color,  and  was  appro- 
priated to  the  tribe  of  Reuben. 

Sarsena.  A  pretended  exposition  of 
Freemasonry,  published  at  Baumberg,  Ger- 
many, in  1816,  under  the  title  of  "  Sarsena, 
or  the  Perfect  Architect,"  created  a  great 
sensation  at  the  time  among  the  initiated 
and  the  profane.  It  professed  to  contain 
the  history  of  the  origin  of  the  Order,  and 
the  various  opinions  upon  what  it  should 
be,  "  faithfully  described  by  a  true  and  per- 
fect brother,  and  extracted  from  the  papers 
which  he  left  behind  him."  Like  all  other 
expositions,  it  contained,  as  G'adicke  re- 
marks, very  little  that  was  true,  and  of  that 
which  was  true  nothing  that  had  not  been 
said  before. 

Sash.  The  old  regulation  on  the  sub- 
ject of  wearing  sashes  in  a  procession  is  in 
the  following  words:  "None  but  officers, 
who  must  always  be  Master  Masons,  are 
permitted  to  wear  sashes ;  and  this  decora- 
tion is  only  for  particular  officers."  In 
this  country  the  wearing  of  the  sash  ap- 
pears, very  properly,  to  be  confined  to  the 
W.\  Master,  as  a  distinctive  badge  of  his 
office. 

The  sash  is  worn  by  all  the  companions 
of  the  Royal  Arch  degree,  and  is  of  a  scarlet 
color,  with  the  words  "  Holiness  to  the  Lord  " 
inscribed  upon  it.  These  were  the  words 
placed  upon  the  mitre  of  the  high  priest 
of  the  Jews. 

In  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  the  white  sash  is  a  decoration  of  the 
thirty-third  degree.    A  recent  decree  of  the 


SATRAP 


SCALD 


689 


Supreme  Council  of  the  Southern  Juris- 
diction confines  its  use  to  honorary  mem- 
bers, while  active  members  only  wear  the 
collar. 

The  sash,  or  scarf,  is  analogous  to  the 
Zennar,  or  sacred  cord,  placed  upon  the 
candidate  in  the  initiation  into  the  mys- 
teries of  India,  and  which  every  Brahman 
was  compelled  to  wear.  This  cord  was 
woven  with  great  solemnity,  and  being  put 
upon  the  left  shoulder,  passed  over  to  the 
right  side  and  hung  down  as  low  as  the 
fingers  could  reach. 

Satrap.  The  title  given  by  the  Greek 
writers  to  the  Persian  governors  of  prov- 
inces before  Alexander's  conquest.  It  is 
from  the  Persian  word  satrab.  The  author- 
ized version  calls  them  the  "  king's  lieu- 
tenants ; "  the  Hebrew,  achashdarpenim, 
which  is  doubtless  a  Persian  word  Hebra- 
ized. It  was  these  satraps  who  gave  the 
Jews  so  much  trouble  in  the  rebuilding  of 
the  Temple.  They  are  alluded  to  in  the 
congeneric  degrees  of  Knight  of  the  Red 
Cross  and  Prince  of  Jerusalem. 

Savalette  de  Langes.  Founder  of 
the  Rite  of  Philalethes  at  Paris,  in  1773. 
He  was  also  the  President  and  moving 
spirit  of  the  Masonic  Congress  at  Paris, 
which  met  in  1785  and  1787  for  the  pur- 
pose of  discussing  many  important  points 
in  reference  to  Freemasonry.  The  zeal  and 
energy  of  Savalette  de  Langes  had  suc- 
ceeded in  collecting  for  the  Lodge  of  the 
Philalethes  a  valuable  cabinet  of  natural 
history  and  a  library  containing  many 
manuscripts  and  documents  of  great  im- 
portance. His  death,  which  occurred  soon 
after  the  beginning  of  the  French  revolu- 
tion, and  the  political  troubles  that  ensued, 
caused  the  dispersion  of  the  members  and 
the  loss  of  a  great  part  of  the  collection.  The 
remnant  subsequently  came  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  Lodges  of  St.  Alexander  of 
Scotland,  and  of  the  Social  Contrat,  which 
constituted  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Sayers,  Anthony.  At  the  revival 
in  1717,  "  Mr.  Anthony  Sayers,  gentle- 
man," was  elected  Grand  Master.  He  was 
succeeded  in  the  next  year  by  George  Payne, 
Esq.  In  1719,  he  was  appointed  Senior 
Grand  Warden  by  Grand  Master  Desagu- 
liers.  He  is  last  mentioned  as  being  pres- 
ent in  the  Grand  Lodge  in  1730,  when  he 
appeared  in  the  procession  as  the  oldest 
Past  Grand  Master.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  no  records  of  this  proto-Grand  Master 
of  the  revived  Grand  Lodge  of  England 
have  been  preserved.  A  portrait  of  him  by 
Highmore,  the  celebrated  painter,  is  in 
existence,  mezzotinto  copies  of  which  are 
not  uncommon. 

Scald1  Miserable^.  A  name  given 
to  a  set  of  persons  who,  in  1741,  formed  a 
4  M  44 


mock  procession  in  derision  of  the  Freema- 
sons. Sir  John  Hawkins,  speaking,  in  his 
Life  of  Johnson,  (p.  336,)  of  Paul  White- 
head, says :  "  In  concert  with  one  Carey,  a 
surgeon,  he  planned  and  exhibited  a  pro- 
cession along  the  Strand  of  persons  on  foot 
and  on  horseback,  dressed  for  the  occasion, 
carrying  mock  ensigns  and  the  symbols  of 
Freemasonry ;  the  design  of  which  was  to 
expose  to  laughter  the  insignia  and  cere- 
monies of  that  mysterious  institution ;  and 
it  was  not  until  thirty  years  afterwards  that 
the  Fraternity  recovered  from  the  disgrace 
which  so  ludicrous  a  representation  had 
brought  on  it."  The  incorrectness  of  this 
last  statement  will  be  evident  to  all  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  successful  progress 
made  by  Freemasonry  between  the  years 
1741  and  1771,  during  which  time  Sir  John 
Hawkins  thinks  that  it  was  languishing 
under  the  blow  dealt  by  the  mock  proces- 
sion of  the  Scald  Miserables. 

A  better  and  fuller  account  is  contained 
in  the  London  Daily  Post  of  March  20, 
1741.  "  Yesterday,  some  mock  Freemasons 
marched  through  Pall  Mall  and  the  Strand 
as  far  as  Temple  Bar  in  procession  ;  first 
went  fellows  on  jackasses,  with  cows'  horns 
in  their  hands ;  then  a  kettle-drummer  on 
a  jackass,  having  two  butter  firkins  for 
kettle-drums ;  then  followed  two  carts 
drawn  by  jackasses,  having  in  them  the 
stewards  with  several  badges  of  their 
order;  then  came  a  mourning-coach  drawn 
by  six  horses,  each  of  a  different  color  and 
size,  in  which  were  the  Grand  Master  and 
Wardens ;  the  whole  attended  by  a  vast 
mob.  They  stayed  without  Temple  Bar 
till  the  Masons  came  by,  and  paid  their 
compliments  to  them,  who  returned  the 
same  with  an  agreeable  humor  that  possi- 
bly disappointed  the  witty  contriver  of 
this  mock  scene,  whose  misfortune  is  that, 
though  he  has  some  wit,  his  subjects  are  gen- 
erally so  ill  chosen  that  he  loses  by  it  as 
many  friends  as  other  people  of  more 
judgment  gain." 

April  27th,  being  the  day  of  the  annual 
feast,  "  a  number  of  shoe-cleaners,  chim- 
ney-sweepers, etc.,  on  foot  and  in  carts, 
with  ridiculous  pageants  carried  before 
them,  went  in  procession  to  Temple  Bar,  by 
way  of  jest  on  the  Freemasons."  A  few 
days  afterwards,  says  the  same  journal, 
"  several  of  the  Mock  Masons  were  taken 
up  by  the  constable  empowered  to  impress 
men  for  his  Majesty's  service,  and  con- 
fined until  they  can  be  examined  by  the 
justices." 

It  was,  as  Hone  remarks,  (Anc.  Myst.,  p. 
242,)  very  common  to  indulge  in  satirical 
pageants,  which  were  accommodated  to  the 
amusement  of  the  vulgar,  and  he  mentions 
this  procession  as  one  of  the  kind.    A  plate 


690 


SCALD 


SCALLOP-SHELL 


of  the  mock  procession  was  engraved  by 
A.  Benoist,  a  drawing-master,  under  the 
title  of  "  A  Geometrical  View  of  the  Grand 
Procession  of  the  Scald  Miserable  Masons, 
designed  as  they  were  drawn  up  over 
against  Somerset  House  in  the  Strand,  on 
the  27th  day  of  April,  Anno  1742."  Of 
this  plate  there  is  a  copy  in  Clavel's  His- 
toire  Pittoresque.  With  the  original  plate 
Benoist  published  a  key,  as  follows,  which 
perfectly  agrees  with  the  copy  of  the  plate 
in  Clavel : 

"  No.  1.  The  grand  Sword-Bearer,  or  Ty- 
ler, carrying  the  Swoard  of  State,  (a  pres- 
ent of  Ishmael  Abiff  to  old  Hyram,  King 
of  the  Saracens,)  to  his  Grace  of  Wattin, 
Grand  Master  of  the  Holy  Lodge  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem  in  Clerkenwell.  #2. 
Tylers  or  Guarders.  3.  Grand  Chorus  of 
Instruments.  4.  The  Stewards,  in  three 
Gutt-carts  drawn  by  Asses.  5.  Two  famous 
Pillars.  6.  Three  great  Lights :  the  Sun, 
Hieroglyphical,  to  rule  the  Day  ;  the  Moon, 
Emblematical,  to  rule  the  Night ;  a  Master 
Mason,  Political,  to  rule  his  Lodge.  7. 
The  Entered  Prentice's  Token.  8.  The  let- 
ter G,  famous  in  Masonry  for  differencing 
the  Fellow  Craft's  Lodge  from  that  of 
Prentices.  9.  The  Funeral  of  a  Grand  Mas- 
ter according  to  the  Rites  of  the  Order,  with 
the  Fifteen  loving  Brethren.  10.  A  Master 
Mason's  Lodge.  11.  Grand  Band  of  Mu- 
sick.  12.  Two  Trophies ;  one  being  that  of 
a  Black-shoe  Boy  and  a  Sink  Boy,  the 
other  that  of  a  Chimney-S weeper.  13.  The 
Equipage  of  the  Grand  Master,  all  the  At- 
tendants wearing  Mystical  Jewells." 

The  historical  mock  procession  of  the 
Scald  Miserables  was,  it  thus  appears,  that 
which  occurred  on  April  27,  and  not  the 
preceding  one  of  March  20,  which  may  have 
been  only  a  feeler,  and  having  been  well  re- 
ceived by  the  populace  there  might  have 
been  an  encouragement  for  its  repetition. 
But  it  was  not  so  popular  with  the  higher 
classes,  who  felt  a  respect  for  Freemasonry, 
and  were  unwilling  to  see  an  indignity  put 
upon  it.  A  writer  in  the  London  Freema- 
sons' Magazine  (1858,  I.,  875,)  says:  "The 
contrivers  of  the  mock  procession  were  at 
that  time  said  to  be  Paul  Whitehead,  Esq., 
and  his  intimate  friend  (whose  real  Chris- 
tian name  was  Esquire)  Carey,  of  Pall 
Mall,  surgeon  to  Frederick,  Prince  of 
Wales.  The  city  officers  did  not  suffer  this 
procession  to  go  through  Temple  Bar,  the 
common  report  then  being  that  its  real 
interest  was  to  affront  the  annual  proces- 
sion of  the  Freemasons.  The  Prince  was 
so  much  offended  at  this  piece  of  ridicule, 
that  he  immediately  removed  Carey  from 
the  office  he  held  under  him." 

Smith  ( Use  and  Abuse  of  Freemas.,  p.  78,) 
says  that  "about  this  time  (1742)  an  order 


was  issued  to  discontinue  all  public  proces- 
sions on  feast  days,  on  account  of  a  mock 
procession  which  had  been  planned,  at  a 
considerable  expense,  by  some  prejudiced 
persons,  with  a  view  to  ridicule  these  pub- 
lic cavalcades."  Smith  is  not  altogether 
accurate.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  ulti- 
mate effect  of  the  mock  procession  was  to 
put  an  end  to  what  was  called  "  the  march 
of  procession  "  on  the  feast  day,  but  that 
effect  did  not  show  itself  until  1757,  in 
which  year  it  was  resolved  that  it  should  in 
future  be  discontinued. 

Scales,  Pair  of.  "  Let  me  be  weighed 
in  an  even  balance,"  said  Job,  "that 
God  may  know  mine  integrity ;"  and  Solo- 
mon says  that  "  a  false  balance  is  abomina- 
tion to  the  Lord,  but  a  just  weight  is  his 
delight."  So  we  find  that  among  the  an- 
cients a  balance,  or  pair  of  scales,  was  a 
well-known  recognized  symbol  of  a  strict 
observation  of  justice  and  fair  dealing. 
This  symbolism  is  also  recognized  in  Ma- 
sonry, and  hence  in  the  degree  of  Princes 
of  Jerusalem,  the  duty  of  which  is  to  ad- 
minister justice  in  the  inferior  degrees,  a 
pair  of  scales  is  the  most  important  symbol. 

Scallop  -  Shell.  The  scallop-shell, 
the  staff,  and  sandals  form  a  part  of  the  cos- 
tume of  a  Masonic  Knight  Templar  in  his 
character  as  a  Pilgrim  Penitent.  Shake- 
speare makes  Ophelia  sing,  — 

"And  how  shall  I  my  true  love  know 
From  any  other  one? 
O,  by  his  scallop-shell  and  staff, 
And  by  his  sandal  shoon  !  " 

The  scallop-shell  was  in  the  Middle 
Ages  the  recognized  badge  of  a  pilgrim  ;  so 
much  so,  that  Dr.  Clarke  (Travels,  ii.  538,) 
has  been  led  to  say :  "  It  is  not  easy  to  ac- 
count for  the  origin  of  the  shell  as  a  badge 
worn  by  the  pilgrims,  but  it  decidedly  re- 
fers to  much  earlier  Oriental  customs  than 
the  journeys  of  Christians  to  the  Holy 
Land,  and  its  history  will  probably  be 
found  in  the  mythology  of  eastern  na- 
tions." He  is  right  as  to  the  question  of 
antiquity,  for  the  shell  was  an  ancient  sym- 
bol of  the  Syrian  goddess  Astarte,  Venus 
Pelagia,  or  Venus  rising  from  the  sea.  But 
it  is  doubtful  whether  its  use  by  pilgrims  is 
to  be  traced  to  so  old  or  so  Pagan  an  au- 
thority. Strictly,  the  scallop-shell  was  the 
badge  of  pilgrims  visiting  the  shrine  of  St. 
James  of  Compostella,  and  hence  it  is  called 
by  naturalists  the  pecten  Jacoboeus  —  the 
comb  shell  of  St.  James.  Fuller  (Ch.  Hist., 
ii.,  228,)  says:  "All  pilgrims  that  visit  St. 
James  of  Compostella  in  Spain  returned 
thence  obsiti  conchis,  '  all  beshelled  about ' 
on  their  clothes,  as  a  religious  donative 
there  bestowed  upon  them."  Pilgrims  were, 
in  fact,  in  mediaeval  times  distinguished  by 


SCANDINAVIAN 


SCHAW 


691 


the  peculiar  badge  which  they  wore,  as 
designating  the  shrine  which  they  had 
visited.  Thus  pilgrims  from  Rome  wore 
the  keys,  those  from  St.  James  the  scallop- 
shell,  and  those  from  the  Holy  Land  palm 
branches,  whence  such  a  pilgrim  was  some- 
times called  a,  palmer.  But  this  distinction 
was  not  always  rigidly  adhered  to,  and  pil- 
grims from  Palestine  frequently  wore  the 
shell.  At  first  the  shell  was  sewn  on  the 
cloak,  but  afterwards  transferred  to  the 
hat;  and  while,  in  the  beginning,  the  badge 
was  not  assumed  until  the  pilgrimage  was 
accomplished,  eventually  pilgrims  began  to 
wear  it  as  soon  as  they  had  taken  their  vow 
of  pilgrimage,  and  before  they  had  com- 
menced their  journey. 

Both  of  these  changes  have  been  advo- 
cated in  the  Templar  ritual.  The  pilgrim, 
although  symbolically  making  his  pil- 
grimage to  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  Pales- 
tine, adopts  the  shell  more  properly  belong- 
ing to  the  pilgrimage  to  Compostella;  and 
adopts  it,  too,  not  after  his  visit  to  the 
shrine,  but  as  soon  as  he  has  assumed  the 
character  of  a  pilgrim,  which,  it  will  be  seen 
from  what  has  been  said,  is  historically  cor- 
rect, and  in  accordance  with  the  later  prac- 
tice of  mediaeval  pilgrims. 

Scandinavian  Mysteries.  See 
Gothic  Mysteries. 

Scarlet.    See  Bed. 

Scenic  Representations.  In  the 
Ancient  Mysteries  scenic  representations 
were  employed  to  illustrate  the  doctrines  of 
the  resurrection,  which  it  was  their  object 
to  inculcate.  Thus  the  allegory  of  the  ini- 
tiation was  more  deeply  impressed,  by  be- 
ing brought  vividly  to  the  sight  as  well  as 
to  the  mind  of  the  aspirant.  Thus,  too,  in 
the  religious  mysteries  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  moral  lessons  of  Scripture  were  drama- 
tized for  the  benefit  of  the  people  who  be- 
held them.  The  Christian  virtues  and 
graces  often  assumed  the  form  of  personages 
in  these  religious  plays,  and  fortitude,  pru- 
dence, temperance,  and  justice  appeared 
before  the  spectators  as  living  and  acting 
beings,  inculcating  by  their  actions  and  by 
the  plot  of  the  drama  those  lessons  which 
would  not  have  been  so  well  received  or 
so  thoroughly  understood,  if  given  merely 
in  a  didactic  form.  The  advantage  of  these 
scenic  representations,  consecrated  by  an- 
tiquity and  tested  by  long  experience,  is 
well  exemplified  in  the  ritual  of  the  third 
degree  of  Masonry,  where  the  dramatiza- 
tion of  the  great  legend  gives  to  the  initia- 
tion a  singular  force  and  beauty.  It  is  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  the  English  system 
never  adopted,  or,  if  adopted,  speedily  dis- 
carded, the  drama  of  the  third  degree,  but 
gives  only  in  the  form  of  a  narrative  what 
the  American  system  more  wisely  and  more 


usefully  presents  by  living  action.  Through- 
out America,  in  every  State  excepting 
Pennsylvania,  the  initiation  into  the  third 
degree  constitutes  a  scenic  representation. 
The  latter  State  alone  preserves  the  less 
impressive  didactic  method  of  the  English 
system.  The  rituals  of  the  continent  of 
Europe  pursue  the  same  scenic  form  of  ini- 
tiation, and  it  is  therefore  most  probable 
that  this  was  the  ancient  usage,  and  that 
the  present  English  ritual  is  of  compara- 
tively recent  date. 

Sceptre.  An  ensign  of  sovereign  au- 
thority, and  hence  carried  in  several  of  the 
high  degrees  by  officers  who  represent 
kings. 

Schaw  Manuscript.  This  is  a  code 
of  laws  for  the  government  of  the  Oper- 
ative Masons  of  Scotland,  drawn  up  by 
William  Schaw,  the  Master  of  the  Work 
to  James  VI.  It  bears  the  following  title : 
"The  Statutis  and  Ordinanceis  to  be  ob- 
seruit  be  all  the  Maister-Maissounis  within 
this  realme  sett  down  be  Williame  Schaw, 
Maister  of  Wark  to  his  Maieste  and  gen- 
erall  Wardene  of  the  said  Craft,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Maisteris  efter  specifeit." 
As  will  be  perceived  by  this  title,  it  is  in 
the  Scottish  dialect.  It  is  written  on  pa- 
per, and  dated  XXVIII  December,  1598. 
Although  containing  substantially  the  gen- 
eral regulations  which  are  to  be  found  in 
the  English  manuscripts,  it  diners  mate- 
rially from  them  in  many  particulars. 
Masters,  Fellow  Crafts,  and  Apprentices 
are  spoken  of,  but  simply  as  gradations  of 
rank,  not  as  degrees,  and  the  word  "  Ludge  " 
or  Lodge  is  constantly  used  to  define  the 

Elace  of  meeting.  The  government  of  the 
odge  was  vested  in  the  Warden,  Deacons, 
and  Masters,  and  these  the  Fellow  Crafts 
and  Apprentices  were  to  obey.  The  high- 
est officer  of  the  Craft  is  called  the  General 
Warden.  The  Manuscript  is  in  possession 
of  the  Lodge  of  Edinburgh,  but  has  sev- 
eral times  been  published  —  first  in  the 
Laws  and  Constitutions  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Scotland,  in  1848 ;  then  in  the  American 
edition  of  that  work,  published  by  Dr. 
Robert  Morris,  in  the  ninth  volume  of  the 
Universal  Masonic  Library;  afterwards  by 
W.'  A.  Laurie,  in  1859,  in  his  History  of 
Freemasonry  and  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scot- 
land; and  lastly,  by  W.  J.  Hughan,  in  his 
Unpublished  Records  of  the  Craft. 

Schaw,  William.  A  name  which  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  history  of 
Freemasonry  in  Scotland.  For  the  partic- 
ulars of  his  life,  I  am  principally  indebted 
to  the  writer  of  "  Appendix  Q.  2,"  in  the 
Constitutions  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland. 
William  Schaw  was  born  in  the  year 
1550,  and  was  probably  a  son  of  Schaw  of 
Sauchie,  in  the  shire  of  Clackmannon.    He 


692 


SCHAW 


SCHISMS 


appears  from  an  early  period  of  life  to 
have  been  connected  with  the  royal  house- 
hold. In  proof  of  this  we  may  refer  to  his 
signature  attached  to  the  original  parch- 
ment deed  of  the  National  Covenant,  which 
was  signed  by  King  James  VI.  and  his 
household  at  the  Palace  of  Holyrood,  28th 
January,  1580-1.  In  1584,  Schaw  became 
successor  to  Sir  Robert  Drummond,  of  Car- 
nock,  as  Master  of  Works.  This  high  offi- 
cial appointment  placed  under  his  superin- 
tendence all  the  royal  buildings  and  palaces 
in  Scotland;  and  in  the  Treasurer's  ac- 
counts of  a  subsequent  period  various  sums 
are  entered  as  having  been  paid  to  him  in 
connection  with  these  buildings  for  im- 
provements, repairs,  and  additions.  Thus, 
in  September,  1585,  the  sum  of  £315  was 
paid  "  to  William  Schaw,  his  Majestie's 
Maister  of  Wark,  for  the  reparation  and 
mending  of  the  Castell  of  Striueling,"  and 
in  May,  1590,  £400,  by  his  Majesty's 
precept,  was  "  delyverit  to  William  Schaw, 
the  Maister  of  Wark,  for  reparation  of  the 
hous  of  Dumfermling,  befoir  the  Queen's 
Majestie  passing  thairto." 

Sir  James  Melville,  in  his  Memoirs,  men- 
tions that,  being  appointed  to  receive  the 
three  Danish  Ambassadors  who  came  to 
Scotland  in  1585,  (with  overtures  for  an 
alliance  with  one  of  the  daughters  of  Fred- 
erick II.,)  he  requested  the  king  that  two 
other  persons  might  be  joined  with  him, 
and  for  this  purpose  he  named  Schaw  and 
James  Meldrum,  of  Seggie,  one  of  the  Lords 
of  Session.  It  further  appears  that  Schaw 
had  been  employed  in  various  missions  to 
France.  He  accompanied  James  VI.  to 
Denmark  in  the  winter  of  1589,  previous 
to  the  king's  marriage  with  the  Princess 
Anna  of  Denmark,  which  was  celebrated  at 
Upslo,  in  Norway,  on  the  23d  of  November. 
The  king  and  his  attendants  remained  dur- 
ing the  winter  season  in  Denmark,  but  Schaw 
returned  to  Scotland  on  the  16th  of  March, 
1589-90,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the 
necessary  arrangements  for  the  reception 
of  the  wedding  party.  Schaw  brought 
with  him  a  paper  subscribed  by  the  king, 
containing  the  "Ordour  set  down  be  his 
Majestie  to  be  effectuate  be  his  Heines 
Secreit  Counsall,  and  preparit  agane  his 
Majestie's  returne  in  Scotland,"  dated  in 
February,  1589-90.  The  king  and  his 
royal  bride  arrived  in  Leith  on  the  1st  of 
May,  and  remained  there  six  days,  in  a 
building  called  "The  King's  Work,"  until 
the  Palace  of  Holyrood  was  prepared  for 
their  reception.  Extensive  alterations  had 
evidently  been  made  at  this  time  at  Holy- 
rood,  as  a  warrant  was  issued  by  the  Pro- 
vost and  Council  of  Edinburgh  to  deliver 
to  William  Schaw,  Maister  of  Wark,  the 
sum  of  £1000,  "  restand  of  the  last  taxa- 


tion of  £20,000"  granted  by  the  Royal 
Buroughs  in  Scotland,  the  sum  to  be  ex- 
pended "  in  biggin  and  repairing  of  his 
Hienes  Palice  of  Halyrud-house,"  14th 
March,  1589-90.  Subsequent  payments  to 
Schaw  occur  in  the  Treasurer's  accounts  for 
broad  scarlet  cloth  and  other  stuff  for 
"  burde  claythes  and  coverings  to  forms  and 
windows  bayth  in  the  Kirk  and  Palace  of 
Halyrud-house."  On  this  occasion  various 
sums  were  also  paid  by  a  precept  from  the 
king  for  dresses,  etc.,  to  the  ministers  and 
others  connected  with  the  royal  household. 
On  this  occasion  William  Schaw,  Maister 
of  Wark,  received  £133  6a.  8d.  The  queen 
was  crowned  on  the  17th  May,  and  two 
days  following  she  made  her  first  public 
entrance  into  Edinburgh.  The  inscription 
on  Schaw's  monument  states  that  he  was, 
in  addition  to  his  office  of  Master  of  the 
Works,  "Sacris  ceremoniis  propositus" 
and  "  Reginae  Quaestor,"  which  Monteith 
has  translated  "Sacrist  and  Queen's  Cham- 
berlain." This  appointment  of  Chamber- 
lain evinces  the  high  regard  in  which  the 
queen  held  him  ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  former  words  relate  to  his  hold- 
ing the  office  of  General  Warden  of  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Masonic  Craft,  an  office 
analogous  to  that  of  Substitute  Grand  Mas- 
ter as  now  existing  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland. 

William  Schaw  died  April  18,  1602,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Dun- 
fermline, where  a  monument  was  erected 
to  his  memory  by  his  grateful  mistress,  the 
Queen.  On  this  monument  is  his  name 
and  monogram  cut  in  a  marble  slab,  which, 
tradition  says,  was  executed  by  his  own 
hand,  and  containing  his  Mason's  mark, 
and  an  inscription  in  Latin,  in  which  he  is 
described  as  one  imbued  with  every  liberal 
art  and  science,  most  skilful  in  architec- 
ture, and  in  labors  and  business  not  only 
unwearied  and  indefatigable,  but  ever  as- 
siduous and  energetic.  No  man  appears, 
from  the  records,  to  have  lived  with  more 
of  the  commendation,  or  died  with  more  of 
the  regret  of  others,  than  this  old  Scottish 
Mason. 

Schismatic.  Thory  {Hist,  de  la  Fond, 
du  O.  0.)  thus  calls  the  brethren  who,  ex- 
pelled by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  France,  had 
formed,  in  the  year  1772,  a  rival  body  un- 
der the  name  of  the  National  Assembly. 
Any  body  of  Masons  separating  from  the 
legal  obedience,  and  establishing  a  new 
one  not  authorized  by  the  laws  of  Ma- 
sonry, —  such,  for  instance,  as  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Ancients  in  England,  or  the 
Saint  John's  Grand  Lodge  in  New  York, — 
is  properly  schismatic. 

Schisms.  This,  which  was  originally 
an  ecclesiastical  term,  and  signifies,  as  Mil- 


SCHISMS 


SCHNEIDER 


693 


ton  defines  it,  "  a  rent  or  division  in  the 
church  when  it  comes  to  the  separating  of 
congregations,"  is  unfortunately  not  un- 
known in  Masonic  history.  It  is  in  Ma- 
sonic, as  in  canon  law,  a  withdrawing  from 
recognized  authority,  and  setting  up  some 
other  authority  in  its  place.  The  first 
schism  recorded  after  the  revival  of  1717, 
was  that  of  the  Duke  of  Wharton,  who,  in 
1722,  caused  himself  to  be  irregularly  nomi- 
nated and  elected  Grand  Master.  His  am- 
bition is  assigned  in  the  Book  of  Constitu- 
tions as  the  cause,  and  his  authority  was 
disowned  "by  all  those,"  says  Anderson, 
"who  would  not  countenance  irregulari- 
ties." But  the  breach  was  healed  by 
Grand  Master  Montague,  who,  resigning 
his  claim  to  the  chair,  caused  Wharton  to 
be  regularly  elected  and  installed.  The 
second  schism  in  England  was  of  longer 
duration.  It  commenced  with  the  with- 
drawal of  several  dissatisfied  brethren  from 
the  legitimate  Grand  Lodge  in  1738,  and 
the  subsequent  organization  of  a  schis- 
matic body  known  as  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
the  Ancients.  This  schism  lasted  until 
1813,  when  it  was  healed  by  the  reconcilia- 
tion and  union  of  the  two  Grand  Lodges ; 
but  the  effects  of  so  great  a  separation,  both 
as  to  the  time  of  its  continuance  and  the  ex- 
tent of  country  over  which  it  spread,  are 
still  felt  by  the  Institution.  In  France, 
although  irregular  Lodges  began  to  be  insti- 
tuted as  early  as  1756,  the  first  active 
schism  is  to  be  dated  from  1761,  when  the 
dancing- master  Lacorne,  whom  the  re- 
spectable Masons  refused  to  recognize  as 
the  substitute  of  De  Clermont  the  Grand 
Master,  formed,  with  his  adherents,  an  in- 
dependent and  rival  Grand  Lodge;  the 
members  of  which,  however,  became  recon- 
ciled to  the  legal  Grand  Lodge  the  next 
year,  and  again  became  schismatic  in  1765. 
In  fact,  from  1761  until  the  organization 
of  the  Grand  Orient  in  1772,  the  history 
of  Masonry  in  France  is  but  a  history  of 
schisms. 

In  Germany,  in  consequence  of  the  Ger- 
manic principle  of  Masonic  law  that  two 
or  more  controlling  bodies  may  exist  at  the 
same  time  and  in  the  same  place  with  con- 
current and  coextensive  jurisdiction,  it  is 
legally  impossible  that  there  ever  should 
be  a  schism.  A  Lodge  or  any  number  of 
Lodges  may  withdraw  from  the  parent 
stock  and  assume  the  standing  and  pre- 
rogatives of  a  mother  Lodge  with  powers 
of  constitution  or  an  independent  Grand 
Lodge,  and  its  regularity  would  be  indispu- 
table, according  to  the  German  interpreta- 
tion of  the  law  of  territorial  jurisdiction. 
Such  an  act  of  withdrawal  would  be  a  se- 
cession, but  not  a  schism. 

In  this  country  there  have  been  several 


instances  of  Masonic  schism.  Thus,  in 
Massachusetts,  by  the  establishment  in 
1752  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Grand  Lodge ;  in 
South  Carolina,  by  the  formation  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  York  Masons  in  1787  ;  in 
Louisiana,  in  1848,  by  the  institution  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient  York  Masons; 
and  in  New  York,  by  the  establishment 
in  1823  of  the  St.  John's  Grand  Lodge; 
and  in  1849  by  the  formation  of  the  body 
known  as  the  Philip's  Grand  Lodge.  In 
all  of  these  instances  a  reconciliation 
eventually  took  place ;  nor  is  it  probable 
that  schisms  will  often  occur,  because  the 
principle  of  exclusive  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion has  been  now  so  well  settled  and  so 
universally  recognized,  that  no  seceding  or 
schismatic  body  can  expect  to  receive  the 
countenance  or  support  of  any  of  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  the  Union. 

There  are  these  essential  points  of  differ- 
ence between  ecclesiastical  and  Masonic 
schism;  the  former,  once  occurring,  most 
generally  remains  perpetual.  Reconcilia- 
tion with  a  parent  church  is  seldom  ef- 
fected. The  schisms  of  Calvin  and  Luther 
at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Protestant  Churches,  who 
can  never  be  expected  to  unite  with  the 
Roman  Church,  from  which  they  separated. 
The  Quakers,  the  Baptists,  the  Methodists, 
and  other  sects  which  seceded  from  the 
Church  of  England,  have  formed  perma- 
nent religious  organizations,  between  whom 
and  the  parent  body  from  which  they 
separated  there  is  a  breach  which  will 
probably  never  be  healed.  But  all  Ma- 
sonic schisms,  as  experience  has  shown, 
have  been  temporary  in  their  duration, 
and  sometimes  very  short  lived.  The 
spirit  of  Masonic  brotherhood  which  con- 
tinues to  pervade  both  parties,  always 
leads,  sooner  or  later,  to  a  reconciliation 
and  a  reunion ;  concessions  are  mutually 
made,  and  compromises  effected,  by  which 
the  schismatic  body  is  again  merged  in  the 
parent  association  from  which  it  had  se- 
ceded. Another  difference  is  this,  a  reli- 
gious schismatic  body  is  not  necessarily  an 
illegal  one,  nor  does  it  always  profess  a 
system  of  false  doctrine.  "A  schism,"  says 
Milton,  "  may  happen  to  a  true  church,  as 
well  as  to  a  false."  But  a  Masonic  schism 
is  always  illegal :  it  violates  the  law  of  ex- 
clusive jurisdiction ;  and  a  schismatic  body 
cannot  be  recognized  as  possessing  any  of 
the  rights  or  prerogatives  which  belong 
alone  to  the  supreme  dogmatic  Masonic 
power  of  the  State. 

Schneider,  Johann  August.  A 
zealous  and  learned  Mason  of  Altenburg, 
in  Germany,  where  he  was  born  May  22, 
1755,  and  died  August  13,  1816.  Besides 
contributing  many  valuable  articles  to  va- 


694 


SCHOOLS 


SCHROEDER 


rious  Masonic  journals,  he  was  the  com- 
piler of  the  "  Constitutions-Buch"  of  the 
Lodge  "  Archimedes  zu  den  drei  Reissbret- 
ten  "  at  Altenburg,  in  which  he  had  been 
initiated,  and  of  which  he  was  a  member ; 
an  important  but  scarce  work,  containing 
a  history  of  Masonry,  and  other  valuable 
essays. 

Schools.  None  of  the  charities  of 
Freemasonry  have  been  more  important 
or  more  worthy  of  approbation  than  those 
which  have  been  directed  to  the  establish- 
ment of  schools  for  the  education  of  the 
orphan  children  of  Masons;  and  it  is  a 
very  proud  feature  of  the  Order,  that  insti- 
tutions of  this  kind  are  to  be  found  in 
every  country  where  Freemasonry  has 
made  a  lodgment  as  an  organized  society. 
In  England,  the  Royal  Freemasons'  Girls' 
School  was  established  in  1789.  In  1798,  a 
similar  one  for  boys  was  founded.  At  a  very 
early  period  charity  schools  were  erected 
by  the  Lodges  in  Germany,  Denmark,  and 
Sweden.  The  Masons  of  Holland  insti- 
tuted a  school  for  the  blind  in  1808.  In 
the  United  States  much  attention  has  been 

Eaid  to  this  subject.  In  1842,  the  Grand 
lodge  of  Missouri  instituted  a  Masonic 
college,  and  the  example  was  followed  by 
several  other  Grand  Lodges.  But  colleges 
have  been  found  too  unwieldy  and  compli- 
cated in  their  management  for  a  successful 
experiment,  and  the  scheme  has  generally 
been  abandoned-  But  there  are  numerous 
schools  in  the  United  States  which  are 
supported  in  whole  or  in  part  by  Masonic 
Lodges. 

Schools  of  the  Prophets.  Oliver 
(Landm.,  ii.  374,)  speaks  of  "  the  secret  in- 
stitution of  the  Nabiim  "  as  existing  in  the 
time  of  Solomon,  and  which,  he  says,  were 
established  by  Samuel  "  to  counteract  the 
progress  of  the  Spurious  Freemasonry 
which  was  introduced  into  Palestine  before 
his  time."  This  claim  of  a  Masonic  char- 
acter for  these  institutions  has  been  gratui- 
tously assumed  by  the  venerable  author. 
He  referred  to  the  well-known  schools  of 
the  Prophets,  which  were  first  organized 
by  Samuel,  which  lasted  from  his  time  to 
the  closing  of  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. They  were  scattered  all  over  Pales- 
tine, and  consisted  of  scholars  who  devoted 
themselves  to  the  study  of  both  the  written 
and  the  oral  law,  to  the  religious  rites,  and 
to  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  Their 
teaching  of  what  they  had  learned  was 
public,  not  secret,  nor  did  they  in  any  way 
resemble,  as  Oliver  suggests,  the  Masonic 
Lodges  of  the  present  day.  They  were,  in 
their  organization,  rather  like  our  modern 
theological  colleges,  though  their  range 
of  studies  was  very  different. 
Nchrepfer,  J  ohann  Georg.    The 


keeper  of  a  coffee-house  in  Leipsic,  where, 
having  obtained  a  quantity  of  Masonic, 
Rosicrucian,  and  magical  books,  he  opened, 
in  1768,  what  he  called  a  Scottish  Lodge, 
and  pretended  that  he  had  been  commis- 
sioned by  Masonic  superiors  to  destroy  the 
system  of  Strict  Observance,  whose  adher- 
ents he  abused  and  openly  insulted.  He 
boasted  that  he  alone  possessed  the  great 
secret  of  Freemasonry,  and  that  nearly  all 
the  German  Masons  were  utterly  ignorant 
of  anything  about  it  except  its  external 
forms.  He  declared  that  he  was  an 
anointed  priest,  having  power  over  spirits, 
who  were  compelled  to  appear  at  his  will 
and  obey  his  commands,  by  which  means 
he  became  acquainted  not  only  with  the 
past  and  the  present,  but  even  with  the  fu- 
ture. It  was  in  thus  pretending  to  evoke 
spirits  that  his  Masonry  principally  con- 
sisted. Many  persons  became  his  dupes  ; 
and  although  they  soon  discovered  the  im- 
posture, shame  at  being  themselves  de- 
ceived prevented  them  from  revealing  the 
truth  to  others,  and  thus  his  initiations 
continued  for  a  considerable  period,  and  he 
was  enabled  to  make  some  money,  the  only 
real  object  of  his  system.  He  has  himself 
asserted,  in  a  letter  to  a  Prussian  clergy- 
man, that  he  was  an  emissary  of  the  Jesu- 
its ;  but  of  the  truth  of  this  we  have  only 
his  own  unreliable  testimony.  He  left 
Leipsic  at  one  time  and  travelled  abroad, 
leaving  his  Deputy  to  act  for  him  during 
his  absence.  On  his  return  he  asserted 
that  he  was  the  natural  son  of  one  of  the 
French  princes,  and  assumed  the  title  of 
Baron  Von  Steinbach.  But  at  length  there 
was  an  end  to  his  practices  of  jugglery. 
Seeing  that  he  was  beginning  to  be  detected, 
fearing  exposure,  and  embarrassed  by  debt, 
he  invitee!  some  of  his  disciples  to  accom- 
pany him  to  a  wood  near  Leipsic  called 
the  Rosenthal,  where,  on  the  morning  of 
October  8, 1774,  having  retired  to  a  little  dis- 
tance from  the  crowd,  he  blew  out  his 
brains  with  a  pistol.  Clavel  has  thought  it 
worth  while  to  preserve  the  memory  of  this 
incident  by  inserting  an  engraving  repre- 
senting the  scene  in  his  Histoire  Pitto- 
resque  de  la  Franc- Maconnerie.  Schepfer  had 
much  low  cunning,  but  was  devoid  of  edu- 
cation. Lenning  sums  up  his  character  in 
saying  that  he  was  one  of  the  coarsest  and 
most  impudent  swindlers  who  ever  chose 
the  Masonic  brotherhood  for  his  stage  of 
action. 

Schroeder,  Friederlch  Joseph 
W  illiclm.      A  doctor  and  professor  of 

Eharmacology  in  Marburg;  was  born  at 
iielefeld,  in  Prussia,  March  19,  1733,  and 
died  October  27,  1778.  Of  an  infirm  con- 
stitution from  his  youth,  he  still  further 
impaired  his  bodily  health  and  his  mental 


SCHROEDER 


SCIENTIFIC 


695 


faculties  by  his  devotion  to  chemical,  al- 
chemical, and  theosophic  pursuits.  He 
established  at  Marburg,  in  1766,  a  Chapter 
of  True  and  Ancient  Rose  Croix  Masons, 
and  in  1779  he  organized  in  a  Lodge  of 
Sarreburg  a  school  or  Rite,  founded  on 
magic,  theosophy,  and  alchemy,  which  con- 
sisted of  seven  degrees,  four  high  degrees 
founded  on  these  occult  sciences  being  su- 
peradded to  the  original  three  symbolic  de- 
grees. This  Rite,  called  the  "Rectified 
Rose  Croix,"  was  only  practised  by  two 
Lodges  under  the  Constitution  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Hamburg.  Clavel  calls  him 
the  Cagliostro  of  Germany,  because  it  was 
in  his  school  that  the  Italian  charlatan 
learned  his  first  lessons  of  magic  and  the- 
osophy. Oliver,  misunderstanding  Clavel, 
styles  him  an  adventurer.  But  it  is  perhaps 
more  just  that  we  should  attribute  to  him 
a  diseased  imagination  and  misdirected 
studies  than  a  bad  heart  or  impure  prac- 
tices. He  must  not  be  confounded  with 
Fried.  Ludwig  Schroeder,  who  was  a  man 
of  a  very  different  character. 

Schroeder,  Friedrich  Ludwig. 
An  actor  and  a  dramatic  and  Masonic  writ- 
er, born  at  Schwerin,  Nov.  3, 1744,  and  died 
near  Hamburg,  Sept.  3,  1816.  He  com- 
menced life  as  an  actor  at  Vienna,  and  was 
so  distinguished  in  his  profession  that  Hoff- 
mann says  "  he  was  incontestably  the  great- 
est actor  that  Germany  ever  had,  and  equal- 
ly eminent  in  tragedy  and  comedy."  As  an 
active,  zealous  Mason,  he  acquired  a  high 
character.  Bode  himself,  a  well-known 
Mason,  was  his  intimate  friend.  Through 
his  influence,  he  was  initiated  into  Free- 
masonry, in  1774,  in  the  Lodge  Emanuel 
zur  Maienblume.  He  soon  after  himself 
established  a  new  Lodge  working  in  the 
system  of  Zinnendorf,  but  which  did  not 
long  remain  in  existence.  Schroeder  then 
went  to  Vienna,  where  he  remained  until 
1785,  when  he  returned  to  Hamburg.  On 
his  return,  he  was  elected  by  his  old  friends 
the  Master  of  the  Lodge  Emanuel,  which 
office  he  retained  until  1799.  In  1794 
he  was  elected  Deputy  Grand  Master 
of  the  English  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of 
Lower  Saxony,  and  in  1814,  in  the  seven- 
tieth year  of  his  life,  he  was  induced  to  ac- 
cept the  Grand  Mastership.  It  was  after 
his  election,  in  1787,  as  Master  of  the  Lodge 
Emanuel  at  Hamburg,  that  he  first  resolved 
to  devote  himself  to  a  thorough  reformation 
of  the  Masonic  system,  which  had  been 
much  corrupted  on  the  continent  by  the  in- 
vention of  almost  innumerable  high  degrees, 
many  of  which  found  their  origin  in  the 
fantasies  of  Alchemy,  Rosicrucianism,  and 
Hermetic  Philosophy.  It  is  to  this  resolu- 
tion, thoroughly  executed,  that  we  owe  the 
Masonic  scheme  known  as  Schroeder's  Rite, 


which,  whatever  may  be  its  defects  in  the 
estimation  of  others,  has  become  very  pop- 
ular among  many  German  Masons.  He 
started  out  with  the  theory  that,  as  Free- 
masonry had  proceeded  from  England  to 
the  continent,  in  the  English  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions and  the  Primitive  English  Ritual 
we  must  look  for  the  pure  unadulterated 
fountain  of  Freemasonry. 

He  accordingly  selected  the  well-known 
English  Exposition  entitled  "Jachin  and 
Boaz  "  as  presenting,  in  his  opinion,  the 
best  formula  of  the  old  initiation.  He 
therefore  translated  it  into  the  German  lan- 
guage, and,  remodelling  it,  presented  it 
to  the  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  in  1801,  by 
whom  it  was  accepted  and  established.  It 
was  soon  after  accepted  by  many  other  Ger- 
man Lodges  on  account  of  its  simplicity. 
The  system  of  Schroeder  thus  adopted  con- 
sisted of  the  three  degrees  of  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry,  all  the  higher  degrees  being  re- 
jected. But  Schroeder  found  it  necessary 
to  enlarge  his  system,  so  as  to  give  to  breth- 
ren who  desired  it  an  opportunity  of  far- 
ther investigation  into  the  philosophy  of 
Masonry.  He,  therefore,  established  an 
Engbund,  or  Select  Historical  Union,  which 
should  be  composed  entirely  of  Master  Ma- 
sons, who  were  to  be  engaged  in  the  study 
of  the  different  systems  and  degrees  of  Free- 
masonry. The  Hamburg  Lodges  consti- 
tuted the  Mutterbund,  or  central  body,  to 
which  all  the  other  Lodges  were  to  be 
united  by  correspondence. 

Of  this  system,  the  error,  I  think,  is  that, 
by  going  back  to  a  primitive  ritual  which 
recognizes  nothing  higher  than  the  Master's 
degree,  it  rejects  all  the  developments  that 
have  resulted  from  the  labors  of  the  philo- 
sophic minds  of  a  century.  Doubtless  in 
the  high  degrees  of  the  eighteenth  century 
there  was  an  abundance  of  chaff,  but  there 
was  also  much  nourishing  wheat.  Schroe- 
der, with  the  former,  has  thrown  away  the 
latter.  He  has  committed  the  logical  blun- 
der of  arguing  from  the  abuse  against  the 
use.  His  system,  however,  has  some  merit, 
and  is  still  practised  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Hamburg. 

Sehroeder's  Rite.  See  Schroeder, 
Friederich  Joseph  Wilhelm. 

Seliroeder's  System.  See  Schroe- 
der, Friedrich  Ludwig. 

Sciences,  Liberal.  See  Liberal  Arts 
and  Sciences. 

Scientific  Masonic  Association. 
(Scientifischer  Freimaurer  Bund.)  A  society 
founded  in  1803  by  Fessler,  Mossdorf, 
Fischer,  and  other  distinguished  Masons, 
the  object  being,  by  the  united  efforts  of  its 
members,  to  draw  up,  with  the  greatest  ac- 
curacy and  care,  and  from  the  most  authen- 
tic sources,  a  full  and  complete  history  of 


SCOTLAND 


SCOTTISH 


Freemasonry,  of  its  origin  and  objects,  from 
its  first  formation  to  the  present  day,  and 
also  of  the  various  systems  or  methods  of 
working  that  have  been  introduced  into 
the  Craft ;  such  history,  together  with  the 
evidence  upon  which  it  was  founded,  was 
to  be  communicated  to  worthy  and  zealous 
brethren.  The  members  had  no  peculiar 
ritual,  clothing,  or  ceremonies;  neither 
were  they  subjected  to  any  fresh  obligation ; 
every  just  and  upright  Freemason  who  had 
received  a  liberal  education,  who  was  capa- 
ble of  feeling  the  truth,  and  desirous  of 
investigating  the  mysteries  of  the  Order, 
could   become  a  member  of  this  society, 

Erovided  the  ballot  was  unanimous,  let 
im  belong  to  what  Grand  Lodge  he  might. 
But  those  whose  education  had  not  been 
sufficiently  liberal  to  enable  them  to  assist 
in  those  researches  were  only  permitted  to 
attend  the  meetings  as  trusty  brethren  to 
receive  instruction. 

Scotland.  The  tradition  of  the 
Scotch  Masons  is  that  Freemasonry  was 
introduced  into  Scotland  by  the  architects 
who  built  the  Abbey  of  Kilwinning ;  and 
the  village  of  that  name  bears,  therefore, 
the  same  relation  to  Scotch  Masonry  that 
the  city  of  York  does  to  English.  "  That 
Freemasonry  was  introduced  into  Scot- 
land," says  Laurie,  [Hist,  p.  89,)  "by  those 
architects  who  built  the  Abbey  of  Kilwin- 
ning, is  manifest  not  only  from  those  au- 
thentic documents  by  which  the  Kilwin- 
ning Lodge  has  been  traced  back  as  far  as 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  but  by 
other  collateral  arguments  which  amount 
almost  to  a  demonstration."  In  Sir  John 
Sinclair's  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland, 
the  same  statement  is  made  in  the  follow- 
ing words :  "  A  number  of  Freemasons 
came  from  the  continent  to  build  a  monas- 
tery there,  and  with  them  an  architect  or 
Master  Mason  to  superintend  and  carry  on 
the  work.  This  architect  resided  at  Kil- 
winning, and  being  a  good  and  true  Mason, 
intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  arts  and 
parts  of  Masonry  known  on  the  continent, 
was  chosen  Master  of  the  meetings  of  the 
brethren  all  over  Scotland.  He  gave  rules 
for  the  conduct  of  the  brethren  at  these 
meetings,  and  decided  finally  in  appeals 
from  all  the  other  meetings  or  Lodges  in 
Scotland."  Which  statement  amounts  to 
about  this :  that  the  brethren  assembled  at 
Kilwinning  elected  a  Grand  Master  (as  we 
should  now  call  him)  for  Scotland,  and 
that  the  Lodge  of  Kilwinning  became  the 
Mother  Lodge,  a  title  which  it  has  always 
assumed.  Manuscripts  preserved  in  the 
Advocates'  Library  of  Edinburgh,  which 
were  first  published  by  Laurie,  furnish 
further  records  of  the  early  progress  of 
Masonry  in  Scotland. 


In  the  reign  of  James  II.,  the  office  of 
Grand  Patron  of  Scotland  was  granted  to 
William  St.  Clair,  Earl  of  Orkney  and 
Caithness  and  Baron  of  Roslin,  "  his  heirs 
and  successors,"  by  the  king's  charter.  But, 
in  1736,  the  St.  Clair  who  then  exercised 
the  Grand  Mastership,  "taking  into  con- 
sideration that  his  holding  or  claiming  any 
such  jurisdiction,  right,  or  privilege  might 
be  prejudicial  to  the  Craft  and  vocation  of 
Masonry,"  renounced  his  claims,  and  em- 
powered the  Freemasons  to  choose  their 
Grand  Master.  The  consequence  of  this 
act  of  resignation  was  the  immediate  or- 
ganization of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scot- 
land, over  whom,  for  obvious  reasons,  the 
late  hereditary  Grand  Master  or  Patron 
was  unanimously  called  to  preside. 

Scotland,  Royal  Order  of.  See 
Royal  Order  of  Scotland. 

Scott,  Charles.  A  distinguished 
Masonic  writer  of  the  United  States,  who 

fras  born  at  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  Nov.  12, 
811,  and  died  at  Jackson,  Mississippi, 
June  5,  1861.  Bro.  Scott  was  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  abilities.  In  the  pro- 
fession of  the  law  he  had  a  high  reputation, 
and  was  for  a  long  period  Chancellor  of  the 
State  of  Mississippi.  He  was  initiated  into 
Freemasonry  in  Silas  Brown  Lodge  of 
Jackson,  in  1842,  and  afterwards  presided 
over  the  Lodge  for  many  years.  He  was 
Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Mis- 
sissippi in  1849  and  in  1850,  and  in  1851 
he  was  elected  Grand  High  Priest  of  the 
Grand  Chapter.  He  entered  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  at  New  Or- 
leans in  1857,  and  two  years  afterwards  was 
elevated  to  the  thirty-third  degree  and  to 
active  membership  in  the  Supreme  Council 
for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States.  As  a  Masonic  writer,  Bro.  Scott  did 
good  service  to  the  Craft.  Besides  numer- 
ous valuable  essays  published  in  various 
Masonic  journals,  he  was  the  author  of  two 
works  of  great  interest.  In  1850  appeared 
The  Analogy  of  Ancient  draft  Masonry  to 
Natural  and  Revealed  Religion,  and  in  1856, 
The  Keystone  of  the  Masonic  Arch,  a  Com- 
mentary on  the  Universal  Laws  and  Princi- 
ples of  Ancient  Freemasonry.  The  emi- 
nently religious  spirit  which  imbued  the 
whole  life  and  character  of  Bro.  Scott  has 
led  him  to  indulge,  like  the  venerable  Oli- 
ver, in  the  Christianization  of  Masonry  to 
an  extent  that  has  been  deemed  objection- 
able by  some.  But  there  are  in  both  of  these 
works  many  passages  suggestive  of  valua- 
ble Masonic  thought. 

Scottish.  We  use  indiscriminately 
the  word  Scotch  or  Scottish  to  signify  some- 
thing relating  to  Scotland.  Thus  we  say 
the  Scotch  Rite  or  the  Scottish  Rite ;  the 
latter  is,  however,  more  frequently  used  by 


SCOTTISH 


SCOTTISH 


697 


Masonic  writers.  This  has  been  objected 
to  by  some  purists  because  the  final  syl- 
lable ish  has  in  general  the  signification  of 
diminution  or  approximation,  as  in  brack- 
ish, saltish,  and  similar  words.  But  ish  in 
Scottish  is  not  a  sign  of  diminution,  but  is 
derived,  as  in  English,  Danish,  Swedish,  etc., 
from  the  German  termination  ische.  The 
word  is  used  by  the  best  writers. 

Scottish  I>egrees.  The  high  degrees 
invented  or  adopted  by  Ramsay,  under 
the  name  of  Irish  degrees,  were  subse- 
quently called  by  him  Scottish  degrees  in 
reference  to  his  theory  of  the  promulga- 
tion of  Masonry  from  Scotland.  See  Irish 
Chapters. 

Scottish  Master.    See  Ecossais. 

Scottish  Rite.  French  writers  call  this 
the  "  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,"  but  as 
the  Latin  Constitutions  of  the  Order  des- 
ignate it  as  the  "  Antiquus  Scoticus  Ritus 
Acceptus,"  or  the  "  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite,"  that  title  has  now  been  very 
generally  adopted  as  the  correct  name  of 
the  Rite.  Although  one  of  the  youngest 
of  the  Masonic  Rites,  having  been  estab- 
lished not  earlier  than  the  year  1801,  it  is 
at  this  day  the  most  popular  and  the  most 
extensively  diffused.  Supreme  Councils  or 
governing  bodies  of  the  Rite  are  to  be 
found  in  almost  every  civilized  country  of 
the  world,  and  in  many  of  them  it  is  the 
only  Masonic  obedience.  The  history  of 
its  organization  is  briefly  this.  In  1758,  a 
body  was  organized  at  Paris  called  the 
"Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East  and 
West."  This  Council  organized  a  Rite 
called  the  "  Rite  of  Perfection,"  which 
consisted  of  twenty-five  degrees,  the  highest 
of  which  was  "Sublime  Prince  of  the 
Royal  Secret."  In  1761,  this  Council 
granted  a  Patent  or  Deputation  to  Stephen 
Morin,  authorizing  him  to  propagate  the 
Rite  in  the  Western  continent,  whither  he 
was  about  to  repair.  In  the  same  year, 
Morin  arrived  at  the  city  of  St.  Domingo, 
where  he  commenced  the  dissemination  of 
the  Rite,  and  appointed  many  Inspectors, 
both  for  the  West  Indies  and  for  the  United 
States.  Among  others,  he  conferred  the 
degrees  on  M.  Hayes,  with  a  power  of  ap- 
pointing others  when  necessary.  Hayes 
accordingly  appointed  Isaac  Da  Costa  Dep- 
uty Inspector-General  for  South  Carolina, 
who  in  1783  introduced  the  Rite  into  that 
State  by  the  establishment  of  a  Grand 
Lodge  of  Perfection  in  Charleston.  Other 
Inspectors  were  subsequently  appointed, 
and  in  1801  a  Supreme  Council  was  opened 
in  Charleston  by  John  Mitchell  and  Fred- 
erick Dalcho.  There  is  abundant  evidence 
in  the  Archives  of  the  Supreme  Council 
that  up  to  that  time  the  twenty-five 
degrees  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection  were 
4N 


alone  recognized.  But  suddenly,  with  the 
organization  of  the  Supreme  Council, 
there  arose  a  new  Rite,  fabricated  by 
the  adoption  of  eight  more  of  the  conti- 
nental high  degrees,  so  as  to  make  the 
thirty-third  and  not  the  twenty-fifth  degree 
the  summit  of  the  Rite. 

The  Rite  consists  of  thirty-three  degrees, 
which  are  divided  into  seven  sections,  each 
section  being  under  an  appropriate  juris- 
diction, and  are  as  follows : 


Symbolic  Lodge. 

1.  Entered  Apprentice. 

2.  Fellow  Craft. 

3.  Master  Mason. 

These  are  called  blue  or  symbolic  de- 
grees. They  are  not  conferred  in  England, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  or  in  the  United  States, 
because  the  Supreme  Councils  of  the  Rite 
have  refrained  from  exercising  jurisdiction 
through  respect  to  the  older  authority  in 
those  countries  of  the  York  and  American 
Rite. 

II. 

Lodge  of  Perfection. 

4.  Secret  Master. 

5.  Perfect  Master. 

6.  Intimate  Secretary. 

7.  Provost  and  Judge. 

8.  Intendant  of  the  Building. 

9.  Elected  Knight  of  the  Nine. 

10.  Illustrious  Elect  of  the  Fifteen. 

11.  Sublime  Knights  Elect  of  the  Twelve. 

12.  Grand  Master  Architect. 

13.  Knight  of  the  Ninth  Arch,  or  Royal 
Arch  of  Solomon. 

14.  Grand  Elect,  Perfect  and  Sublime 
Mason. 

III. 
Council  of  Princes  of  Jerusalem. 

15.  Knight  of  the  East. 
16    Prince  of  Jerusalem. 

IV. 

Chapter  of  Rose  Croix. 

17.  Knight  of  the  East  and  West. 

18.  Prince  Rose  Croix. 


Council  of  Kadosh. 

19.  Grand  Pontiff. 

20.  Grand  Master  of  Symbolic  Lodges. 

21.  Noachite,  or  Prussian  Knight. 

22.  Knight  of  the  Royal  Axe,  or  Prince 
of  Libanus. 


698 


SCOTTISH 


SCRIPTURES 


23.  Chief  of  the  Tabernacle. 

24.  Prince  of  the  Tabernacle. 

25.  Knight  of  the  Brazen  Serpent. 

26.  Prince  of  Mercy. 

27.  Knight  Commander  of  the  Temple. 

28.  Knight    of    the    Sun,    or    Prince 
Adept. 

29.  Grand  Scottish  Knight  of  St.  An- 
drew. 

30.  Knight  Kadosh. 

VI. 

Consistory  of    Sublime   Princes   of 
the  Royal  Secret. 

31.  Inspector  Inquisitor  Commander. 

32.  Sublime  Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret. 

VII. 

Supreme  Council. 

33.  Sovereign  Grand  Inspector-General. 

Scottish  Templars.  See  Templars 
of  Scotland. 

Scottish  Trinitarians.  See  Prince 
of  Mercy. 

Scribe.  The  Scribe  is  the  third  officer 
in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  according  to  the 
American  ritual,  and  is  the  representative 
of  Haggai.  The  Sofer,  or  Scribe  in  the 
earlier  Scriptures,  was  a  kind  of  military 
secretary ;  but  in  the  latter  he  was  a  learned 
man,  and  doctor  of  the  laws,  who  ex- 
pounded them  to  the  people.  Thus  Ar- 
taxerxes  calls  Ezra  the  priest,  "  a  Scribe 
of  the  law  of  the  God  of  heaven."  Home 
says  that  the  Scribe  was  the  King's  Secre- 
tary of  State,  who  registered  all  acts  and 
decrees.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  Haggai  is 
called  the  Scribe  in  Royal  Arch  Masonry. 
In  the  English  system  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry there  are  two  Scribes,  who  represent 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  and  whose  position 
and  duties  are  those  of  Secretaries.  The 
American  Scribe  is  the  Third  Principal. 
The  Scribes,  according  to  the  English  sys- 
tem, appear  to  be  analogous  to  the  Soferim 
or  Scribes  of  the  later  Hebrews  from  the 
time  of  Ezra.  These  were  members  of  the 
Great  Synod,  and  were  literary  men,  who 
occupied  themselves  in  the  preservation  of 
the  letter  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  devel- 
opment of  its  spirit. 

Scriptures,  Belief  in  the.  In 
1820,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio  resolved 
that  "  in  the  first  degrees  of  Masonry  reli- 
gious tests  shall  not  be  a  barrier  to  the  ad- 
mission or  advancement  of  applicants,  pro- 
vided they  profess  a  belief  in  God  and  his 
holy  word ;"  and  in  1854  the  same  body 
adopted  a  resolution  declaring  that  "  Ma- 
sonry, as  we  have  received  it  from  our 


fathers,  teaches  the  divine  authenticity  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures."  In  1845,  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Illinois  declared  a  belief  in  the 
authenticity  of  the  Scriptures  a  necessary 
qualification  for  initiation.  Although  in 
Christendom  very  few  Masons  deny  the 
divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments ;  yet  to  require, 
as  a  preliminary  to  initiation,  the  declara- 
tion of  such  a  belief,  is  directly  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  express  regulations  of  the  Order, 
which  demand  a  belief  in  God  and,  by  im- 
plication, in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  as 
the  only  religious  tests. 

Scriptures,  Reading  of  the.  By 
an  ancient  usage  of  the  Craft,  the  Book  of 
the  Law  is  always  spread  open  in  the 
Ix)dge.  There  is  in  this,  as  in  everything 
else  that  is  Masonic,  an  appropriate  sym- 
bolism. The  Book  of  the  Law  is  the  Great 
Light  of  Masonry.  To  close  it  would  be 
to  intercept  the  rays  of  divine  light  which 
emanate  from  it,  and  hence  it  is  spread 
open,  to  indicate  that  the  Lodge  is  not  in 
darkness,  but  under  the  influence  of  its 
illuminating  power.  Masons  in  this  re- 
spect obey  the  suggestion  of  the  Divine 
Founder  of  the  Christian  religion,  "Nei- 
ther do  men  light  a  candle  and  put  it 
under  a  bushel,  but  on  a  candlestick ;  and 
it  giveth  light  unto  all  that  are  in  the 
house."  A  closed  book,  a  sealed  book,  in- 
dicates that  its  contents  are  secret ;  and  a 
book  or  roll  folded  up  was  the  symbol,  says 
Wemyss,  of  a  law  abrogated,  or  of  a  thing 
of  no  further  use.  Hence,  as  the  reverse 
of  all  this,  the  Book  of  the  Law  is  opened 
in  our  Lodges,  to  teach  us  that  its  contents 
are  to  be  studied,  that  the  law  which  it  in- 
culcates is  still  in  force,  and  is  to  be  "  the 
rule  and  guide  of  our  conduct." 

But  the  Book  of  the  Law  is  not  opened 
at  random.  In  each  degree  there  are  ap- 
propriate passages,  whose  allusion  to  the 
design  of  the  degree,  or  to  some  part  of  its 
ritual,  makes  it  expedient  that  the  book 
should  be  opened  upon  those  passages. 

Masonic  usage  has  not  always  been  con- 
stant, nor  is  it  now  universal  in  relation  to 
what  particular  passages  shall  be  unfolded 
in  each  degree.  The  custom  in  this  country, 
at  least  since  the  publication  of  Webb's 
Monitor,  has  been  very  uniform,  and  is  as 
follows : 

In  the  first  degree  the  Bible  is  opened  at 
Psalm  cxxxiii.,  an  eloquent  description  of 
the  beauty  of  brotherly  love,  and  hence 
most  appropriate  as  the  illustration  of  a 
society  whose  existence  is  dependent  on 
that  noble  principle.  In  the  second  degree 
the  passage  adopted  is  Amos  vii.  7,  8,  in 
which  the  allusion  is  evidently  to  the 
plumb-line,  an  important  emblem  of  that 
degree.    In  the  third  degree  the  Bible  is 


SCRIPTURES 


SCRIPTURES 


699 


opened  at  Ecclesiastes  xii.  1-7,  in  which 
the  description  of  old  age  and  death  is  ap- 
propriately applied  to  the  sacred  object  of 
this  degree. 

But,  as  has  been  said,  the  choice  of  these 
passages  has  not  always  been  the  same. 
At  different  periods  various  passages  have 
been  selected,  but  always  with  great  appro- 
priateness, as  may  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing brief  sketch. 

Formerly,  the  Book  of  the  Law  was 
opened  in  the  first  degree  at  the  22d  chap- 
ter of  Genesis,  which  gives  an  account  of 
Abraham's  intended  sacrifice  of  Isaac.  As 
this  event  constituted  the  first  grand  offer- 
ing, commemorated  by  our  ancient  breth- 
ren, by  which  the  ground-floor  of  the  Ap- 
prentice's Lodge  was  consecrated,  it  seems 
to  have  been  very  appropriately  selected  as 
the  passage  for  this  degree.  That  part  of 
the  28th  chapter  of  Genesis  which  records 
the  vision  of  Jacob's  ladder  was  also,  with 
equal  appositeness,  selected  as  the  passage 
for  the  first  degree. 

The  following  passage  from  1  Kings  vi. 
8,  was,  during  one  part  of  the  last  century, 
used  in  the  second  degree : 

"  The  door  of  the  middle  chamber  was  in 
the  right  side  of  the  house,  and  they  went 
up  with  winding  stairs  into  the  middle 
chamber,  and  out  of  the  middle  into  the 
third." 

The  appositeness  of  this  passage  to  the 
Fellow  Craft's  degree  will  hardly  be  dis- 
puted. 

At  another  time  the  following  passage 
from  2  Chronicles  iii.  17,  was  selected  for 
the  second  degree ;  its  appropriateness  will 
be  equally  evident: 

"  And  he  reared  up  the  pillars  before  the 
temple,  one  on  the  right  hand,  and  the 
other  on  the  left ;  and  he  called  the  name 
of  that  on  the  right  hand  Jachin,  and  the 
name  of  that  on  the  left  Boaz." 

The  words  of  Amos  v.  25,  26,  were  some- 
times adopted  as  the  passage  for  the  third 
degree : 

"  Have  ye  offered  unto  me  sacrifices  and 
offerings  in  the  wilderness  forty  years,  O 
house  of  Israel?  But  ye  have  borne  the 
tabernacle  of  your  Moloch  and  Chiun  your 
images,  the  star  of  your  god,  which  ye 
made  to  yourselves." 

The  allusions  in  this  paragraph  are  not 
so  evident  as  the  others.  They  refer  to 
historical  matters,  which  were  once  em- 
bodied in  the  ancient  lectures  of  Freema- 
sonry. In  them  the  sacrifices  of  the  Israel- 
ites to  Moloch  were  fully  described,  and  a 
tradition,  belonging  to  the  third  degree,  in- 
forms us  that  Hiram  Abif  did  much  to 
extirpate  this  idolatrous  worship  from  the 
religious  system  of  Tyre. 

The  6th  chapter  of  2  Chronicles,  which 


contains  the  prayer  of  King  Solomon  at 
the  dedication  of  the  Temple,  was  also  used 
at  one  time  for  the  third  degree.  Perhaps, 
however,  this  was  with  less  fitness  than 
any  other  of  the  passages  quoted,  since  the 
events  commemorated  in  the  third  degree 
took  place  at  a  somewhat  earlier  period 
than  the  dedication.  Such  a  passage  might 
more  appropriately  be  annexed  to  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Most  Excellent  Master  as 
practised  in  this  country. 

At  present  the  usage  in  England  differs 
in  respect  to  the  choice  of  passages  from 
that  adopted  in  this  country. 

There  the  Bible  is  opened,  in  the  first 
degree,  at  Ruth  iv.  7 : 

"  Now  this  was  the  manner  in  former  time 
in  Israel  concerning  redeeming  and  con- 
cerning changing,  for  to  confirm  all  things; 
a  man  plucked  off  his  shoe,  and  gave  it  to 
his  neighbor:  and  this  was  a  testimony  in 
Israel." 

In  the  second  degree  the  passage  is 
opened  at  Judges  xii.  6 : 

"Then  said  they  unto  him,  Say  now 
Shibboleth:  and  he  said  Sibboleth;  for  he 
could  not  frame  to  pronounce  it  right. 
Then  they  took  him,  and  slew  him  at  the 
passages  of  Jordan.  And  there  fell  at  that 
time  of  the  Ephraimites  forty  and  two 
thousand." 

In  the  third  degree  the  passage  is  opened 
at  1  Kings  vii.  13,  14 : 

"And  king  Solomon  sent  and  fetched 
Hiram  out  of  Tyre.  He  was  a  widow's  son 
of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  and  his  father  was 
a  man  of  Tyre,  a  worker  in  brass :  and  he 
was  filled  with  wisdom,  and  understanding, 
and  cunning  to  work  all  works  in  brass. 
And  he  came  to  king  Solomon,  and 
wrought  all  his  work." 

While  from  the  force  of  habit,  as  well 
as  from  the  extrinsic  excellence  of  the  pas- 
sages themselves,  the  American  Mason 
will,  perhaps,  prefer  the  selections  made  in 
our  own  Lodges,  especially  for  the  first  and 
third  degrees,  he  at  the  same  time  will  not 
fail  to  admire  the  taste  and  ingenuity  of 
our  English  brethren  in  the  selections  that 
they  have  made.  In  the  second  degree  the 
passage  from  Judges  is  undoubtedly  prefer- 
able to  our  own. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  observed,  that  to 
give  these  passages  their  due  Masonic  im- 
portance it  is  essential  that  they  should  be 
covered  by  the  square  and  compasses.  The 
Bible,  square,  and  compasses  are  significant 
symbols  of  Freemasonry.  They  are  said  to 
allude  to  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  our 
ancient  Grand  Masters.  The  Bible  is  em- 
blematic of  the  wisdom  of  King  Solomon ; 
the  square,  of  the  power  of  Hiram ;  and  the 
compasses,  of  the  skill  of  the  Chief  Builder. 
Some   Masonic  writers  have  still  further 


700 


SCYTHE 


SEAL 


spiritualized  these  symbols  by  supposing 
them  to  symbolize  the  wisdom,  truth,  and 
justice  of  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  Uni- 
verse. In  any  view  they  become  instruc- 
tive and  inseparably  connected  portions  of 
the  true  Masonic  ritual,  which,  to  be  under- 
stood, must  be  studied  together. 

Scythe.  In  the  classic  mythology,  the 
scythe  was  one  of  the  attributes  of  Saturn, 
the  god  of  time,  because  that  deity  is  said 
to  have  taught  men  the  use  of  the  imple- 
ment in  agriculture.  But  Saturn  was  also 
the  god  of  time;  and  in  modern  icono- 
graphy Time  is  allegorized  under  the  fig- 
ure of  an  old  man,  with  white  hair  and 
beard,  two  large  wings  at  his  back,  an  hour- 
glass in  one  hand  and  a  scythe  in  the  other. 
It  is  in  its  cutting  and  destructive  quality 
that  the  scythe  is  here  referred  to.  Time 
is  thus  the  great  mower  who  reaps  his  har- 
vest of  men.  Masonry  has  adopted  this 
symbolism,  and  in  the  third  degree  the 
scythe  is  described  as  an  emblem  of  time, 
which  cuts  the  brittle  thread  of  life  and 
makes  havoc  among  the  human  race. 

Seal.  A  stamp  on  which  letters  and  a 
device  are  carved  for  the  purpose  of  making 
an  impression,  and  also  the  wax  or  paper 
on  which  the  impression  is  made.  Lord 
Coke  defines  a  seal  to  be  an  impression  on 
wax,  "sigillum  est  cera  impressa,"  and  wax 
was  originally  the  legal  material  of  a  seal. 
Many  old  Masonic  diplomas  and  charters 
are  still  in  existence,  where  the  seal  con- 
sists of  a  circular  tin  box  filled  with  wax, 
on  which  the  seal  is  impressed,  the  box  be- 
ing attached  by  a  ribbon  to  the  parchment. 
But  now  the  seal  is  placed  generally  on  a 
piece  of  circular  paper.  The  form  of"  a  seal 
is  circular ;  oval  seals  were  formerly  appro- 

{>riated  to  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  and  re- 
igious  houses,  and  the  shape  alluded  to 
the  old  Christian  symbol  of  the  Vesica 
Piscis. 

No  Masonic  document  is  valid  unless  it 
has  appended  to  it  the  seal  of  the  Lodge 
or  Grand  Lodge.  Foreign  Grand  Lodges 
never  recognize  the  transactions  of  subor- 
dinate Lodges  out  of  their  jurisdictions,  if 
the  standing  of  the  Lodges  is  not  guaran- 
teed by  the  seal  of  the  Grand  Lodge  and 
the  signatures  of  the  proper  officers. 

Seal  of  Solomon.  The  Seal  of  Solo- 
mon or  the  Shield  of  David,  for  under  both 
names  the  same  thing  was  denoted,  is  a 
hexagonal  figure  consist- 
ing of  two  interlaced  tri- 
angles, thus  forming  the 
outlines  of  a  six-pointed 
star.  Upon  it  was  in- 
scribed one  of  the  sacred 
names  of  God,  from  which 
inscription  it  was  sup- 
posed principally  to  derive  its  talismanic 
powers.    These  powers  were  very  extensive, 


for  it  was  believed  that  it  would  extinguish 
fire,  prevent  wounds  in  a  conflict,  and  per- 
form many  other  wonders.  The  Jews  called 
it  the  Shield  of  David  in  reference  to  the 

Erotection  which  it  gave  to  its  possessors, 
iut  to  the  other  Orientalists  it  was  more 
familiarly  known  as  the  Seal  of  Solomon. 
Among  these  imaginative  people,  there  was 
a  very  prevalent  belief  in  the  magical  char- 
acter of  the  King  of  Israel.  He  was  es- 
teemed rather  as  a  great  magician  than  as 
a  great  monarch,  and  by  the  signet  which 
he  wore,  on  which  this  talismanic  seal  was 
engraved,  he  is  supposed  to  have  accom- 

Elished  the  most  extraordinary  actions,  and 
y  it  to  have  enlisted  in  his  service  the  la- 
bors of  the  genii  for  the  construction  of  his 
celebrated  Temple. 

Robinson  Crusoe  and  the  Thousand  and 
One  Nights  are  two  books  which  every 
child  has  read,  and  which  no  man  or  wo- 
man ever  forgets.  In  the  latter  are  many 
allusions  to  Solomon's  seal.  Especially  is 
there  a  story  of  an  unlucky  fisherman  who 
fished  up  in  his  net  a  bottle  secured  by  a 
leaden  stopper,  on  which  this  seal  was  im- 
pressed. On  opening  it,  a  fierce  Afrite,  or 
evil  genius,  came  forth,  who  gave  this  ac- 
count of  the  cause  of  his  imprisonment. 
"Solomon,"  said  he,  "the  son  of  David, 
exhorted  me  to  embrace  the  faith  and  sub- 
mit to  his  authority ;  but  I  refused ;  upon 
which  he  called  for  this  bottle,  and  confined 
me  in  it,  and  closed  it  upon  me  with  the 
leaden  stopper  and  stamped  upon  it  his 
seal,  with  the  great  name  of  God  engraved 
upon  it.  Then  he  gave  the  vessel  to  one 
of  the  genii,  who  submitted  to  him,  with 
orders  to  cast  me  into  the  sea." 

Of  all  talismans,  I  know  of  none,  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  the  cross,  which  was  so  gen- 
erally prevalent  among  the  ancients  as  this 
Seal  of  Solomon  or  Shield  of  David.  It 
has  been  found  in  the  cave  of  Elephanta, 
in  India,  accompanying  the  image  of  the 
Deity,  and  many  other  places  celebrated  in 
the  Brahmanical  and  the  Buddhist  religions. 
Mr.  Hay,  in  an  exploration  into  western 
Barbary,  found  it  in  the  harem  of  a  Moor, 
and  in  a  Jewish  synagogue,  where  it  was 
suspended  in  front  of  the  recess  in  which 
the  sacred  rolls  were  deposited.  In  fact, 
the  interlaced  triangles  or  Seal  of  Solomon 
may  be  considered  as  par  excellence  the 
great  Oriental  talisman. 

In  time,  with  the  progress  of  the  new  re- 
ligion, it  ceased  to  be  invested  with  a  mag- 
ical reputation,  although  the  hermetic  phi- 
losophers of  the  Middle  Ages  did  employ 
it  as  one  of  their  mystical  symbols ;  but 
true  to  the  theory  that  superstitious  may 
be  repudiated,  but  never  will  be  forgotten, 
it  was  adopted  by  the  Christians  as  one  of 
the  emblems  of  their  faith,  but  with  vary- 
ing  interpretations.     The   two    triangles 


SEALS 


SECRECY 


701 


were  said  sometimes  to  be  symbols  of  fire 
and  water,  sometimes  of  prayer  and  remis- 
sion, sometimes  of  creation  and  redemption, 
or  of  life  and  death,  or  of  resurrection  and 
judgment.  But  at  length  the  ecclesiologists 
seem  to  have  settled  on  the  idea  that  the 
figure  should  be  considered  as  representing 
the  two  natures  of  our  Lord  —  his  divine 
and  his  human.  And  thus  we  find  it  dis- 
persed all  over  Europe,  in  medallions,  made 
at  a  very  early  period,  on  the  breasts  of  the 
recumbent  effigies  of  the  dead  as  they  lie 
in  their  tombs,  and  more  especially  in 
churches,  where  it  is  presented  to  us  either 
carved  on  the  walls  or  painted  in  the 
windows.  Everywhere  in  Europe,  and 
now  in  this  country,  where  ecclesiastical 
architecture  is  beginning  at  length  to  find 
a  development  of  taste,  is  this  old  Eastern 
talisman  to  be  found  doing  its  work  as  a 
Christian  emblem.  The  spirit  of  the  old 
talismanic  faith  is  gone,  but  the  form  re- 
mains, to  be  nourished  by  us  as  the  natural 
homage  of  the  present  to  the  past. 

Among  the  old  Kabbalistic  Hebrews,  the 
Seal  of  Solomon  was,  as  a  talisman,  of  course 
deemed  to  be  a  sure  preventive  against  the 
danger  of  fire.  The  more  modern  Jews, 
still  believing  in  its  talismanic  virtues, 
placed  it  as  a  safeguard  on  their  houses  and 
on  their  breweries,  because  they  were  es- 
pecially liable  to  the  danger  of  fire.  The 
common  people,  seeing  this  figure  affixed 
always  to  Jewish  brew-houses,  mistook  it 
for  a  sign,  and  in  time,  in  Upper  Germany, 
the  hexagon,'  or  Seal  of  Solomon,  was 
adopted  by  German  innkeepers  as  the  sign 
of  a  beer-house,  just  as  the  chequers  has 
been  adopted  in  England,  though  with  a 
different  history,  as  the  sign  of  a  tavern. 

Seals,  Book  of  the  Seven.  "  And 
I  saw,"  says  St.  John  in  the  Apocalypse, 
(v.  1,)  "in  the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat 
on  the  throne  a  book  written  within  and 
on  the  back  side,  sealed  with  seven  seals." 
The  seal  denotes  that  which  is  secret,  and 
seven  is  the  number  of  perfection ;  hence 
the  Book  of  the  Seven  Seals  is  a  symbol  of 
that  knowledge  which  is  profoundly  se- 
cured from  all  unhallowed  search.  In  ref- 
erence to  the  passage  quoted,  the  Book 
of  the  Seven  Seals  is  adopted  as  a  symbol 
in  the  Apocalyptic  degree  of  the  Knights 
of  the  East  and  West,  the  seventeenth  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite. 

Seals,  Keeper  of  the.  An  officer 
who  has  charge  of  the  seal  or  seals  of  the 
Lodge.  It  is  found  in  some  of  the  high 
degrees  and  in  continental  Lodges,  but  not 
recognized  in  the  York  or  American  Rites. 
In  German  Lodges  he  is  called  Siegelbe- 
wahrer,  and  in  French,  Garde  des  Sceaux. 
_  Search  for  Truth.  This  is  the  ob- 
ject of  all  Freemasonry,  and  it  is  pursued 


from  the  first  to  the  last  step  of  initiation. 
The  Apprentice  begins  it  seeking  for  the 
light  which  is  symbolized  by  the  Word, 
itself  only  a  symbol  of  Truth.  As  a  Fel- 
low Craft  he  continues  the  search,  still  ask- 
ing for  more  light.  And  the  Master  Mason, 
thinking  that  he  has  reached  it,  obtains 
only  its  substitute ;  for  the  True  Word, 
Divine  Truth,  dwells  not  in  the  first  tem- 
ple of  our  earthly  life,  but  can  be  found 
only  in  the  second  temple  of  the  eternal 
life. 

There  is  a  beautiful  allegory  of  the  great 
Milton,  who  thus  describes  the  search  after 
truth :  "  Truth  came  into  the  world  with 
her  Divine  Master,  and  was  a  perfect  shape 
and  glorious  to  look  upon.  But  when  he 
ascended,  and  his  apostles  after  him  were 
laid  asleep,  there  straight  arose  a  wicked 
race  of  deceivers,  who,  as  the  story  goes  of 
the  Egyptian  Typhon,  with  his  conspira- 
tors, how  they  dealt  with  the  good  Osiris, 
took  the  virgin  Truth,  hewed  her  lovely 
frame  into  a  thousand  pieces,  and  scattered 
them  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven.  Ever 
since  that  time  the  friends  of  Truth,  such 
as  durst  appear,  imitating  the  careful  search 
that  Isis  made  for  the  mangled  body  of 
Osiris,  went  up  and  down,  gathering  up 
limb  by  limb  still  as  they  could  find  them." 

Seceders.  During  the  anti-Masonic 
excitement  in  this  country,  which  gave  rise 
to  the  anti-Masonic  party,  many  Masons, 
fearing  the  loss  of  popularity,  or  governed 
by  an  erroneous  view  of  the  character  of 
Freemasonry,  withdrew  from  the  Order, 
and  took  a  part  in  the  political  and  reli- 
gious opposition  to  it.  These  men  called 
themselves,  and  were  recognized  by  the 
title  of,  "seceders"  or  "seceding  Masons." 

Second  Temple.  See  Temple  of 
Zerubbabel. 

Secrecy  and  Silence.  These  vir- 
tues constitute  the  very  essence  of  all  Ma- 
sonic character;  they  are  the  safeguard  of 
the  Institution,  giving  to  it  all  its  security 
and  perpetuity,  and  are  enforced  by  fre- 
quent admonitions  in  all  the  degrees,  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest.  The  Entered  Ap- 
prentice begins  his  Masonic  career  by  learn- 
ing the  duty  of  secrecy  and  silence.  Hence 
it  is  appropriate  that  in  that  degree  which 
is  the  consummation  of  initiation,  in  which 
the  whole  cycle  of  Masonic  science  is  com- 
pleted, the  abstruse  machinery  of  symbol- 
ism should  be  employed  to  impress  the  same 
important  virtues  on  the  mind  of  the  neo- 
phyte. 

The  same  principles  of  secrecy  and  si- 
lence existed  in  all  the  ancient  mysteries 
and  systems  of  worship.  When  Aristotle 
was  asked  what  thing  appeared  to  him  to 
be  most  difficult  of  performance,  he  replied, 
"  To  be  secret  and  silent." 


702 


SECRETARY 


SECRET 


"  If  we  turn  our  eyes  back  to  antiquity," 
says  Calcott,  "  we  shall  find  that  the  old 
Egyptians  had  so  great  a  regard  for  silence 
and  secrecy  in  the  mysteries  of  their  reli- 
gion, that  they  set  up  the  god  Harpocrates, 
to  whom  they  paid  peculiar  honor  and  ven- 
eration, who  was  represented  with  the  right 
hand  placed  near  the  heart,  and  the  left 
down  by  his  side,  covered  with  a  skin  before, 
full  of  eyes." 

Apuleius,  who  was  an  initiate  in  the 
mysteries  of  Isis,  says :  "  By  no  peril  will  I 
ever  be  compelled  to  disclose  to  the  unini- 
tiated the  things  that  I  have  had  intrusted 
to  me  on  condition  of  silence." 

Lobeck,  in  his  Aglaophamus,  has  col- 
lected several  examples  of  the  reluctance 
with  which  the  ancients  approached  a  mys- 
tical subject,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
shrank  from  divulging  any  explanation  or 
fable  which  had  been  related  to  them  at 
the  mysteries,  under  the  seal  of  secrecy  and 
silence. 

And,  lastly,  in  the  school  of  Pythagoras, 
these  lessons  were  taught  by  the  sage  to  his 
disciples.  A  novitiate  of  five  years  was 
imposed  upon  each  pupil,  which  period  was 
to  be  passed  in  total  silence,  and  in  reli- 
gious and  philosophical  contemplation. 
And  at  length,  when  he  was  admitted  to 
full  fellowship  in  the  society,  an  oath  of 
secrecy  was  administered  to  him  on  the  sa- 
cred tetractys,  which  was  equivalent  to  the 
Jewish  Tetragrammaton. 

Silence  and  secrecy  are  called  "  the  car- 
dinal virtues  of  a  Select  Master,"  in  the 
ninth  or  Select  Master's  degree  of  the 
American  Rite. 

Among  the  Egyptians  the  sign  of  silence 
was  made  by  pressing  the  index  finger  of 
the  right  hand  on  the  lips.  It  was  thus 
that  they  represented  Harpocrates,  the  god 
of  silence,  whose  statue  was  placed  at  the 
entrance  of  all  temples  of  Isis  and  Serapis, 
to  indicate  that  silence  and  secrecy  were  to 
be  preserved  as  to  all  that  occurred  within. 

Secretary.  The  recording  and  corre- 
sponding officer  of  a  Lodge.  It  is  his  duty 
to  keep  a  just  and  true  record  of  all  things 
proper  to  be  written,  to  receive  all  moneys 
that  are  due  the  Lodge,  and  to  pay  them 
over  to  the  Treasurer.  The  jewel  of  his 
office  is  a  pen,  and  his  position  in  the 
Lodge  is  on  the  left  of  the  Worshipful 
Master  in  front. 

Secretary-General  of  the  Holy 
Empire.  The  title  given  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Rite. 

Secretary,  Grand.  See  Grand  Sec- 
retary. 

Secret  Doctrine.  The  secret  doctrine 
of  the  Jews  was,  according  to  Steinschnei- 
der,  nothing  else  than  a  system  of  meta- 


physics founded  on  the  commentaries  on 
the  law  and  the  legends  of  the  Talmudists. 
Of  this  secret  doctrine,  Maimonides  says: 
"  Beware  that  you  take  not  these  words  of 
the  wise  men  in  their  literal  signification, 
for  this  would  be  to  degrade  and  sometimes 
to  contradict  the  sacred  doctrine.  Search 
rather  for  the  hidden  sense ;  and  if  you  can- 
not find  the  kernel,  let  the  shell  alone,  and 
confess  that  you  cannot  understand  it." 
All  mystical  societies,  and  even  liberal 
philosophers,  were,  to  a  comparatively  re- 
cent period,  accustomed  to  veil  the  true 
meaning  of  their  instructions  in  inten- 
tional obscurity,  lest  the  unlearned  and 
uninitiated  should  be  offended.  The  An- 
cient Mysteries  had  their  secret  doctrine ; 
so  had  the  school  of  Pythagoras,  and  the 
sect  of  the  Gnostics.  The  Alchemists,  as 
Hitchcock  has  clearly  shown,  gave  a  secret 
and  spiritual  meaning  to  their  jargon 
about  the  transmutation  of  metals,  the 
elixir  of  life,  and  the  philosopher's  stone. 
Freemasonry  alone  has  no  secret  doctrine. 
Its  philosophy  is  open  to  the  world.  Its 
modes  of  recognition  by  which  it  secures 
identification,  and  its  rites  and  ceremonies 
which  are  its  method  of  instruction,  alone 
are  secret.  All  men  may  know  the  tenets 
of  the  Masonic  creed. 

Secret  Master.  The  fourth  degree 
in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite, 
and  the  first  of  what  are  called  the  "  In- 
effable Degrees."  It  refers  to  those  cir- 
cumstances which  occurred  at  the  Temple 
when  Solomon  repaired  to  the  building 
for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  loss  of  its 
illustrious  builder  by  the  appointment  of 
seven  experts,  among  whom  were  to  be 
divided  the  labors  which  heretofore  had 
been  intrusted  to  one  gigantic  mind.  The 
lecture  elaborately  explains  the  mystic 
meaning  of  the  sacred  things  which  were 
contained  in  the  Sanctum  Sanctorum,  or 
Holy  of  Holies. 

The  Lodge  is  hung  with  black  curtains 
strewed  with  tears,  symbolic  of  grief. 
There  should  be  eighty-one  lights,  dis- 
tributed by  nine  times  nine ;  but  this  num- 
ber is  often  dispensed  with,  and  three  times 
three  substituted.  Later  rituals  reduce 
them  to  eight. 

There  are  but  two  presiding  officers  — 
a  Master,  styled  "  Puissant,"  and  repre- 
senting King  Solomon,  and  an  Inspector, 
representing  Adoniram,  the  son  of  Abda, 
who  had  the  inspection  of  the  workmen  on 
Mount  Lebanon,  and  who  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  Secret  Master. 

Solomon  is  seated  in  the  east,  clothed  in 
mourning  robes  lined  with  ermine,  hold- 
ing a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  decorated 
with  a  blue  sash  from  the  right  shoulder  to 
the  left  hip,  from  which   is  suspended  a 


SECRET 


SECRET 


703 


triangle  of  gold.  Before  him  is  placed  a 
triangular  altar,  on  which  is  deposited  a 
wreath  of  laurel  and  olive  leaves. 

Adoniram,  called  "  Venerable  Inspector," 
is  seated  in  the  west,  but  without  any  im- 
plement of  office,  in  commemoration  of 
the  fact  that  the  works  were  suspended 
at  the  time  of  the  institution  of  this  de- 
gree. He  is  decorated  with  a  triangular 
white  collar,  bordered  with  black,  from 
which  is  suspended  an  ivory  key,  with  the 
letter  Z  engraved  thereon,  which  constitute 
the  collar,  and  jewel  of  the  degree.  These 
decorations  are  worn  by  all  the  brethren. 

The  apron  is  white  edged  with  black  and 
with  black  strings ;  the  flap  blue,  with  an 
open  eye  thereon  embroidered  in  gold.  The 
modern  ritual  prescribes  that  two  branches 
of  olive  and  laurel  crossing  each  other 
shall  be  on  the  middle  of  the  apron. 

Secret  Monitor.  An  honorary  or 
side  degree  very  commonly  conferred  in 
the  United  States.  The  communication  of 
it  is  not  accompanied,  it  is  true,  with  any 
impressive  ceremonies,  but  it  inculcates  a 
lesson  of  unfaltering  friendship  which  the 
prospect  of  danger  could  not  appall,  and 
the  hour  of  adversity  could  not  betray. 
It  is,  in  fact,  devoted  to  the  practical  eluci- 
dation of  the  Masonic  virtue  of  Brotherly 
Love.  In  conferring  it,  those  passages  of 
Scripture  which  are  contained  in  the  twen- 
tieth chapter  of  the  First  Book  of  Samuel, 
from  the  sixteenth  to  the  twenty-third,  and 
from  the  thirty-fifth  to  the  forty-second 
verses  inclusive,  are  usually  considered  as  ap- 
propriate. It  may  be  conferred  on  a  worthy 
Master  Mason  by  any  brother  who  is  in 
possession  of  its  ritual.  There  was  in  Hol- 
land, in  1778,  a  secret  Masonic  society 
called  the  Order  of  Jonathan  and  David, 
which  was  probably  much  the  same  as  this 
American  degreee.  Kloss  in  his  Catalogue 
(1910")  gives  the  title  of  a  book  published 
in  that  year  at  Amsterdam  which  gives  its 
statutes  and  formulary  of  reception. 

Secret  of  the  Secrets,  Tbe.  A 
degree  cited  in  the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Secret  Societies.  Secret  societies 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes :  First, 
those  whose  secrecy  consists  in  nothing 
more  than  methods  by  which  the  members 
are  enabled  to  recognize  each  other ;  and 
in  certain  doctrines,  symbols,  or  instructions 
which  can  be  obtained  only  after  a  process 
of  initiation,  and  under  the  promise  that 
they  shall  be  made  known  to  none  who 
have  not  submitted  to  the  same  initiation  ; 
but  which,  with  the  exception  of  these 
particulars,  have  no  reservations  from  the 
public.  And  secondly,  of  those  societies 
which,  in  addition  to  their  secret  modes  of 
recognition  and  secret  doctrine,  add  an 
entire  secrecy  as  to  the  object  of  their  asso- 


ciation, the  times  and  places  of  their  meet- 
ing, and  even  the  very  names  of  their 
members.  To  the  first  of  these  classes  be- 
long all  those  moral  or  religious  secret  associ- 
ations which  have  existed  from  the  earliest 
times.  Such  were  the  Ancient  Mysteries, 
whose  object  was,  by  their  initiations,  to 
cultivate  a  purer  worship  than  the  popular 
one ;  such,  too,  the  schools  of  the  old  phi- 
losophers, like  Pythagoras  and  Plato,  who 
in  their  esoteric  instructions  taught  a 
higher  doctrine  than  that  which  they  com- 
municated to  their  exoteric  scholars.  Such, 
too,  are  the  modern  secret  societies  which 
have  adopted  an  exclusive  form  only  that 
they  may  restrict  the  social  enjoyment 
which  it  is  their  object  to  cultivate,  or  the 
system  of  benevolence  for  which  they  are 
organized,  to  the  persons  who  are  united 
with  them  by  the  tie  of  a  common  covenant, 
and  the  possession  of  a  common  knowledge; 
such,  lastly,  is  Freemasonry,  which  is  a 
secret  society  only  as  respects  its  signs,  a 
few  of  its  legends  and  traditions,  and  its 
method  of  inculcating  its  mystical  philos- 
ophy, but  which,  as  to  everything  else  —  its 
design,  its  object,  its  moral  and  religious 
tenets,  and  the  great  doctrine  which  it 
teaches  —  is  as  open  a  society  as  if  it  met  on 
the  highways  beneath  the  sun  of  day,  and 
not  within  the  well-guarded  portals  of  a 
Lodge.  To  the  second  class  of  secret  so- 
cieties belong  those  which  sprung  up  first 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  like  the  Vehm  Uericht 
of  Westphalia,  formed  for  the  secret  but 
certain  punishment  of  criminals ;  and  in  the 
eighteenth  century  those  political  societies 
like  the  Carbonari,  which  have  been  or- 
ganized at  revolutionary  periods  to  resist 
the  oppression  or  overthrow  the  despo- 
tism of  tyrannical  governments.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  these  two  classes  of  secret  socie- 
ties are  entirely  different  in  character ;  but 
it  has  been  the  great  error  of  writers  like 
Barruel  and  Bobison,  who  have  attacked 
Freemasonry  on  the  ground  of  its  being  a 
secret  association,  that  they  utterly  con- 
founded the  two  classes. 

An  interesting  discussion  on  this  subject 
took  place  in  1848,  in  the  National  Assem- 
bly of  France,  during  the  consideration  of 
those  articles  of  the  law  by  which  secret 
societies  were  prohibited.  A  part  of  this 
discussion  is  worth  preserving,  and  is  in 
the  following  words : 

M.  Volette:  I  should  like  to  have  one  de- 
fine what  is  meant  by  a  secret  society  ? 

M.  Coquerel:  Those  are  secret  societies 
which  have  made  none  of  the  declarations 
prescribed  by  law. 

M.  Paulin  Qillon :  I  would  ask  if  Free- 
masonry is  also  to  be  suppressed? 

M.  Floqon :  I  begin  by  declaring  that, 
under  a  republican  government,  every  se- 


704 


SECRET 


SELECT 


cret  society  having  for  its  object  a  change 
of  the  form  of  such  government  ought  to 
be  severely  dealt  with.  Secret  societies 
may  be  directed  against  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  I 
ask  for  their  suppression;  but,  from  the 
want  of  a  precise  definition,  I  would  not  de- 
sire to  strike,  as  secret  societies,  assemblies  that 
are  perfectly  innocent.  All  my  life,  until 
the  24th  of  February,  have  I  lived  in  se- 
cret societies.  Now  I  desire  them  no 
more.  Yes,  we  have  spent  our  life  in  con- 
spiracies, and  we  had  the  right  to  do  so ; 
for  we  lived  under  a  government  which  did 
not  derive  its  sanctions  from  the  people. 
To-day  I  declare  that  under  a  republican 
government,  and  with  universal  suffrage, 
it  is  a  crime  to  belong  to  such  an  associa- 
tion. 

M.  Coquerel:  As  to  Freemasonry,  your 
committee  has  decided  that  it  is  not  a  secret 
society.  A  society  may  have  a  secret,  and 
yet  not  be  a  secret  society.  I  have  not  the 
honor  of  being  a  Freemason. 

The  President :  The  thirteenth  article  has 
been  amended,  and  decided  that  a  secret  so- 
ciety is  one  which  seeks  to  conceal  its  existence 
and  its  objects. 

Secret  Vault.    See  Vault,  Secret. 

Sectarianism.  Masonry  repudiates 
all  sectarianism,  and  recognizes  the  tenets 
of  no  sect  as  preferable  to  those  of  any 
other,  requiring  in  its  followers  assent  only 
to  those  dogmas  of  a  universal  religion 
which  teach  the  existence  of  God  and  the 
resurrection  to  eternal  life.    See  Toleration. 

Secular  Lodges.  The  epithet  secu- 
lar has  sometimes,  but  very  incorrectly, 
been  applied  to  subordinate  Lodges  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  Grand  Lodges.  In 
such  a  connection  the  word  is  unmeaning, 
or,  what  is  worse,  is  a  term  bearing  a  mean- 
ing entirely  different  from  that  which  was 
intended  by  the  writer.  "Secular,"  says 
Richardson,  "  is  used  as  distinguished  from 
eternal,  and  equivalent  to  temporal;  per- 
taining to  temporal  things,  things  of  this 
world;  worldly;  also  opposed  to  spiritual, 
to  holy."  And  every  other  orthoepist 
gives  substantially  the  same  definition.  It 
is  then  evident,  from  this  definition,  that 
the  word  secular  may  be  applied  to  all  Ma- 
sonic bodies,  but  not  to  one  class  of  them 
in  contradistinction  to  another.  All  Ma- 
sonic Lodges  are  secular,  because  they  are 
worldly,  and  not  spiritual  or  holy  institu- 
tions. But  a  subordinate  Lodge  is  no  more 
secular  than  a  Grand  Lodge. 

Sedition  Act.  On  July  12, 1798,  the 
British  Parliament,  alarmed  at  the  progress 
of  revolutionary  principles,  enacted  a  law, 
commonly  known  as  the  Sedition  Act,  for 
the  suppression  of  secret  societies ;  but  the 
true  principles  of  Freemasonry  were  so 


well  understood  by  the  legislators  of  Great 
Britain,  many  of  whom  were  members  of 
the  Order,  that  the  following  clause  was  in- 
serted in  the  Act : 

"  And  whereas,  certain  societies  have 
been  long  accustomed  to  be  holden  in  this 
kingdom,  under  the  denomination  of  Lodges 
of  Freemasons,  the  meetings  whereof  have 
been  in  a  great  measure  directed  to  chari- 
table purposes,  be  it  therefore  enacted,  that 
nothing  in  this  Act  shall  extend  to  the 
meetings  of  any  such  society  or  Lodge 
which  shall,  before  the  passing  of  this  Act, 
have  been  usually  holden  under  the  said 
denomination,  and  in  conformity  to  the 
rules  prevailing  among  the  said  societies 
of  Freemasons." 

Seeing.  One  of  the  five  human  senses, 
whose  importance  is  treated  of  in  the  Fel- 
low Craft's  degree.  By  sight,  things  at  a 
distance  are,  as  it  were,  brought  near,  and 
obstacles  of  space  overcome.  So  in  Free- 
masonry, by  a  judicious  use  of  this  sense, 
in  modes  which  none  but  Masons  compre- 
hend, men  distant  from  each  other  in  lan- 
guage, in  religion,  and  in  politics,  are 
brought  near,  and  the  impediments  of 
birth  and  prejudice  are  overthrown.  But, 
in  the  natural  world,  sight  cannot  be  exer- 
cised without  the  necessary  assistance  of 
light,  for  in  darkness  we  are  unable  to  see. 
So  in  Masonry,  the  peculiar  advantages 
of  Masonic  sight  require,  for  their  enjoy- 
ment, the  blessing  of  Masonic  light.  Illu- 
minated by  its  divine  rays,  the  Mason  sees 
where  others  are  blind ;  and  that  which  to 
the  profane  is  but  the  darkness  of  igno- 
rance, is  to  the  initiated  filled  with  the 
light  of  knowledge  and  understanding. 

Seekers.  (Chercheurs.)  The  first  de- 
gree of  the  Order  of  Initiated  Knights  and 
Brothers  of  Asia. 

Select  Master.  The  ninth  degree  in 
the  American  Rite,  and  the  last  of  the  two 
conferred  in  a  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters.  Its  officers  are  a  Thrice  Illus- 
trious Grand  Master,  Illustrious  Hiram  of 
Tyre,  Principal  Conductor  of  the  Works, 
Treasurer,  Recorder,  Captain  of  the  Guards, 
Conductor  of  the  Council,  and  Steward. 
The  first  three  represent  the  three  Grand 
Masters  at  the  building  of  Solomon's  Tem- 
ple. The  symbolic  colors  are  black  and 
red,  the  former  significant  of  secrecy,  si- 
lence, and  darkness  ;  the  latter  of  fervency 
and  zeal.  A  Council  is  supposed  to  consist 
of  neither  more  nor  less  than  twenty-seven  ; 
but  a  smaller  number,  if  not  less  than  nine, 
is  competent  to  proceed  to  work  or  busi- 
ness. The  candidate,  when  initiated,  is 
said  to  be  "  chosen  as  a  Select  Master."  The 
historical  object  of  the  degree  is  to  com- 
memorate the  deposit  of  an  important  se- 
cret or  treasure  which,  after  the  prelimi- 


SELECT 


SENESCHAL 


705 


nary  preparations,  is  said  to  have  been 
made  by  Hiram  Abif.  The  place  of  meet- 
ing represents  a  secret  vault  beneath  the 
Temple. 

A  controversy  has  sometimes  arisen 
among  ritualists  as  to  whether  the  degree 
of  Select  Master  should  precede  or  follow 
that  of  Royal  Master  in  the  order  of  con- 
ferring. But  the  arrangement  now  exist- 
ing, by  which  the  Royal  Master  is  made 
the  first  and  the  Select  Master  the  second 
degree  of  Cryptic  Masonry,  has  been  very 
generally  accepted,  and  this  for  the  best  of 
reasons.  It  is  true  that  the  circumstances 
referred  to  in  the  degree  of  Royal  Master 
occurred  during  a  period  of  time  which  lies 
between  the  death  of  the  Chief  Builder  of 
the  Temple  and  the  completion  of  the  edi- 
fice, while  those  referred  to  in  the  degree 
of  Select  Master  occurred  anterior  to  the 
builder's  death.  Hence,  in  the  order  of 
time,  the  events  commemorated  in  the  Se- 
lect Master's  degree  took  place  anterior  to 
those  which  are  related  in  the  degree  of 
Royal  Master;  although  in  Masonic  se- 
quence the  latter  degree  is  conferred  before 
the  former.  This  apparent  anachronism 
is,  however,  reconciled  by  the  explanation 
that  the  secrets  of  the  Select  Master's  de- 
gree were  not  brought  to  light  until  long 
after  the  existence  of  the  Royal  Master's 
degree  had  been  known  and  recognized. 

In  other  words,  to  speak  only  from  the 
traditional  point  of  view,  Select  Masters 
had  been  designated,  had  performed  the 
task  for  which  they  had  been  selected,  and 
had  closed  their  labors,  without  ever  being 
openly  recognized  as  a  class  in  the  Temple 
of  Solomon.  The  business  in  which  they 
were  engaged  was  a  secret  one.  Their  oc- 
cupation and  their  very  existence,  accord- 
ing to  the  legend,  were  unknown  to  the 
great  body  of  the  Craft  in  the  first  Temple. 
The  Royal  Master's  degree,  on  the  contrary, 
as  there  was  no  reason  for  concealment,  was 
publicly  conferred  and  acknowledged  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  construction  of 
the  Temple  of  Solomon;  whereas  the  degree 
of  Select  Master,  and  the  important  inci- 
dents on  which  it  was  founded,  are  not  sup- 
posed to  have  been  revealed  to  the  Craft 
until  the  building  of  the  temple  of  Zerub- 
babel.  Hence  the  Royal  Master's  degree 
should  always  be  conferred  anterior  to  that 
of  the  Select  Master. 

The  proper  jurisdiction  under  which 
these  degrees  should  be  placed,  whether 
under  Chapters  and  to  be  conferred  pre- 
paratory to  the  Royal  Arch  degree,  or 
under  Councils  and  to  be  conferred  after  it, 
has  excited  discussion.  The  former  usage 
prevails  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  but  the 
latter  in  all  the  other  States.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  these  degrees  belonged  origi- 
4  0  45 


nally  to  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite, 
and  were  conferred  as  honorary  degrees  by 
the  Inspectors  of  that  Rite.  This  authority 
and  jurisdiction  the  Supreme  Council  for 
the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  Rite  con- 
tinued to  claim  until  the  year  1870;  al- 
though, through  negligence,  the  Councils 
of  Royal  and  Select  Masters  in  some  of 
the  States  had  been  placed  under  the  con- 
trol of  independent  jurisdictions  called 
Grand  Councils.  Like  all  usurped  author- 
ity, however,  this  claim  of  the  State  Grand 
Councils  does  not  seem  to  have  ever  been 
universally  admitted  or  to  have  been  very 
firmly  established.  Repeated  attempts  have- 
been  made  to  take  the  degrees  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  Councils  and  to  place  them 
in  the  Chapters,  there  to  be  conferred  as 
preparatory  to  the  Royal  Arch.  The  Gen- 
eral Grand  Chapter,  in  the  triennial  ses- 
sion of  1847,  adopted  a  resolution  granting 
this  permission  to  all  Chapters  in  States 
where  no  Grand  Councils  exist.  But,  see- 
ing the  manifest  injustice  and  inexpediency 
of  such  a  measure,  at  the  following  session 
of  1850  it  refused  to  take  any  action  on 
the  subject  of  these  degrees.  In  1853  it 
disclaimed  all  control  over  them,  and  for- 
bade the  Chapters  under  its  jurisdiction  to 
confer  them.  As  far  as  regards  the  inter- 
ference of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  that  question  was  set  at  rest  in 
1870  by  the  Mother  Council,  which,  at  its 
session  at  Baltimore,  formally  relinquished 
all  further  control  over  them. 

So  in  est  re.  The  mot  de  semestre,  or 
semi-annual  word,  is  used  only  in  France. 
Every  six  months  a  secret  word  is  commu- 
nicated by  the  Grand  Orient  to  all  the 
Lodges  under  its  jurisdiction.  This  cus- 
tom was  introduced  October  28,  1773,  dur- 
ing the  Grand  Mastership  of  the  Duke  of 
Chartres,  to  enable  him  the  better  to  con- 
trol the  Lodges,  and  to  afford  the  members 
a  means  whereby  they  could  recognize  the 
members  who  were  not  constant  in  their 
attendance,  and  also  those  Masons  who 
either  belonged  to  an  unrecognized  Rite, 
or  who  were  not  affiliated  with  any  Lodge. 
The  Chapters  of  the  higher  degrees  receive 
a  word  annually  from  the  Grand  Orient 
for  the  same  purpose.  This,  with  the  pass- 
word, is  given  to  the  Tiler  on  entering  the 
Temple. 

Senatorial  Chamber.  When  the 
Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Rite  meets  in  the  thirty -third  degree, 
it  is  said  to  meet  in  its  senatorial  chamber. 

Seneschal.  An  officer  found  in  some 
of  the  high  degrees,  as  in  the  thirty-second 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,  where 
his  duties  are  similar  to  those  of  a  Warden 
of  a  Lodge,  he  acting  as  the  deputy  of  the 
presiding  officer.    The  title  is  derived  from 


706 


SENIOR 


SERMONS 


the  old  German  senne,  house,  and  schalTc, 
servant.  The  seneschals  in  the  Middle 
Ages  were  the  lieutenants  of  the  dukes 
and  other  great  feudatories,  and  took  charge 
of  the  castles  of  their  masters  during  their 
absence. 

Senior  Deacon.    See  Deacons. 

Senior  Entered  Apprentice.  In 
the  ritual  of  the  early  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury the  Senior  and  Junior  Entered  Ap- 
prentices acted  in  the  place  of  the  Deacons, 
which  offices  were  then  unknown.  The 
Senior  Entered  Apprentice  was  placed  in 
the  south,  and  his  duty  was  "  to  hear  and 
receive  instructions,  and  to  welcome  strange 
Brethren."    See  Junior  Entered  Apprentice. 

Senior  Warden.  The  second  officer 
in  a  Symbolic  Lodge.  He  presides  over 
the  Craft  during  the  hours  of  labor,  as  the 
Junior  does  during  the  hours  of  refresh- 
ment, and  in  the  absence  of  the  Master  he 
performs  his  duty.     See  Wardens. 

Senses,  FiTC     See  Five  Senses. 

Sentinel.  An  officer  in  a  Royal  Arch 
Chapter,  in  a  Council  of  Knights  of  the 
Red  Cross,  and  in  a  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars,  whose  duties  are  simi- 
lar to  those  of  a  Tiler  in  a  Symbolic  Lodge. 
In  some  bodies  the  word  Janitor  has  been 
substituted  for  Sentinel,  but  the  change  is 
hardly  a  good  one.  Janitor  has  been  more 
generally  appropriated  to  the  porter  of  a 
collegiate  institution,  and  has  no  old  Ma- 
sonic authority  for  its  use. 

Sephiroth.  (Hebrew,  HWfijDO  Jt 
is  a  plural  noun,  the  singular  being  Se- 
phira.  Buxtorf  {Lex.  Talm.)  says  the  word 
means  numerations,  from  SAPHAR,  to 
number;  but  the  Kabbalistic  writers  gen- 
erally give  it  the  signification  of  splendors, 
from  SAPHIRI,  splendid.  The  account  of 
the  creation  and  arrangement  of  the  Sephi- 
roth forms  the  most  important  portion  of 
the  secret  doctrine  of  the  Kabbalists,  and 
has  been  adopted  and  referred  to  in  many 
of  the  high  philosophic  degrees  of  Masonry. 
Some  acquaintance  with  it,  therefore, 
seems  to  be  necessary  to  the  Mason  who 
desires  to  penetrate  into  the  more  abstruse 
arcana  of  his  Order.     See  Kabbala. 

Septenary.  The  number  seven,  which 
see. 

Sepulchre.  The  spirit  of  gratitude 
has  from  the  earliest  period  led  men  to 
venerate  the  tombs  in  which  have  been  de- 
posited the  remains  of  their  benefactors. 
In  all  of  the  ancient  religions  there  were 
sacred  tombs  to  which  worship  was  paid. 
The  tombs  of  the  prophets,  preserved  by 
the  Israelites,  gave  testimony  to  their  rever- 
ence for  the  memory  of  these  holy  person- 
ages. After  the  advent  of  Christianity,  the 
same  sentiment  of  devotion  led  the  pil- 
grims to  visit  the  Holy  Land,  that  they 


might  kneel  at  what  was  believed  to  be  the 
sepulchre  of  their  Lord.  In  many  of  the 
churches  of  the  Middle  Ages  there  was  a 
particular  place  near  the  altar  called  the 
sepulchre,  which  was  used  at  Easter  for  the 
performance  of  solemn  rites  commemora- 
tive of  the  Saviour's  resurrection.  This 
custom  still  prevails  in  some  of  the 
churches  on  the  continent.  In  Templar 
Masonry,  which  is  professedly  a  Christian 
system,  the  sepulchre  forms  a  part  of  the 
arrangements  of  a  Commandery.  In  Eng- 
land, the  sepulchre  is  within  the  Asylum, 
and  in  front  of  the  Eminent  Commander. 
In  this  country  it  is  placed  without;  and 
the  scenic  representation  observed  in  every 
well-regulated  and  properly  arranged  Com- 
mandery furnishes  a  most  impressive  and 
pathetic  ceremony. 

Sepulchre,  Knight  of  the  Holy. 
See  Knight  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

Serapis,  Mysteries  of.  See  Egyp- 
tian Mysteries. 

Sermons,  Masonic.  Sermons  on 
Masonic  subjects,  and  delivered  in  churches 
before  Masonic  bodies  or  on  Masonic  festi- 
vals, are  peculiar  to  the  British  and  Amer- 
ican Freemasons.  Neither  the  French  nor 
German,  nor,  indeed,  any  continental  lit- 
erature of  Masonry,  supplies  us  with  any 
examples.  The  first  Masonic  sermon  of 
which  we  have  any  knowledge,  from  its 
publication,  was  "  A  General  Charge  to 
Masons,  delivered  at  Christ  Church,  in 
Boston,  [Massachusetts,]  on  the  27th  of 
December,  1749,  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Brock- 
well,  A.M.,  published  at  the  request  of  the 
Grand  Officers  and  Brethren  there."  It 
was,  however,  not  printed  at  Boston,  but 
was  first  published  in  the  Freemasons' 
Pocket  Companion  for  1754.  Brockwell  was 
chaplain  of  the  English  troops  stationed 
at  Boston.  But  in  America,  at  least,  the 
custom  of  delivering  sermons  on  St.  John's 
day  prevailed  many  years  before.  In  the 
author's  History  of  Freemasonry  in  South 
Carolina,  (pp.  15-20,)  will  be  found  the 
authentic  evidence  that  the  Lodges  in 
Charleston  attended  divine  service  on  De- 
cember 27, 1738,  and  for  several  years  after, 
on  each  of  which  occasions  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  a  sermon  was  preached.  In 
1742  it  is  distinctly  stated,  from  a  contem- 
porary gazette,  that  "  both  Lodges  pro- 
ceeded regularly,  with  the  ensigns  of  their 
Order  and  music  before  them,  to  church, 
where  they  heard  a  very  learned  sermon 
from  their  brother,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Durand." 
Brock  well's,  however,  is  the  first  of  these 
early  sermons  which  has  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  be  embalmed  in  type.  But  though 
first  delivered,  it  was  not  the  first  printed. 
In  1750,  John  Entick,  afterwards  the  editor 
of  an  edition  of  Anderson's  "  Constitutions," 


SERPENT 


SERPENT 


707 


delivered  a  sermon  at  Welbrook,  England, 
entitled,  "The  Free  and  Accepted  Mason 
Described."  The  text  on  this  occasion  was 
from  Acts  xxviii.  22,  and  had  some  signifi- 
cance in  reference  to  the  popular  character  of 
the  Order.  "  But  we  desire  to  hear  of  thee 
what  thou  thinkest ;  for  as  concerning  this 
sect,  we  know  that  everywhere  it  is  spoken 
against."  Entick  preached  several  other 
sermons,  which  were  printed.  From  that 
time,  both  in  England  and  America,  the 
sermon  became  a  very  usual  part  of  the 
public  celebration  of  a  Masonic  festival. 
One  preached  at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  in 
1775,  is  in  its  very  title  a  sermon  of  itself: 
"  The  Basis  of  Freemasonry  displayed ;  or, 
&n  Attempt  to  show  that  the  general  Prin- 
ciples of  true  Religion,  genuine  Virtue, 
and  sound  Morality  are  the  noble  Founda- 
tions on  which  this  renowned  Society  is 
established:  Being  a  Sermon  preached  in 
Newcastle,  on  the  Festival  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  1775,  by  Bro.  Robert  Green." 

In  1799,  the  Rev.  Jetbro  Inwood  pub- 
lished a  volume  of  "Sermons,  in  which  are 
expressed  and  enforced  the  religious,  moral, 
and  political  virtues  of  Freemasonry, 
preached  upon  several  occasions  before 
the  Provincial  Grand  Officers  and  other 
Brethren  in  the  Counties  of  Kent,  Essex, 
etc."  In  1849  Spencer  published  an  edi- 
tion of  this  work,  enriched  by  the  valuable 
notes  of  Dr.  Oliver.  In  1801  the  Rev. 
Thaddeus  Mason  Harris,  Grand  Chaplain 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  and  Grand  Chapter  of 
Massachusetts,  published  at  Charlestown, 
Massachusetts,  a  volume  of  "  Discourses 
delivered  on  Public  Occasions,  illustrating 
the  Principles,  displaying  the  Tendency, 
and  vindicating  the  Design  of  Freema- 
sonry." This  work  has  also  been  anno- 
tated in  a  new  edition  by  Dr.  Oliver,  and 
republished  in  his  Golden  Remains  of  Early 
Masonic  Writers.  During  this  century  there 
has  been  an  abundance  of  single  sermons 

f (reached  and  published,  but  no  other  col- 
ected  volume  of  any  by  one  and  the  same 
author  has  been  given  to  the  public  since 
those  of  Dr.  Harris.  Yet  the  fact  that 
annually  in  Great  Britain  and  America 
hundreds  of  sermons  in  praise  or  in  de- 
fence of  Freemasonry  are  delivered  from 
Christian  pulpits,  is  a  valuable  testimony 
given  by  the  clergy  to  the  purity  of  the 
Institution. 

Serpent.  As  a  symbol,  the  serpent 
obtained  a  prominent  place  in  all  the  an- 
cient initiations  and  religions.  Among  the 
Egyptians  it  was  the  symbol  of  Divine 
Wisdom  when  extended  at  length,  and  the 
serpent  with  his  tail  in  his  mouth  was  an 
emblem  of  eternity.  The  winged  globe  and 
serpent  symbolized  their  triune  deity.  In 
the  ritual  of  Zoroaster,  the  serpent  was  a 


symbol  of  the  universe.  In  China,  the 
ring  between  two  serpents  was  the  symbol 
of  the  world  governed  by  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  the  Creator.  The  same  device 
is  several  times  repeated  on  the  Isiac  table. 
Higgins  (Anacol.,  i.  521,)  says  that,  from 
the  faculty  which  the  serpent  possessed  of 
renewing  itself,  without  the  process  of  gen- 
eration as  to  outward  appearance,  by  an- 
nually casting  its  skin,  it  became,  like  the 
Phoenix,  the  emblem  of  eternity ;  but  he 
denies  that  it  ever  represented,  even  in 
Genesis,  the  evil  principle.  Faber's  the- 
ory of  the  symbolism  of  the  serpent,  as  set 
forth  in  his  work  on  the  Origin  of  Pagan 
Idolatry,  is  ingenious.  He  says  that  the 
ancients  in  part  derived  their  idea  of  the 
serpent  from  the  first  tempter,  and  hence 
it  was  a  hieroglyphic  of  the  evil  principle. 
But  as  the  deluge  was  thought  to  have 
emanated  from  the  evil  principle,  the  ser- 
pent became  a  symbol  of  the  deluge.  He 
also  represented  the  good  principle;  the 
idea  being  borrowed  from  the  winged  sera- 
phim which  was  blended  with  the  cheru- 
bim who  guarded  the  tree  of  life, — the 
seraphim  and  cherubim  being  sometimes 
considered  as  identical ;  and  besides,  in 
Hebrew,  *ptP  means  both  a  seraph  and  a 
serpent.  But  as  the  good  principle  was 
always  male  and  female,  the  male  serpent 
represented  the  Great  Father,  Adam  or 
Noah,  and  the  female  serpent  represented 
the  ark  or  world,  the  microcosm  and  the 
macrocosm.  Hence  the  serpent  represented 
the  perpetually  renovated  worla,  and  as 
such  was  used  in  all  the  mysteries.  Dr. 
Oliver  brings  his  peculiar  views  to  the  in- 
terpretation, and  says  that  in  Christian 
Masonry  the  serpent  is  an  emblem  of  the 
fall  and  the  subsequent  redemption  of  man. 
In  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  however,  the 
serpent  does  not  occur  as  a  symbol.  In 
the  Templar  and  in  the  Philosophic  de- 
grees, —  such  as  the  Knight  of  the  Brazen 
Serpent,  where  the  serpent  is  combined 
with  the  cross,  —  it  is  evidently  a  symbol 
of  Christ;  and  thus  the  symbolism  of  these 
degrees  is  closely  connected  with  that  of  the 
Rose  Croix. 

Serpent  and  Cross.  A  symbol  used 
in  the  degrees  of  Knight  Templar  and 
Knight  of  the  Brazen  Serpent.  The  cross 
is  a  tau  cross  T,  and  the  serpent  is  twined 
around.  Its  origin  is  found  in  Numbers 
xxi.  9,  where  it  is  said,  "  Moses  made  a 
serpent  of  brass,  and  put  it  upon  a  pole." 
The  word  jD,  Nes,  here  translated  "a  pole," 
literally  means  a  standard,  or  something 
elevated  on  high  as  a  signal,  and  may  be 
represented  by  a  cross  as  well  as  by  a  pole. 
Indeed,  Justin  Martyr  calls  it  a  cross. 

Serpent,  Knight  of  the  Brazen. 
See  Knight  of  the  Brazen  Serpent. 


708 


SERPENT 


SEVEN 


Serpent  Worship.  In  ancient  times, 
the  serpent  was  an  object  of  adoration  in 
almost  all  nations.  It  was,  in  fact,  one  of 
the  earliest  deviations  from  the  true  system, 
and  in  almost  all  the  ancient  rites  we  find 
some  allusion  to  the  serpent.  It  was  wor- 
shipped in  India,  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  Babylo- 
nia, Greece,  and  Italy.  Indeed,  so  widely  was 
this  worship  distributed,  presenting  every- 
where so  many  similar  features,  that  it  is 
not  surprising  that  it  has  been  regarded  by 
some  writers  as  the  primitive  religion  of 
man.  And  so  long  did  it  continue,  that 
in  the  sect  of  Ophites  it  became  one  of  the 
earliest  heresies  of  the  church.  In  some 
nations,  as  the  Egyptians,  the  serpent  was 
the  representative  of  the  good  principle ; 
but  in  most  of  them  it  was  the  emblem  of 
the  evil  principle. 

Serving  Brethren.  Masons  whose 
duty  it  is  to  serve  the  Lodge  as  Tilers, 
waiters  at  the  Lodge  table,  and  to  perform 
other  menial  services,  are  called  in  Euro- 
pean Lodges  "serving  brethren."  They 
are  not  known  in  this  country,  but  were 
long  recognized  as  a  distinct  class  in  Eng- 
land and  on  the  continent.  In  1753  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  adopted  a  regu- 
lation for  their  initiation,  which,  slightly 
modified,  is  still  in  force.  By  it  every 
Lodge  is  empowered  to  initiate  without 
charge  "serving  brethren,"  who  cannot, 
however,  become  members  of  the  Lodge, 
although  they  may  join  another.  In  mili- 
tary Lodges  private  soldiers  may  be  re- 
ceived as  serving  brethren.  On  the  conti- 
nent, at  one  time,  a  separate  and  prelimi- 
nary form  of  reception,  with  peculiar  signs, 
etc.,  was  appropriated  to  those  who  were 
initiated  as  serving  brethren,  and  they 
were  not  permitted  to  advance  beyond  the 
first  degree;  which,  however,  worked  no 
inconvenience,  as  all  the  business  and 
refreshment  of  the  Lodges  were  done  at 
that  time  in  the  Entered  Apprentice's 
degree.  The  regulation  for  admitting  serv- 
ing brethren  arose  from  the  custom  of 
Lodges  meeting  at  taverns;  and  as  at  that 
period  labor  and  refreshment  were  inter- 
mixed, the  waiters  for  the  tavern  were 
sometimes  required  to  enter  the  room  while 
the  Lodge  was  in  session,  and  hence  it 
became  necessary  to  qualify  them  for  such 
service  by  making  them  Masons.  In 
France  they  are  called  Freres  Servants;  in 
Germany,  Dienenden  Br'dder. 

The  Knights  Templars  had  a  class  called 
serving  brothers,  who  were  not,  however, 
introduced    into   the  Order  until   it  had 

5reatly  increased  in  wealth  and  numbers, 
'he  form  of  their  reception  varied  very 
slightly  from  that  of  the  Knights;  but  their 
habit  was  different,  being  black.  They 
were  designated  for  the  performance  of 


various  services  inside  or  outside  of  the 
Order.  Many  rich  and  well-born  men 
belonged  to  this  class.  They  were  permit- 
ted to  take  part  in  the  election  of  a  Grand 
Master.  The  treasurer  of  the  Order  was 
always  a  serving  brother.  Of  these  serving 
brothers  there  were  two  kinds :  servants  at 
arms  and  artificers.  The  former  were  the 
most  highly  esteemed ;  the  latter  being  con- 
sidered a  very  inferior  class,  except  the 
armorers,  who  were  held,  on  account  of  the 
importance  of  their  occupation,  in  higher 
estimation. 

Seth.  It  is  a  theory  of  some  Masonic 
writers  that  the  principles  of  the  Pure  or 
Primitive  Freemasonry  were  preserved  in 
the  race  of  Seth,  which  had  always  kept 
separate  from  that  of  Cain,  but  that  after 
the  flood  they  became  corrupted  by  a  se- 
cession of  a  portion  of  the  Sethites,  who 
established  the  Spurious  Freemasonry  of 
the  Gentiles.  This  theory  has  been  very 
extensively  advanced  by  Dr.  Oliver  in  all 
his  works.  The  pillars  erected  by  Seth  to 
preserve  the  principles  of  the  arts  and 
sciences  are  mentioned  by  Josephus.  But 
although  the  Old  Constitutions  speak  of 
Seth,  they  ascribe  the  erection  of  these 
pillars  to  the  children  of  Lamech.  But  in 
the  high  degrees  of  Masonry  the  erection 
is  attributed  to  Enoch.    See  Enoch. 

Sethos.  In  1731,  the  Abbe  Terrasson 
published  at  Paris  a  work  entitled  Sethos 
histoire  ou  vie  tiree  ties  monumens  anecdotes 
de  Vancienne  Egypte.  It  has  passed  through 
a  great  many  editions  and  been  translated 
into  German  and  English.  Under  the 
form  of  fiction  it  contains  an  admirable 
description  of  the  initiation  into  the  ancient 
Egyptian  mysteries.  The  labors  and  re- 
searches of  Terrasson  have  been  very  freely 
used  by  Lenoir,  Clavel,  Oliver,  and  other 
writers  on  the  ancient  initiations. 

Setting  Sun.  It  was  the  duty  of  the 
Senior  Warden  to  pay  and  dismiss  the 
Craft  at  the  close  of  day,  when  the  sun 
sinks  in  the  West;  so  now  the  Senior  War- 
den is  said  in  the  Lodge  to  represent  the 
setting  sun. 

Seven.  In  every  system  of  antiquity 
there  is  a  frequent  reference  to  this  num- 
ber, showing  that  the  veneration  for  it  pro- 
ceeded from  some  common  cause.  It  is 
equally  a  sacred  number  in  the  Gentile  as 
in  the  Christian  religion.  Oliver  says  that 
this  can  scarcely  be  ascribed  to  any  event, 
except  it  be  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath. 
Higgins  thinks  that  the  peculiar  circum- 
stance, perhaps  accidental,  of  the  number 
of  the  days  of  the  week  coinciding  exactly 
with  the  number  of  the  planetary  bodies 
probably  procured  for  it  its  character  of 
sanctity.  The  Pythagoreans  called  it  a 
perfect  number,  because  it  was  made  up  of 


SEVEN 


SHAMIR 


709 


3  and  4,  the  triangle  and  the  square,  which 
are  the  two  perfect  figures.  They  called  it 
also  a  virgin  number,  and  without  mother, 
comparing  it  to  Minerva,  who  was  a  moth- 
erless virgin,  because  it  cannot  by  multi- 
plication produce  any  number  within  ten, 
as  twice  two  does  four,  and  three  times 
three  does  nine ;  nor  can  any  two  numbers, 
by  their  multiplication,  produce  it. 

It  is  singular  to  observe  the  important 
part  occupied  by  the  number  seven  in  all 
the  ancient  systems.  There  were,  for  in- 
stance, seven  ancient  planets,  seven  Pleiades, 
and  seven  Hyades  ;  seven  altars  burned  con- 
tinually before  the  god  Mithras;  the  Ara- 
bians had  seven  holy  temples ;  the  Hindus 
supposed  the  world  to  be  enclosed  within 
the  compass  of  seven  peninsulas ;  the  Goths 
had  seven  deities,  viz.,  the  Sun,  the  Moon, 
Tuisco,  Woden,  Thor,  Friga,  and  Seatur, 
from  whose  names  are  derived  our  days  of 
the  week;  in  the  Persian  mysteries  were 
seven  spacious  caverns,  through  which  the 
aspirant  had  to  pass ;  in  the  Gothic  myste- 
ries, the  candidate  met  with  seven  obstruc- 
tions, which  were  called  the  "  road  of  the 
seven  stages ;  "  and,  finally,  sacrifices  were 
always  considered  as  most  eflicacious  when 
the  victims  were  seven  in  number. 

Much  of  the  Jewish  ritual  was  governed 
by  this  number,  and  the  etymology  of  the 
word  shows  its  sacred  import,  for  the  radical 
meaning  of  J^3£^>  shabang,  is,  says  Park- 
hurst,  sufficiency  or  fulness.  The  Hebrew 
idea,  therefore,  like  the  Pythagorean,  is  that 
of  perfection.  To  both  the  seven  was  a  per- 
fect number.  Again :  ^^£^>  means  to  swear, 
because  oaths  were  confirmed  either  by 
seven  witnesses,  or  by  seven  victims  offered 
in  sacrifice,  as  we  read  in  the  covenant  of 
Abraham  and  Abimelech.  (Gen.  xxi.  28.) 
Hence,  there  is  a  frequent  recurrence  to  this 
number  in  the  scriptural  history.  The  Sab- 
bath was  the  seventh  day ;  Noah  received 
seven  days'  notice  of  the  commencement  of 
the  deluge,  and  was  commanded  to  select 
clean  beasts  and  fowls  by  sevens  ;  seven  per- 
sons accompanied  him  into  the  ark;  the 
ark  rested  on  Mount  Ararat  in  the  seventh 
month ;  the  intervals  between  despatching 
the  dove  were,  each  time,  seven  days ;  the 
walls  of  Jericho  were  encompassed  seven 
days  by  seven  priests,  bearing  seven  rams' 
horns;  Solomon  was  seven  years  building 
the  Temple,  which  was  dedicated  in  the 
seventh  month,  and  the  festival  lasted  seven 
days ;  the  candlestick  in  the  tabernacle 
consisted  of  seven  branches;  and,  finally,  the 
tower  of  Babel  was  said  to  have  been  ele- 
vated seven  stories  before  the  dispersion. 

Seven  is  a  sacred  number  in  Masonic 
symbolism.  It  has  always  been  so.  In  the 
earliest  rituals  of  the  last  century  it  was 
said  that  a  Lodge  required  seven  to  make 


it  perfect ;  but  the  only  explanation  that  I 
can  find  in  any  of  those  rituals  of  the  sa- 
credness  of  the  number  is  the  seven  liberal 
arts  and  sciences,  which,  according  to  the 
old  "Legend  of  the  Craft,"  were  the  founda- 
tion of  Masonry.  In  modern  ritualism  the 
symbolism  of  seven  has  been  transferred 
from  the  first  to  the  second  degree,  and 
there  it  is  made  to  refer  only  to  the  seven 
steps  of  the  Winding  Stairs  ;  but  the  sym- 
bolic seven  is  to  be  found  diffused  in  a 
hundred  ways  over  the  whole  Masonic  sys- 
tem. 

Seven  Stars.  In  the  Tracing-Board 
of  the  seventeenth  degree,  or  Knight  of  the 
East  and  West,  is  the  representation  of  a 
man  clothed  in  a  white  robe,  with  a  golden 
girdle  round  his  waist,  his  right  hand  ex- 
tended, and  surrounded  with  seven  stars. 
The  seventeenth  is  an  apocalyptic  degree  $ 
this  symbol  is  taken  from  the  passage  in 
Kevelation  i.  16,  "  and  he  had  in  his  right 
hand  seven  stars."  It  is  a  symbol  of  the 
seven  churches  of  Asia. 

Seventy  Years  of  Captivity. 
This  period  must  be  computed  from  the 
defeat  of  the  Egyptians  at  Carchemish,  in 
the  same  year  that  the  prophecy  was  given, 
when  Nebuchadnezzar  reduced  the  neigh- 
boring nations  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  as 
well  as  Jerusalem,  under  his  subjection. 
At  the  end  of  seventy  years,  on  the  acces- 
sion of  Cyrus,  an  end  was  put  to  the  Baby- 
lonish monarchy. 

Shaddai.  One  of  the  names  of  God. 
In  Exodus  vi.  13,  the  word  translated 
God  Almighty  is,  in  the  original,  Shaddai, 
*"1G^»  it  is  therefore  the  name  by  which  he 
was  known  to  the  Israelites  before  he  com- 
municated to  Moses  the  Tetragrammaton. 
The  word  is  apluralis  majestatis,  and  signi- 
fies all-powerful,  omnipotent. 

Shamir.  King  Solomon  is  said,  in  a 
rabbinical  legend,  to  have  used  the  worm 
Shamir  as  an  instrument  for  building  the 
Temple.  The  legend  is  that  Moses  en- 
graved the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  on 
the  stones  of  the  breastplate  by  means  of 
the  blood  of  the  worm  shamir,  whose  sol- 
vent power  was  so  great  that  it  could  cor- 
rode the  hardest  substances.  When  Solo- 
mon was  about  to  build  the  Temple  of 
stones  without  the  use  of  any  metallic  im- 
plement, he  was  desirous  of  obtaining  this 
potent  blood ;  but  the  knowledge  of  the 
source  whence  Moses  had  derived  it  had 
been  lost  by  the  lapse  of  time.  Solomon 
enclosed  the  chick  of  a  bird,  either  an  os- 
trich or  a  hoopoe,  in  a  crystal  vessel,  and 
E laced  a  sentinel  to  watch  it.  The  parent 
ird,  finding  it  impossible  to  break  the 
vessel  with  her  bill  so  as  to  gain  access  to 
the  young  one,  flew  to  the  desert,  and  re- 
turned with  the  miraculous  worm,  which, 


710 


SHARP 


SHEM 


by  means  of  its  blood,  soon  penetrated  the 
prison  of  glass,  and  liberated  the  chick. 
By  a  repetition  of  the  process,  the  King  of 
Israel  at  length  acquired  a  sufficiency  of 
the  dissolving  blood  to  enable  him  to  work 
upon  the  stones  of  the  Temple. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  legend  is  based  on 
a  corruption  of  the  word  Smiris,  the  Greek 
for  emery,  which  was  used  by  the  antique 
engravers  in  their  works  and  medallions, 
and  that  the  name  Shamir  is  merely  the 
Hebrew  form  of  the  Greek  word. 

Sharp  Instrument.  The  emblem- 
atic use  of  a  "  sharp  instrument,"  as  indi- 
cated in  the  ritual  of  the  first  degree,  is  in- 
tended to  be  represented  by  a  warlike 
weapon,  (the  old  rituals  call  it  "  a  warlike 
instrument,")  such  as  a  dagger  or  sword. 
The  use  of  the  point  of  a  pair  of  compasses, 
as  is  sometimes  improperly  done,  is  an  er- 
roueous  application  of  the  symbol,  which 
should  not  be  tolerated  in  a  properly  con- 
ducted Lodge.  The  compasses  are,  besides, 
a  symbol  peculiar  to  the  third  degree. 

Shastras.  The  sacred  book  of  the 
Hindus,  which  contains  the  dogmas  of  their 
religion  and  the  ceremonies  of  their  wor- 
ship. It  is  a  commentary  on  the  Vedas, 
and  consists  of  three  parts :  the  moral  law, 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  religion,  and 
the  distribution  of  the  people  into  tribes. 
To  the  Hindu  Mason  it  would  be  the 
Greater  Light  and  his  Book  of  the  Law,  as 
the  Bible  is  to  his  Christian  brother. 

Sheba,  Queen  of.  In  the  Books  of 
Kings  and  Chronicles  we  are  told  that 
"  when  the  Queen  of  Sheba  heard  of  the 
fame  of  Solomon  concerning  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  she  came  to  prove  him  with  hard 
questions."  Sheba,  or  Saba,  is  supposed  to 
have  been  a  province  of  Arabia  Felix,  sit- 
uated to  the  south  of  Jerusalem.  The 
queen,  whose  visit  is  thus  described,  is 
spoken  of  nowhere  else  in  Scripture.  But 
the  Jews  and  the  Arabs,  who  gave  her  the 
name  of  Balkis,  recite  many  traditions  con- 
cerning her.  The  Masonic  one  will  be 
found  under  the  words  Admiration,  Sign  of, 
which  see. 

Shekel.  In  the  fourth  or  Mark  Mas- 
ter's degree,  it  is  said  that  the  value  of  a 
mark  is  "  a  Jewish  half-shekel  of  silver,  or 
twenty-five  cents  in  the  currency  of  this 
country."  The  shekel  of  silver  was  a 
weight  of  great  antiquity  among  the  Jews, 
its  value  being  about  a  half-dollar.  In  the 
time  of  Solomon,  as  well  as  long  before  and 
long  after,  until  the  Babylonish  exile,  the 
Hebrews  had  no  regularly  stamped  money, 
but  generally  used  in  traffic  a  currency 
which  consisted  of  uncoined  shekels,  which 
they  weighed  out  to  one  another.  The 
earliest  specimens  of  the  coined  shekel 
which  we  know  are  of  the  coinage  of  Simon 


Maccabeus,  issued  about  the  year  144  B.  c. 
Of  these,  we  generally  find  on  the  obverse 
the  sacred  pot  of  manna,  with  the  inscrip- 
tion, "  Shekel  Israel,"  in  the  old  Samaritan 
character ;  on  the  reverse,  the  rod  of  Aaron, 


having  three  buds,  with  the  inscription, 
"  Ierushalem  Kadoshah,"  or  Jerusalem  the 
Holy,  in  a  similar  character. 

Shekinah.  Heb.,  ni'3C,  derived 
from  SHAKAN,  to  dwell.  A  term  applied 
by  the  Jews,  especially  in  the  Targums,  to 
the  divine  glory  which  dwelt  in  the  taber- 
nacle and  the  Temple,  and  which  was 
manifested  by  a  visible  cloud  resting  over 
the  mercy-seat  in  the  Holy  of  Holies.  It 
first  appeared  over  the  ark  when  Moses 
consecrated  the  tabernacle  ;  and  was  after- 
wards, upon  the  consecration  of  the  Tem- 
ple by  Solomon,  translated  thither,  where 
it  remained  until  the  destruction  of  that 
building. 

The  Shekinah  disappeared  after  the  de- 
struction of  the  first  Temple,  and  was  not 
present  in  the  second.  Mr.  Christie,  in  his 
learned  treatise  on  the  Worship  of  t he  Ele- 
ments, says  that  "  the  loss  of  the  Shekinah, 
that  visible  sign  of  the  presence  of  the 
Deity,  induced  an  early  respect  for  solar 
light  as  its  substitute."  Now  there  is  much 
that  is  significative  of  Masonic  history  in 
this  brief  sentence.  The  sun  still  remains 
as  a  prominent  symbol  in  the  Masonic 
system.  It  has  been  derived  by  the  Masons 
from  those  old  sun  worshippers.  But  the 
idea  of  Masonic  light  is  very  different  from 
their  idea  of  solar  light.  The  Shekinah 
was  the  symbol  of  the  divine  glory ;  but 
the  True  glory  of  divinity  is  Truth,  and 
Divine  Truth  is  therefore  the  Shekinah  of 
Masonry.  This  is  symbolized  by  light, 
which  is  no  longer  used  by  us  as  a  "  substi- 
tute "  for  the  Shekinah,  or  the  divine  glory, 
but  as  its  symbol  —  the  physical  expression 
of  its  essence. 

Mi  em.  Bttf.  The  Name.  The  Jews 
in  their  sacred  rites  often  designated  God 
by  the  word  Name,  but  they  applied  it  only 
to  him  in  his  most  exalted  character  as  ex- 
pressed by  the  Tetragrammaton,  JEHO- 
VAH. To  none  of  the  other  titles  of  God, 
such  as  El,  Eheyeh,  or  Adonai,  do  they  ap- 
ply the  word.  Thus,  Shemchah  Kadosh, 
Thy  name  is  holy,  means  Thy  name  Jeho- 
vah is  holy.    To  the  Name  thus  exalted,  in 


SHEM 


SHIELD 


711 


its  reference  to  the  Tetragrammaton,  the}' 
applied  many  epithets,  among  which  are 
the  following  used  by  the  Talmudists,  Dt5* 
*71P  W*tX,  Shem  shal  arbang,  the  name  of 
four,  i.  e.,  four  letters ;  *1  JVDH  DK',  Shem  ham- 
jukad,  the  appropriated  name,  i.  e.,  appro- 
priately solely  to  God.  bnJH  0&,  Shem 
haggadol,  the  great  name,  and  t^nrsn  D!f, 
Shem  hakkadosh,  the  holy  name.  To  the  Jew, 
as  to  the  Mason,  this  great  and  holy  name 
was  the  symbol  of  all  divine  truth.  The 
Name  was  the  true  name,  and  therefore  it 
symbolized  and  represented  the  true  God. 

Shem,  Ham,  Japheth.  The  three 
sons  of  Noah,  who  assisted  him  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  ark  of  safety,  and  hence 
they  became  significant  words  in  the  Royal 
Arch  degree  according  to  the  American 
system.  The  interpolation  of  Adoniram  in 
the  place  of  one  01  these  names,  which  is 
sometimes  met  with,  is  a  blunder  of  some 
modern,  ignorant  ritual  maker. 

Shem  Ifamphoraseh.  eniflDn  Dtp, 
the  separated  name.  The  Tetragramma- 
ton is  so  called  because,  as  Maimonides 
(More  Nevoch.)  says,  all  the  names  of  God 
are  derived  from  his  works  except  the 
Tetragrammaton,  which  is  called  the  sepa- 
rated name,  because  it  is  derived  from  the 
substance  of  the  Creator,  in  which  there  is 
no  participation  of  any  other  thing.  That 
is  to  say,  this  name  indicates  the  self-exist- 
ent essence  of  God,  which  is  something  al- 
together within  himself,  and  separate  from 
his  works. 

Sheriff*.  According  to  Preston,  the 
sheriff  of  a  county  possessed,  before  the 
revival  of  1717,  a  power  now  confined  to 
Grand  Masters.  He  says  (Must.,  p.  182,) 
that  "  A  sufficient  number  of  Masons  met 
together  within  a  certain  district,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Sheriff  or  chief  magistrate  of 
the  place,  were  empowered,  at  this  time,  to 
make  Masons,  and  practise  the  rites  of  Ma- 
sonry without  a  Warrant  of  Constitution." 
This  is  confirmed  by  the  following  passage 
in  the  Cooke  MS.,  (Lines 901-912:)  *  When 
the  masters  and  fellows  be  forewarned,  and 
are  come  to  such  congregations,  if  need  be, 
the  Sheriff  of  the  Country,  or  the  Mayor  of 
the  City,  or  Aldermen  of  the  Town  in  which 
such  Congregation  is  holden,  shall  be  fellow 
and  sociate  to  the  master  of  the  congrega- 
tion in  help  of  him  against  rebels  and  [for 
the]  upbearing  the  right  of  the  realm." 

Shetharhoznai.    See  Tatnai. 

Shewbread.  The  twelve  loaves 
which  were  placed  upon  a  table  in  the 
sanctuary  of  the  Temple,  and  which  were 
called  the  shewbread  or  bread  of  the  pres- 
ence, are  represented  among  the  parapher- 
nalia of  a  Lodge  of  Perfection  in  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  B'ahr  (Sym- 
bolik)    says    that   the   shewbread   was    a 


symbol  of  the  bread  of  life — of  the  eter- 
nal life  by  which  we  are  brought  into  the 
presence  of  God  and  know  him ;  an  inter- 
pretation that  is  equally  applicable  to  the 
Masonic  symbolism. 

Shibboleth.  (Heb.  rhw.)  The  word 
which  the  Gileadites  under  Jephthah  made 
use  of  as  a  test  at  the  passages  of  the  river 
Jordan  after  a  victory  over  the  Ephraimites. 
The  word  has  two  meanings  in  Hebrew : 
1st,  an  ear  of  corn ;  and,  2dly,  a  stream 
of  water.  As  the  Ephraimites  were  desir- 
ous of  crossing  the  river,  it  is  probable 
that  this  second  meaning  suggested  it  to 
the  Gileadites  as  an  appropriate  test  word 
en  the  occasion.  The  proper  sound  of  the 
first  letter  of  this  word  is  sh,  a  harsh  breath- 
ing which  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  be  pro- 
nounced by  persons  whose  vocal  organs 
have  not  been  accustomed  to  it.  Such  was 
the  case  with  the  Ephraimites,  who  substi- 
tuted for  the  aspiration  the  hissing  sound 
of  8.  Their  organs  of  voice  were  incapa- 
ble of  the  aspiration,  and  therefore,  as  the 
record  has  it,  they  "could  not  frame  to 
pronounce  it  right."  The  learned  Burder 
remarks  ( Orient.  Oust.,  ii.  782,)  that  in 
Arabia  the  difference  of  pronunciation 
among  persons  of  various  districts  is  much 
greater  than  in  most  other  places,  and  such 
as  easily  accounts  for  the  circumstance  men- 
tioned in  the  passage  of  Judges.  Hutchin- 
son, (*S^>.  of  Mas.,  p.  113,)  speaking  of  this 
word,  rather  fancifully  derives  it  from  the 
Greek  oi$u,  I  revere,  and  Xidog,  a  stone,  and, 
therefore,  he  says  "  "Zijiolidov,  Sibbolithon, 
Colo  Lapidem,  implies  that  they  (the  Ma- 
sons) retain  and  keep  inviolate  their  obli- 
gations, as  the  Juramentum  per  Jovem  La- 
pidem, the  most  obligatory  oath  held  among 
the  heathen." 

It  may  be  remarked  that  in  the  ritual 
of  the  Fellow  Craft's  degree,  where  the 
story  of  the  Ephraimites  is  introduced,  and 
where  Shibboleth  is  symbolically  interpret- 
ed as  meaning  plenty,  the  word  water  ford  is 
sometimes  used  incorrectly,  instead  of  wa- 
terfall. Shibboleth  means  a  flood  of  water, 
a  rapid  stream,  not  a.  ford.  In  Psalm  lxix. 
3  the  word  is  used  in  this  exact  sense. 
*Jn3£3tJ'  n*73iy»  Shibboleth  shetafalni,  the  flood 
has  overwhelmed  me.  And,  besides,  a  wa- 
terfall is  an  emblem  of  plenty,  because  it 
indicates  an  abundance  of  water;  while  a 
water  ford,  for  the  converse  reason,  is,  if 
any  symbol  at  all,  a  symbol  of  scarcity. 

Shield.  The  shape  of  the  shield  worn 
by  the  knight  in  the  Middle  Ages  varied 
according  to  the  caprice  of  the  wearer,  but 
generally  it  was  large  at  the  top  and  grad- 
ually diminished  to  a  point,  being  made  of 
wood  and  covered  with  leather,  and  on  the 
outside  was  seen  the  escutcheon  or  repre- 
sentation of  the  armorial  bearings  of  the 


712 


SHIELD 


SHOCK 


owner.  The  shield,  with  all  the  other  parts 
of  the  armor  worn  by  the  knights  except 
the  gauntlets,  has  been  discontinued  by  the 
modern  Masonic  knights.  Oliver  thinks 
that  in  some  of  the  military  initiations,  as 
in  those  of  the  Scandinavian  mysteries, 
the  shield  was  substituted  for  the  apron. 
An  old  heraldic  writer  quoted  by  Sloane- 
Evans,  ( Oram.  Brit.  Her.,  153,)  thus  gives 
the  symbolic  import  of  the  shield :  "  Like 
as  the  shield  served  in  the  battle  for  a 
safeguard  of  the  body  of  soldiers  against 
wounds,  even  so  in  time  of  peace,  the  same 
being  hanged  up,  did  defend  the  owner 
against  the  malevolent  detractions  of  the 
envious." 

Shield  of  I>avi<l.  Two  interlaced 
triangles,  more  commonly  known  as  the 
Seal  of  Solomon,  and  considered  by  the 
ancient  Jews  as  a  talisman  of  great  effi- 
cacy. (See  Seal  of  Solomon.)  Because  the 
shield  was,  in  battle,  a  protection,  like  a 
talisman,  to  the  person,  the  Hebrews  used 
the  same  word,  jJD,  Magen,  to  signify  both 
a  shield  and  a  talismen.  Gaffarel  says,  in 
his  Ouriositates  Inauditoz  (Lond.  Trans., 
1650,  p.  133,)  "The  Hebrew  word  Maghen 
signifies  a  scutcheon,  or  any  other  thing 
noted  with  Hebrew  characters,  the  virtue 
whereof  is  like  to  that  of  a  scutcheon." 
After  showing  that  the  shield  was  never  an 
image,  because  the  Mosaic  law  forbade  the 
making  of  graven  images,  he  adds :  "  Ma- 
ghen, therefore,  signifies  properly  any  piece 
of  paper  or  other  like  matter  marked  or 
noted  with  certain  characters  drawn  from 
the  Tetragrammaton,  or  Great  Name  of 
four  letters,  or  from  any  other."    The  most 


usual  form  of  the  Shield  of  David  was  to 
place  in  the  centre  of  the  two  triangles,  and 
at  the  intersecting  points,  the  Hebrew  word 


X7JX,  Agla,  which  was  compounded  of 
the  initials  of  the  words  of  the  sentence, 
"OIX  xh^h  *OJ  nnx,  Atah  Gibor  Lolam  Ado- 
nai,  "  Thou  are  strong  in  the  eternal  God." 
Thus  constructed,  the  shield  of  David  was 
supposed  to  be  a  preservative  against  all 
sorts  of  dangers. 

Shook.  A  striking  of  hands  and  feet, 
so  as  to  produce  a  sudden  noise.  There  is 
a  ceremony  called  "  the  shock,"  which  was 
in  use  in  the  reception  of  an  Apprentice  in 
the  beginning  of  this  century,  and  is  still 
used  by  some  Lodges  in  what  is  called 
"  the  Shock  of  Entrance,"  and  by  all  in 
"the  Shock  of  Enlightenment."  Of  the 
first  shock  as  well  as  of  the  second,  I  have 
found  evident  traces  in  some  of  the  earlier 
rituals  of  the  last  century,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  was  an  ancient  ceremony,  the 
gradual  disuse  of  which  is  an  innovation. 

Shock  of  Enlightenment.  A 
ceremony  used  in  all  the  degrees  of  Sym- 
bolic Masonry.  By  it  we  seek  to  sym- 
bolize the  idea  of  the  birth  of  material 
light,  by  the  representation  of  the  circum- 
stances that  accompanied  it,  and  their 
reference  to  the  birth  of  intellectual  or  Ma- 
sonic light.  The  one  is  the  type  of  the 
other;  and  hence  the  illumination  of  the 
candidate  is  attended  with  a  ceremony 
that  may  be  supposed  to  imitate  the  primal 
illumination  of  the  universe  —  most  feebly, 
it  is  true,  and  yet  not  altogether  without 
impressiveness. 

The  Shock  of  Enlightenment  is,  then,  a 
symbol  of  the  change  which  is  now  taking 
place  in  the  intellectual  condition  of  the 
candidate.  It  is  the  symbol  of  the  birth  of 
intellectual  light  and  the  dispersion  of  intel- 
lectual darkness. 

Shock  of  Entrance.  A  ceremony 
formerly  used  on  the  admission  of  an  En- 
tered Apprentice,  but  now  partly  becoming 
obsolete.  In  the  old  initiations,  the  same 
word  signified  to  die  and  to  be  initiated,  be- 
cause, in  the  initiation,  the  lesson  of  death 
and  the  resurrection  to  eternal  life  was  the 
dogma  inculcated.  In  the  initiation  of  an 
Apprentice  in  Masonry  the  same  lesson  is 
begun  to  be  taught,  and  the  initiate,  enter- 
ing upon  a  new  life  and  new  duties,  dis- 
rupting old  ties  and  forming  new  ones, 
passes  into  a  new  birth.  This  is,  or  ought 
to  be,  necessarily  accompanied  by  some  cere- 
mony which  should  symbolically  represent 
this  great  moral  change.  HerH;e  the  impres- 
sion of  this  idea  is  made  by  the  symbolism 
of  the  shock  at  the  entrance  of  the  candidate. 

The  shock  or  entrance  is  then  the  sym- 
bol of  the  disruption  of  the  candidate  from 
the  ties  of  the  world,  and  his  introduction 
into  the  life  of  Masonry.  It  is  the  symbol 
of  the  agonies  of  the  first  death  and  of  the 
throes  of  the  new  birth. 


SHOE 


SIGHT 


713 


Shoe.  Among  the  ancient  Israelites, 
the  shoe  was  unaae  use  of  in  several  sig- 
nificant ways.  To  put  off  the  shoes,  imported 
reverence,  and  was  done  in  the  presence  of 
God,  or  on  entering  the  dwelling  of  a  su- 
perior. To  unloose  one's  shoe  and  give  it  to 
another  was  the  way  of  confirming  a  con- 
tract. Thus  we  read  in  the  book  of  Ruth, 
that  Boaz  having  proposed  to  the  nearest 
kinsman  of  Ruth  to  exercise  his  legal 
right  by  redeeming  the  land  of  Naomi, 
which  was  offered  for  sale,  and  marrying 
her  daughter-in-law,  the  kinsman,  being  un- 
able to  do  so,  resigned  his  right  of  purchase 
to  Boaz ;  and  the  narrative  goes  on  to  say, 
(Ruth  iv.  7,  8,)  "  Now  this  was  the  manner 
in  former  time  in  Israel  concerning  redeem- 
ing and  concerning  changing,  for  to  con- 
firm all  things ;  a  man  plucked  off  his  shoe, 
and  gave  it  to  his  neighbor :  and  this  was  a 
testimony  in  Israel.  Therefore  the  kins- 
man said  unto  Boaz,  Buy  it  for  thee.  So 
he  drew  off  his  shoe."  The  reference  to 
the  shoe  in  the  first  degree  is  therefore 
really  as  a  symbol  of  a  covenant  to  be  en- 
tered into.  In  the  third  degree  the  sym- 
bolism is  altogether  different.  For  an  ex- 
planation of  it,  see  Discalceation. 

Shovel.  An  instrument  used  to  re- 
move rubbish.  It  is  one  of  the  working- 
tools  of  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  symboli- 
cally teaches  him  to  remove  the  rubbish 
of  passions  and  prejudices,  that  he  may  be 
fitted,  when  he  thus  escapes  from  the  cap- 
tivity of  sin,  for  the  search  and  the  recep- 
tion of  Eternal  Truth  and  Wisdom. 

Shrine.  Oliver  says  that  the  shrine 
is  the  place  where  the  secrets  of  the  Royal 
Arch  are  deposited.  The  word  is  not  so 
used  in  this'  country,  nor  does  it  seem 
properly  applicable  according  to  the  legend 
of  the  degree. 

Side  Degrees.  There  are  certain 
Masonic  degrees,  which,  not  being  placed 
in  the  regular  routine  of  the  acknowledged 
degrees,  are  not  recognized  as  a  part  of 
Ancient  Masonry,  but  receive  the  name  of 
"  Honorary  or  Side  Degrees."  They  con- 
stitute no  part  of  the  regular  ritual,  and  are 
not  under  the  control  of  either  Grand 
Lodges,  Grand  Chapters,  or  any  other  of 
the  legal,  administrative  bodies  of  the  In- 
stitution. Although  a  few  of  them  are 
very  old,  the  greater  number  are  of  a 
comparatively  modern  origin,  and  are  gen- 
erally supposed  to  have  been  indebted  for 
their  invention  to  the  ingenuity  of  either 
Grand  Lecturers,  or  other  distinguished 
Masons.  Their  history  and  ceremonies  are 
often  interesting,  and  so  far  as  we  have 
been  made  acquainted  with  them,  their 
tendency,  when  they  are  properly  confer- 
red, is  always  moral.  They  are  not  given 
in  Lodges  or  Chapters,  but  at  private  meet- 
4P 


ings  of  the  brethren  or  companions  posses- 
sing them,  informally  and  temporarily  called 
ft>r  the  sole,  purpose  of  conferring  them. 
These  temporary  assemblies  owe  no  alle- 
giance to  any  supreme,  controlling  body, 
except  so  far  as  they  are  composed  of  Mas- 
ter or  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  when  the 
business  of  conferring  the  degrees  is  ac- 
complished, they  are  dissolved  at  once,  not 
to  meet  again,  except  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances and  for  a  similar  purpose. 

Some  of  them  are  conferred  on  Master  Ma- 
sons, some  on  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  some 
only  on  Knights  Templars.  There  is  an- 
other class  which  females,  connected  by  cer- 
tain ties  of  relationship  with  the  Frater- 
nity, are  permitted  to  receive ;  and  this  fact, 
in  some  measure,  assimilates  these  degrees 
to  the  Masonry  of  Adoption,  or  Female 
Masonry,  which  is  practised  in  France  and 
some  other  European  countries,  although 
there  are  important  points  of  difference  be- 
tween them.  These  female  side  degrees 
have  received  the  name  of  "  androgynous 
degrees,"  from  two  Greek  words  signifying 
man  and  woman,  and  are  thus  called  to  indi- 
cate the  participation  in  them  by  both  sexes. 

The  principal  side  degrees  practised  in 
this  country  are  as  follows : 

1.  Secret  Monitor. 

2.  Knight  of  the  Three  Kings. 

3.  Knight  of  Constantinople. 

4.  Mason's  Wife  and  Daughter. 

5.  Ark  and  Dove. 

6.  Mediterranean  Pass. 

7.  Knight  and  Heroine  of  Jericho. 

8.  Good  Samaritan. 

9.  Knight  of  the  Mediterranean  Pass. 
Sight,  Making  Masons  at.    The 

prerogative  of  the  Grand  Master  to  make 
Masons  at  sight  is  described  as  the  eighth 
landmark  of  the  Order.  It  is  a  technical 
term,  which  may  be  defined  to  be  the  power 
to  initiate,  pass,  and  raise  candidates,  by  the 
Grand  Master,  in  a  Lodge  of  emergency, 
or,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Book  of  Consti- 
tutions, "  an  occasional  Lodge,"  specially 
convened  by  him,  and  consisting  of  such 
Master  Masons  as  he  may  call  together  for 
that  purpose  only ;  the  Lodge  ceasing  to 
exist  as  soon  as  the  initiation,  passing,  or 
raising  has  been  accomplished,  and  the 
brethren  have  been  dismissed  by  the  Grand 
Master. 

It  is  but  right  to  say  that  this  doctrine  is 
not  universally  received  as  established  law 
by  the  Craft.  I  do  not  think,  however, 
that  it  was  ever  disputed  until  within  a 
comparatively  recent  period.  It  is  true 
that  Cole,  {Freemas.,  lib.  51,)  as  far  back  as 
1817,  remarked  that  it  was  "  a  great  stretch 
of  power,  not  recognized,  or  at  least,  he  be- 
lieved, not  practised  in  this  country."  But 
the  qualifying  phrases  in  this  sentence, 


714 


SIGHT 


SIGHT 


clearly  show  that  he  was  by  no  means  cer- 
tain that  he  was  correct  in  denying  the 
recognition  of  the  right.  Cole,  however, 
would  hardly  be  considered  as  competent 
authority  on  a  question  of  Masonic  law,  as 
he  was  evidently  unacquainted  with  the 
Book  of  Constitutions,  and  does  not  quote  or 
refer  to  it  throughout  his  voluminous  work. 

In  that  Book  of  Constitutions,  however, 
several  instances  are  furnished  of  the  exer- 
cise of  this  right  by  various  Grand  Masters. 

In  1731,  Lord  Lovell  being  Grand  Master, 
he  "  formed  an  occasional  Lodge  at  Hough- 
ton Hall,  Sir  Robert  Walpole's  House  in 
Norfolk,"  and  there  made  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  afterwards  Emperor  of  Germany, 
and  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  Master  Masons. 

I  do  not  quote  the  case  of  the  initiation, 
passing,  and  raising  of  Frederick,  Prince 
of  Wales,  in  1737,  which  was  done  in  "  an 
occasional  Lodge,"  over  which  Dr.  Desag- 
uliers  presided,  because,  as  Desaguliers  was 
not  the  Grand  Master,  nor  even,  as  has  been 
incorrectly  stated  by  the  New  York  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence,  Deputy  Grand 
Master,  but  only  a  Past  Grand  Master,  it 
cannot  be  called  a  making  at  sight.  He 
most  probably  acted  under  the  Dispensation 
of  the  Grand  Master,  who  at  that  time  was 
the  Earl  of  Darnley. 

But  in  1766,  Lord  Blaney,  who  was  then 
Grand  Master,  convened  "  an  occasional 
Lodge,"  and  initiated,  passed,  and  raised 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester. 

Again  in  1767,  John  Salter,  the  Deputy, 
then  acting  as  Grand  Master,  convened 
"an  occasional  Lodge,"  and  conferred  the 
three  degrees  on  the  Duke  of  Cumberland. 

In  1787,  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  made 
a  Mason  "  at  an  occasional  Lodge  con- 
vened," says  Preston,  "  for  the  purpose  at 
the  Star  and  Garter,  Pall  Mall,  over  which 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland  (Grand  Master) 
presided  in  person." 

It  has  been  said,  however,  by  those  who 
deny  the  existence  of  this  prerogative,  that 
these  "  occasional  Lodges  were  only  spe- 
cial communications  of  the  Grand  Lodge, 
and  the  "makings"  are  thus  supposed  to 
have  taken  place  under  the  authority  of 
that  body,  and  not  of  the  Grand  Master. 
The  facts,  however,  do  not  sustain  this 
position.  Throughout  the  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions, other  meetings,  whether  regular 
or  special,  are  distinctly  recorded  as  meet- 
ings of  the  Grand  Lodge;  while  these  "  oc- 
casional Lodges  "  appear  only  to  have  been 
convened  by  the  Grand  Master  for  the 
purpose  of  making  Masons.  Besides,  in 
many  instances  the  Lodge  was  held  at  a 
different  place  from  that  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  the  officers  were  not,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Grand  Master,  the  officers 
of  the  Grand  Lodge.    Thus  the  occasional 


Lodge  which  initiated  the  Duke  of  Lor- 
raine was  held  at  the  residence  of  Sir 
Robert  Walpole,  in  Norfolk,  while  the 
Grand  Lodge  always  met  in  London.  In 
1766,  the  Grand  Lodge  held  its  communi- 
cations at  the  Crown  and  Anchor,  but  the 
occasional  Lodge,  which  in  the  same  year 
conferred  the  degrees  on  the  Duke  of  Glou- 
cester, was  convened  at  the  Horn  tavern. 
In  the  following  year,  the  Lodge  which  in- 
itiated the  Duke  of  Cumberland  was  con- 
vened at  the  Thatched  House  tavern,  the 
Grand  Lodge  continuing  to  meet  at  the 
Crown  and  Anchor. 

But  I  think  that  a  conclusive  argument 
d  fortiori  may  be  drawn  from  the  dispen- 
sing power  of  the  Grand  Master,  which  has 
never  been  denied.  No  one  ever  has 
doubted,  or  can  doubt,  the  inherent  right 
of  the  Grand  Master  to  constitute  Lodges 
by  Dispensation,  and  in  these  Lodges,  so 
constituted,  Masons  may  be  legally  entered, 
passed,  and  raised.  This  is  done  every  day. 
Seven  Master  Masons  applying  to  the 
Grand  Master,  he  grants  them  a  Dispensa- 
tion, under  authority  of  which  they  pro- 
ceed to  open  and  hold  a  Lodge,  and  to 
make  Masons.  This  Lodge  is,  however,  ad- 
mitted to  be  the  mere  creature  of  the 
Grand  Master,  for  it  is  in  his  power  at  any 
time  to  revoke  the  Dispensation  he  had 
granted,  and  thus  to  dissolve  the  Lodge. 

But  if  the  Grand  Master  has  the  power 
thus  to  enable  others  to  confer  the  degrees 
and  make  Masons,  by  his  individual  au- 
thority out  of  his  presence,  are  we  not  per- 
mitted to  argue  d  fortiori  that  he  has  also 
the  right  of  congregating  seven  brethren 
and  causing  a  Mason  to  be  made  in  his 
sight?  Can  he  delegate  a  power  to  others 
which  he  does  not  himself  possess  ?  And 
is  his  calling  together  an  "occasional 
Lodge,"  and  making,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  brethren  thus  assembled,  a  Mason 
"  at  sight,"  that  is  to  say,  in  his  presence, 
any  thing  more  or  less  than  the  exercise 
of  his  dispensing  power  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Lodge  under  dispensation,  for  a 
temporary  period  and  for  a  special  pur- 
pose. The  purpose  having  been  effected, 
and  the  Mason  having  been  made,  he  re- 
vokes his  Dispensation,  and  the  Lodge  is 
dismissed.  If  we  assumed  any  other 
ground  than  this,  we  should  be  compelled 
to  say  that  though  the  Grand  Master 
might  authorize  others  to  make  Masons 
when  he  was  absent,  he  could  not  do  it 
himself  when  present.  The  form  of  the 
expression  "making  Masons  at  sight"  is 
borrowed  from  Laurence  Dermott,  the 
Grand  Secretary  of  the  Athol  or  Schismatic 
Grand  Lodge ;  "  making  Masons  in  an  oc- 
casional Lodge "  is  the  phrase  used  by 
Anderson  and  his  subsequent  editors.  Dei- 


SIGN 


SIGN 


715 


mott,  ( True  Ahim.  Rez.,)  commenting  on  the 
thirteenth  of  the  old  regulations,  which 
prescribes  that  Fellow  Crafts  and  Master 
Masons  cannot  be  made  in  a  private  Lodge 
except  by  the  Dispensation  of  the  Grand 
Master,  says:  "This  is  a  very  ancient 
regulation,  but  seldom  put  in  practice,  new 
Masons  being  generally  made  at  private 
Lodges;  however,  the  Right  Worshipful 
Grand  Master  has  full  power  and  authority 
to  make,  or  caused  to  be  made,  in  his 
worship's  presence,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  at  sight,  and  such  making  is  good. 
But  they  cannot  be  made  out  of  his  wor- 
ship's presence  without  a  written  Dispen- 
sation for  that  purpose.  Nor  can  his 
worship  oblige  any  warranted  Lodge  to  re- 
ceive the  person  so  made,  if  the  members 
should  declare  against  him  or  them ;  but 
in  such  case  the  Right  Worshipful  Grand 
Master  may  grant  them  a  Warrant  and 
form  them  into  a  new  Lodge." 

But  the  fact  that  Dermott  uses  the  phrase 
does  not  militate  against  the  existence  of 
the  prerogative,  nor  weaken  the  argument 
in  its  favor.  For,  in  the  first  place,  he  is 
not  quoted  as  authority ;  and  secondly,  it  is 
very  possible  that  he  aid  not  invent  the  ex- 
pression, but  found  it  already  existing  as 
a  technical  phrase  generally  used  by  the 
Craft,  although  not  to  be  found  in  the 
Book  of  Constitutions.  The  form  there 
used  is  "  making  Masons  in  an  occasional 
Lodge,"  which,  as  I  have  already  said,  is  of 
the  same  signification. 

The  mode  of  exercising  the  prerogative 
is  this :  The  Grand  Master  summons  to 
his  assistance  not  less  than  six  other 
Masons,  convenes  a  Lodge,  and  without 
any  previous  probation,  but  on  sight  of  the 
candidate,  confers  the  degrees  upon  him, 
after  which  he  dissolves  the  Lodge  and 
dismisses  the  brethren. 

Sign.  Signs  constitute  that  universal 
language  of  which  the  commentator  on  the 
Leland  MS.  says  that  "  it  is  a  thing  rather 
to  be  wished  than  hoped  for."  It  is  evi- 
dent, however,  that  such  a  substitute  for  a 
universal  language  has  always  existed 
among  mankind.  There  are  certain  ex- 
pressions of  ideas  which,  by  an  implied 
common  consent,  skp  familiar  even  to  the 
most  barbarous  tribes.  An  extension  for- 
ward of  the  open  hands  will  be  understood 
at  once  by  an  Australian  savage  or  an 
American  Indian  as  a  gesture  betokening 
peace,  while  the  idea  of  war  or  dislike 
would  be  as  readily  conveyed  to  either  of 
them  by  a  repulsive  gesture  of  the  same 
hands.  These  are  not,  however,  what  con- 
stitute the  signs  of  Masonry. 

It  is  evident  that  every  secret  society 
must  have  some  conventional  mode  of  dis- 
tinguishing strangers  from  those  who  are 


its  members,  and  Masonry,  in  this  respect, 
must  have  followed  the  universal  custom 
of  adopting  such  modes  of  recognition. 

The  Abbe  Grandidier  (Essais  Historiques 
et  Topographiques,  p.  422,)  says  that  when 
Josse  Dotziuger,  as  architect  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Strasburg,  formed,  in  1452,  all  the 
Master  Masons  in  Germany  into  one  body, 
"he  gave  them  a  word  and  a  particular 
sign  by  which  they  might  recognize  those 
who  were  of  their  Confraternity."  Mar- 
tene,  who  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  ancient  rites 
of  the  monks,  (De  Anliquis  Monachorum  riti- 
bus,)  says  that,  at  the  Monastery  of  Hir- 
schau,  where  many  Masons  were  incorpo- 
rated as  lay  brethren,  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  monastery  was  called  the  Master  of  the 
Works ;  and  the  Masons  under  him  had  a 
sign  which  he  describes  as  "pugnam  super 
pugnam  pone  vicissim  quasi  simules  con- 
structores  marum ; "  that  is,  they  placed 
alternately  fist  upon  fist,  as  if  imitating  the 
builders  of  walls.  He  also  says,  and  other 
writers  confirm  the  statement,  that  in  the 
Middle  Ages  the  monks  had  a  system  of 
signs  by  which  they  were  enabled  to  recog- 
nize the  members  of  their  different  orders. 

Krause  (Kunsturkunden,  iv.  420,)  thinks 
that  the  Masons  derived  their  custom  of 
having  signs  of  recognition  from  this  rule 
of  the  old  monks.  But  we  can  trace  the 
existence  of  signs  to  remote  antiquity.  In 
the  Ancient  Mysteries,  the  initiates  were  al- 
ways instructed  in  a  sign. 

Thus,  when  a  wreath  was  presented  to  an 
initiate  of  the  mysteries  of  Mithras  by  an- 
other, instead  of  receiving  it,  he  cast  it  upon 
the  ground,  and  this  gesture  of  casting  down 
was  accepted  as  a  sign  of  recognition. 

So,  too,  Apuleius  (Metamorph.)  describes 
the  action  of  one  of  the  devotees  of  the  mys- 
teries of  Isis,  and  says :  "  He  walked  gently, 
with  a  hesitating  step,  the  ancle  of  the  left 
foot  being  slightly  bent,  in  order,  no  doubt, 
that  he  might  afford  me  some  sign  by  which 
I  might  recognize  him."  And  in  another 
work  (Apologia)  he  says :  "  If  any  one  hap- 
pens to  be  present  who  has  been  initiated 
into  the  same  rites  as  myself,  if  he  will  give 
me  the  sign,  he  shall  then  be  at  liberty  to  hear 
what  it  is  that  I  kqep  with  so  much  care." 

Plautus,  too,  alludes  to  this  custom  in 
one  of  his  plays  (Miles  Gloriosus,  iv.  2,) 
when  he  says : 

"  Cedo  signum,  si  harunc  Baccharum  est," 

i.  e.,  "Give  me  the  sign,  if  you  are  one  of 
these  Bacchantes." 

Signs,  in  fact,  belong  to  all  secret  asso- 
ciations, and  are  no  more  peculiar  to  Ma- 
sonry than  is  a  system  of  initiation.  The 
forms  differ,  but  the  principle  has  always 
existed. 


716 


SIGNATURE 


SIGN 


Signature.  Every  Mason  who  re- 
ceives a  certificate  or  diploma  from  a  Grand 
Lodge  is  required  to  aflix  his  signature  in 
the  margin,  for  a  reason  which  is  given  un- 
der the  words  Ne  Varietur,  which  see. 

Signet.  A  ring  on  which  there  is  an 
impression  of  a  device  is  called  a  signet. 
They  were  far  more  common  among  the 
ancients  than  they  are  among  the  moderns, 
although  they  are  still  used  by  many  per- 
sons. Formerly,  as  is  the  custom  at  this 
day  in  the  East,  letters  were  never  signed 
by  the  persons  who  sent  them ;  and  their 
authenticity  depended  solely  on  the  im- 
pression of  the  signets  which  were  attached 
to  them.  So  common  was  their  use  among 
the  ancients,  that  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
while  forbidding  the  Christians  of  the  sec- 
ond century  to  deck  their  fingers  with  rings, 
which  would  have  been  a  mark  of  vanity, 
makes  an  exception  in  favor  of  signet 
rings.  "  We  must  wear,"  he  says,  "  but  one 
ring,  for  the  use  of  a  signet ;  all  other  rings 
we  must  cast  aside."  Signets  were  origin- 
ally engraved  altogether  upon  stone;  and 
Pliny  says  that  metal  ones  did  not  come 
into  use  until  the  time  of  Claudius  Caesar. 

Signets  are  constantly  alluded  to  in 
Scripture.  The  Hebrews  called  them 
j-|  w3D>  Sabaoth,  and  they  appear  to  have 
been  used  among  them  from  an  early  period, 
for  we  find  that  when  Judah  asks  Tamar 
what  pledge  he  shall  give  her,  she  replies, 
"Thy  signet,  and  thy  bracelets,  and  thy 
staff  that  is  in  thine  hand."  (Gen.  xxxviii. 
18.)  They  were  worn  on  the  finger,  gen- 
erally the  index  finger,  and  always  on  the 
right  hand,  as  being  the  most  honorable ; 
thus  in  Jeremiah  xxii.  24,  we  read:  "As  I 
live,  saith  the  Lord,  though  Coniah,  the 
son  of  Jehoiakim,  king  of  Judah,  were  the 
signet  upon  my  right  hand,  yet  would  I 
pluck  thee  thence."  The  signets  of  the  an- 
cients were  generally  sculptured  with  reli- 
gious symbols  or  the  heads  of  their  deities. 
The  sphinx  and  the  sacred  beetle  were  fa- 
vorite signets  among  the  Egyptians.  The 
former  was  adopted  from  that  people  by  the 
Roman  Emperor  Augustus.  The  Babylo- 
nians followed  the  same  custom,  and  many 
of  their  signets,  remaining  to  this  day,  ex- 
hibit beautifully  sculptured  images  of  Baal- 
Berith  and  other  Chaldean  deities. 

The  impression  from  the  signet-ring  of  a 
king  gave  the  authority  of  a  royal  decree 
to  any  document  to  which  it  was  affixed ; 
and  hence  the  delivery  or  transfer  of  the 
signet  to  any  one  made  him,  for  the  time, 
the  representative  of  the  king,  and  gave 
him  the  power  of  using  the  royal  name. 

Signet  of  Truth.  The  signet  of 
Zerubbabel,  used  in  the  ritual  of  the  Royal 
Arch  degree,  is  also  there  called  the  Signet 
of  Truth,  to  indicate  that  the  neophyte  who 


brings  it  to  the  Grand  Council  is  in  search 
of  Divine  Truth,  and  to  give  to  him  the 
promise  that  he  will  by  its  power  speedily 
obtain  his  reward  in  the  possession  of  that 
for  which  he  is  seeking.  The  Signet  of 
Truth  is  presented  to  the  aspirant  to  assure 
him  that  he  is  advancing  in  his  progress  to 
the  attainment  of  truth,  and  that  he  is  thus 
invested  with  the  power  to  pursue  the 
search. 

Signet  of  Zerubbabel.  This  is 
used  in  the  American  ritual  of  the  Royal 
Arch  degree.  It  refers  to  a  passage  of 
Haggai,  (ii.  23,)  where  God  has  promised 
that  he  will  make  Zerubbabel  his  signet. 
It  has  the  same  symbolic  meaning  as  is 
given  to  its  synonym  the  "Signet  of 
Truth,"  because  Zerubbabel,  as  the  head  of 
the  second  Temple,  was  the  symbol  of  the 
searcher  after  truth.  But  something  may 
be  said  of  the  incorrect  form  in  which  it 
is  found  in  many  Chapters.  At  least  from 
the  time  when  Cross  presented  an  engrav- 
ing of  this  signet  in  his  Hieroglyphic 
Chart,  and  perhaps  from  a  much  earlier 
period,  for  he  may  possibly  have  only  per- 
petuated the  blunder,  it  has  been  represent- 
ed in  most  Chapters  by  a  triangular  plate 
of  metal.  Now,  an  unattached  plate  of 
metal,  in  any  shape  whatsoever,  is  about 
as  correct  a  representation  of  a  signet  as  a 
walking-cane  is  of  a  piece  of  money.  The 
signet  is  and  always  has  been  a  finger- 
ring,  and  so  it  should 
be  represented  in  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Chap- 
ter. What  the  peculiar 
device  of  this  signet 
was, —  for  every  signet 
must  have  a  device, — 
we  are  unable  to  show,  but  we  may  suppose 
that  it  was  the  Tetragrammaton,  perhaps 
in  its  well-known  abbreviated  form  of  a 
yod  within  a  triangle.  Whether  this  was  so 
or  not,  such  a  device  would  be  most  appro- 
priate to  the  symbolism  of  the  Royal  Arch 
ritual. 

Significant  Word.  Significant  is 
making  a  sign.  A  significant  word  is  a 
sign-making  word,  or  a  word  that  is  equiv- 
alent to  a  sign ;  so  the  secret  words  used  in 
the  different  degrees  of  Masonry,  and  the 
knowledge  of  which  becomes  a  sign  of  the 
possession  of  the  degree,  are  called  signifi- 
cant words.  Such  a  word  Lenning  calls 
"  ein  bedeutendes  Wort,"  which  has  the 
same  meaning. 

Sign  of  Distress.  This  is  probably 
one  of  the  original  modes  of  recognition 
adopted  at  the  revival  period,  if  not  Defore. 
It  is  to  be  found  in  the  earliest  rituals  ex- 
tant of  the  last  century,  and  its  connection 
with  the  legend  of  the  third  degree  makes 
it  evident  that  it  probably  belongs  to  that 


SILENCE 


SIROC 


717 


degree.  The  Craft  in  the  last  century 
called  it  sometimes  "the  Master's  Clap," 
and  sometimes  "  the  Grand  Sign,"  which 
latter  name  has  been  adopted  by  the  Ma- 
sons of  the  present  century,  who  call  it  the 
"  Grand  Hailing  Sign,"  to  indicate  its  use 
in  hailing  or  calling  a  brother  whose  assist- 
ance may  be  needed.  The  true  form  of 
the  sign  has  unfortunately  been  changed 
by  carelessness  or  ignorance  from  the  an- 
cient one,  which  is  still  preserved  in  Great 
Britain  and  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
It  is  impossible  to  be  explicit;  but  it  may 
be  remarked,  that  looking  to  its  traditional 
origin,  the  sign  is  a  defensive  one,  first 
made  in  an  hour  of  attack,  to  give  protec- 
tion to  the  person.  This  is  perfectly  repre- 
sented by  the  European  and  English  form, 
but  utterly  misrepresented  by  the  Ameri- 
can. The  German  Rite  of  Schroeder  at- 
tempted some  years  ago  to  induce  the  Craft 
to  transfer  this  sign  from  the  third  to  the 
first  degree.  As  this  would  have  been  an 
evident  innovation,  and  would  have  con- 
tradicted the  ritual  history  of  its  origin 
and  meaning,  the  attempt  was  not  success- 
ful. 

Silence.    See  Secrecy  and  Silence. 

Silver  and  Gold.  When  St.  Peter 
healed  the  lame  man  whom  he  met  at  the 
gate  Beautiful  of  the  Temple,  he  said  to 
him,  "Silver  and  gold  have  I  none;  but 
such  as  I  have  give  I  thee ; "  and  he  be- 
stowed on  him  the  gift  of  health.  When 
the  pious  pilgrim  begged  his  way,  through 
all  the  perils  of  a  distant  journey,  to  kneel 
at  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  in  his  passage 
through  poor  and  inhospitable  regions,  a 
crust  of  bread  and  a  draught  of  water  were 
often  the  only  alms  that  he  received.  This 
has  been  symbolized  in  the  ritual  of  recep- 
tion of  a  Knight  Templar,  and  in  it  the 
words  of  St.  Peter  have  been  preserved,  to 
be  applied  to  the  allegorical  pilgrimage 
there  represented. 

Silver  Cord.  In  the  beautiful  and 
affecting  description  of  the  body  of  man 
suffering  under  the  infirmities  of  old  age 
given  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Ecclesiastes, 
we  find  the  expression  or  ever  the  silver 
cord  be  loosed,  or  the  golden  bowl  be  broken, 
or  the  pitcher  be  broken  at  the  fountain,  or 
the  wheel  broken  at  the  cistern :  then  shall 
the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and 
the  spirit  shall  return  to  God  who  gave  it." 
Dr.  Clarke  thus  explains  these  beautiful 
metaphors.  The  silver  cord  is  the  spinal 
marrow;  its  loosening  is  the  cessation  of 
all  nervous  sensibility ;  the  golden  bowl  is 
the  brain,  which  is  rendered  unfit  to  per- 
form its  functions  by  the  approach  of  death; 
the  pitcher  means  the  great  vein  which 
carries  the  blood  to  the  right  ventricle  of 
the  heart,  here  called  the  fountain ;  by  the 


wheel  is  meant  the  great  artery  which  re- 
ceives the  blood  from  the  left  ventricle  of 
the  heart,  here  designated  as  the  cistern. 
This  collection  of  metaphors  is  a  part  of 
the  Scripture  reading  in  the  third  degree, 
and  forms  an  appropriate  introduction  to 
those  sublime  ceremonies  whose  object  is 
to  teach  symbolically  the  resurrection  and 
life  eternal. 

Sinai.  A  mountain  of  Arabia  between 
the  horns  of  the  Bed  Sea.  It  is  the  place 
where  Moses  received  the  Law  from  Jeho- 
vah, and  where  he  was  directed  to  construct 
the  tabernacle.  Hence,  says  Lenning,  the 
Scottish  Masons  make  Mt.  Sinai  a  symbol 
of  truth.  Of  the  high  degrees,  the  twenty- 
third  and  twenty-fourth  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite,  or  the  Chief  and  the  Prince 
of  the  Tabernacle,  refer  in  their  rituals 
to  this  mountain  and  the  Tabernacle  there 
constructed. 

Sintooism.  The  ancient  religion  of 
Japan,  and  founded  on  the  worship  of  an- 
cestors. It  acknowledges  a  Supreme  Cre- 
ator and  many  subordinate  gods  called 
Kami,  many  of  whom  are  the  apotheoses 
of  emperors  and  great  men.  It  believes  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  in  its  ritual 
uses  symbols,  such  as  the  mirror,  —  which  is 
the  symbol  of  an  unsoiled  life,  —  and  lus- 
trations symbolic  of  moral  purification. 
Like  the  early  Grecian  mythology,  Sintoo- 
ism  has  deified  natural  objects,  such  as  the 
sun,  the  air,  earth,  fire,  water,  lightning, 
thunder,  etc.  It  is  a  system  much  mixed 
up  with  the  philosophy  of  Confucius  and 
with  myths  and  legends. 

Sir.  This  is  the  distinctive  title  given 
to  the  possessors  of  the  degrees  of  Masonic 
knighthood,  and  is  borrowed  from  the  her- 
aldic usage.  The  word  "  knight "  is  some-' 
times  interposed  between  the  title  and  the 
personal  name, as,  for  example,  "Sir  Knight 
John  Smith."  English  knights  are  in  the 
habit  of  using  the  word  /rater,  or  brother, 
a  usage  which  to  some  extent  is  being 
adopted  in  this  country.  English  Knights 
Templars  have  been  led  to  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  title  Sir  because  legal  enact- 
ments made  the  use  of  titles  not  granted 
by  the  crown  unlawful.  But  there  is  no 
such  law  in  this  country.  The  addition  of 
Sir  to  the  names  of  all  Knights  is  accounted, 
says  Ashmole,  "  parcel  of  their  style."  The 
use  of  it  is  as  old,  certainly,  as  the  time  of 
Edward  I.,  and  it  is  supposed  to  be  a  con- 
traction of  the  old  French  Sire,  meaning 
Seigneur,  or  Lord. 

Si  roc.  yiV-  A  significant  word,  for- 
merly used  in  the  Order  of  High  Priest- 
hood in  this  country.  It  signifies  a  shoe- 
latchet,  and  refers  to  the  declaration  of 
Abraham  to  Melchizedek,  that  of  the  goods 
which  had  been  captured  he  would  "no* 


718 


SISTER 


SIX 


take  from  a  thread  even  to  a  shoe-latchet," 
that  is,  nothing  even  of  the  slightest  value. 
The  introduction  of  this  word  into  some  of 
the  lower  capitular  degrees  is  a  recent  error 
of  ignorant  ritualists. 

Sister  Lodges.  Lodges  are  so  called 
which  are  in  the  same  Masonic  jurisdic- 
tion, and  owe  obedience  to  the  same  Grand 
Lodge. 

Sisters  by  Adoption .  In  the  Lodges 
of  the  French  Adoptive  Rite  this  is  the 
title  by  which  the  female  members  are 
designated.  The  female  members  of  all 
androgynous  degrees  are  sisters,  as  the  male 
members  are  brethren. 

Sisters  of  the  Gild.  The  attempt 
of  a  few  writers  to  maintain  that  women 
were  admitted  into  the  mediaeval  confra- 
ternities of  Masons  fails  to  be  substantiated 
for  want  of  sufficient  proof.  The  entire 
spirit  of  the  Old  Constitutions  indicates 
that  none  but  men,  under  the  titles  of 
"brethren"  and  "fellows,"  were  admitted 
into  these  Masonic  gilds ;  and  the  first 
code  of  charges  adopted  at  the  revival  in 
1717,  declares  that  "  the  persons  admitted 
members  of  a  Lodge  must  be  good  and  true 
men.  ...  no  women,  etc."  The  opinion 
that  women  were  originally  admitted  into 
the  Masonic  gild,  as  it  is  asserted  that 
they  were  into  some  of  the  others,  is  based 
upon  the  fact  that,  in  what  is  called  the 
"  York  MS.,  No.  4,"  whose  date  as  affixed 
to  the  roll  is  1693,  we  find  the  following 
words :  "  Then  one  of  the  elders  takeing  the 
Booke,  and  that  hee  or  shee  that  is  to  be 
made  mason  shall  lay  their  hands  thereon, 
and  the  charge  shall  be  given."  But  in 
the  "  Alnwick  MS.,"  which  is  inserted  as 
a  Preface  to  the  Records  of  the  Lodge  at 
Alnwick,  beginning  Sept.  29,  1701,  and 
which  manuscript  was  therefore  probably 
at  least  contemporary  with  that  of  York,  we 
find  the  corresponding  passage  in  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "  Then  shall  one  of  the  most 
ancient  of  them  all  hold  a  book  that  he  or 
they  may  lay  his  or  their  hands  upon  the 
said  Book,"  etc.  Again,  in  the  "  Harleian 
MS.,"  whose  date  is  supposed  to  be  1650, 
we  meet  with  the  regulation  in  Latin  thus: 
"  Tunc  unus  ex  senioribus  teneat  librum  et 
illi  vel  ille  teneat  librum."  This  was  no 
doubt  the  original  form  of  which  the  writer 
of  the  York  MS.  gives  a  translation,  and 
either  through  ignorance  or  clerical  care- 
lessness, the  "  illi  vel  ille,"  instead  of  they 
or  he,  has  been  translated  he  or  she.  Be- 
sides, the  whole  tenor  of  the  charges  in  the 
York  MS.  clearly  shows  that  they  were  in- 
tended for  men  only.  A  woman  could 
scarcely  have  been  required  to  swear  that 
she  "  would  not  take  her  fellow's  wife  in 
villainy,"  nor  make  any  one  a  Mason  un- 
less "  he  has  his  right  limbs  as  a  man  ought 


to  have."  I  cannot  for  a  moment  admit, 
on  the  authority  of  a  mistranslation  of  a 
single  letter,  by  which  an  a  was  taken  for 
an  e,  thus  changing  ille  into  ilia,  or  he  into 
she,  that  the  Masonic  gild  admitted  women 
into  a  craft  whose  labors  were  to  hew  heavy 
stones  and  to  ascend  tall  scaffolds.  Such 
never  could  have  been  the  case  in  Opera- 
tive Masonry. 

There  is,  however,  abundant  evidence 
that  in  the  other  gilds,  or  livery  companies 
of  England,  women  or  sisters  were  admit- 
ted to  the  freedom  of  the  company.  Her- 
bert (Hist.  Liv.  Comp.,  xi.  83,)  thinks  that 
the  custom  was  borrowed,  on  the  constitution 
of  the  Companies,  by  Edward  III.  from  the 
ecclesiastical  or  religious  gilds,  which  were 
often  composed  of  both  sexes.  But  I  do 
not  think  that  there  is  any  evidence  that 
the  usage  was  extended  to  the  building 
corporations  or  Freemasons'  gilds.  A  wo- 
man might  be  a  female  grocer  or  haber- 
dasher, but  she  could  hardly  perform  the 
duties  of  a  female  builder. 

Situation  of  the  Lodge.  A  Lodge 
is,  or  ought  to  be,  always  situated  due  east 
and  west,  for  reasons  which  are  detailed  in 
the  articles  East  and  Orientation,  which  see. 

Six  Lights.  The  six  lights  of  Sym- 
bolic Masonry  are  divided  into  the  Greater 
and  Lesser  Lights,  (which  see.)  In  the 
American  system  of  the  Royal  Arch  there 
is  no  symbol  of  the  kind,  but  in  the  Eng- 
lish system  there  are  six  lights —  three  lesser 
and  three  greater — placed  in  the  form  of 
two  interlaced  triangles.  The  three  lesser 
represent  the  Patriarchal,  Mosaic,  and 
Christian  dispensations;  the  three  greater 
the  Creative,  Preservative  and  Destructive 
power  of  God.  The  four  lesser  triangles, 
formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  two  great 
triangles,  are  emblematic  of  the  four  degrees 
of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry. 

Six  Periods.  The  Grand  Architect's 
Six  Periods  constituted  a  part  of  the  old 
Prestonian  lecture  in  the  Fellow  Craft's 
degree.  It  referred  to  the  six  days  of  crea- 
tion, the  six  periods  being  the  six  days.  It 
no  longer  forms  a  part  of  the  lecture  as 
modified  by  Hemming  in  England,  al- 
though Oliver  devotes  a  chapter  in  his  His- 
torical Landmarks  to  this  subject.  It  was 
most  probably  at  one  time  taught  in  this 
country  before  Webb  modified  and  abridged 
the  Prestonian  lectures,  for  Hardie  gives 
the  "Six  Periods"  in  full  in  his  Monitor, 
which  was  published  in  1818.  The  Webb 
lecture,  now  practised  in  this  country,  com- 
prehends the  whole  subject  of  the  Six 
Periods,  which  make  a  closely  printed  page 
in  Brown's  Master  Key,  in  these  few  words : 
"  In  six  days  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  and  rested  upon  the  seventh  day ; 
the  seventh,  therefore,  our  ancient  brethren 


SKELETON 


SLOANE 


719 


consecrated  as  a  day  of  rest  from  their  la- 
bors ;  thereby  enjoying  frequent  opportuni- 
ties to  contemplate  the  glorious  works  of 
creation,  and  to  adore  their  great  Creator." 

Skeleton.  A  symbol  of  death.  The 
ancient  Egyptians  often  introduced  a  skele- 
ton in  their  feasts  to  remind  the  revellers  of 
the  transitory  nature  of  their  enjoyments, 
and  to  teach  them  that  in  the  midst  of  life  we 
are  in  death.  As  such  an  admonitory  sym- 
bol, it  is  used  in  some  of  the  high  degrees. 

Skirrit.  In  the  English  system  the 
skirrit  is  one  of  the  working-tools  of  a 
Master  Mason.  It  is  an  implement  which 
acts  on  a  centre-pin,  whence  a  line  is  drawn, 
chalked,  and  struck  to  mark  out  the  ground 
for  the  foundation  of  the  intended  struc- 
ture. Symbolically,  it  points  to  us  that 
straight  and  undeviating  line  of  conduct 
laid  down  for  our  pursuits  in  the  volume 
of  the  Sacred  Law.  The  skirrit  is  not  used 
in  the  American  system. 

Skull.  The  skull  as  a  symbol  is  not 
used  in  Masonry  except  in  Masonic  Tern- 
plarism,  where  it  is  a  symbol  of  mortality. 
Among  the  articles  of  accusation  sent  by 
the  Pope  to  the  bishops  and  papal  com- 
missaries upon  which  to  examine  the 
Knights  Templars,  those  from  the  forty- 
second  to  the  fifty-seventh  refer  to  the  hu- 
man skull,  "cranium  humanum,"  which  the 
Templars  were  accused  of  using  in  their 
reception,  and  worshipping  as  an  idol.  It 
is  possible  that  the  Old  Templars  made  use 
of  the  skull  in  their  ceremony  of  recep- 
tion; but  Modern  Templars  will  readily 
acquit  their  predecessors  of  the  crime  of 
idolatry,  and  find  in  their  use  of  a  skull  a 
symbolic  design.     See  Bafomet. 

Skull  and  Cross-bones.  They  are 
a  symbol  of  mortality  and  death,  and  are 
so  used  by  heralds  in  funeral  achievements. 
As  the  means  of  inciting  the  mind  to  the 
contemplation  of  the  most  solemn  subjects, 
the  skull  and  cross-bones  are  used  in  the 
Chamber  of  Reflection  in  the  French  and 
Scottish  Rites,  and  in  all  those  degrees  where 
that  Chamber  constitutes  a  part  of  the  pre- 
liminary ceremonies  of  initiation. 

Slander.  Inwood,  in  his  sermon  on 
"  Union  Amongst  Masons,"  says :  "  To  de- 
fame our  brother,  or  suffer  him  to  be  de- 
famed, without  interesting  ourselves  for  the 
preservation  of  his  name  and  character, 
there  is  scarcely  the  shadow  of  an  excuse  to 
be  formed.  Defamation  is  always  wicked. 
Slander  and  evil  speaking  are  the  pests  of 
civil  society,  are  the  disgrace  of  every  de- 
gree of  religious  profession,  are  the  poison- 
ous bane  of  all  brotherly  love." 

Slave.     See  Free  Bom. 

Slip.  This  technical  expression  in 
American  Masonry,  but  mostly  confined  to 
the  Western  States,  and  not  generally  used, 
is  of  very  recent  origin ;  and  both  the  action 


and  the  word  most  probably  sprang  up, 
with  a  few  other  innovations  intended  as 
especial  methods  of  precaution,  about  the 
time  of  the  anti-Masonic  excitement. 

Sloane  Manuscripts.  There  are 
three  copies  of  the  Old  Constitutions  which 
bear  this  name.  All  of  them  were  found  in 
the  British  Museum  among  the  heteroge- 
neous collection  of  papers  which  were  once 
the  property  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane.  The  first, 
which  is  known  in  the  Museum  as  No. 
3848,  is  one  of  the  most  complete  of  the 
copies  extant  of  the  Old  Constitutions.  At 
the  end  of  it,  the  date  is  certified  by  the 
following  subscription :  "  Finis  p.  me  Ed- 
uardu  Sankey  decimo  sexto  die  Octobris 
Anno  Domini  1646."  It  was  published  for 
the  first  time,  from  an  exact  transcript  of 
the  original,  by  Bro.  Hughan  in  his  Old 
Charges  of  the  British  Freemasons.  The  sec- 
ond Sloane  MS.  is  known  in  the  British 
Museum  as  No.  3323.  It  is  in  a  large  folio 
volume  of*  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
leaves,  on  the  fly-leaf  of  which  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  has  written,  "  Loose  papers  of  mine 
Concerning  Curiosities."  There  are  many 
Manuscripts  by  different  hands.  The  Ma- 
sonic one  is  subscribed  "  Hoc  scripta  fue- 
runt  p.  me  Thomam  Martin,  1659,"  and 
this  fixes  the  date.  It  consists  of  six  leaves 
of  paper  five  inches  by  four,  is  written  in 
a  small,  neat  hand,  and  endorsed  "  Free 
Masonry."  It  was  first  published,  in  1871, 
by  Bro.  Hughan  in  his  Masonic  Sketches  and 
Reprints.  The  Rev.  Bro.  A.  F.  A.  Wood- 
ford thinks  this  an  "indifferent  copy  of 
the  former  one."  I  cannot  agree  with  him. 
The  entire  omission  of  the  "  Legend  of  the 
Craft"  from  the  time  of  Lamech  to  the 
building  of  the  Temple,  including  the  im- 
portant "  Legend  of  Euclid,"  all  of  which  is 
given  in  full  in  the  MS.  No.  3848,  together 
with  a  great  many  verbal  discrepancies, 
and  a  total  difference  in  the  eighteenth 
charge,  lead  me  to  suppose  that  the  former 
MS.  never  was  seen,  or  at  least  copied,  by 
the  writer  of  the  latter.  On  the  whole,  it 
is,  from  this  very  omission,  one  of  the  least 
valuable  of  the  copies  of  the  Old  Constitu- 
tions. 

The  third  Sloane  MS.  is  really  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  valuable  of  those  that 
have  been  heretofore  discovered.  A  por- 
tion of  it,  a  small  portion,  was  inserted  by 
Findel  in  his  History  of  Freemasonry  ;  but 
the  whole  has  been  since  published  in  the 
Voice  of  Masonry,  a  periodical  printed  at 
Chicago  in  1872.  The  number  of  the  MS. 
in  the  British  Museum  is  3329,  and  Mr. 
Hughan  places  its  date  at  from  1640  to 
1700;  but  he  says  that  Messrs.  Bond  and 
Sims,  of  the  British  Museum,  agree  in 
stating  that  it  is  "  probably  of  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eighteenth  century."  But  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Woodford  mentions  a  great  au- 


720 


SMITH 


SMITH 


thority  on  MSS.,  who  declares  it  to  be  "  pre- 
vious to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury." Findel  thinks  it  originated  at  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  "  that 
it  was  found  among  the  papers  which  Dr. 
Plot  left  behind  him  on  his  death,  and  was 
one  of  the  sources  whence  his  communica- 
tions on  Freemasonry  were  derived."  It  is 
not  a  copy  of  the  Old  Constitutions,  in 
which  respect  it  differs  from  all  the  other 
Manuscripts,  but  is  a  description  of  the 
ritual  of  the  society  of  Free  Operative  Ma- 
sons at  the  period  when  it  was  written. 
This  it  is  that  makes  it  so  valuable  a  con- 
tribution to  the  history  of  Freemasonry, 
and  renders  it  so  important  that  its  precise 
date  should  be  fixed. 

Smith,  George.  Captain  George 
Smith  was  a  Mason  of  some  distinction 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Although  born  in  England,  he 
at  an  early  age  entered  the  military  ser- 
vice of  Prussia,  being  connected  with  noble 
families  of  that  kingdom.  During  his 
residence  on  the  continent  it  appears  that 
he  was  initiated  in  one  of  the  German 
Lodges.  On  his  return  to  England  he  was 
appointed  Inspector  of  the  Royal  Military 
Academy  at  Woolwich,  and  published,  in 
1779,  a  Universal  Military  Dictionary,  and, 
in  1783,  a  Bibliotheca  Militaris. 

He  devoted  much  attention  to  Masonic 
studies,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  good 
workman  in  the  Royal  Military  Lodge  at 
"Woolwich,  of  which  he  was  for  four 
years  the  Master.  During  his  Mastership 
the  Lodge  had,  on  one  occasion,  been 
opened  in  the  King's  Bench  prison,  and 
some  persons  who  were  confined  there  were 
initiated.  For  this  the  Master  and  breth- 
ren were  censured,  and  the  Grand  Lodge 
declared  that  "  it  is  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  of  Masonry  for  any  Freemason's 
Lodge  to  be  held,  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing, passing,  or  raising  Masons,  in  any 
prison  or  place  of  confinement."  Smith 
was  appointed  by  the  Duke  of  Manchester, 
in  1778,  Provincial  Grand  Master  of  Kent, 
and  on  that  occasion  delivered  his  Inaugu- 
ral Charge  before  the  Lodge  of  Friendship 
at  Dover.  He  also  drew  up  a  code  of  laws 
for  the  government  of  the  province,  which 
was  published  in  1781.  In  1780  he  was  ap- 
pointed Junior  Grand  Warden  of  the  Grand 
Lodge;  but  objections  having  been  made  by 
Heseltine,  the  Grand  Secretary,  between 
whom  and  himself  there  was  no  very  kind 
feeling,  on  the  ground  that  no  one  could 
hold  two  offices  in  the  Grand  Lodge,  Smith 
resigned  at  the  next  quarterly  communica- 
tion. As  at  the  time  of  his  appointment 
there  was  really  no  law  forbidding  the 
holding  of  two  offices,  its  impropriety  was 
so  manifest,  that  the  Grand  Lodge  adopted 


a  regulation  that  "it  was  incompatible 
with  the  laws  of  the  society  for  any  brother 
to  hold  more  than  one  office  at  the  same 
time."  In  1783,  Capt.  Smith  published  a 
work  entitled  The  Use  and  Abuse  of  Freema- 
sonry :  a  work  of  the  greatest  utility  to  the 
Brethren  of  the  Society,  to  Mankind  in  gen- 
eral, and  to  the  Ladies  in  particular.  The 
interest  to  the  ladies  consists  in  some 
twenty  pages,  in  which  he  gives  the  "  An- 
cient and  Modern  reasons  why  the  ladies 
have  never  been  admitted  into  the  Society 
of  Freemasons,"  a  section  the  omission  of 
which  would  scarcely  have  diminished  the 
value  of  the  work  or  the  reputation  of  the 
author. 

The  work  of  Smith  would  not  at  the 
present  day,  in  the  advanced  progress  of 
Masonic  knowledge,  enhance  the  reputa- 
tion of  its  writer.  But  at  the  time  when  it 
appeared,  there  was  a  great  dearth  of  Ma- 
sonic literature — Anderson,  Calcott,  Hutch- 
inson, and  Preston  being  the  only  authors 
of  any  repute  that  had  as  yet  written  on  the 
subject  of  Masonry.  There  was  much  his- 
torical information  contained  within  its 
pages,  and  some  few  suggestive  thoughts 
on  the  symbolism  and  philosophy  of  the 
Order.  To  the  Craft  of  that  day  the  book 
was  therefore  necessary  and  useful.  Noth- 
ing, indeed,  proves  the  necessity  of  such  a 
work  more  than  the  fact  that  the  Grand 
Lodge  refused  its  sanction  to  the  publica- 
tion on  the  general  ground  of  opposition 
to  Masonic  literature.  Noorthouck,  {Const, 
p.  347,)  in  commenting  on  the  refusal  of  a 
sanction,  says : 

"  No  particular  objection  being  stated 
against  the  above-mentioned  work,  the 
natural  conclusion  is,  that  a  sanction  was 
refused  on  the  general  principle  that,  con- 
sidering the  flourishing  state  of  our  Lodges, 
where  regular  instruction  and  suitable  ex- 
ercises are  ever  ready  for  all  brethren  who 
zealously  aspire  to  improve  in  masonical 
knowledge,  new  publications  are  unneces- 
sary on  a  subject  which  books  cannot  teach. 
Indeed,  the  temptations  to  authorship  have 
effected  a  strange  revolution  of  sentiments 
since  the  year  1720,  when  even  ancient 
manuscripts  were  destroyed,  to  prevent 
their  appearance  in  a  printed  Book  of  Con- 
stitutions !  for  the  principal  materials  in 
this  very  work,  then  so  much  dreaded, 
have  since  been  retailed  in  a  variety  of 
forms,  to  give  consequence  to  fanciful  pro- 
ductions that  might  have  been  safely  with- 
held, without  sensible  injury,  either  to  the 
Fraternity  or  to  the  literary  reputation  of 
the  writers." 

To  dispel  such  darkness  almost  any  sort 
of  book  should  have  been  acceptable.  The 
work  was  published  without  the  sanction, 
and  the  Craft  being  wiser  than  their  repre- 


SMITTEN 


SOFISM 


721 


sentatives  in  the  Grand  Lodge,  the  edition 
was  speedily  exhausted. 

Dr.  Oliver  {Rev.  of  a  Sq.,  146,)  describes 
Captain  Smith  as  a  man  "  plain  in  speech 
and  manners,  but  honorable  and  upright 
in  his  dealings,  and  an  active  and  zealous 
Mason."  It  is  probable  that  he  died  about 
the  end  of  the  last  or  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century. 

Smitten  Builder.  The  old  lectures 
used  to  say:  "The  veil  of  the  Temple  is 
rent,  the  builder  is  smitten,  and  we  are  raised 
from  the  tomb  of  transgression."  Hutchin- 
son, and  after  him  Oliver,  apply  the  ex- 
pression, "The  smitten  builder,"  to  the 
crucified  Saviour,  and  define  it  as  a  symbol 
of  his  divine  mediation ;  but  the  general 
interpretation  of  the  symbol  is,  that  it  re- 
fers to  death  as  the  necessary  precursor  of 
immortality.  In  this  sense,  the  smitten 
builder  presents,  like  every  other  part  of 
the  third  degree,  the  symbolic  instruction 
of  Eternal  Life. 

Snow,  John.  A  distinguished  lec- 
turer on  Masonry,  who  was  principally  in- 
strumental in  introducing  the  system  of 
Webb,  of  whom  he  was  a  pupil,  into  the 
Lodges  of  the  Western  States.  He  was 
also  a  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Ohio,  and  was  the  founder  and  first 
Grand  Commander  of  the  first  Grand  En- 
campment of  Knights  Templars  in  the 
same  State.  He  was  born  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  February  25,  1780 ;  was  ini- 
tiated into  Freemasonry  in  Mount  Vernon 
Lodge,  of  Providence,  in  1809,  and  died 
May  16,  1852,  at  Worthington,  Ohio. 

Snows.     See  Bains. 

Social  Character  of  Freema- 
sonry. Freemasonry  attracts  our  atten- 
tion as  a  great  social  institution.  Laying 
aside  for  the  time  those  artificial  distinc- 
tions of  rank  and  wealth,  which,  however, 
are  necessary  in  the  world  to  the  regular 
progression  of  society,  its  members  meet  in 
their  Lodges  on  one  common  level  of 
brotherhood  and  equality.  There  virtue 
and  talent  alone  claim  and  receive  pre- 
eminence, and  the  great  object  of  all  is  to 
see  who  can  best  work  and  best  agree. 
There  friendship  and  fraternal  affection  are 
strenuously  inculcated  and  assiduously  cul- 
tivated, and  that  great  mystic  tie  is  estab- 
lished which  peculiarly  distinguishes  the 
society.  Hence  is  it  that  Washington  has 
declared  that  the  benevolent  purpose  of 
the  Masonic  institution  is  to  enlarge  the 
sphere  of  social  happiness,  and  its  grand 
object  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the 
human  race. 

Socins.  The  sixth  degree  of  the  Order 
of  Strict  Observance. 

Sodalities.  Societies  or  companies 
of  friends  or  companions  assembled  to- 
4Q  46 


gether  for  a  special  purpose.  Such  con- 
fraternities, under  the  name  of  Sodalitia, 
were  established  in  Rome,  by  Cato  the  Cen- 
sor, for  the  mutual  protection  of  the  mem- 
bers. As  their  proceedings  were  secret, 
they  gave  offence  to  the  government,  and 
were  suppressed,  80  B.  c,  by  a  decree  of  the 
senate,  but  were  afterwards  restored  by  a 
law  of  Clodius. 

Soflsm.  The  Sofis  were  a  mystical 
sect  which  greatly  prevailed  in  Eastern 
countries,  and  especially  in  Persia,  whose 
religious  faith  was  supposed  by  most  writers 
to  embody  the  secret  doctrine  of  Moham- 
medanism. Sir  John  Malcolm  (Hist.  Pers., 
ch.  xx.,)  says  that  they  have  among  them 
great  numbers  of  the  wisest  and  ablest  men 
of  Persia  and  the  East,  and  since  his  time 
the  sect  has  greatly  increased. 

The  name  is  most  probably  derived  from 
the  Greek  ao<f>ia,  wisdom;  and  Malcolm  states 
that  they  also  bore  the  name  of  philosaufs, 
in  which  we  may  readily  detect  the  word 
philosophers.  He  says  also :  "  The  Mo- 
hammedan Sofis  have  endeavored  to  con- 
nect their  mystic  faith  with  the  doctrine  of 
their  prophet,  who,  they  assert,  was  himself 
an  accomplished  Soft."  The  principal  Sofi 
writers  are  familiar  with  the  opinions  of 
Aristotle  and  Plato,  and  their  most  impor- 
tant works  abound  with  quotations  from 
the  latter.  Sir  John  Malcolm  compares 
the  school  of  Sofism  with  that  of  Pythag- 
oras. It  is  evident  that  there  is  a  great 
similarity  between  Sofism  and  Gnosti- 
cism, and  all  the  features  of  the  Sofic 
initiation  remind  us  very  forcibly  of  those 
of  the  Masonic.  The  object  of  the  system 
is  the  attainment  of  Truth,  and  the  novice 
is  invited  "  to  embark  on  the  sea  of  doubt," 
that  is,  to  commence  his  investigations, 
which  are  to  end  in  its  discovery. 

There  are  four  stages  or  degrees  of  ini- 
tiation :  the  first  is  merely  preliminary, 
and  the  initiate  is  required  to  observe  the 
ordinary  rites  and  ceremonies  of  religion 
for  the  sake  of  the  vulgar,  who  do  not  un- 
derstand their  esoteric  meaning.  In  the 
second  degree  he  is  said  to  enter  the  pale 
of  Sofism,  and  exchanges  these  external 
rites  for  a  spiritual  worship.  The  third 
degree  is  that  of  Wisdom,  and  he  who 
reaches  it  is  supposed  to  have  attained 
supernatural  knowledge,  and  to  be  equal 
to  the  angels.  The  fourth  and  last  degree 
is  called  Truth,  for  he  has  now  reached  it, 
and  has  become  completely  united  with 
Deity.  They  have,  says  Malcolm,  secrets 
and  mysteries  in  every  stage  or  degree 
which  are  never  revealed  to  the  profane, 
and  to  reveal  which  would  be  a  crime  of 
the  deepest  turpitude.  The  tenets  of  the 
sect,  so  far  as  they  are  made  known  to  the 
world,  are,  according  to  Sir  William  Jones, 


722 


SOFISM 


SOLOMON 


(Asiat.  Researches,  ii.  62,)  "  that  nothing 
exists  absolutely  but  God ;  that  the  human 
soul  is  an  emanation  of  his  essence,  and, 
though  divided  for  a  time  from  its  heavenly 
source,  will  be  finally  reunited  with  it; 
that  the  highest  possible  happiness  will 
arise  from  its  reunion ;  and  that  the  chief 
good  of  mankind  in  this  transitory  world 
consists  in  as  perfect  a  union  with  the 
Eternal  Spirit  as  the  incumbrances  of  a 
mortal  frame  will  allow."  It  is  evident 
that  an  investigation  of  the  true  system  of 
these  Eastern  mysteries  must  be  an  inter- 
esting subject  of  inquiry  to  the  student  of 
Freemasonry;  for  Higgins  is  hardly  too 
enthusiastic  in  supposing  them  to  be  the 
ancient  Freemasons  of  Mohammedanism. 
His  views  are  thus  expressed  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  Anacalypsis,  p.  301 :  a  won- 
derful work  —  wonderful  for  the  vast  and 
varied  learning  that  it  exhibits;  but  still 
more  so  for  the  bold  and  strange  theories 
which,  however  untenable,  are  defended 
with  all  the  powers  of  a  more  than  ordi- 
nary intellect. 

"  The  circumstances,"  he  says,  "  of  the 
gradation  of  ranks,  the  initiation,  and  the 
head  of  the  Order  in  Persia  being  called 
Grand  Master,  raise  a  presumption  that  the 
Sofis  were,  in  reality,  the  Order  of  Ma- 
sons." 

Without  subscribing  at  once  to  the  theory 
of  Higgins,  we  may  well  be  surprised  at  the 
coincidences  existing  between  the  customs 
and  the  dogmas  of  the  Sofis  and  those  of 
the  Freemasons,  and  we  would  naturally 
be  curious  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the 
close  communication  which  existed  at  va- 
rious times  during  the  Crusades  between 
this  Mohammedan  sect  of  philosophers  and 
the  Christian  Order  of  Templars. 

Mr.  C.  W.  King,  in  his  learned  treatise 
on  the  Gnostics,  seems  to  entertain  a  simi- 
lar idea  of  this  connection  between  the 
Templars  and  the  Sofis.  He  says  that, 
"inasmuch  as  these  Sofis  were  composed 
exclusively  of  the  learned  amongst  the  Per- 
sians and  Syrians,  and  learning  at  that 
time  meant  little  more  than  a  proficiency 
in  medicine  and  astrology,  the  two  points 
that  brought  the  Eastern  sages  into  amica- 
ble contact  with  their  barbarous  invaders 
from  the  West,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the 
latter  may  have  imbibed  the  secret  doc- 
trines simultaneously  with  the  science  of 
those  who  were  their  instructors  in  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  science  and  art.  The  Sofi 
doctrine  involved  the  grand  idea  of  one 
universal  creed,  which  could  be  secretly 
held  under  any  profession  of  an  outward 
faith :  and  in  fact  took  virtually  the  same 
view  of  religious  systems  as  that  in  which 
the  ancient  philosophers  had  regarded  such 
matters." 


So  Help  Me  God.  The  usual  obse- 
cration or  imprecation  affixed  in  modern 
times  to  oaths,  and  meaning,  "  May  God  so 
help  me  as  I  keep  this  vow." 

Sojourner.     See  Principal  Sojourner. 

Soldiers  of  Christ.  Milites  Christ* 
is  the  title  by  which  St.  Bernard  addressed 
his  exhortations  to  the  Knights  Templars. 
They  are  also  called  in  some  of  the  old  doc- 
uments, "Militia  Templi  Salomonis,"  The 
Chivalry  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon ;  but 
their  ancient  statutes  were  entitled  "Regula 
pauperum  commilitonum  Templi  Salomonis," 
The  Rule  of  the  poor  fellow-soldiers  of  the 
Temple  of  Solomon ;  and  this  is  the  title  by 
which  they  are  now  most  generally  desig- 
nated. 

Solomon.  In  writing  the  life  of  King 
Solomon  from  a  Masonic  point  of  view,  it 
is  impossible  to  omit  a  reference  to  the  le- 
gends which  have  been  preserved  in  the 
Masonic  system.  But  the  writer,  who,  with 
this  preliminary  notice,  embodies  them  in 
his  sketch  of  the  career  of  the  wise  king 
of  Israel,  is  by  no  means  to  be  held  respon- 
sible for  a  belief  in  their  authenticity.  It 
is  the  business  of  the  Masonic  biographer 
to  relate  all  that  has  been  handed  down  by 
tradition  in  connection  with  the  life  of 
Solomon ;  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  severer 
critic  to  seek  to  separate  out  of  all  these 
materials  that  which  is  historical  from  that 
which  is  merely  mythical,  and  to  assign  to 
the  former  all  that  is  valuable  as  fact,  and 
to  the  latter  all  that  is  equally  valuable  as 
symbolism. 

Solomon,  the  king  of  Israel,  the  son  of 
David  and  Bathsheba,  ascended  the  throne 
of  his  kingdom  3989  years  after  the  creation 
of  the  world,  and  1015  years  before  the 
Christian  era.  He  was  then  only  twenty 
years  of  age,  but  the  youthful  monarch  is 
said  to  have  commenced  his  reign  with  the 
decision  of  a  legal  question  of  some  diffi- 
culty, in  which  he  exhibited  the  first  prom- 
ise of  that  wise  judgment  for  which  he  was 
ever  afterwards  distinguished. 

One  of  the  great  objects  of  Solomon's  life, 
and  the  one  which  most  intimately  connects 
him  with  the  history  of  the  Masonic  insti- 
tution, was  the  erection  of  a  temple  to  Je- 
hovah. This,  too,  had  been  a  favorite  de- 
sign of  his  father  David.  For  this  purpose, 
that  monarch,  long  before  his  death,  had 
numbered  the  workmen  whom  he  found  in 
his  kingdom;  had  appointed  the  overseers 
of  the  work,  the  hewers  of  stones,  and  the 
bearers  of  burdens ;  had  prepared  a  great 
quantity  of  brass,  iron,  and  cedar;  and  had 
amassed  an  immense  treasure  with  which 
to  support  the  enterprise.  But  on  consult- 
ing with  the  prophet  Nathan,  he  learned 
from  that  holy  man,  that  although  the  pious 
intention  was  pleasing  to  God,  yet  that  he 


SOLOMON 


SOLOMON 


723 


•would  not  be  permitted  to  carry  it  into  exe- 
cution, and  the  Divine  prohibition  was  pro- 
claimed in  these  emphatic  words :  "  Thou 
hast  shed  blood  abundantly,  and  hast  made 
great  wars;  thou  shalt  not  build  a  house 
unto  my  name,  because  thou  hast  shed 
much  blood  upon  the  earth  in  my  sight." 
The  task  was,  therefore,  reserved  for  the 
more  peaceful  Solomon,  his  son  and  suc- 
cessor. 

Hence,  when  David  was  about  to  die,  he 
charged  Solomon  to  build  the  Temple  of 
God  as  soon  as  he  should  have  received  the 
kingdom.  He  also  gave  him  directions  in 
relation  to  the  construction  of  the  edifice, 
and  put  into  his  possession  the  money, 
amounting  to  ten  thousand  talents  of  gold 
and  ten  times  that  amount  of  silver,  which 
he  had  collected  and  laid  aside  for  defray- 
ing the  expense. 

Solomon  had  scarcely  ascended  the 
throne  of  Israel,  when  he  prepared  to 
carry  into  execution  the  pious  designs  of 
his  predecessor.  For  this  purpose,  how- 
ever, he  found  it  necessary  to  seek  the  as- 
sistance of  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  the  an- 
cient friend  and  ally  of  his  father.  The 
Tyrians  and  Sidonians,  the  subjects  of 
Hiram,  had  long  been  distinguished  for 
their  great  architectural  skill ;  and,  in  fact, 
many  of  them,  as  the  members  of  a  mystic 
operative  society,  the  fraternity  of  Diony- 
sian  artificers,  had  long  monopolized  the 
profession  of  building  in  Asia  Minor.  The 
Jews,  on  the  contrary,  were  rather  more 
eminent  for  their  military  valor  than  for 
their  knowledge  of  the  arts  of  peace,  and 
hence  King  Solomon  at  once  conceived  the 
necessity  of  invoking  the  aid  of  these 
foreign  architects,  if  he  expected  to  com- 
plete the  edifice  he  was  about  to  erect, 
either  in  a  reasonable  time  or  with  the 
splendour  and  magnificence  appropriate  to 
the  sacred  object  for  which  it  was  intended. 
For  this  purpose  he  addressed  the  follow- 
ing letter  to  King  Hiram  : 

"  Know  thou  that  my  father  would  have 
built  a  temple  to  God,  but  was  hindered  by 
wars  and  continual  expeditions,  for  he  did 
not  leave  off"  to  overthrow  his  enemies  till 
he  made  them  all  subject  to  tribute.  But 
I  give  thanks  to  God  for  the  peace  I,  at 
present,  enjoy,  and  on  that  account  I  am 
at  leisure,  and  design  to  build  a  house  to 
God,  for  God  foretold  to  my  father,  that 
such  a  house  should  be  built  by  me ;  where- 
fore I  desire  thee  to  send  some  of  thy  sub- 
jects with  mine  to  Mount  Lebanon,  to  cut 
down  timber,  for  the  Sidonians  are  more 
skilful  than  our  people  in  cutting  of  wood. 
As  for  wages  to  the  hewers  of  wood,  I  will 
pay  whatever  price  thou  shalt  determine." 

Hiram,  mindful  of  the  former  amity  and 
alliance  that  had  existed  between  himself 


and  David,  was  disposed  to  extend  the 
friendship  he  had  felt  for  the  father  to  the 
son,  and  replied,  therefore,  to  the  letter  of 
Solomon  in  the  following  epistle : 

"  It  is  fit  to  bless  God  that  he  hath  com- 
mitted thy  father's  government  to  thee, 
who  art  a  wise  man  endowed  with  all 
virtues.  As  for  myself,  I  rejoice  at  the 
condition  thou  art  in,  and  will  be  subser- 
vient to  thee  in  all  that  thou  sendest  to  me 
about;  for  when,  by  my  subjects,  I  have 
cut  down  many  and  large  trees  of  cedar  and 
cypress  wood,  I  will  send  them  to  sea,  and 
will  order  my  subjects  to  make  floats  of 
them,  and  to  sail  to  what  places  soever  of 
thy  country  thou  shalt  desire,  and  leave 
them  there,  after  which  thy  subjects  may 
carry  them  to  Jerusalem.  But  do  thou 
take  care  to  procure  us  corn  for  this  timber, 
which  we  stand  in  need  of,  because  we  in- 
habit in  an  island." 

Hiram  lost  no  time  in  fulfilling  the 
promise  of  assistance  which  he  had  thus 
given ;  and  accordingly  we  are  informed 
that  Solomon  received  thirty- three  thou- 
sand six  hundred  workmen  from  Tyre,  be- 
sides a  sufficient  quantity  of  timber  and 
stone  to  construct  the  edifice  which  he  was 
about  to  erect.  Hiram  sent  him,  also,  a 
far  more  important  gift  than  either  men  or 
materials,  in  the  person  of  an  able  archi- 
tect, "  a  curious  and  cunning  workman," 
whose  skill  and  experience  were  to  be  exer- 
cised in  superintending  the  labors  of  the 
craft,  and  in  adorning  and  beautifying  the 
building.  Of  this  personage,  whose  name 
was  also  Hiram,  and  who  plays  so  impor- 
tant a  part  in  the  history  of  Freemasonry, 
an  account  will  be  found  in  the  article 
Hiram  Abif,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

King  Solomon  commenced  the  erection 
of  the  Temple  on  Monday,  the  second  day 
of  the  Hebrew  month  Zif,  which  answers 
to  the  twenty-first  of  April,  in  the  year  of 
the  world  2992,  and  1012  years  before  the 
Christian  era.  Advised  in  all  the  details, 
as  Masonic  tradition  informs  us,  by  the 
wise  and  prudent  counsels  of  Hiram,  king 
of  Tyre,  and  Hiram  Abif,  who,  with  him- 
self, constituted  at  that  time  the  three 
Grand  Masters  of  the  Craft,  Solomon  made 
every  arrangement  in  the  disposition  and 
government  of  the  workmen,  in  the  pay- 
ment of  their  wages,  and  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  concord  and  harmony  which 
should  insure  dispatch  in  the  execution  and 
success  in  the  result. 

To  Hiram  Abif  was  intrusted  the  gen- 
eral superintendence  of  the  building,  while 
subordinate  stations  were  assigned  to  other 
eminent  artists,  whose  names  and  offices 
have  been  handed  down  in  the  traditions 
of  the  Order. 

In  short,  the  utmost  perfection  of  human 


724 


SOLOMON 


SOLSTICES 


wisdom  was  displayed  by  this  enlightened 
monarch  in  the  disposition  of  everything 
that  related  to  the  construction  of  the  stu- 

Eendous  edifice.  Men  of  the  most  compre- 
ensive  minds,  imbued  with  the  greatest 
share  of  zeal  and  fervency,  and  inspired 
with  the  strongest  fidelity  to  his  interests, 
were  employed  as  masters  to  instruct  and 
superintend  the  workmen ;  while  those  who 
labored  in  inferior  stations  were  excited  to 
enthusiasm  by  the  promise  of  promotion 
and  reward. 

The  Temple  was  at  length  finished  in  the 
month  Bui,  answering  to  our  November,  in 
the  year  of  the  world  3000,  being  a  little  more 
than  seven  years  from  its  commencement. 

As  soon  as  the  magnificent  edifice  was 
completed,  and  fit  for  the  sacred  purposes 
for  which  it  was  intended,  King  Solomon 
determined  to  celebrate  the  consummation 
of  his  labors  in  the  most  solemn  manner. 
For  this  purpose  he  directed  the  ark  to  be 
brought  from  the  king's  house,  where  it  had 
been  placed  by  King  David,  and  to  be  de- 

Eosited  with  impressive  ceremonies  in  the 
oly  of  holies,  beneath  the  expanded  wings 
of  the  cherubim.  This  important  event  is 
commemorated  in  the  beautiful  ritual  of 
the  Most  Excellent  Master's  degree. 

Our  traditions  inform  us,  that  when  the 
Temple  was  completed,  Solomon  assembled 
all  the  heads  of  the  tribes,  the  elders  and 
chiefs  of  Israel  to  bring  the  ark  up  out  of 
Zion,  where  King  David  had  deposited  it 
in  a  tabernacle  until  a  more  fitting  place 
should  have  been  built  for  its  reception. 
This  duty,  therefore,  the  Levites  now  per- 
formed, and  delivered  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant into  the  hands  of  the  priests,  who 
fixed  it  in  its  place  in  the  centre  of  the 
holy  of  holies. 

Here  the  immediate  and  personal  con- 
nection of  King  Solomon  with  the  Craft 
begins  to  draw  to  a  conclusion.  It  is 
true,  that  he  subsequently  employed  those 
worthy  Masons,  whom  the  traditions  say, 
at  the  completion  and  dedication  of  the 
Temple,  he  had  received  and  acknowledged 
as  Most  Excellent  Masters,  in  the  erection 
of  a  magnificent  palace  and  other  edifices, 
but  in  process  of  time  he  fell  into  the  most 
grievous  errors;  abandoned  the  path  of 
truth ;  encouraged  the  idolatrous  rites  of 
spurious  Masonry;  and,  induced  by  the 
persuasions  of  those  foreign  wives  and  con- 
cubines whom  he  had  espoused  in  his  later 
days,  he  erected  a  fane  for  the  celebration 
of  these  heathen  mysteries,  on  one  of  the 
hills  that  overlooked  the  very  spot  where, 
in  his  youth,  he  had  consecrated  a  temple 
to  the  one  true  God.  It  is  however  believed 
that  before  his  death  he  deeply  repented 
of  this  temporary  aberration  from  virtue, 
and  in  the  emphatic  expression,  "Vanity 


of  vanities !  all  is  vanity,"  he  is  supposed 
to  have  acknowledged  that  in  his  own  ex- 
perience he  had  discovered  that  falsehood 
and  sensuality,  however  they  may  give 
pleasure  for  a  season,  will,  in  the  end,  produce 
the  bitter  fruits  of  remorse  and  sorrow. 

That  King  Solomon  was  the  wisest  mon- 
arch that  swayed  the  sceptre  of  Israel,  has 
been  the  unanimous  opinion  of  posterity. 
So  much  was  he  beyond  the  age  in  which 
he  flourished,  in  the  attainments  of  science, 
that  the  Jewish  and  Arabic  writers  have 
attributed  to  him  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  secrets  of  magic,  by  whose  incantations 
they  suppose  him  to  have  been  capable  of 
calling  spirits  and  demons  to  his  assist- 
ance ;  and  the  Talmudists  and  Mohamme- 
dan doctors  record  many  fanciful  legends 
of  his  exploits  in  controlling  these  minis- 
ters of  darkness.  As  a  naturalist,  he  is 
said  to  have  written  a  work  on  animals  of 
no  ordinary  character,  which  has  however 
perished ;  while  his  qualifications  as  a  poet 
were  demonstrated  by  more  than  a  thou- 
sand poems  which  he  composed,  of  which 
his  epithalamium  on  his  marriage  with  an 
Egyptian  princess  and  the  Book  of  Ecclesi- 
astes  alone  remain.  He  has  given  us  in  his 
Proverbs  an  opportunity  of  forming  a  fa- 
vorable opinion  of  his  pretensions  to  the 
character  of  a  deep  and  right-thinking  phi- 
losopher; while  the  long  peace  and  prosper- 
ous condition  of  his  empire  for  the  greater 
portion  of  his  reign,  the  increase  of  his 
kingdom  in  wealth  and  refinement,  and  the 
encouragement  which  he  gave  to  architec- 
ture, the  mechanic  arts,  and  commerce, 
testify  his  profound  abilities  as  a  sovereign 
and  statesman. 

After  a  reign  of  forty  years  he  died,  and 
with  him  expired  forever  the  glory  and  the 
power  of  the  Hebrew  empire. 

Solomon.  House  of.  Lord  Bacon 
composed,  in  his  New  Atlantis,  an  apologue, 
in  which  he  describes  the  island  of  Bensa- 
lem,  —  that  is,  island  of  the  Sons  of  Peace, — 
and  on  it  an  edifice  called  the  house  of  Sol- 
omon, where  there  was  to  be  a  confraternity 
of  philosophers  devoted  to  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge.  Nicolai  thought  that  out 
of  this  subsequently  arose  the  society  of 
Freemasons,  which  was,  he  supposes,  estab- 
lished by  Elias  Ashmole  and  his  friends. 
See  Nicolai. 

Solomon,  Temple  of.  See  Temple 
of  Solomon. 

Solstices.  The  days  on  which  the  sun 
reaches  his  greatest  northern  and  southern 
declination,  which  are  the  21st  of  June  and 
the  22d  of  December.  Near  these  days 
are  those  in  which  the  Christian  Church 
commemorates  St.  John  the  Baptist  and 
St.  John  the  Evangelist,  who  have  been 
selected  as  the  patron  saints  of  Freema- 


SONGS 


V  OF  TMt 

VWV€R8tTY 


SONGS 


725 


sonry  for  reasons  which  are  explained  in 
the  article  on  the  Dedication  of  a  Lodge, 
which  see. 

Songs  of  Masonry.  The  song 
formed  in  early  times  a  very  striking  fea- 
ture in  what  may  be  called  the  domestic 
manners  of  the  Masonic  institution.  Nor 
has  the  custom  of  festive  entertainments 
been  yet  abandoned.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  songs  were  deemed 
of  so  much  importance  that  they  were 
added  to  the  Books  of  Constitutions  in 
Great  Britain  and  on  the  continent,  a  cus- 
tom which  was  followed  in  America,  where 
all  our  early  Monitors  contain  an  abundant 
supply  of  lyrical  poetry.  In  the  Constitu- 
tions published  in  1723  we  find  the  well- 
known  Entered  Apprentice's  song,  written 
by  Matthew  Birkhead,  which  still  retains 
its  popularity  among  Masons,  and  has  at- 
tained an  elevation  to  which  its  intrinsic 
merits  as  a  lyrical  composition  would 
hardly  entitle  it.  Songs  appear  to  have 
been  incorporated  into  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Order  at  the  revival  of  Masonry  in 
1717.  At  that  time,  to  use  the  language 
of  the  venerable  Oliver,  "  Labor  and  re- 
freshment relieved  each  other  like  two  lov- 
ing brothers,  and  the  gravity  of  the  former 
was  rendered  more  engaging  by  the  char- 
acteristic cheerfulness  and  jocund  gayety 
of  the  latter."  In  those  days  the  word 
"  refreshment "  had  a  practical  meaning, 
and  the  Lodge  was  often  called  from  labor 
that  the  brethren  might  indulge  in  inno- 
cent gayety,  of  which  the  song  formed  an 
essential  part.  This  was  called  harmony, 
and  the  brethren  who  were  blessed  with 
talents  for  vocal  music  were  often  invit- 
ed "to  contribute  to  the  harmony  of  the 
Lodge."  Thus,  in  the  minute-book  of  a 
Lodge  at  Lincoln,  in  England,  in  the  year 
1732,  which  is  quoted  by  Dr.  Oliver,  the 
records  show  that  the  Master  usually  "  gave 
an  elegant  charge,  also  went  through  an 
examination,  and  the  Lodge  was  closed 
with  song  and  decent  merriment."  In 
this  custom  of  singing  there  was  an  estab- 
lished system.  Each  officer  was  furnished 
with  a  song  appropriate  to  his  office,  and 
each  degree  had  a  song  for  itself. 

Thus,  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Book 
of  Constitutions,  we  have  the  "  Master's 
Song,"  which,  says  Dr.  Anderson,  the  au- 
thor, is  "to  be  sung  with  a  chorus, — when 
the  Master  shall  give  leave, — either  one 
part  only  or  all  together,  as  he  pleases; 
the  "Warden's  song,"  which  was  "to  be 
sung  and  played  at  the  Quarterly  Commu- 
nication ; "  the  "  Fellow  Craft's  song,"  which 
was  to  be  sung  and  played  at  the  grand 
feast ;  and,  lastly,  the  "  Entered  'Prentiss' 
song,"  which  was  "to  be  sung  when  all 
grave  business  is  over,  and  with  the  Master's 


leave."  In  the  second  edition  the  number 
was  greatly  increased,  and  songs  were  ap- 
propriated to  the  Deputy  Grand  Master, 
the  Secretary,  the  Treasurer,  and  other  offi- 
cers. For  all  this  provision  was  made  in 
the  Old  Charges,  so  that  there  should  be  no 
confusion  between  the  hours  of  labor  and 
refreshment;  for  while  the  brethren  were 
forbidden  to  behave  "ludicrously  or  jest- 
ingly while  the  Lodge  is  engaged  in  what 
is  serious  or  solemn,"  they  were  permitted, 
when  work  was  over,  "  to  enjoy  themselves 
with  innocent  mirth." 

The  custom  of  singing  songs  peculiarly 
appropriate  to  the  Cratt  at  their  Lodge 
meetings,  when  the  grave  business  was 
over,  was  speedily  introduced  into  France 
and  Germany,  in  which  countries  a  large 
number  of  Masonic  songs  were  written  and 
adopted,  to  be  sung  by  the  German  and 
French  Masons  at  their  "Table  Lodges," 
which  corresponded  to  the  "refreshment" 
of  their  English  brethren.  The  lyrical  liter- 
ature of  Masonry  has,  in  consequence  of 
this  custom,  assumed  no  inconsiderable 
magnitude ;  as  an  evidence  of  which  it  may 
be  stated  that  Kloss,  in  his  Bibliography  of 
Freemasonry,  gives  a  catalogue  —  by  no 
means  a  perfect  one  —  of  two  nundred  and 
thirteen  Masonic  song  books  published  be- 
tween the  years  1734  and  1837,  in  the  Eng- 
lish, German,  French,  Danish,  and  Polish 
languages. 

The  Masons  of  the  present  day  have  not 
abandoned  the  usage  of  singing  at  their 
festive  meetings  after  the  Lodge  is  closed; 
but  the  old  songs  of  Masonry  are  passing 
into  oblivion,  and  we  seldom  hear  any  of 
them,  except  sometimes  the  never-to-be- 
forgotten  Apprentice's  song  of  Matthew 
Birkhead.  Modern  taste  and  culture  re- 
ject the  rude  but  hearty  stanzas  of  the  old 
song-makers,  and  the  more  artistic  and 
pathetic  productions  of  Mackay,  and  Cooke, 
and  Morris,  and  Dibdin,  and  Wesley,  and 
other  writers  of  that  class,  are  taking  their 
place. 

Some  of  these  songs  cannot  be  strictly 
called  Masonic,  yet  the  covert  allusions 
here  and  there  of  their  authors,  whether 
intentional  or  accidental,  have  caused  them 
to  be  adopted  by  the  Craft  and  placed 
among  their  minstrelsy.  Thus  the  well- 
known  ballad  of  "Tubal  Cain,"  by  Charles 
Mackay,  always  has  an  inspiring  effect 
when  sung  at  a  Lodge  banquet,  because  of 
the  reference  to  this  old  worker  in  metals, 
whom  the  Masons  fondly  consider  as  one 
of  the  mythical  founders  of  their  Order; 
although  the  song  itself  has  in  its  words  or 
its  ideas  no  connection  whatever  with  Free- 
masonry. Burns's  "  Auld  Lang  Syne "  is 
another  production  not  strictly  Masonic, 
which  has  met  with  the  universal  favor  of 


726 


SON 


SOUL 


the  Craft,  because  the  warm  fraternal  spirit 
that  it  breathes  is  in  every  way  Masonic, 
and  hence  it  has  almost  become  a  rule  of 
obligation  that  every  festive  party  of  Free- 
masons should  close  with  the  great  Scotch- 
man's invocation  to  part  in  love  and  kind- 
ness. 

But  Eobert  Burns  has  also  supplied  the 
Craft  with  several  purely  Masonic  songs, 
and  his  farewell  to  the  brethren  of  Tarbol- 
ton  Lodge,  beginning, — 

"Adieu  !  a  heart-warm,  fond  adieu, 
Dear  brothers  of  the  mystic  tie," 

is  often  sung  with  pathetic  effect  at  the 
table  Lodges  of  the  Order. 

As  already  observed,  we  have  many  pro- 
ductions of  our  Masonic  poets  which  are 
taking  the  place  of  the  older  and  coarser 
songs  of  our  predecessors.  It  would  be 
tedious  to  name  all  who  have  successfully 
invoked  the  Masonic  muse.  Masonic  songs 
—  that  is  to  say,  songs  whose  themes  are 
Masonic  incidents,  whose  language  refers  to 
the  technical  language  of  Freemasonry, 
and  whose  spirit  breathes  its  spirit  and  its 
teachings  —  are  now  a  well-settled  part  of 
the  literary  curriculum  of  the  Institution. 
At  first  they  were  all  festive  in  character 
and  often  coarse  in  style,  with  little  or  no 
pretension  to  poetic  excellence.  Now  they 
are  festive,  but  refined ;  or  sacred,  and  used 
on  occasions  of  public  solemnity ;  or  mythi- 
cal, and  constituting  a  part  of  the  cere- 
monies of  the  different  degrees.  But  they 
all  have  a  character  of  poetic  art  which  is 
far  above  the  mediocrity  so  emphatically 
condemned  by  Horace. 

Son  of  a  Mason.  The  son  of  a  Ma- 
son is  called  a  Louveteau,  and  is  entitled 
to  certain  privileges,  for  which  see  Louve- 
teau. 

Sons  of  Light.  The  science  of  Free- 
masonry often  has  received  the  title  of 
"  Lux,"  or  "  Light,"  to  indicate  that  men- 
tal and  moral  illumination  is  the  object  of 
the  Institution.  Hence  Freemasons  are 
often  called  "  Sons  of  Light." 

Sons  of  the  Prophets.  We  re- 
peatedly meet  in  the  Old  Testament  with 
references  to  the  Beni  Hanabiim,  or  sons 
of  the  prophets.  These  were  the  disciples 
of  the  prophets,  or  wise  men  of  Israel,  who 
underwent  a  course  of  esoteric  instruction 
in  the  secret  institutions  of  the  Nabiim,  or 
prophets,  just  as  the  disciples  of  the  Magi 
did  in  Persia,  or  of  Pythagoras  in  Greece. 
"  These  sons  of  the  prophets,"  says  Stehe- 
lin,  (Babbinical  Literature,  i.  16,)  "were 
their  disciples,  brought  up  under  their 
tuition  and  care,  and  therefore  their  mas- 
ters or  instructors  were  called  their  fathers." 
Sons  of  the  Widow.  This  is  a  title 
often  given  to  Freemasons  in  allusion  to 


Hiram  the  Builder,  who  was  "  a  widow's 
son,  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali."  By  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  theory  that  Freemasonry 
originated  with  the  exiled  house  of  Stuart, 
and  was  organized  as  a  secret  institution 
for  the  purpose  of  re-establishing  that  house 
on  the  throne  of  Great  Britain,  the  phrase 
has  been  applied  as  if  referring  to  tne  ad- 
herents of  Queen  Henrietta,  the  widow 
of  Charles  the  First. 

Sorbonne.  A  college  of  theological 
professors  in  Paris,  who  exercised  a  great 
influence  over  religious  opinion  in  France 
during  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and 
greater  part  of  the  eighteenth  centuries. 
The  bigotry  and  intolerance  for  which  they 
were  remarkable  made  them  the  untiring 
persecutors  of  Freemasonry.  In  the  year 
1748  they  published  a  Letter  and  Consulta- 
tion on  the  Society  of  Freemasons,  in  which 
they  declared  that  it  was  an  illegal  associa- 
tion, and  that  the  meetings  of  its  members 
should  be  prohibited.  This  was  repub- 
lished in  1764,  at  Paris,  by  the  Freemasons, 
with  a  reply,  in  the  form  of  an  appendix, 
by  De  la  Tierce,  and  again  in  1766,  at 
Berlin,  with  another  reply  by  a  writer  un- 
der the  assumed  name  of  Jarhetti. 

Sorrow  Lodge.  It  is  the  custom 
among  Masons  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
to  hold  special  Lodges  at  stated  periods, 
for  the  purpose  of  commemorating  the  vir- 
tues and  deploring  the  loss  of  their  departed 
members,  and  other  distinguished  worthies 
of  the  Fraternity  who  have  died.  These 
are  called  Funeral  or  Sorrow  Lodges.  In 
Germany  they  are  held  annually;  in 
France  at  longer  intervals.  In  this  coun- 
try the  custom  has  been  introduced  by  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite,  whose  Sorrow 
Lodge  ritual  is  peculiarly  beautiful  and 
impressive,  and  the  usage  has  been  adopted 
by  many  Lodges  of  the  American  Rite.  On 
these  occasions  the  Lodge  is  clothed  in  the 
habiliments  of  mourning  and  decorated 
with  the  emblems  of  death,  solemn  music 
is  played,  funereal  dirges  are  chanted,  and 
eulogies  on  the  life,  character,  and  Masonic 
virtues  of  the  dead  are  delivered. 

Soul  of  Hatnre.  A  platonic  expres- 
sion, more  properly  the  anima  mttndi,  that 
has  been  adopted  into  the  English  Royal 
Arch  system  to  designate  the  Sacred  Delta, 
or  Triangle,  which  Dunckerley,  in  his  lec- 
ture, considered  as  the  symbol  ofthe  Trinity. 
"So  highly,"  says  the  modern  lecture, 
"  indeed  did  the  ancients  esteem  the  figure, 
that  it  became  among  them  an  object  of 
worship  as  the  great  principle  of  animated 
existence,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of 
God  because  it  represented  the  animal, 
mineral,  and  vegetable  creation.  They  also 
distinguished  it  by  an  appellation  which,  in 
the  Egyptian  language,  signifies  the  Soul 


SOUTH 


SOVEREIGN 


727 


of  Nature."  Dr.  Oliver  {Juris.,  page  446,) 
warmly  protests  against  the  introduction 
of  this  expression  as  an  unwarrantable  in- 
novation, borrowed  most  probably  from  the 
Rite  of  the  Philalethes.  It  has  not  been 
introduced  into  the  American  system. 

South.  When  the  sun  is  at  his  me- 
ridian height,  his  invigorating  rays  are 
darted  from  the  south.  When  he  rises  in 
the  east,  we  are  called  to  labor ;  when  he 
sets  in  the  west,  our  daily  toil  is  over ;  but 
when  he  reaches  the  south,  the  hour  is  high 
twelve,  and  we  are  summoned  to  refresh- 
ment. In  Masonry,  the  south  is  represented 
by  the  Junior  Warden  and  by  the  Corin- 
thian column,  because  it  is  said  to  be  the 
place  of  beauty. 

South  Carolina.  Freemasonry  was 
introduced  into  South  Carolina  by  the  or- 
ganization of  Solomon's  Lodge,  in  the  city 
of  Charleston,  on  October  28,  1736,  the 
Warrant  for  which  had  been  granted  in  the 
previous  year  by  Lord  Weymouth,  Grand 
Master  of  England.  John  Hamilton  was, 
in  1736,  appointed  Provincial  Grand  Mas- 
ter by  the  Earl  of  Loudoun.  In  1738  a 
Lodge  was  established  in  Charleston  by  the 
St.  John's  Grand  Lodge  of  Boston  ;  but  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  long  existed.  The 
Provincial  Lodge  appears  after  some  time 
to  have  suspended,  for  a  second  Provincial 
Grand  Lodge  was  established  by  the  Depu- 
tation of  the  Marquis  of  Carnarvan  to  Chief 
Justice  Leigh  in  1754.  In  1777  this  body 
assumed  independence,  and  became  the 
"  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons," Barnard  Elliott  being  the  first 
Grand  Master.  As  early  as  1783  the 
Athol  or  Ancient  Masons  invaded  the  juris- 
diction of  South  Carolina,  and  in  1787, 
there  being  then  five  Lodges  of  the  An- 
cients in  the  State,  they  held  a  Convention, 
and  on  the  24th  of  March  organized  the 
"  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient  York  Masons." 
Between  the  Modern  and  the  Ancient 
Grand  Lodge  there  was  always  a  very  hos- 
tile feeling  until  the  year  1808,  when  a 
union  was  effected;  which  was,  however, 
but  temporary,  for  a  disruption  took  place 
in  the  following  year.  However,  the  union 
was  permanently  established  in  1817,  when 
the  two  Grand  Lodges  were  merged  into 
one,  under  the  name  of  the  "Grand  Lodge 
of  Ancient  Freemasons." 

The  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  was  or- 
ganized on  May  29,  1812. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  established  February,  1860,  by 
eight  Councils,  who  had  received  their 
Charters  under  the  authority  of  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

The  Grand  Encampment  of  Knights 
Templars  was  instituted  in  1826  by  three 
subordinate  Encampments,  but  it  enjoyed 


only  an  ephemeral  existence,  and  is  not 
heard  of  after  the  year  1830.  There  is  now 
but  one  Commandery  in  the  State,  which 
derives  its  Warrant  from  the  Grand  En- 
campment of  the  United  States,  the  date 
ofwhichisMay  17,1843. 

The  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite  was  opened  on  May  31, 1801. 
This  oody  is  now  recognized  as  the  Mother 
Council  of  the  World. 

Sovereign.  An  epithet  applied  to 
certain  degrees  which  were  invested  with 
supreme  power  over  inferior  ones ;  as,  Sov- 
ereign Prince  of  Rose  Croix,  which  is  the 
highest  degree  of  the  French  Rite  and  of 
some  other  Rites,  and  Sovereign  Inspector- 
General,  which  is  the  controlling  degree  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  Some  de- 
grees, originally  Sovereign  in  the  Rites  in 
which  they  were  first  established,  in  being 
transferred  to  other  Rites,  have  lost  their  sov- 
ereign character,  but  still  improperly  retain 
the  name.  Thus  the  Rose  Croix  degree  of 
the  Scottish  Rite,  which  is  there  only  the 
eighteenth,  and  subordinate  to  the  thirty- 
third  or  Supreme  Council,  still  retains 
everywhere,  except  in  the  Southern  Juris- 
diction of  the  United  States,  the  title  of 
Sovereign  Prince  of  Rose  Croix. 

Sovereign  Commander  of  the 
Temple.  (Souverain  Commandeur  du 
Temple.)  Styled  in  the  more  recent  rituals 
of  the  Southern  Supreme  Council  "Knight 
Commander  of  the  Temple."  This  is  the 
twenty-seventh  degree  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  The  presiding 
officer  is  styled  "  Most  Illustrious  and  Most 
Valiant,"  the  Wardens  are  called  "Most 
Sovereign  Commanders,"  and  the  Knights 
"Sovereign  Commanders."  The  place  of 
meeting  is  called  a  "  Court."  The  apron 
is  flesh  -  colored,  lined  and  edged  with 
black,  with  a  Teutonic  cross  encircled  by  a 
wreath  of  laurel  and  a  key  beneath,  all  in- 
scribed in  black  upon  the  flap.  The  scarf 
is  red  bordered  with  black,  banging  from 
the  right  shoulder  to  the  left  hip,  and  sus- 
pending a  Teutonic  cross  in  enamelled 
gold.  The  jewel  is  a  triangle  of  gold,  on 
which  is  engraved  the  Ineffable  Name  in 
Hebrew.  It  is  suspended  from  a  white 
collar  bound  with  red  and  embroidered  with 
four  Teutonic  crosses. 

Vassal,  Ragon,  and  Clavel  are  all  wrong 
in  connecting  this  degree  with  the  Knights 
Templars,  with  which  Order  its  own  ritual 
declares  that  it  is  not  to  be  confounded.  It 
is  without  a  lecture.  Vassal  expresses  the 
following  opinion  of  this  degree : 

"  The  twenty-seventh  degree  does  not  de- 
serve to  be  classed  in  the  Scottish  Rite  as 
a  degree,  since  it  contains  neither  symbols 
nor  allegories  that  connect  it  with  initiation. 
It  deserves  still  less  to  be  ranked  among 


728 


SOVEREIGN 


SOVEREIGN 


the  philosophic  degrees.  I  imagine  that 
it  has  been  intercalated  only  to  supply 
an  hiatus,  and  as  a  memorial  of  an  Order 
once  justly  celebrated." 

It  is  also  the  forty-fourth  degree  of  the 
Rite  of  Mizraim. 

Sovereign  Grand  Inspector 
General.  The  thirty-third  and  last  de- 
gree of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Kite.  The  Latin  Constitutions  of  1786  call 
it  "  Tertius  et  trigesimus  et  sublimissimus 
gradus,"  i.  e.,  "  the  thirty-third  and  most 
sublime  degree; "  and  it  is  styled  "the  Pro- 
tector and  Conservator  of  the  Order."  The 
same  Constitutions,  in  Articles  I.  and  II., 
say: 

"  The  thirty-third  degree  confers  on  those 
Masons  who  are  legitimately  invested  with 
it,  the  quality,  title,  privilege,  and  author- 
ity of  Sovereign  [Supremorum]  Grand  In- 
spectors General  of  the  Order. 

"  The  peculiar  duty  of  their  mission  is 
to  teach  and  enlighten  the  brethren ;  to  pre- 
serve charity,  union,  and  fraternal  love 
among  them ;  to  maintain  regularity  in  the 
works  of  each  degree,  and  to  take  care  that 
it  is  preserved  by  others ;  to  cause  the  dog- 
mas, doctrines,  institutes,  constitutions, 
statutes,  and  regulations  of  the  Order  to  be 
reverently  regarded,  and  to  preserve  and 
defend  them  on  every  occasion  ;  and,  finally, 
everywhere  to  occupy  themselves  in  works 
of  peace  and  mercy." 

The  body  in  which  the  members  of  this 
degree  assemble  is  called  a  Supreme  Coun- 
cil. 

The  symbolic  color  of  the  degree  is  white, 
denoting  purity. 

The  distinctive  insignia  are  a  sash,  collar, 
jewel,  Teutonic  cross,  decoration,  and  ring. 

The  sash  is  a  broad,  white- watered  ribbon, 
bordered  with  gold,  bearing  on  the  front  a 
triangle  of  gold  glittering  with  rays  of 
gold,  which  has  in  the  centre  the  numerals 
33,  with  a  sword  of  silver,  directed  from 
above,  on  each  side  of  the  triangle,  point- 
ing to  its  centre.  The  sash,  worn  from  the 
right  shoulder  to  the  left  hip,  ends  in  a 
point,  and  is  fringed  with  gold,  having  at 
the  junction  a  circular  band  of  scarlet  and 
green  containing  the  jewel  of  the  Order. 

The  collar  is  of  white- watered  ribbon 
fringed  with  gold,  having  the  rayed  tri- 
angle at  its  point  and  the  swords  at  the 
sides.  By  a  regulation  of  the  Southern 
Supreme  Council  of  the  United  States,  the 
collar  is  worn  by  the  active,  and  the  sash 
by  the  honorary,  members  of  the  Council. 

The  jewel  is  a  black  double-headed  eagle, 
with  golden  beaks  and  talons,  holding  in 
the  latter  a  sword  of  gold,  and  crowned 
with  the  golden  crown  of  Prussia. 

The  red  Teutonic  cross  is  affixed  to  the 
left  side  of  the  breast. 


The  decoration  rests  upon  a  Teutonic 
cross.  It  is  a  nine-pointed  star,  namely, 
one  formed  by  three  triangles  of  gold  one 
upon  the  other,  and  interlaced  from  the 
lower  part  of  the  left  side  to  the  upper  part 


of  the  right  a  sword  extends,  and  in  the 
opposite  direction  is  a  hand  of  (as  it  is 
called)  Justice.  In  the  centre  is  the  shield 
of  The  Okder,  azure  charged  with  an 
eagle  like  that  on  the  banner,  having  on 
the  dexter  side  a  Balance  or,  and  on  the 
sinister  side  a  Compass  of  the  second, 
united  with  a  Square  of  the  second.  Around 
the  whole  shield  runs  a  band  of  the  first, 
with  the  Latin  inscription,  of  the  second, 
Ordo  Ab  Chao,  which  band  is  enclosed  by 
two  circles,  formed  by  two  Serpents  of  the 
second,  each  biting  his  own  tail.  Of  the 
smaller  triangles  that  are  formed  by  the  in- 
tersection of  the  greater  ones,  those  nine 
that  are  nearest  the  band  are  of  crimson 
color,  and  each  of  them  has  one  of  the 
letters  that  compose  the  word  S.  A.  P.  I. 
E.  N.  T.  I.  A. 


The  ring  is  of  plain  gold  one-eighth  of 
an  inch  wide,  and  having  on  the  inside 
a  delta  surrounding  the  figures  33,  and  in- 
scribed with  the  wearer's  name,  the  letters 
S.\  G.\  I.\  G.\ ,  and  the  motto  of  the 
Order,  "  Deus  meumque  Jus."  It  is  worn 
on  the  fourth  finger  of  the  left  hand. 

Until  the  year  1801,  the  thirty-third  de- 
gree was  unknown.    Until  then  the  highest 


SOVEREIGN 


SPAIN 


729 


degree  of  the  Rite,  introduced  into  America 
by  Stephen  Morin,  was  the  Sublime  Prince 
of  the  Royal  Secret,  or  the  twenty-fifth  of 
the  Rite  established  by  the  Emperors  of  the 
East  and  West.  The  administrative  heads 
of  the  Order  were  styled  Grand  Inspectors 
General  and  Deputy  Inspectors  General; 
but  these  were  titles  of  official  rank  and 
not  of  degree.  Even  as  late  as  May  24, 
1801,  John  Mitchell  signs  himself  as  "  Ka- 
dosh,  Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret  and  Dep- 
uty Inspector  General."  The  document 
thus  signed  is  a  Patent  which  certifies  that 
Frederick  Dalcho  is  a  Kadosh,  and  Prince 
of  the  Royal  Secret,  and  which  creates  him 
a  Deputy  Inspector  General.  But  on  May 
31,  1801,  the  Supreme  Council  was  created 
at  Charleston,  and  from  that  time  we  hear 
of  a  Rite  of  thirty-three  degrees,  eight 
having  been  added  to  the  twenty-five  in- 
troduced by  Morin,  and  the  last  being 
called  Sovereign  Grand  Inspector  General. 
The  degree  being  thus  legitimately  estab- 
lished by  a  body  which,  in  creating  a  Rite, 
possessed  the  prerogative  of  establishing 
its  classes,  its  degrees  and  its  nomenclature 
were  accepted  unhesitatingly  by  all  subse- 
quently created  Supreme  Councils ;  and  it 
continues  to  be  recognized  as  the  adminis- 
trative head  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite. 

Sovereign  Master.  1.  The  presid- 
ing officer  in  a  Council  of  Knights  of  the 
Red  Cross.  He  represents  Darius,  king  of 
Persia.  2.  The  sixtieth  degree  of  the  Rite 
of  Mizraim. 

Sovereign  Prince  mason.  A  title 
first  conferred  on  its  members  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Emperors  of  the  East  ana  West. 

Sovereign  Prince  of  Rose 
Croix.    See  Rose  Croix. 

Spain.  Anderson  says  ( Comtit.,  2d  ed.,  p. 
194,)  that  a  Deputation  was  granted  by  Lord 
Colerane,  Grand  Master,  in  1728,  for  consti- 
tuting a  Lodge  at  Madrid  ;  another  in  1731, 
by  Lord  Lovell,  to  Capt.  James  Cummer- 
ford,  to  be  Provincial  Grand  Master  of 
Andalusia;  and  a  third  in  1732,  by  Lord 
Montagu,  for  establishing  a  Lodge  at  Va- 
lenciennes. Smith,  writing  in  1783,  says, 
(  Use  and  Abuse,  p.  203 :)  "  The  first,  and,  I 
believe,  the  only  Lodge  established  in  Spain 
was  by  a  Deputation  sent  to  Madrid  to  con- 
stitute a  Lodge  in  that  city,  under  the  au- 
spices of  Lord  Coleraine,  A.  d.  1727,  which 
continued  under  English  jurisdiction  till 
the  year  1776,  when  it  refused  that  subor- 
dination, but  still  continues  to  meet  under 
its  own  authority."  From  these  two  differ- 
ing authorities  we  derive  only  this  fact,  in 
which  they  concur :  that  Masonry  was  in- 
troduced into  Spain  in  1727,  more  probably 
1728,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England. 
Smith's  statement  that  there  never  was  a 
4R 


second  Lodge  at  Madrid  is  opposed  by  that 
of  Gadicke,  who  says  that  in  1751  there 
were  two  Lodges  in  Madrid. 

Llorente  says  {Hist.  Inquis.,  p.  525,)  that 
in  1741  Philip  V.  issued  a  royal  ordinance 
against  the  Masons,  and,  in  consequence, 
many  were  arrested  and  sent  to  the  galleys. 
The  members  of  the  Lodge  at  Madrid  were 
especially  treated  by  the  Inquisition  with 
great  severity.  All  the  members  were  ar- 
rested, and  eight  of  them  sent  to  the  gal- 
leys. In  1751,  Ferdinand  VI.,  instigated 
by  the  Inquisitor  Joseph  Torrubia,  pub- 
lished a  decree  forbidding  the  assemblies 
of  Freemasons,  and  declaring  that  all  vio- 
lators of  it  should  be  treated  as  persons 
guilty  of  high  treason.  In  that  year,  Pope 
Benedict  XIV.  had  renewed  the  bull  of 
Clement  XII.  In  1793,  the  Cardinal  Vicar 
caused  a  decree  of  death  to  be  promulgated 
against  all  Freemasons.  Notwithstanding 
these  persecutions  of  the  Church  and  the 
State,  Freemasonry  continued  to  be  culti- 
vated in  Spain;  but  the  meetings  of  the 
Lodges  were  held  with  great  caution  and 
secrecy. 

On  the  accession  of  Joseph  Napoleon  to 
the  throne  in  1807,  the  liberal  sentiments 
that  characterized  the  Napoleonic  dynasty 
prevailed,  and  all  restrictions  against  the 
Freemasons  were  removed.  In  October, 
1809,  a  National  Grand  Lodge  of  Spain 
was  established,  and,  as  if  to  make  the 
victory  of  tolerance  over  bigotry  complete, 
its  meetings  were  held  in  the  edifice  for- 
merly occupied  by  the  Inquisition,  which 
body  had  been  recently  abolished  by  an 
imperial  decree. 

But  the  York  Rite,  which  had  been  for- 
merly practised,  appears  now  to  have  been 
abandoned,  and  the  National  Grand  Lodge 
just  alluded  to  was  constituted  by  three 
Lodges  of  the  Scottish  Rite  which,  during 
that  year,  had  been  established  at  Madrid. 
From  that  time  the  Masonry  of  Spain  has 
been  that  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite. 

Clavel  says  [Hist.  Pittoresque,  p.  252,)  that 
"  in  1810,  the  Marquis  de  Clermont-Ton- 
nere,  member  of  the  Supreme  Council  of 
France,  created,  near  the  National  Grand 
Lodge,  (of  the  Scottish  Rite  in  Spain,)  a 
Grand  Consistory  of  the  thirty-second  de- 
gree; and,  in  1811,  the  Count  de  Grasse 
added  to  this  a  Supreme  Council  of  the 
thirty-third  degree,  which  immediately  or- 
ganized the  National  Grand  Lodge  under 
the  title  of  Grand  Orient  of  Spain  and  the 
Indies.  The  overthrow  of  French  domi- 
nation dispersed,  in  1813,  most  of  the  Span- 
ish Masons,  and  caused  the  suspension  of 
Masonic  work  in  that  country." 

In  1814,  Ferdinand  VII.,  having  succeeded 
to  the  throne,  restored  the  Inquisition  with 


730 


SPARTACUS 


SPECULATIVE 


all  its  oppressive  prerogatives,  proscribed 
Freemasonry,  and  forbade  the  meetings  of 
the  Lodges.  It  was  not  until  1820  that 
the  Grand  Orient  of  Spain  recovered  its 
activity,  and  in  1821  we  find  a  Supreme 
Council  in  actual  existence,  the  history  of 
whose  organization  was  thus  given,  in  1870, 
to  Bro.  A.  G.  Goodall,  the  Representative 
of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Northern 
Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States : 

"  The  parties  now  claiming  to  be  a  Su- 
preme Council  assert  that  the  Count  de 
Tilly,  by  authority  from  his  cousin,  De 
Grasse  Tilly,  constituted  a  Supreme  Coun- 
cil, Ancient  Accepted  Rite,  at  Seville,  in 
1807 ;  but  in  consequence  of  a  revolution, 
in  which  Tilly  was  a  prominent  actor,  the 
Grand  Body  was  removed  to  Aranjuez, 
where,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1808,  the 
officers  were  duly  installed;  Saavedra  as 
Sov.\  Gr.\  Commander,  ad  vitam ;  Count 
de  Tilly,  Lieutenant  Grand  Commander; 
Carlos  de  Rosas,  Grand  Treasurer;  Jovel- 
lanos,  Grand  Chancellor ;  Quintana,  Grand 
Secretary ;  Pelajos,  Captain  of  Guard. 
On  the  death  or  Tilly  and  Saavedra,  Ba- 
dilla  became  Sovereign  Grand  Commander; 
and  under  his  administration  the  Supreme 
Council  was  united  with  the  Grand  Orient 
of  Spain  at  Granada,  in  1817,  under  the 
title  of  Supreme  Council,  Grand  Orient 
National  of  Spain." 

On  the  death  of  Ferdinand  VII.  in  1853, 
the  persecutions  against  the  Freemasons 
ceased,  because,  in  the  civil  war  that  en- 
sued, the  priests  lost  much  of  their  power. 
Between  1845  and  1849,  according  to  Fin- 
del,  {Hist,  p.  584,)  several  Lodges  were 
founded  and  a  Grand  Orient  established, 
which  appears  to  have  exercised  powers  up 
to  at  least  1848.  But  subsequently,  during 
the  reign  of  Queen  Isabella,  Masonry  again 
fell  into  decadence.  It  has  now,  however, 
revived,  and  many  Lodges  are  in  existence 
who,  three  years  ago,  were  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Grand  Orient  of  Portugal. 
There  is  at  present  a  Supreme  Council  of 
Spain. 

Spartaeus.  The  characteristic  name 
assumed  by  Weishaupt,  the  founder  of  the 
Order  of  the  Illuminati. 

Speculative  Masonry.  The  lec- 
tures of  the  symbolic  degrees  instruct  the 
neophyte  in  the  difference  between  the 
Operative  and  the  Speculative  divisions  of 
Masonry.  They  tell  him  that  "  we  work 
in  Speculative  Masonry,  but  our  ancient 
brethren  wrought  in  both  Operative  and 
Speculative."  The  distinction  between  an 
Operative  art  and  a  Speculative  science  is, 
therefore,  familiar  to  all  Masons  from  their 
early  instructions. 

To  the  Freemason,  this  Operative  art  has 
been  symbolized  in  that  intellectual  deduc- 


tion from  it  which  has  been  correctly  called 
Speculative  Masonry.  At  one  time  each  was 
an  integral  part  of  one  undivided  system. 
Not  that  the  period  ever  existed  when  every 
Operative  Mason  was  acquainted  with,  or 
initiated  into,  the  Speculative  science.  Even 
now,  there  are  thousands  of  skHful  artisans 
who  know  as  little  of  that  as  they  do  of  the 
Hebrew  language  which  was  spoken  by  its 
founder.  But  Operative  Masonry  was,  in 
the  inception  of  our  history,  and  is,  in  some 
measure,  even  now,  the  skeleton  upon 
which  was  strung  the  living  muscles  and 
tendons  and  nerves  of  the  Speculative  sys- 
tem. It  was  the  block  of  marble,  rude  and 
unpolished  it  may  have  been,  from  which 
was  sculptured  the  life-breathing  statue. 

Speculative  Masonry  (which  is  but  an- 
other name  for  Freemasonry  in  its  modern 
acceptation)  may  be  briefly  defined  as  the 
scientific  application  and  the  religious 
consecration  of  the  rules  and  principles, 
the  language,  the  implements,  and  mate- 
rials of  Operative  Masonry  to  the  venera- 
tion of  God,  the  purification  of  the  heart, 
and  the  inculcation  of  the  dogmas  of  a  re- 
ligious philosophy. 

Speculative  Masonry,  or  Freemasonry,  is 
then  a  system  of  ethics,  and  must  there- 
fore, like  all  other  ethical  systems,  have  its 
distinctive  doctrines.  These  may  be  di- 
vided into  three  classes,  viz.,  the  Moral, 
the  Religious,  and  the  Philosophical. 

1.  The  Moral  Doctrines.  These  are  de- 
pendent on,  and  spring  out  of,  its  character 
as  a  social  institution.  Hence  among  its 
numerous  definitions  is  one  that  declares  it 
to  be  "  a  science  of  morality,"  and  morality 
is  said  to  be,  symbolically,  one  of  the  pre- 
cious jewels  of  a  Master  Mason.  Freema- 
sonry is,  in  its  most  patent  and  prominent 
sense,  that  which  most  readily  and  forcibly 
attracts  the  attention  of  the  uninitiated ;  a 
fraternity,  an  association  of  men  bound 
together  by  a  peculiar  tie;  and  therefore 
it  is  essential,  to  its  successful  existence, 
that  it  should,  as  it  does,  inculcate,  at  the 
very  threshold  of  its  teachings,  obligation 
of  kindness,  man's  duty  to  his  neighbor. 
"There  are  three  great  duties,"  says  the 
Charge  given  to  an  Entered  Apprentice, 
"  which,  as  a  Mason,  you  are  charged  to 
inculcate  —  to  God,  your  neighbor,  and 
yourself."  And  the  duty  to  our  neighbor 
is  said  to  be  that  we  should  act  upon  the 
square,  and  do  unto  him  as  we  wish  that  he 
should  do  unto  ourselves. 

The  object,  then,  of  Freemasonry,  in  this 
moral  point  of  view,  is  to  carry  out  to  their 
fullest  practical  extent  those  lessons  of  mu- 
tual love  and  mutual  aid  that  are  essential 
to  the  very  idea  of  a  brotherhood.  There 
is  a  socialism  in  Freemasonry  from  which 
spring  all  Masonic  virtues, — not  that  mod- 


SPECULATIVE 


SPECULATIVE 


731 


era  socialism  exhibited  in  a  community  of 
goods,  which,  although  it  may  have  been 
practised  by  the  primitive  Christians,  is 
found  to  be  uncongenial  with  the  indepen- 
dent spirit  of  the  present  age  —  but  a  com- 
munity of  sentiment,  of  principle,  of  design, 
which  gives  to  Masonry  all  its  social,  and 
hence  its  moral,  character.  As  the  old  song 
tells  us : 

"That  virtue  has  not  left  mankind, 
Her  social  maxims  prove, 
For  stamp'd  upon  the  Mason's  mind 
Are  unity  and  love." 

Thus  the  moral  design  of  Freemasonry, 
based  upon  its  social  character,  is  to  make 
men  better  to  each  other;  to  cultivate 
brotherly  love,  and  to  inculcate  the  prac- 
tice of  all  those  virtues  which  are  essential 
to  the  perpetuation  of  a  brotherhood.  A 
Mason  is  bound,  say  the  Old  Charges,  to 
obey  the  moral  law,  and  of  this  law  the 
very  keystone  is  the  divine  precept,  —  the 
"  Golden  Rule  "  of  our  Lord,  —  to  do  unto 
others  as  we  would  that  they  should  do 
unto  us.  To  relieve  the  distressed,  to  give 
good  counsel  to  the  erring,  to  speak  well  of 
the  absent,  to  observe  temperance  in  the  in- 
dulgence of  appetite,  to  bear  evil  with  for- 
titude, to  be  prudent  in  life  and  conversa- 
tion, and  to  dispense  justice  to  all  men,  are 
duties  that  are  inculcated  on  every  Mason 
by  the  moral  doctrines  of  his  Order. 

These  doctrines  of  morality  are  not  of 
recent  origin.  They  are  taught  in  all  the 
Old  Constitutions  of  the  Craft,  as  the  parch- 
ment records  of  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth, 
and  seventeenth  centuries  show,  even  when 
the  Institution  was  operative  in  its  organi- 
zation, and  long  before  the  speculative  ele- 
ment was  made  its  predominating  charac- 
teristic. Thus  these  Old  Charges  tell  us, 
almost  all  of  them  in  the  same  words,  that 
Masons  "shal  be  true,  each  one  to  other, 
(that  is  to  say,)  to  every  Mason  of  the 
science  of  Masonrye  that  are  Masons  al- 
lowed, ye  shal  doe  to  them  as  ye  would 
that  they  should  doe  unto  you." 

2.  The  Religious  Doctrines  of  Freema- 
sonry are  very  simple  and  self-evident. 
They  are  darkened  by  no  perplexities  of 
sectarian  theology,  but  stand  out  in  the 
broad  light,  intelligible  and  acceptable  by 
all  minds,  for  they  ask  only  for  a  belief  in 
God  and  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
He  who  denies  these  tenets  can  be  no  Ma- 
son, for  the  religious  doctrines  of  the  Insti- 
tution significantly  impress  them  in  every 
part  of  its  ritual.  The  neophyte  no  sooner 
crosses  the  threshold  of  the  Lodge,  but  he 
is  called  upon  to  recognize,  as  his  first  duty, 
an  entire  trust  in  the  superintending  care 
and  love  of  the  Supreme  Being,  and  the 
series  of  initiations  into  Symbolic  Masonry 


terminate  by  revealing  the  awful  symbol 
of  a  life  after  death  and  an  entrance  upon 
immortality. 

Now  this  and  the  former  class  of  doc- 
trines are  intimately  connected  and  mutu- 
ally dependent.  For  we  must  first  know 
and  feel  the  universal  fatherhood  of  God 
before  we  can  rightly  appreciate  the  uni- 
versal brotherhood  of  man.  Hence  the 
Old  Records  already  alluded  to,  which 
show  us  what  was  the  condition  of  the 
Craft  in  the  Middle  Ages,  exhibit  an  emi- 
nently religious  spirit.  These  ancient  Con- 
stitutions always  begin  with  a  pious  invo- 
cation to  the  Trinity,  and  sometimes  to  the 
saints,  and  they  tell  us  that "  the  first  charge 
is  that  a  Mason  shall  be  true  to  God  and 
holy  Church,  and  use  no  error  nor  heresy." 
And  the  Charges  published  in  1723,  which 
professes  to  be  a  compilation  made  from 
those  older  records,  prescribe  that  a  Mason, 
while  left  to  his  particular  opinions,  must 
be  of  that  "  religion  in  which  all  men 
agree,"  that  is  to  say,  the  religion  which 
teaches  the  existence  of  God  and  an  eternal 
life. 

3.  The  Philosophical  Doctrines  of  Free- 
masonry are  scarcely  less  important,  al- 
though they  are  less  generally  understood 
than  either  of  the  preceding  classes.  The 
object  of  these  philosophical  doctrines  is 
very  different  from  that  of  either  the  moral 
or  the  religious.  For  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious doctrines  of  the  Order  are  intended 
to  make  men  virtuous,  while  its  philosoph- 
ical doctrines  are  designed  to  make  them 
zealous  Masons.  He  who  knows  nothing 
of  the  philosophy  of  Freemasonry  will  be 
apt  to  become  in  time  lukewarm  and  indif- 
ferent, but  he  who  devotes  himself  to  its 
contemplation  will  feel  an  ever-increasing 
ardor  in  the  study.  Now  these  philosophi- 
cal doctrines  are  developed  in  that  symbol- 
ism which  is  the  especial  characteristic  of 
Masonic  teaching,  and  relate  altogether  to 
the  lost  and  recovered  word,  the  search 
after  divine  truth,  the  manner  and  time  of 
its  discovery,  and  the  reward  that  awaits 
the  faithful  and  successful  searcher.  Such 
a  philosophy  far  surpasses  the  abstract 
quiddities  of  metaphysicians.  It  brings  us 
into  close  relation  to  the  profound  thought 
of  the  ancient  world,  and  makes  us  familiar 
with  every  subject  of  mental  science  that 
lies  within  the  grasp  of  the  human  intellect. 
So  that,  in  conclusion,  we  find  that  the 
moral,  religious,  and  philosophical  doc- 
trines of  Freemasonry  respectively  relate 
to  the  social,  the  eternal,  and  the  intellec- 
tual progress  of  man. 

Finally,  it  must  be  observed  that  while 
the  old  Operative  institution,  which  was  the 
cradle  and  forerunner  of  the  Speculative, 
as  we  now  have  it,  abundantly  taught  in  its 


732 


SPES 


SPIRITUAL 


Constitutions  the  moral  and  religious  doc- 
trines of  which  we  have  been  treating,  it 
makes  no  reference  to  the  philosophical 
doctrines.  That  our  Operative  predeces- 
sors were  well  acquainted  with  the  science 
of  symbolism  is  evident  from  the  architec- 
tural ornaments  of  the  buildings  which  they 
erected ;  but  they  do  not  seem  to  have  ap- 
plied its  principles  to  any  great  extent  to 
the  elucidation  of  their  moral  and  religious 
teachings;  at  least,  we  find  nothing  said 
of  this  symbolic  philosophy  in  the  Old  Re- 
cords that  are  extant.  And  whether  the 
Operative  Masons  were  reticent  on  this 
subject  from  choice  or  from  ignorance,  we 
may  lay  it  down  as  an  axiom,  not  easily 
to  be  controverted,  that  the  philosophic 
doctrines  of  the  Order  are  altogether  a  de- 
velopment of  the  system  for  which  we  are 
indebted  solely  to  Speculative  Freema- 
sonry. 

Spes  mea  in  Deo  est.  [My  hope  is 
in  God.)  The  motto  of  the  thirty-second 
degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite. 

Sphinx.  The  Sphinx  was  a  fabled 
monster,  which  was  represented  by  the  re- 
cumbent body  of  a  lion  with  a  human 
head.  There  were  two  Sphinxes  among 
the  ancients,  the  Greek  and  the  Egyptian, 
neither  of  which  appears  to  have  been 
borrowed  from  the  other;  and  they  differed 
in  form,  the  head  of  the  former  having  the 
head  of  a  woman,  and  the  latter  that  of  a 
man.  Modern  mythologists  have  sought 
to  find  in  each  a  different  interpretation. 
Thus,  Cox  (Mythol.  of  the  Aryans,  ii.  344,) 
derives  the  Greek  Sphinx  from  Sphingo, 
to  bind  tightly,  and  says  she  represented 
the  cloud  which  imprisoned  the  rain  in 
hidden  dungeons.  This,  however,  is  a 
modern  thought,  which  was  unknown  to 
the  older  mythologists,  who  always  con- 
nected the  Sphinx,  both  Grecian  and 
Egyptian,  with  the  idea  of  mystery.  But 
it  is  with  the  Egyptian  Sphinx  that  our 
Masonic  symbolism  is  really  connected. 
Among  the  Egyptians,  Sphinxes  were 
placed  at  the  entrance  of  the  temples  to 
guard  the  mysteries,  by  warning  those  who 
penetrated  within,  that  they  should  conceal 
a  knowledge  of  them  from  the  uninitiated ; 
and  hence  Portal  derives  the  word  from  the 
Hebrew  TSaPHaN,  to  hide.  Champollion 
says  that  the  Sphinx  became  successively 
the  symbol  of  each  of  the  gods,  by  which 
Portal  suggests  that  the  priests  intended  to 
express  the  idea  that  all  the  gods  were  hid- 
den from  the  people,  and  that  the  knowl- 
edge of  them,  guarded  in  the  sanctuaries, 
was  revealed  to  the  initiates  only.  As  a 
Masonic  emblem,  the  Sphinx  has  been 
adopted  in  its  Egyptian  character  as  a  sym- 
bol of  mystery,  and  as  such  is  often  found 


as  a  decoration  sculptured  in  front  of  Ma- 
sonic temples,  or  engraved  at  the  head  of 
Masonic  documents.  It  cannot,  however, 
be  properly  called  an  ancient,  recognized 
symbol  of  the  Order.  Its  introduction  has 
been  of  comparatively  recent  date,  and 
rather  as  a  symbolic  decoration  than  as  a 
symbol  that  announces  any  dogma. 

Spire,  Congress  of.  Spire  is  a  city 
in  Bavaria,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and 
the  seat  of  a  cathedral  which  was  erected 
in  the  eleventh  century  A  Masonic  Con- 
gress was  convoked  there  in  1469  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Strasburg,  principally  to 
take  into  consideration  the  condition  of  the 
Fraternity  and  of  the  edifices  in  the  course 
of  construction  by  them,  as  well  as  to  dis- 
cuss  the  rights  of  the  Craft. 

Spiritualizing.  In  the  early  lec- 
tures of  the  last  century,  this  word  was 
used  to  express  the  method  of  symbolic  in- 
struction applied  to  the  implements  of 
Operative  Masonry.  In  a  ritual  of  1725, 
it  is  said:  "As  we  are  not  all  working 
Masons,  we  apply  the  working-tools  to  our 
morals,  which  we  call  spiritualizing."  Thus 
too,  about  the  same  time,  Bunyan  wrote 
his  symbolic  book  which  he  called  Solo' 
mon's  Temple  Spiritualized.  Phillips,  in  his 
New  World  of  Words,  1706,  thus  defines  to 
spiritualize:  "to  explain  a  passage  of  an 
author  in  a  spiritual  manner,  to  give  it  a 
godly  or  mystical  sense." 

Spiritual  Lodge.  Hutchinson  (Sp. 
of  Masonry,  p.  58,)  says :  "  We  place  the 
spiritual  Lodge  in  the  vale  of  Jehoshaphat, 
implying,  thereby,  that  the  principles  of 
Masonry  are  derived  from  the  knowledge 
of  God,  and  are  established  in  the  Judg- 
ment of  the  Lord;  the  literal  translation  of 
the  word  Jehoshaphat,  from  the  Hebrew 
tongue,  being  no  other  than  those  express 
words."  This  refers  to  the  Lodge,  which  is 
thus  described  in  the  old  lectures  at  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  which 
were  in  vogue  at  the  time  of  Hutchinson. 

"  Q.  Where  does  the  Lodge  stand? 

"A.  Upon  the  Holy  ground,  on  the 
highest  hill  or  lowest  vale,  or  in  the  vale 
of  Jehoshaphat,  or  any  other  sacred  place." 

The  spiritual  Lodge  is  the  imaginary  or 
symbolic  Lodge,  whose  form,  magnitude, 
covering,  supports,  and  other  attributes  are 
described  in  the  lectures. 

Spiritual  Temple.  The  French 
Masons  say:  "  We  erect  temples  for  virtue 
and  dungeons  for  vice ; "  thus  referring  to 
the  great  Masonic  doctrine  of  a  spiritual 
temple.  There  is  no  symbolism  of  the 
Order  more  sublime  than  that  in  which  the 
speculative  Mason  is  supposed  to  be  en- 
gaged in  the  construction  of  a  spiritual 
temple,  in  allusion  to  that  material  one 
which  was  erected  by  his  operative  prede- 


SPOUL^E 


SPURIOUS 


733 


cessors  at  Jerusalem.  Indeed,  the  differ- 
ence, in  this  point  of  view,  between  Opera- 
tive and  Speculative  Masonry  is  simply 
this:  that  while  the  former  was  engaged  in 
the  construction,  on  Mount  Moriah,  of  a 
material  temple  of  stones  and  cedar,  and 
gold  and  precious  stones,  the  latter  is  occu- 
pied, from  his  first  to  his  last  initiation,  in 
the  construction,  the  adornment,  and  the 
completion  of  the  spiritual  temple  of  his 
body.  The  idea  of  making  the  temple  a 
symbol  of  the  body  is  not,  it  is  true,  ex- 
clusively Masonic.  It  had  occurred  to  the 
first  teachers  of  Christianity.  Christ  him- 
self alluded  to  it  when  he  said,  "  Destroy 
this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will 
raise  it  up;"  and  St.  Paul  extends  the 
idea,  in  one  of  his  Epistles,  to  the  Corin- 
thians, in  the  following  language :  "  Know 
ye  not  that  ye  are  the  temple  of  God,  and 
that  the  spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  ?  " 
And  again,  in  a  subsequent  passage  of  the 
same  Epistle,  he  reiterates  the  idea  in  a 
more  positive  form :  "  What,  know  ye  not 
that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  of 
God,  and  ye  are  not  your  own  ?  " 

But  the  mode  of  treating  this  symbolism 
by  a  reference  to  the  particular  Temple  of 
Solomon,  and  to  the  operative  art  engaged 
in  its  construction,  is  an  application  of  the 
idea  peculiar  to  Freemasonry.  Hitchcock, 
in  his  Essay  on  Swedenborg,  thinks  that  the 
same  idea  was  also  shared  by  the  Hermetic 
philosophers.  He  says:  "With  perhaps 
the  majority  of  readers,  the  Temple  of 
Solomon,  and  also  the  tabernacle,  were 
mere  buildings  —  very  magnificent,  indeed, 
but  still  mere  buildings — for  the  worship 
of  God.  But  some  are  struck  with  many 
portions  of  the  account  of  their  erection  ad- 
mitting a  moral  interpretation  ;  and  while 
the  buildings  are  allowed  to  stand  (or  to 
have  stood,  once,)  visible  objects,  these  in- 
terpreters are  delighted  to  meet  with  indi- 
cations that  Moses  and  Solomon,  in  build- 
ing the  Temples,  were  wise  in  the  knowledge 
of  God  and  of  man ;  from  which  point  it 
is  not  difficult  to  pass  on  to  the  moral 
meaning  altogether,  and  affirm  that  the 
building,  which  was  erected  without  '  the 
noise  of  a  hammer,  or  axe,  or  any  tool  of 
iron,'  (1  Kings  vi.  7,)  was  altogether  a 
moral  building  —  a  building  of  God,  not 
made  with  hands.  In  short,  many  see  in 
the  story  of  Solomon's  Temple  a  symboli- 
cal representation  of  Man  as  the  temple 
of  God,  with  its  Holy  of  Holies  deep 
seated  in  the  centre  of  the  human  heart." 

Spoulee,  John  de.  He  appears  to 
have  presided  over  the  Masons  of  England 
in  1350,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  Ander- 
son says  he  was  called  Master  of  the  "  Ghib- 
lim." 


Spreading  the  Ballot.  Taking  the 
vote  on  the  application  of  a  candidate  for 
initiation  or  admission.  It  is  an  Ameri- 
canism, principally  used  in  the  Western 
States.  Thus :  "  The  ballot  may  be  spread 
a  second  time  in  almost  any  case  if  the  har- 
mony of  the  Lodge  seems  to  require  it." 
—  Swigert,  Q.\  M:.  of  Kentucky.  "It  is 
legal  to  spread  the  ballot  the  third  time,  if 
for  the  correction  of  mistakes,  not  other- 
wise." —  Bob.  Morris.  It  is  a  technicality, 
and  scarcely  English. 

Sprengseisen,  Christian  Fried- 
rich  Kessler  Yon.  An  ardent  adherent 
of  Von  Hund  and  admirer  of  his  Templar 
system,  in  defence  of  which,  and  against 
the  Spiritual  Templarism  of  Starck,  he 
wrote,  in  1786,  the  book,  now  very  rare, 
entitled  Anti  Saint  Nicaise,  and  other 
works.  He  was  born  at  Saalsfield,  in  1731, 
and  died  Jan.  11,  1809.    See  Saint  Nicaise. 

Sprig  of  Aeaeia.    See  Acacia. 

Spurious  Freemasonry.  For  this 
term,  and  for  the  theory  connected  with  it, 
we  are  indebted  to  Dr.  Oliver,  whose  spec- 
ulations led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  in 
the  earliest  ages  of  the  world  there  were 
two  systems  of  Freemasonry,  the  one  of 
which,  preserved  by  the  patriarchs  and  their 
descendants,  he  called  Primitive  or  Pure 
Freemasonry.  (See  Primitive  Freemasonry. ) 
The  other,  which  was  a  schism  from  this 
system,  he  designated  as  the  Spurious  Free- 
masonry of  Antiquity.  To  comprehend 
this  system  of  Oliver,  and  to  understand 
his  doctrine  of  the  declension  of  the  Spu- 
rious from  the  Primitive  Freemasonry,  we 
must  remember  that  there  were  two  races 
of  men  descended  from  the  loins  of  Adam, 
whose  history  is  as  different  as  their  char- 
acters were  dissimilar.  There  was  the  vir- 
tuous race  of  Seth  and  his  descendants,  and 
the  wicked  one  of  Cain.  Seth  and  his  chil- 
dren, down  to  Noah,  preserved  the  dogmas 
and  instructions,  the  legends  and  symbols, 
which  had  been  received  from  their  com- 
mon progenitor,  Adam ;  but  Cain  and  his 
descendants,  whose  vices  at  length  brought 
on  the  destruction  of  the  earth,  either  total- 
ly forgot  or  greatly  corrupted  them.  Their 
Freemasonry  was  not  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Sethites.  They  distorted  the  truth,  and 
varied  the  landmarks  to  suit  their  own  pro- 
fane purposes.  At  length  the  two  races 
became  blended  together.  The  descendants 
of  Seth,  becoming  corrupted  by  their  fre- 
quent communications  with  those  of  Cain, 
adopted  their  manners,  and  soon  lost  the 
principles  of  the  Primitive  Freemasonry, 
which  at  length  were  confined  to  Noah  and 
his  three  sons,  who  alone,  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  a  wicked  world,  were  thought 
worthy  of  receiving  mercy. 

Noah  consequently  preserved  this  sys- 


734 


SPURIOUS 


SPURS 


tern,  and  was  the  medium  of  communica- 
ting it  to  the  post-diluvian  world.  Hence, 
immediately  after  the  deluge,  Primitive 
Freemasonry  was  the  only  system  extant. 

But  this  happy  state  of  affairs  was  not  to 
last.  Ham,  the  son  of  Noah,  who  had  been 
accursed  by  his  father  for  his  wickedness, 
had  been  long  familiar  with  the  corruptions 
of  the  system  of  Cain,  and  with  the  gradual 
deviations  from  truth  which,  through  the 
influence  of  evil  example,  had  crept  into 
the  system  of  Seth.  After  the  deluge,  he 
propagated  the  worst  features  of  both  sys- 
tems among  his  immediate  descendants. 
Two  sects  or  parties,  so  to  speak,  now  arose 
in  the  world  —  one  which  preserved  the 
great  truths  of  religion,  and  consequently 
of  Masonry,  which  had  been  handed  down 
from  Adam,  Enoch,  and  Noah — and  anoth- 
er which  deviated  more  and  more  from  this 
pure,  original  source.  On  the  dispersion  at 
the  tower  of  Babel,  the  schism  became  still 
wider  and  more  irreconcilable.  The  le- 
gends of  Primitive  Freemasonry  were  al- 
tered, and  its  symbols  perverted  to  a  false 
worship;  the  mysteries  were  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  false  gods  and  the  practice 
of  idolatrous  rites,  and  in  the  place  of  the 
Pure  or  Primitive  Freemasonry  which  con- 
tinued to  be  cultivated  among  the  patri- 
archal descendants  of  Noah,  was  established 
those  mysteries  of  Paganism  to  which  Dr. 
Oliver  has  given  the  name  of  the  "  Spurious 
Freemasonry." 

It  is  not  to  Dr.  Oliver,  nor  to  any  very 
modern  writer,  that  we  are  indebted  for  the 
idea  of  a  Masonic  schism  in  this  early  age 
of  the  world.  The  doctrine  that  Masonry 
was  lost,  that  is  to  say,  lost  in  its  purity,  to 
the  larger  portion  of  mankind,  at  the  tower 
of  Babel,  is  still  preserved  in  the  ritual  of 
Ancient  Craft  Masonry.  And  in  the  de- 
gree of  Noachites,  a  degree  which  is  at- 
tached to  the  Scottish  Rite,  the  fact  is 
plainly  adverted  to  as,  indeed,  the  very 
foundation  of  the  degree.  Two  races  of 
Masons  are  there  distinctly  named,  the 
Noachites  and  the  Hiramites ;  the  former 
were  the  conservators  of  the  Primitive 
Freemasonry  as  the  descendants  of  Noah  ; 
the  latter  were  the  descendants  of  Hiram, 
who  was  himself  of  the  race  which  had  fallen 
into  Spurious  Freemasonry,  but  had  re- 
united himself  to  the  true  sect  at  the  build- 
ing of  King  Solomon's  Temple,  as  we  shall 
hereafter  see.  But  the  inventors  of  the  de- 
gree do  not  seem  to  have  had  any  very  pre- 
cise notions  in  relation  to  this  latter  part  of 
the  history. 

The  mysteries,  which  constituted  what 
has  been  thus  called  Spurious  Freemasonry, 
were  all  more  or  less  identical  in  character. 
Varying  in  a  few  unimportant  particulars, 
attributable  to  the  influence  of  local  causes, 


their  great  similarity  in  all  important  points 
showed  their  derivation  from  a  common 
origin. 

In  the  first  place,  they  were  communi- 
cated through  a  system  of  initiation,  by 
which  the  aspirant  was  gradually  prepared 
for  the  reception  of  their  final  doctrines; 
the  rites  were  performed  at  night,  and  in 
the  most  retired  situations,  in  caverns  or 
amid  the  deep  recesses  of  groves  and  for- 
ests; and  the  secrets  were  only  communi- 
cated to  the  initiated  after  the  administra- 
tion of  an  obligation.  Thus,  Firmicus  (As- 
trol.,  lib.  vii.,)  tells  us  that  "  when  Orpheus 
explained  the  ceremonies  of  his  mysteries 
to  candidates,  he  demanded  of  them,  at  the 
very  entrance,  an  oath,  under  the  solemn 
sanction  of  religion,  that  they  would  not 
betray  the  rites  to  profane  ears."  And 
hence,  as  Warburton  says  from  Horus 
Apollo,  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  for  the 
mysteries  was  a  grasshopper,  because  that 
insect  was  supposed  to  have  no  mouth. 

The  ceremonies  were  all  of  a  funereal 
character.  Commencing  in  representations 
of  a  lugubrious  description,  they  celebrated 
the  legend  of  the  death  and  burial  of  some 
mythical  being  who  was  the  especial  ob- 
ject of  their  love  and  adoration.  But  these 
rites,  thus  beginning  in  lamentation,  and 
typical  of  death,  always  ended  in  joy.  The 
object  of  their  sorrow  was  restored  to  life 
and  immortality,  and  the  latter  part  of  the 
ceremonial  was  descriptive  of  his  resurrec- 
tion. Hence,  the  great  doctrines  of  the 
mysteries  were  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
and  the  existence  of  a  God. 

Such,  then,  is  the  theory  on  the  subject 
of  what  is  called  "Spurious  Freemasonry," 
as  taught  by  Oliver  and  the  disciples  of  his 
school.  Primitive  Freemasonry  consisted 
of  that  traditional  knowledge  and  symbolic 
instruction  which  had  been  handed  down 
from  Adam,  through  Enoch,  Noah,  and  the 
rest  of  the  patriarchs,  to  the  time  of  Solo- 
mon. Spurious  Freemasonry  consisted  of 
the  doctrines  and  initiations  practised  at 
first  by  the  antediluvian  descendants  of 
Cain,  and,  after  the  dispersion  at  Babel,  by 
the  Pagan  priests  and  philosophers  in  their 
"  Mysteries." 

Spurs.  In  the  Orders  of  Chivalry,  the 
spurs  had  a  symbolic  meaning  as  im- 
portant as  their  practical  use  was  neces- 
sary. "To  win  one's  spurs"  was  a  phrase 
which  meant  "  to  win  one's  right  to  the 
dignity  of  knighthood."  Hence,  in  the  in- 
vestiture of  a  knight,  he  was  told  that  the 
spurs  were  a  symbol  of  promptitude  in 
military  service ;  and  in  the  degradation  of 
an  unfaithful  knight,  his  spurs  were  hacked 
off  by  the  cook,  to  show  his  utter  unwor- 
thiness  to  wear  them.  Stowe  says,  (An- 
nuls, 902,)  in  describing  the  ceremony  of 


SQUARE 


SQUARE 


735 


investing  knights :  "  Evening  prayer  being 
ended,  there  stood  at  the  chapel-door  the 
king's  master-cook,  with  his  white  apron 
and  sleeves,  andchopping-knifeinhis  hand, 
gilded  about  the  edge,  and  challenged  their 
spurs,  which  they  redeemed  with  a  noble  a 
piece ;  and  he  said  to  every  knight,  as  they 
passed  by  him :  '  Sir  Knight,  look  that  you 
be  true  and  loyal  to  the  king,  my  master, 
or  else  I  must  hew  these  spurs  from  your 
heels.'  "  In  the  Masonic  Orders  of  Chival- 
ry, the  symbolism  of  the  spurs  has  unfortu- 
nately been  omitted. 

Square.  This  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  significant  symbols  in  Free- 
masonry. As  such,  it  is  proper  that  its  true 
form  should  be  pre- 
served. The  French 
Masons  have  almost 
universally  given  it 
with  one  leg  longer 
than  the  other,  thus 
making  it  a  carpen- 
ter's square.  The 
American  Masons, 
following  the  incor- 
rect delineations  of  Jeremy  L.  Cross,  have, 
while  generally  preserving  the  equality  of 
length  in  the  legs,  unnecessarily  marked  its 
surface  with  inches ;  thus  making  it  an  in- 
strument for  measuring  length  and  breadth, 
which  it  is  not.  It  is  simply  the  trying 
square  of  a  stonemason,  and  has  a  plain 
surface;  the  sides  or  legs  embracing  an  an- 
gle of  ninety  degrees,  and  is  intended  only 
to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  sides  of  a  stone, 
and  to  see  that  its  edges  subtend  the  same 
angle. 

In  Freemasonry,  it  is  a  symbol  of  moral- 
ity. This  is  its  general  signification,  and 
is  applied  in  various  ways :  1.  It  presents 
itself  to  the  neophyte  as  one  of  the  three 
great  lights  ;  2.  To  the  Fellow  Craft  as  one 
of  his  working-tools;  3.  To  the  Master 
Mason  as  the  official  emblem  of  the  Master 
of  the  Lodge.  Everywhere,  however,  it 
inculcates  the  same  lesson  of  morality,  of 
truthfulness,  of  honesty.  So  universally 
accepted  is  this  symbolism,  that  it  has 
gone  outside  of  the  Order,  and  has  been 
found  in  colloquial  language  communi- 
cating the  same  idea.  Square,  says  Halli- 
well,  {Diet.  Archaisms,)  means  honest, 
equitable,  as  in  "square  dealing."  To 
play  upon  the  square  is  proverbial  for  to  play 
honestly.  In  this  sense  the  word  is  found 
in  the  old  writers. 

As  a  Masonic  symbol,  it  is  of  very  an- 
cient date,  and  was  familiar  to  the  Oper- 
ative Masons.  In  the  year  1830,  the 
architect,  in  rebuilding  a  very  ancient 
bridge  called  Baal  bridge,  near  Limerick, 
in  Ireland,  found  under  the  foundation- 


stone  an  old  brass  square,  much  eaten  away, 
containing  on  its  two  surfaces  the  following 
inscription :  I.WILL.  STRIUE.  TO.  LIUE. 
—  WITH.  LOUE.  &  CARE.  — UPON. 
THE.  LEUL.—  BY.  THE.  SQUARE.,  and 
the  date  1517.  The  modern  Speculative 
Mason  will  recognize  the  idea  of  living  on 
the  level  and  by  the  square.  This  discovery 
proves,  if  proof  were  necessary,  that  the 
familiar  idea  was  borrowed  from  our  Oper- 
ative brethren  of  former  days. 

The  square,  as  a  symbol  in  Speculative 
Masonry,  has  therefore  presented  itself 
from  the  very  beginning  of  the  revival  pe- 
riod. In  the  very  earliest  catechism  of  the 
last  century,  of  the  date  of  1725,  we  find  the 
answer  to  the  question,  "  How  many  make 
a  Lodge?"  is  ''God  and  the  Square,  with 
five  or  seven  right  or  perfect  Masons." 
God  and  the  Square,  religion  and  moral- 
ity, must  be  present  in  every  Lodge  as 
governing  principles.  Signs  at  that  early 
period  were  to  be  made  by  squares,  and  the 
furniture  of  the  Lodge  was  declared  to  be 
the  Bible,  Compass,  and  Square. 

In  all  rites  and  in  all  languages  where 
Masonry  has  penetrated,  the  square  has 
preserved  its  primitive  signification  as  a 
symbol  of  morality. 

Square  and  Compass.  These  two 
symbols  have  been  so  long  and  so  universally 
combined,  —  to  teach 
us,  as  says  an  early 
ritual,  "  to  square  our 
actions  and  to  keep 
them  within  due 
bounds,"  they  are  so 
seldom  seen  apart, 
but  are  so  kept  to- 
gether, either  as  two  great  lights,  or  as  a 
jewel  worn  once  by  the  Master  of  the 
Lodge,  now  by  the  Past  Master,  —  that 
they  have  come  at  last  to  be  recognized 
as  the  proper  badge  of  a  Master  Mason, 
just  as  the  triple  tau  is  of  a  Royal  Arch 
Mason  or  the  passion  cross  of  a  Knight 
Templar. 

So  universally  has  this  symbol  been 
recognized,  even  by  the  profane  world,  as 
the  peculiar  characteristic  of  Freemasonry, 
that  it  has  recently  been  made  in  the 
United  States  the  subject  of  a  legal  deci- 
sion. A  manufacturer  of  flour  having 
made,  in  1873,  an  application  to  the  Patent- 
Office  for  permission  to  adopt  the  square 
and  compass  as  a  trade-mark,  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Patents  refused  the  permission 
on  the  ground  that  tli£  mark  was  a  Ma- 
sonic symbol. 

"If  this  emblem,"  said  Mr.  J.  M. 
Thacher,  the  Commissioner,  "  were  some- 
thing other  than  precisely  what  it  is  — 
either  less  known,  less  significant,  or  fully 


736 


SQUARE 


SQUIN 


and  universally  understood  —  all  this  might 
readily  be  admitted.  But,  considering  its  pe- 
culiar character  and  relation  to  the  public, 
an  anomalous  question  is  presented.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  device,  so  com- 
monly worn  and  employed  by  Masons,  has 
an  established  mystic  significance,  univer- 
sally recognized  as  existing ;  whether  com- 
prehended by  all  or  not,  is  not  material  to 
this  issue.  In  view  of  the  magnitude  and 
extent  of  the  Masonic  organization,  it  is 
impossible  to  divest  its  symbols,  or  at  least 
this  particular  symbol  —  perhaps  the  best 
known  of  all  —  of  its  ordinary  significa- 
tion, wherever  displayed,  either  as  an  arbi- 
trary character  or  otherwise.  It  will  be 
universally  understood,  or  misunderstood, 
as  having  a  Masonic  significance;  and, 
therefore,  as  a  trade-mark,  must  constantly 
work  deception.  Nothing  could  be  more 
mischievous  than  to  create  as  a  monopoly, 
and  uphold  by  the  power  of  law,  anything 
so  calculated,  as  applied  to  purposes  of 
trade,  to  be  misinterpreted,  to  mislead  all 
classes,  and  to  constantly  foster  sugges- 
tions of  mystery  in  affairs  of  business." 

In  a  religious  work  by  John  Davies,  en- 
titled Summa  Totalis,  or  All  in  All  and  the 
Same  Forever,  printed  in  1607,  we  find  an 
allusion  to  the  square  and  compass  by  a 
profane  in  a  really  Masonic  sense.  The 
author,  who  proposes  to  describe  mystically 
the  form  of  the  Deity,  says  in  his  dedica- 
tion: 

"  Yet  I  this  forme  of  formelesse  Deity, 
Drewe  by  the  Squire  and  Compasse  of  our 
Creed.'' 

In  Masonic  symbolism  the  Square  and 
Compass  refer  to  the  Mason's  duty  to  the 
Craft  and  to  himself;  hence  it  is  properly  a 
symbol  of  brotherhood,  and  there  signifi- 
cantly adopted  as  the  badge  or  token  of  the 
Fraternity. 

Berage,  in  his  work  on  the  high  degrees, 
(Let  plus  secrets  Mysteres  des  Hants  Grades,)* 
gives  an  interpretation  to  the  symbol 
which  I  have  nowhere  else  seen.  He  says : 
"The  square  and  the  compass  represent 
the  union  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
None  of  the  high  degrees  recognize  this  in- 
terpretation, although  their  symbolism  of 
the  two  implements  differs  somewhat  from 
that  of  symbolic  Masonry.  The  square  is 
with  them  peculiarly  appropriated  to  the 
lower  degrees,  as  founded  on  the  operative 
art;  while  the  compass,  as  an  implement  of 
higher  character  and  uses,  is  attributed  to 
the  degrees,  which  claim  to  have  a  more 
elevated  and  philosophical  foundation. 
Thus  they  speak  of  the  initiate,  when  he 
passes  from  the  blue  Lodge  to  the  Lodge 
of  Perfection,  as  '  passing  from  the  square 
to  the  compass,'  to  indicate  a  progressive 


elevation  in  his  studies.  Yet  even  in  the 
high  degrees,  the  square  and  compass  com- 
bined retain  their  primitive  signification 
as  a  symbol  of  brotherhood  and  as  a  badge 
of  the  Order." 

Squin  de  Flexian.  A  recreant 
Templar,  to  whom,  with  Noffodei  and,  as 
some  say,  another  unknown  person,  is  at- 
tributed the  invention  of  the  false  accusa- 
tions upon  which  were  based  the  persecu- 
tions and  the  downfall  of  the  Order  of 
Knights  Templars.  He  was  a  native  of 
the  city  of  Beziers,  in  the  south  of  France, 
and  having  been  received  as  a  Knight 
Templar,  had  made  so  much  proficiency  in 
the  Order  as  to  have  been  appointed  to  the 
head  of  the  Priory  of  Montfaucon.  Reg- 
hellini  states  that  both  Squin  de  Flexian 
and  Noffodei  were  Templars,  and  held  the 
rank  of  Commanders;  but  Dupuy  (Con- 
demnation des  Templiers)  denies  that  the 
latter  was  a  Templar.  He  says :  "  All  his- 
torians agree  that  the  origin  of  the  ruin  of 
the  Templars  was  the  work  of  the  Prior  of 
Montfaucon  and  of  Noffodei,  a  Florentine, 
banished  from  his  country,  and  whom  no- 
body believes  to  have  been  a  Templar. 
This  Prior,  by  the  sentence  of  the  Grand 
Master,  had  been  condemned,  for  heresy 
and  for  having  led  an  infamous  life,  to  pass 
the  remainder  of  his  days  in  a  prison.  The 
other  is  reported  to  have  been  condemned 
to  rigorous  penalties  by  the  provost  of 
Paris." 

Reghellini's  account  (La  Maconnerie  con- 
sideree,  etc.,  I.,  p.  451,)  is  more  circumstan- 
tial. He  says:  "In  1506,  two  Knights 
Templars,  Noffodei  and  Florian,  were  pun- 
ished for  crimes,  and  lost  their  Comman- 
deries,  that  of  the  latter  being  Montfaucon. 
They  petitioned  the  Provincial  Grand 
Master  of  Mount  Carmel  for  a  restoration 
to  their  offices,  but  met  with  a  refusal. 
They  then  obtained  an  entrance  into  the 
Provincial  Grand  Master's  country-house, 
near  Milan,  and  having  assassinated  him, 
concealed  the  body  in  the  woods  under 
some  thick  shrubbery ;  after  which  they 
fled  to  Paris.  There  they  obtained  access 
to  the  king,  and  thus  furnished  Philip  with 
an  occasion  for  executing  his  projects,  by 
denouncing  the  Order  and  exposing  to  him 
the  immense  wealth  which  it  possessed. 

"  They  proposed  the  abolition  of  the 
Order,  and  promised  the  king,  for  a  reward, 
to  be  its  denouncers.  The  king  accepted 
their  proposition,  and,  assuring  them  of  his 
protection,  pointed  out  to  them  the  course 
which  they  were  to  pursue. 

"  They  associated  with  themselves  a  third 
individual,  called  by  historians  'the  Un- 
known,' (rinconnu;)  and  Noffodei  and  Flo- 
rian sent  a  memorial  to  Enguerand  de  Ma- 
rigni,  Superintendent  of  the  Finances,  in 


SQUIN 


STAFF 


737 


which  they  proposed,  if  he  would  guaran- 
tee them  against  the  attacks  of  the  Order  of 
Templars,  and  grant  them  civil  existence 
and  rights,  to  discover  to  the  king  secrets 
which  they  deemed  of  more  value  than  the 
conquest  of  an  empire. 

"  As  a  sequel  to  this  first  declaration, 
they  addressed  to  the  king  an  accusation, 
which  was  the  same  as  he  had  himself  dic- 
tated to  them  for  the  purpose  of  the  turn 
which  he  desired  to  the  affair.  This  accusa- 
tion contained  the  following  charges : 

"1.  That  the  Order  of  Templars  was  the 
foe  of  all  kings  and  all  sovereign  authority ; 
that  it  communicated  secrets  to  its  initiates 
under  horrible  oaths,  with  the  criminal 
condition  of  the  penalty  of  death  if  they 
divulged  them ;  and  that  the  secret  prac- 
tices of  their  initiations  were  the  conse- 
quences of  irreligion,  atheism,  and  rebel- 
lion. 

"  2.  That  the  Order  had  betrayed  the  re- 
ligion of  Christ,  by  communicating  to  the 
Sultan  of  Babylon  all  the  plans  and  opera- 
tions of  the  Emperor  Frederick  the  Second, 
whereby  the  designs  of  the  Crusaders  for 
the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land  were  frus- 
trated. 

"  3.  That  the  Order  prostituted  the  mys- 
teries most  venerated  by  Christians,  by 
making  a  Knight,  when  he  was  received, 
trample  upon  the  Cross,  the  sign  of  redemp- 
tion; and  abjured  the  Christian  religion  by 
making  the  neophyte  declare  that  the  true 
God  had  never  died,  and  never  could  die  ; 
that  they  carried  about  them  and  wor- 
shipped a  little  idol  called  Bafomet;  and 
that  after  his  initiation  the  neophyte  was 
compelled  to  undergo  certain  obscene  prac- 
tices. 

"4.  That  when  a  Knight  was  received, 
the  Order  bound  him  by  an  oath  to  a  com- 
plete and  blind  obedience  to  the  Grand 
Master,  which  was  a  proof  of  rebellion 
against  the  legitimate  authority. 

"  5.  That  Good  Friday  was  the  day  se- 
lected for  the  grand  orgies  of  the  Order. 

"  6.  That  they  were  guilty  of  unnatural 
crimes. 

"7.  That  they  burned  the  children  of 
their  concubines,  so  as  to  destroy  all  traces 
of  their  debauchery." 

These  calumnies  formed  the  basis  of  the 
longer  catalogue  of  accusations,  afterwards 
presented  by  the  pope,  upon  which  the 
Templars  were  finally  tried  and  condemned. 

In  the  preliminary  examinations  of  the 
accused,  Squin  de  Flexian  took  an  active 
part  as  one  of  the  commissioners.  In  the 
pleadings  for  their  defence  presented  by 
the  Knights,  they  declare  that  "  Knights 
were  tortured  by  Flexian  de  Beziers,  prior 
of  Montfaucon,  and  by  the  monk,  William 
Robert,  and  that  already  thirty-six  had 
4S  47 


died  of  the  tortures  inflicted  at  Paris,  and 
several  others  in  other  places." 

Of  the  ultimate  fate  of  these  traitors 
nothing  is  really  known.  When  the  in- 
famous work  which  they  had  inaugurated 
had  been  consummated  by  the  king  and 
the  pope,  as  their  services  were  no  longer 
needed,  they  sank  into  merited  oblivion. 
The  author  of  the  Secret  Societies  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  (p.  268,)  says:  "Squin  was 
afterwards  hanged,  and  Noffodei  beheaded^ 
as  was  said,  with  little  probability,  by  the 
Templars." 

Hardly  had  the  Templars,  in  their  pros- 
trate condition,  the  power,  even  if  they  had 
the  will,  to  inflict  such  punishment.  It 
was  not  Squin,  but  Marigni,  his  abettor, 
who  was  hanged  at  Montfaucon,  by  order 
of  Louis  X.,  the  successor  of  Philip,  two 
years  after  his  persecution  of  the  Templars. 
The  revenge  they  took  was  of  a  symbolic 
character.  In  the  change  of  the  legend  of 
the  third  degree  into  that  of  the  Templar 
system,  when  the  martyred  James  de  Molay 
was  substituted  for  Hiram  Abif,the  three  as- 
sassins were  represented  by  Squin  de  Flex- 
ian, Noffodei,  and  the  Unknown.  As  there 
is  really  no  reference  in  the  historical  rec- 
ords of  the  persecution  to  this  third  ac- 
cuser, it  is  most  probable  that  he  is  alto- 
gether a  mythical  personage,  invented 
merely  to  complete  the  triad  of  assassins, 
and  to  preserve  the  congruity  of  the  Templar 
with  the  Masonic  legend. 

The  name  of  Squin  de  Flexian,  as  well 
as  that  of  Noffodei,  have  been  differently 
spelled  by  various  writers,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  incomprehensible  error  found  in 
some  of  the  oldest  French  Cahiers  of  the 
Kadosh,  such  as  that  of  De  la  Hogue,  where 
the  two  traitors  are  named  Gerard  Tab6 
and  Benoit  Mehui.  The  Processus  contra 
Templarios  calls  him  Esquius  de  Flexian 
de  Biteriis;  and  Raynouard  always  names 
him  Squin  de  Florian,  in  which  he  is 
blindly  followed  by  Reghellini,  Ragon,  and 
Thory.  But  the  weight  of  authority  is  in 
favor  of  Squin  de  Flexian,  which  I  have  ac- 
cordingly adopted  as  the  true  name  of  this 
Judas  of  the  Templars. 

Staff.  A  white  staff  is  the  proper  in- 
signia of  a  Treasurer.  In  the  first  proces- 
sion after  the  appointment  of  that  offi- 
cer by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  we 
find  "  the  Grand  Treasurer  with  the  Staff." 
In  this  country  the  use  of  the  staff  by  the 
Treasurer  of  a  Lodge  has  been  discontinued. 
It  was  derived  from  the  old  custom  for  the 
treasurer  of  the  king's  household  to  carry 
a  staff  as  the  ensign  of  authority.  In  the 
old  "Customary  Books"  we  are  told  that 
the  Steward  or  Treasurer  of  the  household 
—  for  the  offices  were  formerly  identical  — 
received  the  office  from  the  king  himself  by 


738 


STAIRS 


STARCK 


the  presentation  of  a  staff  in  these  words : 
Tennez  le  boston  de  nostre  maison,  "  Receive 
the  staff  of  our  house."  Hence  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  decreed,  June  24,  1741, 
that  "in  the  procession  in  the  hall"  the 
Grand  Treasurer  should  appear  "  with  the 
staff." 

Stairs,  Winding.  See  Winding  Stairs. 

(Standard.  An  ensign  in  war,  being 
that  under  which  the  soldiers  stand  or  to 
which  they  rally  in  the  fight.  It  is  some- 
times used  in  the  higher  degrees,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  word  Bearer,  to  denote  a 
particular  officer.  But  the  term  mostly 
used  to  indicate  any  one  of  the  ensigns  of 
the  different  degrees  of  Masonry  is  Banner. 

The  Grand  standard  of  the  Order  of 
Knights  Templars  in  the  United  States  is 
described  in  the  regulations  as  being  "  of 
white  woollen  or  silk  stuff,  six  feet  in  height 
and  five  feet  in  width,  made  tripartite  at  the 
bottom,  fastened  at  the  top  to  the  cross-bar 
by  nine  rings ;  in  the  centre  of  the  field  a 
blood-red  passion  cross,  over  which  the 
motto,  In  hoc  Signo  Vinces,  and  under,  Non 
Nobis,  Domine  !  non  Nobis  sed  Nomini  tuo  da 
Gforiam  !  The  cross  to  be  four  feet  high, 
and  the  upright  and  bar  to  be  seven  inches 
wide.  On  the  top  of  the  staff  a  gilded 
globe  or  ball  four  inches  in  diameter,  sur- 
mounted by  the  patriarchal  cross,  twelve 
inches  in  height.  The  cross  to  be  crimson, 
edged  with  gold." 

The  standard  of  the  Order  in  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  is  thus 
described  in  the  Fundamental  Statutes.  It 
is  white  with  a  gold  fringe,  bearing  in  the 
centre  a  black  double-headed  eagle  with 
wings  displayed ;  the  beaks  and  thighs  are 
of  gold ;  it  holds  in  one  talon  the  golden 
hilt  and  in  the  other  the  silver  blade  of  an 
antique  sword,  placed  horizontally  from 
right  to  left;  to  the  sword  is  suspended  the 
Latin  device,  in  letters  of  gold,  Deus  me- 
umque  Jus.  The  eagle  is  crowned  with  a 
triangle  of  gold,  and  holds  a  purple  band 
fringed  with  gold  and  strewn  with  golden 
stars. 

There  is  really  no  standard  of  the  Order 
properly  belonging  to  Symbolic  or  Royal 
Arch  Masonry.  Many  Grand  Chapters, 
however,  and  some  Grand  Lodges  in  this 
country,  have  adopted  for  a  standard  the 
blazonment  of  the  arms  of  Masonry  first 
made  by  Dermott  for  the  Athol  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons.  In  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  ritual,  occasioned  by  the  dissev- 
erance of  the  Royal  Arch  degree  from  the 
Master's,  and  its  organization  as  a  distinct 
system,  this  standard,  if  adopted  at  all, 
would  be  most  appropriate  to  the  Grand 
Chapters,  since  its  charges  consist  of  sym- 
bols no  longer  referred  to  in  the  ritual  of 
Symbolic  Masonry. 


Standard-Bearer.  An  officer  in  a 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  carry  and  protect  the  standard 
of  the  Order.  A  similar  officer  exists  in 
several  of  the  high  degrees. 

Stand  to  and  Abide  by.  The  cov- 
enant of  Masonry  requires  every  Mason 
"  to  stand  to  and  abide  by  "  the  laws  and 
regulations  of  the  Order,  whether  expressed 
in  the  edicts  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  the  by- 
laws of  his  Lodge,  or  the  landmarks  of  the 
Institution.  The  terms  are  not  precisely 
synonymous,  although  generally  considered 
to  be  so.  To  stand  to  has  a  somewhat  active 
meaning,  and  signifies  to  maintain  and  de- 
fend the  laws ;  while  to  abide  by  is  more  pas- 
sive in  meaning,  and  signifies  to  submit  to 
the  award  made  by  such  laws. 

Star.  In  the  French  and  Scottish 
Rites  lighted  candles  or  torches  are  called 
stars  when  used  in  some  of  the  ceremo- 
nies, especially  in  the  reception  of  distin- 
guished visitors,  where  the  number  of 
lights  or  stars  with  which  the  visitor  is 
received  is  proportioned  to  his  rank ;  but 
the  number  is  always  odd,  being  3,  5,  7,  9, 
or  11. 

Star,  Blazing.    See  Blazing  Star. 

Star,  Eastern.     See  Eastern  Star. 

Star,  Five  -  Pointed.  See  Five- 
Pointed  Star. 

Star  in  tbe  East.  The  Blazing  Star 
is  thus  called  by  those  who  entertain  the 
theory  that  there  is  "an  intimate  and 
necessary  connection  between  Masonry  and 
Christianity."  This  doctrine,  which  Dr. 
Oliver  thinks  is  "the  fairest  gem  that 
Masonry  can  boast,"  is  defended  by  him  in 
his  early  work  entitled  The  Star  in  the  Fast. 
The  whole  subject  is  discussed  in  the 
article  Blazing  Star,  which  see. 

Star  of  Jerusalem.  A  degree  cited 
in  the  nomenclature  of  Fustier. 

Star  of  tbe  Syrian  Knights. 
(Ftoile  des  Chevaliers  Syriens.)  The  Order 
of  Syrian  Knights  of  the  Star  is  contained 
in  the  collection  of  Pyron.  It  is  divided 
into  three  degrees — Novice,  Professed,  and 
Grand  Patriarch. 

Starck,  Johann  August  Ton. 
Von  Starck,  whose  life  is  closely  connected 
with  the  history  of  German  Freemasonry, 
and  especially  with  that  of  the  Rite  of 
Strict  Observance,  was  born  at  Schwerin, 
October  29,  1741.  He  studied  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Gottingen,  and  was  made  in  1761 
a  Freemason  in  a  French  Military  Lodge. 
In  1763  he  went  to  St.  Petersburg,  where 
he  received  the  appointment  of  teacher  in 
one  of  the  public  schools.  There,  too,  it 
is  supposed  that  he  was  adopted  into  the 
Rite  of  Melesino,  then  flourishing  in  the 
Russian  capital,  and  became  first  acquainted 
with  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  in  which 


STARCK 


STARCK 


739 


he  afterwards  played  so  important  a  part. 
After  two  years'  residence  at  St.  Petersburg, 
he  went  for  a  short  time  to  England,  and 
was  in  August,  1766,  in  Paris.  In  1767  he 
was  director  of  the  schools  at  Wismar, 
where  he  was  Junior  Warden  of  the  Lodge 
of  the  Three  Lions.  In  1770  he  was  called 
to  Konigsberg,  to  occupy  the  chair  of  the- 
ology, and  to  fill  the  post  of  court  chaplain. 
The  following  year  he  resigned  both  offices, 
and  retired  to  Mettau,  to  devote  himself 
to  literary  and  philosophical  pursuits.  But 
in  1781  the  court  at  Darmstadt  conferred 
upon  him  the  posts  of  chief  preacher  and 
the  first  place  in  the  consistory,  and  there 
he  remained  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
March  3,  1816. 

The  knowledge  that  Starck  acquired  of 
the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance  convinced 
him  of  its  innate  weakness,  and  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  some  reformation.  He  therefore 
was  led  to  the  idea  of  reviving  the  spiritual 
branch  of  the  Order,  a  project  which  he 
sought  to  carry  into  effect,  at  first  quietly 
and  secretly,  by  gaining  over  influential 
Masons  to  his  views.  In  this  he  so  far  suc- 
ceeded as  to  be  enabled  to  establish,  in  1767, 
the  Tiew  system  of  clerical  Knights  Tem- 
plars, as  a  schism  from  the  Strict  Observ- 
ance, and  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
Clerks  of  Relaxed  Observance.  It  consisted 
of  seven  degrees,  as  follows:  1.  Apprentice; 
2.  Fellow;  3.  Master;  4.  Young  Scottish 
Master;  5.  Old  Scottish  Master,  or  Knight 
of  St.  Andrew ;  6.  Provincial  Chapter  of 
the  Red  Cross;  7.  Magus,  or  Knight  of 
Brightness  and  Light ;  which  last  degree 
was  divided  into  five  classes,  of  Novice, 
Levite,  and  Priest  —  the  summit  of  the 
Order  being  Knight  Priest.  Thus  he  em- 
bodied the  idea  that  Templarism  was  a 
hierarchy,  and  that  not  only  was  every  Ma- 
son a  Templar,  but  every  true  Templar  was 
both  a  Knight  and  a  Priest.  Starck,  who  was 
originally  a  Protestant,  had  been  secretly 
connected  with  Romanism  while  in  Paris  ; 
and  he  attempted  surreptitiously  to  intro- 
duce Roman  Catholicism  into  his  new  sys- 
tem. He  professed  that  the  Rite  which  he 
was  propagating  was  in  possession  of  secrets 
not  known  to  the  chivalric  branch  of  the 
Order ;  and  he  demanded,  as  a  prerequisite 
to  admission,  that  the  candidate  should  be 
a  Roman  Catholic,  and  have  previously 
received  the  degrees  of  Strict  Observance. 

Starck  entered  into  a  correspondence  with 
Von  Hund,  the  head  of  the  Rite  of  Strict 
Observance,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a 
fusion  of  the  two  branches  —  the  chivalric 
and  the  spiritual.  But,  notwithstanding 
the  willingness  of  Von  Hund  to  accept  any 
league  which  promised  to  give  renewed 
strength  to  his  own  decaying  system,  the 
fusion  was  never  effected.     It  is  true  that 


in  1768  there  was  a  formal  union  of  the  two 
branches  at  Wismar,  but  it  was  neither  sin- 
cere nor  permanent.  At  the  Congress  of 
Brunswick,  in  1775,  the  clerical  branch  se- 
ceded and  formed  an  independent  Order; 
and,  after  the  death  of  Von  Hund,  the 
Lodges  of  the  Strict  Observance  abandoned 
their  name,  and  called  themselves  the 
United  German  Lodges.  The  spiritual 
branch,  too,  soon  began  to  lose  favor  with 
the  German  Freemasons,  partly  because 
the  Swedish  system  was  getting  to  be  popu- 
lar in  Germany,  and  partly  because  Starck 
was  suspected  of  being  in  league  with  the 
Catholics,  for  whose  sake  he  had  invented 
his  system.  Documentary  evidence  has 
since  proved  that  this  suspicion  was  well 
founded.  Ragon  says  that  the  Order  con- 
tinued in  successful  existence  until  the 
year  1800 ;  but  I  doubt  if  it  lasted  so  long. 

The  German  writers  have  not  hesitated 
to  accuse  Starck  of  having  been  an  emissary 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  of  having  instituted  his 
Rite  in  the  interests  of  Jesuitism.  This, 
of  course,  rendered  both  him  and  the  Rite 
unpopular,  and  gave  an  impetus  to  its  de- 
cay and  fall.  Starck  himself,  even  before 
his  appointment  as  court  chaplain  at  Darm- 
stadt, in  1781,  had,  by  his  own  confession, 
not  only  abandoned  the  Rite,  but  all  inter- 
est in  Freemasonry.  In  1785  he  wrote  his 
Saint  Nicaise,  which  was  really  anti-Ma- 
sonic in  principle,  and  in  1787  he  published 
his  work  Ueber  Kripto-Catholicesmus,  etc., 
or  A  Treatise  on  Secret  Catholicism,  on  Prose- 
lyte Making,  on  Jesuitism,  and  on  Secret  So- 
cieties, which  was  a  controversial  work  di- 
rected against  Nicolai,  Gadicke,  and  Biester. 
In  this  book  be  says:  "  It  is  true  that  in  my 
youthful  days  I  was  a  Freemason.  It  is 
also  true  that  when  the  so-called  Strict  Ob- 
servance was  introduced  into  Masonry  I 
belonged  to  it,  and  was,  like  others,  an 
Eques,  Socius,  Armiger,  Commendator,  Pre- 
fect, and  Sub-Prior;  and,  having  taken 
some  formal  cloister-like  profession,  I  have 
been  a  Clericus.  But  I  have  withdrawn 
from  all  that,  and  all  that  is  called  Free- 
masonry, for  more  than  nine  years." 

While  an  active  member  or  the  Masonic 
Order,  whatever  may  have  been  his  secret 
motives,  he  wrote  many  valuable  Masonic 
works,  which  produced  at  the  time  of  their 
appearance  a  great  sensation  in  Germany. 
Such  were  his  Apology  for  the  Order  of 
Freemasonry,  Berlin,  1778,  which  went 
through  many  editions ;  On  the  Design  of 
the  Order  of  Freemasonry,  Berlin,  1781 ; 
and  On  the  Ancient  and  Modern  Mysteries, 
1782.  He  was  distinguished  as  a  man  of 
letters  and  as  a  learned  theologian,  and  has 
left  numerous  works  on  general  literature 
and  on  religion,  the  latter  class  showing  an 
evident  leaning  towards  the  Roman  Catho- 


740 


STARE 


STATISTICS 


lie  faith,  of  which  he  was  evidently  a  par- 
tisan. ''There  is,"  says  Feller,  {Biog. 
Univ.,)  "in  the  life  of  Starck  something 
singular,  that  has  never  been  made  public." 
I  think  the  verdict  is  now  well  established, 
that  in  his  labors  for  the  apparent  reforma- 
tion of  Freemasonry  there  was  a  deplorable 
want  of  honesty  and  sincerity,  and  that  he 
abandoned  the  Order  finally  because  his 
schemes  of  ambition  failed,  and  the  Jesuiti- 
cal designs  with  which  he  entered  it  were 
frustrated. 

Stare  Super  Via*  Antiquas.  (7b 
stand  on  the  old  paths.)  A  Latin  adage,  ap- 
propriately applied  as  a  Masonic  motto  to 
inculcate  the  duty  of  adhering  to  the  an- 
cient landmarks. 

State.  The  political  divisions  of  the 
United  States  are  called  States  and  Terri- 
tories. In  every  State  and  in  every  popu- 
lous Territory  there  is  a  Grand  Lodge  and 
a  Grand  Chapter,  each  of  which  exercises 
exclusive  jurisdiction  over  all  the  Lodges 
and  Chapters  within  its  political  bounda- 
ries ;  nor  does  it  permit  the  introduction 
of  any  other  Grand  Lodge  or  Grand  Chap- 
ter within  its  limits;  so  that  there  is,  and 
can  be,  but  one  Grand  Lodge  and  one 
Grand  Chapter  in  each  State.  In  most  of 
the  States  there  are  also  a  Grand  Council 
of  Royal  and  Select  Masters,  and  a  Grand 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  which 
claim  the  same  right  of  exclusive  jurisdic- 
tion.    See  Jurisdiction  of  a  Grand  Lodge. 

Stations.  The  positions  occupied  by 
the  subordinate  officers  of  a  Lodge  are 
called  places,  as  "  the  Junior  Deacon's 
place  in  the  Lodge."  But  the  positions  oc- 
cupied by  the  Master  and  Wardens  are 
called  stations,  as  "  the  Senior  Warden's 
station  in  the  Lodge."  This  is  because 
these  three  officers,  representing  the  sun  in 
his  three  prominent  points  of  rising,  cul- 
minating, and  setting,  are  supposed  to  be 
stationary,  and  therefore  remain  in  the  spot 
appropriated  to  them  by  the  ritual,  while 
the  Deacon  and  other  officers  are  required 
to  move  about  from  place  to  place  in  the 
Lodge. 

Statistics  of  Freemasonry.  The 
assertion  that  "  in  every  land  a  Mason  may 
find  a  home,  and  in  every  clime  a  brother," 
is  well  sustained  by  the  statistics  of  the 
Order,  which  show  that,  wherever  civilized 
men  have  left  their  footprints,  its  temples 
have  been  established.  It  is  impossible  to 
venture  on  anything  more  than  a  mere 
approximation  to  the  number  of  Freema- 
sons scattered  over  the  world ;  but  if  we 
are  correct  in  believing  that  there  are  more 
than  400,000  Masons  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  any  estimate  that  would  place 
the  whole  number  of  the  Fraternity  every- 
where dispersed  at  less  than  a  million  and 


a  half  would  be  a  very  low  estimate.  The 
following  is  a  table  of  the  countries  in 
which  Freemasonry  is  openly  practised 
with  the  permission  of  the  public  authori- 
ties, omitting  the  States,  now,  by  the 
increasing  spirit  of  tolerance,  very  few,  in- 
deed, where  the  suspicions  of  the  govern- 
ment compel  the  Masons,  if  they  meet  at 
all,  to  meet  in  private : 

I.  Europe. 


Anhalt-Bernburg, 

Netherlands, 

Anhalt-Dessau, 

Norway, 

Bavaria, 

Portugal, 

Belgium, 

Posen,  Duchy  of, 

Bremen, 

Prussia, 

Brunswick, 

Prussian  Poland, 

Denmark, 

Saxe, 

England, 

Saxe-Coburg, 

France, 

Saxe-Gotha, 

Germany, 

Saxe-Hildburg- 

Greece, 

hausen, 

Hamburg, 

Saxe-Meiningen, 

Hanover, 

Saxe-Weimar, 

Hesse- Darmstadt, 

Saxony, 

Holland, 

Schwarzburg- 

Holstein-  Oldenburg, 

Rudolstadt, 

Hungary, 

Scotland, 

Ionian  Islands, 

Spain, 

Ireland, 

Sweden, 

Italy, 

Switzerland, 

Malta, 

Wurtemberg. 

Mecklenburg- 

Schwerin, 

II.  Asia. 

Ceylon, 

Persia, 

China, 

Pondicherry, 

India, 

Turkey. 

Japan, 

III.  OCEANTCA. 


New  South  Wales, 

Java, 

New  Zealand, 


Sumatra, 
Sandwich  Islands. 


IV.  Africa. 

Algeria,  Guinea, 

Bourbon,  Isle  of,  Mauritius, 

Canary  Islands,  Mozambique, 

Cape  of  Good  Hope  Senegarabia, 

Egypt,  St.  Helena. 
Goa, 

V.  America. 


Antigua, 

Argentine  Republic, 

Barbadoes, 

Bermudas, 

Brazil, 

Canada, 

Carthagena, 

Chili, 

Colombia, 


Martinico, 

Mexico, 

New  Brunswick, 

New  Grenada, 

Nova  Scotia, 

Panama, 

Peru, 

Rio  de  la  Plata, 

St.  Bartholomew's, 


STATUTE 


ST.  CLAIR 


741 


St.  Christopher's, 
Curacoa, 
Dominica, 
Dutch  Guiana, 
English  Guiana, 
French  Guiana, 
Guadeloupe, 
Hayti, 
Jamaica, 


St.  Croix, 
St.  Eustatia, 
St.  Martin, 
St.  Thomas, 
St.  Vincent, 
Trinidad, 
United  States, 
Uruguay, 
Venezuela. 


Statute  of  Henry  VI.  See  La- 
borers, Statute  of. 

Statutes.  The  permanent  rules  by 
which  a  subordinate  Lodge  is  governed  are 
called  its  By-Laws;  the  regulations  of  a 
Grand  Lodge  are  called  its  Constitution; 
but  the  laws  enacted  for  the  government 
of  a  Supreme  Council  of  the  Scottish  Rite 
are  denominated  Statutes. 

St.  Clair  Charters.  In  the  Advo- 
cates' Library,  of  Edinburgh,  is  a  manu- 
script entitled  "Hay's  MSS.,"  which  is, 
says  Lawrie,  "a  collection  of  several  things 
relating  to  the  historical  account  of  the 
most  famed  families  of  Scotland.  Done  by 
Richard  Augustine  Hay,  Canon  Regular 
of  Sainte  Genevefs  of  Paris,  Prior  of  Sainte 
Pierremont,  etc.,  Anno  Domini  1706." 
Among  this  collection  are  two  manuscripts, 
supposed  to  have  been  copied  from  the 
originals  by  Canon  Hay,  and  which  are 
known  to  Masonic  scholars  as  the  "St. 
Clair  Charters."  These  copies,  which  it 
seems  were  alone  known  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, were  first  published  by  Lawrie,  in  his 
History  of  Freemasonry,  where  they  consti- 
tute Appendixes  I.  and  II.  But  it  appears 
that  the  originals  have  since  been  dis- 
covered, and  they  have  been  republished 
by  Bro.  W.  J.  Hughan,  in  his  Unpublished 
Records  of  the  Craft,  with  the  following 
introductory  account  of  them  by  Bro.  D. 
Murray  Lyon : 

"These  MSS.  were  several  years  ago 
accidentally  discovered  by  David  Laing, 
Esq.,  of  the  Signet  Library,  who  gave  them 
to  the  late  Bro.  Aytoun,  Professor  of  Belles- 
Lettres  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  in 
exchange  for  some  antique  documents  he 
had.  The  Professor  presented  them  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland,  in  whose  reposi- 
tories they  now  are.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  of  their  identity  as  originals.  We 
have  compared  several  of  the  signatures 
with  autographs  in  other  MSS.  of  the  time. 
The  charters  are  in  scrolls  of  paper, —  the 
one  15  by  11$  inches,  the  other  26  by  11£ 
inches, —  and  for  their  better  preservation 
have  been  affixed  to  cloth.  The  caligraphy 
is  beautiful ;  and  though  the  edges  of  the 
paper  have  been  frayed,  and  holes  worn  in 
one  or  two  places  where  the  sheets  had 
been  folded,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  sup- 

f dying  the  few  words  that  have  been  ob- 
iterated,  and  making  out  the  whole  of  the 


text.  About  three  inches  in  depth  at  the 
bottom  of  No.  1,  in  the  right  hand  corner, 
is  entirely  wanting,  which  may  have  con- 
tained some  signatures  in  addition  to  those 
given.  The  left  hand  bottom  corner  of  No. 
2  has  been  similarly  torn  away,  and  the 
same  remark  with  regard  to  signatures  may 
apply  to  it.  The  first  document  is  a  letter 
of  jurisdiction,  granted  by  the  Freemen 
Masons  of  Scotland  to  William  St.  Clair 
of  Roslin,  (probable  date  1600-1.)  The 
second  purports  to  have  been  granted  by 
the  Freemen  Masons  and  Hammermen  of 
Scotland  to  Sir  William  St.  Clair  of  Roslin, 
(probable  date  May  1,  1628.) " 

However  difficult  it  may  be  to  decide  as 
to  the  precise  date  of  these  charters,  there 
are  no  Masonic  manuscripts  whose  claim 
to  authenticity  is  more  indisputable;  for 
the  statements  which  they  contain  tally 
not  only  with  the  uniformly  accepted  tra- 
ditions of  Scotch  Masonry,  but  with  the 
written  records  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland,  both  of  which  show  the  intimate 
connection  that  existed  between  the  Free- 
masonry of  that  kingdom  and  the  once 
powerful  but  now  extinct  family  of  St. 
Clair. 

St.  Clair,  William.  The  St.  Clairs 
of  Roslin,  or,  as  it  is  often  spelled,  of  Ross- 
lyn,  held  for  more  than  three  hundred  years 
an  intimate  connection  with  the  history  of 
Masonry  in  Scotland.  William  St.  Clair, 
Earl  of  Orkney  and  Caithness,  was,  in  1441, 
appointed  by  King  James  II.  the  Patron 
and  Protector  of  the  Masons  of  Scotland, 
and  the  office  was  made  hereditary  in  his 
family.  Charles  Mackie  says  of  him,  (Lond. 
Freem.,  May,  1851,  p.  166,)  that  "he  was 
considered  one  of  the  best  and  greatest 
Masons  of  the  age."  He  planned  the  con- 
struction of  a  most  magnificent  collegiate 
church  at  his  palace  of  Roslin,  of  which, 
however,  only  the  chancel  and  part  of  the 
transept  were  completed.  To  take  part  in 
this  design,  he  invited  the  most  skilful 
Masons  from  foreign  countries;  and  in  order 
that  they  might  be  conveniently  lodged 
and  carry  on  the  work  with  ease  and  dis- 
patch, he  ordered  them  to  erect  the  neigh- 
boring town  of  Roslin,  and  gave  to  each 
of  the  most  worthy  a  house  and  lands. 
After  his  death,  which  occurred  about 
1480,  the  office  of  hereditary  Patron  was 
transmitted  to  his  descendants,  who,  says 
Lawrie,  (Hist.,  p.  100,)  "held  their  princi- 
pal annual  meetings  at  Kilwinning." 

The  prerogative  of  nominating  the  office- 
bearers of  the  Craft,  which  had  always 
been  exercised  bv  the  kings  of  Scotland, 
appears  to  have  been  neglected  by  James 
VI.  after  his  accession  to  the  throne  of 
England.  Hence  the  Masons,  finding  them- 
selves embarrassed  for  want  of  a  Protector, 


742 


ST.  CLAIR 


ST.  CLAIR 


about  the  year  1600,  (if  that  be  the  real 
date  of  the  first  of  the  St.  Clair  Manu- 
scripts,) appointed  William  St.  Clair  of 
Roslin,  for  himself  and  his  heirs,  their 
"patrons  and  judges."  After  presiding 
over  the  Order  for  many  years,  says  Law- 
rie,  William  St.  Clair  went  to  Ireland,  and 
in  1630  a  second  Charter  was  issued,  grant- 
ing to  his  son,  Sir  William  St.  Clair,  the 
same  power  with  which  his  father  had  been 
invested.  This  Charter  having  been  signed 
by  the  Masters  and  Wardens  of  the  princi- 
pal Lodges  of  Scotland,  Sir  William  St. 
Clair  assumed  the  active  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Craft,  and  appointed  his 
Deputies  and  Wardens,  as  had  been  cus- 
tomary with  his  ancestors.  For  more  than 
a  century  after  this  renewal  of  the  compact 
between  the  Lairds  of  Roslin  and  the  Ma- 
sons of  Scotland,  the  Craft  continued  to 
flourish  under  the  successive  heads  of  the 
family. 

But  in  the  year  1736,  William  St.  Clair, 
Esq.,  to  whom  the  Hereditary  Protectorship 
had  descended  in  due  course  of  succession, 
having  no  children  of  his  own,  became 
anxious  that  the  office  of  Grand  Master 
should  not  become  vacant  at  his  death. 
Accordingly,  he  assembled  the  members  of 
the  Lodges  of  Edinburgh  and  its  vicinity, 
and  represented  to  them  the  good  effects 
that  would  accrue  to  them  if  they  should 
in  future  have  at  their  head  a  Grand  Master 
of  their  own  choice,  and  declared  his  inten- 
tion to  resign  into  the  hands  of  the  Craft 
his  hereditary  right  to  the  office.  It  was 
agreed  by  the  assembly  that  all  the  Lodges 
of  Scotland  should  be  summoned  to  appear 
by  themselves,  or  proxies,  on  the  approach- 
ing St.  Andrew's  day,  at  Edinburgh,  to 
take  the  necessary  steps  for  the  election  of 
a  Grand  Master. 

In  compliance  with  the  call,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  thirty-two  Lodges  met  at 
Edinburgh  on  the  30th  of  November,  1736, 
when  William  St.  Clair  tendered  the  fol- 
lowing resignation  of  his  hereditary  office : 

"  I,  William  St.  Clair,  Esq.,  of"  Roslin, 
taking  into  my  consideration  that  the  Ma- 
sons in  Scotland  did,  by  several  deeds,  con- 
stitute and  appoint  William  and  Sir  Wil- 
liam St.  Clairs  of  Roslin,  my  ancestors  and 
their  heirs,  to  be  their  patrons,  protectors, 
judges,  or  masters ;  and  that  my  holding 
or  claiming  any  such  jurisdiction,  right,  or 
privilege  might  be  prejudicial  to  the  Craft 
and  vocation  of  Masonry,  whereof  I  am  a 
member ;  and  I,  being  desirous  to  advance 
and  promote  the  good  and  utility  of  the 
said  Craft  of  Masonry  to  the  utmost  of  my 
power,  do  therefore  hereby,  for  me  and  my 
heirs,  renounce,  quit-claim,  overgive,  and 
discharge  all  right,  claim,  or  pretence  that 
I,  or  my  heirs,  had,  have,  or  any  ways  may 


have,  pretended  to,  or  claim  to  be,  patron, 
protector,  judge,  or  master  of  the  Masons 
in  Scotland,  in  virtue  of  any  deed  or  deeds 
made  and  granted  by  the  said  Masons,  or 
of  any  grant  or  charter  made  by  any  of  the 
kings  of  Scotland  to  and  in  favor  of  the 
said  William  and  Sir  William  St.  Clairs  of 
Roslin,  my  predecessors,  or  any  other  man- 
ner or  way  whatsoever,  for  now  and  ever ; 
and  I  bind  and  oblige  me  and  my  heirs  to 
warrant  this  present  renunciation  and  dis- 
charge at  all  hands.  And  I  consent  to  the 
registration  hereof  in  the  books  of  council 
and  session,  or  any  other  judges'  books 
competent  therein  to  remain  for  preserva- 
tion." And  then  follows  the  usual  formal 
and  technical  termination  of  a  deed. 

The  deed  of  resignation  having  been  ac- 
cepted, the  Grand  Lodge  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  its  office-bearers,  when  William 
St.  Clair,  as  was  to  be  expected,  was  unan- 
imously chosen  as  Grand  Master ;  an  office 
which,  however,  he  held  but  for  one  year, 
being  succeeded  in  1737  by  the  Earl  of 
Cromarty.  He  lived,  however,  more  than 
half  a  century  afterwards,  and  died  in 
January,  1778,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year 
of  his  age. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  was  not 
unmindful  of  his  services  to  the  Craft,  and 
on  the  announcement  of  his  death  a  funeral 
Lodge  was  convened,  when  four  hundred 
brethren,  dressed  in  deep  mourning,  being 
present,  Sir  William  Forbes,  who  was  then 
the  Grand  Master,  delivered  an  impressive 
address,  in  the  course  of  which  he  paid  the 
following  tribute  to  the  character  of  St. 
Clair.  After  alluding  to  his  voluntary  resig- 
nation of  his  high  office  for  the  good  of 
the  Order,  he  added :  "  His  zeal,  however, 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  our  society  was 
not  confined  to  this  single  instance ;  for  he 
continued  almost  to  the  very  close  of  life, 
on  all  occasions  where  his  influence  or  his 
example  could  prevail,  to  extend  the  spirit 
of  Masonry  and  to  increase  the  number  of 
the  brethren.  ...  To  these  more  conspicu- 
ous and  public  parts  of  his  character  I  am 
happy  to  be  able  to  add,  that  he  possessed 
in  an  eminent  degree  the  virtues  of  a  benev- 
olent and  good  heart  —  virtues  which  ought 
ever  to  be  the  distinguishing  marks  of  a 
true  brother." 

Bro.  Charles  Mackie,  in  the  London  Free- 
masons' Quarterly  Review,  (1831,  p.  167,) 
thus  describes  the  last  days  of  this  ven- 
erable patron  of  the  Order.  "  William  St. 
Clair  of  Roslin,  the  last  of  that  noble 
family,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
personages  of  bis  time ;  although  stripped 
of  his  paternal  title  and  possessions,  he 
walked  abroad  respected  and  reverenced. 
He  moved  in  the  first  society;  and  if  he 
|  did  not  carry  the  purse,  he  was  stamped 


STEINBACH 


STIRLING 


743 


with  the  impress  of  nobility.  He  did  not 
require  a  cubit  to  be  added  to  his  stature, 
for  he  was  considered  the  stateliest  man  of 
his  age." 

Steinbaeh,  Erwin  of.  See  Erwin 
of  Steinbach. 

Steinmetz.  German.  A  stonemason. 
For  an  account  of  the  German  fraternity  of 
Steinmetzen,  see  Stonemasons  of  the  Middle 
Ages. 

Step.  The  step  can  hardly  be  called  a 
mode  of  recognition,  although  Apuleius  in- 
forms us  that  there  was  a  peculiar  step  in 
the  Osiriac  initiation  which  was  deemed  a 
sign.  It  is  in  Freemasonry  rather  an 
esoteric  usage  of  the  ritual.  The  steps  can 
be  traced  back  as  far  as  to  at  least  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  in  the  rituals  of 
which  they  are  fully  described.  The  custom 
of  advancing  in  a  peculiar  manner  and 
form,  to  some  sacred  place  or  elevated  per- 
sonage, has  been  preserved  in  the  customs 
of  all  countries,  especially  among  the 
Orientalists,  who  resort  even  to  prostrations 
of  the  body  when  approaching  the  throne 
of  the  sovereign  or  the  holy  part  of  a  reli- 
gious edifice.  The  steps  of  Masonry  are 
symbolic  of  respect  and  veneration  for  the 
altar,  whence  Masonic  light  is  to  emanate. 

In  former  times,  and  in  some  of  the  high 
degrees,  a  bier  or  coffin  was  placed  in  front 
of  the  altar,  as  a  well-known  symbol,  and 
in  passing  over  this  to  reach 
the  altar,  those  various  posi- 
tions of  the  feet  were  neces- 
sarily taken  which  constitute 
the  proper  mode  of  advancing. 
Respect  was  thus  necessarily 
paid  to  the  memory  of  a 
worthy  artist  as  well  as  to  the 
holy  altar.  Lenning  says  of 
the  steps  —  which  the  German 
Masons  call  die  Schritte  der 
Aufzunehmenden,  the  steps  of 
the  recipients,  and  the  French, 
les  pas  Mysterieux,  the  mys- 
terious steps  —  that  "  every  degree  has  a 
different  number,  which  are  made  in  a  dif- 
ferent way,  and  have  an  allegorical  mean- 
ing." Of  the  "allegorical  meaning"  of 
those  in  the  third  degree,  I  have  spoken 
above  as  explicitly  as  would  be  proper. 
G'adicke  says :  "  The  three  grand  steps 
symbolically  lead  from  this  life  to  the 
source  of  all  knowledge." 

It  must  be  evident  to  every  Master  Mason, 
without  further  explanation,  that  the  three 
steps  are  taken  from  the  place  of  darkness 
to  the  place  of  light,  either  figuratively  or 
really  over  a  coffin,  the  symbol  of  death,  to 
teach  symbolically  that  the  passage  from 
the  darkness  and  ignorance  of  this  life  is 
through  death  to  the  light  and  knowledge 
of  the  eternal  life.    And  this,  from  the 


earliest  times,  was  the  true  symbolism  of 
the  step. 
Steps  on  the  Master's  Carpet. 

The  three  steps  delineated  on  the  Master's 
carpet,  as  one  of  the  symbols  of  the  third 
degree,  refer  to  the  three  steps  or  stages  of 
human  life  —  youth,  manhood,  and  old  age. 
This  symbol  is  one  of  the  simplest  forms 
or  modifications  of  the  mystical  ladder, 
which  pervades  all  the  systems  of  initia- 
tion ancient  and  modern. 

Sterkin.  One  of  the  three  Assassins, 
according  to  the  Hiramic  legend  of  some 
of  the  high  degrees.  Lenning  says  the 
word  means  vengeance:  I  know  not  on  what 
authority.  STR  are  the  letters  of  the  Chal- 
daic  verb  to  strike  a  blovi,  and  it  may  be  that 
the  root  of  the  name  will  be  there  found ; 
but  the  Masonic  corruptions  of  Hebrew 
words  often  defy  the  rules  of  etymology.  I 
am  much  inclined  to  believe  that  this  and 
some  kindred  words  are  mere  anagrams,  or 
corruptions  introduced  into  the  high  de- 
grees by  the  adherents  of  the  Pretender, 
who  sought  in  this  way  to  do  honor  to  the 
friends  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  or  to  cast 
infamy  on  its  enemies.    See  Romvel. 

Stewards.  Officers  in  a  Symbolic 
Lodge,  whose  appointment  is  generally 
vested  in  the  Junior  Warden.  Their  duties 
are,  to  assist  in  the  collection  of  dues  and 
subscriptions ;  to  provide  the  necessary  re- 
freshments, and  make  a  regular  report  to 
the  Treasurer;  and  generally  to  aid  the 
Deacons  and  other  officers  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  duties.  They  usually  carry 
white  rods,  and  the  jewel  of  their  office  is  a 
cornucopia,  which  is  a  symbol  of  plenty. 

Stewards,  Grand.  See  Grand 
Stewards. 

Stewards'  Lodge.  See  Grand 
Stewards'  Lodge. 

Stirling.  A  city  in  Scotland  which 
was  the  seat  of  a  Lodge  called  the  "Stirling 
Ancient  Lodge,"  which  the  author  of  the 
introduction  to  the  General  Regulations  of 
the  Supreme  Grand  Cliapter  of  Scotland  says 
conferred  the  degrees  of  Royal  Arch,  Red 
Cross  or  Ark,  the  Sepulchre,  Knight  of 
Malta,  and  Knight  Templar  until  about  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  when  two 
Lodges  were  formed — one  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  St.  John's  Masonry,  which  was  the 
old  one,  and  a  new  one  called  the  "Royal 
Arch,"  for  the  high  degrees;  although  it, 
too,  soon  began  to  confer  the  first  three 
degrees.  The  "Ancient  Lodge"  joined 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  at  its  forma- 
tion in  1736,  but  the  new  Lodge  remained 
independent  until  1759. 

The  same  authority  tells  us  that  "  in  the 
Stirling  Ancient  Lodge  are  still  preserved 
two  old,  rudely  -  engraved  brass  plates : 
one  of  these  relates  to  the  first  two  degrees 


744 


ST.  LEGER 


STONEMASONS 


of  Masonry;  the  other  contains  on  the 
one  side  certain  emblems  belonging  to  a 
Master's  Lodge,  and  on  the  reverse  five 
figures;  the  one  at  the  top  is  called  the 
1  Redd  Cross  or  Ark.'  At  the  bottom  is  a 
series  of  concentric  arches,  which  might  be 
mistaken  for  a  rainbow,  were  there  not  a 
keystone  on  the  summit,  indicative  of  an 
arch.  The  three  other  figures  are  inclosed 
within  a  border;  the  upper  is  called  the 
*  Sepulchre ;'  the  second, '  Knight  of  Malta;' 
and  the  third,  •  Knight  Templar.'  The  age 
of  these  plates  is  unknown,  but  they  can 
scarcely  be  more  modern  than  the  begin- 
ning or  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury." 

So  circumstantial  a  description,  inserted, 
too,  in  a  book  of  official  authority,  would 
naturally  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  these 
plates  must  have  been  in  existence  in  1845, 
when  the  description  was  written.  If  they 
ever  existed,  they  have  now  disappeared,  nor 
have  any  traces  of  them  been  discovered. 
Bro.  W.  James  Hughan,  whose  indefatiga- 
ble labors  have  been  rewarded  with  so 
many  valuable  discoveries,  has  failed,  in  this 
search,  to  find  success.  He  says,  (Lond. 
Freemason,)  "I  spent  some  weeks,  in  odd 
hours,  looking  up  the  question  a  few  years 
ago,  and  wrote  officials  in  Edinburgh  and 
at  Stirling,  and  also  made  special  inquiries 
at  Stirling  by  kind  co-operation  of  Ma- 
sonic students  who  also  investigated  the 
matter;  but  all  our  many  attempts  only 
resulted  in  confirming  what  I  was  told  at 
the  outset,  viz.,  that '  No  one  knows  aught 
about  them,  either  in  Stirling  or  elsewhere. 
The  friends  at  Stirling  say  the  plates  were 
sent  to  Edinburgh,  and  never  returned,  and 
the  Fraternity  at  Edinburgh  declared  they 
were  returned,  and  have  since  been  lost.'" 

St.  Iieger.    See  Aldworth. 

St.  Martin.     See  Saint  Martin. 

Stockings.  In  the  last  century,  when 
knee-breeches  constituted  a  portion  of  the 
costume  of  gentlemen,  Masons  were  re- 
quired, by  a  ritual  regulation,  to  wear  white 
stockings.  The  fashion  having  expired,  the 
regulation  is  no  longer  in  force. 

Stolkin.  In  the  elu  degrees  this  is  the 
name  of  one  of  those  appointed  to  search  for 
the  criminals  commemorated  in  the  legend 
of  the  third  degree.  It  is  impossible  to  trace 
its  derivation  to  any  Hebrew  root.  It  may 
be  an  anagram  of  a  name,  perhaps  that  of 
one  of  the  friends  of  the  house  of  Stuart. 

Stone.  The  stone,  on  account  of  its 
hardness,  has  been  from  the  most  ancient 
times  a  symbol  of  strength,  fortitude, 
and  a  firm  foundation.  The  Hebrew  word 
}3X,  EBEN,  which  signifies  a  stone,  is  de- 
rived, by  Gesenius,  from  an  obsolete  root, 
ABAN,  to  build,  whence  aban,  an  architect ; 
and  he  refers  it  to  AMAN AH,  which  means 


a  column,  a  covenant,  and  truth.  The  stone, 
therefore,  says  Portal,  {Symb.  des  Egypt.,) 
may  be  considered  as  the  symbol  of  faith 
and  truth :  whence  Christ  taught  the  very 
principle  of  symbology,  when  he  called 
Peter,  who  represented  faith,  the  rock  or 
stone  on  which  he  would  build  his  Church. 
But  in  Hebrew  as  well  as  in  Egyptian  sym- 
bology the  stone  was  also  sometimes  the 
symbol  of  falsehood.  Thus  the  name  of 
Typhon,  the  principle  of  evil  in  the  Egyp- 
tian theogony,  was  always  written  in  the 
hieroglyphic  characters  with  the  determi- 
native sign  for  a  stone.  But  the  stone  of 
Typhon  was  a  hewn  stone,  which  had  the 
same  evil  signification  in  Hebrew.  Hence 
Jehovah  says  in  Exodus,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
build  me  an  altar  of  hewn  stone;"  and 
Joshua  built,  in  Mount  Ebal,  "  an  altar  of 
whole  stones,  over  which  no  man  hath  lift 
up  any  iron."  The  hewn  stone  was  there- 
fore a  symbol  of  evil  and  falsehood;  the 
unhewn  stone  of  good  and  truth.  This  must 
satisfy  us  that  the  Masonic  symbolism  of 
the  stone,  which  is  the  converse  of  this,  has 
not  been  derived  from  either  the  Hebrew 
or  the  Egyptian  symbology,  but  sprang 
from  the  architectural  ideas  of  the  Opera- 
tive Masons;  for  in  Masonry  the  rough 
ashlar,  or  unhewn  stone,  is  the  symbol  of 
man's  evil  and  corrupt  condition ;  while  the 

erfect  ashlar,  or  the  hewn  stone,  is  the  sym- 
ol  of  his  improved  and  perfected  nature. 

Stone,  Corner.    See  Corner-Stone. 

Stone,  Cubical.     See  Cubical  Stone. 

Stone  Manuscript.  This  Manu- 
script is  no  longer  in  existence,  having  been 
one  of  those  which  was  destroyed,  in  1720, 
by  some  too  scrupulous  brethren.  Preston 
(ed.  1755,  p.  190,)  describes  it  as  "  an  old 
manuscript,  which  was  destroyed  with 
many  others  in  1720,  said  to  have  been  in 
the  possession  of  Nicholas  Stone,  a  curious 
sculptor  under  Inigo  Jones."  Preston  gives, 
however,  an  extract  from  it,  which  details 
the  affection  borne  by  St.  Alban  for  the 
Masons,  the  wages  he  gave  them,  and  the 
charter  which  he  obtained  from  the  king 
to  hold  a  general  assembly.  (See  Saint 
Alban.)  Anderson,  (2d  ed.,  p.  99,)  who  calls 
Stone  the  Warden  of  Inigo  Jones,  intimates 
that  he  wrote  the  Manuscript,  and  gives  it 
as  authority  for  a  statement  that  in  1607 
Jones  held  the  Quarterly  Communications. 
The  extract  made  by  Preston,  and  the  brief 
reference  by  Anderson,  are  all  that  is  left 
of  the  Stone  Manuscript. 

Stonemasons  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  The  history  of  the  origin  and  pro- 
gress of  the  Brotherhood  of  Stonemasons 
in  Europe,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  is  of 
great  importance,  as  a  study,  to  the  Masonic 
scholar,  because  of  the  intimate  connection 
that  existed  between  that  Brotherhood  and 


£ 


STONEMASONS 


STONEMASONS 


745 


the  Fraternity  of  Freemasons.  Indeed,  the 
history  of  the  one  is  but  the  introduction 
to  the  history  of  the  other.  In  an  histor- 
ical excursus,  we  are  compelled  to  take  up 
the  speculative  science  where  we  find  it 
left  by  the  operative  art.  Hence,  whoever 
shall  undertake  to  write  a  history  of  Free- 
masonry, must  give,  for  the  completion  of 
his  labor,  a  very  full  consideration  to  the 
Brotherhood  of  Stonemasons. 
In  the  year  1820,  there  issued  from  the 

Eress  of  Leipsic,  in  Germany,  a  work,  by 
>r.  Christian  Ludwig  Steiglitz,  under  the 
title  of  Von  Altdeuhcher  Baukumt,  that  is, 
"  An  Essay  on  the  Old  German  Architec- 
ture." In  this  work  the  author  traces,  with 
great  exactness,  the  rise  and  the  progress 
of  the  fraternities  of  Stonemasons  from 
the  earliest  times,  through  the  Middle 
Ages,  until  their  final  absorption  into  the 
associations  of  Freemasons.  From  the 
labors  of  Dr.  Steiglitz,  collated  with  some 
other  authorities  in  respect  to  matters  upon 
which  he  is  either  silent  or  erroneous,  I 
have  compiled  the  following  sketch. 

It  is  universally  admitted  that,  in  the 
early  ages  of  Christianity,  the  clergy  alone 
were  the  patrons  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 
This  was  because  all  learning  was  then  al- 
most exclusively  confined  to  ecclesiastics. 
Very  few  of  the  laity  could  read  or  write, 
and  even  kings  affixed  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
in  the  place  of  their  signatures,  to  the 
charters  and  other  documents  which  they 
issued,  because,  as  they  frankly  confessed, 
of  their  inability  to  write  their  names ;  and 
hence  comes  the  modern  expression  of  sign- 
ing a  paper,  as  equivalent  to  subscribing 
the  name. 

From  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  in  the 
eighth  century,  to  the  middle  of  the  twelfth, 
all  knowledge  and  practice  of  architecture, 
painting,  and  sculpture  were  exclusively 
confined  to  the  monks ;  and  bishops  person- 
ally superintended  the  erection  of  the 
churches  and  cathedrals  in  their  dioceses, 
because  not  only  the  principles,  but  the 
practice  of  the  art  of  building  were  secrets 
scrupulously  maintained  within  the  walls 
of  cloisters,  and  utterly  unkuown  to  lay- 
men. 

Many  of  the  founders  of  the  Monastic 
Orders,  and  especially  among  these  St. 
Benedict,  made  it  a  peculiar  duty  for  the 
brethren  to  devote  themselves  to  archi- 
tecture and  church  building.  The  Eng- 
lish monk  Winfrid,  better  known  in  ec- 
clesiastical history  as  St.  Boniface,  and 
who,  for  his  labors  in  Christianizing  that 
country,  has  been  styled  the  Apostle 
of  Germany,  followed  the  example  of  his 
predecessors  in  the  erection  of  German 
monasteries.  In  the  eighth  century  he 
organized  an  especial  class  of  monks  for 
4T 


the  practice  of  building,  under  the  name 
of  Operarii,  or  Craftsmen,  and  Magistri 
Operum,  or  Masters  of  the  Works.  The 
labors  and  duties  of  these  monks  were  di- 
vided. Some  of  them  designed  the  plan 
of  the  building;  others  were  painters  and 
sculptors ;  others  were  occupied  in  working 
in  gold  and  silver  and  embroidery;  and 
others  again,  who  were  called  Ccenientarii, 
or  Stonemasons,  undertook  the  practical 
labors  of  construction.  Sometimes,  espe- 
cially in  extensive  buildings,  where  many 
workmen  were  required,  laymen  were  also 
employed,  under  the  direction  of  the 
monks.  So  extensive  did  these  labors  be- 
come, that  bishops  and  abbots  often  derived 
a  large  portion  of  their  revenues  from  the 
earnings  of  the  workmen  in  the  monas- 
teries. 

Among  the  laymen  who  were  employed 
in  the  monasteries  as  assistants  and  labor- 
ers, many  were  of  course  possessed  of  su- 
perior intelligence.  The  constant  and 
intimate  association  of  these  with  the 
monks  in  the  prosecution  of  the  same  de- 
sign led  to  this  result,  that  in  process  of 
time,  gradually  and  almost  unconsciously, 
the  monks  imparted  to  them  their  art 
secrets  and  the  esoteric  principles  of  archi- 
tecture. Then,  by  degrees,  the  knowledge 
of  the  arts  and  sciences  went  from  these 
monkish  builders  out  into  the  world,  and 
the  laymen  architects,  withdrawing  from 
the  ecclesiastical  fraternities,  organized 
brotherhoods  of  their  own.  Such  was  the 
beginning  of  the  Masonic  fraternities  in 
Germany,  and  the  same  thing  occurred  in 
other  countries.  These  brotherhoods  of 
Masons  now  began  to  be  called  upon,  as 
the  monks  formerly  had  been,  when  an  im- 
portant building,  and  especially  a  church 
or  a  cathedral,  was  to  be  erected.  Event- 
ually they  entirely  superseded  their  monk- 
ish teachers  in  the  prosecution  of  the  art 
of  building.  To  their  knowledge  of  archi- 
tecture they  added  that  of  the  other  sciences, 
which  they  had  learned  from  the  monks. 
Like  these,  too,  they  devoted  themselves  to 
the  higher  principles  of  the  art,  and  em- 
ployed other  laymen  to  assist  their  labors 
as  stone-masons.  And  thus  the  union  of 
these  architects  and  stone-masons  presented, 
in  the  midst  of  an  uneducated  people,  a  more 
elevated  and  intelligent  class,  engaged  as 
an  exclusive  association  in  building  im- 
portant and  especially  religious  edifices. 

But  now  a  new  classification  took  place. 
As  formerly,  the  monks,  who  were  the  sole 
depositaries  of  the  secrets  of  high  art,  sepa- 
rated themselves  from  the  laymen,  who 
were  intrusted  with  only  the  manual  labor 
of  building;  so  now  the  more  intelligent 
of  the  laymen,  who  had  received  these  se- 
crets from  the  monks,  were  distinguished  as 


746 


STONEMASONS 


STONEMASONS 


architects  from  the  ordinary  laborers,  or 
common  masons.  The  latter  knew  only 
the  use  of  the  trowel  and  mortar,  while  the 
former  were  occupied  in  devising  plans  for 
building  and  the  construction  of  ornaments 
by  sculpture  and  skilful  stone-cutting. 

These  brotherhoods  of  high  artists  soon 
won  great  esteem,  and  many  privileges  and 
franchises  were  conceded  to  them  by  the 
municipal  authorities  among  whom  they 
practised  their  profession.  Their  places  of 
assembly  were  called  Hutten,  Logen,  or 
Lodges,  and  the  members  took  the  name  of 
Freemasons.  Their  patron  saint  was  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  who  was  honored  by  them 
as  the  mediator  between  the  Old  and  the 
New  Covenants,  and  the  first  martyr  of  the 
Christian  religion.  To  what  condition  of 
art  these  Freemasons  of  the  Middle  Ages 
had  attained,  we  may  judge  from  what 
Hallam  says  of  the  edifices  they  erected  — 
that  they  united  sublimity  in  general  com- 
position with  the  beauties  of  variety  and 
form,  skilful  or  at  least  fortunate  effects  of 
shadow  and  light,  and  in  some  instances 
extraordinary  mechanical  science."  (Mid. 
Ages,  iv.  280.)  And  he  subsequently  adds, 
as  an  involuntary  confirmation  of  the  truth 
of  the  sketch  of  their  origin  just  given,  that 
the  mechanical  execution  of  the  buildings 
was  "  so  far  beyond  the  apparent  intellec- 
tual powers  of  those  times,  that  some  have 
ascribed  the  principal  ecclesiastical  struc- 
tures to  the  Fraternity  of  Freemasons,  de- 
positaries of  a  concealed  and  traditionary 
science.  There  is  probably  some  ground 
for  this  opinion,  and  the  earlier  archives 
of  that  mysterious  association,  if  they 
existed,  might  illustrate  the  progress  of 
Gothic  architecture,  and  perhaps  reveal  its 
origin."  (lb.,  284.)  These  archives  do 
exist,  or  many  of  them ;  and  although  un- 
known to  Mr.  Hallam,  because  they  were 
out  of  the  course  of  his  usual  reading,  they 
have  been  thoroughly  sifted  by  recent  Ma- 
sonic scholars,  especially  by  our  German 
and  English  brethren ;  and  that  which  the 
historian  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  only  as- 
sumed as  a  plausible  conjecture  has,  by 
their  researches,  been  proved  to  be  a  fact. 

The  prevalence  of  Gnostic  symbols — such 
as  lions,  serpents,  and  the  like  —  in  the 
decorations  of  churches  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
have  led  some  writers  to  conclude  that  the 
Knights  Templars  exercised  an  influence 
over  the  architects,  and  that  by  them  the 
Gnostic  and  Ophite  symbols  were  intro- 
duced into  Europe.  But  Dr.  Steiglitz  de- 
nies the  correctness  of  this  conclusion.  He 
ascribes  the  existence  of  Gnostic  symbols 
in  the  church  architecture  to  the  fact  that, 
at  an  early  period  in  ecclesiastical  history, 
many  of  the  Gnostic  dogmas  passed  over 
into  Christendom  with  the  Oriental  and 


Platonic  philosophy,  and  he  attributes  their 
adoption  in  architecture  to  the  natural 
compliance  of  the  architects  or  Freemasons 
with  the  predominant  taste  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  the  Middle  Ages  for  mysticism, 
and  the  favor  given  to  grotesque  decora- 
tions, which  were  admired  without  any 
knowledge  of  their  actual  import. 

That  there  ever  was  any  association  of 
the  Knights  Templars  with  the  Freemasons 
is  still  an  uncertain  and  an  undetermined 
point  of  history.  If  it  did  take  place,  it 
must  have  been  at  a  very  late  period ;  and 
if  any  community  or  similarity  of  symbol- 
ism is  to  be  detected  among  the  two  Orders, 
it  is  more  reasonable  to  ascribe  it  to  the  cir- 
cumstance, that  the  Templars  always  asso- 
ciated a  body  of  architects  with  themselves 
for  the  erection  of  their  own  churches  and 
other  buildings,  and  that  these  architects 
were  united  in  one  and  the  same  fraternity 
with  the  Freemasons,  whose  secrets  they 
possessed,  and  whose  architectural  opinions 
they  shared. 

Steiglitz  also  denies  any  deduction  of  the 
Builders'  Fraternities,  or  Masonic  Lodges, 
of  the  Middle  Ages  from  the  Mysteries  of 
the  old  Indians,  Egyptians,  and  Greeks; 
although  he  acknowledges  that  there  is  a 
resemblance  between  the  organizations. 
This,  however,  he  attributes  to  the  fact,  that 
the  Indians  and  Egyptians  preserved  all 
the  sciences,  as  well  as  the  principles  of 
architecture,  among  their  secrets,  and  be- 
cause, among  the  Greeks,  the  artists  were 
initiated  into  their  mysteries,  so  that,  in  the 
old  as  well  as  in  the  new  brotherhoods, 
there  was  a  purer  knowledge  of  religious 
truth,  which  elevated  them  as  distinct  asso- 
ciations above  the  people.  In  like  manner, 
he  denies  the  descent  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nities from  the  sect  of  Pythagoreans,  which 
they  resembled  only  in  this :  that  the  Sa- 
mian  sage  established  schools  which  were 
secret,  and  were  based  upon  the  principles 
of  geometry. 

But  he  thinks  that  those  are  not  mista- 
ken who  trace  the  associations  of  Masons 
of  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  Roman  Colleges, 
the  Collegia  C&menlariorum,  because  these 
colleges  appear  in  every  country  that  was 
conquered  and  established  as  a  province  or 
a  colony  by  the  Romans,  where  they  erected 
temples  and  other  public  buildings,  and  pro- 
moted the  civilization  of  the  inhabitants. 
They  continued  until  a  late  period.  But 
when  Rome  began  to  be  convulsed  by  the 
wars  of  its  decline,  and  by  the  incursions 
of  hordes  of  barbarians,  they  found  a  wel- 
come reception  at  Byzantium,  or  Constan- 
tinople, whence  they  subsequently  spread 
into  the  west  of  Europe,  and  were  every- 
where held  in  great  estimation  for  their 
skill  in  the  construction  of  buildings. 


STONEMASONS 


STONEMASONS 


747 


In  Italy  the  associations  of  architects 
never  entirely  ceased,  as  we  may  conclude 
from  the  many  buildings  erected  there  dur- 
ing the  domination  of  the  Ostrogoths  and 
the  Longobards.  Subsequently,  when  civil 
order  was  restored,  the  Masons  of  Italy 
were  encouraged  and  supported  by  popes, 
princes,  and  nobles.  And  Muraton  tells 
us,  in  his  Historia  d?  Italia,  that  under  the 
Lombard  kings  the  inhabitants  of  Como 
were  so  superior  as  masons  and  bricklayers, 
that  the  appellation  of  Magistri  Comacini, 
or  Masters  from  Como,  became  generic  to 
all  those  of  the  profession. 

In  England,  when  the  Romans  took  pos- 
session of  it,  the  corporations,  or  colleges 
of  builders,  also  appeared,  who  were  subse- 
quently continued  in  the  Fraternity  of  Free- 
masons, probably  established,  as  Steiglitz 
thinks,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, after  the  Romans  had  left  the  island. 
The  English  Masons  were  subjected  to 
many  adverse  difficulties,  from  the  repeated 
incursions  of  Scots,  Picts,  Danes,  and  Sax- 
ons, which  impeded  their  active  labors ;  yet 
were  they  enabled  to  maintain  their  exist- 
ence, until,  in  the  year  926,  they  held  that 
General  Assembly  at  the  city  of  York 
which  framed  the  Constitutions  that  gov- 
erned the  English  Craft  for  eight  hundred 
years,  and  which  is  claimed  to  be  the  oldest 
Masonic  record  now  extant.  It  is  but  fair 
to  say  that  the  recent  researches  of  Brother 
Hughan  and  other  English  writers  have 
thrown  a  doubt  upon  the  authenticity  of 
these  Constitutions,  and  that  the  very  exist- 
ence of  this  York  assembly  has  been  denied. 
But  these  are  historical  problems,  the  true 
solution  of  which  must  be  waited  for  until 
the  further  researches  of  Masonic  archaeolo- 
gists shall  present  us  with  the  necessary 
data  for  determining  them.  Until  then  it 
is  safer  to  adhere  to  the  traditional  theoVy 
which  admits  the  genuineness  of  the  Con- 
stitutions and  the  fact  of  the  assembly. 

In  France,  as  in  Germany,  the  Fraterni- 
ties of  Architects  originally  sprang  out  of 
the  connection  of  lay  builders  with  the 
monks  in  the  era  of  Charlemagne.  The 
French  Masons  continued  their  fraternities 
throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  and  erected 
many  cathedrals  and  public  buildings. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century,  tracing  the  progress  of  the 
fraternities  of  Stonemasons  from  the  time 
of  Charlemagne  to  that  period.  At  that 
time  all  the  architecture  of  Europe  was  in 
their  hands.  Under  the  distinctive  name 
of  Travelling  Freemasons  they  passed  from 
nation  to  nation,  constructing  churches  and 
cathedrals  wherever  they  were  needed.  Of 
their  organization  and  customs,  Sir  Christo- 

{>her  Wren,  in  his  Parentalia,  gives  the  fol- 
owing  account : 


"Their  government  was  regular,  and 
where  they  fixed  near  the  building  in 
hand,  they  made  a  camp  of  huts.  A  sur- 
veyor governed  in  chief;  every  tenth  man 
was  called  a  warden,  and  overlooked  each 
nine." 

Mr.  Hope,  who,  from  his  peculiar  course 
of  studies,  was  better  acquainted  than  Mr. 
Hallam  with  the  history  of  these  Travelling 
Freemasons,  thus  speaks,  in  his  Essay  on 
Architecture,  of  their  organization  at  this 
time,  by  which  they  effected  an  identity  of 
architectural  science  throughout  all  Eu- 
rope: 

"  The  architects  of  all  the  sacred  edifices 
of  the  Latin  Church,  wherever  such  arose, 
—  north,  south,  east,  or  west  —  thus  derived 
their  science  from  the  same  central  school ; 
obeyed  in  their  designs  the  dictates  of  the 
same  hierarchy ;  were  directed  in  their  con- 
structions by  the  same  principles  of  pro- 
priety and  taste ;  kept  up  with  each  otner, 
in  the  most  distant  parts  to  which  they 
might  be  sent,  the  most  constant  corre- 
spondence; and  rendered  every  minute 
improvement  the  property  of  the  whole 
body,  and  a  new  conquest  of  the  art." 

Working  in  this  way,  the  Stonemasons, 
as  corporations  of  builders,  daily  increased 
in  numbers  and  in  power.  In  the  thir- 
teenth century  they  assumed  a  new  organi- 
zation, which  allied  them  more  closely  than 
ever  with  that  Brotherhood  of  Speculative 
Freemasons  into  which  they  were  finally 
merged  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  most  important  event  in  the  cultiva- 
tion and  spread  of  Masonic  art  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  was  that  which  occurred 
at  the  city  of  Strasburg,  in  Germany,  when 
Erwin  of  Steinbach,  the  architect  of  the 
cathedral,  summoned  a  great  number  of 
master-builders  out  of  Germany,  England, 
and  Italy,  and  in  the  year  1275  established 
a  code  of  regulations  and  organized  the 
Fraternity  of  Freemasons  after  the  mode 
which  had  been  adopted,  as  is  maintained 
by  many  writers,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years  before,  by  the  English  Masons  at  the 
city  of  York.  Lodges  were  then  estab- 
lished in  many  of  the  cities  of  Germany, 
all  of  which  fraternized  with  each  other; 
but  of  these  the  precedence  was  conceded 
to  the  Lodge  at  Strasburg,  because  that 
city  had  been,  as  it  were,  the  central  point 
whence  German  Masonic  art  had  flowed. 
Erwin  of  Steinbach  was  elected  their  pre- 
siding officer,  or  Grand  Master.  Three 
grades  of  workmen  were  recognized  —  Mas- 
ters, Fellow  Crafts,  and  Apprentices ;  and 
words,  signs,  and  grips  were  created  as 
modes  of  recognition  to  be  used  by  the 
members  of  the  Fraternity,  a  part  of  which 
was  borrowed  from  the  English  Masons. 
Finally,  ceremonies  of  initiation  were  in- 


748 


STONEMASONS 


STONEMASONS 


vented,  which  were  of  a  symbolical  charac- 
ter, and  concealed,  under  their  symbolism, 
profound  doctrines  of  philosophy,  religion, 
and  architecture. 

Of  these  ceremonies  of  initiation  used 
by  the  old  German  Stonemasons  of  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  Findel 
gives  the  following  interesting  account: 

"On  the  day  fixed,  the  candidate  went 
into  the  house  where  the  assemblies  were 
held,  where  the  master  of  the  chair  had 
had  everything  prepared  in  due  order  in  the 
hall  of  the  Craft.  The  brethren  were  then 
summoned,  (of  course  bearing  no  weapon 
of  any  kind,  it  being  a  place  dedicated  to 
peace,)  and  the  assembly  was  opened  by  the 
Master,  who  first  acquainted  them  with  the 
proposed  inauguration  of  the  candidate, 
dispatching  a  brother  to  prepare  him.  The 
messenger,  in  imitation  of  an  ancient  hea- 
then custom,  suggested  to  his  companion 
that  he  should  assume  the  demeanor  of  a 
supplicant.  He  was  then  stripped  of  all 
weapons,  and  everything  of  metal  taken 
from  him  ;  he  was  divested  of  half  his  gar- 
ments, and,  with  his  eyes  bound  and  breast 
and  left  foot  bare,  he  stood  at  the  door  of 
the  hall,  which  was  opened  to  him  after 
three  distinct  knocks.  The  Junior  Warden 
conducted  him  to  the  Master,  who  made 
him  kneel  and  repeat  a  prayer.  The  can- 
didate was  then  led  three  times  around  the 
hall  of  the  Gild,  halting  at  last  at  the  door, 
and  putting  his  feet  together  in  the  form  of 
a  right  angle,  that  he  might  in  three  up- 
right square  steps  place  himself  in  front  of 
the  Master.  Between  the  two,  lying  open 
on  the  table,  was  a  New  Testament,  a  pair 
of  compasses,  and  a  mason's  square,  over 
which,  in  pursuance  of  an  ancient  custom, 
he  stretched  out  his  right  hand,  swearing 
to  be  faithful  to  the  duties  to  which  he 
pledged  himself,  and  to  keep  secret  what- 
ever had  been,  or  might  be  thereafter,  made 
known  to  him  in  that  place.  The  bandage 
was  then  removed  from  his  eyes,  the  three 
great  lights  were  shown  him,  a  new  apron 
bound  round  him,  a  password  given  him, 
and  his  place  in  the  hall  of  the  Gild  pointed 
out  to  him."    {Hist,  of  Freemasonry,  p.  65.) 

These  fraternities  or  associations  became 
at  once  very  popular.  Many  of  the  poten- 
tates of  Europe,  and  among  them  the  Em- 
peror Rudolf  I.,  conceded  to  them  consid- 
erable powers  of  jurisdiction,  such  as  would 
enable  them  to  preserve  the  most  rigid 
system  in  matters  pertaining  to  building, 
and  would  facilitate  them  in  bringing  mas- 
ter builders  and  stone-masons  together  at 
any  required  point.  Pope  Nicholas  III. 
granted  the  Brotherhood,  in  1278,  letters 
of  indulgence,  which  were  renewed  by  his 
successors,  and  finally,  in  the  next  century, 
by  Pope  Benedict  XII. 


The  Stonemasons,  as  a  fraternity  of  Oper- 
ative Freemasons,  distinguished  from  the 
ordinary  masons  and  laborers  of  the  craft, 
acquired  at  this  time  great  prominence,  and 
were  firmly  established  as  an  association. 
In  1452  a  general  assembly  was  convened 
at  Strasburg,  and  a  new  constitution  framed, 
which  embraced  many  improvements  and 
modifications  of  the  former  one.  But  seven 
years  afterwards,  in  1459,  Jost  Dotzinger, 
then  holding  the  position  of  architect  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg,  and,  by  virtue 
of  his  office,  presiding  over  the  Craft  of 
Germany,  convened  a  general  assembly  of 
the  Masters  of  all  the  Lodges  at  the  city  of 
Ratisbon.  There  the  code  of  laws  which 
had  been  adopted  at  Strasburg  in  1452, 
under  the  title  of  "Statutes  and  Regula- 
tions of  the  Fraternity  of  Stonemasons  of 
Strasburg,"  was  fully  discussed  and  sanc- 
tioned. It  was  then  also  resolved  that 
there  should  be  established  four  Grand 
Lodges,  —  at  Strasburg,  at  Vienna,  at  Co- 
logne, and  at  Zurich ;  and  they  also  deter- 
mined that  the  master  workman,  for  the 
time  being,  of  the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg 
should  be  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Free- 
masons of  Germany.  These  constitutions 
or  statutes  are  still  extant,  and  are  older 
than  any  other  existing  Masonic  record  of 
undoubted  authenticity,  except  the  manu- 
script of  Halliwell.  They  were  "  kindly 
and  affably  agreed  upon,"  according  to  their 
preamble,  "for  the  benefit  and  require- 
ments of  the  Masters  and  Fellows  of  the 
whole  Craft  of  Masonry  and  Masons  in 
Germany." 

General  assemblies,  at  which  important 
business  was  transacted,  were  held  in  1464 
at  Ratisbon,  and  in  1469  at  Spire,  while 

Erovincial  assemblies  in  each  of  the  Grand 
,odge  jurisdictions  were   annually  con- 
vened. 

In  consequence  of  a  deficiency  of  em- 
ployment, from  political  disturbances  and 
other  causes,  the  Fraternity  now  for  a  brief 
period  declined  in  its  activity.  But  it  was 
speedily  revived  when,  in  October,  1498, 
the  Emperor  Maximilian  I.  confirmed  its 
statutes,  as  they  had  been  adopted  at  Stras- 
burg, and  recognized  its  former  rights  and 
privileges.  This  act  of  confirmation  was 
renewed  by  the  succeeding  emperors, 
Charles  V.  and  Ferdinand  I.  In  1563  a 
general  assembly  of  the  Masons  of  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland  was  convened  at  the 
city  of  Basle  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Stras- 
burg. The  Strasburg  constitutions  were 
again  renewed  with  amendments,  and  what 
was  called  the  Stonemasons'  Law  (das  Stein- 
werkrecht)  was  established.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  Strasburg  continued  to  be  recog- 
nized as  possessing  supreme  appellate  juris- 
diction in  all  matters  relating  to  the  Craft. 


STONEMASONS 


STONEMASONS 


749 


Even  the  senate  of  that  city  had  acknowl- 
edged its  prerogatives,  and  had  conceded 
to  it  the  privilege  of  settling  all  controver- 
sies in  relation  to  matters  connected  with 
building;  a  concession  which  was,  however, 
revoked  in  1620,  on  the  charge  that  the 
privilege  had  been  misused. 

Thus  the  Operative  Freemasons  of  Ger- 
many continued  to  work  and  to  cultivate 
the  high  principles  of  a  religious  architec- 
tural art.  But  on  March  16,  1707,  up  to 
which  time  the  Fraternity  had  uninter- 
ruptedly existed,  a  decree  of  the  Imperial 
Diet  at  Ratisbon  dissolved  the  connection 
of  the  Lodges  of  Germany  with  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Strasburg,  because  that  city  had 

Eassed  into  the  power  of  the  French.  The 
ead  being  now  lost,  the  subordinate  bodies 
began  rapidly  to  decline.  In  several  of 
the  German  cities  the  Lodges  undertook  to 
assume  the  name  and  exercise  the  func- 
tions of  Grand  Lodges ;  but  these  were  all 
abolished  by  an  imperial  edict  in  1731, 
which  at  the  same  time  forbade  the  admin- 
istration of  any  oath  of  secrecy,  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  government  alone  the  adjudi- 
cation of  all  disputes  among  the  Craft. 
From  this  time  we  lose  sight  of  any  na- 
tional organization  of  the  Freemasons  in 
Germany  until  the  restoration  of  the  Order, 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  through  the 
English  Fraternity.  But  in  many  cities — 
as  in  Basle,  Zurich,  Hamburg,  Dantzic, 
and  Strasburg  —  they  preserved  an  inde- 
pendent existence  under  the  statutes  of 
1559,  although  they  lost  much  of  the  pro- 
found symbolical  knowledge  of  architec- 
ture which  had  been  possessed  by  their 
predecessors. 

Before  leaving  these  German  Stonema- 
sons, it  is  worth  while  to  say  something  of 
the  symbolism  which  they  preserved  in 
their  secret  teachings.  They  made  much 
use,  in  their  architectural  plans,  of  mysti- 
cal numbers,  and  among  these  five,  seven, 
and  nine  were  especially  prominent.  Among 
colors,  gold  and  blue  and  white  possessed 
symbolic  meanings.  The  foot-rule,  the 
compasses,  the  square,  and  the  gavel,  with 
some  other  implements  of  their  art,  were 
consecrated  with  a  spiritual  signification. 
The  east  was  considered  as  a  sacred  point ; 
and  many  allusions  were  made  to  Solo- 
mon's Temple,  especially  to  the  pillars  of 
the  porch,  representations  of  which  are  to 
be  found  in  several  of  the  cathedrals. 

In  France  the  history  of  the  Free  Stone- 
masons was  similar  to  that  of  their  German 
brethren.  Originating,  like  them,  from 
the  cloisters,  and  from  the  employment  of 
laymen  by  the  monkish  architects,  they 
associated  themselves  together  as  a  brother- 
hood superior  to  the  ordinary  stone-masons. 
The  connection  between  the  Masons  of 


France  and  the  Roman  Colleges  of  Build- 
ers was  more  intimate  and  direct  than  that 
of  the  Germans,  because  of  the  early  and 
very  general  occupation  of  Gaul  by  the 
Roman  legions :  but  the  French  organiza- 
tion did  not  materially  differ  from  the 
German.  Protected  by  popes  and  princes, 
the  Masons  were  engaged,  under  ecclesias- 
tical patronage,  in  the  construction  of  reli- 
gious edifices.  In  France  there  was  also  a 
peculiar  association,  the  Pontifices,  or  Bridge 
Builders,  closely  connected  in  design  and 
character  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and 
the  memory  of  which  is  still  preserved  in 
the  name  of  one  of  the  degrees  of  the 
Scottish  Rite,  that  of  "Grand  Pontiff." 
The  principal  seat  of  the  French  Stonema- 
sonry  was  in  Lombardy,  whence  the  Lodges 
were  disseminated  over  the  kingdom,  a  fact 
which  is  thus  accounted  for  by  Mr.  Hope : 
"  Among  the  arts  exercised  and  improved 
in  Lombardy,"  he  says,  "  that  of  building 
held  a  pre-eminent  rank,  and  was  the  more 
important  because  the  want  of  those  an- 
cient edifices  to  which  they  might  recur 
for  materials  already  wrought,  and  which 
Rome  afforded  in  such  abundance,  made 
the  architects  of  these  more  remote  regions 
dependent  on  their  own  skill  and  free  to 
follow  their  own  conceptions."  But  in  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
necessity  for  their  employment  in  the  fur- 
ther construction  of  religious  edifices  hav- 
ing ceased,  the  Fraternity  began  to  decline, 
and  the  Masonic  corporations  were  all 
finally  dissolved,  with  those  of  other  work- 
men, by  Francis  I.,  1539.  Then  originated 
that  system  which  the  French  call  Com- 
pagnonnage,  a  system  of  independent  Gilds 
or  brotherhoods,  retaining  a  principle  of 
community  as  to  the  art  which  they  prac- 
tised, and  with,  to  some  extent,  a  secret 
bond,  but  without  elevated  notions  or  gen- 
eral systematic  organizations.  The  socie- 
ties of  Compagnons  were,  indeed,  but  the 
debris  of  the  Masonic  Lodges.  Freema- 
sonry ceased  to  exist  in  France  as  a  recog- 
nized system  until  its  revival  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century. 

In  England,  we  have  already  seen  that 
the  stone-masons,  under  the  distinctive  ap- 
pellation of  Freemasons,  held  a  general  as- 
sembly at  the  city  of  York,  in  the  year 
926,  and  there  adopted  those  constitutions 
which  have  always  been  looked  upon  as 
the  fundamental  law  of  English  Masonry. 
Of  course,  the  very  calling  of  this  assembly 
proves  that  the  Freemasons  were  previously 
in  activity  in  the  kingdom,  which  is,  in 
fact,  otherwise  proved  by  the  records  of  the 
building  at  an  earlier  period,  by  them,  of 
cathedrals,  abbeys,  and  castles.  But  we 
date  the  York  assembly  as  the  first  known 
and  acknowledged  organization  of  the  Craft 


750 


STONEMASONS 


STONE 


in  England  into  a  national  body,  or  Grand 
Lodge.  Their  history  differs  but  little 
from  that  which  has  already  been  detailed. 
Stonemasons,  in  fact — but  in  the  possession 
of  many  professional  secrets  originally  de- 
rived from  their  monkish  teachers,  as  well 
as  from  the  Roman  colleges,  with  which, 
like  the  Masons  of  France,  they  had  an  in- 
timate communication  through  the  legions 
which  had  been  encamped  for  so  many 
years  in  England  —  they  called  themselves 
Freemasons,  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
ordinary  laborers  and  common  stone-ma- 
sons, who  were  generally  of  a  servile  con- 
dition, and  had  neither  the  intellectual 
elevation,  nor  the  devotion  to  high  religious 
art,  which  belonged  exclusively  to  the 
"  freeborn  "  fraternity. 

After  the  organization  at  York,  annual 
assemblies,  it  is  said,  were  regularly  held, 
and  the  transactions  of  several  of  them 
have  been  transmitted  to  us  by  historical 
records.  The  Fraternity  experienced,  as 
in  other  countries,  its  alternate  periods  of 
prosperity  and  of  decay.  Finally,  about 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  had 
so  far  declined,  that  only  seven  Lodges 
were  to  be  found  in  the  whole  of  London 
and  its  suburbs.  It  is  to  the  glory  of  the  Eng- 
lish Masons  that  they  now  adopted  that 
bold  and  wise  policy  which  alone  could 
have  saved  the  Brotherhood  from  absolute 
dissolution.  In  1703  a  statute  was  enacted, 
which  entirely  changed  the  objects  of  the 
institution.  From  an  operative  society,  it 
became  wholly  speculative  in  its  character. 
It  ceased  to  build  material  temples,  and 
devoted  itself  to  the  erection  of  a  spiritual 
one.  It  retained  the  working-tools  and  the 
technical  terms  of  art  of  the  original  oper- 
ative institution,  simply  because  of  the  re- 
ligious symbolism  which  these  conveyed. 
And  its  members  invited  to  their  assem- 
blies men  of  learning  and  science,  who 
might  find  in  their  discussions  topics  con- 
genial with  their  intellectual  labors. 

The  happiest  results  speedily  followed; 
and  in  1717  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England 
was  organized,  or  rather  restored,  on  the 
new  basis  of  a  speculative  societv.  The 
effect  was  soon  seen  in  other  countries ;  for, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England,  which  became,  indeed, 
the  Mother  Lodge  of  the  world,  Freema- 
sonry was  everywhere  revived.  Lodges  on 
the  English  model,  which  afterwards  gave 
rise  to  the  establishment  of  Grand  Lodges 
in  their  respective  countries,  were  organ- 
ized in  France  in  1729,  in  Holland  in  1731, 
in  Germany  in  1733,  and  in  Italy  in  1735. 
It  spread  in  other  countries  with  more  or 
less  activity,  and  was  established  in  1733  in 
America.  From  that  time  to  the  present 
day  the  history  of  Freemasonry  has  been 


entirely  separated  from  that  of  Stonema- 
sonry. 

We  see,  then,  in  conclusion,  that  the 
Stonemasons  —  coming  partly  from  the  Ro- 
man Colleges  of  Architects,  as  in  England, 
in  Italy,  and  in  France,  but  principally,  as 
in  Germany,  from  the  cloistered  brother- 
hoods of  monks  —  devoted  themselves  to 
the  construction  of  religious  edifices.  They 
consisted  mainly  of  architects  and  skilful 
operatives;  but  —  as  they  were  controlled 
by  the  highest  principles  of  their  art,  were 
in  possession  of  important  professional  se- 
crets, were  actuated  by  deep  sentiments  of 
religious  devotion,  and  had  united  with 
themselves  in  their  labors  men  of  learning, 
wealth,  and  influence  —  they  assumed  from 
the  very  beginning  the  title  of  Freemasons, 
to  serve  as  a  proud  distinction  between 
themselves  and  the  ordinary  laborers  and 
uneducated  workmen,  many  of  whom  were 
of  servile  condition. 

Subsequently,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  they  threw  off  the  oper- 
ative element  of  their  institution,  and, 
adopting  an  entirely  speculative  character, 
they  became  the  Freemasons  of  the  present 
day,  and  established  on  an  imperishable 
foundation  that  sublime  Institution  which 
presents  over  all  the  habitable  earth  the 
most  wonderful  system  of  religious  and 
moral  symbolism  that  the  world  ever  saw. 

Stone,  Nicholas.  See  Stone  Manu- 
script. 

Stone  of  Foundation.  The  Stone 
of  Foundation  constitutes  one  of  the  most 
important  and  abstruse  of  all  the  symbols 
of  Freemasonry.  It  is  referred  to  in  nu- 
merous legends  and  traditions  not  only  of 
the  Freemasons,  but  also  of  the  Jewish 
Rabbis,  the  Talmudic  writers,  and  even 
the  Mussulman  doctors.  Many  of  these,  it 
must  be  confessed,  are  apparently  puerile 
and  absurd ;  but  most  of  them,  and  espe- 
cially the  Masonic  ones,  are  deeply  interest- 
ing in  their  allegorical  signification. 

The  Stone  of  Foundation  is,  properly 
speaking,  a  symbol  of  the  higher  degrees. 
It  makes  its  first  appearance  in  the  Royal 
Arch,  and  forms  indeed  the  most  impor- 
tant symbol  of  that  degree.  But  it  is  so 
intimately  connected,  in  U§  legendary  his- 
tory, with  the  construction  of  the  Solo- 
monic Temple,  that  it  must  be  considered 
as  a  part  of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  al- 
though he  who  confines  the  range  of  his 
investigations  to  the  first  three  degrees 
will  have  no  means,  within  that  narrow 
limit,  of  properly  appreciating  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  Stone  of  Foundation. 

As  preliminary  to  the  inquiry,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  distinguish  the  Stone  of  Founda- 
tion, both  in  its  symbolism  and  its  legend- 
ary history,  from  other  stones  which  play 


STONE 


STONE 


751 


an  important  part  in  the  Masonic  ritual, 
but  which  are  entirely  distinct  from  it. 
Such  are  the  corner-stone,  which  was  always 
placed  in  the  north-east  corner  of  the  build- 
ing about  to  be  erected,  and  to  which  such 
a  beautiful  reference  is  made  in  the  cere- 
monies of  the  first  degree;  or  the  keystone, 
which  constitutes  an  interesting  part  of  the 
Mark  Master's  degree ;  or,  lastly,  the  cape- 
stone,  upon  which  all  the  ritual  of  the 
Most  Excellent  Master's  degree  is  founded. 
These  are  all,  in  their  proper  places,  highly 
interesting  and  instructive  symbols,  but 
have  no  connection  whatever  with  the 
Stone  of  Foundation,  whose  symbolism  it 
is  our  present  object  to  discuss.  Nor,  al- 
though the  Stone  of  Foundation  is  said, 
for  peculiar  reasons,  to  have  been  of  a  cubi- 
cal form,  must  it  be  confounded  with  that 
stone  called  by  the  continental  Masons  the 
cubical  stone  —  the  pierre  cubique  of  the 
French  and  the  cubik  stein  of  the  German 
Masons,  but  which  in  the  English  system 
is  known  as  the  perfect  ashlar. 

The  Stone  of  Foundation  has  a  legend- 
ary history  and  a  symbolic  signification 
which  are  peculiar  to  itself,  and  which  dif- 
fer from  the  history  and  meaning  which 
belong  to  these  other  stones.  I  propose 
first  to  define  this  Masonic  Stone  of 
Foundation,  then  to  collate  the  legends 
which  refer  to  it,  and  afterwards  to  inves- 
tigate its  significance  as  a  symbol.  To  the 
Mason  who  takes  a  pleasure  in  the  study 
of  the  mysteries  of  his  Institution,  the  in- 
vestigation cannot  fail  to  be  interesting,  if 
it  is  conducted  with  any  ability. 

But  in  the  very  beginning,  as  a  neces- 
sary preliminary  to  any  investigation  of 
this  kind,  it  must  be  distinctly  understood 
that  all  that  is  said  of  this  Stone  of  Foun- 
dation in  Masonry  is  to  be  strictly  taken 
in  a  mythical  or  allegorical  sense.  Dr. 
Oliver,  while  undoubtedly  himself  know- 
ing that  it  was  simply  a  symbol,  has 
written  loosely  of  it  as  though  it  were  a 
substantial  reality ;  and  hence,  if  the  pas- 
sages in  his  Historical  Landmarks,  and  in 
his  other  works  which  refer  to  this  cele- 
brated stone,  are  accepted  by  his  readers  in 
a  literal  sense,  they  will  present  absurdities 
and  puerilities  which  would  not  occur  if 
the  Stone  of  Foundation  was  received,  as 
it  really  is,  as  a  myth  conveying  a  most 
profound  and  beautiful  symbolism.  It  is 
as  such  that  it  is  to  be  treated  here;  and, 
therefore,  if  a  legend  is  recited  or  a  tradi- 
tion related,  the  reader  is  requested  on 
every  occasion  to  suppose  that  such  legend 
or  tradition  is  not  intended  as  the  recital 
or  relation  of  what  is  deemed  a  fact  in  Ma- 
sonic history,  but  to  wait  with  patience  for 
the  development  of  the  symbolism  which 
it  conveys.    Read  in  this  spirit,  as  all  the 


legends  of  Masonry  should  be  read,  the 
legend  of  the  Stone  of  Foundation  becomes 
one  of  the  most  important  and  interesting 
of  all  the  Masonic  symbols. 

The  Stone  of  Foundation  is  supposed, 
by  the  theory  which  establishes  it,  to  have 
been  a  stone  placed  at  one  time  within  the 
foundations  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
and  afterwards,  during  the  building  of  the 
second  Temple,  transported  to  the  Holy  of 
Holies.  It  was  in  form  a  perfect  cube,  and 
had  inscribed  upon  its  upper  face,  within  a 
delta  or  triangle,  the  sacred  Tetragramma- 
ton,  or  ineffable  name  of  God.  Oliver, 
speaking  with  the  solemnity  of  a  historian, 
says  that  Solomon  thought  that  he  had 
rendered  the  house  of  God  worthy,  so  far 
as  human  adornment  could  effect,  for  the 
dwelling  of  God,  "  when  he  had  placed  the 
celebrated  Stone  of  Foundation,  on  which 
the  sacred  name  was  mystically  engraven, 
with  solemn  ceremonies,  in  that  sacred  de- 
pository on  Mount  Moriah,  alone  with  the 
foundations  of  Dan  and  Asher,  the  centre 
of  the  Most  Holy  Place,  where  the  ark  was 
overshadowed  by  the  shekinah  of  God." 
The  Hebrew  Talmudists,  who  thought  as 
much  of  this  stone,  and  had  as  many  le- 
gends concerning  it,  as  the  Masonic  Talmu- 
dists, called  it  eben  shatijah,  or  "Stone  of 
Foundation,"  because,  as  they  said,  it  had 
been  laid  by  Jehovah  as  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  and  hence  the  apocryphal  book 
of  Enoch  speaks  of  the  "  stone  which  sup- 
ports the  corners  of  the  earth." 

This  idea  of  a  foundation-stone  of  the 
world  was  most  probably  derived  from  that 
magnificent  passage  of  the  book  of  Job 
(ch.  xxxviii.)  in  which  the  Almighty  de- 
mands of  Job,  — 

"  Where  wast  thou,  when  I  laid  the  foundation 

of  the  earth  ? 
Declare,  since  thou  hast  such  knowledge ! 
Who  fixed  its  dimensions,  since  thou  knowest ! 
Or  who  stretched  out  the  line  upon  it  ? 
Upon  what  were  its  foundations  fixed  ? 
And  who  laid  its  corner-stone, 
When  the  morning  stars  sang  together, 
And  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ?  " 

Noyes,  whose  translation  I  have  adopted 
as  not  materially  differing  from  the  com- 
mon version,  but  far  more  poetical  and 
more  in  the  strain  of  the  original,  thus  ex- 
plains the  allusions  to  the  foundation- 
stone  :  "  It  was  the  custom  to  celebrate  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  an  important 
building  with  music,  songs,  shouting,  etc. 
Hence  the  morning  stars  are  represented 
as  celebrating  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  the  earth." 

Upon  this  meagre  statement  has  been 
accumulated  more  traditions  than  apper- 
tain to  any  other  Masonic  symbol.     The 


752 


STONE 


STONE 


Rabbins,  as  has  already  been  intimated, 
divide  the  glory  of  these  apocryphal  his- 
tories with  the  Masons ;  indeed,  there  is 
good  reason  for  a  suspicion  that  nearly  all 
the  Masonic  legends  owe  their  first  exist- 
ence to  the  imaginative  genius  of  the 
writers  of  the  Jewish  Talmud.  But  there 
is  this  difference  between  the  Hebrew  and 
the  Masonic  traditions :  that  the  Talmudic 
scholar  recited  them  as  truthful  histories, 
and  swallowed,  in  one  gulp  of  faith,  all 
their  impossibilities  and  anachronisms; 
while  the  Masonic  scholar  has  received 
them  as  allegories,  whose  value  is  not  in 
the  facts,  but  in  the  sentiments  which  they 
convey. 

With  this  understanding  of  their  mean- 
ing, let  us  proceed  to  a  collation  of  these 
legends. 

In  that  blasphemous  work,  the  Toldoth 
Jeshu,  or  Life  of  Jesus,  written,  it  is  sup- 
posed, in  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, we  find  the  following  account  of  this 
wonderful  stone : 

"  At  that  time  [the  time  of  Jesus]  there 
was  in  the  House  of  the  Sanctuary  [that  is, 
the  Temple]  a  stone  of  foundation,  which 
is  the  very  stone  that  our  father  Jacob 
anointed  with  oil,  as  it  is  described  in  the 
twenty-eighth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Gene- 
sis. On  that  stone  the  letters  of  the  Tetra- 
grammaton  were  inscribed,  and  whosoever 
of  the  Israelites  should  learn  that  name 
would  be  able  to  master  the  world.  To 
prevent,  therefore,  any  one  from  learning 
these  letters,  two  iron  dogs  were  placed 
upon  two  columns  in  front  of  the  Sanctu- 
ary. If  any  person,  having  acquired  the 
knowledge  of  these  letters,  desired  to  de- 
part from  the  Sanctuary,  the  barking  of 
the  dogs,  by  magical  power,  inspired  so 
much  fear  that  he  suddenly  forgot  what  he 
had  acquired." 

This  passage  is  cited  by  the  learned 
Buxtorf  in  his  Lexicon  Talmudicum  ;  but  in 
my  copy  of  the  Toldoth  Jeshu,  I  find  an- 
other passage,  which  gives  some  additional 
particulars,  in  the  following  words : 

"  At  that  time  there  was  in  the  Temple 
the  ineffable  name  of  God,  inscribed  upon 
the  Stone  of  Foundation.  For  when  King 
David  was  digging  the  foundation  for  the 
Temple,  he  found  in  the  depths  of  the  exca- 
vation a  certain  stone  on  which  the  name 
of  God  was  inscribed.  This  stone  he  re- 
moved and  deposited  it  in  the  Holy  of 
Holies." 

The  same  puerile  story  of  the  barking 
dogs  is  repeated  still  more  at  length.  It 
is  not  pertinent  to  the  present  inquiry,  but 
it  may  be  stated,  as  a  mere  matter  of  curious 
information,  that  this  scandalous  book, 
which  is  throughout  a  blasphemous  defa- 
mation of  our  Saviour,  proceeds  to  say,  that 


he  cunningly  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the 
Tetragrammaton  from  the  Stone  of  Foun- 
dation, and  by  its  mystical  influence  was 
enabled  to  perform  his  miracles. 

The  Masonic  legends  of  the  Stone  of 
Foundation,  based  on  these  and  other  rab- 
binical reveries,  are  of  the  most  extraor- 
dinary character,  if  they  are  to  be  viewed 
as  histories,  but  readily  reconcilable  with 
sound  sense,  if  looked  at  only  in  the  light 
of  allegories.  They  present  an  uninter- 
rupted succession  of  events,  in  which  the 
Stone  of  Foundation  takes  a  prominent 
part,  from  Adam  to  Solomon,  and  from 
Solomon  to  Zerubbabel. 

Thus,  the  first  of  these  legends,  in  order 
of  time,  relates  that  the  Stone  of  Founda- 
tion was  possessed  by  Adam  while  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden;  that  he  used  it  as  an 
altar,  and  so  reverenced  it  that,  on  his  ex- 

Eulsion  from  Paradise,  he  carried  it  with 
im  into  the  world  in  which  he  and  his 
descendants  were  afterwards  to  earn  their 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 

Another  legend  informs  us  that  from 
Adam  the  Stone  of  Foundation  descended 
to  Seth.  From  Seth  it  passed  by  regular 
succession  to  Noah,  who  took  it  with  him 
into  the  ark,  and  after  the  subsidence  of 
the  deluge  made  on  it  his  first  thank-offer- 
ing. Noah  left  it  on  Mount  Ararat,  where 
it  was  subsequently  found  by  Abraham, 
who  removed  it,  and  constantly  used  it  as 
an  altar  of  sacrifice.  His  grandson  Jacob 
took  it  with  him  when  he  fled  to  his  uncle 
Laban  in  Mesopotamia,  and  used  it  as  a 
pillow  when,  in  the  vicinity  of  Luz,  he  had 
his  celebrated  vision. 

Here  there  is  a  sudden  interruption  in  the 
legendary  history  of  the  stone,  and  we  have 
no  means  of  conjecturing  how  it  passed 
from  the  possession  of  Jacob  into  that  of 
Solomon.  Moses,  it  is  true,  is  said  to  have 
taken  it  with  him  out  of  Egypt  at  the  time 
of  the  exodus,  and  thus  it  may  have  finally 
reached  Jerusalem.  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  re- 
peats, what  he  very  properly  calls  "  a  fool- 
ish tradition,"  that  the  stone  on  which  Ja- 
cob rested  his  head  was  afterwards  brought 
to  Jerusalem,  thence  carried  after  a  long 
lapse  of  time  to  Spain,  from  Spain  to  Ire- 
land, and  from  Ireland  to  Scotland,  where 
it  was  used  as  a  seat  on  which  the  kings  of 
Scotland  sat  to  be  crowned.  Edward  I., 
we  know,  brought  a  stone  to  which  this 
legend  is  attached  from  Scotland  to  West- 
minster Abbey,  where,  under  the  name  of 
Jacob's  Pillow,  it  still  remains,  and  is  al- 
ways placed  under  the  chair  upon  which 
the  British  sovereign  sits  to  be  crowned; 
because  there  is  an  old  distich  which  de- 
clares that  wherever  this  stone  is  found  the 
Scottish  kings  shall  reign. 
But  this  Scottish  tradition  would  take  the 


STONE 


STONE 


753 


Stone  of  Foundation  away  from  all  its  Ma- 
sonic connections,  and  therefore  it  is  re- 
jected as  a  Masonic  legend. 

The  legends  just  related  are  in  many 
respects  contradictory  and  unsatisfactory, 
and  another  series,  equally  as  old,  is  now 
very  generally  adopted  by  Masonic  scholars 
as  much  better  suited  to  the  symbolism  by 
which  all  these  legends  are  explained. 

This  series  of  legends  commences  with 
the  patriarch  Enoch,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  first  consecrator  of  the  Stone  of 
Foundation.  The  legend  of  Enoch  is  so 
interesting  and  important  in  this  connec- 
tion as  to  excuse  its  repetition  in  the  pres- 
ent work. 

The  legend  in  full  is  as  follows :  Enoch, 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  Most  High,  and 
in  obedience  to  the  instructions  which  he 
had  received  in  a  vision,  built  a  temple 
underground  on  Mount  Moriah,  and  dedi- 
cated it  to  God.  His  son,  Methuselah,  con- 
structed the  building,  although  he  was  not 
acquainted  with  his  father's  motives  for  the 
erection.  This  temple  consisted  of  nine 
vaults,  situated  perpendicularly  beneath 
each  other,  and  communicating  by  aper- 
tures left  in  each  vault. 

Enoch  then  caused  a  triangular  plate  of 
gold  to  be  made,  each  side  of  which  was  a 
cubit  long ;  he  enriched  it  with  the  most 
precious  stones,  and  encrusted  the  plate 
upon  a  stone  of  agate  of  the  same  form. 
On  the  plate  he  engraved  the  true  name  of 
God,  or  the  Tetragrammaton,  and  placing 
it  on  a  cubical  stone,  known  thereafter  as 
the  Stone  of  Foundation,  he  deposited  the 
whole  within  the  lowest  arch. 

When  this  subterranean  building  was 
completed,  he  made  a  door  of  stone,  and 
attaching  to  it  a  ring  of  iron,  by  which  it 
might  be  occasionally  raised,  he  placed  it 
over  the  opening  of  the  uppermost  arch, 
and  so  covered  it  that  the  aperture  could 
not  be  discovered.  Enoch,  himself,  was 
not  permitted  to  enter  it  but  once  a  year ; 
and  on  the  deaths  of  Enoch,  Methuselah, 
and  Lamech,  and  the  destruction  of  the 
world  by  the  deluge,  all  knowledge  of  the 
vault  or  subterranean  temple  and  of  the 
Stone  of  Foundation,  with  the  sacred  and 
ineffable  name  inscribed  upon  it,  was  lost 
for  ages  to  the  world. 

At  the  building  of  the  first  Temple  of 
Jerusalem,  the  Stone  of  Foundation  again 
makes  its  appearance.  Reference  has  al- 
ready been  made  to  the  Jewish  tradition 
that  David,  when  digging  the  foundations 
of  the  Temple,  found  in  the  excavation 
which  he  was  making  a  certain  stone,  on 
which  the  ineffable  name  of  God  was  in- 
scribed, and  which  stone  he  is  said  to  have 
removed  and  deposited  in  the  Holy  of 
Holies.  That  King  David  laid  the  founda- 
4U  48 


tions  of  the  Temple  upon  which  the  super- 
structure was  subsequently  erected  by  Sol- 
omon, is  a  favorite  theory  of  the  legend- 
mongers  of  the  Talmud. 

The  Masonic  tradition  is  substantially 
the  same  as  the  Jewish,  but  it  substitutes 
Solomon  for  David,  thereby  giving  a  greater 
air  of  probability  to  the  narrative,  and  it 
supposes  that  the  stone  thus  discovered  by 
Solomon  was  the  identical  one  that  had 
been  deposited  in  his  secret  vault  by  Enoch. 
This  Stone  of  Foundation,  the  tradition 
states,  was  subsequently  removed  by  King 
Solomon  and,  for  wise  purposes,  deposited 
in  a  secret  and  safer  place. 

In  this  the  Masonic  tradition  again  agrees 
with  the  Jewish,  for  we  find  in  the  third 
chapter  of  the  Treatise  on  the  Temple,  the 
following  narrative : 

"  There  was  a  stone  in  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
on  its  west  side,  on  which  was  placed  the 
ark  of  the  covenant,  and  before  the  pot  of 
manna  and  Aaron's  rod.  But  when  Solo- 
mon had  built  the  Temple,  and  foresaw 
that  it  was  at  some  future  time  to  be  de- 
stroyed, he  constructed  a  deep  and  wind- 
ing vault  under  ground,  for  the  purpose  of 
concealing  the  ark,  wherein  Josiah  after- 
wards, as  we  learn  in  the  Second  Book  of 
Chronicles,  xxxv.  3,  deposited  it  with  the 
pot  of  manna,  the  rod  of  Aaron,  and  the 
oil  of  anointing." 

The  Talmudical  book  Yoma  gives  the 
same  tradition,  and  says  that  "  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  was  placed  in  the  centre  of 
the  Holy  of  Holies,  upon  a  stone  rising 
three  fingers'  breadth  above  the  floor,  to 
be  as  it  were  a  pedestal  for  it."  This  stone, 
says  Prideaux,  in  his  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment Connected,  (vol.  i.,  p.  148,)  "the  Rab- 
bins call  the  Stone  of  Foundation,  and  give 
us  a  great  deal  of  trash  about  it." 

There  is  much  controversy  as  to  the 
question  of  the  existence  of  any  ark  in  the 
second  Temple.  Some  of  the  Jewish  writers 
assert  that  a  new  one  was  made;  others 
that  the  old  one  was  found  where  it  had 
been  concealed  by  Solomon;  and  others 
again  contend  that  there  was  no  ark  at  all 
in  the  temple  of  Zerubbabel,  but  that  its 
place  was  supplied  by  the  Stone  of  Foun- 
dation on  which  it  had  originally  rested. 

Royal  Arch  Masons  well  know  how  all 
these  traditions  are  sought  to  be  reconciled 
by  the  Masonic  legend,  in  which  the  sub- 
stitute ark  and  the  Stone  of  Foundation 
play  so  important  a  part. 

In  the  thirteenth  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Rite,  the  Stone  of  Founda- 
tion is  conspicuous  as  the  resting-place  of 
the  sacred  delta. 

In  the  Royal  Arch  and  Select  Master's 
degrees  of  the  American  Rite,  the  Stone 
of  Foundation  constitutes    the  most  im- 


754 


STONE 


STONE 


portant  part  of  the  ritual.  In  both  of 
these  it  is  the  receptacle  of  the  ark,  on 
which  the  ineffable  name  is  inscribed. 

Lee,  in  his  Temple  of  Solomon,  has  devoted 
a  chapter  to  this  Stone  of  Foundation,  and 
thus  recapitulates  the  Talmudic  and  Rab- 
binical traditions  on  the  subject : 

"  Vain  and  futilous  are  the  feverish 
dreams  of  the  ancient  Rabbins  concerning 
the  Foundation-Stone  of  the  Temple.  Some 
assert  that  God  placed  this  stone  in  the 
centre  of  the  world,  for  a  future  basis  and 
settled  consistency  for  the  earth  to  rest 
upon.  Others  heid  this  stone  to  be  the 
first  matter  out  of  which  all  the  beautiful 
visible  beings  of  the  world  have  been  hewn 
forth  and  produced  to  light.  Others  re- 
late that  this  was  the  very  same  stone  laid 
by  Jacob  for  a  pillow  under  his  head,  in 
that  night  when  he  dreamed  of  an  angelic 
vision  at  Bethel,  and  afterwards  anointed 
and  consecrated  it  to  God.  Which  when 
Solomon  had  found  (no  doubt  by  forged 
revelation  or  some  tedious  search  like  an- 
other Rabbi  Selemoh)  he  durst  not  but  lay 
it  sure,  as  the  principal  Foundation-Stone 
of  the  Temple.  Nay,  they  say  further,  he 
caused  to  be  engraved  upon  it  the  Tetra- 
grammaton,  or  the  ineffable  name  of  Je- 
hovah." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Masonic  tradi- 
tions on  the  subject  of  the  Stone  of  Foun- 
dation do  not  differ  very  materially  from 
these  Rabbinical  ones,  although  they  add  a 
few  additional  circumstances. 

In  the  Masonic  legend,  the  Foundation- 
Stone  first  makes  its  appearance,  as  we  have 
already  said,  in  the  days  of  Enoch,  who 
placed  it  in  the  bowels  of  Mount  Moriah. 
There  it  was  subsequently  discovered  by 
King  Solomon,  who  deposited  it  in  a  crypt 
of  the  first  Temple,  where  it  remained  con- 
cealed until  the  foundations  of  the  second 
Temple  were  laid,  when  it  was  discovered 
and  removed  to  the  Holy  of  Holies.  But 
the  most  important  point  of  the  legend  of 
the  Stone  of  Foundation  is  its  intimate 
and  constant  connection  with  the  Tetra- 
grammaton  or  ineffable  name.  It  is  this 
name,  inscribed  upon  it  within  the  sacred 
and  symbolic  delta,  that  gives  to  the  stone 
all  its  Masonic  value  and  significance.  It 
is  upon  this  fact,  that  it  was  so  inscribed, 
that  its  whole  symbolism  depends. 

Looking  at  these  traditions  in  anything 
like  the  light  of  historical  narratives,  we 
are  compelled  to  consider  them,  to  use  the 
plain  language  of  Lee,  "  but  as  so  many 
idle  and  absurd  conceits."  We  must  go 
behind  the  legend,  which  we  acknowledge 
at  once  to  be  only  an  allegory,  and  study 
its  symbolism. 

The  following  facts  can,  I  think,  be  read- 
ily established  from  history.    First,  that 


there  was  a  very  general  prevalence  among 
the  earliest  nations  of  antiquity  of  the  wor- 
ship of  stones  as  the  representatives  of 
Deity;  secondly,  that  in  almost  every  an- 
cient temple  there  was  a  legend  of  a  sacred 
or  mystical  stone;  thirdly,  that  this  le- 
gend is  found  in  the  Masonic  system ;  and 
lastly,  that  the  mystical  stone  there  has 
received  the  name  of  the  "  Stone  of  Foun- 
dation." 

Now,  as  in  all  the  other  systems  the 
stone  is  admitted  to  be  symbolic,  and  the 
traditions  connected  with  it  mystical,  we 
are  compelled  to  assume  the  same  predi- 
cates of  the  Masonic  stone.  It,  too,  is 
symbolic,  and  its  legend  a  myth  or  an 
allegory. 

Of  the  fable,  myth,  or  allegory,  Bailly 
has  said  that,  "  subordinate  to  history  and 
philosophy,  it  only  deceives  that  it  may  the 
better  instruct  us.  Faithful  in  preserving 
the  realities  which  are  confided  to  it,  it 
covers  with  its  seductive  envelop  the  les- 
sons of  the  one  and  the  truths  of  the  other." 
It  is  from  this  stand-point  that  we  are  to 
view  the  allegory  of  the  Stone  of  Founda- 
tion, as  developed  in  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting and  important  symbols  of  Ma- 
sonry. 

The  fact  that  the  mystical  stone  in  all 
the  ancient  religions  was  a  symbol  of  the 
Deity,  leads  us  necessarily  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  Stone  of  Foundation  was  also 
a  symbol  of  Deity.  And  this  symbolic  idea 
is  strengthened  by  the  Tetragrammaton,  or 
sacred  name  of  God,  that  was  inscribed 
upon  it.  This  ineffable  name  sanctifies  the 
stone  upon  which  it  is  engraved  as  the  sym- 
bol of  the  Grand  Architect.  It  takes  from 
it  its  heathen  signification  as  an  idol,  and 
consecrates  it  to  the  worship  of  the  true 
God. 

The  predominant  idea  of  the  Deity,  in 
the  Masonic  system,  connects  him  with  his 
creative  and  formative  power.  God  is  to 
the  Freemason  Al  Gabil,  as  the  Arabians 
called  him,  that  is,  The  Builder ;  or,  as  ex- 
pressed in  his  Masonic  title,  the  Grand 
Architect  of  the  Universe,  by  common  con- 
sent abbreviated  in  the  formula  G  A  O  T  U. 
Now,  it  is  evident  that  no  symbol  could  so 
appropriately  suit  him  in  this  character  as 
the  Stone  of  Foundation,  upon  which  he 
is  allegorically  supposed  to  have  erected  his 
world.  Such  a  symbol  closely  connects  the 
creative  work  of  God,  as  a  pattern  and  ex- 
emplar, with  the  workman's  erection  of  his 
temporal  building  on  a  similar  foundation- 
stone. 

But  this  Masonic  idea  is  still  further  to 
be  extended.  The  great  object  of  all  Ma- 
sonic labor  is  divi ne  truth.  The  search  for 
the  lost  word  is  the  search  for  truth.  But 
divine  truth   is  a  term  synonymous  with 


STONE 


STONE 


755 


God.  The  ineffable  name  is  a  symbol  of 
truth,  because  God,  and  God  alone,  is  truth. 
It  is  properly  a  scriptural  idea.  The  Book 
of  Psalms  abounds  with  this  sentiment. 
Thus  it  is  said  that  the  truth  of  the  Lord 
"reacheth  unto  the  clouds,"  and  that  "his 
truth  endureth  unto  all  generations."  If, 
then,  God  is  truth,  and  the  Stone  of  Foun- 
dation is  the  Masonic  symbol  of  God,  it 
follows  that  it  must  also  be  the  symbol  of 
divine  truth. 

When  we  have  arrived  at  this  point  in 
our  speculations,  we  are  ready  to  show  how 
all  the  myths  and  legends  of  the  Stone  of 
Foundation  may  be  rationally  explained  as 
parts  of  that  beautiful  "  science  of  moral- 
ity, veiled  in  allegory  and  illustrated  by 
symbols,"  which  is  the  acknowledged  defi- 
nition of  Freemasonry. 

In  the  Masonic  system  there  are  two  tem- 
ples ;  the  first  temple,  in  which  the  degrees 
of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry  are  concerned, 
and  the  second  temple,  with  which  the 
higher  degrees,  and  especially  the  Royal 
Arch,  are  related.  The  first  temple  is  sym- 
bolic of  the  present  life ;  the  second  temple 
is  symbolic  of  the  life  to  come.  The  first 
temple,  the  present  life,  must  be  destroyed ; 
on  its  foundations  the  second  temple,  the 
life  eternal,  must  be  built. 

But  the  mystical  stone  was  placed  by 
King  Solomon  in  the  foundations  of  the 
first  Temple.  That  is  to  say,  the  first  tem- 
ple of  our  present  life  must  be  built  on  the 
sure  foundation  of  divine  truth,  "  for  other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay." 

But  although  the  present  life  is  necessa- 
rily built  upon  the  foundation  of  truth,  yet 
we  never  thoroughly  attain  it  in  this  sub- 
lunary sphere.  The  Foundation-Stone  is 
concealed  in  the  first  temple,  and  the  Mas- 
ter Mason  knows  it  not.  He  has  not  the 
true  word.     He  receives  only  a  substitute. 

But  in  the  second  temple  of  the  future  life, 
we  have  passed  from  the  grave  which  had 
been  the  end  of  our  labors  in  the  first.  We 
have  removed  the  rubbish,  and  have  found 
that  Stone  of  Foundation  which  had  been 
hitherto  concealed  from  our  eyes.  We  now 
throw  aside  the  substitute  for  truth  which 
had  contented  us  in  the  former  temple,  and 
the  brilliant  effulgence  of  theTetragramma- 
ton  and  the  Stone  of  Foundation  are  discov- 
ered, and  thenceforth  we  are  the  possessors 
of  the  true  word  —  of  divine  truth.  And  in 
this  way,  the  Stone  of  Foundation,  or  divine 
truth,  concealed  in  the  first  temple,  but  dis- 
covered and  brought  to  light  in  the  second, 
will  explain  that  passage  of  the  Apostle: 
"  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly ; 
but  then,  face  to  face :  now  I  know  in  part ; 
but  then  I  shall  know  face  to  face." 

And  so  the  result  of  this  inquiry  is,  that 
the  Masonic  Stone  of  Foundation  is  a  sym- 


bol of  divine  truth,  upon  which  all  specula- 
tive Masonry  is  built,  and  the  legends  and 
traditions  which  refer  to  it  are  intended  to 
describe,  in  an  allegorical  way,  the  progress 
of  truth  in  the  soul,  the  search  for  which  is 
a  Mason's  labor,  and  the  discovery  of  which 
is  his  reward. 

Stone  Pavement.  Oliver  says  that, 
in  the  English  system,  "  the  stone  pavement 
is  a  figurative  appendage  to  a  Master  Ma- 
sons' Lodge,  and,  like  that  of  the  Most 
Holy  Place  in  the  Temple,  is  for  the  High 
Priest  to  walk  on."  This  is  not  recognized 
in  the  American  system,  where  the  stone 
or  Mosaic  pavement  is  appropriated  to  the 
Entered  Apprentice's  degree. 

Stone,  Rejected.  St.  Matthew  re- 
cords (xxi.  42)  that  our  Lord  said  to  the 
chief  priests  and  elders,  "  Did  ye  never 
read  in  the  Scriptures,  The  stone  which  the 
builders  rejected,  the  same  is  become  the 
head  of  the  corner?"  Commenting  on 
this,  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  says :  "  It  is  an  ex- 
pression borrowed  from  masons,  who,  find- 
ing a  stone  which,  being  tried  in  a  partic- 
ular place,  and  appearing  improper  for  it, 
is  thrown  aside  and  another  taken;  how- 
ever, at  last,  it  may  happen  that  the  very 
stone  which  had  been  before  rejected  may  be 
found  the  most  suitable  as  the  head  stone  of 
the  corner."  This  is  precisely  the  symbolism 
of  the  Mark  Master  or  fourth  degree  of  the 
American  Rite,  where  the  rejected  stone  is 
suggested  to  the  neophyte  as  a  consola- 
tion under  all  the  frowns  of  fortune,  and  as 
an  encouragement  to  hope  for  better  pros- 
pects." Bro.  G.  F.  Yates  says  that  the 
symbolism  of  the  rejected  stone  in  the 
present  Mark  degree  is  not  in  the  original 
Master  Mark  Mason's  degree,  out  of  which 
Webb  manufactured  his  ritual,  but  was 
introduced  by  him  from  some  other  un- 
known source. 

Stone-Squarers.    See  Oiblim. 

Stout-,  White.  Among  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans,  sentence  was  given  in 
courts  of  judicature  by  white  and  black 
stones  or  pebbles.  Those  who  were  in  favor 
of  acquittal  cast  a  white  stone,  and  those 
who  were  for  condemning,  a  black  one. 
So,  too,  in  popular  elections  a  white  stone 
was  deposited  by  those  who  were  favorable 
to  the  candidate,  and  a  black  one  by  those 
who  wished  to  reject  him.  In  this  ancient 
practice  we  find  the  origin  of  white  and 
black  balls  in  the  Masonic  ballot.  Hence, 
too,  the  white  stone  has  become  the  symbol 
of  absolution  in  judgment,  and  of  the  con- 
ferring of  honors  and  rewards.  The  white 
stone  with  the  new  name,  mentioned  in  the 
Mark  Master's  degree,  refers  to  the  key- 
stone. 

Stone,  William  Leete.  An  Amer- 
ican journalist  and  writer,  who  was  born  in 


756 


STONE 


STONE 


the  State  of  New  York  in  1792,  and  died 
in  1844.  He  was  the  author  of  several 
literary  works,  generally  of  a  biographical 
character.  But  his  largest  work  was  "Let- 
ters on  Masonry  and  anti-Masonry,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams," 
New  York,  1832,  8vo,  pp.  566.  This  was 
one  of  the  productions  which  were  in- 
debted for  their  appearance  to  the  anti- 
Masonic  excitement  that  prevailed  at  that 
time  in  this  country.  Although  free  from 
the  bitterness  of  tone  and  abusive  language 
which  characterized  most  of  the  contem- 
poraneous writings  of  the  anti-Masons,  it 
is,  as  an  argumentative  work,  discreditable 
to  the  critical  acumen  of  the  author.  It 
abounds  in  statements  made  without  au- 
thority and  unsustained  by  proofs,  while  its 
premises  being  in  most  instances  false,  its 
deductions  are  necessarily  illogical. 

Stone  Worship.  This  was,  perhaps, 
the  earliest  form  of  fetichism.  Before  the 
discovery  of  metals,  men  were  accustomed 
to  worship  unhewn  stones.  From  Chna, 
whom  Sanchoniathan  calls  "the  first 
Phoenician,"  the  Canaanites  learned  the 
practice,  the  influence  of  which  we  may 
trace  in  the  stone  pillar  erected  and  con- 
secrated by  Jacob.  The  account  in  Gene- 
sis xxviii.  18,  22,  is  that  "  Jacob  took  the 
stone  that  he  had  put  for  his  pillows  and 
set  it  up  for  a  pillar,  and  poured  oil  upon 
the  top  of  it ;  and  he  called  the  name  of  the 
place  Bethel,  saying,  This  stone  which  I  have 
set  for  a  pillar  shall  be  God's  house."  The 
Israelites  were  repeatedly  commanded  to 
destroy  the  stone  idols  of  the  Canaanites, 
and  Moses  corrects  his  own  people  when 
falling  into  this  species  of  idolatry. 

Various  theories  have  been  suggested  as 
to  the  origin  of  stone  worship.  Lord 
Kames  supposes  that  fact  by  supposing 
that  stones  erected  as  monuments  of  the 
dead  became  the  place  where  posterity  paid 
their  veneration  to  the  memory  of  the  de- 
ceased, and  that  at  length  the  people,  losing 
sight  of  the  emblematical  signification, 
which  was  not  readily  understood,  the 
monumental  stones  at  length  became  ob- 
jects of  worship. 

Others  have  sought  to  find  the  origin  of 
stone  worship  in  the  stone  that  was  set  up 
and  anointed  by  Jacob  at  Bethel,  and  the 
tradition  of  which  had  extended  into  the 
heathen  nations  and  become  corrupted.  It 
is  certain  that  the  Phoenicians  worshipped 
sacred  stones  under  the  name  of  Bcetylia, 
which  word  is  evidently  derived  from  the 
Hebrew  Bethel,  and  this  undoubtedly  gives 
some  appearance  of  probability  to  the 
theory. 

But  a  third  theory  supposes  that  the 
worship  of  stones  was  derived  from  the 
unskilfulness  of  the  primitive  sculptors, 


who,  unable  to  frame,  by  their  meagre 
principles  of  plastic  art,  a  true  image  of 
the  God  whom  they  adored,  were  content 
to  substitute  in  its  place  a  rude  or  scarcely 
polished  stone.  Hence  the  Greeks,  accord- 
ing to  Pausanias,  originally  used  unhewn 
stones  to  represent  their  deities,  thirty  of 
which,  that  historian  says,  he  saw  in  the 
city  of  Pharce.  These  stones  were  of  a 
cubical  form,  and,  as  the  greater  number 
of  them  were  dedicated  to  the  god  Hermes, 
or  Mercury,  they  received  the  generic  name 
of  Hermce.  Subsequently,  with  the  improve- 
ment of  the  plastic  art,  the  head  was  added. 

So  difficult,  indeed,  was  it,  in  even  the 
most  refined  era  of  Grecian  civilization,  for 
the  people  to  divest  themselves  of  the  in- 
fluences of  this  superstition,  that  Theo- 
phrastus  characterizes  "  the  superstitious 
man  "  as  one  who  could  not  resist  the  im- 
pulse to  bow  to  those  mysterious  stones 
which  served  to  mark  the  confluence  of  the 
highways. 

One  of  these    consecrated   stones    was 

E laced  before  the  door  of  almost  every 
ouse  in  Athens.  They  were  also  placed 
in  front  of  the  temples,  in  the  gymnasia  or 
schools,  in  libraries,  and  at  the  corners  of 
streets,  and  in  the  roads.  When  dedicated 
to  the  god  Terminus  they  were  used  as 
landmarks,  and  placed  as  such  upon  the 
concurrent  lines  of  neighboring  possessions. 

The  Thebans  worshipped  Bacchus  under 
the  form  of  a  rude,  square  stone. 

Arnobius  says  that  Cybele  was  repre- 
sented by  a  small  stone  of  a  black  color. 
Eusebius  cites  Porphyry  as  saying  that  the 
ancients  represented  the  Deity  by  a  black 
stone,  because  his  nature  is  obscure  and  in- 
scrutable. The  reader  will  here  be  re- 
minded of  the  black  stone,  Hadsjar  el  As- 
wad,  placed  in  the  south-west  corner  of  the 
Kaaba  at  Mecca,  which  was  worshipped  by 
the  ancient  Arabians,  and  is  still  treated 
with  religious  veneration  by  the  modern 
Mohammedans.  The  Mussulman  priests, 
however,  say  that  it  was  originally  white, 
and  of  such  surprising  splendor  that  it  could 
be  seen  at  the  distance  of  four  days'  jour- 
ney, but  that  it  has  been  blackened  by  the 
tears  of  pilgrims. 

The  Druids,  it  is  well  known,  had  no 
other  images  of  their  gods  but  cubical  or 
sometimes  columnar  stones,  of  which  To- 
land  gives  several  instances. 

The  Chaldeans  had  a  sacred  stone,  which 
they  held  in  great  veneration,  under  the 
name  of  Mnizuris,  and  to  which  they  sacri- 
ficed for  the  purpose  of  evoking  the  Good 
Demon. 

Stone  worship  existed  among  the  early 
American  races.  Squier  quotes  Skinner  as 
asserting  that  the  Peruvians  used  to  set  up 
rough  stones  in  their  fields  and  plantations, 


STONE 


STONE 


757 


which  were  worshipped  as  protectors  of  their 
crops.  And  Gamasays  that  in  Mexico  the 
presiding  god  of  the  spring  was  often  repre- 
sented without  a  human  body,  and  in  place 
thereof  a  pilaster  or  square  column,  whose 
pedestal  was  covered  with  various  sculp- 
tures. 

Indeed,  so  universal  was  this  stone  wor- 
ship, that  Higgins,  in  his  Celtic  Druids, 
says  that "  throughout  the  world  the  first 
object  of  idolatry  seems  to  have  been  a 
plain,  unwrought  stone,  placed  in  the 
ground,  as  an  emblem  of  the  generative 
or  procreative  powers  of  nature."  And 
Bryant,  in  his  Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythol- 
ogy, asserts  that  "  there  is  in  every  oracular 
temple  some  legend  about  a  stone." 

Without  further  citations  of  examples 
from  the  religious  usages  of  antiquity,  it 
will,  I  think,  be  conceded  that  the  cubical 
stone  formed  an  important  part  of  the  re- 
ligious worship  of  primitive  nations.  But 
Cudworth,  Bryant,  Faber,  and  all  other 
distinguished  writers  who  have  treated  the 
subject,  have  long  since  established  the 
theory  that  the  Pagan  religions  were  emi- 
nently symbolic.  Thus,  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  Dudley,  the  pillar  or  stone  "  was 
adopted  as  a  symbol  of  strength  and  firm- 
ness—  a  symbol,  also,  of  the  divine  power, 
and,  by  a  ready  inference,  a  symbol  or  idol 
of  the  Deity  himself."  And  this  symbol- 
ism is  confirmed  by  Phurnutus,  whom  To- 
land  quotes  as  saying  that  the  god  Hermes 
was  represented  without  hands  or  feet,  be- 
ing a  cubical  stone,  because  the  cubical 
figure  betokened  his  solidity  and  stability. 

The  influence  of  this  old  stone  worship, 
but  of  course  divested  of  its  idolatrous 
spirit,  and  developed  into  the  system  of 
symbolic  instruction,  is  to  be  found  in  Ma- 
sonry, where  the  reference  to  sacred  stones 
is  made  in  the  Foundation-Stone,  the  Cu- 
bical Stone,  the  Corner-Stone,  and  some 
other  symbols  of  a  similar  character.  In- 
deed, the  stone  supplies  Masonic  science 
with  a  very  important  and  diversified  sym- 
bolism. 

As  stone  worship  was  one  of  the  oldest 
of  the  deflections  from  the  pure  religion, 
so  it  was  one  of  the  last  to  be  abandoned. 
A  decree  of  the  Council  of  Aries,  which  was 
held  in  the  year  452,  declares  that  "  if,  in 
any  diocese,  any  infidel  either  lighted 
torches  or  worshipped  trees,  fountains,  or 
stones,  or  neglected  to  destroy  them,  he 
should  be  found  guilty  of  sacrilege."  A 
similar  decree  was  subsequently  issued  by 
the  Council  of  Tours  in  567,  that  of  Nantes 
in  658,  aud  that  of  Toledo  in  681.  Char- 
lemagne, of  France,  in  the  eighth  century, 
and  Canute,  of  England,  in  the  eleventh, 
found  it  necessary  to  execrate  and  forbid 
the  worship  of  stones. 


Even  in  the  present  day,  the  worship  has 
not  been  altogether  abandoned,  but  still 
exists  in  some  remote  districts  of  Christen- 
dom. Scheffer,  in  his  Description  of  Lap- 
land, (cited  by  Mr.  Tennent,  in  Notes  and 
Queries,  1st  Ser.,  v.  122,)  says,  that  in  1673 
the  Laplanders  worshipped  an  unhewn 
stone  found  upon  the  banks  of  lakes  and 
rivers,  and  which  they  called  "  kied  hie 
jubmal,  that  is,  the  stone  god."  Martin,  in 
his  Description  of  the  Western  Islands,  (p. 
88,)  says:  "There  is  a  stone  set  up  near  a 
mile  to  the  south  of  St.  Columbus's  church, 
about  eight  feet  high  and  two  broad.  It  is 
called  by  the  natives  the  bowing  stone  ;  for 
when  the  inhabitants  had  the  first  sight 
of  the  church,  they  set  up  this,  and  then 
bowed,  and  said  the  Lord's  Prayer."  He 
also  describes  several  other  stones  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  islands  which  were  objects 
of  veneration.  Finally,  in  a  work  published 
about  twenty  years  ago  by  the  Earl  of 
Roden,  entitled  Progress  of  the  Reformation 
in  Ireland,  he  says,  (p.  51,)  that  at  Innis- 
kea,  an  island  off  the  coast  of  Mayo,  "a 
stone  carefully  wrapped  up  in  flannel  is 
brought  out  at  certain  periods  to  be  adored; 
and  when  a  storm  arises,  this  god  is  suppli- 
cated to  send  a  wreck  on  their  coasts." 

Tennent,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for 
these  citations,  adds  another  from  Borlase, 
who,  in  his  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  says 
(b.  iii.,  c.  ii.,  p.  162,)  that  "after  Christi- 
anity took  place,  many  [in  Cornwall]  con- 
tinued to  worship  these  stones;  coming 
thither  with  lighted  torches,  and  praying 
for  safety  and  success." 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  in  many 
remote  regions  of  Europe,  where  the  sun 
of  Christianity  has  only  darted  its  dimmest 
rays,  this  old  worship  of  sacred  stones  still 
remains. 

Strasburg,  Cathedral  of.  This 
has  always  been  considered  as  one  of  the 
finest  Gothic  buildings  in  Europe,  and  its 
spire  is  the  highest  in  the  world,  being  466 
feet.  The  original  cathedral  was  founded 
in  504,  but  in  1007  it  was  almost  com- 
pletely destroyed  by  lightning.  The  pres- 
ent edifice  was  begun  in  1015  and  com- 
pleted in  1439.  The  cathedral  of  Strasburg 
is  very  closely  connected  with  the  history 
of  Freemasonry.  The  most  important  as- 
sociation of  master  builders,  says  Stieglitz, 
{Von  Altdeusch.  Bauk.,)  for  the  culture  and 
extension  of  German  art,  was  that  which 
took  place  at  Strasburg  under  Erwin  von 
Steinbach.  As  soon  as  this  architect  had 
undertaken  the  direction  of  the  works  at 
the  Strasburg  cathedral,  he  summoned  ma- 
sons out  of  Germany,  England,  and  Italy, 
and  formed  with  them  a  brotherhood, 
through  which,  in  1275,  a  Freemasonry 
according  to  the  English  system  was  es- 


758 


STRASBURG 


STUART 


tablished.  Thence  hutten,  or  Lodges,  were 
scattered  over  Europe.  In  1459,  on  April 
25,  says  Grandidier,  the  Masters  of  many 
of  these  Lodges  assembled  at  Ratisbon  and 
drew  up  an  Act  of  Fraternity,  which  made 
the  master  of  the  works  at  Strasburg,  and 
his  successors,  the  perpetual  Grand  Masters 
of  the  Fraternity  of  German  Freemasons. 
This  was  confirmed  by  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian in  1498.  By  the  statutes  of  this  as- 
sociation, the  Haupt-Hutte,  Grand  or  Moth- 
er Lodge  of  Strasburg,  was  invested  with 
a  judicature,  without  appeal,  over  all  the 
Lodges  of  Germany.  Strasburg  thus  takes 
in  German  Masonry  a  position  equivalent 
to  that  of  York  in  the  Masonry  of  England, 
or  Kilwinning  in  that  of  Scotland.  And 
although  the  Haupt-Hutte  of  Strasburg 
with  all  other  Haupt-Hutten  were  abol- 
ished by  an  imperial  edict  on  August  16, 
1731,  the  Mother  Lodge  never  lost  its  pres- 
tige. "This,"  says  Findel,  {Hist,  72,)  "is 
the  case  even  now  in  many  places  in  Ger- 
many ;  the  Saxon  Stonemasons  still  regard- 
ing the  Strasburg  Lodge  as  their  chief 
Lodge."    See  Stonemasons. 

Strasburg,  Congress  of.  Two  im- 
portant Masonic  Congresses  have  been  hold- 
en  at  Strasburg. 

The  first  Congress  of  Strasburg.  This  was 
convoked  in  1275  by  Erwin  von  Steinbach. 
The  object  was  the  establishment  of  a 
brotherhood  for  the  continuation  of  the  la- 
bors on  the  cathedral.  It  was  attended  by 
a  large  concourse  of  Masons  from  Germany, 
England,  and  Italy.  It  was  at  this  Con- 
gress that  the  German  builders  and  archi- 
tects, in  imitation  of  their  English  breth- 
ren, assumed  the  name  of  Freemasons,  and 
established  a  system  of  regulations  for  the 
government  of  the  Craft. 

The  second  Congress  of  Strasburg.  This 
was  convoked  by  the  Grand  Lodge,  or 
Haupt-Hlitte  of  Strasburg,  in  1564,  as  a 
continuation  of  one  which  had  been  held 
in  the  same  year  at  Basle.  Here  several 
statutes  were  adopted,  by  which  the  Stein- 
werksrecht,  or  Stonemasons'  law,  was 
brought  into  a  better  condition. 

Strength.  This  is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  three  principal  supports  of  a  Lodge,  as 
the  representative  of  the  whole  Institution, 
because  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be 
Strength  to  support  and  maintain  every 
great  and  important  undertaking,  not  less 
than  there  should  be  Wisdom  to  contrive  it, 
and  Beauty  to  adorn  it.  Hence,  Strength 
is  symbolized  in  Masonry  by  the  Doric 
column,  because,  of  all  the  orders  of  archi- 
tecture, it  is  the  most  massive;  by  the 
Senior  Warden,  because  it  is  his  duty  to 
strengthen  and  support  the  authority  of  the 
Master ;  and  by  Hiram  of  Tyre,  because  of 
the  material  assistance  that  he  gave  in  men 


and  materials  for  the  construction  of  the 
Temple. 
Strict  Observance,  Rite  of.    The 

Rite  of  Strict  Observance  was  a  modifica- 
tion of  Masonry,  based  on  the  Order  of 
Knights  Templars,  and  introduced  into  Ger- 
many in  1754  by  its  founder,  the  Baron 
Hund.  It  was  divided  into  the  following 
seven  degrees :  1.  Apprentice ;  2.  Fellow 
Craft;  3.  Master;  4.  Scottish  Master;  5. 
Novice ;  6.  Templar ;  7.  Professed  Knight. 

According  to  the  system  of  the  founder 
of  this  Rite,  upon  the  death  of  Jacques 
Molay,  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars, 
Pierre  d'Aumont,  the  Provincial  Grand 
Master  of  Auvergne,  with  two  Commanders 
and  five  Knights,  retired  for  purposes  of 
safety  into  Scotland,  which  place  they 
reached  disguised  as  Operative  Masons, 
and  there  finding  the  Grand  Commander, 
George  Harris,  and  several  Knights,  they 
determined  to  continue  the  Order.  Aumont 
was  nominated  Grand  Master,  at  a  Chapter 
held  on  St.  John's  day,  1313.  To  avoid 
persecution,  the  Knights  became  Freema- 
sons. In  1361,  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
Temple  removed  his  seat  to  Old  Aberdeen, 
and  from  that  time  the  Order,  under  the 
veil  of  Masonry,  spread  rapidly  through 
France,  Germany,  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
elsewhere.  These  events  constituted  the 
principal  subject  of  many  of  the  degrees  of 
the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance.  The  others 
were  connected  with  alchemy,  magic,  and 
other  superstitious  practices.  The  great 
doctrine  contended  for  by  the  followers  of 
the  Rite  was,  "  that  every  true  Mason  is  a 
Knight  Templar."  For  an  account  of  the 
rise,  the  progress,  the  decay,  and  the  final 
extinction  of  this  once  important  Rite, 
see  Hund,  Baron  Von. 

Striking  Off.  Striking  off  a  Lodge 
from  the  registry  of  the  Grand  Lodge  is  a 
phrase  of  English  Masonry,  equivalent  to 
what  in  America  is  called  a  forfeiture  of 
charter.  It  is  more  commonly  called 
"erasing  from  the  list  of  Lodges." 

Stuart  Masonry.  This  title  is  given 
by  Masonic  historians  to  that  system  of 
Freemasonry  which  is  supposed  to  have 
been  invented  by  the  adherents  of  the  ex- 
iled house  of  Stuart  for  the  purpose  of 
being  used  as  a  political  means  of  restoring, 
first,  James  II.,  and  afterwards  his  son  and 
grandson,  James  and  Charles  Edward,  re- 
spectively known  in  history  as  the  Cheva- 
lier St.  George  and  the  Young  Pretender. 
Most  of  the  conclusions  to  which  Masonic 
writers  have  arrived  on  the  subject  of  this 
connection  of  the  Stuarts  with  the  high 
degrees  of  Masonry  are  based  on  conjec- 
ture; but  there  is  sufficient  internal  evi- 
dence in  the  character  of  some  of  these 
degrees,  as  well  as  in  the  known  history 


STUART 


STUART 


759 


of  their  organization,  to  establish  the  fact 
that  such  a  connection  did  actually  exist. 

The  first  efforts  to  create  a  Masonic  in- 
fluence in  behalf  of  his  family  is  attributed 
to  James  II.,  who  had  abdicated  the  throne 
of  England  in  1688.  Of  him,  Noorthouck 
says,  [Const.,  192,)  that  he  was  not  "a 
Brother  Mason,"  and  sneeringly  adds,  in 
his  index,  that  "  he  might  have  been  a  bet- 
ter king  had  he  been  a  Mason."  But  Len- 
ning  says  that  after  his  flight  to  France, 
and  during  his  residence  at  the  Jesuit  Col- 
lege of  Clermont,  where  he  remained  for 
some  time,  his  adherents,  among  whom 
were  the  Jesuits,  fabricated  certain  degrees 
with  the  ulterior  design  of  carrying  out 
their  political  views.  At  a  later  period 
these  degrees  were,  he  says,  incorporated 
into  French  Masonry  under  the  name  of 
the  Clermont  system,  in  reference  to  their 
original  construction  at  that  place.  G'a- 
dicke  had  also  said  that  many  Scotchmen 
followed  him,  and  thus  introduced  Free- 
masonry into  France.  But  this  opinion 
is  only  worthy  of  citation  because  it  proves 
that  such  an  opinion  was  current  among 
the  German  scholars  of  the  last  century. 

On  his  death,  which  took  place  at  the 
palace  of  St.  Germain  en  Laye  in  1701,  he 
was  succeeded  in  his  claims  to  the  British 
throne  by  his  son,  who  was  recognized  by 
Louis  XIV.,  of  France,  under  the  title  of 
James  III.,  but  who  is  better  known  as  the 
Chevalier  St.  George,  or  the  Old  Pretender. 
He  also  sought,  says  Lenning,  to  find  in 
the  high  degrees  of  Masonry  a  support  for 
bis  political  views,  but,  as  he  remarks,  with 
no  better  results  than  those  which  had  at- 
tended the  attempts  of  his  father. 

His  son,  Prince  Charles  Edward,  who 
was  commonly  called  by  the  English  the 
Young  Pretender,  took  a  more  active  part 
than  either  his  father  or  grandfather  in  the 
pursuits  of  Masonry ;  and  there  is  abundant 
historical  evidence  that  he  was  not  only  a 
Mason,  but  that  he  held  high  office  in  the 
Order,  and  was  for  a  time  zealously  engaged 
in  its  propagation  ;  always,  however,  it  is 
supposed,  with  political  views. 

In  1745  he  invaded  Scotland,  with  a  view 
to  regain  the  lost  throne  of  his  ancestors, 
and  met  for  some  time  with  more  than  par- 
tial success.  On  September  24,  1745,  he 
was  admitted  into  the  Order  of  Knights 
Templars,  and  was  elected  Grand  Master,  an 
office  which  it  is  said  that  he  held  until  his 
death.  On  his  return  to  France  after  his 
ill-fated  expedition,  the  Prince  established 
at  the  city  of  Arras,  on  April  15,  1747,  a 
Rose  Croix  Chapter  under  the  title  of 
Scottish  Jacobite  Chapter.  In  the  Patent 
for  this  Chapter  he  styles  himself  "  King 
of  England,  France,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
and,  as  such,  Substitute  Grand  Master  of  the 


Chapter  of  Herodem,  known  under  the  title 
of  Knight  of  the  Eagle  and  Pelican,  and 
since  our  misfortunes  and  disasters  under 
that  of  Rose  Croix." 

In  1748,  the  Rite  of  the  Veille-Bru,  or 
Faithful  Scottish  Masons,  was  created  at 
Toulouse  in  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
reception  given  by  the  Masons  of  that 
Orient  to  Sir  Samuel  Lockhart,  the  aid- 
de-camp  of  the  Pretender.  Ragon  says, 
(Orth.  Macon.,  122,)  in  a  note  to  this  state- 
ment, the  l<  favorites  who  accompanied  this 
prince  into  France  were  in  the  habit  of 
selling  to  speculators  Charters  for  Mother 
Lodges,  Patents  for  Chapters,  etc.  These 
titles  were  their  property,  and  they  did  not 
fail  to  make  use  of  them  as  a  means  of 
livelihood." 

It  is  admitted  that  the  Chevalier  Ramsay 
fabricated  degrees  in  the  interest  of  the 
Stuart  cause.  Ragon  says  ( Thuil.  Gen.,  367,) 
that  the  degrees  of  Irish  Master,  Perfect  Irish 
Master,  and  Puissant  Irish  Master  were 
invented  in  France,  in  1747,  by  the  favorites 
of  Charles  Edward  Stuart,  and  sold  to  the 
partisans  of  that  prince.  One  degree  was 
openly  called  the  "  Scottish  Master  of  the 
Sacred  Vault  of  James  VI.,"  as  if  to  indi- 
cate its  Stuart  character.  The  degree  still 
exists  as  the  thirteenth  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  but  it  has  been 
shorn  of  its  political  pretensions  and  its 
title  changed.  Ramsay's  interest  in  be- 
half of  the  cause  of  the  house  of  Stuart  is 
to  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  he  was  at 
one  time  the  tutor  of  the  two  princes, 
Charles  Edward  afterwards  the  Young 
Pretender,  and  Henry  afterwards  Cardinal 
York. 

Findel  has  given  in  his  History  of  Free- 
masonry, (Lyon's  trans.,  p.  209,)  a  very  calm 
and  impartial  account  of  the  rise  of  this 
Stuart  Masonry.     He  says : 

"Ever  since  the  banishment  of  the 
Stuarts  from  England  in  1688,  secret  alli- 
ances had  been  kept  up  between  Rome  and 
Scotland ;  for  to  the  former  place  the  Pre- 
tender James  Stuart  had  retired  in  1719, 
and  his  son  Charles  Edward  was  born  there 
in  1720 ;  and  these  communications  became 
the  more  intimate,  the  higher  the  hopes  of 
the  Pretender  rose.  The  Jesuits  played  a 
very  important  part  in  these  conferences. 
Regarding  the  reinstatement  of  the  Stuarts 
and  the  extension  of  the  power  of  the 
Roman  church  as  identical,  they  sought  at 
that  time  to  make  the  society  of  Free- 
masons subservient  to  their  ends.  But  to 
make  use  of  the  Fraternity  to  restore  the 
exiled  family  to  the  throne  could  not  pos- 
sibly have  been  contemplated,  as  Free- 
masonry could  hardly  be  said  to  exist  in 
Scotland  then.  Perhaps  in  1724,  when 
Ramsay  was  a  year  in  Rome,  or  in  1728. 


760 


STUART 


SUBLIME 


when  the  Pretender  in  Parma  kept  up  an 
intercourse  with  the  restless  Duke  of  Whar- 
ton, a  Past  Grand  Master,  this  idea  was 
first  entertained;  and  then,  when  it  was 
apparent  how  difficult  it  would  be  to  cor- 
rupt the  loyalty  and  fealty  of  Freemasonry 
in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland,  founded 
in  1736,  this  scheme  was  set  on  foot,  of 
assembling  the  faithful  adherents  of  the 
banished  royal  family  in  the  high  degrees ! 
The  soil  which  was  best  adapted  for  this 
innovation  was  France,  where  the  low  ebb 
to  which  Masonry  had  sunk  had  paved  the 
way  for  all  kinds  of  new-fangled  notions, 
and  where  the  Lodges  were  composed  of 
Scotch  conspirators  and  accomplices  of  the 
Jesuits.  When  the  path  had  thus  been 
smoothed  by  the  agency  of  these  secret 
propagandists,  Ramsay,  at  that  time  Grand 
Orator  (an  office  unknown  in  England),  by 
his  speech  completed  the  preliminaries 
necessary  for  the  introduction  of  the  high 
degrees ;  their  further  development  was  left 
to  the  instrumentality  of  others,  whose  in- 
fluence produced  a  result  somewhat  different 
from  that  originally  intended.  Their  course 
we  can  now  pursue,  assisted  by  authentic 
historical  information.  In  1752,  Scottish 
Masonry,  as  it  was  denominated,  penetrated 
into  Germany,  (Berlin,)  prepared  from  a 
ritual  very  similar  to  one  used  in  Lille  in 
1749  and  1750.  In  1743,  Thory  tells  us,  the 
Masons  in  Lyons,  under  the  name  of  the 
"Petit  Elu,"  invented  the  degree  of  Ka- 
dosh,  which  represents  the  revenge  of  the 
Templars.  The  Order  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars had  been  abolished  in  1311,  and  to 
that  epoch  they  were  obliged  to  have  re- 
course when,  after  the  banishment  of  several 
Knights  from  Malta  in  1720  because  they 
were  Freemasons,  it  was  not  longer  possible 
to  keep  up  a  connection  with  the  Order  of 
St.  John  or  Knights  of  Malta,  then  in  the 
plenitude  of  their  power  under  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  Pope.  A  pamphlet  entitled 
Freemasonry  Divested  of  all  its  Secrets,  pub- 
lished in  Strasburg  in  1745,  contains  the 
first  glimpse  of  the  Strict  Observance,  and 
demonstrates  how  much  they  expected  the 
brotherhood  to  contribute  towards  the  ex- 
pedition in  favor  of  the  Pretender. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  evident 
that  the  exiled  house  of  Stuart  exercised 
an  important  part  in  the  invention  and  ex- 
tension of  what  has  been  called  the  High 
Masonry.  The  traces  of  the  political  sys- 
tem are  seen  at  the  present  day  in  the  inter- 
nal organization  of  some  of  the  high  de- 
grees—especially in  the  derivation  and 
meaning  of  certain  significant  words. 
There  is,  indeed,  abundant  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  the  substitute  word  of  the 
third  degree  was  changed  by  Ramsay,  or 
some  other  fabricator  of  degrees,  to  give  it 


a  reference  to  James  II.  as  the  "  son  of  the 
widow,"  Queen  Henrietta  Maria. 

Further  researches  are  needed  to  enable 
any  author  to  satisfactorily  write  all  the  de- 
tails of  this  interesting  episode  in  the  his- 
tory of  continental  Masonry.  Documents 
are  still  wanting  to  elucidate  certain  in- 
tricate and,  at  present,  apparently  contra- 
dictory points. 

Sublime.  The  third  degree  is  called 
"  the  Sublime  Degree  of  a  Master  Mason," 
in  reference  to  the  exalted  lessons  that  it 
teaches  of  God  and  of  a  future  life.  The 
epithet  is,  however,  comparatively  modern. 
It  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  rituals 
of  the  last  century.  Neither  Hutchinson, 
nor  Smith,  nor  Preston  use  it;  and  it  was 
not,  therefore,  I  presume,  in  the  original 
Prestonian  lecture.  Hutchinson  speaks 
of  "  the  most  sacred  and  solemn  Order " 
and  of  "  the  exalted,"  but  not  of  "  the  sub- 
lime" degree.  Webb,  who  based  his  lec- 
tures on  the  Prestonian  system,  applies  no 
epithet  to  the  Master's  degree.  In  an  edi- 
tion of  the  Constitutions,  published  at  Dub- 
lin in  1769,  the  Master's  degree  is  spoken 
of  as  "the  most  respectable;"  and  forty 
years  ago  the  epithet  "  high  and  honora- 
ble "  was  used  in  some  of  the  rituals  of  this 
country.  The  first  book  in  which  we  meet 
with  the  adjective  "  sublime"  applied  to  the 
third  degree,  is  the  Masonic  Discourses  of 
Dr.  T.  M.  Harris,  published  at  Boston  in 
1801.  Cole  also  used  it  in  1817,  in  his 
Freemasons'  Library;  and  about  the  same 
time  Jeremy  Cross,  the  well-known  lec- 
turer, introduced  it  into  his  teachings, 
and  used  it  in  his  Hieroglyphic  Chart, 
which  was,  for  many  years,  the  text- 
book of  American  Lodges.  The  word  is 
now,  however,  to  be  found  in  the  modern 
English  lectures,  and  is  of  universal  use  in 
the  rituals  of  the  United  States,  where  the 
third  degree  is  always  called  "  the  sublime 
degree  of  a  Master  Mason." 

The  word  sublime  was  the  password  of  the 
Master's  degree  in  the  Adonhiramite  Rite, 
because  it  was  said  to  have  been  the  sur- 
name of  Hiram,  or  Adonhiram.  On  this 
subject,  Guillemain,  in  his  Recueil  Pre'cieux, 
(i.,  106,)  makes  the  following  singular  re- 
marks : 

"  For  a  long  time  a  great  number  of  Ma- 
sons were  unacquainted  with  this  word,  and 
they  erroneously  made  use  of  another  in  its 
stead  which  they  did  not  understand,  and 
to  which  they  gave  a  meaning  that  was 
doubtful  and  improbable.  This  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  the  first  knights  adopted 
for  the  Master's  password  the  Latin  word 
Sublimis,  which  the  French,  as  soon  as 
they  received  Masonry,  pronounced  Sublime, 
which  was  so  far  very  well.  But  some  pro- 
fanes, who  were  desirous  of  divulging  our 


SUBLIME 


SUBLIME 


761 


secrets,  but  who  did  not  perfectly  under- 
stand this  word,  wrote  it  Jiblime,  which  they 
said  signified  excellence.  Others,  who  fol- 
lowed, surpassed  the  error  of  the  first  by 
printing  it  Qiblos,  and  were  bold  enough  to 
say  that  it  was  the  name  of  the  place  where 
the  body  of  Adonhiram  was  found.  As  in 
those  days  the  number  of  uneducated  was 
considerable,  these  ridiculous  assertions 
were  readily  received,  and  the  truth  was 
generally  forgotten." 

The  whole  of  this  narrative  is  a  mere  vis- 
ionary invention  of  the  founder  of  the  Adon- 
hiramite  system ;  but  it  is  barely  possible 
that  there  is  some  remote  connection  be- 
tween the  use  of  the  word  sublime  in  that 
Rite,  as  a  significant  word  of  the  third  de- 
gree, and  its  modern  employment  as  an 
epithet  of  the  same  degree.  However,  the 
ordinary  signification  of  the  word,  as  refer- 
ring to.  things  of  an  exalted  character, 
would  alone  sufficiently  account  for  the  use 
of  the  epithet. 

Sublime  Degrees.  The  eleven  de- 
grees of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  from  the  fourth  to  the  fourteenth  in- 
clusive, are  so  called.  Thus  Dalcho  [Report 
of  Com.,  1802,)  says:  "Although  many  of 
the  Sublime  degrees  are  in  fact  a  continu- 
ation of  the  Blue  degrees,  yet  there  is  no 
interference  between  the  two  bodies." 

Sublime  Grand  Lodge.  A  title 
formerly  given  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Rite  to  what  is  now  simply  called  a  Lodge 
of  Perfection.  Thus,  in  1801,  Dr.  Dalcho 
delivered  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  an 
address  which  bears  the  title  of  "  An  ora- 
tion delivered  in  the  Sublime  Grand  Lodge." 

Sublime  Knight  Elected.  {Sub- 
lime Chevalier  elu.)  Called  also  Sublime 
Knight  Elected  of  the  Twelve.  The  elev- 
enth degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite.  Its  legend  is  that  it  was  in- 
stituted by  King  Solomon  after  punishment 
had  been  inflicted  on  certain  traitors  at  the 
Temple,  both  as  a  recompense  for  the  zeal 
and  constancy  of  the  Illustrious  Elect  of 
Fifteen,  who  had  discovered  them,  and 
also  to  enable  him  to  elevate  other  deserv- 
ing brethren  from  the  lower  degrees  to  that 
which  had  been  vacated  by  their  promotion. 
Twelve  of  these  fifteen  he  elected  Sublime 
Knights,  and  made  the  selection  by  ballot, 
that  he  might  give  none  offence,  putting 
the  names  of  the  whole  in  an  urn.  The 
first  twelve  that  were  drawn  he  formed  into 
a  Chapter,  and  gave  them  command  over 
the  twelve  tribes,  bestowing  on  them  a 
name  which  in  Hebrew  signifies  a  true 
man. 

The  meeting  of  a  body  of  Sublime 
Knights  is  called  a  Chapter. 

The  room  is  hung  with  black  strewed 
with  tears. 
4  V 


The  presiding  officer  represents  King 
Solomon,  and  in  the  old  rituals  is  styled 
"  Most  Puissant,"  but  in  recent  ones  "  Thrice 
Illustrious." 

The  apron  is  white,  lined  and  bordered 
with  black,  with  black  strings ;  on  the  flap 
a  flaming  heart. 

The  sash  is  black,  with  a  flaming  heart 
on  the  breast,  suspended  from  the  right 
shoulder  to  the  left  hip. 

The  jewel  is  a  sword  of  justice. 

This  is  the  last  of  the  three  Elus  which 
are  found  in  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite.  In  the  French  Rite  they 
have  been  condensed  into  one,  and  make 
the  fourth  degree  of  that  ritual,  but  not,  as 
Ragon  admits,  with  the  happiest  effect. 

The  names  of  the  Twelve  Illustrious 
Knights  selected  to  preside  over  the  twelve 
tribes,  as  they  have  been  transmitted  to  us 
in  the  ritual  of  this  degree,  have  undoubt- 
edly assumed  a  very  corrupted  form.  The 
restoration  of  their  correct  orthography, 
and  with  it  their  true  signification,  is 
worthy  the  attention  of  the  Masonic  stu- 
dent. 

Sublime  Masons.  The  initiates  into 
the  fourteenth  degree  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite  are  so  called.  Thus  Dalcho 
(Orat.  27)  says :  "  The  Sublime  Masons  view 
the  symbolic  system  with  reverence,  as 
forming  a  test  of  the  character  and  capacity 
of  the  initiated."  This  abbreviated  form 
is  now  seldom  used,  the  fuller  one  of 
"Grand,  Elect,  Perfect,  and  Sublime  Ma- 
sons "  being  more  generally  employed." 

Sublime  Prince  of  the  Royal 
Secret.  This  is  the  thirty-second  degree 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  There 
is  abundant  internal  evidence,  derived  from 
the  ritual  and  from  some  historical  facts, 
that  the  degree  of  Sublime  Prince  of 
the  Royal  Secret  was  instituted  by  the 
founders  of  the  Council  of  Emperors  of 
the  East  and  West,  which  body  was  estab- 
lished in  the  year  1758.  It  is  certain  that 
before  that  period  we  hear  nothing  of  such 
a  degree  in  any  of  the  Rites.  The  Rite 
of  Heredom  or  of  Perfection,  which  was 
that  instituted  by  the  Council  of  Emperors, 
consisted  of  twenty-five  degrees.  Of  these 
the  twenty -fifth,  and  highest,  was  the  Prince 
of  the  Royal  Secret.  It  was  brought  to 
America  by  Morin,  as  the  summit  of  the 
High  Masonry  which  he  introduced,  and 
for  the  propagation  of  which  he  had  re- 
ceived his  Patent.  In  the  subsequent  ex- 
tension of  the  Scottish  Rite  about  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  by  the 
addition  of  eight  new  degrees  to  the  orig- 
inal twenty-five,  the  Sublime  Prince  of  the 
Royal  Secret  became  the  thirty-second. 

Bodies  of  the  thirty-second  degree  are 
called  Consistories,  and  where  there  is  a 


762 


SUBLIME 


SUBSTITUTE 


superintending  body  erected  by  the  Su- 
preme Council  for  the  government  of  the 
inferior  degrees  in  a  State  or  Province,  it 
is  called  a  Grand  Consistory. 

The  clothing  of  a  Sublime  Prince  con- 
sists of  a  collar,  jewel,  and  apron.  The 
collar  is  black  edged  with  white. 

The  jewel  is  a  Teutonic  cross  of  gold. 

The  apron  is  white  edged  with  black. 
On  the  flap  are  embroidered  six  flags,  three 
on  each  side  the  staffs  in  saltier,  and  the 
flags  blue,  red,  and  yellow.  On  the  centre 
of  the  flap,  over  these,  is  a  Teutonic  cross 
surmounted  by  an  All-seeing  Eye,  and  on  the 
cross  a  double-headed  eagle  not  crowned. 
On  the  body  of  the  apron  is  the  tracing- 
board  of  the  degree.    The  most  important 


part  of  the  symbolism  of  the  degree  is  the 
tracing-board,  which  is  technically  called 
"  The  Camp."  This  is  a  symbol  of  deep 
import,  and  in  its  true  interpretation  is 
found  that  "  royal  secret "  from  which  the 
degree  derives  its  name.  This  Camp  con- 
stitutes an  essential  part  of  the  furniture 
of  a  Consistory  during  an  initiation,  but 
its  explanations  are  altogether  esoteric.  It 
is  a  singular  fact,  that  notwithstanding  the 
changes  which  the  degree  must  have  under- 
gone in  being  transferred  from  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  one  Rite  to  the  thirty-second  of 
another,  no  alteration  was  ever  made  in 
the  Camp,  which  retains  at  the  present  day 
the  same  form  and  signification  that  were 
originally  given  to  it. 

The  motto  of  the  degree  is  "  Spes  mea  in 
Deo  est,"  i.  e.,  My  hope  is  in  God. 

Sublime  Solomon.  (Salomon  Sub- 
lime.) A  degree  in  the  manuscript  collec- 
tion of  Peuvret. 

Sublimes,  The.  [Les  Sublimes.)  One 
of  the  degrees  of  the  Ancient  Chapter  of 
Clermont. 

Submission.  Submission  to  the  me- 
diatorial offices  of  his  brethren  in  the  case 
of  a  dispute  is  a  virtue  recommended  to 


the  Mason,  but  not  necessarily  to  be  en- 
forced. In  the  "  Charges  of  a  Freemason," 
(Anderson,  1st  ed.,  56,)  it  is  said,  (vi.  6:) 
"  With  respect  to  Brothers  or  Fellows  at 
law,  the  Master  and  Brethren  should  kindly 
offer  their  mediation;  which  ought  to  be 
thankfully  submitted  to  by  the  contending 
Brethren ;  and  if  that  submission  is  imprac- 
ticable, they  must,  however,  carry  on  their 
process  or  lawsuit  without  wrath  or  ran- 
cour." 

Subordinate  Lodge.  So  called  to 
indicate  its  subordination  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  as  a  supreme,  superintending  power. 
See  Lodge. 

Subordinate  Officers.  In  a  Grand 
Lodge,  all  the  officers  below  the  Grand  Mas- 
ter, and  in  a  Lodge,  all  those  below  the 
Worshipful  Master,  are  styled  Subordinate 
Officers.  So,  too,  in  all  the  other  branches 
of  the  Order,  the  presiding  officer  is  su- 
preme, the  rest  subordinate. 

Subordination.  Although  it  is  the 
theory  of  Freemasonry  that  all  the  brethren 
are  on  a  level  of  equality ;  yet  in  the  practi- 
cal working  of  the  Institution  a  subordina- 
tion of  ranks  has  been  always  rigorously 
observed.  So  the  Charges  approved  in  1722, 
and  which  had  been  collected  by  Anderson 
from  the  Old  Constitutions,  say:  "These 
rulers  and  governors,  supreme  and  subor- 
dinate, of  the  ancient  Lodge,  are  to  be 
obeyed  in  their  respective  stations  by  all 
the  Brethren,  according  to  the  Old  Charges 
and  Regulations,  with  all  humility,  rever- 
ence, love,  and  alacrity."     Ch.  iv. 

Substitute  Ark.     See  Ark,  Substitute. 

Substitute  Candidate.  An  ar- 
rangement resorted  to  in  the  Royal  Arch 
degree  of  the  American  system,  so  as  to 
comply  pro  forma  with  the  requisitions  of 
the  ritual.  In  the  English,  Scotch,  and 
Irish  systems,  there  is  no  regulation  requir- 
ing the  presence  of  three  candidates,  and, 
therefore,  the  practice  of  employing  substi- 
tutes is  unknown  in  those  countries.  In 
the  United  States  the  usage  has  prevailed 
from  a  very  early  period,  although  opposed 
at  various  times  by  conscientious  Compan- 
ions, who  thought  that  it  was  an  improper 
evasion  of  the  law.  Finally,  the  question 
as  to  the  employment  of  substitutes  came 
before  the  General  Grand  Chapter  in  Sep- 
tember, 1872,  when  it  was  decided,  by  a 
vote  of  ninety-one  to  thirty,  that  the  use 
of  substitutes  is  not  in  violation  of  the 
ritual  of  Royal  Arch  Masonry  or  the  in- 
stallation charges  delivered  to  a  High 
Priest.  The  use  of  them  was  therefore 
authorized,  but  the  Chapters  were  exhorted 
not  to  have  recourse  to  them  except  in 
cases  of  emergency;  an  unnecessary  ex- 
hortation, it  would  seem,  since  it  was  only 
in  such  cases  that  they  had  been  employed. 


SUBSTITUTE 


SUCCESSION 


763 


Substitute  Grand  Master.    The 

third  officer  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scot- 
land. He  presides  over  the  Craft  in  the 
absence  of  the  Grand  and  Deputy  Grand 
Masters.  The  office  was  created  in  the 
year  1738.  He  is  elected  by  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  serves  for  one  year. 

Substitute  Word.  This  is  an  ex- 
pression of  very  significant  suggestion  to 
the  thoughtful  Master  Mason.  If  the  Word 
is,  in  Masonry,  a  symbol  of  Divine  Truth ; 
if  the  search  for  the  Word  is  a  symbol  of 
the  search  for  that  Truth ;  if  the  Lost  Word 
symbolizes  the  idea  that  Divine  Truth  has 
not  been  found,  then  the  Substitute  Word  is 
a  symbol  of  the  unsuccessful  search  after 
Divine  Truth  and  the  attainment  in  this 
life,  of  which  the  first  Temple  is  a  type,  of 
what  is  only  an  approximation  to  it.  The 
idea  of  a  substitute  word  and  its  history  is  to 
be  found  in  the  oldest  rituals  of  the  last  cen- 
tury;  but  the  phrase  itself  is  of  more  recent 
date,  being  the  result  of  the  fuller  develop- 
ment of  Masonic  science  and  philosophy. 

The  history  of  the  substitute  word  has 
been  an  unfortunate  one.  Subjected  from 
a  very  early  period  to  a  mutilation  of  form, 
it  underwent  an  entire  change  in  some 
Kites,  after  the  introduction  of  the  high 
degrees ;  most  probably  through  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Stuart  Masons,  who  sought  by  an 
entirely  new  word  to  give  a  reference  to  the 
unfortunate  representative  of  that  house  as 
the  similitude  of  the  stricken  builder.  (See 
Macbenac.)  And  so  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  there  are  now  two  substitutes  in  use, 
of  entirely  different  form  and  meaning ;  one 
used  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  one  in 
England  and  this  country. 

It  is  difficult  in  this  case,  where  almost 
all  the  knowledge  that  we  can  have  of  the 
subject  is  so  scanty,  to  determine  the  exact 
time  when  or  the  way  in  which  the  new 
word  was  introduced.  But  there  is,  I  think, 
abundant  internal  evidence  in  the  words 
themselves  as  to  their  appropriateness  and 
the  languages  whence  they  came,  (the  one 
being  pure  Hebrew,  and  the  other,  I  think, 
Gaelic,)  as  well  as  from  the  testimony  of  old 
rituals,  to  show  that  the  word  in  use  in  the 
United  States  is  the  true  word,  and  was  the 
one  in  use  before  the  revival. 

Both  of  these  words  have,  however,  un- 
fortunately been  translated  by  persons 
ignorant  of  the  languages  whence  they  are 
derived,  so  that  the  most  incorrect  and  even 
absurd  interpretations  of  their  significations 
have  been  given.  The  word  in  universal 
use  in  this  country  has  been  translated  as 
"rottenness  in  the  bone,"  or  "the  builder 
is  dead,"  or  by  several  other  phrases  equally 
as  far  from  the  true  meaning. 

The  correct  word  has  been  mutilated. 
Properly,  it  consists  of  four  syllables,  for  the 


last  syllable,  as  it  is  now  pronounced, 
should  properly  be  divided  into  two.  These 
four  syllables  compose  three  Hebrew  words, 
which  constitute  a  perfect  and  grammatical 
phrase,  appropriate  to  the  occasion  of  their 
utterance.  But  to  understand  them,  the 
scholar  must  seek  the  meaning  in  each  syl- 
lable, and  combine  the  whole.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  Apuleius,  I  must  forbear  to  en- 
large upon  these  holy  mysteries. 

Succession  to  tbe  Chair.  The 
regulations  adopted  in  1721  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  have  been  generally  es- 
teemed as  setting  forth  the  ancient  land- 
marks of  the  Order.  But  certain  regula- 
tions, which  were  adopted  on  the  25th  of 
November,  1723,  as  amendments  to  or  ex- 
planatory of  these,  being  enacted  under  the 
same  authority,  and  almost  by  the  same 
persons,  can  scarcely  be  less  binding  upon 
the  Order  than  the  original  regulations. 
Both  these  compilations  of  Masonic  law  re- 
fer expressly  to  the  subject  of  the  succession 
to  the  chair  on  the  death  or  removal  of  the 
Master. 

The  old  regulation  of  1721,  in  the  second 
of  the  thirty-nine  articles  adopted  in  that 
year,  is  in  the  following  words : 

"  In  case  of  death  or  sickness,  or  neces- 
sary absence  of  the  Master,  the  Senior 
Warden  shall  act  as  Master  pro  tempore,  if 
no  brother  is  present  who  has  been  Master 
of  that  Lodge  before.  For  the  absent  Mas- 
ter's authority  reverts  to  the  last  Master 
present,  though  he  cannot  act  till  the  Senior 
Warden  has  congregated  the  Lodge." 

The  lines  in  italics  indicate  that  even  at 
that  time  the  power  of  calling  the  brethren 
together  and  "  setting  them  to  work,"  which 
is  technically  called  "  congregating  the 
Lodge,"  was  supposed  to  be  vested  in  the 
Senior  Warden  alone  during  the  absence 
of  the  Master ;  although,  perhaps,  from  a 
supposition  that  he  had  greater  experience, 
the  difficult  duty  of  presiding  over  the  com- 
munication was  intrusted  to  a  Past  Master. 
The  regulation  is,  however,  contradictory 
in  its  provisions.  For  if  the  "  last  Master 
present"  could  not  act,  that  is,  could  not 
exercise  the  authority  of  the  Master  until 
the  Senior  Warden  had  congregated  the 
Lodge,  then  it  is  evident  that  the  author- 
ity of  the  Master  did  not  revert  to  him  in 
an  unqualified  sense,  for  that  officer  required 
no  such  concert  nor  consent  on  the  part 
of  the  Warden,  but  could  congregate  the 
Lodge  himself. 

This  evident  contradiction  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  regulation  probably  caused, 
in  a  brief  period,  a  further  examination  of 
the  ancient  usage,  and  accordingly  on  the 
25th  of  November,  1723,  a  very  little  more 
than  two  years  after,  the  following  regu- 
lation was  adopted: 


764 


SUCCESSION 


SUCCESSION 


"  If  a  Master  of  a  particular  Lodge  is  de- 
posed or  demits,  the  Senior  Warden  shall 
forthwith  fill  the  Master's  chair  till  the 
next  time  of  choosing ;  and  ever  since,  in 
the  Master's  absence,  he  fills  the  chair,  even 
though  a  former  Master  be  present." 

The  present  Constitution  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  appears,  however,  to 
have  been  formed  rather  in  reference  to  the 
regulation  of  1721  than  to  that  of  1723.  It 
prescribes  that  on  the  death,  removal,  or 
incapacity  of  the  Master,  the  Senior  War- 
den, or  in  his  absence,  the  Junior  Warden, 
or  in  his  absence,  the  immediate  Past  Mas- 
ter, or  in  his  absence,  the  Senior  Past  Mas- 
ter, "shall  act  as  Master  in  summoning  the 
Lodge,  until  the  next  election  of  officers." 
But  the  English  Constitution  goes  on  to 
direct  that,  v  in  the  Master's  absence,  the 
immediate  Past  Master,  or  if  he  be  absent, 
the  Senior  Past  Master  of  the  Lodge  pres- 
ent shall  take  the  chair.  And  if  no  Past 
Master  of  the  Lodge  be  present,  then  the 
Senior  Warden,  or  in  his  absence  the  Ju- 
nior Warden,  shall  rule  the  Lodge." 

Here  again  we  find  ourselves  involved  in 
the  intricacies  of  a  divided  sovereignty. 
The  Senior  Warden  congregates  the  Lodge, 
but  a  Past  Master  rules  it.  And  if  the 
Warden  refuses  to  perform  his  part  of  the 
duty,  then  the  Past  Master  will  have  no 
Lodge  to  rule.  So  that,  after  all,  it  appears 
that  of  the  two  the  authority  of  the  Senior 
Warden  is  the  greater. 

But  in  this  country  the  usage  has  always 
conformed  to  the  regulation  of  1723,  as  is 
apparent  from  a  glance  at  our  rituals  and 
monitorial  works. 

Webb,  in  his  Freemasons'  Monitor,  (edi- 
tion of  1808,)  lays  down  the  rule,  that  "in 
the  absence  of  the  Master,  the  Senior 
Warden  is  to  govern  the  Lodge;"  and 
that  officer  receives  annually,  in  every 
Lodge  in  the  United  States,  on  the  night 
of  his  installation,  a  charge  to  that  effect. 
It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  we  are 
not  indebted  to  Webb  himself  for  this 
charge,  but  that  he  borrowed  it,  word  for 
word,  from  Preston,  who  wrote  long  before, 
and  who,  in  his  turn,  extracted  it  from  the 
rituals  which  were  in  force  at  the  time  of 
his  writing. 

In  the  United  States,  accordingly,  it  has 
been  held,  that  on  the  death  or  removal  of 
the  Master,  his  authority  descends  to  the 
Senior  Warden,  who  may,  however,  by 
courtesy,  offer  the  chair  to  a  Past  Master 
present,  after  the  Lodge  has  been  con- 
gregated. 

There  is  some  confusion  in  relation  to 
the  question  of  who  is  to  be  the  successor 
of  the  Master,  which  arises  partly  from  the 
contradiction  between  the  regulations  of 
1721  and  1723,  and  partly  from  the  contra- 


diction in  different  clauses  of  the  regulation 
of  1723  itself.  But  whether  the  Senior 
Warden  or  a  Past  Master  is  to  succeed,  the 
regulation  of  1721  makes  no  provision  for 
an  election,  but  implies  that  the  vacancy 
shall  be  temporarily  supplied  during  the 
official  term,  while  that  of  1723  expressly 
states  that  such  temporary  succession  shall 
continue  "  till  the  next  time  of  choosing," 
or,  in  the  words  of  the  present  English  Con- 
stitution, "  until  the  next  election  of  offi- 
cers." 

But,  in  addition  to  the  authority  of  the 
ancient  regulation  and  general  and  uniform 
usage,  reason  and  justice  seem  to  require 
that  the  vacancy  shall  not  be  supplied  per- 
manently until  the  regular  time  of  election. 
By  holding  the  election  at  an  earlier  period, 
the  Senior  Warden  is  deprived  of  his  right, 
as  a  member,  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
vacant  office.  For  the  Senior  Warden  hav- 
ing been  regularly  installed,  has  of  course 
been  duly  obligated  to  serve  in  the  office  to 
which  he  had  been  elected  during  the  full 
term.  If  then  an  election  takes  place  be- 
fore the  expiration  of  that  term,  he  must 
be  excluded  from  the  list  of  candidates,  be- 
cause, if  elected,  he  could  not  vacate  his 
present  office  without  a  violation  of  his 
obligation.  The  same  disability  would 
affect  the  Junior  Warden,  who  by  a  similar 
obligation  is  bound  to  the  faithful  discharge 
of  his  duties  in  the  South.  So  that  by  an- 
ticipating the  election,  the  two  most  prom- 
inent officers  of  the  Lodge,  and  the  two 
most  likely  to  succeed  the  Master  in  due 
course  of  rotation,  would  be  excluded  from 
the  chance  of  promotion.  A  grievous 
wrong  would  thus  be  done  to  these  officers, 
which  no  Dispensation  of  a  Grand  Master 
should  be  permitted  to  inflict. 

But  even  if  the  Wardens  were  not  am- 
bitious of  office,  or  were  not  likely,  under 
any  circumstances,  to  be  elected  to  the 
vacant  office,  another  objection  arises  to 
the  anticipation  of  an  election  for  Master 
which  is  worthy  of  consideration. 

The  Wardens,  having  been  installed 
under  the  solemnity  of  an  obligation  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  and  the 
Senior  Warden  having  been  expressly 
charged  that  "  in  the  absence  of  the  Master 
he  is  to  rule  the  Lodge,"  a  conscientious 
Senior  Warden  might  very  naturally  feel 
that  he  was  neglecting  these  duties  and 
violating  this  obligation,  by  permitting  the 
office  which  he  has  sworn  to  temporarily 
occupy  in  the  absence  of  his  Master  to  be 
permanently  filled  by  any  other  person. 

On  the  whole,  then,  the  old  regulations, 
as  well  as  ancient,  uninterrupted,  and  uni- 
form usage  and  the  principles  of  reason 
and  justice,  seem  imperatively  to  require 


T» 


OFTWt 


SUCCOTH 


UNIVERSITY 


SUN 


765 


that,  on  the  death  or  removal  of  the  Master, 
the  chair  shall  be  occupied  temporarily 
until  the  regular  time  of  election ;  and  al- 
though the  law  is  not  equally  explicit  in 
relation  to  the  person  who  shall  fill  that 
temporary  position,  the  weight  of  law  and 
precedent  seems  to  incline   towards   the 

Srinciple  that  the  authority  of  the  absent 
[aster  shall  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Senior  Warden. 

Suceotli.  An  ancient  city  of  Palestine, 
about  forty-five  miles  north-east  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  site  of  which  is  how  occu- 
pied by  the  village  of  Seikoot.  It  is  the 
place  near  which  Hiram  Abif  cast  the 
sacred  vessels  for  the  Temple.  See  Clay 
Grounds. 

Sufferer.  {Souffrant.}  The  second 
degree  of  the  Order  of  Initiated  Knights 
and  Brothers  of  Asia. 

Summons.  A  warning  to  appear  at 
the  meeting  of  a  Lodge  or  other  Masonic 
body.  The  custom  of  summoning  the 
members  of  a  Lodge  to  every  communica- 
tion, although  now  often  neglected,  is  of 
very  ancient  date,  and  was  generally  ob- 
served up  to  a  very  recent  period.  In  the 
Anderson  Charges  of  1722,  it  is  said:  "In 
ancient  times,  no  Master  or  Fellow  could 
be  absent  from  the  Lodge,  especially  when 
warned  to  appear  at  it,  without  incurring 
a  severe  censure."  In  the  Constitutions 
of  the  Cooke  MS.,  about  1490,  we  are  told 
that  the  Masters  and  Fellows  were  to  be 
forewarned  to  come  to  the  congregations. 
All  the  old  records,  and  the  testimony  of 
writers  since  the  revival,  show  that  it  was 
always  the  usage  to  summon  the  members 
to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  General  As- 
sembly or  the  particular  Lodges. 

Sun.  Hardly  any  of  the  symbols  of 
Masonry  are  more  important  in  their  sig- 
nification or  more  extensive  in  their  appli- 
cation than  the  sun.  As  the  source  of 
material  light,  it  reminds  the  Mason  of 
that  intellectual  light  of  which  he  is  in 
constant  search.  But  it  is  especially  as  the 
ruler  of  the  day,  giving  to  it  a  beginning 
and  end,  and  a  regular  course  of  hours, 
that  the  sun  is  presented  as  a  Masonic 
symbol.  Hence,  of  the  three  lesser  lights, 
we  are  told  that  one  represents  or  sym- 
bolizes the  sun,  one  the  moon,  and  one 
the  Master  of  the  Lodge,  because,  as  the 
sun  rules  the  day  and  the  moon  governs 
the  night,  so  should  the  Worshipful  Master 
rule  and  govern  his  Lodge  with  equal  reg- 
ularity and  precision.  And  this  is  in  strict 
analogy  with  other  Masonic  symbolisms. 
For  if  the  Lodge  is  a  symbol  of  the  world, 
which  is  thus  governed  in  its  changes  of 
times  and  seasons  by  the  sun,  it  is  evident 
that  the  Master  who  governs  the  Lodge, 
controlling  its  time  of  opening  and  closing, 


and  the  work  which  it  should  do,  must  be 
symbolized  by  the  sun.  The  heraldic  defi- 
nition of  the  sun  as  a  bearing  fits  most 
appositely  to  the  symbolism  of  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  Master.  Thus  Gwillim  says : 
"  The  sun  is  the  symbol  of  sovereignty,  the 
hieroglyphic  of  royalty;  it  doth  signify 
absolute  authority."  This  representation 
of  the  sun  as  a  symbol  of  authority,  while 
it  explains  the  reference  to  the  Master,  en- 
ables us  to  amplify  its  meaning,  and  apply 
it  to  the  three  sources  of  authority  in  the 
Lodge,  and  accounts  for  the  respective 
positions  of  the  officers  wielding  this  au- 
thority. The  Master,  therefore,  in  the  East 
is  a  symbol  of  the  rising  sun  ;  the  Junior 
Warden  in  the  South,  of  the  Meridian  Sun  ; 
and  the  Senior  Warden  in  the  West,  of  the 
Setting  Sun.  So  in  the  mysteries  of  India, 
the  chief  officers  were  placed  in  the  east, 
the  west,  and  the  south,  respectively,  to 
represent  Brahma,  or  the  rising;  Vishnu, 
or  the  setting;  and  Siva,  or  the  meridian 
sun.  And  in  the  Druidical  rites,  the  Arch- 
druid,  seated  in  the  east,  was  assisted  by 
two  other  officers,  —  the  one  in  the  west 
representing  the  moon,  and  the  other  in 
the  south  representing  the  meridian  sun. 

This  triple  division  of  the  government 
of  a  Lodge  by  three  officers,  representatives 
of  the  sun  in  his  three  manifestations  in 
the  east,  south,  and  west,  will  remind  us 
of  similar  ideas  in  the  symbolism  of  an- 
tiquity. In  the  Orphic  mysteries,  it  was 
taught  that  the  sun  generated  from  an  egg, 
burst  forth  with  power  to  triplicate  himself 
by  his  own  unassisted  energy.  Supreme 
power  seems  always  to  have  been  associ- 
ated in  the  ancient  mind  with  a  threefold 
division.  Thus  the  sign  of  authority  was 
indicated  by  the  three-forked  lightning  of 
Jove,  the  trident  of  Neptune,  and  the  three- 
headed  Cerberus  of  Pluto.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  Universe  was  divided  between 
these  three  sons  of  Saturn.  The  chaste 
goddess  ruled  the  earth  as  Diana,  the 
heavens  as  Luna,  and  the  infernal  regions 
as  Hecate,  whence  her  rites  were  only  per- 
formed in  a  place  where  three  roads  met. 

The  sun  is  then  presented  to  us  in  Ma- 
sonry first  as  a  symbol  of  light,  but  then 
more  emphatically  as  a  symbol  of  sover- 
eign authority. 

But,  says  Wemyss,  (Symb.  Lang.,)  speak- 
ing of  scriptural  symbolism,  "  the  sun  may 
be  considered  to  be  an  emblem  of  Divine 
Truth,"  because  the  sun  or  light,  of  which 
it  is  the  source,  "is  not  only  manifest  in  it- 
self, but  makes  other  things;  so  one  truth 
detects,  reveals,  and  manifests  another,  as 
all  truths  are  dependent  on,  and  connected 
with,  each  other  more  or  less."  And  this 
again  is  applicable  to  the  Masonic  doctrine 
which  makes  the  Master  the  symbol  of  the 


766 


SUN 


SUPER 


sun;  for  as  the  sun  discloses  and  makes 
manifest,  by  the  opening  of  day,  what  had 
been  hidden  in  the  darkness  of  night,  so 
the  Master  of  the  Lodge,  as  the  analogue 
of  the  ancient  hierophant  or  explainer  of 
the  mysteries,  makes  divine  truth  manifest 
to  the  neophyte,  who  had  been  hitherto  in 
intellectual  darkness,  and  reveals  the  hid- 
den or  esoteric  lessons  of  initiation. 

Sun,  Knight  of  the.  See  Knight 
of  the  Sun. 

Sun,  noon,  and  Stars.  The  plates 
prefixed  to  the  Hieroglyphic  Chart  of  Jeremy 
Cross  contain  a  page  on  which  are  deline- 
ated a  sun,  moon,  seven  stars,  and  a  comet, 
which  has  been  copied  into  the  later  illus- 
trated editions  of  Webb's  Monitor,  and  is 
now  to  be  found  in  all  the  modern  Masters' 
carpets.  In  the  connection  in  which  they 
are  there  placed  they  have  no  symbolic 
meaning,  although  many  have  erroneously 
considered  that  they  have.  The  sun  and 
moon  are  not  symbols  in  the  third,  but  only 
in  the  first  degree;  the  stars  are  a  symbol 
in  the  high  degrees,  and  the  comet  is  no 
symbol  at  all.  They  are  simply  mnemonic 
in  character,  and  intended  to  impress  on  the 
memory,  by  a  pictured  representation  of 
the  object,  a  passage  in  the  Webb  lectures 
taken  from  the  Prestonian,  which  is  in 
these  words:  "The  All-seeing  Eye,  whom 
the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  obey,  and  under 
whose  watchful  care  even  comets  perform 
their  stupendous  revolutions,  pervades  the 
inmost  recesses  of  the  human  heart,  and 
will  reward  us  according  to  our  merits." 
It  would  have  been  more  creditable  to 
the  symbolic  learning  of  Cross,  if  he  had 
omitted  these  plates  from  his  collection  of 
Masonic  symbols.  At  least  the  too  common 
error  of  mistaking  them  for  symbols  in  the 
third  degree  would  have  been  avoided. 

Sun  Worship.  Sir  William  Jones 
has  remarked  that  two  of  the  principal 
sources  of  mythology  were  a  wild  admira- 
tion of  the  heavenly  bodies,  particularly 
the  sun,  and  an  inordinate  respect  paid  to 
the  memory  of  powerful,  wise,  and  virtuous 
ancestors,  especially  the  founders  of  king- 
doms, legislators,  and  warriors.  To  the 
latter  cause  we  may  attribute  the  euhemer- 
ism  of  the  Greeks  and  the  sintooism  of 
the  Chinese.  But  in  the  former  we  shall 
find  the  origin  of  sun  worship  the  oldest 
and  by  far  the  most  prevalent  of  all  the 
ancient  religions. 

Eusebius  says  that  the  Phoenicians  and 
the  Egyptians  were  the  first  who  ascribed 
divinity  to  the  sun.  But  long  —  very  long 
—  before  these  ancient  peoples  the  primeval 
race  of  Aryans  worshipped  the  solar  orb  in 
his  various  manifestations  as  the  producer 
of  light.  "In  the  Veda,"  says  a  native 
commentator,  "  there  are  only  three  deities: 


Surya  in  heaven,  Indra  in  the  sky,  and 
Agni  on  the  earth."  But  Surya,  Indra, 
Agni  are  but  manifestations  of  God  in  the 
sun,  the  bright  sky,  and  the  fire  derived 
from  the  solar  light.  In  the  profoundly 
poetic  ideas  of  the  Vedic  hymns  we  find 
perpetual  allusion  to  the  sun  "with  his  life- 
bestowing  rays.  Everywhere  in  the  East, 
amidst  its  brilliant  skies,  the  sun  claimed, 
as  the  glorious  manifestation  of  Deity,  the 
adoration  of  those  primitive  peoples.  The 
Persians,  the  Assyrians,  the  Chaldeans,  — 
all  worshipped  the  sun.  The  Greeks,  a 
more  intellectual  people,  gave  a  poetic 
form  to  the  grosser  idea,  and  adored  Apollo 
or  Dionysus  as  the  sun-god. 

Sun  worship  was  introduced  into  the 
mysteries  not  as  a  material  idolatry,  but  as 
the  means  of  expressing  an  idea  of  restora- 
tion to  life  from  death,  drawn  from  the 
daily  reappearance  in  the  east  of  the  solar 
orb  after  its  nightly  disappearance  in  the 
west.  To  the  sun,  too,  as  the  regenerator 
or  revivifier  of  all  things,  is  the  Phallic 
worship,  which  made  a  prominent  part  of 
the  mysteries,  to  be  attributed.  From  the 
Mithraic  initiations,  in  which  sun  worship 
played  so  important  a  part,  the  Gnostics 
derived  many  of  their  symbols.  These, 
again,  exercised  their  influence  upon  the 
mediaeval  Freemasons.  Thus  it  is  that  the 
sun  has  become  so  prominent  in  the  Ma- 
sonic system ;  not,  of  course,  as  an  object 
of  worship,  but  purely  as  a  symbol,  the 
interpretation  of  which  presents  itself  in 
many  different  ways.    See  Sun. 

Super  Excellent  Masons.  Dr. 
Oliver  devotes  the  fifteenth  lectureofhis  His- 
torical Landmarks  (Vol.  I.,  pp.  401-438,)  to 
an  essay  "  On  the  number  and  classification 
of  the  Workmen  at  the  building  of  King 
Solomon's  Temple."  His  statement,  based 
entirely  on  old  lectures  and  legends,  is  that 
there  were  nine  Masons  of  supereminent 
ability  who  were  called  Super  Excellent 
Masons,  and  who  presided  over  as  many 
Lodges  of  Excellent  Masons,  while  the 
nine  Super  Excellent  Masons  formed  also  a 
Lodge  over  which  Tito  Zadok,  Prince  of 
Harodim,  presided.  In  a  note  on  p.  423,  he 
refers  to  these  Super  Excellent  Masons  as 
being  the  same  as  the  Most  Excellent  Mas- 
ters who  constitute  the  sixth  degree  of  the 
American  Rite.  The  theory  advanced  by 
Dr.  Oliver  is  not  only  entirely  unauthenti- 
cated  by  historical  evidence  of  any  kind, 
but  also  inconsistent  with  the  ritual  of  that 
degree.  It  is,  in  fact,  merely  a  myth,  and 
not  a  well-constructed  one. 

Super  Excellent  Master.  A  de- 
gree which  was  originally  an  honorary  or 
side  degree  conferred  by  the  Inspectors 
General  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite  at  Charleston.     It  has  since  been 


SUPER 


SUPPORTS 


767 


introduced  into  some  of  the  Royal  and  Se- 
lect Councils  of  the  United  States,  and 
there  conferred  as  an  additional  degree. 
This  innovation  on  the  regular  series  of 
Cryptic  degrees,  with  which  it  actually  has 
no  historical  connection,  met  with  great 
opposition ;  so  that  the  convention  of  Royal 
and  Select  Masters,  which  met  at  New 
York  in  June,  1873,  resolved  to  place  it  in 
the  category  of  an  honorary  degree,  which 
might  or  might  not  be  conferred  at  the  op- 
tion of  a  Council,  but  not  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  Rite.  Although  this  body  had 
no  dogmatic  authority,  its  decision  will 
doubtless  have  some  influence  in  settling 
the  question.  The  degree  is  simply  an  en- 
largement of  that  part  of  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Royal  Arch  which  refer  to  the  Temple 
destruction.  To  that  place  it  belongs,  if  it 
belongs  anywhere,  but  has  no  more  to  do 
with  the  ideas  inculcated  in  Cryptic  Ma- 
sonry than  have  any  of  the  degrees  lately 
invented  for  modern  secret  societies. 

Whence  the  degree  originally  sprang,  it 
is  impossible  to  tell.  It  could  hardly  have 
had  its  birth  on  the  continent  of  Europe ; 
at  least,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
known  to  European  writers.  Neither  G'a- 
dicke  nor  Lenning  mention  it  in  their  En- 
cyclopaedias; nor  is  it  found  in  the  catalogue 
of  more  than  seven  hundred  degrees  given 
by  Thory  in  his  Acta  Latomorum;  nor  does 
Ragon  allude  to  it  in  his  Tuileur  General, 
although  he  has  there  given  a  list  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-three  degrees  or  modifi- 
cations of  the  Master.  Oliver,  it  is  true, 
speaks  of  it,  but  he  evidently  derived  his 
knowledge  from  an  American  source.  It 
may  have  been  manufactured  in  America, 
and  possibly  by  some  of  those  engaged  in 
founding  the  Scottish  Rite.  The  only 
Cahier  that  I  ever  saw  of  the  original  ritual, 
which  is  still  in  my  possession,  is  in  the 
handwriting  of  Alexander  McDonald,  a 
very  intelligent  and  enthusiastic  Mason, 
who  was  at  one  time  the  Grand  Comman- 
der of  the  Supreme  Council  for  the  South- 
ern Jurisdiction. 

The  Masonic  legend  of  the  degree  of  Su- 
per Excellent  Master  refers  to  circum- 
stances which  occurred  on  the  last  day  of 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuzaradan, 
the  captain  of  the  Chaldean  army,  who  had 
been  sent  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  destroy 
the  city  and  Temple,  as  a  just  punishment 
of  the  Jewish  king  Zedekiah  for  his  per- 
fidy and  rebellion.  It  occupies,  therefore, 
precisely  that  point  of  time  which  is  em- 
braced in  that  part  of  the  Royal  Arch  de- 
gree which  represents  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple,  and  the  carrying  of  the  Jews  in 
captivity  to  Babylon.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  ex- 
emplification and  extension  of  that  part  of 
the  Royal  Arch  degree. 


As  to  the  symbolic  design  of  the  degree, 
it  is  very  evident  that  its  legend  and  cere- 
monies are  intended  to  inculcate  that  im- 
portant Masonic  virtue  —  fidelity  to  vows. 
Zedekiah,  the  wicked  king  of  Judah,  is,  by 
the  modern  ritualists  who  have  symbolized 
the  degree,  adopted  very  appropriately  as 
the  symbol  of  perfidy;  and  the  severe  but 
well-deserved  punishment  which  was  in- 
flicted on  him  by  the  king  of  Babylon  is 
set  forth  in  the  lecture  as  a  great  moral  les- 
son, whose  object  is  to  warn  the  recipient 
of  the  fatal  effects  that  will  ensue  from  a 
violation  of  his  sacred  obligations. 

Superintendent  of  the  Works, 
Grand.  An  officer  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  who  is  appointed  annually  by 
the  Grand  Master.  He  should  be  well 
skilled  in  geometry  and  architecture.  His 
duty  is  to  advise  with  the  Board  of  General 
Purposes  on  all  plans  of  building  or  edi- 
fices undertaken  by  the  Grand  Lodge,  and 
furnish  plans  and  estimates  for  the  same ; 
to  superintend  their  construction,  and  see 
that  they  are  conformable  to  the  plans  ap- 
proved by  the  Grand  Master,  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  the  Board  of  General  Purposes ; 
to  suggest  improvements,  and  make  an  an- 
nual report  on  the  condition  of  all  the 
Grand  Lodge  edifices.  The  office  is  not 
known  in  the  Grand  Lodges  of  this  country, 
but  where  there  is  a  temple  or  hall  belong- 
ing to  a  Grand  Lodge,  the  duty  of  attend- 
ing to  it  is  referred  to  a  hall  committee, 
which,  when  necessary,  engages  the  services 
of  a  professional  architect. 

Superior.  The  sixth  and  last  de- 
gree of  the  German  Union  of  the  Twenty- 
two. 

Superiors,  Unknown.  See  Un- 
known Superiors. 

Super  Mason  ic.  Ragon  ( Orth.  Ma- 
con., p.  73,)  calls  the  high  degrees,  as  being 
beyond  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  "Grades 
super  Maqonniques." 

Supplanting.  All  the  Old  Constitu- 
tions, without  exception,  contain  a  charge 
against  one  Fellow  supplanting  another  in 
his  work.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  third 
charge  in  the  Harleian  MS.  says :  "  Alsoe 
that  noe  maister  nor  fellowe  shall  subplant 
others  of  their  worke,  that  is  to  say,  if  they 
have  taken  a  worke  or  stand  maister  of  a 
Lord's  work,  y"  shall  not  put  him  out  of  it 
if  he  be  able  of  cuninge  to  end  the  worke." 
From  this  we  derive  the  modern  doctrine 
that  one  Lodge  cannot  interfere  with  the 
work  of  another,  and  that  a  candidate  be- 
ginning his  initiation  in  a  Lodge  must  finish 
it  in  the  same  Lodge. 

Supports  of  the  Lodge.  The  sym- 
bolism connected  with  the  supports  of  the 
Lodge  is  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  ex- 
tensively prevalent  in  the  Order.     The  old- 


768 


SUPPORTS 


SUPPORTS 


est  Catechism  of  the  last  century  gives  it  in 
these  words : 

"  Q.  What  supports  your  Lodge  ? 

"  A.  Three  great  Pillars. 

"  Q.  What  are  their  names? 

"A.  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty. 

"  Q.  Who  doth  the  Pillar  of  Wisdom 
represent? 

"  A.  The  Master  in  the  East. 

"  Q.  Who  doth  the  Pillar  of  Strength 
represent  ? 

"A.  The  Senior  Warden  in  the  West. 

"  Q.  Who  doth  the  Pillar  of  Beauty  rep- 
resent ? 

"A.  The  Junior  Warden  in  the  South. 

"  Q.  Why  should  the  Master  represent 
the  Pillar  of  Wisdom? 

"  A.  Because  he  gives  instructions  to  the 
Crafts  to  carry  on  their  work  in  a  proper 
manner,  with  good  harmony. 

"  Q.  Why  should  the  Senior  Warden 
represent  the  Pillar  of  Strength  ? 

"  A.  As  the  Sun  sets  to  finish  the  day, 
so  the  Senior  Warden  stands  in  the  West 
to  pay  the  hirelings  their  wages,  which  is 
the  strength  and  support  of  all  business. 

"  Q.  Why  should  the  Junior  Warden 
represent  the  Pillar  of  Beauty  ? 

"  A.  Because  he  stands  in  the  South  at 
high  twelve  at  noon,  which  is  the  beauty 
of  the  day,  to  call  the  men  off  from  work  to 
refreshment,  and  to  see  that  they  come  on 
again  in  due  time,  that  the  Master  may 
have  pleasure  and  profit  therein. 

"  Q.  Why  is  it  said  that  your  Lodge  is 
supported  by  these  three  great  Pillars  — 
Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty? 

"A.  Because  Wisdom,  Strength,  and 
Beauty  is  the  finisher  of  all  works,  and 
nothing  can  be  carried  on  without  them. 

"Q.  Why  so,  Brother  ? 

"A.  Because  there  is  Wisdom  to  con- 
trive, Strength  to  support,  and  Beauty  to 
adorn." 

Preston  repeats  substantially  (but,  of 
course,  with  an  improvement  of  the  lan- 
guage,) this  lecture;  and  he  adds  to  it  the 
symbolism  of  the  three  orders  of  architec- 
ture of  which  these  pillars  are  said  to  be 
composed.  These,  he  says,  are  the  Tuscan, 
Doric,  and  Corinthian.  The  mistake  of 
enumerating  the  Tuscan  among  the  ancient 
orders  was  corrected  by  subsequent  ritual- 
ists. Preston  also  referred  the  supports 
symbolically  to  the  three  Ancient  Grand 
Masters.  This  symbolism  was  afterwards 
transferred  by  Webb  from  the  first  to  the 
third  degree. 

Webb,  in  modifying  the  lecture  of  Pres- 
ton, attributed  the  supports  not  to  the 
Lodge,  but  to  the  Institution;  an  unne- 
cessary alteration,  since  the  Lodge  is  but 
the  type  of  the  Institution.  His  language 
is :  "  Our  Institution  is  said  to  be  supported 


by  wisdom,  strength,  and  beauty  ;  because 
it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  wisdom 
to  contrive,  strength  to  support,  and  beauty 
to  adorn  all  great  and  important  under- 
takings." He  follows  the  ancient  refer- 
ence of  the  pillars  to  the  three  officers,  and 
adopts  Preston's  symbolism  of  the  three 
orders  of  architecture,  but  he  very  wisely 
substitutes  the  Ionic  for  the  Tuscan.  Hem- 
ming, in  his  lectures  adopted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  in  1813,  retained  the 
symbolism  of  the  pillars,  but  gave  a  change 
in  the  language.  He  said:  "A  Mason's 
Lodge  is  supported  by  three  grand  pillars. 
They  are  called  Wisdom,  Strength,  and 
Beauty.  Wisdom  to  contrive,  Strength  to 
support,  and  Beauty  to  adorn.  Wisdom 
todirecfus  in  all  our  undertakings,  Strength 
to  support  us  in  all  our  difficulties,  and 
Beauty  to  adorn  the  inward  man." 

The  French  Masons  preserve  the  same 
symbolism.  Bazot  (Manuel,  p.  225,)  says : 
"Three  great  pillars  sustain  the  Lodge. 
The  first,  the  emblem  of  wisdom,  is  repre- 
sented by  the  Master  who  sits  in  the  east, 
whence  light  and  his  commands  emanate. 
The  second,  the  emblem  of  strength,  is 
represented  by  the  Senior  Warden,  who 
sits  in  the  west,  where  the  workmen  are 
paid,  whose  strength  and  existence  are  pre- 
served by  the  wages  which  they  receive. 
The  third  and  last  pillar  is  the  emblem  of 
beauty ;  it  is  represented  by  the  Junior 
Warden,  who  sits  in  the  south,  because  that 
part  typifies  the  middle  of  the  day,  whose 
beauty  is  perfect ;  during  this  time  the 
workmen  repose  from  work ;  and  it  is  thence 
that  the  Junior  Warden  sees  them  return 
to  the  Lodge  and  resume  their  labors." 

The  German  Masons  have  also  main- 
tained these  three  pillars  in  their  various 
rituals.  Schroder,  the  author  of  the  most 
philosophical  one,  says :  "  The  universal 
Lodge,  as  well  as  every  particular  one,  is 
supported  by  three  great  invisible  columns 
—  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty;  for  as 
every  building  is  planned  and  fashioned 
by  Wisdom,  owes  its  durability  and  solidity 
to  Strength,  and  is  made  symmetrical  and 
harmonious  by  Beauty,  so  ought  our  spirit- 
ual building  to  be  designed  by  Wisdom, 
which  gives  it  the  firm  foundation  of  Truth, 
on  which  the  Strength  of  conviction  may 
build,  and  self-knowledge  complete  the 
structure,  and  give  it  permanence  and  con- 
tinuance by  means  of  right,  justice,  and 
resolute  perseverance;  and  Beauty  will 
finally  adorn  the  edifice  with  all  the  social 
virtues,  with  brotherly  love  and  union, 
with  benevolence,  kindness,  and  a  com- 
prehensive philanthropy." 

Steiglitz,  in  his  work  On  the  Old  German 
Architecture,  (i.  239,)  after  complaining  that 
the  building  principles  of  the  old  German 


SUPPORTS 


SUPREME 


769 


artists  were  lost  to  us,  because,  considering 
them  as  secrets  of  the  brotherhood,  they 
deemed  it  unlawful  to  commit  them  to 
writing,  yet  thinks  that  enough  may  be 
found  in  the  old  documents  of  the  Frater- 
nity to  sustain  the  conjecture  that  these 
three  supports  were  familiar  to  the  Oper- 
ative Masons.     He  says : 

"Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty  were  hon- 
ored by  them  as  supporting  pillars  for  the 
perfect  accomplishment  of  the  works ;  and 
thence  they  considered  them  symbolically 
as  essential  pillars  for  the  support  of  the 
Lodge.  Wisdom,  which,  established  on 
science,  gives  invention  to  the  artist,  and 
the  right  arrangement  and  appropriate  dis- 
position .of  the  whole  and  of  all  its  parts ; 
Strength,  which,  proceeding  from  the  har- 
monious balance  of  all  the  forces,  promotes 
the  secure  erection  of  the  building;  and 
Beauty,  which,  manifested  in  God's  crea- 
tion of  the  world,  adorns  the  work  and 
makes  it  perfect." 

I  can  hardly  doubt,  from  the  early  ap- 
pearance of  this  symbol  of  the  three  sup- 
ports, and  from  its  unchanged  form  in  all 
countries,  that  it  dates  its  origin  from  a 
period  earlier  than  the  revival  in  1717,  and 
that  it  may  be  traced  to  the  Operative  Ma- 
sons of  the  Middle  Ages,  where  Stieglitz 
says  it  existed. 

One  thing  is  clear,  that  the  symbol  is 
not  found  among  those  of  the  Gnostics,  and 
was  not  familiar  to  the  Rosicrucians ;  and, 
therefore,  out  of  the  three  sources  of  our 
symbolism,  — Gnosticism,  Rosicrucianism, 
and  Operative  Masonry, — it  is  most  prob- 
able that  it  has  been  derived  from  the  last. 

When  the  high  degrees  were  fabricated, 
and  Christianity  began  to  furnish  its  sym- 
bols and  doctrine  to  the  new  Masonry,  the 
old  Temple  of  Solomon  was  by  some  of 
them  abandoned,  and  that  other  temple 
adopted  to  which  Christ  had  referred  when 
he  said,  "  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three 
days  I  will  raise  it  up."  The  old  supports 
of  wisdom,  strength,  and  beauty,  which  had 
sufficed  for  the  Gothic  builders,  and  which 
they,  borrowing  them  from  the  results  of 
their  labors  on  the  cathedrals,  had  applied 
symbolically  to  their  Lodges,  were  discarded, 
and  more  spiritual  supports  for  a  more  spir- 
itual temple  were  to  be  selected.  There  had 
been  a  new  dispensation,  and  there  was  to 
be  a  new  temple.  The  great  doctrine  of 
that  new  dispensation  was  to  furnish  the 
supporting  pillars  for  the  new  temple.  In 
these  high  Christianized  degrees  we  there- 
fore no  longer  find  the  columns  of  Wisdom, 
Strength,  and  Beauty,  but  the  spiritual  ones 
of  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity. 

But  the  form  of  the  symbolism  is  un- 
changed. The  East,  the  West,  and  the 
South  are  still  the  spots  where  we  find  the 
4W  -49 


new,  as  we  did  the  old,  pillars.  Thus  the 
triangle  is  preserved;  for  the  triangle  is  the 
Masonic  symbol  of  God,  who  is,  after  all, 
the  true  support  of  the  Lodge. 

Supreme  Authority.  The  supreme 
authority  in  Masonry  is  that  dogmatic  power 
from  whose  decisions  there  is  no  appeal. 
At  the  head  of  every  Rite  there  is  a  su- 
preme authority  which  controls  and  directs 
the  acts  of  all  subordinate  bodies  of  the 
Rite.  In  the  United  States,  and  in  the 
American  Rite  which  is  there  practised,  it 
would,  at  the  first  glance,  appear  that  the 
supreme  authority  is  divided.  That  of 
symbolic  Lodges  is  vested  in  Grand  Lodges, 
of  Royal  Arch  Chapters  in  Grand  Chap- 
ters, of  Royal  and  Select  Councils  in  Grand 
Councils,  and  of  Commanderies  of  Knights 
Templars  in  the  Grand  Encampment.  And 
so  far  as  ritualistic  questions  and  matters 
of  internal  arrangement  are  concerned,  the 
supreme  authority  is  so  divided.  But  the 
supreme  authority  of  Masonry  in  each 
State  is  actually  vested  in  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  that  State.  It  is  universally  recognized 
as  Masonic  law  that  a  Mason  expelled  or 
suspended  by  the  Grand  Lodge,  or  by  a 
subordinate  Lodge  with  the  approval  and 
confirmation  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  thereby 
stands  expelled  or  suspended  from  Royal 
Arch,  from  Cryptic,  and  from  Templar 
Masonry.  Nor  can  he  be  permitted  to 
visit  any  of  the  bodies  in  either  of  these 
divisions  of  the  Rite  so  long  as  he  remains 
under  the  ban  of  expulsion  of  the  Grand 
Lodge.  So  the  status  or  condition  of  every 
Mason  in  the  jurisdiction  is  controlled  by  the 
Grand  Lodge,  from  whose  action  on  that 
subject  there  is  no  appeal.  The  Masonic 
life  and  death  of  every  member  of  the  Craft, 
in  every  class  of  the  Order,  is  in  its  hands, 
and  thus  the  Grand  Lodge  becomes  the  real 
supreme  authority  of  the  jurisdiction. 

Supreme  Commander  of  the 
Stars.  (Suprime  Commandeur  des  Astres.) 
A  degree  said  to  have  been  invented  at 
Geneva  in  1779,  and  found  in  the  collection 
of  M.  A.  Viany. 

Supreme  Consistory.  (Supreme 
Consistoire.)  The  title  of  some  of  the 
highest  bodies  in  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 
In  the  original  construction  of  the  Rite  at 
Naples  the  members  of  the  ninetieth  de- 
gree met  in  a  Supreme  Consistory.  When 
the  Bederides  took  charge  of  the  Rite  they 
changed  the  title  of  the  governing  body 
to  Supreme  Council. 

Supreme  Council.  The  Supreme 
Masonic  authority  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite  is  called  a  Supreme 
Council.  A  Supreme  Council  claims  to 
derive  the  authority  for  its  existence  from 
the  Constitutions  of  1786.  I  have  no  in- 
tention here  of  entering  into  the  question 


770 


SUPREME 


SUPREME 


of  the  authenticity  of  that  document.  The 
question  is  open  to  the  historian,  and  has 
been  amply  discussed,  with  the  natural  re- 
sult of  contradictory  conclusions.  But  he 
who  accepts  the  Ancient  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite  as  genuine  Freemasonry,  and 
owes  his  obedience  as  a  Mason  to  its  con- 
stituted authorities,  is  compelled  to  recog- 
nize those  Constitutions  wherever  or  when- 
ever they  may  have  been  enacted  as  the 
fundamental  law  —  the  constitutional  rule 
of  his  Rite.  To  their  authority  all  the 
Supreme  Councils  owe  their  legitimate 
existence. 

Dr.  Frederick  Dalcho,  who,  I  think,  may 
very  properly  be  considered  as  the  founder 
in  the  United  States,  and  therefore  in  the 
world,  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite  in  its  present  form  as  the  legiti- 
mate successor  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection  or 
of  Herodem,  has  given  in  the  Circular 
written  by  him,  and  published  December  4, 
1802,  by  the  Supreme  Council  at  Charles- 
ton, the  following  account  of  the  establish- 
ment of  Supreme  Councils. 

"  On  the  1st  of  May,  1786,  the  Grand 
Constitution  of  the  thirty-third  degree, 
called  the  Supreme  Council  of  Sovereign 
Grand  Inspectors  General,  was  finally  rati- 
fied by  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia, 
who,  as  Grand  Commander  of  the  Order  of 
Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret,  possessed  the 
Sovereign  Masonic  power  over  all  the  Craft. 
In  the  new  Constitution,  this  high  power 
was  conferred  on  a  Supreme  Council  of 
nine  brethren  in  each  nation,  who  possess 
all  the  Masonic  prerogatives,  in  their  own 
district,  that  his  Majesty  individually  pos- 
sessed, and  are  Sovereigns  of  Masonry." 

The  law  for  the  establishment  of  a  Su- 
preme Council  is  found  in  the  following 
words  in  the  Latin  Constitutions  of  1786 : 
"  The  first  degree  will  be  subordinated  to 
the  second,  that  to  the  third,  and  so  in 
order  to  the  sublime,  thirty -third,  and  last, 
which  will  watch  over  all  the  others,  will 
correct  their  errors  and  will  govern  them, 
and  whose  congregation  or  convention  will 
be  a  dogmatic  Supreme  Grand  Council,  the 
Defender  and  Conservator  of  the  Order, 
which  it  will  govern  and  administer  accord- 
ing to  the  present  Constitutions  and  those 
which  may  hereafter  be  enacted." 
1  But  the  Supreme  Council  at  Charleston 
derived  its  authority  and  its  information 
from  what  are  called  the  French  Constitu- 
tions ;  and  it  is  in  them  that  we  find  the 
statement  that  Frederick  invested  the  Su- 
preme Council  with  the  same  prerogatives 
that  he  himself  possessed,  a  provision  not 
contained  in  the  Latin  Constitutions.  The 
twelfth  article  says  :  "  The  Supreme  Coun- 
cil will  exercise  all  the  Masonic  sovereign 
powers  of  which  his  Majesty  Frederick  II., 
King  of  Prussia,  was  possessed." 


These  Constitutions  further  declare,  (Art. 
5,)  that  "  every  Supreme  Council  is  com- 
posed of  nine  Inspectors  General,  five  of 
whom  should  profess  the  Christian  reli- 
gion." In  the  same  article  it  is  provided 
that  "there  shall  be  only  one  Council  of 
this  degree  in  each  nation  or  kingdom  in 
Europe,  two  in  the  United  States  of 
America  as  far  removed  as  possible  the 
one  from  the  other,  one  in  the  English 
islands  of  America,  and  one  likewise  in 
the  French  islands." 

It  was  in  compliance  with  these  Constitu- 
tions that  the  Supreme  Council  at  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  was  instituted.  In  the 
Circular,  already  cited,  Dalcho  gives  this 
account  of  its  establishment. 

';  On  the  31st  of  May,  1801,  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  thirty-third  degree  for  the 
United  States  of  America  was  opened,  with 
the  high  honors  of  Masonry,  by  Brothers 
John  Mitchell  and  Frederick  Dalcho, 
Sovereign  Grand  Inspectors  General;  and 
in  the  course  of  the  present  year,  [1802,] 
the  whole  number  of  Grand  Inspectors 
General  was  completed,  agreeably  to  the 
Grand  Constitutions." 

This  was  the  first  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  ever 
formed;  from  it  has  emanated  either  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  all  the  other  Councils 
which  have  been  since  established  in 
America  or  Europe;  and  although  it  now 
exercises  jurisdiction  only  over  a  part  of 
the  United  States  under  the  title  of  the 
Supreme  Council  for  the  Southern  Juris- 
diction of  the  United  States,  it  claims  to 
be  and  is  recognized  as  "  the  Mother  Coun- 
cil of  the  World." 

Under  its  authority  a  Supreme  Council, 
the  second  in  date,  was  established  by  Count 
de  Grasse  in  the  French  West  Indies,  in 
1802 ;  a  third  in  France,  by  the  same  au- 
thority, in  1804;  and  a  fourth  in  Italy  in 
1805.  In  1813  the  Masonic  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States  was  divided ;  the  Mother 
Council  establishing  at  the  city  of  New 
York  a  Supreme  Council  for  the  Northern 
Jurisdiction,  and  over  the  States  north  of 
the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  re- 
serving to  itself  all  the  remainder  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States.  The  seat 
of  the  Northern  Council  is  now  at  Boston  ; 
and  although  the  offices  of  the  Grand 
Commander  and  Secretary-General  of  the 
Southern  Council  are  now  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  whence  its  documents  emanate, 
its  seat  is  still  constructively  at  Charleston. 

On  their  first  organization,  the  Supreme 
Councils  were  limited  to  nine  members  in 
each.  That  rule  continued  to  be  enforced 
in  the  Mother  Council  until  the  year  1859, 
when  the  number  was  increased  to  thirty- 
three.  Similar  enlargements  have  been 
made  in  all  the  other  Supreme  Councils 


SUSPENSION 


SUSPENSION 


771 


except  that  of  Scotland,  which  still  retains 
the  original  number. 

The  officers  of  the  original  Supreme 
Council  at  Charleston  were :  a  Most  Puis- 
sant Sovereign  Grand  Commander,  Most 
Illustrious  Lieutenant  Grand  Commander, 
Illustrious  Treasurer-General  of  the  Holy 
Empire,  Illustrious  Secretary-General  of 
the  Holy  Empire,  Illustrious  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  Ceremonies,  and  Illustrious  Captain 
of  the  Guards. 

In  1859,  with  the  change  of  numbers  in 
the  membership,  there  was  also  made  a 
change  in  the  number  and  titles  of  the  offi- 
cers. These  now  in  the  Mother  Council, 
according  to  its  present  Constitution,  are : 

I.  Sovereign  Grand  Commander;  2.  Lieu- 
tenant Grand  Commander;  3.  Secretary- 
General  of  the  Holy  Empire;  4.  Grand 
Prior;  5.  Grand  Chancellor;  6.  Grand 
Minister  of  State;  7.  Treasurer-General 
of  the  Holy  Empire;  8.  Grand  Auditor; 
9.  Grand  Almoner ;  10.  Grand  Constable ; 

II.  Grand  Chamberlain;  12.  First  Grand 
Equerry;  13.  Second  Grand  Equerry;  14. 
Grand  Standard-Bearer ;  15.  Grand  toword- 
Bearer ;  18.  Grand  Herald.  The  Secretary- 
General  is  properly  the  seventh  officer,  but 
by  a  decree  of  the  Supreme  he  is  made  the 
third  officer  in  rank  "  while  the  office  con- 
tinues to  be  filled  by  Bro.  Albert  G.  Mackey, 
the  present  incumbent,  who  is  the  Dean  of 
the  Supreme  Council." 

The  officers  somewhat  vary  in  other  Su- 
preme Councils,  but  the  presiding  and  re- 
cording officers  are  everywhere  a  Sovereign 
Grand  Commander  and  a  Secretary-General 
of  the  Holy  Empire. 

Suspension.  This  is  a  Masonic  pun- 
ishment, which  consists  of  a  temporary 
deprivation  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
Masonry.  It  is  of  two  kinds,  definite  and 
indefinite  ;  but  the  effect  of  the  penalty,  for 
the  time  that  it  lasts,  is  the  same  in  both 
kinds.  The  mode  in  which  restoration  is 
effected  differs  in  each. 

1.  Definite  Suspension.  —  By  definite  sus- 
pension is  meant  a  deprivation  of  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  Masonry  for  a  fixed  period 
of  time,  which  period  is  always  named  in 
the  sentence.  By  the  operation  of  this 
penalty,  a  Mason  is  for  the  time  prohibited 
from  the  exercise  of  all  his  Masonic  privi- 
leges. His  rights  are  placed  in  abeyance, 
and  he  can  neither  visit  Lodges,  hold  Ma- 
sonic communication,  nor  receive  Masonic 
relief,  during  the  period  for  which  he  has 
been  suspended.  Yet  his  Masonic  citizen- 
ship is  not  lost.  In  this  respect  suspension 
may  be  compared  to  the  Roman  punishment 
of  relegatio,"  or  banishment,  which  Ovid, 
who  had  endured  it,  describes,  (Tristia,  v. 
11,)  with  technical  correctness,  as  a  penalty 
which  "  takes  away  neither  life  nor  prop- 


erty nor  rights  of  citizens,  but  only  drives 
away  from  the  country."  So  by  suspension 
the  rights  and  duties  of  the  Mason  are  not 
obliterated,  but  their  exercise  only  inter- 
dicted for  the  period  limited  by  the  sen- 
tence, and  as  soon  as  this  has  terminated 
he  at  once  resumes  his  former  position  in 
the  Order,  and  is  reinvested  with  all  his 
Masonic  rights,  whether  those  rights  be  of 
a  private  or  of  an  official  nature. 

Thus,  if  an  officer  of  a  Lodge  has  been 
suspended  for  three  months  from  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  Masonry,  a  suspen- 
sion of  his  official  functions  also  takes 
place.  But  a  suspension  from  the  discharge 
of  the  functions  of  an  office  is  not  a  depri- 
vation of  the  office ;  and  therefore,  as  soon 
as  the  three  months  to  which  the  suspen- 
sion had  been  limited  have  expired,  the 
brother  resumes  all  his  rights  in  the  Order 
and  the  Lodge,  and  with  them,  of  course,  the 
office  which  he  had  held  at  the  time  that 
the  sentence  of  suspension  had  been  inflicted. 

2.  Indefinite  Suspension.  — This  is  a  sus- 

Eension  for  a  period  not  determined  and 
xed  by  the  sentence,  but  to  continue  dur- 
ing the  pleasure  of  the  Lodge.  In  this  re- 
spect only  does  it  differ  from  the  preceding 
punishment.  The  position  of  a  Mason, 
under  definite  or  indefinite  suspension,  is 

Erecisely  the  same  as  to  the  exercise  of  all 
is  rights  and  privileges,  which  in  both 
cases  remain  in  abeyance,  and  restoration 
in  each  brings  with  it  a  resumption  of  all 
the  rights  and  functions,  the  exercise  of 
which  had  been  interrupted  by  the  sentence 
of  suspension. 

Neither  definite  nor  indefinite  suspension 
can  be  inflicted  except  after  due  notifica- 
tion and  trial,  and  then  only  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

Restoration  to  Masonic  rights  differs,  as 
I  have  said,  in  these  two  kinds.  Restora- 
tion from  definite  suspension  may  take 
place  either  by  a  vote  of  the  Lodge  abridg- 
ing the  time,  when  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers must  concur,  or  it  will  terminate  by 
the  natural  expiration  of  the  period  fixed 
by  the  sentence,  and  that  without  any 
vote  of  the  Lodge.  Thus,  if  a  member  is 
suspended  for  three  months,  at  the  end  of 
the  third  month  his  suspension  terminates, 
and  he  is  ipso  facto  restored  to  all  his  rights 
and  privileges. 

In  the  case  of  indefinite  suspension,  the 
only  method  of  restoration  is  by  a  vote  of 
the  Lodge  at  a  regular  meeting,  two-thirds 
of  those  present  concurring. 

Lastly,  it  may  be  observed  that,  as  the 
suspension  of  a  member  suspends  his  pre- 
rogatives, it  also  suspends  his  dues.  He 
cannot  be  expected,  in  justice,  to  pay  for 
that  which  he  does  not  receive,  and  Lodge 
dues  are  simply  a  compensation  made  by  a 


772 


SUSSEX 


SWEDEN 


member  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  privileges 
of  membership. 

Sussex,  Duke  of.  The  Duke  of 
Sussex  is  entitled  to  a  place  in  Masonic  bi- 
ography, not  only  because,  of  all  the  Grand 
Masters  on  record,  he  held  the  office  the 
longest, — the  Duke  of  Leinster,  of  Ireland, 
alone  excepted, — but  also  because  of  his  de- 
votion to  the  Institution,  and  the  zeal  with 
which  he  cultivated  and  protected  its  in- 
terests. Augustus  Frederick,  ninth  child 
and  sixth  son  of  George  III.,  king  of  Eng- 
land, was  born  January  27,  1773.  He  was 
initiated  in  1798  at  a  Lodge  in  Berlin. 
In  1805,  the  honorary  rank  of  a  Past 
Grand  Master  was  conferred  on  him  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England.  May  13, 1812, 
he  was  appointed  Deputy  Grand  Master; 
and  April  13,  1813,  the  Prince  Regent, 
afterwards  George  IV.,  having  declined  a 
re-election  as  Grand  Master,  the  Duke  of 
Sussex  was  unanimously  elected;  and  in  the 
same  year  the  two  rival  Grand  Lodges  of 
England  were  united.  The  Duke  was  Most 
Excellent  Zerubbabel  of  the  Grand  Chap- 
ter, and  Grand  Superintendent  of  the  Grand 
Conclave  of  Knights  Templars.  He  never, 
however,  took  any  interest  in  the  orders  of 
knighthood,  to  which,  indeed,  he  appears  to 
have  had  some  antipathy.  During  his  long 
career  the  Grand  Conclave  never  met  but 
once.  By  annual  elections,  he  retained  the 
office  of  Grand  Master  until  his  death,  which 
took  place  April  21,  1843,  in  the  seventy- 
first  year  of  his  age,  having  completed  a 
Masonic  administration  as  head  of  the  Eng- 
lish Craft  of  upwards  of  thirty  years. 

During  that  long  period,  it  was  impos- 
sible that  some  errors  should  not  have  been 
committed.  The  Grand  Master's  conduct 
in  reference  to  two  distinguished  Masons, 
Drs.  Crucefix  and  Oliver,  was  by  no  means 
creditable  to  his  reputation  for  justice  or 
forbearance.  But  the  general  tenor  of  his 
life  as  an  upright  man  and  Mason,  and  his 
great  attachment  to  the  Order,  tended  to 
compensate  for  the  few  mistakes  of  his  ad- 
ministration. One  who  had  been  most 
bitterly  opposed  to  his  course  in  reference 
to  Brothers  Crucefix  and  Oliver,  and  had 
not  been  sparing  of  his  condemnation,  paid, 
after  his  death,  this  tribute  to  his  Masonic 
virtues  and  abilities. 

*  As  a  Freemason,"  said  the  Freemasons' 
Quarterly  Review,  (1843,  p.  120,)  "  the  Duke 
of  Sussex  was  the  most  accomplished  crafts- 
man of  his  day.  His  knowledge  of  the 
mysteries  was,  as  it  were,  intuitive;  his 
reading  on  the  subject  was  extensive ;  his 
correspondence  equally  so;  and  his  desire 
to  be  introduced  to  any  brother  from  whose 
experience  he  could  derive  any  information 
had  in  it  a  craving  that  marked  his  great 
devotion  to  the  Order." 


On  the  occasion  of  the  presentation  of  an 
offering  by  the  Fraternity  in  1838,  the  Duke 
gave  the  following  account  of  his  Masonic 
life,  which  embodies  sentiments  that  are 
highly  honorable  to  him. 

"  My  duty  as  your  Grand  Master  is  to 
take  care  that  no  political  or  religious  ques- 
tion intrudes  itself;  and  had  I  thought 
that,  in  presenting  this  tribute,  any  politi- 
cal feeling  had  influenced  the  brethren,  I 
can  only  say  that  then  the  Grand  Master 
would  not  have  been  gratified.  Our  object 
is  unanimity,  and  we  can  find  a  centre  of 
unanimity  unknown  elsewhere.  I  recollect 
twenty-five  years  ago,  at  a  meeting  in  many 
respects  similar  to  the  present,  a  magnifi- 
cent jewel  (by  voluntary  vote)  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Earl  Moira  previous  to  his 
journey  to  India.  I  had  the  honor  to  pre- 
side, and  I  remember  the  powerful  and 
beautiful  appeal  which  that  excellent 
brother  made  on  the  occasion.  I  am  now 
sixty-six  years  of  age — I  say  this  without 
regret — the  true  Mason  ought  to  think  that 
the  first  day  of  his  birth  is  but  a  step  on 
his  way  to  the  final  close  of  life.  When  I 
tell  you  that  I  have  completed  forty  years 
of  a  Masonic  life  —  there  may  be  older  Ma- 
sons— but  that  is  a  pretty  good  specimen  of 
my  attachment  to  the  Order. 

"  In  1798,  I  entered  Masonry  in  a  Lodge 
at  Berlin,  and  there  I  served  several  offices, 
and  as  Warden  was  a  representative  of  the 
Lodge  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  I 
afterwards  was  acknowledged  and  received 
with  the  usual  compliment  paid  to  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  Family,  by  being  ap- 
pointed a  Past  Grand  Warden.  I  again 
went  abroad  for  three  years,  and  on  my  re- 
turn joined  various  Lodges,  and  upon  the 
retirement  of  the  Prince  Regent,  who  be- 
came Patron  of  the  Order,  I  was  elected 
Grand  Master.  An  epoch  of  considerable 
interest  intervened,  and  I  became  charged, 
in  1813-14,  with  a  most  important  mission 
—  the  union  of  the  two  London  societies. 
My  most  excellent  brother,  the  Duke  of 
Kent,  accepted  the  title  of  Grand  Master 
of  the  Athol  Masons,  as  they  were  denomi- 
nated; I  was  the  Grand  Master  of  those 
called  the  Prince  of  Wales's.  In  three 
months  we  carried  the  union  of  the  two 
societies,  and  I  had  the  happiness  of  pre- 
siding over  the  united  Fraternity.  This  I 
consider  to  have  been  the  happiest  event 
of  my  life.  It  brought  all  Masons  upon 
the  Level  and  the  Square,  and  showed  the 
world  at  large  that  the  differences  of  com- 
mon life  did  not  exist  in  Masonry,  and  it 
showed  to  Masons  that  by  a  long  pull,  a 
strong  pull,  and  a  pull  altogether,  what 
great  good  might  be  effected." 

Sweden.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  Sweden  in  the  year  1735,  when  Count 


SWEDEN 


SWEDENBORG 


773 


Sparre,  who  had  heen  initiated  in  Paris, 
established  a  Lodge  at  Stockholm.  Of  this 
Lodge  scarcely  anything  is  known,  and  it 
probably  soon  fell  into  decay.  In  1738, 
King  Frederick  I.  promulgated  a  decree 
which  interdicted  all  Masonic  meetings 
under  the  penalty  of  death.  At  the  end  of 
seven  years  the  edict  was  removed,  and 
Masonry  became  popular.  Lodges  were 
publicly  recognized,  and  in  1746  the  Ma- 
sons of  Stockholm  struck  a  medal  on  the 
occasion  of  the  birth  of  the  Prince  Royal, 
afterwards  Gustavus  III.  In  1753,  the 
Swedish  Masons  laid  the  foundation  of 
an  orphan  asylum  at  Stockholm,  which 
was  built  by  the  voluntary  contributions 
of  the  Fraternity,  without  any  assistance 
from  the  State.  In  1762,  King  Adolphus 
Frederick,  in  a  letter  to  the  Grand  Master, 
declared  himself  the  Protector  of  the 
Swedish  Lodges,  and  expressed  his  readi- 
ness to  become  the  Chief  of  Freemasonry 
in  his  dominions,  and  to  asaist  in  defraying 
the  expenses  of  the  Order.  In  1765,  Lord 
Blayney,  Grand  Master  of  England,  granted 
a  Deputation  to  Charles  Fullmann,  Secre- 
tary of  the  English  embassy  at  Stockholm, 
as  Provincial  Grand  Master,  with  the  au- 
thority to  constitute  Lodges  in  Sweden. 
At  the  same  time,  Schubarb,  a  member  of 
the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  appeared  at 
Stockholm,  and  endeavored  to  establish  that 
Rite.  But  he  had  but  little  success,  as 
the  high  degrees  had  been  previously  in- 
troduced from  France. 

But  this  admixture  of  English,  French, 
and  German  Masonry  occasioned  great  dis- 
satisfaction, and  gave  rise,  about  this  time, 
to  the  establishment  of  an  independent  sys- 
tem known  as  the  Swedish  Rite.  In  1770, 
the  Illuminated  Grand  Chapter  was  estab- 
lished, and  the  Duke  of  Sudermania  ap- 
pointed the  Vicarius  Salomonis.  In  1780, 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Sweden,  which  for 
some  years  had  been  in  abeyance,  was  re- 
vived, and  the  same  Prince  elected  Grand 
Master.  This  act  gave  an  independent  and 
responsible  position  to  Swedish  Masonry, 
and  the  progress  of  the  Institution  in  that 
kingdom  has  been  ever  since  regular  and 
uninterrupted.  On  March  22,  1793,  Gus- 
tavus IV.,  the  king  of  Sweden,  was  initi- 
ated into  Masonry  in  a  Lodge  at  Stock- 
holm, the  Duke  of  Sudermania,  then  acting 
as  Regent  of  the  kingdom,  presiding  as  the 
Grand  Master  of  the  Order. 

In  1799,  on  the  application  of  the  Duke 
of  Sudermania,  a  fraternal  alliance  was 
consummated  between  the  Grand  Lodges 
of  England  and  Sweden,  and  mutual  rep- 
resentatives appointed. 

In  1809,  the  Duke  of  Sudermania  ascend- 
ed the  throne  under  the  title  of  Charles 
XIII.  He  continued  his  attachment  to  the 


Order,  and  retained  the  Grand  Mastership. 
As  a  singular  mark  of  his  esteem  for  Free- 
masonry, the  King  instituted,  May  27, 1811, 
a  new  order  of  knighthood,  known  as  the 
Order  of  Charles  XIII.,  the  members  of 
which  were  to  be  selected  from  Freemasons 
only.  In  the  Patent  of  institution  the 
King  declared  that,  in  founding  the  Order, 
his  intention  "  was  not  only  to  excite  his 
subjects  to  the  practice  of  charity,  and  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  devotion  of 
the  Masonic  Order  to  his  person  while  it 
was  under  his  protection,  but  also  to  give 
further  proofs  of  his  royal  benevolence  to 
those  whom  he  had  so  long  embraced  and 
cherished  under  the  name  of  Freemasons." 
The  Order,  besides  the  princes  of  the  royal 
family,  was  to  consist  of  twenty-seven  lay, 
and  three  ecclesiastical  knights,  all  of  whom 
were  to  hold  equal  rank. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Sweden  practises 
the  Swedish  Rite,  and  exercises  its  jurisdic- 
tion under  the  title  of  the  National  Grand 
Lodge  of  Sweden  and  Norway. 

Swedenborg.  Emanuel  Swedenborg, 
a  distinguished  theologian  of  his  age,  and 
the  founder  of  a  sect  which  still  exists, 
has  been  always  mythically  connected  with 
Freemasonry.  The  eagerness  is  indeed  ex- 
traordinary with  which  all  Masonic  writ- 
ers, German,  French,  English,  and  Ameri- 
can, have  sought  to  connect  the  name  and 
labors  of  the  Swedish  sage  with  the  Ma- 
sonic institution,  and  that,  too,  without  the 
slightest  foundation  for  such  a  theory  either 
in  his  writings,  or  in  any  credible  memo- 
rials of  his  life. 

Findel,  {Hist.,  Lyon's  Trans.,  p.  529,) 
speaking  of  the  reforms  in  Swedish  Ma- 
sonry, says:  "Most  likely  Swedenborg,  the 
mystic  and  visionary,  used  his  influence  in 
bringing  about  the  new  system ;  at  all 
events,  he  smoothed  the  way  for  it."  Len- 
ning  speaks  of  the  influence  of  his  teach- 
ings upon  the  Swedish  system  of  Freema- 
sonry, although  he  does  not  absolutely 
claim  him  as  a  Mason. 

Reghellini,  in  his  Esprit  du  Dogme  de  la 
Franche-Matpnnerie,  writes  thus :  "  Sweden- 
borg made  many  very  learned  researches  on 
the  subject  of  the  Masonic  mysteries.  He 
thought  that  their  doctrines  were  of  the 
highest  antiquity,  having  emanated  from 
the  Egyptians,  the  Persians,  the  Magi,  the 
Jews,  and  the  Greeks.  He  also  became  the 
head  of  a  new  religion  in  his  effort  to  re- 
form that  of  Rome.  For  this  purpose  he 
wrote  his  Celestial  Jerusalem,  or  his  Spi- 
ritual World  :  *  he  mingled  with  his  reform, 

*  There  is  no  work  written  by  Swedenborg 
which  bears  either  of  those  titles.  It  is  possible 
that  Reghellini  alludes  either  to  the  Arcana 
Ccelestia,  published  in  1749-1753,  or  to  the  De 
Nova  Hierosolyma,  published  in  1758. 


74 


SWEDENBORG 


SWEDENBORG 


ideas  which  were  purely  Masonic.  In  this 
celestial  Jerusalem  the  Word  formerly  com- 
municated by  God  to  Moses  is  found ;  this 
word  is  Jehovah,  lost  on  earth,  but  which 
he  invites  us  to  find  in  Great  Tartary,  a 
country  still  governed,  even  in  our  days, 
by  the  patriarchs,  by  which  he  means  alle- 
gorically  to  say  that  this  people  most  nearly 
approach  to  the  primitive  condition  of  the 
perfection  of  innocence."  The  same  writer, 
in  his  Maconnerie  consideree  comme  le  resultat 
des  religions  Egyptienne,  Jeuve  et  Chretienne, 
(ii.  454,)  repeatedly  speaks  of  Swedenborg 
as  a  Masonic  reformer,  and  sometimes  as  a 
Masonic  impostor.  Eagon  also  cites  Reg- 
hellini  in  his  Orthodoxie  Maconnique,  (p. 
255,)  and  recognizes  Swedenborg  as  the 
founder  of  a  Masonic  system.  Thory,  in 
his  Acta  Latomorum,  cites  "  the  system  of 
Swedenborg ; "  and  in  fact  all  the  French 
writers  on  Masonic  ritualism  appear  to  have 
borrowed  their  idea  of  the  Swedish  theo- 
sophist  from  the  statement  of  Reghellini, 
and  have  not  hesitated  to  rank  him  among 
the  principal  Masonic  teachers  of  his  time. 

Oliver  is  the  earliest  of  the  English  Ma- 
sonic writers  of  eminence  who  has  referred 
to  Swedenborg.  He,  too  often  careless  of 
the  weight  of  his  expressions  and  facile  in 
the  acceptance  of  authority,  speaks  of  the 
degrees,  the  system,  and  the  Masonry  of 
Swedenborg  just  in  the  same  tone  as  he 
would  of  those  of  Cagliostro,  of  Hund,  or 
of  Tschoudy. 

And,  lastly,  in  America  we  have  a  recent 
writer,  Bro.  Samuel  Beswick,  who  is  evi- 
dently a  man  of  ability  and  of  considerable 
research.  He  has  culminated  to  the  zenith 
in  his  assumptions  of  the  Masonic  character 
of  Swedenborg.  He  published  at  New  York, 
in  1870,  a  volume  entitled,  The  Swedenborg 
Rite  and  the  Great  Masonic  Leaders  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century.  In  this  work,  which, 
outside  of  its  Swedenborgian  fancies,  con- 
tains much  interesting  matter,  he  traces  the 
Masonic  life  of  Swedenborg  from  his  ini- 
tiation, the  time  and  place  of  which  he 
makes  in  1706,  in  a  Scottish  Lodge  in  the 
town  of  Lund,  in  Sweden,  which  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  value  of  his  historical 
statements.  But  after  treating  the  great 
Swede  as  a  Masonic  reformer,  as  the  founder 
of  a  Rite,  and  as  evincing  during  his  whole 
life  a  deep  interest  in  Freemasonry,  he  ap- 
pears to  me  to  surrender  the  whole  question 
in  the  following  closing  words  of  his  work : 

"From  the  very  moment  of  his  initia- 
tion, Swedenborg  appears  to  have  resolved 
never  to  allude  to  his  membership  or  to  his 
knowledge  of  Freemasonry,  either  publicly 
or  privately.  He  appears  to  have  made  up 
his  mind  to  keep  it  a  profound  secret,  and 
to  regard  it  as  something  which  had  no  re- 
lation to  his  public  life. 


"  We  have  searched  his  Itinerary,  which 
contains  brief  references  to  everything  he 
saw,  heard,  and  read  during  his  travels,  for 
something  having  relation  to  his  Masonic 
knowledge,  intercourse,  correspondence, 
visits  to  Lodges,  places,  or  persons;  but 
there  is  a  studied  silence,  a  systematic 
avoidance  of  all  allusion  to  it.  In  his 
theological  works,  his  Memorable  Relations 
speak  of  almost  every  sect  in  Christendom, 
and  of  all  sorts  of  organizations,  or  of  individ- 
uals belonging  thereto.  But  Masonry  is  an 
exception :  there  is  a  systematic  silence  in 
relation  to  it." 

It  is  true  that  he  finds  in  this  reticence 
of  Swedenborg  the  evidence  that  he  was  a 
Mason  and  interested  in  Masonry,  but  others 
will  most  probably  form  a  different  conclu- 
sion. The  fact  is  that  Swedenborg  never 
was  a  Freemason.  The  reputation  of  being 
one,  that  has  been  so  continuously  attribu- 
ted to  him  by  Masonic  writers,  is  based  first 
upon  the  assumptions  of  Reghellini,  whose 
statements  in  his  Esprit  du  Dogme  were 
never  questioned  nor  their  truth  investi- 
gated, as  they  should  have  been,  but  were 
blindly  followed  by  succeeding  writers. 
Neither  Wilkinson,  nor  Burk,  nor  White, 
who  wrote  his  biography,  —  the  last  the 
most  exhaustively,  —  nor  anything  in  his 
own  voluminous  writings,  lead  us  to  any 
such  conclusion. 

But  the  second  and  more  important  basis 
on  which  the  theory  of  a  Swedenborgian 
Masonry  has  been  built  is  the  conduct  of 
some  of  his  own  disciples,  who,  imbued 
with  his  religious  views,  being  Masons, 
carried  the  spirit  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
doctrines  into  their  Masonic  speculations. 
There  was,  it  is  true,  a  Masonic  Rite  or 
System  of  Swedenborg,  but  its  true  history 
is  this  : 

The  two  most  important  religious  works 
of  Swedenborg,  the  Celestial  Arcana  and 
the  New  Jerusalem,  appeared,  the  former 
between  the  years  1749  and  1753,  and  the 
latter  in  1758.  About  that  period  we  find 
Pernetty  working  out  his  schemes  of  Ma- 
sonic reform.  Pernetty  was  a  theosophist, 
a  Hermetic  philosopher,  a  disciple,  to  some 
extent,  of  Jacob  Bbhme,  that  prince  of 
mystics.  To  such  a  man,  the  reveries,  the 
visions,  and  the  spiritual  speculations  of 
Swedenborg  were  peculiarly  attractive.  He 
accepted  them  as  an  addition  to  the  theo- 
sophic  views  which  he  already  had  received. 
About  the  year  1760  he  established  at  Avig- 
non his  Rite  of  the  Uluminati,  in  which 
the  reveries  of  both  Bohme  and  Sweden- 
borg were  introduced.  In  1783  this  system 
was  reformed  by  the  Marquis  de  Thome, 
another  Swedenborgian,  and  out  of  that 
reform  arose  what  was  called  the  "  Rite  of 
Swedenborg,"  not  because  Swedenborg  had 


SWEDENBORG 


SWEDENBORG 


775 


eatabliahed  it,  or  had  anything  directly  to  do 
with  its  establishment,  but  because  it  was 
based  on  his  peculiar  theological  views,  and 
because  its  symbolism  was  borrowed  from 
the  ideas  he  had  advanced  in  the  highly 
symbolical  works  that  he  had  written.  A 
portion  of  these  degrees,  or  other  degrees 
much  like  them,  have  been  called  apoca- 
lyptic; not  because  St.  John  had,  any  more 
than  Swedenborg,  a  connection  with  them, 
but  because  their  system  of  initiation  is 
based  on  the  mystical  teachings  of  the 
Apocalypse;  a  work  which,  not  less  than 
the  theories  of  the  Swede,  furnishes  abun- 
dant food  for  a  system  of  Masonico-reli- 
gious  symbolism.  Benedict  Chastanier,  also 
another  disciple  of  Swedenborg,  and  who 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Avignon 
Society,  carried  these  views  into  England, 
and  founded  at  London  a  similar  Rite, 
which  afterwards  was  changed  into  a  purely 
religious  association  under  the  name  of 
"The  Theosophical  Society,  instituted  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  the  Heavenly 
Doctrines  of  the  New  Jerusalem." 

In  one  of  his  visions,  Swedenborg  thus 
describes  a  palace  in  the  spiritual  world 
which  he  had  visited.  From  passages  such 
as  these  which  abound  in  his  various  trea- 
tises, the  theosophic  Masons  concocted 
those  degrees  which  have  been  called  the 
Masonry  of  Swedenborg.  To  no  reader  of 
the  passage  annexed  can  its  appropriateness 
as  the  basis  of  a  system  of  symbolism  fail  to 
be  apparent. 

"  I  accordingly  entered  the  temple,  which 
was  magnificent,  and  in  the  midst  of  which 
a  woman  was  represented  clothed  in  pur- 
ple, holding  in  her  right  hand  a  golden 
crown  piece,  and  in  her  left  a  chain  of 
pearls.  The  statue  and  the  representation 
were  oa\y  fantastic  representations  ;  for  these 
infernal  spirits,  by  closing  the  interior  de- 
gree and  opening  the  exterior  only,  are 
able  at  the  pleasure  of  their  imagination  to 
represent  magnificent  objects.  Perceiving 
that  they  were  illusions,  I  prayed  to  the 
Lord.  Immediately  the  interior  of  my 
spirit  was  opened,  and  I  saw,  instead  of  the 
superb  temple,  a  tottering  house,  open  to 
the  weather  from  the  top  to  the  bottom. 
In  the  place  of  the  woman-statue,  an  image 
was  suspended,  having  the  head  of  a  dra- 
gon, the  body  of  a  leopard,  the  feet  of  a 
bear,  and  the  mouth  of  a  lion :  in  short,  it 
was  the  beast  rising  out  of  the  sea,  as  de- 
scribed in  the  Apocalypse  xiii.  2.  In  the 
place  of  a  park,  there  was  a  marsh  full  of 
frogs,  and  I  was  informed  that  under  this 
marsh  there  was  a  great  hewn  stone,  be- 
neath which  the  WORD  was  entirely  hid- 
den. Afterwards  I  said  to  the  prelate,  who 
was  the  fabricator  of  these  illusions,  '  Is  that 
your  temple  ? '    '  Yes/  replied  he,  '  it  is.' 


Immediately  his  interior  sight  was  opened 
like  mine,  and  he  saw  what  I  did.  ■  How 
now,  what  do  I  see  ? '  cried  he.  I  told  him 
that  it  was  the  effect  of  the  celestial  light, 
which  discovers  the  interior  quality  of  every- 
thing, and  which  taught  him  at  that  very 
moment  what  faith  separated  from  good 
works  was.  While  I  was  speaking,  a  wind 
blowing  from  the  east  destroyed  the  temple 
and  the  image,  dried  up  the  marsh,  and 
discovered  the  stone  under  which  the  Sacred 
Word  was  concealed.  A  genial  warmth,  like 
that  of  the  spring,  descended  from  heaven ; 
and  in  the  place  of  that  temple  we  saw  a 
tent,  the  exterior  of  which  was  very  plain. 
I  looked  into  the  interior  of  it,  and  there  I 
saw  the  foundation-stone  beneath  which  the 
Sacred  Word  was  concealed,  ornamented 
with  precious  stones,  the  splendor  of  which, 
diffusing  itself  over  the  walls  of  the  temple, 
diversified  the  colors  of  the  paintings,  which 
represented  cherubims.  The  angels,  per- 
ceiving me  to  be  filled  with  admiration, 
told  me  that  I  should  see  still  greater  won- 
ders than  these.  They  were  then  permitted 
to  open  the  third  heaven,  inhabited  by  the 
celestial  angels,  who  dwell  in  love.  All  on 
a  sudden  the  splendor  of  a  light  of  fire 
caused  the  temple  to  disappear,  and  left 
nothing  to  be  seen  but  the  Lord  himself, 
standing  upon  the  foundation-stone  —  the 
Lord,  who  was  the  Word,  such  as  he  showed 
Himself.  (Apocal.  i.  13-16.)  Holiness  im- 
mediately filled  all  the  interior  of  the  spirit 
of  the  angels,  upon  which  they  made  an 
effort  to  prostrate  themselves,  but  the  Lord 
shut  the  passage  to  the  light  from  the  third 
heaven,  opening  the  passage  to  the  light  of 
the  second,  which  caused  the  temple  to  re- 
appear, with  the  tent  in  the  midst." 

Such  passages  as  these  might  lead  one 
to  suppose  that  Swedenborg  was  familiar 
with  the  system  of  Masonic  ritualism.  His 
complete  reticence  upon  the  subject,  how- 
ever, and  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life,  his 
studies,  and  his  habits,  assure  us  that  such 
was  not  the  case;  and  that  if  there  was 
really  a  borrowing  of  one  from  the  other, 
and  not  an  accidental  coincidence,  it  was 
the  Freemasons  of  the  high  degrees  who 
borrowed  from  Swedenborg,  and  not  Swe- 
denborg from  them.  And  if  so,  we  cannot 
deny  that  he  has  unwittingly  exercised  a 
powerful  influence  on  Masonry. 

Swedenborg,  Rite  of.  The  so- 
called  Rite  of  Swedenborg,  the  history  of 
whose  foundation  has  been  given  in  the 
preceding  article,  consists  of  six  degrees : 
1.  Apprentice.  2.  Fellow  Craft.  3.  Master 
Neophyte.  4.  Illuminated  Theosophite. 
5.  Blue  Brother.  6.  Red  Brother.  It  is  said 
to  be  still  practised  by  some  of  the  Swedish 
Lodges,  but  is  elsewhere  extinct.  Reghel- 
lini,  in  his  Esprit  du  Dogme,  gives  it  as  con- 


776 


SWEDISH 


SWITZERLAND 


sisting  of  eight  degrees;  but  he  has  evidently 
confounded  it  with  the  Rite  of  Martinism, 
also  a  theosophic  Bite,  and  the  ritualism  of 
which  also  partakes  of  a  Swedenborgian 

Swedish  Rite.  The  Swedish  Bite 
was  established  about  the  year  1777,  and  is 
indebted  for  its  existence  to  the  exertions 
and  influence  of  King  Gustavus  III.  It 
is  a  mixture  of  the  pure  Bite  of  York,  the 
high  degrees  of  the  French,  the  Templarism 
of  the  former  Strict  Observance,  and  the 
system  of  Bosicrucianism.  Zinnendorf  also 
bad  something  to  do  with  the  formation  of 
the  Bite,  although  his  authority  was  sub- 
sequently repudiated  by  the  Swedish  Ma- 
sons. It  is  a  Bite  confined  exclusively 
to  the  kingdom  of  Sweden,  and  was  really 
established  as  a  reform  or  compromise  to 
reconcile  the  conflicting  elements  of  Eng- 
lish, German,  and  French  Masonry  that 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  con- 
vulsed the  Masonic  atmosphere  of  Sweden. 
It  consists  of  twelve  degrees,  as  follows : 

I,  2,  3.  The  three  Symbolic  degrees,  con- 
stituting the  St.  John's  Lodge. 

4,  5.  The  Scottish  Fellow  Craft  and  the 
Scottish  Master  of  St.  Andrew.  These 
constitute  the  Scottish  Lodge.  The  fifth 
degree  entitles  its  members  to  civil  rank  in 
the  kingdom. 

6.  Knight  of  the  East.  In  this  degree, 
which  is  apocalyptic,  the  New  Jerusalem 
and  its  twelve  gates  are  represented. 

7.  Knight  of  the  West,  or  True  Templar, 
Master  of  the  Key.  The  jewel  of  this  de- 
gree, which  is  a  triangle  with  five  red 
rosettes,  refers  to  the  five  wounds  of  the 
Saviour. 

8.  Knight  of  the  South,  or  Favorite 
Brother  of  St.  John.  This  is  a  Bosicrucian 
degree,  the  ceremony  of  initiation  being 
derived  from  that  of  the  Mediaeval  Alche- 
mists. 

9.  Favorite  Brother  of  St.  Andrew.  This 
degree  is  evidently  derived  from  the  Ma- 
sonry of  the  Scottish  Bite. 

10.  Member  of  the  Chapter. 

II.  Dignitary  of  the  Chapter. 
12.  Vicar  of  Solomon. 

The  first  nine  degrees  are  under  the  obe- 
dience of  the  National  Grand  Lodge  of 
Sweden  and  Norway,  and  essentially  com- 
pose the  Bite.  The  members  of  the  last 
three  are  called  "Brethren  of  the  Bed 
Cross,"  and  constitute  another  Masonic  au- 
thority, styled  the  "  Illuminated  Chapter." 
The  twelfth  degree  is  simply  one  of  office, 
and  is  only  held  by  the  king,  who  is  per- 
petual Grand  Master  of  the  Order.  No  one 
is  admitted  to  the  eleventh  degree  unless  he 
can  show  four  quarterings  of  nobility. 

Switzerland.  In  1737  Lord  Darnley, 
Grand  Master  of  England,  granted  a  Depu- 


tation for  Geneva,  in  Switzerland,  to  George 
Hamilton,  Esq.,  who,  in  the  same  year,  es- 
tablished a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  at 
Geneva.  Warrants  were  granted  by  this 
body  to  several  Lodges  in  and  around  the 
city  of  Geneva.  Two  years  afterwards,  a 
Lodge,  composed  principally  of  English- 
men, was  established  at  Lausanne,  under 
the  name  of  "  La  Parfaite  Union  des 
Etrangers."  Findel,  on  the  authority  of 
Mossdorf's  edition  of  Lenning,  says  that 
the  Warrant  for  this  Lodge  was  granted  by 
the  Duke  of  Montagu;  a  statement  also 
made  by  Thory.  This  is  an  error.  The 
Duke  of  Montagu  was  Grand  Master  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  in  1721,  and  could 
not,  therefore,  have  granted  a  Warrant  in 
1739.  The  Warrant  must  have  been  issued 
by  the  Marquis  of  Carnarvon,  who  was 
Grand  Master  from  April,  1738,  to  May, 
1739.  In  an  old  list  of  the  Begular  Lodges 
on  the  registry  of  England,  this  Lodge  is 
thus  described :  "  Private  Boom,  Lausanne, 
in  the  Canton  of  Bern,  Switzerland,  Feb. 
2,  1739."  Soon  after,  this  Lodge  assumed 
a  superintending  authority  with  the  title 
of  "  Helvetic  Boman  Directory,"  and  insti- 
tuted many  other  Lodges  in  the  Pays  de 
Vaud. 

But  in  Switzerland,  as  elsewhere,  Masonry 
was  at  an  early  period  exposed  to  persecu- 
tion. In  1738,  almost  immediately  after 
their  institution,  the  Lodges  at  Geneva  were 
suppressed  by  the  magistrates.  In  1740,  so 
many  calumnies  had  been  circulated  in  the 
Swiss  Cantons  against  the  Order,  that  the 
Freemasons  published  an  Apology  for  the 
Order  in  Der  Brachmann,  a  Zurich  journal. 
It  had,  however,  but  little  effect,  for  in 
1743  the  magistrates  of  Bern  ordered  the 
closing  of  all  the  Lodges.  This  edict  was 
not  obeyed;  and  therefore,  on  March  3, 
1745,  another,  still  more  severe,  was  issued, 
by  which  a  penalty  of  one  hundred  tha- 
lers,  and  forfeiture  of  his  situation,  was  to 
be  inflicted  on  every  officer  of  the  govern- 
ment who  should  continue  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Freemasons.  To  this  the 
Masons  replied  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  Le 
Franc-Macon  dans  la  Republique,  published 
simultaneously,  in  1746,  at  Frankfort  and 
Leipsic.  In  this  work  they  ably  defended 
themselves  from  all  the  unjust  charges  that 
had  been  made  against  them.  Notwith- 
standing that  the  result  of  this  defence  was 
that  the  magistrates  pushed  their  opposi- 
tion no  farther,  the  Lodges  in  the  Pays  de 
Vaud  remained  suspended  for  nineteen 
years.  But  in  1764  the  primitive  Lodge  at 
Lausanne  was  revived,  and  the  revival  was 
gradually  followed  by  the  other  Lodges. 
This  resumption  of  labor  was,  however,  but 
of  brief  duration.  In  1770  the  magistrates 
again  interdicted  the  meetings. 


SWITZERLAND 


SWITZERLAND 


777 


During  all  this  period  the  Masons  of 
Geneva,  under  a  more  liberal  government, 
were  uninterrupted  in  their  labors,  and  ex- 
tended their  operations  into  German  Swit- 
zerland. In  1771  Lodges  had  been  erected 
in  Vevay  and  Zurich,  which,  working  at 
first  according  to  the  French  system,  soon 
afterwards  adopted  the  German  ritual. 

In  1775  the  Lodges  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud 
were  permitted  to  resume  their  labors. 
Formerly,  they  had  worked  according  to  the 
system  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England, 
whence  they  had  originally  derived  their 
Masonry;  but  this  they  now  abandoned, 
and  adopted  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance. 
In  the  same  year  the  high  degrees  of  France 
were  introduced  into  the  Lodge  at  Basle. 
Both  it  and  the  Lodge  at  Lausanne  now 
assumed  higher  rank,  and  took  the  title  of 
Scottish  Directories. 

In  1777  a  Congress  was  held  at  the  city 
of  Basle,  in  which  there  were  representa- 
tives from  the  Strict  Observance  Lodges 
of  the  Pays  de  Vaud  and  the  English 
Lodge  of  Zurich.  It  was  then  determined 
that  the  Masonry  of  Switzerland  should  be 
divided  under  two  distinct  authorities :  the 
one  to  be  called  the  German  Helvetic  Di- 
rectory, with  its  seat  at  Zurich;  and  the 
other  to  be  called  the  Scottish  Helvetic  Ro- 
man Directory,  whose  seat  was  at  Lau- 
sanne. This  word  Roman,  or  more  proper- 
ly Romansh,  is  the  name  of  one  of  the  four 
languages  spoken  in  Switzerland.  It  is  a 
corruption  of  the  Latin,  and  supposed  to 
have  been  the  colloquial  dialect  of  a  large 
part  of  the  Grisons. 

Still  there  were  great  dissensions  in  the 
Masonry  of  Switzerland.  A  clandestine 
Lodge  had  been  established  in  1777,  at 
Lausanne,  by  one  Sidrac,  whose  influence 
it  was  found  difficult  to  check.  The  Hel- 
vetic Roman  Directory  found  it  necessary, 
for  this  purpose,  to  enter,  in  1779,  into  a 
treaty  of  alliance  with  the  Grand  Lodge  at 
Geneva,  and  the  Lodge  of  Sidrac  was  then 
at  length  dissolved  and  its  members  dis- 
persed. 

In  1778,  the  Helvetic  Roman  Directory 
published  its  Constitutions.     The  Rite  it 

Eractised  was  purely  philosophic,  every 
ermetic  element  having  been  eliminated. 
The  appointment  of  the  Masters  of  Lodges, 
who  held  office  for  three  years,  was  vested  in 
the  Directory,  and,  in  consequence,  men  of 
ability  and  learning  were  chosen,  and  the 
Craft  were  skilfully  governed. 

In  November,  1782,  the  Council  of  Bern 
interdicted  the  meetings  of  the  Lodges  and 
the  exercise  of  Freemasonry.  The  Helvetic 
Roman  Directory,  to  give  an  example  of 
obedience  to  law,  however  unjust  and  op- 
pressive, dissolved  its  Lodges  and  discon- 
tinued its  own  meetings.  But  it  provided 
4X 


for  a  maintenance  of  its  foreign  relations, 
by  the  appointment  of  a  committee  invested 
with  the  power  of  conducting  its  corres- 

Eondence  and  of  controlling  the  foreign 
rodges  under  its  obedience. 
In  the  year  1785  there  was  a  confer- 
ence of  the  Swiss  Lodges  at  Zurich  to  take 
into  consideration  certain  propositions 
which  had  been  made  by  the  Congress  of 
Paris,  held  by  the  Philalethes ;  but  the  de- 
sire that  a  similar  Congress  should  be  con- 
vened at  Lausanne  met  with  no  favor  from 
the  Directorial  Committee.  The  Grand 
Orient  of  France  began  to  exert  an  influ- 
ence, and  many  Lodges  of  Switzerland, 
among  others  ten  in  Geneva,  gave  their 
adhesion  to  that  body.  The  seven  other 
Genevan  Lodges  which  were  faithful  to  the 
English  system  organized  a  Grand  Ori- 
ent of  Geneva,  and  in  1789  formed  an  alli- 
ance with  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England. 
About  the  same  time,  the  Lodges  of  the 
Pays  de  Vaud,  which  had  been  suppressed 
in  1782  by  the  government  of  Bern,  re- 
sumed their  vitality. 

But  the  political  disturbances  consequent 
on  the  French  revolution  began  to  exercise 
their  influences  in  the  Cantons.  In  1792, 
the  Helvetic  Roman  Directory  suspended 
work ;  and  its  example  was  followed  in  1793 
by  the  Scottish  Directory.  From  1793  to 
1803,  Freemasonry  was  dead  in  Switzer- 
land, although  a  few  Lodges  in  Geneva  and 
a  German  one  in  Neuenburg  continued  a 
sickly  existence. 

In  1803  Masonry  revived,  with  the  res- 
toration of  a  better  order  in  the  political 
world.  A  Lodge,  Zur  Hoffnung  or  Hope 
Lodge,  allusive  in  its  name  to  the  opening 
prospect,  was  established  at  Bern  under  a 
French  Constitution. 

With  the  cession  of  the  Republic  of 
Geneva  to  France,  the  Grand  Lodge  ceased 
to  exist,  and  all  the  Lodges  were  united 
with  the  Grand  Orient  of  France.  Several 
Lodges,  however,  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,whose 
Constitution  had  been  irregular,  united  to- 
gether to  form  an  independent  body  under 
the  title  of  the  "  Grand  National  Helvetic 
Orient."  Peter  Maurice  Glaire  introduced 
his  modified  Scottish  Rite  of  seven  degrees, 
and  was  at  the  age  of  87  elected  its  Grand 
Master  for  life.     Glaire  was  possessed  of 

§reat  abilities,  and  had  been  the  friend  of 
tanislaus,  king  of  Poland,  in  whose  in- 
terests he  had  performed  several  important 
missions  to  Russia,  Prussia,  Austria,  and 
France.  He  was  much  attached  to  Ma- 
sonry, and  while  in  Poland  had  elaborated 
on  the  Scottish  system  the  Rite  which  he 
subsequently  bestowed  upon  the  Helvetic 
Orient. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  painful  to  recap- 
itulate all  the  dissensions  and  schisms  with 


778 


SWORD 


SWORD 


which  the  Masonry  of  Switzerland  con- 
tinued for  years  to  be  harassed.  In  1820 
there  were  nineteen  Lodges,  which  worked 
under  four  different  obediences,  the  Scottish 
Directory,  the  Grand  Helvetic  Roman  Ori- 
ent, the  English  Provincial  Grand  Lodge, 
and  the  Grand  Orient  of  France.  Besides 
there  were  two  Lodges  of  the  Rite  of  Miz- 
raira,  which  had  been  introduced  by  the 
Brothers  Bedarride. 

The  Masons  of  Switzerland,  weary  of 
these  divisions,  had  been  long  anxious  to 
build  a  firm  foundation  of  Masonic  unity, 
and  to  obliterate  forever  this  state  of  iso- 
lation, where  Lodges  were  proximate  in 
locality  but  widely  asunder  in  their  Ma- 
sonic relations. 

Many  attempts  were  made,  but  the  rival- 
ries of  petty  authorities  and  the  intolerance 
of  opinion  caused  them  always  to  be  fail- 
ures. At  length  a  movement,  which  was 
finally  crowned  with  success,  was  inaugu- 
rated by  the  Lodge  Modestia  cum  Libertate, 
of  Zurich.  Being  about  to  celebrate  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  its  existence  in 
1836,  it  invited  the  Swiss  Lodges  of  all 
Rites  to  be  present  at  the  festival.  There 
a  proposition  for  a  National  Masonic  union 
was  made,  which  met  with  a  favorable  re- 
sponse from  all  who  were  present.  The  re- 
union at  this  festival  had  given  so  much 
satisfaction  that  similar  meetings  were  held 
in  1838  at  Bern,  in  1840  at  Basle,  and  in 
1842  at  Locle.  The  preliminary  means  for 
establishing  a  Confederacy  were  discussed 
at  these  various  biennial  conventions,  and 
progress  slowly  but  steadily  was  made  to- 
wards the  accomplishment  of  that  object. 
In  1842  the  task  of  preparing  a  draft  of  a 
Constitution  for  a  United  Grand  Lodge 
was  intrusted  to  Bro.  Gysi-Schinz,  of  Zu- 
rich, who  so  successfully  completed  it  that 
it  gave  almost  universal  satisfaction.  Final- 
ly, on  June  22,  1844,  the  new  Grand  Lodge 
was  inaugurated  with  the  title  of  the 
"Grand  Lodge  Alpina,"  and  Bro.  J.  J. 
Hottinger  was  elected  the  Grand  Master. 
Masonry  has  since  then  been  in  great  ac- 
tivity in  Switzerland.  The  Grand  Lodge 
administers  the  government  of  about  thirty 
daughter  Lodges  and  nearly  two  thousand 
constituent  members  with  such  satisfaction 
that  uninterrupted  peace  reigns  within  its 
borders. 

Sword.  The  sword  is  in  chivalry  the 
ensign  or  symbol  of  knighthood.  Thus 
Monstrelet  says :  "  The  sons  of  the  kings  of 
France  are  knights  at  the  font  of  baptism, 
being  regarded  as  the  chiefs  of  knighthood, 
and  they  receive,  from  the  cradle,  the 
sword  which  is  the  sign  thereof."  St.  Pal- 
aye  calls  the  sword  "the  most  honorable 
badge  of  chivalry,  and  a  symbol  of  the  labor 
the  knight  was  to  encounter."    No  man 


was  considered  a  knight  until  the  ceremony 
of  presenting  him  the  sword  had  been  per- 
formed; and  when  this  weapon  was  pre- 
sented, it  was  accompanied  with  the  decla- 
ration that  the  person  receiving  it  was 
thereby  made  a  knight.  "The  lord  or 
knight,"  says  St.  Palaye,  "  on  the  girding 
on  of  the  sword,  pronounced  these  or  simi- 
lar words :  In  the  name  of  God,  of  St.  Mi- 
chael, and  St.  George,  I  make  thee  a 
knight."    • 

So  important  an  ensign  of  knighthood 
as  the  sword  must  have  been  accompanied 
with  some  symbolic  meaning,  for  in  the 
Middle  Ages  symbolism  was  referred  to  on 
all  occasions. 

Francisco  Redi,  an  Italian  poet  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  gives,  in  his  Bacco  in 
Toscano,  an  account,  from  a  Latin  MS.,  of 
an  investiture  with  knighthood  in  the  year 
1260,  which  describes  the  symbolic  mean- 
ing of  all  the  insignia  used  on  that  occasion. 
Of  the  sword  it  says :  "  Let  him  be  girded 
with  the  sword  as  a  sign  of  security  against 
the  devil ;  and  the  two  edges  of  the  blade 
signify  right  and  law,  that  the  poor  are  to 
be  defended  from  the  rich  and  the  weak 
from  the  strong." 

But  there  is  a  still  better  definition  of  the 
symbolism  of  the  sword  of  knighthood  in 
an  old  MS.  in  the  library  of  the  London 
College  of  Arms  to  the  following  effect : 

"  Unto  a  knight,  which  is  the  most  hon- 
orable office  above  all  other,  is  given  a 
sword,  which  is  made  like  unto  a  cros3e  for 
the  redemption  of  mankynde  in  signifying 
that  like  as  our  Lord  God  died  uppon  the 
crosse  for  the  redemption  of  mankynde, 
even  so  a  knight  ought  to  defend  the  crosse 
and  to  overcome  and  destroie  the  enemies 
of  the  same ;  and  it  hath  two  edges  in  token- 
ing that  with  the  sword  he  ought  to  niayn- 
tayne  knighthood  and  justice." 

Hence  in  Masonic  Templarism  we  find 
that  this  symbolism  has  been  preserved, 
and  that  the  sword  with  which  the  mod- 
ern knight  is  created  is  said  to  be  endowed 
with  the  qualities  of  justice,  fortitude,  and 
mercy. 

The  charge  to  a  Knight  Templar,  that  he 
should  never  draw  his  sword  unless  con- 
vinced of  the  justice  of  the  cause  in  which 
he  is  engagea,  nor  to  sheath  it  until  his 
enemies  were  subdued,  finds  also  its  origin 
in  the  custom  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Swords 
were  generally  manufactured  with  a  legend 
on  the  blade.  Among  the  most  common 
of  these  legends  was  that  used  on  swords 
made  in  Spain,  many  examples  of  which 
are  still  to  be  found  in  modern  collections. 
That  legend  is :  "  No  me  saques  sin  rason. 
No  me  embaines  sin  honor;  i.  e.,  Do  not 
draw  me  without  justice.  Do  not  sheathe  me 
without  honor. 


SWORD 


SWORD 


779 


So  highly  was  the  sword  esteemed  in  the 
Middle  Ages  as  a  part  of  a  knight's  equip- 
ment, that  special  names  were  given  to 
those  of  the  most  celebrated  heroes,  which 
have  been  transmitted  to  us  in  the  ballads 
and  romances  of  that  period.  Thus  we 
have  among  the  warriors  of  Scandinavia, 
Foot-breaath,the  sword  of  ThoralfSkolinson 
Quern-biter,  "  King  Hako, 

Balmung,  "  Siegfried, 

Angurvardal,         "  Frithiof. 

To  the  first  two,  Longfellow  alludes  in 
the  following  lines : 

"  Quern-biter  of  Hakom  the  Good, 
Wherewith  at  a  stroke  he  hewed 

The  millstone  through  and  through, 
And  Foot-breaath  of  Thoralf  the  Strong, 
Were  neither  so  broad  nor  so  long 

Nor  so  true." 

And  among  the  knights  of  chivalry  we 
have 

Durandal,     the  sword  of  Orlando, 
Balisardo,  "  Ruggiero, 

Colado  "  the  Cid, 

Aroun-dight,         "  Lancelot  du  Sac, 

Joyeuse,  "  Charlemagne, 

Excalibar,  "  King  Arthur. 

Of  the  last  of  these,  the  well-known  le- 
gend is,  that  it  was  found  imbedded  in  a 
stone  as  its  sheath,  on  which  was  an  in- 
scription that  it  could  be  drawn  only  by 
him  who  was  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne 
of  Britain.  After  two  hundred  and  one  of 
the  strongest  knights  had  assayed  in  vain, 
it  was  at  once  drawn  forth  by  Arthur,  who 
was  then  proclaimed  king  by  acclamation. 
On  his  death-bed,  he  ordered  it  to  be  thrown 
into  a  neighboring  lake ;  but  as  it  fell,  an 
arm  issued  from  the  waters,  and,  seizing  it 
by  the  hilt,  waved  it  thrice,  and  then  it 
sank  never  again  to  appear.  There  are 
many  other  famous  swords  in  these  old 
romances,  for  the  knight  invariably  gave  to 
his  sword,  as  he  did  to  his  horse,  a  name 
expressive  of  its  qualities  or  of  the  deeds 
which  he  expected  to  accomplish  with  it. 

In  Masonry,  the  use  of  the  sword  as  a 
part  of  the  Masonic  clothing  is  confined  to 
the  high  degrees  and  the  degrees  of  chiv- 
alry, when,  of  course,  it  is  worn  as  a  part 
of  the  insignia  of  knighthood.  In  the 
symbolic  degrees  its  appearance  in  the 
Lodge,  except  as  a  symbol,  is  strictly  pro- 
hibited. The  Masonic  prints  engraved  in 
the  last  century,  when  the  sword,  at  least  as 
late  as  1780,  constituted  a  part  of  the  dress 
of  every  gentleman,  show  that  it  was  dis- 
carded by  the  members  when  they  entered 
the  Lodge.  The  official  swords  of  the  Tiler 
and  the  Pursuivant  or  Sword- Bearer  are  the 
only  exceptions.  This  rule  is  carried  so 
far,  that  military  men,  when  visiting  a 
Lodge,  are  required  to  divest  themselves  of 


their  swords,  which  are  to  be  left  in  the 
Tiler's  room. 

Sword  and  Trowel.  See  Trowel 
and  Sword. 

Sword  Bearer.  An  officer  in  a  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars.  His  station 
is  in  the  west,  on  the  right  of  the  Standard 
Bearer,  and  when  the  knights  are  in  line, 
on  the  right  of  the  second  division.  His 
duty  is  to  receive  all  orders  and  signals 
from  the  Eminent  Commander,  and  see 
them  promptly  obeyed.  He  is,  also,  to  as- 
sist in  the  protection  of  the  banners  of  the 
order.  His  jewel  is  a  triangle  and  cross 
swords. 

Sword  Bearer,  Grand.  A  subor- 
dinate officer,  who  is  found  in  most  Grand 
Lodges.  Anderson  says,  in  the  second  edi- 
tion of  the  Constitutions,  (p.  127,)  that  in 
1731  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  being  then  Grand 
Master,  presented  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England  "  the  old  trusty  sword  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  that  was  worn 
next  by  his  successor  in  war  the  brave  Ber- 
nard, Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar,  with  both 
their  names  on  the  blade,  which  the  Grand 
Master  had  ordered  Brother  George  Moody 
(the  king's  sword  cutler)  to  adorn  richly 
with  the  arms  of  Norfolk  in  silver  on  the 
scabbard,  in  order  to  be  the  Grand  Master's 
sword  of  state  in  future."  At  the  following 
feast,  Bro.  Moody  was  appointed  Sword 
Bearer ;  and  the  office  has  ever  since  existed, 
and  is  to  be  found  in  almost  all  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  this  country.  Anderson  further 
says  that,  previous  to  this  donation,  the 
Grand  Lodge  had  no  sword  of  state,  but 
used  one  belonging  to  a  private  Lodge.  It 
was  borne  before  the  Grand  Master  by  the 
Master  of  the  Lodge  to  which  it  belonged, 
as  appears  from  the  account  of  the  proces- 
sion in  1730. 

The  Grand  Sword  Bearer  should  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Grand  Master,  and  it  is  his 
duty  to  carry  the  sword  of  state  immediate- 
ly in  front  of  that  officer  in  all  processions 
of  the  Grand  Lodge.  In  Grand  Lodges 
which  have  not  provided  for  a  Grand 
Sword  Bearer,  the  duties  of  the  office  are 
usually  performed  by  the  Grand  Pursui- 
vant. 

Sword  of  State.  Among  the  ancient 
Romans,  on  all  public  occasions,  a  lictor 
carried  a  bundle  of  rods,  sometimes  with 
an  axe  inserted  among  them,  before  the 
consul  or  other  magistrate  as  a  token  of  his 
authority  and  his  power  to  punish  crimi- 
nals. Hence,  most  probably,  arose  the  cus- 
tom in  the  Middle  Ages  of  carrying  a 
naked  sword  before  kings  or  chief  magis- 
trates. Thus  at  the  election  of  the  Empe- 
ror of  Germany,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  as 
Arch-Marshal  of  the  Empire,  carried  a  naked 
sword  before  the  newly-elected  Emperor. 


?80 


SWORD 


SYMBOL 


We  find  the  same  practice  prevailing  in 
England  as  early  certainly  as  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.,  at  whose  coronation,  in  1236,  a 
sword  was  carried  by  the  Earl  of  Chester. 
It  was  named  Curtana,  and,  being  without 
a  point,  was  said  to  be  emblematic  of  the 
spirit  of  mercy  that  should  actuate  a  sov- 
ereign. This  sword  is  known  as  the  "  Sword 
of  State,"  and  the  practice  prevailing  to  the 
present  day,  it  has  always  been  borne  in 
England  in  public  processions  before  all 
chief  magistrates,  from  the  monarch  of  the 
realm  to  the  mayor  of  a  city.  The  custom 
was  adopted  by  the  Masons;  and  we  learn 
from  Anderson  that,  from  the  time  of  the 
revival,  a  sword  of  state,  the  property  of  a 
private  Lodge,  was  borne  by  the  Master  of 
that  Lodge  before  the  Grand  Master,  until 
the  Grand  Lodge  acquired  one  by  the  liber- 
ality of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  which  has 
ever  since  been  borne  by  the  Grand  Sword 
Bearer. 

Sword  Pointing  to  the  Naked 
Heart.  Webb  says  that  "the  sword 
pointing  to  the  naked  heart  demonstrates 
that  justice  will,  sooner  or  later,  overtake 
us."  The  symbol  is,  I  think,  a  modern 
one;  but  its  adoption  was  probably  suggested 
by  the  old  ceremony,  both  in  English  and 
in  continental  Lodges,  and  which  is  still 
preserved  in  some  places,  in  which  the  can- 
didate found  himself  surrounded  by  swords 
pointing  at  his  heart,  to  indicate  that  pun- 
ishment would  duly  follow  his  violation  of 
his  obligations. 

Sword,  Templar's.  According  to 
the  regulations  of  the  Grand  Encampment 
of  the  United  States,  the  sword  to  be  worn 
by  Knights  Templars  must  have  a  helmet 
head  or  pommel,  a  cross  handle,  and  a 
metal  scabbard.  The  length  from  the  top 
of  the  hilt  to  the  end  of  the  scabbard  must 
be  from  thirty-four  to  forty  inches. 
Sword,  Tiler's.  In  modern  times 
the  implement  used  by  the  Tiler 
is  a  sword  of  the  ordinary  form. 
This  is  incorrect.  Formerly,  and 
indeed  up  to  a  comparatively  recent 
period,  the  Tiler's  sword  was  wavy 
in  shape,  and  so  made  in  allusion 
to  the  "  flaming  sword  which  was 
placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden 
of  Eden,  which  turned  every  way 
to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life." 
It  was,  of  course,  without  a  scab- 
bard, because  the  Tiler's  sword 
should  ever  be  drawn  and  ready 
for  the  defence  of  his  post. 
Sworn  Brothers.  {Fratres  jurati.) 
It  was  the  custom  in  the  Middle  Ages  for 
soldiers,  and  especially  knights,  when  going 
into  battle,  to  engage  each  other  by  recip- 
rocal oaths  to  share  the  rewards  of  victory 
and  to  defend  each  other  in  the  fight.    Thus 


Kennet  tells  us  {Paroch.  Antia.)  that  in  the 
commencement  of  the  expedition  of  Wil- 
liam of  Normandy  into  England,  Robert 
de  Oiley  and  Roger  de  Iverio,  "  fratres 
jurati,  et  per  fidem  et  sacramentum  con- 
federati,  venerunt  ad  conquestum  Anglise," 
i.  e.,  they  came  to  the  conquest  of  England, 
as  sworn  brothers,  bound  by  their  faith  and  an 
oath.  Consequently,  when  William  allotted 
them  an  estate  as  the  reward  of  their  mili- 
tary service,  they  divided  it  into  equal  por- 
tions, each  taking  one. 

Syllable.  To  pronounce  the  syllables, 
or  only  one  of  the  syllables,  of  a  Sacred 
Word,  such  as  a  name  of  God,  was  among 
the  Orientalists  considered  far  more  rever- 
ent than  to  give  to  it  in  all  its  syllables  a 
full  and  continuous  utterance.  Thus  the 
Hebrews  reduced  the  holy  name  Jehovah 
to  the  syllable  Jah;  and  the  Brahmans, 
taking  the  initial  letters  of  the  three  words 
which  expressed  the  three  attributes  of  the 
Supreme  Brahma,  as  Creator,  Preserver, 
and  Destroyer,  made  of  it  the  syllable 
AUM,  which,  on  account  of  its  awful  and 
sacred  meaning,  they  hesitated  to  pro- 
nounce aloud.  To  divide  a  word  into  syl- 
lables, and  thus  to  interrupt  the  sound, 
either  by  pausing  or  by  the  alternate  pro- 
nunciation by  two  persons,  was  deemed  a 
mark  of  reverence. 

Symbol.  A  symbol  is  defined  to  be  a 
visible  sign  with  which  a  spiritual  feeling, 
emotion,  or  idea  is  connected.  It  was  in 
this  sense  that  the  early  Christians  gave 
the  name  of  symbols  to  all  rites,  ceremo- 
nies, and  outward  forms  which  bore  a  reli- 
gious meaning;  such,  for  instance,  as  the 
cross,  and  other  pictures  and  images,  and 
even  the  sacraments  and  the  sacramental 
elements.  At  a  still  earlier  period,  the 
Egyptians  communicated  the  knowledge  of 
their  esoteric  philosophy  in  mystic  symbols. 
In  fact,  man's  earliest  instruction  was  by 
means  of  symbols.  "  The  first  learning  of 
the  world,"  says  Stukely,  "  consisted  chiefly 
of  symbols.  The  wisdom  of  the  Chaldeans, 
Phoenicians,  Egyptians,  Jews,  of  Zoroaster, 
Sanchoniathon,  Pherecydes,  Syrus,  Pythag- 
oras, Socrates,  Plato,  of  all  the  ancients  that 
is  come  to  our  hand,  is  symbolic."  And  the 
learned  Faber  remarks  that  "  allegory  and 
personification  were  peculiarly  agreeable  to 
the  genius  of  antiquity,  and  the  simplicity 
of  truth  was  continually  sacrificed  at  the 
shrine  of  poetical  decoration." 

The  word  "  symbol "  is  derived  from  a 
Greek  verb  which  signifies  "to  compare 
one  thing  with  another;"  and  hence  a  sym- 
bol or  emblem,  for  the  two  words  are  often 
used  synonymously  in  Masonrv,  is  the  ex- 
pression of  an  idea  which  is  derived  from 
the  comparison  or  contrast  of  some  object 
with  a  moral  conception  or  attribute.    Thus 


SYMBOL 


SYMBOL 


781 


the  plumb  is  a  symbol  of  rectitude ;  the 
level,  of  equality ;  the  beehive,  of  industry. 
The  physical  qualities  of  the  plumb  are 
compared  or  contrasted  with  the  moral  con- 
ception of  virtue  or  rectitude  of  conduct. 
The  plumb  becomes  to  the  Mason,  after  he 
has  once  been  taught  its  symbolic  mean- 
ing, forever  afterwards  the  visible  expres- 
sion of  the  idea  of  rectitude,  or  upright- 
ness of  conduct.  To  study  and  compare 
these  visible  objects  —  to  elicit  from  them 
the  moral  ideas  which  they  are  intended  to 
express  —  is  to  make  one's  self  acquainted 
with  the  symbolism  of  Masonry. 

The  objective  character  of  a  symbol, 
which  presents  something  material  to  the 
sight  and  touch,  as  explanatory  of  an  in- 
ternal idea,  is  best  calculated  to  be  grasped 
by  the  infant  mind,  whether  the  infancy  of 
that  mind  be  considered  nationally  or  indi- 
vidually. And  hence,  in  the  first  ages  of 
the  world,  in  its  infancy,  all  propositions, 
theological,  political,  or  scientific,  were  ex- 
pressed in  the  form  of  symbols.  Thus  the 
first  religions  were  eminently  symbolical,  be- 
cause, as  that  great  philosophical  historian, 
Grote,  has  remarked,  "At  a  time  when  lan- 
guage was  yet  in  its  infancy,  visible  sym- 
bols were  the  most  vivid  means  of  acting 
upon  the  minds  of  ignorant  hearers." 

To  the  man  of  mature  intellect,  each 
letter  of  the  alphabet  is  the  symbol  of  a 
certain  sound.  When  we  instruct  the  child 
in  the  form  and  value  of  these  letters,  we 
make  the  picture  of  some  familiar  object 
the  representation  of  the  letter  which  aids 
the  infantile  memory.  Thus,  when  the 
teacher  says,  "A  was  an  Archer,"  the 
Archer  becomes  a  symbol  of  the  letter  A, 
just  as  in  after-life  the  letter  becomes  the 
symbol  of  a  sound. 

"  Symbolical  representations  of  things 
sacred,"  says  Dr.  Barlow,  {Essays  on  Sym- 
bolism, I.,  p.  1,)  "  were  coeval  with  religion 
itself  as  a  system  of  doctrine  appealing  to 
sense,  and  have  accompanied  its  transmis- 
sion to  ourselves  from  the  earliest  known 
period  of  monumental  history. 

"  Egyptian  tombs  and  stiles  exhibit  reli- 
gious symbols  still  in  use  among  Christians. 
Similar  forms,  with  corresponding  mean- 
ings, though  under  different  names,  are 
found  among  the  Indians,  and  are  seen  on 
the  monuments  of  the  Assyrians,  the  Etrus- 
cans, and  the  Greeks. 

"  The  Hebrews  borrowed  much  of  their 
early  religious  symbolism  from  the  Egyp- 
tians, their  later  from  the  Babylonians,  and 
through  them  this  symbolical  imagery,  both 
verbal  and  objective,  has  descended  to  our- 
selves. 

"  The  Egyptian  priests  were  great  pro- 
ficients in  symbolism,  and  so  were  the 
Chaldeans,  and  so  were  Moses  and  the 


Prophets,  and  the  Jewish  doctors  generally, 
—  and  so  were  many  of  the  early  fathers 
of  the  Church,  especially  the  Greek  fa- 
thers. 

"  Philo  of  Alexandria  was  very  learned 
in  symbolism,  and  the  Evangelist  St.  John 
has  made  much  use  of  it. 

"The  early  Christian  architects,  sculp- 
tors, and  painters  drank  deep  of  symboli- 
cal lore,  and  reproduced  it  in  their  works." 

Squier  gives  in  his  Serpent  Symbolism 
in  America  (p.  19)  a  similar  view  of  the  an- 
tiquity and  the  subsequent  growth  of  the 
use  of  symbols.  He  says:  "In  the  absence 
of  a  written  language  or  forms  of  expres- 
sion capable  of  conveying  abstract  ideas, 
we  can  readily  comprehend  the  necessity, 
among  a  primitive  people,  of  a  symbolic 
system.  That  symbolism  in  a  great  degree 
resulted  from  this  necessity  is  very  obvious; 
and  that,  associated  with  man's  primitive 
religious  systems,  it  was  afterwards  con- 
tinued, when  in  the  advanced  stage  of  the 
human  mind  the  previous  necessity  no 
longer  existed,  is  equally  undoubted..  It 
thus  came  to  constitute  a  kind  of  sacred 
language,  and  became  invested  with  an 
esoteric  significance  understood  only  by  the 
few." 

In  Freemasonry,  all  the  instructions  in 
its  mysteries  are  communicated  in  the  form 
of  symbols.  Founded,  as  a  speculative 
science,  on  an  operative  art,  it  has  taken 
the  working- tools  of  the  profession  which 
it  spiritualizes,  the  terms  of  architecture, 
the  Temple  of  Solomon,  and  everything 
that  is  connected  with  its  traditional  his- 
tory, and  adopting  them  as  symbols,  it 
teaches  its  great  moral  and  philosophical 
lessons  by  this  system  of  symbolism.  But 
its  symbols  are  not  confined  to  material 
objects  as  were  the  hieroglyphics  of  the 
Egyptians.  Its  myths  and  legends  are 
also,  for  the  most  part,  symbolic.  Often 
a  legend,  unauthenticated  by  history,  dis- 
torted by  anachronisms,  and  possibly  ab- 
surd in  its  pretensions  if  viewed  histori- 
cally or  as  a  narrative  of  actual  occur- 
rences, when  interpreted  as  a  symbol,  is 
found  to  impress  the  mind  with  some  great 
spiritual  and  philosophical  truth.  The 
legends  of  Masonry  are  parables,  and  a 
parable  is  only  a  spoken  symbol.  By  its 
utterance,  says  Adam  Clarke,  "spiritual 
things  are  better  understood,  and  make  a 
deeper  impression  on  the  attentive  mind." 

Symbol,  Compound.  In  my  work 
on  the  Symbolism  of  Freemasonry,  I  have 
ventured  to  give  this  name  to  a  species  of 
symbol  that  is  not  unusual  in  Freemasonry, 
where  the  symbol  is  to  be  taken  in  a  double 
sense,  meaning  in  its  general  application 
one  thing,  and  then  in  a  special  application 
another.    An  example  of  this  is  seen  in  the 


782 


SYMBOLIC 


SYMBOLIC 


symbolism  of  Solomon's  Temple,  where,  in 
a  general  sense,  the  Temple  is  viewed  as  a 
symbol  of  that  spiritual  temple  formed  by 
the  aggregation  of  the  whole  Order,  and  in 
which  each  Mason  is  considered  as  a  stone ; 
and,  in  an  individual  or  special  sense,  the 
same  Temple  is  considered  as  a  type  of  that 
spiritual  temple  which  each  Mason  is  di- 
rected to  erect  in  his  heart. 

Symbolic  Degrees.  The  first  three 
degrees  of  Free  Masonry,  namely,  those  of 
Entered  Apprentice,  Fellow  Craft,  and 
Master  Mason,  are  known,  by  way  of  dis- 
tinction, as  the  "  symbolic  degrees."  This 
term  is  never  applied  to  the  degrees  of 
Mark,  Past,  and  Most  Excellent  Master, 
and  the  Royal  Arch,  which,  as  being  con- 
ferred in  a  body  called  a  Chapter,  are  gen- 
erally designated  as  "  capitular  degrees ;  " 
nor  to  those  of  Royal  and  Select  Master, 
which,  conferred  in  a  Council,  are,  by  an  ex- 
cellent modern  usage,  styled  "  cryptic  de- 
grees," from  the  crypt  or  vault  which  plays 
so  important  a  part  in  their  ritual.  But 
the  term  "symbolic"  is  exclusively  con- 
fined to  the  degrees  conferred  in  a  Lodge 
of  the  three  primitive  degrees,  which  Lodge, 
therefore,  whether  opened  on  the  first,  the 
second,  or  the  third  degree,  is  always  re- 
ferred to  as  a  "  symbolic  Lodge."  As  this 
distinctive  term  is  of  constant  and  univer- 
sal use,  it  may  be  considered  not  altogether 
useless  to  inquire  into  its  origin  and  signi- 
fication. 

The  germ  and  nucleus  of  all  Freemason- 
ry is  to  be  found  in  the  three  primitive  de- 
grees,—  the  Apprentice,  the  Fellow  Craft, 
and  the  Master  Mason.  They  were  at  one 
time  (under  a  modification,  however,  which 
included  the  Royal  Arch)  the  only  degrees 
known  to  or  practised  by  the  Craft,  and 
hence  they  are  often  called  "  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry,"  to  distinguish  them  from  those 
comparatively  modern  additions  which  con- 
stitute what  are  designated  as  the  "high 
degrees,"  or,  by  the  French,  "lea  hautes 
grades."  The  striking  peculiarity  of  these 
primitive  degrees  is  that  their  prominent 
mode  of  instruction  is  by  symbols.  Not 
that  they  are  without  legends.  On  the 
contrary,  they  have  each  an  abundance  of 
legends ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  details 
of  the  building  of  the  Temple;  of  the  pay- 
ment of  wages  in  the  middle  chamber,  or 
of  the  construction  of  the  pillars  of  the 
porch.  But  these  legends  do  not  perform 
any  very  important  part  in  the  constitution 
of  the  degree.  The  lessons  which  are  com- 
municated to  the  candidate  in  these  primi- 
tive degrees  are  conveyed,  principally, 
through  the  medium  of  symbols,  while  there 
is  (at  least  in  the  working  of  the  degrees) 
but  little  traditional  or  legendary  teaching, 
with  the  exception  of  the  great  legend  of 


Masonry,  the  "golden  legend"  of  the 
Order,  to  be  found  in  the  Master's  degree, 
and  which  is,  itself,  a  symbol  of  the  most 
abstruse  and  solemn  signification.  But 
even  in  this  instance,  interesting  as  are  the 
details  of  the  legend,  they  are  only  subor- 
dinate to  the  symbol.  Hiram  the  Builder 
is  the  profound  symbol  of  manhood  labor- 
ing for  immortality,  and  all  the  different 
points  of  the  legend  are  simply  clustered 
around  it,  only  to  throw  out  the  symbol  in 
bolder  relief.  The  legend  is  of  itself  inert 
—  it  is  the  symbol  of  the  Master  Workman 
that  gives  it  life  and  true  meaning. 

Symbolism  is,  therefore,  the  prevailing 
characteristic  of  these  primitive  degrees; 
and  it  is  because  all  the  science  and  philos- 
ophy and  religion  of  Ancient  Craft  Mason- 
ry is  thus  concealed  from  the  profane  but 
unfolded  to  the  initiates  in  symbols,  that 
the  first  three  degrees  which  comprise  it  are 
said  to  be  symbolic. 

Now,  nothing  of  this  kind  is  to  be  found 
in  the  degrees  above  and  beyond  the  third, 
if  we  except  the  Royal  Arch,  which,  how- 
ever, as  I  have  already  intimated,  was  orig- 
inally a  part  of  Ancient  Craft  Masonry,  and 
was  unnaturally  torn  from  the  Master's  de- 
gree, of  which  it,  as  every  Masonic  student 
knows,  constituted  the  complement  and 
consummation.  Take,  for  example,  the  in- 
termediate degrees  of  the  American  Chap- 
ter, such,  for  instance,  as  the  Mark  and 
Most  Excellent  Master.  Here  we  find  the 
symbolic  feature  ceasing  to  predominate, 
and  the  traditional  or  legendary  taking  its 
place.  It  is  true  that  in  these  capitular  de- 
grees the  use  of  symbols  is  not  altogether 
abandoned.  This  could  not  well  be,  for  the 
symbol  constitutes  the  very  essence  of  Free- 
masonry. The  symbolic  element  is  still  to 
be  discovered  in  these  degrees,  but  only  in 
a  position  subordinate  to  legendary  instruc- 
tion. As  an  illustration,  let  us  consider  the 
keystone  in  the  Mark  Master's  degree. 
Now,  no  one  will  deny  that  this  is  strictly 
speaking  a  symbol,  and  a  very  important 
and  beautiful  one,  too.  It  is  a  symbol  of  a 
fraternal  covenant  between  those  who  are 
engaged  in  the  common  search  after  divine 
truth.  But,  in  the  role  which  it  plays  in 
the  ritual  of  this  degree,  the  symbol,  how- 
ever beautiful  and  appropriate  it  may  be, 
is  in  a  manner  lost  sight  of,  and  the  key- 
stone derives  almost  all  its  importance  and 
interest  from  the  traditional  history  of  its 
construction,  its  architectural  design,  and 
its  fate.  It  is  as  the  subject  of  a  legend, 
and  not  as  a  symbol,  that  it  attracts  atten- 
tion. Now,  iii  the  third  or  Master's  degree 
we  find  the  trowel,  which  is  a  symbol  of 
almost  precisely  the  same  import  as  the 
keystone.  They  both  refer  to  a  Masonic 
covenant.     But  no  legend,  no  tradition,  no 


SYMBOLIC 


SYNDICATION 


783 


history,  is  connected  with  the  trowel.  It 
presents  itself  simply  and  exclusively  as  a 
symbol.  Hence  we  learn  that  symbols  do 
not  in  the  capitular,  as  in  the  primitive,  de- 
grees of  Masonry  strike  the  eye,  and  inform 
the  mind,  and  teach  the  heart,  in  every 
part  of  the  Lodge,  and  in  every  part 
of  the  ceremonial  initiation.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  capitular  degrees  are  almost  al- 
together founded  on  and  composed  of  a 
series  of  events  in  Masonic  history.  Each 
of  them  has  attached  to  it  some  tradition 
or  legend  which  it  is  the  design  of  the  de- 
gree to  illustrate,  and  the  memory  of  which 
is  preserved  in  its  ceremonies  and  instruc- 
tions. That  most  of  these  legends  are 
themselves  of  symbolic  signification  is  not 
denied.  But  this  is  their  interior  sense. 
In  their  outward  and  ostensible  meaning, 
they  appear  before  us  simply  as  legends. 
To  retain  these  legends  in  the  memory  of 
Masons  appears  to  have  been  the  primary 
design  in  the  establishment  of  the  higher 
degrees,  and  as  the  information  intended  to 
be  communicated  in  these  degrees  is  of  a 
historical  character,  there  can  of  course  be 
but  little  room  for  symbols  or  for  symbolic 
instruction,  the  profuse  use  of  which  would 
rather  tend  to  an  injury  than  to  a  benefit, 
by  complicating  the  purposes  of  the  ritual 
and  confusing  the  mind  of  the  aspirant. 

The  celebrated  French  writer,  Ragon, 
objects  to  this  exclusive  application  of  the 
term  "  symbolic  "  to  the  first  three  degrees  as 
a  sort  of  unfavorable  criticism  on  the  higher 
degrees,  and  as  if  implying  that  the  latter 
are  entirely  devoid  of  the  element  of  sym- 
bolism. But  he  has  mistaken  the  true  im- 
port and  meaning  of  the  application.  It  is 
not  because  the  higher  or  capitular  and 
cryptic  degrees  are  altogether  without  sym- 
bols —  for  such  is  not  the  case  —  that  the 
term  symbolic  is  withheld  from  them,  but 
because  symbolic  instruction  does  not  con- 
stitute their  predominating  characteristic, 
as  it  does  of  the  first  three  degrees. 

And  hence  the  Masonry  taught  in  these 
three  primitive  degrees  is  very  properly 
called  Symbolic  Masonry,  and  the  Lodge  in 
which  this  Masonry  is  taught  is  known  as 
a  Symbolic  Lodge. 

Symbolic  Lectures.  The  lectures 
appropriated  to  the  first,  second,  and  third 
degrees  are  sometimes  called  Symbolic  lec- 
tures ;  but  the  term  is  more  properly  applied 
to  any  lecture  which  treats  of  the  meaning 
of  Masonic  symbols,  in  contradistinction  to 
one  which  discusses  only  the  history  of  the 
Order,  and  which  would,  therefore,  be 
called  a  Historical  Lecture.  But  the  Eng- 
lish Masons  have  a  lecture  called  "the 
symbolical  lecture,"  in  which  is  explained 
the  forms,  symbols,  and  ornaments  of  Royal 
Arch  Masonry,  as  well  as  its  rites  and  cere- 
monies. 


Symbolic  Lodge.  A  Lodge  of  Master 
Masons,  with  the  Fellow  Craft  and  Ap- 
prentice Lodge  worked  under  its  Constitu- 
tion, is  called  a  Symbolic  Lodge,  because  in 
it  the  Symbolic  degrees  are  conferred.  See 
Symbolic  Degrees. 

Symbolic  Machinery*  Machinery 
is  a  term  employed  in  epic  and  dramatic 
poetry  to  denote  some  agency  introduced 
by  the  poet  to  serve  some  purpose  or  accom- 
plish some  event.  Faber,  in  treating  of  the 
Apocalypse,  speaks  of  "  a  patriarchal  scheme 
of  symbolical  machinery  derived  most 
plainly  from  the  events  of  the  deluge,  and 
borrowed,  with  the  usual  perverse  misappli- 
cation, by  the  contrivers  of  paganism,  but 
which  has  since  been  reclaimed  by  Christi- 
anity to  its  proper  use."  Dr.  Oliver  thinks 
that  this  "  scheme  of  symbolical  machinery  " 
was  "  the  primitive  Freemasonry,  veiled  in 
allegory  and  illustrated  by  symbols."  With- 
out adopting  this  questionable  hypothesis, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  Freemasonry,  in 
the  scenic  representations  sometimes  used 
in  its  initiations,  has,  like  the  epic  poets, 
and  dramatists,  and  the  old  hierophants, 
availed  itself  of  the  use  of  symbolic  ma- 
chinery. 

Symbolic  Masonry.  The  Masonry 
that  is  concerned  with  the  first  three  de- 
grees in  all  the  Rites.  This  is  the  techni- 
cal meaning.  But  in  a  more  general  sense, 
Symbolic  Masonry  is  that  Masonry,  wher- 
ever it  may  be  found,  whether  in  the  pri- 
mary or  in  the  high  degrees,  in  which  the 
lessons  are  communicated  by  symbols.  See 
Symbolic  Degrees. 

Symbolism,  the  Science  of.  The 
science  which  is  engaged  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  meaning  of  symbols,  and  the 
application  of  their  interpretation  to  moral, 
religious,  and  philosophical  instruction. 
In  this  sense,  Freemasonry  is  essentially  a 
science  of  symbolism.  The  English  lec- 
tures define  Freemasonry  to  be  "  a  science 
of  morality  veiled  in  allegory  and  illus- 
trated by  symbols."  The  definition  would 
be  more  correct  were  it  in  these  words : 
Freemasonry  is  a  system  of  morality  devel- 
oped and  inculcated  by  the  science  of  sym- 
bolism. 

Symbol  of  Glory.  In  the  old  lec- 
tures of  the  last  century,  the  Blazing  Star 
was  called  "  the  glory  in  the  centre ;  "  be- 
cause it  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
floor-cloth  or  tracing-board,  and  represented 
hieroglyphically  the  glorious  name  of  God. 
Hence  Dr.  Oliver  has  given  to  one  of  his 
most  interesting  works,  which  treats  of  the 
symbolism  of  the  Blazing  Star,  the  title  of 
The  Symbol  of  Glory. 

Syndication  of  Lodges.  A  term 
used  in  France,  in  1773,  by  the  Schismatic 
Grand  Orient  during  its  contests  with  the 
Grand  Lodge,  to  denote  the  fusion  of  sev- 


"84 


SYNOD 


TABERNACLE 


eral  Lodges  into  one.  The  word  was  never 
introduced  into  English  Masonry,  and  has 
become  obsolete  in  France. 

Synod  of  Scotland.  In  1757,  the 
Associate  Synod  of  Seceders  of  Scotland 
adopted  an  act,  concerning  what  they  called 
"  the  Mason  oath,"  in  which  it  is  declared, 
that  all  persons  who  shall  refuse  to  make 
such  revelations  as  the  Kirk  Sessions  may 
require,  and  to  promise  to  abstain  from  all 
future  connection  with  the  Order,  "  shall  be 
reputed  under  scandal,  and  incapable  of  ad- 
mission to  sealing  ordinances."  In  conse- 
quence of  this  act,  passed  more  than  a  cen- 
tury ago,  the  sect  of  Seceders,  of  which 
there  are  a  few  in  this  country,  continue  to 
be  at  the  present  day  inveterate  enemies  of 
the  Masonic  institution. 

Syria.  A  country  of  Asia  Minor  lying 
on  the  western  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 
To  the  Freemason,  it  is  associated  with  the 
legendary  history  of  his  Order  in  several 
interesting  points,  especially  in  reference 
to  Mount  Lebanon,  from  whose  forests  was 
derived  the  timber  for  the  construction  of 
the  Temple.  The  modern  Templar  will 
view  it  as  the  scene  of  the  contests  waged 
during  the  Crusades  by  the  Christian  knights 
with  their  Saracen  adversaries.  In  modern 
Syria,  Freemasonry  has  been  slow  to  find  a 
home.  The  only  Lodges  existing  in  the- 
country  are  at  the  city  of  Bey  rout,  which 
contains  two  —  Palestine  Lodge,  No.  415, 
which  was  instituted  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Scotland,  March  4,  1861,  and  the  Lodge 
Le  Liban,  by  the  Grand  Orient  of  France, 
January  4, 1869.  Morris  says,  (Freemasonry 


in  the  Holy  Land,  p.  216,)  that  "  the  Order 
of  Freemasonry  is  not  iu  a  condition  satis- 
factory to  the  members  thereof,  nor  credit- 
able to  the  great  cause  in  which  the  Fra- 
ternity are  engaged." 

System.  Lenning  defines  a  system  of 
Freemasonry  to  be  the  doctrine  of  Free- 
masonry as  exhibited  in  the  Lodge  govern- 
ment and  Lodge  work  or  ritual.  The  defi- 
nition is  not,  I  think,  satisfactory.  In 
Freemasonry,  a  system  is  a  plan  or  scheme 
of  doctrines  intended  to  develop  a  partic- 
ular view  as  to  the  origin,  the  design,  and 
the  character  of  the  Institution.  The  word 
is  often  used  as  synonymous  with  Rite,  but 
the  two  words  do  not  always  express  the 
same  meaning.  A  system  is  not  always  de- 
veloped into  a  Rite,  or  the  same  system  may 
give  birth  to  two  or  more  different  Rites.  Dr. 
Oliver  established  a  system  founded  on  the 
literal  acceptance  of  almost  all  the  legend- 
ary traditions,  but  he  never  invented  a 
Rite.  Ramsay  and  Hund  both  held  the 
same  system  as  to  the  Templar  origin  of 
Masonry;  but  the  Rite  of  Ramsay  and  the 
Rite  of  Strict  Observance  are  very  differ- 
ent. The  system  of  Schroder  and  that  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  do  not  es- 
sentially vary,  but  there  is  no  similarity 
between  the  York  Rite  and  the  Rite  of 
Schroder.  Whoever  in  Masonry  sets  forth 
a  connected  series  of  doctrines  peculiar  to 
himself  invents  a  system.  He  may  or 
he  may  not  afterwards  fabricate  a  Rite. 
But  the  Rite  would  be  only  a  conse- 
quence, and  not  a  necessary  one,  of  the 
system. 


T. 


Tabernacle.  Many  Masonic  students 
have  greatly  erred  in  the  way  in  which  they 
have  referred  to  the  Sinaitic  tabernacle,  as 
if  it  were  represented  by  the  tabernacle 
said  in  the  legends  to  have  been  erected  by 
Zerubbabel  at  Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  the 
building  of  the  second  Temple.  The  belief 
that  the  tabernacle  of  Zerubbabel  was  an 
exact  representation  of  that  erected  by 
Moses,  arose  from  the  numerous  allusions 
to  it  in  the  writings  of  Oliver,  but  in  this 
country  principally  from  the  teachings  of 
Webb  and  Cross.  It  is,  however,  true,  that 
although  the  symbols  of  the  ark,  the  golden 
candlestick,  the  altar  of  incense,  and  some 
others  were  taken,  not  from  the  tabernacle, 
but  from  the  Temple,  the  symbolism  of  the 


veils  was  derived  from  the  latter,  but  in  a 
form  by  no  means  similar  to  the  original 
disposition.  It  is  therefore  necessary  that 
some  notice  should  be  taken  of  the  real 
tabernacle,  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  know 
how  far  the  Masonic  is  connected  with  the 
Sinaitic  edifice. 

The  word  tabernacle  means  a  tent.  It  is 
the  diminutive  of  taberna,  and  was  used  by 
the  Romans  to  denote  a  soldier's  tent.  It 
was  constructed  of  planks  and  covered  with 
skins,  and  its  outward  appearance  presented 
the  precise  form  of  the  Jewish  tabernacle. 
The  Jews  called  it  sometimes  mishcan, 
which,  like  the  Latin  taberna,  meant  a 
dwelling-place,  but  more  commonly  ohel, 
which  meant,  like  tabernaculum,  a  tent.    In 


TABERNACLE 


TABERNACLE 


785 


shape  it  resembled  a  tent,  and  is  supposed  to 
have  derived 
its  form  from 
the  tents  used 
by  the  patri- 
archs during 
their  nomad- 
ic life. 

There  are 
three  taberna- 
cles mentioned 
in  Scripture 
history  —  the  Anti-Sinaitic,  the  Sinaitic, 
and  the  Davidic. 

1.  The  Anti-Sinaitic  tabernacle  was  the 
tent  used,  perhaps  from  the  beginning  of 
the  exodus,  for  the  transaction  of  business, 
and  was  situated  at  some  distance  from  the 
camp.  It  was  used  only  provisionally,  and 
was  superseded  by  the  tabernacle  proper. 

2.  The  Sinaitic  tabernacle.  This  was  con- 
structed by  Aholiab  and  Bezaleel  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  Moses.  The  costli- 
ness and  splendor  of  this  edifice  exceeded, 
says  Kitto,  in  proportion  to  the  means  of 
the  people  who  constructed  it,  the  magnifi- 
cence of  any  cathedral  of  the  present  day. 
It  was  situated  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
camp,  with  its  door  or  entrance  facing  the 
east,  and  was  placed  towards  the  western 
part  of  an  enclosure  or  outward  court,  which 
was  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  and 
fifty  feet  wide,  and  surrounded  by  canvas 
screens  seven  and  a  half  feet  high,  so  as  to 
prevent  any  one  on  the  outside  from  over- 
looking the  court. 

The  tabernacle  itself  was,  according  to 
Josephus,  forty-five  feet  long  by  fifteen 
wide ;  its  greater  length  being  from  east  to 
west.  The  sides  were  fifteen  feet  high,  and 
there  was  a  sloping  roof.  There  was  no 
aperture  or  place  of  entrance  except  at  the 
eastern  end,  which  was  covered  by  curtains. 
Internally,  the  tabernacle  was  divided  into 
two  apartments  by  a  richly  decorated  cur- 
tain. The  one  at  the  western  end  was  fif- 
teen feet  long,  making,  therefore,  a  perfect 
cube.  This  was  the  Holy  of  Holies,  into 
which  no  one  entered,  not  even  the  bigh 
priest,  except  on  extraordinary  occasions. 
In  it  was  placed  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 
against  the  western  wall.  The  Holy  of 
Holies  was  separated  from  the  Sanctuary 
by  a  curtain  embroidered  with  figures  of 
cherubim,  and  supported  by  four  golden 
pillars.  The  Sanctuary,  or  eastern  apart- 
ment, was  in  the  form  of  a  double  cube,  be- 
ing fifteen  feet  high,  fifteen  feet  wide,  and 
thirty  feet  long.  In  it  were  placed  the  table 
of  shewbread  on  the  northern  side,  the 
golden  candlestick  on  the  southern,  and 
the  altar  of  incense  between  them.  The 
tabernacle  thus  constructed  was  decorated 
with  rich  curtains.    These  were  of  four 


4Y 


50 


colors  —  white  or  fine-twined  linen,  blue, 
purple,  and  red.  They  were  so  suspended 
as  to  cover  the  sides  and  top  of  the  taberna- 
cle, not  being  distributed  as  veils  separating 
it  into  apartments,  as  in  the  Masonic  taber- 
nacle. Josephus,  in  describing  the  sym- 
bolic signification  of  the  tabernacle,  says 
that  it  was  an  imitation  of  the  system  of 
the  world ;  the  Holy  of  Holies,  into  which 
not  even  the  priests  were  admitted,  was  as 
it  were  a  heaven  peculiar  to  God;  but 
the  Sanctuary,  where  the  people  were  al- 
lowed to  assemble  for  worship,  represented 
the  sea  and  land  on  which  men  live.  But 
the  symbolism  of  the  tabernacle  was  far 
more  complex  than  anything  that  Jose- 
phus has  said  upon  the  subject  would  lead 
us  to  suppose.  Its  connection  would,  how- 
ever, lead  us  to  an  inquiry  into  the  religious 
life  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  and  into  an 
investigation  of  the  question  how  much 
Moses  was,  in  the  appointment  of  ceremo- 
nies, influenced  by  his  previous  Egyptian 
life;  topics  whose  consideration  would 
throw  no  light  on  the  subject  of  the  Ma- 
sonic symbolism  of  the  tabernacle. 

3.  The  Davidic  tabernacle  in  time  took 
the  place  of  that  which  had  been  construct- 
ed by  Moses.  The  old  or  Sinaitic  taberna- 
cle accompanied  the  Israelites  in  all  their 
wanderings,  and  was  their  old  temple  until 
David  obtained  possession  of  Jerusalem. 
From  that  time  it  remained  at  Gibeon,  and 
we  have  no  account  of  its  removal  thence. 
But  when  David  removed  the  ark  to  Jeru- 
salem, he  erected  a  tabernacle  for  its  recep- 
tion. Here  the  priests  performed  their 
daily  service,  until  Solomon  erected  the 
Temple,  when  the  ark  was  deposited  in  the 
Holy  of  Holies,  and  the  Davidic  tabernacle 
put  away  as  a  relic.  At  the  subsequent 
destruction  of  the  Temple  it  was  most  prob- 
ably burned.  From  the  time  of  Solomon  we 
altogether  lose  sight  of  the  Sinaitic  taberna- 
cle, which  perhaps  became  a  victim  to  care- 
lessness and  the  corroding  influence  of  time. 

The  three  tabernacles  just  described 
are  the  only  ones  mentioned  in  Scripture 
or  in  Josephus.  Masonic  tradition,  how- 
ever, enumerates  a  fourth,  —  the  tabernacle 
erected  by  Zerubbabel  on  his  arrival  at  Je- 
rusalem with  his  countrymen,  who  had 
been  restored  from  captivity  by  Cyrus  for 
the  purpose  of  rebuilding  the  Temple. 
Ezra  tells  us  that  on  their  arrival  they 
built  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings  and  offered 
sacrifice.  This  would  not,  however,  ne- 
cessitate the  building  of  a  house,  because 
the  altar  of  sacrifices  had  always  been 
erected  in  the  open  court,  both  of  the  old 
tabernacle  and  Temple.  Yet  as  the  priests 
and  Levites  were  there,  and  it  is  said  that 
the  religious  ordinances  of  Moses  were  ob- 
served, it  is  not  unlikely  that  some  sort  of 


786 


TABERNACLE 


TABLE 


temporary  shelter  was  erected  for  the  per- 
formance of  divine  worship.  But  of  the 
form  and  character  of  such  a  building  we 
have  no  account. 

A  Masonic  legend  has,  however,  for  sym- 
bolical purposes,  supplied  the  deficiency. 
This  legend  is,  however,  peculiar  to  the 
American  modification  of  the  Royal  Arch 
degree.  In  the  English  system  a  Royal 
Arch  Chapter  represents  the  "  ancient 
Sanhedrim,"  where  Zerubbabel,  Haggai, 
and  Joshua  administer  the  law.  In  the 
American  system  a  Chapter  is  said  to  repre- 
sent "  the  tabernacle  erected  by  our  ancient 
brethren  near  the  ruins  of  King  Solomon's 
Temple." 

Of  the  erection  of  this  tabernacle,  I  have 
said  that  there  is  no  historical  evidence. 
It  is  simply  a 
myth,  but  a  myth 
constructed,  of 
course,  for  a  sym- 
bolical purpose. 
In  its  legendary 
description,  it 
bears  no  resem- 
blance whatso- 
ever, except  in  the 
colors  of  its  cur- 
tains or  veils,  to 
the  Sinaitic  taber- 
nacle. In  the  lat- 
ter the  Holy  of 
Holies  was  in  the 
western  extremity,  in  the  former  it  is  in  the 
eastern ;  in  that  was  contained  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant  with  the  overshadowing  cheru- 
bim and  the  Shekinah  ;  in  this  there  are  no 
such  articles ;  in  that  the  most  holy  was  in- 
accessible to  all  persons,  even  to  the  priests ; 
in  this  it  is  the  seat  of  the  three  presiding 
officers,  and  is  readily  accessible  by  proper 
means.  In  that  the  curtains  were  attached 
to  the  sides  of  the  tent;  in  this  they  are 
suspended  across,  dividing  it  into  four 
apartments.  The  Masonic  tabernacle  used 
in  the  American  Royal  Arch  degree  is  not, 
therefore,  a  representation  of  the  ancient 
tabernacle  erected  by  Moses  in  the  wilder- 
ness, but  must  be  supposed  to  be  simply  a 
temporary  construction  for  purposes  of 
shelter,  of  consultation  and  of  worship.  It 
was,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  a 
tabernacle,  a  tent.  As  a  myth,  with  no  his- 
torical foundation,  it  would  be  valueless, 
were  it  not  that  it  is  used,  and  was  undoubt- 
edly fabricated,  for  the  purpose  of 'develop- 
ing a  symbolism.  And  this  symbolism  is 
found  in  its  veils.  There  is  no  harm  in 
calling  it  a  tabernacle  any  more  than  there 
is  in  calling  it  a  sanhedrim,  provided  we 
do  not  fall  into  the  error  of  supposing  that 
either  was  actually  its  character.  As  a 
myth,  and  only  as  a  myth,  must  it  be 


viewed,  and  there  its  symbolic  meaning 
presents,  as  in  all  other  Masonic  myths,  a 
fund  of  useful  instruction.  For  an  inter- 
pretation of  that  symbolism,  see  Veils,  Sym- 
bolism of  the. 

In  some  Chapters  a  part  of  the  furni- 
ture is  called  the  tabernacle;  in  other 
words,  a  piece  of  frame- work  is  erected  in- 
side of  the  room,  and  is  called  the  taberna- 
cle. This  is  incorrect.  According  to  the 
ritual,  the  whole  Chapter  room  represents 
the  tabernacle,  and  the  veils  should  be  sus- 
pended from  wall  to  wall.  Indeed,  I  have 
reasons  for  believing  that  this  interior  tab- 
ernacle is  an  innovation  of  little  more  than 
twenty  years'  standing.  The  oldest  Chap- 
ter rooms  that  I  have  seen  are  constructed 
on  the  correct  principle. 

Tabernacle,  Chief  of  the.  See 
Chief  of  the  Tabernacle. 

Tabor  1 1  si  Ho.  Prince  of  the.  See 
Prince  of  the  Tabernacle. 

Table  Lodge.  After  the  labors  of 
the  Lodge  have  been  completed,  Masons 
frequently  meet  at  tables  to  enjoy  a  repast 
in  common.  In  England  and  America, 
this  repast  is  generally  called  a  banquet, 
and  the  Lodge  is  said  to  be,  during  its  con- 
tinuance, at  refreshment.  The  Master,  of 
course,  presides,  assisted  by  the  Wardens, 
and  it  is  considered  most  proper  that  no 
profanes  should  be  present.  But  with  these 
exceptions,  there  are  no  rules  specially 
laid  down  for  the  government  of  Masonic 
banquets.  It  will  be  seen,  by  an  inspection 
of  the  article  Refreshment  in  this  work,  that 
during  the  last  century,  and  even  at  the 
commencement  of  the  present,  refreshments 
in  English  Lodges  were  taken  during  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Lodge  and  in  the  Lodge-room, 
and  then,  of  course,  rigid  rules  were  in  exist- 
ence for  the  government  of  the  Fraternity, 
and  for  the  regulation  of  the  forms  in  which 
the  refreshments  should  be  partaken.  But 
this  system  has  long  grown  obsolete,  and 
the  Masonic  banquets  of  the  present  day 
differ  very  little  from  those  of  other  socie- 
ties, except,  perhaps,  in  a  more  strict  ob- 
servance of  the  rules  of  order,  and  in  the 
exclusion  of  all  non-Masonic  visitors. 

But  French  Masons  have  prescribed  a 
very  formal  system  of  rules  for  what  they 
call  a  "  Loge  de  Table,"  or  Table  Lodge. 
The  room  in  which  the  banquet  takes  place 
is  as  much  protected  by  its  insulation  from 
observation  as  the  Lodge-room  itself.  Ta- 
ble Lodges  are  always  held  in  the  Appren- 
tice's degree,  and  none  but  Masons  are  per- 
mitted to  be  present.  Even  the  attendants 
are  taken  from  the  class  known  as  "Serv- 
ing Brethren,"  that  is  to  say,  waiters  who 
have  received  the  first  degree  for  the  special 
purpose  of  entitling  them  to  be  present  on 
such  occasions. 


TABLE 


TACITURNITY 


787 


Deacons 


jw: 


The  table  is  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe 
or  elongated  semi-  1T 

circle.  The  Master  VOl. 

sits  at  the  head, 
the  Senior  War- 
den at  the  north-  , 
west  extremity,  # 
and  the  Junior 
Warden  at  the* 
south-west.  The* 
Deacons  or  equiv- 
alent officers  sit  * 
between  the  two  • 
Wardens.  The 
brethren  are  • 
placed  around  the# 
exterior  margin  of 
the  table,  facing  • 
each  other ;  and 
the  void  space  be-  • 
tween  the  sides  is 
occupied  by  the  otit- 
serving  brethren  0•vv• 
.  or  attendants.  It  is  probable  that  the  form 
of  the  table  was  really  adopted  at  first  from 
motives  of  convenience.  But  M.  Hermitte 
{Bull.  G.  0.,  1869,  p.  83,)  assigns  for  it  a 
symbolism.  He  says  that  as  the  entire  cir- 
cle represents  the  year,  or  the  complete 
revolution  of  the  earth  around  the  sun,  the 
semicircle  represents  the  half  of  that  revo- 
lution, or  a  period  of  six  months,  and 
therefore  refers  to  each  the  two  solstitial 
points  of  summer  and  winter,  or  the  two 
great  festivals  of  the  Order  in  June  and 
December,  when  the  most  important  Table 
Lodges  are  held. 

The  Table  Lodge  is  formally  opened  with 
an  invocation  to  the  Grand  Architect. 
During  the  banquet,  seven  toasts  are 
given.  These  are  called  "  santes  d'obliga- 
tion,"  or  obligatory  toasts.  They  are  drunk 
with  certain  ceremonies,  which  are  pre- 
scribed by  the  ritual,  and  from  which  no 
departure  is  permitted.  These  toasts  are : 
1.  The  health  of  the  Sovereign  or  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  State.  2.  That  of  the 
Grand  Master  and  the  Supreme  power  of 
the  Order,  that  is,  the  Grand  Orient  or  the 
Grand  Lodge.  3.  That  of  the  Master  of 
the  Lodge;  this  is  offered  by  the  Senior 
Warden.  4.  That  of  the  two  Wardens. 
5.  That  of  the  Visiting  Brethren.  6.  That 
of  the  other  officers  of  the  Lodge,  and  the 
new  initiates  or  affiliates  if  there  be  any. 
7.  That  of  all  Masons  wheresoever  spread 
over  the  face  of  the  globe.     See  Toasts. 

Ragon  (Tuill.  Gen.,  p.  17,)  refers  these 
seven  toasts  of  obligation  to  the  seven  liba- 
tions made  by  the  ancients  in  their  banquets 
in  honor  of  the  seven  planets,  the  Sun, 
Moon,  Mars,  Mercury,  Jupiter,  Venus,  and 
Saturn,  and  the  seven  days  of  the  week 
which  are  named  after  them;  and  he  as- 


signs some  striking  reasons  for  the  refer- 
ence. But  this  symbolism,  although  very 
beautiful,  is  evidently  very  modern. 

The  Table  Lodge  is  then  closed  with  the 
fraternal  kiss,  which  is  passed  from  the 
Master  around  the  table,  and  with  the 
usual  forms. 

One  of  the  most  curious  things  about 
these  Table  Lodges  is  the  vocabulary  used. 
The  instant  that  the  Lodge  is  opened,  a 
change  takes  place  in  the  names  of  things, 
and  no  person  is  permitted  to  call  a  plate 
&  plate,  or  a  knife  a  knife,  or  anything  else 
by  the  appellation  by  which  it  is  known  in 
ordinary  conversation.  Such  a  custom  for- 
merly prevailed  in  England,  if  we  may 
judge  from  a  passage  in  Dr.  Oliver's  Reve- 
lations of  a  Square,  where  an  instance  is 
given  of  its  use  in  1780,  when  the  French 
vocabulary  was  employed.  I  am  inclined 
to  believe,  from  the  same  authority,  that 
the  custom  was  introduced  into  England 
from  France  by  Capt.  George  Smith,  the 
author  of  the  Use  and  Abuse  of  Freemasonry, 
who  was  initiated  in  a  continental  Lodge. 

The  vocabulary  of  the  Table  Lodge  as 
used  at  French  Masonic  banquets  is  as  fol- 
lows: 


Table-cloth 

they  call  standard. 

Napkins 

u 

nags. 

Table 

« 

tracing-board. 

Dishes 

«< 

great  plates. 

Plates 

« 

tiles. 

Spoons 
Knives 

« 

trowels. 

M 

swords. 

Forks 

M 

pickaxes. 

Bottles 

« 

casks. 

Glasses 

M 

cannons. 

Lights 

M 

stars. 

Snuffers 

M 

pincers. 

Chairs 

(( 

stalls. 

Meals 

M 

materials. 

Bread 

tc 

rough  ashlar. 

Red  wine 

M 

strong  red  powder. 

White  wine 

M 

strong  white  pow- 
der, 
weak  powder. 

Water 

« 

Beer 

M 

yellow  powder. 

Brandy,  or  liqueurs 

M 

fulminating     pow- 
der, 
black  powder. 

Coffee 

<( 

Salt 

(( 

white  sand. 

Pepper 

« 

cement. 

To  eat 

ft 

to  masticate. 

To  drink 

(( 

to  fire. 

To  carve 

M 

to  hew. 

Tablets  of  II iram  Abif.  Among 
the  traditions  of  the  Order  there  is  a  legend 
referring  to  the  tablets  used  by  Hiram  Abif 
as  a  Trestle-Board  on  which  to  lay  down 
his  designs.  This  legend,  of  course,  can 
lay  no  claim  to  authenticity,  but  is  intended 
simply  as  a  symbol  inculcating  the  duty  of 
every  man  to  work  in  the  daily  labor  of  life 
after  a  design  that  will  construct  in  his 
body  a  spiritual  temple.     See  Hiram  Abif. 

Taciturnity.    In  the  earliest   cato- 


788 


TACTICS 


TALISMAN 


chisms  of  the  last  century  it  is  said  that 
"  the  three  particular  points  that  pertain  to 
a  Mason  are  Fraternity,  Fidelity,  and  Taci- 
turnity," and  that  they  "  represent  Love, 
Relief,  and  Truth  among  all  Right  Ma- 
sons."   The  symbol  is  now  obsolete. 

Tactics.  The  importance  that  has  in 
the  last  few  years  been  given  to  the  mili- 
tary element  in  the  Order  of  Masonic 
Knights  Templars  has  made  it  necessary 
that  special  Manuals  should  be  prepared 
for  the  instruction  of  Knights  in  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  military  movements. 
The  most  popular  works  of  this  kind  are 
1.  Knights  Templars'  Tactics  and  Drill  for 
the  use  of  Commanderies,  and  the  Burial  Ser- 
vice of  the  Orders  of  Masonic  Knighthood. 
Prepared  by  Sir  Orrin  Welsh,  Past  Grand 
Commander,  State  of  Next)  York;  2.  Knights 
Templars'  Tactics  and  Drill,  with  the  Working, 
Text,  and  Burial  Service  of  the  Orders  of 
Knighthood,  as  adopted  by  the  Grand  Com- 
mandery  of  the  State  of  Michigan.  By  Ellery 
Irving  Garfield,  E.  G.  C.  G.  Grand  Com- 
mandery  of  Michigan;  and  3.  Tactics  for 
Knights  Templars,  and  Appendant  Orders. 
Prepared  by  E.  Sir  Knight  George  Wingate 
Chase,  of  Massachusetts.  These  works  con- 
tain the  necessary  instructions  in  the 
"school  of  the  knight,"  or  the  proper 
method  of  marching,  halting,  saluting, 
handling  the  sword,  etc.,  and  the  "  school 
of  the  commandery,"  or  directions  for 
properly  performing  the  evolutions  on  a 
public  parade.  Books  of  this  kind  have 
now  become  as  necessary  and  as  common 
to  the  Knight  Templar  as  Monitors  are  to 
the  Master  Mason. 

Talisman.  From  the  Hebrew  tselem 
and  the  Chaldaic  tsalma,  an  image  or  idol. 
A  talisman  signifies  an  implement  or  in- 
strument, either  of  wood,  or  metal,  or  some 
precious  stone,  or  even  parchment,  of  various 
forms,  such  as  a  triangle,  a  cross,  a  circle, 
and  sometimes  a  human  head  or  human 
figure,  generally  inscribed  with  characters 
and  constructed  with  mystical  rites  and  cere- 
monies. The  talisman  thus  constructed 
was  supposed  by  the  ancients,  and  even 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  to  be  invested  with 
supernatural  powers  and  a  capacity  for  pro- 
tecting its  wearer  or  possessor  from  evil  in- 
fluences, and  for  securing  to  him  good  for- 
tune and  success  in  his  undertakings. 

The  word  amulet,  from  the  Latin  verb 
amolior,  to  baffle  or  do  away  with,  though 
sometimes  confounded  with  the  \alisman, 
has  a  less  general  signification.  For  while 
the  talisman  served  both  to  procure  good 
and  to  avert  evil,  the  powers  of  the  amulet 
were  entirely  of  a  protective  nature.     Fre- 

Siuently,  however,  the  two  words  are  indif- 
erently  used. 
The  use  of  talismans  was  introduced  in 


the  Middle  Ages  from  the  Gnostics.  Of 
the  Gnostic  talismans  none  were  more  fre- 
quent than  those  which  were  inscribed  with 
divine  names.  Of  these  the  most  common 
were  IAO  and  SABAO,  although  we  find 
also  the  Tetragrammaton,  and  Elohim, 
Elohi,  Adonai,  and  other  Hebrew  appella- 
tions of  the  deity.  Sometimes  the  talis- 
man contained,  not  one  of  the  names  of 
God,  but  that  of  some  mystical  person, 
or  the  expression  of  some  mystical  idea. 
Thus,  on  some  of  the  Gnostic  talismanic 
gems,  we  find  the  names  of  the  three  mythi- 
cal kings  of  Cologne,  or  the  sacred  Abrax- 
as. The  orthodox  Christians  of  the  early 
days  of  the  church  were  necessarily  influ- 
enced, by  the  popular  belief  in  talismans,  to 
adopt  many  of  them  ;  although,  of  course, 
they  sought  to  divest  them  of  their  magical 
signification,  and  to  use  them  simply  as  sym- 
bols. Hence  we  find  among  these  Chris- 
tians the  Constantinian  monogram,  com- 
posed of  the  letters  X  and  P,  or  the  vesica 
piscis,  as  a  symbol  of  Christ,  and  the  image 
of  a  little  fish  as  a  token  of  Christian  recog- 
nition, and  the  anchor  as  a  mark  of  Chris- 
tian hope. 

Many  of  the  symbols  and  symbolic  ex- 
pressions which  were  in  use  by  the  alche- 
mists, the  astrologers,  and  by  the  Rosicru- 
cians,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  Gnostic  talis- 
mans. The  talisman  was,  it  is  true,  con- 
verted from  an  instrument  of  incantation 
into  a  symbol ;  but  the  symbol  was  accom- 
panied with  a  mystical  signification  which 
gave  it  a  sacred  character. 

It  has  been  said  that  in  the  Gnostic  tal- 
ismans the  most  important  element  was 
some  one  or  more  of  the  sacred  names  of 
God,  derived  either  from  the  Hebrews,  the 
Arabians,  or  from  their  own  abstruse  phi- 
losophy ;  sometimes  even  in  the  same  talis- 
man from  all  these  sources  combined.  Thus 
there  is  a  Gnostic  talisman,  said  by  Mr. 
King  to  be  still  current  in  Germany  as  an 
amulet  against  plague.  It  consists  of  a  silver 
plate,  on  which  are  inscribed  various  names 
of  God  surrounding  a  magic  square,  whose 
figures  computed  every  way  make  the  num- 
ber 34. 


*ELOHIM  *  ELOHI* 

4    .    14    .    15    .      1    . 

* 

* 
1— I 

W 

< 

9    .      7    .      6    .    12    . 

< 

o 

O 

«1 

5    .     11     .     10     .      8    . 

PQ 
- 

* 

16    .      2    .      3     .     13    . 
*ROCYEL  *  IOSIPHIEL* 

* 

TALISMAN 


TALMUD 


789 


In  this  Gnostic  talisman,  we  will  observe 
the  presence  not  only  of  sacred  names,  but 
also  of  mystical.  And  it  is  to  tbe  influence 
of  these  talismanic  forms,  developed  in  the 
symbols  of  the  secret  societies  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  and  even  in  the  architectural  dec- 
orations of  the  builders  of  the  same  period, 
such  as  the  triangle,  the  pentalpha,  the 
double  triangle,  etc.,  that  we  are  to  attri- 
bute the  prevalence  of  sacred  names  and 
sacred  numbers  in  the  symbolic  system  of 
Freemasonry. 

We  do  not  need  a  better  instance  of  this 
transmutation  of  Gnostic  talismans  into 
Masonic  symbols,  by  a  gradual  transmis- 
sion through  alchemy,  Rosicrucianism,  and 
mediaeval  architecture,  than  a  plate  to  be 
found  in  the  Azoth  Philosophorum  of  Basil 
Valentine,  the  Hermetic  philosopher,  who 
flourished  in  the  seventeenth  century. 


This  plate,  which  is  hermetic  in  its  de- 
sign, but  is  full  of  Masonic  symbolism, 
represents  a  winged  globe  inscribed  with  a 
triangle  within  a  square,  and  on  it  reposes  a 
dragon.  On  the  latter  stands  a  human  fig- 
ure of  two  hands  and  two  heads,  surrounded 
by  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  five  stars  repre- 
senting the  seven  planets.  One  of  the 
heads  is  that  of  a  male,  the  other  of  a  fe- 
male. The  hand  attached  to  the  male  part 
of  the  figure  holds  a  compass,  that  to  the 
female,  a  square.  The  square  and  compass 
thus  distributed  seem  to  me  to  indicate  that 
originally  a  phallic  meaning  was  attached 
to  these  symbols  as  there  was  to  the  point 
within  the  circle,  which  in  this  plate  also 
appears  in  the  centre  of  the  globe.  The 
compass  held  by  the  male  figure  would 


represent  the  male  generative  principle,  and 
the  square  held  by  the  female,  the  female 
productive  principle.  The  subsequent  in- 
terpretation given  to  the  combined  square 
and  compass  was  the  transmutation  from 
the  hermetic  talisman  to  the  Masonic  sym- 
bol. 

Talmud.  Hebrew,  "noSa  signifying 
doctrine.  The  Jews  say  that  Moses  received 
on  Mount  Sinai  not  only  the  written  law 
which  is  contained  in  the  Pentateuch,  but 
an  oral  law,  which  was  first  communicated 
by  him  to  Aaron,  then  by  them  to  the  sev- 
enty elders,  and  finally  by  these  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  thus  transmitted,  by  memory,  trom 
generation  to  generation.  This  oral  law 
was  never  committed  to  writing  until  about 
the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  when 
Rabbi  Jehuda  the  Holy,  finding  that  there 
was  a  possibility  of  its  being  lost,  from  the 
decrease  of  students  of  the  law,  collected  all 
the  traditionary  laws  into  one  book,  which 
is  called  the  Mishtia,  a  word  signifying 
repetition,  because  it  is,  as  it  were,  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  written  law. 

The  Mishna  was  at  once  received  with 
great  veneration,  and  many  wise  men 
among  the  Jews  devoted  themselves  to  its 
study. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century, 
these  opinions  were  collected  into  a  book 
of  commentaries,  called  the  Gemara,  by  the 
school  at  Tiberias.  This  work  has  been 
falsely  attributed  to  Rabbi  Jochanan  ;  but 
he  died  in  279,  a  hundred  years  before  its 
composition.  The  Mishna  and  its  com- 
mentary, the  Gemara,  are,  in  their  collected 
form,  called  the  Talmud. 

The  Jews  in  Chaldea,  not  being  satisfied 
with  the  interpretations  in  this  work,  com- 
posed others,  which  were  collected  together 
by  Rabbi  Ashe  into  another  Gemara.  The 
former  work  has  since  been  known  as  the 
Jerusalem  Talmud,  and  that  of  R.  Ashe  as 
the  Babylonian  Talmud,  from  the  places  in 
which  they  were  respectively  compiled. 
In  both  works  the  Mishna  or  law  is  tbe 
same ;  it  is  only  the  Gemara  or  commen- 
tary that  is  different. 

The  Jewish  scholars  place  so  high  a 
value  on  the  Talmud  as  to  compare  the 
Bible  to  water,  the  Mishna  to  wine,  and  the 
Gemara  to  spiced  wine;  or  the  first  to  salt, 
the  second  to  pepper,  and  third  to  spices. 
For  a  long  time  after  its  composition  it 
seemed  to  absorb  all  the  powers  of  the 
Jewish  intellect,  and  the  labors  of  Hebrew 
writers  were  confined  to  treatises  and  spec- 
ulations on  Talmudical  opinions. 

The  Mishna  is  divided  into  six  divisions 
called  Sederim,  whose  subjects  are:  1.  The 
productions  of  the  earth ;  2.  Festivals ;  3. 
The  rights  and  duties  of  women ;  4.  Dam- 
ages and  injuries ;  5.  Sacrifices ;  6.  Purifc- 


790 


TAMARISK 


TATNAI 


cations.  Each  of  these  Sederim  is  again 
divided  into  Massicoth,  or  treatises,  of  which 
there  are  altogether  sixty-three. 

The  Oemara,  which  differs  in  the  Jerusa- 
lem and  Babylonian  redactions,  consists  of 
commentaries  on  these  Massicoth,  or  treatises. 

Of  the  Talmud,  Lightfoot  has  said  that 
the  matters  it  contains  "do  everywhere 
abound  with  trifles  in  that  manner,  as 
though  they  had  no  mind  to  be  read;  with 
obscurities  and  difficulties,  as  though  they 
had  no  mind  to  be  understood ;  so  that  the 
reader  has  need  of  patience  all  along  to  en- 
able him  to  bear  both  trifling  in  sense  and 
roughness  in  expression."  Stehelin  concurs 
in  a  similar  opinion;  but  Steinschneider,  as 
learned  a  Hebraist  as  either,  has  expressed 
a  more  favorable  judgment. 

Although  the  Talmud  does  indeed  con- 
tain many  passages  whose  conceits  are  pue- 
rile, it  is,  nevertheless,  extremely  service- 
able as  an  elaborate  compendium  of  Jewish 
customs,  and  has  therefore  been  much  used 
in  the  criticism  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. It  furnishes  also  many  curious  il- 
lustrations of  the  Masonic  system ;  and 
several  of  the  traditions  and  legends,  espe- 
cially of  the  higher  degrees,  are  either  found 
in  or  corroborated  by  the  Talmud.  The 
treatise  entitled  Middoth,  for  instance,  gives 
us  the  best  description  extant  of  the  Temple 
of  Solomon. 

Tamarisk.  The  sacred  tree  of  the 
Osirian  mysteries,  classically  called  the 
Erica,  which  see. 

Tannehill,  Wilkins.  Born  in  Ten- 
nessee, in  1787.  He  was  one  of  the  founders, 
in  1813,  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee, 
and  was  for  seven  years  Grand  Master  of 
that  body.  He  was  also  a  contributor  to 
the  literature  of  Masonry,  having  published 
in  1845  a  Master  Mason's  Manual;  which 
was,  however,  little  more  than  a  compila- 
tion from  the  preceding  labors  of  Preston 
and  Webb.  In  1847,  he  commenced  the 
publication  of  a  Masonic  periodical  under 
the  title  of  the  Portfolio.  This  was  a  work 
of  considerable  merit,  but  he  was  compelled 
to  discontinue  it  in  1850,  in  consequence 
of  an  attack  of  amaurosis.  One  who  knew 
him  well,  has  paid  this  just  tribute  to  his 
character:  "Simple  in  feeling  as  a  child, 
with  a  heart  warm  and  tender  to  the  in- 
firmities of  his  brethren,  generous  even  to 
a  fault,  he  passed  through  the  temptations 
and  trying  scenes  of  an  eventful  life  with- 
out a  soil  upon  the  purity  of  his  garments." 
He  died  June  2,  1858,"  aged  seventy-one 
years. 

Tapis.  The  name  given  in  German 
Lodges  to  the  carpet  or  floor-cloth  on 
which  formerly  the  emblems  of  Masonry 
were  drawn  in  chalk.  It  is  also  sometimes 
called  the  Teppich. 


Tarsel.  In  the  earliest  catechisms  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  it  is  said  that  the 
furniture  of  a  Lodge  consists  of  a  "Mosaic 
Pavement,  Blazing  Star,  and  Indented 
Tarsel."  In  more  modern  catechisms,  the 
expression  is  "indented  tessel,"  which  is 
incorrectly  defined  to  mean  a  "  tessellated 
border."  Indented  Tarsel  is  evidently  a  cor- 
ruption of  indented  tassel;  for  a  definition 
of  which  see  Tessellated  Border. 

Tarsel-Board.  We  meet  with  this 
expression  in  some  of  the  old  catechisms  as 
a  corruption  of  Trestle- Board. 

Tarshatlia.  Used  in  the  degree  of 
Knight  of  the  East  in  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  according  to  the 
modern  ritual  of  the  Southern  Jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States,  for  Tirshatha,  and  ap- 
plied to  the  presiding  officer  of  a  Council 
of  Princes  of  Jerusalem.    See  Tirshatha. 

Tassels.  In  the  English  and  French 
tracing-boards  of  the  first  degree,  there  are 
four  tassels,  one  at  each  angle,  which  are  at- 
tached to  a  cord  that  surrounds  a  tracing- 
board,  and  which  constitutes  the  true  tessella- 
ted border.  These  four  cords  are  described  as 
referring  to  the  four  principal  points,  the 
guttural,  pectoral,  manual,  and  pedal,  and 
through  them  to  the  four  cardinal  virtues, 
temperance,  fortitude,  prudence,  and  jus- 
tice.   See  Tessellated  Border. 

Tasting  and  Smelling.  Of  the 
five  senses,  hearing,  seeing,  and  feeling 
only  are  deemed  essential  to  Masons.  Tast- 
ing and  smelling  are  therefore  not  referred 
to  in  the  ritual,  except  as  making  up  the 
sacred  number  five.  Preston  says:  "Smell- 
ing and  Tasting  are  inseparably  connected  ; 
and  it  is  by  the  unnatural  kind  of  life  which 
men  commonly  lead  in  society  that  these 
senses  are  rendered  less  fit  to  perform  their 
natural  duties." 

Tatnai  and  Shethar-Boznai. 
Tatnai  was  a  Persian  satrap  of  the  province 
west  of  the  Euphrates  in  the  time  of  Da- 
rius and  Zerubbabel ;  Shethar-Boznai  was 
an  officer  under  his  command.  The  two 
united  with  the  Apharsachites  in  trying  to 
obstruct  the  building  of  the  second  Temple, 
and  in  writing  a  letter  to  Darius,  of  which 
a  copy  is  preserved  in  Ezra,  (ch.  v.)  In 
this  letter  they  reported  that  "  the  house 
of  thegreat  God"  in  Judea  was  being  builded 
with  great  stones,  and  that  the  work  was 
going  on  fast,  on  the  alleged  authority  of  a 
decree  from  Cyrus.  They  requested  that 
search  might  be  made  in  the  rolls'  court 
whether  such  a  decree  was  ever  given,  and 
asked  for  the  king's  pleasure  in  the  matter. 
The  decree  was  found  at  Ecbatana,  and  a 
letter  was  sent  to  Tatnai  and  Shethar- 
Boznai  from  Darius,  ordering  them  no 
more  to  obstruct,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to 
aid  the  elders  of  the  Jews  in  rebuilding 


TAU 


TEARS 


791 


the  Temple  by  supplying  them  both  with 
money  and  with  beasts,  corn,  salt,  wine, 
and  oil  for  the  sacrifices.  Shethar-Boznai, 
after  the  receipt  of  this  decree,  offered  no 
further  obstruction  to  the  Jews.  Their 
names  have  been  hence  introduced  into 
some  of  the  high  degrees  in  Masonry. 

Tan.  The  last  letter  of  the  Hebrew 
alphabet  is  called  tau,  and  it  has  the  power 
of  the  Roman  T.  In  its  present  form  j"\, 
in  the  square  character  now  in  use,  it  has 
no  resemblance  to  a  cross;  but  in  the  an- 
cient Hebrew  alphabet,  its  figure  X,  or  +, 
was  that  of  a  cross.  Hence,  when  it  is 
said,  in  the  vision  of  Ezekiel,  (ix.  4,)  "Go 
through  the  midst  of  the  city,  and  set  a 
mark  (in  the  original,  *)]")>  iau>)  uPon  tne 
foreheads  of  the  men  that  sigh  and  that 
cry  for  all  the  abominations  that  be  done 
in  the  midst  thereof," — which  mark  was  to 
distinguish  them  as  persons  to  be  saved,  on 
account  of  their  sorrow  for  sin,  from  those 
who,  as  idolaters,  were  to  be  slain, — the  evi- 
dent allusion  is  to  a  cross.  The  form  of 
this  cross  was  X  or  +,  a  form  familiar  to 
the  people  of  that  day.  But  as  the  Greek 
letter  tau  subsequently  assumed  the  form 
which  is  still  preserved  in  the  Roman  T, 
the  tau  or  tau  cross  was  made  also  to  as- 
sume the  same  form ;  so  that  the  mark  tau  is 
now  universally  recognized  in  this  form,  T. 
This  tau,  tau  cross,  or  tau  mark,  was  of  very 
universal  use  as  a  sacred  symbol  among  the 
ancients.  From  the  passage  of  Ezekiel  just 
cited,  it  is  evident  that  the  Hebrews  recog- 
nized it  as  a  sign  of  salvation ;  according  to 
the  Talmudists,  the  symbol  was  much  older 
than  the  time  of  Ezekiel,  for  they  say  that 
when  Moses  anointed  Aaron  as  the  high 
priest,  he  marked  his  forehead  with  this 
sign.  Speaking  of  the  use  of  the  tau  cross 
in  the  Old  Testament,  Didron  says  ( Christ. 
Iconog.,  p.  370,)  that  "  it  saved  the  youth- 
ful Isaac  from  death,  redeemed  from  de- 
struction an  entire  people  whose  houses 
were  marked  with  that  symbol,  healed  the 
envenomed  bites  of  those  who  looked  at 
the  serpent  raised  in  the  form  of  a  '  tau ' 
upon  a  pole,  and  called  back  the  soul 
into  the  dead  body  of  the  son  of  that 
poor  widow  who  had  given  bread  to  the 
prophet." 

Hence,  in  Christian  iconography,  the 
tau  cross,  or  cross  of  the  Old  Testament,  is 
called  the  anticipatory  cross,  because  it  an- 
ticipated the  four-limbed  cross  of  the  pas- 
sion, and  the  typical  cross  because  it  was 
its  type.  It  is  also  called  the  cross  of  St. 
Anthony,  because  on  it  that  saint  is  sup- 
posed to  have  suffered  martyrdom. 

Maurice,  in  his  Indian  Antiquities,  refers 
to  it  the  tiluk,  or  mark  worn  by  the  dev- 
otees of  Brahma. 

Davies,  in  his  Celtic  Researches,  says  that 


the  "  Gallicum  tau,"  or  the  tau  of  the  an- 
cient Gauls,  was  among  the  Druids  a  sym- 
bol of  their  supreme  god,  or  Jupiter. 

Among  the  Egyptians,  the  tau,  with  an 
oval  ring  or  handle,  became  the  crux  an- 
sata,  and  was  used  by  them  as  the  con- 
stant symbol  of  life.  Dr.  Clarke  says 
{Travels,  v.  311,)  that  the  tau  cross  was 
a  monogram  of  Thoth,  "  the  symbolical  or 
mystical  name  of  hidden  wisdom  among 
the  ancient  Egyptians." 

Dupuy,  in  his  History  of  the  Templars, 
says  that  the  tau  was  a  Templar  emblem. 
Von  Hammer,  who  lets  no  opportunity  of 
maligning  the  Order  escape  him,  adduces 
this  as  a  proof  of  the  idolatrous  tendencies 
of  the  Knights.  He  explains  the  tau,  which, 
he  says,  was  inscribed  on  the  forehead  of 
the  Baphomet  or  Templar  idol,  as  a  figure 
of  the  phallus;  whence  he  comes  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  Knights  Templars  were 
addicted  to  the  obscene  worship  of  that 
symbol.  It  is,  however,  entirely  doubtful, 
notwithstanding  the  authority  of  Dupuy, 
whether  the  tau  was  a  symbol  of  the  Tem- 

Klars.     But  if  it  was,  its  origin  is  rather  to 
e  looked  for  in  the  supposed  Hebrew  idea 
as  a  symbol  of  preservation. 

It  is  in  this  sense,  as  a  symbol  of  salva- 
tion from  death  and  of  eternal  life,  that  it 
has  been  adopted  into  the  Masonic  system, 
and  presents  itself,  especially  under  its  tri- 
ple combination,  as  a  badge  of  Royal  Arch 
Masonry.    See  Triple  Tau. 

Tau  Cross.  A  cross  of  three  limbs, 
so  called  because  it  presents  the  figure  of 
the  Greek  letter  T.    See  Tau. 

Team.  Royal  Arch  Masons  apply  this 
word  rather  inelegantly  to  designate  the 
three  candidates  upon  whom  the  degree  is 
conferred  at  the  same  time.  The  phrase 
is,  I  think,  exclusively  confined  to  this 
country. 

Tears.    In  the  Master's  degree  in  some 
of  the  continental  Rites,  and  in  all  the  high 
degrees  where  the  legend  of  the 
degree  and  the  ceremony  of  re-    II  II 

ception  are  intended  to  express   A  /\ 

grief,  the  hangings  of  the  Lodge  (||  A] 
are  black  strewn  with  tears.  The  (I1) 
figures  representing  tears  are  in 
the  form  depicted  in  the  annexed 
cut.  The  symbolism  is  borrowed 
from  the  science  of  heraldry, 
where  these  figures  are  called 
guttes,  and  are  defined  to  be 
"  drops  of  anything  that  is  by  nature  liquid 
or  liquefied  by  art."  The  heralds  have 
six  of  these  charges,  viz.,  yellow,  or  drops 
of  liquid  gold ;  white,  or  drops  of  liquid 
silver;  red,  or  drops  of  blood;  blue,  or 
drops  of  tears ;  black,  or  drops  of  pitch ; 
and  green,  or  drops  of  oil.  In  funeral 
hatchments,  a  black  velvet  cloth,  sprinkled 


792 


TEMPELORDEN 


TEMPLAR 


with  these  "  drops  of  tears,"  is  placed  in 
front  of  the  house  of  a  deceased  nobleman 
and  thrown  over  his  bier ;  but  there,  as  in 
Masonry,  the  guttes  de  larmes,  or  drops  of 
tears,  are  not  painted  blue,  but  white. 

Tempelorden  or  Tempelher- 
renorden.  The  title  in  German  of  the 
Order  of  Knights  Templars. 

Temperance.  One  of  the  four  car- 
dinal virtues,  the  practice  of  which  is  in- 
culcated in  the  first  degree.  The  Mason 
who  properly  appreciates  the  secrets  which 
he  has  solemnly  promised  never  to  reveal, 
will  not,  by  yielding  to  the  unrestrained 
call  of  appetite,  permit  reason  and  judg- 
ment to  lose  their  seats,  and  subject  him- 
self, by  the  indulgence  in  habits  of  excess, 
to  discover  that  which  should  be  concealed, 
and  thus  merit  and  receive  the  scorn  and 
detestation  of  his  brethren.  And  lest  any 
brother  should  forget  the  danger  to  which 
he  is  exposed  in  the  unguarded  hours  of 
dissipation,  the  virtue  of  temperance  is 
wisely  impressed  upon  his  memory,  by  its 
reference  to  one  of  the  most  solemn  por- 
tions of  the  ceremony  of  initiation.  Some 
Masons,  very  properly  condemning  the  vice 
of  intemperance  and  abhorring  its  effects, 
have  been  unwisely  led  to  confound  tem- 
perance with  total  abstinence  in  a  Masonic 
application,  and  resolutions  have  some- 
times been  proposed  in  Grand  Lodges 
which  declare  the  use  of  stimulating  liquors 
in  any  quantity  a  Masonic  offence.  But 
the  law  of  Masonry  authorizes  no  such 
regulation.  It  leaves  to  every  man  the 
indulgence  of  his  own  tastes  within  due 
limits,  and  demands  not  abstinence,  but 
only  moderation  and  temperance,  in  any- 
thing not  actually  wrong. 

Templar.     See  Knight  Templar. 

Templarius.  The  Latin  title  of  a 
Knight  Templar.  Constantly  used  in  the 
Middle  Ages. 

Templar  Land.  The  Order  of 
Knights  Templars  was  dissolved  in  Eng- 
land, by  an  act  of  Parliament,  in  the  seven- 
teenth year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  and 
their  possessions  transferred  to  the  Order 
of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  or  Knights  Hos- 
pitallers. Subsequently,  in  the  thirty- 
second  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII., 
their  possessions  were  transferred  to  the 
king.  One  of  the  privileges  possessed  by 
the  English  Templars  was  that  their  lands 
should  be  free  of  tithes ;  and  these  privi- 
leges still  adhere  to  these  lands,  so  that  a 
farm  being  what  is  termed  "Templar 
land,"  is  still  exempt  from  the  imposition 
of  tithes,  if  it  is  occupied  by  the  owner; 
an  exemption  which  ceases  when  the  farm 
is  worked  under  a  lease. 

Templar  Origin  of  Masonry. 
The  theory  that  Masonry  originated  in  the 


Holy  Land  during  the  Crusades,  and  was 
instituted  by  the  Knights  Templars,  was 
first  advanced  by  the  Chevalier  Ramsay, 
for  the  purpose,  it  is  supposed,  of  giving 
an  aristocratic  character  to  the  association. 
It  was  subsequently  adopted  by  the  College 
of  Clermont,  and  was  accepted  by  the 
Baron  von  Hund  as  the  basis  upon  which 
he  erected  his  Rite  of  Strict  Observance. 
The  legend  of  the  Clermont  College  is 
thus  detailed  by  M.  Berage  in  his  work 
entitled  Les  Plus  Secrets  Mysteres  des  Hauls 
Grades,  (Hi.  194.)  "  The  Order  of  Masonry 
was  instituted,  by  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  in 
Palestine  in  1330,  after  the  defeat  of  the 
Christian  armies,  and  was  communicated 
only  to  a  few  of  the  French  Masons,  some- 
time afterwards,  as  a  reward  for  the  services 
which  they  had  rendered  to  the  English 
and  Scottish  Knights.  From  these  latter 
true  Masonry  is  derived.  Their  Mother 
Lodge  is  situated  on  the  mountain  of  Here- 
dom,  where  the  first  Lodge  in  Europe  was 
held,  which  still  exists  in  all  its  splendor. 
The  Council  General  is  always  held  there, 
and  it  is  the  seat  of  the  Sovereign  Grand 
Master  for  the  time  being.  This  mountain 
is  situated  between  the  west  and  the  north 
of  Scotland,  sixty  miles  from  Edinburgh. 

"  There  are  other  secrets  in  Masonry  which 
were  never  known  among  the  French,  and 
which  have  no  relation  to  the  Apprentice, 
Fellow  Craft,  and  Master  —  degrees  which 
were  constructed  for  the  general  class 
of  Masons.  The  high  degrees,  which  de- 
veloped the  true  design  of  Masonry  and 
its  true  secrets,  have  never  been  known  to 
them. 

"  The  Saracens  having  obtained  possession 
of  the  holy  places  in  Palestine,  where  all 
the  mysteries  of  the  Order  were  practised, 
made  use  of  them  for  the  most  profane  pur- 
poses. The  Christians  then  leagued  to- 
gether to  conquer  this  beautiful  country, 
and  to  drive  these  barbarians  from  the  land. 
They  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  footing  on 
these  shores  under  the  protection  of  the 
numerous  armies  of  Crusaders  which  had 
been  sent  there  by  the  Christian  princes. 
The  losses  which  they  subsequently  expe- 
rienced put  an  end  to  the  Christian  power, 
and  the  Crusaders  who  remained  were  sub- 
jected to  the  persecutions  of  the  Saracens, 
who  massacred  all  who  publicly  proclaimed 
the  Christian  faith.  This  induced  Godfrey 
de  Bouillon,  towards  the  end  of  the  third 
century,  to  conceal  the  mysteries  of  religion 
under  the  veil  of  figures,  emblems,  and 
allegories. 

"Hence  the  Christians  selected  the  Tem- 
ple of  Solomon  because  it  has  so  close  a 
relation  to  the  Christian  Church,  of  which 
its  holiness  and  its  magnificence  make  it 
the  true  symbol.    So  the  Christians  con- 


TEMPLARS 


TEMPLARS 


793 


cealed  the  mystery  of  the  building  up  of 
the  Church  under  that  of  the  construction 
of  the  Temple,  and  gave  themselves  the 
name  of  Masons,  Architects  or  Builders, 
because  they  were  occupied  in  building  the 
faith.  They  assembled  under  the  pretext 
of  making  plans  of  architecture  to  practise 
the  rites  of  their  religion,  with  all  the  em- 
blems and  allegories  that  Masonry  could 
furnish,  and  thus  protect  themselves  from 
the  cruelty  of  the  Saracens. 

"As  the  mysteries  of  Masonry  were  in 
their  principles,  and  still  are  only  those  of 
the  Christian  religion,  they  were  extremely 
scrupulous  to  confide  this  important  secret 
only  to  those  whose  discretion  had  been 
tried,  and  who  had  been  found  worthy.  For 
this  purpose  they  fabricated  degrees  as  a 
test  of  those  to  whom  they  wished  to  con- 
fide it,  and  they  gave  them  at  first  only  the 
symbolic  secret  of  Hiram,  on  which  all  the 
mystery  of  Blue  Masonry  is  founded,  and 
which  is,  in  fact,  the  only  secret  of  that 
Order  which  has  no  relation  to  true  Ma- 
sonry. They  explained  nothing  else  to 
them  as  they  were  afraid  of  being  betrayed, 
and  they  conferred  these  degrees  as  a  pro- 
per means  of  recognizing  each  other,  sur- 
rounded as  they  were  by  barbarians.  To 
succeed  more  effectually  in  this,  they  made 
use  of  different  signs  and  words  for  each 
degree,  so  as  not  only  to  distinguish  them- 
selves from  the  profane  Saracens,  but  to  des- 
ignate the  different  degrees.  These  they 
fixed  at  the  number  of  seven,  in  imitation 
of  the  Grand  Architect,  who  built  the  Uni- 
verse in  six  days  and  rested  on  the  seventh  ; 
and  also  because  Solomon  was  seven  years 
in  constructing  the  Temple,  which  they  had 
selected  as  the  figurative  basis  of  Masonry. 
Under  the  name  of  Hiram  they  gave  a 
false  application  to  the  Masters,  and  devel- 
oped the  true  secret  of  Masonry  only  to 
the  higher  degrees." 

Such  is  the  theory  of  the  Templar  origin 
of  Masonry,  which,  mythical  as  it  is,  and 
wholly  unsupported  by  the  authority  of 
history,  has  exercised  a  vast  influence  in 
the  fabrication  of  high  degrees  and  the  in- 
vention of  continental  Rites.  Indeed,  of 
all  the  systems  propounded  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  so  fertile  in  the  con- 
struction of  extravagant  systems,  none  has 
Elayed  so  important  a  part  as  this  in  the 
istory  of  Masonry.  Although  the  theory 
is  no  longer  maintained,  its  effects  are 
everywhere  seen  and  felt. 

Templars  of  England.  An  im- 
portant change  in  the  organization  of  Tem- 
plarism  in  England  and  Ireland  took  place 
in  1873.  By  it  a  union  took  place  of  the 
Grand  Conclave  of  Masonic  Knights  Tem- 
plars of  England  and  the  Grand  Conclave 
of  High  Knights  Templars  of  Ireland  into 
4Z 


one  body,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Convent 
General  of  the  United  Religious  and 
Military  Orders  of  the  Temple  and  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,  Palestine,  Rhodes,  and 
Malta."  The  following  is  a  summary  of 
the  statutes  by  which  the  new  Order  is  to 
be  governed,  as  given  by  Sir  Knight  W.  J. 
B.  McLeod  Moore,  Grand  Prior,  in  his 
circular  to  the  Preceptors  of  Canada. 

"  1.  The  existing  Grand  Masters  in  the 
Empire  are  to  be  termed  Great  Priors,  and 
Grand  Conclaves  or  Encampments,  Great 
Priories,  under  and  subordinate  to  one 
Grand  Master,  as  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Order,  and  one  Supreme  Governing  Body, 
the  Convent  General. 

"  2.  The  term  Great  is  adopted  instead 
of  Grand,  the  latter  being  a  French  word ; 
and  grand  in  English  is  not  grand  in 
French.  Great  is  the  proper  translation 
of '  Magnus '  and  '  Magnus  Supremus.' 

"  3.  The  Great  Priories  of  each  nation- 
ality—  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
with  their  dependencies  in  the  Colonies  — 
retain  their  internal  government  and  legis- 
lation, and  appoint  their  Provincial  Priors, 
doing  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  su- 
preme statutes  of  the  Convent  General. 

"  4.  The  title  Masonic  is  not  continued  ; 
the  Order  being  purely  Christian,  none  but 
Christians  can  be  admitted ;  consequently 
it  cannot  be  considered  strictly  as  a  Ma- 
sonic body:  Masonry,  while  inculcating 
the  highest  reverence  for  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing, and  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  does  not  teach  a  belief  in  one 
particular  creed,  or  unbelief  in  any.  The 
connection  with  Masonry  is,  however, 
strengthened  still  more,  as  a  candidate 
must  now  be  two  years  a  Master  Mason,  in 
addition  to  his  qualification  as  a  Royal 
Arch  Mason. 

"5.  The  titles  Eminent  'Commander' 
and  'Encampment'  have  been  discon- 
tinued, and  the  original  name  '  Preceptor ' 
and  '  Preceptory '  substituted,  as  also  the 
titles  '  Constable '  and  '  Marshal '  for '  First ' 
and  '  Second  Captains.'  '  Encampment '  is 
a  modern  term,  adopted  probably  when,  as 
our  traditions  inform  us,  '  at  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  ancient  Military  Order  of  the 
Temple,  some  of  their  number  sought  ref- 
uge and  held  conclaves  in  the  Masonic  So- 
ciety, being  independent  small  bodies, 
without  any  governing  head.'  '  Prior  '  is 
the  correct  and  original  title  for  the  head 
of  a  langue  or  nationality,  and  '  Preceptor ' 
for  the  subordinate  bodies.  The  Precep- 
tories  were  the  ancient  'Houses'  of  the 
Templar  Order;  'Commander'  and  'Com- 
manderies  '  was  the  title  used  by  the  Order 
of  St.  John,  commonly  known  as  Knights 
of  Malta. 

"  6.  The  title  by  which  the  Order  is  now 


794 


TEMPLARS 


TEMPLARS 


known  is  that  of  'The  United  Religious 
and  Military  Orders  of  the  Temple  and  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  Palestine,  Ehodes, 
and  Malta.'  The  Order  of  the  Temple 
originally  had  no  connection  with  that  of 
Malta  or  Order  of  St.  John ;  but  the  com- 
bined title  appears  to  have  been  adopted  in 
commemoration  of  the  union  which  took 
place  in  Scotland  with  '  The  Temple  and 
Hospital  of  St.  John,'  when  their  lands 
were  in  common,  at  the  time  of  the  Refor- 
mation. But  our  Order  of  'St.  John  of 
Jerusalem,  Palestine,  Rhodes,  and  Malta,' 
has  no  connection  with  the  present  Knights 
of  Malta  in  the  Papal  States,  or  of  the  Pro- 
testant branches  of  the  Order,  the  lineal 
successors  of  the  ancient  Knights  of  St. 
John,  the  sixth  or  English  langue  of  which 
is  still  in  existence,  and  presided  over,  in 
London,  by  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Man- 
chester. The  Order,  when  it  occupied  the 
Island  of  Malta  as  a  sovereign  body,  was 
totally  unconnected  with  Freemasonry. 

"7.  Honorary  past  rank  is  abolished, 
substituting  the  chivalric  dignities  of 
'  Grand  Crosses'  and '  Commanders,'  limited 
in  number,  and  confined  to  Preceptors. 
These  honors  to  be  conferred  by  His  Royal 
Highness  the  Grand  Master,  the  Fountain 
of  Grace  and  Dignity;  and  it  is  contem- 
plated to  create  an  Order  of  Merit,  to  be 
conferred  in  like  manner,  as  a  reward  to 
Knights  who  have  served  the  Order. 

"8.  A  Preceptor  holds  a  degree  as  well 
as  rank,  and  will  always  retain  his  rank 
and  privileges  as  long  as  he  belongs  to  a 
Preceptory. 

"  9.  The  abolition  of  honorary  past  rank 
is  not  retrospective,  as  their  rank  and  priv- 
ileges are  reserved  to  all  those  who  now 
enjoy  them. 

"  10.  The  number  of  officers  entitled  to 
precedence  has  been  reduced  to  seven;  but 
others  may  be  appointed  at  discretion,  who 
do  not,  however,  enjoy  any  precedence. 

"  11.  Equerries,  or  serving  brethren,  are 
not  to  receive  the  accolade,  or  use  any  but 
a  brown  habit,  and  shall  not  wear  any  in- 
signia or  jewel :  they  are  to  be  addressed  as 
'Frater,'  not  Sir  Knight.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  Order  they  were  not  entitled 
to  the  accolade,  and,  with  the  esquires  and 
men-at-arms,  wore  a  dark  habit,  to  distin- 
guish them  from  the  Knights,  who  wore 
white,  to  signify  that  they  were  bound  by 
their  vows  to  cast  away  the  works  of  dark- 
ness and  lead  a  new  life. 
_  "  12.  The  apron  is  altogether  discon- 
tinued, and  a  few  immaterial  alterations  in 
the  insignia  will  be  duly  regulated  and  pro- 
mulgated :  they  do  not,  however,  affect  the 
present,  but  only  apply  to  future,  members 
of  the  Order.  The  apron  was  of  recent  in- 
troduction, to  accord  with  Masonic  usage : 


but  reflection  will  at  once  show  that,  as  an 
emblem  of  care  and  toil,  it  is  entirely  in- 
appropriate to  a  Military  Order,  whose 
badge  is  the  sword.  A  proposition  to  con- 
fine the  wearing  of  the  star  to  the  Pre- 
ceptors was  negatived ;  the  star  and  ribbon 
being  in  fact  as  much  a  part  of  the  ritual 
as  of  the  insignia  of  the  Order. 

"  13.  From  the  number  of  instances  of 
persons  totally  unfitted  having  obtained 
admission  into  the  Order,  the  qualification 
of  candidates  has  been  increased.  A  dec- 
laration is  now  required,  to  be  signed  by 
every  candidate,  that  he  is  of  the  full  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  and  in  addition  to 
being  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  that  he  is  a 
Master  Mason  of  two  years'  standing,  pro- 
fessing the  doctrines  of  the  Holy  and  Un- 
divided Trinity,  and  willing  to  submit  to 
the  statutes  and  ordinances,  present  and 
future,  of  the  Order." 

Templars  of  Scotland.  The  Stat- 
utes of  the  Grand  Priory  of  the  Temple  of 
Scotland  prescribe  for  the  Order  of  Knights 
Templars  in  that  kingdom  an  organization 
very  different  from  that  which  prevails  in 
other  countries. 

"The  Religious  and  Military  Order  of 
the  Temple"  in  Scotland  consists  of  two 
classes:  1.  Novice  and  Esquire;  2.  Knight 
Templar.  The  Knights  are  again  divided 
into  four  classes:  1.  Knights  created  by 
Priories ;  2.  Knights  elected  from  the  com- 
panions on  memorial  to  the  Grand  Master 
and  Council,  supported  by  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  Priories  to  which  they  belong ; 
3.  Knights  Commanders;  4.  Knights  Grand 
Crosses,  to  be  nominated  by  the  Grand 
Master. 

The  supreme  legislative  authority  of  the 
Order  is  the  Chapter  General,  which  con- 
sists of  the  Grand  Officers,  the  Knights 
Grand  Crosses,  and  the  Knights  Com- 
manders. One  Chapter  is  held  annually, 
at  which  the  Grand  Master,  if  present,  acts 
as  President.  The  anniversary  of  the  death 
of  James  de  Molay,  March  11,  is  selected 
as  the  time  of  this  meeting,  at  which  the 
Grand  Officers  are  elected. 

During  the  intervals  of  the  meetings  of 
the  Chapter  General,  the  affairs  of  the 
Order,  with  the  exception  of  altering  the 
Statutes,  is  intrusted  to  the  Grand  Master's 
Council,  which  consists  of  the  Grand  Offi- 
cers, the  Grand  Priors  of  Foreign  Langues, 
and  the  Knights  Grand  Crosses. 

The  Grand  Officers,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Past  Grand  Masters,  who  remain  so 
for  life,  the  Grand  Master,  who  is  elected 
triennially,  and  the  Grand  Aides-de-Camp, 
who  are  appointed  by  him  and  removed  at 
his  pleasure,  are  elected  annually.  They 
are  as  follows : 

Grand  Master, 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


795 


Past  Grand  Masters, 

Grand  Seneschal, 

Preceptor  and  Grand  Prior  of  Scotland, 

Grand  Constable  and  Mareschal, 

Grand  Admiral, 

Grand  Almoner  or  Hospitaller, 

Grand  Chancellor, 

Grand  Treasurer, 

Grand  Registrar, 

Primate  or  Grand  Prelate, 

Grand  Provost  or  Governor- General, 

Grand  Standard-Bearer  or  Beaucennifer, 

Grand  Bearer  of  the  Vexillum  Belli, 

Grand  Chamberlain, 

Grand  Steward, 

Two  Grand  Aides-de-Camp. 

A  Grand  Priory  may  be  instituted  by  the 
Chapter  General  in  any  nation,  colony,  or 
langue,  to  be  placed  under  the  authority 
of  a  Grand  Prior,  who  is  elected  for  life, 
unless  superseded  by  the  Chapter  General. 

A  Priory,  which  is  equivalent  to  our 
Commanderies,  consists  of  the  following 
officers : 

Prior, 

Sub-Prior, 

Mareschal  or  Master  of  Ceremonies, 

Hospitaller  or  Almoner, 

Chancellor, 

Treasurer, 

Secretary, 

Chaplain  and  Instructor, 

Beaucennifer,  or  Bearer  of  the  Beau- 
seant, 

Bearer  of  the  Red  Cross  Banner,  or  Vex- 
illum  Belli, 

Chamberlain, 

Two  Aides-de-Camp. 

The  Chapter  General  or  Grand  Priory 
may  unite  two  or  more  Priories  into  a  Com- 
mandery,  to  be  governed  by  a  Provincial 
Commander,  who  is  elected  by  the  Chapter 
General. 

The  costume  of  the  Knights,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  slight  variations  to  des- 
ignate difference  of  rank,  is  the  same  as  the 
ancient  costume. 

Temple.  The  symbolism  of  Specula- 
tive Masonry  is  so  intimately  connected 
with  temple  building  and  temple  worship, 
that  some  notice  of  these  edifices  seems  ne- 
cessary. The  Hebrews  called  a  temple 
beth,  which  literally  signifies  a  house  or 
dwelling,  and  finds  its  root  in  a  word  which 
signifies  "to  remain  or  pass  the  night,"  or 
hecal,  which  means  a  palace,  and  comes 
from  an  obsolete  word  signifying  "  magni- 
ficent." So  that  they  seem  to  have  had 
two  ideas  in  reference  to  a  temple.  When 
they  called  it  beth  Jehovah,  or  the  "  house 
of  Jehovah,"  they  referred  to  the  continued 
presence  of  God  in  it;  and  when  they  called 
it  hecaljehovah,  or  the  "  palace  of  Jehovah," 
they  referred  to  the  splendor  of  the  edifice 


which  was  selected  as  his  residence.  The  He- 
brew idea  was  undoubtedly  borrowed  from 
the  Egyptian,  where  the  same  hieroglyphic 
1  I  I  signified  both  a  house  and  a  temple. 
Thus,  from  an  inscription  at  Philae,  Cham- 
pollion  (Diet.  Egyptienne)  cites  the  sen- 
tence, "  He  has  made  his  devotions  in  the 
house  of  his  mother  Isis." 

The  classical  idea  was  more  abstract  and 
philosophical.  The  Latin  word  templum 
comes  from  a  root  which  signifies  "  to  cut 
off,"  thus  referring  to  any  space,  whether 
open  or  occupied  by  a  building,  which  was 
cut  off,  or  separated  for  a  sacred  purpose, 
from  the  surrounding  profane  ground. 
The  word  properly  denoted  a  sacred  enclos- 
ure where  the  omens  were  observed  by  the 
augurs.  Hence  Varro  (De  Ling.  Lot.,  vi. 
81,)  defines  a  temple  to  be  "a  place  for  au- 
guries and  auspices."  As  the  same  prac- 
tice of  worshipping  under  the  8ky  in  open 
places  prevailed  among  the  northern  na- 
tions, we  might  deduce  from  these  facts  that 
the  temple  of  the  sky  was  the  Aryan  idea,  and 
the  temple  of  the  house  the  Semitic.  It  is 
true,  that  afterwards,  the  augurs  having  for 
their  own  convenience  erected  a  tent  with- 
in the  enclosure  where  they  made  their  ob- 
servations, or,  literally,  their  contemplations, 
this  in  time  gave  rise  among  the  Greeks 
and  the  Romans  to  permanent  edifices  like 
those  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  Hebrews. 

Masonry  has  derived  its  temple  symbol- 
ism, as  it  has  almost  all  its  symbolic  ideas, 
from  the  Hebrew  type,  and  thus  makes  the 
temple  the  symbol  of  a  Lodge.  But  of  the 
Roman  temple  worship  it  has  not  been  neg- 
lectful, and  has  borrowed  from  it  one  of 
the  most  significant  and  important  words 
in  its  vocabulary.  The  Latin  word  speculor 
means  to  observe,  to  look  around.  When 
the  augur,  standing  within  the  sacred  pre- 
cincts of  his  open  temple  on  the  Capitoline 
hill,  watched  the  flight  of  birds,  that  from 
it  he  might  deduce  his  auspices  of  good  or 
bad  fortune,  he  was  said,  speculari,  to  spec- 
ulate. Hence  the  word  came  at  length  to 
denote,  like  contemplate  from  templum,  an 
investigation  of  sacred  things,  and  thus  we 
got  into  our  technical  language  the  title  of 
"Speculative  Masonry,"  as  distinguished 
by  its  religious  design  from  Operative  or 
Practical  Masonry,  which  is  devoted  to 
more  material  objects.  The  Egyptian 
Temple  was  the  real  archetype  of  the  Mo- 
saic tabernacle,  as  that  was  of  the  temple 
of  Jerusalem.  The  direction  of  an  Egyp- 
tian temple  was  usually  from  east  to  west, 
the  entrance  being  at  the  east.  It  was  a 
quadrangular  building,  much  longer  than 
its  width,  and  was  situated  in  the  western 
part  of  a  sacred  enclosure.  The  approach 
through  this  enclosure  to  the  temple  pro- 
per was  frequently  by  a  double  row  of 


796 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


sphinxes.  In  front  of  the  entrance  were 
a  pair  of  tall  obelisks,  which  will  remind 
the  reader  of  the  two  pillars  at  the  porch 
of  Solomon's  Temple.  The  temple  was  di- 
vided into  a  spacious  hall,  the  sanctuary 
where  the  great  body  of  the  worshippers 
assembled.  Beyond  it,  in  the  western  ex- 
tremity, was  the  cell  or  sekos,  equivalent  to 
the  Jewish  Holy  of  Holies,  into  which  the 
priests  only  entered ;  and  in  the  remotest 
part,  behind  a  curtain,  appeared  the  image 
of  the  god  seated  on  his  shrine,  or  the 
sacred  animal  which  represented  him. 

Grecian  Temples,  like  the  Egyptian 
and  the  Hebrew,  were  placed  within  an 
enclosure,  which  was  separated  from  the 
profane  land  around  it,  in  early  times, 
by  ropes,  but  afterwards  by  a  wall.  The 
temple  was  usually  quadrangular,  although 
some  were  circular  in  form.  It  was  divided 
into  two  parts,  the  pronanos,  porch  or  ves- 
tibule, and  the  naos,  or  cell.  In  this  latter 
part  the  statue  of  the  god  was  placed,  sur- 
rounded by  a  balustrade.  In  temples  con- 
nected with  the  mysteries,  the  cell  was 
called  the  adytum,  and    to    it    only   the 

{iriests  and  the  initiates  had  access ;  and  we 
earn  from  Pausanias  that  various  stories 
were  related  of  calamities  that  had  befallen 
persons  who  had  unlawfully  ventured  to 
cross  the  threshold.  Vitruvius  says  that 
the  entrance  of  Greek  temples  was  al- 
ways towards  the  west ;  but  this  statement 
is  contradicted  by  the  appearance  of  the 
temples  still  partly  existing  in  Attica, 
Ionia,  and  Sicily. 

Roman  Temples,  after  they  emerged 
from  their  primitive  simplicity,  were  con- 
structed much  upon  the  model  of  the 
Grecian.  There  were  the  same  vestibule 
and  cells,  or  adytum,  borrowed,  as  with 
the  Greeks,  from  the  holy  and  the  most 
holy  place  of  the  Egyptians.  Vitruvius 
says  that  the  entrance  of  a  Roman  temple 
was,  if  possible,  to  the  west,  so  that  the 
worshippers,  when  they  offered  prayers  or 
sacrifices,  might  look  towards  the  east ;  but 
this  rule  was  not  always  observed. 

It  thus  appears,  notwithstanding  what 
Montfaucon  {Antiq.  ii.,  1.  ii.,  ch.  2,)  says  to 
the  contrary,  that  the  Egyptian  form  of  a 
temple  was  the  type  from  which  other  na- 
tions borrowed  their  idea. 

This  Egyptian  form  of  a  temple  was  bor- 
rowed by  the  Jews,  and  with  some  modifi- 
cations adopted  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
whence  it  passed  over  into  modern  Europe. 
The  idea  of  a  separation  into  a  holy  and  a 
most  holy  place  has  everywhere  been  pre- 
served. The  same  idea  is  maintained  in 
the  construction  of  Masonic  Lodges,  which 
are  but  imitations,  in  spirit,  of  the  ancient 
temples.  But  there  has  been  a  transposi- 
tion of  parts,  the  most  holy  place,  which 


with  the  Egyptians  and  the  Jews  was  in  the 
west,  being  placed  in  Lodges  in  the  east. 

Temple,  Grand  Commander  of 
the.  {Grand  Commandeur  du  Temple.) 
The  fifty-eighth  degree  of  the  collection  of 
the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France.  It  is 
the  name  of  the  Knight  Commander  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Temple  of  Ezekiel.  An  ideal  tem- 
ple seen  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  in  the 
twenty-fifth  year  of  the  captivity,  while  re- 
siding in  Babylon.  It  is  supposed  by  Cal- 
met,  that  the  description  given  by  the  pro- 
phet was  that  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
which  he  must  have  seen  before  its  destruc- 
tion. But  an  examination  of  its  admeasure- 
ments will  show  that  this  could  not  have 
been  the  fact,  and  that  the  whole  area  of 
Jerusalem  would  not  have  been  sufficient 
to  contain  a  building  of  its  magnitude. 
Yet,  as  Mr.  Ferguson  observes,  {Smith 
Diet.,)  the  description,  notwithstanding  its 
ideal  character,  is  curious,  as  showing  what 
were  the  aspirations  of  the  Jews  in  that 
direction,  and  how  different  they  were  from 
those  of  other  nations ;  and  also  because  it 
influenced  Herod  to  some  extent  in  his 
restoration  of  the  temple  of  Zerubbabel. 
Between  the  visionary  temple  of  Ezekiel 
and  the  symbolic  city  of  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem, as  described  by  the  Evangelist,  there 
is  a  striking  resemblance,  and  hence  it 
finds  a  place  among  the  symbols  in  the 
Apocalyptic  degrees.  But  with  Symbolic 
or  with  Royal  Arch  Masonry  it  has  no  con- 
nection. 

Temple  of  Herod.  This  was  not 
the  construction  of  a  third  temple,  but  only 
a  restoration  and  extensive  enlargement  of 
the  second,  which  had  been  built  by  Ze- 
rubbabel. To  the  Christian  Mason  it  is  in- 
teresting, even  more  than  that  of  Solomon, 
because  it  was  the  scene  of  our  Lord's 
ministrations,  and  was  the  temple  from 
which  the  Knights  Templars  derived  their 
name.  It  was  begun  by  Herod  seven  years 
B.  c,  finished  A.  D.  4,  and  destroyed  by  the 
Romans  in  A.  D.  70,  having  subsisted  only 
seventy-seven  years. 

Temple  of  Solomon.  The  first 
Temple  of  the  Jews  was  called  hecal  Jeho- 
vah or  beth  Jehovah,  the  palace  or  the  house 
of  Jehovah,  to  indicate  its  splendor  and 
magnificence,  and  that  it  was  intended  to 
be  the  perpetual  dwelling-place  of  the 
Lord.  It  was  King  David  who  first  pro- 
posed to  substitute  for  the  nomadic  taber- 
nacle a  permanent  place  of  worship  for  his 
people;  but  although  he  had  made  the 
necessary  arrangements,  and  even  collected 
many  of  the  materials,  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  commence  the  undertaking,  and 
the  execution  of  the  task  was  left  to  his 
son  and  successor,  Solomon. 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


797 


Accordingly,  that  monarch  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  the  edifice  in  the  fourth  year  of 
his  reign,  1012  B.  c,  and,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  his  friend  and  ally,  Hiram,  king 
of  Tyre,  completed  it  in  about  seven  years 
and  a  half,  dedicating  it  to  the  service  of 
the  Most  High  in  the  year  1004  B.  c.  This 
was  the  year  of  the  world  3000,  according 
to  the  Hebrew  chronology  ;  and  although 
there  has  been  much  difference  among 
chronologists  in  relation  to  the  precise  date, 
this  is  the  one  that  has  been  generally  ac- 
cepted, and  it  is  therefore  adopted  by  Ma- 
sons in  thei  r  calculations  of  different  epochs. 

The  Temple  stood  on  Mount  Morian,  one 
of  the  eminences  of  the  ridge  which  was 
known  as  Mount  Zion,  and  which  was 
originally  the  property  of  Oman  the  Jeb- 
usite,  who  used  it  as  a  threshing-floor,  and 
from  whom  it  was  purchased  by  David  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  an  altar  on  it. 

The  Temple  retained  its  original  splendor 
for  only  thirty-three  years.  In  the  year  of 
the  world  3033,  Shishak,  king  of  Egypt, 
having  made  war  upon  Rehoboam,  king  of 
Judah,  took  Jerusalem,  and  carried  away 
the  choicest  treasures.  From  that  time  to 
the  period  of  its  final  destruction,  the  his- 
tory of  the  Temple  is  but  a  history  of  al- 
ternate spoliations  and  repairs,  of  profa- 
nations to  idolatry  and  subsequent  restora- 
tions to  the  purity  of  worship.  One  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  years  after  the  conquest 
of  Shishak,  Joash,  king  of  Judah,  collected 
silver  for  the  repairs  of  the  Temple,  and 
restored  it  to  its  former  condition  in  the 
year  of  the  world  3148.  In  the  year  3264, 
Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  robbed  the  Temple 
of  its  riches,  and  gave  them  to  Tiglath- 
Pileser,  king  of  Assyria,  who  had  united 
with  him  in  a  war  against  the  kings  of 
Israel  and  Damascus.  Ahaz  also  profaned 
the  Temple  by  the  worship  of  idols.  In 
3276,  Hezekiah,  the  son  and  successor  of 
Ahaz,  repaired  the  portions  of  the  Temple 
which  his  father  had  destroyed,  and  re- 
stored the  pure  worship.  But  fifteen  years 
after  he  was  compelled  to  give  the  treasures 
of  the  Temple  as  a  ransom  to  Sennacherib, 
king  of  Assyria,  who  had  invaded  the  land 
of  Judah.  But  Hezekiah  is  supposed,  after 
his  enemy  had  retired,  to  have  restored  the 
Temple. 

Manasseh,  the  son  and  successor  of  Hez- 
ekiah, fell  away  to  the  worship  of  Sabian- 
ism,  and  desecrated  the  Temple  in  3306  by 
setting  up  altars  to  the  host  of  heaven. 
Manasseh  was  then  conquered  by  the  king 
of  Babylon,  who  in  3328  carried  him  be- 
yond the  Euphrates.  But  subsequently 
repenting  of  his  sins  he  was  released  from 
captivity,  and  having  returned  to  Jerusalem 
he  destroyed  the  idols,  and  restored  the 
altar  of  burnt-offerings.     In  3380,  Josiah, 


Holy 

of 

Holies. 


who  was  then  king  of  Judah,  devoted  his 
efforts  to  the  repairs  of  the  Temple,  por- 
tions of  which  had  been  demolished  or  neg- 
lected by  his  predecessors,  and  replaced 
the  ark  in  the  sanctuary.  In  3398,  in  the 
reign  of  Jehoiakim,  Nebuchadnezzar,  king 
of  Chaldea,  carried  a  part  of  the  sacred 
vessels  to  Babylon.  Seven  years  afterwards, 
in  the  reign  of  Jechoniah,  he  took  away 
another  portion ;  and  finally,  in  3416,  in  the 
eleventh  year  of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  he 
took  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  entirely  de- 
stroyed the  Temple,  and  carried  many  of 
the  inhabitants  captives  to  Babylon. 

The  Temple  was  originally  built  on  a 
very  hard  rock,  encompassed  with  frightful 
precipices.  The  foundations  were  laid  very 
deep,  with  immense  labor  and  expense.  It 
was  surrounded  with  a  wall  of  great  height, 
exceeding  in  the  lowest  part  four  hundred 
and  fifty  feet,  constructed  entirely  of  white 
marble. 

The  body  of  the  Temple  was  in  size 
much  less  than  many  a  modern  parish 
church,  for  its  length 
was  but  ninety  feet,  or, 
including  the  porch,  one 
hundred  and  five,  and 
its  width  but  thirty.  It 
was  its  outer  court,  its 
numerous  terraces,  and 
the  magnificence  of  its 
external  and  internal 
decorations,  together 
with  its  elevated  posi- 
tion above  the  surround- 
ing dwellings  which  pro- 
duced that  splendor  of 
appearance  that  attract- 
ed the  admiration  of  all 
who  beheld  it,  and  gives 
a  color  of  probability 
to  the  legend  that  tells 
us  how  the  Queen  of 
Sheba,  when  it  first 
broke  upon  her  view, 
exclaimed  in  admira- 
tion, "A  most  excellent 
master  must  have  done  this ! " 

The  Temple  itself,  which  consisted  of 
the  porch,  the  sanctuary,  and  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  was  but  a  small  part  of  the  edifice 
on  Mount  Moriah.  It  was  surrounded  with 
spacious  courts,  and  the  whole  structure 
occupied  at  least  half  a  mile  in  circumfer- 
ence. Upon  passing  through  the  outer 
wall,  you  came  to  the  first  court,  called  the 
court  of  the  Gentiles,  because  the  Gentiles 
were  admitted  into  it,  but  were  prohibited 
from  passing  farther.  It  was  surrounded 
by  a  range  of  porticos  or  cloisters,  above 
which  were  galleries  or  apartments,  sup- 
ported by  pillars  of  white  marble. 
Passing  through  the  court  of  the  Gentiles, 


Holy 
Place. 


Porch. 


■98 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


you  entered  the  court  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  which  was  separated  by  a  low  stone 
wall,  and  an  ascent  of  fifteen  steps,  into 
two  divisions,  the  outer  one  being  occu- 
pied by  the  women,  and  the  inner  by  the 
men.  Here  the  Jews  were  in  the  habit  of 
resorting  daily  for  the  purposes  of  prayer. 

Within  the  court  of  the  Israelites,  and 
separated  from  it  by  a  wall  one  cubit  in 
height,  was  the  court  of  the  priests.  In 
the  centre  of  this  court  was  the  altar  of 
burnt-offerings,  to  which  the  people  brought 
their  oblations  and  sacrifices,  but  none  but 
the  priests  were  permitted  to  enter  it. 

From  this  court,  twelve  steps  ascended  to 
the  Temple,  strictly  so  called,  which,  as  I 
have  already  said,  was  divided  into  three 
parts,  the  porch,  the  sanctuary,  and  the 
Holy  of  Holies. 

The  porch  of  the  Temple  was  twenty 
cubits  in  length,  and  the  same  in  breadth. 
At  its  entrance  was  a  gate  made  entirely  of 
Corinthian  brass,  the  most  precious  metal 
known  to  the  ancients.  Beside  this  gate 
there  were  the  two  pillars  Jachin  and  Boaz, 
which  had  been  constructed  by  Hiram 
Abif,  the  architect  whom  the  King  of  Tyre 
had  sent  to  Solomon. 

From  the  porch  you  entered  the  sanctu- 
ary by  a  portal,  which,  instead  of  folding- 
doors,  was  furnished  with  a  magnificent 
veil  of  many  colors,  which  mystically  rep- 
resented the  universe.  The  breadth  of  the 
sanctuary  was  twenty  cubits,  and  its  length 
forty,  or  just  twice  that  of  the  porch  and 
Holy  of  Holies.  It  occupied,  therefore, 
one-half  of  the  body  of  the  Temple.  In 
the  sanctuary  were  placed  the  various  uten- 
sils necessary  for  the  daily  worship  of  the 
Temple,  such  as  the  altar  of  incense,  on 
which  incense  was  daily  burnt  by  the  offi- 
ciating priest;  the  ten  golden  candlesticks ; 
and  the  ten  tables  on  which  the  offerings 
were  laid  previous  to  the  sacrifice. 

The  Holy  of  Holies,  or  innermost 
chamber,  was  separated  from  the  sanctuary 
by  doors  of  olive,  richly  sculptured  and  in- 
laid with  gold,  and  covered  with  veils  of  blue, 
purple,  scarlet,  and  the  finest  linen.  The 
size  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  was  the  same  as 
that  of  the  porch,  namely,  twenty  cubits 
square.  It  contained  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant, which  had  been  transferred  into  it 
from  the  tabernacle,  with  its  overshadow- 
ing cherubim  and  its  mercy-seat.  Into 
the  most  sacred  place,  the  high  priest 
alone  could  enter,  and  that  only  once  a 
year,  on  the  day  of  atonement. 

The  Temple,  thus  constructed,  must  have 
been  one  of  the  most  magnificent  struct- 
ures of  the  ancient  world.  For  its  erec- 
tion, David  had  collected  more  than  four 
thousand  millions  of  dollars,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-four  thousand  six  hundred 


men  were  engaged  in  building  it  for  more 
than  seven  years ;  and  after  its  completion 
it  was  dedicated  by  Solomon  with  solemn 
prayer  and  seven  days  of  feasting ;  during 
which  a  peace-offering  of  twenty  thousand 
oxen  and  six  times  that  number  of  sheep 
was  made,  to  consume  which  the  holy  fire 
came  down  from  heaven. 

In  Masonry,  the  Temple  of  Solomon  has 
played  a  most  important  part.  Time  was 
when  every  Masonic  writer  subscribed  with 
unhesitating  faith  to  the  theory  that  Ma- 
sonry was  there  first  organized;  that  there 
Solomon,  Hiram  of  Tyre,  and  Hiram  Abif 
presided  as  Grand  Masters  over  the  Lodges 
which  they  had  established ;  that  there  the 
symbolic  degrees  were  instituted  and  sys- 
tems of  initiation  were  invented ;  and  that 
from  that  period  to  the  present  Masonry 
has  passed  down  the  stream  of  Time  in  un- 
broken succession  and  unaltered  form. 
But  the  modern  method  of  reading  Ma- 
sonic history  has  swept  away  this  edifice  of 
imagination  with  as  unsparing  a  hand,  and 
as  effectual  a  power,  as  those  with  which 
the  Babylonian  king  demolished  the  struct- 
ure upon  which  they  are  founded.  No 
writer  who  values  his  reputation  as  a  critical 
historian  would  now  attempt  to  defend  this 
theory.  Yet  it  has  done  its  work.  During 
the  long  period  in  which  the  hypothesis 
was  accepted  as  a  fact,  its  influence  was 
being  exerted  in  moulding  the  Masonic  or- 
ganizations into  a  form  closely  connected 
with  all  the  events  and  characteristics  of 
the  Solomonic  Temple.  So  that  now  al- 
most all  the  symbolism  of  Freemasonry 
rests  upon  or  is  derived  from  the  ''  House 
of  the  Lord"  at  Jerusalem.  So  closely  are 
the  two  connected,  that  to  attempt  to  sep- 
arate the  one  from  the  other  would  be  fatal 
to  the  further  existence  of  Masonry.  Each 
Lodge  is  and  must  be  a  symbol  of  the  Jew- 
ish Temple;  each  Master  in  the  chair  a 
representative  of  the  Jewish  king;  and 
every  Mason  a  personation  of  the  Jewish 
workman. 

Thus  must  it  ever  be  while  Masonry  en- 
dures. We  must  receive  the  myths  and  le- 
gends that  connect  it  with  the  Temple,  not 
indeed  as  historic  facts,  but  as  allegories ; 
not  as  events  that  have  really  transpired, 
but  as  symbols  ;  and  must  accept  these  al- 
legories and  these  symbols  for  what  their 
inventors  really  meant  that  they  should  be 
— the  foundations  of  a  science  of  morality. 

Temple  of  Zerubbabel.  For  the 
fifty-two  years  that  succeeded  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  that 
city  saw  nothing  but  the  ruins  of  its  an- 
cient Temple.  But  in  the  year  of  the  world 
3468  and  536  B.  c,  Cyrus  gave  permission 
to  the  Jews  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  and 
there  to  rebuild  the  Temple  of  the  Lord. 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


799 


Forty-two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
sixty  of  the  liberated  captives  returned 
under  the  guidance  of  Joshua,  the  High 
Priest,  Zerubbabel,  the  Prince  or  Governor, 
and  Haggai,  the  Scribe,  and  one  year  after 
they  laid  the  foundations  of  the  second 
Temple.  They  were,  however,  much  dis- 
turbed in  their  labours  by  the  Samaritans, 
whose  offer  to  unite  with  them  in  the 
building  they  had  rejected.  Artaxerxes, 
known  in  profane  history  as  Cambyses, 
having  succeeded  Cyrus  on  the  throne  of 
Persia,  he  forbade  the  Jews  to  proceed  with 
the  work,  and  the  Temple  remained  in  an 
unfinished  state  until  the  death  of  Artax- 
erxes and  the  succession  of  Darius  to  the 
throne.  As  in  early  life  there  had  been  a 
great  intimacy  between  this  sovereign  and 
Zerubbabel,  the  latter  proceeded  to  Baby- 
lon, and  obtained  permission  from  the  mon- 
arch to  resume  the  labor.  Zerubbabel  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem,  and  notwithstanding 
some  further  delays,  consequent  upon  the 
enmity  of  the  neighboring  nations,  the 
second  Temple,  or,  as  it  may  be  called  by 
way  of  distinction  from  the  first,  the  Tem- 
ple of  Zerubbabel,  was  completed  in  the 
sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Darius,  515  years 
B.  c,  and  just  twenty  years  after  its  com- 
mencement. It  was  then  dedicated  with 
all  the  solemnities  that  accompanied  the 
dedication  of  the  first. 

The  general  plan  of  this  second  Temple 
was  similar  to  that  of  the  first.  But  it  ex- 
ceeded it  in  almost  every  dimension  by  one- 
third.  The  decorations  of  gold  and  other 
ornaments  in  the  first  Temple  must  have 
far  surpassed  those  bestowed  upon  the 
second,  for  we  are  told  by  Josephus,  (Antiq., 
xi.  4,)  that  "the  Priests  and  Levites  and 
Elders  of  families  were  disconsolate  at  see- 
ing how  much  more  sumptuous  the  old  Tem- 
ple was  than  the  one  which,  on  account  of 
their  poverty,  they  had  just  been  able  to 
erect." 

The  Jews  also  say  that  there  were  five 
things  wanting  in  the  second  Temple  which 
had  been  in  the  first,  namely,  the  Ark,  the 
Urim  and  Thummim,  the  fire  from  heaven, 
the  divine  presence  or  cloud  of  glory,  and 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  and  power  of 
miracles. 

Such  are  the  most  important  events  that 
relate  to  the  construction  of  this  second 
Temple.  But  there  is  a  Masonic  legend 
connected  with  it  which,  though  it  may 
have  no  historical  foundation,  is  yet  so 
closely  interwoven  with  the  Temple  system 
of  Masonry,  that  it  is  necessary  it  should 
be  recounted.  It  was,  says  the  legend, 
while  the  workmen  were  engaged  in  mak- 
ing the  necessary  excavations  for  laying 
the  foundation,  and  while  numbers  con- 
tinued to  arrive  at  Jerusalem  from  Baby- 


lon, that  three  worn  and  weary  sojourners, 
after  plodding  on  foot  over  the  rough  and 
devious  roads  between  the  two  cities,  offered 
themselves  to  the  Grand  Council  as  willing 
participants  in  the  labor  of  erection.  Who 
these  sojourners  were,  we  have  no  historical 
means  of  discovering;  but  there  is  a  Ma- 
sonic tradition  (entitled,  perhaps,  to  but 
little  weight)  that  they  were  Hananiah, 
Mishael,  and  Azariah,  three  holy  men,  who 
are  better  known  to  general  readers  by  their 
Chaldaic  names  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 
Abed-nego,  as  having  been  miraculously 
preserved  from  the  fiery  furnace  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. 

Their  services  were  accepted,  and  from 
their  diligent  labors  resulted  that  important 
discovery,  the  perpetuation  and  preserva- 
tion of  which  constitute  the  great  end  and 
design  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree. 

As  the  symbolism  of  the  first  or  Solomon- 
ic Temple  is  connected  with  and  refers 
entirely  to  the  symbolic  degrees,  so  that  of 
the  second,  or  Temple  of  Zerubbabel,  forms 
the  basis  of  the  Royal  Arch  in  the  York 
and  American  Rites,  and  of  several  high 
degrees  in  other  Rites. 

Temple,  Order  of  the.  When  the 
Knights  Templars  had,  on  account  of  their 
power  and  wealth,  excited  the  fears  and  the 
cupidity  of  Pope  Clement  V.,  and  King 
Philip  the  Fair,  of  France,  the  Order  was 
soon  compelled  to  succumb  to  the  combined 
animosity  of  a  spiritual  and  a  temporal 
sovei-eign,  neither  of  whom  was  capable  of 
being  controlled  by  a  spirit  of  honor  or  a 
dictate  of  conscience.  The  melancholy 
story  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Knights,  and 
of  the  dissolution  of  their  Order,  forms  a 
disgraceful  record,  with  which  the  history 
of  the  fourteenth  century  begins. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  in  the  year  1314, 
and  in  the  refined  city  of  Paris,  James  de 
Molay,  the  last  of  a  long  and  illustrious 
line  of  Grand  Masters  of  the  Order  of 
Knights  Templars,  testified  at  the  stake 
his  fidelity  to  his  vows ;  and  eleven  years 
of  service  in  the  cause  of  religion  were  ter- 
minated, not  by  the  sword  of  a  Saracen, 
but  by  the  iniquitous  sentence  of  a  Catholic 
pope  and  a  Christian  king. 

The  manufacturers  of  Masonic  legends 
have  found  in  the  death  of  Molay  and  the 
dissolution  of  the  Order  of  Templars  a  fer- 
tile source  from  which  to  draw  materials 
for  their  fanciful  theories  and  surreptitious 
documents.  Among  these  legends  there 
was,  for  instance,  one  which  maintained 
that  during  his  captivity  in  the  Bastile  the 
Grand  Master  of  the  Templars  established 
four  Chiefs  of  the  Order  in  the  north,  the 
south,  the  east,  and  the  west  of  Europe, 
whose  seats  of  government  were  respectively 
at  Stockholm,  Naples,  Paris,  and  Edin- 


800 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


burgh.  Another  invention  of  these  Ma- 
sonic speculators  was  the  forgery  of  that 
document  so  well  known  as  the  Charter  of 
Larmenius,  of  which  I  shall  presently 
take  notice.  Previously,  however,  to  any 
consideration  of  this  document,  I  must  ad- 
vert to  the  condition  of  the  Templar  Order 
in  Portugal,  because  there  is  an  intimate 
connection  between  the  society  there  or- 
ganized and  the  Order  of  the  Temple  in 
France,  which  is  more  particularly  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  article. 

Surprising  as  it  may  appear,  it  is  never- 
theless true,  that  the  Templars  did  not  re- 
ceive that  check  in  Portugal  to  which  they 
were  subjected  in  France,  in  England,  and 
some  other  countries  of  Europe.  On  the 
contrary,  they  were  there  maintained  by 
King  Denis  in  all  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges ;  and  although  compelled,  by  a  bull 
of  Clement  V.,  to  change  their  names  to 
that  of  the  Knights  of  Christ,  they  con- 
tinued to  be  governed  by  the  same  rules 
and  to  wear  the  same  costume  as  their  pre- 
decessors, excepting  the  slight  addition  of 
placing  a  white  Latin  cross  in  the  centre 
of  the  usual  red  one  of  the  ancient  Order ; 
and  in  the  decree  of  establishment  it  was 
expressly  declared  that  the  king,  in  creat- 
ing this  new  Order,  intended  only  to  effect 
a  reform  in  that  of  the  Templars.  In  1420, 
John  I.,  of  Portugal,  gave  the  Knights  of 
Christ  the  control  of  the  possessions  of 
Portugal  in  the  Indies,  and  succeeding 
monarchs  granted  them  the  proprietorship 
of  all  countries  which  they  might  discover, 
reserving,  of  course,  the  royal  prerogative 
of  sovereignty.  In  process  of  time  the 
wealth  and  the  power  of  the  Order  became 
so  great,  that  the  kings  of  Portugal  found 
it  expedient  to  reduce  their  rights  to  a  con- 
siderable extent ;  but  the  Order  itself  was 
permitted  to  continue  in  existence,  the 
Grand  Mastership,  however,  being  for  the 
future  vested  in  the  sovereign. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  investigate  un- 
derstandingly  tne  history  of  the  Charter  of 
Larmenius,  and  of  the  Order  of  the  Tem- 
ple at  Paris,  which  was  founded  on  the  as- 
sumed authenticity  of  that  document.  The 
writings  of  Thory,  of  Ragon,  and  of  Clavel, 
with  the  passing  remarks  of  a  few  other 
Masonic  writers,  will  furnish  us  with 
abundant  materials  for  this  narrative,  in- 
teresting to  all  Freemasons,  but  more  espe- 
cially so  to  Masonic  Knights  Templars. 

In  the  year  1682,  and  in  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.,  a  licentious  society  was  estab- 
lished by  several  young  noblemen,  which 
took  the  name  of  "  La  Petite  Resurrection 
des  Templiers,"  or  "  The  little  Resurrection 
of  the  Templars."  The  members  wore  con- 
cealed upon  their  shirts  a  decoration  in  the 
form  of  a  cross,  on  which  was  embossed 


the  figure  of  a  man  trampling  on  a  woman, 
who  lay  prostrate  at  his  feet.  The  em- 
blematic signification  of  this  symbol  was, 
it  is  apparent,  as  unworthy  of  the  character 
of  man  as  it  was  derogatory  to  the  condi- 
tion and  claims  of  woman ;  and  the  king, 
having  been  informed  of  the  infamous  pro- 
ceedings which  took  place  at  the  meetings, 
dissolved  the  society,  (which  it  was  said  was 
on  the  eveof  initiating  the  dauphin ; )  caused 
its  leader,  a  prince  of  the  blood,  to  be  ig- 
nominiously  punished,  and  banished  the 
members  from  the  court;  the  heaviest 
penalty  that,  in  those  days  of  servile  sub- 
mission to  the  throne,  could  be  inflicted  on 
a  courtier. 

In  1705,  Philip  of  Orleans,  who  was  sub- 
sequently the  regent  of  France  during  the 
minority  of  Louis  XV.,  collected  together 
the  remnants  of  this  society,  which  still  se- 
cretly existed,  but  had  changed  its  object 
from  a  licentious  to  one  of  a  political  char- 
acter. He  caused  new  statutes  to  be  con- 
structed; and  an  Italian  Jesuit,  by  name 
Father  Bonani,  who  was  a  learned  an- 
tiquary and  an  excellent  designer,  fabri- 
cated the  document  now  known  as  the 
Charter  of  Larmenius,  and  thus  pretended 
to  attach  the  new  society  to  the  ancient 
Order  of  the  Templars. 

As  this  charter  is  not  the  least  interest- 
ing of  those  forged  documents  with  which 
the  history  of  Freemasonry  unfortunately 
abounds,  a  full  description  of  it  here  will 
not  be  out  of  place. 

The  theory  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  and 
his  accomplice  Bonani  was,  (and  the  theory 
is  still  maintained  by  the  Order  of  the 
Temple  at  Paris,)  that  when  James  de  Mo- 
lay  was  about  to  suffer  at  the  stake,  he  sent 
for  Larmenius,  and  in  prison,  with  the  con- 
sent and  approbation  of  such  of  his  knights 
as  were  present,  appointed  him  his  succes- 
sor, with  the  right  of  making  a  similar  ap- 
pointment before  his  death.  On  the  demise 
of  Molay,  Larmenius  accordingly  assumed 
the  office  of  Grand  Master,  and  ten  years 
after  issued  this  charter,  transmitting  his 
authority  to  Theobaldus  Alexandrinus,  by 
whom  it  was  in  like  manner  transmitted 
through  a  long  line  of  Grand  Masters,  un- 
til in  1705  it  reached  Philip,  Duke  of  Or- 
leans. It  will  be  seen  hereafter  that  the 
list  was  subsequently  continued  to  a  later 
period. 

The  signatures  of  all  these  Grand  Mas- 
ters are  affixed  to  the  charter,  which  is 
beautifully  executed  on  parchment,  illumi- 
nated in  the  choicest  style  of  mediaeval 
chirography,  and  composed  in  the  Latin 
language,  but  written  in  the  Templar  ci- 
pher. From  the  copy  of  the  document 
given  by  Thory  in  his  Acta  Latomorum,  I 
make  the  following  translation : 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


801 


"  I,  Brother  John  Mark  Larmenius,  of 
Jerusalem,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the 
secret  decree  of  the  most  venerable  and 
holy  martyr,  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Sol- 
diery of  the  Temple,  (to  whom  be  honor 
and  glory,)  confirmed  by  the  common  coun- 
cil of  the  brethren,  being  endowed  with  the 
Supreme  Grand  Mastership  of  the  whole 
Order  of  the  Temple,  to  every  one  who 
shall  see  these  letters  decretal  thrice  greet- 
ing: 

"  Be  it  known  to  all,  both  present  and  to 
come,  that  the  failure  of  my  strength,  on 
account  of  extreme  age,  my  poverty,  and 
the  weight  of  government  being  well  con- 
sidered, I,  the  aforesaid  humble  Master  of 
the  Soldiery  of  the  Temple,  have  deter- 
mined, for  the  greater  glory  of  God  and 
the  protection  and  safety  of  the  Order,  the 
brethren,  and  the  statutes,  to  resign  the 
Grand  Mastership  into  stronger  hands. 

"  On  which  account,  God  helping,  and 
with  the  consent  of  a  Supreme  Convention 
of  Knights,  I  have  conferred,  and  by  this 
present  decree  do  confer,  for  life,  the  au- 
thority and  prerogatives  of  Grand  Master 
of  the  Order  of  the  Temple  upon  the  Emi- 
nent Commander  and  very  dear  brother, 
Francis  Thomas  Theobald  Alexandrinus, 
with  the  power,  according  to  time  and  cir- 
cumstances, of  conferring  the  Grand  Mas- 
tership of  the  Order  of  the  Temple  and  the 
supreme  authority  upon  another  brother, 
most  eminent  for  the  nobility  of  his  educa- 
tion and  talent  and  decorum  of  his  man- 
ners :  which  is  done  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  a  perpetual  succession  of 
Grand  Masters,  an  uninterrupted  series  of 
successors,  and  the  integrity  of  the  statutes. 
Nevertheless,  I  command  that  the  Grand 
Mastership  shall  not  be  transmitted  with- 
out the  consent  of  a  general  convention  of 
the  fellow-soldiers  of  the  Temple,  as  often 
as  that  Supreme  Convention  desires  to  be 
convened;  and,  matters  being  thus  con- 
ducted, the  successor  shall  be  elected  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  knights. 

"  But,  lest  the  powers  of  the  supreme 
office  should  fall  into  decay,  now  and  for 
ever  let  there  be  four  Vicars  of  the  Grand 
Master,  possessing  supreme  power,  emi- 
nence, and  authority  over  the  whole  Order, 
with  the  reservation  of  the  rights  of  the 
Grand  Master;  which  Vicars  of  the  Grand 
Masters  shall  be  chosen  from  among  the 
elders,  according  to  the  order  of  their  pro- 
fession. Which  is  decreed  in  accordance 
with  the  above-mentioned  wish,  commend- 
ed to  me  and  to  the  brethren  by  our  most 
venerable  and  most  blessed  Master,  the 
martyr,  to  whom  be  honor  and  glory. 
Amen. 

"  Finally,  in  consequence  of  a  decree  of 
a  Supreme  Convention  of  the  brethren,  and 
5  A  51 


by  the  supreme  authority  to  me  committed, 
I  will,  declare,  and  command  that  the  Scot- 
tish Templars,  as  deserters  from  the  Order, 
are  to  be  accursed,  and  that  they  and  the 
brethren  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  (upon 
whom  may  God  have  mercy,)  as  spoliators 
of  the  domains  of  our  soldiery,  are  now 
and  hereafter  to  be  considered  as  beyond 
the  pale  of  the  Temple. 

"  I  have  therefore  established  signs,  un- 
known to  our  false  brethren,  and  not  to  be 
known  by  them,  to  be  orally  communicated 
to  our  fellow-soldiers,  and  in  which  way  I 
have  already  been  pleased  to  communicate 
them  in  the  Supreme  Convention. 

"  But  these  signs  are  only  to  be  made 
known  after  due  profession  and  knightly 
consecration,  according  to  the  statutes, 
rites,  and  usages  of  the  fellow-soldiery  of 
the  Temple,  transmitted  by  me  to  the  above- 
named  Eminent  Commander  as  they  were 
delivered  into  my  hands  by  the  venerable 
and  most  holy  martyr,  our  Grand  Master, 
to  whom  be  honor  and  glory.  Let  it  be 
done  as  I  have  said.   So  mote  it  be.  Amen. 

"I,  John  Mark  Larmenius,  have  done 
this  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  February, 
1324. 

"  I,  Francis  Thomas  Theobaldus  Alexan- 
drinus, God  helping,  have  accepted  the 
Grand  Mastership,  1324." 

And  then  follow  the  acceptances  and  sig- 
natures of  twenty-two  succeeding  Grand 
Masters — the  last,  Bernard  Raymund  Fa- 
bre,  under  the  date  of  1804. 

The  society,  thus  organized  by  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  in  1705,  under  this  charter, 
which  purported  to  contain  the  signatures 
manu  propria  of  eighteen  Grand  Masters 
in  regular  succession,  commencing  with 
Larmenius  and  ending  with  himself,  at- 
tempted to  obtain  a  recognition  by  the  Or- 
der of  Christ,  which  we  have  already  said 
was  established  in  Portugal  as  the  legiti- 
mate successor  of  the  old  Templars,  and  of 
which  King  John  V.  was  at  that  time  the 
Grand  Master.  For  this  purpose  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  ordered  two  of  his  members  to 
proceed  to  Lisbon,  and  there  to  open  nego- 
tiations with  the  Order  of  Christ.  The 
king  caused  inquiries  to  be  made  of  Don 
Luis  de  Cunha,  his  ambassador  at  Paris, 
upon  whose  report  he  gave  orders  for  the 
arrest  of  the  two  French  Templars.  One 
of  them  escaped  to  Gibraltar;  but  the  other, 
less  fortunate,  after  an  imprisonment  of 
two  years,  was  banished  to  Angola,  in 
Africa,  where  he  died. 

The  society,  however,  continued  secretly 
to  exist  for  many  years  in  France,  and  is 
supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  same 
which,  in  1789,  was  known  by  the  name  of 
the  Societe  d  'Aloyau,  a  title  which  might  be 
translated  into  English  as  the  "  Society  of 


802 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


the  Sirloin,"  —  a  name  much  more  appro- 
priate to  a  club  of  bons  vivants  than  to  an 
association  of  knights.  The  members  of 
this  society  were  dispersed  at  the  time  of 
the  French  Revolution,  the  Duke  of  Casse 
Brissac,  who  was  massacred  at  Versailles 
in  1792,  being  its  Grand  Master  at  the  pe- 
riod of  its  dispersion.  Thory  says  that  the 
members  of  this  association  claimed  to  be 
the  successors  of  the  Templars,  and  to  be 
in  possession  of  their  charters. 

A  certain  Brother  Ledru,  one  of  the  sons 
of  the  learned  Nicholas  Philip  Ledru,  was 
the  physician  of  Casse  Brissac.  On  the 
death  of  that  nobleman  and  the  sale  of  his 
property,  Ledru  purchased  a  piece  of  fur- 
niture, probably  an  escritoire,  in  which  was 
concealed  the  celebrated  charter  of  Larme- 
nius,  the  manuscript  statutes  of  1705,  and 
the  journal  of  proceedings  of  the  Order  of 
the  Temple.  Clavel  says  that  about  the 
year  1804,  Ledru  showed  these  articles  to 
two  of  his  friends  —  de  Saintot  and  Fabr6 
Palaprat ;  the  latter  of  whom  had  formerly 
been  an  ecclesiastic.  The  sight  of  these 
documents  suggested  to  them  the  idea  of 
reviving  the  Order  of  the  Temple.  They 
proposed  to  constitute  Ledru  the  Grand 
Master,  but  he  refused  the  offer,  and  nomi- 
nated Claudius  Matheus  Radix  de  Chevil- 
lon  for  the  office,  who  would  accept  it  only 
under  the  title  of  Vicar ;  and  he  is  inscribed 
as  such  on  the  list  attached  to  the  Charter 
of  Larmenius,  his  name  immediately  fol- 
lowing that  of  Casse  Brissac,  who  is  re- 
corded as  the  last  Grand  Master. 

These  four  restorers  of  the  Order  were  of 
opinion  that  it  would  be  most  expedient  to 
place  it  under  the  patronage  of  some  dis- 
tinguished personage;  and  while  making 
the  effort  to  carry  this  design  into  execu- 
tion, Chevillon,  excusing  himself  from  fur- 
ther official  labor  on  account  of  his  ad- 
vanced age,  proposed  that  Fabr6  Palaprat 
should  be  elected  Grand  Master,  but  for 
one  year  only,  and  with  the  understanding 
that  he  would  resign  the  dignity  as  soon  as 
some  notable  person  could  be  found  who 
would  be  willing  to  accept  it.  But  Fabre, 
having  once  been  invested  with  the  Grand 
Mastership,  ever  afterwards  refused  to  sur- 
render the  dignity. 

Among  the  persons  who  were  soon  after 
admitted  into  the  Order  were  Decourchant, 
a  notary's  clerk;  Leblond,  an  official  of  the 
imperial  library;  and  Arnal,  an  ironmonger, 
all  of  whom  were  intrusted  with  the  secret 
of  the  fraud,  and  at  once  engaged  in  the 
construction  of  what  have  since  been  des- 
ignated the  "  Relics  of  the  Order."  Of  these 
relics,  which  are  preserved  in  the  treasury 
of  the  Order  of  the  Temple  at  Paris,  an  in- 
ventory was  made  on  the  18th  day  of  May, 
1810,  being,  it  is  probable,  soon  after  their 


construction.  Dr.  Burnes,  who  was  a  firm 
believer  in  the  legitimacy  of  the  Parisian 
Order  and  in  the  authenticity  of  its  ar- 
chives, has  given  in  his  Sketch  of  the  His- 
tory of  the  Knights  Templars,  (App.,  p.  xii.,) 
a  copy  of  this  inventory  in  the  original 
French.  Thory  gives  it  also  in  his  Acta 
Latomorum,  (ii.  143.)  A  brief  synopsis  of 
it  may  not  be  uninteresting.  The  relics 
consist  of  twelve  pieces — "  a  round  dozen  " 
—  and  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  Charter  of  Larmenius,  already 
described.  But  to  the  eighteen  signatures 
of  Grand  Masters  in  the  charter,  which  was 
in  1705  in  possession  of  Philip,  Duke  of  Or- 
leans, are  added  six  more,  carrying  the  suc- 
cession on  from  the  last-named  to  Fabre' 
Palaprat,  who  attests  as  Grand  Master  in 
1804. 

2.  A  volume  of  twenty -seven  paper 
sheets,  in  folio,  bound  in  crimson  velvet, 
satin,  and  gold,  containing  the  statutes 
of  the  Order  in  manuscript,  and  signed 
"Philip." 

3.  A  small  copper  reliquary,  in  the  shape 
of  a  Gothic  church,  containing  four  frag- 
ments of  burnt  bones,  wrapped  in  a  piece 
of  linen.  These  are  said  to  have  been 
taken  from  the  funeral  pile  of  the  martyred 
Templars. 

4.  A  sword,  said  to  be  one  which  be- 
longed to  James  de  Molay. 

5.  A  helmet,  supposed  to  have  been  that 
of  Guy,  Dauphin  of  Auvergne. 

6.  An  old  gilt  spur. 

7.  A  bronze  patina,  in  the  interior  of 
which  is  engraved  an  extended  hand,  hav- 
ing the  ring  and  little  fingers  bent  in  upon 
the  palm,  which  is  the  form  of  the  episco- 
pal benediction  in  the  Roman  Church. 

8.  A  pax  in  gilt  bronze,  containing  a 
representation  of  St.  John,  under  a  Gothic 
arch.  The  pax  is  a  small  plate  of  gold, 
silver,  or  other  rich  material,  carried  round 
by  the  priest  to  communicate  the  "  kiss  of 
peace." 

9.  Three  Gothic  seals. 

10.  A  tall  ivory  cross  and  three  mitres, 
richly  ornamented. 

11.  The  beauseant,  in  white  linen,  with 
the  cross  of  the  Order. 

12.  The  war  standard,  in  white  linen, 
with  four  black  rays. 

Of  these  "  relics,"  Clavel,  who,  as  being 
on  the  spot,  may  be  supposed  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  truth,  tells  us  that  the  copper 
reliquary,  the  sword,  the  ivory  cross,  and 
the  three  mitres  were  bought  by  Leblond 
from  an  old  iron  shop  in  the  market  of  St. 
Jean,  and  from  a  maker  of  church  vest- 
ments in  the  suburbs  of  Paris,  while  the 
helmet  was  taken  by  Arnal  from  one  of  the 
government  armories. 

Francisco  Alvaro  da  Sylva  Freyre  de 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


803 


Porto,  a  knight  of  the  Order  of  Christ,  and 
a  secret  agent  of  John  VI.,  king  of  Por- 
tugal, was  admitted  into  the  Order  in  1805, 
and  continued  a  member  until  1815.  He 
was  one  of  the  few,  Clavel  says,  whom 
Fabre  and  the  other  founders  admitted  into 
their  full  confidence,  and  in  1812  he  held 
the  office  of  Grand  Master's  Secretary. 
Fabre"  having  signified  to  him  his  desire  to 
be  recognized  as  the  successor  of  James  de 
Molay  by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Order 
of  Christ,  Da  Sylva  sent  a  copy  of  the 
Charter  of  Larmenius  to  John  VI.,  who 
was  then  in  Brazil ;  but  the  request  for  re- 
cognition was  refused. 

The  Order  of  the  Temple,  which  had 
thus  been  ingeniously  organized  by  Fabre 
Palaprat  and  his  colleagues,  began  now  to 
assume  high  prerogatives  as  the  only  rep- 
resentative of  ancient  Templarism.  The 
Grand  Master  was  distinguished  by  the 
sounding  titles  of  "Most  Eminent  High- 
ness, Very  Great,  Powerful,  and  Excellent 
Prince,  and  Most  Serene  Lord."  The  whole 
world  was  divided  into  different  jurisdic- 
tions, under  the  names  of  provinces,  baili- 
wicks, priories,  and  commanderies,  all  of 
which  were  distributed  among  the  mem- 
bers ;  and  proofs  of  nobility  were  demanded 
of  all  candidates ;  but  if  they  were  not  able 
to  give  these  proofs,  they  were  furnished 
by  the  Grand  Master  with  the  necessary 
patents. 

The  ceremonies  of  initiation  were  divided 
into  three  houses,  again  subdivided  into 
eight  degrees,  and  were  as  follows : 

I.  House  of  Initiation. 

1.  Initiate.  This  is  the  Entered  Ap- 
prentice's degree  of  Freemasonry. 

2.  Initiate  of  the  Interior.  This  is  the 
Fellow  Craft. 

3.  Adept.    This  is  the  Master  Mason. 

4.  Adept  of  the  East.  The  Elu  of  Fifteen 
of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

5.  Grand  Adept  of  the  Black  Eagle  of  St. 
John.  The  Elu  of  Nine  of  the  Scottish 
Rite. 

II.  House  of  Postulance. 

6.  Postulant  of  the  Order.  The  Rose 
Croix  degree. 

III.  Council. 

7.  Esquire.  Merely  a  preparation  for 
the  eighth  degree. 

8.  Knight,  or  Levite  of  the  Interior  Guard. 
The  Philosophical  Kadosh 

At  first  the  members  of  the  Order  pro- 
fessed the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  and 
hence,  on  various  occasions,  Protestants 
and  Jews  were    denied   admission.    But 


about  the  year  1814,  the  Grand  Master 
having  obtained  possession  of  a  manuscript 
copy  of  a  spurious  Gospel  of  St.  John, 
which  is  supposed  to  have  been  forged  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  and  which  contra- 
dicted in  many  particulars  the  canonical 
Gospel,  he  caused  it  to  be  adopted  as  the 
doctrine  of  the  Order ;  and  thus,  as  Clavel 
says,  at  once  transformed  an  Order  which 
had  always  been  perfectly  orthodox  into  a 
schismatic  sect.  Out  of  this  spurious  Gos- 
pel and  an  introduction  and  commentary 
called  the  "  Levitikon,"  said  to  have  been 
written  by  Nicephorus,  a  Greek  monk  of 
Athens,  Fabre  and  his  colleagues  composed 
a  liturgy,  and  established  a  religious  sect  to 
which  they  gave  the  name  of  "  Johannism." 

The  consequence  of  this  change  of  reli- 
gious views  was  a  schism  in  the  Order. 
The  orthodox  party,  however,  appears  to 
have  been  the  stronger;  and  after  the  others 
had  for  a  short  time  exhibited  themselves 
as  soi-disant  priests  in  a  Johannite  church 
which  they  erected,  and  in  which  they  pub- 
licly chanted  the  liturgy  which  they  had 
composed,  the  church  and  the  liturgy  were 
given  up,  and  they  retired  once  more  into 
the  secrecy  of  the  Order. 

Such  is  a  brief  history  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  celebrated  Order  of  the 
Temple,  which  still  exists  at  Paris,  with, 
however,  a  much  abridged  exercise,  if  not 
with  less  assumption  of  prerogative.  It 
still  claims  to  be  the  only  true  depository 
of  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the  ancient 
Order  of  Knights  Templars,  denouncing 
all  other  Templars  as  spurious,  and  its 
Grand  Master  proclaims  himself  the  legal 
successor  of  James  de  Molay ;  with  how 
much  truth  the  narrative  already  given 
will  enable  every  reader  to  decide. 

The  question  of  the  legality  of  the  "  Order 
of  the  Temple,"  as  the  only  true  body  of 
Knights  Templars  in  modern  days,  is  to  be 
settled  only  after  three  other  points  have 
been  determined:  First,  was  the  Charter 
of  Larmenius,  which  was  brought  for  the 
first  time  to  light  in  1705  by  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  an  authentic  or  a  forged  docu- 
ment? Next,  even  if  authentic,  was  the 
story  that  Larmenius  was  invested  with 
the  Grand  Mastership  aud  the  power  of 
transmission  by  Molay  a  fact  or  a  fable? 
And,  lastly,  was  the  power  exercised  by 
Ledru,  in  reorganizing  the  Order  in  1804, 
assumed  by  himself  or  actually  derived 
from  Casse  Brissac,  the  previous  Grand 
Master?  There  are  many  other  questions 
of  subordinate  but  necessary  importance  to 
be  examined  and  settled  before  we  can  con- 
sent to  give  the  Order  of  the  Temple  the 
high  and,  as  regards  Templarism,  the  ex- 
clusive position  that  it  claims. 

Temple,  Second.  The  Temple  built 


804 


TEMPLE 


TEMPLE 


by  Zerubbabel  is  so  called.  See  Temple  of 
Zerubbabel. 

Temple,  Sovereign  Command- 
er of  the.  See  Sovereign  Commander  of 
the  Temple. 

Temple,  Sovereign  of  the  Sov- 
ereigns Grand  Commander  of 
the.  {Souverain  des  Souverain  Grands  Com- 
mandeur  du  Temple.)  A  degree  in  the  col- 
lection of  Lemanceau  and  Le  Page.  It  is 
said  to  be  a  part  of  the  Order  of  Christ  or 
Portuguese  Templarism. 

Temple,  Spiritual.  See  Spiritual 
Temple. 

Temple,  Symbolism  of  the.  Of 
all  the  objects  which  constitute  the  Masonic 
science  of  symbolism,  the  most  important, 
the  most  cherished  by  Masons,  and  by  far 
the  most  significant,  is  the  Temple  of  Jeru- 
salem. The  spiritualizing  of  the  Temple 
is  the  first,  the  most  prominent,  and  the 
most  pervading  of  all  symbols  of  Free- 
masonry. It  is  that  which  most  emphati- 
cally gives  it  its  religious  character.  Take 
from  Freemasonry  its  dependence  on  the 
Temple;  leave  out  of  its  ritual  all  refer- 
ence to  that  sacred  edifice,  and  to  the 
legends  and  traditions  connected  with  it, 
and  the  system  itself  would  at  once  decay 
and  die,  or  at  best  remain  only  as  some 
fossilized  bone,  serving  merely  to  show  the 
nature  of  the  once  living  body  to  which  it 
had  belonged. 

Temple  worship  is  in  itself  an  ancient 
type  of  the  religious  sentiment  in  its  pro- 
gress towards  spiritual  elevation.  As  soon 
as  a  nation  emerged  out  of  Feticism,  or  the 
worship  of  visible  objects,  which  is  the 
most  degraded  form  of  idolatry,  its  people 
began  to  establish  a  priesthood,  and  to  erect 
temples.  The  Goths,  the  Celts,  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  the  Greeks,  however  much  they 
may  have  differed  in  the  ritual,  and  in  the 
objects  of  their  polytheistic  worship,  were 
all  in  the  possession  of  priests  and  of  tem- 
ples. The  Jews,  complying  with  this  law 
of  our  religious  nature,  first  constructed 
their  tabernacle,  or  portable  temple,  and 
then,  when  time  and  opportunity  permitted, 
transferred  their  monotheistic  worship  to 
that  more  permanent  edifice  which  tow- 
ered in  all  its  magnificence  above  the  pin- 
nacle of  Mount  Moriah.  The  mosque  of 
the  Mohammedan  and  the  church  or  chapel 
of  the  Christian  is  but  an  embodiment  of 
the  same  idea  of  temple  worship  in  a 
simpler  form. 

The  adaptation,  therefore,  of  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem  to  a  science  of  symbolism, 
would  be  an  easy  task  to  the  mind  of  those 
Jews  and  Tyrians  who  were  engaged  in  its 
construction.  Doubtless,  at  its  original 
conception,  the  idea  of  this  temple  sym- 
bolism was  rude  and  unembellished.    It 


was  to  be  perfected  and  polished  only  by 
future  aggregations  of  succeeding  intellects. 
And  yet  no  biblical  nor  Masonic  scholar 
will  venture  to  deny  that  there  was,  in  the 
mode  of  building  and  in  all  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  construction  of 
King  Solomon's  Temple,  an  apparent  de- 
sign to  establish  a  foundation  for  sym- 
bolism. 

The  Freemasons  have,  at  all  events, 
seized  with  avidity  the  idea  of  representing 
in  their  symbolic  language  the  interior  and 
spiritual  man  by  a  material  temple.  They 
have  the  doctrine  of  the  great  Apostle  of 
the  Gentiles,  who  has  said,  "  Know  ye  are 
the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  spirit  of 
God  dwelleth  in  you."  The  great  body  of 
the  Masonic  craft,  looking  only  to  this  first 
Temple  erected  by  the  wisdom  of  King 
Solomon,  make  it  the  symbol  of  life;  and 
as  the  great  object  of  Masonry  is  the  search 
after  truth,  they  are  directed  to  build  up 
this  temple  as  a  fitting  receptacle  for  truth 
when  found,  a  place  where  it  may  dwell, 
just  as  the  ancient  Jews  built  up  their 
great  Temple  as  a  dwelling-place  for  Him 
who  is  the  author  of  all  truth. 

To  the  Master  Mason,  this  Temple  of 
Solomon  is  truly  the  symbol  of  human  life; 
for,  like  life,  it  was  to  have  its  end.  For 
four  centuries  it  glittered  on  the  hills  of 
Jerusalem  in  all  its  gorgeous  magnificence; 
now,  under  some  pious  descendant  of  the 
wise  king  of  Israel,  the  spot  from  whose 
altars  arose  the  burnt-offerings  to  a  living 
God,  and  now  polluted  by  some  recreant 
monarch  of  Judah  to  the  service  of  Baal ; 
until  at  length  it  received  the  divine  pun- 
ishment through  the  mighty  king  of  Baby- 
lon, and,  having  been  despoiled  of  all  its 
treasures,  was  burnt  to  the  ground,  so  that 
nothing  was  left  of  all  its  splendor  but  a 
smouldering  heap  of  ashes.  Variable  in 
its  purposes,  evanescent  in  its  existence, 
now  a  gorgeous  pile  of  architectural  beauty, 
and  anon  a  ruin  over  which  the  resistless 
power  of  fire  has  passed,  it  becomes  a  fit 
symbol  of  human  life  occupied  in  the 
search  after  divine  truth,  which  is  nowhere 
to  be  found;  now  sinning  and  now  repent- 
ant ;  now  vigorous  with  health  and  strength, 
and  anon  a  senseless  and  decaying  corpse. 

Such  is  the  symbolism  of  the  first  Tem- 
ple, that  of  Solomon,  as  familiar  to  the 
class  of  Master  Masons.  But  there  is  a 
second  and  higher  class  of  the  Fraternity, 
the  Masons  of  the  Eoyal  Arch,  by  whom 
this  temple  symbolism  is  still  further  de- 
veloped. 

This  second  class,  leaving  their  early 
symbolism  and  looking  beyond  this  Tem- 
ple of  Solomon,  find  in  scriptural  history 
another  Temple,  which,  years  after  the  de- 
struction of  the  first  one,  was  erected  upon 


TEMPLE 


TENT 


805 


its  ruins;  and  they  have  selected  the 
second  Temple,  the  Temple  of  Zerubbabel, 
as  their  prominent  symbol.  And  as  the 
first  class  of  Masons  find  in  their  Temple 
the  symbol  of  mortal  life,  limited  and  per- 
ishable, they,  on  the  contrary,  see  in  this 
second  Temple,  built  upon  the  foundations 
of  the  first,  a  symbol  of  life  eternal,  where 
the  lost  truth  shall  be  found,  where  new 
incense  shall  arise  from  a  new  altar,  and 
whose  perpetuity  their  great  Master  had 
promised  when,  in  the  very  spirit  of  sym- 
bolism, he  exclaimed,  "  Destroy  this  tem- 
ple, and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up." 

And  so  to  these  two  classes  or  Orders  of 
Masons  the  symbolism  of  the  Temple  pre- 
sents itself  in  a  connected  and  continuous 
form.  To  the  Master  Mason,  the  Temple 
of  Solomon  is  the  symbol  of  this  life;  to 
the  Royal  Arch  Mason,  the  Temple  of 
Zerubbabel  is  the  symbol  of  the  future  life. 
To  the  former,  his  Temple  is  the  symbol  of 
the  search  for  truth ;  to  the  latter,  his  is  the 
symbol  of  the  discovery  of  truth ;  and  thus 
the  circle  is  completed  and  the  system 
made  perfect. 

Temple,  Workmen  at  the.  See 
Workmen  at  the  Temple. 

Templier.  The  title  of  a  Knight  Tem- 
plar in  French.  The  expression  "Cheva- 
lier Templier "  is  scarcely  ever  used  by 
French  writers. 

Templum  Hierosolymse.  Latin 
for  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  supposed 
by  some  to  be  a  phrase  concealed  under  the 
monogram  of  the  Triple  Tau,  which  see. 

Ten.  Ten  cannot  be  considered  as  a 
sacred  number  in  Masonry.  But  by  the 
Pythagoreans  it  was  honored  as  a  symbol 
of  the  perfection  and  consummation  of  all 
things.  It  was  constituted  of  the  monad 
and  duad,  the  active  and  passive  principles, 
the  triad  or  their  result,  andthequaternioror 
first  square,  and  hence  they  referred  it  to 
their  sacred  tetractys.  They  said  that  ten 
contained  all  the  relations  of  numbers  and 
harmony.     See  Tetractys. 

Tengn.  A  significant  word  in  the 
high  degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  The 
original  old  French  rituals  explain  it,  and 
say  that  it  and  the  two  other  words  that 
accompany  are  formed  out  of  the  initials 
of  the  words  of  a  particular  sentence  which 
has  reference  to  the  "  Sacred  treasure  "  of 
Masonry. 

Tennessee.  Until  the  end  of  the 
year  1813,  the  State  of  Tennessee  consti- 
tuted a  part  of  the  Masonic  jurisdiction 
of  North  Carolina,  and  the  Lodges  were 
held  under  Warrants  issuing  from  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  "North  Carolina  and  Ten- 
nessee," with  the  exception  of  one  Lodge 
in  Davidson  County,  which  derived  its 
Charter  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ken- 


tucky. In  December,  1811,  a  convention 
was  held  at  Knoxville,  when  an  address 
was  directed  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  North 
Carolina,  soliciting  its  assent  to  the  sever- 
ance of  the  Masonic  jurisdiction  and  the 
establishment  of  an  independent  Grand 
Lodge.  In  October,  1813,  this  consent  was 
granted,  and  a  convention  of  the  Lodges  was 
ordered  by  the  Grand  Master  to  assemble 
at  Knoxville  on  December  27,  1813,  that 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee  might  be 
legally  constituted.  Delegates  from  eight 
Lodges  accordingly  assembled  on  that  day 
at  Knoxville,  and  a  convention  was  duly 
organized.  A  deed  of  relinquishment  from 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  North  Carolina  was 
read.  By  this  instrument  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  North  Carolina  relinquished  all  author- 
ity and  jurisdiction  over  the  several  Lodges 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  assented 
to  the  erection  of  an  independent  Grand 
Lodge.  A  Constitution  was  accordingly 
adopted  and  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee 
organized,  Thomas  Claiborne  being  elected 
Grand  Master. 

The  first  Royal  Arch  Chapters  in  Ten- 
nessee were  instituted  by  the  General  Grand 
Chapter,  and  the  Grand  Chapter  of  Ten- 
nessee was  organized  in  1826. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  established  October  13,  1847. 

The  Grand  Commandery  of  Tennessee 
was  organized  October  12,  1859. 

There  are  in  the  State  a  few  bodies  of 
the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite, 
which  derive  their  Charters  from  the  Su- 
premeCouncilfortheSouthern  Jurisdiction. 

Tent.  The  tent,  which  constitutes  a 
part  of  the  paraphernalia  or  furniture  of  a 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  is  not 
only  intended  for  a  practical  use,  but  also 
has  a  symbolic  meaning.  The  Order  of  the 
Templars  was  instituted  for  the  protection 
of  Christian  pilgrims  who  were  visiting 
the  sepulchre  of  their  Lord.  The  Hospi- 
tallers might  remain  in  the  city  and  fulfil 
their  vows  by  attendance  on  the  sick,  but 
the  Templar  must  away  to  the  plains,  the 
hills,  and  the  desert,  there,  in  his  lonely 
tent,  to  watch  the  wily  Saracen,  and  to 
await  the  toilsome  pilgrim,  to  whom  he 
might  offer  the  crust  of  bread  and  the 
draught  of  water,  and  instruct  him  in  his 
way,  and  warn  him  of  danger,  and  give 
him  words  of  good  cheer.  Often  in  the 
early  history  of  the  Order,  before  luxury 
and  wealth  and  vice  had  impaired  its 
purity,  must  these  meetings  of  the  toilsome 
pilgrim,  on  his  way  to  the  holy  shrine,  with 
the  valiant  Knight  who  stood  by  his  tent 
door  on  the  roadside,  have  occurred.  And 
it  is  just  such  events  as  these  that  are 
commemorated  in  the  tent  scenes  of  the 
Templar  ritual. 


806 


TENURE 


TERRITORIAL 


Tenure  of  Office.  All  offices  in  the 
bodies  of  the  York  and  American  Kites 
are  held  by  annual  election.  But  the 
holder  of  an  office  does  not  become  functus 
officii  by  the  election  of  his  successor ;  he 
retains  the  office  until  that  successor  has 
been  installed.  This  is  technically  called 
"holding  over."  It  is  not  election  only, 
but  election  and  installation  that  give  pos- 
session of  an  office  in  Masonry.  If  a  new 
Master,  having  been  elected,  should,  after 
the  election  and  installation  of  the  other 
officers  of  the  Lodge,  refuse  to  be  installed, 
the  old  Master  would  "  hold  over,"  or  re- 
tain the  office  until  the  next  annual  elec- 
tion. The  oath  of  office  of  every  officer  is 
that  he  will  perform  the  duties  of  the  office 
for  twelve  months,  and  until  his  successor 
shall  have  been  installed.  In  France,  in  the 
last  century,  Warrants  of  Constitution  were 
granted  to  certain  Masters  who  held  the 
office  for  life,  and  were  thence  called  "  Mai- 
tres  inamovibles,"  or  immovable  Masters. 
They  considered  the  Lodges  committed  to 
their  care  as  their  personal  property,  and 
governed  them  despotically,  according  to 
their  own  caprices.  But  in  i772  this  class 
of  Masters  had  become  so  unpopular,  that 
the  Grand  Lodge  removed  them,  and  made 
the  tenure  of  office  the  same  as  it  was  in 
England. 

In  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite,  the  officers  of  a  Supreme  Council 
hold  their  offices,  under  the  Constitutions  of 
1786,  for  life.  In  the  subordinate  bodies 
of  the  Rite,  the  elections  are  held  trien- 
nially.  This  is  also  the  rule  in  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Northern  Jurisdiction,  which 
has  abandoned  the  law  of  perpetual  tenure. 

Tercy.  One  of  the  nine  Elus  recorded 
in  the  high  degrees  as  having  been  sent 
out  by  Solomon  to  make  the  search  which 
is  referred  to  in  the  Master's  legend.  The 
name  was  invented  by  Ramsay,  with  some 
allusion,  not  now  explicable,  to  the  political 
incidents  of  Stuart  Masons.    The  name  is 

Erobably  an  anagram  or  corruption  of  some 
lend  of  the  house  of  Stuart.     See  Ana- 
gram. 

Terminus.  The  god  of  landmarks, 
whose  worship  was  introduced  among  the 
Romans  by  Numa.  The  god  was  represent- 
ed by  a  cubical  stone.  Of  all  thegods,  Termi- 
nus was  the  only  one  who,  when  the  new 
Capitol  was  building,  refused  to  remove  his 
altar.  Hence  Ovid  (Fasti,  ii.  673,)  addressed 
him  thus :  "  O  Terminus,  no  inconstancy 
was  permitted  thee ;  in  whatever  situation 
thou  hast  been  placed,  there  abide,  and  do 
not  yield  one  jot  to  any  neighbor  asking 
thee."  The  Masons  pay  the  same  rever- 
ence to  their  landmarks  that  the  Romans 
did  to  their  god  Terminus. 
Terrasson,  the  Abbe*  Jean.    The 


Abbe  Terrasson  was  born  at  Lyons,  in 
France,  in  1670.  He  was  educated  by  the 
congregation  of  the  Oratory,  of  which  his 
brother  Andre  was  a  priest,  but  eventually 
abandoned  it,  which  gave  so  much  offence 
to  his  father,  that  he  left  him  by  his  will 
only  a  very  moderate  income.  The  Abbe 
obtained  a  chair  in  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
in  1707,  and  a  professorship  in  the  Royal 
College  in  1724,  which  position  he  occupied 
until  his  death  in  1750.  He  was  the  author 
of  a  Critical  Dissertation  on  the  Iliad  of 
Homer,  a  translation  of  Diodorus  Seculus, 
and  several  other  classical  and  philosophi- 
cal works.  But  his  work  most  interest- 
ing to  the  Masonic  scholar  is  his  Sethos, 
histoire  ou  vie  tirie  des  monumens  anecdotes 
de  Fancienne  Egypt,  published  at  Paris  in 
1731.  This  work  excited  on  its  appear- 
ance so  much  attention  in  the  literary 
world,  that  it  was  translated  into  the  Ger- 
man and  English  languages  under  the 
respective  titles  of:  1.  Abris  der  wahren 
Helden-Tugend,  oder  Lebensgeschichte  des 
Sethos;  translated  by  Chro.  Gli.  Wendt, 
Hamburg,  1732.  2.  Geschicte  des  Konigs 
Sethos;  translated  by  Matth.  Claudius, 
Breslau,  1777 ;  and  3.  The  Life  of  Sethos, 
taken  from  private  Memoirs  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians;  translated  from  a  Greek  MS.  into 
French,  and  now  done  into  English,  by  M. 
Lediard,  London,  1732. 

In  this  romance  he  has  given  an  account 
of  the  initiation  of  his  hero,  Sethos,  an 
Egyptian  prince,  into  the  Egyptian  mys- 
teries. We  must  not,  however,  be  led  into 
the  error,  into  which  Kloss  says  that  the 
Masonic  fraternity  fell  on  its  first  appear- 
ance, that  this  account  is  a  well-proved, 
historical  narrative.  Much  as  we  know 
of  the  Egyptian  mysteries,  compared  with 
our  knowledge  of  the  Grecian  or  the  Asi- 
atic, we  have  no  sufficient  documents  from 
which  to  obtain  the  consecutive  and  minute 
detail  which  the  Abb6  Terrasson  has  con- 
structed. It  is  like  Ramsay's  Travels  of 
Cyrus,  to  which  it  has  been  compared  —  a 
romance  rather  than  a  history ;  but  it  still 
contains  so  many  scintillations  of  truth,  so 
much  of  the  substantial  of  fact  amid  the 
ornaments  of  fiction,  that  it  cannot  but 
prove  instructive  as  well  as  amusing.  We 
have  in  it  the  outlines  of  an  initiation  into 
the  Egyptian  mysteries  such  as  the  learned 
Abbe  could  derive  from  the  documents  and 
monuments  to  which  he  was  able  to  apply, 
with  many  lacuna  which  he  has  filled  up 
from  his  own  inventive  and  poetic  genius. 

Terrible  Brother.  French,  Frere 
terrible.  An  officer  in  the  French  Rite, 
who  in  an  initiation  conducts  the  candidate, 
and  in  this  respect  performs  the  duty  of  a 
Senior  Deacon  in  the  York  Rite. 

Territorial  Jurisdiction.    It  has 


TESSELLATED 


TESSELLATED 


807 


now  become  the  settled  principle  of.  at 
least,  American  Masonic  law,  that  Masonic 
and  political  jurisdiction  should  be  coter- 
minous, that  is,  that  the  boundaries  which 
circumscribe  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of 
a  Grand  Lodge  should  be  the  same  as 
those  which  define  the  political  limits  of 
the  State  in  which  it  exists.  And  so  it 
follows  that  if  a  State  should  change  its 
political  boundaries,  the  Masonic  bounda- 
ries of  the  Grand  Lodge  should  change 
with  it.  Thus,  if  a  State  should  diminish 
its  extent  by  the  cession  of  any  part  of  its 
territory  to  an  adjoining  State,  the  Lodges 
situated  within  the  ceded  territory  would 
pass  over  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  State  to  which  that  territory 
had  been  ceded. 

Tessellated.  From  the  Latin  tessella, 
a  little  square  stone.  Chequered,  formed 
in  little  squares  of  Mosaic  work.  Applied 
in  Masonry  to  the  Mosaic  pavement  of  the 
Temple,  and  to  the  border  which  surrounds 
the  tracing-board,  probably  incorrectly  in 
.  the  latter  instance.  See  Tessellated  Border. 
Tessellated  Border.  Browne  says 
in  his  Master  Key,  which  is  supposed  to 
present  the  general  form  of  the  Prestonian 
lectures,  that  the  ornaments  of  a  Lodge 
are  the  Mosaic  pavement,  the  Blazing  Star, 
and  the  Tessellated  Border;  and  he  defines 
the  Tessellated  Border  to  be  "  the  skirt-work 
round  the  Lodge."  Webb,  in  his  lectures, 
teaches  that  the  ornaments  of  a  Lodge  are 
the  Mosaic  pavement,  the  indented  tessel, 
and  the  blazing  star;  and  he  defines  the 
indented  tessel  to  be  that  "  beautifully  tes- 
sellated border  or  skirting  which  surrounded 
the  ground-floor  of  King  Solomon's  Tem- 
ple." The  French  call  it  "  la  houpe  den- 
telee,"  which  is  literally  the  indented  tessel; 
and  they  describe  it  as  "a  cord  forming 
true-lovers'  knots,  which  surrounds  the 
tracing-board."  The  Germans  call  it  "die 
Schnur  von  starken  Faden,"  or  the  cord  of 
strong  threads,  and  define  it  as  a  border  sur- 
rounding the  tracing-board  of  an  Entered 
Apprentice,  consisting  of  a  cord  tied  in 
lovers'  knots,  with  two  tassels  attached  to 
the  ends. 

The  idea  prevalent  in  America,  and  de- 
rived from  a  misapprehension  of  the  plate 
in  the  Monitor  of  Cross,  that  the  tessellated 
border  was  a  decorated  part  of  the  Mosaic 
pavement,  and  made  like  it  of  little  square 
stones,  does  not  seem  to  be  supported  by 
these  definitions.  They  all  indicate  that 
the  tessellated  border  was  a  cord.  The  in- 
terpretation of  its  symbolic  meaning  still 
further  sustains  this  idea.  Browne  says 
"  it  alludes  to  that  kind  care  of  Providence 
which  so  cheerfully  surrounds  and  keeps 
us  within  its  protection  whilst  we  justly 
and  uprightly  govern  our  lives  and  actions 


by  the  four  cardinal  virtues  in  divinity, 
namely,  temperance,  fortitude,  prudence, 
and  justice."  This  last  allusion  is  to  the 
four  tassels  attached  to  the  cord.  (See 
Tassels. ) 

Webb  says  that  it  is  "emblematic  of 
those  blessings  and  comforts  which  sur- 
round us,  and  which  we  hope  to  obtain  by 
a  faithful  reliance  on  Divine  Providence." 

The  French  ritual  says  that  it  is  intended 
"to  teach  the  Mason  that  the  society  of 
which  he  constitutes  a  part  surrounds  the 
earth,  and  that  distance,  so  far  from  relax- 
ing the  bonds  which  unite  the  members  to 
each  other,  ought  to  draw  them  closer." 

Lenning  says  that  it  symbolizes  the  fra- 
ternal bond  by  which  all  Masons  are  united. 

But  Gadicke  is  more  precise.  He  defines 
it  as  "  the  universal  bond  by  which  every 
Mason  ought  to  be  united  to  his  brethren," 
and  he  says  that  "it  should  consist  of  sixty 
threads  or  yarns,  because,  according  to  the 
ancient  statutes,  no  Lodge  was  allowed  to 
have  above  sixty  members." 

Oliver  (Landm.,  i.  174,)  says  "  the  Tracing- 
Board  is  surrounded  by  an  indented  or  tes- 
sellated border  ....  at  the  four  angles  ap- 
pear as  many  tassels."  But  in  the  old 
English  tracing-boards  the  two  lower 
tassels  are  often  omitted.  They  are,  how- 
ever, generally  found  in  the  French.  Len- 
ning, speaking,  I  suppose,  for  the  German, 
assigns  to  them  but  two.  Four  tassels  are, 
however,  necessary  to  complete  the  sym- 
bolism, which  is  said  to  be  that  of  the  four 
cardinal  virtues.  The  tessellated,  more 
properly,  therefore,  the  tassel  lated,  border 
consists  of  a  cord  intertwined  with  knots, 
to  each  end  of  which  is  appended  a  tassel. 
It  surrounds  the  border  of  the  tracing- 
board,  and  appears  at  the  top  in  the  follow- 
ing form: 


There  is,  however,  in  these  old  tracing- 
boards  another  border,  which  surrounds  the 
entire  picture  with  lines,  as  in  the  follow- 
ing figure: 


This  indented  border,  which  was  made  to 
represent  a  cord  of  black  and  white  threads, 
was,  I  think,  in  time  mistaken  for  tessellce,  or 
little  stones ;  an  error  probably  originating 


808 


TESSELLATED 


TESTS 


in  confounding  it  with  the  tessellated  pave- 
ment, which  was  another  one  of  the  orna- 
ments of  the  Lodge. 

We  find  that  we  have  for  this  symbol  five 
different  names :  in  English,  the  indented 
tarsel,  the  indented  tassel,  the  indented  tes- 
sel,  the  tassellated  border,  and  the  tessellated 
border ;  in  French,  the  houpe  dentelee,  or 
indented  tessel ;  and  in  German,  the  Schnur 
von  starken  Faden,  or  the  cord  of  strong 
threads. 

The  question  what  is  the  true  tessellated 
border  would  not  be  a  difficult  one  to  an- 
swer, if  it  were  not  for  the  variety  of  names 
fiven  to  it  in  the  English  rituals.  We 
now  by  tradition,  and  by  engravings  that 
have  been  preserved,  that  during  the  cere- 
monies of  initiation  in  the  early  part  of 
the  last  century  the  symbols  of  the  Order 
were  marked  out  in  chalk  on  the  floor,  and 
that  this  picture  was  encircled  by  a  waving 
cord.  This  cord  was  ornamented  with 
tassels,  and  formerly  a  border  to  the  trac- 
ing on  the  floor  was  called  the  indented 
tassel,  the  cord  and  the  tufts  attached  to  it 
being  the  tassel,  which,  being  by  its  wavy 
direction  partly  in  and  partly  outside  of 
the  picture,  was  said  to  be  indented.  This 
indented  tassel  was  subsequently  corrupted 
by  illiterate  Masons  into  indented  tarsel,  the 
appellation  met  with  in  some  of  the  early 
catechisms. 

Afterwards,  looking  to  its  decoration  with 
tassels  and  to  its  position  as  a  border  to  the 
tracing-board,  it  was  called  the  tassellated 
border.  In  time  the  picture  on  the  floor 
was  transferred  to  a  permanent  tracing- 
board,  and  then  the  tassels  were  preserved 
at  the  top,  and  the  rest  of  the  cord  was  rep- 
resented around  the  board  in  the  form  of 
white  and  black  angular  spaces.  These 
were  mistaken  for  little  stones,  and  the  tas- 
sellated border  was  called,  by  a  natural  cor- 
ruption, the  tessellated  border.  Many  years 
ago,when  I  first  met  with  the  idea  of  this  cor- 
ruption from  tassellated  to  tessellated,  which 
was  suggested  to  Dr.  Oliver  by  "  a  learned 
Scottish  Mason,"  whose  name  he  does  not 
give,  I  was  inclined  to  doubt  its  correct- 
ness. Subsequent  investigations  have  led 
me  to  change  that  opinion.  I  think  that  I 
can  readily  trace  the  gradual  steps  of  cor- 
ruption and  change  from  the  original  name 
indented  tassel,  which  the  early  French  Ma- 
sons had  literally  translated  by  houpe  den- 
telee, to  indented  tarsel,  and  sometimes,  ac- 
cording to  Oliver,  to  indented  trasel;  then  to 
tassellated  border,  and,  finally,  to  tessellated 
border,  the  name  which  it  now  bears. 

The  form  and  the  meaning  of  the  symbol 
are  now  apparent.  The  tessellated  border, 
as  it  is  called,  is  a  cord,  decorated  with 
tassels,  which  surrounds  the  tracing-board 
of  an  Entered  Apprentice,  the  said  tracing- 


board  being  a  representation  of  the  Lodge, 
and  it  symbolizes  the  bond  of  love  —  the 
mystic  tie — which  binds  the  Craft  whereso- 
ever dispersed  into  one  band  of  brother- 
hood. 

Tessel,  Indented,  See  Tessellated 
Border. 

Tessera  Hospitalis.  Latin.  Lit- 
erally, "  the  token  of  the  guest,"  or  "  the 
hospitable  die."  It  was  a  custom  among 
the  ancients,  that  when  two  persons  formed 
an  alliance  of  friendship,  they  took  a  small 
piece  of  bone,  ivory,  stone,  or  even  wood, 
which  they  divided  into  two  parts,  each 
one  inscribing  his  name  upon  his  half. 
They  then  made  an  exchange  of  the  pieces, 
each  promising  to  retain  the  part  intrusted 
to  him  as  a  perpetual  token  of  the  covenant 
into  which  they  had  entered,  of  which 
its  production  at  any  future  time  would  be 
a  proof  and  a  reminder.  See  the  subject 
more  fully  treated  in  the  article  Mark. 

Testimony.  In  Masonic  trials  the 
testimony  of  witnesses  is  taken  in  two 
ways  —  that  of  profanes  by  affidavit,  and 
that  of  Masons  on  their  Masonic  obliga- 
tion. 

Tests.  Test  questions,  to  which  the 
conventional  answers  would  prove  the  Ma- 
sonic character  of  the  person  interrogated, 
were  in  very  common  use  in  the  last  cen- 
tury in  England.  They  were  not,  it  is  true, 
enjoined  by  authority,  but  were  conven- 
tionally used  to  such  an  extent  that  every 
Mason  was  supposed  to  be  acquainted  with 
them.  They  are  now  obsolete ;  but  not  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  I  heard  such 
"catch  questions  "as  "Where  does  the 
Master  hang  his  hat?"  and  a  few  others 
equally  trivial,  used  in  this  country. 

Oliver  gives  ( Golden  Remains,  iv.  14,)  the 
following  as  the  tests  in  use  in  the  early 
part  of  the  last  century.  They  were  intro- 
duced by  Desaguliers  and  Anderson  at  the 
revival  in  1717.  Some  of  them,  however, 
were  of  a  higher  character,  being  taken 
from  the  catechism  or  lecture  then  in  use 
as  a  part  of  the  instructions  of  the  Entered 
Apprentice. 

What  is  the  place  of  the  Senior  Entered 
Apprentice? 

What  are  the  fixed  lights? 

How  ought  the  Master  to  be  served? 

What  is  the  punishment  of  a  cowan? 

What  is  the  bone  box  ? 

How  is  it  said  to  be  opened  only  with 
ivory  keys? 

By  what  is  the  key  suspended  ? 

What  is  the  clothing  of  a  Mason? 

What  is  the  brand  ? 

How  high  was  the  door  of  the  middle 
chamber? 

What  does  this  stone  smell  of? 

The  name  of  an  Entered  Apprentice  ? 


TESTS 


TEST 


809 


The  name  of  a  Fellow  Craft? 

The  name  of  Master  Mason? 

In  the  year  1730,  Martin  Clare  having, 
hy  order  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  remodelled 
the  lectures,  he  abolished  the  old  tests  and 
introduced  the  following  new  ones. 

Whence  came  you? 

Who  brought  you  here? 

What  recommendation  do  you  bring? 

Do  you  know  the  secrets  of  Masonry? 

Where  do  you  keep  them? 

Have  you  the  key? 

Where  is  it  deposited? 

When  you  were  made  a  Mason,  what  did 
you  consider  most  desirable? 

What  is  the  name  of  your  Lodge? 

Where  is  it  situated? 

What  is  its  foundation? 

How  did  you  enter  the  Temple  of  Solo- 
mon? 

How  many  windows  did  you  see  there? 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  youngest  ap- 
prentice? 

Have  you  ever  worked  as  a  Mason? 

What  did  you  work  with? 

Salute  me  as  a  Mason. 

Ten  years  afterwards  Clare's  tests  were 
superseded  by  a  new  series  of  "  examina- 
tion questions,"  which  were  promulgated 
by  Dr.  Manningham,  and  very  generally 
adopted.     They  are  as  follows  : 

Where  were  you  made  a  Mason? 

What  did  you  learn  there? 

How  do  you  hope  to  be  rewarded? 

What  access  have  you  to  that  Grand 
Lodge? 

How  many  steps? 

What  are  their  names? 

How  many  qualifications  are  required  in 
a  Mason? 

What  is  the  standard  of  a  Mason's  faith? 

What  is  the  standard  of  his  actions? 

Can  you  name  the  peculiar  characteris- 
tics of  a  Mason's  Lodge? 

What  is  the  interior  composed  of? 

Why  are  we  termed  Brethren  ? 

By  what  badge  is  a  Mason  distinguished? 

To  what  do  the  reports  refer? 

How  many  principal  points  are  there  in 
Masonry  ? 

To  what  do  they  refer  ? 

Their  names  ? 

The  allusion  ? 

Thomas  Dunckerley  subsequently  made 
a  new  arrangement  of  the  lectures,  and 
with  them  the  tests.  For  the  eighteen 
which  composed  the  series  of  Manning- 
ham,  he  invented  ten,  but  which  were  more 
significant  and  important  in  their  bearing. 
They  were  as  follows : 

How  ought  a  Mason  to  be  clothed  ? 

When  were  you  born  ? 

Where  were  you  born  ? 

How  were  you  born? 
5B 


Did  you  endure  the  brand  with  fortitude 
and  patience  ? 

The  situation  of  the  Lodge  ? 

What  is  its  name? 

With  what  have  you  worked  as  a  Mason? 

Explain  the  sprig  of  Cassia. 

How  old  are  you? 

Preston  subsequently,  as  his  first  contri- 
bution to  Masonic  literature,  presented  the 
following  system  of  tests,  which  were  at  a 
later  period  adopted. 

Whither  are  you  bound? 

Are  you  a  Mason  ? 

How  do  you  know  that? 

How  will  you  prove  it  to  me? 

Where  were  you  made  a  Mason  ? 

When  were  you  made  a  Mason  ? 

By  whom  were  you  made  a  Mason? 

From  whence  come  you  ? 

What  recommendation  do  you  bring  ? 

Any  other  recommendation  ? 

Where  are  the  secrets  of  Masonry  kept  ? 

To  whom  do  you  deliver  them  ? 

How  do  you  deliver  them  ? 

In  what  manner  do  you  serve  your  Mas- 
ter? 

What  is  your  name? 

What  is  the  name  of  your  son  ? 

If  a  Brother  were  lost,  where  should  you 
hope  to  find  him  ? 

How  should  you  expect  him  to  be  clothed? 

How  blows  a  Mason's  wind? 

Why  does  it  thus  blow  ? 

What  time  is  it? 

These  Prestonian  tests  continued  in  use 
until  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  Dr. 
Oliver  says  that  at  his  initiation,  in  1801, 
he  was  fully  instructed  in  them. 

Tests  of  this  kind  appear  to  have  existed 
at  an  early  period.  The  "  examination  of 
a  Steinmetz,"  given  by  Findel  in  his  History 
of  Freemasonry,  presents  all  the  character- 
istics of  the  English  "  tests." 

The  French  Masons  have  one,  "Com- 
ment Stes  vous  entre  dans  le  Temple  de 
Salomon?"  and  in  this  country,  besides  the 
one  already  mentioned,  there  are  a  few 
others  which  are  sometimes  used,  but  with- 
out legal  authority.  A  review  of  these 
tests  will,  I  think,  lead  to  the  conclusion 
adopted  by  Oliver,  that  "  they  are  doubt- 
less of  great  utility,  but  in  their  selection 
a  pure  and  discriminating  taste  has  not  al- 
ways been  used." 

Test  Word.  In  the  year  1829,  during 
the  anti-Masonic  excitement  in  this  coun- 
try, the  Grand  Lodge  of  New  York  pro- 
posed, as  a  safeguard  against  "  the  introduc- 
tion of  impostors  among  the  workmen,"  a 
test  word  to  be  used  in  all  examinations  in 
addition  to  the  legitimate  tests.  But  as 
this  was  deemed  an  innovation  on  the 
landmarks,  and  as  it  was  impossible  that 
it  could  ever  become  universal,  the  Grand 


810 


TETRACTYS 


TETRAGRAMMATON 


Lodges  of  the  United  States  very  properly 
rejected  it,  and  it  was  never  used. 

TetraCtys.     The  Greek  word  TeTpaicrvg 

signifies,  literally,  the  number  four,  and  is 

therefore  synony- 

*  mous     with     the 

quaternion  ;  but  it 

^  has     been    pecu- 

*  liarly  applied  to  a 

symbol  of  the  Py- 

-  m  _         thagoreans,  which 

'  is  composed  often 

dots  arranged  in 

0  I  t  9a  triangular  form 

of  four  rows. 

This  figure  was  in  itself,  as  a  whole,  em- 
blematic of  the  Tetragrammaton,  or  sacred 
name  of  four  letters,  (for  tetractys,  in  Greek, 
means  four,)  and  was  undoubtedly  learned 
by  Pythagoras  during  his  visit  to  Babylon. 
But  the  parts  of  which  it  is  composed  were 
also  pregnant  symbols.  Thus  the  one  point 
was  a  symbol  of  the  active  principle  or 
creator,  the  two  points  of  the  passive  prin- 
ciple or  matter,  the  three  of  the  world  pro- 
ceeding from  their  union,  and  the  four  of 
the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  which  may  be 
said  to  complete  and  perfect  that  worlcl. 

This  arrangement  of  the  ten  points  in  a 
triangular  form  was  called  the  tetractys  or 
number  four,  because  each  of  the  sides  of 
the  triangle  consisted  of  four  points,  and 
the  whole  number  of  ten  was  made  up  by 
the  summation  of  the  first  four  figures,  1  + 
2  +  3+4=10. 

Hierocles  says,  in  his  Commentaries  on  the 
Golden  Verses  (v.  47) :  "  But  how  comes 
God  to  be  the  Tetractys  ?  This  thou  mayst 
learn  in  the  sacred  book  ascribed  to  Pythag- 
oras, in  which  God  is  celebrated  as  the 
number  of  numbers.  For  if  all  things  exist 
by  His  eternal  decrees,  it  is  evident  that  in 
each  species  of  things  the  number  depends 
on  the  cause  that  produces  them.  .  .  .  Now 
the  power  of  ten  is  four ;  for  before  we  come 
to  a  complete  and  perfect  decade,  we  discover 
all  the  virtue  and  perfection  of  the  ten  in 
the  four.  Thus,  in  assembling  all  numbers 
from  one  to  four  inclusive,  the  whole  com- 
position makes  ten,"  etc. 

And  Dacier,  in  his  Notes  on  these  Com- 
mentaries and  on  this  particular  passage, 
remarks  that  "  Pythagoras,  having  learned 
in  Egypt  the  name  of  the  true  God,  the 
mysterious  and  ineffable  name  Jehovah, 
and  finding  that  in  the  original  tongue  it 
was  composed  of  four  letters,  translated  it 
into  his  own  language  by  the  word  te- 
tractys, and  gave  the  true  explanation  of  it, 
saying  that  it  properly  signified  the  source 
of  nature  that  perpetually  rolls  along." 

So  much  did  the  disciples  of  Pythagoras 
venerate  the  tetractys,  that  it  is  said  that 
they  took  their  most  solemn  oaths,  espe- 


cially that  of  initiation,  upon  it.  The  exact 
words  of  the  oath  are  given  in  the  Golden 
Verses,  and  are  referred  to  by  Jamblichus 
in  his  Life  of  Pythagoras  : 

Nat  fza  riv  hptnipa  *I">X&  TraPa&n'ta  TtTpanriiv 
llaydv  iw&ov  Qiatvs,  &\\'  tp\£v  iij'  fpyov. 

i.  e.y 

"I  swear  it  by  him  who  has  transmitted  into 
our  soul  the  sacred  tetractys, 
The  source  of  nature,  whose  course  is  eternal." 

Jamblichus  gives  a  different  phraseology 
of  the  oath,  but  with  substantially  the  same 
meaning.  In  the  symbols  of  Masonry,  we 
will  find  the  sacred  delta  bearing  the  near- 
est analogy  to  the  tetractys  of  the  Pythag- 
oreans. 

The  outline  of  these  points  form,  it  will 
be  perceived,  a  triangle;  and  if  we  draw 
short  lines  from  point  to  point,  we  will 
have  within  this  great  triangle  nine  smaller 
ones.  Dr.  Hemming,  in  his  revision  of  the 
English  lectures,  adopted  in  1813,  thus  ex- 
plains this  symbol : 

"  The  great  triangle  is  generally  denom- 
inated Pythagorean,  because  it  served  as  a 
principal  illustration  of  that  philosopher's 
system.  This  emblem  powerfully  elucidates 
the  mystical  relation  between  the  numerical 
and  geometri- 
cal symbols.  It 
is  composed  of 
ten  points,  so 
arranged  as  to 
form  one  great 
equilateral  tri- 
angle, and  at 
the  same  time 
to  divide  it  in- 
to nine  simi- 
lar triangles  of 
smaller  dimensions.  The  first  of  these, 
representing  unity,  is  called  a  monad,  and 
answers  to  what  is  denominated  a  point  in 
geometry,  each  being  the  principle  by  the 
multiplication  of  which  all  combinations 
of  form  and  number  are  respectively  gen- 
erated. The  next  two  points  are  denomi- 
nated a  duad,  representing  the  number  two, 
and  answers  to  the  geometrical  line  which, 
consisting  of  length  without  breadth,  is 
bounded  oy  two  extreme  points.  The  three 
following  points  are  called  the  triad,  repre- 
senting the  number  three,  and  may  be  con- 
sidered as  having  an  indissoluble  relation 
to  all  superficies,  which  consist  of  length 
and  breadth,  when  contemplated  as  ab- 
stracted from  thickness." 

Dr.  Hemming  does  not  appear  to  have  im- 
proved on  the  Pythagorean  symbolization. 
Tetragrammaton.  In  Greek,  it  sig- 
nifies a  word  of  four  letters.    It  is  the  title 
given  by  the  Talmudists  to  the  name  of 


TEUTONIC 


TEXAS 


811 


God  Jehovah,  which  in  the  original  Hebrew 
consists  of  four  letters,  nil"!*'  See  Jeho- 
vah. 

Teutonic  Knights.  The  origin  of 
this  Order  was  an  humble  but  a  pious  one. 
During  the  Crusades,  a  wealthy  gentleman 
of  Germany,  who  resided  at  Jerusalem, 
commiserating  the  condition  of  his  country- 
men who  came  there  as  pilgrims,  made  his 
house  their  receptacle,  and  afterwards  built 
a  hospital,  to  which,  by  the  permission 
of  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  he  added 
an  oratory  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary. 
Other  Germans  coming  from  Lubeck  and 
Bremen  contributed  to  the  extension  of 
this  charity,  and  erected  at  Acre,  during 
the  third  Crusade,  a  sumptuous  hospital,  and 
assumed  the  title  of  Teutonic  Knights,  or 
Brethren  of  the  Hospital  of  our  Lady  of 
the  Germans  of  Jerusalem.  They  elected 
Henry  Walpott  their  first  Master,  and 
adopted  for  their  government  a  Rule  closely 
approximating  to  that  both  of  the  Tem- 
plars and  the  Hospitallers,  with  an  addi- 
tional one  that  none  but  Germans  should 
be  admitted  into  the  Order.  Their  dress 
consisted  of  a  white  mantle,  with  a  black 
cross  embroidered  in  gold.  Clark  says 
(Hist,  of  Knighthood,  ii.  60,)  that  the  original 
badge,  which  was  as- 
signed to  them  by  the 
Emperor  Henry  VI., 
was  a  black  cross  po- 
tent ;  and  that  form  of 
cross  has  ever  since 
been  known  as  a  Teu- 
tonic Cross.  John, 
king  of  Jerusalem, 
added  the  cross  double 
potent  gold,  that  is,  a 
cross  potent  of  gold  on  the  black  cross. 
The  Emperor  Frederick  II.  gave  them  the 
black  double-headed  eagle,  to  be  borne  in 
an  inescutcheon  in  the  centre  of  the  cross ; 
and  St.  Louis,  of  France,  added  to  it,  as  an 
augmentation,  a  blue  chief  strewn  with 
fleur-de-lis. 

During  the  siege  of  Acre  they  did  good 
service  to  the  Christian  cause ;  but  on  the 
fall  of  that  city,  the  main  body  returned  to 
Europe  with  Frederick  II.  For  many 
years  they  were  engaged  in  crusades  against 
the  pagan  inhabitants  of  Prussia  and 
Poland.  Ashmole  says  that  in  1340  they 
built  the  city  of  Maryburg,  and  there  es- 
tablished the  residence  of  their  Grand 
Master.  They  were  for  a  long  time  en- 
gaged in  contests  with  the  kings  of  Poland 
on  account  of  their  invasion  of  their  terri- 
tory. They  were  excommunicated  by  Pope 
John  XXII.,  but  relying  on  their  great 
strength,  and  the  remoteness  of  their  prov- 
ince, they  bid  defiance  to  ecclesiastical 
censures,  and  the  contest  ended  in  their  re- 


11 

11 

1 

HlttlllU 

■ 

1 
■ 

ceiving  Prussia  proper  as  a  brief  of  the 
kings  of  Poland. 

In  1511,  Albert,  Margrave  of  Branden- 
burg, was  elected  their  Grand  Master.  In 
1525  he  abandoned  the  vows  of  his  Order ; 
became  a  Protestant,  and  exchanged  his 
title  of  Grand  Master  for  that  of  Duke  of 
Eastern  Prussia;  and  thus  the  dominion  of 
the  Knights  was  brought  to  an  end,  and 
the  foundation  laid  of  the  future  kingdom 
of  Prussia. 

The  Order,  however,  still  continued  its 
existence,  the  seat  of  the  Grand  Master 
being  at  Mergentheim,  in  Swabia.  By  the 
peace  of  Presburg,  in  1805,  the  Emperor 
Francis  II.  obtained  the  Grand  Master- 
ship, with  all  its  rights  and  privileges.  In 
1809  Napoleon  abolished  the  Order,  but  it 
still  has  a  titular  existence  in  Austria. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  incorporate 
the  Teutonic  Knights  into  Masonry,  and 
their  cross  has  been  adopted  in  some  of  the 
high  degrees.  But  we  fail  to  find  in  his- 
tory the  slightest  traces  of  any  actual  con- 
nection between  the  two  Orders. 

Texas.  Freemasoury  was  introduced 
in  Texas  by  the  formation  of  a  Lodge  at 
Brazoria,  which  met  for  the  first  time,  De- 
cember 27,  1835.  The  Dispensation  for 
this  Lodge  was  granted  by  J.  H.  Holland, 
Grand  Master  of  Louisiana,  and  in  his 
honor  the  Lodge  was  called  Holland  Lodge, 
No.  36.  It  continued  to  meet  until  Feb- 
ruary, 1836,  when  the  war  with  Mexico  put 
an  end  to  its  labors  for  the  time.  In  Oc- 
tober, 1837,  it  was  reopened  at  Houston,  a 
Charter  having  in  the  interval  been  issued 
for  it  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Louisiana.  In 
the  meantime  two  other  Lodges  had  been 
chartered  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Louisiana, 
Milam,  No.  40,  at  Nacogdoches,  and  Mc- 
Farlane,  No.  41,  at  San  Augustine.  Dele- 
gates from  these  Lodges  met  at  Houston, 
December  20,  1837,  and  organized  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  Republic  of  Texas, 
Anson  Jones  being  elected  Grand  Master. 

The  introduction  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry into  Texas  was  accompanied  with 
some  difficulties.  In  1838,  the  General 
Grand  Chapter  of  the  United  States  granted 
a  Charter  for  a  Chapter  at  San  Felipe  de 
Austin.  The  members,  finding  it  impracti- 
cable to  meet  at  that  place,  assumed  the  re- 
sponsibility of  opening  it  at  Galveston, 
which  was  done  June  2,  1840.  This  irreg- 
ular action  was,  on  application,  healed 
by  the  General  Grand  Chapter.     Subse- 

Juently  this  body  united  with  two  illegal 
Ihapters  in  the  Republic  to  form  a  Grand 
Chapter.  This  body  was  declared  illegal 
by  the  General  Grand  Chapter,  and  Ma- 
sonic intercourse  with  it  prohibited.  The 
Chapter  at  Galveston  submitted  to  the 
decree,  and  the  so-called  Grand  Chapter  of 


812 


T.-.  G.\  A.-.  0.\  T.\  U. 


THEOSOPHISTS 


Texas  was  dissolved.  Charters  were  then 
granted  by  the  General  Grand  Chapter  to 
seven  other  Chapters,  and  in  1850  the  Grand 
Chapter  of  Texas  was  duly  established. 

The  Grand  Commandery  of  Texas  was 
organized  January  19,  1855. 

TV.  G.\  A.*.  0.\  T.\  U.\  The  ini- 
tials of  The  Grand  Architect  of  The  Universe. 
Often  used  in  this  abbreviated  form  by  Ma- 
sonic writers. 

Tliammuz.  Spelled  also  Tammuz. 
A  deity  worshipped  by  the  apostate  Jews 
in  the  time  of  Ezekiel,  and  supposed  by 
most  commentators  to  be  identical  with  the 
Syrian  god  Adonis.    See  Adonis,  Mysteries  of. 

Thanks.  It  is  a  usage  of  French  Ma- 
sonry, and  in  the  high  degrees  of  some 
other  Rites,  for  the  candidate,  after  his  ini- 
tiation and  the  address  of  the  orator  to 
him,  to  return  thanks  to  the  Lodge  for  the 
honor  that  has  been  conferred  upon  him. 
It  is  a  voluntary  and  not  an  obligatory 
duty,  and  is  not  practised  in  the  Lodges  of 
the  York  and  American  Rites. 

Theism.  Theological  writers  have  de- 
fined theism  as  being  the  belief  in  the  ex- 
istence of  a  deity  who,  having  created  the 
world,  directs  its  government  by  the  constant 
exercise  of  his  beneficent  power,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  atheism,  which  denies  the 
existence  of  any  such  creative  and  superin- 
tending being.  In  this  sense,  theism  is 
the  fundamental  religion  of  Masonry,  on 
which  is  superimposed  the  additional  and 
peculiar  tenets  of  each  of  its  disciples. 

Theocratic  Philosophy  of  Free- 
masonry. This  is  a  term  invented  by 
Dr.  Oliver  to  indicate  that  view  of  Free- 
masonry which  intimately  connects  its 
symbols  with  the  teachings  of  pure  religion, 
and  traces  them  to  the  primeval  revelations 
of  God  to  man,  so  that  the  philosophy  of 
Masonry  shall  develop  the  continual  gov- 
ernment of  the  Divine  Being.  Hence  he 
says :  "  It  is  the  Theocratic  Philosophy  of 
Freemasonry  that  commands  our  unquali- 
fied esteem,  and  seals  in  our  heart  that  love 
for  the  Institution  which  will  produce  an 
active  religious  faith  and  practice,  and 
lead  in  the  end  to  '  a  building  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.' "  He 
has  developed  this  system  in  one  of  his 
works  entitled,  The  Theocratic  Philosophy 
of  Freemasonry,  in  twelve  lectures  on  its 
Speculative,  Operative,  and  Spurious  Branches. 
In  this  work  he  enters  with  great  minute- 
ness into  an  examination  of  the  specula- 
tive character  of  the  Institution  and  of  its 
operative  division,  which  he  contends  had 
been  practised  as  an  exclusively  scientific 
pursuit  from  the  earliest  times  in  every 
country  of  the  world.  Many  of  the  le- 
gendary speculations  advanced  in  this  work 
will  be  rejected  at  this  day  as  unsound  and 


untenable,  but  his  views  of  the  true  phil- 
osophy of  Freemasonry  are  worthy  of  pro- 
found study. 

Theological  Virtues.  Under  the 
name  of  the  Cardinal  Virtues,  because  all 
the  other  virtues  hinged  upon  them,  the 
ancient  Pagans  gave  the  most  prominent 
place  in  their  system  of  ethics  to  Temper- 
ance, Prudence,  Fortitude,  and  Justice. 
But  the  three  virtues  taught  in  the  theology 
of  St.  Paul,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  as 
such  were  unknown  to  them.  To  these,  as 
taking  a  higher  place  and  being  more  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  relations  of  man 
to  God,  Christian  writers  have  given  the 
name  of  the  Theological  Virtues.  They 
have  been  admitted  into  the  system  of  Ma- 
sonry, and  are  symbolized  in  the  Theolog- 
ical ladder  of  Jacob. 

Theoricns.  The  twelfth  degree  of  the 
German  Rose  Croix. 

Theosophists.  There  were  many 
theosopbists  —  enthusiasts  whom  Vaughan 
calls  "noble  specimens  of  the  mystic"  — 
but  those  with  whom  the  history  of  Ma- 
sonry has  most  to  do  were  the  mystical  re- 
ligious thinkers  of  the  last  century,  who 
supposed  that  they  were  possessed  of  a 
knowledge  of  the  Divinity  and  his  works 
by  supernatural  inspiration,  or  who  re- 
garded the  foundation  of  their  mystical 
tenets  as  resting  on  a  sort  of  Divine  intui- 
tion. Such  were  Swedenborg,  who,  if  not 
himself  a  Masonic  reformer,  has  supplied 
the  materials  of  many  degrees ;  the  Mora- 
vian brethren,  the  object  of  whose  associa- 
tion is  said  to  have  been  originally  the 
propagation  of  the  Gospel  under  the  Ma- 
sonic veil ;  St.  Martin,  the  founder  of  the 
Philalethans ;  Pernetty,  to  whom  we  owe 
the  Order  of  Illuminati  at  Avignon ;  and 
Chastanier,  who  was  the  inventor  of  the 
Rite  of  Illuminated  Theosophists.  The 
object  proposed  in  all  these  theosophic  de- 
grees was  the  regeneration  of  man,  and  his 
reintegration  into  the  primitive  innocence 
from  which  he  had  fallen  by  original  sin. 
Theosophic  Masonry  was.  in  fact,  nothing 
else  than  an  application  of  the  speculative 
ideas  of  Jacob  Bbhme,  of  Swedenborg,  and 
other  mystical  philosophers  of  the  same 
class.  Vaughan,  in  his  Hours  with  the  Mys- 
tics, (ii.  46,)  thus  describes  the  earlier  the- 
osophists of  the  fourteenth  century :  "  They 
believed  devoutly  in  the  genuineness  of  the 
Kabbala.  They  were  persuaded  that,  be- 
neath all  the  floods  of  change,  this  oral  tra- 
dition had  perpetuated  its  life  unharmed 
from  the  days  of  Moses  downward — even 
as  Jewish  fable  taught  them  that  the  cedars 
alone,  of  all  trees,  had  continued  to  spread 
the  strength  of  their  invulnerable  arms 
below  the  waters  of  the  deluge.  They  re- 
joiced in  the  hidden  lore  of  that  book  as  in 


THERAPEUT^E 


THORY 


813 


a  treasure  rich  with  the  germs  of  all  phi- 
losophy. They  maintained  that  from  its 
marvellous  leaves  man  might  learn  the  an- 
gelic heraldry  of  the  skies,  the  mysteries 
of  the  Divine  nature,  the  means  of  converse 
with  the  potentates  of  heaven." 

Add  to  this  an  equal  reverence  for  the 
unfathomable  mysteries  contained  in  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel  and  the  vision  of  the 
Evangelist,  with  a  proneness  to  give  to 
everything  divine  a  symbolic  interpreta- 
tion, and  you  have  the  true  character  of 
those  later  theosophists  who  labored  to  in- 
vent their  particular  systems  of  Masonry. 
For  more  of  this  subject,  see  the  article  on 
Saint  Martin. 

Nothing  now  remains  of  theosophic  Ma- 
sonry except  the  few  traces  left  through  the 
influence  of  Zinnendorf  in  the  Swedish  sys- 
tem, and  what  we  find  in  the  Apocalyptic 
degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  The  systems  of 
Swedenborg,  Pernetty,  Paschalis,  St.  Mar- 
tin, and  Chastanier  have  all  become  ob- 
solete. 

Therapeutic.  An  ascetic  sect  of  Jews 
in  the  first  century  after  Christ,  whom  Mil- 
man  calls  the  ancestors  of  the  Christian 
monks  and  hermits.  They  resided  near 
Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  and  bore  a  striking 
resemblance  in  their  doctrines  to  those  of 
the  Essenians.  They  were,  however,  much 
influenced  by  the  mystical  school  of  Alex- 
andria, and,  while  they  borrowed  much 
from  the  Kabbala,  partook  also  in  their 
speculations  of  Pythagorean  and  Orphic 
ideas.  Their  system  pervades  some  of  the 
high  degrees  of  Masonry.  The  best  account 
of  them  is  given  by  Philo  Judseus. 

Theurgy.  From  the  Greek  Theos,  God, 
and  ergon,  work.  The  ancients  thus  called 
the  whole  art  of  magic,  because  they  be- 
lieved its  operations  to  be  the  result  of  an 
intercourse  with  the  gods.  But  the  mod- 
erns have  appropriated  it  to  that  species  of 
magic  which  operates  by  celestial  means  as 
opposed  to  natural  magic,  which  is  effected 
by  a  knowledge  of  the  occult  powers  of 
nature,  and  necromancy  or  magic  effected 
by  the  aid  of  evil  spirits.  Attempts  have 
been  made  by  some  speculative  authors  to 
apply  this  high  magic,  as  it  is  also  called, 
to  an  interpretation  of  Masonic  symbolism. 
The  most  notorious  and  the  most  prolific 
writer  on  this  subject  is  Louis  Alphouse 
Constance,  who,  under  the  name  of  Eliphas 
Levy,  has  given  to  the  world  numerous 
works  on  the  dogma  and  ritual,  the  history 
and  the  interpretation,  of  this  theurgic  Ma- 
sonry. 

Third  Degree.    See  Master  Mason. 

Thirty  -  Second  Degree.  See 
Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret. 

Thirty-Six.  In  the  Pythagorean  doc- 
trine of  numbers,  36  symbolized  the  male 


and  female  powers  of  nature  united,  be- 
cause it  is  composed  of  the  sum  of  the  four 
odd  numbers,  1  +  3+  5  +  7  =  16,  added  to 
the  sum  of  the  four  even  numbers,  2  -f-  4  +  6 
+  8  =  20,  for  16  +  20  =  36.  It  has,  how- 
ever, no  place  among  the  sacred  numbers 
of  Masonry. 

Thirty-Third  Degree.  See  Sover- 
eign Grand  Inspector  General. 

Tliory .  Claude  Antoine.  A  dis- 
tinguished French  Masonic  writer,  who  was 
born  at  Paris,  May  26,  1759.  He  was  by 
profession  an  advocate,  and  held  the  official 
position  of  Registrar  of  the  Criminal  Court 
of  the  Chatelet,  and  afterwards  of  first  ad- 
junct of  the  Mayor  of  Paris.  He  was  a 
member  of  several  learned  societies,  and  a 
naturalist  of  considerable  reputation.  He 
devoted  his  attention  more  particularly  to 
botany,  and  published  several  valuable 
works  on  the  genus  Rosa,  and  also  one  on 
strawberries,  which  was  published  after  his 
death. 

Thory  took  an  important  part,  both  as 
an  actor  and  a  writer,  in  the  Masonic 
history  of  France.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Lodge  "Saint  Alexandre  d'Ecosse," 
and  of  the  "  Contrat  Social,"  out  of  whose 
incorporation  into  one  proceeded  the  Moth- 
er Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite, 
of  which  Thory  may  be  justly  called  the 
founder.  He  was  at  its  constitution  made 
the  presiding  officer,  and  afterwards  its 
treasurer,  and  keeper  of  its  archives.  In 
this  last  capacity,  he  made  a  collection  of  rare 
and  valuable  manuscripts,  books,  medals, 
seals,  jewels,  bronze  figures,  and  other  ob- 
jects connected  with  Freemasonry.  Under 
his  administration,  the  library  and  museum 
of  the  Mother  Lodge  became  perhaps  the 
most  valuable  collection  of  the  kind  in 
France  or  in  any  other  country.  After  the 
Mother  Lodge  had  ceased  its  labors  in 
1826,  this  collection  passed  by  a  previous 
stipulation  into  the  possession  of  the  Lodge 
of  Mont  Thabor,  which  was  the  oldest  of 
the  Rite. 

Thory,  while  making  collections  for  the 
Lodge,  had  amassed  for  himself  a  fund  of 
the  most  valuable  materials  towards  the 
history  of  Freemasonry,  which  he  used 
with  great  effect  in  his  subsequent  publica- 
tions. In  1813  he  published  the  Annates 
Originis  Magni  Golliarum  Orientis,  ou  His- 
toire  de  la  Fondation  du  Grand  Orient  de 
France,  in  1  vol.,  8vo;  and  in  1815  his 
Acta  Latomorum,  ou  Chronologie  de  VHis- 
toire  de  la  Franc- Magonnerie,  Francaise  et 
etrangere,  in  2  vols.,  8vo. 

The  value  of  these  works,  especially  of 
the  latter,  if  not  as  well-digested  histories, 
certainly  as  important  contributions  for 
Masonic  history,  cannot  be  denied.  Yet 
they  have  been  variously  appreciated  by  his 


814 


THOUX 


THREE 


contemporaries.  Heboid  {Hist,  des  3  G.  L., 
p.  531,)  says  of  the  Annates,  that  it  is  one 
of  the  best  historical  productions  that 
French  Masonic  literature  possesses ;  while 
Besuehet  (Precis  Historique,  ii.  275,)  charges 
that  he  has  attempted  to  discharge  the 
functions  of  a  historian  without  exacti- 
tude and  without  impartiality.  These  dis- 
cordant views  are  to  be  attributed  to  the 
active  part  that  Thory  took  in  the  con- 
tests between  the  Grand  Orient  and  the 
Scottish  Rite,  and  the  opposition  which  he 
offered  to  the  claims  of  the  former  to  the 
Supreme  Masonic  authority.  Posterity 
will  form  its  judgment  on  the  character  of 
Thory  as  a  Masonic  historian  without  ref- 
erence to  the  evanescent  rivalry  of  parties. 
He  died  in  October,  1827. 

Tlioux  de  Salverte.  Founder  in 
1763,  at  Warsaw,  of  the  Academy  of  Secrets, 
which  see. 

Thread  of  Life.  In  the  earliest  lec- 
tures of  the  last  century,  we  find  this  cate- 
chism : 

Q.  "  Have  you  the  key  of  the  Lodge  ? 

A.  "  Yes,  I  have. 

Q.  "What  is  its  virtue? 

A.  "To  open  and  shut,  and  shut  and 
open. 

Q.  "  Where  do  you  keep  it  ? 

A .  "In  an  ivory  box,  between  my  tongue 
and  my  teeth,  or  within  my  heart,  where  all 
my  secrets  are  kept. 

Q.  "  Have  you  the  chain  to  the  key? 

A.  "  Yes,  I  have. 

Q.  "How  long  is  it? 

A.  "  As  long  as  from  my  tongue  to  my 
heart." 

In  a  later  lecture,  this  key  is  said  to 
"  hang  by  a  tow  line  nine  inches  or  a 
span."  And  later  still,  in  the  old  Presto- 
nian  lecture,  it  is  said  to  hang  by  "the 
thread  of  life,  in  the  passage  of  entrance, 
nine  inches  or  a  span  long,  the  supposed 
distance  between  guttural  and  pectoral." 
All  of  which  is  intended  simply  to  symbol- 
ize the  close  connection  which  in  every 
Mason  should  exist  between  his  tongue  and 
his  heart,  so  that  the  one  may  utter  nothing 
that  the  other  does  not  truly  dictate. 

Three.  Everywhere  among  the  an- 
cients the  number  three  was  deemed  the 
most  sacred  of  numbers.  A  reverence  for 
its  mystical  virtues  is  to  be  found  even 
among  the  Chinese,  who  say  that  numbers 
begin  at  one  and  are  made  perfect  at  three, 
and  hence  they  denote  the  multiplicity  of 
any  object  by  repeating  the  character  which 
stands  for  it  three  times.  In  the  philoso- 
phy of  Plato,  it  was  the'  image  of  the  Su- 
preme Being,  because  it  includes  in  itself 
the  properties  of  the  two  first  numbers,  and 
because,  as  Aristotle  says,  it  contains  within 
itself  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end. 


The  Pythagoreans  called  it  perfect  har- 
mony. So  sacred  was  this  number  deemed 
by  the  ancients,  that  we  find  it  designating 
some  of  the  attributes  of  almost  all  the 
gods.  The  thunder-bolt  of  Jove  was  three- 
forked  ;  the  sceptre  of  Neptune  was  a  tri- 
dent; Cerberus,  the  dog  of  Pluto,  was 
three-headed ;  there  were  three  Fates  and 
three  Furies;  the  sun  had  three  names, 
Apollo,  Sol,  and  Liber;  and  the  moon 
three  also,  Diana,  Luna,  and  Hecate.  In 
all  incantations,  three  was  a  favorite  num- 
ber, for,  as  Virgil  says,  "numero  Deus  im- 
parl gaudet,"  God  delights  in  an  odd  num- 
ber. A  triple  cord  was  used,  each  cord  of 
three  different  colors,  white,  red,  and  black; 
and  a  small  image  of  the  subject  of  the 
charm  was  carried  thrice  around  the  altar, 
as  we  see  in  Virgil's  eighth  eclogue : 

"  Terna  tibi  hsec  primum,  triplici  diversa  colore, 
Licia  circumdo,  terque  banc  altaria  circum 
Effigiem  duco." 


"  First  I  surround  thee  with  these  three  pieces 
of  list,  and  I  carry  thy  image  three  times  round 
the  altars." 

The  Druids  paid  no  less  respect  to  this 
sacred  number.  Throughout  their  whole 
system,  a  reference  is  constantly  made  to 
its  influence ;  and  so  far  did  their  venera- 
tion for  it  extend,  that  even  their  sacred 
poetry  was  composed  in  triads. 

In  all  the  mysteries,  from  Egypt  to  Scan- 
dinavia, we  find  a  sacred  regard  for  the 
number  three.  In  the  rites  of  Mithras,  the 
Empyrean  was  said  to  be  supported  by 
three  intelligences,  Ormuzd,  Mithra,  and 
Mithras.  In  the  rites  of  Hindustan,  there 
was  the  trinity  of  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and 
Siva.  It  was,  in  short,  a  general  character 
of  the  mysteries  to  have  three  principal 
officers  and  three  grades  of  initiation. 

In  Freemasonry,  the  ternary  is  the  most 
sacred  of  all  the  mystical  numbers.  Be- 
ginning with  the  old  axiom  of  the  Roman 
Artificers,  that  ires  faciunt  collegium,  or  it 
requires  three  to  make  a  college,  they  have 
established  the  rule  that  not  less  than  three 
shall  congregate  to  form  a  Lodge.  Then 
in  all  the  Rites,  whatever  may  be  the  num- 
ber of  superimposed  grades,  there  lie  at  the 
basis  the  three  symbolic  degrees.  There 
are  in  all  the  degrees  three  principal  offi- 
cers, three  supports,  three  greater  and  three 
lesser  lights,  three  movable  and  three  im- 
movable jewels,  three  principal  tenets,  three 
working-tools  of  a  Fellow  Craft,  three  prin- 
cipal orders  of  architecture,  three  chief 
human  senses,  three  Ancient  Grand  Mas- 
ters. In  fact,  everywhere  in  the  system  the 
number  three  is  presented  as  a  prominent 
symbol.    So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  all 


THREE 


TIE 


815 


the  other  mystical  numbers  depend  upon 
it,  for  each  is  a  multiple  of  three,  its  square 
or  its  cube,  or  derived  from  them.  Thus, 
9,  27,  81,  are  formed  by  the  multiplication 
of  three,  as  3x3  =  9,  and  32  X  3  =  27, 
and  32  X  32  =  81. 

But  in  nothing  is  the  Masonic  significa- 
tion of  the  ternary  made  more  interesting 
than  in  its  connection  with  the  sacred  delta, 
the  symbol  of  Deity.    See  Triangle. 

Three  Globes,  Rite  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  the.  On  September 
13, 1740,  the  Lodge  of  the  Three  Globes,  zu 
den  drei  Weltkugeln,  was  established  in  the 
city  of  Berlin,  Prussia.  In  1744  it  assumed 
the  rank  and  title  of  a  Grand  Mother  Lodge. 
It  is  now  one  of  the  three  Prussian  Grand 
Lodges.  At  first  it  worked,  like  all  the 
other  Lodges  of  Germany,  in  the  English 
system  of  three  degrees,  and  adopted  the 
English  Book  of  Constitutions  as  its  law. 
But  it  subsequently  became  infected  with 
the  high  degrees,  which  were  atone  time  so 
popular  in  Germany,  and  especially  with 
the  Strict  Observance  system  of  Von  Hund, 
which  it  accepted  in  1766.  At  the  extinc- 
tion of  that  system  the  Grand  Lodge 
adopted  one  of  its  own,  in  doing  which  it 
was  assisted  by  the  labors  of  Dr.  I.  F. 
Zollner,  the  Grand  Master.  Its  Rite  con- 
sists of  seven  high  degrees  added  to  the 
three  primitive.  The  latter  are  under  the 
control  of  the  Grand  Lodge ;  but  the  seven 
higher  ones  are  governed  by  an  Internal 
Supreme  Orient,  whose  members  are,  how- 
ever, elected  by  the  Grand  Lodge.  The 
Rite  is  practised  by  about  two  hundred 
Lodges  in  Germany. 

Three  Grand  Offerings.  See 
Ground-Floor  of  the  Lodge. 

Three  Points.  Three  points  in  a 
triangular  form  (.*.)  are  placed  after  letters 
in  a  Masonic  document  to  indicate  that  such 
letters  are  the  initials  of  a  Masonic  title  or 
of  a  technical  word  in  Masonry,  as  G.\  M.\ 
for  Grand  Master,  or  G.\  L.\  for  Grand 
Lodge.  It  is  not  a  symbol,  but  simply  a 
mark  of  abbreviation.  The  attempt,  there- 
fore, to  trace  it  to  the  Hebrew  three  yods, 
a  Kabbalistic  sign  of  the  Tetragrammaton, 
or  any  other  ancient  symbol,  is  futile.  It 
is  an  abbreviation,  and  nothing  more; 
although  it  is  probable  that  the  idea  was 
suggested  by  the  sacred  character  of  the 
number  three  as  a  Masonic  number,  and 
these  three  dots  might  refer  to  the  position 
of  the  three  officers  in  a  French  Lodge. 
Ragon  says  (Orthod.  Macon.,  p.  71,)  that  the 
mark  was  first  used  by  the  Grand  Orient  of 
France  in  a  circular  issued  August  12, 1774, 
in  which  we  read  "G.\  0.\  de  France." 
The  abbreviation  is  now  constantly  used  in 
French  documents,  and,  although  not  ac- 
cepted by  the  English  Masons,  has  been 


very  generally  adopted  in  other  countries. 
In  the  United  States,  the  use  of  this  abbre- 
viation is  gradually  extending. 

Three  Senses.  Of  the  five  human 
senses,  the  three  which  are  the  most  im- 
portant in  Masonic  symbolism  are  Seeing, 
Hearing,  and  Feeling,  because  of  their  re- 
spective reference  to  certain  modes  of  recog- 
nition, and  because,  by  their  use,  Masons 
are  enabled  to  practise  that  universal  lan- 
guage the  possession  of  which  is  the  boast 
of  the  Order. 

Three  Steps.  See  Steps  on  the  Mas- 
ter's Carpet. 

Threshing-Floor.  Among  the  He- 
brews, circular  spots  of  hard  ground  were 
used,  as  now,  for  the  purpose  of  threshing 
corn.  After  they  were  properly  prepared 
for  the  purpose,  they  became  permanent 
possessions.  One  of  these,  the  property  of 
Oman  the  Jebusite,  was  on  Mount  Moriah. 
It  was  purchased  by  David,  for  a  place  of 
sacrifice,  for  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold, 
and  on  it  the  Temple  was  afterwards  built. 
Hence  it  is  sometimes  used  as  a  symbolic 
name  for  the  Temple  of  Solomon  or  for  a 
Master's  Lodge.  Thus  it  is  said  in  the 
ritual  that  the  Mason  comes  "from  the 
lofty  tower  of  Babel,  where  language  was 
confounded  and  Masonry  lost,"  and  that  he 
is  travelling  "  to  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman 
the  Jebusite,  where  language  was  restored 
and  Masonry  found."  The  interpretation 
of  this  rather  abstruse  symbolic  expression 
is  that  on  his  initiation  the  Mason  comes 
out  of  the  profane  world,  where  there  is 
ignorance  and  darkness  and  confusion  as 
there  was  at  Babel,  and  that  he  is  approach- 
ing the  Masonic  world,  where,  as  at  the 
Temple  built  on  Oman's  threshing-floor, 
there  is  knowledge  and  light  and  order. 

Throne.  The  seat  occupied  by  the 
Grand  Master  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land is  called  the  throne,  in  allusion,  prob- 
ably, to  the  throne  of  Solomon.  In  Amer- 
ican Grand  Lodges  it  is  styled  the  Oriental 
Chair  of  Solomon,  a  title  which  is  also  given 
to  the  seat  of  the  Master  of  a  subordinate 
Lodge. 

In  ecclesiology,  the  seat  in  a  cathedral 
occupied  by  a  bishop  is  called  a  throne; 
and  in  the  Middle  Ages,  according  to  Du 
Cange,  the  same  title  was  not  only  applied 
to  the  seats  of  bishops,  but  often  also  to  those 
of  abbots,  or  even  priests  who  were  in  pos- 
session of  titles  or  churches. 

Thunimim.   See  Urimand  Thummim. 

Tie.  The  first  clause  in  the  covenant 
of  Masonry  which  refers  to  the  preservation 
of  the  secrets  is  technically  called  the  tie. 
It  is  substantially  the  same  in  the  covenant 
of  each  degree,  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest. 

Tie,  Mystic.    See  Mystic  Tie. 


816 


TIERCE 


TITLES 


Tierce,  De  la.  He  was  the  first 
translator  of  Anderson's  Constitutions  into 
French,  the  manuscript  of  which  he  says 
that  he  prepared  during  his  residence  in 
London.  He  afterwards  published  it  at 
Frankfort,  in  1743,  with  the  title  of  His- 
toire,  obligations  et  statute  de  la  tres  venera- 
ble confraternity  des  Francs- Macons,  tirez  de 
leur  archives  et  conformes  aux  traditions  les 
plus  anciennes,  etc.  De  la  Tierce  is  said  to 
have  been,  while  in  London,  an  intimate 
friend  of  Anderson,  the  first  edition  of 
whose  Constitutions  he  used  when  he  com- 
piled his  manuscript  in  1725.  But  he  im- 
E roved  on  Anderson's  work  by  dividing  the 
istory  in  epochs.  This  course  Anderson 
pursued  in  his  second  edition ;  which  cir- 
cumstance has  led  Schneider,  in  the  Neuen 
Journale  zur  Freimaurerei,  to  suppose  that, 
in  writing  that  second  edition,  Anderson 
was  aided  by  the  previous  labors  of  De  la 
Tierce,  of  whose  work  he  was  most  proba- 
bly in  possession. 

Tile.  A  Lodge  is  said  to  be  tiled  when 
the  necessary  precautions  have  been  taken 
to  prevent  the  approach  of  unauthorized 
persons ;  and  it  is  said  to  be  the  first  duty 
of  every  Mason  to  see  that  this  is  done 
before  the  Lodge  is  opened.  The  word  to 
tile  is  sometimes  used  in  the  same  sense  as 
to  examine,  as  when  it  is  said  that  a  visitor 
has  been  tiled,  that  is,  has  been  examined. 
But  the  expression  is  not  in  general  use, 
nor  do  I  think  that  it  is  a  correct  employ- 
ment of  the  term. 

Tiler.  An  officer  of  a  symbolic  Lodge, 
whose  duty  is  to  guard  the  door  of  the 
Lodge,  and  to  permit  no  one  to  pass  in  who 
is  not  duly  qualified,  and  who  has  not  the 
permission  of  the  Master. 

A  necessary  qualification  of  a  Tiler  is, 
therefore,  that  he  should  be  a  Master  Ma- 
son. Although  the  Lodge  may  be  opened 
in  an  inferior  degree,  no  one  who  has  not 
advanced  to  the  third  degree  can  legally 
discharge  the  functions  of  Tiler. 

As  the  Tiler  is  always  compensated  for 
his  services,  he  is  considered,  in  some  sense, 
as  the  servant  of  the  Lodge.  It  is,  there- 
fore, his  duty  to  prepare  the  Lodge  for  its 
meetings,  to  arrange  the  furniture  in  its 
proper  place,  and  to  make  all  other  arrange- 
ments for  the  convenience  of  the  Lodge. 

The  Tiler  need  not  be  a  member  of  the 
Lodge  which  he  tiles;  and  in  fact,  in 
large  cities,  one  brother  very  often  performs 
the  duties  of  Tiler  of  several  Lodges. 

This  is  a  very  important  office,  and,  like 
that  of  the  Master  and  Wardens,  owes  its 
existence,  not  to  any  conventional  regula- 
tions, but  to  the  very  landmarks  of  the 
Order ;  for,  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  our 
Institution,  it  is  evident  that  there  never 
could  have  been  a  meeting  of  Masons  for 


Masonic  purposes,  unless  a  Tiler  had  been 
present  to  guard  the  Lodge  from  intrusion. 

The  title  is  derived  from  the  operative 
art ;  for  as  in  Operative  Masonry  the  Tiler, 
when  the  edifice  is  erected,  finishes  and 
covers  it  with  the  roof  (of  tiles),  so  in 
Speculative  Masonry,  when  the  Lodge  is 
duly  organized,  the  Tiler  closes  the  door, 
and  covers  the  sacred  precincts  from  all  in- 
trusion. 

Tiler's  Oath.    See  Oath,  Tiler's. 

Tilly  de  Grasse.    See  Grasse,  Tilly  de. 

Timbre.  The  French  Masons  so  call 
a  stamp,  consisting  of  the  initials  or  mono- 
gram of  the  Lodge,  which  is  impressed  in 
black  or  red  ink  upon  every  official  docu- 
ment emanating  from  the  Lodge.  When 
such  a  document  has  the  seal  also  attached, 
it  is  said  to  be  "  timbree  et  scellee,"  i.  e., 
stamped  and  sealed.  The  timbre,  which 
differs  from  the  seal,  is  not  used  in  English 
or  American  Lodges. 

Time.  The  image  of  Time,  under  the 
conventional  figure  of  a  winged  old  man 
with  the  customary  scythe  and  hour-glass, 
has  been  adopted  as  one  of  the  modern 
symbols  in  the  third  degree.  He  is  repre- 
sented as  attempting  to  disentangle  the 
ringlets  of  a  weeping  virgin  who  stands 
before  him.  This,  which  is  apparently  a 
never-ending  task,  but  one  which  Time  un- 
dertakes to  perform,  is  intended  to  teach 
the  Mason  that  time,  patience,  and  perse- 
verance will  enable  him  to  accomplish  the 
great  object  of  a  Mason's  labor,  and  at  last  to 
obtain  that  true  Word  which  is  the  symbol 
of  Divine  Truth.  Time,  therefore,  is  in 
this  connection  the  symbol  of  well-directed 
perseverance  in  the  performance  of  duty. 

Time  and  Circumstances.  The 
answer  to  the  question  in  the  ritual  of  in- 
itiation, "  Has  he  made  suitable  profi- 
ciency?" is  sometimes  made,  "Such  as 
time  and  circumstances  would  permit."  This 
is  an  error,  and  may  be  a  mischievous  one, 
as  leading  to  a  careless  preparation  of  the 
candidate  for  qualification  to  advancement. 
The  true  reply  is,  "  He  has."  See  Advance- 
ment. 

Tirshatha.  The  title  given  to  the 
Persian  governors  of  Judea.  It  was  borne 
by  Zerubbabel  and  Nehemiah.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  be  derived  from  the  Persian  torsch, 
austere  or  severe,  and  is  therefore,  says 
Gesenius,  equivalent  to  "Your  Severity." 
It  is  in  the  modern  ritual  of  the  Supreme 
Council  for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States  the  title  of  the  presiding 
officer  of  a  Council  of  Princes  of  Jerusalem. 
It  is  also  the  title  of  the  presiding  officer 
of  the  Royal  Order  of  Heredom  of  Kilwin- 
ning. 

Titles.  The  titles  conferred  in  the  rituals 
of  Masonry  upon  various  officers  are  often 


TITLES 


TOASTS 


817 


apparently  grandiloquent,  and  have  given 
occasion  to  some,  who  have  not  understood 
their  true  meaning,  to  call  them  absurd  and 
bombastic.  On  this  subject  Brother  Albert 
Pike  has,  in  the  following  remarks,  given  a 
proper  significance  to  Masonic  titles : 

"Some  of  these  titles  we  retain;  but  they 
have  with  us  meanings  entirely  consistent 
with  the  spirit  of  equality,  which  is  the 
foundation  and  peremptory  law  of  its  being, 
of  all  Masonry.  The  Knight,  with  us,  is  he 
who  devotes  his  hand,  his  heart,  his  brain 
to  the  service  of  Masonry,  and  professes 
himself  the  sworn  soldier  of  truth :  the 
Prince  is  he  who  aims  to  be  chief  [Princeps], 
first,  leader  among  his  equals,  in  virtue  and 
good  deeds :  the  Sovereign  is  he  who,  one 
of  an  Order  whose  members  are  all  sover- 
eigns, is  supreme  only  because  the  law  and 
Constitutions  are  so  which  he  administers, 
and  by  which  he,  like  every  other  brother, 
is  governed.  The  titles  Puissant,  Potent, 
Wise,  and  Venerable  indicate  that  power 
of  virtue,  intelligence,  and  wisdom  which 
those  ought  to  strive  to  attain  who  are 
placed  in  high  offices  by  the  suffrages  of 
their  brethren ;  and  all  our  other  titles  and 
designations  have  an  esoteric  meaning  con- 
sistent with  modesty  and  equality,  and 
which  those  who  receive  them  should  fully 
understand." 

Titles  of  Grand  Lodges.  The 
title  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  is 
"the  United  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons."  That  of  Ireland, 
"the  Grand  Masonic  Lodge."  Of  Scot- 
land, "  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Ancient  and 
Honorable  Fraternity  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons."  That  of  France  is  "  the  Grand 
Orient."  The  same  title  is  taken  by  the 
Grand  Lodges  or  Supreme  Masonic  author- 
ities of  Portugal,  Belgium,  Italy,  Spain, 
and  Greece,  and  also  by  the  Grand  Lodges 
of  all  the  South  American  States.  Of  the 
German  Grand  Lodges,  the  only  three  that 
have  distinctive  titles  are  "  the  Grand  Na- 
tional Mother  Lodge  of  the  Three  Globes," 
"  The  Grand  National  Lodge  of  Germany," 
and  "  the  Grand  Lodge  Royal  York  of 
Friendship."  In  Sweden  and  Denmark 
they  are  simply  called  "Grand  Lodges." 
In  the  English  possessions  of  North  Amer- 
ica they  are  also  called  "  Grand  Lodges." 
In  the  United  States  the  title  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Maine,  of  Massachusetts,  of 
Rhode  Island,  of  Alabama,  of  Illinois,  of 
Iowa,  of  Wisconsin,  of  Minnesota,  and  of 
Oregon,  is  the  "Most  Worshipful  Grand 
Lodge  of  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons;" of  New  Hampshire,  of  Vermont, 
of  New  York,  of  New  Jersey,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, of  Arkansas,  and  of  Indiana,  is  "  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  Ancient  and  Honor- 
able Fraternity  of  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
6C  62 


sons ; "  of  Maryland,  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  of  Florida,  of  Michigan,  of  Mis- 
souri, and  of  California,  is  the  "Grand 
Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons ;  "  of 
South  Carolina  is  the  "  Most  Worshipful 
Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient  Free  Masons;" 
of  all  the  other  States  the  title  is  simply 
the  "  Grand  Lodge." 

Tito.  A  significant  word  in  the  high 
degrees.  The  Scottish  Rite  rituals  give  the 
name  of  Tito,  Prince  Harodim,  to  him  whom 
they  say  was  the  first  who  was' appointed  by 
Solomon  a  Provost  and  Judge.  This  per- 
son appears  to  be  altogether  mythical ;  the 
word  is  not  found  in  the  Hebrew  language, 
nor  has  any  meaning  been  given  to  it.  He 
is  represented  as  having  been  a  favorite  of 
the  king  of  Israel.  He  is  said  to  have  pre- 
sided over  the  Lodge  of  Intendants  of  the 
Building,  and  to  have  been  one  of  the  twelve 
illustrious  knights  who  were  set  over  the 
twelve  tribes,  that  of  Naphtali  being  placed 
under  his  care.  The  whole  of  this  legend 
is,  of  course,  connected  with  the  symbolic 
signification  of  those  degrees. 

Toasts.  Anderson  says,  in  his  second 
edition,  that  in  1719  Dr.  Desaguliers,  having 
been  installed  Grand  Master,  "  forthwith  re- 
vived the  old,  regular,  and  peculiar  toasts  or 
healths  of  the  Freemasons."  If  Anderson's 
statements  could  be  implicitly  trusted  as 
historical  facts,  we  should  have  to  conclude 
that  a  system  of  regulated  toasts  prevailed 
in  the  Lodges  before  the  revival.  The  cus- 
tom of  drinking  healths  at  banquets  is  a 
very  old  one,  and  can  be  traced  to  the  days 
of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans.  From 
them  it  was  handed  down  to  the  moderns, 
and  especially  in  England  we  find  the  "  was- 
hael"  of  the  Saxons,  a  term  used  in  drink- 
ing, and  equivalent  to  the  modern  phrase, 
"  Your  health."  Steele,  in  the  Tatkr,  inti- 
mates that  the  word  toast  began  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  drinking  of  healths  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  And 
although  his  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
word  has  been  contested,  it  is  very  evident 
that  the  drinking  of  toasts  was  a  universal 
custom  in  the  clubs  and  festive  associations 
which  were  common  in  London  about  the 
time  of  the  revival  of  Masonry.  It  is  there- 
fore to  be  presumed  that  the  Masonic 
Lodges  did  not  escape  the  influences  of  the 
convivial  spirit  of  that  age,  and  drinking  in 
the  Lodge  room  during  the  hours  of  refresh- 
ment was  a  usual  custom,  but,  as  Oliver  ob- 
serves, all  excess  was  avoided,  and  the  con- 
vivialities of  Masonry  were  regulated  by 
the  Old  Charges,  which  directed  the  breth- 
ren to  enjoy  themselves  with  decent  mirth, 
not  forcing  any  brother  to  eat  or  drink 
beyond  his  inclination,  nor  hindering  him 
from  going  home  when  he  pleased.  The 
drinking  was  conducted  by  rule,  the  Master 


818 


TOASTS 


TOASTS 


giving  the  toast,  but  first  inquiring  of  the 
Senior  Warden,  "Are  you  charged  in  the 
West,  Brother  Senior?"  and  of  the  Junior 
Warden,  "Are  you  charged  in  the  South, 
Brother  Junior?"  to  which  appropriate  re- 

Elies  being  made,  the  toast  was  drunk  with 
onors  peculiar  to  the  Institution.  In  an  old 
Masonic  song,  the  following  stanza  occurs: 

"'Are   you   charged   in  the  West?    are   you 
charged  in  the  South  ?' 
The  Worshipful  Master  cries. 
'  We  are  charged  in  the  West,  we  are  charged 
in  the  South,' 
Each  Warden  prompt  replies." 

One  of  the  catechetical  works  of  the  last 
century  thus  describes  the  drinking  customs 
of  the  Masons  of  that  period :  "  The  table 
being  plentifully  supplied  with  wine  and 

Eunch,  every  man  has  a  glass  set  before 
im,  and  fills  it  with  what  he  chooses.  But 
he  must  drink  his  glass  in  turn,  or  at  least 
keep  the  motion  with  the  rest.  When, 
therefore,  a  public  health  is  given,  the 
Master  fills  first,  and  desires  the  brethren 
to  charge  their  glasses;  and  when  this  is 
supposed  to  be  done,  the  Master  says, 
Brethren,  are  you  all  cliarged?  The  Senior 
and  Junior  Wardens  answer,  We  are  all 
charged  in  the  South  and  West.  Then  they 
all  stand  up,  and,  observing  the  Masters 
motions,  (like  the  soldier  his  right-hand 
man,)  drink  their  glasses  off."  Another 
work  of  the  same  period  says  that  the  first 
toast  given  was  "  the  King  and  the  Craft." 
But  a  still  older  work  gives  what  it  calls 
"  A  Free-Mason's  Health  "  in  the  following 
words :  "  Here's  a  health  to  our  society  and 
to  every  faithful  brother  that  keeps  his  oath 
of  secrecy.  As  we  are  sworn  to  love  each 
other,  the  world  no  Order  knows  like  this 
our  noble  and  ancient  Fraternity.  Let  them 
wonder  at  the  Mystery.  Here,  Brother,  I 
drink  to  thee." 

In  time  the  toasts  improved  in  their  style, 
and  were  deemed  of  so  much  importance 
that  lists  of  them,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  were  deficient  in  inventive  genius, 
were  published  in  all  the  pocket-books, 
calendars,  and  song-books  of  the  Order. 
Thus  a  large  collection  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Masonic  Miscellanies  of  Stephen  Jones. 
A  few  of  them  will  show  their  technical 
character:  "To  the  secret  and  silent;" 
"To  the  memory  of  the  distinguished 
Three;  "  "To  all  that  live  within  compass 
and  square;"  "To  the  memory  of  the  Tyr- 
ian  artist ;"  "  To  him  that  first  the  work 
began,"  etc. 

But  there  was  a  regular  series  of  toasts 
which,  besides  these  voluntary  ones,  were 
always  given  at  the  refreshments  of  the 
brethren.  Thus,  when  the  reigning  sover- 
eign happened  to  be  a  member  of  the  Fra- 


ternity, the  first  toast  given  was  always 
"  The  King  and  the  Craft." 

In  the  French  Lodges  the  drinking  of 
toasts  was,  with  the  word  itself,  borrowed 
from  England.  It  was,  however,  subjected 
to  strict  rules,  from  which  there  could  be 
no  departure.  Seven  toasts  were  called 
"Santes  d'  obligation,"  because  drinking 
them  was  made  obligatory,  and  could  not 
be  omitted  at  the  Lodge  banquet.  They 
were  as  follows :  1.  The  health  of  the  Sov- 
ereign and  his  family ;  2.  That  of  the 
Grand  Master  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Order; 
3.  That  of  the  Master  of  the  Lodge;  4. 
That  of  the  Wardens ;  5.  That  of  the  other 
officers ;  6.  That  of  the  visitors ;  7.  That 
of  all  Masons  wheresoever  spread  over 
the  two  hemispheres.  In  1872,  the  Grand 
Orient,  after  long  discussions,  reduced  the 
number  of  santes  cP  obligation  from  seven  to 
four,  and  changed  their  character.  They 
are  now :  1.  To  the  Grand  Orient  of  France, 
the  Lodges  of  its  correspondence,  and  for- 
eign Grand  Orients ;  2.  To  the  Master  of 
the  Lodge ;  3.  To  the  Wardens,  the  officers, 
affiliated  Lodges,  and  visiting  brethren;  4. 
To  all  Masons  existing  on  each  hemisphere. 

The  systematized  method  of  drinking 
toasts,  which  once  prevailed  in  the  Lodges 
of  the  English-speaking  countries,  has  been, 
to  a  great  extent,  abandoned;  yet  a  few 
toasts  still  remain,  which,  although  not 
absolutely  obligatory,  are  still  never  omit- 
ted. Thus  no  Masonic  Lodge  would  neglect 
at  its  banquet  to  offer,  as  its  first  toast, 
a  sentiment  expressive  of  respect  for  the 
Grand  Lodge. 

The  venerable  Oliver  was  a  great  admirer 
of  the  custom  of  drinking  Masonic  toasts, 
and  panegyrizes  it  in  his  Book  of  the  Lodge, 
(p.  147.)  He  says  that  at  the  time  of  re- 
freshment in  a  Masonic  Lodge  "  the  song 
appeared  to  have  more  zest  than  in  a  pri- 
vate company ;  the  toast  thrilled  more 
vividly  upon  the  recollection;  and  the 
small  modicum  of  punch  with  which  it 
was  honored  retained  a  higher  flavor  than 
the  same  potation  if  produced  at  a  private 
board."  And  he  adds,  as  a  specimen,  the 
following  "  characteristic  toast,"  which  he 
says  was  always  received  with  a  "profound 
expression  of  pleasure." 

"  To  him  that  all  things  understood, 
To  him  that  found  the  stone  and  wood, 
To  him  that  hapless  lost  his  blood, 

In  doing  of  his  duty, 
To  that  blest  age  and  that  blest  morn 
Whereon  those  three  great  men  were  born, 
Our  noble  science  to  adorn 

With  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  after- 
wards pathetically  deplore  the  discontin- 
uance of  the  custom. 


TOKEN 


TOMB 


819 


Token.  The  word  token  is  derived 
from  the  Anglo-Saxon  tacn,  which  means  a 
sign,  presage,  type,  or  representation,  that 
which  points  out  something;  and  this  is 
traced  to  toecati,  to  teach,  show,  or  instruct, 
because  by  a  token  we  show  or  instruct 
others  as  to  what  we  are.  Bailey,  whose 
Dictionary  was  published  soon  after  the  re- 
vival, defines  it  as  "  a  sign  or  mark ;  "  but 
it  is  singular  that  the  word  is  not  found  in 
either  of  the  dictionaries  of  Phillips  or 
Blount,  which  were  the  most  popular  glos- 
saries in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century. 
The  word  was,  however,  well  known  to  the 
Fraternity,  and  was  in  use  at  the  time  of 
the  revival  with  precisely  the  same  mean- 
ing that  is  now  given  to  it  as  a  mode  of  re- 
cognition. 

The  Hebrew  word  jlltf*  5fK  l&  frequently 
used  in  Scripture  to  signify  a  sign  or  me- 
morial of  something  past,  some  covenant 
made  or  promise  given.  Thus  God  says  to 
Noah,  of  the  rainbow,  "it  shall  be  for  a 
token  of  a  covenant  between  me  and  the 
earth ; "  and  to  Abraham  he  says  of  cir- 
cumcision, "  it  shall  be  a  token  of  the  cove- 
nant betwixt  me  and  you."  In  Masonry, 
the  grip  of  recognition  is  called  a  token, 
because  it  is  an  outward  sign  of  the  cove- 
nant of  friendship  and  fellowship  entered 
into  between  the  members  of  the  Fraternity, 
and  is  to  be  considered  as  a  memorial  of 
that  covenant  which  was  made,  when  it 
was  first  received  by  the  candidate,  between 
him  and  the  Order  into  which  he  was  then 
initiated. 

Neither  the  French  nor  the  German  Ma- 
sons have  a  word  precisely  equivalent  to 
token,  Krause  translates  it  by  merkmale, 
a  sign  or  representation,  but  which  has  no 
technical  Masonic  signification.  The  French 
have  only  attouehement,  which  means  the 
act  of  touching;  and  the  Germans,  griff, 
which  is  the  same  as  the  English  grip.  In 
the  technical  use  of  the  word  token,  the 
English-speaking  Masons  have  an  advan- 
tage not  possessed  by  those  of  any  other 
country. 

Tolerance  Lodge.  When  the  ini- 
tiation of  Jews  was  forbidden  in  the  Prus- 
sian Lodges,  two  brethren  of  Berlin,  Von 
Hirschfeld  and  Catter,  induced  by  a  spirit 
of  toleration,  organized  a  Lodge  in  Berlin 
for  the  express  purpose  of  initiating  Jews, 
to  which  they  gave  the  appropriate  name 
of  Tolerance  Lodge.  This  Lodge  was  not 
recognized  by  the  Masonic  authorities. 

Toleration.  The  grand  characteristic 
of  Masonry  is  its  toleration  in  religion  and 
politics.  In  respect  to  the  latter,  its  tolera- 
tion has  no  limit.  The  question  of  a  man's 
political  opinions  is  not  permitted  to  be 
broached  in  the  Lodge ;  in  reference  to  the 
former,  it  requires  only  that,  to  use  the  lan- 


guage of  the  old  charge,  Masons  shall  be 
of  "that  religion  in  which  all  men  agree, 
leaving  their  particular  opinions  to  them- 
selves." The  same  old  Charges  say,  "No 
private  piques  or  quarrels  must  be  brought 
within  the  door  of  the  Lodge,  far  less  any 
quarrels  about  religion,  or  nations,  or  state 
policy,  we  being  only,  as  Masons,  of  the 
Catholic  religion  above-mentioned ;  we  are 
also  of  all  nations,  tongues,  kindreds,  and 
languages,  and  are  resolved  against  all 
politics,  as  what  never  yet  conduced  to  the 
welfare  of  the  Lodge,  nor  ever  will." 

Tomb  of  Adoniram.  Margoliouth, 
in  his  HMory  of  the  Jews,  tells  the  legend 
that  at  Saguntum,  in  Spain,  a  sepulchre 
was  found  four  hundred  years  ago,  with 
the  following  Hebrew  inscription:  "This 
is  the  grave  of  Adoniram,  the  servant  of 
King  Solomon,  who  came  to  collect  the  trib- 
ute, and  died  on  the  day — "  Margoliouth, 
who  believes  the  mythical  story,  says  that 
the  Jesuit  Villepandus,  being  desirous  of 
ascertaining  if  the  statements  concerning 
the  tomb  were  true,  directed  the  Jesuit 
students  who  resided  at  Murviedro,  a  small 
village  erected  upon  the  ruins  of  Saguntum, 
to  make  diligent  search  for  the  tomb  and 
inscription.  After  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion, the  Jesuit  students  were  shown  a 
stone  on  which  appeared  a  Hebrew  in- 
scription, much  defaced  and  nearly  oblit- 
erated, which  the  natives  stated  was  "  the 
stone  of  Solomon's  collector."  Still  unsatis- 
fied, they  made  further  search,  and  dis- 
covered a  manuscript  written  in  antique 
Spanish,  and  carefully  preserved  in  the 
citadel,  in  which  the  following  entry  was 
made :  "  At  Saguntum,  in  the  citadel,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1480,  a  little  more  or 
less,  was  discovered  a  sepulchre  of  surpris- 
ing antiquity.  It  contained  an  embalmed 
corpse,  not  of  the  usual  stature,  but  taller 
than  is  common.  It  had  and  still  retains 
on  the  front  two  lines  in  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage and  characters,  the  sense  of  which 
is:  'The  sepulchre  of  Adoniram,  the  ser- 
vant of  King  Solomon,  who  came  hither  to 
collect  tribute.' " 

The  story  has  far  more  the  appearance 
of  a  Talmudic  or  a  Bosicrucian  legend  than 
that  of  a  historical  narrative. 

Tomb  of  Hiram  Abif.  All  that  is 
said  of  it  in  Masonry  is  more  properly  refer- 
red to  in  the  article  on  the  Monument  in  the 
Third  Degree.    See  Monument. 

Tomb  of  Hiram  of  Tyre.  Five 
miles  to  the  east  of  the  city  of  Tyre  is  an 
ancient  monument,  called  by  the  natives 
Kabr  Hairan,  or  the  tomb  of  Hiram.  The 
tradition  that  the  king  of  Tyre  was  there 
interred  rests  only  on  the  authority  of  the 
natives.  It  bears  about  it,  however,  the 
unmistakable  marks  of  extreme  antiquity, 


820 


TONGUE 


TORRUBIA 


and,  as  Thompson  says,  ( The  Land  and  The 
Book,  i.  290,)  there  is  nothing  in  the  mon- 
ument itself  inconsistent  with  the  idea  that 
ft  marks  the  final  resting-place  of  that  friend 
of  Solomon.  He  thus  describes  it :  "  The 
base  consists  of  two  tiers  of  great  stones, 
each  three  feet  thick,  thirteen  feet  long, 
and  eight  feet  eight  inches  broad.  Above 
this  is  one  huge  stone,  a  little  more  than  fif- 
teen feet  long,  ten  broad,  and  three  feet  four 
inches  thick.  Over  this  is  another,  twelve 
feet  three  inches  long,  eight  broad,  and  six 
high.  The  top  stone  is  a  little  smaller  every 
way,  and  only  five  feet  thick.  The  entire 
height  is  twenty -one  feet.  There  is  nothing 
like  it  in  this  country,  and  it  may  well  have 
stood,  as  it  now  does,  ever  since  the  days 
of  Solomon.  The  large  broken  sarcophagi 
scattered  around  it  are  assigned  by  tradition 
to  Hiram's  mother,  wife,  or  family." 

Dr.  Morris,  who  visited  the  spot  in  1868, 
gives  a  different  admeasurement,  which 
is  probably  more  accurate  than  that  of 
Thompson.  According  to  him,  the  first 
tier  is  14  ft.  long,  8  ft.  8  in.  broad,  4  ft. 
thick.  Second  tier,  14  ft.  long,  8  ft.  8  in. 
broad,  2  ft.  10  in.  thick.  Third  tier,  15  ft. 
1  in.  long,  9  ft.  11  in.  broad,  2  ft.  11  in. 
thick.  Fourth  tier,  12  ft.  11  in.  long,  7  ft. 
8  in.  broad,  6  ft.  5  in.  thick.  Fifth  tier,  12 
ft.  11  in.  long,  7  ft.  8  in.  broad,  and  3  ft.  6 
in.  thick.  He  makes  the  height  of  the 
whole  19  ft.  8  in. 

Travellers  have  been  disposed  to  give  more 
credit  to  the  tradition  which  makes  this  mon- 
ument the  tomb  of  the  king  of  Tyre  than  to 
most  of  the  other  legends  which  refer  to  an- 
cient sepulchres  in  the  Holy  Land. 

Tongue.  In  the  early  rituals  of  the 
last  century,  the  tongue  is  called  the  key  to 
the  secrets  of  a  Mason ;  and  one  of  the  toasts 
that  was  given  in  the  Lodge  was  in  these 
words :  "  To  that  excellent  key  of  a  Mason's 
tongue,  which  ought  always  to  speak  as 
well  in  the  absence  of  a  brother  as  in  his 
presence;  and  when  that  cannot  be  done 
with  honor,  justice,  or  propriety,  that  adopts 
the  virtue  of  a  Mason,  which  is  silence." 

Tongue,  Instructive.  See  Instruc- 
tive Tongue. 

Tongue  of  Good  Report.  Being 
"under  the  tongue  of  good  report"  is 
equivalent,  in  Masonic  technical  language, 
to  being  of  good  character  or  reputation. 
It  is  required  that  the  candidate  for  initia- 
tion should  be  one  of  whom  no  tongue  speaks 
evil.  The  phrase  is  an  old  one,  and  is  found 
in  the  earliest  rituals  of  the  last  century. 

Topaz.  In  Hebrew,  fY]QQ,pitdah.  It 
was  the  second  stone  in  the  first  row  of  the 
high  priest's  breastplate,  and  was  referred  to 
Simeon.  The  ancient  topaz,  says  King,  [An- 
tique Oems,  p.  56,)  was  the  present  chryso- 
lite, which  was  furnished  from  an  island  in 


the  Red  Sea.  It  is  of  a  bright  greenish  yel- 
low, and  the  softest  of  all  precious  stones. 

Torches.  The  ancients  made  use  of 
torches  both  at  marriages  and  funerals. 
They  were  also  employed  in  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.  They  have 
been  introduced  into  the  high  degrees, 
especially  on  the  continent,  principally  as 
marks  of  honor  in  the  reception  of  distin- 
guished visitors,  on  which  occasion  they 
are  technically  called  "  stars."  Du  Cange 
mentions  their  use  during  the  Middle  Ages 
on  funeral  occasions. 

Torgau,  Constitutions  of.  Tor- 
gau  is  a  fortified  town  on  the  Elbe,  in  the 
Prussian  province  of  Saxony.  It  was  there 
that  Luther  and  his  friends  wrote  the 
Book  of  Torgau,  which  was  the  foundation 
of  the  subsequent  Augsburg  Confession,  and 
it  was  there  that  the  Lutherans  concluded 
a  league  with  the  Elector  Frederick  the 
Wise.  The  Stonemasons,  whose  seat  was 
there  in  the  fifteenth  century,  had,  with  the 
other  Masons  of  Saxony,  accepted  the  Con- 
stitutions enacted  in  1459  at  Strasburg. 
But,  finding  it  necessary  to  make  some 
special  regulations  for  their  own  internal 
government,  they  drew  up,  in  1462,  Consti- 
tutions in  112  articles,  which  are  known  as 
the  "  Constitutions  of  Torgau."  A  dupli- 
cate of  these  Constitutions  was  deposited, 
in  1486,  in  the  Stonemason's  hutte  at  Roch- 
litz.  An  authenticated  copy  of  this  docu- 
ment was  published  by  C.  L.  Stieglitz  at 
Leipsic,  in  1829,  in  a  work  entitled  Ueber 
die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde  zu  Roch- 
litz  und  die  Steinmetzhutte  daselbst  An  ab- 
stract of  these  Constitutions,  with  critical 
comparisons  with  other  Constitutions,  was 
published  by  Kloss  in  his  Die  Freimaurerei 
in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeuiung.  The  Consti- 
tutions of  Torgau  are  important  because, 
with  those  of  Strasburg,  they  are  the  only 
authentic  Constitutions  of  the  German 
Stonemasons  extant. 

Tormina.  Joseph.  A  Franciscan 
monk,  who  in  1751  was  the  censor  and  re- 
viser of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain.  Torrubia, 
that  he  might  be  the  better  enabled  to 
carry  into  effect  a  persecution  of  the  Free- 
masons, obtained  under  an  assumed  name, 
and  in  the  character  of  a  secular  priest, 
initiation  into  one  of  the  Lodges,  having 
first  received  from  the  Grand  Penitentiary 
a  dispensation  for  the  act,  and  an  absolu- 
tion from  the  oath  of  secrecy.  Having 
thus  acquired  an  exact  list  of  the  Lodges 
in  Spain,  and  the  names  of  their  members, 
he  caused  hundreds  of  Masons  to  be 
arrested  and  punished,  and  succeeded  in 
having  the  Order  prohibited  by  a  decree  of 
King  Ferdinand  VI.  Torrubia  combined 
in  his  character  the  bigotry  of  the  priest 
and  the  villany  of  the  traitor. 


TOURNON 


TRADITION 


821 


Tonrnon,  M.  A  Frenchman  and 
Freemason,  who  had  been  invited  into  Spain 
by  the  government  in  order  to  establish  a 
manufactory  of  brass  buttons,  and  to  in- 
struct the  Spanish  workmen.  In  1757  he 
was  arrested  by  the  Inquisition  on  the 
charge  of  being  a  Freemason,  and  of  hav- 
ing invited  his  pupils  to  join  the  Institu- 
tion. He  was  sentenced  to  imprisonment 
for  one  year,  after  which  he  was  banished 
from  Spain,  being  conducted  under  an  es- 
cort to  the  frontiers  of  France.  Tournon 
was  indebted  for  this  clemency  to  his  want 
of  firmness  and  fidelity  to  the  Order  —  he 
having  solemnly  abjured  it,  and  promised 
never  again  to  attend  its  assemblies. 
Llorente,  in  his  History  of  the  Inquisition, 
gives  an  account  of  Tournon's  trial. 

Tow,  Cable.    See  Cable  Tow. 

Tower,  I>egree  of  the.  ( Grade  de  la 
Tour.)  A  name  sometimes  given  to  the  sec- 
ond degree  of  the  Royal  Order  of  Scotland. 

Tower  of  Babel.    See  Babel. 

Town,  Salem.  The  Rev.  Salem 
Town,  L.L.D.,  was  born  at  Belchertown,  in 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1779. 
He  received  a  classical  education,  and  ob- 
tained at  college  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts,  and  later  in  life  that  of  Doctor  of 
Laws.  For  some  years  he  was  the  Principal 
of  an  academy,  and  his  writings  give  the 
evidence  that  he  was  endowed  with  more 
than  ordinary  abilities.  He  was  ardently 
attached  to  Freemasonry,  and  was  for  many 
years  Grand  Chaplain  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
and  Grand  Chapter,  and  Grand  Prelate  of 
the  Grand  Commandery  of  New  York.  In 
1818  he  published  a  small  work,  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty-three  pages,  entitled 
A  System  of  Speculative  Masonry.  This  work 
is  of  course  tinged  with  all  the  legendary 
ideas  of  the  origin  of  the  Institution  which 

Erevailed  at  that  period,  and  would  not  now 
e  accepted  as  authoritative ;  but  it  contains, 
outside  of  its  historical  errors,  many  valu- 
able and  suggestive  thoughts.  Brother 
Town  was  highly  respected  for  his  many 
virtues,  the  consistency  of  his  life,  and  his 
unwearied  devotion  to  the  Masonic  Order. 
He  died  at  Greencastle,  Indiana,  February 
24, 1864,  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-nine  years. 
Townsbend,  Simeon.  The  puta- 
tive author  of  a  book  entitled  Observations 
and  Inquiries  relating  to  the  Brotherhood 
of  the  Free  Masons,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  printed  at  London  in  1712.  Boileau, 
Levesque,  Thory,  Oliver,  and  Kloss,  men- 
tion it  by  name.  None  of  them,  however, 
appear  to  have  seen  it.  Kloss  calls  it  a 
doubtful  book.  If  such  a  work  is  in  exist- 
ence, it  will  be  a  valuable  and  much  needed 
contribution  to  the  condition  of  Masonry 
in  the  south  of  England  just  before  the 
revival,  and  may  tend  to  settle  some  mooted 


questions.  Levesque  (Apercu,  p.  47,)  says 
he  has  consulted  it ;  but  his  manner  of  refer- 
ring to  it  throws  suspicion  on  the  statement, 
and  I  doubt  if  he  ever  saw  it. 

Traeing-  Board.  The  same  as  a 
Floor- Cloth,  which  see. 

Trade  Gilds.    See  Gilds. 

Tradition.  There  are  two  kinds  of 
traditions  in  Masonry  :  First,  those  which 
detail  events,  either  historically,  authentic 
in  part,  or  in  whole,  or  consisting  altogether 
of  arbitrary  fiction,  and  intended  simply  to 
convey  an  allegorical  or  symbolic  meaning; 
and  secondly,  of  traditions  which  refer  to 
customs  and  usages  of  the  Fraternity,  espe- 
cially in  matters  of  ritual  observance. 

The  first  class  has  already  been  discussed 
in  this  work  in  the  article  on  Legends,  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred.  The  second 
class  is  now  to  be  considered. 

The  traditions  which  control  and  direct 
the  usages  of  the  Fraternity  constitute  its 
unwritten  law,  and  are  almost  wholly  ap- 
plicable to  its  ritual,  although  they  are 
sometimes  of  use  in  the  interpretation  of 
doubtful  points  in  its  written  law.  Between 
the  written  and  the  unwritten  law,  the 
latter  is  always  paramount.  This  is  evi- 
dent from  the  definition  of  a  tradition  as 
it  is  given  by  the  monk  Vincent  of  Le- 
rins:  "Quod  semper,  quod  ubique,  quod  ab 
omnibus  traditum  est;"  i.e.,  tradition  is 
that  which  has  been  handed  down  at  all 
times,  in  all  places,  and  by  all  persons. 
The  law  which  thus  has  antiquity,  univer- 
sality, and  common  consent  for  its  support, 
must  override  all  subsequent  laws  wnich 
are  modern,  local,  and  have  only  partial 
agreement. 

It  is  then  important  that  those  traditions 
of  Masonry  which  prescribe  its  ritual  ob- 
servances and  its  landmarks  should  be 
thoroughly  understood,  because  it  is  only 
by  attention  to  them  that  uniformity  in  the 
esoteric  instruction  and  work  of  the  Order 
can  be  preserved. 

Cicero  has  wisely  said  that  a  well-consti- 
tuted commonwealth  must  be  governed  not 
by  the  written  law  alone,  but  also  by  the 
unwritten  law  or  tradition  and  usage;  and 
this  is  especially  the  case,  because  the  written 
law,  however  perspicuous  it  may  be,  can 
be  diverted  into  various  senses,  unless  the 
republic  is  maintained  and  preserved  by 
its  usages  and  traditions,  which,  although 
mute  and  as  it  were  dead,  yet  speak  with  a 
living  voice,  and  give  the  true  interpreta- 
tion of  that  which  is  written. 

This  axiom  is  not  less  true  in  Masonry 
than  it  is  in  a  commonwealth.  No  matter 
what  changes  may  be  made  in  its  statutes 
and  regulations  of  to-day  and  its  recent 
customs,  there  is  no  danger  of  losing  the 
identity  of  its  modern  with  its  ancient  form 


822 


TRAMPING 


TRAVELLING 


and  spirit  while  its  traditions  are  recog- 
nized and  maintained. 

Tramping  Masons.  Unworthy 
members  of  the  Order,  who,  using  their 
privileges  for  interested  purposes,  travelling 
from  city  to  city  and  from  Lodge  to  Lodge, 
that  they  may  seek  relief  by  tales  of  ficti- 
tious distress,  have  been  called  "tramping 
Masons."  The  true  brother  should  ever 
obtain  assistance;  the  tramper  should  be 
driven  from  the  door  of  every  Lodge  or 
the  house  of  every  Mason  where  he  seeks 
to  intrude  his  imposture. 

Transfer  of  Warrant.  When  a 
Lodge  has,  by  the  misconduct  of  its  mem- 
bers, rendered  itself  unworthy  of  longer 
possessing  a  Warrant,  the  modern  Consti- 
tution of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  pre- 
scribes that  the  Grand  Master  may,  after 
the  Grand  Lodge  shall  have  decided  on 
that  fact,  transfer  such  Warrant  to  other 
brethren  whom  he  may  think  deserving, 
with  a  new  number  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Lodges  then  on  record.  No  such  power 
has  been  granted  to  the  Grand  Masters  of 
this  country.  They  may,  indeed,  arrest  a 
Warrant  —  that  is,  suspend  the  labors  of  a 
Lodge  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  —  but  the  power  of  forfeiture  and 
transferrence  of  Warrants  is  vested  only  in 
Grand  Lodges. 

Transient  Brethren.  Masons  who 
do  not  reside  in  a  particular  place,  but  only 
temporarily  visit  it,  are  called  "  transient 
brethren."  They  are,  if  worthy,  to  be  cor- 
dially welcomed,  but  are  never  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  a  Lodge  until,  after  the  proper 
precautions,  they  have  been  proved  to  be 
"true  and  trusty."    This  usage  of   hos- 

Sitality  has  the  authority  of  all  the  Old 
!onstitutions,  which  are  careful  to  incul- 
cate it.  Thus  the  Landsdowne  MS.  charges, 
"that  every  Mason  receive  or  cherish 
Strange  Fellows  when  they  come  over  the 
countrey,  and  sett  them  on  worke  if  they 
will  worke,  as  the  manner  is,  (that  is  to 
say)  if  the  Mason  have  any  moulde  stone 
in  his  place,  on  worke ;  and  if  he  have  none, 
the  Mason  shall  refresh  him  with  money 
unto  the  next  Lodge." 

Although  Speculative  Masons  no  longer 
visit  Lodges  for  the  sake  of  work  or  wages, 
the  usage  of  our  Operative  predecessors  has 
been  spiritualized  in  our  symbolic  system. 
Hence  visitors  are  often  invited  to  take  a 
part  in  the  labors  of  the  Lodge,  and  receive 
their  portion  of  the  light  and  truth  which 
constitute  the  symbolic  pay  of  a  Specula- 
tive Mason. 

Transition  Period.  Findel  calls 
that  period  in  the  history  of  Masonry,  when 
it  was  gradually  changing  its  character 
from  that  of  an  Operative  to  that  of  a  Spec- 
ulative society,  "the  Transition  Period." 


It  began  in  1600,  and  terminated  in  1717 
by  the  establishment  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England  in  London,  after  which,  says 
Findel,  (Hist.,  Lyon's  trans.,  p.  131,)  "  mod- 
ern Freemasonry  was  to  be  taught  as  a  spir- 
itualizing art,  and  the  Fraternity  of  Opera- 
tive Masons  was  exalted  to  a  Brotherhood 
of  symbolic  builders,  who,  in  the  place  of 
visible,  perishable  temples,  are  engaged  in 
the  erection  of  that  one,  invisible,  eternal 
temple  of  the  heart  and  mind." 

Transmission,  Charter  of.  A 
deed  said  to  have  been  granted  by  James 
de  Molay,  just  before  his  death,  to  Mark 
Larmenius,  by  which  he  transmitted  to  him 
and  to  his  successors  the  office  of  Grand 
Master  of  the  Templars.  It  is  the  founda- 
tion deed  of  the  "  Order  of  the  Temple." 
It  is  preserved  in  the  treasury  of  the  Order 
in  Paris,  and  is  written  in  Latin  on  a  large 
folio  sheet  of  parchment.  The  outward 
appearance  of  the  document  is  of  great  an- 
tiquity, but  it  wants  internal  evidence  of 
authenticity.  It  is  therefore,  by  most  au- 
thorities, considered  a  forgery.  See  Temple, 
Order  of  the. 

Travel.  In  the  symbolic  language  of 
Masonry,  a  Mason  always  travels  from  west 
to  east  in  search  of  light — he  travels  from 
the  lofty  tower  of  Babel,  where  language 
was  confounded  and  Masonry  lost,  to  the 
threshing-floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite,  where 
language  was  restored  and  Masonry  found. 
The  Master  Mason  also  travels  into  foreign 
countries  in  search  of  wages.  All  this  is 
pure  symbolism,  unintelligible  in  any  other 
sense.  For  its  interpretation,  see  Foreign 
Countries  and  Threshing- Floor. 

Travelling  Freemasons.  There 
is  no  portion  of  the  history  of  the  Order  so 
interesting  to  the  Masonic  scholar  as  that 
which  is  embraced  by  the  Middle  Ages  of 
Christendom,  beginning  with  about  the 
tenth  century,  when  the  whole  of  civilized 
Europe  was  perambulated  by  those  associa- 
tions of  workmen,  who  passed  from  country 
to  country  and  from  city  to  city  under  the 
name  of  "Travelling Freemasons,"  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  religious  edifices.  There 
is  not  a  country  of  Europe  which  does  not 
at  this  day  contain  honorable  evidences  of 
the  skill  and  industry  of  our  Masonic  an- 
cestors. I  therefore  propose,  in  the  present 
article,  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  origin, 
the  progress,  and  the  character  of  these 
travelling  architects. 

Mr.  George  Godwin,  in  a  lecture  pub- 
lished in  the  Builder,  (vol.  ix.,  p.  463,)  says: 
"  There  are  few  points  in  the  Middle  Ages 
more  pleasing  to  look  back  upon  than  the 
existence  of  the  associated  Masons;  they 
are  the  bright  spot  in  the  general  darkness 
of  that  period,  the  patch  of  verdure  when 
all  around  is  barren." 


TRAVELLING 


TRAVELLING 


823 


Clavel,  in  his  Histoire  Pittoresgue  de  la 
Franc- Maconnerie,  has  traced  the  organi- 
zation of  these  associations  to  the  "collegia 
artificum,"  or  colleges  of  artisans,  which 
were  instituted  at  Rome,  by  Numa,  in  the 
year  b.  c.  714,  and  whose  members  were 
originally  Greeks,  imported  by  this  law- 
giver for  the  purpose  of  embellishing  the 
city  over  which  he  reigned.  They  con- 
tinued to  exist  as  well-established  corpora- 
tions throughout  all  the  succeeding  years 
of  the  kingdom,  the  republic,  and  the  em- 
pire.    (See  Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers.) 

These  "  sodalitates,"  or  fraternities,  began, 
upon  the  invasion  of  the  barbarians,  to  de- 
cline in  numbers,  in  respectability,  and  in 
power.  But  on  the  conversion  of  the  whole 
empire,  they,  or  others  of  a  similar  charac- 
ter, began  again  to  nourish.  The  priests 
of  the  Christian  Church  became  their  pa- 
trons, and  under  their  guidance  they  de- 
voted themselves  to  the  building  of  churches 
and  monasteries.  In  the  tenth  century, 
they  were  established  as  a  free  gild  or  cor- 
poration in  Lombardy.  For  when,  after 
the  decline  and  fall  of  the  empire,  the  city 
of  Rome  was  abandoned  by  its  sovereigns 
for  other  secondary  cities  of  Italy,  such  as 
Milan  and  Ravenna,  and  new  courts  and 
new  capitals  were  formed,  the  kingdom  of 
Lombardy  sprang  into  existence  as  the 
great  centre  of  all  energy  in  trade  and  in- 
dustry, and  of  refinement  in  art  and  litera- 
ture. It  was  there,  and  as  a  consequence 
of  the  great  centre  of  life  from  Rome,  and 
the  development  not  only  of  commercial 
business,  but  of  all  sorts  of  trades  and 
handicrafts,  that  the  corporations  known  as 
gilds  were  first  organized. 

Among  the  arts  practised  by  the  Lom- 
bards, that  of  building  held  a  pre-eminent 
rank.  And  Muratori  tells  us  that  the  in- 
habitants of  Como,  one  of  the  principal 
cities  of  Como,  had  become  so  superior  as 
masons,  that  the  appellation  of  Magistri 
Comacini,  or  Masters  from  Como,  had  be- 
come generic  to  all  of  the  profession. 

Mr.  Hope,  in  his  Historical  Essay  on 
Architecture,  has  treated  this  subject  almost 
exhaustively.    He  says : 

"We  cannot  then  wonder  that,  at  a 
period  when  artificers  and  artists  of  every 
class,  from  those  of  the  most  mechanical, 
to  those  of  the  most  intellectual  nature, 
formed  themselves  into  exclusive  corpora- 
tions, architects  —  whose  art  may  be  said 
to  offer  the  most  exact  medium  between 
those  of  the  most  urgent  necessity,  and 
those  of  mere  ornament,  or,  indeed,  in  its 
wide  span  to  embrace  both — should,  above 
all  others,  have  associated  themselves  into 
similar  bodies,  which,  in  conformity  to  the 
general  style  of  such  corporations,  assumed 
that  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and 


was  composed  of  those  members  who,  after 
a  regular  passage  through  the  different 
fixed  stages  of  apprenticeship,  were  re- 
ceived as  masters,  and  entitled  to  exercise 
the  profession  on  their  own  account. 

"  In  an  age,  however,  in  which  lay  in- 
dividuals, from  the  lowest  subject  to  the 
sovereign  himself,  seldom  built  except  for 
mere  shelter  and  safety — seldom  sought, 
nay,  rather  avoided,  in  their  dwellings  an 
elegance  which  might  lessen  their  security; 
in  which  even  the  community  collectively, 
in  its  public  and  general  capacity,  divided 
into  component  parts  less  numerous  and 
less  varied,  required  not  those  numerous 
public  edifices  which  we  possess  either  for 
business  or  pleasure;  thus,  when  neither 
domestic  nor  civic  architecture  of  any  sort 
demanded  great  ability  or  afforded  great 
employment,  churches  and  monasteries 
were  the  only  buildings  required  to  com- 
bine extent  and  elegance,  and  sacred  archi- 
tecture alone  could  furnish  an  extensive 
field  for  the  exercise  of  great  skill,  Lom- 
bardy itself,  opulent  and  thriving  as  it  was, 
compared  to  other  countries,  soon  became 
nearly  saturated  with  the  requisite  edifices, 
and  unable  to  give  these  companies  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons  a  longer  con- 
tinuance of  sufficient  custom,  or  to  render 
the  further  maintenance  of  their  exclusive 
privileges  of  great  benefit  to  them  at  home. 
But  if,  to  the  south  of  the  Alps,  an  earlier 
civilization  had  at  last  caused  the  number 
of  architects  to  exceed  that  of  new  build- 
ings wanted,  it  fared  otherwise  in  the  north 
of  Europe,  where  a  gradually  spreading 
Christianity  began  on  every  side  to  produce 
a  want  of  sacred  edifices,  of  churches  and 
monasteries,  to  design  which  architects 
existed  not  on  the  spot. 

"  Those  Italian  corporations  of  builders, 
therefore,  whose  services  ceased  to  be  nec- 
essary in  the  countries  where  they  had 
arisen,  now  began  to  look  abroad  towards 
those  northern  climes  for  that  employment 
which  they  no  longer  found  at  home: 
and  a  certain  number  united  and  formed 
themselves  into  a  single  greater  association, 
or  fraternity,  which  proposed  to  seek  for 
occupation  beyond  its  native  land;  and  in 
any  ruder  foreign  region,  however  remote, 
where  new  religious  edifices  and  skilful 
artists  to  erect  them,  were  wanted  to  offer 
their  services,  and  bend  their  steps  to  un- 
dertake the  work." 

From  Lombardy  they  passed  beyond  the 
Alps  into  all  the  countries  where  Chris- 
tianity, but  recently  established,  required 
the  erection  of  churches.  The  popes  en- 
couraged their  designs,  and  more  than  one 
bull  was  dispatched,  conferring  on  them 
privileges  of  the  most  extensive  character. 
A  monopoly  was  granted  to  them  for  the 


824 


TRAVELLING 


TRAVELLING 


erection  of  all  religious  edifices ;  they  were 
declared  independent  of  the  sovereigns  in 
whose  dominions  they  might  be  temporarily 
residing,  and  subject  only  to  their  own  pri- 
vate laws ;  they  were  permitted  to  regulate 
the  amount  of  their  wages;  were  exempted 
from  all  kinds  of  taxation ;  and  no  Mason, 
not  belonging  to  their  association,  was  per- 
mitted to  compete  with  or  oppose  them  in 
the  pursuit  of  employment.  And  in  one 
of  the  papal  decrees  on  the  subject  of  these 
artisans,  the  supreme  pontiff  declares  that 
these  regulations  have  been  made  "after 
the  example  of  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  when 
he  sent  artisans  to  King  Solomon  for  the 
purpose  of  building  the  Temple  of  Jeru- 
salem." 

After  filling  the  continent  with  cathe- 
drals, parochial  churches,  and  monasteries, 
and  increasing  their  own  numbers  by  ac- 
cessions of  new  members  from  all  the 
countries  in  which  they  had  been  laboring, 
they  passed  over  into  England,  and  there 
introduced  their  peculiar  style  of  building. 
Thence  they  travelled  to  Scotland,  and 
there  have  rendered  their  existence  ever 
memorable  by  establishing,  in  the  parish  of 
Kilwinning,  where  they  were  erecting  an 
abbey,  the  germ  of  Scottish  Freemasonry, 
which  has  regularly  descended  through  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland  to  the  present 
day. 

Mr.  Hope  accounts  for  the  introduction 
of  non-working  or  unprofessional  members 
into  these  associations  by  a  theory  which 
is  confirmed  by  contemporary  history.  He 
says: 

"  Often  obliged,  from  regions  the  most 
distant,  singly  to  seek  the  common  place 
of  rendezvous  and  departure  of  the  troop, 
or  singly  to  follow  its  earlier  detachments 
to  places  of  employment  equally  distant; 
and  that,  at  an  era  when  travellers  met  on 
the  road  every  obstruction,  and  no  conven- 
ience, when  no  inns  existed  at  which  to 
purchase  hospitality,  but  lords  dwelt  every- 
where, who  only  prohibited  their  tenants 
from  waylaying  the  traveller  because  they 
considered  this,  like  killing  game,  one  of 
their  own  exclusive  privileges;  the  mem- 
bers of  these  communities  contrived  to 
render  their  journeys  more  easy  and  safe, 
by  engaging  with  each  other,  and  perhaps 
even,  in  many  places,  with  individuals  not 
directly  participating  in  their  profession, 
in  compacts  of  mutual  assistance,  hospi- 
tality and  good  services,  most  valuable  to 
men  so  circumstanced.  They  endeavored 
to  compensate  for  the  perils  which  attended 
their  expeditions,  by  institutions  for  their 
needy  or  disabled  brothers ;  but  lest  such 
as  belonged  not  to  their  communities  should 
benefit  surreptitiously  by  these  arrange- 
ments for  its  advantage,  they  framed  signs 


of  mutual  recognition,  as  carefully  con- 
cealed from  the  knowledge  of  the  uninitia- 
ted, as  the  mysteries  of  their  art  themselves. 
Thus  supplied  with  whatever  could  facili- 
tate such  distant  journeys  and  labors  as 
they  contemplated,  the  members  of  these 
corporations  were  ready  to  obey  any  sum- 
mons with  the  utmost  alacrity,  and  they 
soon  received  the  encouragement  they  an- 
ticipated. The  militia  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  which  diffused  itself  all  over  Europe 
in  the  shape  of  missionaries,  to  instruct 
nations,  and  to  establish  their  allegiance  to 
the  Pope,  took  care  not  only  to  make  them 
feel  the  want  of  churches  and  monasteries, 
but  likewise  to  learn  the  manner  in  which 
the  want  might  be  supplied.  Indeed,  they 
themselves  generally  undertook  the  supply; 
and  it  may  be  asserted,  that  a  new  apostle 
of  the  Gospel  no  sooner  arrived  in  the  re- 
motest corner  of  Europe,  either  to  convert 
the  inhabitants  to  Christianity,  or  to  intro- 
duce among  them  a  new  religious  order, 
than  speedily  followed  a  tribe  of  itinerant 
Freemasons  to  back  him,  and  to  provide 
the  inhabitants  with  the  necessary  places 
of  worship  or  reception. 

"  Thus  ushered  in,  by  their  interior  ar- 
rangements assured  of  assistance  and  of 
safety  on  the  road,  and,  by  the  bulls  of  the 
Pope  and  the  support  of  his  ministers 
abroad,  of  every  species  of  immunity  and 
preference  at  the  place  of  their  destination, 
bodies  of  Freemasons  dispersed  themselves 
in  every  direction,  every  day  began  to  ad- 
vance further,  and  to  proceed  from  country 
to  country,  to  the  utmost  verge  of  the  faith- 
ful, in  order  to  answer  the  increasing  de- 
mand for  them,  or  to  seek  more  distant 
custom." 

The  government  of  these  fraternities, 
wherever  they  might  be  for  the  time  lo- 
cated, was  very  regular  and  uniform.  When 
about  to  commence  the  erection  of  a  reli- 
gious edifice,  they  first  built  huts,  or,  as  they 
were  termed,  lodges,  in  the  vicinity,  in 
which  they  resided  lor  the  sake  of  economy 
as  well  as  convenience.  It  is  from  these 
that  the  present  name  of  our  places  of  meet- 
ing is  derived.  Over  every  ten  men  was 
placed  a  warden,  who  paid  them  wages,  and 
took  care  that  there  should  be  no  needless 
expenditure  of  materials  and  no  careless 
loss  of  implements.  Over  the  whole,  a  sur- 
veyor or  master,  called  in  their  old  docu- 
ments "magister,"  presided,  and  directed 
the  general  Tabor. 

The  Abbe  Grandidier,  in  a  letter  at  the 
end  of  the  Marquis  Luchet's  Essai  sur  les 
Illumines,  has  quoted  from  the  ancient 
register  of  the  Masons  at  Strasburg  the  reg- 
ulations of  the  association  which  built  the 
splendid  cathedral  of  that  city.  Its  great 
rarity  renders  it  difficult  to  obtain  a  sight 


TRAVELLING 


TRAVELLING 


825 


of  the  original  work,  but  the  Histoire  Pit- 
toresque  of  Clavel  supplies  the  most  promi- 
nent details  of  all  that  Grandidier  has  pre- 
served. The  cathedral  of  Strasburg  was 
commenced  in  the  year  1277,  under  the 
direction  of  Erwin  of  Steinbach.  The 
Masons  who,  under  his  directions,  were 
engaged  in  the  construction,  of  this  noblest 
specimen  of  the  Gothic  style  of  architec- 
ture, were  divided  into  the  separate  ranks 
of  Masters,  Craftsmen,  and  Apprentices. 
The  place  where  they  assembled  was  called 
a  "  hutte,"  a  German  word  equivalent  to 
our  English  term  lodge.  They  employed 
the  implements  of  masonry  as  emblems, 
and  wore  them  as  insignia.  They  had  cer- 
tain signs  and  words  of  recognition,  and 
received  their  new  members  with  peculiar 
and  secret  ceremonies,  admitting,  as  has 
already  been  said,  many  eminent  persons, 
and  especially  ecclesiastics,  who  were  not 
Operative  Masons,  but  who  gave  to  them 
their  patronage  and  protection. 

The  fraternity  of  Strasburg  became  cele- 
brated throughout  Germany,  their  supe- 
riority was  acknowledged  by  the  kindred 
associations,  and  they  in  time  received  the 
appellation  of  the  "  haupt  hutte,"  or  Grand 
Lodge,  and  exercised  supremacy  over  the 
hutten  of  Suabia,  Hesse,  Bavaria,  Franconia, 
Saxony,  Thuringia,  and  the  countries  bor- 
dering on  the  river  Moselle.  The  Masters 
of  these  several  Lodges  assembled  at  Ratis- 
bon  in  1459,  and  on  the  25th  of  April  con- 
tracted an  act  of  union,  declaring  the  chief 
of  the  Strasburg  Cathedral  the  only  and 
perpetual  Grand  Master  of  the  General 
Fraternity  of  Freemasons  of  Germany. 
This  act  of  union  was  definitively  adopted 
and  promulgated  at  a  meeting  held  soon 
afterwards  at  Strasburg. 

Similar  institutions  existed  in  France 
and  in  Switzerland,  for  wherever  Chris- 
tianity had  penetrated,  there  churches  and 
cathedrals  were  to  be  built,  and  the  Travel- 
ing Freemasons  hastened  to  undertake  the 
labor. 

They  entered  England  and  Scotland  at 
an  early  period.  Whatever  may  be  thought 
of  the  authenticity  of  the  York  and  Kil- 
winning legends,  there  is  ample  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  organized  associations, 
gilds,  or  corporations  of  Operative  Masons 
at  an  epoch  not  long  after  their  departure 
from  Lombardy.  From  that  period,  the 
fraternity,  with  various  intermissions,  con- 
tinued to  pursue  their  labors,  and  con- 
structed many  edifices  which  still  remain 
as  monuments  of  their  skill  as  workmen 
and  their  taste  as  architects.  Kings,  in 
many  instances,  became  their  patrons,  and 
their  labors  were  superintended  by  power- 
ful noblemen  and  eminent  prelates,  who, 
for  this  purpose,  were  admitted  as  members 
5D 


of  the  fraternity.  Many  of  the  old  Charges 
for  the  better  government  of  their  Lodges 
have  been  preserved,  and  are  still  to  be 
found  in  our  Books  of  Constitutions,  every 
line  of  which  indicates  that  they  were  orig- 
inally drawn  up  for  associations  strictly  and 
exclusively  operative  in  their  character. 

In  glancing  over  the  history  of  this  sin- 
gular body  of  architects,  we  are  struck  with 
several  important  peculiarities. 

In  the  first  place,  they  were  strictly  eccle- 
siastical in  their  constitution.  The  Pope, 
the  supreme  pontiff  of  the  Church,  was 
their  patron  and  protector.  They  were 
supported  and  encouraged  by  bishops  and 
abbots,  and  hence  their  chief  employment 
appears  to  have  been  in  the  construction 
of  religious  edifices.  Like  their  ancestors, 
who  were  engaged  in  the  erection  of  the 
magnificent  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  they  de- 
voted themselves  to  labor  for  the  "  House 
of  the  Lord."  Masonry  was  then,  as  it  had 
been  before,  and  has  ever  been  since,  inti- 
mately connected  with  religion. 

They  were  originally  all  operatives.  But 
the  artisans  of  that  period  were  not  edu- 
cated men,  and  they  were  compelled  to  seek 
among  the  clergy,  the  only  men  of  learn- 
ing, for  those  whose  wisdom  might  con- 
trive, and  whose  cultivated  taste  might 
adorn,  the  plans  which  they,  by  their  prac- 
tical skill,  were  to  carry  into  effect.  Hence 
the  germ  of  that  Speculative  Masonry 
which,  once  dividing  the  character  of  the 
fraternity  with  the  Operative,  now  com- 
pletely occupies  it,  to  the  entire  exclusion 
of  the  latter. 

But  lastly,  from  the  circumstance  of  their 
union  and  concert  arose  a  uniformity  of 
design  in  all  the  public  buildings  of  that 
period  —  a  uniformity  so  remarkable  as  to 
find  its  explanation  only  in  the  fact,  that 
their  construction  was  committed  through- 
out the  whole  of  Europe,  if  not  always  to 
the  same  individuals,  at  least  to  members 
of  the  same  association.  The  remarks  of 
Mr.  Hope  on  this  subject  are  well  worthy 
of  perusal.  "The  architects  of  all  the 
sacred  edifices  of  the  Latin  church,  wher- 
ever such  arose,  —  north,  south,  east,  or 
west,  — thus  derived  their  science  from  the 
same  central  school ;  obeyed  in  their  de- 
signs the  same  hierarchy ;  were  directed  in 
their  constructions  by  the  same  principles 
of  propriety  and  taste ;  kept  up  with  each 
other,  in  the  most  distant  parts  to  which 
they  might  be  sent,  the  most  constant  cor- 
respondence ;  and  rendered  every  minute 
improvement  the  property  of  the  whole 
body  and  a  new  conquest  of  the  art.  The 
result  of  this  unanimity  was,  that  at  each 
successive  period  of  the  monastic  dynasty, 
on  whatever  point  a  new  church  or  new 
monastery  might  be  erected,  it  resembled 


826 


TRAVELLING 


TRESTLE-BOARD 


all  those  raised  at  the  same  period  in  every 
other  place,  however  distant  from  it,  as  if 
both  had  been  built  in  the  same  place  by 
the  same  artist.  For  instance,  we  find,  at 
particular  epochs,  churches  as  far  distant 
from  each  other  as  the  north  of  Scotland 
and  the  south  of  Italy,  to  be  minutely 
similar  in  all  the  essential  characteristics." 

In  conclusion,  we  may  remark,  that  the 
world  is  indebted  to  this  association  for  the 
introduction  of  the  Gothic,  or,  as  it  has 
lately  been  denominated,  the  pointed  style 
of  architecture.  This  style  —  so  different 
from  the  Greek  or  Roman  orders,  whose 
pointed  arches  and  minute  tracery  distin- 
guish the  solemn  temples  of  the  olden 
time,  and  whose  ruins  arrest  the  attention 
and  claim  the  admiration  of  the  spectator 
—  has  been  universally  acknowledged  to  be 
the  invention  of  the  Travelling  Freemasons 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

And  it  is  to  this  association  of  Op- 
erative artists  that,  by  gradual  changes 
into  a  speculative  system,  we  are  to  trace 
the  Freemasons  of  the  present  day. 

Travelling  Warrants.  Warrants 
under  which  military  Lodges  are  organized, 
and  so  called  because  the  Lodges  which  act 
under  them  are  permitted  to  travel  from 
place  to  place  with  the  regiments  to  which 
they  are  attached.    See  Military  Lodges. 

Travenol,  Louis.  A  zealous  and 
devoted  French  Mason  of  much  ability, 
who  wrote  several  Masonic  works,  which 
were  published  under  the  assumed  name 
of  Leonard  Gabanon.  The  most  valuable 
of  his  productions  is  one  entitled,  Cate- 
chisme  des  Francs- Macons,  precede"  d'un 
Abrege  de  VHistoire  d'Adoram,  etc.,  pub- 
lished at  Paris  in  1743. 

Treasure,  Incomparable.  This 
was  a  phrase  of  mystical  import  with  the 
alchemists  and  hermetic  philosophers.  Per- 
netty  (Dictionnaire  Mytho-Hermetique)  thus 
defines  it.  "The  incomparable  treasure 
is  the  powder  of  projection,  the  source 
of  all  that  is  good,  since  it  procures  un- 
bounded riches,  and  a  long  life,  without  in- 
firmities, to  enjoy  them."  The  "powder 
of  projection"  was  the  instrument  by 
which  they  expected  to  attain  to  the  full 
perfection  of  their  work.  What  was  this 
incomparable  treasure  was  the  great  secret 
of  the  hermetic  philosophers.  They  con- 
cealed the  true  object  of  their  art  under  a 
symbolic  language.  "  Believest  thou,  O 
fool,"  says  Artephius,  one  of  them,  "  that 
we  plainly  teach  this  secret  of  secrets, 
taking  our  words  according  to  their  literal 
signification?"  But  we  do  know  that  it 
was  not,  as  the  world  supposed,  the  trans- 
mutation of  metals,  or  the  discovery  of  an 
elixir  of  life,  but  the  acquisition  of  divine 
truth. 


Many  of  the  high  degrees  which  were 
fabricated  in  the  last  century  were  founded 
on  the  hermetic  philosophy;  and  they,  too, 
borrowed  from  it  the  idea  of  an  incompar- 
able treasure.  Thus  in  the  ultimate  degree 
of  the  Council  of  Emperors  of  the  East 
and  West,  which  degree  became  afterwards 
the  Sublime  Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret  of 
the  Scottish  Rite,  we  find  this  very  expres- 
sion. In  the  old  French  rituals  we  meet 
with  this  sentence :  "  Let  us  now  offer  to 
the  invincible  Xerxes  our  sacred  incom- 
parable treasure,  and  we  shall  succeed  vic- 
toriously." And  out  of  the  initial  letters 
of  the  words  of  this  sentence  in  the  orig- 
inal French  they  fabricated  the  three  most 
important  words  of  the  degree. 

This  "  incomparable  treasure  "  is  to  the 
Masons  precisely  what  it  was  to  the  her- 
metic philosophers  — Divine  Truth.  "As  for 
the  Treasure,"  says  one  of  these  books,  (the 
Lumen  de  Lumine,  cited  by  Hitchcock,)  "  it 
is  not  yet  discovered,  but  it  is  very  near." 

Treasurer.  An  officer,  found  in  all 
Masonic  bodies,  whose  duty  it  is  to  take 
charge  of  the  funds  and  pay  them  out 
under  proper  regulations.  He  is  simply 
the  banker  of  the  Lodge  or  Chapter,  and 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  collection  of 
money,  which  should  be  made  by  the  Sec- 
retary. He  is  an  elective  officer.  The 
Treasurer's  jewel  is  a  key,  as  a  symbol  that 
he  controls  the  chest  of  the  Lodge.  His 
position  in  the  Lodge  is  on  the  right  of  the 
Worshipful  Master,  in  front. 

Treasurer,  Grand.  See  Grand 
Treasurer. 

Treasurer,  Hermetic.  {Tresorier 
hermetique.)  A  degree  in  the  manuscript 
collection  of  Peuvret.  This  collection  con- 
tains eight  other  degrees  with  a  similar 
title,  namely:  Illustrious  Treasurer,  Treas- 
urer of  Paracelsus,  Treasurer  of  Solomon, 
Treasurer  of  the  Masonic  Mysteries,  Treas- 
urer of  the  Number  7,  Sublime  Treasurer, 
Depositor  of  the  Key  of  the  Grand  Work, 
and,  lastly,  one  with  the  grandiloquent 
title  of  Grand  and  Sublime  Treasurer,  or 
Depositor  of  the  Great  Solomon,  Faithful 
Guardian  of  Jehovah. 

Trestle-Board.  The  trestle-board  is 
defined  to  be  the  board  upon  which  the 
Master  inscribes  the  designs  by  which  the 
Craft  are  to  be  directed  in  their  labors. 
The  French  and  German  Masons  have  con- 
founded the  trestle-board  with  the  tracing- 
board  ;  and  Dr.  Oliver  (Landm.,  i.  132,)  has 
not  avoided  the  error.  The  two  things 
are  entirely  different.  The  trestle  is  a 
framework  for  a  table  —  in  Scotch,  trest; 
the  trestle-board  is  the  board  placed  for  con- 
venience of  drawing  on  that  frame.  It  con- 
tains nothing  but  a  few  diagrams,  usually 
geometrical  figures.    The  tracing-board  is  a 


TRESTLE-BOARD 


TRIAD 


827 


picture  formerly  drawn  on  the  floor  of  the 
Lodge,  whence  it  was  called  a  floor-cloth 
or  carpet.  It  contains  a  delineation  of  the 
symbols  of  the  degree  to  which  it  belongs. 
The  trestle-board  is  to  be  found  only  in  the 
Entered  Apprentice's  degree.  There  is  a 
tracing-board,  in  every  degree,  from  the  first 
to  the  highest.  And,  lastly,  the  trestle-board 
is  a  symbol ;  the  tracing-board  is  a  piece  of 
furniture  or  picture  containing  the  repre- 
sentation of  many  symbols. 


®liftt 


S 


It  is  probable  that  the  trestle-board,  from 
its  necessary  use  in  Operative  Masonry, 
was  one  of  the  earliest  symbols  introduced 
into  the  Speculative  system.  It  is  not, 
however,  mentioned  in  the  Grand  Mys- 
tery, published  in  1724.  But  Prichard, 
who  wrote  only  six  years  afterwards,  de- 
scribes it,  under  the  corrupted  name  of 
trasel-board,  as  one  of  the  immovable  jewels 
of  an  Apprentice's  Lodge.  Browne,  in  1800, 
following  Preston,  fell  into  the  error  of 
calling  it  a  tracing-board,  and  gives  from 
the  Prestonian  lecture  what  he  terms  "  a 
beautiful  degree  of  comparison,"  in  which 
the  Bible  is  compared  to  a  tracing-board. 
But  the  Bible  is  not  a  collection  of  sym- 
bols, which  a  tracing-board  is,  but  a  tres- 
tle-board that  contains  the  plan  for  the 
construction  of  a  spiritual  temple.  Webb, 
however,  when  he  arranged  his  system  of 
lectures,  took  the  proper  view,  and  restored 
the  true  word,  trestle-board. 

Notwithstanding  these  changes  in  the 
name,  trestle-board,  trasel-board,  tracing- 
board,  and  trestle-board  again,  the  defini- 
tion has  continued  from  the  earliest  part 
of  the  last  century  to  the  present  day  the 
same.  It  has  always  been  enumerated 
among  the  jewels  of  the  Lodge,  although 
the  English  system  says  that  it  is  immov- 
able and  the  American  movable ;  and  it 
has  always  been  defined  as  "  a  board  for 
the  master  workman  to  draw  his  designs 
upon." 

In  Operative  Masonry,  the  trestle-board 
is  of  vast  importance.  It  was  on  such  an 
implement  that  the  genius  of  the  ancient 
masters  worked  out  those  problems  of 
architecture  that  have  reflected  an  unfad- 
ing lustre  on  their  skill.  The  trestle-board 
was  the  cradle  that  nursed  the  infancy  of 
such  mighty  monuments  as  the  cathedrals 


of  Strasburg  and  Cologne ;  and  as  they  ad- 
vanced in  stature,  the  trestle-board  became 
the  guardian  spirit  that  directed  their 
growth.  Often  have  those  old  builders 
pondered  by  the  midnight  lamp  upon  their 
trestle-board,  working  out  its  designs  with 
consummate  taste  and  knowledge,  —  here 
springing  an  arch,  and  turning  an  angle 
there,  until  the  embryo  edifice  stood  forth 
in  all  the  wisdom,  strength,  and  beauty  of 
the  Master's  art. 

What,  then,  is  its  true  symbolism  in 
Speculative  Masonry  ? 

To  construct  his  earthly  temple,  the  Op- 
erative Mason  followed  the  architectural 
designs  laid  down  on  the  trestle-board,  or 
book  of  plans  of  the  architect.  By  these  he 
hewed  and  squared  his  materials ;  by  these 
he  raised  his  walls ;  by  these  he  constructed 
his  arches ;  and  by  these  strength  and  dura- 
bility, combined  with  grace  and  beauty, 
were  bestowed  upon  the  edifice  which  he 
was  constructing. 

In  the  Masonic  ritual,  the  Speculative 
Mason  is  reminded  that,  as  the  Operative 
artist  erects  his  temporal  building  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  rules  and  designs  laid 
down  on  the  trestle-board  of  the  master 
workman,  so  should  he  erect  that  spiritual 
building,  of  which  the  material  is  a  type,  in 
obedience  to  the  rules  and  designs,  the  pre- 
cepts and  commands,  laid  down  by  the 
Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe  in  those 
great  books  of  nature  and  revelation  which 
constitute  the  spiritual  trestle -board  of 
every  Freemason. 

The  trestle-board  is  then  the  symbol  of 
the  natural  and  moral  law.  Like  every 
other  symbol  of  the  Order,  it  is  universal 
and  tolerant  in  its  application;  and  while, 
as  Christian  Masons,  we  cling  with  unfal- 
tering integrity  to  the  explanation  which 
makes  the  Scriptures  of  both  dispensations 
our  trestle-board,  we  permit  our  Jewish  and 
Mohammedan  brethren  to  content  them- 
selves with  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
or  Koran.  Masonry  does  not  interfere  with 
the  peculiar  form  or  development  of  any 
one's  religious  faith.  All  that  it  asks  is 
that  the  interpretation  of  the  symbol  shall 
be  according  to  what  each  one  supposes  to 
be  the  revealed  will  of  bis  Creator.  But 
so  rigidly  exacting  is  it  that  the  symbol 
shall  be  preserved  and,  in  some  rational 
way,  interpreted,  that  it  peremptorily  ex- 
cludes the  atheist  from  its  communion,  be- 
cause, believing  in  no  Supreme  Being — no 
Divine  Architect —  he  must  necessarily  be 
without  a  spiritual  trestle-board  on  which 
the  designs  of  that  Being  may  be  inscribed 
for  his  direction. 

Triad.  In  all  the  ancient  mythologies 
there  were  triads,  which  consisted  of  a  mys- 
terious union  of  three  deities.    Each  triad 


828 


TRIAD 


TRIALS 


was  generally  explained  as  consisting  of  a 
creator,  a  preserver,  and  a  destroyer.  The 
principal  neathen  triads  were  as  follows : 
the  Egyptian,  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Horus ;  the 
Orphic,  Phanes,  Uranus,  and  Kronos;  the 
Zoroastric,  Ormuzd,  Mithras,  and  Ahriman ; 
the  Indian,  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva; 
the  Cabiric,  Axercos,  Axiokersa,  and  Axi- 
okersos ;  the  Phoenician,  Ashtaroth,  Milcom, 
and  Chemosh;  the  Tyrian,  Belus,  Venus, 
and  Thammuz;  the  Grecian,  Zeus,  Poseidon, 
and  Hades;  the  Roman,  Jupiter,  Neptune, 
and  Pluto ;  the  Eleusinian,  lacchus,  Per- 
sephone, and  Demeter ;  the  Platonic,  Taga- 
thon,  Nous,  and  Psyche;  the  Celtic,  Hu, 
Ceridwen,  and  Creirwy;  the  Teutonic, 
Fenris,  Midgard,  and  Hela;  the  Gothic, 
Woden,  Friga,  and  Thor;  and  the  Scan- 
dinavians, Odin,  Vile,  and  Ve.  Even  the 
Mexicans  had  their  triads,  which  were 
Vitzliputzli,  Kaloc,  and  Tescalipuca. 
This  system  of  triads  has,  indeed,  been  so 

Eredominant  in  all  the  old  religions,  as  to 
e  invested  with  a  mystical  idea ;  and  hence 
it  has  become  the  type  in  Masonry  of  the 
triad  of  three  governing  officers,  who  are  to 
be  found  in  almost  every  degree.  The 
Master  and  the  two  Wardens  in  the  Lodge 
give  rise  to  the  Priest,  the  King,  and  the 
Scribe  in  the  Royal  Arch ;  to  the  Com- 
mander, the  Generalissimo,  and  the  Captain 
General  in  Templarism ;  and  in  most  of 
the  high  degrees  to  a  triad  of  three  who 
preside  under  various  names. 

We  must,  perhaps,  look  for  the  origin  of 
the  triads  in  mythology,  as  we  certainly 
must  in  Masonry,  to  the  three  positions  and 
functions  of  the  sun.  The  rising  sun  or 
creator  of  light,  the  meridian  sun  or  its 
preserver,  and  the  setting  sun  or  its  de- 
stroyer. 

Triad  Society  of  China.  The  San 
Hop  Hwai,  or  Triad  Society,  is  a  secret  po- 
litical association  in  China,  which  has  been 
mistaken  by  some  writers  for  a  species  of 
Chinese  Freemasonry;  but  it  has  in  reality 
no  connection  whatsoever  with  the  Masonic 
Order.  In  its  principles,  which  are  far 
from  innocent,  it  is  entirely  antagonistic  to 
Freemasonry.  The  Deputy  Provincial 
Grand  Master  of  British  Masonry  in  China 
made  a  statement  to  this  effect  in  1855, 
in  Notes  and  Queries,  1st  Ser.,  vol.  xii., 
p.  233. 

Trials,  Masonic.  As  the  only  ob- 
ject of  a  trial  should  be  to  seek  the  truth 
and  fairly  to  administer  justice,  in  a  Ma- 
sonic trial,  especially,  no  recourse  should 
ever  be  had  to  legal  technicalities,  whose 
use  in  ordinary  courts  appears  simply  to  be 
to  afford  a  means  of  escape  for  the  guilty. 

Masonic  trials  are,  therefore,  to  be  con- 
ducted in  the  simplest  and  least  technical 
method,  that  will   preserve  at  once   the 


rights  of  the  Order  and  of  the  accused, 
and  which  will  enable  the  Lodge  to  obtain 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  the  facts  in 
the  case.  The  rules  to  be  observed  in  con- 
ducting such  trials  have  been  already  laid 
down  by  me  in  my  Text  Book  of  Jurispru- 
dence, (pp.  558-564,)  and  I  shall  refer  to 
them  in  the  present  article.  They  are  as 
follows : 

1.  The  preliminary  step  in  every  trial  is 
the  accusation  or  charge.  The  charge 
should  always  be  made  in  writing,  signed 
by  the  accuser,  delivered  to  the  Secretary, 
and  read  by  that  officer  at  the  next  regular 
communication  of  the  Lodge.  The  ac- 
cused should  then  be  furnished  with  an 
attested  copy  of  the  charge,  and  be  at  the 
same  time  informed  of  the  time  and  place 
appointed  by  the  Lodge  for  the  trial. 

Any  Master  Mason  may  be  the  accuser 
of  another,  but  a  profane  cannot  be  per- 
mitted to  prefer  charges  against  a  Mason. 
Yet,  if  circumstances  are  known  to  a  pro- 
fane upon  which  charges  ought  to  be  pre- 
dicated, a  Master  Mason  may  avail  himself 
of  that  information,  and  out  of  it  frame  an 
accusation,  to  be  presented  to  the  Lodge. 
And  such  accusation  will  be  received  and 
investigated,  although  remotely  derived 
from  one  who  is  not  a  member  of  the  Order. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  accuser  should 
be  a  member  of  the  same  Lodge.  It  is 
sufficient  if  he  is  an  affiliated  Mason.  I 
say  an  affiliated  Mason  ;  for  it  is  generally 
held,  and  I  believe  correctly,  that  an  un- 
affiliated Mason  is  no  more  competent  to 
prefer  charges  than  a  profane. 

2.  If  the  accused  is  living  beyond  the 
geographical  jurisdiction  of  the  Lodge,  the 
charges  should  be  communicated  to  him  by 
means  of  a  letter  through  the  post-office, 
and  a  reasonable  time  should  be  allowed 
for  his  answer,  before  the  Lodge  proceeds 
to  trial.  But  if  his  residence  be  unknown, 
or  if  it  be  impossible  to  hold  communica- 
tion with  him,  the  Lodge  may  then  proceed 
to  trial  —  care  being  had  that  no  undue 
advantage  be  taken  of  his  absence,  and 
that  the  investigation  be  as  full  and  impar- 
tial as  the  nature  of  the  circumstances  will 
permit. 

3.  The  trial  must  commence  at  a  regular 
communication,  for  reasons  which  have 
already  been  stated;  but  having  com- 
menced, it  may  be  continued  at  special 
communications,  called  for  that  purpose; 
for,  if  it  was  allowed  only  to  be  continued 
at  regular  meetings,  which  take  place  but 
once  a  month,  the  long  duration  of  time 
occupied  would  materially  tend  to  defeat 
the  ends  of  justice. 

4.  The  Lodge  must  be  opened  in  the 
highest  degree  to  which  the  accuser  has  at- 
tained, and  the  examinations  of  all  wit- 


TRIALS 


TRIANGLE 


829 


nesses  must  take  place  in  the  presence  of 
the  accused  and  the  accuser,  if  they  desire 
it.  It  is  competent  for  the  accused  to  em- 
ploy counsel  for  the  better  protection  of  his 
interests,  provided  such  counsel  is  a  Master 
Mason.  But  if  the  counsel  be  a  member 
of  the  Lodge,  he  forfeits,  by  his  professional 
advocacy  of  the  accused,  the  right  to  vote 
at  the  final  decision  of  the  question. 

5.  The  final  decision  of  the  charge,  and 
the  rendering  of  the  verdict,  whatever  be 
the  rank  of  the  accused,  must  always  be 
made  in  a  Lodge  opened  on  the  third  de- 
gree; and  at  the  time  of  such  decision, 
both  the  accuser  and  the  accused,  as  well 
as  his  counsel,  if  he  have  any,  should  with- 
draw from  the  Lodge. 

6.  It  is  a  general  and  an  excellent  rule, 
that  no  visitors  shall  be  permitted  to  be 
present  during  a  trial. 

7.  The  testimony  of  Master  Masons  is 
usually  taken  on  their  honor,  as  such. 
That  of  others  should  be  by  affidavit,  or  in 
such  other  manner  as  both  the  accuser  and 
accused  may  agree  upon. 

8.  The  testimony  of  profanes,  or  of  those 
who  are  of  a  lower  degree  than  the  accused, 
is  to  be  taken  by  a  committee  and  reported 
to  the  Lodge,  or,  if  convenient,  by  the 
whole  Lodge,  when  closed  and  sitting  as 
a  committee.  But  both  the  accused  and 
the  accuser  have  a  right  to  be  present  on 
such  occasions. 

9.  When  the  trial  is  concluded,  the  ac- 
cuser and  the  accused  must  retire,  and  the 
Master  will  then  put  the  question  of  guilty, 
or  not  guilty,  to  the  Lodge. 

Not  less  than  two-thirds  of  the  votes 
should  be  required  to  declare  the  accused 
guilty.  A  bare  majority  is  hardly  sufficient 
to  divest  a  brother  of  his  good  character, 
and  render  him  subject  to  what  may  per- 
haps be  an  ignominious  punishment.  But 
on  this  subject  the  authorities  differ. 

10.  If  the  verdict  is  guilty,  the  Master 
must  then  put  the  question  as  to  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted, 
beginning  with  expulsion  and  proceeding, 
if  necessary,  to  indefinite  suspension  and 
public  and  private  reprimand.  To  inflict 
expulsion  or  suspension,  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  those  present  is  required,  but  for 
a  mere  reprimand,  a  majority  will  be  suffi- 
cient. The  votes  on  the  nature  of  the 
punishment  should  be  viva  voce,  or,  rather, 
according  to  Masonic  usage,  by  a  show  of 
hands. 

Trials  in  a  Grand  Lodge  are  to  be  con- 
ducted on  the  same  general  principles ;  but 
here,  in  consequence  of  the  largeness  of  the 
body,  and  the  inconvenience  which  would 
result  from  holding  the  examinations  in 
open  Lodge,  and  in  the  presence  of  all  the 
members,  it  is  more  usual  to  appoint  a 


committee,  before  whom  the  case  is  tried, 
and  upon  whose  full  report  of  the  testimony 
the  Grand  Lodge  bases  its  action.  And 
the  forms  of  trial  in  such  committees  must 
conform,  in  all  respects,  to  the  general 
usage  already  detailed. 

Triangle.  There  is  no  symbol  more 
important  in  its  signification,  more  various 
in  its  application,  or  more  generally  dif- 
fused throughout  the  whole  system  of  Free- 
masonry, than  the  triangle.  An  examina- 
tion of  it,  therefore,  cannot  fail  to  be  inter- 
esting to  the  Masonic  student. 

The  equilateral  triangle  appears  to  have 
been  adopted  by  nearly  all  the  nations  of 
antiquity  as  a  symbol  of  the  Deity,  in  some 
of  his  forms  or  emanations,  and  hence,  pro- 
bably, the  prevailing  influ- 
ence of  this  symbol  was  car- 
ried into  the  Jewish  system, 
where  the  yod  within  the 
triangle  was  made  to  repre- 
sent the  Tetragrammaton, 
or  sacred  name  of  God. 

The  equilateral  triangle,  says  Bro.  D.  W. 
Nash,  (Freem.  Mag.,  iv.  294,)  "  viewed  in 
the  light  of  the  doctrines  of  those  who  gave 
it  currency  as  a  divine  symbol,  represents 
the  Great  First  Cause,  the  creator  and  con- 
tainer of  all  things,  as  one  and  indivisible, 
manifesting  himself  in  an  infinity  of  forms 
and  attributes  in  this  visible  universe." 

Among  the  Egyptians,  the  darkness 
through  which  the  candidate  for  initiation 
was  made  to  pass  was  symbolized  by  the 
trowel,  an  important  Masonic  implement, 
which  in  their  system  of  hieroglyphics  has 
the  form  of  a  triangle.  The  equilateral  tri- 
angle they  considered  as  the  most  perfect 
of  figures,  and  a  representative  of  the  great 
principle  of  animated  existence,  each  of  its 
sides  referring  to  one  of  the  three  depart- 
ments of  creation,  the  animal,  vegetable,  and 
mineral. 

The  equilateral  triangle  is  to  be  found 
scattered  throughout  the  Masonic  system. 
It  forms  in  the  Eoyal  Arch  the  figure 
within  which  the  jewels  of  the  officers  are 
suspended.  It  is  in  the  ineffable  degrees 
the  sacred  delta,  everywhere  presenting 
itself  as  the  symbol  of  the  Grand  Architect 
of  the  Universe.  In  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry, it  is  constantly  exhibited  as  the  ele- 
ment of  important  ceremonies.  The  seats 
of  the  principal  officers  are  arranged  in  a 
triangular  form,  the  three  lesser  lights  have 
the  same  situation,  and  the  square  and  com- 

{>ass  form,  by  their  union  on  the  greater 
ight,  two  triangles  meeting  at  their  bases. 
In  short,  the  equilateral  triangle  may  be 
considered  as  one  of  the  most  constant 
forms  of  Masonic  symbolism. 

The  right-angled  triangle  is  another  form 
of  this  figure  which  is  deserving  of  atten- 


830 


TRIANGLE 


TRIANGLE 


tion.  Among  the  Egyptians,  it  was  the 
symbol  of  universal  nature ;  the  base  repre- 
senting Osiris,  or  the  male  principle;  the 
perpendicular,  Isis,  or  the  female  principle ; 
and  the  hypothenuse,  Horus,  their  son,  or 
the  product  of  the  male  and  female  prin- 
ciple. 


Osiris-male. 


This  symbol  was  received  by  Pythagoras 
from  the  Egyptians  during  his  long  sojourn 
in  that  country,  and  with  it  he  also  learned 
the  peculiar  property  it  possessed,  namely, 
that  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  two  shorter 
sides  is  equal  to  the  square  of  the  longest 
side  —  symbolically  expressed  by  the  for- 
mula, that  the  product  of  Osiris  and  Isis  is 
Hcrus.  This  figure  has  been  adopted  in 
the  third  degree  of  Masonry,  and  will  be 
there  recognized  as  the  forty-seventh  prob- 
lem of  Euclid. 

Triangle,  Double.  See  Seal  of  Sol- 
omon and  Shield  of  David. 

Triangle  of  Pythagoras.  See 
Pentalpha. 

Triangle,  Radiated.  A  triangle 
placed  within  and  surrounded  by  a  circle 
of  rays.    This  circle  is  called,  in  Christian 


art,  "a  glory."  When  this  glory  is  dis- 
tinct from  the  triangle,  and  surrounds  it  in 
the  form  of  a  circle,  it  is  then  an  emblem 
of  God's  eternal  glory.  This  is  the  usual 
form  in  religious  uses.  But  when,  as  is 
most  usual  in  the  Masonic  symbol,  the  rays 
emanate  from  the  centre  of  the  triangle, 
and,  as  it  were,  enshroud  it  in  their  bril- 
liancy, it  is  symbolic  of  the  Divine  Light. 
The  perverted  ideas  of  the  Pagans  referred 
these  rays  of  light  to  their  sun-god  and 
their  Sabian  worship. 


But  the  true  Masonic  idea  of  this  glory 
is,  that  it  symbolizes  that  Eternal  Light 
of  Wisdom  which  surrounds  the  Supreme 
Architect  as  a  sea  of  glory,  and  from  him 
as  a  common  centre  emanates  to  the  uni- 
verse of  his  creation. 

Triangle,  Triple.  The  pentalpha, 
or  triangle  of  Pythagoras,  is  usually  called 
also  the  triple  triangle, 
because  three  triangles 
are  formed  by  the  in- 
tersection of  its  sides. 
But  there  is  another 
variety  of  the  triple  tri- 
angle which  is  more 
properly  entitled  to  the 
appellation,  and  which  is  made  in  the  an- 
nexed form. 

It  will  be  familiar  to  the  Knight  Tem- 
plar as  the  form  of  the  jewel  worn  by  the 
Prelate  of  his  Order.  Like  every  modifi- 
cation of  the  triangle,  it  is  a  symbol  of  the 
Deity ;  but  as  the  degree  of  Knight  Tem- 
plar appertains  exclusively  to  Christian 
Masonry,  the  triple  triangle  there  alludes 
%o  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity.  In  the 
Scottish  Rite  degree  of  Knight  of  the  East 
the  symbol  is  also  said  to  refer  to  the  triple 
essence  of  Deity;  but  the  symbolism  is 
made  still  more  mystical  by  supposing  that 
it  represents  the  sacred  number  81,  each 
side  of  the  three  triangles  being  equivalent 
to  9,  which  again  is  the  square  of  3,  the 
most  sacred  number  in  Freemasonry.  In 
the  twentieth  degree  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  or  that  of  "  Grand 
Master  of  all  Symbolic  Lodges,"  it  is  said 
that  the  number  81  refers  to  the  triple 
covenant  of  God,  symbolized  by  a  triple 
triangle  said  to  have  been  seen  by  Solomon 
when  he  consecrated  the  Temple.  Indeed, 
throughout  the  ineffable  and  the  philo- 
sophic degrees,  the  allusions  to  the  triple 
triangle  are  much  more  frequent  than  they 
are  in  Ancient  Craft  Masonry. 


The  Indian  trimourti,  or  triple  triangle 


TRIBE 


TRIBUNAL 


831 


of  the  Hindus,  is  of  a  different  form,  con- 
sisting of  three  concentric  triangles.  In 
the  centre  is  the  sacred  triliteral  name, 
AUM.  The  interior  triangle  symbolizes 
Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva;  the  middle 
one,  Creation,  Preservation,  and  Destruc- 
tion ;  and  the  exterior  one,  Earth,  Water, 
and  Air. 

Tribe  of  Judali,  Lion  of  the. 
The  connection  of  Solomon,  as  the  chief  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah,  with  the  lion,  which 
was  the  achievement  of  the  tribe,  has 
caused  this  expression  to  be  referred,  in  the 
third  degree,  to  him  who  brought  light  and 
immortality  to  light.  The  old  Christian 
interpretation  of  the  Masonic  symbols  here 
prevails;  and  in  Ancient  Craft  Masonry  all 
allusions  to  the  lion,  as  the  lion's  paw,  the 
lion's  grip,  etc.,  refer  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  taught  by  him  who  is  known 
as  "  the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah."  The 
expression  is  borrowed  from  the  Apoca- 
lypse, (v.  5:)  "Behold,  the  Lion  which  is  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Root  of  David,  hath 
prevailed  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the 
seven  seals  thereof."  The  lion  was  also  a 
mediaeval  symbol  of  the  resurrection,  the 
idea  being  founded  on  a  legend.  The  poets 
of  that  age  were  fond  of  referring  to  this 
legendary  symbol  in  connection  with  the 
scriptural  idea  of  the  "tribe  of  Judah." 
Thus  Adam  de  St.  Victor,  in  his  poem  De 
Resurrectione  Domini,  says : 

*  Sic  de  Juda  Leo  fortis, 
Fractis  portis  dirae  mortis 
Die  surgit  tertia, 
Rugiente  voce  Patris." 
i.  e., 

Thus  the  strong  lion  of  Judah, 
•    The  gates  of  cruel  death  being  broken, 
Arose  on  the  third  day 
At  the  loud-sounding  voice  of  the  Father. 

The  lion  was  the  symbol  of  strength  and 
sovereignty,  in  the  human-headed  figures 
of  the  Nimrod  gateway,  and  in  other  Baby- 
lonish remains.  In  Egypt,  it  was  wor- 
shipped at  the  city  of  Leontopolis  as  typi- 
cal of  Dom,  the  Egyptian  Hercules.  Plu- 
tarch says  that  the  Egyptians  ornamented 
their  temples  with  gaping  lions'  mouths, 
because  the  Nile  began  to  rise  when  the 
sun  was  in  the  constellation  Leo.  Among 
the  Talmudists  there  was  a  tradition  of  the 
lion,  which  has  been  introduced  into  the 
higher  degrees  of  Masonry. 

But  in  the  symbolism  of  Ancient  Craft 
Masonry,  where  the  lion  is  introduced,  as  in 
the  third  degree,  in  connection  with  the 
"  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,"  he  becomes 
simply  a  symbol  of  the  resurrection  ;  thus 
restoring  the  symbology  of  the  mediaeval 
ages,  which  was  founded  on  a  legend  that 
the  lion's  whelp  was  born  dead,  and  only 


brought  to  life  by  the  roaring  of  its  sire. 
Philip  de  Thaun,  in  his  Bestiary,  written 
in  the  twelfth  century,  gives  the  legend, 
which  has  thus  been  translated  by  Mr. 
Wright  from  the  original  old  Norman 
French : 

"Know  that  the  lioness,  if  she  bring 
forth  a  dead  cub,  she  holds  her  cub  and 
the  lion  arrives ;  he  goes  about  and  cries, 
till  it  revives  on  the  third  day  ....  Know 
that  the  lioness  signifies  St.  Mary,  and  the 
lion  Christ,  who  gave  himself  to  death  for 
the  people;  three  days  he  lay  in  the  earth 

to  gain  our  souls By  the  cry  of  the 

lion  they  understand  the  power  of  God,  by 
which  Christ  was  restored  to  life  and  robbed 
hell." 

The  phrase,  "  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah," 
therefore,  when  used  in  the  Masonic  ritual, 
referred  in  its  original  interpretation  to 
Christ,  him  who  "  brought  life  and  immor- 
tality to  light." 

Tribes  of  Israel.  All  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel  were  engaged  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  first  Temple.  But  long 
before  its  destruction,  ten  of  them  revolted, 
and  formed  the  nation  of  Israel ;  while  the 
remaining  two,  the  tribes  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  retained  possession  of  the  Tem- 
ple and  of  Jerusalem  under  the  name  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judah.  To  these  two  tribes 
alone,  after  the  return  from  the  captivity, 
was  intrusted  the  building  of  the  second 
Temple.  Hence  in  the  high  degrees,  which, 
of  course,  are  connected  for  the  most  part 
with  the  Temple  of  Zerubbabel,  or  with 
events  that  occurred  subsequent  to  the  de- 
struction of  that  of  Solomon,  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin  only  are  referred  to. 
But  in  the  primary  degrees,  which  are  based 
on  the  first  Temple,  the  Masonic  references 
always  are  to  the  twelve  tribes.  Hence  in 
the  old  lectures  the  twelve  original  points 
are  explained  by  a  reference  to  the  twelve 
tribes.  See  Twelve  Original  Points  of  Ma- 
sonry. 

Tribunal.  The  modern  statutes  of 
the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite  for  the  Southern 
Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  direct 
trials  of  Masonic  offences,  committed  by  any 
brethren  of  the  Rite  above  the  18th  degree, 
to  be  held  in  a  court  called  a  Tribunal  of 
the  Thirty-First  degree,  to  be  composed  of 
not  less  nor  more  than  nine  members.  An 
appeal  lies  from  such  a  Tribunal  of  Inspec- 
tors Inquisitors  to  the  Grand  Consistory 
or  the  Supreme  Council. 

Tribunal,  Supreme.  1.  The  sev- 
enty-first degree  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim. 
2.  The  meeting  of  Inquisitors  Inspectors 
of  the  thirty-first  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  according  to 
the  modern  ritual  of  the  Mother  Council. 


832 


TRILITERAL 


TROWEL 


Triliteral  Name.  The  sacred  name 
of  God  among  the  Hindus  is  so  called  be- 
cause it  consists  of  the  three  letters,  A  U  M. 
See  Aunt. 

Trinidad.  Masonry  was  introduced 
into  the  island  of  Trinidad  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Lodge  called  "  Lea  Freres 
Unis,"  under  a  Charter  from  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1797.  A  Charter 
had  been  granted  the  year  before  by  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France,  but  never  acted 
on,  in  consequence  of  the  suspension  of 
that  body  by  the  French  Revolution.  In 
1804,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
its  capitular  capacity,  granted  a  Charter  for 
a  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  which  continued  to 
meet  until  1813,  when  it  obtained  a  new 
Warrant  of  Constitution  from  the  Supreme 
Chapter  of  Scotland.  In  1814,  Templar 
Masonry  was  established  by  a  Deuchar 
Warrant  from  the  Grand  Conclave  of  Scot- 
land. In  1819,  a  Council  of  Royal  and 
Select  Masters  was  established.  Trinidad 
has  at  present  a  Provincial  Grand  Lodge 
under  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland,  and 
there  are  also  several  Lodges  under  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England. 

Trinosophs.  The  Lodge  of  the  Tri- 
nosophs  was  instituted  at  Paris  by  the  cel- 
ebrated Ragon,  October  15, 1816,  and  in- 
stalled by  the  Grand  Orient,  January  11, 
1817.  The  word  Trinosophs  is  derived  from 
the  Greek,  and  signifies  students  of  three  sci- 
ences, in  allusion  to  the  three  primitive  de- 
grees, which  were  the  especial  object  of 
study  by  the  members;  although  they 
adopted  both  the  French  and  Scottish 
Rites,  to  whose  high  degrees,  however,  they 
gave  their  own  philosophical  interpreta- 
tion. It  was  before  this  Lodge  that  Ragon 
delivered  his  Interpretative  and  Philosophic 
Course  of  Initiations.  The  Lodge  was  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  most  learned  Masons 
of  France,  and  played  an  important  part  in 
Masonic  literature.  No  Lodge  in  France 
has  obtained  so  much  celebrity  as  did  the 
Trinosophs.  It  was  connected  with  a  Chap- 
ter and  Council  in  which  the  high  degrees 
were  conferred,  but  the  Lodge  confined 
itself  to  the  three  symbolic  degrees,  which 
it  sought  to  preserve  in  the  utmost  purity. 

Triple  Alliance.  An  expression  in 
the  hign  degrees,  which,  having  been  trans- 
lated from  the  French  rituals,  should  have 
more  properly  been  the  triple  covenant.  It 
is  represented  by  the  triple  triangle,  and 
refers  to  the  covenant  of  God  with  his  peo- 
ple, that  of  King  Solomon  with  Hiram  of 
Tyre,  and  that  which  binds  the  fraternity 
of  Masons. 

Triple  Tan.  The  tau  cross,  or  cross 
of  St.  Anthony,  is  a  cross  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  T.  The  triple  tau  is  a  figure  formed  by 
three  of  these  crosses  meeting  in  a  point,  and 


therefore  resembling  a  letter  T  resting  on 
the  traverse  bar  of  an  H.  This  emblem, 
^^^^^^_  placed  in  the  centre  of  a 
^^^^^^^  triangle  and  circle — both 
emblems  of  the  Deity — con- 
I  ■  stitutes  the  jewel  of  the 

I  Royal  Arch  as  practised  in 
I^^J^^^i  England,  where  it  is  so 
^■■■■■J  highly  esteemed  as  to  be 
called  the  "  emblem  of  all 
emblems,"  and  "the  grand 
emblem  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sonry." It  was  adopted  in  the  same  form, 
as  the  Royal  Arch  badge,  by  the  General 
Grand  Chapter  of  the  United  States  in  1859 ; 
although  it  had  previously  been  very  gener- 
ally recognized  by  American  Masons.  It 
is  also  found  in  the  capitular  Masonry  of 
Scotland.    .(See  Royal  Arch  Badge.) 

The  original  signification  of  this  emblem 
has  been  variously  explained.  Some  sup- 
pose it  to  include  the  initials  of  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem,  T.  H.,  Ternplum  Hierosolymoz  ; 
others,  that  it  is  a  symbol  of  the  mystical 
union  of  the  Father  and  Son,  H  signifying 
Jehovah,  and  T,  or  the  cross,  the  Son.  A 
writer  in  Moore's  Magazine  ingeniously 
supposes  it  to  be  a  representation  of  three 
T  squares,  and  that  it  alludes  to  the  three 
jewels  of  the  three  ancient  Grand  Masters. 
It  has  also  been  said  that  it  is  the  mono- 
gram of  Hiram  of  Tyre;  and  others  assert 
that  it  is  only  a  modification  of  the  Hebrew 
letter  shin,  {£?,  which  was  one  of  the  Jewish 
abbreviations  of  the  sacred  name.  Oliver 
thinks,  from  its  connection  with  the  circle 
and  triangle  in  the  Royal  Arch  jewel,  that 
it  was  intended  to  typify  the  sacred  name 
as  the  author  of  eternal  life.  The  English 
Royal  Arch  lectures  say  that  "by  its  inter- 
section it  forms  a  given  number  of  angles 
that  may  be  taken  in  five  several  combina- 
tions ;  and,  reduced,  their  amount  in  right 
angles  will  be  found  equal  to  the  five  Pla- 
tonic bodies  which  represent  the  four  ele- 
ments and  the  sphere  of  the  Universe." 
Amid  so  many  speculations,  I  need  not  hesi- 
tate to  offer  one  of  my  own.  The  Prophet 
Ezekiel  speaks  of  the  tau  or  tau  cross  as 
the  mark  distinguishing  those  who  were 
to  be  saved,  on  account  of  their  sorrow  for 
their  sins,  from  those  who,  as  idolaters, 
were  to  be  slain.  It  was  a  mark  or  sign  of 
favorable  distinction;  and  with  this  allu- 
sion we  may,  therefore,  suppose  the  triple 
tau  to  be  used  in  the  Royal  Arch  degree  as 
a  mark  designating  and  separating  those 
who  know  and  worship  the  true  name  of 
God  from  those  who  are  ignorant  of  that 
august  mystery. 
Trivinm.  See  Quadrivium. 
Trowel.  An  implement  of  Operative 
Masonry,  which  has  been  adopted  by  spec- 
ulative Masons  as  the  peculiar  working- 


TROWEL 


TRUST 


833 


tool  of  the  Master's  degree.  By  this  im- 
plement, and  its  use  in  Operative  Masonry 
to  spread  the  cement  which  binds  all  the 
parts  of  the  building  into  one  common 
mass,  we  are  taught  to  spread  the  cement 
of  affection  and  kindness,  which  unites  all 
the  members  of  the  Masonic  family,  where- 
soever dispersed  over  the  globe,  into  one 
companionship  of  Brotherly  Love. 

This  implement  is  considered  the  appro- 
priate working-tool  of  a  Master  Mason,  be- 
cause, in  Operative  Masonry,  while  the  Ap- 
prentice is  engaged  in  preparing  the  rude 
materials,  which  require  only  the  gauge  and 
gavel  to  give  them  their  proper  shape,  the 
Fellow  Craft  places  them  in  their  proper 
position  by  means  of  the  plumb,  level,  and 
square ;  but  the  Master  Mason  alone,  hav- 
ing examined  their  correctness  and  proved 
them  true  and  trusty,  secures  them  perma- 
nently in  their  place  by  spreading,  with 
the  trowel,  the  cement  that  irrevocably 
binds  them  together. 

The  trowel  has  also  been  adopted  as  the 
jewel  of  the  Select  Master.  But  its  uses 
in  this  degree  are  not  symbolical.  They 
are  simply  connected  with  the  historical 
legend  of  the  degree. 

Trowel  and  Sword.  When  Nehe- 
miah  received  from  Artaxerxes  Longi- 
manus  the  appointment  of  Governor  of 
Judea,  and  was  permitted  to  rebuild  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  to  restore  the  city 
to  its  former  fortified  condition,  he  met 
with  great  opposition  from  the  Persian 
satraps,  who  were  envious  of  his  favor  with 
the  king,  and  from  the  heathen  inhabitants 
of  Samaria,  who  were  unwilling  to  see  the 
city  again  assume  its  pristine  importance. 
The  former  undertook  to  injure  him  with 
Artaxerxes  by  false  reports  of  his  seditious 
designs  to  restore  the  independent  kind- 
dom  of  Judea.  The  latter  sought  to  ob- 
struct the  workmen  of  Nehemiah  in  their 
labors,  and  openly  attacked  them.  Nehe- 
miah took  the  most  active  measures  to  re- 
fute the  insidious  accusations  of  the  first, 
and  to  repel  the  more  open  violence  of  the 
latter.  Josephus  says  (Antiq.,  B.  XI.,  ch. 
vi.,  §8,)  that  he  gave  orders  that  the  builders 
should  keep  their  ranks,  and  have  their 
armor  on  while  they  were  building ;  and, 
accordingly,  the  mason  had  his  sword  on 
as  well  as  he  that  brought  the  materials  for 
building. 

Zerubbabel  had  met  with  similar  opposi- 
tion from  the  Samaritans  while  rebuilding 
the  Temple;  and  although  the  events  con- 
nected with  Nehemiah's  restoration  of  the 
walls  occurred  long  after  the  completion 
of  the  second  Temple,  yet  the  Masons  have 
in  the  high  degrees  referred  them  to  the 
time  of  Zerubbabel.  Hence  in  the  fifteenth 
degree  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  or  the  Knight 
5E  63 


of  the  East,  which  refers  to  the  building 
of  the  Temple  of  Zerubbabel,  we  find  this 
combination  of  the  trowel  and  the  sword 
adopted  as  a  symbol.  The  old  ritual  of 
that  degree  says  that  Zerubbabel,  being  in- 
formed of  the  hostile  intentions  of  the  false 
brethren  from  Samaria,  "  ordered  that  all 
the  workmen  should  be  armed  with  the 
trowel  in  one  hand  and  the  sword  in  the 
other,  that  while  they  worked  with  the  one 
they  might  be  enabled  to  defend  themselves 
with  the  other,  and  ever  repulse  the  enemy 
if  they  should  dare  to  present  themselves." 

In  reference  to  this  idea,  but  not  with 
chronological  accuracy,  the  trowel  and 
sword  have  been  placed  crosswise  as  sym- 
bols on  the  tracing-board  of  the  English 
Royal  Arch. 

Oliver  correctly  interprets  the  symbol  of 
the  trowel  and  sword  as  signifying  that, 
"  next  to  obedience  to  lawful  authority,  a 
manly  and  determined  resistance  to  lawless 
violence  is  an  essential  part  of  social  duty." 

Trowel,  Society  of  the.  Vasari, 
in  his  Lives  of  the  Painters  and  Sculptors 
(life  of  G.  F.  Rustici),  says  that  about  the 
year  1512  there  was  established  at  Florence 
an  association  which  counted  among  its 
members  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
and  learned  inhabitants  of  the  city.  It 
was  the  "  Societa  della  Cucchiara,"  or  the 
Society  of  the  Trowel.  Vasari  adds  that  its 
symbols  were  the  trowel,  the  hammer,  the 
square,  and  the  level,  and  had  for  its  patron 
St.  Andrew,  which  makes  Reghellini  think, 
rather  illogically,  that  it  had  some  relation 
to  the  Scottish  Rite.  Lenning,  too,  says 
that  this  society  was  the  first  appearance 
of  Freemasonry  in  Florence.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  such  misstatements  of  Ma- 
sonic history  should  be  encouraged  by 
writers  of  learning  and  distinction.  The 
perusal  of  the  account  of  the  formation  of 
this  society,  as  given  by  Vasari,  shows  that 
it  had  not  the  slightest  connection  with 
Freemasonry.  It  was  simply  a  festive  as- 
sociation, or  dinner-club  of  Florentine 
artists ;  and  it  derived  its  title  from  the  ac- 
cidental circumstance  that  certain  painters 
and  sculptors,  dining  together  in  a  garden, 
found  not  far  from  their  table  a  mass  of 
mortar,  in  which  a  trowel  was  sticking. 
Some  rough  jokes  passed  thereupon,  in  the 
casting  of  the  mortar  on  each  other,  and 
the  calling  for  the  trowel  to  scrape  it  off. 
Whereupon  they  resolved  to  form  an  asso- 
ciation to  dine  together  annually,  and,  in 
memorial  of  the  ludicrous  event  that  had 
led  to  their  establishment,  they  called  them- 
selves the  Society  of  the  Trowel. 

True  Masons.  See  Academy  of  True 
Masons. 

Trust  in  God.  Every  candidate  on 
his  initiation  is  required  to  declare  that 


834 


TRUTH 


TSCHOUDY 


his  trust  is  in  God.  And  so  he  who  denies 
the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being  is  de- 
barred the  privilege  of  initiation,  for  athe- 
ism is  a  disqualification  for  Masonry.  This 
pious  principle  has  distinguished  the  Fra- 
ternity from  the  earliest  period ;  and  it  is 
a  happy  coincidence,  that  the  company  of 
Operative  Freemasons  instituted  in  1477 
should  have  adopted,  as  their  motto,  the 
truly  Masonic  sentiment,  "  The  Lord  is 
all  our  Trust." 

Truth.  The  real  object  of  Freema- 
sonry, in  a  philosophical  and  religious  sense, 
is  the  search  for  truth.  This  truth  is, 
therefore,  symbolized  by  the  Word.  From 
the  first  entrance  of  the  Apprentice  into 
the  Lodge,  until  his  reception  of  the  high- 
est degree,  this  search  is  continued.  It  is 
not  always  found,  and  a  substitute  must 
sometimes  be  provided.  Yet  whatever  be 
the  labors  he  may  perform,  whatever  the 
ceremonies  through  which  he  may  pass, 
whatever  the  symbols  in  which  he  may  be 
instructed,  whatever  the  reward  he  may 
obtain,  the  true  end  of  all  is  the  attainment 
of  truth.  This  idea  of  truth  is  not  the 
same  as  that  expressed  in  the  lecture  of 
the  first  degree,  where  Brotherly  Love,  Re- 
lief, and  Truth  are  there  said  to  be  the 
"  three  great  tenets  of  a  Mason's  profession." 
In  that  connection,  truth,  which  is  called  a 
"  divine  attribute,  the  foundation  of  every 
virtue,"  is  synonymous  with  sincerity,  hon- 
esty of  expression,  and  plain  dealing.  The 
higher  idea  of  truth  which  pervades  the 
whole  Masonic  system,  and  which  is  sym- 
bolized by  the  Word,  is  that  which  is  prop- 
erly expressed  to  a  knowledge  of  God. 

Tschoudy,  Louis  Theodore. 
Michaud  spells  the  name  Tschudi,  but  Len- 
ning,  Thory,  Ragon,  Oliver,  and  all  other 
Masonic  writers,  give  the  name  as  Tschoudy, 
which  form,  therefore,  I  adopt  as  the  most 
usual,  if  not  the  most  correct,  spelling. 

The  Baron  de  Tschoudy  was  born  at 
Metz,  in  1720.  He  was  descended  from  a 
family  originally  of  the  Swiss  canton  of 
Glaris,  but  which  had  been  established  in 
France  since  the  commencement  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  He  was  a  counsellor  of 
State  and  member  of  the  Parliament  of 
Metz;  but  the  most  important  events  of  his 
life  are  those  which  connect  him  with  the 
Masonic  institution,  of  which  he  was  a 
zealous  and  learned  investigator.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  active  apostles  of  the  school 
of  Ramsay,  and  adopted  his  theory  of  the 
Templar  origin  of  Masonry.  Having  ob- 
tained permission  from  the  king  to  travel, 
he  went  to  Italy,  in  1752,  under  the  assumed 
name  of  the  Chevalier  de  Lussy.  There  he 
excited  the  anger  of  the  papal  court  by  the 
publication  at  the  Hague,  in  the  same  year, 
of  a  book  entitled,  Etrenne  au  Pope,  ou  les 


Francs- Masons  Venges  ;  i.  e.,  "A  New  Year's 
Gift  for  the  Pope,  or  the  Free  Masons 
Avenged."  This  was  a  caustic  commentary 
on  the  bull  of  Benedict  XIV.  excommunicat- 
ing the  Freemasons.  It  was  followed,  in  the 
same  year,  by  another  work  entitled,  Le  Vat- 
ican Venye;  i.  e.,  "  The  Vatican  Avenged;" 
an  ironical  apology,  intended  as  a  sequence 
to  the  former  book.  These  two  works  sub- 
jected him  to  such  persecution  by  the 
Church  that  he  was  soon  compelled  to  seek 
safety  in  flight. 

He  next  repaired  to  Russia,  where  his 
means  of  living  became  so  much  impaired 
that,  Michaud  says,  he  was  compelled  to 
enter  the  company  of  comedians  of  the  Em- 
press Elizabeth.  From  this  condition  he 
was  relieved  by  Count  Ivan  Schouwalon, 
who  made  him  his  private  secretary.  He 
was  also  appointed  the  secretary  of  the 
Academy  of  Moscow,  and  governor  of  the 
pages  at  the  court.  But  this  advancement 
of  his  fortunes,  and  the  fact  of  his  being  a 
Frenchman,  created  for  him  many  enemies, 
and  he  was  compelled  at  length  to  leave 
Russia  and  return  to  France.  There,  how- 
ever, the  persecutions  of  his  enemies  pur- 
sued him,  and  on  his  arrival  at  Paris  he 
was  sent  to  the  Bastile.  But  the  interces- 
sion of  his  mother  with  the  Empress  Eliza- 
beth and  with  the  Grand  Duke  Peter  was 
successful,  and  he  was  speedily  restored  to 
liberty.  He  then  retired  to  Metz,  and  for 
the  rest  of  his  life  devoted  himself  to  the 
task  of  Masonic  reform  and  the  fabrication 
of  new  systems. 

In  1762,  the  Council  of  Knights  of  the 
East  was  established  at  Paris.  Ragon  says 
(Orthod.  Macon.,  p.  137,)  that  "its  ritual 
was  corrected  by  the  Baron  de  Tschoudy, 
the  author  of  the  Blazing  Star."  But  this 
is  an  error.  Tschoudy  was  then  at  Metz, 
and  his  work  and  system  of  the  Blazing 
Star  did  not  appear  until  four  years  after- 
wards. It  is  at  a  later  date  that  Tschoudy 
became  connected  with  the  Council. 

In  1766  he  published,  in  connection  with 
Bardon-Duhamel,  his  most  important  work, 
entitled,  L'Fioile  Flamboyante,  ou  la  Societe 
des  Francs- Macons  consideree  sous  tous  les 
Aspects;  i.  e.,  "The  Blazing  Star,  or  the 
Society  of  Freemasons  considered  under 
every  point  of  view." 

In  the  same  year  he  repaired  to  Paris, 
with  the  declared  object  of  extending  his 
Masonic  system.  He  then  attached  him- 
self to  the  Council  of  Knights  of  the  East, 
which,  under  the  guidance  of  the  tailor 
Pirlet,  had  seceded  from  the  Council  of 
Emperors  of  the  East  and  West.  Tschoudy 
availed  himself  of  the  ignorance  and  of 
the  boldness  of  Pirlet  to  put  his  plan  of  re- 
form into  execution  by  the  creation  of  new 
degrees. 


TUAPHOLL 


TUBAL 


835 


In  Tschoudy's  system,  however,  as  de- 
veloped in  the  L'Etoile  Flamboyante,  he 
does  not  show  himself  to  be  the  advocate 
of  the  high  degrees,  which,  he  says,  are 
"an  occasion  of  expense  to  their  dupes, 
and  an  abundant  and  lucrative  resource  for 
those  who  make  a  profitable  traffic  of  their 
pretended  instructions."  He  recognizes  the 
three  symbolic  degrees  because  their  gra- 
dations are  necessary  in  the  Lodge,  which 
he  viewed  as  a  school;  and  to  these  he  adds 
a  superior  class,  which  may  be  called  the 
architects,  or  by  any  other  name,  provided 
we  attach  to  it  the  proper  meaning.  All 
the  high  degrees  he  calls  "Masonic  rev- 
eries," excepting  two,  which  he  regards  as 
containing  the  secrect,  the  object,  and  the 
essence  of  Masonry,  namely,  the  Scottish 
Knight  of  St.  Andrew  and  the  Knight  of 
Palestine.  The  former  of  these  degrees 
was  composed  by  Tschoudy,  and  its  ritual, 
which  he  bequeathed,  with  other  manu- 
scripts, to  the  Council  of  Knights  of  the 
East  and  West,  was  published  in  1780, 
under  the  title  of  Ecossais  de  Saint  Andre, 
contenant  le  developpement  total  de  Vart  royal 
de  la  Franche-Maconnerie.  Subsequently, 
on  the  organization  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite,  the  degree  was  adopt- 
ed as  the  twenty-ninth  of  its  series,  and  is 
considered  as  one  of  the  most  important 
and  philosophic  of  the  Scottish  system. 
Its  fabrication  is,  indeed,  an  evidence  of 
the  intellectual  genius  of  its  inventor. 

Ragon,  in  his  Orthodoxie  Maconnique,  at- 
tributes to  Tschoudy  the  fabrication  of  the 
Eite  of  Adonhiramite  Masonry,  and  the 
authorship  of  the  Recueil  Precieux,  which 
contains  the  description  of  the  Rite.  But 
the  first  edition  of  the  Recueil,  with  the  ac- 
knowledged authorship  of  Guillaume  de 
St.  Victor,  appeared  in  1781.  This  is  prob- 
ably about  the  date  of  the  introduction  of 
the  Rite,  and  is  just  twelve  years  after 
Tschoudy  had  gone  to  his  eternal  rest. 

Tschoudy  also  indulged  in  light  litera- 
ture, and  several  romances  are  attributed 
to  him,  the  only  one  of  which  now  known, 
entitled  Therese  Philosophe,  does  not  add  to 
his  reputation. 

Chemins  Despontes  {Encyc.  Macon.,  i. 
143,)  says:  "The  Baron  Tschoudy,  whose 
birth  gave  him  a  distinguished  rank  in  so- 
ciety, left  behind  him  the  reputation  of  an 
excellent  man,  equally  remarkable  for  his 
social  virtues,  his  genius,  and  his  military 
talents."  Such  appears  to  have  been  the 
general  opinion  of  those  who  were  his  con- 
temporaries or  his  immediate  successors. 
He  died  at  Paris,  May  28,  1769. 

Tuapboll.  A  term  used  by  the  Dru- 
ids to  designate  an  unhallowed  circumam- 
bulation  around  the  sacred  cairn,  or  altar ; 
the  movement  being  against  the  sun,  that 


is,  from  west  to  east  by  the  north,  the  cairn 
being  on  the  left  hand  of  the  circumambu- 
lator. 

Tubal  Cain.  Of  Tubal  Cain,  the  sa- 
cred writings,  as  well  as  the  Masonic  le- 
gends, give  us  but  scanty  information.  All 
that  we  hear  of  him  in  the  book  of  Gen- 
esis is  that  he  was  the  son  of  Lamech  and 
Zillah,  and  was  "an  instructor  of  every 
artificer  in  brass  and  iron."  The  Hebrew 
original  does  not  justify  the  common  ver- 
sion, for  wdl,  lotesh,  does  not  mean  "  an  in- 
structor," but  "a  sharpener,"  —  one  who 
whets  or  sharpens  instruments.  Hence 
Dr.  Raphall  translates  the  passage  as  one 
"who  sharpened  various  tools  in  copper 
and  iron."  The  authorized  version  has, 
however,  almost  indelibly  impressed  the 
character  of  Tubal  Cain  as  the  father  of 
artificers;  and  it  is  in  this  sense  that  he 
has  been  introduced  from  a  very  early  pe- 
riod into  the  legendary  history  of  Masonry. 

The  first  Masonic  reference  to  Tubal 
Cain  is  found  in  the  "  Legend  of  the  Craft," 
where  he  is  called  "  the  founder  of  smith- 
craft." I  cite  this  part  of  the  legend  from 
the  Dowland  MS.  simply  because  of  its 
more  modern  orthography;  but  the  story 
is  substantially  the  same  in  all  the  old 
manuscript  Constitutions.  In  that  Manu- 
script we  find  the  following  account  of 
Tubal  Cain : 

"  Before  Noah's  flood,  there  was  a  man 
called  Lamech,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Bible, 
in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Genesis ;  and  this 
Lamech  had  two  wives,  the  one  named 
Ada  and  the  other  named  Zilla;  by  his 
first  wife,  Ada,  he  got  two  sons,  the  one 
Jubel,  and  the  other  Jubal:  and  by  the 
other  wife  he  got  a  son  and  a  daughter. 
And  these  four  children  founded  the  be- 
ginning of  all  the  sciences  in  the  world. 
The  elder  son,  Jabel,  founded  the  science 
of  geometry,  and  he  carried  flocks  of  sheep 
and  lambs  into  the  fields,  and  first  built 
houses  of  stone  and  wood,  as  it  is  noted  in 
the  chapter  above  named.  And  his  brother 
Jubal  founded  the  science  of  music  and 
songs  of  the  tongue,  the  harp  and  organ. 
And  the  third  brother,  Tubal  Cain,  found- 
ed smith-craft,  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron, 
and  steel,  and  the  daughter  founded  the 
art  of  weaving.  And  these  children  knew 
well  that  God  would  take  vengeance  for 
sin,  either  by  fire  or  water,  wherefore  they 
wrote  the  sciences  that  they  had  found,  on 
two  pillars  that  they  might  be  found  after 
Noah's  flood.  The  one  pillar  was  marble, 
for  that  would  not  burn  with  fire ;  and  the 
other  was  of  brass,  for  that  would  not 
drown  in  water." 

Similar  to  this  is  an  old  Rabbinical  tra- 
dition, which  asserts  that  Jubal,  who  was 
the  inventor  of  writing  as  well  as  of  music, 


836 


TUBAL 


TUBAL 


having  heard  Adam  say  that  the  universe 
would  be  twice  destroyed,  once  by  fire  and 
once  by  water,  inquired  which  catastrophe 
would  first  occur;  but  Adam  refusing  to 
inform  him,  he  inscribed  the  system  of 
music  which  he  had  invented  upon  two 
pillars  of  stone  and  brick.  A  more  modern 
Masonic  tradition  ascribes  the  construction 
of  these  pillars  to  Enoch. 

To  this  account  of  Tubal  Cain  must  be 
added  the  additional  particulars,  recorded 
by  Josephus,  that  he  exceeded  all  men  in 
strength,  and  was  renowned  for  his  warlike 
achievements. 

The  only  other  account  of  the  proto- 
metallurgist  that  we  meet  with  in  any  an- 
cient author  is  that  which  is  contained  in 
the  celebrated  fragment  of  Sanconiatho, 
who  refers  to  him  under  the  name  of 
Chrysor,  which  is  evidently,  as  Bochart 
affirms,  a  corruption  of  the  Hebrew  chores 
ur,  a  worker  in  fire,  that  is,  a  smith.  San- 
coniatho was  a  Phoenician  author,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  flourished  before  the 
Trojan  war,  probably,  as  Sir  William 
Drummond  suggests,  about  the  time  when 
Gideon  was  Judge  of  Israel,  and  who  col- 
lected the  different  accounts  and  traditions 
of  the  origin  of  the  world  which  were  ex- 
tant at  the  period  in  which  he  lived.  A 
fragment  only  of  this  work  has  been  pre- 
served, which,  translated  into  Greek  by 
Philo  Byblius,  was  inserted  by  Eusebius  in 
his  Prceparatio  Evangelica,  and  has  thus 
been  handed  down  to  the  present  day. 
That  portion  of  the  history  by  Sanconiatho, 
which  refers  to  Tubal  Cain,  is  contained  in 
the  following  words : 

"A  long  time  after  the  generation  of 
Hypsoaranios,  the  inventors  of  hunting 
and  fishing,  Agreas  and  Alieas,  were  born  ; 
after  whom  the  people  were  called  hunters 
and  fishers,  and  from  whom  sprang  two 
brothers,  who  discovered  iron,  and  the 
manner  of  working  it.  One  of  these  two, 
called  Chrysor,  was  skilled  in  eloquence, 
and  composed  verses  and  prophecies.  He 
was  the  same  with  Hephaistos,  and  in- 
vented fishing-hooks,  bait  for  taking  fish, 
cordage  and  rafts,  and  was  the  first  of  all 
mankind  who  had  navigated.  He  was 
therefore  worshipped  as  a  god  after  his 
death,  and  was  called  Diamichios.  It  is 
said  that  these  brothers  were  the  first  who 
contrived  partition  walls  of  brick." 

Hephaistos,  it  will  be  observed,  is  the 
Greek  of  the  god  who  was  called  by  the 
Romans  Vulcan.  Hence  the  remark  of 
Sanconiatho,  and  the  apparent  similarity 
of  names  as  well  as  occupations,  have  led 
some  writers  of  the  last,  and  even  of  the 
present,  century  to  derive  Vulcan  from 
Tubal  Cain  by  a  process  not  very  devious, 
and  therefore  familiar  to  etymologists.    By 


the  omission  in  Tubal  Cain  of  the  initial 
T,  which  is  the  Phoenician  article,  and  its 
valueless  vowel,  we  get  Balcan,  which,  by 
the  interchangeable  nature  of  B  and  V,  is 
easily  transformed  to  Vulcan. 

"  That  Tubal  Cain,"  says  Bishop  Stilling- 
fleet,  (Orig.  Sac,  p.  292,)  "gave  first  occa- 
sion to  the  name  and  worship  of  Vulcan, 
hath  been  very  probably  conceived,  both 
from  the  very  great  affinity  of  the  names, 
and  that  Tubal  Cain  is  expressly  mentioned 
to  be  an  instructor  of  every  artificer  in 
brass  and  iron,  and  as  near  relation  as 
Apollo  had  to  Vulcan,  Jubal  had  to  Tubal 
Cain,  who  was  the  inventor  of  music,  or 
the  father  of  all  such  as  handle  the  harp 
and  organ,  which  the  Greeks  attribute  to 
Apollo." 

Vossiua,  in  his  treatise  De  Idolatria, 
(lib.  i.,  cap.  36,)  makes  this  derivation  of 
Vulcan  from  Tubal  Cain.  But  Bryant,  in 
his  Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythology,  (vol.  i., 
p.  139,)  denies  the  etymology,  and  says 
that  among  the  Egyptians  and  Babyloni- 
ans, Vulcan  was  equivalent  to  Orus  or 
Osiris,  symbols  of  the  sun.  He  traces  the 
name  to  the  words  Baal  Cahen,  Holy  Bel, 
or  sacred  Lord.  Bryant's  etymology  may 
be  adopted,  however,  without  any  inter- 
ference with  the  identity  of  Vulcan  and 
Tubal  Cain.  He  who  discovered  the  uses 
of  fire,  may  well,  in  the  corruptions  of  idola- 
try, have  typified  the  solar  orb,  the  source 
of  all  heat.  It  might  seem  that  Tubal  is 
an  attribute  compounded  of  the  definite 
particle  T  and  the  word  Baal,  signifying 
Lord.  Tubal  Cain  would  then  signify  the 
Lord  Cain."  Again,  dhu  or  du,  in  Arabic, 
signifies  Lord ;  and  we  trace  the  same  signi- 
fication of  this  affix,  in  its  various  inter- 
changeable forms  of  Du,  Tu,  and  Di,  in 
many  Semitic  words.  But  the  question  of 
the  identical  origin  of  Tubal  Cain  and 
Vulcan  has  at  length  been  settled  by  the 
researches  of  comparative  philologists. 
Tubal  Cain  is  Semitic  in  origin,  and 
Vulcan  is  Aryan.  The  latter  may  be 
traced  to  the  Sanscrit  ulka,  a  firebrand, 
from  which  we  get  also  the  Latin  fulgur 
and  fulmen,  names  of  the  lightning. 

From  the  mention  made  of  Tubal  Cain 
in  the  "  Legend  of  the  Craft,"  the  word  was 
long  ago  adopted  as  significant  in  the  pri- 
mary degrees,  and  various  attempts  have 
been  made  to  give  it  an  interpretation. 

Hutchinson,  in  an  article  in  his  Spirit  of 
Masonry  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  third  degree,  has  the  following  refer- 
ence to  the  word : 

"  The  Mason  advancing  to  this  state  of 
Masonry,  pronounces  his  own  sentence,  as 
confessional  of  the  imperfection  of  the 
second  stage  of  his  profession,  and  as  pro- 
bationary of  the  exalted  degree  to  which 


TUNE 


TURKEY 


837 


he  aspires,  in  the  Greek  distich,  Hvfifiovxoeu, 
(tumbonchoeo,)  Struo  tumulum:  'I  prepare 
my  sepulchre;  I  make  my  grave  in  the 
pollutions  of  the  earth;  I  am  under  the 
shadow  of  death.'  This  distich  has  been 
vulgarly  corrupted  among  us,  and  an  ex- 
pression takes  place  scarcely  similar  in 
sound,  and  entirely  inconsistent  with  Ma- 
sonry, and  unmeaning  in  itself." 

But  however  ingenious  this  interpretation 
of  Hutchinson  may  be,  it  is  generally  ad- 
mitted that  it  is  incorrect. 

The  modern  English  Masons,  and  through 
them  the  French,  have  derived  Tubal  Cain 
from  the  Hebrew  tebel,  earth,  and  kanah,  to 
acquire  possession,  and,  with  little  respect 
for  the  grammatical  rules  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  interpret  it  as  meaning  worldly 
possessions. 

In  the  Hemming  lectures,  now  the  au- 
thorized English  system,  we  find  the  an- 
swer to  the  question,  "  What  does  Tubal 
Cain  denote?"  is  "Worldly  possessions." 
And  Delaunay,  in  his  Thuilleur,  (p.  17,)  de- 
nies the  reference  to  the  proto-smith,  and 
says :  "  If  we  reflect  on  the  meaning  of  the 
two  Hebrew  words,  we  will  easily  recog- 
nize in  their  connection  the  secret  wish  of 
the  hierophant,  of  the  Templar,  of  the 
Freemason,  and  of  every  mystical  sect,  to 
govern  the  world  in  accordance  with  its 
own  principles  and  its  own  laws."  It  is  for- 
tunate, I  think,  that  the  true  meaning  of  the 
words  will  authorize  no  such  interpretation. 
The  fact  is,  that  even  if  Tubal  Cain  were 
derived  from  tebel  and  kanah,  the  precise 
rules  of  Hebrew  construction  would  forbid 
affixing  to  their  union  any  such  meaning 
as  "  worldly  possessions."  Such  an  inter- 
pretation of  it  in  the  French  and  English 
systems  is,  therefore,  a  very  forced  and  in- 
accurate one. 

The  use  of  Tubal  Cain  as  a  significant 
word  in  the  Masonic  ritual  is  derived  from 
the  "  Legend  of  the  Craft,"  by  which  the 
name  was  made  familiar  to  the  Operative 
and  then  to  the  Speculative  Masons ;  and  it 
refers  not  symbolically,  but  historically  to 
his  scriptural  and  traditional  reputation  as 
an  artificer.  If  he  symbolized  anything,  it 
would  be  labor;  and  a  Mason's  labor  is  to 
acquire  truth,  and  not  worldly  possessions. 
The  English  and  French  interpretation  has 
fortunately  never  been  introduced  into  this 
country. 

Tunc,  Freemasons'.  The  air  of 
the  song  written  by  Matthew  Birkhead, 
and  first  published  in  the  Book  of  Consti- 
tutions of  1723,  with  the  title  of  "  the  En- 
tered Prentice's  Song,"  is  familiarly  and 
distinctively  known  as  "the  Freemasons' 
Tune."  Mr.  William  Chappell,  in  a  work 
entitled  Popular  Music  of  the  Olden  Time, 
gives  the  following  interesting  account  of  it. 


"  This  tune  was  very  popular  at  the  time 
of  the  ballad  operas,  and  I  am  informed 
that  the  same  words  are  still  sung  to  it  at 
Masonic  meetings. 

"The  air  was  introduced  in  The  Village 
Opera,  The  Chambermaid,  The  Lottery,  The 
Grub-Street  Opera,  and  The  Ijover  his  own 
Rival.  It  is  contained  in  the  third  volume 
of  The  Dancing  Master,  and  of  Walsh's 
New  Country  Dancing  Master.  Words  and 
music  are  included  in  Watt's  Musical  Mis- 
cellany, iii.  72,  and  in  British  Melody,  or 
The  Musical  Magazine,  fol.,  1739.  They 
were  also  printed  on  broadsides. 

"In  the  Gentlemen's  Magazine,  for  Octo- 
ber, 1731,  the  first  stanza  is  printed  as  'A 
Health,  by  Mr.  Birkhead.'  It  seems  to  be 
there  quoted  from  'The  Constitutions  of 
the  Freemasons,'  by  the  Rev.  James  An- 
derson, A.M.,  one  of  the  Worshipful  Mas- 
ters. 

"There  are  several  versions  of  the  tune. 
One  in  Pills  to  Purge  Melancholy,  ii.  230, 
(1719,)  has  a  second  part;  but  that  being 
almost  a  repetition  of  the  first,  taken  an  oc- 
tave higher,  is  out  of  the  compass  of  or- 
dinary voices,  and  has  therefore  been  gen- 
erally rejected. 

"In  A  Complete  Collection  of  Old  and 
New  English  and  Scotch  Songs,  ii.  172, 
(1735,)  the  name  is  given  as  'Ye  Com- 
moners and  Peers ; '  but  Leveridge  com- 
posed another  tune  to  these  words. 

"In  The  Musical  Mason,  or  Freemasons' 
Pocket  Companion,  being  a  collection  of 
songs  used  in  all  Lodges,  to  which  are 
added  the  '  Freemasons'  March  and  Ode,' 
(8vo,  1791,)  this  is  entitled 'The  Entered 
Apprentice's  Song.' 

"Many  stanzas  have  been  added  from 
time  to  time,  and  others  have  been  altered." 

Turban.  The  usual  head-dress  worn 
in  Eastern  nations,  consisting  of  a  quilted 
cap,  without  rim,  and  a  sash  or  scarf  of 
cotton  or  linen  wound  about  the  cap.  In 
Royal  Arch  Chapters,  the  turban,  of  a  pur- 
ple color,  constitutes  the  head-dress  of  the 
Scribe,  because  that  officer  represents  the 
Jewish  prophet  Haggai. 

Turcopolier.  The  third  dignity  in 
the  Order  of  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St. 
John,  or  Knights  of  Malta.  It  took  its 
name  from  the  Turcopoles,  a  sort  of  light 
horse  mentioned  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  wars  in  Palestine.  The  office  of 
Turcopolier  was  held  by  the  Conventual 
Bailiff,  or  head  of  the  language  of  Eng- 
land. He  had  the  command  of  the  cavalry 
of  the  Order. 

Turkey.  A  writer  in  the  Freemasons' 
Quarterly  Review  (1844,  p.  21,)  says  that 
there  was  a  Masonic  meeting  in  Constanti- 
nople, at  which  some  Turks  were  initiated, 
but  that  the  government  prohibited  the 


838 


TURQUOISE 


TWELVE 


future  meetings.  This  must  have  been  an 
irregular  Lodge,  for  organized  Masonry  was 
not  introduced  into  Turkey  until  1838, 
when  the  first  Lodges  were  erected  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England.  They  were, 
however,  soon  discontinued,  in  consequence 
of  the  opposition  of  the  Mohammedan 
hierarchy.  A  more  tolerant  spirit,  how- 
ever, now  exists,  and  there  is  a  Provincial 
Grand  Lodge  of  England,  having  under 
its  jurisdiction  four  Lodges  at  Constanti- 
nople and  four  at  Smyrna.  There  are  also 
four  Lodges  at  Constantinople,  under  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France;  four  at  Smyrna 
and  one  at  Constantinople,  under  the  Grand 
Orient  of  Italy ;  one  at  Constantinople, 
under  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ireland;  and 
one  at  Constantinople,  under  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland.  There  are  also  three 
Royal  Arch  Chapters,  —  two  of  them  at 
Smyrna  and  Constantinople,  chartered  by 
the  Supreme  Chapter  of  Scotland,  and  one 
at  Constantinople,  chartered  by  the  Grand 
Chapter  of  England.  There  are  also  two 
Rose  Croix  Chapters,  —  one,  from  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  England,  in  Constanti- 
nople ;  and  the  other,  from  the  Grand  Ori- 
ent of  Italy,  in  Smyrna.  In  these  Lodges 
many  native  Mohammedans  have  been  in- 
itiated. The  Turks,  however,  have  always 
had  secret  societies  of  their  own,  which 
has  led  some  writers  to  suppose,  errone- 
ously, that  Freemasonry  existed  long  before 
the  date  of  its  actual  introduction.  Thus, 
the  Begtaschi  form  a  secret  society  in 
Turkey,  numbering  many  thousands  of 
Mussulmans  in  its  ranks,  and  none  but  a 
true  Moslem  can  be  admitted  to  the  broth- 
erhood. It  is  a  religious  Order,  and  was 
founded  in  the  year  1328  by  the  Hadji 
Begtasch,  a  famous  dervish,  from  whom  it 
derives  its  name.  The  Begtaschi  have  cer- 
tain signs  and  passwords  by  which  they  are 
enabled  to  recognize  the  "  true  brethren," 
and  by  which  they  are  protected  from  vag- 
abond impostors.  A  writer  in  Notes  and 
Queries  says,  in  allusion  to  this  society,  that 
"One  day,  during  the  summer  of  1855,  an 
English  merchant  captain,  while  walking 
through  the  streets  of  a  Turkish  quarter  of 
Constantinople,  encountered  a  Turk,  who 
made  use  of  various  signs  of  Freemasonry, 
some  of  which,  the  captain  being  a  Mason, 
he  understood,  and  others  he  did  not."  It 
is,  however,  probable  in  this  instance,  con- 
sidering the  date,  that  the  Turk  was  really 
a  Mason,  and  possessed  some  higher  de- 
grees, which  had  not  been  attained  by  the 
English  captain.  There  is  also  another 
equally  celebrated  Order  in  Turkey,  the 
Melewi,  who  have  also  secret  modes  of 
recognition. 

Turquoise.    Oliver  says  {Landm.,  ii. 
621,)  that  the  first  stone  in  the  third  row  of 


the  high  priest's  breastplate  "  was  a  ligure, 
hyacinth,  or  turquoise."  The  stone  was  a 
ligure ;  but  Oliver  is  incorrect  in  supposing 
that  it  is  a  synonym  of  either  a  hyacinth 
or  a  turquoise,  which  are  stones  of  a  very 
different  nature. 

Tuscan  Order.  The  simplest  of  the 
five  orders  of  architecture,  as  its  columns 
are  never  fluted,  and  it  does  not  allow  the 
introduction  of  any  kind  of  ornament.  It 
is  one  of  the  two  modern  orders,  not  being 
found  in  any  ancient  example.  Hence  it 
is  of  no  value  in  Masonic  symbolism. 

Twelve.  Twelve  being  composed  of 
the  mystical  numbers  7  +  5  or  of  3x4, 
the  triad  multiplied  by  the  quarternion,  was 
a  number  of  considerable  value  in  ancient 
systems.  Thus  there  were  twelve  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  twelve  months  in  the  year, 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  twelve  stones  in  the 
pectoral,  and  twelve  oxen  supporting  the 
molten  sea  in  the  Temple.  There  were 
twelve  apostles  in  the  new  law,  and  the 
New  Jerusalem  has  twelve  gates,  twelve 
foundations,  is  twelve  thousand  furlongs 
square,  and  the  number  of  the  sealed  is 
twelve  times  twelve  thousand.  Even  the 
Pagans  respected  this  number,  for  there 
were  in  their  mythology  twelve  superior 
and  twelve  inferior  gods. 

Twelve  Illustrious  Knights. 
The  eleventh  degree  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite;  more  correctly 
Sublime  Knight  Elected,  which  see. 

Twelve  Lettered  Xanie.  The 
Jews  had  among  their  divine  names,  be- 
sides the  Tetragrammaton,  a  two  lettered 
name,  which  was  Jah,  a  twelve  lettered 
and  a  forty-two  lettered  name.  None  of 
these,  however,  were  so  sacred  and  unutter- 
able as  the  Tetragrammaton.  Maimonides 
says  of  the  twelve  lettered  name,  that  it 
was  formerly  used  instead  of  Adonai,  as 
being  more  emphatic,  in  place  of  the  Tetra- 
grammaton, whenever  they  came  to  that 
sacred  name  in  reading.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, like  the  Tetragrammaton,  communi- 
cated only  to  their  disciples,  but  was  im- 
parted to  any  that  desired  its  knowledge. 
But  after  the  death  of  Simeon  the  Just,  the 
Tetragrammaton  ceasing  to  be  used  at  all, 
the  twelve  lettered  name  was  substituted  in 
blessing  the  people;  and  then  it  became  a 
secret  name,  and  was  communicated  only 
to  the  most  pious  of  the  priests.  What 
was  the  twelve  lettered  name  is  uncertain, 
though  all  agree  that  it  was  not  a  name, 
but  a  sentence  composed  of  twelve  letters. 
Rabbi  Bechai  says  it  was  formed  by  a  tri- 
ple combination  and  permutation  of  the 
four  letters  of  the  Tetragrammaton;  and 
there  are  other  explanations  equally  unsat- 
isfactory. 

There  was  also  a  forty-two  lettered  name, 


TWELVE 


TWELVE 


839 


composed,  says  Bechai,  of  the  first  forty- 
two  letters  of  the  book  of  Genesis.  An- 
other and  a  better  explanation  has  been 
propounded  by  Franck,  that  it  is  formed 
out  of  the  names  of  the  ten  Sephiroth, 
which  with  the  *|,  vau,  or  and,  amount  ex- 
actly to  forty-two  letters.  There  was  an- 
other name  of  seventy-two  letters,  which 
is  still  more  inexplicable.  Of  all  these 
names,  Maimonides  {More  Nev.,  I.  lxii.,) 
says  that,  as  they  could  not  possibly  consti- 
tute one  word,  they  must  have  been  com- 
posed of  several  words,  and  he  adds  : 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  these  words  con- 
veyed certain  ideas,  which  were  designed 
to  bring  man  nearer  to  the  true  conception 
of  the  Divine  essence,  through  the  process 
we  have  already  described.  These  words, 
composed  of  numerous  letters,  have  been 
designated  as  a  single  name,  because,  like 
all  accidental  proper  names,  they  indicate 
one  single  object;  and  to  make  tbe  object 
more  intelligible,  several  words  are  em- 
ployed, as  many  words  are  sometimes  used 
to  express  one  single  thing.  This  must  be 
well  understood,  that  they  taught  the  ideas 
indicated  by  these  names,  and  not  the  simple 
pronunciation  of  the  meaningless  letters." 

Twelve  Original  Points  of  Ma- 
sonry. The  old  English  lectures,  which 
were  abrogated  by  the  United  Grand  Lodge 
of  England  in  1813,  when  it  adopted  the 
system  of  Hemming,  contained  the  follow- 
ing passage: 

"  There  are  in  Freemasonry  twelve  origi- 
nal points,  which  form  the  basis  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  comprehend  the  whole  ceremony 
of  initiation.  Without  the  existence  of 
these  points,  no  man  ever  was,  or  can  be, 
legally  and  essentially  received  into  the 
Order.  Every  person  who  is  made  a  Mason 
must  go  through  these  twelve  forms  and 
ceremonies,  not  only  in  the  first  degree, 
but  in  every  subsequent  one." 

Hence,  it  will  be  seen  that  our  ancient 
Brethren  deemed  these  "  Twelve  Original 
Points  of  Masonry,"  as  they  were  called, 
of  the  highest  importance  to  the  ceremony 
of  initiation,  and  they  consequently  took 
much  pains,  and  exercised  much  ingenuity, 
in  giving  them  a  symbolical  explanation. 
But  as,  by  the  decree  of  the  Grand  Lodge, 
they  no  longer  constitute  a  part  of  the  Eng- 
lish ritual,  and  were  never  introduced  into 
this  country,  where  the  "Four  Perfect 
Points"  constitute  an  inadequate  substi- 
tute, there  can  be  no  impropriety  in  pre- 
senting a  brief  explanation  of  them,  for 
which  I  shall  be  indebted  to  the  industry 
of  Oliver,  who  has  treated  of  them  at  great 
length  in  the  eleventh  lecture  of  his  His- 
torical Landmarks. 

The  ceremony  of  initiation,  when  these 
points  constituted  a  portion  of  the  ritual, 


was  divided  into  twelve  parts,  in  allusion 
to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  to  each  of 
which  one  of  the  points  was  referred,  in  the 
following  manner: 

1.  The  opening  of  the  Lodge  was  symbol- 
ized by  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  because  Reu- 
ben was  the  first-born  of  his  father  Jacob, 
who  called  him  "the  beginning  of  his 
strength."  He  was,  therefore,  appropri- 
ately adopted  as  the  emblem  of  that  cere- 
mony which  is  essentially  the  beginning  of 
every  initiation. 

2.  The  preparation  of  the  candidate  was 
symbolized  by  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  because 
Simeon  prepared  the  instruments  for  the 
slaughter  of  the  Shechemites;  and  that  part 
of  the  ceremony  which  relates  to  offensive 
weapons,  was  used  as  a  token  of  our  abhor- 
rence for  the  cruelty  exercised  on  that 
occasion. 

3.  The  report  of  the  Senior  Deacon  re- 
ferred to  the  tribe  of  Levi,  because,  in  the 
slaughter  of  the  Shechemites,  Levi  was 
supposed  to  have  made  a  signal  or  report 
to  Simeon  his  brother,  with  whom  he  was 
engaged  in  attacking  these  unhappy  people 
while  unprepared  for  defence. 

4.  The  entrance  of  the  candidate  into  the 
Lodge  was  symbolized  by  the  tribe  of  Ju- 
dah,  because  they  were  the  first  to  cross  the 
Jordan  and  enter  the  promised  land,  com- 
ing from  the  darkness  and  servitude,  as  it 
were,  of  the  wilderness  into  the  light  and 
liberty  of  Canaan. 

5.  The  prayer  was  symbolized  by  the 
tribe  of  Zebulun,  because  the  blessing  and 
prayer  of  Jacob  were  given  to  Zebulun,  in 
preference  to  his  brother  Issachar. 

6.  The  circumambulation  referred  to  the 
tribe  of  Issachar,  because,  as  a  thriftless 
and  indolent  tribe,  they  required  a  leader 
to  advance  them  to  an  equal  elevation  with 
the  other  tribes. 

7.  Advancing  to  the  altar  was  symbolized 
by  the  tribe  of  Dan,  to  teach  us,  by  con- 
trast, that  we  should  advance  to  truth  and 
holiness  as  rapidly  as  that  tribe  advanced 
to  idolatry,  among  whom  the  golden  serpent 
was  first  set  up  to  receive  adoration. 

8.  The  obligation  referred  to  the  tribe  of 
Gad,  in  allusion  to  the  solemn  vow  which 
was  made  by  Jephthah,  Judge  of  Israel,  who 
was  of  that  tribe. 

9.  The  intrusting  of  the  candidate  with 
the  mysteries  was  symbolized  by  the  tribe 
of  Asher,  because  he  was  then  presented 
with  the  rich  fruits  of  Masonic  knowledge, 
as  Asher  was  said  to  be  the  inheritor  of 
fatness  and  royal  dainties. 

10.  The  investiture  of  the  lambskin,  by 
which  the  candidate  is  declared  free,  re- 
ferred to  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  which  was 
invested  by  Moses  with  a  peculiar  freedom, 
when  he  said,  "  0  Naphtali,  satisfied  with 


840 


TWENTY-FOUR 


TYRE 


favor,  and  full  with  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord,  possess  thou  the  West  and  the 
South." 

11.  The  ceremony  of  the  north-east  corner 
of  the  Lodge  referred  to  Joseph,  because,  as 
this  ceremony  reminds  us  of  the  most  super- 
ficial part  of  Masonry,  so  the  two  half  tribes 
of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  of  which  the 
tribe  of  Joseph  was  composed,  were  ac- 
counted to  be  more  superficial  than  the 
rest,  as  they  were  descendants  of  the  grand- 
sons only  of  Jacob. 

12.  The  closing  of  the  Lodge  w as  symbol- 
ized by  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  who  was  the 
youngest  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  and  thus 
closed  his  father's  strength. 

Such  were  the  celebrated  twelve  original 

f>oints  of  Freemasonry  of  the  ancient  Eng- 
ish  lectures.  They  were  never  introduced 
into  this  country,  and  they  are  now  dis- 
used in  England.  But  it  will  be  seen  that, 
while  some  of  the  allusions  are  perhaps 
abstruse,  many  of  them  are  ingenious  and 
appropriate.  It  will  not,  perhaps,  be  re- 
gretted that  they  have  become  obsolete;  yet 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  added  some- 
thing to  the  symbolism  and  to  the  religious 
reference  of  Freemasonry.  At  all  events, 
they  are  matters  of  Masonic  antiquity,  and, 
as  such,  are  not  unworthy  of  attention. 

Twenty-Four  Inch  Gauge.  A 
rule  two  feet  long,  which  is  divided  by 
marks  into  twenty-four  parts,  each  one  inch 
in  length.  The  Operative  Mason  uses  it  to 
take  the  necessary  dimensions  of  the  stone 
that  he  is  about  to  prepare.  It  has  been 
adopted  as  one  of  the  working-tools  of  the 
Entered  Apprentice  in  Speculative  Ma- 
sonry, where  its  divisions  are  supposed  to 
represent  hours.  Hence  its  symbolic  use 
is  to  teach  him  to  measure  his  time  so  that, 
of  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day,  he  may 
devote  eight  hours  to  the  service  of  God  and 
a  worthy  distressed  brother,  eight  hours  to 
his  usual  vocation,  and  eight  to  refresh- 
ment and  sleep.  In  the  symbolic  language 
of  Masonry,  therefore,  the  twenty-four  inch 
gauge  is  a  symbol  of  time  well  employed. 

Twenty-One.  A  number  of  mystical 
import,  partly  because  it  is  the  product  of 
8  and  7,  the  most  sacred  of  the  odd  num- 
bers, but  especially  because  it  is  the  sum 
of  the  numerical  value  of  the  letters  of  the 
Divine  name,  Eheyeh,  thus: 

PT     ♦     fT   K 

5  +  10  +  5+1  =  21. 

It  is  little  valued  in  Masonry,  but  is 
deemed  of  great  importance  in  the  Kabbala 
and  in  Alchemy ;  in  the  latter,  because  it 
refers  to  the  twenty-one  days  of  distillation 
necessary  for  the  conversion  of  the  grosser 
metals  into  silver. 


Twenty-Seven.  Although  the  num- 
ber twenty-seven  is  found  in  the  degree 
of  Select  Master  and  in  some  of  the  other 
high  degrees,  it  can  scarcely  be  called  in  it- 
self a  sacred  number.  It  derives  its  im- 
portance from  the  fact  that  it  is  produced 
by  the  multiplication  of  the  square  of  three 
by  three,  thus :  3  X  3  X  3  =  27. 

Twenty-Six.  This  is  considered  by 
the  Kabbalists  as  the  most  sacred  of  mys- 
tical numbers,  because  it  is  equal  to  the 
numerical  value  of  the  letters  of  the  Te- 
tragrammaton,  thus : 

n  1   n   • 

5  +  6  +  5  +  10  =  26. 

Two  Lettered  Name.  The  title 
given  by  the  Talmudists  to  the  name  of 
God,  j"l\  or  Jo-h,  which  see. 

Tyler.     Tyle  and  Tyler  are  the  old  and 

now  obsolete  spelling  of  Tile  and  Tiler, 
which  see. 

Type.  In  the  science  of  symbology  it  is 
the  picture  or  model  of  something  of  which 
it  is  considered  as  a  symbol.  Hence  the 
word  type  and  symbol  are  in  this  sense  sy- 
nonymous. Thus  the  tabernacle  was  a 
type  of  the  Temple,  as  the  Temple  is  a 
type  of  the  Lodge. 

Typhon.  The  brother  and  slayer  of 
Osiris,  in  the  Egyptian  mythology.  As 
Osiris  was  a  type  or  symbol  of  the  sun,  Ty- 
phon was  the  symbol  of  winter,  when  the 
vigor,  heat,  and,  as  it  were,  life  of  the  sun 
are  destroyed,  and  of  darkness  as  opposed 
to  light. 

Tyre.  An  ancient  city  of  Phoenicia, 
which  in  the  time  of  King  Solomon  was 
celebrated  as  the  residence  of  King  Hiram, 
to  whom  that  monarch  and  his  father 
David  were  indebted  for  great  assistance  in 
the  construction  of  the  Temple  at  Jeru- 
salem. Tyre  was  distant  from  Jerusalem 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  by 
sea,  and  was  thirty  miles  nearer  by  land. 
An  intercourse  between  the  two  cities  and 
their  respective  monarchs  was,  therefore, 
easily  cultivated.  The  inhabitants  of  Tyre 
were  distinguished  for  their  skill  as  artif- 
icers, especially  as  workers  in  brass  and 
other  metals ;  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  a 
principal  seat  of  that  skilful  body  of  arch- 
itects known  as  the  Dionysiac  fraternity. 

The  city  of  Sidon,  which  was  under  the 
Tyrian  government,  was  but  twenty  miles 
from  Tyre,  and  situated  in  the  forest  of 
Lebanon.  The  Sidonians  were,  therefore, 
naturallv  woodcutters,  and  were  engaged  in 
felling  the  trees,  which  were  afterwards  sent 
on  floats  by  sea  from  Tyre  to  Joppa,  and 
thence  carried  by  land  to  Jerusalem,  to  be 
employed  in  the  Temple  building. 

Dr.  Morris,  who  visited  Tyre  in  1868,  de- 


TYRE 


UNAFFILIATED 


841 


scribes  it  {Freemasonry  in  the  Holy  Land,  p. 
91,)  as  a  city  under  ground,  lying,  like  Je- 
rusalem, twenty  to  fifty  feet  beneath  a  debris 
of  many  centuries.  It  consists,  to  use  the 
language  of  a  writer  he  has  cited,  of  "  pros- 
trate and  broken  columns,  dilapidated  tem- 
ples, and  mounds  of  buried  fragments." 

Tyre,  Quarries  of.  It  is  an  error 
of  Oliver,  and  some  other  writers,  to  suppose 
that  the  stones  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem 
were  furnished  from  the  quarries  of  Tyre. 
If  there  were  such  quarries,  they  were  not 
used  for  that  purpose,  as  the  stones  were 
taken  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
edifice.     See  Quarries. 

Tyrian  Freemasons.  Those  who 
sustain  the  hypothesis  that  Freemasonry 
originated  at  the  Temple  of  Solomon  have 
advanced  the  theory  that  the  Tyrian  Free- 
masons were  the  members  of  the  Society 
of  Dionysiac  Artificers,  who  at  the  time  of 
the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple  flour- 


ished at  Tyre.  Many  of  them  were  sent  to 
Jerusalem  by  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  to  as- 
sist King  Solomon  in  the  construction  of 
his  Temple.  There,  uniting  with  the  Jews, 
who  had  only  a  knowledge  of  the  specula- 
tive principles  of  Freemasonry,  which  had 
been  transmitted  to  them  from  Noah, 
through  the  patriarchs,  the  Tyrian  Free- 
masons organized  that  combined  system  of 
Operative  and  Speculative  Masonry  which 
continued  for  many  centuries,  until  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth,  to  characterize 
the  Institution.  This  hypothesis  is  main- 
tained with  great  ingenuity  by  Lawrie  in 
his  History  of  Freemasonry,  or  by  Dr. 
Brewster,  if  he  was  really  the  author  of 
that  work,  and  until  recently  it  has  been 
the  most  popular  theory  respecting  the 
origin  of  Masonry.  But  as  it  is  wanting  in 
the  support  of  historical  evidence,  it  has 
yielded  to  the  more  plausible  speculations 
of  recent  writers. 


u. 


U.".  D.'.  Letters  placed  after  the  names 
of  Lodges  or  Chapters  which  have  not  yet 
received  a  Warrant  of  Constitution.  They 
signify  Under  Dispensation. 

Uden,  Conrad  Friederich.  A 
Masonic  writer  of  some  celebrity.  He  was 
a  Doctor  of  Medicine,  and  at  one  time  a 
Professor  in  Ordinary  of  the  University  of 
Dorpat;  afterwards  an  Aulic  Counsellor 
and  Secretary  of  the  Medical  College  of  St. 
Petersburg.  He  was  from  1783  to  1785  the 
editor  of  the  Archiv  fur  Freimaurerei  und 
Rosenkreuzer,  published  during  those  years 
at  Berlin.  This  work  contains  much  inter- 
esting information  concerning  Rosicruci- 
anism.  He  also  edited,  in  1785  and  1786, 
at  Altona,  the  Ephemerideu  der  gesammten 
Freimaurerei  auf  das  Logenjahr  1785  und 
1786. 

Unaffiliated  Mason.  A  Mason  who 
is  not  a  member  of  any  Lodge.  As  this 
class  of  Masons  contribute  nothing  to  the 
revenues  nor  to  the  strength  of  the  Order, 
while  they  are  always  willing  to  partake  of 
its  benefits,  they  have  been  considered  as 
an  encumbrance  upon  the  Craft,  and  have 
received  the  general  condemnation  of  Grand 
Lodges. 

It  is  evident  that,  anterior  to  the  present 

system  of  Lodge  organization,  which  dates 

about  the  end  of  the  last  century,  there 

could  have  been  no  unaffiliated  Masons. 

5  F 


And,  accordingly,  the  first  reference  that  we 
find  to  the  duty  of  Lodge  membership  is  in 
the  Charges,  published  in  1723,  in  Ander- 
son's Constitutions,  where  it  is  said,  after 
describing  a  Lodge,  that  "every  Brother 
ought  to  belong  to  one ;  "  and  that  "  in  an- 
cient times,  no  Mason  or  Fellow  could  be 
absent  from  it,  especially  when  warned  to 
appear  at  it,  without  incurring  a  severe  cen- 
sure, until  it  appeared  to  the  Master  and 
Wardens  that  pure  necessity  hindered  him." 
In  this  last  clause,  Anderson  evidently  re- 
fers to  the  regulation  in  the  Old  Constitu- 
tions, that  required  attendance  on  the  An- 
nual Assembly.  For  instance,  in  the  old- 
est of  these,  the  Halliwell  MS.,  it  is  said, 
(I  modernize  the  language,)  "that  every 
Master  that  is  a  Mason  must  be  at  the  Gen- 
eral Congregation,  if  he  is  told  in  reason- 
able time  where  the  Assembly  shall  be 
holden ;  and  to  that  Assembly  he  must  go, 
unless  he  have  a  reasonable  excuse." 

But  the  "  Assembly  "  was  rather  in  the 
nature  of  a  Grand  Lodge,  and  neglect  to 
attend  its  annual  meeting  would  not  place 
the  offender  in  the  position  of  a  modern 
unaffiliated  Mason.  But  after  the  organi- 
zation of  subordinate  Lodges,  a  permanent 
membership,  which  had  been  before  un- 
known, was  then  established;  and  as  the 
revenues  of  the  Lodges,  and  through  them 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  were  to  be  derived 


842 


UNAFFILIATED 


UNANIMOUS 


from  the  contributions  of  the  members,  it 
was  fouud  expedient  to  require  every  Ma- 
son to  affiliate  with  a  Lodge,  and  hence  the 
rule  adopted  in  the  Charge  already  cited. 
Yet,  in  Europe,  non-affiliation,  although 
deemed  to  some  extent  a  Masonic  offence, 
has  not  been  visited  by  any  penalty,  except 
that  which  results  from  a  deprivation  of 
the  ordinary  advantages  of  membership  in 
any  association. 

The  modern  Constitution  of  England, 
however,  prescribes  that  "  a  brother  who  is 
not  a  subscribing  member  to  some  Lodge, 
shall  not  be  permitted  to  visit  any  one 
Lodge  in  the  town  or  place  where  he  re- 
sides more  than  once  during  his  secession 
from  the  Craft."  He  is  permitted  to  visit 
each  Lodge  once,  because  it  is  supposed 
that  this  visit  is  made  for  the  purpose  of 
enabling  him  to  make  a  selection  of  the 
one  in  which  he  may  prefer  working.  But 
afterwards  he  is  excluded,  in  order  to  dis- 
countenance those  brethren  who  wish  to 
continue  members  of  the  Order,  and  to  par- 
take of  its  benefits,  without  contributing  to 
its  support.  The  Constitutions  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  Ireland  and  Scotland  are  silent 
upon  the  subject,  nor  is  any  penalty  pre- 
scribed for  unaffiliation  by  any  of  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  the  continent  of  Europe. 

In  this  country  a  different  view  has  been 
taken  of  the  subject,  and  its  Grand  Lodges 
have,  with  great  unanimity,  denounced  un- 
affiliated Masons  in  the  strongest  terms  of 
condemnation,  and  visited  them  with  pen- 
alties, which  vary,  however,  to  some  extent 
in  the  different  jurisdictions.  I  know,  how- 
ever, of  no  Grand  Lodge  in  the  United 
States  that  has  not  concurred  in  the  opin- 
ion that  the  neglect  or  refusal  of  a  Mason 
to  affiliate  with  a  Lodge  is  a  Masonic  of- 
fence, to  be  visited  by  some  penalty  and  a 
deprivation  of  some  rights. 

The  following  principles  may  be  laid 
down  as  constituting  the  law  in  this  coun- 
try on  the  subject  of  unaffiliated  Masons : 

1.  An  unaffiliated  Mason  is  still  bound 
by  all  those  Masonic  duties  and  obligations 
which  refer  to  the  Order  in  general,  but  not 
by  those  which  relate  to  Lodge  organization. 

2.  He  possesses,  reciprocally,  all  those 
rights  which  are  derived  from  membership 
in  the  Order,  but  none  of  those  which  re- 
sult from  membership  in  a  Lodge. 

3.  He  has  a  right  to  assistance  when  in 
imminent  peril,  if  he  asks  for  that  assist- 
ance in  the  conventional  way. 

4.  He  has  no  right  to  pecuniary  aid  from 
a  Lodge. 

5.  He  has  no  right  to  visit  Lodges,  or  to 
walk  in  Masonic  processions. 

6.  He  has  no  right  to  Masonic  burial. 

7.  He  still  remains  subject  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Order,  and  may  be  tried 


and  punished  for  any  offence  by  the  Lodge 
within  whose  geographical  jurisdiction  he 
resides. 

8.  And,  lastly,  as  non-affiliation  is  a  vio- 
lation of  Masonic  law,  he  may,  if  he  re- 
fuses to  abandon  that  condition,  be  tried 
and  punished  for  it,  even  by  expulsion,  if 
deemed  necessary  or  expedient,  by  any 
Grand  Lodge  within  whose  jurisdiction  he 
lives. 

Unanimous  Consent.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  last  century,  when  Masonry 
was  reviving  from  the  condition  of  decay 
into  which  it  had  fallen,  and  when  the  ex- 
periment was  tried  of  transforming  it  from 
a  partly  operative  to  a  purely  speculative 
system,  the  great  object  was  to  maintain  a 
membership  which,  by  the  virtuous  charac- 
ter of  those  who  composed  it,  should  secure 
the  harmony  and  prosperity  of  the  infant 
Institution.  A  safeguard  was  therefore  to 
be  sought  in  the  care  with  which  Masons 
should  be  selected  from  those  who  were 
likely  to  apply  for  admission.  It  was  the 
quality,  and  not  the  quantity,  that  was  de- 
sired. This  safeguard  could  only  be  found 
in  the  unanimity  of  the  ballot.  Hence,  in 
the  sixth  of  the  General  Regulations,  adopt- 
ed in  1721,  it  is  declared  that  "no  man  can 
be  entered  a  Brother  in  any  particular 
Lodge,  or  admitted  to  be  a  member  thereof, 
without  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  the 
members  of  that  Lodge  then  present  when 
the  candidate  is  proposed,  and  their  con- 
sent is  formally  asked  by  the  Master." 
And  to  prevent  the  exercise  of  any  undue 
influence  of  a  higher  power  in  forcing  an 
unworthy  person  upon  the  Order,  it  is 
further  said  in  the  same  article:  "Nor  is 
this  inherent  privilege  subject  to  a  dispen- 
sation ;  because  the  members  of  a  particular 
Lodge  are  the  best  judges  of  it ;  and  if  a 
fractious  member  should  be  imposed  on 
them,  it  might  spoil  their  harmony,  or 
hinder  their  freedom;  or  even  break  and 
disperse  the  Lodge."  But  a  few  years 
after,  the  Order  being  now  on  a  firm  foot- 
ing, this  prudent  fear  of  "spoiling  har- 
mony," or  "  dispersing  the  Lodge,"  seems 
to  have  been  lost  sight  of,  and  the  brethren 
began  in  many  Lodges  to  desire  a  release 
from  the  restrictions  laid  upon  them  by 
the  necessity  for  unanimous  consent.  H  ence 
Anderson  says  in  his  second  edition :  "  But 
it  was  found  inconvenient  to  insist  upon 
unanimity  in  several  cases.  And,  there- 
fore, the  Grand  Masters  have  allowed  the 
Lodges  to  admit  a  member  if  not  above 
three  ballots  are  against  him ;  though  some 
Lodges  desire  no  such  allowance."  This 
rule  still  prevails  in  England;  and  its 
modern  Constitution  still  permits  the  ad- 
mission of  a  Mason  where  there  are  not 
more  than  three  ballots  against  him,  though 


UNFAVORABLE 


UNIFORMITY 


843 


many  of  the  Lodges  still  demand  una- 
nimity. 

In  the  United  States,  where  Masonry  is 
more  popular  than  in  any  other  country,  it 
was  soon  seen  that  the  danger  of  the  In- 
stitution lay  not  in  the  paucity,  but  in  the 
multitude  of  its  members,  and  that  the 
only  provision  for  guarding  its  portals  was 
the  most  stringent  regulation  of  the  ballot. 
Hence,  in  every  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  I  think,  without  an  exception, 
unanimous  consent  is  required.  And  this 
rule  has  been  found  to  work  with  such  ad- 
vantage to  the  Order,  that  the  phrase,  "the 
black  ball  is  the  bulwark  of  Masonry,"  has 
become  a  proverb. 

Unfavorable  Report.  Should  the 
committee  of  investigation  on  the  character 
of  a  petitioner  for  initiation  make  an  un- 
favorable report,  the  general  usage  is  (al- 
though some  Grand  Lodges  have  decided 
otherwise)  to  consider  the  candidate  re- 
jected by  such  report,  without  proceeding 
to  the  formality  of  a  ballot,  which  is  there- 
fore dispensed  with.  This  usage  is  founded 
on  the  principles  of  common  sense;  for,  as 
by  the  ancient  Constitutions  one  black  ball 
is  sufficient  to  reject  an  application,  the 
unfavorable  report  of  a  committee  must 
necessarily,  and  by  consequence,  include 
two  unfavorable  votes  at  least.  It  is  there- 
fore unnecessary  to  go  into  a  ballot  after 
such  a  report,  as  it  is  to  be  taken  for  granted 
that  the  brethren  who  reported  unfavorably 
would,  on  a  resort  to  the  ballot,  cast  their 
negative  votes.  Their  report  is  indeed  vir- 
tually considered  as  the  casting  of  such 
votes,  and  the  applicant  is  therefore  at 
once  rejected  without  a  further  and  un- 
necessary ballot. 

Uniformity  of  Work.  An  identity 
*  of  forms  in  opening  and  closing,  and  in 
conferring  the  degrees,  constitutes  what  is 
technically  called  uniformity  of  work. 
The  expression  has  no  reference,  in  its  re- 
stricted sense,  to  the  working  of  the  same 
degrees  in  different  Rites  and  different 
countries,  but  only  to  a  similarity  in  the 
ceremonies  practised  by  Lodges  in  the 
same  Rite,  and  more  especially  in  the  same 
jurisdiction.  This  is  greatly  to  be  desired, 
because  nothing  is  more  unpleasant  to  a 
Mason,  accustomed  to  certain  forms  and 
ceremonies  in  his  own  Lodge,  than  on  a 
visit  to  another  to  find  those  forms  and 
ceremonies  so  varied  as  to  be  sometimes 
scarcely  recognizable  as  parts  of  the  same 
Institution.  So  anxious  are  the  dogmatic 
authorities  in  Masonry  to  preserve  this  uni- 
formity, that  in  the  charge  to  an  Entered 
Apprentice  he  is  instructed  never  to  "suffer 
an  infringement  of  our  rites,  or  a  devia- 
tion from  established  usages  and  customs." 
In  the  act  of  union  in  1813,  of  the  two 


Grand  Lodges  of  England,  in  whose  sys- 
tems of  working  there  were  many  differ- 
ences, it  was  provided  that  a  committee 
should  be  appointed  to  visit  the  several 
Lodges,  and  promulgate  and  enjoin  one  sys- 
tem, "  that  perfect  reconciliation,  unity  of 
obligation,  law,  working,  language,  and 
dress,  might  be  happily  restored  to  the 
English  Craft."  A  few  years  ago,  a  writer 
in  C.  W.  Moore's  Magazine,  proposed  the 
appointment  of  delegates  to  visit  the  Grand 
Lodges  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
that  a  system  of  work  and  lectures  might 
be  adopted,  which  should  thereafter  be 
rigidly  enforced  in  both  hemispheres.  The 
proposition  was  not  popular,  and  no  dele- 
gation was  ever  appointed.  It  is  well  that 
it  was  so,  for  no  such  attempt  could  have 
met  with  a  successful  result. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  uniformity  of  work  in 
Masonry,  however  much  it  may  be  desired, 
can  never  be  attained.  This  must  be  the 
case  in  all  institutions  where  the  ceremo- 
nies, the  legends,  and  the  instructions  are 
oral.  The  treachery  of  memory,  the  weak- 
ness of  judgment,  and  the  fertility  of  im- 
agination, will  lead  men  to  forget,  to  di- 
minish, or  to  augment,  the  parts  of  any 
system  which  is  not  prescribed  within  cer- 
tain limits  by  a  written  rule.  The  Rab- 
bins discovered  this  when  the  Oral  Law 
was  becoming  perverted,  and  losing  its  au- 
thority as  well  as  its  identity  by  the  inter- 
pretations that  were  given  to  it  in  the  schools 
of  the  Scribes  and  Prophets.  And  hence, 
to  restore  it  to  its  integrity,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  divest  it  of  its  oral  character 
and  give  to  it  a  written  form.  To  this  are 
we  to  attribute  the  origin  of  the  two  Tal- 
muds  which  now  contain  the  essence  of 
Jewish  theology.  So,  while  in  Masonry  we 
find  the  esoteric  ritual  continually  subjected 
to  errors  arising  mainly  from  the  ignorance 
or  the  fancy  of  Masonic  teachers,  the  moni- 
torial instructions  —  few  in  Preston,  but 
greatly  enlarged  by  Webb  and  Cross  — 
have  suffered  no  change. 

It  would  seem  from  this  that  the  evil  of 
non-conformity  could  be  removed  only  by 
making  all  the  ceremonies  monitorial;  and  so 
much  has  this  been  deemed  expedient,  that 
a  few  years  since  the  subject  of  a  written 
ritual  was  seriously  discussed  in  England. 
But  the  remedy  would  be  worse  than  the 
disease.  It  is  to  the  oral  character  of  its 
ritual  that  Masonry  is  indebted  for  its  per- 
manence and  success  as  an  organization. 
A  written,  which  would  soon  become  a 
printed,  ritual  would  divest  Symbolic  Ma- 
sonry of  its  attractions  as  a  secret  associa- 
tion, and  would  cease  to  offer  a  reward  to 
the  laborious  student  who  sought  to  master 
its  mystical  science.  Its  philosophy  and 
its  symbolism  would  be  the  same,  but  the 


844 


UNION 


UNION 


books  containing  them  would  be  consigned 
to  the  shelves  of  a  Masonic  library,  their 
pages  to  be  discussed  by  the  profane  as  the 
common  property  of  the  antiquary,  while 
the  Lodges,  having  no  mystery  within  their 
portals,  would  find  but  few  visitors,  and  cer- 
tainly no  workers. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  matter  of  congratula- 
tion that  uniformity  of  work,  however  de- 
sirable and  however  unattainable,  is  not 
so  important  and  essential  as  many  have 
deemed  it.  Oliver,  for  instance,  seems  to 
confound  in  some  of  his  writings  the  cere- 
monies of  a  degree  with  the  landmarks  of 
the  Order.  But  they  are  very  different. 
The  landmarks,  because  they  affect  the 
identity  of  the  Institution,  have  long  since 
been  embodied  in  its  written  laws,  and  un- 
less by  a  wilful  perversion,  as  in  France, 
where  the  Grand  Mastership  has  been 
abolished,  can  never  be  changed.  But  vari- 
ations in  the  phraseology  of  the  lectures, 
or  in  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  initia- 
tion, so  long  as  they  do  not  trench  upon 
the  foundations  of  symbolism  on  which  the 
science  and  philosophy  of  Masonry  are 
built,  can  produce  no  other  effect  than  a 
temporary  inconvenience.  The  errors  of 
an  ignorant  Master  will  be  corrected  by  his 
better  instructed  successor.  The  variation 
in  the  ritual  can  never  be  such  as  to  de- 
stroy the  true  identity  of  the  Institution. 
Its  profound  dogmas  of  the  unity  of  God, 
and  the  eternal  life,  and  of  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man,  taught  in  its  symbolic 
method,  will  forever  shine  out  pre-eminent 
above  all  temporary  changes  of  phraseology. 
Uniformity  of  work  may  not  be  attained, 
but  uniformity  of  design  and  uniformity 
of  character  will  forever  preserve  Free- 
masonry from  disintegration. 

Union,  Grand  Masters9.  Efforts 
were  made  at  various  times  in  Germany  to 
organize  an  association  of  the  Grand  Mas- 
ters of  the  Grand  Lodges  of  Germany.  At 
length,  through  the  efforts  of  Bro.  Warnatz, 
the  Grand  Master  of  Saxony,  the  scheme 
was  fully  accomplished,  and  on  May  31, 
1868,  the  Grand  Masters'  Union  —  Oross- 
miestertag,  literally,  the  diet  of  Grand  Mas- 
ters —  assembled  at  the  city  of  Berlin,  the 
Grand  Masters  of  seven  German  Grand 
Lodges  being  present.  The  meetings  of 
this  body,  which  are  annual,  are  entirely 
unofficial ;  it  claims  no  legislative  powers, 
and  meets  only  for  consultation  and  advise- 
ment on  matters  connected  with  the  ritual, 
the  history,  and  the  philosophy  of  Masonry. 

Union  Master's  Degree.  An 
honorary  degree,  said  to  have  been  in- 
vented by  the  Lodge  of  Reconciliation  in 
England,  in  1813,  at  the  union  of  the  two 
Grand  Lodges,  and  adopted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  New  York  in  1819,  which  author- 


ized its  Lodges  to  confer  it.  It  was  de- 
signed to  detect  clandestine  and  irregular 
Masons,  and  consisted  only  of  the  inves- 
titure of  the  recipient  with  certain  new 
modes  of  recognition. 

Union  of  German  Masons. 
(  Verein  deutscher  Maurer. )  An  association 
of  Freemasons  of  Germany  organized  at 
Potsdam,  May  19,  1861.  The  society 
meets  annually  at  different  places.  Its 
professed  object  is  the  cultivation  of 
Masonic  science,  the  advancement  of  the 
prosperity  and  usefulness  of  the  Order, 
and  the  closer  union  of  the  members  in 
the  bonds  of  brotherly  love  and  affection. 

Union  of  Scientific  Freema- 
sons. (Bund  8cientifischer  Freimaurer.) 
An  association  founded,  November  28, 
1802,  by  Fessler,  Fischer,  Mossdorf,  and 
other  learned  Masons  of  Germany.  Ac- 
cording to  their  act  of  union,  all  the  mem- 
bers pledged  themselves  to  investigate  the 
history  of  Freemasonry,  from  its  origin 
down  to  the  present  time,  in  all  its  dif- 
ferent parts,  with  all  its  systems  and  retro- 
gressions, in  the  most  complete  manner, 
and  then  to  communicate  what  they  knew 
to  trustworthy  brethren. 

In  the  assemblies  of  the  members,  there 
were  no  rituals,  nor  ceremonies,  nor  any 
especial  vestments  requisite,  nor,  indeed, 
any  outward  distinctions  whatever.  A 
commou  interest  and  the  love  of  truth,  a 
general  aversion  of  all  deception,  treach- 
ery, and  secrecy  were  the  sentiments  which 
bound  them  together,  and  made  them  feel 
the  duties  incumbent  on  them,  without  bind- 
ing themselves  by  any  special  oath.  Conse- 
quently, the  members  of  the  Scientific  Union 
had  al  1  equal  rights  and  obligations ;  they  did 
not  acknowledge  a  superior,  or  subordina- 
tion to  any  Masonic  authority  whatever. 

Any  upright,  scientifically-cultivated 
Master  Mason,  a  sincere  seeker  after  truth, 
might  join  this  Union,  no  matter  to  what  Rite 
or  Grand  Lodge  he  belonged,  if  the  whole 
of  the  votes  were  given  in  his  favor,  and  he 
pledged  himself  faithfully  to  carry  out  the 
intention  of  the  founders  of  the  Order. 

Each  circle  of  scientific  Masons  was  pro- 
vided with  a  number  of  copies  of  the  deed 
of  union,  and  every  new  candidate,  when 
he  signed  it,  became  a  partaker  of  the 
privileges  shared  in  by  the  whole;  the 
Chief  Archives  and  the  centre  of  the  Con- 
federation were  at  first  to  be  in  Berlin. 

But  the  association,  thus  inaugurated 
with  the  most  lofty  pretensions  and  the 
most  sanguine  expectations,  did  not  well 
succeed.  "  Brethren,"  says  Findel,  (Hist, 
Lyon's  Trans.,  p.  501,)  "  whose  co-operation 
had  been  reckoned  upon,  did  not  join;  the 
active  working  of  others  was  crippled  by 
all  sorts  of  scruples  and  hindrances,  and 


UNION 


UNITED 


845 


Fessler's  purchase  of  Kleinwall  drew  off  his 
attention  wholly  from  the  subject.  Differ- 
ences of  opinion,  perhaps  also  too  great  ego- 
tism, caused  dissensions  between  many  mem- 
bers of  the  association  and  the  brethren  of 
the  Lodge  at  Altenburg.  Distrust  was  ex- 
cited in  every  man's  breast,  and,  instead  of 
the  enthusiasm  formerly  exhibited,  there 
was  only  lukewarmness  and  disgust." 

Other  schemes,  especially  that  of  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  Saxon  Grand  Lodge,  im- 
paired the  efforts  of  the  Scientific  Masons. 
The  Union  gradually  sunk  out  of  sight,  and 
finally  ceased  to  exist. 

Union  of  the  Twenty-Two.  See 
German  Union  of  Two  and  Twenty, 

United  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land. The  present  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land assumed  that  title  in  the  year  1813, 
because  it  was  then  formed  by  the  union 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Ancients,  called 
the  "  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  of  England  according  to  the  Old 
Institutions,"  and  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Moderns,  called  the  "Grand  Lodge  of  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons  under  the  Constitu- 
tion of  England."  The  body  thus  formed, 
by  which  an  end  was  put  to  the  dissensions 
of  the  Craft  which  had  existed  iu  England 
for  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century, 
adopted  the  title,  by  which  it  has  ever  since 
been  known,  of  the  "  United  Grand  Lodge 
of  Ancient  Freemasons  of  England." 

United  States  of  America^  The 
history  of  the  introduction  of  Freemasonry 
into  the  United  States  of  America  is  discussed 
in  this  work  under  the  titles  of  the  different 
States  into  which  the  Union  is  divided,  and 
to  which  therefore  the  reader  is  referred. 

It  may,  however,  be  necessary  to  say,  in 
a  general  view  of  the  subject,  that  the  first 
notice  we  have  of  Freemasonry  in  the 
United  States  is  in  1729,  in  which  year, 
during  the  Grand  Mastership  of  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  Mr.  Daniel  Cox  was  appointed 
Provincial  Grand  Master  for  New  Jersey. 
I  have  not,  however,  been  able  to  obtain 
any  evidence  that  he  exercised  his  prerog- 
ative by  the  establishment  of  Lodges  in 
that  province,  although  it  is  probable  that 
he  did.  In  the  year  1733,  the  "St.  John's 
Grand  Lodge "  was  opened  in  Boston,  in 
consequence  of  a  Charter  granted,  on  the 
application  of  several  brethren  residing  in 
that  city,  by  Lord  Viscount  Montacute, 
Grand  Master  of  England.  From  that 
time  Masonry  was  rapidly  disseminated 
throughout  the  country  by  the  establish- 
ment of  Provincial  Grand  Lodges,  all  of 
which  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  which 
separated  the  colonies  from  the  mother 
country,  assumed  the  rank  and  preroga- 
tives of  independent  Grand  Lodges.  The 
history  of  these  bodies  being  treated  under 


their  respective  titles,  the  remainder  of  this 
article  may  more  properly  be  devoted  to 
the  character  of  the  Masonic  organization 
in  the  United  States. 

The  Rite  practised  in  this  country  is 
most  correctly  called  the  American  Rite. 
This  title,  however,  has  been  adopted  with- 
in only  a  comparatively  recent  period.  It 
is  still  very  usual  with  Masonic  writers  to 
call  the  Rite  practised  in  this  country  the 
York  Rite.  The  expression,  however,  is 
wholly  incorrect.  The  Masonry  of  the 
United  States,  though  founded,  like  that 
practised  in  every  other  country,  upon  the 
three  symbolic  degrees  which  alone  con- 
stitute the  true  York  Rite,  has,  by  its 
modifications  and  its  adoption  of  high  de- 
grees, so  changed  the  Rite  as  to  give  it  an 
entirely  different  form  from  that  which 
properly  constitutes  the  pure  York  Rite. 
(See  American  Bite.) 

In  each  State  of  the  Union,  and  in  most 
of  the  Territories,  there  is  a  Grand  Lodge 
which  exercises  jurisdiction  over  the  sym- 
bolic degrees.  The  jurisdiction  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  however,  is  exercised  to  a 
certain  extent  over  what  are  called  the 
higher  bodies,  namely,  the  Chapters,  Coun- 
cils, and  Commanderies.  For  by  the 
American  construction  of  Masonic  law,  a 
Mason  expelled  by  the  Grand  Lodge  for- 
feits his  membership  in  all  of  these  bodies 
to  which  he  may  be  attached.  Hence  a 
Knight  Templar,  or  a  Royal  Arch  Mason, 
becomes  ipso  facto  suspended  or  expelled 
by  his  suspension  or  expulsion  by  a  sym- 
bolic Lodge,  the  appeal  from  which  action 
lies  only  to  the  Grand  Lodge.  Thus  the 
Masonic  standing  and  existence  of  even  the 
Grand  Commander  of  a  Grand  Command- 
ery  is  actually  in  the  hands  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  by  whose  decree  of  expulsion  his 
relation  with  the  body  over  which  he  pre- 
sides may  be  dissevered. 

Royal  Arch  Masonry  is  controlled  in 
each  State  by  a  Grand  Chapter.  Besides 
these  Grand  Chapters,  there  is  a  General 
Grand  Chapter  of  the  United  States,  which, 
however,  exercises  only  a  moral  influence 
over  the  State  Grand  Chapters,  since  it 
possesses  "no  power  of  discipline,  admoni- 
tion, censure,  or  instruction  over  the  Grand 
Chapters."  In  Territories  where  there  are  no 
Grand  Chapters,  the  General  Grand  Chapter 
constitutes  subordinate  Chapters,  and  over 
these  it  exercises  plenary  jurisdiction. 

The  next  highest  branch  of  the  Order  is 
Cryptic  Masonry,  which,  although  rapidly 
growing,  is  not  yet  as  extensive  as  Royal 
Arch  Masonry.  It  consists  of  two  degrees, 
Royal  and  Select  Master,  to  which  is  some- 
times added  the  Super  Excellent,  which, 
however,  is  considered  only  as  an  honorary 
degree.    These  degrees  are  conferred  in 


846 


UNITED 


UNKNOWN 


Councils  which  owe  their  obedience  to 
Grand  Councils.  Only  one  Grand  Council 
can  exist  in  a  State  or  Territory,  as  is  the 
case  with  a  Grand  Lodge,  a  Grand  Chapter, 
or  a  Grand  Commandery.  Grand  Councils 
exist  in  many  of  the  States,  and  in  any 
State  where  no  such  body  exists,  the  Coun- 
cils are  established  by  Charters  emanating 
from  any  one  of  them.  There  is  no  Gen- 
eral Grand  Council.  Efforts  have  been  re- 
peatedly made  to  establish  one,  but  the 
proposition  has  not  met  with  a  favorable 
response  from  the  majority  of  Grand  Coun- 
cils. 

Templarism  is  governed  by  a  Supreme 
body,  whose  style  is  the  Grand  Encamp- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  this  body, 
which  meets  triennially,  possesses  sover- 
eign power  over  the  whole  Templar  system 
in  the  United  States.  Its  presiding  officer 
is  called  Grand  Master,  and  this  is  the 
highest  office  known  to  American  Templar- 
ism. In  most  of  the  States  there  are  Grand 
Commanderies,  which  exercise  immediate 
jurisdiction  over  the  Commanderies  in  the 
State,  subject,  however,  to  the  superintend- 
ing control  of  the  Grand  Encampment. 
Where  there  are  no  Grand  Commanderies, 
Charters  are  issued  directly  to  subordinate 
Commanderies  by  the  Grand  Encampment. 

The  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
is  very  popular  in  the  United  States.  There 
are  two  Supreme  Councils,  —  one  for  the 
Southern  Jurisdiction,  which  is  the  Mother 
Council  of  the  world.  Its  nominal  Grand 
East  is  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina;  but 
its  Secretariat  has  been  removed  to  Wash- 
ington city  since  the  year  1870.  The 
other  Council  is  for  the  Northern  Jurisdic- 
tion. Its  Grand  East  is  at  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts ;  but  its  Secretariat  is  at  New 
York  city.  The  Northern  Council  has  ju- 
risdiction over  the  States  of  Maine,  Ver- 
mont, New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, Rhode  Island,  New  York,  Penn- 
sylvania, New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Illinois,  and  Wisconsin.  The  South- 
ern Supreme  Council  exercises  jurisdiction 
over  all  the  other  States  and  Territories  of 
the  United  States. 

United  Supreme  Council.  A 
body  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite  was  formed  February  13,  1832,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  by  the  union  of  the  so- 
called  Supreme  Council  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Supreme  Council  of  South  Amer- 
ica, which  assumed  the  title  of  the  "  United 
Supreme  Council  for  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere." This  body,  irregular  in  its  forma- 
tion and  illegal  in  its  origin,  was  never 
recognized  by  either  of  the  regular  Supreme 
Councils  of  the  United  States,  and  is  now 
extinct. 

Unity  of  God.    In  the  popular  my- 


thology of  the  ancients  there  were  many 
gods.  It  was  to  correct  this  false  opinion, 
and  to  teach  a  purer  theogony,  that  the  in- 
itiations were  invented.  And  so,  as  War- 
burton  says,  "the  famous  secret  of  the 
mysteries  was  the  unity  of  the  Godhead." 
This,  too,  is  the  doctrine  of  Masonic  initi- 
ation, which  is  equally  distant  from  the 
blindness  of  atheism  and  the  folly  of  poly- 
theism. 

Universality  of  Masonry.  The 
boast  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  that  the 
sun  never  set  on  his  vast  empire,  may  be 
applied  with  equal  truth  to  the  Order  of 
Freemasonry.  From  east  to  west,  and  from 
north  to  south,  over  the  whole  habitable 
globe,  are  our  Lodges  disseminated.  Wher- 
ever the  wandering  steps  of  civilized  man 
have  left  their  footprints,  there  have  our 
temples  been  established.  The  lessons  of 
Masonic  love  have  penetrated  into  the  wil- 
derness of  the  West,  and  the  red  man  of 
our  soil  has  shared  with  his  more  enlight- 
ened brother  the  mysteries  of  our  science; 
while  the  arid  sands  of  the  African  desert 
have  more  than  once  been  the  scene  of  a 
Masonic  greeting.  Masonry  is  not  a  foun- 
tain, giving  health  and  beauty  to  some  sin- 
gle hamlet,  and  slaking  the  thirst  of  those 
only  who  dwell  upon  its  humble  banks; 
but  it  is  a  mighty  stream,  penetrating 
through  every  hill  and  mountain,  and  glid- 
ing through  every  field  and  valley  of  the 
earth,  bearing  in  its  beneficent  bosom  the 
abundant  waters  of  love  and  charity  for 
the  poor,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan  of 
every  land. 

Universal  Language.  See  Lan- 
guage, Universal. 

Universal  Harmony,  Order  of. 
See  Mesmeric  Masonry. 

Universi  Terraruiri,  etc.  Docu- 
ments emanating  from  any  of  the  bodies 
of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
commence  with  the  following  epigraph: 
"  Universi  Terrarum  Orbis  Architectonis 
per  Gloriam  Ingentis,"  i.  e.,  "  By  the  Glory 
of  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe." 
This  is  the  correct  form  as  first  published, 
in  1802,  by  the  Mother  Council  at  Charles- 
ton in  its  Circular  of  that  year,  and  used 
in  all  its  Charters  and  Patents. 

Unknown  Philosopher.  One  of 
the  mystical  and  theosophic  works  written 
by  Saint  Martin,  the  founder  of  the  Rite  of 
Martinism,  was  entitled  Le  Philosophe  In- 
connu,  or  The  Unknown  Philosopher, 
whence  the  appellation  was  often  given 
by  his  disciples  to  the  author.  A  degree 
of  his  Rite  also  received  the  same  name. 

Unknown  Superiors.  When  the 
Baron  Von  Hund  established  his  system  or 
Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  he  declared  that 
the  Order  was  directed  by  certain  Masons 


UNTEMPERED 


UPPER 


847 


of  superior  rank,  whose  names  as  well  as 
their  designs  were  to  be  kept  secret  from 
all  the  brethren  of  the  lower  degrees; 
although  there  was  an  insinuation  that 
they  were  to  be  found  or  to  be  heard  of  in 
Scotland.  To  these  secret  dignitaries  he 
gave  the  title  of  "Superiores  Incogniti," 
or  Unknown  Superiors.  Many  Masonic 
writers,  suspecting  that  Jesuitism  was  at 
the  bottom  of  all  the  Masonry  of  that  day, 
asserted  that  S.  I.,  the  initials  of  Superiores 
Incogniti,  meant  really  Societas  Jesu,  i.  e., 
the  Society  of  Jesus  or  the  Jesuits.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  now  to  say  that  the 
whole  story  of  the  Unknown  Superiors  was 
a  myth. 

Untempered  Mortar.  In  the  lec- 
ture used  in  the  United  States  in  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century,  and  in  some 
parts  of  the  country  almost  as  recently  as 
the  middle  of  the  century,  the  apprentices 
at  the  Temple  were  said  to  wear  their 
aprons  in  the  peculiar  manner  character- 
istic of  that  class  that  they  might  preserve 
their  garments  from  being  defiled  by  "  un- 
tempered mortar."  This  is  mortar  which 
has  not  been  properly  mixed  for  use,  and 
it  thus  became  a  symbol  of  passions  and 
appetites  not  duly  restrained.  Hence  the 
Speculative  Apprentice  was  made  to  wear 
his  apron  in  that  peculiar  manner  to  teach 
him  that  he  should  not  allow  his  soul  to  be 
defiled  by  the  "  untempered  mortar  of  un- 
ruly passions." 

Unutterable  Name.  The  Tetra- 
grammaton,  or  Divine  Name,  which  is  more 
commonly  called  the  Ineffable  Name.  The 
two  words  are  precisely  synonymous. 

Unworthy  Members.  That  there 
are  men  in  our  Order  whose  lives  and  char- 
acters reflect  no  credit  on  the  Institution, 
whose  ears  turn  coldly  from  its  beautiful 
lessons  of  morality,  whose  hearts  are  un- 
touched by  its  soothing  influences  of 
brotherly  kindness,  whose  hands  are  not 
opened  to  aid  in  its  deeds  of  charity,  is  a 
fact  which  we  cannot  deny,  although  we 
may  be  permitted  to  express  our  grief  while 
we  acknowledge  its  truth.  Rut  these  men, 
though  in  the  Temple,  are  not  of  the  Tem- 
ple ;  they  are  among  us,  but  are  not  with 
us;  they  belong  to  our  household,  but  they 
are  not  of  our  faith;  they  are  of  Israel,  but 
they  are  not  Israel.  We  have  sought  to 
teach  them,  but  they  would  not  be  in- 
structed ;  seeing,  they  have  not  perceived ; 
and  hearing,  they  have  not  understood  the 
symbolic  language  in  which  our  lessons  of 
wisdom  are  communicated.  The  fault  is 
not  with  us,  that  we  have  not  given,  but 
with  them,  that  they  have  not  received. 
And,  indeed,  hard  and  unjust  would  it  be 
to  censure  the  Masonic  institution,  because, 
partaking  of  the  infirmity  and  weakness  of 


human  wisdom  and  human  means,  it  has 
been  unable  to  give  strength  and  perfection 
to  all  who  come  within  its  pale.  The  de- 
nial of  a  Peter,  the  doubtings  of  a  Thomas, 
or  even  the  betrayal  of  a  Judas,  could  cast 
no  reproach  on  that  holy  band  of  Apostles 
of  which  each  formed  a  constituent  part. 

"  Is  Freemasonry  answerable,"  says  Dr. 
Oliver,  (Landm.,  i.,  p.  148,)  "for  the  mis- 
deeds of  an  individual  Brother?  By  no 
means.  He  has  had  the  advantage  of  Ma- 
sonic instruction,  and  has  failed  to  profit 
by  it.  He  has  enjoyed  Masonic  privileges, 
but  has  not  possessed  Masonic  virtue." 
Such  a  man  it  is  our  duty  to  reform,  or  to 
dismiss ;  but  the  world  should  not  condemn 
us,  if  we  fail  in  our  attempt  at  reformation. 
God  alone  can  change  the  heart.  Masonry 
furnishes  precepts  and  obligations  of  duty 
which,  if  obeyed,  must  make  its  members 
wiser,  better,  happier  men ;  but  it  claims 
no  power  of  regeneration.  Condemn  when 
our  instruction  is  evil,  but  not  when  our 
pupils  are  dull,  and  deaf  to  our  lessons ;  for, 
in  so  doing,  you  condemn  the  holy  religion 
which  you  profess.  Masonry  prescribes  no 
principles  that  are  opposed  to  the  sacred 
teachings  of  the  Divine  Lawgiver,  and 
sanctions  no  acts  that  are  not  consistent 
with  the  sternest  morality  and  the  most  faith- 
ful obedience  to  government  and  the  laws; 
and  while  this  continues  to  be  its  character, 
it  cannot,  without  the  most  atrocious  injus- 
tice, be  made  responsible  for  the  acts  of  its 
unworthy  members. 

Of  all  human  societies,  Freemasonry  is 
undoubtedly,  under  all  circumstances,  the 
fittest  to  form  the  truly  good  man.  But 
however  well  conceived  may  be  its  laws, 
they  cannot  completely  change  the  natural 
disposition  of  those  who  ought  to  observe 
them.  In  truth,  they  serve  as  lights  and 
guides;  but  as  they  can  only  direct  men 
by  restraining  the  impetuosity  of  their  pas- 
sions, these  last  too  often  become  domi- 
nant, and  the  Institution  is  forgotten. 

Upper  Chambers.  The  practice  of 
holding  Masonic  Lodges  in  the  upper  rooms 
of  houses  is  so  universal  that,  in  all  my  ex- 
perience, I  have  no  knowledge  of  a  single 
instance  in  which  a  Lodge  has  been  holden 
in  a  room  on  the  first  floor  of  a  building. 
The  most  apparent  reason  for  this  is,  that 
security  from  being  overseen  or  overheard 
may  be  thus  obtained,  and  hence  Dr.  Oli- 
ver says,  in  his  Book  of  the  Lodge,  (p.  44,) 
that  "  a  Masonic  hall  should  be  isolated, 
and,  if   possible,   surrounded    with    lofty 

walls As,  however,  such  a  situation 

in  large  towns,  where  Masonry  is  usually 
practised,  can  seldom  be  obtained  with 
convenience  to  the  brethren,  the  Lodge 
should  be  formed  in  an  upper  story."  This, 
as  a  practical  reason,  will  be  perhaps  suf- 


848 


UPPER 


URIM 


ficient  to  Masons  in  general.  But  to  those 
who  are  more  curious,  it  may  be  well  to 
say,  that  for  this  custom  there  is  also  a 
mystical  reason  of  great  antiquity. 

Gregory,  in  his  Notes  and  Observations  on 
some  Passages  of  Scripture,  (1671,  p.  17,) 
says :  "  The  upper  rooms  in  Scripture  were 

f)laces  in  that  part  of  the  house  which  was 
lighest  from  the  ground,  set  apart  by  the 
Jews  for  their  private  orisons  and  devo- 
tions, to  be  addressed  towards  Solomon's 
Temple."  This  room  received,  in  the  He- 
brew language,  the  appellation  of  Alijah, 
which  has  been  translated  by  the  Greek 
huperoon,  and  improperly  by  the  Latin  cce- 
naculum.  The  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  both 
have  the  signification  of  an  upper  room, 
while  the  Latin  appellative  would  give  the 
idea  of  a  dining-room  or  place  for  eating, 
thus  taking  away  the  sacred  character  of 
the  apartment.  The  Alijah  was  really  a 
secret  chamber  or  recess  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  house,  devoted  to  religious  uses. 
Hence  the  wise  men  or  Rabbins  of  Israel 
are  called  by  the  Talmudists  beni  Alijah, 
or  "  the  sons  of  the  upper  or  secret  room." 
And  so,  in  Psalm  civ.  2,  3,  the  Psalmist 
speaks  of  God  as  stretching  out  the  heavens 
like  a  curtain,  and  laying  the  beams  of  his 
chambers  in  the  waters,  where,  in  the  orig- 
inal, the  word  here  translated  "  chambers  " 
is  the  plural  of  Alijah,  and  should  more 
properly  be  rendered  "his  secret  cham- 
bers:" an  allusion,  as  Dr.  Clarke  thinks, 
to  the  holy  of  holies  of  the  tabernacle. 
Again,  in  2  Chronicles  ix.  3,  4,  it  is  said 
that  when  the  Queen  of  Sheba  had  seen 
the  wisdom  of  Solomon  and  the  house  that 
he  had  built  —  his  provisions,  servants,  and 
cup-bearers,  "  and  his  ascent  by  which  he 
went  up  into  the  house  of  the  Lord — there 
was  no  more  spirit  in  her."  The  word 
which  our  translators  have  rendered  "  his 
ascent,"  is  again  this  word  Alijah,  and  the 
passage  should  be  rendered  "his  secret 
chamber,"  or  "  upper  room ; "  the  one  by 
which,  through  a  private  way,  he  was  en- 
abled to  pass  into  the  Temple. 

On  the  advent  of  Christianity,  this  Jew- 
ish custom  of  worshipping  privately  in  an 
upper  room  was  adopted  by  the  apostles 
and  disciples,  and  the  New  Testament  con- 
tains many  instances  of  the  practice,  the 
word  Alijah  being,  as  I  have  already  re- 
marked, translated  by  the  Greek  huperoon, 
which  has  a  similar  meaning.  Thus  in 
Acts  i.  13,  we  find  the  apostles  praying  in 
an  upper  room ;  and  again,  in  the  twentieth 
chapter,  the  disciples  are  represented  as 
having  met  at  Ephesus  in  an  upper  room, 
where  Peter  preached  to  them.  But  it  is 
unnecessary  to  multiply  instances  of  this 
usage.  The  evidence  is  complete  that  the 
Jews,  and  after  them  the  primitive  Chris- 


tians, performed  their  devotions  in  upper 
rooms.  And  the  care  with  which  Alijah, 
huperoon,  or  upper  chamber,  is  always  used 
to  designate  the  place  of  devotion,  abun- 
dantly indicates  that  any  other  place  would 
have  been  considered  improper. 

Hence  we  may  trace  the  practice  of  hold- 
ing Lodges  in  upper  rooms  to  this  ancient 
custom ;  and  that,  again,  has  perhaps  some 
connection  with  the  sacred  character  always 
given  by  the  ancients  to  "  high  places,"  so 
that  it  is  said,  in  the  Masonic  lectures,  that 
our  ancient  brethren  met  on  high  hills  and 
low  vales.  The  reason  there  assigned  by 
implication  is  that  the  meeting  may  be 
secret ;  that  is,  the  lectures  place  the  Lodge 
on  a  high  hill,  a  vale,  or  other  secret  place. 
And  this  reason  is  more  definitely  stated  in 
the  modern  lectures,  which  say  that  they  so 
met  "to  observe  the  approach  of  cowans 
and  eavesdroppers,  ana  to  guard  against 
surprise."  Yet  it  is  not  improbable  that 
the  ancient  symbolism  of  the  sanctity  of  a 
high  place  was  referred  to  as  well  as  that 
more  practical  idea  of  secrecy  and  safety. 

Upright  Posture.  The  upright  pos- 
ture of  the  Apprentice  in  the  north-east  cor- 
ner, as  a  symbol  of  upright  conduct,  was  in- 
troduced into  the  ritual  by  Preston,  who 
taught  in  his  lectures  that  the  candidate 
then  represented  "a just  and  upright  man 
and  Mason."  The  same  symbolism  is  re- 
ferred to  by  Hutchinson,  who  says  that  "as 
the  builder  raises  his  column  by  the  plane 
and  perpendicular,  so  should  the  Mason 
carry  himself  towards  the  world."  Indeed, 
the  application  of  the  corner-stone,  or  the 
square  stone,  as  a  symbol  of  uprightness  of 
conduct,  which  is  precisely  the  Masonic 
symbolism  of  the  candidate  in  the  north- 
east, was  familiar  to  the  ancients;  for  Plato 
says  that  he  who  valiantly  sustains  the 
shocks  of  adverse  fortune,  demeaning  him- 
self uprightly,  is  truly  good  and  of  a  square 
posture. 

Uriel.  Hebrew,  ix^ix,  meaning  the 
fire  of  God.  An  archangel,  mentioned 
only  in  2  Esdras.  Michael  Glycas,  the 
Byzantine  historian,  says  that  his  post  is  in 
the  sun,  and  that  he  came  down  to  Seth 
and  Enoch,  and  instructed  them  in  the 
length  of  the  years  and  the  variations  of 
the  seasons.  The  book  of  Enoch  describes 
him  as  the  angel  of  thunder  and  lightning. 
In  some  of  the  Hermetic  degrees  of  Ma- 
sonry, the  name,  as  representing  the  angel 
of  fire,  becomes  a  significant  word. 

I  rim  and  Thummim.  The  He- 
brew words  D'llX,  Aurim,  and  D'Dfi,  Thum- 
im,  have  been  variously  translated  by 
commentators.  The  Septuagint  translates 
them,  "  manifestation  and  truth  ;  "  the 
Vulgate,  "doctrine  and  truth;"  Aquila, 
"lights  and  perfections;"  Kalisch,  "per- 


URIM 


URN 


849 


feet  brilliancy;"  but  tbe  most  generally 
received  interpretation  is,  "light  and  truth." 
What  the  Urim  and  Thummim  were  has 
also  been  a  subject  of  as  much  doubt  and 
difference  of  opinion.  Suddenly  intro- 
duced to  notice  by  Moses  in  the  command, 
(Exod.  xxviii.  30,)  "  and  thou  shalt  put  in 
the  breastplate  of  judgment  the  Urim  and 
the  Thummim," — as  if  they  were  already 
familiar  to  the  people, — we  know  only  of 
them  from  the  scriptural  account,  that  they 
were  sacred  lots  to  be  worn  concealed  in  or 
behind  the  breastplate,  and  to  be  consulted 
by  the  high  priest  alone,  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  a  revelation  of  the  will  of 
God  in  matters  of  great  moment.  Some 
writers  have  supposed  that  the  augury 
consisted  in  a  more  splendid  appearance  of 
certain  letters  of  the  names  of  the  tribes 
inscribed  upon  the  stones  of  the  breastplate; 
others,  that  it  was  received  by  voice  from 
two  small  images  which  were  placed  be- 
yond the  folds  of  the  breastplate.  A 
variety  of  other  conjectures  have  been  haz- 
arded, but  as  Godwyn  [Moses  and  Aaron, 
iv.  8,)  observes,  "he  spoke  best,  who  in- 
geniously confessed  that  he  knew  not  what 
Urim  and  Thummim  was." 

The  opinion  now  almost  universally  ac- 
cepted is  that  the  Jewish  lawgiver  bor- 
rowed this,  as  he  did  the  ark,  the  bra-zen 
serpent,  and  many  other  of  the  symbols 
of  his  theocracy,  from  the  usages  so  fa- 
miliar to  him  of  the  Egyptian  priests, 
with  which  both  he  and  Aaron  were  fa- 
miliar, eliminating,  of  course,  from  them 
their  previous  heathen  allusion,  and  giving 
to  them  a  purer  signification. 

In  reference  to  the  Urim  and  Thummim, 
we  know  not  only  from  the  authority  of  an- 
cient writers,  but 
also  from  the  con- 
firmatory testi- 
mony of  more  re- 
cent monumental 
explorations,  that 
the  judges  of 
Egypt  woregolden 
chains  around  their  necks,  to  which  was 
suspended  a  small  figure  of  Theme,  the 
Egyptian  goddess  of  Justice  and  Truth. 
"  Some  of  these  breastplates,"  says  Gliddon, 
(Anc.  Egypt,  p.  32,)  "are  extant  in  Euro- 
pean museums;  others  are  to  be  seen  on 
the  monuments  as  containing  the  figures 
of  two  deities — Ra,  the  sun,  and  Theme. 
These  represent  Ra,  or  the  sun,  in  a  double 
capacity,  physical  and  intellectual  light; 
and  Theme  iu.  a  double  capacity,  justice  and 
truth." 

Neither  in  Ancient  Craft  nor  in  Royal 
Arch  Masonry  have  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim been  introduced;  although  Oliver  dis- 
cusses them,  in  his  Landmarks,  as  a  type  of 
5G  54 


Christ,  to  be  Masonically  applied  in  his 
peculiar  system  of  a  Christian  interpreta- 
tion of  all  the  Masonic  symbols.  But  the  fact 
that  after  the  construction  of  the  Temple 
of  Solomon  we  hear  no  more  of  the  consul- 
tation by  the  priests  of  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim, which  seem  to  have  given  way  to  the 
audible  interpretation  of  the  divine  will  by 
the  prophets,  would  necessarily  disconnect 
them  with  Masonry  as  a  symbol,  to  be  ac- 
cepted even  by  those  who  place  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Order  at  the  Solomonic  era. 

Yet  they  have  been  introduced  as  a  sym- 
bol into  some  of  the  continental  high  de- 
grees. Thus,  in  the  last  degree  of  the  Or- 
der of  Brothers  of  Asia,  the  presiding  officer 
wears  the  Urim  and  Thummim  suspended 
from  a  golden  chain  as  the  jewel  of  his  office. 

Reghellini  {Esprit  du  dogme,  p.  60,)  thus 
gives  the  continental  interpretation  of  the 
symbol. 

"  The  folly  of  Solomon  is  commemorated 
in  the  instructions  and  ceremonies  of  a 
high  degree,  where  the  Acolyte  is  reminded 
that  Solomon,  becoming  arrogant,  was  for  a 
time  abandoned  by  the  Divinity,  and  as  he 
was,  although  the  greatest  of  kings,  only  a 
mortal,  he  was  weak  enough  to  sacrifice  to 
idols,  and  thereby  lost  the  communication 
which  he  had  previously  had  through 
the  Urim  and  Thummim. 

"  These  two  words  are  found  in  a  degree 
of  the  Maitre  ecossais.  The  Venerables 
of  the  Lodges  and  the  Sublime  Masters  ex- 
plain the  legend  to  their  recipients  of  an 
elevated  rank,  as  intended  to  teach  them 
that  they  should  always  be  guided  by  rea- 
son, virtue,  and  honor,  and  never  abandon 
themselves  to  an  effeminate  life  or  silly  su- 
perstition." 

It  is,  I  think,  undeniable  that  Urim  and 
Thummim  have  no  legitimate  existence  as 
a  Masonic  symbol,  and  that  they  can  only 
be  considered  such  by  a  forced  and  modern 
interpretation. 

Uriot,  Joseph.  The  author  of  a 
work  entitled  Le  veritable  Portrait  d'un 
Franc-Macon,  which  was  published  by  a 
Lodge  at  Frankfort,  in  1742.  It  may  be 
looked  upon,  says  Kloss,  as  the  earliest 
public  exposition  of  the  true  principles  of 
Masonry  which  appeared  in  Germany. 
Many  editions  of  it  were  published.  M. 
Uriot  also  published  at  Stongard,  in  1769, 
a  work  entitled  Lettres  sur  la  Franche  Ma- 
connerie;  which  was,  however,  only  an  en- 
largement of  the  Portrait. 

IJrn.  Among  the  ancients,  cinerary 
urns  were  in  common  use  to  hold  the  ashes 
of  the  deceased  after  the  body  had  been 
subjected  to  incremation,  which  was  the 
usual  mode  of  disposing  of  it.  He  who 
would  desire  to  be  learned  upon  this  sub- 
ject  should   read  Sir  Thomas  Browne's 


850 


URUGUAY 


VALE 


celebrated  work  entitled  Hydrhtaphioz,  or 
Urn  Burial,  where  everything  necessary  to 
be  known  on  this  topic  may  be  found.  In 
Masonry,  the  cinerary  urn  has  been  intro- 
duced as  a  modern  symbol,  but  always  as 
having  reference  to  the  burial  of  the  Temple 
Builder.  In  the  comparatively  recent  sym- 
bol of  the  Monument,  fabricated  by  Cross 
for  the  degree  of  Master  in  the  American 
Rite,  the  urn  is  introduced  as  if  to  remind 
the  beholder  that  the  ashes  of  the  great  art- 
ist were  there  deposited.  Cross  borrowed, 
it  may  be  supposed,  his  idea  from  an  older 
symbol  in  the  high  degrees,  where,  in  the 
description  of  the  tomb  of  Hiram  Abif,  it 
is  said  that  the  heart  was  enclosed  in  a 
golden  urn,  to  the  side  of  which  a  trian- 
gular stone  was  affixed,  inscribed  with  the 
letters  J.  M.  B.  within  a  wreath  of  acacia, 
and  placed  on  the  top  of  an  obelisk. 

Uruguay.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  the  Republic  of  Uruguay  by  the 
Grand  Orient  of  France,  which,  in  1827, 
chartered  a  Lodge  called  "  the  Children  of 


the  New  World."  Up  to  1856,  other  Lodges 
were  established  by  the  Grand  Bodies  of 
France  and  Brazil.  In  that  year  authority 
was  obtained  from  the  Supreme  Council 
and  Grand  Orient  of  Brazil,  Valley  of 
Lavradio,  to  establish  a  governing  Masonic 
body,  and  the  Supreme  Council  and  Grand 
Orient  of  Uruguay  was  regularly  consti- 
tuted at  Montevideo,  in  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Utah.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  the  Territory,  October  7, 1867,  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Montana,  which  chartered 
Wasatch  Lodge,  No.  8.  Mount  Moriah 
Lodge,  No.  70,  was  chartered  October  21, 
1868,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Kansas,  and 
Argenta  Lodge,  No.  21,  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Colorado,  September  26,  1871. 
All  of  these  Lodges  are  situated  in  Salt 
Lake  City.  In  January  16-20,  1872,  the 
representatives  of  the  three  Lodges  met  at 
Salt  Lake  City  and  organized  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Utah,  O.  F.  Strickland  being 
elected  Grand  Master. 


V. 


Vacancies  in  Office.  Every  Ma- 
sonic officer  is  elected  and  installed  to  hold 
his  office  for  the  time  for  which  he  has  been 
elected,  and  until  his  successor  shall  be  in- 
stalled. This  is  in  the  nature  of  a  contract 
between  the  officer  and  the  Lodge,  Chapter, 
or  other  body  which  has  elected  him,  and 
to  its  terms  he  signifies  his  assent  in  the 
most  solemn  manner  at  the  time  of  his  in- 
stallation. It  follows  from  this  that  to 
resign  the  office  would  be  on  his  part  to 
violate  his  contract.  Vacancies  in  office, 
therefore,  can  only  occur  by  death.  Even 
a  removal  from  the  jurisdiction,  with  the 
intention  of  permanent  absence,  will  not 
vacate  a  Masonic  office,  because  the  person 
removing  might  change  his  intention,  and 
return.  For  the  reasons  why  neither  res- 
ignation nor  removal  can  vacate  an  office, 
:see  Succession  to  the  Chair. 

Vale  or  Valley.  The  vale  or  valley 
was  introduced  at  an  early  period  into  the 
symbolism  of  Masonry.  A  catechism  of 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century  says  that 
"the  Lodge  stands  upon  holy  ground,  or 
the  highest  hill  or  lowest  vale,  or  in  the 
vale  of  Jehoshaphat,  or  any  other  secret 
place."  And  Browne,  who  in  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century  gave  a  correct  ver- 
sion of  the  Prestonian  lectures,  aays  that 


"our  ancient  brethren  met  on  the  highest 
hills,  the  lowest  dales,  even  in  the  valley 
of  Jehoshaphat,  or  some  such  secret  place." 

Hutchinson  (Sp.  of  Mas.,  p.  58,)  has  dilated 
on  this  subject,  but,  as  I  think,  with  a  mis- 
taken view  of  the  true  import  of  the  sym- 
bol. He  says:  "We  place  the  spiritual 
Lodge  in  the  vale  of  Jehoshaphat,  imply- 
ing thereby  that  the  principles  of  Masonry 
are  derived  from  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and  are  established  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Lord."  And  he  adds:  "The  highest 
hills  and  lowest  valleys  were  from  the 
earliest  times  esteemed  sacred,  and  it  was 
supposed  the  spirit  of  God  was  peculiarly 
diffusive  in  those  places." 

It  is  true  that  worship  in  high  places 
was  an  ancient  idolatrous  usage.  But 
there  is  no  evidence  that  the  superstition 
extended  to  valleys.  Hutchinson's  subse- 
quent reference  to  the  Druidical  and 
Oriental  worship  in  groves  has  no  bearing 
on  the  subject,  for  groves  are  not  necessarily 
valleys.  The  particular  reference  to  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat  would  seem  in  that 
case  to  carry  an  allusion  to  the  peculiar 
sanctity  of  that  spot,  as  meaning,  in  the 
original,  the  valley  of  the  judgment  of  God. 
But  the  fact  is  that  the  old  Masons  did  not 
derive  their  idea,  that  the  Lodge  was  situ- 


VALLEY 


VAULT 


851 


ated  in  a  valley,  from  any  idolatrous  prac- 
tice of  the  ancients. 

Valley,  in  Masonry,  is  a  symbol  of 
secrecy.  And  although  I  am  not  disposed 
to  believe  that  the  use  of  the  word  in  this 
sense  was  borrowed  from  any  meaning 
which  it  had  in  Hebrew,  yet  it  is  a  singu- 
lar coincidence  that  the  Hebrew  word  for 
valley,  gnemeth,  signifies  also  "deep,"  or,  as 
Bate  ( Critica  Hebr&a)  defines  it,  "  whatever 
lies  remote  from  sight,  as  counsels  and  de- 
signs which  are  deep  or  close."  This  very 
word  is  used  in  Job  xii.  22,  where  it  is 
said  that  God  "  discovereth  deep  things  out 
of  da  kness,  and  bringeth  out  to  light  the 
shadow  of  death." 

The  Lodge,  therefore,  is  said  to  be  placed 
in  a  valley  because,  the  valley  being  the 
symbol  of  secrecy,  it  is  intended  to  indicate 
the  secrecy  in  which  the  acts  of  the  Lodge 
should  be  concealed.  And  this  interpreta- 
tion agrees  precisely  with  what  is  said  in 
the  passages  already  cited,  where  the  Lodge 
is  said  to  stand  in  the  lowest  vale  "  or  any 
secret  place."  It  is  supported  also  by  the 
present  lecture  in  this  country,  the  ideas 
of  which  at  least  Webb  derived  from  Pres- 
ton. It  is  there  taught  that  our  ancient 
brethren  met  on  the  highest  hills  and 
lowest  vales,  the  better  to  observe  the  ap- 
proach of  cowans  and  eavesdroppers,  and  to 
guard  against  surprise. 

Valley.  In  the  capitular  degrees  of 
the  French  Rite,  this  word  is  used  instead 
of  Orient,  to  designate  the  seat  of  the 
Chapter.  Thus  on  such  a  body  a  docu- 
ment would  be  dated  from  the  "  Valley  of 
Paris,"  instead  of  the  "Orient  of  Paris." 
The  word,  says  the  Dictionnaire  Maconnique, 
is  often  incorrectly  employed  to  designate 
the  south  and  north  sides  of  the  Lodge, 
where  the  expression  should  be  "  the  col- 
umn of  the  south  "  and  "  the  column  of 
the  north."  Thus,  a  Warden  will  address 
the  brethren  of  his  valley,  instead  of  the 
brethren  of  his  column.  The  valley  includes 
the  whole  Lodge  or  Chapter;  the  columns 
are  its  divisions. 

Vassal,  Pierre  Gerard.  A  French 
physician  and  Masonic  writer,  who  was 
born  at  Manosques,  in  France,  October  14, 
1769.  He  was  intended  by  his  parents  for 
the  Church,  and  entered  the  Seminary  of 
Marseilles  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  his 
ecclesiastical  studies.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  revolution  he  left  the  school 
and  joined  the  army,  where,  however,  he 
remained  only  eighteen  months.  He  then 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine, 
and  pursued  the  practice  of  the  profession 
during  the  rest  of  his  life,  acquiring  a  large 
reputation  as  a  physician.  He  was  elected 
a  member  of  several  medical  societies,  to 
whose  transactions  he  contributed  several 


valuable  essays.  He  is  said  to  have  intro- 
duced to  the  profession  the  use  of  the  digi- 
talis purpurea  as  a  remedial  agent,  espe- 
cially in  diseases  of  the  heart.  He  was 
initiated  into  Masonry  about  the  year  1811, 
and  thenceforth  took  an  active  part  in  the 
Institution.  He  presided  in  the  Lodge, 
Chapter,  and  Areopagus  of  the  Sept  Ecos- 
sais  reunis  with  great  zeal  and  devotion ; 
was  in  1819  elected  Secretary  General  of 
the  Grand  Orient,  and  in  1827  President  of 
the  College  of  Rites.  He  attained  the 
thirty-third  degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Ac- 
cepted Rite,  and  was  a  warm  advocate  of 
Scottish  Masonry.     But  his  zeal  was  tem- 

Eered  by  his  judgment,  and  he  did  not 
esitate  to  denounce  the  errors  that  had 
crept  into  the  system,  an  impartiality  of 
criticism  which  greatly  surprised  Ragon. 
His  principal  Masonic  works  are  Essai  his- 
torique  sur  V  institution  du  Bit  Ecossais,  etc., 
Paris,  1827,  and  a  valuable  historical  con- 
tribution to  Masonry  entitled  Cours  com- 
plet  de  la  Maconnerie,  ou  Histoire  generate  de 
P  Initiation  depuis  son  Origine  jusqu'd  sou  in- 
stitution en  France,  Paris,  1832.  In  private 
life,  Vassal  was  distinguished  for  his  kind 
heart  and  benevolent  disposition.  The 
Lodge  of  Sept  Ecossais  reunis  presented 
him  a  medal  in  1830  as  a  recognition  of 
his  active  labors  in  Masonrv.  He  died 
May  4,  1840,  at  Paris. 

Vault  of  Steel.  ( Voute  tfacier.)  The 
French  Masons  so  call  the  Arch  of  Steel, 
which  see. 

Vault,  Secret.  As  a  symbol,  the  Se- 
cret Vault  does  not  present  itself  in  the 
primary  degrees  of  Masonry.  It  is  found 
only  in  the  high  degrees,  such  as  the  Royal 
Arch  of  all  the  Rites,  where  it  plays  an 
important  part.  Dr.  Oliver,  in  his  Histor- 
ical Landmarks,  (vol.  ii.,  p.  434,)  gives, 
while  referring  to  the  building  of  the  second 
Temple,  the  following  general  detail  of  the 
Masonic  legend  of  this  vault. 

"The  foundations  of  the  Temple  were 
opened,  and  cleared  from  the  accumulation 
of  rubbish,  that  a  level  might  be  procured 
for  the  commencement  of  the  building. 
While  engaged  in  excavations  for  this  pur- 
pose, three  fortunate  sojourners  are  said  to 
have  discovered  our  ancient  stone  of  foun- 
dation, which  had  been  deposited  in  the  se- 
cret crypt  by  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty, 
to  prevent  the  communication  of  ineffable 
secrets  to  profane  or  unworthy  persons. 
The  discoveiy  having  been  communicated 
to  the  prince,  prophet,  and  priest  of  the 
Jews,  the  stone  was  adopted  as  the  chief 
corner-stone  of  the  re-edified  building,  and 
thus  became,  in  a  new  and  more  expressive 
sense,  the  type  of  a  more  excellent  dispen- 
sation. An  avenue  was  also  accidentally 
discovered,  supported  by  seven    pair  of 


852 


VAULT 


VAULT 


pillars,  perfect  and  entire,  which,  from  their 
situation,  had  escaped  the  fury  of  the  flames 
that  had  consumed  the  Temple,  and  the 
desolation  of  war  that  had  destroyed  the 
city.  The  secret  vault,  which  had  been 
built  by  Solomon  as  a  secure  depository  for 
certain  secrets  that  would  inevitably  have 
been  lost  without  some  such  expedient  for 
their  preservation,  communicated  by  a  sub- 
terranean avenue  with  the  king's  palace; 
but  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  the 
entrance  having  been  closed  by  the  rubbish 
of  falling  buildings,  it  had  been  discovered 
by  the  appearance  of  a  keystone  amongst 
the  foundations  of  the  sanctum  sanctorum. 
A  careful  inspection  was  then  made,  and 
the  invaluable  secrets  were  placed  in  safe 
custody." 

To  support  this  legend,  there  is  no  his- 
torical evidence  and  no  authority  except 
that  of  the  Talmudic  writers.  It  is  clearly 
a  mythical  symbol,  and  as  such  we  must 
accept  it.  We  cannot  altogether  reject  it, 
because  it  is  so  intimately  and  so  exten- 
sively connected  with  the  symbolism  of  the 
Lost  and  the  Recovered  Word,  that  if  we 
reject  the  theory  of  the  Sacret  Vault,  we 
must  abandon  all  of  that  symbolism,  and 
with  it  the  whole  of  the  science  of  Masonic 
symbolism.  Fortunately,  there  is  ample 
evidence  in  the  present  appearance  of  Je- 
rusalem and  its  subterranean  topography, 
to  remove  from  any  tacit  and,  as  it  were, 
conventional  assent  to  the  theory,  features 
of  absurdity  or  impossibility. 

Considered  simply  as  a  historical  ques- 
tion, there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  existence 
of  immense  vaults  beneath  the  superstruc- 
ture of  the  original  Temple  of  Solomon. 
Prime,  Robison,  and  other  writers  who  in 
recent  times  have  described  the  topography 
of  Jerusalem,  speak  of  the  existence  of 
these  structures,  which  they  visited  and,  in 
some  instances,  carefully  examined. 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
Titus,  the  Roman  Emperor  Hadrian  erected 
on  the  site  of  the  "House  of  the  Lord"  a 
temple  of  Venus,  which  in  its  turn  was  de- 
stroyed, and  the  place  subsequently  became 
a  depository  of  all  manner  of  filth.  But 
the  Caliph  Omar,  after  his  conquest  of  Je- 
rusalem, sought  out  the  ancient  site,  and, 
having  caused  it  to  be  cleansed  of  its  im- 
purities, he  directed  a  mosque  to  be  erected 
on  the  rock  which  rises  in  the  centre  of 
the  mountain.  Fifty  years  afterward  the 
Sultan  Abd-el-Meluk  displaced  the  edifice 
of  Omar,  and  erected  that  splendid  build- 
ing which  remains  to  this  day,  and  is  still 
incorrectly  called  by  Christians  the  mosque 
of  Omar,  but  known  to  Mussulmans  as  El- 
kubbet-es-Sukrah,  or  the  Dome  of  the  Rock. 
This  is  supposed  to  occupy  the  exact  site 
of  the  original  Solomonic  Temple,  and  is 


viewed  with  equal  reverence  by  Jews  and 
Mohammedans,  the  former  of  whom,  says 
Mr.  Prime,  {Tent  Life  in  the  Holy  Land,  p. 
183,)  "have  a  faith  that  the  ark  is  within 
its  bosom  now." 

Bartlett,  (  Walks  about  Jerusalem,  p.  170,) 
in  describing  a  vault  beneath  this  mosque 
of  Omar,  says :  "  Beneath  the  dome,  at  the 
south-east  angle  of  the  Temple  wall,  con- 
spicuous from  all  points,  is  a  small  subter- 
raneous place  of  prayer,  forming  the  en- 
trance to  the  extensive  vaults  which  sup- 
port the  level  platform  of  the  mosque 
above." 

Dr.  Barclay  ( City  of  the  Great  King)  de- 
scribes, in  many  places  of  his  interesting 
topography  of  Jerusalem,  the  vaults  and 
subterranean  chambers  which  are  to  be 
found  beneath  the  site  of  the  old  Temple. 

Conformable  with  this  historical  account 
is  the  Talmudical  legend,  in  which  the 
Jewish  Rabbins  state  that,  in  preparing 
the  foundations  of  the  Temple,  the  work- 
men discovered  a  subterranean  vault  sus- 
tained by  seven  arches,  rising  from  as  many 
pairs  of  pillars.  This  vault  escaped  notice 
at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  being  filled  with  rubbish. 
The  legend  adds  that  Josiah,  foreseeing 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  commanded 
the  Levites  to  deposit  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant in  this  vault,  where  it  was  found  by 
some  of  the  workmen  of  Zerubbabel  at  the 
building  of  the  second  Temple. 

In  the  earliest  ages,  the  cave  or  vault 
was  deemed  sacred.  The  first  worship  was 
in  cave  temples,  which  were  either  natural 
or  formed  by  art  to  resemble  the  excava- 
tions of  nature.  Of  such  great  extent  was 
this  practice  of  subterranean  worship  by 
the  nations  of  antiquity,  that  many  of  the 
forms  of  heathen  temples,  as  well  as  the 
naves,  aisles,  and  chancels  of  churches 
subsequently  built  for  Christian  worship, 
are  said  to  owe  their  origin  to  the  religious 
use  of  caves. 

From  this,  too,  arose  the  fact,  that  the 
initiation  into  the  ancient  mysteries  was  al- 
most always  performed  in  subterranean 
edifices ;  and  when  the  place  of  initiation, 
as  in  some  of  the  Egyptian  temples,  was 
really  above  ground,  it  was  so  constructed 
as  to  give  to  the  neophyte  the  appearance, 
in  its  approaches  and  its  internal  structure, 
of  a  vault.  As  the  great  doctrine  taught 
in  the  mysteries  was  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead, — as  to  die  and  to  be  initiated  were 
synonymous  terms,  —  it  was  deemed  proper 
that  there  should  be  some  formal  resem- 
blance between  a  descent  into  the  grave 
and  a  descent  into  the  place  of  initiation. 
"  Happy  is  the  man,"  says  the  Greek  poet 
Pindar,  "  who  descends  beneath  the  hollow 
earth  having  beheld   these  mysteries,  for 


VEDAS 


VEILS 


853 


he  knows  the  end  as  well  as  the  divine 
origin  of  life ; "  and  in  a  like  spirit  Sopho- 
cles exclaims,  "  Thrice  happy  are  they  who 
descend  to  the  shades  below  after  having 
beheld  these  sacred  rites,  for  they  alone 
have  life  in  Hades,  while  all  others  suffer 
there  every  kind  of  evil." 

The  vault  was,  therefore,  in  the  ancient 
mysteries,  symbolic  of  the  grave ;  for  ini- 
tiation was  symbolic  of  death,  where  alone 
Divine  Truth  is  to  be  found.  The  Masons 
have  adopted  the  same  idea.  They  teach 
that  death  is  but  the  beginning  of  life; 
that  if  the  first  or  evanescent  temple  of  our 
transitory  life  be  on  the  surface,  we  must 
descend  into  the  secret  vault  of  death  before 
we  can  find  that  sacred  deposit  of  truth 
which  is  to  adorn  our  second  temple  of 
eternal  life.  It  is  in  this  sense  of  an  en- 
trance through  the  grave  into  eternal  life 
that  we  are  to  view  the  symbolism  of  the 
secret  vault.  Like  every  other  myth  and 
allegory  of  Masonry,  the  historical  relation 
may  be  true  or  it  may  be  false  ;  it  may  be 
founded  on  fact  or  be  the  invention  of  imagi- 
nation ;  the  lesson  is  still  there,  and  the  sym- 
bolism teaches  it  exclusive  of  the  history. 

Vedas.  The  most  ancient  of  the  re- 
ligious writings  of  the  Indian  Aryans,  and 
now  constituting  the  sacred  canon  of  the 
Hindus,  being  to  them  what  the  Bible  is 
to  the  Christians,  or  the  Koran  to  the 
Mohammedans.  The  word  Veda  denotes 
in  Sanscrit,  the  language  in  which  these 
books  are  written,  wisdom  or  knowledge, 
and  comes  from  the  verb  Veda,  which,  like 
the  Greek  0\$a,  Foida,  signifies  "  I  know." 
The  German  weiss  and  the  English  wit 
came  from  the  same  root.  There  are  four 
collections,  each  of  which  is  called  a  Veda, 
namely,  the  Rig- Veda,  the  Yazur-Veda, 
the  Sama-Veda,  and  the  Atharva-Veda ; 
but  the  first  only  is  the  real  Veda,  the  others 
being  but  commentaries  on  it,  as  the  Tal- 
mud is  upon  the  Old  Testament. 

The  Rig- Veda  is  divided  into  two  parts : 
the  Mantras  or  hymns,  which  are  all  metri- 
cal, and  the  Brahmanes,  which  are  in  prose, 
and  consist  of  ritualistic  directions  con- 
cerning the  employment  of  the  hymns,  and 
the  method  of  sacrifice.  The  other  Vedas 
consist  also  of  hymns  and  prayers;  but 
they  are  borrowed,  for  the  most  part,  from 
the  Rig- Veda. 

The  Vedas,  then,  are  the  Hindu  canon  of 
Scripture  —  his  book  of  the  law ;  and  to 
the  Hindu  Mason  they  are  his  trestle- 
board,  just  as  the  Bible  is  to  the  Christian 
Mason. 

The  religion  of  the  Vedas  is  apparently 
an  adoration  of  the  visible  powers  of  nature, 
such  as  the  sun,  the  sky,  the  dawn,  and  the 
fire,  and,  in  general,  the  eternal  powers  of 
light.    The  supreme  divinity  was  the  sky, 


called  Varuna,  whence  the  Greeks  got  their 
Ouranas ;  and  next  was  the  Sun,  called 
sometimes  Savitar,  the  progenitor,  and 
sometimes  Mitra,  the  loving  one,  whence 
the  Persian  Mithras.  Side  by  side  with 
these  was  Agni,  fire,  whence  the  Latin 
ignis,  who  was  the  divinity  coming  most 
directly  in  approximation  with  man  on 
earth,  and  soaring  upwards  as  the  flame  to 
the  heavenly  gods.  But  in  this  nature- 
worship  the  Vedas  frequently  betray  an 
inward  spirit  groping  after  the  infinite 
and  the  eternal,  and  an  anxious  search  for 
the  divine  name,  which  was  to  be  rever- 
enced just  as  the  Hebrew  aspired  after  the 
unutterable  Tetragrammaton.  Bunsen  {God 
in  History,  b.  iii.,  ch.  7,)  calls  this  "the  de- 
sire—  the  yearning  after  the  nameless 
Deity,  who  nowhere  manifests  himself  in 
the  Indian  pantheon  of  the  Vedas  —  the 
voice  of  humanity  groping  after  God." 
One  of  the  most  sublime  of  the  Veda 
hymns  [Rig-  Veda,  b.  x.  hymn  121)  ends 
each  strophe  with  the  solemn  question : 
"  Who  is  the  god  to  whom  we  shall  offer 
our  sacrifice  ?  "  This  is  the  question  which 
every  religion  asks;  the  search  after  the 
All-Father  is  the  labor  of  all  men  who  are 
seeking  divine  truth  and  light.  The  Semi- 
tic, like  the  Aryan  poet  in  the  same  longing 
spirit  for  the  knowledge  of  God,  exclaims, 
"  Oh  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him, 
that  I  might  come  even  to  his  seat."  It  is 
the  great  object  of  all  Masonic  labor,  which 
thus  shows  its  true  religious  character  and 
design. 

The  Vedas  have  not  exercised  any  direct 
influence  on  the  symbolism  of  Freemasonry. 
But,  as  the  oldest  Aryan  faith,  they  became 
infused  into  the  subsequent  religious  sys- 
tems of  the  race,  and  through  the  Zend- 
Avesta  of  the  Zoroastrians,  the  mysteries  of 
Mithras,  the  doctrines  of  theNeo-platonists, 
and  the  school  of  Pythagoras,  mixed  with 
the  Semitic  doctrines  of  the  Bible  and  the 
Talmud,  they  have  cropped  out  in  the 
mysticism  of  the  Gnostics  and  the  secret 
societies  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  have 
shown  some  of  their  spirit  in  the  re- 
ligious philosophy  and  the  symbolism  of 
Speculative  Masonry.  To  the  Masonic 
scholar,  the  study  of  the  Vedic  hymns  is 
therefore  interesting,  and  not  altogether 
fruitless  in  its  results.  The  writings  of 
Bunsen,  of  Muir,  of  Cox,  and  especially  of 
Max  Miiller,  will  furnish  ample  materials 
for  the  study. 

Vehm-gerieht.  See  Westphalia,  Se- 
cret Tribunal  of. 

Veils.  Grand  Masters  of  the. 
Three  officers  in  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of 
the  American  Rite,  whose  duty  it  is  to  pro- 
tect and  defend  the  Veils  of  the  Tabernacle, 
for  which  purpose  they  are  presented  with 


854 


VEILS 


VEILS 


a  sword.  The  jewel  of  their  office  is  a 
sword  within  a  triangle,  and  they  bear  each 
a  banner,  which  is  respectively  blue,  purple, 
and  scarlet.  The  title  of  "Grand  Master" 
appears  to  be  a  misnomer.  It  would  have 
been  better  to  have  styled  them  "  Masters  " 
or  "Guardians."  In  the  English  system, 
the  three  Sojourners  act  in  this  capacity, 
which  is  an  absurd  violation  of  all  the  facts 
of  history,  and  completely  changes  the 
symbolism. 

Veils,  Symbolism  of  the.  Neither 
the  construction  nor  the  symbolism  of  the 
veils  in  the  Royal  Arch  tabernacle  is  de- 
rived from  that  of  the  Sinaitic.  In  the 
Sinaitic  tabernacle  there  were  no  veils  of 
separation  between  the  different  parts,  ex- 
cept the  one  white  one  that  hung  before 
the  most  holy  place.  The  decorations  of 
the  tabernacle  were  curtains,  like  modern 
tapestry,  interwoven  with  many  colors ;  no 
curtain  being  wholly  of  one  color,  and  not 
running  across  the  apartment,  but  covering 
its  sides  and  roof.  The  exterior  form  of 
the  Royal  Arch  tabernacle  was  taken  from 
that  of  Moses,  but  the  interior  decoration 
from  a  passage  of  Josephus  not  properly 
understood. 

Josephus  has  been  greatly  used  by  the 
fabricators  of  high  degrees  of  Masonry, 
not  only  for  their  ideas  of  symbolism,  but 
for  the  suggestion  of  their  legends.  In  the 
Second  Book  of  Chronicles  (iii.  14),  it  is 
said  that  Solomon  "made  the  veil  of  blue, 
and  purple,  and  crimson,  and  fine  linen, 
and  wrought  cherubims  thereon."  This 
description  evidently  alludes  to  the  single 
veil,  which,  like  that  of  the  Sinaitic  tab- 
ernacle, was  placed  before  the  entrance  of 
the  holy  of  holies.  It  by  no  means  resem- 
bles the  four  separate  and  equidistant  veils 
of  the  Masonic  tabernacle. 

But  Josephus  had  said  (Antiq.,  1.  viii.,  c. 
iii.,  \  3),  that  the  king  "also  had  veils  of 
blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  the 
brightest  and  softest  linen,  with  the  most 
curious  flowers  wrought  upon  them,  which 
were  to  be  drawn  before  these  doors."  To 
this  description  — which  is  a  very  inaccurate 
one,  which  refers,  too,  to  the  interior  of  the 
first  Temple,  and  not  to  the  supposed  ta- 
bernacle subsequently  erected  near  its  ruins, 
and  which,  besides,  has  no  biblical  author- 
ity for  its  support — we  must  trace  the  ideas, 
even  as  to  the  order  of  the  veils,  which  the 
inventors  of  the  Masonic  tabernacle  adopt- 
ed in  their  construction  of  it.  That  tab- 
ernacle cannot  be  recognized  as  historical- 
ly correct,  but  must  be  considered,  like  the 
three  doors  of  the  Temple  in  the  symbolic 
degrees,  simply  as  a  symbol.  But  this  does 
not  at  all  diminish  its  value. 

The  symbolism  of  the  veils  must  be  con- 
sidered in  two  aspects;  first,  in  reference  to 


the  symbolism  of  the  veils  as  a  whole,  and 
next,  as  to  the  symbolism  of  each  veil  sep- 
arately. 

As  a  whole,  the  four  veils,  constituting 
four  divisions  of  the  tabernacle,  present 
obstacles  to  the  neophyte  in  his  advance 
to  the  most  holy  place  where  the  Grand 
Council  sits.  Now  he  is  seeking  to  advance 
to  that  sacred  spot  that  he  may  there  re- 
ceive his  spiritual  illumination,  and  be 
invested  with  a  knowledge  of  the  true  Di- 
vine name.  But  Masonically,  this  Divine 
name  is  itself  but  a  symbol  of  Truth,  the 
object,  as  has  been  often  said,  of  all  a  Ma- 
son's search  and  labor.  The  passage  through 
the  veils  is,  therefore,  a  symbol  of  the  trials 
and  difficulties  that  are  encountered  and 
must  be  overcome  in  the  search  for  and  the 
acquisition  of  Truth. 

This  is  the  general  symbolism ;  but  we 
lose  sight  of  it,  in  a  great  degree,  when  we 
come  to  the  interpretation  of  the  symbolism 
of  each  veil  independently  of  the  others, 
for  this  principally  symbolizes  the  various 
virtues  and  affections  that  should  character- 
ize the  Mason.  Yet  the  two  symbolisms 
are  really  connected,  for  the  virtues  sym- 
bolized are  those  which  should  distinguish 
every  one  engaged  in  the  Divine  search. 

The  symbolism,  according  to  the  system 
adopted  in  the  American  Rite,  refers  to  the 
colors  of  the  veils  and  to  the  miraculous 
signs  of  Moses,  which  are  described  in  Ex- 
odus as  having  been  shown  by  him  to  prove 
his  mission  as  the  messenger  of  Jehovah. 

Blue  is  a  symbol  of  universal  friendship 
and  benevolence.  It  is  the  appropriate 
color  of  the  symbolic  degrees,  the  posses- 
sion of  which  is  the  first  step  in  the  pro- 
gress of  the  search  for  truth  to  be  now  in- 
stituted. The  Mosaic  sign  of  the  'serpent 
was  the  symbol  among  the  ancients  of  res- 
urrection to  life,  because  the  serpent,  by 
casting  his  skin,  is  supposed  continually  to 
renew  his  youth.  It  is  the  symbol  here  of 
the  loss  and  the  recovery  of  the  Word. 

Purple  is  a  symbol  here  of  union,  and  re- 
fers to  the  intimate  connection  of  Ancient 
Craft  and  Royal  Arch  Masonry.  Hence  it 
is  the  appropriate  color  of  the  intermediate 
degrees,  which  must  be  passed  through  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  search.  The  Mosaic 
sign  refers  to  the  restoration  of  the  leprous 
hand  to  health.  Here  again,  in  this  repre- 
sentation of  a  diseased  limb  restored  to 
health,  we  have  a  repetition  of  the  allusion 
to  the  loss  and  the  recovery  of  the  Word ; 
the  Word  itself  being  but  a  symbol  of  Di- 
vine truth,  the  search  for  which  constitutes 
the  whole  science  of  Freemasonry,  and  the 
symbolism  of  which  pervades  the  whole 
system  of  initiation  from  the  first  to  the 
last  degree. 

Scarlet  is  a  symbol  of  fervency  and  zeal, 


VENERABLE 


VENGEANCE 


855 


and  is  appropriated  to  the  Royal  Arch  de- 
gree because  it  is  by  these  qualities  that 
the  neophyte,  now  so  far  advanced  in  his 
progress,  must  expect  to  be  successful  in  his 
search.  The  Mosaic  sign  of  changing  wa- 
ter into  wine  bears  the  same  symbolic  refer- 
ence to  a  change  for  the  better  —  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  state — from  the  elemental 
water  in  which  there  is  no  life  to  the  blood 
which  is  the  life  itself —  from  darkness  to 
light.  The  progress  is  still  onward  to  the 
recovery  of  that  which  had  been  lost,  but 
which  is  yet  to  be  found. 

White  is  a  symbol  of  purity,  and  is  pe- 
culiarly appropriate  to  remind  the  neo- 
Ehyte,  who  is  now  almost  at  the  close  of 
is  search,  that  it  is  only  by  purity  of  life 
that  he  can  expect  to  be  found  worthy  of 
the  reception  of  divine  truth.  "  Blessed," 
says  the  Great  Teacher,  "  are  the  pure  in 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  The  Mosaic 
signs  now  cease,  for  they  have  taught  their 
lesson;  and  the  aspirant  is  invested  with 
the  Signet  of  Truth,  to  assure  him  that, 
having  endured  all  trials  and  overcome 
all  obstacles,  he  is  at  length  entitled  to  re- 
ceive the  reward  for  which  he  has  been 
seeking ;  for  the  Signet  of  Zerubbabel  is  a 
royal  signet,  which  confers  power  and  au- 
thority on  him  who  possesses  it. 

And  so  we  now  see  that  the  Symbolism 
of  the  Veils,  however  viewed,  whether  col- 
lectively or  separately,  represent  the  labo- 
rious, but  at  last  successful,  search  for  di- 
vine truth. 

Venerable.  The  title  of  a  Worship- 
ful Master  in  a  French  Lodge. 

Venerable  Grand  Master  of  all 
Symbolic  Lodges.  The  twentieth  de- 
gree of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite.  See  Grand  Master  of  all  Symbolic 
Lodges.  The  Dictionnaire  Maconnique  says 
that  this  degree  was  formerly  conferred  on 
those  brethren  in  France  who,  in  receiving 
it,  obtained  the  right  to  organize  Lodges, 
and  to  act  as  Masters  or  Venerables  for  life, 
an  abuse  that  was  subsequently  abolished 
by  the  Grand  Orient.  Ragon  and  Vassal 
both  make  the  same  statement.  It  may  be 
true,  but  they  furnish  no  documentary  evi- 
dence of  the  fact.  An  examination  of  an 
old  MS.  French  ritual  of  the  degree,  when 
it  formed  part  of  the  Rite  of  Perfection, 
which  is  in  my  possession,  shows  nothing 
in  the  catechism  that  renders  this  theory 
of  its  origin  improbable. 

Venerable,  Perfect.  ( Venerable 
Par/ait.)  A  degree  in  the  collection  of 
Viany. 

Venezuela.  Freemasonry  first  pene- 
trated into  Venezuela  in  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  when  a  Lodge  was 
instituted  by  the  Grand  Orient  of  Spain. 
Several  other  Lodges  were  subsequently  es- 


tablished by  the  same  authority.  In  1825, 
Cerneau,  the  head  of  th  i  irregular  Supreme 
Council  at  New  Yorl-,  established  in  Car- 
acas a  Grand  Lodge  and  Supreme  Council 
of  the  Scottish  Rite.  In  1827,  the  Libera- 
tor, Simon  Bolivar,  having  by  his  decree 
prohibited  all  secret  societies,  the  Masonic 
Lodges,  with  the  exception  of  the  one  at 
Porto  Cabello,  suspended  their  labors.  In 
1830,  Venezuela  having  become  indepen- 
dent by  the  division  of  the  Colombian  Re- 
public, several  brethren  obtained  from  some 
of  the  dignitaries  of  the  extinct  Grand 
Lodge,  in  their  capacity  as  Sovereign  In- 
spectors General  of  the  thirty-third  de- 
gree, a  temporary  Dispensation  to  hold  a 
Lodge  for  one  year,  in  the  expectation  that 
they  would,  in  the  course  of  that  time,  be 
enabled  to  obtain  a  Charter  from  some  for- 
eign Grand  Lodge.  But  their  efforts,  in 
consequence  of  irregularities,  were  unsuc- 
cessful, and  the  Lodge  was  suspended. 
For  eight  years,  Freemasonry  in  Venezu- 
ela was  in  a  dormant  condition.  But  in 
1838  the  Masonic  spirit  was  revived,  the 
Lodge  just  referred  to  renewed  its  labors, 
the  old  Lodges  were  resuscitated,  and  the 
National  Grand  Lodge  of  Venezuela  was 
constituted,  whether  regularly  or  not,  it  is 
impossible  at  this  time,  with  the  insufficient 
light  before  us,  to  determine.  It  was,  how- 
ever, recognized  by  several  foreign  bodies. 
The  Grand  Lodge  thus  established,  issued 
Charters  to  all  the  old  Lodges,  and  erected 
new  ones.  In  conjunction  with  the  In- 
spectors General,  it  established  a  supreme 
legislative  body,  under  the  name  of  the 
Grand  Orient,  and  also  constituted  a  Grand 
Lodge,  which  continued  to  exist,  with  only 
a  few  changes,  made  in  1852,  until  the  pres- 
ent Grand  Lodge  and  Supreme  Council  were 
established,  January  12,  1865.  There  are 
at  present  in  Venezuela  a  Grand  Lodge, 
which,  in  1870,  had  thirty-two  Lodges  un- 
der its  obedience,  and  a  Supreme  Council 
of  the  Scottish  Rite. 

Vengeance.  A  word  used  in  the  high 
degrees.  Barruel,  Robison,  and  the  other 
detractors  of  Freemasonry,  have  sought  to 
find  in  this  word  a  proof  of  the  vindictive 
character  of  the  Institution.  "  In  the  de- 
gree of  Kadosh,"  says  Barruel,  (Memoires, 
ii.  310,)  "the  assassin  of  Adoniram  be- 
comes the  king,  who  must  be  slain  to  avenge 
the  Grand  Master  Molay  and  the  Order  of 
Masons,  who  are  the  successors  of  the  Tem- 
plars." 

No  calumny  was  ever  fabricated  with  so 
little  pretension  to  truth  for  its  foundation. 
The  reference  is  altogether  historical ;  it  is 
the  record  of  the  punishment  which  fol- 
lowed a  crime,  not  an  incentive  to  revenge. 

The  word  nekam  is  used  in  Masonry  m 
precisely  the  same  sense  in  which  it  is  em- 


856 


VERGER 


VERTOT 


ployed  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah  (1.  15) 
when  he  speaks  of  nikemat  Jehovah,  "the 
vengeance  of  the  Lord,"  —  the  punishment 
which  God  will  inflict  on  evil-doers.  The 
word  is  used  symbolically  to  express  the 
universally  recognized  doctrine  that  crime 
will  inevitably  be  followed  by  its  penal  con- 
sequences. It  is  the  dogma  of  all  true  re- 
ligions ;  for  if  virtue  and  vice  entailed  the 
same  result,  there  would  be  no  incentive  to 
the  one  and  no  restraint  from  the  other. 

Verger.  An  officer  in  a  Council  of 
Knights  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  whose  du- 
ties are  similar  to  those  of  a  Senior  Deacon 
in  a  Symbolic  Lodge. 

Vermont.  Freemasonry  was  intro- 
duced into  the  State  of  Vermont  in  1781,  in 
which  year  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachu- 
setts granted  a  Charter  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Lodge  at  Cornish.  This  town 
having  soon  afterwards  been  claimed  by 
New  Hampshire,  the  Lodge  removed  to 
Windsor,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 
In  1785,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts 
chartered  another  Lodge  at  the  town  of 
Manchester.  A  Grand  Lodge  was  organ- 
ized October  19,  1794,  at  Rutland.  I  have 
been  unable  to  find  any  record  of  the  num- 
ber of  Lodges  that  were  engaged  in  that 
organization,  nor  is  there  any  evidence  that 
there  were  at  that  time  in  existence  in  Ver- 
mont any  other  than  the  two  which  had 
been  chartered  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. 

In  no  State  of  the  Union  did  the  anti- 
Masonic  party,  as  a  political  power,  exer- 
cise so  much  influence  as  it  did  in  Ver- 
mont. The  Grand  Lodge  was,  under  the 
pressure  of  persecution,  compelled  to  sus- 
pend its  labors  in  1833.  All  the  Lodges 
under  its  jurisdiction  surrendered  their 
Charters,  and  Masonry  for  fifteen  years 
had  no  active  existence  in  that  State.  The 
Grand  Lodge,  however,  did  not  dissolve, 
but  continued  its  legal  life  by  regular, 
although  private,  communications  of  the 
officers,  and  by  adjournments,  until  the  year 
1846,  when  it  resumed  vigor,  Bro.  Nathan 
B.  Haswell,  who  was  the  Grand  Master  at 
the  time  of  the  suspension,  having  taken 
the  chair  at  the  resumed  communication  in 
January,  1846.  The  regularity  of  this  re- 
sumption, although  at  first  denied  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  New  York,  was  generally 
admitted  by  all  the  Grand  Lodges  of  the 
United  States,  with  a  welcome  to  which  the 
devotion  and  steady  perseverance  of  the  Ma- 
sons of  Vermont  had  justly  entitled  them. 

The  Grand  Chapter  was  organized  De- 
cember 20,  1804,  Jonathan  Wells  being 
elected  first  Grand  High  Priest.  It  shared 
the  destinies  of  the  Grand  Lodge  during 
the  period  of  persecution,  but  was  reorgan- 
ized July  18,  1849,  under  a  commission 


from  Joseph  K.  Stapleton,  Deputy  General 
Grand  High  Priest  of  the  United  States. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  organized  August  19,  1854,  by 
a  Convention  of  four  Councils  held  at  Ver- 
gennes,  and  Nathan  B.  Haswell  was  elected 
Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Encampment  (now  the  Grand 
Commandery)  was  originally  organized  in 
1825.  It  subsequently  became  dormant. 
In  1850,  the  Grand  Encampment  was  re- 
vived ;  but  it  appearing  that  the  revival  was 
attended  by  irregularities,  and  in  violation 
of  the  Grand  Constitution  of  the  Grand 
Encampment  of  the  United  States,  the 
members  dissolved  the  body,  and  the  Dep- 
uty Grand  Master,  William  H.  Ellis,  hav- 
ing, in  December,  1850,  issued  a  commis- 
sion to  three  subordinate  Encampments  to 
organize  a  Grand  Encampment,  that  body 
was  formed  January  14,  1852. 

Vernhes,  J.  F.  A  French  litterateur 
and  Masonic  writer,  who  was  in  1821  the 
Venerable  of  the  Lodge  la  Parfaite  Hu- 
manite  at  Montpellier.  He  wrote  an  Essai 
sur  VHistoire  de  la  Franche-Magonnerie, 
depuis  son  etablissement  jusq'd  nos  Jours, 
Paris,  1813 ;  and  Le  Parfaii  Macon  ou  Re- 
pertoire complet  de  la  Magonnerie  Sym- 
bolique.  This  work  was  published  at  Mont- 
pellier, in  1820,  in  six  numbers,  of  which 
the  sixth  was  republished  the  next  year, 
with  the  title  of  Apologie  des  Magons.  It 
contained  a  calm  and  rational  refutation 
of  several  works  which  had  been  written 
against  Freemasonry.  Vernhes  became  an 
active  disciple  of  the  Rite  of  Mizraim,  and 
published  in  1822,  at  Paris,  a  defence  of  it 
and  an  examination  of  the  various  Rites 
then  practised  in  France. 

Vertot  d"  Auburn  f.  Rene'-Aubert 
de.  The  Abb6  Vertot  was  born  at  the 
Chateau  de  Bennelot,  in  Normandy,  in 
1665.  In  1715  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
Knights  of  Malta  appointed  him  the  his- 
toriographer of  that  Order,  and  provided  him 
with  the  Commandery  of  Santenay.  Vertot 
discharged  the  duties  of  his  office  by 
writing  his  well-known  work  entitled  His- 
tory of  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem,  afterwards  Knights  of  Rhodes, 
and  now  Knights  of  Malta,  which  was  pub- 
lished at  Paris,  in  1726,  in  four  volumes. 
It  has  since  passed  through  a  great  number 
of  editions,  and  been  translated  into  many 
languages.  Of  this  work,  to  which  the 
Abbe  principally  owes  his  fame,  although 
he  was  also  the  author  of  many  other  his- 
tories, French  critics  complain  that  the 
style  is  languishing,  and  less  pure  and 
natural  than  that  of  his  other  writings. 
Notwithstanding  that  it  has  been  the  basis 
of  almost  all  subsequent  histories  of  the 
Order,  the  judgment  of  the  literary  world 


VESICA 


VINTON 


857 


is,  that  it  needs  exactitude  in  many  of  its 
details,  and  is  too  much  influenced  by  the 
personal  prejudices  of  the  author.  The 
Abbe  Vertot  died  in  1735. 

Vesica  Piscis.  The  fish  was  among 
primitive  Christians  a  symbol 
of  Jesus.  (See  Fish.)  The 
vesica  piscis,  signifying  literally 
the  air-bladder  of  a  fish,  but, 
as  some  suppose,  being  the 
rough  outline  of  a  fish,  was 
adopted  as  an  abbreviated  form 
of  that  symbol.  In  some  old 
manuscripts  it  is  used  as  a 
representation  of  the  lateral 
wound  of  our  Lord.  As  a 
symbol,  it  was  frequently  em- 
ployed as  a  church  decoration 
by  the  Freemasons  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  The  seals  of  all 
colleges,  abbeys,  and  other  religious  com- 
munities, as  well  as  of  ecclesiastical  per- 
sons, were  invariably  made  of  this  shape. 
Hence,  in  reference  to  the  religious  charac- 
ter of  the  Institution,  it  has  been  suggested 
that  the  seals  of  Masonic  Lodges  should 
also  have  that  form,  instead  of  the  circular 
one  now  used. 

Vexillum  Belli.  A  war-flag.  In 
classical  Latin,  Vexillum  meant  a  flag  con- 
sisting of  a  piece  of  cloth  fixed  on  a  frame 
or  cross-tree,  as  contradistinguished  from 
a  signum,  or  standard,  which  was  simply  a 
pole  with  the  image  of  an  eagle,  horse,  or 
some  other  device  on 
the  top.  Among  the 
pretended  relics  of  the 
Order  of  the  Temple 
is  one  called  "le  dra- 
peau  de  guerre,  eu  laine 
blanche,  a  quatre  raies 
noires ; "  i.  e,,  the  standard  of  war,  of  white 
linen,  with  four  black  rays;  and  in  the 
statutes  of  the  Order,  the  Vexillum  Belli  is 
described  as  being  "  albo  nigroque  palatum," 
or  pales  of  white  and  black,  which  is  the 
same  thing  couched  in  the  technical  lan- 
guage of  heraldry.  This  is  incorrect.  The 
only  war-flag  of  the  ancient  Knights  Tem- 

Slars  was  the  Beauseant.  Ad- 
ison,  on  the  title-page  of  his 
Temple  Church,  gives  what  he 
calls  "the  war-banner  of  the 
Order  of  the  Temple,"  and 
which  is,  as  in  the  margin,  the 
Beauseant,  bearing  in  the  centre 
the  blood-red  Templar  cross. 
Some  of  the  Masonic  Templars, 
those  of  Scotland,  for  example, 
have  both  a  Beaucenifer  or 
Beauseant  bearer,  and  a  bearer  of  the  Vex- 
illum Belli.  The  difference  would  appear 
to  be  that  the  Beauseant  is  the  plain 
white  and  black  flag,  and  the  Vexillum 
6H 


I     lii 


Belli  is  the  same  flag  charged  with  the  red 
cross. 

Viany,  Auguste  de.  A  Masonic 
writer  of  Tuscany,  and  one  of  the  founders 
there  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite.  He 
was  the  author  of  many  discourses,  disser- 
tations, and  didactic  essays  on  Masonic 
subjects.  He  is,  however,  best  known  as 
the  collector  of  a  large  number  of  manu- 
script degrees  and  cahiers  or  rituals,  several 
of  which  have  been  referred  to  in  this 
work. 

Vielle-Bru,  Rite  of.  In  1748,  the 
year  after  the  creation  of  the  Chapter  of 
Arras  by  the  Young  Pretender,  Charles 
Edward,  a  new  Bite,  in  favor  of  the  cause 
of  the  Stuarts,  was  established  at  Toulouse 
by,  as  it  is  said,  Sir  Samuel  Lockhart,  one 
of  the  aides-de-camp  of  the  Prince.  It 
was  called  the  Rite  of  Vielle-Bru,  or  Faith- 
ful Scottish  Masons.  It  consisted  of  nine 
degrees,  divided  into  three  chapters  as  fol- 
lows: First  Chapter,  1,  2,  3.  The  symbolic 
degrees ;  4.  Secret  Master.  Second  Chapter, 
5,  6,  7,  8.  Four  elu  degrees,  based  on  the 
Templar  system.  Third  Chapter,  9.  Scien- 
tific Masonry.  The  head  of  the  Rite  was 
a  Council  of  Menatzchim.  In  1804  the 
Rite  was  refused  a  recognition  by  the  Grand 
Orient  of  France,  because  it  presented  no 
moral  or  scientific  object,  and  because  the 
Charter  which  it  claimed  to  have  from 
Prince  Charles  Edward  was  not  proved  to 
be  authentic.  It  continued  to  exist  in  the 
south  of  France  until  the  year  1812,  when, 
being  again  rejected  by  the  Grand  Orient, 
it  fell  into  decay. 

Villars,  Abbe"  Montfaueon  de. 
He  was  born  in  Languedoc  in  j.653,  and 
was  shot  by  one  of  his  relatives,  on  the  high 
road  between  Lyons  and  Paris,  in  1675. 
The  Abbe' Villars  is  celebrated  as  the  author 
of  The  Count  de  Oabalis,  or  Conversations  on 
the  Secret  Sciences,  published  in  2  vols.,  at 
Paris,  in  1670.  In  this  work  the  author's 
design  was,  under  the  form  of  a  romance,  to 
unveil  some  of  the  Kabbalistic  mysteries 
of  Rosicrucianism.  It  has  passed  through 
many  editions, .  and  has  been  translated 
into  English  as  well  as  into  other  lan- 
guages. 

Vincere  aut  Mori.  French,  Vaincre 
ou  Mourir,  to  conquer  or  to  die.  The  motto 
of  the  degree  of  Perfect  Elect  Mason,  the 
first  of  the  elus  according  to  the  Clermont 
or  Templar  system  of  Masonry. 

Vinton,  David.  A  distinguished 
lecturer  on  Masonry,  and  teacher  of  the 
ritual  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  present 
century.  His  field  of  labors  was  princi- 
pally confined  to  the  Southern  States,  and 
he  taught  his  system  for  some  time  with 
great  success  in  North  and  South  Carolina. 
There  were,  however,  stains  upon  his  char- 


858 


VIOLET 


VIRGINIA 


acter,  and  he  was  eventually  expelled  by,  I 
think,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  former  State. 
He  died  at  Shakertown,  Kentucky,  in  July, 
1833.  Vinton  published  at  Dedham,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  1816,  a  volume,  containing 
Selections  of  Masonic,  Sentimental,  and 
Humorous  songs,  under  the  title  of  The  Ma- 
sonic Minstrel.  Of  this  rather  trifling  work 
no  less  than  twelve  thousand  copies  were 
sold  by  subscription.  To  Vinton's  poetic 
genius  we  are  indebted  for  that  beautiful 
dirge  commencing,  "Solemn  strikes  the 
funeral  chime,"  which  has  now  become  in 
almost  all  the  Lodges  of  the  United  States 
a  part  of  the  ritualistic  ceremonies  of  the 
third  degree,  and  has  been  sung  over  the 
graves  of  thousands  of  departed  brethren. 
This  contribution  should  preserve  the 
memory  of  Vinton  among  the  Craft,  and 
in  some  measure  atone  for  his  faults,  what- 
ever they  may  have  been. 

Violet.  This  is  not  a  Masonic  color, 
except  in  some  of  the  high  degrees  of  the 
Scottish  Kite,  where  it  is  a  symbol  of  mourn- 
ing, and  thus  becomes  one  of  the  decora- 
tions of  a  Sorrow  Lodge.  Portal  ( Coleurs 
Symboliques,  p.  236, )  says  that  this  color  was 
adopted  for  mourning  by  persons  of  high 
rank.  And  Campini  (  Vetera  Monumenta) 
states  that  violet  was  the  mark  of  grief, 
especially  among  kings  and  cardinals.  In 
Christian  art,  the  Saviour  is  clothed  in  a 
purple  robe  during  his  passion;  and  it  is 
the  color  appropriated,  says  Court  de  Ge- 
belin,  [Monde prim.,  viii.  201,)  to  martyrs, 
because,  like  their  divine  Master,  they  un- 
dergo the  punishment  of  the  passion.  Pre- 
vost  {Hist,  des  Voyages,  vi.  152,)  says  that 
in  China  violet  is  the  color  of  mourning. 
Among  that  people  blue  is  appropriated  to 
the  dead  and  red  to  the  living,  because 
with  them  red  represents  the  vital  heat, 
and  blue,  immortality ;  and  hence,  says 
Portal,  violet,  which  is  made  by  an  equal 
admixture  of  blue  and  red,  is  a  symbol  of 
the  resurrection  to  eternal  life.  Such  an 
idea  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  use  of 
violet  in  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry  as  a 
symbol  of  mourning.  It  would  be  equally 
appropriate  in  the  primary  degrees,  for 
everywhere  in  Masonry  we  are  taught  to 
mourn  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope. 
Our  grief  for  the  dead  is  that  of  those  who 
believe  in  the  immortal  life.  The  red  sym- 
bol of  life  is  tinged  with  the  blue  of  immor- 
tality, and  thus  we  would  wear  the  violet 
as  our  mourning  to  declare  our  trust  in  the 
resurrection. 

Virginia.  There  is  much  obscurity 
about  the  early  history  of  Freemasonry  in 
this  State.  The  first  chartered  Lodge  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  "  St.  John's  Lodge" 
at  Norfolk,  which  received  its  Warrant  in 
1741  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland. 


December  22, 1758,  the  "  Royal  Exchange 
Lodge"  at  Norfolk  was  chartered  by  the 
Athol  or  Ancient  York  Lodge.  But  be- 
tween 1741  and  1758  the  Lodge  of  Freder- 
icksburg had  sprung  into  existence,  for  its 
records  show  that  General  Washington  was 
there  initiated  November  4,  1752.  This 
Lodge  was  chartered  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Massachusetts  on  July  21, 1758,  but  had 
been  acting  under  Dispensation  for  several 
years  before.  In  1777  there  were  ten 
Lodges  in  Virginia,  namely,  two  at  Nor- 
folk and  one  at  each  of  the  following  places: 
Port  Royal,  Fredericksburg,  Hampton, 
Williamsburg,  Gloucester,  Cabin  Point, 
Petersburg,  and  Yorktown.  On  the  6th 
of  May  in  that  year,  deputies  from  five  of 
these  Lodges  met  in  convention  at  Williams- 
burg, "  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  Grand 
Master  for  Virginia."  So  says  the  record 
as  contained  in  Dove's  Text- Book.  The 
convention,  however,  adjourned  to  June  23, 
after  stating  its  reasons  for  the  election  of 
such  an  officer.  On  that  day  it  met,  but 
again  adjourned.  Finally,  it  met  on  Oc- 
tober 13,  1778.  The  record  calls  it  "  a  Con- 
vention of  the  Craft;"  but  it  assumed  the 
form  of  a  Lodge,  and  the  Master  and  War- 
dens of  Williamsburg  Lodge  presided. 
Only  four  Lodges  were  represented,  namely, 
Williamsburg,  Blandford,  Botetourt,  and 
Cabin  Point.  The  modern  forms  of  Ma- 
sonic conventions  are  not  found  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  convention.  Nothing  is 
said  of  the  formation  of  a  Grand  Lodge, 
but  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  : 

"  It  is  the  opinion  of  this  Convention, 
that  it  is  agreeable  to  the  Constitutions  of 
Masonry  that  all  the  regular  chartered 
Lodges  within  this  State  should  be  sub- 
ject to  the  Grand  Master  of  the  said  State." 

Accordingly,  John  Blair,  Past  Master  of 
the  Williamsburg  Lodge,  was  nominated 
and  unanimously  elected,  and  on  the  same 
day  he  was  installed,  by  the  Master  of  Wil- 
liamsburg Lodge,  as  "  Grand  Master  of  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons  of  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia." All  this  was  done,  if  we  may  trust 
the  record,  in  Williamsburg  Lodge,  the 
Master  thereof  presiding,  who  afterwards 
closed  the  Lodge  without  any  reference  to 
the  organization  of  a  Grand  Lodge.  We 
may,  however,  imply  that  such  a  body  was 
then  formed,  for  Dove — without,  however, 
giving  any  account  of  the  proceedings  in 
the  interval,  when  there  might  or  might  not 
have  been  quarterly  or  annual  communica- 
tions —  says  that  a  Grand  Lodge  was  held 
in  the  city  of  Richmond,  October  4,  1784, 
when  Grand  Master  Blair  having  resigned 
the  chair,  James  Mercer  was  elected  Grand 
Master.  Dove  dates  the  organization  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  at  October  13,  1778. 

Royal  Arch   Masonry  was    introduced 


VIRGIN 


VISITATION 


859 


into  Virginia,  it  is  said,  by  Joseph  Myers, 
who  was  acting  under  his  authority  as 
a  Deputy  Inspector  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 
The  Grand  Chapter  was  organized  at  Nor- 
folk, May  1,  1808.  It  has  never  recog- 
nized the  authority  of  the  General  Grand 
Chapter. 

The  Cryptic  degrees  are  conferred  in 
Virginia  in  the  Chapters  preparatory  to 
the  Royal  Arch.  There  are  therefore  no 
Councils  of  Royal  and  Select  Masters  in 
the  State. 

The  register,  or  roll  published  in  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the 
United  States  for  1871,  (p.  27,)  states  that 
the  Grand  Commandery  of  Virginia  was 
organized,  November  27,  1823.  But  from 
a  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Grand 
Encampment,  made  September  17,  1847, 
we  learn  the  following  facts.  In  1824  there 
existed  three  subordinate  Encampments  in 
Virginia,  which  about  the  year  1826  formed 
a  Grand  Encampment,  that  was  represented 
that  year  in  the  General  Grand  Encamp- 
ment. It  is  supposed  that  this  body  ceased 
to  exist  soon  after  its  organization,  and  a 
Charter  was  granted,  by  the  General  Grand 
Encampment,  for  an  Encampment  to  meet 
at  Wheeling.  On  December  11, 1845,  dele- 
gates from  various  Encampments  in  Vir- 
ginia met  at  Richmond  and  organized  a 
new  Grand  Encampment  which  they  de- 
clared to  be  independent  of  the  General 
Grand  Encampment.  At  the  session  of 
the  latter  body  in  1847,  it  declared  this 
new  Grand  Encampment  to  be  "irregular 
and  unauthorized,"  and  it  refused  to  recog- 
nize it  or  its  subordinates.  Wheeling  En- 
campment, however,  was  acknowledged  to 
be  a  lawful  body,  as  it  had  not  given  its 
adhesion  to  the  irregular  Grand  Encamp- 
ment. In  January,  1851,  the  Grand  En- 
campment of  Virginia  receded  from  its  po- 
sition of  independence,  and  was  recognized 
by  the  General  Grand  Encampment  as  one 
of  its  constituents.  It  so  remained  until 
1861,  when  the  Grand  Commandery  (the 
title  which  had  been  adopted  in  1859) 
seceded  from  the  Grand  Encampment  in 
consequence  of  the  civil  war.  It,  however, 
returned  to  its  allegiance  in  1865,  and  has 
ever  since  remained  a  regular  portion  of 
the  Templar  Order  of  the  United  States. 

Virgin,  Weeping.  See  Weeping 
Virgin. 

Visible  Masonry.  In  a  circular 
published  March  18,  1775,  by  the  Grand 
Orient  of  France,  reference  is  made  to  two 
divisions  of  the  Order,  namely,  Visible  and 
Invisible  Masonry.  Did  we  not  know  some- 
thing of  the  Masonic  contentions  then  ex- 
isting in  France  between  the  Lodges  and 
the  supreme  authority,  we  should  hardly 
comprehend  the  meaning  intended  to  be 


conveyed  by  these  words.  By  "Invisible 
Masonry  "  they  denoted  that  body  of  in- 
telligent and  virtuous  Masons  who,  irre- 
spective of  any  connection  with  dogmatic 
authorities,  constituted  "  a  Mysterious  and 
Invisible  Society  of  the  True  Sons  of  Light," 
who,  scattered  over  the  two  hemispheres, 
were  engaged,  with  one  heart  and  soul,  in 
doing  everything  for  the  glory  of  the  Grand 
Architect  and  the  good  oi  their  fellow-men. 
By  "  Visible  Masonry "  they  meant  the 
congregation  of  Masons  into  Lodges,  which 
were  often  affected  by  the  contagious  vices 
of  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  The  form- 
er is  perfect ;  the  latter  continually  needs 
purification.  The  words  were  originally 
invented  to  effect  a  particular  purpose,  and 
to  bring  the  recusant  Lodges  of  France 
into  their  obedience.  But  they  might  be 
advantageously  preserved,  in  the  technical 
language  of  Masonry,  for  a  more  general 
and  permanent'object.  Invisible  Masonry 
would  then  indicate  the  abstract  spirit  of 
Masonry  as  it  has  always  existed,  while 
Visible  Masonry  would  refer  to  the  con- 
crete form  which  it  assumes  in  Lodge  and 
Chapter  organizations,  and  in  different  Rites 
and  systems.  The  latter  would  be  like  the 
material  church,  or  church  militant;  the 
former  like  the  spiritual  church,  or  church 
triumphant.  Such  terms  might  be  found 
convenient  to  Masonic  scholars  and  writers. 

Visitation.  Grand.  The  visit  of  a 
Grand  Master,  accompanied  by  his  Grand 
Officers,  to  a  subordinate  Lodge,  to  inspect 
its  condition,  is  called  a  Grand  Visitation. 
There  is  no  allusion  to  anything  of  the 
kind  in  the  Old  Constitutions,  because 
there  was  no  organization  of  the  Order  be- 
fore the  eighteenth  century  that  made  such 
an  inspection  necessary.  But  immediately 
after  the  revival  in  1717,  it  was  found  ex- 
pedient, in  consequence  of  the  growth  of 
Lodges  in  London,  to  provide  for  some 
form  of  visitation  and  inspection.  So,  in 
the  very  first  of  the  Thirty-nine  General 
Regulations,  adopted  in  1721,  it  is  declared 
that  "  the  Grand  Master  or  his  Deputy  hath 
authority  and  right  not  only  to  be  present 
in  any  true  Lodge,  but  also  to  preside  wher- 
ever he  is,  with  the  Master  of  the  Lodge  on 
his  left  hand,  and  to  order  his  Grand  War- 
dens to  attend  him,  who  are  not  to  act  in 
any  particular  Lodges  as  Wardens,  but  in 
his  presence  and  at  his  command ;  because 
there  the  Grand  Master  may  command  the 
Wardens  of  that  Lodge,  or  any  other  breth- 
ren he  pleaseth,  to  attend  and  act  as  his 
Wardens  pro  tempore." 

In  compliance  with  this  old  regulation, 
whenever  the  Grand  Master,  accompanied 
by  his  Wardens  and  other  officers,  visits  a 
Lodge  in  his  jurisdiction,  for  the  purpose 
of  inspecting  its  condition,  the  Master  and 


860 


VISITING 


VOGEL 


officers  of  the  Lodge  thus  visited  surrender 
their  seats  to  the  Grand  Master  and  the 
Grand  Officers. 

Grand  Visitations  are  among  the  oldest 
usages  of  Freemasonry  since  the  revival 
period.  In  this  country  they  are  not  now 
so  frequently  practised,  in  consequence  of 
the  extensive  territory  over  which  the 
Lodges  are  scattered,  and  the  difficulty  of 
collecting  at  one  point  all  the  Grand  Offi- 
cers, many  of  whom  generally  reside  at 
great  distances  apart.  Still,  where  it  can 
be  done,  the  practice  of  Grand  Visitations 
should  never  be  neglected. 

The  power  of  visitation  for  inspection  is 
confined  to  the  Grand  and  Deputy  Grand 
Master.  The  Grand  Wardens  possess  no 
such  prerogative.  The  Master  must  always 
tender  the  gavel  and  the  chair  to  the  Grand 
or  Deputy  Grand  Master  when  either  of 
them  informally  visits  a  Lodge ;  for  the 
Grand  Master  and,  in  his  absence,  the 
Deputy  have  the  right  to  preside  in  all 
Lodges  where  they  may  be  present.  But 
this  privilege  does  not  extend  to  the  Grand 
Wardens. 

Visiting  Brethren.  Every  brother 
from  abroad,  or  from  any  other  Lodge, 
when  he  visits  a  Lodge,  must  be  received 
with  welcome  and  treated  with  hospitality. 
He  must  be  clothed,  that  is  to  say,  furnished 
with  an  apron,  and,  if  the  Lodge  uses  them, 
(as  every  Lodge  should,)  with  gloves,  and, 
if  a  Past  Master,  with  the  jewel  of  his 
rank.  He  must  be  directed  to  a  seat,  and 
the  utmost  courtesy  extended  to  him.  If 
of  distinguished  rank  in  the  Order,  the 
honors  due  to  that  rank  must  be  paid  to 
him. 

This  hospitable  and  courteous  spirit  is 
derived  from  the  ancient  customs  of  the 
Craft,  and  is  inculcated  in  all  the  Old  Con- 
stitutions. Thus,  in  the  Stone  MS.,  it  is 
directed  "that  every  Mason  receive  and 
cherish  strange  fellowes  when  they  come 
over  the  countrie,  and  sett  them  on  worke, 
if  they  will  worke,  as  the  manner  is ;  that 
is  to  say,  if  the  Mason  have  any  mould 
stone  in  his  place,  he  shall  give  him  a 
mould  stone,  and  sett  him  on  worke ;  and 
if  he  have  none,  the  Mason  shall  refresh 
him  with  money  unto  the  next  Lodge." 
A  similar  regulation  is  found  in  all  the 
other  manuscripts  of  the  Operative  Ma- 
sons; and  from  them  the  usage  has  de- 
scended to  their  speculative  successors. 

At  all  Lodge  banquets  it  is  of  obligation 
that  a  toast  shall  be  drunk  "  to  the  visiting 
brethren."  To  neglect  this  would  be  a 
great  breach  of  decorum. 

Visit,  Right  of.  Every  affiliated  Ma- 
son in  good  standing  has  a  right  to  visit 
any  other  Lodge,  wherever  it  may  be,  as 
often  as  it  may  suit  his  pleasure  or  conve- 


nience;  and  this  is  called,  in  Masonic  law, 
"  the  right  of  visit."  It  is  one  of  the  most 
important  of  all  Masonic  privileges,  be- 
cause it  is  based  on  the  principle  of  the 
identity  of  the  Masonic  institution  as  one 
universal  family,  and  is  the  exponent  of 
that  well-known  maxim  that  "in  every 
clime  a  Mason  may  find  a  home,  and  in 
every  land  a  brother."  It  has  been  so  long 
and  so  universally  admitted,  that  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  rank  it  among  the  landmarks 
of  the  Order. 

The  admitted  doctrine  on  this  subject  is, 
that  the  right  of  visit  is  one  of  the  positive 
rights  of  every  Mason,  because  Lodges  are 
justly  considered  as  only  divisions  for  con- 
venience of  the  universal  Masonic  family. 
The  right  may,  of  course,  be  lost,  or  for- 
feited on  special  occasions,  by  various  cir- 
cumstances ;  but  any  Master  who  shall  re- 
fuse admission  to  a  Mason  in  good  standing, 
who  knocks  at  the  door  of  his  Lodge,  is 
expected  to  furnish  some  good  and  satisfac- 
tory reason  for  his  thus  violating  a  Masonic 
right.  If  the  admission  of  the  applicant, 
whether  a  member  or  visitor,  would,  in  his 
opinion,  be  attended  with  injurious  conse- 
quences, such,  for  instance,  as  impairing 
the  harmony  of  the  Lodge,  a  Master  would 
then,  I  presume,  be  justified  in  refusing 
admission.  But  without  the  existence  of 
some  such  good  reason,  Masonic  jurists 
have  always  decided  that  the  right  of  vis- 
itation is  absolute  and  positive,  and  inures 
to  every  Mason  in  his  travels  throughout 
the  world.  See  this  subject  discussed  in  its 
fullest  extent  in  the  author's  Text  Book  of 
Masonic  Jurisprudence,  pp.  203-216. 

Vivat.  "  Vivat!  vivat!  vivat!"  is  the 
acclamation  which  accompanies  the  honors 
in  the  French  Rite.  Bazot  (Manuel,  p.  165,) 
says  it  is  "  the  cry  of  joy  of  Freemasons  of 
the  French  Rite."  Vivat  is  a  Latin  word, 
and  signifies,  literally,  "  May  he  live ;  "  but 
it  has  been  domiciliated  in  French,  and 
Boiste  {Dictionnaire  Universel)  defines  it  as 
"  a  cry  of  applause  which  expresses  the 
wish  for  the  preservation  of  any  one."  The 
French  Masons  say,  "  He  was  received  with 
the  triple  vivat,"  to  denote  that  "  He  was 
received  with  the  highest  honors  of  the 
Lodge." 

Vogel,  Paul  Joachim  Sigis- 
mimd.  A  distinguished  Masonic  writer 
of  Germany,  who  was  born  in  1753.  He 
was  at  one  time  co-rector  of  the  Sebastian 
School  at  Altdorf,  and  afterwards  First 
Professor  of  Theology  and  Ecclesiastical 
Counsellor  at  Erlangen.  In  1785  he  pub- 
lished at  Nuremberg,  in  three  volumes,  his 
Brief e,  die  Freimaurerei  betreffend;  or, "  Let- 
ters concerning  Freemasonry."  The  first 
volume  treats  of  the  Knights  Templars; 
the  second,  of  the  Ancient  Mysteries ;  and 


VOIGT 


VOUCHING 


861 


the  third,  of  Freemasonry.  This  was,  says 
Kloss,  the  first  earnest  attempt  made  in 
Germany  to  trace  Freemasonry  to  a  true, 
historical  origin.  Vogel's  theory  was,  that 
the  Speculative  Freemasons  were  derived 
from  the  Operative  or  Stonemasons  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  abundant  documentary 
evidence  that  more  recent  researches  have 
produced  were  then  wanting,  and  the  views 
of  Vogel  did  not  make  that  impression  to 
which  they  were  entitled.  He  has,  how- 
ever, the  credit  of  having  opened  the  way, 
after  the  Abbe  Grandidier,  for  those  who 
have  followed  him  in  the  same  field.  He 
also  delivered  before  the  Lodges  of  Nurem- 
berg, several  Discourses  on  the  Design, 
Character,  and  Origin  of  Freemasonry,  which 
were  published  in  one  volume,  at  Berlin, 
in  1791. 

Toigt,  Friederich.  A  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  and  Professor  and  Senator  at 
Dresden.  He  was  a  member  of  the  high 
degrees  of  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observance, 
where  his  Order  name  was  Eques  d  Falcone, 
or  Knight  of  the  Falcon.  In  1788  he  at- 
tacked Starck's  Rite  of  the  Clerks  of  Strict 
Observance,  and  published  an  essay  on  the 
subject,  in  the  year  1788,  in  the  Acta  His- 
torico-Ecclesiastica  of  Weimar.  Voigt  ex- 
posed the  Roman  Catholic  tendencies  of  the 
new  system,  and  averred  that  its  object  was 
"  to  cite  and  command  spirits,  to  find  the 
philosopher's  stone,  and  to  establish  the 
reign  of  the  millennium."  His  develop- 
ment of  the  Kabbalistic  character  of  the 
Rite  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  Ma- 
sonic world,  and  was  one  of  the  most  effec- 
tive attacks  upon  it  made  by  its  antagonists 
of  the  old  Strict  Observance. 

Toting.  Voting  in  Lodges  viva  voce,  or 
by  "aye"  and  "nay,"  is  a  modern  innova- 
tion in  this  country.  During  the  Grand 
Mastership  of  the  Earl  of  Loudon,  on  April 
6,  1736,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  on 
the  motion  of  Deputy  Grand  Master  Ward, 
adopted  "  a  new  regulation  of  ten  rules  for 
explaining  what  concerned  the  decency  of 
assemblies  and  communications."  The 
tenth  of  these  rules  is  in  the  following 
words : 

"  The  opinions  or  votes  of  the  members 
are  always  to  be  signified  by  each  holding 
up  one  of  his  hands ;  which  uplifted  hands 
the  Grand  Wardens  are  to  count,  unless  the 
number  of  hands  be  so  unequal  as  to  render 
the  counting  useless.  Nor  should  any  other 
kind  of  division  be  ever  admitted  on  such 
occasions." 

The  usual  mode  of  putting  the  question  is 
for  the  presiding  officer  to  say :  "  So  many 
as  are  in  favor  will  signify  the  same  by  the 
usual  sign  of  the  Order,"  and  then,  when 
those  votes  have  been  counted,  to  say :  "  So 
many  as  are  of  a  contrary  opinion  will  sig- 


nify the  same  by  the  same  sign."  The  votes 
are  now  counted  by  the  Senior  Deacon  in  a 
subordinate  Lodge,  and  by  the  Senior  Grand 
Deacon  in  a  Grand  Lodge,  it  having  been 
found  inconvenient  for  the  Grand  Wardens 
to  perform  that  duty.  The  number  of  votes 
on  each  side  is  communicated  by  the  Dea- 
con to  the  presiding  officer,  who  announces 
the  result. 

The  same  method  of  voting  should  be 
observed  in  all  Masonic  bodies. 

Toting,  Right  of.  Formerly,  all 
members  of  the  Craft,  even  Entered  Ap- 
prentices, were  permitted  to  vote.  This 
was  distinctly  prescribed  in  the  last  of  the 
Thirty-nine  General  Regulations  adopted 
in  1721.  But  the  numerical  strength  of 
the  Order,  which  was  then  in  the  first  de- 
gree, having  now  passed  over  to  the  third, 
the  modern  rule  is  that  the  right  of  voting 
shall  be  restricted  to  Master  Masons.  A 
Master  Mason  may,  therefore,  speak  and 
vote  on  all  questions,  except  in  trials  where 
he  is  himself  concerned  as  accuser  or  de- 
fendant. Yet  by  special  regulation  of  his 
Lodge  he  may  be  prevented  from  voting  on 
ordinary  questions  where  his  dues  for  a  cer- 
tain period  —  generally  twelve  months  — 
have  not  been  paid ;  and  such  a  regulation 
exists  in  almost  every  Lodge.  But  no 
local  by-law  can  deprive  a  member,  who  has 
not  been  suspended,  from  voting  on  the 
ballot  for  the  admission  of  candidates,  be- 
cause the  sixth  regulation  of  1721  dis- 
tinctly requires  that  each  member  present 
on  such  occasion  shall  give  his  consent  be- 
fore the  candidate  can  be  admitted.  And 
if  a  member  were  deprived  by  any  by-law 
of  the  Lodge,  in  consequence  of  non-pay- 
ment of  his  dues,  of  the  right  of  express- 
ing his  consent  or  dissent,  the  ancient  reg- 
ulation would  be  violated,  and  a  candidate 
might  be  admitted  without  the  unanimous 
consent  of  all  the  members  present.  And 
this  rule  is  so  rigidly  enforced,  that  on  a 
ballot  for  initiation  no  member  can  be  ex- 
cused from  voting.  He  must  assume  the 
responsibility  of  casting  his  vote,  lest  it 
should  afterwards  be  said  that  the  candi- 
date was  not  admitted  by  unanimous  con- 
sent. 

Touching.  It  is  a  rule  in  Masonry, 
that  a  Lodge  may  dispense  with  the  exami- 
nation of  a  visitor,  if  any  brother  present 
will  vouch  that  he  possesses  the  necessary 
qualifications.  This  is  an  important  pre- 
rogative that  every  Mason  is  entitled  to  ex- 
ercise; and  yet  it  is  one  which  may  so 
materially  affect  the  well-being  of  the 
whole  Fraternity,  since,  by  its  injudicious 
use,  impostors  might  be  introduced  among 
the  faithful,  that  it  should  be  controlled  by 
the  most  stringent  regulations. 

To  vouch  for  one  is  to  bear  witness  for 


862 


VOUCHING 


VOUCHING 


him,  and  in  witnessing  to  truth,  every  cau- 
tion should  be  observed,  lest  falsehood  may 
cunningly  assume  its  garb.  The  brother 
who  vouches  should  know  to  a  certainty 
that  the  one  for  whom  he  vouches  is  really 
what  he  claims  to  be.  He  should  know 
this,  not  from  a  casual  conversation,  nor  a 
loose  and  careless  inquiry,  but  from  "  strict 
trial,  due  examination,  or  lawful  informa- 
tion." These  are  the  three  requisites  which 
the  ritual  has  laid  down  as  essentially 
necessary  to  authorize  the  act  of  vouch- 
ing. Let  us  inquire  into  the  import  of 
each. 

1.  Strict  Trial.  By  this  is  meant  that 
every  question  is  to  be  asked,  and  every 
answer  demanded,  which  is  necessary  to 
convince  the  examiner  that  the  party  ex- 
amined is  acquainted  with  what  he  ought 
to  know,  to  entitle  him  to  the  appellation 
of  a  brother.  Nothing  is  to  be  taken  for 
granted  —  categorical  answers  must  be  re- 
turned to  all  that  it  is  deemed  important  to 
be  asked ;  no  forgetfulness  is  to  be  excused ; 
nor  is  the  want  of  memory  to  be  considered 
as  a  valid  reason  for  the  want  of  knowledge. 
The  Mason  who  is  so  unmindful  of  his  ob- 
ligations as  to  have  forgotten  the  instruc- 
tions he  has  received,  must  pay  the  penalty 
of  his  carelessness,  and  be  deprived  of  his 
contemplated  visit  to  that  society  whose 
secret  modes  of  recognition  he  has  so  little 
valued  as  not  to  have  treasured  them  in  his 
memory.  The  "strict  trial"  refers  to  the 
matter  which  is  sought  to  be  obtained  by 
inquiry ;  and  while  there  are  some  things 
which  may  safely  be  passed  over  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  one  who  confesses  himself  to 
be  "  rusty,"  because  they  are  details  which 
require  much  study  to  acquire  and  constant 
practice  to  retain,  there  are  still  other 
things  of  great  importance  which  must  be 
rigidly  demanded. 

2.  Due  examination.  If  "  strict  trial " 
refers  to  the  matter,  "due  examination" 
alludes  to  the  mode  of  investigation.  This 
must  be  conducted  with  all  the  necessary 
forms  and  antecedent  cautions.  Inquiries 
should  be  made  as  to  the  time  and  place  of 
initiation  as  a  preliminary  step,  the  Tiler's 
OB.  of  course  never  being  omitted.  Then 
the  good  old  rule  of  "  commencing  at  the 
beginning  "  should  be  pursued.  Let  every 
thing  go  on  in  regular  course ;  nor  is  it  to 
be  supposed  that  the  information  sought 
was  originally  received.  Whatever  be  the 
suspicions  of  imposture,  let  no  expression 
of  those  suspicions  be  made  until  the  final 
decree  for  rejection  is  uttered.  And  let 
that  decree  be  uttered  in  general  terms, 
such  as,  "  I  am  not  satisfied,"  or  "  I  do  not 
recognize  you,"  and  not  in  more  specific 
language,  such  as,  "You  did  not  answer 
this  inquiry,"  or  "You  are  ignorant  on 


that  point."  The  candidate  for  examina- 
tion is  only  entitled  to  know  that  he  has 
not  complied  generally  with  the  requisi- 
tions of  his  examiner.  To  descend  to  par- 
ticulars is  always  improper,  and  often  dan- 
gerous. Above  all,  never  ask  what  the 
lawyers  call  "  leading  questions,"  which  in- 
clude in  themselves  the  answer,  nor  in  any 
way  aid  the  memory,  or  prompt  the  forget- 
fulness of  the  party  examined,  by  the 
slightest  hints. 

3.  Lawful  information.  This  authority 
for  vouching  is  dependent  on  what  has  been 
already  described.  For  no  Mason  can  law- 
fully give  information  of  another's  quali- 
fications unless  he  has  himself  actually 
tested  him.  But  it  is  not  every  Mason  who 
is  competent  to  give  "  lawful  information." 
Ignorant  or  unskilful  brethren  cannot  do 
so,  because  they  are  incapable  of  discover- 
ing truth  or  of  detecting  error.  A  "  rusty 
Mason  "  should  never  attempt  to  examine 
a  stranger,  and  certainly,  if  he  does,  his 
opinion  as  to  the  result  is  worth  nothing. 
If  the  information  given  is  on  the  ground 
that  the  party  who  is  vouched  for  has  been 
seen  sitting  in  a  Lodge,  care  must  be  taken 
to  inquire  if  it  was  a  "just  and  legally  con- 
stituted Lodge  of  Master  Masons."  A 
person  may  forget  from  the  lapse  of  time, 
and  vouch  for  a  stranger  as  a  Master 
Mason,  when  the  Lodge  in  which  he  saw 
him  was  only  opened  in  the  first  or  second 
degree.  Information  given  by  letter,  or 
through  a  third  party,  is  irregular.  The 
person  giving  the  information,  the  one  re- 
ceiving it,  and  the  one  of  whom  it  is  given, 
should  all  be  present  at  the  time,  for  other- 
wise there  would  be  no  certainty  of  iden- 
tity. The  information  must  be  positive, 
not  founded  on  belief  or  opinion,  but  de- 
rived from  a  legitimate  source.  And, 
lastly,  it  must  not  have  been  received  cas- 
ually, but  for  the  very  purpose  of  being 
used  for  Masonic  purposes.  For  one  to  say 
to  another,  in  the  course  of  a  desultory 
conversation,  "A.  B.  is  a  Mason,"  is  not 
sufficient.  He  may  not  be  speaking  with 
due  caution,  under  the  expectation  that  his 
words  will  be  considered  of  weight.  He 
must  say  something  to  this  effect,  "I  know 
this  man  to  be  a  Master  Mason,  for  such  or 
such  reasons,  and  you  may  safely  recognize 
him  as  such."  This  alone  will  insure  the 
necessary  care  and  proper  observance  of 
prudence. 

Lastly,  never  should  an  unjustifiable  deli- 
cacy weaken  the  rigor  of  these  rules.  For 
the  wisest  and  most  evident  reasons,  that 
merciful  maxim  of  the  law,  which  says 
that  it  is  better  that  ninety-nine  guilty 
men  should  escape  than  that  one  innocent 
man  should  be  punished,  is  with  us  re- 
versed; so  that  in  Masonry  it  is  better  that 


VOYAGES 


WAGES 


863 


ninety  and  nine  true  men  should  be  turned 
away  from  the  door  of  a  Lodge,  than  that 
one  cowan  should  be  admitted. 

Voyages.  The  French  Masons  thus 
call  some  of  the  proofs  and  trials  to  which 
a  candidate  is  subjected  in  the  course  of 
initiation  into  any  of  the  degrees.  In  the 
French  Rite,  the  voyages  in  the  symbolic 
degrees  are  three  in  the  first,  five  in  the 
second,  and  seven  in  the  third.  Their 
symbolic  designs  are  thus  briefly  explained 
by  Ragon  ( Cours  des  Init.,  pp.  90,  132,)  and 
Lenoir,   (La  Franche-Maqonnerie,  p.  263:) 


The  voyages  of  the  Entered  Apprentice 
are  now,  as  they  were  in  the  Ancient  Mys- 
teries, the  symbol  of  the  life  of  man. 
Those  of  the  Fellow  Craft  are  emblematic 
of  labor  in  search  of  knowledge.  Those  of 
the  Master  Mason  are  symbolic  of  the 
pursuit  of  crime,  the  wandering  life  of 
the  criminal,  and  his  vain  attempts  to  es- 
cape remorse  and  punishment.  It  will  be 
evident  that  the  ceremonies  in  all  the 
Rites  of  Masonry,  although  under  a  dif- 
ferent name,  lead  to  the  same  symbolic  re- 
sults. 


w. 


W.*.  An  abbreviation  of  Worshipful, 
of  West,  of  Warden,  and  of  Wisdom. 

Waecbter,  Eberhard,  Baron 
Ton.  Lord  of  the  Chamber  to  the  king 
of  Denmark,  and  Danish  Ambassador  at 
Ratisbon;  was  born  in  1747.  He  was  at 
one  time  a  very  active  member  of  the  Rite 
of  Strict  Observance,  where  he  bore  the 
characteristic  name  of  Eques  d  eeraso,  and 
had  been  appointed  Chancellor  of  the  Ger- 
man Priories  of  the  7th  Province.  When 
the  spiritual  schism  of  the  Order  made  its 
vast  pretensions  to  a  secret  authority  derived 
from  unknown  superiors,  whose  names  they 
refused  to  divulge,  Von  W'achter  was  sent 
to  Italy  by  the  old  Scottish  Lodge  of  which 
Duke  Ferdinand  was  Grand  Master,  that 
he  might  obtain  some  information  from  the 
Pretender,  and  from  other  sources,  as  to  the 
true  character  of  the  Rite.  Von  W'achter 
was  unsuccessful,  and  the  intelligence  which 
he  brought  back  to  Germany  was  unfavor- 
able to  Von  Hund,  and  increased  the  em- 
barrassments of  the  Strict  Observance 
Lodges.  But  he  himself  lost  reputation. 
A  host  of  enemies  attacked  him.  Some 
declared  that  while  in  Italy  he  had  made 
a  traffic  of  Masonry  to  enrich  himself; 
others  that  he  had  learned  and  was  practis- 
ing magic;  and  others  again  that  he  had 
secretly  attached  himself  to  the  Jesuits. 
Von  Wachter  stoutly  denied  these  charges; 
but  it  is  certain  that,  from  being  in  very 
moderate  circumstances,  he  had,  after  his 
return  from  Italy,  become  suddenly  and 
unaccountably  rich.  Yet  Mossdorf  says 
that  he  discharged  his  mission  with  great 
delicacy  and  judgment.  Thory,  quoting 
the  Beytrag  zur  neuesten  Oeschiete,  (p.  150,) 
says  that  in  1782  he  proposed  to  give  a 
new  organization  to  the  Templar  system  of 


Masonry,  on  the  ruins,  perhaps,  of  both 
branches  of  the  Strict  Observance,  and 
declared  that  he  possessed  the  true  secrets 
of  the  Order.  His  proposition  for  a  reform 
was  not  accepted  by  the  German  Masons, 
because  they  suspected  that  he  was  an 
agent  of  the  Jesuits.  Kloss  (Bibliog.,  No. 
622b)  gives  the  title  of  a  work  published  by 
him  in  1822  as  Worte  der  Wahrheit  an  die 
Menschen,  meine  Brtider.  He  died  May  25, 
1825,  one,  perhaps,  of  the  last  actors  in  the 
great  Masonic  drama  of  the  Strict  Observ- 
ance. 

Wages  of  a  Master  Mason,  Sym- 
bolic.    See  Foreign  Countries. 

Wages  of  Operative  Masons. 
In  all  the  Old  Constitutions  praise  is  given 
to  St.  Alban  because  he  raised  the  wages 
of  the  Masons.  Thus  the  Edinburgh- 
Kilwinning  MS.  says:  "St.  Albans  loved 
Masons  well,  and  cherished  them  much, 
and  made  their  pay  right  good,  standing 
by  as  the  realme  did,  for  he  gave  them  iis. 
a  week,  and  3d.  to  their  cheer ;  for  before 
that  time,  through  all  the  land,  a  Mason 
had  but  a  penny  a  day  and  his  meat,  until 
St.  Alban  amended  it."  We  may  compare 
this  rate  of  wages  in  the  third  century  with 
that  of  the  fifteenth,  and  we  will  be  sur- 
prised at  the  little  advance  that  was  made. 
In  Grosse  and  Astle's  Antiquarian  Repertory 
(iii.,  p.  58,)  will  be  found  an  extract  from 
the  Roles  of  Parliament,  which  contains  a 
petition,  in  the  year  1443,  to  Parliament  to 
regulate  the  price  of  labor.  In  it  are  the 
following  items:  "And  y'  from  the  Fest 
of  Ester  unto  Mighelmasse  ye  wages  of  eny 
free  Mason  or  maister  carpenter  exceed  not 
by  the  day  iiiirf.,  with  mete  and  drynk,  and 
withoute  mete  and  drink  yd.,  ob. 

"A  Maister  Tyler  or  Sclatter,  rough  ma- 


864 


WAGES 


WAGES 


son  and  meen  carpenter,  and  other  artifi- 
cers concernyng  beldyng,  by  the  day  iiirf., 
with  mete  and  drynk,  and  withoute  mete 
and  drynke,  iiiof.,  ob. 

"And  from  the  Fest  of  Mighelmasse 
unto  Ester,  a  free  Mason  and  a  maister 
carpenter  by  the  day  Hid.,  with  mete  and 
drynk,  withoute  mete  and  drink,  Hid.,  ob. 

"Tyler,  meen  carpenter,  rough  mason, 
and  other  artificers  aforesaid,  by  the  day 
iidj  ob,  with  mete  and  drynk,  withoute 
mete  and  drynk  iiiic?.,  and  every  other 
werkeman  and  laborer  by  the  day  id.,  ob, 
with  mete  and  drynk,  and  withoute  mete 
and  drink  iiic?.,  and  who  that  lasse  deserveth, 
to  take  lasse." 

Wages  of  the  Workmen  at  the 
Temple.  Neither  the  Scriptures,  nor 
Josephus,  give  us  any  definite  statement 
of  the  amount  of  wages  paid,  nor  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  were  paid,  to  the  work- 
men who  were  engaged  in  the  erection  of 
King  Solomon's  Temple.  The  cost  of  its 
construction,  however,  must  have  been  im- 
mense, since  it  has  been  estimated  that  the 
edifice  alone  consumed  more  gold  and  silver 
than  at  present  exists  upon  the  whole 
earth;  so  that  Josephus  very  justly  says 
that  "Solomon  made  all  these  things  for 
the  honor  of  God,  with  great  variety  and 
magnificence,  sparing  no  cost,  but  using 
all  possible  liberality  in  adorning  the  Tem- 
ple." We  learn,  as  one  instance  of  this 
liberality,  from  the  2d  Book  of  Chronicles, 
that  Solomon  paid  annually  to  the  Tyrian 
Masons,  the  servants  of  Hiram,  "twenty 
thousand  measures  of  beaten  wheat,  and 
twenty  thousand  measures  of  barley,  and 
twenty  thousand  baths  of  wine,  and  twenty 
thousand  baths  of  oil."  The  bath  was  a 
measure  equal  to  seven  and  a  half  gallons 
wine  measure ;  and  the  cor  or  chomer,  which 
we  translate  by  the  indefinite  word  measure, 
contained  ten  baths ;  so  that  the  corn,  wine, 
and  oil  furnished  by  King  Solomon,  as 
wages  to  the  servants  of  Hiram  of  Tyre, 
amounted  to  one  hundred  and  ninety 
thousand  bushels  of  the  first,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  gallons  each 
of  the  second  and.  third.  The  sacred  rec- 
ords do  not  inform  us  what  further  wages 
they  received,  but  we  elsewhere  learn  that 
King  Solomon  gave  them  as  a  free  gift  a 
sum  equal  to  more  than  thirty-two  millions 
of  dollars.  The  whole  amount  of  wages 
paid  to  the  craft  is  stated  to  have  been 
about  six  hundred  and  seventy-two  mil- 
lions of  dollars;  but  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing  how  that  amount  was  distributed; 
though  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  those 
of  the  most  skill  and  experience  received 
the  highest  wages.  The  Harodim,  or  chiefs 
of  the  workmen,  must  have  been  better 
paid  than  the  Iah  Sabal,  or  mere  laborers. 


The  legend-makers  of  Masonry  have  not 
been  idle  in  their  invention  of  facts  and 
circumstances  in  relation  to  this  subject,  the 
whole  of  which  have  little  more  for  a  foun- 
dation than  the  imaginations  of  the  in- 
ventors. They  form,  however,  a  part  of  the 
legendary  history  of  Masonry,  and  are  in- 
teresting for  their  ingenuity,  and  sometimes 
even  for  their  absurdity. 

There  was  an  old  tradition  among  the 
English  Masons,  that  the  men  were  paid 
in  their  Lodges  by  shekels,  —  a  silver  coin 
of  about  the  value  of  fifty  cents,  —  and  that 
the  amount  was  regulated  by  the  square  of 
the  number  of  the  degree  that  the  workman 
had  attained.  Thus,  the  Entered  Appren- 
tice received  one  shekel  per  day;  the 
Fellow  Craft,  who  had  advanced  to  the 
second  degree,  received  the  square  of  2,  or 
2x2  =  4  shekels ;  and  the  Mark  Man,  or 
third  degree,  received  the  square  of  3,  or 
3X3  =  9  shekels;  whilst  the  ninth  degree, 
or  Super  Excellent  Mason,  received  the 
square  of  9,  or  9  X  9  =  81  shekels. 

According  to  this  tradition  the  pay-roll 
would  be  as  follows: 


Shekel 

An  Entered  Apprentice 
A  Fellow  Craft 

received  1 

= 

$00  50 

a 

4 

= 

2  00 

A  Mark  Man 

<< 

9 

= 

4  50 

A  Mark  Master 

(< 

16 

=3 

800 

A  Master  Mason 

a 

25 

= 

12  50 

An  Architect 

(( 

36 

= 

18  00 

A  Grand  Architect 

(< 

49 

= 

24  50 

An  Excellent  Mason 

H 

64 

= 

32  00 

A  Super  Excellent  Mason 

(I 

81 

=• 

40  50 

But  this  calculation  seems  to  have  been 
only  a  fanciful  speculation  of  some  of  our 
ancient  brethren. 

Other  traditions  give  a  classification  of 
the  workmen  as  to  their  classes  and  the 
number  of  men  in  each  class.  From  this 
classification,  we  may  estimate  the  daily 
expenditure  at  the  Temple,  in  the  article  of 
wages,  at  the  following  amount : 

Shekel!.        Dollan. 

30,000  Entered  Apprentice*  received    30,000=   15,000 

110,600  Fellow  Crafts  "        442,400  —  221,000 

2,000  Mark  Men  "  18,000  —     9,000 

1,000  Mark  Masters  "  16,000—     8.000 

3,564  Master  Masons  "  89,100—44,550 

24  Architects  "  864—        432 

12  Grand  Architects  "  688—        294 

72  Excellent  Masons  "  4,600—     2,394 

9  Super  Excellent  Masons    ■  729—       894 

Prideaux  says  that  King  David  had  laid 
up  for  the  building  of  the  Temple  immense 
quantities  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  and 
other  materials,  to  the  amount  of  £800,000,- 
000,  or  in  round  numbers  about  four  thou- 
sand million  dollars.  Now  the  daily  pay 
estimated  in  the  preceding  roll,  which  is 
$276,944,  would  amount  in  one  year,  de- 
ducting Sabbaths,  to  $86,406,528,  or,  in  the 
seven  years  occupied  in  building  the  Tern- 


WAGES 


WARDENS 


865 


pie,  to  $604,845,686.  A  large  amount  would 
therefore  still  remain  out  of  the  four  thou- 
sand millions  for  other  expenses.  So  that 
comparing  the  estimate  of  the  tradition  with 
that  of  Prideaux,  if  the  latter  be  true,  (which 
is,  however,  denied  by  many  commentators, ) 
the  former  is  not  incredible.  But  after  all, 
it  is  merely  a  legend  founded  on  a  specula- 
tion. 

These  traditions  are  not  now  familiarly 
known,  and  would  perhaps  be  soon  for- 
gotten, were  it  not  that  they  have  been 
preserved  by  some  of  our  writers  simply  as 
antiquarian  relics  of  the  speculations  of 
our  brethren  of  former  days. 

The  traditions  in  reference  to  the  pay  of 
the  Fellow  Crafts  have  been  preserved  in 
the  ritual  of  the  Mark  Master's  degree. 

According  to  these  traditions,  there  were 
two  divisions  of  the  Fellow  Crafts.  The 
first,  or  higher  class,  worked  in  the  quar- 
ries, in  finishing  the  stones,  or,  as  we  say 
in  our  lectures,  "in  hewing,  squaring,  and 
numbering "  them ;  and,  that  each  one 
might  be  enabled  to  designate  his  own 
work,  he  was  in  possession  of  a  mark  which 
he  placed  upon  the  stones  prepared  by  him. 
Hence,  this  class  of  Fellow  Crafts  were 
called  Mark  Masters,  and  received  their 
pay  from  the  Senior  Grand  Warden,  whom 
some  suppose  to  have  been  Adoniram,  the 
brother-in-law  of  Hiram  Abif,  and  the 
first  of  the  Provosts  and  Judges.  These 
Fellow  Crafts  received  their  pay  in  money, 
at  the  rate  of  a  half-shekel  of  silver  per 
day,  equal  to  about  twenty-five  cents. 
They  were  paid  weekly,  at  the  sixth  hour 
of  the  sixth  day  of  the  week,  that  is  to  say 
on  Friday,  at  noon.  And  this  hour  ap- 
pears to  have  been  chosen  because,  as  we 
are  taught  in  the  third  degree,  at  noon,  or 
high  twelve,  the  Craft  were  always  called 
from  labor  to  refreshment,  and  hence  the 
payment  of  their  wages  at  that  hour  would 
not  interfere  with  or  retard  the  progress 
of  the  work. 

But  there  was  another,  and  it  is  prob- 
able a  larger,  class  of  Fellow  Crafts,  young- 
er and  more  inexperienced  men,  whose 
skill  and  knowledge  were  not  such  as  to 
entitle  them  to  advancement  to  the  grade 
of  Mark  Masters.  These  workmen  were 
not,  therefore,  in  possession  of  a  mark. 
They  proved  their  right  to  reward  by  an- 
other token,  and  received  their  wages  in 
the  middle  chamber  of  the  Temple,  and 
were  paid  in  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  agreeably 
to  the  stipulation  of  King  Solomon  with 
Hiram  of  Tyre. 

Of  course,  it  would  be  a  waste  of  words  to 
attempt  to  defend  the  authenticity  of  these 
legends.  Based  on  the  theory  that  Free- 
masonry, as  now  organized,  was  existing  at 
the  building  of  the  Temple  of  King  Solo- 
61  55 


mon,  they  pass  away  with  that  assumption. 
There  is  no  countenance  of  history  about 
them.  Parts  of  them  are  symbolical,  and, 
as  such,  of  use.  Greater  portions  are 
merely  fanciful  speculations,  indulged  in 
only  to  exhibit  ingenuity  and  to  test  credu- 
lity. Dr.  Oliver,  who  is  never  reluctant  to 
accept  a  plausible  legend,  says  of  the  tra- 
dition of  tne  wages,  that  "indeed  the  prob- 
ability is  that  the  tradition  has  been  fabri- 
cated in  a  subsequent  age  without  the 
existence  of  any  document  to  attest  its 
authenticity." 

Wales.  Anderson  says,  in  his  second 
edition,  that  Grand  Master  Inchiquin 
granted  a  Deputation,  May  10,  1727,  to 
Hugh  Warburton,  Esq.,  to  be  Provincial 
Grand  Master  of  North  Wales,  and  another, 
June  24  in  the  same  year,  to  Sir  Edward 
Mansel,  to  be  Provincial  Grand  Master  of 
South  Wales ;  and  it  is  at  this  period  that 
we  may  date  the  introduction  of  Freema- 
sonry into  the  principality,  for  ten  years 
afterwards  the  same  writer  says  that  Lodges 
were  in  existence.  Wales  forms  a  part  of 
the  Masonic  obedience  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England,  and  the  Fraternity  there  are 
directly  governed  by  three  Provincial  Grand 
Lodges. 

Wands.  Oliver,  under  this  title  in  his 
Dictionary,  refers  to  the  three  sceptres 
which,  in  the  Royal  Arch  system  of  Eng- 
land, are  placed  in  a  triangular  form  be- 
neath the  canopy  in  the  East,  and  which, 
being  surmounted  respectively  by  a  crown, 
an  All-seeing  eye,  and  a  mitre,  refer  to  the 
regal,  the  prophetical,  and  the  sacerdotal 
offices.  In  his  Landmarks  he  calls  them 
sceptres.  But  rod  or  wand  is  the  better 
word,  because,  while  the  sceptre  is  restricted 
to  the  insignia  of  kings,  tne  rod  or  wand 
was  and  still  is  used  as  an  indiscriminate 
mark  of  authority  for  all  offices. 

Wardens.  In  every  Symbolic  Lodge, 
three  are  three  principal  officers,  namely, 
a  Master,  a  Senior  Warden,  and  a  Junior 
Warden.  This  rule  has  existed  ever  since 
the  revival,  and  for  some  time  previous  to 
that  event,  and  is  so  universal  that  it  has 
been  considered  as  one  of  the  landmarks. 
It  exists  in  every  country  and  in  every  Rite. 
The  titles  of  the  officers  may  be  different 
in  different  languages,  but  their  functions, 
as  presiding  over  the  Lodge  in  a  tripartite 
division  of  duties,  are  everywhere  the  same. 
The  German  Masons  call  the  two  Wardens 
erste  and  zweite  Aufseher;  the  French,  pre- 
mier and  second  Surveillant;  the  Spanish, 
ftrimer  and  segundo  Vigilante;  and  the 
talians,  primo  and  secondo  Sorvegliante. 

In  different  Rites,  the  positions  of  these 
officers  vary.  In  the  York  and  American 
Rites,  the  Senior  Warden  sits  in  the  West 
and  the  Junior  in  the  South.  In  the  French 


866 


WARDENS 


WARDER 


and  Scottish  Kites,  both  "Wardens  are  in 
the  West,  the  Senior  in  the  North-west  and 
the  Junior  in  the  South-west ;  but  in  all,  the 
triangular  position  of  the  three  officers 
relatively  to  each  other  is  preserved ;  for  a 
triangle  being  formed  within  the  square  of 
the  Lodge,  the  Master  and  Wardens  will 
each  occupy  one  of  the  three  points. 

The  precise  time  when  the  presidency  of 
the  Lodge  was  divided  between  these  three 
officers,  or  when  they  were  first  introduced 
into  Masonry,  is  unknown.  The  Lodges  of 
Scotland,  during  the  Operative  regime, 
were  governed  by  a  Deacon  and  one  War- 
den. The  Deacon  performed  the  functions 
of  a  Master,  and  the  Warden  was  the  sec- 
ond officer,  and  took  charge  of  and  distrib- 
uted the  funds.  In  other  words,  he  acted 
as  a  treasurer.  This  is  evident  from  the 
minutes  of  the  Edinburgh  Lodge,  recently 
published  by  Bro.  Lyon.  But  the  head  of 
the  Craft  in  Scotland  at  the  same  time  was 
called  the  Warden  General.  This  regula- 
tion, however,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
universal  even  in  Scotland,  for  in  the  "  Mark 
Book  "  of  the  Aberdeen  Lodge,  under  date 
of  December  27, 1670,  which  was  published 
by  Bro.  W.  J.  Hughan  in  the  Voice  of  Ma- 
sonry, (Feb.,  1872,)  we  find  there  a  Master 
and  Warden  recognized  as  the  presiding 
officers  of  the  Lodge  in  the  following  stat- 
ute: "And  lykwayse  we  all  protest,  by  the 
oath  we  have  made  at  our  entrie,  to  own 
the  Warden  of  our  Lodge  as  the  next  man 
in  power  to  the  Maister,  and  in  the  Mais- 
ter's  absence  he  is  full  Maister." 

Some  of  the  English  manuscript  Consti- 
tutions recognize  the  offices  of  Master  and 
Wardens.  Thus  the  Harleian  MS.,  No. 
1942,  whose  date  is  supposed  to  be  about 
1670,  contains  the  "  new  articles "  said  to 
have  been  agreed  on  at  a  General  Assembly 
held  in  1663,  in  which  is  the  following  pas- 
sage :  "  That  for  the  future  the  sayd  Society, 
Company  and  Fraternity  of  Free  Masons 
shal  bee  regulated  and  governed  by  one 
Master  &  Assembly  &  Wardens,  as  y'  said 
Company  shall  think  fit  to  chose,  at  every 
yearely  General  Assembly." 

As  the  word  "Warden"  does  not  appear 
in  the  earlier  manuscripts,  it  might  be  con- 
cluded that  the  office  was  not  introduced 
into  the  English  Lodges  until  the  latter 

Sart  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Yet  this 
oes  not  absolutely  follow.  For  the  office 
of  Warden  might  have  existed,  and  no 
statutory  provision  on  the  subject  have 
been  embraced  in  the  general  charges  which 
are  contained  in  those  manuscripts,  because 
they  relate  not  to  the  government  of  Lodges, 
but  the  duties  of  Masons.  This,  of  course, 
is  conjectural ;  but  the  conjecture  derives 
weight  from  the  fact  that  Wardens  were 
officers  of  the  English  gilds  as  early  as  the 


fourteenth  century.  In  the  Charters  granted 
by  Edward  III.,  in  1354,  it  is  permitted 
that  these  companies  shall  yearly  elect  for 
their  government  "a  certain  number  of 
Wardens."  To  a  list  of  the  companies  of 
the  date  of  1377  is  affixed  what  is  called 
the  "Oath  of  the  Wardens  of  Crafts,"  of 
which  this  is  the  commencement:  "Ye  shall 
swere  that  ye  shall  wele  and  treuly  oversee 

the  Craft  of whereof  ye  be  chosen 

Wardeyns  for  the  year."  It  thus  appears 
that  the  Wardens  were  at  first  the  presiding 
officers  of  the  gilds.  At  a  later  period,  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  we  find  that  the 
chief  officer  began  to  be  called  Master;  and 
in  the  time  of  James  I.,  between  1603  and 
1625,  the  gilds  were  generally  governed  by 
a  Master  and  Wardens.  An  ordinance  of 
the  Leather-Sellers  Company  at  that  time 
directed  that  on  a  certain  occasion  "the 
Master  and  Wardens  shall  appear  in  state." 
It  is  not,  therefore,  improbable  that  the 
government  of  Masonic  Lodges  by  a  Master 
and  two  Wardens  was  introduced  into  the 
regulations  of  the  Order  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  "new  article"  of  1663  being 
a  statutory  confirmation  of  a  custom  which 
had  just  begun  to  prevail. 

Senior  Warden.  He  is  the  second  officer 
in  a  Symbolic  Lodge,  and  governs  the 
Craft  in  the  hours  of  labor.  In  the  absence 
of  the  Master  he  presides  over  the  Lodge, 
appointing  some  brother,  not  the  Junior 
Warden,  to  occupy  his  place  in  the  west. 
His  jewel  is  a  level,  a  symbol  of  the  equality 
which  exists  among  the  Craft  while  at 
labor  in  the  Lodge.  His  seat  is  in  the 
west,  and  he  represents  the  column  of 
Strength.  He  has  placed  before  him,  and 
carries  in  all  processions,  a  column,  which 
is  the  representative  of  the  right-hand 
pillar  that  stood  at  the  porch  of  King 
Solomon's  Temple.  The  Junior  Warden 
has  a  similar  column,  which  represents  the 
left-hand  pillar.  During  labor  the  column 
of  the  Senior  Warden  is  erect  in  the  Lodge, 
while  that  of  the  Junior  is  recumbent.  At 
refreshment,  the  position  of  the  two  columns 
is  reversed. 

Junior  Warden.  The  duties  of  this  officer 
have  already  been  described.  See  Junior 
Warden. 

There  is  also  an  officer  in  a  Commandery 
of  Knights  Templars,  the  fifth  in  rank,  who 
is  styled  "Senior  Warden."  He  takes  an 
important  part  in  the  initiation  of  a  can- 
didate. His  jewel  of  office  is  a  triple  tri- 
angle, the  emblem  of  Deity. 

Wardens,  Grand.  See  Grand 
Wardens. 

Warder.  The  literal  meaning  of 
Warder  is  one  who  keeps  watch  and  ward. 
In  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Warder  was  sta- 
tioned at  the  gate  or  on  the  battlements 


WARLIKE 


WAR 


867 


of  the  castle,  and  with  his  trumpet  sounded 
alarms  and  announced  the  approach  of  all 
comers.  Hence  the  Warder  in  a  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars  bears  a 
trumpet,  and  his  duties  are  prescribed  to 
be  to  announce  the  approach  and  departure 
of  the  Eminent  Commander,  to  post  the 
sentinels,  and  see  that  the  Asylum  is  duly 
guarded,  as  well  as  to  announce  the  ap- 
proach of  visitors.  His  jewel  is  a  trumpet 
and  crossed  swords  engraved  on  a  square 
plate. 

Warlike  Instrument.  In  the  an- 
cient initiations,  the  aspirant  was  never 
permitted  to  enter  on  the  threshold  of  the 
Temple  in  which  the  ceremonies  were  con- 
ducted until,  by  the  most  solemn  warning, 
he  had  been  impressed  with  the  necessity 
of  secrecy  and  caution.  The  use,  for  this 
purpose,  of  a  "warlike  instrument"  in  the 
first  degree  of  Masonry,  is  intended  to  pro- 
duce the  same  effect.  A  sword  has  always 
been  employed  for  that  purpose;  and  the 
substitute  of  the  point  of  the  compasses, 
taken  from  the  altar  at  the  time,  is  an  ab- 
surd sacrifice  of  symbolism  to  the  conve- 
nience of  the  Senior  Deacon.  The  com- 
passes are  peculiar  to  the  third  degree.  In 
the  earliest  rituals  of  the  last  century  it  is 
said  that  the  entrance  is  "upon  the  point 
of  a  sword,  or  spear,  or  some  warlike  in- 
strument." Krause,  {Kumturk.,  ii.  142,)  in 
commenting  on  this  expression,  has  com- 
pletely misinterpreted  its  signification.  He 
supposes  that  the  sword  was  intended  as  a 
sign  of  jurisdiction  now  assumed  by  the 
Lodge.  But  the  real  object  of  the  cere- 
mony is  to  teach  the  neophyte  that  as  the 
sword  or  warlike  instrument  will  wound  or 
prick  the  flesh,  so  will  the  betrayal  of  a 
trust  confided  wound  or  prick  the  con- 
science of  him  who  betrays  it. 

War,  Masonry  in.  The  question 
how  Masons  should  conduct  themselves  in 
time  of  war,  when  their  own  country  is 
one  of  the  belligerents,  is  an  important  one. 
Of  the  political  course  of  a  Mason  in  his 
individual  and  private  capacity  there  is  no 
doubt.  The  Charges  declare  that  he  must 
be  "a  peaceable  subject  to  the  civil  powers, 
and  never  be  concerned  in  plots  and  con- 
spiracies against  the  peace  and  welfare  of 
the  nation."  But  so  anxious  is  the  Order  to 
be  unembarrassed  by  all  political  influences, 
that  treason,  however  discountenanced  by 
the  Craft,  is  not  held  as  a  crime  which  is 
amenable  to  Masonic  punishment.  For 
the  same  charge  affirms  that  "  if  a  brother 
should  be  a  rebel  against  the  State,  he  is 
not  to  be  countenanced  in  his  rebellion, 
however  he  may  be  pitied  as  an  unhappy 
man ;  and  if  convicted  of  no  other  crime, 
though  the  loyal  brotherhood  must  and 
ought  to  disown  his  rebellion  and  give  no 


umbrage  or  ground  of  political  jealousy  to 
the  government  for  the  time  being,  they 
cannot  expel  him  from  the  Lodge,  and  his 
relation  to  it  remains  indefeasible." 

The  Mason,  then,  like  every  other  citizen, 
should  be  a  patriot.  He  should  love  his 
country  with  all  his  heart;  should  serve  it 
faithfully  and  cheerfully;  obey  its  laws  in 
peace ;  and  in  war  should  be  ever  ready  to 
support  its  honor  and  defend  it  from  the 
attacks  of  its  enemies.  But  even  then  the 
benign  principles  of  the  Institution  ex- 
tend their  influence,  and  divest  the  contest 
of  many  of  its  horrors.  The  Mason  fights, 
of  course,  like  every  other  man,  for  victory ; 
but  when  the  victory  is  won,  he  will  re- 
member that  the  conquered  foe  is  Btill  his 
brother. 

On  the  occasion,  many  years  ago,  of  a 
Masonic  banquet  given  immediately  after 
the  close  of  the  Mexican  war  to  Gen.  Quit- 
man by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  South  Caro- 
lina, that  distinguished  soldier  and  Mason 
remarked  that,  although  he  had  devoted 
much  of  his  attention  to  the  nature  and 
character  of  the  Masonic  institution,  and 
had  repeatedly  held  the  highest  offices  in 
the  gift  of  his  brethren,  he  had  never  really 
known  what  Masonry  was  until  he  had  seen 
its  workings  on  the  field  of  battle. 

But  as  a  collective  and  organized  body  — 
in  its  Lodges  and  its  Grand  Lodges — it  must 
have  nothing  to  do  with  war.  It  must  be 
silent  and  neutral.  The  din  of  the  battle, 
the  cry  for  vengeance,  the  shout  of  vic- 
tory, must  never  penetrate  its  portals.  Its 
dogmas  and  doctrines  all  teach  love  and 
fraternity;  its  symbols  are  symbols  of 
peace;  and  it  has  no  place  in  any  of  its 
rituals  consecrated  to  the  inculcation  of 
human  contention. 

Bro.  C.  W.  Moore,  in  his  Biography  of 
Thomas  Smith  Webb,  the  great  American 
ritualist,  mentions  a  circumstance  which 
occurred  during  the  period  in  which  Webb 
presided  over  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  to  which  Moore,  I  think,  in- 
considerately has  given  his  hearty  com- 
mendation. 

The  United  States  was  at  that  time  en- 
gaged in  a  war  with  England.  The  people 
of  Providence  having  commenced  the  erec- 
tion of  fortifications,  the  Grand  Lodge 
volunteered  its  services ;  and  the  members, 
marching  in  procession  as  a  Grand  Lodge 
to  the  southern  part  of  the  town,  erected  a 
breastwork,  to  which  was  given  the  name 
of  Fort  Hiram.  I  doubt  the  propriety  of 
the  act.  While  (to  repeat  what  has  been 
just  said)  every  individual  member  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  as  a  Mason,  was  bound  by  hia 
obligation  to  be  "  true  to  his  government," 
and  to  defend  it  from  the  attacks  of  its 
enemies,  it  was,  I  think,  unseemly,  and 


868 


WARRANT 


WARRANT 


contrary  to  the  peaceful  spirit  of  the  Insti- 
tution, for  any  organized  body  of  Masons, 
organized  as  such,  to  engage  in  a  warlike 
enterprise.  But  the  patriotism,  if  not  the 
prudence  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  cannot  be 
denied. 

Since  writing  this  paragraph,  I  have 
met  in  Bro.  Murray  Lyon's  History  of  the 
Lodge  of  Edinburgh  (p.  83)  with  a  record 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland,  a  century 
ago,  which  sustains  the  view  that  I  have 
taken.  In  1777,  recruits  were  being  en- 
listed in  Scotland  for  the  British  army, 
which  was  to  fight  the  Americans  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  which  had  just 
begun.  Many  of  the  Scotch  Lodges  offered, 
through  the  newspapers,  bounties  to  all 
who  should  enlist.  But  on  February  2, 1778, 
the  Grand  Lodge  passed  a  resolution,  which 
was  published  on  the  12th,  through  the 
Grand  Secretary,  in  the  following  circular: 

"  At  a  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland,  held  here  the  second 
instant,  I  received  a  charge  to  acquaint  all 
the  Lodges  of  Scotland  holding  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  that  the  Grand  Lodge  has 
seen  with  concern  advertisements  in  the 
public  newspapers,  from  different  Lodges  in 
Scotland,  not  only  offering  a  bounty  to  re- 
cruits who  may  enlist  in  the  new  levies, 
but  with  the  addition  that  all  such  recruits 
shall  be  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  Ma- 
sonry. The  first  of  these  they  consider  as 
an  improper  alienation  of  the  funds  of  the 
Lodge  from  the  support  of  their  poor  and 
distressed  brethren ;  and  the  second  they 
regard  as  a  prostitution  of  our  Order, 
which  demands  the  reprehension  of  the 
Grand  Lodge.  Whatever  share  the  brethren 
may  take  as  individuals  in  aiding  these 
levies,  out  of  zeal  to  serve  their  private 
friends  or  to  promote  the  public  service, 
the  Grand  Lodge  considered  it  to  be  re- 
pugnant to  the  spirit  of  our  Craft  that 
any  Lodge  should  take  a  part  in  such  a 
business  as  a  collective  body.  For  Ma- 
sonry is  an  Order  of  Peace,  and  it  looks  on 
all  mankind  to  be  brethren  as  Masons, 
whether  they  be  at  peaee  or  at  war  with 
each  other  as  subjects  of  contending  coun- 
tries. The  Grand  Lodge  therefore  strongly 
enjoins  that  the  practice  may  be  forthwith 
discontinued.  By  order  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Scotland.     W.  Mason,  Gr.  Sec." 

Or  all  human  institutions,  Freemasonry 
is  the  greatest  and  purest  Peace  Society. 
And  this  is  because  its  doctrine  of  univer- 
sal peace  is  founded  on  the  doctrine  of  a 
universal  brotherhood. 

Warrant  of  Constitution.  The 
document  which  authorizes  or  gives  a  War- 
rant to  certain  persons  therein  named  to 
organize  and  constitute  a  Lodge,  Chapter, 
or  other  Masonic  body,  and  which  ends 


usually  with  the  formula,  "  for  which  this 
shall  be  your  sufficient  warrant." 

The  practice  of  granting  Warrants  for 
the  constitution  of  Lodges,  dates  only  from 
the  period  of  the  revival  of  Masonry  in 
1717.  Previous  to  that  period  "  a  sufficient 
number  of  brethren,"  says  Preston,  (p.  182,) 
"  met  together  within  a  certain  district  with 
the  consent  of  the  sheriff,  or  other  chief 
magistrate  of  the  place,  were  empowered  to 
make  Masons,  and  practise  the  rites  of  Ma- 
sonry without  a  Warrant  of  Constitution." 
But  in  1717  a  regulation  was  adopted  "that 
the  privilege  of  assembling  as  Masons, 
which  had  been  hitherto  unlimited,  should 
be  vested  in  certain  Lodges  or  assemblies 
of  Masons  convened  in  certain  places;  and 
that  every  Lodge  to  be  hereafter  convened, 
except  the  four  old  Lodges  at  this  time  ex- 
isting, should  be  legally  authorized  to  act 
by  a  Warrant  from  the  Grand  Master,  for 
the  time  being,  granted  to  certain  individ- 
uals by  petition,  with  the  consent  and  ap- 
probation of  the  Grand  Lodge  in  commu- 
nication; and  that  without  such  Warrant 
no  Lodge  should  be  hereafter  deemed 
regular  or  constitutional."  And  conse- 
quently, ever  since  the  adoption  of  that 
regulation,  no  Lodge  has  been  regular  un- 
less it  is  working  under  such  an  authority. 
The  word  Warrant  is  appropriately  used, 
because  in  its  legal  acceptation  it  means  a 
document  giving  authority  to  perform  some 
specified  act. 

In  England,  the  Warrant  of  Constitution 
emanates  from  the  Grand  Master;  in  the 
United  States,  from  the  Grand  Lodge. 
Here  the  Grand  Master  grants  only  a  Dis- 
pensation to  hold  a  Lodge,  which  may  be 
revoked  or  confirmed  by  the  Grand  Lodge; 
in  the  latter  case,  the  Warrant  will  then  be 
issued.  The  Warrant  of  Constitution  is 
granted  to  the  Master  and  Wardens,  and  to 
their  successors  in  office;  it  continues  in 
force  only  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  may,  therefore,  at  any  time  be 
revoked,  and  the  Lodge  dissolved  by  a  vote 
of  that  body,  or  it  may  be  temporarily  ar- 
rested or  suspended  by  an  edict  of  the 
Grand  Master.  This  will,  however,  never 
be  done,  unless  the  Lodge  has  violated  the 
ancient  landmarks,  or  failed  to  pay  due  re- 
spect and  obedience  to  the  Grand  Lodge  or 
to  the  Grand  Master. 

When  a  Warrant  of  Constitution  is  re- 
voked or  recalled,  the  jewels,  furniture,  and 
funds  of  the  Lodge  revert  to  the  Grand 
Lodge. 

Lastly,  as  a  Lodge  holds  its  communica- 
tions only  under  the  authority  of  this  War- 
rant of  Constitution,  no  Lodge  can  be 
opened,  or  proceed  to  business,  unless  it  be 
present.  If  it  be  mislaid  or  destroyed,  it 
must  be  recovered,  or  another  obtained; 


WASHING 


WASHINGTON 


869 


and  until  that  is  done,  the  communications 
of  the  Lodge  must  be  suspended ;  and  if  the 
Warrant  of  Constitution  be  taken  out  of 
the  room  during  the  session  of  the  Lodge, 
the  authority  of  the  Master  instantly 
ceases. 

Washing  Hands.    See  Lustration. 

Washington,  Congress  of.  A 
Congress  of  American  Masons  was  con- 
voked at  the  city  of  Washington,  in  the 
year  1822,  at  the  call  of  several  Grand 
Lodges,  for  the  purpose  of  recommending 
the  establishment  of  a  General  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  United  States.  The  result 
was  an  unsuccessful  one. 

Washington,  George.  The  name 
of  Washington  claims  a  place  in  Masonic 
biography,  not  because  of  any  services  he 
has  done  to  the  Institution  either  as  a 
worker  or  a  writer,  but  because  the  fact  of 
his  connection  with  the  Craft  is  a  source 
of  pride  to  every  American  Mason,  at 
least,  who  can  thus  call  the  "Father  of  his 
country  "  a  brother.  There  is  also  another 
reason.  While  the  friends  of  the  Institu- 
tion have  felt  that  the  adhesion  to  it  of  a 
man  so  eminent  for  virtue  was  a  proof  of 
its  moral  and  religious  character,  the  oppo- 
nents of  Masonry,  being  forced  to  admit 
the  conclusion,  have  sought  to  deny  the 
premises,  and,  even  if  compelled  to  admit 
the  fact  of  Washington's  initiation,  have 
persistently  asserted  that  he  never  took  any 
interest  in  it,  disapproved  of  its  spirit,  and 
at  an  early  period  of  his  life  abandoned  it. 
The  truth  of  history  requires  that  these 
misstatements  should  be  met  by  a  brief  re- 
cital of  his  Masonic  career. 

Washington  was  initiated,  in  1752,  in  the 
Lodge  at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  and  the 
records  of  that  Lodge,  still  in  existence, 

Present  the  following  entries  on  the  subject, 
'he  first  entry  is  thus : 

"Nov.  4th,  1752.  This  evening  Mr. 
George  Washington  was  initiated  as  an 
Entered  Apprentice;"  and  the  receipt  of 
the  entrance  fee,  amounting  to  £2  3s.,  is 
acknowledged. 

On  the  3d  of  March  in  the  following 
year,  "Mr.  George  Washington"  is  re- 
corded as  having  been  passed  a  Fellow 
Craft;  and  on  the  4th  of  the  succeeding 
August,  the  record  of  the  transactions  of 
the  evening  states  that "  Mr.  George  Wash- 
ington," and  others  whose  names  are  men- 
tioned, have  been  raised  to  the  sublime 
degree  of  Master  Mason. 

For  five  years  after  his  initiation,  he  was 
engaged  in  active  military  service,  and  it  is 
not  likely  that  during  that  period  his  at- 
tendance on  the  communications  of  the 
Lodge  could  have  been  frequent.  Some 
English  writers  have  asserted  that  he  was 
made  a  Mason  during  the  old  French  War, 


in  a  military  Lodge  attached  to  the  46th 
Regiment.  The  Bible  on  which  he  is  said 
to  have  been  obligated  is  still  in  existence, 
although  the  Lodge  was  many  years  ago 
dissolved,  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia.  The 
records  of  the  Lodge  are  or  were,  not  long 
since,  extant,  and  furnish  the  evidence  that 
Washington  was  there,  and  received  some 
Masonic  degree.  It  is  equally  clear  that  he 
was  first  initiated  in  Fredericksburg  Lodge, 
for  the  record  is  still  in  possession  of  the 
Lodge. 

Three  methods  have  been  adopted  to 
reconcile  this  apparent  discrepancy.  Bro. 
Hayden,  in  his  work  on  Washington  and  his 
Masonic  Compeers,  (p.  31,)  suggests  that  an 
obligation  had  been  administered  to  him  as 
a  test-oath  when  visiting  the  Lodge,  or  that 
the  Lodge,  deeming  the  authority  under 
which  he  had  been  made  insufficient,  had 
required  him  to  be  healed  and  reobligated. 
Neither  of  these  attempts  to  solve  the  diffi- 
culty appears  to  have  any  plausibility. 

Bro.  C.  W.  Moore,  of  Massachusetts,  in 
the  Freemasons1  Monthly  Magazine,  (vol.  xi., 
p.  261,)  suggests  that,  as  it  was  then  the 
custom  to  confer  the  Mark  degree  as  a  side 
degree  in  Masters'  Lodges,  and  as  it  has 
been  proved  that  Washington  was  in  pos- 
session of  that  degree,  he  may  have  re- 
ceived it  in  Lodge  No.  227,  attached  to  the 
46th  Regiment.  This  certainly  presents  a 
more  satisfactory  explanation  than  either 
of  those  offered  by  Bro.  Hayden. 

The  connection  of  Washington  with  the 
British  military  Lodge  will  serve  as  some 
confirmation  of  the  tradition  that  he  was 
attentive  to  Masonic  duties  during  the  five 
years  from  1753  to  1758,  when  he  was  en- 
gaged in  military  service. 

There  is  ample  evidence  that  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  while  he  was  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  American  armies, 
he  was  a  frequent  attendant  on  the  meetings 
of  military  Lodges.  A  few  years  ago,  Cap- 
tain Hugh  Maloy,  a  revolutionary  veteran, 
then  residing  in  Ohio,  declared  that  on  one 
of  these  occasions  he  was  initiated  in  Wash- 
ington's marquee,  the  chief  himself  presid- 
ing at  the  ceremony.  Bro.  Scott,  a  Past 
Grand  Master  of  Virginia,  asserted  that 
Washington  was  in  frequent  attendance  on 
the  communications  of  the  brethren.  The 
proposition  made  to  elect  him  a  Grand 
Master  of  the  United  States,  as  will  be 
hereafter  seen,  affords  a  strong  presumption 
that  his  name  as  a  Mason  had  become 
familiar  to  the  Craft. 

In  1777,  the  Convention  of  Virginia 
Lodges  recommended  Washington  as  the 
most  proper  person  to  be  elected  Grand 
Master  of  the  Independent  Grand  Lodge  of 
that  commonwealth.  Dove  has  given  in  his 
Text-Booh  the  complete  records  of  the  Con- 


870 


WASHINGTON 


WASHINGTON 


vention;  and  there  is  therefore  no  doubt 
that  the  nomination  was  made.  It  was, 
however,  declined  by  Washington. 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, a  disposition  was  manifested  among 
American  Masons  to  dissever  their  connec- 
tion, as  subordinates,  with  the  Masonic 
authorities  of  the  mother  country,  and 
in  several  of  the  newly-erected  States  the 
Provincial  Grand  Lodges  assumed  an  in- 
dependent character.  The  idea  of  a  Grand 
Master  of  the  whole  of  the  United  States 
had  also  become  popular.  On  February  7, 
1780,  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the 
military  Lodges  in  the  army  was  holden 
at  Morristown,  in  New  Jersey,  when  an 
address  to  the  Grand  Masters  in  the  vari- 
ous States  was  adopted,  recommending  the 
establishment  of  "one  Grand  Lodge  in 
America,"  and  the  election  of  a  Grand 
Master.  This  address  was  sent  to  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  Massachusetts,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Virginia;  and  although  the  name 
of  Washington  is  not  mentioned  in  it,  those 
Grand  Lodges  were  notified  that  he  was 
the  first  choice  of  the  brethren  who  had 
framed  it. 

While  these  proceedings  were  in  progress, 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania  had 
taken  action  on  the  same  subject.  On 
January  13, 1780,  it  had  held  a  session,  and 
it  was  unanimously  declared  that  it  was  for 
the  benefit  of  Masonry  that "  a  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  Masons  throughout  the  United  States  " 
should  be  nominated;  whereupon,  with 
equal  unanimity,  Gen.  Washington  was 
elected  to  the  office.  It  was  then  ordered 
that  the  minutes  of  the  election  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  different  Grand  Lodges  in 
the  United  States,  and  their  concurrence 
therein  be  requested.  The  Grand  Lodge 
of  Massachusetts,  doubting  the  expediency 
of  electing  a  General  Grand  Master,  de- 
clined to  come  to  any  determination  on 
the  question,  and  so  the  subject  was 
dropped. 

This  will  correct  the  error  into  which 
many  foreign  Grand  Lodges  and  Masonic 
writers  have  fallen,  of  supposing  that 
Washington  was  ever  a  Grand  Master  of 
the  United  States.  The  error  was  strength- 
ened by  a  medal  contained  in  Merzdorf's 
Medals  of  the  Fraternity  of  Freemasons, 
which  the  editor  states  was  struck  by  the 
Lodges  of  Pennsylvania.  This  statement 
is,  however,  liable  to  great  doubt.  The  date 
of  the  medal  is  1797.  On  the  obverse  is 
a  likeness  of  Washington,  with  the  device, 
"Washington,  President,  1797."  On  the 
reverse  is  a  tracing-board  and  the  device, 
"  Amor,  Honor,  et  Justitia.  G.  W.,  G.  G. 
M."  French  and  German  Masonic  histo- 
rians have  been  deceived  by  this  medal, 
and  refer  to  it  as  their  authority  for  assert- 


ing that  Washington  was  a  Grand  Master. 
Lenning  and  Thory,  for  instance,  place  the 
date  of  his  election  to  that  office  in  the  year 
in  which  the  medal  was  struck.  More  re- 
cent European  writers,  however,  directed 
by  the  researches  of  the  American  author- 
ities, have  discovered  and  corrected  the 
mistake. 

We  next  hear  of  Washington's  official 
connection  in  the  year  1788.  Lodge  No. 
39,  at  Alexandria,  which  had  hitherto  been 
working  under  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1788  transferred  its  allegiance 
to  Virginia.  On  May  29  in  that  year  the 
Lodge  adopted  the  following  resolution : 

"The  Lodge  proceeded  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  Master  and  Deputy  Master  to  be 
recommended  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Vir- 
ginia, when  George  Washington,  Esq., 
was  unanimously  chosen  Master;  Robert 
McCrea,  Deputy  Master;  Wm.  Hunter,  Jr., 
Senior  Warden;  John  Allison,  Junior 
Warden." 

It  was  also  ordered  that  a  committee 
should  wait  on  Gen.  Washington,  "and 
inquire  of  him  whether  it  will  be  agreeable 
to  him  to  be  named  in  the  Charter."  What 
was  the  result  of  that  interview,  we  do  not 
positively  know.  But  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  the  reply  of  Washington  was  a  favor- 
able one,  for  the  application  for  the  Charter 
contained  his  name,  which  would  hardly 
have  been  inserted,  if  it  had  been  repug- 
nant to  his  wishes.  And  the  Charter  or 
Warrant  under  which  the  Lodge  is  still 
working  is  granted  to  Washington  as 
Master.  The  appointing  clause  is  in  the 
following  words: 

"  Know  ye  that  we,  Edmund  Randolph, 
Esquire,  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth 
aforesaid,  and  Grand  Master  of  the  Most 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Society  of  Free- 
masons within  the  same,  by  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Virginia, 
do  hereby  constitute  and  appoint  our  il- 
lustrious and  well-beloved  Brother,  George 
Washington,  Esquire,  late  General  and 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  forces  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  our  worthy 
Brethren  Robert  McCrea,  William  Hun- 
ter, Jr.,  and  John  Allison,  Esqs.,  together 
with  all  such  other  brethren  as  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  associate  with  them,  to  be  a 
'first,  true,  and  regular  Lodge  of  Free- 
masons, by  the  name,  title,  and  designation 
of  the  Alexandria  Lodge,  No.  22.'"  In 
1805,  the  Lodge,  which  is  still  in  existence, 
was  permitted  by  the  Grand  Lodge  to 
change  its  name  to  that  of  "  Washington 
Alexandria,"  in  honor  of  its  first  Master. 

The  evidence,  then,  is  clear  that  Wash- 
ington was  the  Master  of  a  Lodge.  Whether 
he  ever  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office, 
and,  if  he  assumed,  how  he  discharged  them, 


WASHINGTON 


WASHINGTON 


871 


we  know  only  from  the  testimony  of  Tim- 
othy Bigelow,  who,  in  a  Eulogy  delivered 
before  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts, 
two  months  after  Washington's  death,  and 
eleven  after  his  appointment  as  Master, 
made  the  following  statement: 

"The  information  received  from  our 
brethren  who  had  the  happiness  to  be 
members  of  the  Lodge  over  which  he  pre- 
sided for  many  years,  and  of  which  he 
died  the  Master,  furnishes  abundant  proof 
of  his  persevering  zeal  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  Institution.  Constant  and  punctual  in 
his  attendance,  scrupulous  in  his  observ- 
ance of  the  regulations  of  the  Lodge,  and 
solicitous,  at  all  times,  to  communicate 
light  and  instruction,  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  Chair  with  uncommon  dig- 
nity and  intelligence  in  all  the  mysteries 
of  our  art." 

There  is  also  a  very  strong  presumption 
that  Washington  accepted  ana  discharged 
the  duties  of  the  Chair  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Lodge.  At  the  first  election  held 
after  the  Charter  had  been  issued,  he  was 
elected,  or  we  should  rather  say  re-elected, 
Master.  The  record  of  the  Lodge,  under 
the  date  of  December  20, 1788,  is  as  follows: 

"  His  Excellency,  General  Washington, 
unanimously  elected  Master;  Robert  Mc- 
Crea,  Senior  Warden;  Wm.  Hunter,  Jr., 
Junior  Warden;  Wm.  Hodgson,  Treasurer; 
Joseph  Green  way,  Secretary;  Dr.  Frederick 
Spanbergen,  Senior  Deacon ;  George  Rich- 
ards, Junior  Deacon."  The  subordinate 
officers  had  undergone  a  change :  McCrea, 
who  had  been  named  in  the  petition  as 
Deputy  Master,  an  officer  not  recognized  in 
this  country  was  made  Senior  Warden; 
Wm.  Hunter,  who  had  been  nominated  as 
Senior  Warden,  was  made  Junior  Warden; 
and  the  original  Junior  Warden,  John 
Allison,  was  dropped.  But  there  was  no 
change  in  the  office  of  Master.  Wash- 
ington was  again  elected.  The  Lodge 
would  scarcely  have  been  so  persistent 
without  his  consent;  and  if  his  consent  was 
given,  we  know,  from  his  character,  that  he 
would  seek  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
office  to  his  best  abilities.  This  circum- 
stance gives,  if  it  be  needed,  strong  confir- 
mation to  the  statement  of  Bigelow. 

But  incidents  like  these  are  not  all  that 
are  left  to  us  to  exhibit  the  attachment  of 
Washington  to  Masonry.  On  repeated  oc- 
casions he  has  announced,  in  his  letters  and 
addresses  to  various  Masonic  bodies,  his  pro- 
found esteem  for  the  character,  and  his  just 
appreciation  of  the  principles,  of  that  In- 
stitution into  which,  at  so  early  an  age,  he 
had  been  admitted.  And  during  his  long 
and  laborious  life,  no  opportunity  was  pre- 
sented of  which  he  did  not  avail  himself 
to  evince  his  esteem  for  the  Institution. 


Thus,  in  the  year  1797,  in  reply  to  an  af- 
fectionate address  from  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Massachusetts,  he  says:  "My  attach- 
ment to  the  Society  of  which  we  are  mem- 
bers will  dispose  me  always  to  contribute 
my  best  endeavors  to  promote  the  honor 
and  prosperity  of  the  Craft." 

Five  years  before  this  letter  was  written, 
he  had,  in  a  communication  to  the  same 
body,  expressed  his  opinion  of  the  Masonic 
institution  as  one  whose  liberal  principles 
are  founded  on  the  immutable  laws  of 
"truth  and  justice,"  and  whose  "grand 
object  is  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the 
human  race. 

In  answer  to  an  address  from  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  South  Carolina  in  1791,  he  says : 
"  I  recognize  with  pleasure  my  relation  to 
the  brethren  of  your  Society,"  and  "  I  shall 
be  happy,  on  every  occasion,  to  evince  my 
regard  for  the  Fraternity."  And  in  the 
same  letter  he  takes  occasion  to  allude  to 
the  Masonic  institution  as  "  an  association 
whose  principles  lead  to  purity  of  morals, 
and  are  beneficial  of  action." 

In  writing  to  the  officers  and  members 
of  St.  David's  Lodge  at  Newport,  (R.  I.,) 
in  the  same  year,  he  uses  this  language : 
"  Being  persuaded  that  a  just  application 
of  the  principles  on  which  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity is  founded  must  be  promotive  of 
private  virtue  and  public  prosperity,  I  shall 
always  be  happy  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  Society,  and  to  be  considered  by 
them  as  a  deserving  brother." 

And  lastly,  for  I  will  not  further  extend 
these  citations,  in  a  letter  addressed  in  No- 
vember, 1798,  only  thirteen  months  be- 
fore his  death,  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Maryland,  he  has  made  this  explicit  dec- 
laration of  his  opinion  of  the  Institution : 

"  So  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  the  doc- 
trines and  principles  of  Freemasonry,  I 
conceive  them  to  be  founded  in  benevo- 
lence, and  to  be  exercised  only  for  the 
good  of  mankind.  I  cannot,  therefore, 
upon  this  ground,  withdraw  my  approba- 
tion from  it." 

So  much  has  been  said  upon  the  Masonic 
career  and  opinions  of  Washington  because 
American  Masons  love  to  dwell  on  the  fact 
that  the  distinguished  patriot,  whose  mem- 
ory is  so  revered  that  his  unostentatious 
grave  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  has  be- 
come the  Mecca  of  America,  was  not  only 
a  brother  of  the  Craft,  but  was  ever  ready 
to  express  his  good  opinion  of  the  Society. 
They  feel  that  under  the  panoply  of  his 
great  name  they  may  defy  the  malignant 
charges  of  their  adversaries.  They  know 
that  no  better  reply  can  be  given  to  such 
charges  than  to  say,  in  the  language  of 
Clinton,  "  Washington  would  not  have  en- 
couraged an  Institution  hostile  to  morality, 


872 


WASHINGTON 


WEBB 


religion,  good  order,  and  the  public  wel- 
fare." 

Washington  Territory.  Free- 
masonry in  an  organized  form  was  intro- 
duced into  Washington  Territory  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Oregon,  which  established 
four  Lodges  there  previous  to  the  year  1858. 
These  Lodges  were  Olympia,  No.  5;  Steila- 
coom,  No.  8;  Grand  Mound,  No.  21,  and 
Washington,  No.  22.  On  December  6-9, 
1858,  delegates  from  these  four  Lodges  met 
in  convention  at  the  city  of  Olympia,  and 
organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons  of  the  Territory  of  Wash- 
ington. T.  F.  McElroy  was  elected  Grand 
Master,  and  T.  M.  Reed,  Grand  Secretary. 

The  high  degrees  of  the  American  Rite 
have  not  yet  been  established  in  Washing- 
ton Territory;  but  in  1872  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite  was  introduced  by 
Bro.  Edwin  A.  Sherman,  the  agent  of  the 
Supreme  Council  of  the  Southern  Jurisdic- 
tion, and  several  bodies  of  that  Rite  were 
organized. 

Watchwords.  Used  in  the  thirty- 
second  degree  of  the  Ancieut  and  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite  because  that  degree  has  a 
military  form,  but  not  found  in  other  de- 
grees of  Masonry. 

Water -fall.  Used  in  the  Fellow 
Craft's  degree  as  a  symbol  of  plenty,  for 
which  the  word  water-ford  is  sometimes  im- 
properly substituted.     See  Shibboleth. 

Wayfaring  Man.  A  word  used  in 
the  legend  of  the  third  degree  to  denote  the 
person  met  near  the  port  of  Joppa  by  cer- 
tain persons  sent  out  on  a  search  by  King 
Solomon.  The  part  of  the  legend  which 
introduces  the  wayfaring  man,  and  his  in- 
terview with  the  Fellow  Crafts,  was  prob- 
ably introduced  into  the  American  sys- 
tem by  Webb,  or  found  by  him  in  the  older 
rituals  practised  in  this  country.  It  is  not 
in  the  old  English  rituals  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, nor  is  the  circumstance  detailed  in 
the  present  English  lecture.  A  wayfaring 
man  is  defined  by  Phillips  as  "  one  accus- 
tomed to  travel  on  the  road."  The  expres- 
sion is  becoming  obsolete  in  ordinary  lan- 
guage, but  it  is  preserved  in  Scripture  — 
"  he  saw  a  wayfaring  man  in  the  street  of 
the  city,"  (Judges  xix.  17,)  — and  in  Ma- 
sonry, both  of  which  still  retain  many 
words  long  since  disused  elsewhere. 

Weary  Sojourners.  Spoken  of  in 
the  American  legend  of  the  Royal  Arch  as 
three  of  the  captives  who  had  been  restored 
to  liberty  by  Cyrus,  and,  after  sojourning 
or  remaining  longer  in  Babylon  than  the 
main  body  of  their  brethren,  had  at  length 
repaired  to  Jerusalem  to  assist  in  rebuild- 
ing the  Temple. 

It  was  while  the  workmen  were  engaged 
in  making  the  necessary  excavations  for 


laying  the  foundation,  and  while  numbers 
continued  to  arrive  at  Jerusalem  from 
Babylon,  that  these  three  woru  and  weary 
sojourners,  after  plodding  on  foot  over  the 
rough  and  devious  roads  between  the  two 
cities,  offered  themselves  to  the  Grand 
Council  as  willing  participants  in  the  labor 
of  erection.  Who  these  sojourners  were, 
we  have  no  historical  means  of  discovering ; 
but  there  is  a  Masonic  tradition  (entitled, 
perhaps,  to  but  little  weight)  that  they 
were  Hananiah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah, 
three  holy  men,  who  are  better  known  to 
general  readers  by  their  Chaldaic  names 
of  Shadrach,  Meshech,  and  Abed-nego,  as 
having  been  miraculously  preserved  from 
the  fiery  furnace  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

Their  services  were  accepted,  and  from 
their  diligent  labors  resulted  that  impor- 
tant discovery,  the  perpetuation  and  preser- 
vation of  which  constitutes  the  great  end 
and  design  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree. 

Such  is  the  legend  of  the  American 
Royal  Arch.  It  has  no  known  foundation 
in  history,  and  is  therefore  altogether 
mythical.  But  it  presents,  as  a  myth,  the 
symbolic  idea  of  arduous  and  unfaltering 
search  after  truth,  and  the  final  reward 
that  such  devotion  receives. 

Wehh-Preston  Work.  The  title 
given  by  Dr.  Robert  Morris  to  a  system  of 
lectures  which  he  proposed  to  introduce,  in 
1859,  into  the  Lodges  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  which  he  was  partly  successful.  He 
gave  this  name  to  his  system  because  his 
theory  was  that  the  lectures  of  Thomas 
Smith  Webb  and  those  of  Preston  were 
identical.  But  this  theory  is  untenable, 
for  it  has  long  since  been  shown  that  the 
lectures  of  Webb  were  an  abridgement, 
and  a  very  material  modification  of  those 
of  Preston.  In  1863,  and  for  a  few  years 
afterwards,  the  question  of  the  introduction 
of  the  "Webb-Preston  work  "  was  a  sub- 
ject of  warm,  and  sometimes  of  intemperate, 
discussion  in  several  of  the  western  juris- 
dictions. It  has  now,  however,  at  least  as 
a  subject  of  controversy,  ceased  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Craft.  One  favorable 
result  was,  however,  produced  by  these  dis- 
cussions, and  that  is,  that  they  led  to  a  more 
careful  investigation  and  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  nature  and  history  of  the 
rituals  which  have,  during  the  present  cen- 
tury, been  practised  in  this  country.  The 
bitterness  of  feeling  has  passed  away,  but 
the  knowledge  that  it  elicited  remains. 

Webb,  Thomas  Smith.  No  name 
in  Masonry  is  more  familiar  to  the  Amer- 
ican Mason  than  that  of  Webb,  who  was 
really  the  inventor  and  founder  of  the  sys- 
tem of  work  which,  under  the  appropriate 
name  of  the  American  Rite  (although 
often  improperly  called  the  York  Rite),  is 


WEBB 


WEBB 


873 


universally  practised  in  the  United  States. 
The  most  exhaustive  biography  of  him 
that  has  been  written  is  that  of  Bro.  Cor- 
nelius Moore,  in  his  Leaflets  of  Masonic 
Biography,  and  from  that,  with  a  few  ad- 
ditions from  other  sources,  the  present 
sketch  is  derived. 

Thomas  Smith  Webb,  the  son  of  parents 
who  a  few  years  previous  to  his  birth  had 
emigrated  from  England  and  settled  in 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  was  born  in  that 
city,  October  13,  1771.  He  was  educated 
in  one  of  the  public  schools,  where  he  ac- 
quired such  knowledge  as  was  at  that  time 
imparted  in  them,  and  became  proficient 
in  the  French  and  Latin  languages. 

He  selected  as  a  profession  either  that 
of  a  printer  or  a  bookbinder ;  his  biographer 
is  uncertain  which,  but  inclines  to  think 
that  it  was  the  former.  After  completing 
his  apprenticeship  he  removed  to  Keene,  in 
New  Hampshire,  where  he  worked  at  his 
trade,  and  about  the  year  1792  (for  the 
precise  date  is  unknown)  was  initiated  in 
Freemasonry  in  Rising  Sun  Lodge  in  that 
town. 

While  residing  at  Keene  he  married 
Miss  Martha  Hopkins,  and  shortly  after- 
wards removed  to  Albany,  New  York,  where 
he  opened  a  book-store.  When  and  where 
he  received  the  high  degrees  has  not  been 
stated,  but  we  find  him,  while  living  at 
Albany,  engaged  in  the  establishment  of  a 
Chapter  and  an  Encampment. 

It  was  at  this  early  period  of  his  life  that 
Webb  appears  to  have  commenced  his 
labors  as  a  Masonic  teacher,  an  office 
which  he  continued  to  fill  with  great  in- 
fluence until  the  close  of  his  life.  In  1797 
he  published  at  Albany  the  first  edition  of 
his  Freemasons'  Monitor ;  or,  Illustrations  of 
Masonry.  It  purports  to  be  "  by  a  Royal 
Arch  Mason,  K.  T.,  K.  M.,  etc."  He  did 
not  claim  the  authorship  until  the  subse- 
quent edition;  but  his  name  and  that  of 
his  partner,  Spencer,  appear  in  the  imprint 
as  publishers.  He  acknowledges  in  the 
preface  his  indebtedness  to  Preston  for  the 
observations  on  the  first  three  degrees. 
But  he  states  that  he  has  differently  ar- 
ranged Preston's  distributions  of  the  sec- 
tions, because  they  were  "  not  agreeable  to 
the  mode  of  working  in  America."  This 
proves  that  the  Prestonian  system  was  not 
then  followed  in  the  United  States,  and 
ought  to  be  a  sufficient  answer  to  those 
who  at  a  later  period  attempted  to  claim 
an  identity  between  the  lectures  of  Preston 
and  Webb. 

About  the  year  1801  he  removed  to 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  wall-paper  on 
a  rather  extensive  scale.  By  this  time  his 
reputation  as  a  Masonic  teacher  had  been 
5K 


well  established,  for  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed by  St  John's  Lodge  of  Providence 
to  wait  upon  and  inform  him  that  this 
Lodge  (for  his  great  exertions  in  the  cause 
of  Masonry)  wish  him  to  become  a  member 
of  the  same."  He  accepted  the  invitation, 
and  passing  through  the  various  gradations 
of  office  was  elected,  in  1813,  Grand  Master 
of  the  Masons  of  Rhode  Island. 

But  it  is  necessary  now  to  recur  to  pre- 
ceding events.  In  1797,  on  October  24,  a 
convention  of  committees  from  several 
Chapters  in  the  Northern  States  was  held  in 
Boston  for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  on 
the  propriety  and  expediency  of  establish- 
ing a  Grand  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons 
for  the  Northern  States.  Of  this  convention 
Webb  was  chosen  as  the  chairman.  Pre- 
viously to  this  time  the  Royal  Arch  degrees 
had  been  conferred  in  Masters'  Lodges  and 
under  a  Lodge  Warrant.  It  is  undoubtedly 
to  the  influence  of  Webb  that  we  are  to 
attribute  the  disseverance  of  the  degree 
from  that  jurisdiction  and  the  establish- 
ment of  independent  Chapters.  It  was  one 
of  the  first  steps  that  he  took  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  American  Rite.  The  circu- 
lar addressed  by  the  convention  to  the 
Chapters  of  the  country  was  most  probably 
from  the  pen  of  Webb. 

The  Grand  Chapter  having  been  organ- 
ized in  January,  1798,  Webb  was  elected 
Grand  Scribe,  and  re-elected  in  1799,  at 
which  time  the  body  assumed  the  title  of 
the  General  Grand  Chapter.  In  1806  he 
was  promoted  to  the  office  of  General 
Grand  King,  and  in  1816  to  that  of  Deputy 
General  Grand  High  Priest,  which  he  held 
until  his  death. 

During  all  this  time,  Webb,  although 
actively  engaged  in  the  labors  of  Masonic 
instruction,  continued  his  interest  in  the 
manufacture  of  wall  paper,  and  in  1817  re- 
moved his  machinery  to  the  West,  Moore 
thinks,  with  the  intention  of  making  his 
residence  there. 

In  1816  he  visited  the  Western  States, 
and  remained  there  two  years,  during  which 
time  he  appears  to  have  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  organization  of  Chapters, 
Grand  Chapters  and  Encampments.  It 
was  during  this  visit  that  he  established 
the  Grand  Chapters  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky, 
by  virtue  of  his  powers  as  a  General  Grand 
Officer. 

In  August,  1818,  he  left  Ohio  and  re- 
turned to  Boston.  In  the  spring  of  1819, 
he  again  began  a  visit  to  the  West,  but  he 
reached  no  farther  than  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
where  he  died  very  suddenly,  it  is  supposed 
in  a  fit  of  apoplexy,  on  July  6,  1819,  and 
was  buried  the  next  day  with  Masonic 
honors.  The  body  was  subsequently  dis- 
interred and  conveyed  to  Providence,  where, 


WEDEKIND 


WEISHAUPT 


on  the  8th  of  November,  it  was  reinterred 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Rhode  Island. 

Webb's  influence  over  the  Masons  of  the 
United  States,  as  the  founder  of  a  Rite,  was 
altogether  personal.  In  Masonic  literature 
he  has  made  no  mark,  for  his  labors  as  an 
author  are  confined  to  a  single  work,  his 
Monitor,  and  this  is  little  more  than  a  syl- 
labus of  his  lectures.  Although,  if  we  may 
judge  by  the  introductory  remarks  to  the 
various  sections  of  the  degrees,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  second  one  of  the  third  de- 
gree, Webb  was  but  little  acquainted  with 
the  true  philosophical  symbolism  of  Free- 
masonry, such  as  it  was  taught  by  Hutchin- 
son in  England  and  by  his  contemporaries 
in  this  country,  Harris  and  Town,  he  was 
what  Carson  properly  calls  him,  "  the  ablest 
Masonic  ritualist  of  his  day  —  the  very 
prince  of  Masonic  workmen,"  and  this  was 
the  instrument  with  which  he  worked  for 
the  extension  of  the  new  Rite  which  he 
established.  The  American  Rite  would 
have  been  more  perfect  as  a  system  had  its 
founder  entertained  profounder  views  of 
the  philosophy  and  symbolism  of  Masonry 
as  a  science ;  but  as  it  is,  with  imperfections 
which  time,  it  is  hoped,  will  remove,  and 
deficiencies  which  future  researches  of  the 
Masonic  scholar  will  supply,  it  still  must 
ever  be  a  monument  of  the  ritualistic  skill, 
the  devotion,  and  the  persevering  labor  of 
Thomas  Smith  Webb. 

The  few  odes  and  anthems  composed  by 
Webb  for  his  rituals  possess  a  high  degree 
of  poetic  merit,  and  evince  the  possession 
of  much  genius  in  their  author. 

Wedekind,  Georg  Christian 
Gottlieb,  Baron  Ton.    A   German 

Shysician  and  Professor  of  Medicine  at 
[etz,  and  a  medical  writer  of  reputation. 
He  was  born  at  Gottingen,  January  8, 1761. 
As  a  Mason,  he  was  distinguished  as  a 
member  of  the  Eclectic  Union,  and  labored 
effectually  for  the  restoration  of  good  feel- 
ing between  it  and  the  Directorial  Lodge 
at  Frankfort.  His  Masonic  works,  which 
are  numerous,  consist  principally  of  ad- 
dresses, controversial  pamphlets,  and  con- 
tributions to  the  Altenburg  Journal  of  Free- 
masonry.    He  died  in  1831. 

Weeping  Virgin.  The  weeping  vir- 
gin with  dishevelled  hair,  in  the  monument 
of  the  third  degree,  used  in  the  American 
Rite,  is  interpreted  as  a  symbol  of  grief  for 
the  unfinished  state  of  the  Temple.  Jeremy 
Cross,  who  is  said  to  have  fabricated  the 
monumental  symbol,  was  not,  we  are  sat- 
isfied, acquainted  with  hermetic  science. 
Yet  a  woman  thus  portrayed,  standing  near 
a  tomb,  was  a  very  appropriate  symbol  for 
the  third  degree,  whose  dogma  is  the  resur- 
rection. In  hermetic  science,  according 
to  Nicolas  Flammel,  {Hieroglyphica,  cap. 


xxxii.,)  a  woman  having  her  hair  dishev- 
elled and  standing  near  a  tomb  is  a  symbol 
of  the  soul. 

Weishaupt,  Adam.  He  is  cele- 
brated in  the  history  of  Masonry  as  the 
founder  of  the  Order  of  Illuminati  of  Ba- 
varia, among  whom  he  adopted  the  char- 
acteristic or  Order  name  of  Spartacus. 
He  was  born  February  6,  1748,  at  Ingold- 
stadt,  and  was  educated  by  the  Jesuits, 
towards  whom,  however,  he  afterwards  ex- 
hibited the  bitterest  enmity,  and  was  equally 
hated  by  them  in  return.  In  1772  he  be- 
came extraordinary  professor  of  law,  and  in 
1775  professor  of  natural  and  canon  law,  at 
the  University  of  Ingoldstadt.  As  the  pro- 
fessorship of  canon  law  had  been  hitherto 
held  only  by  an  ecclesiastic,  his  appoint- 
ment gave  great  offence  to  the  clergy. 
Weishaupt,  whose  views  were  cosmopolitan, 
and  who  knew  and  condemned  the  bigotry 
and  superstitions  of  the  priests,  established 
an  opposing  party  in  the  University,  con- 
sisting principally  of  young  men  whose 
confidence  and  friendship  he  had  gained. 
They  assembled  in  a  private  apartment, 
and  there  he  discussed  with  them  philo- 
sophic subjects,  and  sought  to  imbue  them 
with  a  liberal  spirit.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Order  of  the  Illuminati,  or  the 
Enlightened  —  a  name  which  he  bestowed 
upon  his  disciples  as  a  token  of  their  ad- 
vance in  intelligence  and  moral  progress. 

At  first,  it  was  totally  unconnected  with 
Masonry,  of  which  Order  Weishaupt  was 
not  at  that  time  a  member.  It  was  not 
until  1777  that  he  was  initiated  in  the 
Lodge  Theodore  of  Good  Counsel,  at  Mun- 
ich. Thenceforward  Weishaupt  sought  to 
incorporate  his  system  into  that  of  Ma- 
sonry, so  that  the  latter  might  become  sub- 
servient to  his  views,  and  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Baron  Knigge,  who  brought 
his  active  energies  and  genius  to  the  aid  of 
the  cause,  he  succeeded  in  completing  his 
system  of  Illuminism.  But  the  clergy,  and 
especially  the  Jesuits,  who,  although  their 
Order  had  been  abolished  by  the  govern- 
ment, still  secretly  possessed  great  power, 
redoubled  their  efforts  to  destroy  their  op- 
ponent, and  they  at  length  succeeded.  In 
1784,  all  secret  associations  were  prohibited 
by  a  royal  decree,  and  in  the  following 
year  Weishaupt  was  deprived  of  his  pro- 
fessorship and  banished  from  the  country. 
He  repaired  to  Gotha,  where  he  was  kindly 
received  by  Duke  Ernest,  who  made  him  a 
counsellor  and  gave  him  a  pension.  There 
he  remained  until  he  died  in  1811. 

During  his  residence  at  Gotha  he  wrote 
and  published  many  works,  some  on  philo- 
sophical subjects  and  several  in  explana- 
tion and  defence  of  Illuminism.  Among 
the  latter  were  A  Picture  of  the  Illuminati, 


WEISHAUPT 


WEISHAUPT 


875 


1786 ;  A  complete  History  of  the  Persecutions 
of  the  llluminati  in  Bavaria,  1786.  Of  this 
work  only  one  volume  was  published ;  the 
second,  though  promised,  never  appeared. 
An  Apology  for  the  llluminati,  1786;  An 
Improved  System  of  the  llluminati,  1787,  and 
many  others. 

No  man  has  ever  been  more  abused  and 
villified  than  Weishaupt  by  the  adversaries 
of  Freemasonry.  In  such  partisan  writers 
as  Barruel  and  Robison  we  might  expect  to 
find  libels  against  a  Masonic  reformer.  But 
it  is  passing  strange  that  Dr.  Oliver  should 
have  permitted  such  a  passage  as  the  follow- 
ing to  sully  his  pages.   {Landmarks,  ii.  26.) 

"  Weishaupt  was  a  shameless  libertine, 
who  compassed  the  death  of  his  sister-in- 
law  to  conceal  his  vices  from  the  world  and, 
as  he  termed  it,  to  preserve  his  honor." 

To  charges  like  these,  founded  only  in 
the  bitterness  of  his  persecutors,  Weishaupt 
has  made  the  following  reply  : 

"  The  tenor  of  my  life  has  been  the  op- 
posite of  everything  that  is  vile;  and  no 
man  can  lay  any  such  thing  to  my  charge." 

Indeed,  his  long  continuance  in  an  im- 
portant religious  professorship  at  Ingold- 
stadt,  the  warm  affections  of  his  pupils,  and 
the  patronage  and  protection,  during  the 
closing  years  of  his  life,  of  the  virtuous  and 
amiable  Duke  of  Gotha,  would  seem  to  give 
some  assurance  that  Weishaupt  could  not 
have  been  the  monster  that  he  has  been 
painted  by  his  adversaries. 

Illuminism,  it  is  true,  had  its  abundant 
errors,  and  no  one  will  regret  its  dissolu- 
tion. But  its  founder  had  hoped  by  it  to 
effect  much  good:  that  it  was  diverted 
from  its  original  aim  was  the  fault,  not  of 
him,  but  of  some  of  his  disciples ;  and  their 
faults  he  was  not  reluctant  to  condemn  in 
his  writings. 

His  ambition  was,  I  think,  a  virtuous 
one;  that  it  failed  was  his,  and  perhaps  the 
world's,  misfortune.  "  My  general  plan," 
he  says,  "is  good,  though  in  the  detail 
there  may  be  faults.  I  had  myself  to  create. 
In  another  situation,  and  in  an  active  sta- 
tion in  life,  I  should  have  been  keenly  oc- 
cupied, and  the  founding  of  an  Order  would 
never  have  come  into  my  head.  But  I 
would  have  executed  much  better  things, 
if  the  government  had  not  always  opposed 
my  exertions,  and  placed  others  in  situa- 
tions which  suited  my  talents.  It  was  the 
full  conviction  of  this,  and  of  what  could 
be  done,  if  every  man  were  placed  in  the 
office  for  which  he  was  fitted  by  nature, 
and  a  proper  education,  which  first  sug- 
gested to  me  the  plan  of  Illuminism." 

What  he  really  wished  Illuminism  to  be, 
we  may  judge  from  the  instructions  he  gave 
as  to  the  necessary  qualifications  of  a  can- 
didate for  initiation.    They  are  as  follows : 


"  Whoever  does  not  close  his  ear  to  the 
lamentations  of  the  miserable,  nor  his 
heart  to  gentle  pity;  whoever  is  the  friend 
and  brother  of  the  unfortunate;  whoever 
has  a  heart  capable  of  love  and  friendship; 
whoever  is  steadfast  in  adversity,  unwearied 
in  the  carrying  out  of  whatever  has  been 
once  engaged  in,  undaunted  in  the  over- 
coming of  difficulties ;  whoever  does  not 
mock  and  despise  the  weak ;  whose  soul  is 
susceptible  of  conceiving  great  designs,  de- 
sirous of  rising  superior  to  all  base  motives, 
and  of  distinguishing  itself  by  deeds  of 
benevolence;  whoever  shuns  idleness;  who- 
ever considers  no  knowledge  as  unessential 
which  he  may  have  the  opportunity  of  ac- 
quiring, regarding  the  knowledge  of  man- 
kind as  his  chief  study;  whoever,  when 
truth  and  virtue  are  in  question,  despising 
the  approbation  of  the  multitude,  is  suffi- 
ciently courageous  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
his  own  heart,  —  such  a  one  is  a  proper 
candidate." 

The  Baron  von  Knigge,  who,  perhaps,  of 
all  men,  best  knew  him,  said  of  him  that 
he  was  undeniably  a  man  of  genius,  and  a 
profound  thinker ;  and  that  he  was  all  the 
more  worthy  of  admiration  because,  while 
subjected  to  the  influences  of  a  bigoted 
Catholic  education,  he  had  formed  his  mind 
by  his  own  meditations,  and  the  reading 
of  good  books.  His  heart,  adds  this  com- 
panion of  his  labors  and  sharer  of  his 
secret  thoughts,  was  excited  by  the  most 
unselfish  desire  to  do  something  great,  and 
that  would  be  worthy  of  mankind,  and  in 
the  accomplishment  of  this  he  was  deterred 
by  no  opposition  and  discouraged  by  no 
embarrassments. 

The  truth  is,  I  think,  that  Weishaupt 
has  been  misunderstood  by  Masonic  and 
slandered  by  un-Masonic  writers.  His  suc- 
cess in  the  beginning  as  a  reformer  was 
due  to  his  own  honest  desire  to  do  good. 
His  failure  in  the  end  was  attributable  to 
ecclesiastical  persecution,  and  to  the  faults 
and  follies  of  his  disciples.  The  master 
works  to  elevate  human  nature ;  the  scholars, 
to  degrade.  Weishaupt's  place  in  history 
should  be  among  the  unsuccessful  reformers, 
and  not  among  the  profligate  adventurers. 

Welcome.  In  the  ritual,  it  is  said  to 
be  the  duty  of  the  Senior  Deacon  "  to  wel- 
come and  clothe  all  visiting  brethren." 
That  is  to  say,  he  is  to  receive  them  at  the 
door  with  all  courtesy  and  kindness,  and  to 
furnish  them,  or  see  that  they  are  furnished, 
with  the  necessary  apron  and  gloves,  and, 
if  they  are  Past  Masters,  with  the  appro- 
priate collar  and  jewel  of  that  office,  with 
an  extra  supply  of  which  all  Lodges  were 
in  the  olden  time  supplied.  He  is  to  con- 
duct the  visitor  to  a  seat,  and  thus  carry- 
out  the  spirit  of  the  old  Charges,  which 


876 


WELL 


WESTPHALIA 


especially  inculcate  hospitality  to  strange 
brethren. 

Well  Formed,  True,  and  Trus- 
ty. A  formula  used  by  the  Grand  Master 
at  the  laying  of  a  corner-stone.  Having 
applied  the  square,  level,  and  plumb  to  its 
different  surfaces  and  angles,  he  declares  it 
to  be  "well  formed,  true,  and  trusty." 
Borrowed  from  the  technical  language  of 
Operative  Masonry,  it  is  symbolically  ap- 
plied in  reference  to  the  character  which 
the  Entered  Apprentice  should  sustain 
when,  in  the  course  of  his  initiation,  he  as- 
sumes the  place  of  a  typical  corner-stone 
in  the  Lodge. 

Wesley,  Samuel.  At  one  time  the 
most  distinguished  organist  of  England, 
and  called  by  Mendelssohn  "  the  father  of 
English  organ-playing."  He  was  initiated 
as  a  Mason  December  17, 1788,  and  in  1812, 
the  office  of  Grand  Organist  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  being  in  that  year  first 
instituted,  he  received  the  appointment  from 
the  Grand  Master,  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  and 
held  it  until  1818.  He  composed  the  an- 
them performed  at  the  union  of  the  two 
Grand  Lodges  in  1813,  and  was  the  com- 
poser of  many  songs,  glees,  etc.,  for  the  use 
of  the  Craft.  He  was  the  son  of  the  Rev. 
Charles  Wesley,  and  nephew  of  the  cele- 
brated John  Wesley,  the  founder  of  Meth- 
odism. Born  February  24, 1766,  at  Bristol, 
England,  and  died  October  11,  1837.  He 
was  well  entitled  to  the  epithet  of  the 
"  Great  Musician  of  Masonry." 

West.  Although  the  west,  as  one  of 
the  four  cardinal  points,  holds  an  honor- 
able position  as  the  station  of  the  Senior 
Warden,  and  of  the  pillar  of  Strength  that 
supports  the  Lodge,  yet,  being  the  place  of 
the  sun's  setting  and  opposed  to  the  east,  the 
recognized  place  of  light,  it,  in  Masonic 
symbolism,  represents  the  place  of  darkness 
and  ignorance.     The  old  tradition,  that  in 

Erimeval  times  all  human  wisdom  was  con- 
ned to  the  eastern  part  of  the  world,  and 
that  those  who  had  wandered  towards  the 
west  were  obliged  to  return  to  the  east  in 
search  of  the  knowledge  of  their  ancestors, 
is  not  confined  to  Masonry.  Creuzer  (Sym- 
bolik)  speaks  of  an  ancient  and  highly-in- 
structed body  of  priests  in  the  East,  from 
whom  all  knowledge,  under  the  veil  of  sym- 
bols, was  communicated  to  the  Greeks  and 
other  unenlightened  nations  of  the  West. 
And  in  the  "  Legend  of  the  Craft,"  con  tained 
in  the  old  Masonic  Constitutions,  there  is 
always  a  reference  to  the  emigration  of  the 
Masons  from  Egypt  eastward  to  the  "  land 
of  behest,"  or  Jerusalem.  Hence,  in  the 
modern  symbolism  of  Speculative  Masonry, 
it  is  said  that  the  Mason  during  his  ad- 
vancement is  travelling  from  the  West  to  the 
East  in  search  of  light. 


Westphalia,  Secret  Tribunals 

of.  The  Vehmgerichte,  or  Fehmgerichte, 
were  secret  criminal  courts  of  Westphalia 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  origin  of  this  in- 
stitution, like  that  of  Masonry,  has  been 
involved  in  uncertainty.  The  true  mean- 
ing of  the  name  even  is  doubtful.  Vaem 
is  said  by  Dreyer  to  signify  holy  in  the  old 
Northern  languages ;  and,  if  this  be  true, 
a  Fehmgericht  would  mean  a  holy  court. 
But  it  has  also  been  suggested  that  the  word 
comes  from  the  Latin  fama,  or  rumor,  and 
that  a  Fehmgericht  was  so  called  because 
it  proceeded  to  the  trial  of  persons  whose 
only  accuser  was  common  rumor,  the  max- 
im of  the  German  law,  "  no  accuser,  no 
judge,"  being  in  such  a  case  departed  from. 
They  were  also  called  Tribunals  of  West- 
phalia, because  their  jurisdiction  and  exist- 
ence were  confined  to  that  country. 

The  Mediaeval  Westphalia  was  situated 
within  the  limits  of  the  country  bounded 
on  the  west  by  the  Rhine,  on  the  east  by 
the  Weser,  on  the  north  by  Friesland,  and 
on  the  south  by  Westerwald.  Render 
( Tour  through  Germany,  p.  186,)  says  that 
the  tribunals  were  only  to  be  found  in  the 
duchies  of  Gueldres,  Cleves,  and  West- 
phalia, in  the  principal  cities  of  Corvey 
and  Minden,  in  the  landgravate  of  Hesse, 
in  the  counties  of  Bentheim,  Limburg, 
Lippe,  Mark,  Ravensberg,  Rechlinghausen, 
Rietzberg,  Sayn,  Waldeck,  and  Steinfort, 
in  some  baronies,  as  Gehmen,  Neustadt, 
and  Rheda,  and  in  the  free  imperial  city 
of  Dortmund ;  but  these  were  all  included 
within  the  limits  of  Mediaeval  Westphalia. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  first  secret 
tribunals  were  established  by  the  Emperor 
Charlemagne  on  the  conquest  of  Saxony. 
In  803  the  Saxons  obtained  among  other 
privileges  that  of  retaining  their  national 
laws,  and  administering  them  under  impe- 
rial judges  who  had  been  created  Counts 
of  the  Empire.  Their  courts,  it  is  said, 
were  held  three  times  a  year  in  an  open 
field,  and  their  sessions  were  held  in  public 
on  ordinary  occasions ;  but  in  all  cases  of 
religious  offence,  such  as  apostasy,  heresy, 
or  sacrilege,  although  the  trial  began  in  a 
public  session,  it  always  ended  in  a  secret 
tribunal. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some  writers 
that  these  courts  of  the  Counts  of  the  Em- 
pire instituted  by  Charlemagne  gave  origin 
to  the  secret  tribunals  of  Westphalia, 
which  were  held  in  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries.  There  is  no  exter- 
nal evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  hypothe- 
sis. It  was,  however,  the  current  opinion 
of  the  time,  and  all  the  earlier  traditions 
and  documents  of  the  courts  themselves 
trace  their  origin  to  Charlemagne.  Paul 
Wigand,  the  German  jurist  and  historian. 


WESTPHALIA 


WESTPHALIA 


877 


who  wrote  a  history  of  their  tribunals, 
(Fekmgericht  West/dlens,  Hamburg,  1826,) 
contends  for  the  truth  of  these  traditions ; 
and  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  in  his  Rise  and 
Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  says, 
unhesitatingly,  that  "  the  Vehmic  tribunals 
can  only  be  considered  as  the  original  ju- 
risdictions of  the  old  Saxons  which  sur- 
vived the  subjugation  of  their  country." 
The  silence  on  this  subject  in  the  laws  and 
capitularies  of  Charlemagne  has  been  ex- 
plained on  the  ground  that  these  tribunals 
were  not  established  authoritatively  by 
that  monarch,  but  only  permitted  by  a 
tacit  sanction  to  exist. 

The  author  of  the  article  on  the  Secret 
Societies  of  the  Middle  Ages,  published  in 
the  Library  of  Entertaining  Knowledge,  who 
has  written  somewhat  exhaustively  on  this 
subject,  says  that  the  first  writers  who  have 
mentioned  these  tribunals  are  Henry  of 
Hervorden  in  the  fourteenth,  and  iEneas 
Sylvius  in  the  fifteenth  century;  both  of 
whom,  however,  trace  them  to  the  time  of 
Charlemagne;  but  Jacob  (Recherches  Histo- 
riquessurles  Croisadeset  les  Templiers,  p.  132,) 
cites  a  diploma  of  Count  Engelbert  de  la 
Mark,  of  the  date  of  1267,  in  which  there  is 
an  evident  allusion  to  some  of  their  usages. 
Render  says  that  they  are  first  generally 
known  in  the  year  1220.  But  their  abso- 
lute historical  existence  is  confined  to  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries. 

The  secret  Westphalian  tribunals  were 
apparently  created  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
serving public  morals,  of  punishing  crime, 
and  of  protecting  the  poor  and  weak  from 
the  oppressions  of  the  rich  and  powerful. 
They  were  outside  of  the  regular  courts  of 
the  country,  and  in  this  respect  may  be 
compared  to  the  modern  "vigilance  com- 
mittees "  sometimes  instituted  in  this  coun- 
try for  the  protection  of  the  well-disposed 
citizens  in  newly-settled  territories  from  the 
annoyance  of  lawless  men.  But  the  German 
tribunals  differed  from  the  American  com- 
mittees in  this,  that  they  were  recognized  by 
the  emperors,  and  that  their  decisions  and 
executions  partook  of  a  judicial  character. 

The  Vehmic  tribunals,  as  they  are  also 
called,  were  governed  by  a  minute  system 
of  regulations,  the  strict  observance  of 
which  preserved  their  power  and  influence 
for  at  least  two  centuries. 

At  the  head  of  the  institution  was  the 
Emperor,  for  in  Germany  he  was  recognized 
as  the  source  of  law.  His  connection  with 
the  association  was  either  direct  or  indi- 
rect. If  he  had  been  initiated  into  it,  as 
was  usually  the  case,  then  his  connection 
was  direct  and  immediate.  If,  however,  he 
was  not  an  initiate,  then  his  powers  were 
delegated  to  a  lieutenant,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  tribunal. 


Next  to  the  Emperor  came  the  free 
counts.  Free  counties  were  certain  districts 
comprehending  several  parishes,  where  the 
judges  and  counsellors  of  the  secret  ban 
exercised  jurisdiction  in  conformity  with 
the  statutes.  The  free  count,  who  was 
called  Stuhlherr,  or  tribunal  lord,  presided 
over  this  free  county  and  the  tribunal  held 
within  it.  He  had  also  the  prerogative  of 
erecting  other  tribunals  within  his  territo- 
rial limits,  and  if  he  did  not  preside  in  per- 
son, he  appointed  a  Freigraf,  or  free  judge, 
to  supply  his  place.  No  one  could  be  in- 
vested with  the  dignity  of  a  free  judge  un- 
less he  were  a  Westphalian  by  birth,  born 
in  lawful  wedlock  of  honest  parents;  of 
good  repute,  charged  with  no  crime,  and 
well  qualified  to  preside  over  the  county. 
They  derived  their  name  of  free  judges  from 
the  fact  that  the  tribunals  exercised  their 
jurisdiction  over  only  free  men,  serfs  being 
left  to  the  control  of  their  own  lords. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  free  judges  were  the 
Schopj)en,  as  assessors  or  counsellors.  They 
formed  the  main  body  of  the  association, 
and  were  nominated  by  the  free  judge,  with 
the  consent  of  the  stuhlherr,  and  vouched  for 
by  two  members  of  the  tribunal.  A  schbppe 
was  required  to  be  a  Christian,  a  Westpha- 
lian of  honest  birth,  neither  excommuni- 
cated nor  outlawed,  nor  involved  in  any 
suit  before  the  Fehmgericht,  and  not  a 
member  of  any  monastic  or  ecclesiastical 
order.  There  were  two  classes  of  these  as- 
sessors or  schbppen :  a  lower  class  or  grade 
called  the  Ignorant,  who  had  not  been  in- 
itiated, and  were  consequently  not  permit- 
ted to  be  present  at  the  secret  session ;  and 
a  higher  grade,  called  the  Knowing,  who 
were  subjected  to  a  form  of  initiation. 

The  ceremonies  of  initiation  of  a  free 
judge  were  very  solemn  and  symbolic.  The 
candidate  appeared  bareheaded  before  the 
tribunal,  and  answered  certain  questions 
respecting  his  qualifications.  Then,  kneel- 
ing, with  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the 
right  hand  on  a  naked  sword  and  halter, 
he  pronounced  the  following  oath :  "  I  swear 
by  the  Holy  Trinity  that  I  will,  from  hence- 
forth, aid,  keep,  and  conceal  the  holy  Fehms 
from  wife  and  child,  from  father  and  mother, 
from  sister  and  brother,  from  fire  and  wind, 
from  all  that  the  sun  shines  on  and  the  rain 
covers,  from  all  that  is  between  sky  and 
earth,  especially  from  the  man  who  knows 
the  law;  and  will  bring  before  this  free  tri- 
bunal, under  which  I  am  sitting,  all  that 
belongs  to  the  secret  jurisdiction  of  the  Em- 
peror, whether  I  know  it  to  be  true  myself 
or  have  heard  it  from  trustworthy  men, 
whatever  requires  correction  or  punish- 
ment, whatever  is  committed  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Fehm,  that  it  may  be 
judged,  or,  with  the  consent  of  the  accuser, 


878 


WESTPHALIA 


WESTPHALIA 


be  put  off  in  grace  ;  and  will  not  cease  so  to 
do  for  love  or  for  fear,  for  gold  or  for  silver, 
or  for  precious  stones ;  and  will  strengthen 
this  tribunal  and  jurisdiction  with  all  my 
five  senses  and  power ;  and  that  I  do  not 
take  on  me  this  office  for  any  other  cause 
than  for  the  sake  of  right  and  justice.  More- 
over, that  I  will  ever  advance  and  honor 
this  free  tribunal  more  than  any  other  free 
tribunals ;  and  what  I  thus  promise  will  I 
steadfastly  and  firmly  keep ;  so  help  me  God 
and  his  Holy  Gospel." 

He  further  swore  in  an  additional  oath 
that  he  would,  to  the  best  of  his  ability, 
enlarge  the  holy  empire,  and  would  under- 
take nothing  with  unrighteous  hand  against 
the  land  and  people  of  the  Stuhlherr,  or  Lord 
of  the  Tribunal.  His  name  was  then  in- 
serted in  the  Book  of  Gold. 

The  secrets  of  the  tribunal  were  then 
communicated  to  the  candidate,  and  with 
them  the  modes  of  recognition  by  which 
he  could  be  enabled  to  discover  his  fellow- 
members.  The  sign  is  described  to  have 
been  made  by  placing,  when  at  table,  the 
point  of  their  knife  pointing  to  themselves, 
and  the  haft  away  from  them.  This  was 
also  accompanied  by  the  words  Slock  Stein, 
Qras  Orein,  the  meaning  of  which  phrase 
is  unknown. 

The  duties  of  the  initiated  were  to  act  as 
assessors  or  judges  at  the  meetings  of  the 
courts,  to  constitute  which  at  least  seven 
were  required  to  be  present;  and  also  to  go 
through  the  country,  serve  citations  upon 
the  accused,  and  to  execute  the  sentences 
of  the  tribunals  upon  criminals,  as  well  as 
to  trace  out  and  denounce  all  evil-doers. 
The  punishment  of  an  initiate  who  had  be- 
trayed any  of  the  secrets  of  the  society  was 
severe.  His  tongue  was  torn  out  by  the 
roots,  and  he  was  then  hung  on  a  tree  seven 
feet  higher  than  any  other  felon. 

The  ceremonies  practised  when  a  Fehm 
court  was  held  were  very  symbolic  in  their 
character.  Before  the  free  count  stood  a 
table,  on  which  were  placed  a  naked  sword 
and  a  cord  of  withe.  The  sword,  which 
was  cross-handled,  is  explained  in  their 
ritual  as  signifying  the  cross  on  which 
Christ  suffered  for  our  sins,  and  the  cord 
the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  All  had 
their  heads  uncovered,  to  signify  that  they 
would  proceed  openly  and  fairly,  punish  in 
proportion  to  guilt,  and  cover  no  right  with 
a  wrong.  Their  hands  also  were  uncovered, 
to  show  that  they  would  do  nothing  covert- 
ly and  underhand ;  and  they  wore  cloaks, 
to  signify  their  warm  love  for  justice,  for 
as  the  cloak  covers  all  the  other  garments 
and  the  body,  so  should  their  love  cover 
justice.  Lastly,  they  were  to  wear  neither 
armor  nor  weapons,  that  no  one  might  feel 
fear,  and  to  indicate  that  they  were  under 


the  peace  of  the  empire.  They  were  charged 
to  be  cool  and  sober,  lest  passion  or  intox- 
ication should  lead  them  to  pass  an  unjust 
judgment. 

Writers  of  romance  have  clothed  these 
tribunals  with  additional  mystery.  But  the 
stories  that  they  were  held  at  night,  and  in 
subterranean  places,  have  no  foundation 
save  in  the  imagination  of  those  who  have 
invented  them.  They  were  held,  like  other 
German  courts,  at  break  of  day  and  in  the 
open  air,  generally  beneath  a  tree  in  the 
forest,  or  elsewhere.  The  public  tribunals 
were,  of  course,  open  to  all.  It  was  the 
secret  ones  only  that  were  held  in  private. 
But  the  time  and  place  were  made  known 
to  the  accused  in  the  notification  left  at  his 
residence,  or,  if  that  were  unknown,  as  in 
the  case  of  a  vagabond,  at  a  place  where 
four  roads  met,  being  affixed  to  the  ground 
or  to  a  tree,  and  the  knowledge  might  be 
easily  communicated  by  him  to  his  friends. 

The  Chapter-General  met  once  a  year, 
generally  at  Dortmund  or  Arensburg,  but 
always  at  some  place  in  Westphalia.  It 
consisted  of  the  tribunal  lords  and  free 
counts,  who  were  convoked  by  the  Empe- 
ror or  his  lieutenant.  If  the  Emperor  was 
an  initiate,  he  might  preside  in  person ;  if 
he  was  not,  he  was  represented  by  his  lieu- 
tenant. At  these  Chapters  the  proceedings 
of  the  various  Fehm  courts  were  reviewed, 
and  hence  these  latter  made  a  return  of  the 
names  of  the  persons  initiated,  the  suits 
they  had  commenced,  the  sentences  they 
had  passed,  and  the  punishments  they  had 
inflicted.  The  Chapter-General  acted  also 
as  a  court  of  appeals.  In  fact,  the  relation 
of  a  Chapter-General  to  the  Fehm  courts 
was  precisely  the  same  as  that  of  a  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons  to  its  subordinates.  The 
resemblance,  too,  in  the  symbolic  character 
of  the  two  institutions  was  striking.  But 
here  the  resemblance  ended,  for  it  has  never 
been  contended  that  there  was  or  could  be 
any  connection  whatever  between  the  two 
institutions.  But  the  coincidences  show 
that  peculiar  spirit  and  love  of  mystery 
which  prevailed  in  those  times,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  which  was  felt  in  Masonry  as 
well  as  in  the  Westphalian  tribunals,  and 
all  the  other  secret  societies  of  the  Middle 


The  crimes  of  which  the  Fehmgericht 
claimed  a  jurisdiction  were,  according  to 
the  statutes  passed  at  Arensburg  in  1490, 
of  two  kinds:  those  cognizant  by  the  secret 
tribunal,  and  those  cognizant  by  the  public 
tribunal.  The  crimes  cognizant  by  the 
secret  tribunal  were,  violations  of  the 
secrets  of  Charlemagne  and  of  the  Fehm- 
gericht, heresy,  apostasy,  perjury,  and 
witchcraft  or  magic.  Those  cognizant  by 
the  public  tribunal  were,  sacrilege,  theft, 


WESTPHALIA 


WHITE 


879 


rape,  robbery  of  women  in  childbirth,  trea- 
son, highway  robbery,  murder  or  man- 
slaughter, and  vagrancy.  Sometimes  the 
catalogue  of  crimes  was  modified  and  often 
enlarged.  There  was  one  period  when  all 
the  crimes  mentioned  in  the  decalogue  were 
included;  and  indeed  there  was  no  positive 
restriction  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  tribu- 
nals, which  generally  were  governed  in 
their  proceedings  by  what  they  deemed  ex- 
pedient for  the  public  peace  and  safety. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  institution,  its 
trials  were  conducted  with  impartiality,  and 
its  judgments  rendered  in  accordance  with 
justice,  being  constantly  restrained  by 
mercy,  so  that  they  were  considered  by  the 
populace  as  being  of  great  advantage  in 
those  times  of  lawlessness.  But  at  length 
the  institution  became  corrupt,  and  often 
aided  instead  of  checking  oppression,  a 
change  which  finally  led  to  its  decay. 

When  any  one  was  accused,  he  was  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  tribunal  at  a  cer- 
tain specified  time  and  place.  If  he  was  an 
initiate,  the  summons  was  repeated  three 
times ;  but  if  not,  that  is,  if  any  other  than 
an  inhabitant  of  Westphalia,  the  summons 
was  given  only  once.  If  he  appeared,  an 
opportunity  was  afforded  him  of  defence. 
An  initiate  could  purge  himself  by  a  simple 
oath  of  denial,  but  any  other  person  was 
required  to  adduce  sufficient  testimony  of 
his  innocence.     If  the  accused  did  not  ap- 

Eear,  nor  render  a  satisfactory  excuse  for 
is  absence,  the  court  proceeded  to  declare 
him  outlawed,  and  a  free  judge  was  dele- 
gated to  put  him  to  death  wherever  found. 
Where  three  free  judges  found  any  one  fla- 
grante delicto,  or  in  the  very  act  of  committing 
a  crime,  or  having  just  perpetrated  it,  they 
were  authorized  to  put  him  to  death  with- 
out the  formality  of  a  trial.  But  if  he  suc- 
ceeded in  making  his  escape  before  the 
penalty  was  inflicted,  he  could  not  on  a 
subsequent  arrest  be  put  to  death.  His 
case  must  then  be  brought  for  trial  before 
a  tribunal. 

The  sentence  of  the  court,  if  capital, 
was  not  announced  to  the  criminal,  and 
he  learned  it  only  when,  in  some  secret 
place,  the  executioners  of  the  decree  of 
the  Fehmgericht  met  him  and  placed  the 
halter  around  his  neck  and  suspended  him 
to  a  neighboring  tree.  The  punishment  of 
death  was  always  by  hanging,  and  from  a 
tree.  The  fact  that  a  dead  body  was  thus 
found  in  the  forest,  was  an  intimation  to 
those  who  found  it  that  the  person  had 
died  by  the  judgment  of  the  secret  tri- 
bunal. 

It  is  very  evident  that  an  institution  like 
this  could  be  justified,  or  even  tolerated, 
only  in  a  country  and  at  a  time  when  the 
power  and  vices  of  the  nobles,  and  the  gen- 


eral disorganization  of  society,  had  ren- 
dered the  law  itself  powerless ;  and  when 
in  the  hands  of  persons  of  irreproachable 
character,  the  weak  could  only  thus  be 
protected  from  the  oppressions  of  the 
strong,  the  virtuous  from  the  aggression  of 
the  vicious.  It  was  in  its  commencement 
a  safeguard  for  society ;  and  hence  it  be- 
came so  popular  that  its  initiates  num- 
bered at  one  time  over  one  hundred  thou- 
sand, and  men  of  rank  and  influence 
sought  with  avidity  admission  into  its 
circle. 

In  time  the  institution  became  demoral- 
ized. Purity  of  character  was  no  longer 
insisted  on  as  a  qualification  for  admission. 
Its  decrees  and  judgments  were  no  longer 
marked  with  unfalteringjustice,  and,  instead 
of  defending  the  weak  any  longer  from  the 
oppressor,  it  often  became  itself  the  will- 
ing instrument  of  oppression.  Efforts  were 
made  from  time  to  time  to  inaugurate  re- 
forms, but  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  age, 
now  beginning  to  be  greatly  improved  by 
the  introduction  of  the  Roman  law  and  the 
spread  of  the  Protestant  religion,  was  op- 
posed to  the  self-constituted  authority  of 
the  tribunals.  They  began  to  dissolve 
almost  insensibly,  and  after  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century  we  hear  no  more  of  them, 
although  there  never  was  any  positive  de- 
cree of  dissolution  enacted  or  promulgated 
by  the  State.  They  were  destroyed,  not  by 
any  edict  of  law,  but  by  the  progressive 
spirit  of  the  people. 

West  Virginia.  Originally,  all  the 
Lodges  in  the  western  part  of  Virginia  were 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  that  State.  But  the  new  State  of  West 
Virginia  having  been  formed  in  1868,  nine 
Lodges  sent  delegates  to  a  convention  held 
at  Fairmount,  April  12,  1865,  which,  after 
some  discussion,  adjourned  to  meet  again  on 
May  10th  of  the  same  year,  when  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  West  Virginia  was  organized,  and 
W.  J.  Bates  elected  Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch 
Masons  of  West  Virginia  was  organized, 
November  16,  1871,  by  a  convention  of  five 
Chapters.  The  Grand  Chapter  of  Virginia, 
under  which  these  Chapters  held  their  War- 
rants, had  previously  given  its  consent  to 
the  organization. 

White.  White  is  one  of  the  most 
ancient  as  well  as  most  extensively  diffused 
of  the  symbolic  colors.  It  is  to  be  found 
in  all  the  ancient  mysteries,  where  it  con- 
stituted, as  it  does  in  Masonry,  the  investi- 
ture of  the  candidate.  It  always,  however, 
and  everywhere  has  borne  the  same  signifi- 
cation as  the  symbol  of  purity  and  inno- 
cence. 

In  the  religious  observances  of  the  He- 
brews, white  was  the  color  of  one  of  the 


880 


WHITE 


WHITE 


curtains  of  the  tabernacle,  where,  according 
to  Josephus,  it  was  a  symbol  of  the  element 
of  earth;  and  it  was  employed  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  ephod  of  the  high  priest, 
of  his  girdle,  and  of  the  breastplate.  The 
word  p1?,  laban,  which  in  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage signifies  "to  make  white,"  also  de- 
notes "to  purify;"  and  there  are  to  be 
found  throughout  the  Scriptures  many  allu- 
sions to  the  color  as  an  emblem  of  purity. 
"  Though  thy  sins  be  as  scarlet,"  says  Isaiah, 
"they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow."  Jeremiah, 
describing  the  once  innocent  condition 
of  Zion,  says,  "her  Nazarites  were  purer 
than  snow,  they  were  whiter  than  milk." 
"Many,"  says  Daniel,  "shall  be  purified 
and  made  white."  In  Revelation,  a  white 
stone  was  the  reward  promised  by  the  Spirit 
to  those  who  overcame;  and  again,  "he 
that  overcometh,  the  same  shall  be  clothed 
in  white  garments ;  "  and  in  another  part  of 
the  same  book  the  Apostle  is  instructed  to 
say  that  fine  linen,  clean  and  white,  is  the 
righteousness  of  the  saints.  The  ancient 
prophets  always  imagined  the  Deity  clothed 
in  white,  because,  says  Portal,  {Des  Couleurs 
Symboliques,  p.  35,)  "  white  is  the  color  of 
absolute  truth,  of  Him  who  is ;  it  alone  re- 
flects all  the  luminous  rays ;  it  is  the  unity 
whence  all  the  primitive  colors  emanate." 
Thus  Daniel,  in  one  of  his  prophetic  visions, 
saw  the  Ancient  of  days,  "  whose  garment 
was  white  as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head 
like  pure  wool."  Here,  says  Dr.  Henry, 
[Gomm.  in  loco,)  the  whiteness  of  the  gar- 
ment "noted  the  splendor  and  purity  of 
God  in  all  the  administrations  of  his  justice." 

Among  the  Gentile  nations,  the  same 
reverence  was  paid  to  this  color.  The 
Egyptians  decorated  the  head  of  their 
deity,  Osiris,  with  a  white  tiara.  In  the 
school  of  Pythagoras,  the  sacred  hymns 
were  chanted  in  white  robes.  The  Druids 
clothed  their  initiates  who  had  arrived  at 
the  ultimate  degree,  or  that  of  perfection, 
in  white  vestments.  In  all  the  mysteries 
of  other  nations  of  antiquity,  the  same  cus- 
tom was  observed.  White  was,  in  general, 
the  garment  of  the  Gentile  as  well  as  of  the 
Hebrew  priests  in  the  performance  of  their 
sacred  rites.  As  the  divine  power  was  sup- 
posed to  be  represented  on  earth  by  the 
priesthood,  in  all  nations  the  sovereign 
pontiff  was  clad  in  white.  Aaron  was  di- 
rected to  enter  the  sanctuary  only  in  white 
garments ;  in  Persia,  the  Magi  wore  white 
robes,  because,  as  they  said,  they  alone  were 
pleasing  to  the  Deity;  and  the  white  tunic 
of  Ormuzd  is  still  the  characteristic  garment 
of  the  modern  Parsees. 

White,  among  the  ancients,  was  conse- 
crated to  the  dead,  because  it  was  the  sym- 
bol of  the  regeneration  of  the  soul.  On 
the  monuments  of  Thebes  the  manes  or 


ghosts  are  represented  as  clothed  in  white  ; 
the  Egyptians  wrapped  their  dead  in  white 
linen;  Homer  (Jliad x\iii.  353,)  refers  to  the 
same  custom  when  he  makes  the  attendants 
cover  the  dead  body  of  Patroclus,  pharei 
leuko,  with  a  white  pall ;  and  Pausanias  tells 
us  that  the  Messenians  practised  the  same 
customs,  clothing  their  dead  in  white,  and 
placing  crowns  upon  their  heads,  indicating 
by  this  double  symbolism  the  triumph  of 
the  soul  over  the  empire  of  death. 

The  Hebrews  had  the  same  usage.  St. 
Matthew  (xxvii.  59,)  tells  us  that  Joseph 
of  Arimathea  wrapped  the  dead  body  of  our 
Lord  "in  a  clean  linen  cloth."  Adopting 
this  as  a  suggestion,  Christian  artists  have, 
in  their  paintings  of  the  Saviour  after  his 
resurrection,  depicted  him  in  a  white  robe. 
And  it  is  with  this  idea  that  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse white  vestments  are  said  to  be  the 
symbols  of  the  regeneration  of  souls,  and 
the  reward  of  the  elect.  It  is  this  consecra- 
tion of  white  to  the  dead  that  caused  it  to 
be  adopted  as  the  color  of  mourning  among 
the  nations  of  antiquity.  As  the  victor  in 
the  games  was  clothed  in  white,  so  the  same 
color  became  the  symbol  of  the  victory 
achieved  by  the  departed  in  the  last  combat 
of  the  soul  with  death.  "  The  friends  of  the 
deceased  wore,"  says  Plutarch,  "  his  livery, 
in  commemoration  of  his  triumph."  The 
modern  mourning  in  black  is  less  philo- 
sophic and  less  symbolic  than  this  ancient 
one  in  white. 

In  Speculative  Masonry,  white  is  the 
symbol  of  purity.  This  symbolism  com- 
mences at  the  earliest  point  of  initiation, 
when  the  white  apron  is  presented  to  the 
candidate  as  a  symbol  of  purity  of  life  and 
rectitude  of  conduct.  Wherever  in  any  of 
the  subsequent  initiations  this  color  ap- 
pears, it  is  always  to  be  interpreted  as  sym- 
bolizing the  same  idea.  In  the  thirty-third 
degree  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  the  Sovereign  Inspector  is  in- 
vested with  a  white  scarf  as  inculcating 
that  virtuous  deportment  above  the  tongue 
of  all  reproach  which  should  distinguish 
the  possessors  of  that  degree,  the  highest  in 
the  Rite. 

This  symbolism  of  purity  was  most  prob- 
ably derived  by  the  Masons  from  that  of 
the  primitive  church,  where  a  white  gar- 
ment was  placed  on  the  catechumen  who 
was  about  to  be  baptized,  as  a  token  that 
he  had  put  off  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and, 
being  cleansed  from  his  former  sins,  had 
obliged  himself  to  maintain  an  unspotted 
life.  The  ancient  symbolism  of  regenera- 
tion which  appertained  to  the  ancient  idea 
of  the  color  white  has  not  been  adopted  in 
Masonry ;  and  yet  it  would  be  highly  ap- 
propriate in  an  Institution  one  of  whose 
chief  dogmas  is  the  resurrection. 


WHITE 


WIDOW'S 


881 


White  Ball.  In  Freemasonry,  equiv- 
alent to  a  favorable  or  affirmative  vote. 
The  custom  of  using  white  and  black  balls 
seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the  Ro- 
mans, who  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  re- 
public used  white  and  black  balls  in  their 
judicial  trials,  which  were  cast  into  an  urn, 
the  former  acquitting  and  with  the  latter 
condemning  the  accused. 

White  Cross  Knights.  A  title 
sometimes  applied  to  the  Knights  Hos- 
pitallers of  St.  John,  from  the  color  of  their 
cross.  Porter  [Hist  Knts.  of  Malta,  i.  166,) 
says:  "Villiers  hastily  assembled  a  troop 
of  White  Gross  Knights,  and,  issuing  from 
the  city  by  a  side  gate,  made  a  circuit  so 
as,  if  possible,  to  fall  upon  the  flank  of  the 
foe  unperceived." 

White  Mantle,  Order  of  the. 
The  Teutonic  Knights  were  so  denomi- 
nated in  allusion  to  the  color  of  their 
cloaks,  on  which  they  bore  a  black  cross. 

White  Masonry.  (Maconnerie 
blanche.)  A  title  given  by  French  writers 
to  Female  Masonry,  or  the  Masonry  of 
Adoption, 

White  Stone.  A  symbol  in  the  Mark 
degree  referring  to  the  passage  in  the 
Apocalypse  (ii.  17):  "To  him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden 
manna ;  and  I  will  give  him  a  white  stone, 
and  in  the  stone  a  new  name  written,  which 
no  man  knoweth,  saving  he  that  receiveth 
it."  In  this  passage  it  is  supposed  that  the 
Evangelist  alluded  to  the  stones  or  tesserae 
which,  among  the  ancients  and  the  early 
Christians,  were  used  as  tokens  of  alliance 
and  friendship.  Hence  in  the  Mark  de- 
gree, the  white  stone  and  the  new  name  in- 
scribed upon  it  is  a  symbol  of  the  covenant 
made  between  the  possessors  of  the  degree, 
which  will  in  all  future  time,  and  under 
every  circumstance  of  danger  or  distress, 
secure  the  kind  and  fraternal  assistance  of 
all  upon  whom  the  same  token  has  been 
bestowed.  In  the  symbolism  of  the  degree 
the  candidate  represents  that  white  stone 
upon  whom  the  new  name  as  a  Mark  Master 
is  to  be  inscribed.  See  Mark  and  Tessera 
Hospitalis. 

White,  William  Henry.  Distin- 
guished for  his  services  to  the  Craft  of  Eng- 
land, whom  he  served  as  Grand  Secretary 
for  the  long  period  of  forty-seven  years. 
He  was  the  son  of  William  White,  who  was 
also  Grand  Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  England  for  thirty-two  years,  the  office 
having  thus  been  held  by  father  and  son 
for  seventy-nine  years.  William  Henry 
White  was  born  in  1778.  On  April  15, 
1799,  he  was  initiated  in  Emulation  Lodge, 
No.  12,  now  called  the  Lodge  of  Emulation, 
No.  21,  having  been  nominated  by  his 
father.  December  15,  1800,  he  was  elected 
5L  56 


Master  of  the  Lodge,  and  presided  until 
1809.  In  1805  he  was  appointed  a  Grand 
Steward,  and  in  1810  Grand  Secretary,  as 
the  assistant  of  his  father.  This  office  was 
held  by  them  conjointly  for  three  years. 
In  1813,  at  the  union  of  the  two  Grand 
Lodges,  he  was  appointed,  with  Edwards 
Harper,  Joint  Grand  Secretary  of  the  Uni- 
ted Grand  Lodge  of  England,  and  in  1838 
sole  Grand  Secretary.  In  1857,  after  a  ser- 
vice of  nearly  half  a  century,  he  retired  from 
the  office,  the  Grand  Lodge  unanimously  vot- 
ing him  a  retiring  pension  equal  in  amount 
tohis  salary.  On  that  occasion  the  Earl  of 
Zetland,  Grand  Master,  said :  "  I  know  of 
no  one,  and  I  believe  there  never  was  any 
one  who  has  done  more,  who  has  rendered 
more  valuable  services  to  Masonry  than 
our  worthy  Brother  White."  In  view  of 
the  great  names  in  Masonic  literature  and 
labor  which  preceded  him,  the  eulogium  will 
be  deemed  exaggerated ;  but  the  devotion 
of  the  Grand  Secretary  to  the  Order,  and 
his  valuable  services  during  his  long  and 
active  life,  cannot  be  denied.  During  the 
latter  years  of  his  official  term,  he  was 
charged  with  inactivity  and  neglect  of  duty, 
but  the  fault  has  been  properly  attributed 
to  the  increasing  infirmities  of  age.  A  ser- 
vice of  plate  was  presented  to  him  by  the 
Craft,  June  20,  1850,  as  a  testimonial  of 
esteem.    He  died  April  5,  1866. 

Widow's  Son.  In  Ancient  Craft  Ma- 
sonry, the  title  applied  to  Hiram,  the  archi- 
tect of  the  Temple,  because  he  is  said,  in  the 
First  Book  of  Kings,  (vii.  14,)  to  have  been 
"a  widow's  son  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali." 
The  Adonhiramite  Masons  have  a  tradition 
which  Chapron  gives  {Kecessaire  Maconn., 
p.  101,)  in  the  following  words :  "The  Ma- 
sons call  themselves  the  widow's  sons,  be- 
cause, after  the  death  of  our  respectable 
Master,  the  Masons  took  care  of  his  mother, 
whose  childen  they  called  themselves,  be- 
cause Adonhiram  had  always  considered 
them  as  his  brethren.  But  the  French 
Masons  subsequently  changed  the  myth  and 
called  themselves  'Sons  of  the  Widow,'  and 
for  this  reason.  'As  the  wife  of  Hiram 
remained  a  widow  after  her  husband  was 
murdered,  the  Masons,  who  regard  them- 
selves as  the  descendants  of  Hiram,  call 
themselves  Sons  of  the  Widow.'  "  But  this 
myth  is  a  pure  invention,  and  is  without 
the  scriptural  foundation  of  the  York  myth, 
which  makes  Hiram  himself  the  widow's 
son.  But  in  French  Masonry  the  term 
"  Son  of  the  Widow  "  is  synonymous  with 
"  Mason." 

The  adherents  of  the  exiled  house  of 
Stuart,  when  seeking  to  organize  a  system 
of  political  Masonry  by  which  they  hoped 
to  secure  the  restoration  of  the  family  to 
the   throne    of    England,    transferred    to 


882 


WIFE 


WINDING 


Charles  II.  the  tradition  of  Hiram  Abif 
betrayed  by  his  followers,  and  called  him 
"the  Widow's  Sod,"  because  he  was  the 
son  of  Henrietta  Maria,  the  widow  of 
Charles  I.  For  the  same  reason  they  sub- 
sequently applied  the  phrase  to  his  brother, 
James  II. 

Wife  and  Daughter,  Mason's. 
See  Mason's  Wife  and  Daug/Uer. 

Wilhelinsbad,  Congress  of.  At 
Wilhelmsbad,  near  the  city  of  Hanau  in 
Hesse-Cassel,  was  held  the  most  important 
Masonic  Congress  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. It  was  convoked  by  Ferdinand, 
Duke  of  Brunswick,  Grand  Master  of  the 
Order  of  Strict  Observance,  and  was  opened 
July  16,  1782.  Its  duration  extended  to 
thirty  sessions,  and  in  its  discussions  the 
most  distinguished  Masons  of  Germany 
were  engaged.  Neither  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Germany,  nor  that  of  Sweden,  was 
represented;  and  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
Three  Globes,  at  Berlin,  sent  only  a  letter: 
but  there  were  delegates  from  Upper  and 
Lower  Germany,  from  Holland,  Russia, 
Italy,  France,  and  Austria ;  and  the  Order 
of  the  Illuminati  was  represented  by  the 
Baron  von  Knigge.  It  is  not  therefore 
surprising  that  the  most  heterogenous 
opinions  were  expressed.  Its  avowed  ob- 
ject was  the  reform  of  the  Masonic  system, 
and  its  disentanglement  from  the  confused 
mass  of  rites  and  high  degrees  with  which 
French  and  German  pretenders  or  enthu- 
siasts had  been  for  years  past  overwhelming 
it.  Important  topics  were  proposed,  such 
as  the  true  origin  of  Speculative  Masonry, 
whether  it  was  merely  conventional  and 
the  result  of  modern  thought,  or  whether  it 
was  the  offspring  of  a  more  ancient  order, 
and,  if  so,  what  was  that  order;  whether 
there  were  any  Superiors  General  then  ex- 
isting, and  who  these  Unknown  Superiors 
were,  etc.  These  and  kindred  questions 
were  thoroughly  discussed,  but  not  denned, 
and  the  Congress  was  eventually  closed 
without  coming  to  any  other  positive  deter- 
mination than  that  Freemasonry  was  not 
essentially  connected  with  Templarism,  and 
that,  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Rite 
of  Strict  Observance,  the  Freemasons  were 
not  the  successors  of  the  Knights  Templars. 
The  real  effect  of  the  Congress  of  Wil- 
helmsbad was  the  abolition  of  that  Rite, 
which  soon  after  drooped  and  died. 

Will.  In  some  of  the  continental  Rites, 
and  in  certain  high  degrees,  it  is  a  custom 
to  require  the  recipiendary  to  make,  before 
his  initiation,  a  will  and  testament,  exhib- 
iting what  are  his  desires  as  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  his  property  at  his  decease.  The 
object  seems  to  be  to  add  solemnity  to  the 
ceremony,  and  to  impress  the  candidate 
with  the  thought  of  death.    But  I  am  in- 


clined to  think  that  it  is  a  custom  which 
would  be  "  more  honored  in  the  breach  than 
the  observance."  It  is  not  practised  in  the 
York  and  American  Rites. 

Wilson  Manuscript.  In  the  mar- 
ginal notes  to  the  Manifesto  of  the  Lodge  of 
Antiquity,  published  in  1778,  there  is  refer- 
ence to  an  "O.  MS.  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Wilson  of  Broomhead,  near  Sheffield, 
Yorkshire,  written  in  the  reign  of  King 
Henry  VIII."  It  seems,  from  the  context, 
to  have  been  cited  as  authority  for  the  ex- 
istence of  a  General  Assembly  of  the  Craft 
at  the  city  of  York.  But  no  part  of  the 
MS.  has  ever  been  printed  or  transcribed, 
and  it  is  now  apparently  lost. 

Winding  Stairs.  In  the  First  Book 
of  Kings  (vi.  8)  it  is  said:  "The  door  for 
the  middle  chamber  was  in  the  right  side 
of  the  house ;  and  they  went  up  with  wind- 
ings stairs  into  the  middle  chamber,  and 
out  of  the  middle  into  the  third."  From 
this  passage  the  Masons  of  the  last  century 
adopted  the  symbol  of  the  winding  stairs, 
and  introduced  it  into  the  Fellow  Craft's 
degree,  where  it  has  ever  since  remained, 
in  the  York  and  American  Rites.  In  one 
of  the  high  degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite  the 
winding  stairs  are  called  cochleus,  which  is 
a  corruption  of  cochlis,  a  spiral  staircase. 
The  Hebrew  word  is  lulim,  from  the  obso- 
lete root  lul,  to  roll  or  wind.  The  whole 
story  of  the  winding  stairs  in  the  second 
degree  of  Masonry  is  a  mere  myth,  without 
any  other  foundation  than  the  slight  allu- 
sion in  the  Book  of  Kings  which  has  been 
just  cited,  and  it  derives  its  only  value 
from  the  symbolism  taught  in  its  legend. 
See  Middle  Chamber  and  Winding  Stairs, 
Legend  of  the. 

Winding  Stairs,  Legend  of  the. 
I  formerly  so  fully  investigated  the  true 
meaning  of  the  legend  of  the  winding  stairs, 
as  taught  in  the  degree  of  Fellow  Craft,  that 
I  can  now  find  nothing  to  add  to  what  I 
have  already  said  in  my  work  on  The  Sym- 
bolism of  Freemasonry,  published  in  1869. 
I  might,  in  writing  a  new  article,  change 
the  language,  but  I  could  furnish  no  new 
idea.  I  shall  not,  therefore,  hesitate  to 
transfer  much  of  what  I  have  said  on  this 
subject  in  that  work  to  the  present  article. 
It  is  an  enlargement  and  development  of 
the  meagre  explanations  given  in  the  ordi- 
nary lecture  of  Webb. 

In  an  investigation  of  the  symbolism  of 
the  winding  stairs,  we  shall  be  directed  to 
the  true  explanation  by  a  reference  to 
their  origin,  their  number,  the  objects 
which  they  recall,  and  their  termination, 
but  above  all  by  a  consideration  of  the  great 
design  which  an  ascent  upon  them  was  in- 
tended to  accomplish. 

The  steps  of  this  winding  staircase  com- 


WINDING 


WINDING 


883 


menced,  we  are  informed,  at  the  porch  of 
the  Temple ;  that  is  to  say,  at  its  very  en- 
trance. But  nothing  is  more  undoubted  in 
the  science  of  Masonic  symbolism  than  that 
the  Temple  was  the  representative  of  the 
world  purified  by  the  Shekinah,  or  the  Di- 
vine Presence.  The  world  of  the  profane 
is  without  the  Temple ;  the  world  of  the  in- 
itiated is  within  its  sacred  walls.  Hence  to 
enter  the  Temple,  to  pass  within  the  porch, 
to  be  made  a  Mason,  and  to  be  born  into  the 
world  of  Masonic  light,  are  all  synonymous 
and  convertible  terms.  Here,  then,  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  winding  stairs  begins. 

The  Apprentice,  having  entered  within 
the  porch  of  the  temple,  has  begun  his 
Masonic  life.  But  the  first  degree  in  Ma- 
sonry, like  the  lesser  mysteries  of  the  an- 
cient systems  of  initiation,  is  only  a  prepa- 
ration and  purification  for  something 
higher.  The  Entered  Apprentice  is  the 
child  in  Masonry.  The  lessons  which  he 
receives  are  simply  intended  to  cleanse  the 
heart  and  prepare  the  recipient  for  that 
mental  illumination  which  is  to  be  given 
in  the  succeeding  degrees. 

As  a  Fellow  Craft,  he  has  advanced  an- 
other step,  and  as  the  degree  is  emblematic 
of  youth,  so  it  is  here  that  the  intellectual 
education  of  the  candidate  begins.  And 
therefore,  here,  at  the  very  spot  which  sep- 
arates the  porch  from  the  sanctuary,  where 
childhood  ends  and  manhood  begins,  he 
finds  stretching  out  before  him  a  winding 
stair  which  invites  him,  as  it  were,  to  as- 
cend, and  which,  as  the  symbol  of  discipline 
and  instruction,  teaches  him  that  here  must 
commence  his  Masonic  labor  —  here  he 
must  enter  upon  those  glorious  though  dif- 
ficult researches  the  end  of  which  is  to  be 
the  possession  of  divine  truth.  The  wind- 
ing stairs  begin  after  the  candidate  has 
passed  within  the  porch  and  between  the 
pillars  of  strength  and  establishment,  as  a 
significant  symbol  to  teach  him  that  as  soon 
as  he  has  passed  beyond  the  years  of  irra- 
tional childhood,  and  commenced  his  en- 
trance upon  manly  life,  the  laborious  task 
of  self-improvement  is  the  first  duty  that  is 
placed  before  him.  He  cannot  stand  still, 
if  he  would  be  worthy  of  his  vocation ;  his 
destiny  as  an  immortal  being  requires  him 
to  ascend,  step  by  step,  until  he  has  reached 
the  summit,  where  the  treasures  of  knowl- 
edge await  him. 

The  number  of  these  steps  in  all  the  sys- 
tems has  been  odd.  Vitruvius  remarks  — 
and  the  coincidence  is  at  least  curious  — 
that  the  ancient  temples  were  always  as- 
cended by  an  odd  number  of  steps ;  and  he 
assigns  as  the  reason,  that,  commencing 
with  the  right  foot  at  the  bottom,  the  wor- 
shipper would  find  the  same  foot  foremost 
when  he  entered  the  temple,  which  was 


considered  as  a  fortunate  omen.  But  the 
fact  is,  that  the  symbolism  of  numbers  was 
borrowed  by  the  Masons  from  Pythagoras, 
in  whose  system  of  philosophy  it  plays  an 
important  part,  and  in  which  odd  numbers 
were  considered  as  more  perfect  than  even 
ones.  Hence,  throughout  the  Masonic  sys- 
tem we  find  a  predominance  of  odd  num- 
bers ;  and  while  three,  five,  seven,  nine,  fif- 
teen, and  twenty-seven,  are  all-important 
symbols,  we  seldom  find  a  reference  to  two, 
four,  six,  eight,  or  ten.  The  odd  number 
of  the  stairs  was  therefore  intended  to  sym- 
bolize the  idea  of  perfection,  to  which  it 
was  the  object  of  the  aspirant  to  attain. 

As  to  the  particular  number  of  the 
stairs,  this  has  varied  at  different  periods. 
Tracing-boards  of  the  last  century  have 
been  found,  in  which  only  five  steps  are  de- 
lineated, and  others  in  which  they  amount 
to  seven.  The  Prestonian  lectures,  used  in 
England  in  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
gave  the  whole  number  as  thirty-eight,  di- 
viding them  into  series  of  one,  three,  five, 
seven,  nine,  and  eleven.  The  error  of 
making  an  even  number,  which  was  a  vio- 
lation of  the  Pythagorean  principle  of  odd 
numbers  as  the  symbol  of  perfection,  was 
corrected  in  the  Hemming  lectures,  adopted 
at  the  union  of  the  two  Grand  Lodges  of 
England,  by  striking  out  the  eleven,  which 
was  also  objectionable  as  receiving  a  secta- 
rian explanation.  In  this  country  the 
number  was  still  further  reduced  to  fifteen, 
divided  into  three  series  of  three,  five,  and 
seven.  I  shall  adopt  this  American  division 
in  explaining  the  symbolism;  although, 
after  all,  the  particular  number  of  the  steps, 
or  the  peculiar  method  of  their  division 
into  series,  will  not  in  any  way  affect  the 
general  symbolism  of  the  whole  legend. 

The  candidate,  then,  in  the  second  de- 
gree of  Masonry,  represents  a  man  starting 
forth  on  the  journey  of  life,  with  the  great 
task  before  him  of  self-improvement.  For 
the  faithful  performance  of  this  task,  a  re- 
ward is  promised,  which  reward  consists  in 
the  development  of  all  his  intellectual  fac- 
ulties, the  moral  and  spiritual  elevation  of 
his  character,  and  the  acquisition  of  truth 
and  knowledge.  Now,  the  attainment  of 
this  moral  and  intellectual  condition  sup- 
poses an  elevation  of  character,  an  ascent 
from  a  lower  to  a  higher  life,  and  a  passage 
of  toil  and  difficulty,  through  rudimentary 
instruction,  to  the  full  fruition  of  wisdom. 
This  is  therefore  beautifully  symbolized  by 
the  winding  stairs,  at  whose  foot  the  aspi- 
rant stands  ready  to  climb  the  toilsome 
steep,  while  at  its  top  is  placed  "  that  hiero- 
glyphic bright  which  none  but  Craftsmen 
ever  saw,"  as  the  emblem  of  divine  truth. 
And  hence  a  distinguished  writer  has  said 
that  "  these  steps,  like  all  the  Masonic  sym- 


884 


WINDING 


WINDING 


bols,  are  illustrative  of  discipline  and  doc- 
trine, as  well  as  of  natural,  mathematical, 
and  metaphysical  science,  and  open  to  us 
an  extensive  range  of  moral  and  specula- 
tive inquiry." 

The  candidate,  incited  by  the  love  of  vir- 
tue and  the  desire  of  knowledge,  and  withal 
eager  for  the  reward  of  truth  which  is  set 
before  him,  begins  at  once  the  toilsome  as- 
cent. At  each  division  he  pauses  to  gather 
instruction  from  the  symbolism  which  these 
divisions  present  to  his  attention. 

At  the  first  pause  which  he  makes  he  is 
instructed  in  the  peculiar  organization  of 
the  order  of  which  he  has  become  a  disci- 
ple. But  the  information  here  given,  if 
taken  in  its  naked,  literal  sense,  is  barren, 
and  unworthy  of  his  labor.  The  rank  of 
the  officers  who  govern,  and  the  names  of 
the  degrees  which  constitute  the  Institution, 
can  give  him  no  knowledge  which  he  has 
not  before  possessed.  We  must  look  there- 
fore to  the  symbolic  meaning  of  these  allu- 
sions for  any  value  which  may  be  attached 
to  this  part  of  the  ceremony. 

The  reference  to  the  organization  of  the 
Masonic  institution  is  intended  to  remind 
the  aspirant  of  the  union  of  men  in  society, 
and  the  development  of  the  social  state  out 
of  the  state  of  nature.  He  is  thus  re- 
minded, in  the  very  outset  of  his  journey, 
of  the  blessings  which  arise  from  civiliza- 
tion, and  of  the  fruits  of  virtue  and  knowl- 
edge which  are  derived  from  that  condition. 
Masonry  itself  is  the  result  of  civilization ; 
while,  in  grateful  return,  it  has  been  one  of 
the  most  important  means  of  extending 
that  condition  of  mankind. 

All  the  monuments  of  antiquity  that  the 
ravages  of  time  have  left,  combine  to  prove 
that  man  had  no  sooner  emerged  from  the 
savage  into  the  social  state,  than  he  com- 
menced the  organization  of  religious  mys- 
teries, and  the  separation,  by  a  sort  of  divine 
instinct,  of  the  sacred  from  the  profane. 
Then  came  the  invention  of  architecture  as 
a  means  of  providing  convenient  dwellings 
and  necessary  shelter  from  the  inclemencies 
and  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons,  with  all  the 
mechanical  arts  connected  with  it;  and 
lastly,  geometry,  as  a  necessary  science  to 
enable  the  cultivators  of  land  to  measure 
and  designate  the  limits  of  their  possessions. 
All  these  are  claimed  as  peculiar  character- 
istics of  Speculative  Masonry,  which  may 
be  considered  as  the  type  of  civilization,  the 
former  bearing  the  same  relation  to  the  pro- 
fane world  as  the  latter  does  to  the  savage 
state.  Hence  we  at  once  see  the  fituess  of 
the  symbolism  which  commences  the  aspi- 
rant's upward  progress  in  the  cultivation  of 
knowledge  and  the  search  after  truth,  by 
recalling  to  his  mind  the  condition  of  civili- 
zation and  the  social  union  of  mankind  as 


necessary  preparations  for  the  attainment 
of  these  objects.  In  the  allusions  to  the 
officers  of  a  Lodge,  and  the  degrees  of  Ma- 
sonry as  explanatory  of  the  organization 
of  our  own  society,  we  clothe  in  our  sym- 
bolic language  the  history  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  society. 

Advancing  in  his  progress,  the  candi- 
date is  invited  to  contemplate  another 
series  of  instructions.  The  human  senses, 
as  the  appropriate  channels  through  which 
we  receive  all  our  ideas  of  perception, 
and  which,  therefore,  constitute  the  most 
important  sources  of  our  knowledge,  are 
here  referred  to  as  a  symbol  of  intellec- 
tual cultivation.  Architecture,  as  the  most 
important  of  the  arts  which  conduce  to 
the  comfort  of  mankind,  is  also  alluded  to 
here,  not  simply  because  it  is  so  closely 
connected  with  the  operative  institution  of 
Masonry,  but  also  as  the  type  of  all  the 
other  useful  arts.  In  his  second  pause,  in 
the  ascent  of  the  winding  stairs,  the  aspi- 
rant is  therefore  reminded  of  the  necessity 
of  cultivating  practical  knowledge. 

So  far,  then,  the  instructions  he  has  re- 
ceived relate  to  his  own  condition  in  society 
as  a  member  of  the  great  social  compact, 
and  to  his  means  of  becoming,  by  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  arts  of  practical  life,  a  necessary 
and  useful  member  of  that  society. 

But  his  motto  will  be,  "  Excelsior."  Still 
must  he  go  onward  and  forward.  The  stair 
is  still  before  him;  its  summit  is  not  yet 
reached,  and  still  further  treasures  of  wis- 
dom are  to  be  sought  for,  or  the  reward  will 
not  be  gained,  nor  the  middle  chamber,  the 
abiding-place  of  truth,  be  reached. 

In  his  third  pause,  he  therefore  arrives  at 
that  point  in  which  the  whole  circle  of  hu- 
man science  is  to  be  explained.  Symbols, 
we  know,  are  in  themselves  arbitrary  and 
of  conventional  signification,  and  the  com- 

Elete  circle  of  human  science  might  have 
een  as  well  symbolized  by  any  other  sign 
or  series  of  doctrines  as  by  the  seven  liberal 
arts  and  sciences.  But  Masonry  is  an  insti- 
tution of  the  olden  time ;  and  this  selection 
of  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences  as  a  symbol 
of  the  completion  of  human  learning  is  one 
of  the  most  pregnant  evidences  that  we  have 
of  its  antiquity. 

In  the  seventh  century,  and  for  a  long 
time  afterwards,  the  circle  of  instruction  to 
which  all  the  learning  of  the  most  eminent 
schools  and  most  distinguished  philosophers 
was  confined,  was  limited  to  what  were  then 
called  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  and 
consisted  of  two  branches,  the  trivium  and 
the  quadrivium.  The  trivium  included 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic;  the  quad- 
rivium comprehended  arithmetic,  geometry, 
music,  and  astronomy. 
"  These  seven  heads,"  says  Enfield,  "  were 


WINDING 


WINDING 


885 


supposed  to  include  universal  knowledge. 
He  who  was  master  of  these  was  thought 
to  have  no  need  of  a  preceptor  to  explain 
any  books  or  to  solve  any  questions  which 
lay  within  the  compass  of  human  reason, 
the  knowledge  of  the  trivium  having  fur- 
nished him  with  the  key  to  all  language, 
and  that  of  the  quadrivium  having  opened 
to  him  the  secret  laws  of  nature." 

At  a  period,  says  the  same  writer,  when 
few  were  instructed  in  the  trivium,  and  very 
few  studied  the  quadrivium,  to  be  master  of 
both  was  sufficient  to  complete  the  character 
of  a  philosopher.  The  propriety,  therefore, 
of  adopting  the  seven  liberal  arts  and  sci- 
ences as  a  symbol  of  the  completion  of  hu- 
man learning  is  apparent.  The  candidate, 
having  reached  this  point,  is  now  supposed 
to  have  accomplished  the  task  upon  which 
he  had  entered  —  he  has  reached  the  last 
step,  and  is  now  ready  to  receive  the  full 
fruition  of  human  learning. 

So  far,  then,  we  are  able  to  comprehend 
the  true  symbolism  of  the  winding  stairs. 
They  represent  the  progress  of  an  inquiring 
mind,  with  the  toils  and  labors  of  intellect- 
ual cultivation  and  study,  and  the  prepara- 
tory acquisition  of  all  human  science,  as  a 
preliminary  step  to  the  attainment  of  divine 
truth,  which,  it  must  be  remembered,  is 
always  symbolized  in  Masonry  by  the 
Word. 

Here  let  me  again  allude  to  the  symbol- 
ism of  numbers,  which  is  for  the  first  time 
presented  to  the  consideration  of  the  Ma- 
sonic student  in  the  legend  of  the  winding 
stairs.  The  theory  of  numbers  as  the  sym- 
bols of  certain  qualities  was  originally  bor- 
rowed by  the  Masons  from  the  school  of 
Pythagoras.  It  will  be  impossible,  how- 
ever, to  develop  this  doctrine,  in  its  entire 
extent,  in  the  present  article,  for  the  nu- 
meral symbolism  of  Masonry  would  itself 
constitute  materials  for  an  ample  essay. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  advert  to  the  fact 
that  the  total  number  of  the  steps,  amount- 
ing in  all  to  fifteen  in  the  American  system, 
is  a  significant  symbol.  For  fifteen  was  a 
sacred  number  among  the  Orientals,  because 
the  letters  of  the  holy  name  JAH,  n*>  were, 
in  their  numerical  value,  equivalent  to  fif- 
teen; and  hence  a  figure  in  which  the 
nine  digits  were  so  disposed  as  to  make 
fifteen  either  way  when  added  together 
perpendicularly,  horizontally,  or  diago- 
nally, constituted  one  of  their  most  sacred 
talismans.  The  fifteen  steps  in  the  winding 
stairs  are  therefore  symbolic  of  the  name 
of  God. 

But  we  are  not  yet  done.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  a  reward  was  promised  for 
all  this  toilsome  ascent  of  the  winding 
stairs.  Now,  what  are  the  wages  of  a  Spec- 
ulative Mason  ?    Not  money,  nor  corn,  nor 


wine,  nor  oil.  All  these  are  but  symbols. 
His  wages  are  Truth,  or  that  approximation 
to  it  which  will  be  most  appropriate  to  the 
degree  into  which  he  has  been  initiated. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  but  at  the 
same  time  most  abstruse,  doctrines  of  the 
science  of  Masonic  symbolism  that  the 
Mason  is  ever  to  be  in  search  of  truth,  but 
is  never  to  find  it.  This  divine  truth,  the 
object  of  all  his  labors,  is  symbolized  by  the 
Word,  for  which  we  all  know  he  can  only 
obtain  a  substitute  ;  and  this  is  intended  to 
teach  the  humiliating  but  necessary  lesson 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  God 
and  of  man's  relation  to  him,  which  knowl- 
edge constitutes  divine  truth,  can  never  be 
acquired  in  this  life.  It  is  only  when  the 
portals  of  the  grave  open  to  us,  and  give  us 
an  entrance  into  a  more  perfect  life,  that 
this  knowledge  is  to  be  attained.  "  Happy 
is  the  man,"  says  the  father  of  lyric  poetry, 
"  who  descends  beneath  the  hollow  earth, 
having  beheld  these  mysteries:  he  knows 
the  end,  he  knows  the  origin  of  life." 

The  middle  chamber  is  therefore  sym- 
bolic of  this  life,  where  the  symbol  only  of 
the  Word  can  be  given,  where  the  truth  is 
to  be  reached  by  approximation  only,  and 
yet  where  we  are  to  learn  that  that  truth 
will  consist  in  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
G.  A.  O.  T.  U.  This  is  the  reward  of  the 
inquiring  Mason  ;  in  this  consist  the  wages 
of  a  Fellow  Craft ;  he  is  directed  to  the 
truth,  but  must  travel  farther  and  ascend 
still  higher  to  attain  it. 

It  is,  then,  as  a  symbol,  and  a  symbol 
only,  that  we  must  study  this  beautiful 
legend  of  the  winding  stairs.  If  we  attempt 
to  adopt  it  as  a  historical  fact,  the  ab- 
surdity of  its  details  stares  us  in  the  face, 
and  wise  men  will  wonder  at  our  credulity. 
Its  inventors  had  no  desire  thus  to  impose 
upon  our  folly ;  but  offering  it  to  us  as  a 
great  philosophical  myth,  they  did  not  for 
a  moment  suppose  that  we  would  pass  over 
its  sublime  moral  teachings  to  accept  the 
allegory  as  a  historical  narrative  without 
meaning,  and  wholly  irreconcilable  with 
the  records  of  Scripture,  and  opposed  by 
all  the  principles  of  probability.  To  sup- 
pose that  eighty  thousand  craftsmen  were 
weekly  paid  in  the  narrow  precincts  of  the 
Temple  chambers,  is  simply  to  suppose  an 
absurdity.  But  to  believe  that  all  this  pic- 
torial representation  of  an  ascent  by  a  wind- 
ing staircase  to  the  place  where  the  wages 
of  labor  were  to  be  received,  was  an  alle- 
gory to  teach  us  the  ascent  of  the  mind 
from  ignorance,  through  all  the  toils  of 
study  and  the  difficulties  of  obtaining 
knowledge,  receiving  here  a  little  and  there 
a  little,  adding  something  to  the  stock  of 
our  ideas  at  each  step,  until,  in  the  middle 
chamber  of  life,  —  in  the  full  fruition  of 


886 


WIND 


WISCONSIN 


manhood ;  —  the  reward  is  attained,  and  the 
purified  and  elevated  intellect  is  invested 
with  the  reward  in  the  direction  how  to  seek 
God  and  God's  truth ;  to  believe  this,  is  to 
believe  and  to  know  the  true  design  of  Spec- 
ulative Masonry,  the  only  design  which 
makes  it  worthy  of  a  good  or  a  wise  man's 
study. 

Its  historical  details  are  barren,  but  its 
symbols  and  allegories  are  fertile  with  in- 
struction. 

Wind,  Mason's.  Among  the  Ma- 
sonic tests  of  the  last  century  was  the 
question,  " How  blows  a  Mason's  wind?" 
and  the  answer  was,  "  Due  east  and  west." 
Browne  gives  the  question  and  answer  more 
in  extenso,  and  assigns  the  explanation  as 
follows : 

"  How  blows  the  wind  in  Masonry  ? 

"  Favorable  due  east  and  west. 

"  To  what  purpose  ? 

"  To  call  men  to,  at,  and  from  their  labor. 

"  What  does  it  further  allude  to? 

"To  those  miraculous  winds  which  proved 
so  essential  in  working  the  happy  deliver- 
ance of  the  children  of  Israel  from  their 
Egyptian  bondage,  and  proved  the  over- 
throw of  Pharaoh  and  all  his  host  when  he 
attempted  to  follow  them." 

Krause  very  correctly  thinks  that  the 
fundamental  idea  of  the  Masonic  wind 
blowing  from  the  east  is  to  be  found  in  the 
belief  of  the  Middle  Ages  that  all  good 
things,  such  as  philosophy  and  religion, 
came  from  the  East.  In  the  German  ritual 
of  The  Three  Sts.  John's  Degrees  of  the  Mother 
Lodge  of  the  Three  Globes,  the  idea  is  ex- 
pressed a  little  differently.  The  catechism 
is  as  follows : 

"  Whence  comes  the  wind  ? 

"From  the  east  towards  the  west,  and 
from  the  south  towards  the  north,  and  from 
the  north  towards  the  south,  the  east,  and 
the  west. 

"  What  weather  brings  it? 

"  Variable,  hail  and  storm,  and  calm  and 
pleasant  weather." 

The  explanation  given  is,  that  these 
changing  winds  symbolize  the  changing 
progress  of  man's  life  in  his  pursuit  of 
knowledge — now  clear  and  full  of  hope,  now 
dark  with  storms.  Bode's  hypothesis  that 
these  variable  winds  of  Masonry  were  in- 
tended to  refer  to  the  changes  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  Roman  church  under  English 
monarchs,  from  Henry  VIII.  to  James  II., 
and  thus  to  connect  the  symbolism  with 
the  Stuart  Masonry,  is  wholly  untenable, 
as  the  symbol  is  not  found  in  any  of  the 
high  degrees.  It  is  not  recognized  in 
the  French,  and  is  obsolete  in  the  York 
Rite. 

Window.  A  piece  of  furniture  in  the 
Mark  degree.    It  is  a  mere  symbol,  having 


no  foundation  in  truth,  as  there  was  no 
such  appendage  to  the  Temple.  It  is  sim- 
ply intended  to  represent  the  place  where 
the  workman  received  his  wages,  symbolic 
of  the  reward  earned  by  labor. 

Wine.  One  of  the  elements  of  Masonic 
consecration,  and,  as  a  symbol  of  the  inward 
refreshment  of  a  good  conscience,  is  in- 
tended, under  the  name  of  the  "  wine  of  re- 
freshment," to  remind  us  of  the  eternal 
refreshments  which  the  good  are  to  receive 
in  the  future  life  for  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  duty  in  the  present. 

Wings  of  the  Chernbim,  Ex- 
tended. The  candidate  in  the  degree 
of  Royal  Master  of  the  American  Rite  is 
said  to  be  received  "beneath  the  extended 
wings  of  the  cherubim."  The  expression 
is  derived  from  the  passage  in  the  First 
Book  of  Kings  (vi.  27),  which  describes  the 
setting  of  "  the  cherubim  within  the  inner 
house."  Practically,  there  is  an  anachron- 
ism in  the  reference  to  the  cherubim  in  this 
degree.  In  the  older  and  purer  ritual,  the 
ceremonies  are  supposed  to  take  place  in 
the  council-chamber  or  private  apartment 
of  King  Solomon,  where,  of  course,  there 
were  no  cherubim.  And  even  in  some 
more  modern  rituals,  where  a  part  of  the 
ceremony  referred  to  in  the  tradition  is  said 
to  have  occurred  in  the  holy  of  holies,  that 
part  of  the  Temple  was  at  that  time  unfin- 
ished, and  the  cherubim  had  not  yet  been 
placed  there.  But  symbolically  the  refer- 
ence to  the  cherubim  in  this  degree,  which 
represents  a  searcher  for  truth,  is  not  ob- 
jectionable. For  although  there  is  a  great 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  their  exact  sig- 
nification, yet  there  is  a  very  general  agree- 
ment that,  under  some  one  manifestation 
or  another,  they  allude  to  and  symbolize 
the  protecting  and  overshadowing  power 
of  the  Deity.  When,  therefore,  the  initiate 
is  received  beneath  the  extended  wings  of  the 
cherubim,  we  are  taught  by  this  symbolism 
how  appropriate  it  is,  that  he  who  comes  to 
ask  and  to  seek  Truth,  symbolized  by  the 
True  Word,  should  begin  by  placing  himself 
under  the  protection  of  that  Divine  Power 
who  alone  is  Truth,  and  from  whom  alone 
truth  can  be  obtained. 

Wisconsin.  In  January,  1843,  Free- 
masonry was  introduced  into  Wisconsin  by 
the  establishment  of  Mineral  Point  Lodge 
at  Mineral  Point,  Melody  Lodge  at  Platte- 
ville,  and  Milwaukee  Lodge  at  Milwaukee, 
all  under  the  authority  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Missouri.  December  18,  1843,  delegates 
from  these  three  Lodges  assembled  in  con- 
vention at  Madison,  and  organized  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Wisconsin,  Rev.  B.  T. 
Kavanaugh,  the  Master  of  Melody  Lodge, 
being  elected  Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Chapter  was  established  Feb- 


WISDOM 


WOELLNER 


887 


ruary  13,  1850,  and  Dwight  F.  Lawton 
elected  Grand  High  Priest. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  organized  in  1857,  and  James 
Collins  elected  Grand  Master. 

The  Grand  Commandery  was  organized 
October  20,  1859,  and  Henry  L.  Palmer 
elected  Grand  Commander. 

Wisdom.  In  Ancient  Craft  Masonry, 
wisdom  is  symbolized  by  the  east,  the  place 
of  light,  being  represented  by  the  pillar  that 
there  supports  the  Lodge  and  by  the  Wor- 
shipful Master.  It  is  also  referred  to  King 
Solomon,  the  symbolical  founder  of  the 
Order.  In  Masonic  architecture  the  Ionic 
column,  distinguished  for  the  skill  in  its 
construction,  as  it  combines  the  beauty  of 
the  Corinthian  and  the  strength  of  the 
Doric,  is  adopted  as  the  representative  of 
wisdom. 

King  Solomon  has  been  adopted  in  Spec- 
ulative Masonry  as  the  type  or  representa- 
tive of  wisdom,  in  accordance  with  the 
character  which  has  been  given  to  him  in 
the  First  Book  of  Kings  (iv.  30-32):  "Sol- 
omon's wisdom  exceeded  the  wisdom  of  all 
the  children  of  the  east  country,  and  all 
the  wisdom  of  Egypt.  For  he  was  wiser 
than  all  men;  than  Ethan  the  Ezrahite, 
and  Heman  and  Chalcol  and  Darda,  the 
sons  of  Mahol;  and  his  fame  was  in  all  the 
nations  round  about." 

In  all  the  Oriental  philosophies  a  con- 
spicuous place  has  been  given  to  wisdom. 
In  the  book  called  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon, 
(vii.  7,  8,)  but  supposed  to  be  the  produc- 
tion of  a  Hellenistic  Jew,  it  is  said :  "  I 
called  upon  God,  and  the  spirit  of  wisdom 
came  to  me.  I  preferred  her  before  scep- 
tres and  thrones,  and  esteemed  riches 
nothing  in  comparison  of  her."  And  far- 
ther on  in  the  same  book,  (vii.  25-27,)  she 
is  described  as  "the  breath  of  the  power 
of  God,  and  a  pure  influence  [emanation] 
flowing  from  the  glory  of  the  Almighty, 
....  the  brightness  of  the  everlasting 
light,  the  unspotted  mirror  of  the  power  of 
God,  and  the  image  of  his  goodness." 

The  Kabbalists  made  Chochma,  HDDlT 
or  Wisdom,  the  second  of  the  ten  Sephiroth, 
placing  it  next  to  the  Crown.  They  called 
it  a  male  potency,  and  the  third  of  the 
Sephiroth,  Binah,  HTD>  or  Intelligence, 
female.  These  two  Sephiroth,  with  Keter, 
"irO>  or  the  Crown,  formed  the  first  triad, 
and  their  union  produced  the  Intellectual 
World. 

The  Gnostics  also  had  their  doctrine  of 
Wisdom,  whom  they  called  Achamoth.  They 
said  she  was  feminine ;  styled  her  Mother, 
and  said  that  she  produced  all  things 
through  the  Father. 

The  Oriental  doctrine  of  Wisdom  was, 
that  it  is  a  Divine  Power  standing  between 


the  Creator  and  the  creation,  and  acting 
as  His  agent.  "Jehovah,"  says  Solomon, 
{Proverbs  iii.  19,)  "  by  wisdom  hath  founded 
the  earth."  Hence  wisdom,  in  this  philos- 
ophy, answers  to  the  idea  of  a  vivifying 
spirit  brooding  over  and  impregnating  the 
elements  of  the  chaotic  world.  In  short, 
the  world  is  but  the  outward  manifestation 
of  the  spirit  of  wisdom. 

This  idea,  so  universally  diffused  through- 
out the  East,  is  said  to  have  been  adopted 
into  the  secret  doctrine  of  the  Templars,  who 
are  supposed  to  have  borrowed  much  from 
the  Basilideans,  the  Manicheans,  and  the 
Gnostics.  From  them  it  easily  passed  over 
to  the  high  degrees  of  Masonry,  which  were 
founded  on  the  Templar  theory.  Hence,  in 
the  great  decoration  of  the  thirty-third  de- 
gree of  the  Scottish  Rite,  the  points  of  the 
triple  triangle  are  inscribed  with  the  letters 
S.A.P.I.E.N.T.I.A.,  or  Wisdom. 

It  is  not  difficult  now  to  see  how  this  word 
Wisdom  came  to  take  so  prominent  a  part 
in  the  symbolism  of  Ancient  Masonry,  and 
how  it  was  expressly  appropriated  to  King 
Solomon.  As  wisdom,  in  the  philosophy 
of  the  East,  was  the  creative  energy,  —  the 
architect,  so  to  speak,  of  the  world,  as  the 
emanation  of  the  Supreme  Architect,  —  so 
Solomon  was  the  architect  of  the  Temple, 
the  symbol  of  the  world.  He  was  to  the 
typical  world  or  temple  what  wisdom  was 
to  the  great  world  of  the  creation.  Hence 
wisdom  is  appropriately  referred  to  him  and 
to  the  Master  of  the  Lodge,  who  is  the  rep- 
resentative of  Solomon.  Wisdom  is  always 
placed  in  the  east  of  the  Lodge,  because 
thence  emanate  all  light,  and  knowledge, 
and  truth. 

Withdrawal  of  Petition.  It  is  a 
law  of  Masonry  that  a  petition  for  initiation 
having  been  once  presented  to  a  Lodge, 
cannot  be  withdrawn.  It  must  be  subjected 
to  a  ballot.  It  must  be  submitted  to  the 
action  of  the  Lodge.  The  rule  is  founded 
on  prudential  reasons.  The  candidate  hav- 
ing submitted  his  character  for  inspection, 
the  inspection  must  be  made.  It  is  not  for 
the  interests  of  Masonry,  (the  only  thing  to 
be  considered,)  that,  on  the  prospect  of  an 
unfavorable  judgment,  he  should  be  per- 
mitted to  decline  the  inspection,  and  have 
the  opportunity  of  applying  to  another 
Lodge,  where  carelessness  or  ignorance  might 
lead  to  his  acceptance.  Initiation  is  not 
like  an  article  of  merchandise  sold  by  rival 
dealers,  and  to  be  purchased,  after  repeated 
trials,  from  the  most  accommodating  seller. 

Witnesses.    See  Trials. 

Woellner,  Joliann  Christoph 
Ton.  A  distinguished  Prussian  states- 
man, and  equally  distinguished  as  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Rosicrucian  Order  in 
Germany,  and  the  Rite  of  Strict  Observ- 


888 


WOLF 


WOOG 


ance,  to  whose  advancement  he  lent  all  the 
influence  of  his  political  position.  He  was 
born  at  Dobritz,  May  19, 1732.  He  studied 
theology  in  the  orthodox  church,  and  in 
1750  was  appointed  a  preacher  near  Berlin, 
and  afterwards  a  Canon  at  Halberstadt.  In 
1786,  King  William  III.,  of  Prussia,  ap- 
pointed him  privy  counsellor  of  finance, 
an  appointment  supposed  to  have  been 
made  as  a  concession  to  the  Rite  of  Strict 
Observance,  of  which  Wollner  was  a  Pro- 
vincial Grand  Master,  his  Order  name  being 
Eques  a  cubo.  In  1788  he  became  Minister 
of  State,  and  was  put  at  the  head  of  eccle- 
siastical affairs.  No  Mason  in  Germany 
labored  more  assiduously  in  the  cause  of 
the  Order  and  in  active  defence  of  the 
Rite  of  Strict  Observance,  and  hence  he 
had  many  enemies  as  well  as  friends.  On 
the  demise  of  King  William  he  was  dis- 
missed from  his  political  appointments,  and 
retired  to  his  estate  at  Grossriez,  where  he 
died  September  11,  1800. 

Wolf.  In  the  Egyptian  mysteries,  the 
candidate  represented  a  wolf  and  wore  a 
wolf's  skin,  because  Osiris  once  assumed 
the  form  of  that  animal  in  his  contests  with 
Typhon.  In  the  Greek  mythology,  the 
wolf  was  consecrated  to  Apollo,  or  the  sun, 
because  of  the  connection  between  hike, 
light,  and  lukos,  a  wolf.  In  French,  wolf 
is  louve,  and  hence  the  word  louveteau,  sig- 
nifying the  son  of  a  Mason.  See  Lewis 
No.  8. 

Wolfenbiittel,  Congress  of.  A 
city  of  Lower  Saxony,  in  the  principality 
of  Wolfenbiittel,  and  formerly  a  possession 
of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  In  1778  Ferdi- 
nand, Duke  of  Brunswick,  convoked  a  Ma- 
sonic Congress  there,  with  a  view  of  reform- 
ing the  organization  of  the  Order.  Its 
results,  after  a  session  of  five  weeks,  were  a 
union  of  the  Swedish  and  German  Masons, 
which  lasted  only  for  a  brief  period,  and 
the  preparation  for  a  future  meeting  at 
Wilhelmsbad. 

Woman.  The  law  which  excludes 
women  from  initiation  into  Masonry  is  not 
contained  in  the  precise  words  in  any  of 
the  Old  Constitutions,  although  it  is  con- 
tinually implied,  as  when  it  is  said  in  the 
Landsdowne  MS.,  (year  1560,)  that  the 
Apprentice  must  be  "  of  limbs  whole,  as  a 
man  ought  to  be,"  and  that  he  must  be  "  no 
bondman."  All  the  regulations  also  refer 
to  men  only,  and  many  of  them  would  be 
wholly  inapplicable  to  women.  But  in  the 
Charges  compiled  by  Anderson  and  Desa- 
guliers,  and  published  in  1723,  the  word 
"woman"  is  for  the  first  time  introduced, 
and  the  law  is  made  explicit.  Thus  it  is 
said  that  "  the  persons  admitted  members 
of  a  Lodge  must  be  good  and  true  men, 
....  no  bondmeu,  no  women,"  etc. 


Perhaps  the  best  reason  that  can  be  as- 
signed for  the  exclusion  of  women  from  our 
Lodges  will  be  found  in  the  character  of 
our  organization  as  a  mystic  society.  Spec- 
ulative Freemasonry  is  only  an  application 
of  the  art  of  Operative  Masonry  to  purposes 
of  morality  and  science.  The  Operative 
branch  of  our  Institution  was  the  fore- 
runner and  origin  of  the  Speculative. 
Now,  as  we  admit  of  no  innovations  or 
changes  in  our  customs,  Speculative  Ma- 
sonry retains,  and  is  governed  by,  all  the 
rules  and  regulations  that  existed  in  and 
controlled  its  Operative  prototype.  Hence, 
as  in  this  latter  art  only  hale  and  hearty 
men,  in  possession  of  all  their  limbs  and 
members,  so  that  they  might  endure  the 
fatigues  of  labor,  were  employed,  so  in  the 
former  the  rule  still  holds,  of  excluding  all 
who  are  not  in  the  possession  of  these  pre- 
requisite qualifications.  Woman  is  not 
permitted  to  participate  in  our  rites  and 
ceremonies,  not  because  we  deem  her  un- 
worthy or  unfaithful,  or  incapable,  as  has 
been  foolishly  supposed,  of  keeping  a  secret, 
but  because,  on  our  entrance  into  the  Order, 
we  found  certain  regulations  which  pre- 
scribed that  only  men  capable  of  enduring 
the  labor,  or  of  fulfilling  the  duties  of  Op- 
erative Masons,  could  be  admitted.  These 
regulations  we  have  solemnly  promised 
never  to  alter ;  nor  could  they  be  changed, 
without  an  entire  disorganization  of  the 
whole  system  of  Speculative  Masonry. 

Wood -cutters,  Order  of.  See 
Fendeurs. 

Woog,  Carl  Christian.  Born  at 
Dresden  in  1713,  and  died  atLeipsic,  April 
24,  1771.  Mossdorf  says  that  he  was,  in 
1740,  a  resident  of  London,  and  that  there 
he  was  initiatedinto  Ancient  Craft  Masonry, 
and  also  into  the  Scottish  degree  of  Knight 
of  St.  Andrew.  In  1749,  he  published  a 
Latin  work  entitled,  Presbyterorum  etDiaco- 
norum  Achaice  de  Martyrio  iSancti  Andrece 
Apostoli,  Epistola  Encyclica,  in  which  he 
refers  to  the  Freemasons  (p.  32)  in  the 
following  language :  "  Unicum  adhuc  addo, 
esse  inter  csementarios,  seu  lapicidas  liberos, 
(qui  Franco  muratoriorum  Franc- Macons 
nomine  communiter  insigniuntur  quique 
rotunda  quadratis  miscere  dicuntur,)  quos- 
dam  qui  S.  Andreae  memoriam  summa  ven- 
eratione  recolant.  Ad  minimum,  si  scriptia, 
qua?  detecta  eorum  mysteria  et  arcana  re- 
censent,  fides  non  est  deneganda,  certum 
erit,  eos  quotunnis  diem  quoque  Andreas, 
ut  Sancti  Johannis  diem  solent,  festum 
agere  atque  ceremoniosum  celebrare,  esseque 
inter  eos  sectam  aliquam,  quae  per  crucem, 
quam  in  pectore  gerant,  in  qua  Sanctus 
Andreas  funibus  alligatus  hsereat,  a  reliquis 
se  destinguunt ; "  i.e.,  "I  add  only  this, 
that  among  the  Freemasons    (commonly 


WORD 


WORD 


889 


called  Franc-Macons,  who  are  said  to  min- 
gle circles  with  squares,)  there  are  certain 
ones  who  cherish  the  memory  of  St.  An- 
drew with  singular  veneration.  At  all 
events,  if  we  may  credit  those  writings  in 
which  their  mysteries  and  secrets  are  de- 
tected and  exposed,  it  will  be  evident  that 
they  are  accustomed  to  keep  annually,  with 
ceremonies,  the  festival  of  St.  Andrew  as 
well  as  that  of  St.  John;  and  that  there  is  a 
sect  among  them  which  distinguish  them- 
selves from  the  others  by  wearing  on  their 
breast  the  cross  on  which  St.  Andrew  was 
fastened  by  cords."  Woog,  in  a  subsequent 
passage,  defends  the  Freemasons  from  the 
charge  made  by  these  Expositions  that  they 
were  irreligious,  but  declares  that  by  him 
their  mysteries  shall  remain  buried  in  profound 
silence  —  "per  me  vero  maneant  eorum 
mysteria  alto  silentio  sepulta."     It  is  ap- 

Sarently  from  these  passages  that  Mossdorf 
raws  his  conclusion  that  Woog  was  a  Free- 
mason, and  had  received  the  Scottish  de- 
gree of  Knight  of  St.  Andrew.  They  at 
least  prove  that  he  was  an  early  friend  of 
the  Institution,  and  that  he  must  have 
known  something  of  Ramsay's  degree, 
which  was  about  that  time  introduced  into 
England. 

Word.  When  emphatically  used,  the 
expression,  "the  Word,"  is  in  Masonry 
always  referred  to  the  third  degree,  although 
there  must  be  a  word  in  each  degree.  In  this 
latter  and  general  sense,  the  Word  is  called 
by  French  Masons  "  la  parole,"  and  by 
the  Germans  "ein  Worterzeichen."  The 
use  of  a  Word  is  of  great  antiquity.  We 
find  it  in  the  ancient  mysteries.  In  those 
of  Egypt  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  Tetra- 
grammaton.  The  German  Stonemasons  of 
the  Middle  Ages  had  one,  which,  however, 
I  think  was  only  a  password  by  which  the 
travelling  Companion  might  make  himself 
known  in  his  professional  wanderings. 
Lyon  {Hist  of  the  L.  of  Edinb.,  p.  22,)  shows 
that  it  existed,  in  the  sixteenth  and  subse- 
quent centuries,  in  the  Scotch  Lodges,  and 
he  says  that  "the  Word  is  the  only  secret 
that  is  ever  alluded  to  in  the  minutes  of 
Mary's  Chapel,  or  in  those  of  Kilwinning, 
Atcheson's  Haven,  or  Dumblane,  or  any 
other  that  we  have  examined  of  a  date 
prior  to  the  erection  of  the  Grand  Lodge." 
Indeed,  he  thinks  that  the  communi- 
cation of  this  Word  constituted  the  only 
ceremony  of  initiation  practised  in  the 
Operative  Lodges.  At  that  time  there  was 
evidently  but  one  Word  for  all  the  ranks  of 
Apprentices,  Craftsmen,  and  Masters.  He 
thinks  that  this  communication  of  the 
Mason  Word  to  the  Apprentices  under  oath 
constituted  the  germ  whence  has  sprung  the 
Symbolical  Masonry.  But  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  learned  and  laborious 
5M 


investigations  of  Bro.  Lyon  refer  only  to 
the  Lodges  of  Scotland.  There  is  no  suffi- 
cient evidence  that  a  more  extensive  system 
of  initiation  did  not  prevail  at  the  same 
time,  or  even  earlier,  in  England  and  Ger- 
many. Indeed,  Findel  has  shown  that  it 
did  in  the  latter  country;  and  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  the  system,  which  we  know 
was  in  existence  in  1717,  was  a  sudden  de- 
velopment out  of  a  single  Word,  and  for 
which  we  are  indebted  to  the  inventive 
genius  of  those  who  were  engaged  in  the 
revival  at  that  period.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  evidence  is  conclusive  that  everywhere, 
and  from  the  earliest  times,  there  was  a 
Word.    This  at  least  is  no  modern  usage. 

But  it  must  be  admitted  that  this  Word, 
whatever  it  was,  was  at  first  a  mere  mark 
of  recognition.  Yet  it  may  have  had,  and 
probably  did  have,  a  mythical  signification, 
and  had  not  been  altogether  arbitrarily 
adopted.  The  word  given  in  the  Sloane 
MS.,  No.  3329,  which  Bro.  Hughan  places  at 
a  date  not  posterior  to  1700,  is  undoubtedly 
a  corrupted  form  of  that  now  in  use,  and 
with  the  signification  of  which  we  are  well 
acquainted.  Hence  we  may  conclude  that 
the  legend,  and  the  symbolism  connected 
with  it,  also  existed  at  the  same  time,  but 
only  in  a  nascent  and  incomplete  form. 

The  modern  development  of  Speculative 
Masonry  into  a  philosophy  has  given  a 
perfected  form  to  the  symbolism  of  the 
Word  no  longer  confined  to  use  as  a  means 
of  recognition,  but  elevated,  in  its  connec- 
tion with  the  legend  of  the  third  degree,  to 
the  rank  of  a  symbol. 

So  viewed,  and  by  the  scientific  Mason  it 
is  now  only  so  viewed,  the  Word  becomes 
the  symbol  of  Divine  Truth,  the  loss  of 
which  and  the  search  for  it  constitute  the 
whole  system  of  Speculative  Masonry.  So 
important  is  this  Word,  that  it  lies  at  the 
very  foundation  of  the  Masonic  edifice. 
The  Word  might  be  changed,  as  might  a 
grip  or  a  sign,  if  it  were  possible  to  obtain 
the  universal  consent  of  the  Craft,  and 
Masonry  would  still  remain  unimpaired. 
But  were  the  Word  abolished,  or  released 
from  its  intimate  connection  with  the  Hi- 
ramic  legend,  and  with  that  of  the  Royal 
Arch,  the  whole  symbolism  of  Speculative 
Masonry  would  be  obliterated.  The  Insti- 
tution might  withstand  such  an  innovation, 
but  its  history,  its  character,  its  design, 
would  belong  to  a  newer  and  a  totally 
different  society'.  The  word  is  what  Der- 
mott  called  the  Royal  Arch,  "  the  marrow 
of  Masonry." 

Word,  Lost.    See  Lost  Word. 

Word,  Mason.  In  the  minutes  and 
documents  of  the  Lodges  of  Scotland  dur- 
ing the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries,  the  expression  "Mason 


890 


WORD 


WORKMEN 


word"  ia  constantly  used.  This  continu- 
ous use  would  indicate  that  but  one  word 
was  then  known.  Nicolai,  in  his  Essay  on 
the  Accusations  against  the  Templars,  quotes 
a  "small  dictionary  published  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century,"  in 
which  the  "  Mason's  word  "  is  defined. 

Word.  Sacred.  A  term  applied  to 
the  chief  or  most  prominent  word  of  a  de- 
gree, to  indicate  its  peculiarly  sacred  char- 
acter, in  contradistinction  to  a  password, 
which  is  simply  intended  as  a  mode  of 
recognition.  It  is  sometimes  ignorantly 
corrupted  into  "  secret  word."  All  signifi- 
cant words  in  Masonry  are  secret.  Only 
certain  ones  are  sacred. 

Word,  Significant.  See  Significant 
Word. 

Word,  True.  Used  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  Lost  Word  and  the  Substitute 
Word.  To  find  it  is  the  object  of  all  Ma- 
sonic search  and  labor.  For  as  the  Lost 
Word  is  the  symbol  of  death,  the  True  Word 
is  the  symbol  of  life  eternal.  It  indicates 
the  change  that  is  always  occurring — truth 
after  error,  light  after  darkness,  life  after 
death.  Of  all  the  symbolism  of  Speculative 
Masonry,  that  of  the  True  Word  is  the  most 
philosophic  and  sublime. 

Work.    See  Labor. 

Working-Tools.  In  each  of  the  de- 
grees of  Masonry,  certain  implements  of 
the  Operative  art  are  consecrated  to  the 
Speculative  science,  and  adopted  to  teach 
as  symbols  lessons  of  morality.  With  these 
the  Speculative  Mason  is  taught  to  erect 
his  spiritual  temple,  as  his  Operative  pre- 
decessors with  the  same  implements  con- 
structed their  material  temples.  Hence 
they  are  called  the  working-tools  of  the  de- 
gree. They  vary  but  very  slightly  in  the 
different  Rites,  but  the  same  symbolism  is 
preserved.  The  principal  working- tools  of 
the  Operative  art  that  have  been  adopted 
as  symbols  in  the  Speculative  science,  con- 
fined, however,  to  Ancient  Craft  Masonry, 
and  not  used  in  the  higher  degrees,  are,  the 
twenty-four  inch  gauge,  common  gavel, 
square,  level,  plumb,  skerrit,  compasses, 
pencil,  trowel,  mallet,  pickaxe,  crow,  and 
shovel.  See  them  under  their  respective 
heads. 

Work,  Master  of  the.  An  archi- 
tect or  superintendent  of  the  building  of  an 
edifice.  Du  Cange  (Glossarium)  thus  de- 
fines it:  "Magister  operis  vel  operarum 
vulgo,  maitre  de  Poeuvre,  cui  operibus  pub- 
licis  vacare  incumbit,"  i.  e„  "Master  of  the 
work  or  of  the  works,  commonly,  maitre  de 
1'  oeuvre,  one  whose  duty  it  is  to  attend  to 
the  public  works."  In  the  Cooke  MS.,  (line 
529,)  it  is  said:  "And  also  he  that  were 
most  of  connying  [skill]  scholde  be  gov- 
ernour  of  the  werke,  and  scholde  be  callyd 


maister."  In  the  old  record  of  the  date  of 
Edward  III.,  cited  by  Anderson  in  his 
second  edition,  (p.  71,)  it  is  prescribed  "  that 
Master  Masons,  or  Masters  of  Work,  shall 
be  examined  whether  they  be  able  of  cun- 
ning to  serve  their  respective  lords."  The 
word  was  in  common  use  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  applied  to  the  Architect  or  Mas- 
ter Builder  of  an  edifice.  Thus  Edwin  of 
Steinbach,  the  architect  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Strasburg,  is  called  Master  of  the  Work. 
In  the  monasteries  there  was  a  similar 
officer,  who  was,  however,  more  generally 
called  the  Operarius,  but  sometimes  Magis- 
ter operis. 

Workmen  at  the  Temple.  We 
have  no  historical  account,  except  the  mea- 
gre details  in  the  Books  of  Kings  and 
Chronicles,  of  the  number  or  classification 
of  the  workmen  at  the  Temple  of  Solomon. 
The  subject  has,  however,  afforded  a  fertile 
theme  for  the  exercise  of  the  inventive 
genius  of  the  ritualists.  Although  devoid 
of  interest  as  a  historical  study,  an  acquaint- 
ance with  these  traditions,  especially  the 
English  and  American  ones,  and  a  com- 
parison of  them  with  the  Scriptural  account 
and  with  that  given  by  Josephus,  are  neces- 
sary as  a  part  of  the  education  of  a  Masonic 
student.  I  furnish  the  legends,  therefore, 
simply  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  without  the 
slightest  intention  to  vouch  for  their  au- 
thenticity. 

In  the  Second  Book  of  Chronicles,  chap, 
ii.,  verses  17  and  18,  we  read  as  follows : 

"  And  Solomon  numbered  all  the  stran- 
gers that  were  in  the  land  of  Israel,  after 
the  numbering  wherewith  David  his  father 
had  numbered  them ;  and  they  were  found 
an  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  and  three 
thousand  and  six  hundred. 

"  And  he  set  threescore  and  ten  thousand 
of  them  to  be  bearers  of  burdens,  and  four- 
score thousand  to  be  hewers  in  the  moun- 
tain, and  three  thousand  and  six  hundred 
overseers  to  set  the  people  a-work." 

The  same  numerical  details  are  given  in 
the  second  verse  of  the  same  chapter. 
Again,  in  the  First  Book  of  Kings,  chap, 
v.,  verses  13  and  14,  it  is  said : 

"  And  King  Solomon  raised  a  levy  out 
of  all  Israel ;  and  the  levy  was  thirty  thou- 
sand men. 

"And  he  sent  them  to  Lebanon,  ten 
thousand  a  month  by  courses:  a  month 
they  were  in  Lebanon,  and  two  months 
at  home:  and  Adoniram  was  over  the 
levy." 

The  succeeding  verses  make  the  same 
enumeration  of  workmen  as  that  contained 
in  the  Book  of  Chronicles  quoted  above, 
with  the  exception  that,  by  omitting  the 
three  hundred  Harodim,  or  rulers  over  all, 
the  number  of  overseers  is  stated  in  the 


WORKMEN 


WORKMEN 


891 


Book  of  Kings  to  be  only  three  thousand 
three  hundred. 

With  these  authorities,  and  the  assist- 
ance of  Masonic  traditions,  Anderson,  in  the 
Book  of  Constitutions,  (2d  ed.,  p.  11,)  con- 
structs the  following  table  of  the  Craftsmen 
at  the  Temple : 

Harodim,  Princes,  Kulers,  or  Pro- 
vosts,   300 

Menatzchim,  Overseers,  or  Master 

Masons, 3,300 

Ohiblim,  Stone  Squarers,  "1      all 
Ischotzeb,  Hewers,  V  Fellow     80,000 

Benai,  Builders,  )  Crafts, 

The  levy  out  of  Israel,  who  were 

timber  cutters,  ....     30,000 


All  the  Freemasons  employed  in 
the  work  of  the  Temple,  exclu- 
sive of  the  two  Grand  Wardens,    113,600 

Besides  the  Ish  Sabal,  or  men  of  bur- 
then, the  remains  of  the  old  Canaanites, 
amounting  to  70,000,  who  are  not  num- 
bered among  the  Masons. 

In  relation  to  the  classification  of  these 
workmen,  Anderson  says,  "Solomon  par- 
titioned the  Fellow  Crafts  into  certain 
Lodges,  with  a  Master  and  Wardens  in 
each,  that  they  might  receive  commands  in 
a  regular  manner,  might  take  care  of  their 
tools  and  jewels,  might  be  paid  regularly 
every  week,  and  be  duly  fed  and  clothed ; 
and  the  Fellow  Crafts  took  care  of  their  suc- 
cession by  educating  Entered  Apprentices." 

Josephus  makes  a  different  estimate.  He 
includes  the  3,300  Overseers  in  the  80,000 
Fellow  Crafts,  and  makes  the  number  of 
Masons,  exclusive  of  the  70,000  bearers  of 
burthens,  amount  to  only  110,000. 

A  work  published  in  1764,  entitled  The 
Masonic  Pocket-Book,  gives  a  still  different 
classification.  The  number,  according  to 
this  authority,  was  as  follows : 


Harodim,      .        . 
Menatzchim,         . 
Ghiblim, 
Adoniram's  men,  . 

Total,     . 


300 

3,300 

83,000 

30,000 


116,600 


which,  together  with  the  70,000  Ish  Sabal, 
or  laborers,  will  make  a  grand  total  of 
186,600  workmen. 

According  to  the  statement  of  Webb, 
which  has  been  generally  adopted  by  the 
Fraternity  in  the  United  States,  there  were : 


Grand  Masters,     . 
Overseers, 
Fellow  Crafts, 
Entered  Apprentices, 


3 
3,300 

80,000 
70,000 


This  account  makes  no  allusion  to  the 
300  Harodim,  nor  to  the  levy  of  30,000;  it  is, 
therefore,  manifestly  incorrect.  Indeed,  no 
certain  authority  can  be  found  for  the  com- 
plete classification  of  the  workmen,  since 
neither  the  Bible  nor  Josephus  gives  any 
account  of  the  number  of  Tyriaus  employed. 
Oliver,  however,  in  his  Historical  Landmarks, 
has  collected  from  the  Masonic  traditions  an 
account  of  the  classifications  of  the  work- 
men, which  I  shall  insert,  with  a  few  addi- 
tional facts  taken  from  other  authorities. 

According  to  these  traditions,  the  follow- 
ing was  the  classification  of  the  Masons 
who  wrought  in  the  quarries  of  Tyre : 


Super  Excellent  Masons, 
Excellent  Masons, 
Grand  Architects, 
Architects,     . 
Master  Masons, 
Mark  Masters, 
Markmen, 
Fellow  Crafts, 

Total,     . 


6 

48 

8 

16 

2,376 

700 

1,400 

53,900 

58,454 


These  were  arranged  as  follows :  The  six 
Super  Excellent  Masons  were  divided  into 
two  Grand  Lodges,  with  three  brethren  in 
each  to  superintend  the  work.  The  Excel- 
lent Masons  were  divided  into  six  Lodges 
of  nine  each,  including  one  of  the  Super 
Excellent  Masons,  who  presided  as  Master. 
The  eight  Grand  Architects  constituted  one 
Lodge,  and  the  sixteen  Architects  another. 
The  Grand  Architects  were  the  Masters, 
and  the  Architects  the  Wardens,  of  the 
Lodges  of  Master  Masons,  which  were  eight 
in  number,  and  consisted,  with  their  offi- 
cers, of  three  hundred  in  each.  The  Mark 
Masters  were  divided  into  fourteen  Lodges 
of  fifty  in  each,  and  the  Markmen  into 
fourteen  Lodges  also,  of  one  hundred  in 
each.  The  Mark  Masters  were  the  Masters, 
and  the  Markmen  the  Wardens,  of  the 
Lodges  of  Fellow  Crafts,  which  were  seven 
hundred  in  number,  and  with  their  officers 
consisted  of  eighty  in  each. 

The  classification  of  the  workmen  in  the 
forest  of  Lebanon  was  as  follows : 


Super  Excellent  Masons, 

3 

Excellent  Masons, 

24 

Grand  Architects, 

4 

Architects,     . 

8 

Master  Masons,     . 

1,188 

Mark  Masters, 

300 

Markmen, 

600 

Fellow  Crafts, 

.     23,100 

Entered  Apprentices,    . 

.     10,000 

Total, 


35,227 


892 


WORKMEN 


WORLDLY 


These  were  arranged  as  follows:  The 
three  Super  Excellent  Masons  formed  one 
Lodge.  The  Excellent  Masons  were  di- 
vided into  three  Lodges  of  nine  each,  in- 
cluding one  of  the  Super  Excellent  Masons 
as  Master.  The  four  Grand  Architects  con- 
stituted one  Lodge,  and  the  eight  Archi- 
tects another,  the  former  acting  as  Masters 
and  the  latter  as  Wardens  of  the  Lodges 
of  Master  Masons,  which  were  four  in  num- 
ber, -and  consisted,  with  their  officers,  of 
three  hundred  in  each.  The  Mark  Masters 
were  divided  into  six  Lodges  of  fifty  in 
each,  and  the  Markmen  into  six  Lodges 
also,  of  one  hundred  in  each.  These  two 
classes  presided,  the  former  as  Masters  and 
the  latter  as  Wardens,  over  the  Lodges  of 
Fellow  Crafts,  which  were  three  hundred 
in  number,  and  were  composed  of  eighty  in 
each,  including  their  officers. 

After  three  years  had  been  occupied  in 
"hewing,  squaring,  and  numbering"  the 
stones,  and  in  "  felling  and  preparing  "  the 
timbers,  these  two  bodies  of  Masons,  from 
the  quarries  and  the  forest,  united  for  the 
purpose  of  properly  arranging  and  fitting 
the  materials,  so  that  no  metallic  tool 
might  be  required  in  putting  them  up,  and 
they  were  then  carried  up  to  Jerusalem. 
Here  the  whole  body  was  congregated  under 
the  superintending  care  of  Hiram  Abif,  and 
to  them  were  added  four  hundred  and 
twenty  Lodges  of  Tyrian  and  Sidonian  Fel- 
low Crafts,  having  eighty  in  each,  and  the 
twenty  thousand  Entered  Apprentices  of 
the  levy  from  Israel,  who  had  heretofore 
been  at  rest,  and  who  were  added  to  the 
Lodges  of  their  degree,  making  them  now 
consist  of  three  hundred  in  each,  so  that 
the  whole  number  then  engaged  at  Jeru- 
salem amounted  to  two  hundred  and  seven- 
teen thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty-one, 
who  were  arranged  as  follows : 

9  Lodges  of  Excellent  Masons,  9 
in  each,  were     ....  81 

12  Lodges  of  Master  Masons,  300 
in  each,  were     ....       3,600 

1,000  Lodges  of  Fellow  Crafts,  80 
in  each,  were     ....     80,000 

420    Lodges    of   Tyrian    Fellow 

Crafts,  80  in  each,  were     .        .     33,600 

100  Lodges  of  Entered  Appren- 
tices, 300  in  each,  were      .        .     30,000 

70,000  Ish  Sabal,  or  laborers,       .     70,000 


Total, 


217,281 


Such  is  the  system  adopted  by  our  Eng- 
lish brethren.  The  American  ritual  has 
greatly  simplified  the  arrangement.  Ac- 
cording to  the  system  now  generally 
adopted  in  this  country,  the  workmen  en- 
gaged in  building  King  Solomon's  Temple 


are  supposed  to  have  been  classified  as 
follows : 

3  Grand  Masters. 

300  Harodim,  or  Chief  Superintendents, 
who  were  Past  Masters. 

3,300  Overseers,  or  Master  Masons,  di- 
vided into  Lodges  of  three  in  each. 

80,000  Fellow  Crafts,  divided  into  Lodges 
of  five  in  each. 

70,000  Entered  Apprentices,  divided  into 
Lodges  of  seven  in  each. 

According  to  this  account,  there  must 
have  been  eleven  hundred  Lodges  of  Master 
Masons ;  sixteen  thousand  of  Fellow  Crafts ; 
and  ten  thousand  of  Entered  Apprentices. 
No  account  is  here  taken  of  the  levy  of 
thirty  thousand  who  are  supposed  not  to 
have  been  Masons,  nor  of  the  builders  sent 
by  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  whom  the  English 
ritual  places  at  thirty-three  thousand  six 
hundred,  and  most  of  whom  we  may  sup- 
pose to  have  been  members  of  the  Dionysiac 
Fraternity  of  Artificers,  the  institution  from 
which  Freemasonry,  according  to  legendary 
authority,  took  its  origin. 

On  the  whole,  the  American  system  seems 
too  defective  to  meet  all  the  demands  of  the 
inquirer  into  this  subject — an  objection  to 
which  the  English  is  not  so  obnoxious. 
But,  as  I  have  already  observed,  the  whole 
account  is  mythical,  and  is  to  be  viewed 
rather  as  a  curiosity  than  as  having  any 
historical  value. 

Workshop.  The  French  Masons  call 
a  Lodge  an  "  atelier"  literally,  a  work- 
shop, or,  as  Boiste  defines  it,  "  a  place 
where  Craftsmen  work  under  the  same 
Master." 

World.  The  Lodge  is  said  to  be  a 
symbol  of  the  world.  Its  form — an  oblong 
square,  whose  greatest  length  is  from  east 
to  west — represents  the  shape  of  the  in- 
habited world  according  to  the  theory  of 
the  ancients.  The  "  clouded  canopy,"  or 
the  "  starry-decked  covering  "  of  the  Lodge, 
is  referred  to  the  sky.  The  sun,  which  en- 
lightens and  governs  the  world  at  morning, 
noon,  and  evening,  is  represented  by  the 
three  superior  officers.  And,  lastly,  the 
Craft,  laboring  in  the  work  of  the  Lodge, 
present  a  similitude  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  world  engaged  in  the  toils  of  life. 
While  the  Lodge  is  adopted  as  a  copy  of  the 
Temple,  not  less  universal  is  that  doctrine 
which  makes  it  a  symbol  of  the  world. 
See  Form  of  the  Lodge. 

Worldly  Possessions.  In  the 
English  lectures  of  Dr.  Hemming,  the  word 
Tubal  Cain  is  said  "to  denote  worldly  pos- 
sessions," and  hence  Tubal  Cain  is  adopted 
in  that  system  as  the  symbol  of  worldly 
possessions.  The  idea  is  derived  from  the 
derivation  of  Cain  from  kanah,  to  acquire, 
to  gain,  and  from  the  theory  that  Tubal 


WORLDLY 


WREN 


893 


Cain,  by  his  inventions,  had  enabled  «his 
pupils  to  acquire  riches.  But  the  deriva- 
tive meaning  of  the  word  has  reference  to 
the  expression  of  Eve,  that  in  the  birth  of 
her  eldest  son  she  had  acquired  a  man  by 
the  help  of  the  Lord;  and  any  system 
which  gives  importance  to  mere  wealth  as 
a  Masonic  symbol,  is  not  in  accord  with  the 
moral  and  intellectual  designs  of  the  Insti- 
tution, which  is  thus  represented  as  a  mere 
instrument  of  Mammon.  The  symbolism 
is  quite  modern,  and  has  not  been  adopted 
elsewhere  than  in  English  Masonry. 

Worldly  Wealth.  Partial  clothing 
is,  in  Masonry,  a  symbol  teaching  the  aspi- 
rant that  Masonry  regards  no  man  on  ac- 
count of  his  worldly  wealth  or  honors ;  and 
that  it  looks  not  to  his  outward  clothing, 
but  to  his  internal  qualifications. 

Worship.  Originally,  the  word  "to 
worship "  meant  to  pay  that  honor  and 
reverence  which  are  due  to  one  who  is 
worthy.  Thus,  where  our  authorized 
version  translates  Matthew  xix.  19, 
"Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother," 
Wycliffe  says,  "  Worschip  thi  fadir  and  thi 
modir."  And  in  the  marriage  service  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  the  expression  is  still 
retained,  "  with  my  body  I  thee  worship," 
that  is,  honor  or  reverence  thee.  Hence 
the  still  common  use  in  England  of  the 
words  worshipful  and  right  worshipful  'as 
titles  of  honor  applied  to  municipal  and 
judicial  officers.  Thus  the  mayors  of  small 
towns,  and  justices  of  the  peace,  are  styled 
"  Worshipful,"  while  the  mayors  of  large 
cities,  as  London,  are  called  "Right  Wor- 
shipful." The  usage  was  adopted  and  re- 
tained in  Masonry.  The  word  worship,  or 
its  derivatives,  is  not  met  with  in  any  of  the 
old  manuscripts.  In  the  "  Manner  of  con- 
stituting a  New  Lodge,"  adopted  in  1722, 
and  published  by  Anderson  in  1723,  the 
word  "  worship  "  is  applied  as  a  title  to  the 
Grand  Master.  In  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  gilds  of  London  began  to  call  them- 
selves "  Worshipful,"  as,  "  the  Worshipful 
Company  of  Grocers,"  etc.;  and  it  is  likely 
that  the  Lodges  at  the  revival,  and  per- 
haps a  few  years  before,  adopted  the  same 
style. 

Worshipful.  A  title  applied  to  a 
symbolic  Lodge  and  to  its  Master.  The 
Germans  sometimes  use  the  title  "  hoch- 
wiirdig."  The  French  style  the  Worshipful 
Master  "Venerable,"  and  the  Lodge,  "  Re- 
spectable." 

Worshipful  Lodge.  See  Worship- 
ful. 

Worshipful  Master.  See  Worship- 
ful. 

Worshipful,  Most.  The  title  of  a 
Grand  Master  and  of  a  Grand  Lodge. 

Worshipful,  Right.    The  title  of 


the  elective  officers  of  a  Grand  Lodge  be- 
low the  Grand  Master. 
Worshipful,  Very*.     Not  now  in 

use.     It  was  formerly  applied  as  a  title  to 
the  Senior  and  Junior  Grand  Wardens  in 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  South  Carolina. 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher.    One  of 

the  most  distinguished  architects  of  Eng- 
land, was  the  son  of  Dr.  Christopher  Wren, 
Rector  of  East  Knoyle  in  Wiltshire,  and 
was  born  there  October  20,  1632.  He  was 
entered  as  a  gentleman  commoner  at  Wad- 
ham  College,  Oxford,  in  his  fourteenth 
year,  being  already  distinguished  for  his 
mathematical  knowledge.  He  is  said  to 
have  invented,  before  this  period,  several 
astronomical  and  mathematical  instru- 
ments. In  1645,  he  became  a  member  of  a 
scientific  club  connected  with  Gresham 
College,  from  which  the  Royal  Society  sub- 
sequently arose.  In  1653,  he  was  elected 
a  Fellow  of  All  Souls'  College,  and  had 
already  become  known  to  the  learned  men 
of  Europe  for  his  various  inventions.  In 
1657,  he  removed  permanently  to  London, 
having  been  elected  Professor  of  Astronomy 
at  Gresham  College. 

During  the  political  disturbances  which 
led  to  the  abolition  of  the  monarchy  and 
the  establishment  of  the  commonwealth, 
Wren,  devoted  to  the  pursuits  of  philoso- 
phy, appears  to  have  kept  away  from  the 
contests  of  party.  Soon  after  the  restoration 
of  Charles  II.,  he  was  appointed  Savillian 
Professor  at  Oxford,  one  of  the  highest  dis- 
tinctions which  could  then  have  been  con- 
ferred on  a  scientific  man.  During  this 
time  he  was  distinguished  for  his  numerous 
contributions  to  astronomy  and  mathe- 
matics, and  invented  many  curious  ma- 
chines, and  discovered  many  methods  for 
facilitating  the  calculations  of  the  celestial 
bodies. 

Wren  was  not  professionally  educated  as 
an  architect,  but  from  his  early  youth  had 
devoted  much  time  to  its  theoretic  study. 
In  1665  he  went  to  Paris  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  the  public  buildings  in  that 
city,  and  the  various  styles  which  they  pre- 
sented. He  was  induced  to  make  this  visit, 
and  to  enter  into  these  investigations,  be- 
cause, in  1660,  he  had  been  appointed  by 
King  Charles  II.  one  of  a  commission  to 
superintend  the  restoration  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  St.  Paul's,  which  had  been  much 
dilapidated  during  the  times  of  the  com- 
monwealth. But  before  the  designs  could 
be  carried  into  execution,  the  great  fire  oc- 
curred which  laid  so  great  a  part  of  Lon- 
don, including  St.  Paul's,  in  ashes. 

In  1661,  he  was  appointed  assistant  to 
Sir  John  Denham,  the  Surveyor-General, 
and  directed  his  attention  to  the  restoration 
of  the  burnt  portion  of  the  city.   His  plans 


894 


WREN 


WREN 


were,  unfortunately  for  the  good  of  Lon- 
don, not  adopted,  and  he  confined  his  atten- 
tion to  the  rebuilding  of  particular  edifices. 
In  1667,  he  was  appointed  the  successor  of 
Denham  as  Surveyor- General  and  Chief 
Architect.  In  this  capacity  he  erected  a  large 
number  of  churches,  the  Royal  Exchange, 
Greenwich  Observatory,  and  many  other 
public  edifices.  But  his  crowning  work, 
the  masterpiece  that  has  given  him  his 
largest  reputation,  is  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Paul's,  which  was  commenced  in  1675  and 
finished  in  1710.  The  original  plan  that 
was  proposed  by  Wren  was  rejected  through 
the  ignorance  of  the  authorities,  and  dif- 
fered greatly  from  the  one  on  which  it  has 
been  constructed.  Wren,  however,  super- 
intended the  erection  as  master  of  the 
work,  and  his  tomb  in  the  crypt  of  the 
Cathedral  was  appropriately  inscribed  with 
the  words :  "  Si  monumentum  requiris,  cir- 
cumspice ; "  *.  e.,  "  If  you  seek  his  mon- 
ument, look  around." 

In  1672,  Wren  was  made  a  Knight,  and 
in  1674  he  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Coghill.  To  a  son  by  this  marriage  are  we 
indebted  for  memoirs  of  the  family  of  his 
father,  published  under  the  title  of  Paren- 
talia.  After  the  death  of  this  wife,  he  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  Viscount  Fitzwilliam. 

In  1680,  Wren  was  elected  President  of 
the  Royal  Society,  and  continued  to  a  late 
period  his  labors  on  public  edifices,  build- 
ing, among  others,  additions  to  Hampton 
Court  and  to  Windsor  Castle. 

After  the  death  of  Queen  Anne,  who  was 
the  last  of  his  royal  patrons,  Wren  was  re- 
moved from  his  office  of  Surveyor-General, 
which  he  had  held  for  a  period  of  very 
nearly  half  a  century.  He  passed  the  few 
remaining  years  of  his  life  in  serene  retire- 
ment. He  was  found  dead  in  his  chair 
after  dinner,  on  February  25,  1723,  in  the 
ninety-first  year  of  his  age. 

Notwithstanding  that  much  that  has  been 
said  by  Anderson  and  other  writers  of  the 
last  century,  concerning  Wren's  connection 
with  Freemasonry,  is  without  historical 
confirmation,  there  can,  I  think,  be  no 
doubt  that  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
Speculative  as  well  as  in  the  Operative 
Order.  The  Rev.  J.  W.  Laughlin,  in  a  lec- 
ture on  the  life  of  Wren,  delivered  in  1857, 
before  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Andrew's,  Hol- 
born,  and  briefly  reported  in  the  Freema- 
sons' Magazine,  said  that  "  Wren  was  for 
eighteen  years  a  member  of  the  old  Lodge 
of  St.  Paul's,  then  held  at  the  Goose  and 
Gridiron,  near  the  Cathedral,  now  the 
Lodge  of  Antiquity;  and  the  records  of 
that  Lodge  show  that  the  maul  and  trowel 
used  at  the  laying  of  the  stone  of  St. 
Paul's,  together  with  a  pair  of  carved  ma- 
hogany candlesticks,  were   presented    by 


Wren,  and  are  now  in  possession  of  that 
Lodge."  By  the  order  of  the  Duke  of  Sus- 
sex, a  plate  was  placed  on  the  mallet  or 
maul  which  contained  a  statement  of  the 
fact. 

Mr.  C.  W.  King,  who  is  not  a  Mason,  but 
has  derived  his  statement  from  a  source  to 
which  he  does  not  refer,  (but  which  wTas 
perhaps  Nicolai,)  makes,  in  his  work  on  the 
Gnostics,  (p.  176,)  the  following  statement, 
which  is  here  quoted  merely  to  show  that 
the  traditionary  belief  of  Wren's  connection 
with  Speculative  Freemasonry  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  Craft,    He  says: 

"Another  and  a  very  important  circum- 
stance in  this  discussion  must  always  be 
kept  in  view :  our  Freemasons  (as  at  present 
organized  in  the  form  of  a  secret  society) 
derive  their  title  from  a  mere  accidental 
circumstance  connected  with  their  actual 
establishment.  It  was  in  the  Common  Hall 
of  the  London  Gild  of  Freemasons  (the 
trade)  that  their  first  meetings  were  held 
under  Christopher  Wren,  president,  in  the 
time  of  the  Commonwealth.  Their  real 
object  was  political  —  the  restoration  of 
monarchy;  hence  the  necessary  exclusion 
of  the  public,  and  the  oaths  of  secrecy  en- 
joined on  the  members.  The  pretence  of 
promoting  architecture,  and  the  choice  of 
the  place  where  to  hold  their  meetings, 
suggested  by  the  profession  of  their  presi- 
dent, were  no  more  than  blinds  to  deceive 
the  existing  government." 

Anderson,  in  the  first  edition  of  the 
Constitutions,  makes  but  a  slight  reference 
to  Wren,  only  calling  him  "  the  ingenious 
architect,  Sir  Christopher  Wren."  I  am 
almost  afraid  that  this  passing  notice  of 
him  who  has  been  called  "  the  Vitruvius  of 
England"  must  be  attributed  to  servility. 
George  I.  was  the  stupid  monarch  who  re- 
moved Wren  from  his  office  of  Surveyor- 
General,  and  it  would  not  do  to  be  too  dif- 
fuse with  praise  of  one  who  had  been 
marked  by  the  disfavor  of  the  king.  But 
in  1727  George  I.  died,  and  in  his  second 
edition,  published  in  1738,  Anderson  gives 
to  Wren  all  the  Masonic  honors  to  which 
he  claims  that  he  was  entitled.  It  is  from 
what  Anderson  has  said  in  that  work,  that 
the  Masonic  writers  of  the  last  century  and 
the  first  half  of  the  present,  not  requiring 
the  records  of  authentic  history,  have  drawn 
their  views  of  the  official  relations  of  Wren 
to  the  Order.  He  first  introduces  Wren 
(p.  101)  as  one  of  the  Grand  Wardens  at 
the  General  Assembly  held  December  27, 
1663,  when  the  Earl  of  St.  Albans  was 
Grand  Master,  and  Sir  John  Denham, 
Deputy  Grand  Master.  He  says  that  in 
1666  Wren  was  again  a  Grand  Warden, 
under  the  Grand  Mastership  of  the  Earl  of 
Rivers;    but    immediately  afterwards    he 


WREN 


WYKEHAM 


895 


calls  him  "Deputy  Wren,"  and  continues 
to  give  him  the  title  of  Deputy  Grand 
Master  until  1685,  when  he  says  (p.  106) 
that  "  the  Lodges  met,  and  elected  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  Grand  Master,  who  ap- 
pointed Mr.  Gabriel  Gibber  and  Mr.  Ed- 
mund Savage  Grand  Wardens;  and  while 
carrying  on  St.  Paul's,  he  annually  met 
those  brethren  who  could  attend  him, 
to  keep  up  good  old  usages."  Anderson 
(p.  107)  makes  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and 
Lennox  Grand  Master,  and  reduces  Wren 
to  the  rank  of  a  Deputy;  but  he  says  that 
in  1698  he  was  again  chosen  Grand  Master, 
and  as  such  "  celebrated  the  Cape-stone  "  of 
St.  Paul's  in  1708.  "  Some  few  years  after 
this,"  he  says,  "Sir  Christopher  Wren 
neglected  the  office  of  Grand  Master." 
Finally,  he  says  (p.  109)  that  in  1716  "the 
Lodges  in  London  finding  themselves  neg- 
lected by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,"  Masonry 
was  revived  under  a  new  Grand  Master. 
Some  excuse  for  the  aged  architect's  neglect 
might  have  been  found  in  the  fact  that  he 
was  then  eighty-five  years  of  age,  and  had 
been  long  removed  from  his  public  office  of 
Surveyor-General. 

Noorthouck  is  more  considerate.  Speak- 
ing of  the  placing  of  the  last  stone  on  the 
top  of  St.  Paul's,  —  which,  notwithstanding 
the  statement  of  Anderson,  was  done,  not 
by  Wren,  but  by  his  son, —  he  says,  ( Consti- 
tutions, p.  204,)  "  the  age  and  infirmities  of 
the  Grand  Master,  which  prevented  his  at- 
tendance on  this  solemn  occasion,  confined 
him  afterwards  to  great  retirement ;  so  that 
the  Lodges  suffered  from  want  of  his  usual 
presence  in  visiting  and  regulating  their 
meetings,  and  were  reduced  to  a  small 
number." 

Noorthouck,  however,  repeats  substan- 
tially the  statements  of  Anderson  in  refer- 
ence to  Wren's  Grand  Mastership.  How 
much  of  these  statements  can  be  authenti- 
cated by  history  is  a  question  that  must  be 
decided  only  by  more  extensive  investiga- 
tions of  documents  not  yet  in  possession  of 
the  Craft.  Findel  says  (Hist.,  p.  127,)  that 
Anderson,  having  been  commissioned  in 
1735  by  the  Grand  Lodge  to  make  a  list  of 
the  ancient  Patrons  of  the  Masons,  so  as  to 
afford  something  like  a  historical  basis, 
"transformed  the  former  Patrons  into 
Grand  Masters,  and  the  Masters  and  Super- 
intendents into  Grand  Wardens  and  the  like, 
which  were  unknown  until  the  year  1717." 

Of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  there 
is  other  evidence  that  Wren  was  a  Free- 
mason. In  Aubrey's  Natural  History  of 
Wiltshire,  (p.  277,)  a  manuscript  in  the 
library  of  the  Royal  Society,  Halliwell 
finds  and  cites,  in  his  Early  History  of 
Freemasonry  in  England,  (p.  46,)  the  fol- 
lowing passage : 


"This  day,  May  the  18th,  being  Monday, 
1691,  after  Rogation  Sunday,  is  a  great  con- 
vention at  St.  Paul's  Church  of  the  frater- 
nity of  the  Adopted  Masons,  where  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  is  to  be  adopted  a  Bro- 
ther, and  Sir  Henry  Goodric  of  the  Tower, 
and  divers  others.  There  have  been  kings 
that  have  been  of  this  sodality." 

If  this  statement  be  true,  —  and  we  have 
no  reason  to  doubt  it,  from  Aubrey's  gen- 
eral antiquarian  accuracy,  —  Anderson  is 
incorrect  in  making  him  a  Grand  Master 
in  1685,  six  years  before  he  was  initiated 
as  a  Freemason.  The  true  version  of  the 
story  probably  is  this :  Wren  was  a  great 
architect  —  the  greatest  at  the  time  in  Eng- 
land. As  such  he  received  the  appointment 
of  Deputy  Surveyor-General  under  Den- 
ham,  and  subsequently,  on  Denham's 
death,  of  Surveyor-General.  He  thus  be- 
came invested,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  with 
the  duty  of  superintending  the  construc- 
tion of  public  buildings.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  was  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  the 
building  of  which  he  directed  in  person, 
and  with  so  much  energy  that  the  parsi- 
monious Duchess  of  Marlborough,  when 
contrasting  the  charges  of  her  own  archi- 
tect with  the  scanty  remuneration  of  Wren, 
observed  that "  he  was  content  to  be  dragged 
up  in  a  basket  three  or  four  times  a  week  to 
the  top  of  St.  Paul's,  and  at  great  hazard, 
for  £200  a  year."  All  this  brought  him 
into  close  connection  with  the  gild  of  Free- 
masons, of  which  he  naturally  became  the 
patron,  and  subsequently  he  was  by  initia- 
tion adopted  into  the  sodality.  Wren  was, 
in  fact,  what  the  medieeval  Masons  called 
Magister  Operis,  or  Master  of  the  Work. 
Anderson,  writing  for  a  purpose,  naturally 
transformed  this  title  into  that  of  Grand 
Master  —  an  office  supposed  to  be  unknown 
until  1717.  Aubrey's  authority  sufficiently 
establishes  the  fact  that  Wren  was  a  Free- 
mason, and  the  events  of  his  life  prove  his 
attachment  to  the  profession. 

Wrestle.  A  degree  sometimes  called 
the  "  Mark  and  Link,"  or  Wrestle.  It  was 
formerly  connected  with  the  Mark  degree 
in  England.  Its  ceremonies  were  founded 
on  the  passage  contained  in  Genesis  xxxii. 
24-30. 

Writing.  The  law  which  forbids  a 
Mason  to  commit  to  writing  the  esoteric 
parts  of  the  ritual  is  exemplified  in  some 
American  Lodges  by  a  peculiar  ceremony ; 
but  the  usage  is  not  universal.  The  Druids 
had  a  similar  rule ;  and  we  are  told  that  they, 
in  keeping  their  records,  used  the  letters  of 
the  Greek  alphabet,  so  that  they  might  be 
unintelligible  to  those  who  were  not  author- 
ized to  read  them. 

Wykeham,  William  of.  Bishop  of 
Winchester.    Born  at  Wykeham  in  Hamp- 


896 


WYSEACRE 


XAINTRAILLES 


shire  in  1324,  and  died  in  1404.  He  was 
eminent  both  as  an  ecclesiastic  and  states- 
man. In  1859,  before  he  reached  the  epis- 
copate, Edward  III.  appointed  him  sur- 
veyor of  the  works  at  Windsor,  which  castle 
he  rebuilt.  In  his  warrant  or  commission, 
he  was  invested  with  power  "to  appoint  all 
workmen,  to  provide  materials,  and  to  order 
everything  relating  to  building  and  re- 
pairs." He  was,  in  fact,  what  the  old  man- 
uscript Constitutions  call  "The  Lord," 
under  whom  were  the  Master  Masons. 
Anderson  says  that  he  was  at  the  head  of 
four  hundred  Freemasons,  was  Master  of 
Work  under  Edward  III.,  and  Grand  Mas- 
ter under  Richard  II.  And  the  Freemasons' 
Magazine  (August,  1796,)  styles  him  "  one 
of  the  brightest  ornaments  that  Freema- 
sonry has  ever  boasted."    In  this  there  is, 


of  course,  a  mixture  of  myth  and  history. 
Wykeham  was  an  architect  as  well  as  a 
bishop,  and  superintended  the  building  of 
many  public  edifices  in  England  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  being  a  distinguished 
example  of  the  connection  so  common  in 
mediaeval  times  between  the  ecclesiastics 
and  the  Masons. 

Wyseacre.  The  Leland  MS.,  referring 
to  Pythagoras,  says  that,  "wynnynge  en- 
traunce  yn  al  Lodges  of  Maconnes,  he 
lerned  muche,  and  retournedde  and  worked 
yn  Grecia  Magna  wachsynge,  and  becom- 
mynge  a  mightye  wyseacre."  The  word 
wiseacre,  which  now  means  a  dunce  or  silly 
person,  is  a  corruption  of  the  German  weis- 
sager,  and  originally  signified  a  wise  sayer 
or  philosopher,  in  which  sense  it  is  used  in 
the  passage  cited. 


X. 


Xaintrailles,  Madame  de.     A 

lady  who  was  initiated  into  Masonry  by  a 
French  Lodge  that  did  not  have  the  excuse 
for  this  violation  of  law  that  we  must  accord 
to  the  Irish  one  in  the  case  of  Miss  St. 
Leger.  Clavel  {Hist.  Pittoresq.,  p.  34,)  tells 
the  story,  but  does  not  give  the  date,  though 
it  must  have  been  about  the  close  of  the  last 
century.  The  law  of  the  Grand  Orient  of 
France  required  each  Lodge  of  Adoption 
to  be  connected  with  and  placed  under  the 
immediate  guardianship  of  a  regular  Lodge 
of  Masons.  It  was  in  one  of  these  guar- 
dian Lodges  that  the  female  initiation 
which  we  are  about  to  describe  took  place. 
The  Lodge  of  "  Freres-Artistes,"  at  Paris, 
over  which  Brother  Cuvelier  de  Trie  pre- 
sided as  Master,  was  about  to  give  what  is 
called  a  Flte  of  Adoption,  that  is,  to  open 
a  Lodge  for  female  Masonry,  and  initiate 
candidates  into  that  rite.  Previous,  how- 
ever, to  the  introduction  of  the  female 
members,  the  brethren  opened  a  regular 
Lodge  of  Ancient  Masonry  in  the  first 
degree.  Among  the  visitors  who  waited 
in  the  antechamber  for  admission  was  a 
youthful  officer  in  the  uniform  of  a  captain 
of  cavalry.  His  diploma  or  certificate  was 
requested  of  him  by  the  member  deputed  for 
the  examination  of  the  visitors,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  it  inspected  by  the  Lodge. 
After  some  little  hesitation,  he  handed  the 
party  asking  for  it  a  folded  paper,  which 
was  immediately  carried  to  the  Orator  of  the 
Lodge,  who,  on  opening  it,  discovered  that 


it  was  the  commission  of  an  aide-de-camp, 
which  had  been  granted  by  the  Directory  to 
the  wife  of  General  de  Xaintrailles,  a  lady 
who,  like  several  others  of  her  sex  in  those 
troublous  times,  had  donned  the  masculine 
attire  and  gained  military  rank  at  the  point 
of  the  sword.  When  the  nature  of  the  sup- 
posed diploma  was  made  known  to  the  Lodge, 
it  may  readily  be  supposed  that  the  surprise 
was  general.  But  the  members  were  French- 
men :  they  were  excitable  and  they  were 
gallant ;  and  consequently,  in  a  sudden  and 
exalted  fit  of  enthusiasm,  which  as  Masons 
we  cannot  excuse,  they  unanimously  deter- 
mined to  confer  the  first  degree,  not  of 
Adoption,  but  of  regular  and  legitimate 
Freemasonry,  on  the  brave  woman  who  had 
so  often  exhibited  every  manly  virtue,  and 
to  whom  her  country  had  on  more  than  one 
occasion  committed  trusts  requiring  the 
greatest  discretion  and  prudence  as  well 
as  courage.  Madame  de  Xaintrailles  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  resolution  of  the 
Lodge,  and  her  acquiescence  in  its  wishes 
requested.  To  the  offer,  she  replied,  "I 
have  been  a  man  for  my  country,  and  I  will 
again  be  a  man  for  my  brethren."  She  was 
forthwith  introduced  and  initiated  as  an 
Entered  Apprentice,  and  repeatedly  after- 
wards assisted  the  Lodge  in  its  labors  in  the 
first  degree. 

Doubtless  the  Irish  Lodge  was,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  excused,  if  not  justified, 
in  the  initiation  of  Miss  St.  Leger.  But 
for  the  reception  of  Madame  de  Xaintrailles 


XAVIER 


YATES 


897 


we  look  in  vain  for  the  slightest  shadow  of 
an  apology.  The  outrage  on  their  obliga- 
tions as  Masons,  by  the  members  of  the 
Parisian  Lodge,  richly  merited  the  severest 
punishment,  which  ought  not  to  have  been 
averted  by  the  plea  that  the  offence  was 
committed  in  a  sudden  spirit  of  enthusiasm 
and  gallantry. 

Xavier  Mier  e  Canipello,  Fran- 
cisco. He  was  Bishop  of  Almeria,  and 
Inquisitor-General  of  Spain,  and  an  ardent 
persecutor  of  the  Freemasons.  In  1815, 
Ferdinand  VII.  having  re-established  the 
Inquisition  in  Spain  and  suppressed  the 
Masonic  Lodges,  Xavier  published  the  bull 
of  Pius  VII.,  against  the  Order,  in  an  ordi- 
nance of  his  own,  in  which  he  denounced 
the  Lodges  as  "Societies  which  lead  to 
sedition,  to  independence,  and  to  all  errors 
and  crimes."  He  threatened  the  utmost 
rigors  of  the  civil  and  canon  laws  against 
all  who  did  not,  within  the  space  of  fifteen 
days,  renounce  them  ;  and  then  instituted  a 
series  of  persecutions  of  the  most  atrocious 
character.  Many  of  the  most  distinguished 
persons  of  Spain  were  arrested,  and  im- 
prisoned in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, on  the  charge  of  being  "  suspected  of 
Freemasonry." 

Xerophagists.  On  the  28th  of  April, 
1748,  Pope  Clement  XII.  issued  his  bull 
forbidding  the  practice  of  Freemasonry  by 


the  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
Many  of  the  Masons  of  Italy  continued, 
however,  to  meet ;  but,  for  the  purpose  of 
escaping  the  temporal  penalties  of  the 
bull,  which  extended,  in  some  cases,  to  the 
infliction  of  capital  punishment,  they 
changed  their  esoteric  name,  and  called 
themselves  Xerophaginte.  This  is  a  com- 
pound of  two  Greek  words  signifying  "  eaters 
of  dry  food,"  and  by  it  they  alluded  to  an 
engagement  into  which  they  entered  to 
abstain  from  the  drinking  of  wine.  They 
were,  in  fact,  the  first  temperance  society 
on  record.  Thory  says  {Act.  Lot.,  i.  346,) 
that  a  manuscript  concerning  them  was 
contained  in  the  collection  of  the  Mother 
Lodge  of  the  Philosophic  Scottish  Rite. 

Xerxes.  A  significant  word  in  the 
degree  of  Sublime  Prince  of  the  Royal 
Secret,  the  thirty-second  of  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite.  He  is  referred  to  in 
the  old  rituals  of  that  degree  as  represent- 
ed by  Frederick  the  Great,  the  supposed 
founder  of  the  Rite.  Probably  this  is  on 
account  of  the  great  military  genius  of  both. 

Xinxe.  A  significant  word  in  the  high 
degrees.  Delaunay  {Tuileur,  p.  49,)  gives 
it  as  Xincheu,  and  says  that  it  has  heen 
translated  as  "  the  seat  of  the  soul."  But 
in  either  form  it  has  evidently  undergone 
such  corruption  as  to  be  no  longer  compre- 
hensible. 


Y. 


Y.  One  of  the  symbols  of  Pythagoras 
was  the  Greek  letter  Upsilon,  T,  for  which, 
on  account  of  the  similarity  of  shape,  the 
Romans  adopted  the  letter  Y  of  their  own 
alphabet.  Pythagoras  said  that  the  two 
horns  of  the  letter  symbolized  the  two  dif- 
ferent paths  of  virtue  and  vice,  the  right 
branch  leading  to  the  former  and  the  left  to 
the  latter.  It  was  therefore  called  "  Litera 
Pythagorae,"  the  letter  of  Pythagoras.  Thus 
the  Roman  poet  Martial  says,  in  one  of  his 
epigrams : 

"  Litera  Pythagorae,  discrimine  secta  bicorni, 
Humanae  vitae  speciem  prseferre  videtur." 
i.  e., 

"  The  letter  of  Pythagoras,  parted  by  its  two- 
branched  division,  appears  to  exhibit  the  image 
of  human  life." 

Yates,  Giles  Fonda.  The  task  of 
writing  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Giles  Fonda 

5N  57 


Yates  is  accompanied  with  a  feeling  of 
melancholy,  because  it  brings  to  my  mind 
the  recollections  of  years,  now  passed  for- 
ever, in  which  I  enjoyed  the  intimate 
friendship  of  that  amiable  man  and  zeal- 
ous Mason  and  scholar.  His  gentle  mien 
won  the  love,  his  virtuous  life  the  es- 
teem, and  his  profound  but  unobtrusive 
scholarship  the  respect,  of  all  who  knew 
him. 

Giles  Fonda  Yates  was  born  in  1796,  in 
what  was  then  the  village  of  Schenectady, 
in  the  State  of  New  York.  After  acquiring 
at  the  ordinary  schools  of  the  period  a 
preliminary  liberal  education,  he  entered 
Union  College,  and  graduated  with  distinc- 
tion, receiving  in  due  time  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts. 

He  subsequently  commenced  the  study 
of  the  law,  and,  having  been  admitted  to 
the  bar,  was,  while  yet  young,  appointed 
Judge  of  Probate  in  Schenectady,  the  du- 


898 


YATES 


YATES 


ties  of  which  office  he  discharged  with 
great  ability  and  fidelity. 

Being  blessed  with  a  sufficient  compe- 
tency of  the  world's  goods,  (although  in  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  he  became  poor,) 
Bro.  Yates  did  not  find  it  necessary  to  pur- 
sue the  practice  of  the  legal  profession  as  a 
source  of  livelihood. 

At  an  early  period,  he  was  attracted,  by 
the  bent  of  his  mind,  to  the  study  not  only 
of  general  literature,  but  especially  to  that 
of  archaeology,  philosophy,  and  the  occult 
sciences,  of  all  of  which  he  became  an  ardent 
investigator.  These  studies  led  him  natu- 
rally to  the  Masonic  institution,  into  which 
he  was  initiated  in  the  year  1817,  receiving 
the  degrees  of  Symbolic  Masonry  in  St. 
George's  Lodge,  No.  6,  at  Schenectady. 
In  1821  he  affiliated  with  Morton  Lodge, 
No.  87,  of  the  same  place,  and  was  shortly 
afterwards  elected  its  Senior  Warden.  Re- 
turning subsequently  to  the  Lodge  of  his 
adoption,  he  was  chosen  as  its  Master  in 
1844.  He  had  in  the  meantime  been  ad- 
mitted into  a  Chapter  of  the  Royal  Arch 
and  an  Encampment  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars ;  but  his  predilections  being  for  Scot- 
tish Masonry,  he  paid  but  little  attention 
to  these  high  degrees  of  the  American 
Rite. 

The  following  extract  from  an  address 
delivered  by  him  in  1851,  before  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Northern  Jurisdic- 
tion, contains  a  brief  summary  of  a  portion 
of  his  labors  in  the  cause  of  Scottish  Ma- 
sonry. 

"I  turned  my  attention,"  says  Bro. 
Yates,  "  to  the  history  of  the  Sublime  de- 
grees very  soon  after  my  initiation  as  a 
Mason.  My  intercourse,  in  1822,  with  sev- 
eral old  Masons  in  the  city  of  Albany,  led 
to  the  discovery  that  an  Ineffable  Lodge 
of  Perfection  had  been  established  in  that 
ancient  city  on  the  20th  of  December,  1767. 
I  also  discovered  that  not  only  the  Ineffa- 
ble but  the  Superior  degrees  of  our  Rite 
had  been  conferred  at  the  same  time  on  a 
chosen  few  by  the  founder  of  the  Lodge, 
Henry  A.  Francken,  one  of  the  Deputies  of 
Stephen  Morin  of  glorious  memory.  It 
was  not  long,  moreover,  before  I  found  the 
original  Warrants  of  this  Lodge,  its  Book 
of  Minutes,  the  Patents  of  111.  Bros.  Samuel 
Stringer,  M.  D.,  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer, 
and  Peter  W.  Yates,  Esquires,  Deputy  In- 
spectors General  under  the  old  system  ;  also 
the  Regulations  and  Constitutions  of  the 
nine  Commissioners,  etc.,  1761,  and  other 
documents  that  had  been  left  by  Bro. 
Francken  with  the  Albany  brethren  when 
he  founded  their  Lodge.  With  the  con- 
currence of  the  surviving  members  of  said 
Lodge  in  Albany,  Dr.  Jonathan  Eights  and 
the  Hon.  and  R.  W.  Stephen  Van  Rens- 


selaer, P.  G.  M.  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
New  York.  I  aided  in  effecting  its  revival. 
The  necessary  proceedings  were  then  insti- 
tuted to  place  the  same  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  a  Grand  Council  of  Princes  of 
Jerusalem,  as  required  by  the  Old  Consti- 
tutions :  and  such  Grand  Council  was  sub- 
sequently opened  in  due  form  in  said  city. 

"  Having  been  made  aware  of  the  '  New 
Constitutions  of  the  Thirty-third  Degree,' 
ratified  on  the  1st  of  May,  1786,  conferring 
the  supreme  power  over  our  Rite  on  '  Coun- 
cils of  Nine  Brethren,'  I  hastened  to  place 
myself  in  correspondence  with  Moses 
Holbrook,  M.  D.,  at  the  time  Sovereign 
Grand  Commander  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil at  Charleston,  and  with  my  esteemed 
friends,  Joseph  McCosh,  Illustrious  Grand 
Secretary  General  of  the  last-named  Coun- 
cil, and  Bro.  Gourgas,  at  that  time  Illus- 
trious Grand  Secretary  General  of  the  H. 
E.  for  this  Northern  Jurisdiction.  Lodges 
of  Perfection  in  the  counties  of  Montgom- 
ery, Onondaga,  Saratoga,  and  Monroe,  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  were  successively 
organized  and  placed,  agreeably  to  the  Con- 
stitutions, under  the  superintendence  of  the 
Grand  Council  before  named.  The  estab- 
lishment of  this  last-named  body  was  con- 
firmed, and  all  our  proceedings  in  Sublime 
Freemasonry  were  legalized  and  sanctioned 
by  the  only  lawful  authorities  in  the  United 
States,  the  aforesaid  Supreme  Councils. 

"  On  the  16th  day  of  November,  1824, 1 
received  a  Patent  appointing  me  S.  of  S. 
of  a  Consistory  of  S.  P.  of  the  R.  S.  estab- 
lished in  the  city  of  Albany. 

"  In  1825,  I  took  my  vows,  as  a  '  Sover- 
eign Grand  Inspector  General,'  between  the 
hands  of  our  said  Brother  Joseph  McCosh, 
he  having  been  specially  deputed  for  that 
purpose.  I  was  shortly  after  constituted 
and  accredited  the  Representative  of  the 
Southern  Supreme  Grand  Council  near  the 
Northern  Supreme  Grand  Council,  of  which 
last  I  was  made  and  ever  since  have  been  a 
member." 

In  1851,  he  was  elected  Sovereign  Grand 
Commander  of  the  Supreme  Council  for  the 
Northern  Jurisdiction,  but  soon  after  re- 
signed the  office  in  favor  of  Edward  A. 
Raymond.  As  he  at  that  time  had  removed 
his  residence  to  the  city  of  New  York,  he 
was  immediately  appointed  Deputy  In- 
spector for  the  State,  and  afterwards  was 
elected  Grand  Commander  of  Cosmopolitan 
Sovereign  Consistory  of  the  State  of  New 
York. 

The  last  years  of  his  life  were  oppressed 
with  poverty,  and  he  was  compelled  to  ac- 
cept a  subordinate  office  in  the  Custom- 
House  of  New  York,  where,  in  my  visits 
to  that  city,  I  often  beheld  him  faithfully 
laboring  at  his  desk  on  tasks  which  I  pain- 


YATES 


YEAR 


899 


fully  felt  were  uncongenial  to  his  culti- 
vated intellect.  He  died  December  13, 
1859. 

Bro.  Yates  was  the  author  of  a  work  en- 
titled History  of  the  Manners  and  Ceremo- 
nies of  the  Indian  Tribes,  in  which  he  seeks 
ingeniously,  if  not  satisfactorily,  to  discover 
a  Masonic  meaning  in  the  Indian  mystic 
rites.  He  was  also  engaged  for  many  years 
in  the  compilation  of  a  valuable  Reperto- 
rium  of  Masonry,  a  work  the  manuscript  of 
which  he  left  unfinished  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  But  most  of  his  Masonic  writings 
appeared  in  contemporary  journals.  Moore's 
Freemasons'  Magazine  and  Mackey's  Ma- 
sonic Quarterly  Review  contain  valuable 
communications  from  his  pen  on  subjects 
of  Masonic  archaeology,  in  which  science 
he  had  no  superior.  He  was  also  a  poet 
of  no  mean  pretension,  as  his  Odes  of  Per- 
fection sufficiently  show. 

In  an  address  delivered  before  the  Lodge 
of  Sorrow  held  by  the  New  York  Lodge  of 
Perfection  on  the  occasion  of  his  demise, 
Bro.  Charles  T.  McClenachan  has  paid  to 
Giles  F.  Yates  this  true  and  appropriate 
tribute : 

"  In  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  this  illus- 
trious Brother, — so  just,  so  pure,  so  firm  in 
mind,  so  unobtrusive,  and  yet  so  deeply 
wrapt  in  the  one  great  ideal  of  Perfection, 
known  by  Masonic  reputation  around  the 
wide  world,  —  passed  daily  unheeded  from 
the  tediousness  of  duty  to  the  pleasures  of 
study ;  never  forsaking  the  one  great  object 
of  his  life  —  the  solving  of  the  Mysteries, 
the  searching  after  Truth.  Active,  thought- 
ful, penetrating,  his  whole  soul  ever  cen- 
tred inagrasping  desire  to  comprehend  the 
fulness  of  the  Great  Intelligence,  the  Rou- 
ach  Elohim,  or  Divine  Existence  —  his 
bright  ideal  of  Perfection  which  dwells  not 
on  earth  —  he  has  now  found  full  relief  in 
death  and  the  certain  knowledge  of  the 
Divine  reality." 

But  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has  him- 
self frankly  and  honestly,  as  was  ever  his 
wont,  described  his  own  character: 

"  I  would  fain  have  you  believe,  my  dear 
brethren,"  said  he,  "  that,  as  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  institution,  if  I  have  had  any 
ambition,  it  has  been  to  study  its  science, 
and  to  discharge  my  duties  as  a  faithful 
Mason,  rather  than  to  obtain  its  official 
honors  or  personal  benefits  of  any  kind. 
Self-aggrandizement  has  never  formed  any 

Eart  of  my  Masonic  creed,  and  all  who 
now  me  can  bear  witness  that  it  never  has 
of  my  practice." 

The  motto  he  had  selected  was  "  prodesse 
quam  conspici,"  to  do  good  rather  than  to 
be  conspicuous,  and  to  that  sentiment  he 
was  consistently  faithful  throughout  his 
well-spent  life. 


Yaveron  Ilamaini.  A  significant 
word  in  the  high  degrees.  The  French 
rituals  explain  it  as  meaning  "  the  passage 
of  the  river,"  and  refer  it  to  the  crossing 
of  the  river  Euphrates  by  the  liberated 
Jewish  captives  on  their  return  from  Baby- 
lon to  Jerusalem  to  rebuild  the  Temple. 
It  is  in  its  present  form  a  corruption  of  the 
Hebrew  sentence,  D'OH  Y"I31^>  yavaru 
hamaim,  which  signifies  "they  will  cross, 
or  pass  over,  the  waters,"  alluding  to  the 
streams  lying  between  Babylon  and  Jeru- 
salem, of  which  the  Euphrates  was  the  most 
important. 

Year,  Hebrew.  The  same  as  the 
Year  of  the  World,  which  see. 

Year  of  JLiglit.  Anno  Lucis,  in  the 
year  of  light,  is  the  epoch  used  in  Masonic 
documents  of  the  Symbolic  degrees.  This 
era  is  calculated  from  the  creation  of  the 
world,  and  is  obtained  by  adding  four  thou- 
sand to  the  current  year,  on  the  supposition 
that  Christ  was  born  four  thousand  years 
after  the  creation  of  the  world.  But  the 
chronology  of  Archbishop  Usher,  which 
has  been  adopted  as  the  Bible  chronology 
in  the  authorized  version,  places  the  birth 
of  Christ  in  the  year  4004  after  the  crea- 
tion. According  to  this  calculation,  the 
Masonic  date  for  the  "year  of  light"  is  four 
years  short  of  the  true  date,  and  the  year 
of  the  Lord  1874,  which  in  Masonic  docu- 
ments is  5874,  should  correctly  be  5878. 
The  Ancient  and  Accepted  Masons  in  the 
beginning  of  this  century  used  this  correct 
or  Usherian  era,  and  the  Supreme  Council 
at  Charleston  dated  their  first  circular,  is- 
sued in  1802,  as  5806.  Dalcho  (Ahim.  Rez., 
2d  ed.,  p.  37,)  says:  "  If  Masons  are  deter- 
mined to  fix  the  origin  of  their  Order  at  the 
time  of  the  creation,  they  should  agree 
among  themselves  at  what  time  before 
Christ  to  place  that  epoch."  At  that  agree- 
ment they  have  now  arrived.  Whatever 
differences  may  have  once  existed,  there  is 
now  a  general  consent  to  adopt  the  incor- 
rect theory  that  the  world  was  created  4000 
B.  c.  The  error  is  too  unimportant,  and 
the  practice  too  universal,  to  expect  that  it 
will  ever  be  corrected. 

Noorthouck,  (Constitutions,  p.  5,)  speak- 
ing of  the  necessity  of  adding  the  four 
years  to  make  a  correct  date,  says:  "But 
this  being  a  degree  of  accuracy  that  Ma- 
sons in  general  do  not  attend  to,  we  must, 
after  this  intimation,  still  follow  the  vulgar 
mode  of  computation  to  be  intelligible." 

As  to  the  meaning  of  the  expression,  it 
is  by  no  means  to  be  supposed  that  Masons, 
now,  intend  by  such  a  date  to  assume  that 
their  Order  is  as  old  as  the  creation.  It  is 
simply  used  as  expressive  of  reverence  for 
that  physical  light  which  was  created  by 
the  fiat  of  the  Grand  Architect,  and  which  is 


900 


YEAR 


YELLOW 


adopted  as  the  type  of  the  intellectual  light 
of  Masonry.  The  phrase  is  altogether  sym- 
bolic. 

Tear  of  Masonry.  Sometimes  used 
as  synonymous  with  Year  of  Light.  In  the 
last  century,  it  was  in  fact  the  more  frequent 
expression. 

Year  of  the  Deposite.  An  era 
adopted  by  Royal  and  Select  Masters,  and 
refers  to  the  time  when  certain  important 
secrets  were  deposited  in  the  first  Temple. 
See  Anno  Depositionis. 

Year  of  the  Discovery.  An  era 
adopted  by  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  refers 
to  the  time  when  certain  secrets  were  made 
known  to  the  Craft  at  the  building  of  the 
second  Temple.    See  Anno  Inventionis. 

Year  of  the  Order.  The  date  used 
in  documents  connected  with  Masonic 
Templarism.  It  refers  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Order  of  Knights  Templars  in  the 
year  1118.    See  Anno  Ordinis. 

Year  of  the  World.  This  is  the  era 
adopted  by  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite,  and  is  borrowed  from  the  Jewish 
computation.  The  Jews  formerly  used  the 
era  of  contracts,  dated  from  the  first  con- 
quests of  Seleucus  Nicator  in  Syria.  But 
since  the  fifteenth  century  they  have 
counted  from  the  creation,  which  they  sup- 
pose to  have  taken  place  in  September, 
3760  before  Christ.     See  Anno  Mundi. 

Yeas  and  Nays.  The  rule  existing 
in  all  parliamentary  bodies  that  a  vote  may 
be  called  for  "  by  yeas  and  nays,"  so  that 
the  vote  of  each  member  may  be  known 
and  recorded,  does  not  apply  to  Masonic 
Lodges.  Indeed,  such  a  proceeding  would 
be  unnecessary.  The  vote  by  yeas  and 
nays  in  a  representative  body  is  taken  that 
the  members  may  be  held  responsible  to 
their  constituents.  But  in  a  Lodge,  each 
member  is  wholly  independent  of  any  re- 
sponsibility, except  to  his  own  conscience. 
To  call  for  the  yeas  and  nays  being  then 
repugnant  to  the  principles  which  govern 
Lodges,  to  call  for  them  would  be  out  of 
order,  and  such  a  call  could  not  be  enter- 
tained by  the  presiding  officer. 

But  in  a  Grand  Lodge  the  responsibility 
of  the  members  to  a  constituency  does  exist, 
and  there  it  is  very  usual  to  call  for  a  vote 
by  Lodges,  when  the  vote  of  every  member 
is  recorded.  Although  the  mode  of  calling 
for  the  vote  is  different,  the  vote  by  Lodges 
is  actually  the  same  as  a  vote  by  yeas  and 
nays,  and  may  be  demanded  by  any  mem- 
ber. 

Yeldis.  An  old  hermetic  degree,  which 
Thory  says  was  given  in  some  secret  societies 
in  Germany. 

Yellow.  Of  all  the  colors,  yellow 
seems  to  be  the  least  important  and  the  least 
general  in  Masonic  symbolism.    In  other 


institutions  it  would  have  the  same  insig- 
nificance, were  it  not  that  it  has  been 
adopted  as  the  representative  of  the  sun, 
and  of  the  noble  metal  gold.  Thus,  in 
colored  blazonry,  the  small  dots,  by  which 
the  gold  in  an  engraved  coat  of  arms  is  desig- 
nated, are  replaced  by  the  yellow  color.  La 
Colombiere,  a  French  heraldic  writer,  says, 
{Science  Meroigue,  p.  30,)  in  remarking  on 
the  connection  between  gold  and  yellow, 
that  as  yellow,  which  is  derived  from  the 
sun,  is  the  most  exalted  of  colors,  so  gold 
is  the  most  noble  of  metals.  Portal  (Des 
Couleurs  Sifmboliques,  p.  64,)  says  that  the 
sun,  gold,  and  yellow  are  not  synonymous, 
but  mark  different  degrees  which  it  is. diffi- 
cult to  define.  The  natural  sun  was  the 
symbol  of  the  spiritual  sun,  gold  represented 
the  natural  sun,  and  yellow  was  the  emblem 
of  gold.  But  it  is  evident  that  yellow  de- 
rives all  its  significance  as  a  symbolic  color 
from  its  connection  with  the  hue  of  the 
rays  of  the  sun  and  the  metal  gold. 

Among  the  ancients,  the  divine  light  or 
wisdom  was  represented  by  yellow,  as  the 
divine  heat  or  power  was  by  red.  And 
this  appears  to  be  about  the  whole  of  the 
ancient  symbolism  of  this  color. 

In  the  old  ritual  of  the  Scottish  and  her- 
metic degree  of  Knight  of  the  Sun,  yellow 
was  the  symbol  of  wisdom  darting  its  rays, 
like  the  yellow  beams  of  the  morning,  to 
enlighten  a  waking  world.  In  the  Prince 
of  Jerusalem,  it  was  also  formerly  the  char- 
acteristic color,  perhaps  with  the  same 
meaning,  in  reference  to  the  elevated  posi- 
tion that  that  degree  occupied  in  the  Rite 
of  Perfection,  and  afterwards  in  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Rite. 

Thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  yellow  was  the 
characteristic  color  of  the  Mark  Master's 
degree,  derived,  perhaps,  from  the  color  of 
the  Princes  of  Jerusalem,  who  originally 
issued  charters  for  Mark  Lodges;  for  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  possessed  any  symbolic 
meaning. 

In  fact,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  all 
the  symbolism  of  yellow  must  be  referred 
to  and  explained  by  the  symbolism  of  gold 
and  of  the  sun,  of  which  it  is  simply  the 
representative. 

Yellow  Jacket.  Prichard  says  that 
in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  the 
following  formed  a  part  of  the  catechism : 

"  Have  you  seen  your  Master  to-day  ? 

"Yes. 

"  How  was  he  cloathed  ? 

"  In  a  yellow  jacket  and  a  blue  pair  of 
breeches." 

And  he  explains  it  by  saying  that  "the 
yellow  jacket  is  the  compasses,  and  the  blue 
breeches  the  steel  points." 

On  this  Krause  (Kunsturk.,  ii.  78,)  re- 
marks that    this   sportive    comparison  is 


YEVELE 


YORK 


901 


altogether  in  the  puerile  spirit  of  the  pecu- 
liar interrogatories  which  are  found  among 
many  other  crafts,  and  is  without  doubt 

fenuine  as  originating  in  the  working 
lodges.  Prichard's  explanation  is  natural, 
and  Krause's  remark  correct.  But  it  is  vain 
to  attempt  to  elevate  the  idea  by  attaching 
to  it  a  symbolism  of  gold  and  azure  —  the 
blue  sky  and  the  meridian  sun.  No  such 
thought  entered  into  the  minds  of  the  illit- 
erate operatives  with  whom  the  question 
and  answer  originated. 

Yevele,  Henry.  He  was  one  of  the 
Magistri  Operis,  or  Masters  of  the  Work,  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  for  whom  he  con- 
structed several  public  edifices.  Anderson 
says  that  he  is  called,  "  in  the  Old  Records, 
the  King's  Freemason ;"  but  his  name  does 
not  occur  in  any  of  the  old  manuscript 
Constitutions  that  are  now  extant. 

Yggrasil.  The  sacred  ash-tree  of  the 
Scandinavian  mysteries,  which  Oliver  says 
was  analogous  to  the  mystical  ladder  of  other 
Rites.   If  so,  the  symbolism  is  very  abstruse. 

Y-ha-ho.  Higgins  (Anacalypsis,  ii. 
17,)  cites  the  Abbe  Bazin  as  saying  that 
this  was  the  name  esteemed  most  sacred 
among  the  ancient  Egyptians.  Clement  of 
Alexandria  asserts,  in  his  Stromata,  that  all 
those  who  entered  into  the  temple  of  Serapis 
were  obliged  to  wear  conspicuously  on  their 
persons  the  name  I-ha-ho,  which  he  says 
signifies  the  Eternal  God.  The  resemblance 
to  the  Tetragrammaton  is  apparent. 

Yod.  The  Hebrew  letter  »,  equivalent 
in  sound  to  I  or  Y.  It  is  the  initial  letter 
of  the  word  Hit"!*,  or  Jehovah,  the  Tetra- 
grammaton, and  hence  was  peculiarly  sa- 
cred among  the  Talmudists.  Basnage,  (lib. 
iii.,  c.  13,)  while  treating  of  the  mysteries 
of  the  name  Jehovah  among  the  Jews,  says 
of  this  letter : 

"The  yod  in  Jehovah  is  one  of  those 
things  which  eye  hath  not  seen,  but  which 
has  been  concealed  from  all  mankind.  Its 
essence  and  matter  are  incomprehensible ; 
it  is  not  lawful  so  much  as  to  meditate  upon 
it.  Man  may  lawfully  revolve  his  thoughts 
from  one  end  of  the  heavens  to  the  other, 
but  he  cannot  approach  that  inaccessible 
light,  that  primitive  existence,  contained  in 
the  letter  yod;  and  indeed  the  masters  call 
the  letter  thought  or  idea,  and  prescribe  no 
bounds  to  its  efficacy.  It  was  this  letter 
which,  flowing  from  the  primitive  light, 
gave  being  to  emanations.  It  wearied  itself 
by  the  way,  but  assumed  a  new  vigor  by  the 
sense  of  the  letter  j""l,  which  makes  the  sec- 
ond letter  of  the  Ineffable  Name." 

In    Symbolic    Masonry,    the    yod    has 
been     replaced    by    the    letter    G.     But 
in  the  high  degrees  it  is  retained, 
and  within   a  triangle,  thus,    con- 
stitutes the  symbol  of  the  Deity. 


Yoni.  Among  the  Orientalists,  the 
yoni  was  the  female  symbol  corresponding 
to  the  lingam,  or  male  principle.  The 
lingam  and  yoni  of  the  East  assumed  the 
names  of  Phallus  and  Cteis  among  the 
Greeks. 

York  Constitutions.  This  docu- 
ment, which  is  also  called  Krause's  MS., 
Eurports  to  be  the  Constitutions  adopted 
y  the  General  Assembly  of  Masons  that 
was  held  at  York  in  926.  (See  York  Le- 
gend.) No  original  manuscript  copy  of  it 
can  be  found,  but  a  German  translation 
from  a  Latin  version  was  published,  for  the 
first  time,  by  Krause  in  Die  drei  dltesten 
Kunsturkunden  der  Freimaurerbruderschaft. 
It  will  be  found  in  the  third  edition  of  that 
work,  (vol.  iii.,  pp.  58-101.)  Krause's  ac- 
count of  it  is,  that  it  was  translated  from 
the  original,  which  is  said,  in  a  certificate 
dated  January  4,  1806,  and  signed  "Stone- 
house,"  to  have  been  written  on  parch- 
ment in  the  ancient  language  of  the  coun- 
try, and  preserved  at  the  city  of  York, 
"  apud  Rev.  summam  societatem  architec- 
tonicam,"  which  Woodford  translates  "  an 
architectural  society,"  but  which  is  evi- 
dently meant  for  the  "Grand  Lodge." 
From  this  Latin  translation  a  German  ver- 
sion was  made  in  1808  by  Bro.  Schneider 
of  Altenberg,  the  correctness  of  which,  hav- 
ing been  examined  by  three  linguists,  is 
certified  by  Carl  Erdmann  Weller,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Government  Tribunal  of  Saxony. 
And  it  is  this  certified  German  translation 
that  has  been  published  by  Krause  in  his 
Kunsturkunden.  An  English  version  was 
inserted  by  Bro.  Hughan  in  his  Old  Charges 
of  British  Freemasons.  The  document  con- 
sists, like  all  the  old  manuscripts,  of  an  in- 
troductory invocation,  a  history  of  archi- 
tecture or  the  "  Legend  of  the  Craft,"  and 
the  general  statutes  or  charges ;  but  several 
of  the  charges  differ  from  those  in  the  other 
Constitutions.  There  is,  however,  a  gen- 
eral resemblance  sufficient  to  indicate  a 
common  origin.  The  appearance  of  this 
document  gave  rise  in  Germany  to  dis- 
cussions as  to  its  authenticity.  Krause, 
Schneider,  Fessler,  and  many  other  distin- 
guished Masons,  believed  it  to  be  genuine; 
while  Kloss  denied  it,  and  contended  that 
the  Latin  translation  which  was  certified 
by  Stonehouse  had  been  prepared  before 
1806,  and  that  in  preparing  it  an  ancient 
manuscript  had  been  remodelled  on  the 
basis  of  the  1738  edition  of  Anderson's 
Constitutions,  because  the  term  "  Noachida  " 
is  employed  in  both,  but  is  found  nowhere 
else.  At  length,  in  1864,  Bro.  Findel  was 
sent  by  the  "  Society  of  German  Masons  " 
to  England  to  discover  the  original.  His 
report  of  his  journey  was  that  it  was  nega- 
tive in  its  results ;  no  such  document  was  to 


902 


YORK 


YORK 


be  found  in  the  archives  of  the  old  Lodge 
at  York,  and  no  such  person  as  Stonehouse 
was  known  in  that  city.  These  two  facts, 
to  which  may  be  added  the  further  argu- 
ments that  no  mention  is  made  of  it  in  the 
Fabric  Bolls  of  York  Minster,  published  by 
the  Surtees  Society,  nor  in  the  inventory 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  York  which  was  ex- 
tant in  1777,  nor  by  Drake  in  his  speech 
delivered  before  the  Grand  Lodge  in  1726, 
and  a  few  other  reasons,  have  led  Findel  to 
agree  with  Kloss  that  the  document  is  not 
a  genuine  York  Charter.  Such,  too,  is  the 
general  opinion  of  English  Masonic  schol- 
ars. There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
General  Assembly  at  York,  in  926,  did  frame 
a  body  of  laws  or  Constitutions ;  but  there 
is  almost  as  little  doubt  that  they  are  not 
represented  by  the  Stonehouse  or  Krause 
document. 

York.  Legend.  The  city  of  York, 
in  the  north  of  England,  is  celebrated  for 
its  traditional  connection  with  Masonry 
in  that  kingdom.  No  topic  in  the  his- 
tory of  Freemasonry  has  so  much  engaged 
the  attention  of  modern  Masonic  scholars, 
or  given  occasion  to  more  discussion, 
than  the  alleged  facts  of  the  existence  of 
Masonry  in  the  tenth  century  at  the  city 
of  York  as  a  prominent  point,  of  the  call- 
ing of  a  congregation  of  the  Craft  there  in 
the  year  926,  of  the  organization  of  a  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  the  adoption  of  a  Con- 
stitution. During  the  whole  of  the  last  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  present  century,  the 
Fraternity  in  general  have  accepted  all  of 
these  statements  as  genuine  portions  of 
authentic  history ;  and  the  adversaries  of 
the  Order  have,  with  the  same  want  of  dis- 
crimination, rejected  them  all  as  myths; 
while  a  few  earnest  seekers  for  truth  have 
been  at  a  loss  to  determine  what  part  was 
historical  and  what  part  legendary.  Re- 
cently, the  discovery  of  many  old  manu- 
scripts has  directed  the  labors  of  such 
scholars  as  Hughan,  Woodford,  Lyon,  and 
others,  to  the  critical  examination  of  the 
early  history  of  Masonry,  and  that  of  York 
has  particularly  engaged  their  attention. 

For  a  thorough  comprehension  of  the 
true  merits  of  this  question,  it  will  be  nec- 
essary that  the  student  should  first  acquaint 
himself  with  what  was,  until  recently,  the 
recognized  theory  as  to  the  origin  of  Ma- 
sonry at  York,  and  then  that  he  should 
examine  the  newer  hypotheses  advanced  by 
the  writers  of  the  present  day.  In  other 
words,  he  must  read  both  the  tradition  and 
the  history. 

In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  I  propose  to 
commence  with  the  legends  of  York  Ma- 
sonry, as  found  in  the  old  manuscript  Con- 
stitutions, and  then  proceed  to  a  review  of 
what  has  been  the  result  of  recent  investi- 


gations. It  may  be  premised  that,  of  all 
those  who  have  subjected  these  legends  to 
the  crucible  of  historical  criticism,  Brother 
William  James  Hughan  of  Cornwall,  in 
England,  must  unhesitatingly  be  acknowl- 
edged as  "  facile  princeps,"  the  ablest,  the 
most  laborious,  and  the  most  trustworthy 
investigator.  He  was  the  first  and  the 
most  successful  remover  of  the  cloud  of 
tradition  which  so  long  had  obscured  the 
sunlight  of  history. 

The  legend  which  connects  the  origin  of 
English  Masonry  at  York  in  926  is  some- 
times called  the  "  York  Legend,"  sometimes 
the  "Athelstane  Legend,"  because  the 
General  Assembly,  said  to  have  been  held 
there,  occurred  during  the  reign  of  that 
king ;  and  sometimes  the  "  Edwin  Legend," 
because  that  prince  is  supposed  to  have  been 
at  the  head  of  the  Craft,  and  to  have  con- 
voked them  together  to  form  a  Constitution. 

The  earliest  extant  of  the  old  manuscript 
Constitutions  is  the  ancient  poem  com- 
monly known  as  the  Halliwell  MS.,  and 
the  date  of  which  is  conjectured  (on  good 
grounds)  to  be  about  the  year  1390.  In 
that  work  we  find  the  following  version  of 
the  legend : 

"  Thys  craft  com  ynto  Englond  as  y  yow  say, 

Yn  tyme  of  good  kynge  Adelstonus'  day ; 

He  made  tho  bothe"  halle  and  eke  bowre, 

And  hye  templus  of  gret  honowre, 

To  sportyn  him  yn  bothe  day  and  nygth, 

An  to  worschepe  hys  God  with  alle  hys  mygth. 

Thys  goode  loroe  loved  thys  craft  ful  wel, 

And  purposud  to  strenthyn  hyt  every  del, 

For  dyvers  defawtys  that  yn  the  craft  he  fonde ; 

He  sende  abonte  ynto  the  londe 

After  alle  the  masonus  of  the  crafte, 

To  come  to  hvm  ful  eveDe  stray fte, 

For  to  amende  these  defautys  alle 

By  good  consel  gef  hyt  mytgth  falle. 

A  semblS  thenne  he  cowthe  let  make 

Of  dyvers  lordis  yn  here  state 

Dukys,  erlys,  and  barnes  also, 

Knygthys,  sqwyers  and  mony  mo, 

And  the  grete  burges  of  that  syt6, 

They  were  ther  alle  yn  here  degrl ; 

These  were  there  uchon  algate, 

To  ordeyne  for  these  masonus  astate, 

Ther  they  sowgton  by  here  wytte 

How  they  mygthyn  governe  hytte : 

Fyftene  artyculns  they  there  sowgton, 

And  fyftene  poyntys  ther  they  wrogton." 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  not  fa- 
miliar with  this  archaic  style,  the  passage 
is  translated  into  modern  English. 

"  This  craft  came  into  England,  as  I  tell 
you,  in  the  time  of  good  king  Athelstan's 
reign ;  he  made  then  both  hall,  and  also 
bower  and  lofty  temples  of  great  honor,  to 
take  his  recreation  in  both  day  and  night, 
and  to  worship  his  God  with  all  his  might. 
This  good  lord  loved  this  craft  full  well,  and 
purposed  to  strengthen  it  in  every  part  on 
account  of  various  defects  that  he  discovered 


YORK 


YORK 


903 


in  the  craft.  He  sent  about  into  all  the 
land,  after  all  the  masons  of  the  craft,  to 
come  straight  to  him,  to  amend  all  these 
defects  by  good  counsel,  if  it  might  so  hap- 
pen. He  then  permitted  an  assembly  to  be 
made  of  divers  lords  in  their  rank,  dukes, 
earls,  and  barons,  also  knights,  squires,  and 
many  more,  and  the  great  burgesses  of  that 
city,  they  were  all  there  in  their  degree; 
these  were  there,  each  one  in  every  way  to 
make  laws  for  the  estate  of  these  masons. 
There  they  sought  by  their  wisdom  how 
they  might  govern  it ;  there  they  found  out 
fifteen  articles,  and  there  they  made  fifteen 
points." 

The  next  old  document  in  which  we  find 
this  legend  recited  is  that  known  as  the 
"  Cooke  MS.,"  whose  date  is  placed  at  1490. 
The  details  are  here  much  more  full  than 
those  contained  in  the  Halliwell  MS.  The 
passage  referring  to  the  legend  is  as  follows : 

"  And  after  that  was  a  worthy  kynge  in 
Englond,  that  was  callyd  Athelstone,  and 
his  yongest  son  lovyd  well  the  sciens  of 
Gemetry,  and  he  wyst  well  that  hand  craft 
had  the  practyke  of  the  sciens  of  Gemetry 
so  well  as  masons ;  wherefore  he  drew  him 
to  consell  and  lernyd  [the]  practyke  of  that 
sciens  to  his  speculatyf.  For  of  specula- 
tyfe  he  was  a  master,  and  he  lovyd  well 
masonry  and  masons.  And  he  bicome  a 
mason  hyraselfe.  And  he  gaf  hem  [gave 
them]  charges  and  names  as  it  is  now  usyd 
in  Englond  and  in  other  countries.  And 
he  ordeyned  that  they  schulde  have  reson- 
abull  pay.  And  purchesed  [obtained]  a  fre 
patent  of  the  kyng  that  they  schulde  make 
a  sembly  when  thei  sawe  resonably  tyme  a 
[to]  cum  togedir  to  her  [their]  counsell  of 
the  whiche  charges,  manors  &  semble  as  is 
write  and  taught  in  the  boke  of  our  charges 
wherefor  I  leve  hit  at  this  tyme." 

Thus  much  is  contained  in  the  MS.  from 
lines  611  to  642.  Subsequently,  in  lines 
688-719,  which  appear  to  have  been  taken 
from  what  is  above  called  the  "  Boke  of 
Charges,"  the  legend  is  repeated  in  these 
words : 

"In  this  manner  was  the  forsayde  art 
begun ne  in  the  lond  of  Egypt  bi  the  for- 
sayd  maister  Euglat  [Euclid],  &  so  hit  went 
fro  lond  to  londe  and  fro  kyngdome  to 
kyngdome.  After  that,  many  yeris,  in  the 
tyme  of  Kyng  Adhelstone,  wiche  was  sum 
tyme  kynge  of  Englonde,  bi  his  counsell 
and  other  gret  lordys  of  the  lond  bi  comin 

E common]  assent  for  grete  defaut  y-fennde 
found]  among  masons  thei  ordeyned  a 
certayne  reule  amongys  hem  [them].  On 
[one]  tyme  of  the  yere  or  in  iii  yere,  as 
nede  were  to  the  kyng  and  gret  lordys  of 
the  londe  and  all  the  comente  [commu- 
nity], fro  provynce  to  provynce  and  fro 
countre  to  countre  congregacions  scholde 


be  made  by  maisters,  of  all  maisters  ma- 
sons and  felaus  in  the  forsayd  art.  And  so 
at  such  congregacions  they  that  be  made 
masters  schold  be  examined  of  the  articuls 
after  written,  &  be  ransacked  [thoroughly 
examined]  whether  thei  be  abull  and  kun- 
nyng  [able  and  skilful]  to  the  profyte  of 
the  lordys  hem  to  serve  [to  serve  them], 
and  to  the  honor  of  the  forsayd  art." 

Seventy  years  later,  in  1560,  the  Lands- 
downe  MS.  was  written,  and  in  it  we  find 
the  legend  still  further  developed,  and 
Prince  Edwin  for  the  first  time  introduced 
by  name.    That  manuscript  reads  thus : 

"  Soone  after  the  Decease  of  St.  Albones, 
there  came  Diverse  Warrs  into  England 
out  of  Diverse  Nations,  so  that  the  good 
rule  of  Masons  was  dishired  [disturbed] 
and  put  down  until  the  tyme  of  King 
Adilston.  In  his  tyme  there  was  a  worthy 
King  in  England,  that  brought  this  Land 
into  good  rest,  and  he  builded  many  great 
workes  and  buildings,  therefore  he  loved 
well  Masons,  for  he  had  a  sone  called  Ed- 
win, the  which  Loved  Masons  much  more 
than  his  Father  did,  and  he  was  soe  prac- 
tized in  Geometry,  that  he  delighted  much 
to  come  and  talke  with  Masons  and  to 
learne  of  them  the  Craft.  And  after,  for  the 
love  he  had  to  Masons  and  to  the  Craft, 
he  was  made  Mason  at  Windsor,  and  he 
gott  of  the  King,  his  Father,  a  Charter  and 
commission  once  every  yeare  to  have  As- 
sembley,  within  the  Realme  where  they 
would  within  England,  and  to  correct 
within  themselves  Faults  &  Tresspasses 
that  were  done  as  touching  the  Craft,  and 
he  held  them  an  Assembley,  and  there  he 
made  Masons  and  gave  them  Charges,  and 
taught  them  the  Manners  and  Comands 
the  same  to  be  kept  ever  afterwards.  And 
tooke  them  the  Charter  and  commission  to 
keep  their  Assembly,  and  Ordained  that  it 
should  be  renewed  from  King  to  King,  and 
when  the  Assembly  were  gathered  to- 
geather  he  made  a  Cry,  that  all  old  Masons 
or  young,  that  had  any  Writeings  or  Vnder- 
standing  of  the  Charges  and  manners  that 
weere  made  before  their  Lands,  where- 
soever they  were  made  Masons,  that  they 
should  shew  them  forth,  there  were  found 
some  in  French,  some  in  Greek,  some  in 
Hebrew,  and  some  in  English,  and  some  in 
other  Languages,  and  when  they  were  read 
and  over  seen  well  the  intent  of  them  was 
vnderstood  to  be  all  one,  and  then  he 
caused  a  Book  to  be  made  thereof  how  this 
worthy  Craft  of  Masonrie  was  first  founded, 
and  he  himselfe  comanded,  and  also  then 
caused,  that  it  should  be  read  at  any  tyme 
when  it  should  happen  any  Mason  or  Ma- 
sons to  be  made  to  give  him  or  them  their 
Charges,  and  from  that,  until  this  Day, 
Manners  of  Masons  have  been  kept  in  this 


904 


YORK 


YORK 


Manner  and  forme,  as  well  as  Men  might 
Governe  it,  and  Furthermore  at  diverse 
Assemblyes  have  been  put  and  Ordained 
diverse  Charges  by  the  best  advice  of  Mas- 
ters and  Fellows." 

AH  the  subsequent  manuscripts  contain 
the  legend  substantially  as  it  is  in  the 
Landsdowne ;  and.  most  of  them  appear  to 
be  mere  copies  of  it,  or,  most  probably,  of 
some  original  one  of  which  both  they  and 
it  are  copies. 

In  1723  Dr.  Anderson  published  the  first 
edition  of  the  Book  of  Constitutions,  in 
which  the  history  of  the  fraternity  of  Free- 
masons is,  he  says,  "collected  from  their 
general  records  and  their  faithful  traditions 
of  many  ages."  He  gives  the  legend  taken, 
as  he  says,  from  "  a  certain  record  of  Free- 
masons written  in  the  reign  of  King  Ed- 
ward IV.,"  which  manuscript,  Preston  as- 
serts, "  is  said  to  have  been  in  the  possession 
of  the  famous  Elias  Ashmole."  As  the  old 
manuscripts  were  generally  inaccessible  to 
the  Fraternity,  (and,  indeed,  until  recently 
but  few  of  them  had  been  discovered,)  it  is 
to  the  publication  of  the  legend  by  Ander- 
son, and  subsequently  by  Preston,  that  we 
are  to  attribute  its  general  adoption  by  the 
Craft  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half. 
The  form  of  the  legend,  as  given  by  Ander- 
son in  his  first  edition,  varies  slightly  from 
that  in  his  second.  In  the  former,  he  places 
the  date  of  the  occurrence  at  930;  in  his 
second,  at  926 :  in  the  former,  he  styles  the 
congregation  at  York  a  General  Lodge;  in 
his  second,  a  Grand  Lodge.  Now,  as  the 
modern  and  universally  accepted  form  of 
the  legend  agrees  in  both  respects  with  the 
latter  statement,  and  not  with  the  former, 
it  must  be  concluded  that  the  second  edi- 
tion, and  the  subsequent  ones  by  Entick 
and  Noorthouck,  who  only  repeat  Ander- 
son, furnished  the  form  of  the  legend  as 
now  popular. 

In  the  second  edition  of  the  Constitutions, 
(p.  63,)  published  in  1738,  Anderson  gives 
the  legend  in  the  following  words : 

"  In  all  the  Old  Constitutions  it  is  writ- 
ten to  this  purpose,  viz. : 

"  That  though  the  antient  records  of  the 
Brotherhood  in  England  were  most  of  them 
destroyd  or  lost  in  the  war  with  the  Danes, 
who  burnt  the  Monasteries  where  the  Rec- 
ords were  kept;  yet  King  Athelstan,  (the 
Grandson  of  King  Alfred,)  the  first  an- 
nointed  King  of  England,  who  translated 
the  Holy  Bible  into  the  Saxon  language, 
when  he  had  brought  the  land  into  rest  and 
peace,  built  many  great  works,  and  encour- 
aged many  Masons  from  France  and  else- 
where, whom  he  appointed  overseers  there- 
of: they  brought  with  them  the  Charges  and 
Regulations  of  the  foreign  Lodges,  and  pre- 
vailed with  the  King  to  increase  the  wages. 

"That  Prince  Edwin,  the  King's  Brother, 


being  taught  Geometry  and  Masonry,  for 
the  love  he  had  to  the  said  Craft,  and  to  the 
honorable  principles  whereon  it  is  grounded, 
purchased  a  Free  Charter  of  King  Athel- 
stan his  Brother,  for  the  Free  Masons  hav- 
ing among  themselves  a  Connection,  or  a 
power  and  freedom  to  regulate  themselves, 
to  amend  what  might  happen  amiss,  and  to 
hold  an  yearly  Communication  in  a  General 
Assembly. 

"That  accordingly  Prince  Edwin  sum- 
mon'd  all  the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  in 
the  Realm,  to  meet  him  in  the  Congrega- 
tion at  York,  who  came  and  form'd  the 
Grand  Lodge  under  him  as  their  Grand 
Master,  A.  D.  926. 

"  That  they  brought  with  them  many  old 
Writings  and  Records  of  the  Craft,  some  in 
Greek,  some  in  Latin,  some  in  French,  and 
other  languages;  and  from  the  contents 
thereof,  they  framed  the  Constitutions 
of  the  English  Lodges,  and  made  a  Law  for 
themselves,  to  preserve  and  observe  the 
same  in  all  Time  coming,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." 

Preston  accepted  the  legend,  and  gave  it 
in  his  second  edition  (p.  198)  in  the  fol- 
lowing words: 

"  Edward  died  in  924,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Athelstane  his  son,  who  appointed  his 
brother  Edwin  patron  of  the  Masons.  This 
prince  procured  a  Charter  from  Athelstane, 
empowering  them  to  meet  annually  in  com- 
munication at  York.  In  this  city,  the  first 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  was  formed  in 
926,  at  which  Edwin  presided  as  Grand 
Master.  Here  many  old  writings  were  pro- 
duced in  Greek,  Latin,  and  other  languages, 
from  which  it  is  said  the  Constitutions  of  the 
English  Lodge  have  been  extracted." 

Such  is  the  "  York  legend,"  as  it  has 
been  accepted  by  the  Craft,  contained  in 
all  the  old  manuscripts  from  at  least  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century  to  the  present 
day;  officially  sanctioned  by  Anderson, 
the  historiographer  of  the  Grand  Lodge  in 
1723,  and  repeated  by  Preston,  by  Oliver, 
and  by  almost  all  succeeding  Masonic 
writers.  Only  recently  has  any  one  thought 
of  doubting  its  authenticity;  and  now 
the  important  question  in  Masonic  litera- 
ture is  whether  it  is  a  myth  or  a  history  — 
whether  it  is  all  or  in  any  part  fiction  or 
truth  —  and  if  so,  what  portion  belongs  to 
the  former  and  what  to  the  latter  category. 
In  coming  to  a  conclusion  on  this  subject, 
the  question  necessarily  divides  itself  into 
three  forms. 

1.  Was  there  an  Assembly  of  Masons  held 
in  or  about  the  year  926,  at  York,  under 
the  patronage  or  by  the  permission  of  King 
Athelstan  ? 

There  is  nothing  in  the  personal  char- 
acter or  the  political  conduct  of  Athelstan 
that  forbids  such  a  possibility  or  even  prob- 
ability.    He  was  liberal  in  his  ideas,  like 


YORK 


YORK 


905 


his  grandfather  the  great  Alfred ;  he  was  a 

f>romoter  of  civilization ;  he  patronized 
earning,  built  many  churches  and  monas- 
teries, encouraged  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  gave  charters  to  many  oper- 
ative companies.  In  his  reign,  the  frith- 
gildan"  free  gilds  or  sodalities,  were  incor- 
porated by  law.  There  is,  therefore,  noth- 
ing improbable  in  supposing  that  he  ex- 
tended his  protection  to  the  Operative 
Masons.  The  uninterrupted  existence  for 
several  centuries  of  a  tradition  that  such  an 
Assembly  was  held,  requires  that  those  who 
deny  it  should  furnish  some  more  satisfac- 
tory reason  for  their  opinion  than  has  yet 
been  produced.  "  Incredulity,"  says  Vol- 
taire, is  the  foundation  of  history."  But 
it  must  be  confessed  that,  while  an  excess 
of  credulity  often  mistakes  fable  for  reality, 
an  obstinacy  of  incredulity  as  frequently 
leads  to  the  rejection  of  truth  as  fiction. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Woodford,  in  an  essay  on  The 
Connection  of  York  with  the  History  of  Free- 
masonry in  England,  inserted  in  Hugh  an 's 
Unpublished  Records  of  the  Craft,  has  criti- 
cally discussed  this  subject,  and  comes  to 
this  conclusion.  "  I  see  no  reason,  there- 
fore, to  reject  so  old  a  tradition,  that  under 
Athelstan  the  Operative  Masons  obtained 
his  patronage,  and  met  in  General  Assem- 
bly.     To  that  verdict  I  subscribe. 

2.  Was  Edwin,  the  brother  of  Athelstan, 
the  person  who  convoked  that  Assembly  ? 
This  question  has  already  been  discussed  in 
the  article  Edwin,  where  the  suggestion  is 
made  that  the  Edwin  alluded  to  in  the 
legend  was  not  the  son  or  brother  of  Athel- 
stan, but  Edwin,  king  of  Northumbria. 
Francis  Drake,  in  his  speech  before  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  York  in  1726,  was,  I 
think,  the  first  who  publicly  advanced  this 
opinion;  but  he  does  so  in  a  way  that  shows 
that  the  view  must  have  been  generally  ac- 
cepted by  his  auditors,  and  not  advanced  by 
him  as  something  new.  He  says:  "You 
know  we  can  boast  that  the  first  Grand 
Lodge  ever  held  in  England  was  held  in 
this  city,  where  Edwin,  the  first  Christian 
king  of  Northumbria,  about  the  six  hun- 
dredth year  after  Christ,  and  who  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  Cathedral,  sat  as  Graud 
Master." 

Edwin,  who  was  born  in  586,  ascended 
the  throne  in  617,  and  died  in  633.  He 
was  pre-eminent,  among  the  Anglo-Saxon 
kings  who  were  his  contemporaries,  for 
military  genius  and  statesmanship.  So  in- 
flexible was  his  administration  of  justice, 
that  it  was  said  that  in  his  reign  a  woman 
or  child  might  carry  everywhere  a  purse 
of  gold  without  danger  of  robbery,  —  high 
commendation  in  those  days  of  almost  un- 
bridled rapine.  The  chief  event  of  the 
reign  of  Edwin  was  the  introduction  of 
50 


Christianity  into  the  kingdom  of  Northum- 
bria. Previous  to  his  reign,  the  northern 
metropolis  of  the  Church  had  been  placed 
at  York,  and  the  king  patronized  Paulinus 
the  bishop,  giving  him  a  house  and  other 
possessions  in  that  city.  The  only  objec- 
tion to  this  theory  is  its  date,  which  is  three 
hundred  years  before  the  reign  of  Athelstan 
and  the  supposed  meeting  at  York  in  926. 
3.  Are  the  Constitutions  which  were 
adopted  by  that  General  Assembly  now  ex- 
tant? It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  that  if  a 
General  Assembly  was  held,  it  must  have 
adopted  Constitutions  or  regulations  for  the 
government  of  the  Craft.  Such  would 
mainly  be  the  object  of  the  meeting.  But 
there  is  no  sufficient  evidence  that  the  Regu- 
lations now  called  the  'York  Constitutions," 
or  the  "Gothic  Constitutions,"  are  those 
that  were  adopted  in  926.  It  is  more  prob- 
able that  the  original  document  and  all 
genuine  copies  of  it  are  lost,  and  that  it 
formed  the  type  from  which  all  the  more 
modern  manuscript  Constitutions  have  been 
formed.  There  is  the  strongest  internal 
evidence  that  all  the  manuscripts,  from  the 
Halliwell  to  the  Papworth,  had  a  common 
original,  from  which  they  were  copied  with 
more  or  less  accuracy,  or  on  which  they 
were  framed  with  more  or  less  modification. 
And  this  original  I  suppose  to  be  the  Con- 
stitutions which  must  have  been  adopted  at 
the  General  Assembly  at  York. 

The  theory,  then,  which  I  think  may  safely 
be  advanced  on  this  subject,  and  which  must 
be  maintained  until  there  are  better  reasons 
than  we  now  have  to  reject  it,  is,  that  about 
the  year  926  a  German  Assembly  of  Masons 
was  held  at  York,  under  the  patronage  of 
Edwin,  brother  of  Athelstan,  at  which 
Assembly  a  code  of  laws  was  adopted,  which 
became  the  basis  on  which  all  subsequent 
Masonic  Constitutions  were  framed. 

York  Manuscripts.  Originally 
there  were  six  manuscripts  of  the  Old  Con- 
stitutions bearing  this  title,  because  they 
were  deposited  in  the  Archives  of  the  now 
extinct  Grand  Lodge  of  all  England,  whose 
seat  was  at  the  city  of  Y ork.  But  the  MS. 
No.  3  is  now  missing,  although  it  is  men- 
tioned in  the  inventory  made  at  York  in 
1779.  Nos.  2,  4,  and  5  are  now  in  pos- 
session of  the  York  Lodge.  Recently  Bro. 
Hughan  discovered  Nos.  2  and  6  in  the 
Archives  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England, 
at  London.  The  dates  of  these  manuscripts, 
which  do  not  correspond  with  the  number 
of  their  titles,  are  as  follows : 

No.  1  has  the  date  of  1600. 

"    2        "  "     1704. 

"    3        "  "     1630. 

"    4        "  "     1693. 

"    5        "  "     1670. 

"    6        "  "     1680. 


906 


YORK 


YORK 


Of  these  manuscripts,  No.  1  was  published 
by  Bro.  Hughan  in  his  Old  Charges  of 
British  Freemasons,  and  Nos.  2  and  4,  by  the 
same  author,  in  his  History  of  Freemasonry 
in  York.  The  other  manuscripts  are  as  yet 
unpublished.  Bro.  Hughan  deems  No.  4 
of  some  importance  because  it  contains  the 
following  sentence :  "  The  one  of  the  elders 
takeing  the  Booke,  and  that  hee  or  shee  that 
is  to  be  made  mason  shall  lay  their  hands 
thereon,  and  the  charge  shall  bee  given." 
This,  he  thinks,  affords  some  presumption 
that  women  were  admitted  as  members  of 
the  old  Masonic  gilds,  although  he  admits 
that  we  possess  no  other  evidence  confirma- 
tory of  this  theory.  The  truth  is,  that  the 
sentence  was  a  translation  of  the  same 
clause  written  in  other  old  Constitutions 
in  Latin.  In  the  York  MS.  No.  1,  the 
sentence  is  thus :  "  Tunc  unus  ex  senioribus 
teneat  librum  et  Me  vel  Mi"  etc.,  i.  e.,  " he 
or  they."  The  writer  of  No.  4  copied,  most 
probably,  from  No.  1,  and  his  translation 
of  "  hee  or  shee  "  from  "  Me  vel  Mi,"  instead 
of  "  he  or  they,"  was  either  the  result  of  ig- 
norance in  mistaking  Mi,  they,  for  Ma,  she, 
or  of  carelessness  in  writing  shee  for  they. 
It  is  evident  that  the  charges  thus  to  be 
sworn  to,  and  which  immediately  follow, 
were  of  such  a  nature  as  made  most  of  them 
physically  impossible  for  women  to  perform ; 
nor  are  females  alluded  to  in  any  other  of 
the  manuscripts.  All  Masons  there  are 
"  Fellows,"  and  are  so  to  be  addressed. 

There  are  two  other  York  Manuscripts  of 
the  Operative  Masons,  which  have  been 
published  in  the  Fabric  Rolls  of  York  Min- 
ster, an  invaluable  work,  edited  by  the  Rev. 
James  Raine,  and  issued  under  the  patron- 
age and  at  the  expense  of  the  Surtees  Society. 

York  Rite.  This  is  the  oldest  of  all 
the  Rites,  and  consisted  originally  of  only 
three  degrees:  1.  Entered  Apprentice;  2. 
Fellow  Craft ;  3.  Master  Mason.  The  last 
included  a  part  which  contained  the  True 
Word,  but  which  was  disrupted  from  it 
by  Dunckerley  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
last  century,  and  has  never  been  restored. 
The  Rite  in  its  purity  does  not  now  exist 
anywhere.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  is 
the  St.  John's  Masonry  of  Scotland,  but 
the  Master's  degree  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Scotland  is  not  the  Master's  degree  of  the 
York  Rite.  When  Dunckerley  dismembered 
the  third  degree,  he  destroyed  the  identity 
of  the  Rite.  In  1813,  it  was  apparently 
recognized  by  the  United  Grand  Lodge  of 
England,  when  it  defined  "  pure  Ancient 
Masonry  to  consist  of  three  degrees,  and  no 
more :  viz.,  those  of  the  Entered  Appren- 
tice, the  Fellow  Craft,  and  the  Master  Ma- 
son, including  the  Supreme  Order  of  the 
Holy  Royal  Arch."    Had  the  Grand  Lodge 


abolished  the  Royal  Arch  degree,  which  was 
then  practised  as  an  independent  Order  in 
England,  and  reincorporated  its  secrets  in 
the  degree  of  Master  Mason,  the  York  Rite 
would  have  been  revived.  But  by  recogniz- 
ing the  Royal  Arch  as  a  separate  degree, 
and  retaining  the  Master's  degree  in  its 
mutilated  form,  they  repudiated  the  Rite. 
In  the  United  States  it  has  been  the  almost 
universal  usage  to  call  the  Masonry  there 
practised  the  York  Rite.  But  it  has  no 
better  claim  to  this  designation  than  it  has 
to  be  called  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite, 
or  the  French  Rite,  or  the  Rite  of  Schroder. 
It  has  no  pretensions  to  the  York  Rite.  Of 
its  first  three  degrees,  the  Master's  is  the 
mutilated  one  which  took  the  Masonry  of 
England  out  of  the  York  Rite,  and  it  has 
added  to  these  three  degrees  six  others 
which  were  never  known  to  the  Ancient 
York  Rite,  or  that  which  was  practised  in 
England,  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  by  the  legitimate  Grand  Lodge. 
In  all  my  writings  for  years  past,  I  have 
ventured  to  distinguish  the  Masonry  prac- 
tised in  the  United  States,  consisting  of 
nine  degrees,  as  the  "  American  Rite,"  a 
title  to  which  it  is  clearly  and  justly  enti- 
tled, as  the  system  is  peculiar  to  America, 
and  is  practised  in  no  other  country. 

Bro.  Hughan,  speaking  of  the  York  Rite, 
(  Unpubl.  Rec,  p.  148,)  says  "there  is  no  such 
Rite,  and  what  it  was  no  one  now  knows." 
I  think  that  this  declaration  is  too  sweep- 
ing in  its  language.  He  is  correct  in  say- 
ing that  there  is  at  this  time  no  such  Rite. 
I  have  just  described  its  decadence ;  but  he 
is  wrong  in  asserting  that  we  are  now  igno- 
rant of  its  character.  In  using  the  title, 
there  is  no  reference  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
all  England,  which  met  for  some  years  dur- 
ing the  last  century,  but  rather  to  the  York 
legend,  and  to  the  hypothesis  that  York 
was  the  cradle  of  English  Masonry.  The 
York  Rite  was  that  Rite  which  was  most 
probably  organized  or  modified  at  the  re- 
vival in  1717,  and  practised  for  fifty  years 
by  the  Constitutional  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land. It  consisted  of  only  the  three  sym- 
bolic degrees,  the  last  one,  or  the  Master's, 
containing  within  itself  the  secrets  now 
transferred  to  the  Royal  Arch.  This  Rite 
was  carried  in  its  purity  to  France  in  1724, 
and  into  America  at  a  later  period.  About 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
continental  Masons,  and  about  the  end  of 
it  the  Americans,  began  to  superimpose 
upon  it  those  high  degrees  which,  with  the 
necessary  mutilation  of  the  third,  have  given 
rise  to  numerous  other  Rites.  But  the  An- 
cient York  Rite,  though  no  longer  culti- 
vated, must  remain  on  the  records  of  history 
as  the  oldest  and  purest  of  all  the  Rites. 


ZABUD 


ZEDEKIAH 


907 


Z. 


Zabud.  A  historical  personage  at  the 
court  of  King  Solomon,  whose  name  ap- 
pears in  several  of  the  high  degrees.  In 
that  of  Select  Master  in  the  American  Rite, 
it  has  been  corrupted  into  Izabud.  He  is 
mentioned  in  1  Kings  iv.  5,  where  he  is 
described  in  the  authorized  version  as 
being  "principal  officer  and  the  king's 
friend."  The  original  is  Zabud  ben  Nathan 
cohen  regneh  hahmelek,  which  is  literally 
"  Zabud,  son  of  Nathan,  a  priest,  the  friend 
of  the  king."  Adam  Clarke  says  he  was 
"the  king's  chief  favorite,  his  confidant." 
Smith  {Diet.  Bib.)  says:  "This  position, 
if  it  were  an  official  one,  was  evidently  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  counsellor,  occupied  by 
Ahithophel  under  David,  and  had  more  of 
the  character  of  private  friendship  about 
it."  Kitto  ( Gyclop&d.  Bib.  Lit.)  says  of  Za- 
bud and  of  his  brother  Azariah,  that  their 
advancement  in  the  household  of  King 
Solomon  "  may  doubtless  be  ascribed  not 
only  to  the  young  king's  respect  for  the 
venerable  prophet  (their  father),  who  had 
been  his  instructor,  but  to  the  friendship 
he  had  contracted  with  his  sons  during  the 
course  of  education.  The  office,  or  rather 
honor,  of  '  friend  of  the  king,'  we  find  in 
all  the  despotic  governments  of  the  East. 
It  gives  high  power,  without  the  public  re- 
sponsibility which  the  holding  of  a  regular 
office  in  the  state  necessarily  imposes.  It 
implies  the  possession  of  the  utmost  confi- 
dence of,  and  familiar  intercourse  with,  the 
monarch,  to  whose  person  '  the  friend '  at 
all  times  has  access,  and  whose  influence  is 
therefore  often  far  greater,  even  in  matters 
of  state,  than  that  of  the  recognized  min- 
isters of  government." 

This  has  been  fully  carried  out  in  the  le- 
gend of  the  Select  Master's  degree. 

Zabulon.  The  Greek  form  of  Zebu- 
lun,  the  tenth  son  of  Jacob.  Delaunay 
{Thuilleur,  p.  79,)  says  that  some  ritualists 
suppose  that  it  is  the  true  form  of  the  word 
of  which  Jabulum  is  a  corruption.  This  is 
incorrect.  Jabulum  is  a  corrupt  form  of 
Giblim.  Zabulon  has  no  connection  with 
the  high  degrees,  except  that  in  the  Royal 
Arch  he  represents  one  of  the  stones  in  the 
Pectoral. 

Zadok.  A  personage  in  some  of  the 
Ineffable  degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  In 
Scripture  he  is  recorded  as  having  been  one 
of  the  two  chief  priests  in  the  time  of 
David,  Abiathar  being  the  other.  He  sub- 
sequently, by  order  of  David,  anointed  Solo- 
mon to  be  king,  by  whom  he  was  rewarded 
with  the  post  of  high  priest.  Josephus 
{Ant.  x.  8,  §  6,)  says  that  "Sadoc,  the  high 
priest,  was  the  first  high  priest  of  the  Tem- 


ple which  Solomon  built."  Yet  it  has 
been  supposed  by  some  authors,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  name  not  being  mentioned  in 
tne  detailed  account  of  the  dedication,  that 
he  had  died  before  the  completion  of  the 
Temple. 

Zarathustra.  The  name,  in  the  Zend 
language,  of  that  great  reformer  in  religion 
more  commonly  known  to  Europeans  as 
Zoroaster,  which  see. 

Zarthan.  The  Zarthan  of  2  Chroni- 
cles iv.  17  appears  to  be  the  same  place  as 
the  Zeredatha  of  1  Kings  vii.  46.  In  the 
Masonic  ritual,  the  latter  word  is  always 
used.     See  Zeredatha. 

Zeal.  Ever  since  the  revival  in  1717, 
(for  it  is  found  in  the  earliest  lectures,)  it 
was  taught  that  Apprentices  served  their 
Masters  with  "freedom,  fervency,  and 
zeal ; "  and  the  symbols  of  the  first  two  of 
these  virtues  were  chalk  and  charcoal.  In 
the  oldest  rituals,  earthen  pan  (which  see) 
was  designated  as  the  symbol  of  zeal ;  but 
this  was  changed  by  Preston  to  clay,  and  so 
it  still  remains.    See  Fervency  and  Freedom. 

The  instruction  to  the  Operative  Mason 
to  serve  his  Master  with  freedom,  fervency, 
and  zeal' — to  work  for  his  interests  wil- 
lingly, ardently,  and  zealously  —  is  easily 
understood.  In  its  application  to  Specula- 
tive Masonry,  for  the  Master  of  the  Work 
we  substitute  the  Grand  Architect  of  the 
Universe,  and  then  our  zeal,  like  our 
freedom  and  our  fervency,  is  directed  to  a 
higher  end.  The  zeal  of  a  Speculative 
Mason  is  shown  by  advancing  the  morality, 
and  by  promoting  the  happiness  of  his 
fellow-creatures. 

Zedekiah.  A  personage  in  some  of 
the  high  degrees,  whose  melancholy  fate  is 
described  in  the  Second  Book  of  Kings  and 
in  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah.  He  was 
the  twentieth  and  last  king  of  Judah. 
When  Nebuchadnezzar  had  in  his  second 
siege  of  Jerusalem  deposed  Jehoiachin, 
whom  he  carried  as  a  captive  to  Babylon, 
he  placed  Zedekiah  on  the  throne  in  hia 
stead.  By  this  act  Zedekiah  became  trib- 
utary to  the  king  of  the  Chaldees,  who  ex- 
acted from  him  a  solemn  oath  of  fidelity 
and  obedience.  This  oath  he  observed  no 
longer  than  till  an  opportunity  occurred  of 
violating  it.  In  the  language  of  the  author 
of  the  Books  of  Chronicles,  "  he  rebelled 
against  King  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  had 
made  him  swear  by  God." 

This  course  soon  brought  down  upon  him 
the  vengeance  of  the  offended  monarch, 
who  invaded  the  land  of  Judah  with  an 
immense  army.  Remaining  himself  at 
Riblah,  a  town  on  the  northern  border  of 


908 


ZELATOR 


ZENNAAR 


Palestine,  he  sent  the  army  under  his  gen- 
eral, Nebuzaradan,  to  Jerusalem,  which 
was  invested  by  the  Babylonian  forces. 
After  a  siege  of  about  one  year,  during 
wbich  the  inhabitants  endured  many  hard- 
ships, the  city  was  taken  by  an  assault,  the 
Chaldeans  entering  it  through  breaches  in 
the  northern  wall. 

It  is  very  natural  to  suppose,  that  when 
the  enemy  were  most  pressing  in  their  at- 
tack upon  the  devoted  city ;  when  the 
breach  which  was  to  give  them  entrance 
had  been  effected;  and  when,  perhaps,  the 
streets  most  distant  from  the  Temple  were 
already  filled  with  Chaldean  soldiery,  a 
council  of  his  princes  and  nobles  should 
have  been  held  by  Zedekiah  in  the  Tem- 
ple, to  which  they  had  fled  for  refuge,  and 
that  he  should  ask  their  advice  as  to  the 
most  feasible  method  of  escape  from  the 
impending  danger.  History,  it  is  true, 
gives  no  account  of  any  such  assembly ;  but 
the  written  record  of  these  important  events 
which  is  now  extant  is  very  brief,  and,  as 
there  is  every  reason  to  admit  the  proba- 
bility of  the  occurrence,  there  does  not  ap- 
pear to  be  any  historical  objection  to  the 
introduction  of  Zedekiah  into  the  legend 
of  the  Super  Excellent  Master's  degree,  as 
having  been  present  and  holding  a  council 
at  the  time  of  the  siege.  By  the  advice  of 
this  council,  Zedekiah  attempted  to  make 
his  escape  across  the  Jordan.  But  he  and 
his  attendants  were,  says  Jeremiah,  pur- 
sued by  the  Chaldean  army,  and  overtaken 
in  the  plains  of  Jericho,  and  carried  before 
Nebuchadnezzar.  His  sons  and  his  nobles 
were  slain,  and,  his  eyes  being  put  out,  he 
was  bound  in  chains  and  carried  captive  to 
Babylon,  where  at  a  later  period  he  died. 

Zelator.  The  first  degree  of  the  Ger- 
man Rose  Croix.  The  title  expresses  the 
spirit  of  emulation  which  should  charac- 
terize the  neophyte. 

Zendavesta.  The  scriptures  of  the 
Zoroastrian  religion  containing  the  doc- 
trines of  Zoroaster.  Avesta  means  the  sa- 
cred text,  and  Zend  the  commentary.  The 
work  as  we  now  have  it  is  supposed  to  have 
been  collected  by  learned  priests  of  the  Sas- 
sanian  period,  who  translated  it  into  the 
Pehlevi,  or  vernacular  language  of  Persia. 
The  greater  part  of  the  work  was  lost  dur- 
ing the  persecutions  by  the  Mohammedan 
conquerors  of  Persia.  One  only  of  the 
books  has  been  preserved,  the  Vendidad, 
comprising  twenty -two  chapters.  The 
Yasna  and  the  Vispered  together  consti- 
tute the  collection  of  fragments  which  are 
termed  Vendidad  Sade\  There  is  another 
fragmentary  collection  called  Yesht  Sade. 
And  these  constitute  all  that  remain  of  the 
original  text.  So  that,  however  compre- 
hensive the  Zendavesta  must  have  been  in 


its  original  form,  the  work  as  it  now  exists 
makes  but  a  comparatively  small  book. 

The  ancients,  to  whom  it  was  familiar,  as 
well  as  the  modern  Parsees,  attribute  its 
authorship  to  Zoroaster.  But  Dr.  Haug, 
rightly  conceiving  that  it  was  not  in  the 
power  of  any  one  man  to  have  composed  so 
vast  a  work  as  it  must  have  been  in  its 
original  extent,  supposes  that  it  was  the 
joint  production  of  the  original  Zarathustra 
Sitama  and  his  successors,  the  high  priests 
of  the  religion,  who  assumed  the  same 
name. 

The  Zendavesta  is  the  scripture  of  the 
modern  Parsee ;  and  hence  for  the  Parsee 
Mason,  of  whom  there  are  not  a  few,  it  con- 
stitutes the  Book  of  the  Law,  or  Trestle- 
Board.  Unfortunately,  however,  to  the  Par- 
see  it  is  a  sealed  book,  for,  being  written  in 
the  old  Zend  language,  which  is  now  extinct, 
its  contents  cannot  be  understood.  But  the 
Parsees  recognize  the  Zendavesta  as  of  Di- 
vine authority,  and  say  in  the  catechism, 
or  compendium  of  doctrines  in  use  among 
them:  "We  consider  these  books  as  heav- 
enly books,  because  God  sent  the  tidings 
of  these  books  to  us  through  the  holy 
prophet  Zurthost." 

Zenith.  That  point  in  the  heavens 
which  is  vertical  to  the  spectator,  and  from 
which  a  perpendicular  line  passing  through 
him  and  extended  would  reach  the  centre 
of  the  earth.  All  the  old  documents  of  the 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  are 
dated  "  under  the  Celestial  Canopy  of  the 
Zenith  which  answers  to  ;"  the  lati- 
tude of  the  place  whence  the  document  is 
issued  being  then  given.  The  latitude 
alone  is  expressed  because  it  indicates  the 
place  of  the  sun's  meridian  height.  The  lon- 
gitude is  always  omitted,  because  every  place 
whence  such  a  document  is  issued  is  called 
the  Grand  East,  the  one  spot  where  the  sun 
rises.  The  theory  implied  is,  that  although 
the  south  of  the  Lodge  may  vary,  its  chief 
point  must  always  be  in  the  east,  the  point 
of  sunrising,  where  longitude  begins. 

Zenuaar.  The  sacred  cord  used  in  the 
Hindustanee  initiation,  and  which  writers 
on  ritualism  have  compared  to  the  Masonic 
apron.  Between  eight  and  fifteen  years  of 
age,  every  Hindu  boy  is  imperatively  re- 
quired to  receive  the  investiture  of  the  zen- 
naar.  The  investiture  is  accompanied  by 
many  solemn  ceremonies  of  prayer  and  sac- 
rifice. After  the  investiture,  the  boy  is 
said  to  have  received  his  second  birth,  and 
from  that  time  a  Hindu  is  called  by  a  name 
which  signifies  '  twice  born." 

Coleman  [Mythology  of  the  Hindus,  p. 
155,)  thus  describes  the  zennaar: 

"  The  sacred  thread  must  be  made  by  a 
Brahman.  It  consists  of  three  strings,  each 
ninety-six  hands  (forty-eight  yards),  which 


ZERBAL 


ZERUBBABEL 


909 


are  twisted  together :  it  is  then  folded  into 
three,  and  again  twisted ;  these  are  a  second 
time  folded  into  the  same  number,  and  tied 
at  each  end  in  knots.  It  is  worn  over  the 
left  shoulder  (next  the  skin,  extending  half- 
way down  the  right  thigh)  by  the  Brahmans, 
Retries,  and  Vaisya  castes.  The  first  are 
usually  invested  with  it  at  eight  years  of 
age,  the  second  at  eleven,  and  the  Vaisya 
at  twelve.  The  period  may,  from  especial 
causes,  be  deferred  ;  but  it  is  indispensable 
that  it  should  be  received,  or  the  parties 
omitting  it  become  outcasts." 

Zerbal.  The  name  of  King  Solomon's 
Captain  of  the  Guards,  in  the  degree  of 
Intimate  Secretary.  No  such  person  is 
mentioned  in  Scripture,  and  it  is  therefore 
an  invention  of  the  ritualist  who  fabricated 
the  degree.  If  derived  from  Hebrew,  its 
roots  will  be  found  in  %  zery  an  enemy, 
and  SjJS,  baal,  and  it  would  signify  "an 
enemy  of  Baal." 

Zeredatba.  The  name  of  the  place 
between  which  and  Succoth  are  the  clay 
grounds  where  Hiram  Abif  is  said  to  have 
cast  the  brazen  utensils  for  the  use  of  the 
Temple.     See  Clay  Ground. 

Zerubbabel.  In  writing  the  life  of 
Zerubbabel  in  a  Masonic  point  of  view,  it 
is  incumbent  that  reference  should  be  made 
to  the  legends  as  well  as  to  the  more  strictly 
historical  details  of  his  eventful  career. 
With  the  traditions  of  the  Royal  Arch,  and 
some  other  of  the  high  degrees,  Zerubbabel 
is  not  less  intimately  connected  than  is 
Solomon  with  those  of  Symbolic  or  Ancient 
Craft  Masonry.  To  understand  those  tra- 
ditions properly,  they  must  be  placed  in 
their  appropriate  place  in  the  life  of  him 
who  plays  so  important  a  part  in  them. 
Some  of  these  legends  have  the  concurrent 
support  of  Scripture,  some  are  related  by 
Josephus,  and  some  appear  to  have  no  his- 
torical foundation.  Without,  therefore, 
vouching  for  their  authenticity,  they  must 
be  recounted,  to  make  the  Masonic  life  of 
the  builder  of  the  second  Temple  complete. 

Zerubbabel,  who,  in  the  book  of  Ezra,  is 
called  "  Sheshbazzar,  the  prince  of  Judah," 
was  the  grandson  of  that  King  Jehoiachin, 
or  Jeconiah,  who  had  been  deposed  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  carried  as  a  captive  to 
Babylon.  In  him,  therefore,  was  vested  the 
regal  authority,  and  on  him,  as  such,  the 
command  of  the  returning  captives  was 
bestowed  by  Cyrus,  who  on  that  occasion, 
according  to  a  Masonic  tradition,  presented 
to  him  the  sword  which  Nebuchadnezzar 
had  received  from  his  grandfather,  Je- 
hoiachin. 

As  soon  as  the  decree  of  the  Persian 
monarch  had  been  promulgated  to  his 
Jewish  subjects,  the  tribes  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  with  the  priests  and  Levites, 


assembled  at  Babylon,  and  prepared  to  re- 
turn to  Jerusalem,  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
building the  Temple.  Some  few  from  the 
other  tribes,  whose  love  of  their  country 
and  its  ancient  worship  had  not  been  ob- 
literated by  the  luxuries  of  the  Babylonian 
court,  united  with  the  followers  of  Zerub- 
babel, and  accompanied  him  to  Jerusalem. 
The  greater  number,  however,  remained; 
and  even  of  the  priests,  who  were  divided 
into  twenty-four  courses,  only  four  courses 
returned,  who,  however,  divided  themselves, 
each  class  into  six,  so  as  again  to  make  up 
the  old  number.  Cyrus  also  restored  to  the 
Jews  the  greater  part  of  the  sacred  vessels 
of  the  Temple  which  had  been  carried 
away  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  five  thousand 
and  four  hundred  were  received  by  Zerub- 
babel, the  remainder  being  brought  back, 
many  years  after,  by  Ezra.  Only  forty-two 
thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty  Israelites, 
exclusive  of  servants  and  slaves,  accom- 
panied Zerubbabel,  out  of  whom  he  se- 
lected seven  thousand  of  the  most  valiant, 
whom  he  placed  as  an  advanced  guard  at 
the  head  of  the  people.  Their  progress 
homewards  was  not  altogether  unattended 
with  danger ;  for  tradition  informs  us  that 
at  the  river  Euphrates  they  were  opposed 
by  the  Assyrians,  who,  incited  by  the  temp- 
tation of  the  vast  amount  of  golden  vessels 
which  they  were  carrying,  drew  up  in  hos- 
tile array,  and,  notwithstanding  the  remon- 
strances of  the  Jews,  and  the  edict  of  Cyrus, 
disputed  their  passage.  Zerubbabel,  how- 
ever, repulsed  the  enemy  with  such  ardor 
as  to  ensure  a  signal  victory,  most  of  the 
Assyrians  having  been  slain  in  the  battle,  or 
drowned  in  their  attempt  to  cross  the  river 
in  their  retreat.  The  rest  of  the  journey 
was  uninterrupted,  and,  after  a  march  of 
four  months,  Zerubbabel  arrived  at  Jerusa- 
lem, with  his  weary  followers,  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  June, 
five  hundred  and  thirty-five  years  before 
Christ. 

During  their  captivity,  the  Jews  had  con- 
tinued, without  intermission,  to  practise  the 
rights  of  Freemasonry,  and  had  established 
at  various  places  regular  Lodges  in  Chaldea. 
Especially,  according  to  the  Rabbinical  tra- 
ditions, had  they  instituted  their  mystic  fra- 
ternity at  Naharda,  on  the  Euphrates;  and, 
according  to  the  same  authority,  we  are  in- 
formed that  Zerubbabel  carried  with  him  to 
Jerusalem  all  the  secret  knowledge  which 
was  the  property  of  that  Institution,  and  es- 
tablished a  similar  fraternity  in  Judea.  This 
coincides  with,  and  gives  additional  strength 
to,  the  traditions  of  the  Royal  Arch  degree. 

As  soon  as  the  pious  pilgrims  had  arrived 
at  Jerusalem,  and  taken  a  needful  rest  of 
seven  days,  a  tabernacle  for  the  tempora- 
ry purposes  of  divine  worship  was  erected 


910 


ZERUBBABEL 


ZERUBBABEL 


near  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Temple,  and 
a  Council  was  called,  in  which  Zerubbabel 
presided  as  King,  Jeshua  as  High  Priest, 
and  Haggai  as  Scribe,  or  principal  officer 
of  State.  It  was  there  determined  to  com- 
mence the  building  of  the  second  Temple 
upon  the  same  holy  spot  which  had  been 
occupied  by  the  first,  and  the  people 
liberally  contributed  sixty-one  thousand 
drachms  of  gold,  and  five  thousand  minas 
of  silver,  or  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  of 
dollars,  towards  defraying  the  expenses ;  a 
sum  which  sinks  into  utter  insignificance, 
when  compared  with  the  immense  amount 
appropriated  by  David  and  Solomon  to  the 
construction  of  their  Temple. 

The  site  having  been  thus  determined 
upon,  it  was  found  necessary  to  begin  by 
removing  the  rubbish  of  the  old  Temple, 
which  still  encumbered  the  earth,  and  pre- 
vented the  workmen  from  making  the  nec- 
essary arrangements  for  laying  the  founda- 
tion. It  was  during  this  operation  that  an 
important  discovery  was  made  by  three  so- 
journers, who  had  not  originally  accom- 
panied Zerubbabel,  but  who,  sojourning 
some  time  longer  at  Babylon,  followed  their 
countrymen  at  a  later  period,  and  had  ar- 
rived at  Jerusalem  just  in  time  to  assist 
in  the  removal  of  the  rubbish.  These  three 
sojourners,  whose  fortune  it  was  to  discover 
that  stone  of  foundation,  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  Freemasonry, 
and  to  which  we  have  before  had  repeated 
occasion  to  allude,  are  supposed  by  a  Ma- 
sonic tradition  to  have  been  Esdras,  Zacha- 
riah,  and  Nehemiah,  the  three  holy  men, 
who,  for  refusing  to  worship  the  golden 
image,  had  been  thrown  by  Nebuchadnez- 
zar into  a  fiery  furnace,  from  which  they 
emerged  uninjured.  In  the  Chaldee  lan- 
guage, they  were  known  by  the  names  of 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego.  It  was 
in  penetrating  into  some  of  the  subterra- 
nean vaults,  that  the  Masonic  stone  of 
foundation,  with  other  important  myste- 
ries connected  with  it,  were  discovered  by 
the  three  fortunate  sojourners,  and  presented 
by  them  to  Zerubbabel  and  his  companions 
Jeshua  and  Haggai,  whose  traditionary 
knowledge  of  Masonry,  which  they  had 
received  in  a  direct  line  from  the  builders 
of  the  first  Temple,  enabled  them  at  once  to 
appreciate  the  great  importance  of  these 
treasures. 

As  soon  as  that  wonderful  discovery  was 
made,  on  which  depends  not  only  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Royal  Arch  degree,  but  the 
most  important  mystery  of  Freemasonry, 
the  Jews  proceeded  on  a  certain  day,  be- 
fore the  rising  of  the  sun,  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion-stone of  the  second  Temple;  and  for 
that  purpose,  we  are  told,  Zerubbabel  se- 
lected that  stone  of  foundation  which  had 


been  discovered  by  the  three  sojourners. 
On  this  occasion,  we  learn  that  the  young 
rejoiced  with  shouts  and  acclamations,  but 
that  the  ancient  people  disturbed  them 
with  their  groans  and  lamentations,  when 
they  reflected  on  the  superb  magnificence 
of  the  first  Temple,  and  compared  it  with 
the  expected  inferiority  of  the  present 
structure.  As  in  the  building  of  the  first 
Temple,  so  in  this,  the  Tyrians  and  Sido- 
nians  were  engaged  to  furnish  the  timber 
from  the  forests  of  Lebanon,  and  to  conduct 
it  in  the  same  manner  on  floats  by  sea  to 
Joppa. 

Scarcely  had  the  workmen  well  com- 
menced their  labors,  when  they  were  inter- 
rupted by  the  Samaritans,  who  made  ap- 
plication to  be  permitted  to  unite  with 
them  in  the  construction  of  the  Temple. 
But  the  Jews,  who  looked  upon  them  as 
idolaters,  refused  to  accept  of  their  ser- 
vices. The  Samaritans  in  consequence  be- 
came their  bitter  enemies,  and  so  prevailed, 
by  misrepresentations,  with  the  ministers 
of  Cyrus,  as  to  cause  them  to  put  such  ob- 
structions in  the  way  of  the  construction  of 
the  edifice  as  seriously  to  impede  its  prog- 
ress for  several  years.  With  such  diffi- 
culty and  danger  were  the  works  conducted 
during  this  period,  that  the  workmen  were 
compelled  to  labor  with  the  trowel  in  one 
hand  and  the  sword  in  the  other.  To  com- 
memorate these  worthy  craftsmen,  who  were 
thus  ready,  either  to  fight  or  to  labor  in  the 
cause  of  God,  as  circumstances  might  re^ 
quire,  the  sword  and  trowel  crosswise,  or, 
as  the  heralds  would  say,  en  sallire,  have 
been  placed  upon  the  Royal  Arch  Tracing- 
Board  or  Carpet  of  our  English  brethren. 
In  the  American  ritual  this  expressive  sym- 
bol of  valor  and  piety  has  been  unfortu- 
nately omitted. 

In  the  seventh  year  after  the  restoration 
of  the  Jews,  Cyrus,  their  friend  and  bene- 
factor died,  and  his  son  Cambyses,  in  Scrip- 
ture called  Ahasuerus,  ascended  the  throne. 
The  Samaritans  and  the  other  enemies  of 
the  Jews,  now  becoming  bolder  in  their 
designs,  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  Cam- 
byses a  peremptory  order  for  the  stoppage 
of  all  the  works  at  Jerusalem,  and  the 
Temple  consequently  remained  in  an  un- 
finished state  until  the  second  year  of 
the  reign  of  Darius,  the  successor  of  Cam- 
byses. 

Darius  appears  to  have  had,  like  Cyrus, 
a  great  friendship  for  the  Israelites,  and 
especially  for  Zerubbabel,  with  whom  he 
was  well  acquainted  in  his  youth.  We  are 
informed,  as  an  evidence  of  this,  that,  when 
a  private  man,  he  made  a  vow,  that  if  he 
should  ever  ascend  the  throne,  he  would 
restore  all  the  vessels  of  the  Temple  that 
had  been  retained  by  Cyrus.     Zerubbabel, 


ZERUBBABEL 


ZINNENDORF 


911 


being  well  aware  of  the  friendly  disposition 
of  the  king,  determined,  immediately  after 
his  accession  to  power,  to  make  a  personal 
application  to  him  for  his  assistance  and 
protection  in  rebuilding  the  Temple.  Ac- 
cordingly he  departed  from  Jerusalem,  and 
after  a  journey  full  of  peril,  in  which  he 
was  continually  attacked  by  parties  of 
his  enemies,  he  was  arrested  as  a  spy  by 
the  Persian  guards  in  the  vicinity  of 
Babylon,  and  carried  in  chains  before 
Darius,  who  however  immediately  recog- 
nized him  as  the  friend  and  companion  of 
his  youth,  and  ordering  him  instantly  to  be 
released  from  his  bonds,  invited  him  to  be 
present  at  a  magnificent  feast  which  he  was 
about  to  give  to  the  Court.  It  is  said  that 
on  this  occasion,  Zerubbabel,  having  ex- 
plained to  Darius  the  occasion  of  his  visit, 
implored  the  interposition  of  his  authority 
for  the  protection  of  the  Israelites  engaged 
in  the  restoration  of  the  Temple.  The 
king  promised  to  grant  all  his  requests, 
provided  he  would  reveal  to  him  the  secrets 
of  Freemasonry.  But  this  the  faithful 
prince  at  once  refused  to  do.  He  declined 
the  favor  of  the  monarch  at  the  price  of 
his  infamy,  and  expressed  his  willingness 
rather  to  meet  death  or  exile,  than  to  vio- 
late his  sacred  obligations  as  a  Mason. 
This  firmness  and  fidelity  only  raised  his 
character  still  higher  in  the  estimation  of 
Darius,  who  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been 
endowed  with  many  noble  qualities  both 
of  heart  and  mind. 

It  was  on  this  occasion,  at  the  feast  given 
by  King  Darius,  that,  agreeably  to  the 
custom  of  Eastern  monarchs,  he  proposed 
to  his  courtiers  the  question  whether  the 
power  of  wine,  women,  or  the  king,  was  the 
strongest.  Answers  were  made  by  different 
persons,  assigning  to  each  of  these  the  pre- 
cedency in  power;  but  when  Zerubbabel 
was  called  on  to  assert  his  opinion,  he  de- 
clared that  though  the  power  of  wine  and 
of  the  king  might  be  great,  that  of  women 
was  still  greater,  but  that  above  all  things 
truth  bore  the  victory.  Josephus  says  that 
the  sentiments  of  Zerubbabel  having  been 
deemed  to  contain  the  most  wisdom,  the 
king  commanded  him  to  ask  something 
over  and  above  what  he  had  promised  as 
the  prize  of  the  victor  in  the  philosophic 
discussion.  Zerubbabel  then  called  upon 
the  monarch  to  fulfil  the  vow  that  he  had 
made  in  his  youth,  to  rebuild  the  Temple, 
and  restore  the  vessels  that  had  been  taken 
away  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  king  forth- 
with granted  his  request,  promised  him  the 
most  ample  protection  in  the  future  prose- 
cution of  the  works,  and  sent  him  home  to 
Jerusalem  laden  with  honors,  and  under 
the  conduct  of  an  escort. 

Henceforth,  although  from  time  to  time 


annoyed  by  their  adversaries,  the  builders 
met  with  no  serious  obstruction,  and  finally, 
twenty  years  after  its  commencement,  in 
the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Darius,  and 
on  the  third  day  of  the  month  Adar,  515 
years  B.  c,  the  Temple  was  completed,  the 
cope-stone  celebrated,  and  the  house  sol- 
emnly dedicated  to  Jehovah  with  the  great- 
est joy. 

After  this  we  hear  nothing  further  of 
Zerubabbel,  nor  is  the  time  or  manner  of 
his  death  either  recorded  in  Scripture  or 
preserved  by  Masonic  tradition.  We  have, 
however,  reason  for  believing  that  he  lived 
to  a  good  old  age,  since  we  find  no  suc- 
cessor of  him  mentioned  until  Artaxerxes 
appointed  Ezra  as  the  Governor  of  Judea, 
fifty-seven  years  after  the  completion  of 
the  Temple. 

Zinnendorf,  Johann  Wilhelm 
Ton.  Few  men  made  more  noise  in  Ger- 
man Masonry,  or  had  warmer  friends  or 
more  bitter  enemies,  than  Johann  Wilhelm 
Ellenberger,  who,  in  consequence  of  his 
adoption  by  his  mother's  brother,  took  sub- 
sequently the  title  of  Von  Zinnendorf,  by 
which  he  is  universally  known.  He  was 
born  at  Halle,  August  10,  1731.  He  was 
initiated  into  Masonry  at  the  place  of  his 
birth.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Berlin, 
where  he  received  the  appointment  of 
General  Staff  Surgeon,  and  chief  of  the 
medical  corps  of  the  army.  There  he 
joined  the  Lodge  of  the  Three  Globes, 
and  became  an  ardent  disciple  of  the  Rite 
of  Strict  Observance,  in  which  he  took  the 
Order  name  of  Eques  a  lapide  nigro.  He 
was  elected  Master  of  the  Scottish  Lodge. 
He  had  the  absolute  control  of  the  funds 
of  the  Order,  but  refusing  to  render  any 
account  of  the  disposition  which  he  had 
made  of  them,  an  investigation  was  com- 
menced. Upon  this,  Zinnendorf  withdrew 
from  the  Rite,  and  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation was  immediately  afterwards  pro- 
nounced against  him. 

Zinnendorf  in  return  declared  the  Strict 
Observance  an  imposture,  and  denounced 
its  theory  of  the  Templar  origin  of  Ma- 
sonry as  false. 

In  the  meantime,  he  sent  his  friend  Hans 
Carl  Baumann  to  Stockholm,  that  he  might 
receive  manuscripts  of  the  degrees  of  the 
Swedish  system  which  had  been  promised 
him  by  Carl  Friederich  von  Eckleff,  Scottish 
Grand  Master  of  the  Chapter  in  that  city. 
Baumann  returned  with  the  manuscripts, 
which,  however,  it  appears  from  a  subse- 
quent declaration  made  by  the  Duke  of 
Sudermania,  were  very  imperfect. 

But,  imperfect  as  they  were,  out  of  them 
Zinnendorf  constructed  a  new  Rite  in  op- 
position to  the  Strict  Observance.  Pos- 
sessed of  great  talent  and  energy,  and,  his 


912 


ZINNENDORF 


ZOROASTER 


enemies  said,  of  but  little  scrupulousness  as 
to  means,  he  succeeded  in  attracting  to  him 
many  friends  and  followers.  In  1766,  he 
established  at  Potsdam  the  Lodge  "  Min- 
erval,"  and  in  1767,  at  Berlin,  the  Lodge 
of  the  "Three  Golden  Keys."  Masons 
were  found  to  give  him  countenance  and 
assistance  in  other  places,  so  that  in  June 
24,  1770,  twelve  Lodges  of  his  system  were 
enabled  to  unite  in  the  formation  of  a  body 
which  they  called  the  Grand  Lodge  of  all 
the  Freemasons  of  Germany. 

The  success  of  this  body,  under  the  ad- 
verse circumstances  by  which  it  was  sur- 
rounded, can  only  be  attributed  to  the 
ability  and  energy  of  its  founder,  as  well 
as  to  the  freedom  with  which  he  made  use 
of  every  means  for  its  advancement  with- 
out any  reference  to  their  want  of  firmness. 
Having  induced  the  Prince  of  Hesse- 
Darmstadt  to  accept  the  Grand  Mastership, 
he  succeeded,  through  his  influence,  in  ob- 
taining the  recognition  and  alliance  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  in  1773;  but  that 
body  seven  years  after  withdrew  from  the 
connection.  In  1774,  Zinnendorf  secured 
the  protectorship  of  the  king  of  Prussia  for 
his  Grand  Lodge.  Thus  patronized,  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Germany  rapidly  ex- 
tended its  influence  and  increased  in 
growth,  so  that  in  1778  it  had  thirty-four 
Lodges  under  its  immediatejurisdiction,  and 
provincial  Lodges  were  established  in  Aus- 
tria, Silesia,  Pomerania,  Lower  Saxony, 
and  Russia.  Findel  explains  this  great  ac- 
cession of  strength  by  supposing  that  it 
could  only  have  been  the  consequence  of 
the  ardent  desire  of  the  German  Masons  to 
obtain  the  promised  revelations  of  the  high 
degrees  of  the  system  of  Zinnendorf. 

In  1774,  Zinnendorf  had  been  elected 
Grand  Master,  which  office  he  held  until 
his  death. 

But  he  had  his  difficulties  to  encounter. 
In  the  Lodge  "  Royal  York,"  at  Berlin,  he 
found  an  active  and  powerful  antagonist. 
The  Duke  of  Sudermania,  Grand  Master  of 
Sweden,  in  an  official  document  issued  in 
1777,  declared  that  the  Warrant  which  had 
been  granted  by  Eckleffto  Zinnendorf,  and 
on  the  strength  of  which  he  had  founded  his 
Grand  Lodge,  was  spurious  and  unauthor- 
ized; the  Grand  Lodge  of  Sweden  pro- 
nounced him  to  be  a  fomenter  of  disturb- 
ances and  an  insolent  calumniator  of  the 
Swedish  Grand  Master,  and  in  1780  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  withdrew  from 
its  alliance. 

But  Zinnendorf  was  undismayed.  Hav- 
ing quit  the  service  of  the  government  in 
1779,  he  made  a  journey  to  Sweden  in  an 
unsuccessful  effort  to  secure  all  the  docu- 
ments connected  with  the  Swedish  system. 
Returning  hence,  he  continued  to  preside 


over  the  Grand  Lodge  with  unabated  zeal 
and  undiminished  vigor  until  his  death, 
which  took  place  June  6,  1782. 

Von  Zinnendorf  undoubtedly  committed 
many  errors,  but  we  cannot  withhold  from 
him  the  praise  of  having  earnestly  sought 
to  introduce  into  German  Masonry  a'  better 
system  than  the  one  which  was  prevail- 
ing in  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Zinnendorf,  Rite  of.  The  Rite 
invented  by  Count  Von  Zinnendorf,  and 
fabricated  out  of  imperfect  copies  of  the 
Swedish  system,  with  additions  from  the 
Illuminism  of  Avignon  and  the  reveries  of 
Swedenborg.  It  consisted  of  seven  degrees, 
divided  into  three  sections  as  follows: 

I.  Blue  Masonry. 

1.  Apprentice. 

2.  Fellow  Craft. 

3.  Master. 
IL  Bed  Masonry. 

4.  Scottish  Apprentice  and  Fellow 

Craft. 

5.  Scottish  Master. 
III.   Capitular  Masonry. 

6.  Favorite  of  St.  John. 

7.  Chapter  of  the  Elect. 

It  was  practised  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Germany,  which  had  been  established  by 
Zinnendorf,  and  by  the  Lodges  of  its  obe- 
dience. 

Zion.  Mount  Zion  was  the  south-west- 
ern of  the  three  hills  which  constituted  the 
high  table-land  on  which  Jerusalem  was 
built.  It  was  the  royal  residence,  and 
hence  it  is  often  called  "  the  city  of  David." 
The  name  is  sometimes  used  as  synonymous 
with  Jerusalem. 

Zizon.  This  is  said,  in  one  of  the  In- 
effable degrees  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  to  be 
the  name  of  the  balustrade  before  the  Sanc- 
tum Sanctorum.  There  is  no  such  word  in 
Hebrew,  but  it  may  be  a  corruption  of  the 
Talmudic  J^pf,  ziza,  which  Buxtorf  {Lex. 
lalm.)  defines  as  "  a  beam,  a  little  beam,  a 
small  rafter." 

Zodiac,  Masonic.  {Zodiaque  Macon- 
nique.)  A  series  of  twelve  degrees,  named 
after  the  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  the 
first  being  the  Ram.  It  was  in  the  series 
of  the  Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France,  and 
in  the  manuscript  collection  of  Peuvret. 

Zoroaster.  More  correctly,  Zarathus- 
tra.  He  was  the  legislator  and  prophet  of 
the  ancient  Bactrians,  out  of  whose  doc- 
trines the  modern  religion  of  the  Parsees 
has  been  developed.  As  to  the  age  in 
which  Zoroaster  flourished,  there  have  been 
the  greatest  discrepancies  among  the  an- 
cient authorities.  The  earliest  of  the  Greek 
writers  who  mentions  his  name  is  Xanthus 


ZOROASTER 


ZOROASTER 


913 


of  Lydia,  and  he  places  his  era  at  about 
600  years  before  the  Trojan  war,  which 
would  be  about  1800  years  before  Christ. 
Aristotle  and  Eudoxus  say  that  he  lived 
6000  years  before  Plato ;  while  Berosus,  the 
Babylonian  historian,  makes  him  a  king 
of  Babylon,  and  the  founder  of  a  dynasty 
which  reigned  over  Babylon  between  2200 
and  2000  B.  c.  The  Parsees  are  more  mod- 
erate in  their  calculations,  and  say  that 
their  prophet  was  a  contemporary  of  Hys- 
taspes,  the  father  of  Darius,  and  accord- 
ingly place  his  era  at  550  B.  c.  Haug,  how- 
ever, in  his  Essays  on  the  Sacred  Language, 
etc.,  of  the  Parsees,  declares  that  this  suppo- 
sition is  utterly  groundless.  He  thinks 
that  we  can,  under  no  circumstances,  assign 
him  a  later  date  than  1000  B.  c,  and  is  not 
even  disinclined  to  place  his  era  much  ear- 
lier, and  make  him  a  contemporary  of 
Moses. 

Bro.  Albert  Pike,  who  has  devoted  much 
labor  to  the  investigation  of  this  confused 
subject  of  the  Zoroastrian  era,  says,  in  an 
able  article  in  Mackey's  National  Freemason, 
(vol.  iii..  No.  3:) 

"  In  the  year  1903  before  Alexander,  or 
2234  B.  c,  a  Zarathustrian  king  of  Media 
conquered  Babylon.  The  religion  even 
then  had  degenerated  into  Magism,  and 
was  of  unknown  age.  The  unfortunate 
theory  that  Vitaqpa,  one  of  the  most  effi- 
cient allies  of  Zarathustra,  was  the  father 
of  Darius  Hystaspes,  has  long  ago  been  set 
at  rest.  In  the  Chaldean  lists  of  Berosus, 
as  found  in  the  Armenian  edition  of  Euse- 
bius,  the  name  Zoroaster  appears  as  that  of 
the  Median  conqueror  of  Babylon ;  but  he 
can  only  have  received  this  title  from  being 
a  follower  of  Zarathustra  and  professing  his 
religion.  He  was  preceded  by  a  series  of 
eighty-four  Median  kings;  and  the  real 
Zarathustra  lived  in  Bactria  long  before 
the  tide  of  emigration  had  flowed  thence 
into  Media.  Aristotle  and  Eudoxus,  ac- 
cording to  Pliny,  place  Zarathustra  6000 
years  before  the  death  of  Plato ;  Hermippus, 
5000  years  before  the  Trojan  war.  Plato 
died  348  B.  c. ;  so  that  the  two  dates  sub- 
stantially agree,  making  the  date  of  Zara- 
thustra's  reign  6300  or  6350  B.  c. ;  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  this  is  not  far  from  the 
truth." 

Bunsen,  however,  ( God  in  History,  vol. 
i.,  b.  iii.,  ch.  vL,  p.  276,)  speaks  of  Zara- 
thustra Spitama  as  living  under  the  reign 
of  Vistaspa  towards  the  year  3000  b.  c, 
certainly  not  later  than  towards  2500  B.  O. 
He  calls  him  "  one  of  the  mightiest  intel- 
lects and  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  all 
time;"  and  he  says  of  him:  "Accounted 
by  his  contemporaries  a  blasphemer,  athe- 
ist, and  firebrand  worthy  of  death ;  regarded 
even  by  his  own  adherents,  after  some  cen- 
5P  58 


turies,  as  the  founder  of  magic,  by  others 
as  a  sorcerer  and  deceiver,  he  was,  never- 
theless, recognized  already  by  Hippocrates 
as  a  great  spiritual  hero,  and  esteemed  the 
earliest  sage  of  a  primeval  epoch  —  reaching 
back  to  5000  years  before  their  date  —  by 
Eudoxus,  Plato,  and  Aristotle." 

The  name  of  this  great  reformer  is  always 
spelled  in  the  Zendavesta  as  Zarathustra, 
with  which  is  often  coupled  Spitama  ;  this, 
Haug  says,  was  the  family  name,  while  the 
former  was  his  surname,  and  hence  both  he 
and  Bunsen  designate  him  as  Zarathustra 
Spitama.  The  Greeks  corrupted  Zarathus- 
tra into  Zarastrades  and  Zoroastres,  and  the 
Romans  into  Zoroaster,  by  which  name  he 
has  always,  until  recently,  been  known  to 
Europeans.  His  home  was  in  Bactria,  an 
ancient  country  of  Asia  between  the  Oxus 
River  on  the  north  and  the  Caucasian  range 
of  mountains  on  the  south,  and  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity,  therefore,  of  the  primal 
seat  of  the  Aryan  race,  one  of  whose  first 
emigrations,  indeed,  was  into  Bactria. 

The  religion  of  Zoroaster  finds  its  origin 
in  a  social,  political,  and  religious  schism 
of  the  Bactrian  Iranians  from  the  primi- 
tive Aryans.  These  latter  led  a  nomadic 
and  pastoral  life  in  their  native  home,  and 
continued  the  same  habits  after  their  emi- 
gration. But  a  portion  of  these  tribes, 
whom  Haug  calls  "the  proper  Iranians," 
becoming  weary  of  these  wanderings,  after 
they  had  reached  the  highlands  of  Bactria 
abandoned  the  pastoral  and  wandering  life 
of  their  ancestors,  and  directed  their  atten- 
tion to  agriculture.  This  political  secession 
was  soon  followed  by  wars,  principally  of  a 
predatory  kind,  waged,  for  the  purpose  of 
booty,  by  the  nomadic  Aryans  on  the  agri- 
cultural settlements  of  the  Iranians,  whose 
rich  fields  were  tempting  objects  to  the 
spoiler. 

The  political  estrangement  was  speedily 
and  naturally  followed  by  a  religious  one. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  Zoroaster  appeared, 
and,  denouncing  the  nature-worship  of  the 
old  Aryan  faith,  established  his  spiritual 
religion,  in  which,  says  Bunsen,  "  the  an- 
tagonisms of  light  and  darkness,  of  sun- 
shine and  storm,  become  transformed  into 
antagonisms  of  good  and  evil,  of  powers 
exerting  a  beneficent  or  corrupting  influence 
on  the  mind." 

The  doctrine  of  pure  Zoroastrianism  was 
monotheistic.  The  Supreme  Being  was 
called  Ahuramazda,  and  Haug  says  that 
Zoroaster's  conception  of  him  was  perfectly 
identical  with  the  Jewish  notice  of  Jehovah. 
He  is  called  "  the  Creator  of  the  earthly 
and  spiritual  life,  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
universe,  at  whose  hands  are  all  the  crea- 
tures." He  is  wisdom  and  intellect;  the 
light  itself,  and  the  source  of  light;  the 


914 


ZOROASTER 


ZURTHOST 


rewarder  of  the  virtuous  and  the  punisher 
of  the  wicked. 

The  dualistic  doctrine  of  Ormuzd  and 
Ahrimaues,  which  has  falsely  been  attrib- 
uted to  Zoroaster,  was  in  reality  the  develop- 
ment of  a  later  corruption  of  the  Zoroasteric 
teaching.  But  the  great  reformer  sought 
to  solve  the  puzzling  question  of  the  origin 
of  evil  in  the  world,  by  supposing  that  there 
existed  in  Ahuramazda  two  spirits,  inhe- 
rent in  his  nature,  the  one  positive  and  the 
other  negative.  All  that  was  good  was  real, 
existent ;  while  the  absence  of  that  reality 
was  a  non-existence  or  evil.  Evil  was  the 
absence  of  good  as  darkness  was  the  absence 
of  light. 

Zoroaster  taught  the  idea  of  a  future  life 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection  is  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal dogmas  of  the  Zendavesta.  He 
also  clearly  inculcated  the  belief  of  a  heaven 
and  a  hell.  The  former  called  the  house 
of  hymns,  because  the  angels  were  supposed 
to  sing  hymns  there ;  the  latter  the  house 
of  destruction,  and  to  it  were  relentlessly 
consigned  the  poets  and  priests  of  the  old 
Aryan  religion. 

The  doctrine  of  sacred  names,  so  familiar 
to  the  Hebrews,  was  also  taught  by  Zoro- 
aster. In  one  of  the  Yashts,  a  portion  of 
the  Zendavesta,  Ahuramazda  tells  Zara- 


thustra  that  the  utterance  of  one  of  his 
sacred  names,  of  which  he  enumerates 
twenty,  is  the  best  protection  from  evil. 
Of  these  names,  one  is  ahmi,  "  I  am,"  and 
another,  ahmi  yat  ahmi,  "  I  am  who  I  am." 
The  reader  will  be  reminded  here  of  the 
holy  name  in  Exodus,  Ehyeh  other  Ehyeh, 
or  "  I  am  that  I  am." 

The  doctrine  of  Zoroaster  was  not  for- 
ever confined  to  Bactria,  but  passed  over 
into  other  countries;  nor  in  the  transmis- 
sion did  it  fail  to  suffer  some  corruption. 
From  its  original  seat  it  spread  into  Media, 
and  under  the  name  of  Magism,  or  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Magavas,  i.  e.,  the  mighty  ones, 
was  incorporated  at  Babylon  with  the  Chal- 
dean philosophy,  whence  we  find  its  traces 
in  the  Rabbinism  and  the  Kabbalism  of  the 
Hebrews.  It  was  carried,  too,  into  Persia, 
where  it  has  been  developed  into  the  mod- 
ern and  still  existing  sect  of  the  Parsees, 
of  whom  we  now  find  two  divisions,  the 
conservatives  and  liberals ;  the  former  culti- 
vating the  whole  modified  doctrine  of  Zoro- 
aster, and  the  latter  retaining  much  of  the 
doctrine,  but  rejecting  to  a  very  great  ex- 
tent the  ceremonial  ritual. 

Zurthost.  The  name  given  by  the 
modern  Parsees  to  Zarathustra  or  Zoro- 
aster. They  call  him  theirprophet,  and  their 
religious  sect  the  Zarthosti  community. 


SUPPLEMENT. 

CONTAINING  NEW  AND  OMITTED  TITLES. 


A. 


Aaron's  Band.  A  degree  fabricated 
in  the  city  of  New  York  by  Joseph  Cer- 
neau.  It  was  conferred  for  many  years  in 
an  independent  body.  The  Grand  Royal 
Arch  Chapter  of  the  State,  finding  that  it 
was  an  infringement  of  the  degree  of  "  High 
Priesthood,"  caused  it  to  be  suppressed  in 
1825. 

Affiliate,  Free.  The  French  gave 
the  name  of  "  free  affiliates  "  to  those  mem- 
bers of  a  Lodge  who  are  exempted  from 
the  payment  of  dues,  and  neither  hold 
office  nor  vote.  They  are  the  same  as  the 
American  "  honorary  members." 

Africa.  In  Lodges  of  the  French  Rite 
of  Adoption,  the  south  of  the  Lodge  is  so 
called. 

Alaska.  Freemasonry  was  introduced 
into  the  distant  territory  of  Alaska  by 
Bro.  James  Biles,  Grand  Master  of  Wash- 
ington Territory,  who  granted  on  April  14, 
1868,  a  Dispensation  for  the  establishment 
of  Alaska  Lodge  at  Sitka ;  a  Warrant  of 
Constitution  was  granted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Washington,  Sept.  17,  1869. 

Architect.  (vlrcAifecfe.)  An  officer 
the  French  Rite,  whose  duty  it  is 
of  the  furniture  of  the 


charge 


in 

to  take 

Lodge. 

Arkansas.  There  is  much  obscurity 
concerning  the  early  history  of  Masonry 
in  Arkansas.  In  November,  1864,  a  disas- 
trous conflagration  destroyed  the  Grand 
Lodge  Hall,  and  in  it  were  consumed  all 


the  records  anterior  to  the  year  1846. 
This  much,  however,  we  know.  On  Feb- 
ruary 22, 1832,  three  Lodges — Washington, 
Western  Star,  and  Morning  Star,  (C.  W. 
Moore  says  there  were  four,  but  the  Grand 
Secretary,  Bro.  Blocher,  gives  only  these 
three,)  —  assembled  at  Little  Rock  in  con- 
vention, and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Arkansas. 

The  Grand  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons was  organized  April  28, 1851,  by  three 
Chapters  at  Fayetteville,  Little  Rock,  and 
El  Dorado,  which  had  previously  received 
Charters  from  the  General  Grand  Chapter 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  established  in  the  year  1860. 

There  are  four  Commanderies  in  the 
State  immediately  subordinate  to  the 
Grand  Encampment  of  the  United  States, 
viz.,  Hugh  de  Payens,  at  Little  Rock,  or- 
ganized December  20,  1853;  Bertrand  du 
Guesclin,  at  Camden,  organized  April  13, 
1867;  Jacques  de  Molay,  at  Fort  Smith, 
organized  December  30,  1868;  and  Bald- 
win, at  Fayetteville,  organized  April  28, 
1871 ;  but  no  Grand  Commandery  has  been 
established. 

Asia.  In  the  French  Rite  of  Adoption, 
the  east  end  of  the  Lodge  is  so  called. 

Audi,  Vide,  Tace.  Hear,  See,  and 
be  Silent.  A  motto  often  appropriately  used 
in  Masonic  documents.  It  is  frequently 
found  on  Masonic  medals. 


B. 


Book  of  the  Fraternity  of 
Stonemasons.  Some  years  ago,  a 
manuscript  was  discovered  in  the  archives 
of  the  city  of  Cologne,  bearing  the  title 
of  Bruderschaftsbuch  der  Steinmetzen,  with 


records  going  back  as  far  as  the  year  1396. 
Steinbrenner  ( Orig.  and  Early  Hist,  of  Ma- 
sonry, p.  104,)  says,  "  It  fully  confirms  the 
conclusions  to  be  derived  from  the  German 
Constitutions,  and  those  of  the  English  and 

915 


916 


BMTHERING 


CONNECTICUT 


Scotch  Masons,  and  conclusively  proves 
the  inauthenticity  of  the  celebrated  Charter 
of  Cologne." 

Brithering.  Scotch  for  Brothering, 
i.  e.,  making  a  brother.  A  term  used  among 
the  Operative  Freemasons  of  Scotland,  dur- 
ing the  seventeenth  century,  to  designate  the 
ceremonies,  such  as  they  were,  of  reception 
into  the  Lodge. 

Buddhism.  The  religion  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Buddha.  It  prevails  over  a  great 
extent  of  Asia,  and  is  estimated  to  be  more 
popular  than  auy  other  form  of  faith  among 
mankind.  Its  founder,  Buddha,  —  a  word 
which  seems  to  be  an  appellative,  as  it  sig- 
nifies the  Enlightened, — lived  about  five 
hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and 
established  his  religion  as  a  secession  from 
Brahmanism.  The  moral  code  of  Buddh- 
ism is  very  perfect,  surpassing  that  of  any 
other  heathen  religion.  But  its  theology  is 
not  so  free  from  objection.  Max  Mliller 
admits  that  there  is  not  a  single  passage  in 
the  Buddhist  canon  of  scripture  which 
presupposes  the  belief  in  a  personal  God 
or  a  Creator,  and  hence  he  concludes  that 
the  teaching  of  Buddha  was  pure  atheism. 
Yet  Upham  (Hist,  and  Doct.  of  Bud.,  p.  2,) 
thinks  that,  even  if  this  be  capable  of  proof, 


it  also  recognizes  "the  operation  of  Fate 
(called  Damata),  whereby  much  of  the  nec- 
essary process  of  conservation  or  govern- 
ment is  infused  into  the  system."  The 
doctrine  of  Nirvana,  according  to  Burnouf, 
taught  that  absolute  nothing  or  annihilation 
was  the  highest  aim  of  virtue,  and  hence 
the  belief  in  immortality  was  repudiated. 
Such,  too,  has  been  the  general  opinion  of 
Oriental  scholars;  but  Mliller  [Science  of 
Religion,  p.  141,)  adduces  evidence,  from 
the  teachings  of  Buddha,  to  show  that  Nir- 
vana may  mean  the  extinction  of  many 
things  —  of  selfishness,  desire,  and  sin, — 
without  going  so  far  as  the  extinction  of 
subjective  consciousness. 

The  sacred  scripture  of  Buddhism  is  the 
Tripitaka,  literally,  the  Three  Baskets.  The 
first,  or  the  Vinaya,  comprises  all  that  re- 
lates to  morality ;  the  second,  or  the  Sitras, 
contains  the  discourses  of  Buddha;  and  the 
third,  or  Abhidharma,  includes  all  works 
on  metaphysics  and  dogmatic  philosophy. 
The  first  and  second  Baskets  also  receive 
the  general  name  of  Dharma,  or  the  Law. 
The  principal  seat  of  Buddhism  is  the  isl- 
and of  Ceylon,  but  it  has  extended  into 
China,  Japan,  and  many  other  countries 
of  Asia. 


c. 


Canticle.  The  French  call  their  Ma- 
sonic songs  "  cantiques,"  or  canticles. 

Clavel,  T.  Begue.  A  French  Ma- 
sonic writer,  who  published  in  1842  a  His- 
toire  Pittoresque  de  la  Franc- Maconnerie  et 
des  Societes  Anciennes  et  Modernes.  This 
work  contains  a  great  amount  of  interest- 
ing and  valuable  information,  notwith- 
standing many  historical  inaccuracies, 
especially  in  reference  to  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Rite,  of  which  the  author  was  an 
adversary.  Clavel  is  also  the  author  of 
another  work,  published  in  1844,  and  en- 
titled Histoire  Pittoresque  des  Religions, 
Doctrines,  Ceremonies  et  Coutumes  Reli- 
gieuses  de  tous  lespeuples  du  Monde.  For  the 
publication  of  the  former  work  without  au- 
thority, he  was  suspended  by  the  Grand 
Orient  for  two  months,  and  condemned  to 
pay  a  fine.  Clavel  appealed  to  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  Fraternity  against  this  sen- 
tence. In  1844,  he  commenced  the  publi- 
cation of  a  Masonic  journal  called  the 
Grand  Orient,  the  title  of  which  he  subse- 
quently changed  to  the  Orient.  As  he  had 
not  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Grand 
Orient,  he  was  again  brought  before  that 
body,  and  the  sentence  of  perpetual  exclu- 
sion from  the  Grand  Orient  pronounced 
against  him.    Rebold  says  that  it  was  the 


act  of  a  faction,  and  obtained  by  unfair 
means.  It  was  not  sustained  by  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Craft  in  France,  with  whom 
Clavel  gained  reputation  and  popularity. 
Notwithstanding  the  literary  labors  of 
Clavel,  I  have  searched  in  vain  in  Larousse, 
Michaud,  and  the  other  more  recent  French 
biographers,  for  any  account  of  the  time  of 
his  birth  or  his  death. 

Connecticut.  The  first  Lodge  organ- 
ized in  Connecticut  was  Hiram  Lodge,  at 
New  Haven,  which  received  its  Charter,  in 
1750,  from  St.  John's  Grand  Lodge,  of  Bos- 
ton. Many  other  Lodges  were  subsequently 
instituted,  some  by  authority  derived  from 
Massachusetts,  but  most  of  them  by  au- 
thority derived  from  New  York.  A  con- 
vention of  delegates  from  twelve  Lodges 
assembled  at  New  Haven,  July  8, 1789,  and 
organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Connecticut. 
Pierpoint  Edwards  was  elected  Grand 
Master. 

In  1796,  there  were  three  Royal  Arch 
Chapters  in  Connecticut.  In  1797,  these 
Chapters  had  entered  into  an  association, 
probably  with  the  idea  of  establishing  a 
Grand  Chapter.  On  January  24,  1798,  a 
convention  of  delegates  from  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and  New  York 
was  held  at  Hartford,  when  a  conference 


CUMULATION 


EDWARD 


917 


having  been  held  on  the  subject  of  the  two 
conventions,  the  delegates  from  Connecticut 
united  with  those  from  the  other  States  in 
forming  the  "  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter 
of  the  Northern  States  of  America."  By 
the  Constitution  then  adopted,  the  "  Deputy 
Grand  Chapter  "  of  Connecticut  was  estab- 
lished. The  title  was  changed  in  the  sub- 
sequent year  for  that  of  "  Grand  Chapter." 
Webb  gives  the  precise  date  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Grand  Chapter  as  May  17, 1798. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  organized  in  1819. 

The  Grand  Encampment  was  organized 
September  13,  1827. 


Climulation  of  Rites.  The  prac- 
tice by  a  Lodge  of  two  or  more  Rites,  as  the 
American  or  York  and  Scottish,  or  the 
Scottish  and  French  Rites.  Thi3  cumula- 
tion of  Rites  has  been  practised  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  in  France.  At  one  time 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Louisiana  "  cumulated  " 
the  Ancient  York,  or  rather  the  American, 
the  French,  and  the  Scottish  Rites,  in  each 
of  which  some  of  the  Lodges  under  its  juris- 
diction worked ;  but  the  system  was  subse- 
quently condemned  by  the  Grand  Lodge, 
because  the  diversity  of  usages  and  compli- 
cation of  obedience  was  found  to  be  pro- 
ductive of  evil  results. 


D. 


Dodd's  Constitutions.  A  Book  of 
Constitutions  or  old  manuscript  charges, 
published  in  1739  by  Mrs.  Dodd.  The  book 
is  exceedingly  rare.  The  only  copy  known 
to  exist  is  in  the  possession  of  Richard 
Spencer,  of  London.  See  Spencer  Manu- 
script in  this  Supplement. 

Rowland  Manuscript.  A  manu- 
script so  called  because  it  was  first  pub- 
lished by  James  Dowland,  in  the  eighty- 
fifth  volume  of  the  Gentlemen's  Magazine 
for  May,  1815,  page  489.  It  was  preceded 
by  a  note  to  the  editor,  in  which  Dowland 
states  that  the  document  had  not  long  since 
come  into  his  possession ;  and  he  describes 
it  as  being  "  written  on  a  long  roll  of  parch- 
ment, in  a  very  clear  hand,  apparently  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  very  prob- 
ably is  copied  from  a  manuscript  of  earlier 
date."  Who  James  Dowland  was  I  have 
not  been  able  to  learn,  nor  does  he  give  us 
any  information  as  to  the  place  whence  he 
obtained  it.  Its  resemblance,  however,  in 
so  many  points,  to  many  of  the  other  old 
records,  such  as  theSloane,  the  Landsdowne, 
and  the  Harleian  Manuscripts,  leaves  no 
doubt  on  the  mind  of  its  authenticity. 

The  suggestion  of  Dowland,  that  it  was 
copied  from  an  earlier  one,  is  very  reason- 


able. Indeed,  the  resemblances  just  spoken 
of,  and  the  slight  discrepancies  between  it 
and  those  other  manuscripts,  consisting 
sometimes  of  a  change  of  the  spelling  of 
proper  names,  sometimes  of  the  omission 
of  incidents  contained  in  some  of  them,  and 
the  addition  of  incidents  not  contained  in 
others,  would  almost  necessarily  lead  to  the 
deduction  that  there  was  a  manuscript 
older  than  any  of  them,  of  which  all  of 
these  records  were  but  copies,  whose  varia- 
tions are  to  be  attributed  to  the  carelessness 
incident  to  the  character  and  attainments 
of  these  mediaeval  copyists,  who  were  much 
better  fitted  to  work  in  stone  than  on  parch- 
ment, and  who  handled  the  trowel  and 
hammer  with  much  more  skill  than  they 
did  the  pen. 

Bro.  Hughan,  in  his  Old  Charges  of  Brit- 
ish Freemasons,  (p.  22,)  says:  "Bro.  Wood- 
ford, Mr.  Sims,  and  other  eminent  author- 
ities, consider  the  original  of  the  copy  from 
which  the  transcript  for  the  Gentlemen's 
Magazine  was  written  to  be  a  scroll  of  at 
least  a  century  earlier  than  the  date  as- 
cribed to  Mr.  Dowland's  MS.,  and  in  con- 
sequence date  it  about  A.  D.  1550." 

Due  Examination.  See  Vouching 
in  the  body  of  this  work. 


E. 


Edinburgh-Kilwinning  Manu- 
script. See  Kilwinning  Manuscript  in  the 
body  of  this  work. 

Edward  III.  Manuscript.  A  man- 
uscript quoted  by  Anderson  in  his  second 
edition,  (p.  71,)  and  also  by  Preston,  as  an 
old  record  referring  to  "  the  glorious  reign 
of  King  Edward  III."  The  whole  of  the 
record  is  not  cited,  but  the  passages  that 
are  given  are  evidently  the  same  as  those 


contained  in  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Cooke  MS.,  the  archaic  phraseology  hav- 
ing been  modernized  and  interpolations  in- 
serted by  Anderson,  as  was,  unfortunately, 
his  habit  in  dealing  with  those  old  docu- 
ments. Compare,  for  instance,  the  follow- 
ing passages : 

From  the  Cooke  MS.  "  When  the  master 
and  the  felawes  be  forwarned  ben  y  come 
to  such  congregacions  if  nede  be  the  Scher- 


918 


EDWIN 


GRAVELOT 


effe  of  the  countre  or  the  mayer  of  the  Cyte 
or  alderman  of  the  town  in  wyche  the  con- 
gregacions  is  holden  schall  be  felaw  and 
sociat  to  the  master  of  the  congregacion  in 
helpe  of  hym  agenst  rebelles  and  upberyng 
[upbearing]  the  rygt  of  the  reme." 

Edward  III.  Manuscript  as  quoted  by  An- 
derson. "  That  when  the  Master  and  War- 
dens preside  in  a  Lodge,  the  sheriff  if  need  be, 
or  the  mayor  or  the  alderman  (if  a  brother) 
where  the  Chapter  is  held,  shall  be  sociate 
to  the  Master,  in  help  of  him  against  rebels 
and  for  upholding  the  rights  of  the  realm." 

The  identity  of  the  two  documents  is  ap- 
parent. Either  the  Edward  III.  MS.  was 
copied  from  the  Cooke,  or  both  were  de- 
rived from  a  common  original. 

Edwin  Charges.  The  charges  said 
to  have  been  given  by  Prince  Edwin,  and 
contained  in  the  Antiquity  MS.,  are  some- 
times so  called.  See  Antiquity  Manuscript 
in  the  body  of  this  work. 


Eglinton  Manuscript.  So  called 
because  it  was  discovered  many  years  ago 
in  the  charter-chest  of  Eglinton  Castle.  It 
is  written  in  the  Scottish  dialect,  and  bears 
the  date  of  "  xxvii.  December,  1599."  An 
exact  copy  of  it  has  been  published  by 
Bro.  Hughan  in  his  Unpublished  Records  of 
the  Graft. 

Europe.  In  the  French  Rite  of 
Adoption,  the  west  end  of  the  Lodge  is 
so  called. 

Eva.  This  is  the  word  of  acclamation 
in  the  French  Rite  of  Adoption. 

Evergetes,  Order  of.  A  secret  so- 
ciety established  at  Breslau,  by  Fessler, 
about  the  year  1789.  He  intended  it  as  a 
substitute  for  Freemasonry  (to  whose  con- 
struction it  was  similar),  because  he  hoped 
by  it  to  effect  those  moral  and  intellectual 
results  which  in  his  opinion  Freemasonry 
had  failed  to  secure.  But  the  association 
did  not  succeed,  and  was  dissolved  in  1795. 


F. 


Forty-two  Lettered  Name.   See  Twelve  Lettered  Name  in  the  body  of  this  work. 


G. 


Gomel.  A  significant  word  in  the  high 
degrees,  and  said  to  signify  reward  or  retri- 
bution, from  the  Hebrew  Sdj,  gamal,  to  re- 
ward any  one  for  good  or  for  evil.  Len- 
ning,  borrowing  from  some  of  the  old 
rituals,  has  made  the  mistake  of  giving  the 
word  as  gomez,  and  translating  it  by  beauty. 
There  is  a  Masonic  tradition,  in  one  of  the 
high  degrees,  that  gomel  was  the  first  word 
spoken  by  Adam  on  beholding  Eve. 

Gravelot.  The  name  of  the  second 
of  the  three  conspirators  in  the  Master's  de- 
gree, according  to  the  Adonhiramite  Rite. 
The  others  are  Romvel  and  Abiram.  The 
etymology  of  Gravelot  is  unknown. 

Gypsies.  Cornelius  Van  Pauw,  more 
generally  known  as  De  Pauw,  in  his  Philo- 
sophical Researches  on  the  Egyptians  and 
Chinese,  (Paris,  1774,)  advances  the  theory 
that  Freemasonry  originated  with  the  Gyp- 
sies. He  says:  "Every  person  who  was 
not  guilty  of  some  crime  could  obtain  ad- 
mission to  the  lesser  mysteries.  Those 
vagabonds  called  Egyptian  priests  in  Greece 
and  Italy  required  considerable  sums  for 
initiation ;  and  their  successors,  the  Gyp- 
sies, practise  similar  mummeries  to  obtain 
money.  And  thus  was  Freemasonry  intro- 
duced into  Europe."  But  De  Pauw  is  re- 
markable for  the  paradoxical  character  of 
his  opinions.    Yet  Mr.  James  Simson — who 


has  written  a  rather  exhaustive  History  of 
the  Gypsies,  (1866,)  finds  (p.  387)  "a  con- 
siderable resemblance  between  Gypsyism, 
in  its  harmless  aspect,  and  Freemasonry  ; 
with  this  difference,  that  the  former  is  a 
general,  while  the  latter  is  a  special  society ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  Gypsies  have  the  language, 
or  some  of  the  words  and  the  signs,  pecu- 
liar to  the  whole  race,  which  each  individ- 
ual or  class  will  use  for  different  purposes. 
The  race  does  not  necessarily,  and  does  not 
in  fact,  have  intercourse  with  every  other 
member  of  it ;  in  that  respect  they  resem- 
ble any  ordinary  community  of  men."  And 
he  adds :  "  There  are  many  Gypsies  Free- 
masons ;  indeed,  they  are  the  very  people 
to  push  their  way  into  a  Mason's  Lodge ; 
for  they  have  secrets  of  their  own,  and  are 
naturally  anxious  to  pry  into  those  of 
others,  by  which  they  may  be  benefited.  I 
was  told  of  a  Gypsy  who  died,  lately,  the 
Master  of  a  Mason's  Lodge.  A  friend,  a 
Mason,  told  me  the  other  day,  of  his  hav- 
ing entered  a  house  in  Yetholm  where 
were  five  Gypsies,  all  of  whom  responded  to 
his  Masonic  signs."  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  Simson  is  writing  of  the  Gyp- 
sies of  Scotland,  a  kingdom  where  the  race 
is  considerably  advanced  above  those  of 
any  other  country  in  civilization,  in  hon- 
esty, and  in  social  position. 


HAYTI 


KANSAS 


919 


H. 


Hayti.  Freemasonry,  which  had  been 
in  existence  for  several  years  in  the  island 
of  Hayti,  was  entirely  extinguished  by  the 
revolution  which  drove  out  the  white  in- 
habitants. In  1809,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
England  granted  a  Charter  for  a  Lodge  at 
Port-au-Prince,  and  for  one  at  Cayes.  In 
1817,  it  constituted  two  others  at  Jeremias 
and  at  Jacmel.  Subsequently,  a  Provincial 
Grand  Lodge  was  established  under  obedi- 
ence to  England.  In  1824,  this  Provincial 
Grand  Lodge  declared  its  independence 
and  organized  the  Grand  Orient  of  Hayti, 
which  is  still  in  existence.  But  in  conse- 
quence of  the  want  of  official  correspond- 
ence, we  are  left  in  great  ignorance  as  to 
the  actual  condition  of  Freemasonry  in 
Hayti. 

Hoben.  The  name  given  in  some  of  the 
high  degrees  to  one  of  the  three  conspira- 
tors commemorated  in  the  Master's  degree. 
The  derivation  is  uncertain.  Oben,  in  He- 
brew, means  a  stone  ;  or  it  may  be  a  corrup- 
tion of  Habone,  the  Builder  or  Mason. 
Bro.  Albert  Pike  has  suggested  to  me  that 
it  is  an  anagram  of  the  name  of  the  Earl 


of  Bohun,  one  of  the  enemies  of  the  house 
of  Stuart.  And  this  may  be  a  probable  der- 
ivation. 

Homaged.  First  employed  by  En- 
tick,  in  his  edition  of  the  Constitutions,  (p. 
230,)  in  reference  to  the  installation  of  the 
Earl  of  Kintore,  in  1740,  as  Grand  Master : 
"  Who  having  been  homaged  and  duly  con- 
gratulated according  to  the  forms  and 
solemnity  of  Masonry."  He  never  repeats 
the  word,  using  afterwards  the  expression, 
"  received  the  homage."  Noorthouck 
adopts  this  latter  expression  in  three  or 
four  instances,  but  more  generally  employs 
the  word  "  recognized  "  or  "  saluted."  The 
expression,  "  to  do  homage  "  to  the  Grand 
Master  at  his  installation,  although  now 
generally  disused,  is  a  correct  one,  not  pre- 
cisely in  the  feudal  sense  of  homagium,  but 
in  the  more  modern  one  of  reverence,  obe- 
dience, and  loyalty. 

Hospitaller.  An  officer  in  Lodges 
of  the  French  Rite,  who,  like  the  Almoner 
in  the  Scottish  Rite,  has  the  charge  and 
distribution  of  the  charity  fund  for  the  use 
of  the  poor. 


I 


Idaho.  Two  Lodges  holding  Charters 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Oregon,  and  one 
from  that  of  Washington  Territory,  met  in 
convention  at  Idaho  City  on  December  10, 
1867,  and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Idaho. 

Royal  Arch  Masonry  was  introduced  by 
the  General  Grand  Chapter  of  the  United 
States,  which  granted  a  Charter  for  Idaho 
Chapter  at  Idaho  City,  September  18, 1868, 
for  Cyrus  at  Silver  City,  and  Boise  at  Boise 
City,  both  September  20,  1870. 

Ijar.  y>1$.  The  eighth  month  of  the 
Hebrew  civil  year,  and  corresponding  with 
the  months  April  and  May,  beginning  with 
the  new  moon  of  the  former. 

Increase  of  Wages.  (Augmentation 
de  gages.)    To  ask  for  an  increase  of  wages 


is,  in  the  technical  language  of  French 
Masonry,  to  apply  for  advancement  to  a 
higher  degree. 

Inversion  of  Letters.  In  some  of 
the  French  documents  of  the  high  degrees, 
the  letters  of  some  words  were  inverted,  not 
apparently  for  concealment,  but  as  a  mere 
caprice.  Hence  Thory  (Fondat.,  p.  128,) 
calls  them  inversions  enfantines,  "childish 
inversions."  Thus  they  wrote  &osv9  ounots 
for  Rosce  crucis.  But  in  all  French  cahiers 
and  rituals,  or,  as  they  call  them,  Tuilleurs, 
words  are  inverted ;  that  is,  the  letters  are 
transposed  for  purposes  of  secrecy.  Thus 
they  would  write  Nomolos  for  Solomon,  and 
Marih  for  Hiram.  This  was  also  a  custom 
among  the  Kabbalists  and  the  Alchemists 
to  conceal  secret  words. 


K. 


Kansas.  In  the  year  1855,  there  were 
three  Lodges  in  Kansas  holding  Warrants 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri.  On 
November  14,  1855,  two  of  these  Lodges 
met  in  convention  at  Leavenworth.  In 
consequence  of  the  absence  of  the  third 
Lodge,  the  convention  adjourned  until  De- 


cember 27,  1855,  on  which  day  the  two 
Lodges  of  Smithton  and  Leavenworth  met, 
and,  Wyandot  Lodge  being  again  absent, 
the  delegates  of  these  two  Lodges  organized 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Kansas,  and  elected 
Richard  R.  Reece  Grand  Master. 
But  these  proceedings  were  considered 


920 


KENTUCKY 


LION 


illegal,  in  consequence  of  the  convention 
having  been  formed  by  two  instead  of  three 
Lodges ;  and  accordingly  another  conven- 
tion of  the  three  chartered  Lodges  in  the 
Territory  was  held  March  17,  1856,  and 
the  proceedings  of  the  previous  convention 
ratified  by  a  re-enactment,  the  same  Grand 
Master  being  re-elected. 

The  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  was  es- 
tablished January  27,  1866. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  organized  December  12, 1867. 

The  Grand  Commandery  was  organized 
December  29,  1868. 

Kentucky.  Organized  Freemasonry 
was  introduced  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Vir- 
ginia, which  in  the  year  1788  granted  a 
Charter  for  Lexington  Lodge,  No.  25,  at 
Lexington.  This  was  the  first  Lodge  in- 
stituted west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 
Three  other  Lodges  were  subsequently  char- 
tered by  Virginia,  namely,  at  Paris,  George- 
town, and  Frankford,  and  a  Dispensation 
granted  for  a  fifth  at  Shelbyville.  These 
five  Lodges  met  in  convention  at  Lexing- 
ton on  September  8, 1800.  Having  resolved 
that  it  was  expedient  to  organize  a  Grand 
Lodge,  and  prepared  an  address  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Virginia,  the  convention  adjourned 
to  October  16.  On  that  day  it  reassembled, 
and  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ken- 
tucky, William  Murray  being  elected  Grand 
Master. 

Chapters  of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  inde- 
pendent of  the  Grand  Lodge,  were  first 
established  by  Thomas  Smith  Webb  in 
1816,  and  the  Grand  Chapter  was  formed 
December  4,  1817. 

The  Grand  Council  of  Royal  and  Select 
Masters  was  organized  December  10, 1827. 

The  Grand  Encampment  (now  the  Grand 
Commandery)  was  organized  Oct.  5, 1847. 


Scottish  Masonry  was  introduced  into 
Kentucky,  and  the  Grand  Consistory  or- 
ganized at  Louisville,  in  August,  1852,  by 
Bro.  Albert  G.  Mackey,  Secretary  General 
of  the  Supreme  Council  for  the  Southern 
Jurisdiction. 

Khesvan  or  Chesran.  pan.  The 
same  Hebrew  month  as  Marchesvan,  which 
see.  Under  the  title  Marchesvan,  there  is 
an  error  in  the  statement  that  it  begins  in 
November.  It  does  sometimes,  but  more 
usually  with  October,  and  therefore  corre- 
sponds to  October  and  November. 

Kisleu  or  Chisleu.  ^02-  The 
third  month  of  the  Hebrew  civil  year,  and 
corresponding  with  the  months  November 
and  December,  beginning  with  the  new 
moon  of  the  former. 

Knife  and  Fork  Degree.  Those 
Masons  who  take  more  delight  in  the  re- 
freshments of  the  banquet  than  in  the  labors 
of  the  Lodge,  and  who  admire  Masonry 
only  for  its  social  aspect,  are  ironically 
said  to  be  "Members  of  the  Knife  and 
Fork  degree."  The  sarcasm  was  first  ut- 
tered by  Dermott,  when  he  said  in  his 
Ahiman  jRezon,  (p.  xxxvi.,)  speaking  of  the 
Moderns,  that  "  it  was  also  thought  expe- 
dient to  abolish  the  old  custom  of  studying 
Geometry  in  the  Lodge;  and  some  of  the 
young  brethren  made  it  appear  that  a  good 
knife  and  fork,  in  the  hands  of  a  dexterous 
brother  (over  proper  materials),  would  give 
greater  satisfaction,  and  add  more  to  the 
rotundity  of  the  Lodge,  than  the  best  scale 
and  compass  in  Europe." 

Krause  Manuscript.  A  title  some- 
times given  to  the  so-called  York  Consti- 
tutions, a  German  translation  of  which  was 
published  by  Krause,  in  1810,  in  his  Kun- 
sterkunden.  See  York  Constitutions  in  the 
body  of  this  work. 


L. 


Lawful  Information.  See  Vouch- 
ing in  the  body  of  this  work. 

Lenning,  C.  The  assumed  name  of 
a  learned  German  Mason,  who  resided  at 
Paris  in  1817,  where  Krause  speaks  of  him 
as  an  estimable  man  and  well-informed 
Freemason.  He  was  the  first  projector 
of  the  Encyclopadie  der  Freimaurerei, 
which  Findel  justly  calls  "  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  remarkable  works  in  Masonic 
literature."  The  manuscript  coming  into 
the  possession  of  the  Leipsic  bookseller, 
Brockhaus,  he  engaged  Friederich  Moss- 
dorf  to  edit  it.  He  added  so  much  to  the 
original,  revising  and  amplifying  all  the 


most  important  articles  and  adding  many 
new  ones,  that  Kloss  catalogues  it  in  his 
Bibliographie  as  the  work  of  Mossdorf. 
The  Encyclopadie  is  in  three  volumes,  of 
which  the  first  was  published  in  1822, 
the  second  in  1825,  and  the  third  in  1828. 
A  second  edition,  under  the  title  of 
Handbuch  der  Freimaurerei,  was  published 
under  the  editorship  of  Schletter  and 
Zille. 

Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity. 
Motto  of  the  French  Freemasons. 

Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Jndab.  See 
Tribe  of  Judah,  Lion  of  the,  in  the  body  of 
this  work. 


MAGNA 


MOORE 


921 


M. 


Magna  est  Veritas  et  prsevale- 
bit.  The  truth  is  great,  and  it  will  prevail, 
The  motto  of  the  Red  Cross  degree,  or 
Knight  of  the  Red  Cross. 

Masoney.  Used  in  the  Strasburg  Con- 
stitutions, and  other  German  works  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  as  equivalent  to  the  modern 
Masonry.  Kloss  translates  it  by  Masonhood. 
Leasing  derives  it  from  masa,  Anglo-Saxon, 
a  table,  and  says  it  means  a  Society  of  the 
Table.  Nicolai  deduces  it  from  the  low 
Latin  massonya,  which  means  both  a  club 
and  a  key,  and  says  it  means  an  exclusive 
society  or  club,  and  so  he  thinks  we  get  our 
word  Masonry.  Krause  traces  it  to  mas, 
mase,  food  or  a  banquet.  It  is  a  pity  to  at- 
tack these  speculations,  but  I  am  inclined 
to  look  at  Masoney  as  simply  a  corruption 
of  the  English  Masonrie. 

Medals.  To  what  has  been  said  of 
medals,  in  the  body  of  this  work,  it  should 
be  added  that  in  The  Three  Distinct  Knocks, 
published  in  1767,  there  is  the  following 
account  of  a  custom  which  then  prevailed 
among  Masons.  "There  are  medals  of 
silver,  (having  the  Tracing-Board  inscribed 
on  them,)  and  some  of  them  highly  finished 
and  ornamented,  so  as  to  be  worth  ten  or 
twenty  guineas.  They  are  suspended  round 
the  neck  with  ribbons  of  various  colors, 
and  worn  on  their  public  days  of  meeting, 
at  funeral  processions,  etc.,  in  honor  of 
the  Craft.  On  the  reverse  of  these  medals 
it  is  usual  to  put  the  owner's  coat  of 
arms,  or  cipher,  or  any  other  device  that 
the  owner  fancies,  and  some  even  add  to 
the  emblems  other  fancy  things  that  bear 
some  analogy  to  Masonry."  Some  of  these 
relics  of  the  last  century  may  still  be  found 
in  museums,  and  are  not  unfrequently  for 
sale  in  curiosity  shops. 

Mitchell,  James  W.  S.  A  Masonic 
writer  and  journalist,  who  was  born  in 
the  State  of  Kentucky  in  the  year  1800. 
He  was  initiated  into  Masonry  in  Owen 
Lodge,  at  Port  William,  now  Carrolton, 
Kentucky,  in  the  year  1821.  He  sub- 
sequently removed  to  the  State  of  Missouri, 
where  he  took  a  prominent  position  in  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  and  held  the  offices  of 
Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  Grand 
High  Priest  of  the  Grand  Chapter,  and 
Grand  Commander  of  the  Grand  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars.  In  1848, 
he  established,  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  a 
monthly  journal  entitled  the  Masonic  Signet 
and  Literary  Mirror,  which  he  removed  to 
Montgomery,  Alabama,  in  1852,  where  it 
lasted  for  a  short  time,  and  then  was  discon- 
tinued for  want  of  patronage.  In  1858  he 
5Q 


published  The  History  of  Freemasonry  and 
Masonic  Digest,  in  two  volumes,  octavo. 
Brother  Mitchell  was  a  warm-hearted  and 
devoted  Mason,  but,  unfortunately  for  his 
reputation  as  an  author,  not  an  accom- 
plished scholar ;  hence  his  style  is  deficient 
not  only  in  elegance,  but  even  in  gram- 
matical purity.  His  natural  capacity,  how- 
ever, was  good,  and  his  arguments  as  a  con- 
troversialist were  always  trenchant,  if  the 
language  was  not  polished.  As  a  Masonic 
jurist,  his  decisions  have  been  considered 
generally,  but  by  no  means  universally,  cor- 
rect. His  opinions  were  sometimes  eccen- 
tric, and  his  History  possesses  much  less 
value  than  such  a  work  should  have,  in 
consequence  of  its  numerous  inaccuracies, 
and  the  adoption  by  its  author  of  all  the 
extravagant  views  of  earlier  writers  on  the 
origin  of  Masonry.  He  died  at  Griffin,  in 
Georgia,  on  November  12,  1873,  having 
been  for  many  years  a  great  sufferer  from 
illness. 

Moore,  Charles  YYhitlock.  A 
distinguished  American  Masonic  writer  and 
journalist.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts, March  29, 1801.  His  own  account 
of  his  initiation  into  Masonry  is  in  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "  In  February,  1822, 1  was 
proposed  for  the  degrees  of  Masonry  in 
Massachusetts  Lodge,  then,  as  now,  one  of 
the  three  oldest  in  Boston,  and,  but  for  the 
intervention  of  business  engagements,  I 
should  have  been  received  into  Masonry  on 
the  evening  of  my  coming  of  age.  Before 
that  evening  arrived,  however,  I  was  called 
temporarily  to  the  State  of  Maine,  when  in 
May  following  I  was  admitted  in  Kennebec 
Lodge,  at  Hallowell,  with  the  consent  and 
approbation  of  the  Lodge  in  which  I  had 
been  originally  proposed.  I  received  the 
third  degree  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  of 
June." 

In  the  following  July  he  returned  to 
Boston,  and  on  October  10  affiliated  with 
the  Lodge  of  St.  Andrew  in  that  city.  In 
October,  1872,  that  Lodge  celebrated  his 
semicentennial  membership  by  a  festival. 

In  1833,  he  was  elected  Master  of  the 
Lodge,  but  having  been  elected  Recording 
Grand  Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  he 
was  compelled  to  resign  the  Mastership,  as 
the  two  offices  were  constitutionally  in- 
compatible. But  he  was  on  the  same  even- 
ing elected  Secretary  of  the  Lodge,  an 
office  the  duties  of  which  he  discharged  for 
sixteen  years.  In  1825,  he  took  the  Capit- 
ular degrees  in  St.  Andrew's  Chapter,  and 
was  elected  High  Priest  in  1840,  and  sub- 
sequently Grand  High  Priest  of  the  Grand 


922 


PARLIRER 


PARLIRER 


Chapter.  He  was  made  a  Knight  Templar 
in  the  Boston  Encampment  about  the  year 
1830,  and  was  Eminent  Commander  in 
1837.  In  1841,  he  was  elected  Grand 
Master  of  the  Grand  Encampment  of 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  which 
office  he  held  for  three  years.  In  1832,  he 
received  the  Royal  and  Select  degrees  in 
the  Boston  Council,  over  which  he  presided 
for  twelve  years.  He  was  elected  General 
Grand  Captain  General  of  the  Grand  En- 
campment of  the  United  States  in  1847,  and 
General  Grand  Generalissimo  in  1850.  In 
1844,  he  was  received  into  the  Ancient  and 
Accepted  Scottish  Bite,  and  in  the  same 
year  was  elected  Secretary  General  of  the 
Holy  Empire  in  the  Supreme  Council  for 
the  Northern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  an  office  which  he  held  until  his 
resignation  in  1862. 

"  When  he  was  elected  R.  G.  Secretary 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  in  1834,"  says  Bro.  John 
T.  Heard,  in  his  Historical  Account  of  Co- 
lumbian Lodge,  (p.  472,)  "  it  was  the  mo- 
ment when  the  anti-Masonic  excitement 
was  raging  with  its  greatest  violence  in  this 
State,  and  his  first  official  act  was  to  attest 
the  Memorial  written  by  him,  surrendering 
to  the  Legislature  the  act  of  incorporation 
of  the  Grand  Lodge.  This  act  of  surrender 
originated  with  him,  and  he  may  proudly 
look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most  important 
and  beneficial  performances  of  his  Masonic 
life."  The  Grand  Lodge  surrendered  its 
Charter  and  its  corporate  powers  that  it 
might  escape  the  persecution  of  an  anti- 
Masonic  legislature,  who  were  disposed  to 
exercise  a  tyrannical  power  over  it  as  a 
corporation,  to  which  its  members  would 
not  be  obnoxious  in  their  individual  capa- 
city. But  the  surrender  of  the  Charter  was 
not  an  abandonment  of  Masonry.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Memorial  boldly  stated  that 
"  by  divesting  itself  of  its  corporate  powers, 
the  Grand  Lodge  has  relinquished  none  of 
its  Masonic  attributes  or  prerogatives. 
These  it  claims  to  hold  and  exercise  inde- 
pendently of  popular  will  and  legal  enact- 
ment, not  of  toleration  but  of  right."    He 


was  also  the  author  of  a  protest  or  declara- 
tion, issued  in  1831,  by  the  Boston  Encamp- 
ment against  the  slanderous  accusations  of 
the  anti-Masons,  and  which  was  readily 
signed  by  thousands  of  Masons  in  New  Eng- 
land. In  fact,  during  the  anti-Masonic  ex- 
citement which  raged  with  peculiar  vio- 
lence in  Massachusetts,  many  weak  Ma- 
sons deserted  the  Order,  while  only  the  true 
and  stout-hearted  remained  to  battle  with 
the  storm.  "Of  these,"  said  Bro.  Benjamin 
Dean,  "  the  one  possessing  the  most  cour- 
age, the  most  persistency,  the  greatest  abil- 
ity and  influence,  was  Bro.  Charles  W. 
Moore,  and  he  devoted  himself  to  the  work." 

In  Masonic  authorship,  Bro.  Moore  is 
principally  distinguished  as  a  journalist. 
In  1825,  he  established  the  Masonic  Mirror, 
the  first  Masonic  newspaper  ever  issued  in 
America,  and,  perhaps,  in  the  world.  This 
work,  which  was  distinguished  for  the  bold- 
ness with  which  it  fought  the  battle  against 
anti-Masonry,  was  merged  in  1834  in  the 
Bunker  Hill  Aurora,  a  paper  with  whose 
Masonic  department  he  was  associated. 
In  1841,  he  commenced  the  publication  of 
the  Freemasons'  Monthly  Magazine,  a  work 
which  he  continued  to  publish  to  the  time 
of  his  death,  a  period  of  thirty -three  years, 
a  longer  life  than  was  ever  vouchsafed  to  a 
Masonic  journal. 

In  1828  and  1829,  he  published  the  Am- 
aranth, or  Masonic  Garland;  in  1843,  the 
Masonic  Trestle  -  Board,  compiled  under 
the  direction  of  the  Baltimore  Convention. 
This  work,  though  less  popular  now  than 
when  it  first  appeared,  is  still  used  as  a  text- 
book in  several  States.  Bro.  Moore  died  at 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  of  pneumonia,  on 
December  12, 1873. 

As  a  Masonic  jurist,  C.  W.  Moore  held  a 
high  rank.  Of  many  decisions  on  points 
of  Masonic  law  which  he  made  during  his 
long  career  as  a  journalist,  very  few  nave 
been  repudiated  by  the  general  sense  of  the 
Craft  as  unsound.  His  interpretation  of 
Masonic  law  was  founded  on  long  experi- 
ence, guided  by  a  sound  judgment  and  a 
cultivated  intellect. 


P. 


Parllrer.  In  the  Lodges  of  Stone- 
masons of  the  Middle  Ages,  there  was  a 
rank  or  class  of  workmen  called  Parlirers, 
literally,  spokesmen.  They  were  an  inter- 
mediate class  of  officers  between  the  Mas- 
ters of  the  Lodges  and  the  Fellows,  and 
were  probably  about  the  same  as  our  mod- 
ern Wardens.  Thus,  in  the  Strasburg 
Constitutions  of  1459,  it  is  said:  "No 
Craftsman  or  Master  shall  promote  one  of 


his  Apprentices  as  a  Parlirer  whom  he  has 
taken  as  an  Apprentice  from  his  rough  state, 
or  who  is  still  in  his  years  of  Apprentice- 
ship," which  may  be  compared  with  the 
old  English  charge  that  "  no  Brother  can 
be  a  Warden  until  he  has  passed  the  part 
of  a  Fellow  Craft."  They  were  called 
Parlirers,  properly,  says  Heldmann,  Par- 
lierers,  or  Spokesmen,  because,  in  the  absence 
of  the  Masters,  they  spoke  for  the  Lodge  to 


PARIS 


SQUAREMEN 


923 


travelling  Fellows  seeking  employment,  and 
made  the  examination.  There  are  various 
forms  of  the  word.  Kloss,  citing  the  Stras- 
burg  Constitutions,  has  Parlirer;  Krause 
has,  from  the  same  document,  Parlierer,  but 
says  it  is  usually  Poller;  Heldmann  uses 
Parlierer,  which  has  been  now  generally 
adopted. 

Paris  Constitutions.  A  copy  of 
these  Constitutions,  said  to,havebeen  adopt- 
ed in  the  thirteenth  century,  will  be  found 
in  G.  P.  Depping's  Collection  de  Documents 
inedits  sur  I'histoire  de  France,  (Paris,  1837.) 
A  part  of  this  work  contains  the  Reglemens 
sur  les  arts  et  metiers  de  Paris,  redigis  au 
13me  siecle  et  connus  sous  le  nom  de  livre  des 
metiers  d'  Etienne  Boileau.  This  treats  of 
the  Masons,  Stone-cutters,  Plasterers,  and 
Mortar-makers,  and,  as  Steinbrenner  {Or. 
and  Hist,  of  Mas.,  p.  104,)  says,  "  is  interest- 
ing, not  only  as  exhibiting  the  peculiar 
usages  and  customs  of  the  Craft  at  that 
early  period,  but  as  showing  the  connection 
which  existed  between  the  Taws  and  regula- 
tions of  the  French  Masons  and  those  of 
the  Steinmetzen  of  Germany  and  the  Masons 
of  England."    A  translation  of  these  Paris 


Constitutions  was  published  in  the  Free- 
masons' Magazine,  Boston,  1863,  p.  201.  In 
the  year  1743,  the  "  English  Grand  Lodge 
of  France  "  published,  in  Paris,  a  series  of 
statutes,  taken  principally  from  Anderson's 
work  of  the  editions  of  1723  and  1738.  It 
consisted  of  twenty  articles,  and  bore  the 
title  of  "  General  Regulations  taken  from 
the  minutes  of  the  Lodges,  for  the  use  of 
the  French  Lodges,  together  with  the  alter- 
ations adopted  at  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Grand  Lodge,  December  11,  1743,  to 
serve  as  a  rule  of  action  for  the  said  king- 
dom." A  copy  of  this  document,  says 
Findel,  was  translated  into  German,  with 
annotations,  and  published  in  1856  in  the 
Zeitschrift  fur  Freimaurer  of  Altenberg. 

Prince  of  Wales  Grand  Lodge. 
About  the  time  of  the  reconciliation  of  the 
two  contending  Grand  Lodges  in  England 
in  1813,  they  were  called,  by  way  of  dis- 
tinction, after  their  Grand  Masters.  That 
of  the  Moderns  "  was  called  the  "  Prince 
of  Wales  Grand  Lodge,"  and  that  of  the 
"Ancients"  the  "Duke  of  Kent's  Grand 
Lodge."  The  titles  were  used  colloquially, 
and  not  officially. 


s. 


Setting-Maul.  A  wooden  hammer 
used  by  Operative  Masons  to  "set"  the 
stones  in  their  proper  posi- 
tions. It  is  in  Speculative 
Masonry  a  symbol,  in  the 
third  degree,  reminding  us  of 
the  death  of  the  builder  of 
the  Temple,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  effected  by  this  instrument.  In 
some  Lodges  it  is  very  improperly  used  by 
the  Master  as  his  gavel,  from  which  it  to- 
tally differs  in  form  and  in  symbolic  sig- 
nification. The  gavel  is  a  symbol  of  order 
and  decorum,  the  setting-maul  of  death  by 
violence. 

Sliebet.  fptP-  Tne  fifth  month  of 
the  Hebrew  civil  year,  and  corresponding 
with  the  months  January  and  February, 
beginning  with  the  new  moon  of  the 
former. 

Sivan.  ?VD-  The  ninth  month  of  the 
Hebrew  civil' year,  and  corresponding  with 
the  months  May  and  June,  beginning  with 
the  new  moon  of  the  former. 

Spencer  Manuscript.  Bro.  Richard 
Spencer,  the  celebrated  Masonic  bibliopolist 
of  London,  in  the  preface  to  his  reprint  of 
The  Old  Constitutions,  published  in  1871, 
says  that  he  possesses  a  Masonic  tract  of 
twenty  pages,  printed  in  4to,  the  title  of 
which  is  as  follows :  "  Thebeginning  and  the 
first  foundation  of  the  most  worthy  Craft  of 


Masonry,  with  the  Charges  thereunto  be- 
longing. By  a  deceased  Brother  for  the 
benefit  of  his  widow.  London  :  printed  for 
Mrs.  Dodd  at  the  Peacock,  without  Temple 
Bar.  1739.  Price  Sixpence."  This,  he 
thinks,  is  very  like  the  Constitutions  oj 1726, 
printed  by  him  in  1870,  and  is  apparently 
copied  from  a  similar  manuscript.  The 
tract  to  which  Bro.  Spencer  refers  has  not 
been  reprinted  by  him,  but  the  unknown 
manuscript  of  which  it  is  supposed  to  be  a 
copy  has  been  entitled  the  "  Spencer  Man- 
uscript." 

Squaremen.  The  companies  of 
wrights,  slaters,  etc.,  in  Scotland  in  the 
seventeenth  century  were  called  "  Square- 
men."  They  had  ceremonies  of  initiation, 
and  a  word,  sign,  and  grip,  like  the  Masons. 
Lyon  {Hist,  of  the  L.  at  Edinb.,  p.  23,)  says  : 
"The  'Squaremen  Word'  was  given  in 
conclaves  of  journeymen  and  apprentice 
wrights,  slaters,  etc.,  in  a  ceremony  in  which 
the  aspirant  was  blindfolded  and  otherwise 
'  prepared ; '  he  was  sworn  to  secrecy,  had 
word,  grip,  and  sign  communicated  to  him, 
and  was  afterwards  invested  with  a  leather 
apron.  The  entrance  to  the  apartment, 
usually  a  public  house,  in  which  the 
'brithering'  was  performed  was  guarded, 
and  all  who  passed  had  to  give  the  grip. 
The  fees  were  spent  in  the  entertainment 
of  the  brethren  present.    Like  the  Masons, 


924 


ST.  ALBAN'S 


VETERANS 


tlie  Squaremen  admitted  non-operatives." 
In  the  St.  Clair  Charter  of  1628,  among  the 
representatives  of  the  Masonic  Lodges,  we 
find  the  signature  of  "  George  Liddell,  dea- 
kin  of  squarmen  and  now  quartermaistir." 
This  would  show  that  there  must  have 
been  an  intimate  connection  between  the 
two  societies  or  crafts. 

St.  Alfoan's  Regulations.  The 
regulations  said  to  have  been  made  by  St. 
Alban  for  the  government  of  the  Craft  are 
referred  to  in  the  Stone  MS.  cited  by  An- 
derson in  his  second  edition,  (p.  57.)  and 
afterwards  by  Preston.  See  Saint  Alban  in 
the  body  of  this  work. 

Strasburg,  Constitutions  of.  On 
April  25,  1459,  nineteen  Bauhtttten,  or 
Lodges,  in  Southern  and  Central  Germany 
met  at  Ratisbon,  and  adopted  regulations 
for  the  government  of  the  German  Stone- 
masons. Another  meeting  was  held  shortly 
afterwards  at  Strasburg,  where  these  statutes 
were  definitively  adopted  and  promulgated 
under  the  title  of  Ordenunge  der  Stein- 
metzen  zu  Strassburg,  or  "  Constitutions  of 
the  Stonemasons  of  Strasburg."  They  from 
time  to  time  underwent  many  alterations, 
and  were  confirmed  by  Maximilian  I.  in 
1498,  and  subsequently  by  many  succeed- 
ing emperors.  This  old  document  has 
several  times  been  printed;  in  1810,  by 
Krause,  in  his  drei  altesten  kunstkrhinden 
der   Freimaurerbriiderschaft ;  in    1819,   by 


Heldmann,  in  die  drei  altesten  geschichtlichen 
Denkmale  der  deutschen  Freimaurerbriider- 
schaft; in  1844,  by  Heideloff,  in  his  Bau- 
hutte  des  Mittelalters ;  and  in  1845,  by  Kloss, 
in  his  die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Be- 
deutung.  Findel  also,  in  1866,  inserted 
portions  of  it  in  his  Geschichte  der  Frei- 
maurerei, which  work  has  been  ably  trans- 
lated into  English  by  Bro.  D.  Murray 
Lyon. 

The  invocation  with  which  these  Consti- 
tutions commence  is  different  from  that  of 
the  English  Constitutions.    The  latter  be- 

fin  thus:  "The  might  of  the  Father  of 
eaven,  with  the  wisdom  of  the  blessed 
Son,  through  the  grace  of  God  and  good- 
ness of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  be  three  per- 
sons in  one  Godhead,  be  with  us,"  etc. 
The  Strasburg  Constitutions  begin :  "  In 
the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the  gracious  Mother 
Mary,  and  also  her  blessed  servants,  the 
four  holy  crowned  ones  of  everlasting 
memory,"  etc.  The  reference  to  the  Virgin 
Mary  and  to  the  four  crowned  martyrs  is 
found  in  none  of  the  English  Constitutions 
except  the  oldest  of  them,  the  Halliwell 
MS.  But  Kloss  has  compared  the  Stras- 
burg and  the  English  statutes,  and  shown 
the  great  similarity  in  many  of  the  regula- 
tions of  both. 

Strict  Trial.  See  Vouching  in  the 
body  of  this  work. 


T. 


Tammnz.  fpH»  The  10th  month 
of  the  Hebrew  civil  year,  and  correspond- 
ing to  the  months  June  and  July,  begin- 
ning with  the  new  moon  of  the  former. 

Tebeth.  »"DD.  The  4th  month  of 
the  Hebrew  civil  year,  and  corresponding 


to  the  months  December  and  January,  be- 
ginning with  the  new  moon  of  the  former. 

Tisri.  _  HB71.  The  lst  month  of  the 
Hebrew  civil  year,  and  corresponding  to 
the  months  September  and  October,  begin- 
ning with  the  new  moon  of  the  former. 


V. 


Teadar.  TTNV  That  is,  the  second 
Adar.  A  month  intercalated  by  the  Jews 
every  few  years  between  Adar  and  Nisan, 
so  as  to  reconcile  the  computation  by  solar 
and  lunar  time.  It  commences  sometimes 
in  February,  and  sometimes  in  March. 

Veterans.  Associations  have  within 
the  past  few  years  been  formed  in  several 
of  the  jurisdictions  of  the  United  States, 
consisting  of  Masons  who  have  been  in 
good  standing  in  the  Order  for  many  years, 
not  less  than  twenty.  The  object  of  these 
associations,  which  are  called.  "  Veterans 
of  Masonry,"  as  set  forth  in  the  Constitution 
of  that  of  Ohio,  is  "the  perpetuation  of 


Masonic  friendship,  the  cultivation  of  the 
social  virtues,  the  collection  of  facts  relating 
to  Masonic  history  and  biography,  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  good  old  usages  of  the  Craft, 
and  the  exertion  of  influence  to  improve 
Masonry  in  every  good  word  and  work."  The 
officers  of  such  an  association  are  usually 
a  President,  two  or  more  Vice-Presidents,  a 
Secretary,  Treasurer,  and  Sentinel.  The 
members  wear  a  badge  of  a  device  regulated 
by  the  association.  None  but  Master  Ma- 
sons in  good  standing,  who  have  reached 
the  required  Masonic  age,  are  eligible  for 
membership,  which  is  not  necessarily  re- 
stricted to  residents  of  the  jurisdiction. 


WOODFORD 


WOUND 


925 


W. 


Woodford  Manuscript.  A  copy 
of  a  manuscript  which,  says  Bro.  Hughan, 
is  "  almost  a  verbatim  copy  "  of  the  Cooke 
MS.  It  has  an  endorsement:  "This  is  a 
very  ancient  Record  of  Masonry,  which  was 
copied  for  me  by  William  Reid,  Secretary 
to  the  Grand  Lodge,  1728,  etc."  It  formerly 
belonged  to  Mr.  William  Cowper,  Clerk  to 
the  Parliament,  and  subsequently  to  the  his- 
torian, Sir  J.  Palgrave.  It  is  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Rev.  A.  F.  A.  Woodford,  who 
purchased  it  from  Mr.  Thomas  Kerslake, 
of  Bristol.    It  has  never  been  published. 


Wound,  Mason's.  Nicolai,  in  the 
appendix  to  his  Essay  on  the  Accusations 
against  the  Templars,  says  that  in  a  small 
dictionary  published  at  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  following  defi- 
nition is  to  be  found :  "Mason's  Wound. 
It  is  an  imaginary  wound  above  the  elbow, 
to  represent  a  fracture  of  the  arm  occa- 
sioned by  a  fall  from  an  elevated  place." 
The  origin  and  the  esoteric  meaning  of  the 
phrase  have  been  lost.  It  was  probably 
used  as  a  test,  or  alluded  to  some  legend 
which  is  now  lost 


^ 


INDEX. 


AARON,  1. 
Aaron's  Rod,  1. 
Ab,  1. 
Abacus,  1. 
Abaddon,  1. 
Abbreviations,  1. 
Abda,  3. 
Abdamon,  3. 
Abelites,  3. 
Abibalk,  3. 
Abide  by.    See  Stand  to  and 

abide  by,  3. 
Abif,  3. 
Abiram,  4. 
Able,  4. 
Ablution,  5. 
Abnet,  5. 
Aborigines,  5. 
Abrac,  5. 
Abracadabra,  5. 
Abraham,  5. 

Abraham,  Antoine  Firmin,  6. 
Abraxas,  6. 

Stones,  6. 
Absence,  7. 
Acacia,  7. 
Acacian,  9. 
Academy,  9. 

of  Ancients  or  of  Secrets,  9. 

of  Sages,  9. 

of  Secrets.   See  Academy  of 
Ancients,  9. 

of  Sublime  Masters  of  the 
Luminous  Ring,  9. 

of  True  Masons,  9. 

Platonic,  10. 
Acanthus,  10. 
Accepted,  10. 
Acclamation,  11. 
Accolade,  11. 
Accord,  11. 

Accusation.    See  Charge,  11. 
Accuser,  11. 
Aceldama,  11. 
Acerellos,  R.  S.,  11. 
Achad,  11. 

Acharon  Schilton,  12. 
Achias,  12. 
Achishar,  12. 
Achtariel,  12. 
Acknowledged,  12. 
Acousmatici,  12. 
Acquittal,  12. 
Acta  Latomorum,  13. 
Acting  Grand  Master,  13. 
Active  Lodge,  13. 


Active  Member,  13. 

Actual  Past  Masters,  13. 

Adad,  13. 

Adam,  13. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  14. 

Adar,  14. 

Adarel,  14. 

Addresses,  Masonic,  14. 

Adelph,  15. 

Adept,  15. 

Prince,  16. 

the,  16. 
Adeptus  Adoptatus,  16. 

Coronatus,  16. 

Exemptus,  16. 
Adhering  Mason,  16. 
Adjournment,  16. 
Admiration,  Sign  of,  17. 
Admission,  17. 
Admonition,  17. 
Adonai,  17. 
Adonhiram,  18. 
Adonhiramite  Masonry,  18. 
Adoniram,  21. 
Adoniramite     Masonry.       See 

Adonhiramite  Masonry,  21. 
Adonis,  Mysteries  of,  21. 
Adoption,  Masonic,  26. 
Adoptive  Masonry,  27. 

American,  33. 

Egyptian,  34. 
Adoration,  34. 
Advanced,  34. 
Advancement,  Hurried,  34. 
Adytum,  37. 
^Eneid,  37. 
JEon,  37. 

JEra,  Architectonica,  37. 
Affiliated  Mason,  37. 
Affirmation,  38. 
Africa,  38. 
African  Architects,  Order  of,  38. 

Brother,  41. 

Brothers,  41. 

Builders.        See     African 
Architects,  41. 

Lodges.    See  Negro  Lodges, 
41. 
Agapse,  41. 
Agate,  42. 

Stone  of,  42. 
Age,  Lawful,  42. 

Masonic,  42. 
Agla,  43. 

Agnostus,  Irenaeus,  43. 
Agnus  Dei,  43. 


Agrippa,  Henry  Cornelius,  43. 
Ahabath  Olam,  45. 
Ahiah,  46. 
Ahiman  Rezon,  46. 
Ahisar.    See  Achishar,  49. 
Aholiab,  49. 
Ahriman,  50. 
Aichmalotarch,  50. 
Aid  and  Assistance,  50. 
Aitcheson  -  Haven   Manuscript, 

51. 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  51. 
Akirop,  52. 
Alabama,  52. 
Alapa,  52. 
Alarm,  52. 

Alban,  St.  See  Saint  Alban,  53. 
Albertus  Magnus,  53. 
Albrecht,  Henry  Christoph,  53. 
Alchemy,  53. 

Aldworth,  the  Hon.  Mrs.,  54. 
Alethophile,  55. 
Alexander  I.,  55. 
Alexandria,  School  of,  55. 
Alfader,  55. 
Algabil,  56. 

Ahncourt,  Francois  d',  56. 
Allegiance,  56. 
Allegory,  56. 
Allocution,  56. 
Allowed,  56. 
All-Seeing  Eye,  57. 
All-Souls'  Day,  57. 
Almanac,  Masonic,  57. 
Almighty,  57. 
Almond-Tree,  57. 
Almoner,  58. 
Alms-Box,  58. 
Almsgiving,  58. 
Alnwick  Manuscript,  58. 
Al-om-Jah,  58. 
Aloyau,  Society  de  1',  58. 
Alpha  and  Omega,  58. 
Alphabet,  Angels',  59. 

Hebrew,  59. 

Masonic.    See  Cipher,  59. 

Samaritan,  59. 
Alpina,  59. 
Altar,  60. 
Altenberg,  Congress  of,  60. 

Lodge  at,  61. 
Amaranth,  61. 
Amar-jah,  61. 
Amazons,  Order  of,  61. 
Amen,  61. 
Amendment,  61. 

927 


928 


INDEX. 


American  Mysteries,  62. 

Rite,  62. 
Ameth.    See  Emeth,  63. 
Amethyst,  63. 
Amicists,  Order  of,  63. 
Amis  Reunis,  Loge  des,  63. 
Ammon.     See  Amun,  63. 
Ammonitish  War,  63. 
Amphibalus.    See    Saint   Am- 

phibalus,  63. 
Amulet.    See  Talisman,  63. 
Amun,  63. 
Anachronism,  63. 
Anagram,  64. 
Ananiah,  64. 
Anchor  and  Ark,  64. 

Knight  of  the.    See  Knight 
of  the  Anchor,  65. 

Order  of  Knights  and  La- 
dies of  the,  65. 
Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  See 
Scottish  Rite,  65. 

Craft  Masonry,  65. 

Free    and   Accepted    Ma- 
sons, 65. 

Masons,  65. 

Reformed  Rite,  68. 

of  I)ays,  68. 
Ancients.      See    Ancient    Ma- 
sons, 68. 
Ancient,  The,  68. 

York  Masons,  68. 
Anderson,  James,  68. 

Manuscript,  68. 
Andrea,  John  Valentine,  69. 
Andre,  Christopher,  69. 
Andrew,  Apprentice  and  Fellow 
Craft  of  St.,  69. 

Cross  of  St.    See  Cross,  St. 
Andrew's,  69. 

Favorite  of  St.,  69. 

Grand   Scotch    Knight  of. 
See  Knight  of  St.  Andrew, 
69. 
Androgynous  Degrees,  69. 

Masonry,  70. 
Angel,  70. 

Angelic  Brothers,  70. 
Angels'  Alphabet.    See  Alpha- 
bet, Angels',  70. 
Angerona,  70. 
Angle,  70. 
Angular  Triad,  70. 
Animal  Worship,  70. 
Annales  Chronologiques,  71. 

Originis  Magni  Galliarum 
Orientis,  etc.,  71. 
Anniversary.   See  Festivals,  71. 
Anno  Depositions,  71. 

Hebraico,  71. 

Inventionis,  71. 

Lucis,  71. 

Mundi,  71. 

Ordinis,  71. 
Annuaire,  71. 
Annual  Communication,  71. 

Proceedings,  71. 
Annuities,  71. 
Anointing,  71. 
Anonymous  Society,  72. 
Ansyreeh,  72. 
Antediluvian  Masonry,  72. 
Anthem,  72. 
Anti-Masonic  Books,  72. 


Anti-Masonic  Party,  75. 
Anti-Masonry,  76. 
Antin,  Duke  d',  76. 
Antipodeans,  76. 
Antiquity,  Lodge  of,  76. 

Manuscript,  76. 

of  Freemasonry,  77. 
Anton,  Dr.  Carl  Gottlob  von,  78. 

Hieronymus,  78. 
Ape  and  Lion,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Ape  and 
Lion,  79. 
Aphanism,  79. 
Apocalypse,  Masonry  of  the,  79. 

Order  of  the,  80. 
Apocalyptic  Degrees,  80. 
Aporrheta,  80. 
Appeal,  Right  of,  81. 
Appendant  Orders,  81. 
Apple-Tree  Tavern,  81. 
Apprenti,  81. 

Apprentice.      See    Apprentice, 
Entered,  81. 

Architect,  81. 
Perfect,  81. 
Prussian,  81. 

Cohen,  81. 

Egyptian,  81. 

Entered,  81. 

Hermetic,  82. 

Kabbalistic,  82. 

Mason,  82. 

Masoness,  82. 

Masoness,  Egyptian,  82. 

Mystic,  82. 

of  Paracelsus,  82. 

of  the  Egyptian  Secrets,  82. 

Philosopher,  by  the  No.  3, 
83. 
Hermetic,  83. 
to  the  No.  9,  83. 

Pillar.     See  Prentice  Pil- 
lar, 83. 

Scottish,  83. 

Theosophist,  83. 
Apron,  83. 

Araunah.    See  Oman,  85. 
Arbitration,  85. 
Arcana,  85. 
Arcani  Discipline,  85. 
Arch,  Antiquity  of,  85. 

Catenarian.  See  Catenarian 
Arch,  85. 

of  Enoch,  85. 

of  Heaven,  85. 

of  Solomon,  Royal,  85. 

of  Steel,  85. 

of  Zerubbabel,  Royal,  85. 

Royal.  See  Royal  Arch,  85. 
Archaeology,  85. 
Archetype,  86. 
Architect,  86. 

African.  See  African  Archi- 
tects, 86. 

by  3,  5,  and  7,  Grand,  86. 

Grand,  86. 

Master.       See    Grand 
Master  Architect,  86. 

Little,  86. 

of  Solomon,  86. 

Perfect,  86. 

Perfect  and  Sublime  Grand, 
86. 
Architectonicus,  86. 


Architecture,  86. 

Piece  of,  87. 
Archives,  87. 

Grand  Guardian  of  the,  87. 
Keeper  of  the,  87. 
Archiviste,  87. 
Ardarel,  87. 
Arelim,  87. 
Areopagus,  87. 
Arithmetic,  87. 
Ark,  87. 

and  Anchor.    See   Anchor 
and  Ark,  87. 

and  Dove,  87. 

Mariners.     See  Royal  Ark 
Mariners,  87. 

Noah's,  87. 

of  the  Covenant,  87. 

Substitute,  88. 
Arkite  Worship,  89. 
Armenbiische,  89. 
Armes,  89. 
Armiger,  89. 
Armory,  89. 
Arms  of  Masonry,  89. 
Arras,  Primordial   Chapter  of, 

90. 
Arrest  of  Charter,  90. 
Arthusius,  Gotthardus,  90. 
Art,  Royal.    See  Royal  Art,  90. 
Arts,  90. 

Liberal.    See  Liberal  Arts 
and  Sciences,  90. 
Ascension  Day,  90. 
Ashe,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Jonathan,  90. 
Asher,  Dr.  Carl  Wilhelm,  91. 
Ashlar,  91, 
Ashmole,  Elias,  91. 
Asia,    Initiated    Knights    and 
Brothers  of,  92. 

Perfect  Initiates  of,  92. 
Ask,  Seek,  Knock,  92. 
Aspirant,  92. 
Assassins,  92. 

of  the  Third  Degree,  93. 
Assembly,  93. 

Assistance.    See  Aid  and  Assist- 
ance, 94. 
Associates  of  the  Temple,  94. 
Association,  94. 
Astrsea,  94. 
Astronomy,  94. 
Asylum,  94. 

for  Aged  Freemasons,  94. 
Atelier,  94. 
Atheist,  95. 
Athelstan,  95. 
Athol  Masons,  95. 
Attendance.    See  Absence,  95. 
Attouchement,  95. 
Attributes,  95. 
Atwood,  Henry  C,  95. 
Atys,  95. 
Auditor,  95. 
Aufseher,  96. 
Augustine,  St.    See  Saint  Atu- 

gustine,  96. 
Aum,  96. 
Aumont,  96. 
Auserw'ahlter,  96. 
Austin.  See  Saint  Augustine,96. 
Australasia,  96. 
Austria,  96. 
Authentic,  97. 


INDEX. 


929 


Authenticity  of  the  Scriptures, 

97. 
Autopsy,  97. 
Auxiliary  Degrees,  97. 
Avenue,  97. 

Avignon,  Illuminati  of,  97. 
Avouch  ment.  See  Vouching,  97. 
Award,  97. 
Ayes  and  Noes,  97. 
Aynon,  97. 
Azariah,  97. 

BAAL,  98. 
Babel,  98. 
Babylon,  98. 

Red  Cross  of,  99. 
Babylonish  Captivity.  See  Cap- 
tivity, 99. 

Pass,  99. 
Back,  99. 

Bacon,  Francis,  99. 
Baculus,  100. 
Baden,  101. 
Badge,  101. 

of  a  Mason,  102. 

Royal  Arch,  102. 
Bafomet.    See  Baphomet,  102. 
Bag,  102. 
Bagulkal,  102. 
Bahrdt,  Karl  Fred.,  102. 
Baldachin,  102. 
Baldrick,  102. 
Baldwyn  II.,  102. 

Encampment,  102. 
Balkis,  103. 
Ballot,  103. 

Box,  104. 

Reconsideration  of  the.  See 
Rec.  of  theBal.,  104. 

Secrecy  of  the,  105. 

Unanimity  of  the,  105. 
Balsamo,  Joseph.    See  Caglios- 

tro,  105. 
Baltimore  Convention,  105. 
Baluster,  106. 
Balzac,  Louis  Charles,  106. 
Banners,  Royal  Arch,  106. 
Banquet.    See  Table-Lodge,  107. 
Baphomet,  107. 
Baptism,  Masonic,  107. 
Bard,  108. 
Bastard,  108. 

Barefeet.  See  Discalceation,  108. 
Barruel,  Abbe,  108. 
Basket,  109. 
Basle,  Congress  of,  109. 
Baton,  109. 
Bat  Parliament,  109. 
Bavaria,  109. 
Bay  Tree,  109. 

Bazot,  Etienne  Francois,  110. 
B.  D.  S.  P.  H.  G.  F.,  110. 
Beadle,  110. 
Beaton,  Mrs.,  110. 
Beaucenifer,  110. 
Beauchaine,  110. 
Beauseant,  110. 
Beauty,  111. 

and  Bands,  111. 
Becker.    See  Johnson,  111. 

Rudolph  Zacharias,  111. 
BSdarride,  The  Brothers,  111. 
Beehive,  111. 
Behavior,  111. 

5R 


Behold  Your  Master,  112. 
Bel,  112. 
Belenus,  112. 
Belgium,  112. 
Belief,  Religious,  112. 
Bells,  112. 
Benac,  112. 
Bendekar,  112. 
Benedict  XIV.,  113. 
Benediction,  113. 
Beneficiary,  113. 
Benefit  Fund,  113. 
Benevolence,  113. 

Fund  of,  113. 
Bengabee,  113. 
Bengal,  113. 
Benjamin,  114. 
Benkhurim,  114. 
Benyah,  Hi. 
Berith,  114. 
Berlin,  114. 
Bernard,  David,  114. 

Saint,  114. 
Beryl,  114. 

Beyerle,  Francois  Louis  de,  114. 
Bezaleel,  114. 
Bible,  114. 

Bearer,  115. 
Bibliography,  115. 
Bielfeld,  Jacob  Frederick,  115. 
Birkhead,  Matthew,  115. 
Black,  115. 

Ball,  115. 
Black-board,  116. 
Black  Brothers,  Order  of  the,116 
Blazing  Star,  116. 

Order  of  the,  118. 
Blessing.    See  Benediction,  118. 
Blind,  118. 
Blindness,  118. 
Blow,  118. 
Blue,  119. 

Blanket,  120. 

Degrees,  120. 

Lodge,  120. 

Masonry,  120. 

Master,  120. 
Board  of  General  Purposes,  120. 

of  Relief.  See  Belie/,  Board 
of,  120. 
Boaz,  120. 
Bode,  Johann  Joachim  Chris- 

toph,  120. 
Boeber,  Johann,  121. 
Boehmen,  Jacob,  121. 
Bohemann,  Karl  Adolf,  121. 
Bohemia,  121. 
Bombay,  121. 
Bonaim,  121. 
Bondman,  122. 
Bone,  122. 

Box,  122. 
Bonneville,  Chevalier  de,  122. 

Nicolas  de,  122. 
Book  of  Charges,  122. 

of  Constitutions,  122. 

guarded  by  the  Tiler's 
Sword,  124. 

of  Gold,  124. 

of  the  Law,  124. 
Books,  Anti-Masonic.  See  Anti- 
Masonic  Books,  125. 
Border,  Tesselated.    See  Tessel- 
ated  Border,  125. 

59 


Bourn,  125. 
Box-Master,  125. 
Boys'  School,  125. 
Brahmanism,  125. 
Brazen  Serpent.     See  Serpent 
and  Cross,  125. 
Knight  of  the.    See  Knight 
of  the  Brazen  Serpent,  125 
Brazil,  125. 

Bread,  Consecrated,  126. 
Breadth  of  the  Lodge.  See  .Form 

of  the  Lodge,  126. 
Breast,  126. 
Breastplate,  126. 
Breast,  The  Faithful,  128. 
Breast  to  Breast.  See  Five  Points 

of  Fellowship,  128. 
Brethren,  128. 

of  the  Bridge.    See  Bridge 

Builders,  etc.,  128. 

of  the  Mystic  Tie,  128. 

Bridge  Builders  of  the  Middle 

Ages,  128. 
Brief,  130. 
Bright,  130. 

Broached  Thurnel,  130. 
Broken  Column,  131. 
Brother,  131. 
Brotherhood,  131. 
Brotherly  K  iss.    See  Kiss,  Fra- 
ternal, 131. 
Love,  131. 
Brothers  of  the  Rosy  Cross.  See 

Rosicrucians,  132. 
Browne,  John,  132. 
Bru.  See  Vielle  Bru,  Rite  of,  132. 
Bruce,  Robert,  132. 
Briin,  Abraham  Van,  133. 
Brunswick,  Congress  of,  133. 
Buenos  Ayres,  133. 
Buh,  133. 

Buhle,  Johann  Gottlieb,  133. 
Builder,  133. 

Smitten.  See  Smitten  Build- 
er, 133. 
Builders,  Corporations  of.    See 

Stonemasons    of  tlie   Middle 

Ages,  133. 
Bui,  133. 
Bull,  Papal,  133. 
Bulletin,  134. 
Bunyan,  John,  134. 
Burdens,  Bearers  of,  134. 
Burial,  134. 
Burning  Bush?  134. 
Burnes,  James,  135. 
Burns,  Robert,  135. 
Business,  135. 
Byblos,  135. 
By-Laws,  135. 

CABALA,  126. 
Cabiric  Mysteries,  136. 
Cable  Tow,  136. 
Cable  Tow's  Length,  136. 
Cabul,  136. 
Cadet-Gassicourt, Charles  Louis, 

137. 
Cadmillus,  137. 
Caduceus,  137. 
Cffimentarius,  137. 
Cagliostro,  188. 
Cahier,  143. 
Cairns,  143. 


930 


INDEX. 


Calcott,  Wellins,  143. 
Calendar,  143. 
California,  144. 
Calling  Off,  144. 

On,  145. 
Calumny.    See  Back,  145. 
Calvary,  145. 
Camp,  146. 

Campe,  Joachim  Heinrich,  146. 
Canada,  146. 
Candidate,  146. 

Candidates,    Advancement    of. 
See   Advancement,  Hurried, 
146. 
Candlestick,  Golden,  146. 
Canopy,  147. 

Clouded,  147. 
Canzler,  Carl  Christian,  147. 
Cape-Stone,  147. 
Capitular  Degrees,  147. 

Masonry,  148. 
Captain  General,  148. 
of  the  Guard,  148. 
of  the  Host,  148. 
Captivity,  148. 
Carausius,  149. 
Carbonarism,  149. 
Carbuncle,  150. 
Cardinal  Points,  150. 

Virtues,  150. 
Carlile,  Richard,  150. 
Carpet,  150. 
Casmaran,  150. 
Cassia,  150. 
Castellan,  151. 
Casting  Voice  or  Vote,  151. 
Catafalque,  151. 
Catch  Questions,  151. 
Catechism,  151. 
Catenarian  Arch,  151. 
Catharine  II.,  151. 
Caution,  152. 
Cavern,  152. 
Cedars  of  Lebanon,  152. 
Celebration,  153. 
Celestial  Alphabet.    See  Alpha- 
bet of  Angels,  153. 
Celtic  Mysteries.  See  Druidism, 

153. 
Celts,  153. 
Cement,  153. 
Cemeteries,  Masonic,  153. 
Censer,  153. 
Censor,  153. 
Censure,  153. 
Centaine,  Order  of,  153. 
Centennial,  154. 
Centralists,  1 54. 

Central  Point.    See  Point  with- 
in a  Circle,  154. 
Centre,  Opening  on  the,  154. 
Cephas,  154. 
Ceremonies,  154. 

Master  of.    See  Master  of 
Ceremonies,  154. 
Ceres,  154. 

Cerneau,  Joseph,  154. 
Certificate,  154. 
Chaillou  de  Joinville,  155. 
Chain,  Mystic,  155. 
of  Flowers,  155. 
of  Union.  See  Chain,  Mys- 
tic, 155. 
Triangular,  155. 


Chair,  155. 

Master  in  the,  155. 
Oriental,  155. 
Passing  the,  155. 
Chairman,  155. 
Chaldea,  155. 

Chaldeans  or  Chaldees,  156. 
Chalice,  156. 

Chalk,  Charcoal,  and  Clay,  156. 
Chamber,  Middle.    See  middle 
Chamber,  156. 
of  Reflection,  156. 
Chancellor,  156. 
Grand,  156. 
Chaos,  156. 

Disentangled,  156. 
Chapeau,  156. 
Chapel,  157. 

St.  Mary's,  157. 
Chapiter,  157. 
Chaplain,  157. 

Grand,  157. 
Chapter,  157. 

General  Grand.     See  Gen- 
eral Grand  Chapter,  157. 
Grand.  See  Grand  Chapter, 

157. 
Mason,  157. 
Masonry,  157. 
Rose     Croix.       See     Rose 

Croix,  Prince  of,  157. 
Royal  Arch,  157. 
Chapters,    Irish.       See    Irish 

Chapters,  157. 
Characteristic  Name.    See  Or- 
der Name,  157. 
Charcoal.    See  Chalk,  etc.,  157. 
Charge,  157. 
Charges,  157. 

of  1722,  158. 
Charity,  158. 

Committee.    See  Committee 

on  Charity,  158. 
Fund,  158. 
Charlatan,  159. 
Charlemagne,  159. 
Charles  Martel,  159. 
I.  and  II.,  159. 
XIII.,  159. 

Order  of,  159. 
Charleston,  159. 

Charms,  Magical.     See   Talis- 
man, 159. 
Chart,  159. 
Charter,  159. 
Chartered  Lodge,  160. 
Charter  Member,  160. 

of  Cologne.     See    Cologne, 

Charter  of,  160. 
of  Transmission.  See  Trans- 
mission, Charter  of,  160. 
Chasidim,  160. 
Chastanier,  Benedict,  160. 
Chastity,  160. 
Chasuble,  160. 
Checkered  Floor.    See  Mosaic 

Pavement,  160. 
Chef-d'oeuvre,  160. 
Chereau,  Antoine  Guilliaume, 

160. 
Cherubim,  161. 
Chesed,  161. 
Chevalier,  161. 
Chibbelum,  161. 


Chicago,  Congress  of,  161. 
Chief  of  the  Tabernacle,  161. 

of  the  Twelve  Tribes,  161. 
Chiefs  of  Masonry,  161. 
Chili,  161. 
China,  161. 

Chinese  Secret  Societies,  162. 
Chisel,  162. 
Chivalry,  162. 
Christ,  Order  of,  162. 
Christianization  of  Freemason- 
ry, 162. 
Church,  Freemasons  of  the,  163. 
Cipher  Writing,  163. 
Circle,  165. 

Circular  Temples,  165. 
Circumambulation,  Rite  of,  165. 
Circumspection,  166. 
City  of  David,  166. 

of  the  Great  King,  166. 
Civilization  and  Freemasonry, 

166. 
Clandestine,  167. 

Lodge,  167. 

Mason,  167. 
Clare,  Martin,  167. 
Classification  of  Masons,  167. 
Clay  Ground,  167. 
Clean  Hands.  168. 
Cleave,  168. 
Clefts  of  the  Rocks,  168. 
Clement  XII.,  168. 
Clerks   of    Strict    Observance, 

168. 
Clermont,  Chapter  of,  169. 

College  of,  169. 

Count  of,  169. 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  169. 
Closing,  169. 
Clothed,  170.   ' 
Clothing  the  Lodge,  170. 
Clouded  Canopy.    See  Canopy, 

Clouded,  170. 
Cloud,  Pillar  of.   See  Pillar  of 

Fire  and  Cloud,  170. 
Cloudy,  170. 
Clubs,  170. 

Coat  of  the  Tiler,  170. 
Cochleus,  170. 
Cock,  170. 
Cockade,  171. 
Cockle  Shell,  171. 
Ccetus,  171. 
Coffin,  171. 
Cohen,  171. 
Cohens,  Elected.    See  Pascalis, 

Martin,  171. 
Cole,  Benjamin,  171. 

Manuscript,  171. 

Samuel,  171. 
Collar,  171. 

Colleges,  Masonic,  172. 
Collegia  Artificum,  172. 
Collegium,  172. 
Cologne,  Cathedral  of,  172. 

Charter  of,  173. 

Congress  of,  174. 
Colonial  Lodges,  174. 
Colorado,  174. 
Colors,  Symbolism  of,  174. 
Columbia,  British,  174. 

District  of,  175. 
Column,  175. 
Combination  of  Masons,  175. 


INDEX. 


931 


Commander,  175. 

Grand.     See   Grand  Com- 
mander, 175. 

in-Chief,  175. 
Commandery,  175. 

Grand,  176. 
Committee,  176. 

General,  176. 

of  Charity,  176. 

of  Finance,  176. 

on  Foreign  Correspondence, 
176. 

Private,  178. 

Report  of.    See  Report  of  a 
Committee,  178. 
Common  Gavel.  See  Gavel,  178. 
Communication,  178. 

Grand,  178. 

of  Degrees,  178. 

Quarterly,  179. 
Communion  of  the  Brethren. 
See  Bread,  Consecrated,  179. 
Como,  179. 
Compagnon,  179. 
Compagnonage,  179. 
Compagnons  de  la  Tour,  181. 
Companion,  181. 
Compasses,  181. 
Composite,  181. 
Concealment  of  the  Body.    See 

Aphanism,  181. 
Conclave,  181. 
Concordists,  181. 
Confederacies,  182. 
Conference  Lodges,  182. 
Conferring  Degrees,  182. 
Confusion  of  Tongues,  182. 
Congregations,  182. 
Congresses,  Masonic,  182. 
Consecration,  182. 

Elements  of,  182. 
Conservators  of  Masonry,  182. 

Grand.     See    Grand    Con- 
servators, 183. 
Consistory,  183. 

Grand.     See   Grand   Con- 
sistory, 183. 
Constable,  Grand,  183. 
Constantine.    See  Red  Cross  of 

Rome  and  Constantine,  183. 
Constituted  Legally,  183. 
Constitution  of  a  Lodge,  183. 
Constitutions  of  1762,  183. 

of  1786,  184. 

Old.  See  Records,  Old,  185. 

Secret.     See  Secret  Consti- 
tutions, 185. 
Consummatum  est,  185. 
Contemplative,  185. 
Continental  Lodges,  185. 
Contumacy,  185. 
Convention,  185. 

Night,  185. 
Conversation,  185. 
Convocation,  185. 

Grand,  185. 
Cooke's  Manuscript,  185. 
Cope-Stone.  See  Cape-Stone,  186. 
Cord,  Hindu  Sacred.    See  Zen- 
naar,  186. 

Silver.  See  Silver  Cord,  186. 

Threefold.     See  Threefold 
Cord,  186. 
Cordon,  186. 


Corinthian  Order,  186. 
Corner,  North-East.   See  North- 
East  Corner,  186. 
Stone,  Symbolism  of  the, 
186. 
Corn  of  Nourishment,  187. 

Wine,  and  Oil,  187. 
Cornucopia,  187. 
Correspondence.   See  Committee 
on   Foreign   Correspondence, 
187. 
Corresponding  Grand  Secretary, 

187. 
Corybantes,  Mysteries  of,  187. 
Cosmopolite,  188. 
Council,  188. 

Chamber,  188. 

Grand.  See  Grand  Council, 

188. 
of  Knights  of  the  Bed  Cross, 

188. 
of  Royal  and  Select  Masters, 

188. 
of  Roval  Masters,  188. 
of  Select  Masters,  188. 
of  the  Trinity,  188. 
Supreme.      See     Supreme 
Council,  188. 
Courtesy,  188. 
Coustos,  John,  188. 
Couvreur,  190. 
Couvrir  le  Temple,  190. 
Covenant  of  Masonry,  190. 
Covering  of  the  Lodge,  191. 
Cowan,  191. 
Craft,  192. 

Masonry,     Ancient.       See 
Ancient   Craft  Masonry, 
192. 
Crafted,  192. 
Craftsman,  192. 
Create,  192. 
Creation,  192. 
Creed,  A  Mason's,  192. 
Creuzer,  Georg  Fred.,  193. 
Crimes,  Masonic,  193. 
Cromlech,  193. 
Cromwell,  193. 
Cross,  194. 

Double.    See  Cross,  Patri- 
archal, 195. 
Jerusalem,  195. 
Maltese,  195. 
of  Constantine.   See  Laba- 

rum,  195. 
of  Salem,  195. 
Passion,  195. 
Patriarchal,  195. 
St.  Andrew's,  196. 
Tau,  196. 
Templar,  196. 
Teutonic,  196. 
Thrice  Illustrious  Order  of 

the,  196. 
Triple.    See  Crass  of  Salem, 
196. 
Cross-Bearing  Men,  196. 
Crossing  the  River,  196. 
Cross,  Jeremy  L.,  196. 
Cross-legged  Knights,  197. 

Masons,  197. 
Crotona,  197. 
Crow,  197. 
Crown,  197. 


Crown,  Knightof the.  SeeKnight 

of  the  Crown,  197. 

Princesses  of  the,  197. 

Crowned    Martyrs.     See  Four 

Crovmed  Martyrs,  197. 
Crowning  of  Masonry,  197. 
Crucefix,  Robert  T.,  197. 
Crucifix,  198. 
Crusades,  198. 
Crux  Ansata,  198. 
Crypt,  199. 
Cryptic  Degrees,  199. 

Masonry,  199. 
Cteis,  199. 
Cubical  Stone,  199. 
Cubit,  199. 
Culdees,  199. 
Cunning,  199. 
Cup  of  Bitterness,  200. 
Curetes,  200. 
Curiosity,  200. 
Curious*  200. 
Customs,  Ancient.    See  Usages, 

200. 
Cynocephalus,  200. 
Cyrus,  200. 

DA   COSTA    HYPPOLITO, 
Jose,  200. 
Daduchos,  201. 
Dagger,  201. 
Dais,  201. 

Dalcho,  M.D.,  Fred.,  201. 
Damascus,  202. 
Dame,  202. 
Dames  of  Mt.  Tabor,  202. 

the  Order  of  St.  John,  202. 
Damoisel,  202. 
Dan,  202. 
Danger,  202. 
Dannebrog,  203. 
Dantzic,  203. 
Darius,  203. 
Darkness,  203. 

Darmstadt,  Grand  Lodge  of,  203. 
D'Assigny,  Doctor  Fifield,  203. 
Dates,  Masonic.    See  Calendar, 

204. 
Dathan,  204. 

Daughter,  Mason's.  See  Ma- 
son's Wife  and  Daughter, 
204. 

of  a  Mason,  204. 
David,  204. 

Shield  of.    See  Shield  of 
David,  204. 
Dazard,  Michel  Francois,  204. 
Deacon,  204. 

Deacon's  Rod.    See  Rod,  Dea- 
con's, 204. 
Deaf  and  Dumb,  204. 
Death,  205. 

of  the  Mysteries,  205. 
Debate,  205. 
Decalogue,  205. 
Decius,  206. 
Declaration  of  Candidates,  206. 

the  Master,  206. 
Decorations,  206. 
Dedication  of  a  Lodge,  206. 

the  Temple,  209. 
Defamation.    See  Back,  210. 
Definition  of  Freemasonry,  210. 
Deformity,  210. 


932 


INDEX. 


Degrees,  210. 

Ancient  Craft.    See  Ancient 

Craft  Masonry,  211. 
Androgynous,  211. 
Apocalyptic.     See  Apoca- 
lyptic Degrees,  211. 
High.    See  Sautes  Grades, 

211. 
Honorary.    See  Honorary 

Degrees,  211. 
Ineffable.      See    Ineffable 

Degrees,  211. 
of  Chivalry,  211. 
of  Knowledge,  211. 
Philosophical.    See  Philo- 
sophical Degrees,  211. 
Symbolic.      See    Symbolic 
Degrees,  211. 
Deism,  211. 
Deity.    See  Grand  Architect  of 

the  Universe,  212. 
Delalaude,  Charles  Florent  Jac- 
ques, 212. 
Joseph    J6r6me    Francois, 
212. 
Delaunay,  Francois  H.  Stanis- 
laus, 212. 
Delaware,  212. 
Delegates,  212. 
Delta,  212. 
Demeter,  212. 
Demit,  212. 
Denmark,  212. 
Deposite,  213. 

Year  of.    See  Anno  Depo- 
sitionis,  213. 
Depth  of  the  Lodge,  213. 
Deputation,  213. 
Depute  Grand  Master,  213. 
Deputy,  213. 

Grand  Chapter,  213. 

Master,  213. 
Lodge,  214. 
Master,  214. 
Dermott,  Laurence,  214. 
Derwentwater,  214. 
Desaguliers,  John  Theophilus, 

214. 
Des  Etangs,  Nicholas  Charles, 

216. 
Design  of  Freemasonry,  217. 
Destruction    of    the    Temple. 

217. 
Detached  Degrees,  217. 
Deuchar  Charters,  217. 
Deus  Meumque  Jus,  218. 
Development,  218. 
Device,  218. 
Devoir,  219. 

of  a  Knight,  219. 
Devotions,  219. 
Dialectics,  219. 
Diamond,  219. 
Dieseal,  219. 

Dieu  et  mon  Droit.    See  Deus 
Meumque  Jus,  219. 
le  Veut,  219. 
Dignitaries,  219. 
Dimit,  219. 
Diocesan,  222. 
Dionysian  Architects,  222. 

Mysteries,  222. 
Dionysus,  223. 
Diploma,  223. 


Director  of  Ceremonies,  Grand, 

223. 
Directory,  223. 

Roman  Helvetic,  223. 
Discalceation,  Rite  of,  223. 
Disciplina  Arcani.     See  Disci- 
pline of  the  Secret,  224. 
Discipline,  224. 

of  the  Secret,  224. 
Discovery  of  the   Body.     See 
Euresis,  226. 

Year  of  the,  226. 
Dispensation,  226. 

Lodges  under.    See  Lodges 
under  Dispensation,  226. 
Dispensations  of  Religion,  226. 
Dispersion  of  Mankind,  227. 
Disputes,  228. 
Distinctive  Title,  228. 
Distress,  Sign  of.    See  Sign  of 

Distress,  228. 
District  Deputy  Grand  Master, 
228. 

Grand  Lodges,  228. 
Documents,  Three  Oldest.    See 

Krause,  228. 
Dog,  228. 
Dolmen,  228. 

Dominican  Republic,  228. 
Donats,  228. 
Door,  228. 
Doric  Order,  228. 
Dormant  Lodge,  229. 
Dormer,  229. 
Dotage,  229. 
Double  Cube,  229. 

Headed  Eagle.    See  Eagle, 
Double-Headed,  229. 
Dove,  229. 
Draeseke,     Johann     Heinrich 

Bernhardt,  229. 
Drake,  M.  D.,  Francis,  229. 
Dramatic  Literature  of  Mason- 
ry, 229. 
Dresden,  Congress  of,  230. 
Dress  of  a  Mason.    See  Clothed, 

230. 
Drop  Cloth,  230. 
Druidical  Mysteries,  230. 
Druses,  231. 
Duad,  231. 
Dualism,  231. 
Dub,  232. 
Due  East  and  West,  232. 

Examination,  232. 

Form  232. 

Guard,  232. 
Duelling,  232. 
Dues,  232. 
Dumbness,  232. 
Dummy,  232. 
Dunckerley,  Thomas,  232. 
Dupaty,  Louis  Emanuel  Charles 

Mercier,  235. 
Duty,  235. 

EAGLE,  235. 
and  Pelican,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Eagle 
and  Pelican,  236. 
Double-Headed,  236. 
Knight  of  the.   See  Knight 

of  the  Eagle,  237. 
Knight  of  the  American. 


See  Knight  of  the  Ameri- 
can Eagle,  237. 
Eagle,  Knight  of  the  Black.  See 
Knight  of  the  Black  Ea- 
gle, 237. 
Knight  of  the  Gold.     See 
Knight  of  the  Gold  Ea- 
gle, 237. 
Knight  of  the  Prussian.  See 
Knight  of  the  Prussian 
Eagle,  237. 
Knight  of  the  Red.    See 
Knight  of  the  Bed  Eagle, 
237. 
Knight  of  the  White  and 
Black.  See  Knight  of  the 
White  andBlackEagle,237 
Eagles,    Knight    of    the    Two 
Crowned.    See  Knight  of  the 
Two  Crowned  Eagles,  237. 
Ear  of  Corn,  237. 

the  Listening,  237. 
Earthen  Pan,  237. 
East,  237. 

and  West,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  East 
and  West,  238. 
Grand,  238. 
Indies.    See  India. 
Knight  of  the.    See  Knight 
of  the  East,  238. 
Easter,  238. 

Monday,  238. 
Eastern  Star,  Order  of  the,  238. 
East  Port,  238. 
Eavesdropper,  238. 
Ebony  Box,  238. 
Eclectic  Masonry,  238. 
Rite,  239. 
Union,  239. 
Ecossais,  239. 

Architect,  Perfect,  239. 
English,  239. 
Faithful,  239. 
French,  239. 
Grand,  240. 

Architect,  240. 
Master,  240. 
Knight,  240. 
Master,  240. 
Novice,  240. 
of  Clermont,  240. 
of  England,  240. 
of  Franville,  240. 
of  Hiram,  240. 
of  Messina,  240. 
of  Montpellier,  240. 
of  Naples,  240. 
of  Perfection,  240. 
of  Prussia,  240. 
of  St.  Andrew,  240. 
of  St.  George,  240. 
of  the  Forty,  240. 
of  the  Lodge  of  Prince  Ed- 
ward, 240. 
of    the   Sacred    Vault   of 

James  VI.,  240. 
of  the  Three  J.  J.  J.,  240. 
of  Toulouse,  240. 
of  the  Triple  Triangle,  240. 
Parisian,  240. 
Perfect,  240. 
Ecossism,  240. 
Ecuador,  240. 


INDEX. 


933 


Edict  of  Cyrus,  240. 
Edicts,  241. 
Edinburgh,  241. 

Congress  of,  241. 
Edwin,  241. 
Egg,  Mundane,  241. 
Eglinton  Manuscript,  242. 
Egyptian  Masonry.    See  Cagli- 
ostro,  242. 

Mysteries,  242. 

Priests,  Initiations  of  the, 
243. 
Eheyeh  asher  Eheyeh,  244. 
Eight,  245. 
Eighty-One,  245. 
El,  245. 
Elchanan,  245. 
Elders,  245. 
Elect.    See  Elu,  245. 

Brother,  245. 

Cohens,  Order  of.    See  Pas- 
chalis,  Martin,  245. 

Commander,  245. 

Grand,  245. 

Lady,  Sublime,  245. 

Little  English,  245. 

Master,  245. 
•     of  Fifteen,  245. 

of  London,  245. 

of  Nine,  246. 

of  Nine  and  Fifteen,  246. 

of  Perignan,  246. 

of  the  New  Jerusalem,  246. 

of  the  Twelve  Tribes,  246. 

of  Truth,  Rite  of,  246. 

of  Twelve.  Bee  Knight  Elect 
of  Twelve,  246. 

Perfect,  246. 

and  Sublime  Mason. 
See  Perfection,  De- 
gree of,  246. 

Philosopher,  246. 

Secret,  Severe  Inspector,  246 

Sovereign,  246. 

Sublime,  246. 

Supreme,  246. 
Election  of  Officers,  246. 
Elective  Officers,  246. 
Eleham.     See  Elchanan,  246. 
Elements,  246. 
Elephanta,  247. 
Eleusinian  Mysteries,  247. 
Eleven,  249. 

Eligibility  for  Initiation.     See 
Qualifications  of  Candidates, 
249. 
Elihoreph,  249. 
Elizabeth  of  England,  249. 

of  Portugal,  249. 
Elohim,  249. 

Eloquence  of  Masonry,  249. 
Elu,  250. 
Elul,  250. 
Elus,  250. 
Emanation,  250. 
Emanuel,  250. 
Embassy,  250. 

Emblem,  250.  , 

Emerald,  251. 
Emergency,  251. 
Emergent  Lodge,  251. 

Meeting,  251. 
Emeritus,  251. 
Emeth,  251. 


Eminent,  251. 

Emperor  of  Lebanon,  251. 

Emperors  of  the  East  and  West, 

251. 
Emunah,  252. 
Encampment,  252. 

General  Grand,  252. 

Grand,  252. 
Encyclical,  252. 
En  famille,  252. 
England,  252. 
Englet,  254. 
Engrave,  254. 
Enlightened,  254. 
Enlightenment,  Shock  of.     See 
Shock  of  Enlightenment,  254. 
Enoch,  254. 

Brother,  256. 

Legend  of,  256. 

Rite  of,  256. 
En  Soph,  257. 
Entered,  257. 

Apprentice.  Bee  Apprentice, 
257. 
Entick  John,  257. 
Entombment,  257. 
Entrance,  Points  of.    See  Points 
of  Entrance,  257. 

Sh  ock  of  .    See  Shock  of  En- 
trance, 257. 
Envy,  257. 
Eons,  257. 

Rite  of  the,  257. 
Ephod,  257. 
Ephraimites,  257. 
Epoch,  258. 
Epopt  258. 
Equality,  258. 
Equerry,  258. 
Eques,  258. 

Professus,  259. 
Equilateral  Triangle.    See  Tri- 
angle, 259. 
Equity,  259. 
Equivocation,  259. 
Eranoi,  259. 
Erica,  259. 

Ernest  and  Falk,  260. 
Erwin  von  Steinbach,  260. 
Esoteric  Masonry,  260. 
Essenes,  260. 
Esther,  263. 
Eternal  Life,  264. 
Eternity,  264. 

Ethics  of  Freemasonry,  264. 
Ethiopia,  265. 
Etymology,  265. 
Euclid,  265. 

Legend  of,  265. 
Eulogy,  266. 
Eumolpus,  266. 
Eunuch,  266. 
Euphrates,  266. 
Euresis,  266. 
Evangelist.     See  St.  John  the 

Evangelist,  266. 
Evergreen,  266. 
Exalted,  266. 
Examination  of  Candidates,  266. 

the  Ballot-Box,  267. 

Visitors,  267. 
Excavations,  267. 
Excellent,  267. 

Masons,  267. 


Excellent  Master,  267. 

Most.    See  Most  Excellent, 

267. 
Right.      See  Eight  Excel- 
lent, 268. 
Super.     See  Super  Excel- 
lent, 268. 
Very.    See  Very  Excellent, 
268. 
Exclusion,  268. 

Exclusiveness  of  Masonry,  268. 
Excuse,  269. 

Executive  Powers  of  a  Grand 

Lodge.  See  Grand  Lodge,  269. 

Exemplification  of  the  Work, 

269. 
Exoteric,  269. 
Expert,  269. 
Expositions,  269. 
Expulsion,  270. 

Extended  Wings  of  the  Cheru- 
bim, 271. 
Extent  of  the  Lodge,  271. 
External  Qualifications,  271. 
Extinct  Lodge,  271. 
Extra  Communication,  271. 
Extraneous,  271. 
Extrusion,  271. 

Eye.    See  All-Seeing  Eye,  271. 
Ezekiel,  Temple  of.   See  Temple 

ofEzekiel,  271. 
Ezel,  271. 
Ezra,  271. 

F.-.,  272. 
Fabr6  -  Palaprat,     Bernard 
Raymond,  272. 
Faculty  of  Abrac,  272. 
Faith,  272. 
Faithful   Breast.     See  Breast, 

the  Faithful,  272. 
Fall  of  Water.    See  Waterfall, 

272. 
Family  Lodge,  272. 
Fasces,  272. 

Favorite  Brother  of  St.  Andrew, 
272. 
St.  John,  272. 
Feast  272. 

Feasts  of  the  Order,  272. 
Feeling,  272. 
Fees  of  Honor,  272. 
Felicity,  Order  of,  272. 
Feld  Loge,  273. 
Fellow,  273. 
Craft,  273. 

Perfect  Architect,  273. 
Fellowship,  Five  Points  of.    See 

Points  of  Fellowship,  273. 
Female  Masonry.  See  Adoption, 
Rite  of,  273. 
Masons,  273. 
Fendeurs,  273. 
Ferdinand  IV.,  274. 
VI.,  274. 
VII.,  274. 
Fervency,  274. 
Fessler,  Ignaz  Aurelius,  274. 

Rite  of,  275. 
Festivals,  276. 
Fidelity.    See  Fides,  276. 
Fides,  276. 
Fiducial  Sign,  276. 
Fifteen,  276. 


934 


INDEX. 


Finances,  277. 
Finch,  William,  277. 
Fines,  277. 
Fire,  277. 

Philosophers.    See  Theoso- 
phists,  277. 

Pillars  of.    See  Pillars  of 
Fire.    277. 

Purification  by.    See  Puri- 
fication  by  Fire,  277. 

Worship,  277. 
Fish,  278. 
Five,  278. 

Pointed  Star,  278. 

Points  of  Fellowship.    See 
Points  of  Fellowship,  279. 

Senses,  279. 
Fixed  Lights,  279. 
Flaming  Sword,  279. 
Floats,  279. 
Floor,  279. 

Cloth,  279. 
Flooring,  279. 
Florida,  279. 
Fludd,  Robert,  280. 
Folkes,  Martin,  280. 
Fool,  281. 
Footstone,  281. 
Foot  to  Foot,  281. 
Fords  of  the  Jordan,  281. 
Foreign  Country,  281. 
Foresters'  Degrees,  281. 
Forest  of  Lebanon.    See  Leba- 
non, 281. 
Forfeiture  of  Charter,  281. 
Form,  281. 

of  the  Lodge,  282. 
Formula,  282. 
Fortitude,  282. 
Forty-Seventh  Problem,  282. 
Foul,  284. 
Foundation-Stone,  284. 

of.    See  Stone  of  Founda- 
tion, 284. 
Fountain,  284. 
Four,  284. 

Crowned  Martyrs,  284. 
Fourfold  Cord,  287. 
Fourteen,  288. 
France,  288. 
Francis  II.,  290. 
Francken,  Henry  A.,  290. 
Franc-Macon,       Franc-Macon- 

nerie,  290. 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  290. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  290. 
Frater,  291. 
Fraternally,  291. 
Fraternity,  291. 
Fraternize,  291. 
Frederick  of  Nassau,  291. 

the  Great,  291. 

William  III.,  294. 
Free,  294. 

and  Accepted,  294. 

Born,  294. 
Freedom,  295. 

Fervency,  and  Zeal,  295. 
Freeman,  295. 
Freemason,  295. 
Freemasonry,  History  of,  296. 
Freemasons  of  the  Church,  297. 
Free- Will  and  Accord,  298. 
Freimaurer,  298. 


Freimaurerei,  298. 

French,  Benjamin  Brown,  298. 

Rite,  299. 
Friendly  Societies,  299. 
Friend  of  St.  John,  299. 

Truth,  299. 
Friendship,  299. 
Fund  of  Benevolence,  299. 
Funds  of  the  Lodge,  300. 
Funeral  Rites.   See  Burial,  300. 
Furlac,  300. 

Furniture  of  a  Lodge,  300. 
Fustier,  300. 
Future  Life,  300 

G300. 
.  Gabaon,  302. 

Gabaonne,  303. 

Gabor,  303. 

Gabriel,  303. 

Gaedicke,    Johann    Christian, 
303. 

Galahad,  303. 

G.\  A/.  0.\  T.\  U.\,  303. 

Garinous,  303. 

Gassicourt,  Cadet  de,  303. 

Gaston,  John,  303. 

Gates  of  the  Temple,  303. 

Gauntlets,  303. 

Gauge.    See  Twenty-four  Inch 
Gauge,  303. 

Gavel,  303. 

Gebal,  304. 

Gedaliah,  304. 

Gemara.    See  Talmud,  304. 

General  Assembly.    See  Assem- 
bly, 304. 
Grand  Chapter,  304. 
High  Priest,  305. 
Lodge,  305. 

Generalissimo,  308. 

Gentleman  Mason,  308. 

Genuflection,  308. 

Geometrical  Master  Mason,  309. 

Geometric  Points,  309. 

Geometry,  309. 

Georgia,  309. 

German    Union   of    Two    and 
Twenty,  309. 

Germany,  309. 

Ghiblim,  310. 

Gibalim,  310. 

Giblim,  310. 

Gilds,  310. 

Gilkes,  Peter  William,  312. 

Girdle,  312. 

Glaire,  Peter  Maurice,  312. 

Gleason,  Benjamin,  312. 

Globe,  312. 

Glory,  Symbol  of,  313. 

Gloves,  313. 

Gnostics,  314. 

Goat,  Riding  the,  315. 

God,  315. 

Godfather,  316. 

Goethe,  John  Wolfgangvon,  316 

Golden  Candlestick,  316. 
Fleece,  316. 

Kev,  Knight  of  the.  See 
Knight  of  the  Golden  Key, 
316. 
Lance,  Knight  of  the.  See 
Knight  of  the  Golden 
Lance,  316. 


Golgotha,  316. 
Good  Samaritan,  316. 
Shepherd,  317. 

Sign  of  the,  317. 
Goose  and  Gridiron,  317. 
Gormogons,  317. 
Gothic  Architecture,  317. 
Constitutions,  318. 
Mysteries.     See  Scandina- 
vian Mysteries,  318. 
Gourgas,  John  James  Joseph, 

318. 
Grades,  318. 
Grammar,  318. 
Grand  Architect,  318. 

of  the  Universe,  318. 
Chapter,  318. 
Commander,  319. 

of  the   Eastern    Star, 
319. 
Conclave,  319. 
Conservators,  319. 
Consistory,  319. 
Couneil,  319. 
East,  319. 

Encampment.  See  Encamp- 
ment, Grand,  319. 
High  Priest,  319. 
Inquiring  Commander,  319. 
Inspector,  Inquisitor  Com- 
mander, 319. 
Lodge,  319. 

Manuscript,  321. 
Master,  321. 

Architect,  321. 

Mason,  321. 

of  all  Symbolic  Lodges, 

321. 
of  Light,  321. 
Offerings,  321. 
Oflicers,  321. 
Orient,  322. 
Pontiff,  322. 
Principals,  322. 
Prior,  322. 
Secretary,  322. 
Stewards,  322. 

Lodge,  322. 
Tiler,  322. 
Treasurer,  322. 
Wardens,  323. 
Grasse  Tilly,  Alexandre  Fran- 
cois Auguste  Comte  de,  323. 
Grave,  323. 

Greater  Lights.  See  Lights,  Sym- 
bolic, 324. 
Greece,  324. 

Mysteries  in,  324. 
Green,  324. 
Greeting,  324. 
Gregorians,  324. 
Greinemann,  Ludwig,  325. 
Grip,  325. 
Groton,  325. 

Ground-Floor  of  the  Lodge,  325. 
King    Solomon's    Temple, 
325. 
Gi\ard.    See  Due  Guard,  325. 
of  the  Conclave.  See  Knight 
of  the  Christian  3fark,'32o. 
Guards,  325. 

Guerrier  de  Dumast,  325. 
Gugomos,  Baron  Von,  325. 
Guibbs,  326. 


INDEX. 


935 


Guillemain  de  St.  Victor,  Louis, 

326. 
Gustavus  IV.,  326. 
Guttural  Point  of  Entrance,  326. 
Gymnosophist,  326. 

H.\  A.-.  B.\,  326. 
Hadeeses,  326. 
Hagar,  326. 
Haggai,  326. 
Hague,  The,  327. 
Hah,  327. 
Hail  or  Hale,  327. 
Hall  Committee,  327. 

Masonic,  327. 
Hamburg,  330. 
Hand,  330. 

Left.    See  Left  Hand,  331. 

Eight.  See  Biota  Hand,  331. 

to   Back.      See   Points  of 
fellowship,  331. 

to   Hand.     See   Points  of 
Fellowship,  331. 
Hanover,  331. 
Haram,  Grand,  331. 
Hardie,  James,  331. 
Harleian  Manuscript,  331. 
Harmony,  332. 

Universal.     See  Mesmeric 
Masonry,  332. 
Harnouester,  332. 
Harodim,  332. 

Grand  Chapter  of,  332. 

Prince  of,  333. 
Harpocrates,  333. 
Harris,  Thaddeus  Mason,  333. 
Hasidim,  Sovereign  Prince,  333. 
Hat,  333. 
Haupt-Hutte,  333. 
Hautes  Grades,  333. 
Heal,  334. 
Hearing,  334. 
Heart,  334. 

of  Hiram  Abif,  334. 
Hecart,  Gabriel  Antoiue  Joseph, 

334. 
Height  of  the  Lodge,  334. 
Heldmann,  Dr.  Friedrich,  334. 
Helmet,  334. 
Helmets,  to  Deposit,  335. 

to  Recover,  335. 
Help.    See  Aid  and  Assistance, 

335. 
Hemming,  D.  D.,  Samuel,  335. 
Henrietta  Maria,  335. 
Henry  VI.,  335. 
Heredom,  335. 
Hermaimes,  336. 
Hermaphrodite,  336. 
Hermes,  336. 
Hermetic  Art,  336. 

Rite,  336. 
Herodem.    See  Heredom,  336. 

Royal  Order  of.    See  Royal 
Order  of  Scotland,  336. 
Heroden,  336. 
Heroine  of  Jericho,  336. 
Hesed,  337. 
Hexagon,  337. 
Hieroglyphics,  337. 
Hierogrammatists,  337. 
Hierophant,  337. 
High  Degrees,  337. 
Highest  of  Hills,  337. 


High  Grades,  338. 

Priest,  338.     • 

Priesthood,  Order  of,  338. 

Priest  of  the  Jews,  340. 

Twelve,  341. 
Hindustan,  Mysteries  of,  341. 
Hiram,  342. 

Abif,  342. 

or  Huram,  342. 
Hiramites,  345. 
Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  345. 

the  Builder.     See  Hiram 
Abif,  346. 
Hirschau,  Wilhelm  von,  346. 
H.\  K.\  T.\,  346. 
Horhi,  346. 

Holiness  to  the  Lord,  347. 
Holland.    See  Netherlands,  347. 
Holy    Ghost   Knight   of   the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  347. 

Ground,  347. 

Lodge,  347. 

Name,  347. 

of  Holies,  347. 

Place,  348. 

Sepulchre,  Knight  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  348. 
Honorable,  348. 
Honorarium,  348. 
Honorary  Degrees,  348. 

Masons,  348. 

Members,  348. 

Thirty-thirds,  349. 
Honors,  Grand,  349. 
Hoodwink,  350. 
Hope,  350. 

Manuscript,  350. 
Horn  of  Plenty,  350. 
Horns  of  the  Altar,  350. 
Hoschea,  350. 
Hospitality,  350. 
Hospitaller,  Knight.  See  Knight 

Hospitaller,  350. 
Hospitallers  of  Jerusalem,  351. 
Host,  Captain  of  the.    See  Cap- 
tain of  the  Host,  351. 
Hour-Glass,  351. 
Hours,  Masonic,  351. 

of  Initiation,  351. 
How  go  Squares  ?  351. 
H.\  R.\  D.\  M.\,  351. 
Hu,  351. 
Humility,  352. 
Hund,  Baron  Von,  352. 
Hungary,  355. 
Hutchinson,  William,  355. 
Hutte,  357. 
Huzza,  357. 

T   A.  A.  T.,  357. 
1.  I  Am  that  I  Am,  357. 
Iatric  Masonry,  357. 
Iconologv,  358. 
Idaho,  358. 
Idiot,  358. 
Idolatry,  358. 

Igne    Natura    Renovatur    In- 
tegra, 358. 
Ignorance,  358. 
Ih-Ho,  358. 
I.  H.  S.,  358. 
Ijar,  358. 


Illinois,  358. 
Illiteracy,  359. 

Illuminated  Theosophists,  359. 
Illuminati,  359. 

of  Bavaria,  359. 

of  Avignon.    See  Avignon, 
360. 

of  Stockholm,  360. 
Illuminism,  360. 
Illustrious,  360. 

Elect  of  the  Fifteen,  360. 
Imitative  Societies,  360. 
Imnianuel,  360. 
Immortality  of  the  Soul,  361. 
Immovable  Jewels.    See  Jewels 

of  a  Lodge,  361. 
implements,  361. 
Impostors,  36L 
In  Activity,  362. 
Inauguration,  362. 
Incense,  362. 
Inchoate  Lodges,  362. 
Incommunicable,  362. 
Incorporation,  362. 
Indefeasible,  363. 
Indelibility,  363. 
Indented  Tarsel,  363. 

Tessel,  363. 
India,  363. 
Indiana,  363. 
Indifferents,  363. 
Induction,  363. 
Inductor,  363. 
Industry,  364. 
Ineffable  Degrees,  364. 

Name,  364. 
Ineligible,  364. 
Information,  Lawful,  364. 
Inherent  Rights    of  a   Grand 

Master,  364. 
In  Hoc  Signo  Vinces,  365. 
Initiate,  365. 
Initiated  Knight  and   Brother 

of  Asia,  365. 
Initiate  in  the  Egyptian  Secrets, 
365. 

in  the  Mysteries,  365. 

in  the  Profound  Mysteries, 
365. 
Initiation,  365. 
In  Memoriam,  365. 
Inner  Guard,  365. 
Innovations,  365. 
I.-.  N.\  R.\  I.'.,  366. 
Insignia.    See  Jewels  of  Office, 

367. 
Inspector.  See  Sovereign  Grand 

Inspector  General,  367. 
Installation,  367. 
Installed  Masters,  Board  of,  367. 
Installing  Officer,  367. 
Instruction,  367. 

Lodge  of.    See  Lodge  of  In- 
struction, 367. 
Instructive  Tongue.  See  Tongue, 

the  Instructive,  367. 
Instrumental  Masonry,  367. 
Integrity,  367. 
Intemperance,  368. 
Intendant  of  the  Building,  368. 
Intention,  368. 

Internal  Preparation.  See  Prep- 
aration oj Candidates ,368 

Qualifications,  368. 


936 


INDEX. 


Intimate  Initiate,  368. 

Secretary,  308. 
lutroductor  and  Introductress, 

368. 
Intrusting,  368. 
Investiture,  368. 
Invincible,  368. 
Inwood,  Jethro,  368. 
Ionic  Order,  368. 
Iowa,  369. 
Ireland,  369. 
Irish  Chapters,  370. 

Colleges,  371. 

Degrees.     See  Irish  Chap- 
ters, 371. 
Iron  Tools,  371. 
Isaac  and  Ishmael,  371. 
Ish  Chotzeb,  371." 

Sabal,  371. 

Sodi,  371. 
Isis,  371. 
Italy,  371. 
Izabud,  372. 

JACHIN,  372. 
Jachinai,  372. 
Jacobins,  372. 
Jacob's  Ladder,  373. 
Jacques  de  Molay.    See  Molay, 

375. 
Jah, 375. 
Jamblichus,  375. 
Janitor,  376. 
Japan,  376. 
Japheth,  376. 
Jasper,  376. 

Jebusite.    See  Oman,  376. 
Jedadiah,  376. 
Jehoshaphat,  376. 
Jehovah, 376. 
Jekson,  381. 
Jena,  Congress  of,  381. 
Jephthah, 381. 

Jericho,  Heroine  of.    See  Hero- 
ine of  Jericho,  381. 
Knight  of.    See  Knight  of 
Jericho,  381. 
Jermyn,  Henry,  381. 
Jerusalem,  381. 

Knight  of.    See  Knight  of 

Jerusalem,  382. 
New,  382. 
Prince  of.     See  Prince  of 

Jerusalem,  382. 
Word,  382. 
Jesuits,  382. 

Jewel  of  an  Ancient  Grand  Mas- 
ter, 382. 
Member's,  382. 
Jewels,  Immovable.   See  Jewels 
of  a  Lodge,  382. 
Movable.    See  Jewels  of  a 

Lodge,  382. 
of  a  Lodge,  382. 
Official,  383. 
Precious,  383. 
Jews,  Disqualification  of,  383. 
Jezirah  or  Jetzirah,  Book  of,  384 
Joabert,  384. 
Joachim,  Order  of,  384. 
Johannite  Masonry,  384. 
Johannites,  384. 
John's  Brothers,  384. 
Johnson,  384. 


John  the  Baptist.     See  Saint  I 
John,  the  Baptist,  385. 

the  Evangelist.     See  Saint 
John  the  Evangelist,  385. 
Jones,  Inigo,  385. 

Stephen,  385. 
Joppa,  386. 
Jordan,  386. 

Charles  Stephen,  386. 

Fords  of  the,  386. 
Joseph  II.,  386. 
Josephus,  Flavius,  386. 
Joshua,  386. 
Journey,  387. 
Journeyman,  387. 
Jova,  387. 
Jua,  387. 
Judah,  387. 

and  Benjamin,  387. 
Jug  Lodges,  387. 
Junior  Adept,  387. 

Entered  Apprentice,  387. 

Overseer,  387. 

Warden,  387. 
Jupiter,  Knight  of.     See  Knight 

of  Jupiter,  387. 
Jurisdiction  of  a  Grand  Lodge, 
387. 

Lodge,  388. 

Supreme  Council,  388. 
Justice,  388. 
Justification,  388. 
Just  Lodge,  388. 

KAABA,  389. 
Kabbala,  389. 
Kadiri,  Order  of,  392. 
Kadosh,  392,  393. 

Grand,  Elect  Knight,  393. 
Knight,  393. 
of  the  Jesuits,  393. 
Philosophic,  393. 
Prince,  393. 

of  Death,  393. 
Kamea,  393. 
Kasideans,  393. 
Katharsis,  393. 
Keeper  of  the  Seals,  393. 
Kellv,  Christopher,  393. 
Key,  394. 

of  Masonry.    See  Knight  of 
the  Sun,  394. 
Key-Stone,  394. 
Kilwinning,  395. 
Manuscript,  396. 
Mother  Lodge,  397. 
System,  397. 
King,  397. 
Kiss,  Fraternal,  397. 

of  Peace,  397. 
Kloss,  Georg  Burkh.  Franz,  397. 
Kneeling,  397. 
Knee  to  Knee,  397. 
Knigge,   Adolph    Franz    Frie- 
dench  Ludwig,  Baron  Von, 
397. 
Knighthood,  398. 
Knight,  405. 

Black.  See  Black  Brothers, 

405. 
Commander,  405. 

of  the  Temple.  See 
Sovereign  Command- 
er of  (he  Temple,  405. 


Knight  Commander  of  theWhite 
and  Black  Eagle,  405. 
Crusader,  405. 
Elect  of  Fifteen,  405. 
Elect  of  Twelve,  Sublime, 

405. 
Hospitaller.    See  Knight  of 

Malta,  406. 
Illustrious    or     Illustrious 

Elect,  406. 
Jupiter,  406. 
Kadosh.    406. 

of  Cromwell,  406. 
Masonic,  406. 
Mahadon,  406. 
of  Asia,  Initiated.  See  Asia, 
Initiated  Knights  of,  406. 
of  Athens,  406. 
of  Aurora,  406. 
of  Beneficence,  407. 
of  Brightness,  407. 
of  Christ,  407. 
of  Constantinople,  407. 
of  Hope,  407. 
of  Iris,  407. 
of  Jerusalem,  407. 
of  Justice,  407. 
of  Malta,  407. 

Masonic,  410. 
of  Masonry,  Terrible,  412. 
of  Palestine,  412. 
of  Patmos,  412. 
of  Perfumes,  412. 
of  Pure  Truth,  412. 
of  Purity  and  Light,  412. 
of  Rhodes,  412. 
of  Rose  Croix.     See  Rose 

Croix,  412. 
of  St.  Andrew,  Grand  Scot- 
tish, 412. 

Free,  413. 

of  the  Thistle,  413. 
of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,413 

Palestine,  413. 
of  the  Altar,  413. 
of  the  American  Eagle,  413. 
of  the  Anchor,  413. 
of  the  Ape  and  Lion,  413. 
of  the  Arch,  413. 
of  the  Argonauts,  413. 
of  the  Banqueting- Table  of 

the  Seven  Sages,  413. 
of  the  Black  Eagle,  413. 
of  the  Brazen  Serpent,  413. 
of  the  Burning  Bush,  414. 
of  the  Chanuca,  414. 
of  the  Christian  Mark,  414. 
of  the  Columns,  414. 
of  the  Comet,  414. 
of  the  Cork,  414. 
of  the  Courts,  414. 
of  the  Crown,  414. 
of  the  Door,  414. 
of  the  Dove,  414. 
of  the  Eagle,  414. 

and  Pelican,  414. 

reversed,  414. 
of  the  East,  415. 

and  West,  415. 
of  the  Eastern  Star,  415. 
of  the  East,  Victorious,  415. 

White,  416. 
of  the  Election,  416. 

Sublime,  416. 


INDEX. 


937 


Knight  of  the  Golden  Eagle,  416. 
Fleece,  416. 
Key,  416. 
Star,  416. 
of  the  Grand  Arch,  416. 
of  the  Holy  City,  Benefi- 
cent, 416. 
Holy  Sepulchre,  416. 
of  the  Interior,  416. 
of  the  Kabbala,  417. 
of  the  Lilies  of  the  Valley, 

417. 
of  the  Lion,  417. 
of  the  Mediterranean  Pass, 

417. 
of  the  Moon,  417. 
of  the  Morning  Star,  417. 
of  the  Ninth  Arch,  417. 
of  the  North,  417. 
of  the  Phomix,  417. 
of  the  Prussian  Eagle,  417. 
of  the  Purificatory,  418. 
of  the  Pyramid,  418. 
of  the  Rainbow,  418. 
of  the  Red  Cross,  418. 

Eagle,  418. 
of  the  Rose,  418. 
of    the   Rosy    and    Triple 

Cross,  419. 
of  the  Rosy  Cross,  419. 
of  the  Round  Table,  419. 
of  King  Arthur,  419. 
of  the  Royal  Axe,  419. 
of  the   Sacred    Alountain, 

419. 
of  the  Sanctuary,  420. 
of  the  Sepulchre,  420. 
of  the  South,  420. 
of  the  Star,  420. 
of  the  Sun,  420. 
of  the  Sword,  420. 
of  the  Tabernacle,  420. 
of  the  Divine  Truths, 
420. 
of  the  Temple,  420. 
of  the  Three  Kings,  420. 
of  the  Throne,  420. 
of  the  Triple  Cross,  420. 
Period,  420. 
Sword,  421. 
of  the  Two  Crowned  Eagles, 

421. 
of  the  West,  421. 
of  the  White   and  Black 

Ea^le  421. 
of  the  White  Eagle,  421. 
of  Unction,  421. 
Perfect,  421. 
Professed.    See  Eques,  Pro- 

fessus,  421. 
Prussian,  421. 
Rower,  421. 
Royal  Victorious,  421. 
Sacrificing,  421. 
Knights  of  the  East,  Council  of, 

421. 
Knight  Templar,  421. 

Masonic,  427. 
Knight,  Victorious,  434. 
Knowledge,  434. 

Degrees  of.    See  Degrees  of 
Knowledge,  434. 
Konx  Ompax,  434. 
Koran,  435. 

5S 


Krause,  Carl    Christian    Frie- 

derich,  435. 
Kutu.  Kivi,  436. 

LABARUM,  437. 
Labor,  437. 
Laborare  est  orare,  437. 
Laborers,  Statutes  of,  437. 
Lacorne,  438. 
Ladder,  438. 

Brahmanical,  438. 
Jacob's.    See  Jacob's  Lad- 
der, 438. 
Kabbalistic,  438. 
Mithraitic,  439. 
of  Kadosh,  439. 
Rosier ucian,  439. 
Scandinavian,  439. 
Theological,  439. 
Ladrian,  439. 
Lady,  439. 

Lalande.  See  De  la  Lalande,  439 
Lamb,  439. 

of  God.    See  Lamb,  Paschal, 

439. 
Paschal,  439. 
Lambskin  Apron.    See  Apron, 

439. 
Landmarks,  439. 
Language,  Universal,  443. 
Lapicida,  444. 
Larmenius,  Johannes  Marcus, 

444. 
Larudan,  Abb6,  444. 
Latin  Lodge,  444. 
Latomia,  444. 
Latres,  445. 
Latumus,  445. 
Laurel  Crown,  445. 
Laurens,  J.  L.,  445. 
Laurie.   See  Lawrie,  A  lexander, 

445. 
Lawful  Information.   See  Infor- 
mation, Lawful,  445. 
Law,  Moral.  See  Moral  Law,  445 
Oral.     See  Oral  Law,  445. 
Parliamentary.  See  Parlia- 
mentary Law,  445. 
Lawrie,  Alexander,  445. 
Law,  Sacred.    See  Sacred  Law, 

446. 
Laws,  General.    See  Laws  of 
Masonry,  446. 
Local.     See  Laws  of  Ma- 
sonry, 446. 
of  Masonry,  446. 
Lawsuits,  446. 
Lax  Observance,  446. 
Layer,  447. 
Lebanon,  447. 

Prince  of.    See  Prince  of 
Lebanon,  447. 
Le    Bauld    de   Nans,    Claude 

Etienne,  447. 
Lechangeur,  447. 
Lecture,  447. 
Lecturer,  Grand,  448. 
Lectures,  History  of  the,  448. 
Lefranc,  455. 
Left  Hand,  455. 

Side,  455. 
Legally  Constituted.    See  Con- 
stituted, Legally,  455. 
Legate,  455. 


Legend,  456. 

of  Enoch.   See  Enoch,  456. 

of  Euclid.     See  Euclid,  456. 

of  the  Craft,  456. 

of  the  Gild,  459. 

of  the  Royal  Arch  Degree, 

459. 
of  the  Third  Degree,  459. 
Legislation,  462. 
Lending,  462. 
Leland,  John,  462. 

Manuscript,  462. 
Lemanceau,  464. 
Length  of  the  Lodge.    See  Ex- 
tent of  the  Lodge,  464. 
Lenoir,  Alexandre,  464. 
Lepage,  465. 
Lerouge,  Andr6  Joseph  Etienne, 

465. 
Lesser  Lights,  465. 
Lessing,     Gottfried     Ephraim, 

465. 
Lessons,  465. 

Letter  of  Application,  466. 
Letters,    Patent.    See   Patents, 

466. 
Lettuce,  466. 
Leucht,  466. 
Level,  466. 
Levi,  Eliphas,  466. 
Levite,  Knight,  466. 

of  the  External  Guard,  466. 
Levites,  466. 
Levite,  Sacrificer,  466. 
Levitikon,  466. 
Levy,  466. 
Lewis,  466. 

Lexington,  Congress  of,  467. 
Libanus,  467. 
Libation,  467. 
Libavius,  Andreas,  467. 
Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences,  468. 
Libertas,  468. 
Libertine,  468. 
Liberty  of  Passage,  469. 
Library,  469. 
Lieutenant  Grand  Commander, 

469. 
Life,  469. 

Eternal.    See  Eternal  Life, 

469. 
Member,  469. 
Light,  469. 
Lights,  Fixed,  471. 
Light,  To  bring  to,  471. 
Ligure,  471. 
Lily.  471. 

Work,  471. 
Limbs.        See     Qualifications, 

Physical,  471. 
Lindner,  Friederich  Wilhelm, 

471. 
Line,  471. 
Linear  Triad,  471. 
Lines,  Parallel.     See  Parallel 

Lines,  471. 
Lingam,  471. 
Link,  472. 

Linnecar,  Richard,  472. 
Lion's  Paw,  472. 
Literature  of  Masonry,  472. 
Litigation.    See  Lawsuits,  472. 
Livery,  472. 
Livre  d'Or,  472. 


938 


INDEX. 


Local  Laws.     See  Laws  of  Ma- 
sonry, 472. 
Locke's  Letter,  472. 
Lodge,  472. 

Chartered.     See  Chartered 

Lodge,  474. 
Clandestine.     See  Clandes- 
tine Lodge,  474. 
Constituted.      See     Consti- 
tuted, Legally,  474. 
Dormant.      See    Dormant 

Lodge,  474. 
Emergent.     See  Emergent 

Lodge,  475. 
Extinct.  See  Extinct  Lodge, 

475. 
Holy.  See  Holy  Lodge,  475. 
Hours,  475. 

Just.    See  Just  Lodge,  475. 
Master,  English,  475. 

French,  475. 
Occasional.   See  Occasional 

Lodge,  475. 
of  Instruction,  475. 
of  St.  John,  475. 
Perfect    See  Perfect  Lodge, 
475. 
.    Regular.  SeeBegularLodge, 
475. 
Room,  475. 
Roval.    See  Royal  Lodge, 

476. 
Sacred.     See  Sacred  Lodge, 

476. 
Symbol  of  the,  476. 
Loge,  476. 
Logic,  476. 
Lombardy,  476. 
London,  476. 
Lost  Word,  476. 
Lotus,  477. 
Louisiana,  477. 
Louveteau.    See  Lewis,  477. 
Lowen,  477. 
Low  Twelve,  478. 
Loyalty,  478. 

Luchet,  Jean  Pierre  Louis,  Mar- 
quis de,  478. 
Luminaries,  478. 
Lustration,  478. 
Lux,  478. 

Lux  e  Tenebris,  478. 
Lux  Fiat  et  Lux  Fit,  479. 
L.  V.  C,  479. 
Lyons,  Congress  of,  479. 

MAACHA,  479. 
Mac,  479. 
Macbenac,  480. 
Maccabees,  480. 
Macerio,  480. 
Macio,  480. 
Macon,  480. 
Maconetus,  480. 
Maconne,  480. 

Egyptienne,  480. 
Maconner,  480. 
Maczo,  480. 
Made,  480. 
Madman,  480. 
Magazine,  480. 
Magi,  480. 
Magic,  480. 

Squares,  481. 


Magicians,  Society  of  the,  481. 
Magister  Ccenientarioruni,  481. 

Hospitalis.  See  Master  of 
the  Hospital,  481. 

Lapidum,  481. 

Militise  Christi.  See  Master 
of  the  Soldiery  of  Christ, 
481. 

Perrerius,  481. 

Templi.    See  Master  of  the 
Temple,  481. 
Magistri  Comacini.    See  Como, 

481. 
Magnanimous,  481. 
Magnetic  Masonry,  482. 
Magus,  482. 
Mah,  482. 

Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,  482. 
Maier,  Michael,  482. 
Maine,  482. 
Maitre  Macon,  482. 
Maitresse  Agissante,  482. 

Macon,  482. 
Maitrise,  482. 
Major,  482. 

Illuminate,  482. 
Majority,  482. 
Make,  483. 
Malach,  483. 
Malachi,  483. 
Mallet,  483. 
Malta,  483. 

Cross  of.  See  Cross  of 
Malta,  483. 

Knight  of.    See  Knight  of 
Malta,  483. 
Maltese  Cross.     See   Cross  of 

Malta,  483. 
Man,  483. 
Mandate,  483. 

Mangourit,  Michel   Ange   Ber- 
nard de,  483. 
Manna,  Pot  of,  483. 
Manningham,  Thomas,  483. 
Mantle,  484. 

of  Honor,  484. 
Manual,  484. 

Point  of  Entrance,  484. 

Sign,  484. 
Manuscripts,  484. 
Marcheshvan,  485. 
Mark,  485. 

Man,  486. 

Master,  486. 

of  the  Craft,  Regular,  487. 
Marks  of  the  Craft,  487. 
Marrow  in  the  Bone,  488. 
Marseilles,  Mother  Lodge  of,  488. 
Marshal,  488. 
Martel,  488. 
Martha,  488. 
Martinism,  488. 
Martin,  Louis  Claude  de  St.  See 

Saint  Martin,  488. 
Martyr,  488. 
Martyrs,  Four    Crowned.    See 

Four  Crowned  Martyrs,  488. 
Maryland,  488. 
Mason,  Crowned,  489. 

Derivation  of  the  Word,  489. 
Masoney,  490. 
Mason  Hermetic,  490. 
Masonio  Hall.    See  Hall,  Ma- 
sonic, 490. 


Mason,  Illustrious  and  Sublime 
Grand  Master,  490. 
of  the  Secret,  490. 
Operative.     See   Operative 

Mason,  490. 
Perfect,  490. 
Philosopher,  490. 
Practical,  490. 
Masonry,  490. 

Operative.     See   Operative 

Masonry,  490. 
Origin  of.    See  Origin  of 

Masonry,  490. 
Speculative.     See  Specula- 
tive Masonry,  490. 
Masons,  Company  of,  490. 
Mason,  Scottish  Master,  490. 
Masons,  Emperor  of  all  the,  490. 
Mason,  Speculative.    See  Spec- 
ulative Mason,  490. 
Stone.  See  Stonemasons,  490 
Sublime,  490. 

Operative,  490. 
Mason's  Wifeand  Daughter,  490. 
Mason,  True,  490. 
Masoretic  Points,  490. 
Massachusetts,  490. 
Massonus,  491. 

Master,      Absolute     Sovereign 
Grand,  491. 
ad  Vitain,  191. 
Ancient,  491. 

Architect,      Grand.        See 
Grand  Master  Archi- 
tect, 491. 
Perfect,  491. 
Prussian,  491. 
Blue,  491. 
Builder,  491. 
Cohen,  491. 
Crowned,  491. 
Egyptian,  491. 
Elect.  See  Elect  Master,  49 1 . 
English,  491. 

Perfect,  491. 
Four  Times  Venerable,  491. 
Grand.    See  Grand  Master, 

491. 
Hermetic,  491. 
Illustrious,  491. 

Symbolic,  491. 
in  Israel.     See  Intendant 

of  the  Building,  491. 
in  Perfect  Architecture,  491. 
in  the  Chair,  491. 
Irish,  491. 
Kabbalistic,  492. 
Little  Elect,  492. 
Mason,  492. 

Most  High   and  Puissant, 
493. 
Wise,  493. 
Mystic,  493. 

of    all    Symbolic    Lodges, 
Grand.    See  Grand  Mas- 
ter of  all  Symbolic  Lodges, 
493. 
of  a  Lodge.   See  Worshipful 

Master,  493. 
of  Cavalry,  493. 
of  Ceremonies,  493. 
of  Dispatches,  493. 
of  Finances,  493. 
of  Hamburg,  Perfect,  493. 


INDEX. 


939 


Master  of  Infantry,  493. 
of  Lodges,  493. 
of  Masters,  Grand,  493. 
of  Paracelsus,  493. 
of  Secrets,  Perfect,  493. 
of  St.  Andrew,  493. 
of  the  Chivalry  of  Christ,493. 
of   the    Hermetic    Secrets, 

Grand,  493. 
of  the  Hospital,  493.  ■ 
of  the    Key  to    Masonry, 

Grand,  494. 
of  the  Legitimate  Lodges, 

Grand,  494. 
of  the  Palace,  494. 
of  the  Sages,  494. 
of  the  Seven  Kabbalistic 

Secrets,  Illustrious,  494. 
of  the  Temple,  494. 
of  the  Work,  494. 
Past.    See  Past  Master,  494. 
Perfect.  See  Perfect  Master, 
494. 
Architect,  494. 
Irish.  See  Perfect  Irish 
Master,  404. 
Philosopher  by  the  Number 
3,  494. 
by  the  Number  9,  494. 
Hermetic,  494. 
Private,  494. 
Provost  and  Judge,  494. 
Puissant  Irish.  See  Puissant 

Irish  Master,  494. 
Pythagorean,  494. 
Royal.    See  Royal  Master, 

494. 
Secret.    See  Secret  Master, 

494. 
Select.    See  Select  Master, 

494. 
Supreme  Elect,  494. 
Theosophist,  494. 
through  Curiosity,  494. 
to  the  Number  15,  494. 
True,  494. 

Worshipful.    See  Worship- 
ful 3Iaster,  494. 
Materials  of  the  Temple,  494. 
Maters,  495. 

Matriculation  Book,  495. 
Mature  Age,  495. 
Maul.    See  Setting  Maul,  495. 
Medals,  495. 

Mediterranean  Pass,  495. 
Meeting  of  a  Chapter.    See  Con- 
vocation, 495. 
of  a  Lodge.    See  Communi- 
cation, 495. 
Meet  on  the  Level,  495. 
Meister,  495. 

im  Stuhl,  495. 
Melancthon,  Philip,  495. 
Melchizedek,  495. 

Degree  of,  496. 
Melech,  496. 
Melesino,  Rite  of,  496. 
Melita,  496. 

Member,  Honorary.    See  Hono- 
rary Member,  496. 
Life.    See  Life  Member,  496. 
of  a  Lodge,  496. 
Membership,  Right  of,  496. 
Memphis,  Rite  of,  496. 


Menatzchim,  499. 

Mental     Qualifications.        See 

Qualifications,  499. 
Menu,  499. 
Mercy,  499. 

Prince  of.    See  Prince  of 
Mercy,  499. 

Seat,  499. 
Meridian  Sun,  499. 
Merit,  499. 

Mesmer,  Friederich  Anton,  499. 
Mesmeric  Masonry,  499. 
Mesopolyte,  499. 
Mesouraneo,  499. 
Metals,*  499. 
Metal  Tools,  499. 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  France, 

500. 
Mexico,  500. 
Michael,  500. 
Michigan,  500. 
Microcosm.    See  Man,  500. 
Middle  Ages,  500. 

Chamber,  500. 
Miles,  501. 

Military  Lodges,  501. 
Militia,  501. 
Minerval,  501. 
Minister  of  State,  501. 
Minnesota,  501. 
Minor,  501. 

Illuminate,  501. 
Minute  Book,  501. 
Minutes,  501. 
Misconduct,  502. 
Miserable  Scald    Masons.    See 

Scald  Miserables,  502. 
Mishna.     See  Talmud,  502. 
Mississippi,  502. 
Missouri,  502. 
Mistletoe,  502. 
Mithras,  Mysteries  of,  502. 
Mitre,  504. 
Mizraim,  504. 

Rite  of,  504. 
Moabon,  505. 
Mock  Masons,  505. 
Modern  Rite.    See  French  Rite, 

505. 
Moderns,  505. 
Molart,  William,  505. 
Molay,  James  de,  506. 
Monad,  506. 
Monitor?  506. 
Monitorial  Instruction,  506. 

Sign,  506. 
Monitor,    Secret.      See    Secret 

Monitor,  506. 
Monogram,  506. 
Montana,  506. 
Montfaucon,  Prior  of,  507. 
Months,  Hebrew,  507. 

Masonic,  507. 
Montpellier,  Hermetic  Rite  of, 

507. 
Monument,  507. 
Moon,  507. 
Moore,  James,  508. 
Mopses,  508. 
Morality,  508. 

of  Freemasonry,  508. 
Moral  Law,  508. 
Moravian  Brethren,  508. 
Morgan,  William,  508. 


Moriah,  Mount,  508. 

Morin,  Stephen,  509. 

Moritz,  Carl  Philipp,  509. 

Morphey,  509. 

Mortality,  Symbol  of,  509. 

Mortar,  Untempered.     See  Un- 

tempered  Mortar,  510. 
Mosaic  Pavement,  510. 

Symbolism,  510. 
Moses,  511. 

Mossdorf,  Friederich,  511. 
Most  Excellent,  511. 
Master,  511. 

Puissant,  511. 

Worshipful,  511. 
Mot  de  Simestre,  511. 
Mother  Council,  511. 

Lodge,  511. 
Motion,  512. 
Motto,  512. 
Mould,  512. 

Stone,  512. 
Mount  Calvary.    See  Calvary, 
512. 

Moriah.    See  Moriah,  512. 

Sinai.    See  Sinai,  512. 
Mourning,  512. 
Mouth  to  Ear,  512. 
Movable  Jewels.    See  Jewels  of 

a  Lodge,  512. 
Muenter,  Friederich,512. 
Munkhouse,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Rich- 
ard, 512. 
Murr,  Christoph  Gottlieb  von, 

513. 
Muscus  Domus,  513. 
Music,  513. 

Mustard  Seed,  Order  of,  513. 
Myrtle,  513. 
Mystagogue,  513. 
Mysteries,  Ancient,  513. 
Mystery,  517. 
Mystes,  517. 
Mystical,  517. 
Mysticism,  517. 
Mystic  Tie,  517. 
Myth,  517. 

Historical,  518. 

Philosophical,  518. 
Mythical  History,  518. 
Mythology,  518. 

NAAMAH,  519. 
Nabaim.  See  Schools  of  the 
Prophets,  519. 
Naked,  519. 
Name  of  God,  519. 
Names  of  Lodges,  521. 
Namur,  525. 
Naphtali,  525. 
Naples,  525. 

Napoleonic  Masonry,  525. 
National  Grand  Lodge  of  Ger' 

many,  525. 
Naymus  Grecus,  525. 
Nazareth,  526. 
Nebraska,  526. 
Nebuchadnezzar,  526. 
Nebuzaradan,  526. 
Negro  Lodges,  526. 
Neighbor,  527. 
Nekam,  527. 
Nekamah,  527. 
Nembroth,  527. 


940 


INDEX. 


Neophyte,  527. 
Neoplatonism,  527. 
Ne  Plus  Ultra,  527. 
Netherlands,  527. 
Net- Work,  528. 
Nevada,  528. 
Ne  Varietur,  528. 
New  Brunswick,  528. 

Hampshire,  528. 

Jersey,  528. 

York,  528. 
Nicolai,  Christoph   Friederich, 

528. 
Night,  529. 
Nile,  530. 

Nil  nisi  clavis,  530. 
Nimrod,  530. 
Nine,  530. 
Nineveh,  531. 
Nisan,  531. 
Noachidae,  531. 

Noachite,  or  Prussian  Knight, 
531. 

Sovereign,  532. 
Noachites,  532. 
Noah,  532. 

Precepts  of,  534. 
Noffodei,  534. 
Nomenclature,  534. 
Nomination,  534. 
Non-Affiliation,  535. 
Nonesynches,  535. 
Non  Nobis,  535. 

Resident,  535. 
Noorthouck,  John,  535. 
North,  535. 

Carolina,  535. 

East  Corner,  536. 
Notuma,  536. 
Nova  Scotia,  536. 
Novice,  537. 

Maconne,  537. 

Mythological,  537. 

Scottish,  537. 
Numbers,  537. 
Numeration  by  Letters,  538. 
Nursery,  538. 

OATH,  538. 
Corporal,  540. 

of  the  Gild,  541. 

Tiler's,  541. 
OB,  541. 
Obedience,  541. 

of  a  Grand  Body,  541. 
Obelisk.  542. 

Objections  to  Freemasonry,  542. 
Obligated,  542. 
Obligation,  542. 
Oblong  Square,  542. 
Observance,  Clerks  of  Strict.  See 

Clerks  of  Strict  Observance, 
542. 

Lax.    See  Lax  Observance, 
542. 

Relaxed,  542. 

Strict.    See  Strict  Observ- 
ance, 542. 
Obverse,  542. 
Occasional  Lodge,  543. 
Occult  Masonry,  543. 

Sciences,  543. 
Occupied  Territory,  543. 
Octagon,  543. 


Odd  Numbers,  543. 

Offences,  Masonic.    See  Crimes, 

Masonic,  543. 
Oflerings,  the  Three  Grand.   See 
Ground- Flo  or  of  the  Lodge, 
543. 
Officers,  543. 

Jewels.      See  Jewels,  Offi- 
cial, 543. 
Office,  Tenure  of,  543. 
Oheb  Eloah,  543. 

Karobo.    See  Oheb  Eloah, 
543. 
Ohio,  543. 
Oil,  544. 
Old  Man,  544. 

Regulations,  544. 
Olive,  544. 

Branch  in  the  East,  Broth- 
erhood of  the,  544. 
Oliver,  George,  544. 
Omega.    See  Alpha  and  Omega, 

546. 
Omnific  Word,  546. 
On,  546. 
Onyx,  547. 

Opening  of  the  Lodge,  547. 
Operative  Art,  549. 
Masonry,  549. 
Masons,  549. 
Option,  549. 
Oral  Instruction,  549. 

Law,  551. 
Orator,  551. 
Order,  551. 

Name,  552. 
of  Business,  552. 
of  Christ.     See  Christ,  Or- 
der of,  552. 
of  the  Temple.    See  Tem- 
ple, Order  of  the,  552. 
Rules  of,  553. 
Orders  of  Architecture,  553. 
Egyptian,  553. 
of  Knighthood,  553. 
of  the  Day,  554. 
Ordinacio,  554. 
Ordination,  554. 
Ordo  ab  chao,  554. 
Oregon,  554. 
Organist,  Grand,  554. 
Organization  of  Grand  Lodges. 

See  Grand  Lodge,  554. 
Orient,  554. 

Grand.    See  Grand  Orient, 
554. 
Commander  of  the,  554. 
Interior,  554. 
of    France,     Grand.      See 

France,  555. 
Order  of  the,  555. 
Oriental  Chair  of  Solomon,  555. 
Philosophy,  555. 
Rite,  555. 
Orientation,  555. 
Original  Points,  555. 
Origin  of  Freemasonry,  556. 
Orleans,  Duke  of,  556. 
Ormus  or  Ormesius.    See  Rose 

Croix,  Golden,  556. 
Ormuzd  and  Ahriman,  556. 
Ornaments  of  a  Lodge,  556. 
Oman  the  Jebusite/556. 
Orphan,  556. 


Orpheus,  557. 
Orphic  Mysteries,  557. 
Osiris,  557. 

Mysteries  of,  558. 
Oterfut,  558. 
Otreb,  558. 

Out  of  the  Lodge,  558. 
Oval  Temples,  558. 
Overseer,  558. 
Ox,  558. 

Oyres  de  Ornellas,  Pracao,  558. 
Ozee,  558. 

PAGANIS,  Hugo  de,  559. 
Paganism,  559. 
Paine,  Thomas,  559. 
Palestine,  559. 

Explorations  in,  559. 

Knight  of.    See  Knight  of 
Palestine,  559. 
of  St.  John  of.      See 
Knight  of  St.  John 
of  Palestine,  559. 
Palladic  Masonry,  559. 
Palladium,  Order  of  the,  559. 
Palmer,  560. 
Pantacle,  560. 
Papworth  Manuscript,  560. 
Paracelsus,  560. 

Sublime,  560. 
Parallel  Lines,  560. 
Paris,  Congresses  of,  560. 
Parliamentary  Law,  561. 
Parrot  Masons,  561. 
Parsees,  561. 
Particular  Lodges,  561. 
Parts,  561. 
Parvis,  561. 
Paschal  Feast,  561. 
Paschalis,  Martinez,  561. 
Paschal  Lamb.    See  Lamb,  Pas- 
chal, 562. 
Pas  perdus,  562. 
Passages  of  the  Jordan.     See 

Fords  of  the  Jordan,  562. 
Passed,  562. 

Passing  of  Couyng,  562. 
Password,  562. 
Past,  562. 

Master,  562. 
Pastophori,  563. 
Pastos,  563. 
Patents,  563. 
Patience,  563. 
Patriarchal  Masonry,  563. 
Patriarch,  Grand,  564. 

of  the  Crusades,  564. 

of  the  Grand  Luminary,  564 
Patron,  564. 

Patrons  of  Masonry,  564. 
Paul,  Confraternity  of  Saint,  564 

I.,  564. 
Pavement,  Mosaic.    See  Mosaic 

Pavement,  564. 
Payeus,  Hugh  de,  564. 
P.  D.  E.  P.,  564. 
Peace,  564. 
Pectoral,  565. 

of  the  High  Priest,  565. 
Pedal,  565. 
Pedestal,  565. 
Pedum,  565. 
Pelasgian  Religion,  565. 
Peleg,  565. 


INDEX. 


941 


Pelican;  565. 

Pellegrini,  Marquis  of,  566. 

Penal  Sign,  560. 

Penalty,  566. 

Pencil,  568. 

Penitential  Sign,  568. 

Pennsylvania,  568. 

Work,  568. 
Penny,  569. 
Pentagon,  569. 
Pentagram,  569. 
Pentalpha,  569. 
Perau,  Gabriel  Louis  Calabre, 

570. 
Perfect  Ashlar.  See  Ashlar,  570. 

Initiates,  Rite  of,  570. 
Perfection,  570. 
Perfectionists,  570. 
Perfection,  Lodge  of,  570. 

Rite  of,  571. 
Perfect  Irish  Master,  572. 

Lodge.   See  Just  Lodge,  572. 

Master,  572. 

Prussian,  572. 

Union,  Lodge  of,  572. 
Perignan,  572. 
Periods  of  the  Grand  Architect. 

See  Six  Periods,  572. 
Perjury,  572. 

Pernetty,  Antoine  Joseph,  573. 
Perpendicular,  573. 
Persecutions,  573. 
Perseverance,  575. 

Order  of,  575. 
Persia,  575. 

Persian  Philosophical  Rite,  576. 
Personal  Merit,  576. 
Peru,  576. 
Petition  for  a  Charter,  576. 

for  a  Dispensation,  577. 

for  Initiation,  577. 
Peuvret,  Jean  Eustache,  577. 
Pha'inoteletian  Society,  577. 
Phallic  Worship,  577. 
Phallus.    See  Phallic  Worship, 

578. 
Pharaxal,  578. 
Pharisees,  578. 
Phenicia,  578. 

Philadelphes,  Lodge  of  the,  578. 
Philadelphia,  578. 
Philadelphians,  Rite  of  the.  See 

Primitive  Rite,  578. 
Philalethes,  Rite  of  the,  578. 
Philip  IV.,  579. 
Philippian  Order,  579. 
Philocoreites,  Order  of,  579. 
Philo  Judaeus,  579. 
Philosopher,  Christian,  579. 

Grand   and   Sublime  Her- 
metic, 579. 

of  Hermes,  579. 

Sublime,  579. 

Unknown,  579. 

The  Little,  579. 

Unknown,  579. 
Philosopher's  Stone,  579. 
Philosophic  Degrees,  580. 

Scottish  Rite,  580. 
Philosophy,  Sublime,  580. 
Phoenix,  580. 

Physical  Qualifications,  580. 
Picart's  Ceremonies,  581. 
Pickaxe,  581. 


Piece  of  Architecture,  581. 
Pilgrim,  581. 

Penitent,  582. 
Pilgrim's    Shell.     See   Scallop 
Shell,  582. 

Weeds,  582. 
Pilgrim  Templar,  582. 

Warrior,  582. 
Pilier,  582. 
Pillar,  582. 
Pillars  of  Cloud  and  Fire,  583. 

of  Enoch,  583. 

of  the  Porch,  583. 
Pinceau,  587. 
Pine  Cone,  5S7. 
Pirlet,  587. 
Pius  VII.,  587. 
Place,  587. 
Planche  TracSe,  587. 
Plans  and  Designs,  587. 
Platonic  Academy.    See  Acade- 
my, Platonic,  587. 
Plenty,  587. 
Plot  Manuscript,  587. 

Robert,  M.  D.,  587. 
Plumb,  588. 

Line,  589. 

Rule,  589. 
Plurality  of  Votes.     See  Ma- 
jority, 589. 
Poetry  of  Masonry,  589. 
Points,  589. 

of  Entrance,  Perfect,  589. 

of  Fellowship,  Five,  590. 

Twelve  Grand.    See  Twelve 
Grand  Points,  590. 
Point  within  a  Circle,  590. 
Poland,  591. 
Politics,  592. 
Polkal,  592. 
Polycronicon,  592. 
Pomegranate,  592. 
Pommel,  593. 
Pontifes    Freres.      See  Bridge 

Builders,  593. 
Pontifex.  See  Bridge  Builders, 

593. 
Pontiff,  593. 

Grand.   See  Grand  Pontiff, 
594. 
Poor  Fellow-Soldiers  of  Jesus 

Christ,  594. 
Poppy,  594. 

Porch  of  the  Temple.  See  Tem- 
ple of  Solomon,  594. 
Porta,  Gambattista,  594. 
Portugal,  594. 
Postulant,  594. 
Pot  of  Incense,  594. 

of  Manna.  See  Manna,  Pot 
of,  594. 
Poursuivant,  594. 
Practicus,  594. 
Prayer,  594. 
Pre-Adamite,  595. 
Precaution,  595. 
Precedency  of  Lodges,  595. 
Preceptor,  595. 
Preceptory,  595. 
Precious  Jewels.     See  Jewels, 

Precious,  595. 
Preferment,  595. 
Prelate,  596. 

of  Lebanon,  596. 


Prentice,  596. 

Pillar,  596. 
Preparation  of  the  Candidate, 

596. 
Preparing  Brother,  596. 
President,  597. 
Presiding  Officer,  597. 
Prestonian  Lecture,  597. 

Lectures,  597. 
Preston,  William,  597. 
Pretender,  601. 
Previous  Question,  601. 
Price,  Henry,  601. 
Prichard,  Samuel,  601. 
Priest,  602. 

Grand  High.  See  Grand 
High  Priest,  602. 

High.  See  High Priest,602. 

Royal,  602. 

Theosophist,  602. 
Priesthood,  Order  of  High.  See 
High  Priesthood,  Order  of,  602 
Priestly  Order,  602. 
Primitive  Freemasonry,  602. 

Rite,  603. 

Scottish  Rite,  604. 
Prince,  604. 

Adept.  See  Adept,  Prince, 
604. 

Depositor,  Grand,  604. 

Mason,  604. 

of  Jerusalem,  604. 

of  Lebanon.  See  Knight  of 
the  Royal  Axe,  605. 

of  Libanus,  605. 

of  Mercy,  .605. 

of  Rose  Croix.  See  Rose 
Croix,  Prince  of,  605. 

of  the  Captivity,  605. 

of  the  East,  Grand,  605. 

of  the  Levites,  605. 

of  the  Royal  Secret.  See 
Sublime  Prince  of  the 
Royal  Secret,  605. 

of  the  Seven  Planets,  Illus- 
trious Grand,  605. 

of  the  Tabernacle,  605. 
Princess  of  the  Crown,  606. 
Principal  Officers,  606. 
Principals,  606. 
Principal  Sojourner,  606. 
Printed  Proceedings,  606. 
Prior,  607. 

Grand.    See  Grand  Prior, 
607. 
Priory,  607. 
Prison,  607. 

Private  Committee.     See  Com- 
mittee, Private,  607. 
Privileged  Questions,  607. 
Privilege,  Questions  of,  607. 
Probation,  607. 
Problem,  Forty-Seventh.     See 

Forty-Seventh  Problem,  607. 
Processions,  607. 
Proclamation,  608. 

of  Cyrus,  609. 
Profane,  609. 
Proficiency,  609. 
Pro  Grand  Master,  610. 
Progressive  Masonry,  610. 
Promise,  611. 
Promotion,  611. 
Proofs,  611. 


942 


INDEX. 


Property  of  a  Lodge,  612. 

Prophet,  612. 

Prophets,  Schools  of  the.    See 

Schools  of  the  Prophets,  612. 
Proponenda,  612. 
Proposing  Candidates,  612. 
Proscription,  612. 
Proselyte  of  Jerusalem,  612. 
Proselytism,  612. 
Protector  of  Innocence,  614. 
Protocol,  614. 
Prototype,  614. 
Provincial  Grand  Lodge,  614. 
Master,  614. 
Officers,  614. 

Master  of  the  Red  Cross,  614. 
Provost  and  Judge,  614. 
Proxy  Installation,  614. 

Master,  614. 
Prudence,  614. 
Prussia,  615. 
Prussian  Knight.  See  Noachite, 

615. 
Pseudonym,  615. 
Publications,  Masonic,  615. 
Public  Ceremonies,  617. 
Puerility  of  Freemasonry,  618. 
Puissant,  620. 

Irish  Master,  620. 
Pulsanti  Operietur,  620. 
Punishments,  Masonic,  620. 
Purchase,  620. 

Pure  Freemasonry.    See  Prim- 
itive Freemasonry,  621. 
Purification,  621. 
Purity,  621. 

Brothers  of,  621. 
Purple,  621. 

Brethren,  621. 

Lodges,  621. 
Pvron,  Jean  Baptiste,  621. 
Pythagoras,  622. 

School  of,  622. 

QUALIFICATIONS  of  Can- 
didates, 623. 
Quadrivium,  624. 
Quakers,  624. 
quarrels,  624. 
Quarries,  624. 

Quarterly  Communication,  625. 
Quarternion,  625. 
Quebec,  625. 

Questions  of  Henry  VI.,  625. 
Quorum,  625. 

RABBANAIM,  626. 
Rabbinism,  626. 
Rabboni,  626. 
Ragon,  J.  M.,  626. 
Etagotzky,  Carl  August,  627. 
Rains,  627. 
Raised,  627. 
Ramsav,  Andrew  Michael,  627. 

Rite  of,  630. 
Ratisbon,  630. 
Rawlinson  Manuscript,  630. 
Received    and   Acknowledged, 

631. 
Reception,  631. 
Recipient,  631. 
Recognition,  Modes  of,  631. 
Recommendation,  632. 
Reconciliation,  Lodge  of,  633. 


Reconsideration,  Motion  for,633. 

of  the  Ballot,  633. 
Recorder,  633. 
Records,  Old,  633. 
Rectification,  634. 
Rectified  Rite.    See  Martinism, 
634. 
Rose  Croix,  Rite  of.     See 
Pose  Croix,  Rectified,  634. 
Recusant,  634. 
Red,  634. 

Cross  Knight,  635. 

Knight    of  the.      See 
Knight   of   the  Ped 
Cross,  635. 
Legend,  635. 
of  Babylon,    See  Baby- 
lonish Pass,  635. 
of  Rome  and  Constan- 

tine,  635. 
Sword  of  Babylon,  636. 
Letters,  636. 
Reflection,    Chamber   of.     See 

Chamber  of  Reflection,  636. 
Reformed  Helvetic  Rite,  636. 

Rite,  636. 
Refreshment,  636. 
Regalia,  637. 
Regeneration,  637. 
Regent,  637. 
Reghellini,  M.,  637. 
Regimental  Lodge,  638. 
Register,  638. 
Registrar,  Grand,  638. 
Registration,  638. 
Registry,  638. 
Regular,  638. 

Regulations.     See  Old  Regula- 
tions, 639. 
Rehum,  639. 

Reinhold,  Karl  Leonhard,  639. 
Reinstatement.  See  Restoration, 

639. 
Rejection,  639. 
Rejoicing,  639. 
Relief,  639. 

Board  of,  639. 
Religion  of  Masonry,  639. 
Religious   Qualifications.      See 

Qualifications,  641. 
Removal  of  Lodges,  641. 
Renouncing  Masons,  641. 
Repeal,  642. 

Report  of  a  Committee,  642. 
Reportorial  Corps,  642. 
Representative     of    a     Grand 

Lodge,  642. 
Representatives  of  Lodges,  642. 
Representative  System,  642. 
Reprimand,  642. 
Reputation,  643. 
Residence,  643. 
Resignation  of  Membership,  643. 

of  Office,  643. 
Resolution,  643. 
Respectable,  643. 
Response,  643. 
Restoration,  643. 
Resurrection,  644. 
Returns  of  Lodges,  644. 
Reuben,  644. 
Revelations   of  Masonry.    See 

Expositions,  644. 
Reverend,  644. 


Reverential  Sign,  645. 
Revival,  645. 
Revoke,  646. 
Rhetoric,  646. 
Rhode  Island,  646. 
Rhodes,  646. 

Knight  of.    See  Knight  of 
Rhodes,  646. 
Ribbon,  646. 

Ridel,   Cornelius  Johann    Ru- 
dolph, 646. 
Right  Angle,  646. 
Eminent,  647. 
Excellent,  647. 
Hand,  647. 
Side,  648. 
Worshipful,  648. 
Ring,  Luminous.    See  Academy 
of  Sublime  Masters  of  the 
Luminous  Ring,  648. 
Masonic,  648. 
Rising  Sun,  649. 
Rite,  649. 
Ritter,  650. 
Ritual,  650. 
Robelot,  650. 
Robert  I.,  650. 
Roberts'  Manuscript,  650. 
Robes,  651. 

Robins,  Abb6  Claude,  651. 
Robison,  John,  651. 
Rockwell,  WiUiam  Spencer,  652. 
Rod,  652. 

Deacon's,  652. 
Marshal's.    SeePaton,  652. 
of  Iron.    652. 
Steward's,  653. 
Treasurer's.  See  Staff,  Treas- 
urer's, 653. 
Roessler,  Carl,  653. 
Roll,  653. 

Roman  Colleges  of  Artificers,  653 
Romvel,  658. 
Rosaic  System,  658. 
Rosa,  Philipp  Samuel,  658. 
Rose,  658. 

and  Triple  Cross,  659. 
Croix,  659. 

Brethren  of  the,  659. 
Jacobite,  659. 
Knight,  659. 
Magnetic,  659. 
of  Germany,  659. 
of  Gold,  Brethren  of 

the,  659. 
of  Heredom,  660. 
of  the  Dames,  660. 
of  the  Grand  Rosary, 

660. 
Philosophic,  660. 
Prince  of,  660. 
Rectified,  662. 
Sovereign    Prince    of, 
662. 
Knights  and  Ladies  of  the. 
See  Knight  of  the  Rose, 
662. 
Order  of  the,  662. 
Rosenkreuz,  Christian,  663. 
Rosicrucianism,  663. 
Rosicrucian  Society  of  England, 

666. 
Rosy  Cross,  666. 
Rough  Ashlar.    See  Ashlar,  666. 


INDEX. 


943 


Round  Table,   King  Arthur's, 
666. 
Towers  of  Ireland,  666. 
Rowers.  See  Knight  Rower,  666. 
Royal  and  Select  Masters.    See 
Council  of  Royal  and  Se- 
lect Masters,  666. 
Arch,  Ancient.     See  Knight 
of   the  Ninth  Arch, 
6*66. 
Apron,  666. 
Badge,  666. 
Banners.   See  Banners, 

Royal  Arch,  667. 
Captain,  667. 
Clothing,  667. 
Colors,  667. 
Degree,  667. 
Grand,  669. 
Jewel,  669. 
Masonry,  676. 
of  Enoch,  670. 
of  Ramsay,  670. 
of  Solomon,  670. 
Zerubbabel,  670. 
Robes,  670. 
Tracing-Board,  670. 
Word.    See  Telragram- 

maton,  671. 
Working  -  Tools.      See 
Working- Tools,  671. 
Ark  Mariners,  671. 
A.r,  671. 
Axe,  674. 
Lodge,  674. 
Master,  674. 
Order  of  Scotland,  675. 
Priest,  678. 

Secret,  Sublime  Prince  of 
the.    See  Sublime  Prince 
of  the  Royal  Secret,  678. 
R.  S.  Y.  C.  S.,  678. 
Ruffians,  678. 
Rule,  679. 

Rule  of  the  Templars,  679. 
Rulers,  680. 
Russia,  680. 

SABAISM,  680. 
Sabaoth,  680. 
Sabbath,  680. 

Sabianism.    See  Sabaism,  681. 
Sackcloth,  681. 

Sacred   Asylum  of  High   Ma- 
sonry, 681. 
Lodge,  681. 
Sacrificant,  681. 
Sacrifice,  Altar  of.  See  Altar,  681 
Sacrificer,  681. 
Saint  Adhabell,  681. 
Alban,  681. 
Albans.  Earl  of,  682. 
Amphibalus,  682. 
Andrew,   Knight  of.      See 
Knight  of  St.  Andrew,  681. 
Andrew's  Day,  682. 
Augustine,  682. 
Bernard,  682. 
Domingo,  682. 
Sainte  Croix,  Emanuel  Joseph 
Guilhem  de  Clermont-Lodeve 
de,  683. 
Saint  George's  Day,  683. 
Germain,  683. 


Saint  John,  Favorite  Brother  of, 
683. 
Lodge  of.     See  Lodge 

of  St.  John,  683. 
of  Jerusalem,   Knight 
of.    See  Knight  of  St . 
John  of   Jerusalem, 
683. 
John's  Masonry,  683. 

Order,  683. 
John  the  Almoner,  683. 
the  Baptist,  684. 
the  Evangelist,  684. 
Leger.    See  Aldworth,  3Irs., 

684. 
Martin,  Louis  Claude,  684. 
Nicaise,  685. 
Paul's  Church,  685. 
Saints  John,  685. 

Festivals  of.    See  Festivals, 
686. 
Saint  Victor,  Louis  Guillemain 

de,  686. 
Salli,  Francesco,  686. 
Salix,  686. 

Salle  des  Pas  Perdus,  686. 
Salomonis  Sanctificatus  Illumi- 

natus,  Magnus  Jehova,  686. 
Salsette,  686. 
Salt,  686. 
Salutation,  686. 
Salutem,  686. 
Salute  Mason,  686. 
Samaria,  687. 

Samaritan,  Good.    See  Good  Sa- 
maritan, 687. 
Samaritans,  687. 
Samothracian  Mysteries,  687. 
Sanctuary,  687. 
Sanctum  Sanctorum,  687. 
Sandwich  Islands,  687. 
San  Graal,  687. 
Sanhedrim,  688. 
Sapicole,  The,  688. 
Sapphire,  688. 
Saracens,  688. 
Sardius,  688. 
Sarsena,  688. 
Sash,  688. 
Satrap,  689. 

Savalette  de  Langes,  689. 
Sayers,  Anthony,  689. 
Scald  Miserables,  689. 
Scales,  Pair  of,  690. 
Scallop-Shell,  690. 
Scandinavian    Mysteries.      See 

Gothic  Mysteries,  691. 
Scarlet.     See  Red,  691. 
Scenic  Representations,  691. 
Sceptre,  691. 
Schaw  Manuscript,  691. 

William,  691. 
Schismatic,  692. 
Schisms,  692. 

Schneider,  Johann  August,  693. 
Schools,  694. 

of  the  Prophets,  694. 
Schrepfer,  Johann  Georg,  694. 
Schroeder,    Friederich  Joseph 
Wilhelm,  694. 
Friederich  Ludwig,  695. 
Schroeder's  Rite.     See  Schroe- 
der,  Friederich  Joseph   Wil- 
helm, 695. 


Schroeder's  System.  See  Schroe- 
der, Friederich  Ludwig,  695. 
Sciences,  Liberal.     See  Liberal 

Arts  and  Sciences,  695. 
Scientific  Masonic  Association, 

695. 
Scotland,  696. 

Royal  Order  of.    See  Royal 
Order  of  Scotland,  696. 
Scott,  Charles,  696. 
Scottish,  696. 

Degrees,  697. 

Master.     See  Ecossais,  696. 

Rite,  697. 

Templars.     See    Templars 

of  Scotland,  698. 
Trinitarians.      See    Prince 
of  Mercy,  698. 
Scribe,  698. 
Scriptures,  Belief  in  the,  698. 

Reading  of  the,  698. 
Scythe,  700. 
Seal,  700. 

of  Solomon,  700. 
Seals,  Book  of  the  Seven,  701. 

Keeper  of  the,  701. 
Search  for  Truth,  701. 
Seceders,  701. 
Second  Temple.    See  Temple  of 

Zerubbabel,  701. 
Secrecy  and  Silence,  701. 
Secretary,  702. 

General  of  the  Holy  Em- 
pire, 702. 
Grand.    See  Grand  Secre- 
tary, 702. 
Secret  Doctrine,  702. 
Master,  702. 
Monitor,  703. 
of  the  Secrets,  The,  703. 
Societies,  703. 
Vault.  See  Vault,  Secret,  704 
Sectarianism,  704. 
Secular  Lodges,  704. 
Sedition  Act,  704. 
Seeing,  704. 
Seekers,  704. 
Select  Master,  704. 
Semestre,  705. 
Senatorial  Chamber,  705. 
Seneschal,  705. 

Senior  Deacon.     See  Deacons, 
706. 
Entered  Apprentice,  706. 
Warden,  706. 
Senses,  Five.    See  Five  Senses, 

706. 
Sentinel,  706. 
Sephiroth,  706. 
Septenary,  706. 
Sepulchre,  706. 

Knight  of  the  Holy.    See 
Knight  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, 706. 
Serapis,  Mysteries  of.  See  Egyp- 
tian Mysteries,  706. 
Sermons,  Masonic,  706. 
Serpent,  707. 

and  Cross,  707. 
Knight  of  the  Brazen.   See 
Knight  of  the  Brazen  Ser- 
pent, 707. 
Worship,  708. 
Serving  Brethren,  708. 


944 


INDEX. 


Seth,  708. 
Sethos,  708. 
Setting  Sun,  708. 
Seven,  708. 

Stars,  709. 
Seventy  Years  of  Captivity,  709. 
Shaddai,  709. 
Shamir,  709. 
Sharp  Instrument,  710. 
Shastras,  710. 
Sheba,  Queen  of,  710. 
Shekel,  710. 
Shekinah,  710. 
Shem,  710. 

Ham,  Japheth,  711. 

Hamphorasch,  711. 
Sheriff,  711. 

Shethar-Boznai.  See  Tatnai,  711 
Shew-Bread,  711. 
Shibboleth,  711. 
Shield,  711. 

of  David,  712. 
Shock,  712. 

of  Enlightenment,  712. 

of  Entrance,  712. 
Shoe,  713. 
Shovel,  713. 
Shrine,  713. 
Side  Degrees,  713. 
Sight,  Making  Masons  at,  713. 
Sign,  715. 
Signature,  716. 
Signet,  716. 

of  Truth,  716. 

of  Zerubbabel,  716. 
Significant  Word,  716. 
Sign  of  Distress,  716. 
Silence.     See  Secrecy  and  Si- 
lence, in. 
Silver  and  Gold,  717. 

Cord,  717. 
Sinai,  717. 
Sintooism,  717. 
Sir,  717. 
Siroc,  717. 
Sister  Lodges,  718. 
Sisters  by  Adoption,  718. 

of  the  Gild,  718. 
Situation  of  the  Lodge,  718. 
Six  Lights,  718. 

Periods,  718. 
Skeleton,  719. 
Skirrit,  719. 
Skull,  719. 

and  Cross-bones,  719. 
Slander,  719. 

Slave.    See  Free  Born,  719. 
Sloane  Manuscripts,  719. 
Slip,  720. 

Smith,  George,  720. 
Smitten  Builder,  721. 
Snow,  John,  721. 
Snows.    See  Rains,  721. 
Social  Character  of  Freemason- 

ry,  721. 
Socius,  721. 
Sodalities,  721. 
Sofism  721. 
So  Help  Me  God,  722. 
Sojourner.     See  Principal  So- 
journer, 722. 
Soldiers  of  Christ,  722. 
Solomon,  722. 

House  of,  724. 


Solomon,  Temple  of.    See  Tem- 
ple of  Solomon,  724. 
Solstices,  724. 
Songs  of  Masonry,  725. 
Son  of  a  Mason,  726. 
Sons  of  Light,  726. 

of  the  Prophets,  726. 

of  the  Widow,  726. 
Sorbonne,  726. 
Sorrow  Lodge,  726. 
Soul  of  Nature,  726. 
South,  727. 

Carolina,  727. 
Sovereign,  727. 

Commander  of  the  Temple, 
727. 

Grand    Inspector   General, 
728. 

Master,  729. 

Prince  Mason,  729. 

of    Rose    Croix.      See 
Rose  Croix,  729. 
Spain,  729. 
Sparticus,  730. 
Speculative  Masonry,  730. 
Spes  mea  in  Deo  est,  732. 
Sphinx,  732. 
Spire,  Congress  of,  732. 
Spiritualizing,  732. 
Spiritual  Lodge,  732. 

Temple,  732. 
Spoulee,  John  de,  733. 
Spreading  the  Ballot,  733. 
Sprengseisen,    Christian    Frie- 

derich  Kessler  von,  733. 
Sprig  of  Acacia.  See  Acacia,  733. 
Spurious  Freemasonry,  733. 
Spurs,  734. 
Square,  735. 

and  Compass,  735. 
Squin  de  Flexian,  736. 
Staff,  737. 
Stairs,  Winding.    See  Winding 

Stairs,  738. 
Standard,  738. 

Bearer,  738. 
Stand  to  and  Abide  by,  738. 
Star,  738. 

Blazing.    See  Blazing  Star, 
738. 

Eastern.    See  Eastern  Star, 
738. 

Five  -  Pointed.      See  Five- 
Pointed  Star,  738. 

in  the  East,  738. 

of  Jerusalem,  738. 

of  the  Syrian  Knights,  738. 
Starck,  Jobann  August  von,  738. 
Stare  Super  Vias  Antiquas,  740. 
State,  740. 
Stations,  740. 

Statistics  of  Freemasonrv,  740. 
Statute  of  Henry  VI.    See  La- 
borers, Statute" of,  741. 
Statutes,  741. 
St.  Clair  Charters,  741.     • 

William,  741. 
Steinbach,  Erwin  of.  SeeErwin 

of  Steinbach,  743. 
Steinmetz,  743. 
Step,  743. 
Steps  on  the  Master's  Carpet, 

743. 
Sterkin,  743. 


Stewards,  743. 

Grand.     See   Grand  Stew- 
ards, 743. 

Lodge.     See   Grand  Stew- 
ard's Lodge,  743. 
Stirling,  743. 

St.  Leger.    See  Aldworth,  744. 
St.  Martin.    See  Saint  Martin, 

744. 
Stockings,  744. 
Stolkin,  744. 
Stone,  744. 

Corner.    See   Comer-Stone, 
744. 

Cubical.  See  Cubical  Stone, 
744. 

Manuscript,  744. 
Stonemasons  of  the  Middle  Ages, 

744. 
Stone,     Nicholas.      See    Stove 
Manuscript,  750. 

of  Foundation,  750. 

Pavement,  755. 

Rejected,  755. 

Squarers.    See  Giblim,  755. 

White,  755. 

William  Leete,  755. 

Worship,  756. 
Strasburg,  Cathedral  of,  757. 

Congress  of,  758. 
Strength,  758. 

Strict  Observance,  Rite  of,  758. 
Striking  Off,  758. 
Stuart  Masonry,  758. 
Sublime,  760. 

Degrees,  761. 

Grand  Lodge,  761. 

Knight  Elected,  761. 

Masons,  761. 

Prince  of  the  Royal  Secret, 
701. 

Solomon,  762. 
Sublimes,  The,  762. 
Submission,  762. 
Subordinate  Lodge,  762. 

Officers,  762. 
Subordination,  762. 
Substitute  Ark.    See  Ark,  Sub- 
stitute, 762. 

Candidate,  762. 

Grand  Master,  763. 

Word,  763. 
Succession  to  the  Chair,  763. 
Succoth,  765. 
Sufferer,  765. 
Summons,  765. 
Sun,  765. 

Knight  of  the.    See  Knight 
of  the  Sun,  766. 

Moon,  and  Stars,  766. 

Worship,  766. 
Super  Excellent  Masons,  766. 

Master,  766. 
Superintendent  of  the  Works, 

Grand,  767. 
Superior,  767. 

Superiors,  Unknown.    See  Un- 
known Superiors,  767. 
Super-Masonic,  767. 
Supplanting,  767. 
Supports  of  the  Lodge,  767. 
Supreme  Authority,  769. 

Commander  of  the  Stars, 
769. 


INDEX. 


945 


Supreme  Consistory,  769. 

Council,  769. 
Suspension,  771. 
Sussex,  Duke  of,  772. 
Sweden,  772. 
Swedenborg,  773. 

Rite  of,  775. 
Swedish  Rite,  776. 
Switzerland,  776. 
Sword,  778. 

and  Trowel.      See  Trowel 
and  Sword,  779. 

Bearer,  779. 
Grand,  779. 

of  State,  779. 

Pointing    to    the    Naked 
Heart,  780. 

Templar's,  780. 

Tiler's,  780. 
Sworn  Brothers,  780. 
Syllable,  780. 
Symbol,  780. 

Compound,  781. 
Symbolic  Degrees,  782. 

Lectures,  783. 

Lodge,  783. 

Machinery,  783. 

Masonry,  783. 
Symbolism,  the  Science  of,  783. 
Symbol  of  Glory,  783. 
Syndication  of  Lodges,  783. 
Synod  of  Scotland,  784. 
Syria,  784. 
System,  784. 

TABERNACLE,  784. 
Chief  of  the.    See  Chief  of 
the  Tabernacle,  786. 

Prince  of  the.    See  Prince 
of  the  Tabernacle,  786. 
Table  Lodge,  786. 
Tablets  of  Hiram  Abif,  787. 
Taciturnity,  788. 
Tactics,  788. 
Talisman,  788. 
Talmud,  789. 
Tamarisk,  790. 
Tannehill,  Wilkins,  790. 
Tapis,  790. 
Tarsel,  790. 

Board,  790. 
Tarshatha,  790. 
Tassels,  790. 

Tasting  and  Smelling,  790. 
Tatnai  and  Shethar-Boznai,  790. 
Tau,  791. 

Cross,  791. 
Team,  791. 
Tears,  791. 
Tempelorden  or  Tempelherren- 

orden,  792. 
Temperance,  792. 
Templar.   See  Knight  Templar, 

792. 
Templarius,  792. 
Templar  Land,  792. 

Origin  of  Masonry,  792. 
Templars  of  England,  793. 

of  Scotland,  794. 
Temple,  795. 

Grand  Commander  of  the, 
796. 

of  Ezekiel,  796. 

of  Herod,  796. 
5T 


Temple  of  Solomon,  796. 
of  Zerubbabel,  798. 
Order  of  the,  799. 
Second,  803. 

Sovereign    Commander  of 
the.    See  Sovereign  Com- 
mander of  the  Temple,  804. 
of  the  Sovereigns  Grand 
Commander  of  the, 
804. 
Spiritual.      See   Spiritual 

Temple,  804. 
Symbolism  of  the,  804. 
Workmen  at  the.  See  Work- 
men at  the  Temple,  805. 
Templier,  805. 
Templum  Jlierosolymae,  805. 
Ten,  805. 
Tengu, 805. 
Tennessee,  805. 
Tent,  805. 

Tenure  of  Office,  806. 
Tercy,  806. 
Terminus,  806. 

Terrasson,  the  Abbe"  Jean,  806. 
Terrible  Brother,  806. 
Territorial  Jurisdiction,  806. 
Tessel,  Indented.  See  Tessellated 

Border,  808. 
Tessellated,  807. 
Border,  807. 
Tessera  Hospitalis,  808. 
Testimony,  808. 
Tests,  808. 
Test  Word,  809. 
Tetractys,  810. 
Tetragrammaton,  810. 
Teutonic  Knights,  811. 
Texas,  811. 

T.\  G.\  A.'.  0.\  T.\  U.\,  812. 
Thammuz,  812. 
Thanks,  812. 
Theism,  812. 

Theocratic  Philosophy  of  Free- 
masonry, 812. 
Theological  Virtues,  812. 
Theoricus,  812. 
Theosophists,  812. 
Therapeutae,  813. 
Theurgy,  813. 

Third  Degree.    See  Master  Ma- 
son, 813. 
Thirty-Second     Degree.      See 
Prince  oftheBoyal  Secret, 
813. 
Six,  813. 

Third  Degree.      See  Sov- 
ereign  Grand   Inspector 
General,  813. 
Thory,  Claude  Antoine,  813. 
Thoux  de  Salverte,  814. 
Thread  of  Life,  814. 
Three,  814. 

Globes,  Rite  of  the  Grand 

Lodge  of  the,  815. 
Grand       Offerings.       See 
Ground  -  Floor    of    the 
Lodge,  815. 
Points,  815. 
Senses,  815. 

Steps.     See  Steps   on   the 
Master's  Carpet,  815. 
Threshing-Floor,  815. 
Throne,  815. 

60 


Thummim.      See    Urim     and 

Thummim,  815. 
Tie,  815. 

Mystic.  See  Mystic  Tie,  815. 
Tierce,  De  la,  816. 
Tile,  816. 
Tiler,  816. 
Tiler's  Oath.    See  Oath,  Tiler's, 

816. 
Tilly  de  Grasse.    See   Grasse, 

Tilly  de,  816. 
Timbre,  816. 
Time,  816. 

and  Circumstances,  816. 
Tirshatha,  816. 
Titles,  816. 

of  Grand  Lodges,  817. 
Tito,  817. 
Toasts,  817. 
Token,  819. 
Tolerance  Lodge,  819. 
Toleration,  819. 
Tomb  of  Adoniram,  819. 

of  Hiram  Abif,  819. 
of  Tyre,  819. 
Tongue,  820. 

Instructive.  See  Instruc- 
tive Tongue,  820. 

of  Good  Report,  820. 
Topaz,  820. 
Torches,  820. 

TorgaUj  Constitutions  of,  820. 
Torrubia,  Joseph,  820. 
Tournon,  M.,  821. 
Tow,  Cable.  See  Cable  Tow,  821. 
Tower,  Degree  of  the,  821. 

of  Babel.    See  Babel,  821. 
Town,  Salem,  821. 
Townshend,  Simeon,  821. 
Tracing- Board,  821. 
Trade  Gilds.    See  Gilds,  821. 
Tradition,  821. 
Tramping  Masons,  822. 
Transfer  of  Warrant,  822. 
Transient  Brethren,  822. 
Transition  Period,  822. 
Transmission,  Charter  of,  822. 
Travel,  822. 
Travelling  Freemasons,  822. 

Warrants,  826. 
Travenol,  Louis,  826. 
Treasure,  Incomparable,  826. 
Treasurer,  826. 

Grand.  See  Grand  Treas- 
urer, 826. 

Hermetic,  826. 
Trestle-Board,  826. 
Triad,  827. 

Triads,  Druidical,  828. 
Triad  Society  of  China,  828. 
Trials,  Masonic,  828. 
Triangle,  829. 

Double.  See  Seal  of  Solb~ 
mon  and  Shield  of  David, 
830. 

of  Pythagoras.  See  Pen- 
talpha,  830. 

Radiated,  830. 

Triple,  830. 
Tribe  of  Judah,  Lion  of  the,  831. 
Tribes  of  Israel,  831. 
Tribunal,  831. 

Supreme,  831. 
Trilateral  Name,  832. 


946 


INDEX. 


Trinidad,  832. 
Trinosophs,  832. 
Triple  Alliance,  832. 

Tau,  832. 
Trivium.  See  Quadrivium,  832. 
Trowel,  832. 

and  Sword,  833. 

Society  of  the,  833. 
True  Masons.    See  Academy  of 

True  Masons,  833. 
Trust  in  God,  833. 
Truth,  834. 

Tschoudy,  Louis  Theodore,  834. 
Tuapholl,  835. 
Tubal  Cain,  835. 
Tune,  Freemasons',  837. 
Turban,  837. 
Turcopolier,  837. 
Turkey,  837. 
Turquoise,  838. 
Tuscan  Order,  838. 
Twelve,  838. 

Illustrious  Knights,  838. 

Lettered  Name,  838. 

Original  Points  of  Mason- 
ry 839. 
Twenty-Four  Inch  Gauge,  840. 

One,  840. 

Seven,  840. 

Six,  840. 
Two-Lettered  Name,  840. 
Tyler,  840. 
Type,  840. 
Typhon,  840. 
Tyre,  840. 

Quarries  of,  841. 
Tyrian  Freemasons,  841. 

TT.-.  D/.,  841. 

\J  Uden,  Conrad  Friederich, 

841. 
Unaffiliated  Mason,  841. 
Unanimous  Consent,  842. 
Unfavorable  Report,  843. 
Uniformity  of  Work,  843. 
Union,  Grand  Masters',  844. 

Master's  Degree,  844. 

of  German  Masons,  844. 

of  Scientific     Freemasons, 
844. 

of  the  Twenty-Two.      See 
German    Union  of  Two 
and  Twenty,  845. 
United  Grand  Lodge  of  Eng- 
land, 845. 

States  of  America,  845. 

Supreme  Council,  846. 
Unity  of  God,  846. 
Universality  of  Masonry,  846. 
Universal  Language.    See  Lan- 
guage, Universal,  846. 

Harmony,  Order  of.     See 
Mesmeric  Masonry,  846. 
Univerei  Terrarum,  etc.,  846. 
Unknown  Philosopher,  846. 

Superiors,  846. 
Untempered  Mortar,  847. 
Unutterable  Name,  .847. 
Unworthy  Members,  847. 
Upper  Chambers,  847. 
Upright  Posture,  848. 
Uriel,  848. 

Urhn  and  Thummim,  848. 
Uriot,  Joseph,  849. 


Urn,  849. 
Uruguay,  850. 
Utah,  850. 

VACANCIES  in  Office,  850. 
V    Vale  or  Valley,  850. 
Valley,  851. 

Vassal,  Pierre  Gerard,  851. 
Vault  of  Steel,  851. 

Secret,  851. 
Vedas,  853. 

Vehm-gericht.      See   Westpha- 
lia, Secret  Tribunal  of,  853. 
Veils,  Grand   Masters   of  the, 
853. 

Symbolism  of  the,  854. 
Venerable,  855. 

Grand  Master  of  all  Sym- 
bolic Lodges,  855. 

Perfect,  855. 
Venezuela,  855. 
Vengeance,  855. 
Verger,  856. 
Vermont,  856. 
Vernhes,  J.  F.,  856. 
Vertot,  d'Auboeuf,  RenS-Aubert 

de,  856. 
Vesica  Piscis,  857. 
Vexillum  Belli,  857. 
Viany,  Auguste  de,  857. 
Vielle-Bru,  Rite  of,  857. 
Villars,  Abbe  Montfaufon   de, 

857. 
Vincere  aut  Mori,  857. 
Vinton,  David,  857. 
Violet,  858. 
Virginia,  858. 
Virgin,  Weeping.   See  Weeping 

Virgin,  859. 
Visible  Masonry,  859. 
Visitation,  Grand,  859. 
Visiting  Brethren,  860. 
Visit,  Right  of,  860. 
Vivat,  860. 
Vogel,    Paul    Joachim    Sigis- 

mund,  860. 
Voigt,  Friederich,  861. 
Voting,  861. 

Right  of,  861. 
Vouching,  861. 
Voyages,  862. 

W.-.,  863. 
\V  aechter,  Eberhard,  Bar- 
on von,  863. 
Wages  of  a  Master  Mason,  Sym- 
bolic.  See  Foreign  Coun- 
tries, 863. 
of  Operative  Masons,  863. 
of   the    Workmen   at   the 
Temple,  864. 
Wales,  865. 
Wands,  865. 
Wardens,  865. 

Grand.    See    Grand   War- 
dens, 866. 
Warder,  866. 
Warlike  Instrument,  867. 
War,  Masonry  in,  867. 
Warrant  of  Constitution,  868. 
Washing  Hands.    See  Lustra- 
tion, 869. 
Washington,  Congress  of,  869. 
George,  869. 


Washington  Territory,  872. 
Watchwords,  872. 
Water-fall,  872. 
Wayfaring  Man,  872. 
Weary  Sojourners,  872. 
Webb-Preston  Work,  872. 

Thomas  Smith,  872. 
Wedekind,     Georg     Christian 

Gottlieb,  Baron  von,  874. 
Weeping  Virgin,  874. 
Weishaupt,  Adam,  874. 
Welcome,  875. 
Well  Formed,  True,  and  Trusty, 

876. 
Wesley,  Samuel,  876. 
West,  876. 
Westphalia,    Secret   Tribunals 

of,  876. 
West  Virginia,  879. 
White,  879. 

Ball,  881. 

Cross  Knights,  881. 

Mantle,  Order  of  the,  881. 

Masonry,  881. 

Stone,  881. 

William  Henry,  881. 
Widow's  Son,  881. 
Wife  and  Daughter,  Mason's. 
See  Mason' 8  Wife  and  Daugh- 
ter, 882. 
Wilhelmsbad,  Congress  of,  882. 
Will,  882. 

Wilson  Manuscript,  882. 
Winding  Stairs,  882. 

Legend  of  the,  882. 
Wind,  Mason's,  886. 
Window,  886. 
Wine,  886. 

Wings  of  the  Cherubim,  Ex- 
tended, 886. 
Wisconsin,  886. 
Wisdom^  887. 

Withdrawal  of  Petition,  887. 
Witnesses.    See  Trials,  887. 
Woellner,    Johann    Christoph 

von,  887. 
Wolf,  888. 

Wolfenbuttel,  Congress  of,  888. 
Woman,  888. 
Wood  -  cutters,  Order  of.     See 

Fendeurs,  888. 
Woog,  Carl  Christian,  888. 
Word,  889. 

Lost.    See  Lost  Word,  889. 

Mason,  889. 

Sacred,  890. 

Significant.  See  Significant 
Word,  890. 

True,  890. 
Work.    See  Labor,  890. 
Working-Tools,  890. 
Work,  Master  of  the,  890. 
Workmen  at  the  Temple,  890. 
Workshop,  892. 
World,  892. 
Worldly  Possessions,  892. 

Wealth,  893. 
Worship,  893. 
Worshipful,  893. 

Lodge.      See    Worshipful, 
893. 

Master.      See   Worshipful, 
893. 

Most,  893. 


INDEX. 


947 


Worshipful,Right,  893. 

Very,  893. 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  893. 
Wrestle,  894. 
Writing,  895. 

Wykeham,  William  of,  895. 
Wysacre,  896. 

XAINTRAILLES,     Madame 
de,  896. 
Xavier,  Mier  e  Campello,  Fran- 
cisco, 897. 
Xerophagists,  897. 
Xerxes,  897. 
Xinxe,  897. 

Y897. 
j    Yates,  Giles  Fonda,  897. 
Yaveron  Hamaim,  899. 
Year,  Hebrew,  899. 
of  Light,  899. 


Year  of  Masonry,  900. 

of  the  Deposite,  900. 

of  the  Discovery,  900. 

of  the  Order,  900. 

of  the  World,  900. 
Yeas  and  Nays,  900. 
Yeldis,  900. 
Yellow,  900. 

Jacket,  900. 
Yevele,  Henry,  901. 
Yggrasil,  901. 
Y-ha-ho,  901. 
Yod,  901. 
Yoni,  901. 
York  Constitutions,  901. 

Legend,  902. 

Manuscripts,  905. 

Rite,  906. 

ZABUD,  907. 
Zabulon,  907. 


Zadok,  907. 
Zarathustra,  907. 
Zarthan,  907. 
Zeal,  907. 
Zedekiah,  907. 
Zelator,  907. 
Zendavesta,  908. 
Zenith,  908. 
Zennaar,  908. 
Zerbal,  909. 
Zeredatha,  909. 
Zerubbabel,  909. 
Zinnendorf,    Johann    Wilhelm 
von,  911. 
Rite  of,  912. 
Zion,  912. 
Zizon,  912. 

Zodiac,  Masonic,  912. 
Zoroaster,  912. 
Zurthost,  914. 


SUPPLEMENT, 


CONTAINING  NEW  AND  OMITTED  TITLES. 


AARON'S  Band,  915. 
Affiliate,  Free,  915. 
Africa,  915. 
Alaska,  915. 
Architect,  915. 
Arkansas,  915. 
Asia,  915. 
Audi,  Vide,  Tace,  915. 

BOOK  of  the  Fraternity  of 
Stonemasons,  915. 
Brithering,  916. 
Buddhism,  916. 

CANTICLE,  916. 
Clavel,  T.  Begue,  916. 
Connecticut,  916. 
Cumulation  of  Rites,  917. 

D ODD'S  Constitutions,  917. 
Dowland  Manuscript,  917. 
Due  Examination,  917. 

EDINBURGH   -   KILWIN- 
ning  Manuscript,  917. 
Edward  III.  Manuscript,  917. 
Edwin  Charges,  918. 
Eglinton  Manuscript,  918. 
Europe,  918. 
Eva,  918. 
Evergetes,  Order  of,  918. 


FORTY-TWO  Lettered  Name, 
918. 

GOMEL,  918. 
Gravelot,  918. 
Gypsies,  918. 

HAYTI,  919. 
Hoben,  919. 
Homaged,  919. 
Hospitaller,  919. 

TDAHO,  919. 

1  Ijar,  919. 

Increase  of  Wages,  919. 

Inversion  of  Letters,  919. 

KANSAS,  919. 
Kentucky,  920. 
Khesvan  or  Chesvan,  920. 
Kisleu  or  Chisleu,  920. 
Knife  and  Fork  Degree,  920. 
Krause  Manuscript,  920. 

LAWFUL  Information,  920. 
Lenning,  C,  920. 
Liberty,  Equality,   Fraternity, 

920. 
Lion  of  the   Tribe  of  Judah, 
920. 


MAGNA  est  Veritas  et  prse- 
valebit,  921. 
Masoney,  921. 
Medals,  921. 

Mitchell,  James  W.  S.,  921. 
Moore,  Charles  Whitlock,  921. 

PARLIRER,  922. 
Paris  Constitutions,  923. 
Prince  of  Wales  Grand  Lodge, 
923. 

SETTING-MAUL,  923. 
Shebet,  923. 
Sivan,  923. 

Spencer  Manuscript,  923. 
Squaremen,  923. 
St.  Alban's  Regulations,  924. 
Strasburg,  Constitutions  of,  924. 
Strict  Trial,  924. 

TAMMUZ,  924. 
Tebeth,  924. 
Tisri,  924. 

YEADAR,  924. 
Veterans,  924. 

WOODFORD     Manuscript, 
925. 
Wound,  Mason's,  925. 


^V  s      ■ 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
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(NTERLiBRARY  LOAN 

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SENT  ON  ILL 

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U.  C.  BERKELEY 


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